THE JESUS OF THE JEHOVAH S WITNESSES: IS JESUS CHRIST MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL? James Adam Tucker October 3, 2007
THE JESUS OF THE JEHOVAH S WITNESSES: IS JESUS CHRIST MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL? Today, perhaps more than ever, the true nature, identity and authenticity of Jesus Christ are being challenged from multiple angles. Books such as Dan Brown s The Davinci Code, the so-called discovery of the Gospel of Thomas, and other frontal assaults on the credibility of orthodox Christianity s view of the Son of God have fueled the recent interest in the person of Jesus Christ. While many of these attacks are not new, some continue to gain popularity among the masses. One such attack is the teaching of the Jehovah s Witnesses (JWs). They teach that Jesus Christ is in fact Michael the archangel. The purpose of this paper is to examine the JWs teaching and view of Jesus Christ and compare them to what the Bible actually says about the subject. The Jehovah s Witnesses View of Jesus Christ While JWs use phrases such as Son of God and Lord Jesus, a thorough study of their literature reveals that their meaning behind these phrases strays far from orthodox Christianity. JWs see the spirit creature Michael as an important figure in heaven, hence for many years they have taught that Michael is a heavenly name for the only-begotten Son of God, who was named Jesus while on earth. 1 In other words, JWs teach that Jesus is a created angelic being named Michael. They readily admit that this teaching goes against popular belief, yet JWs contend they have biblical evidence to support their claim. How exactly do they come to the conclusion that Jesus and Michael are one in the same? We will examine some of their evidence now. 1 Michael the Great Prince: Who is He?, The Watchtower, December 15, 1984, 26. 1
2 First of all, JW theologians point to the prophecies found in the book of Daniel in order to identify the angel Michael. Michael is first mentioned in the tenth chapter of Daniel where he is said to be in some sort of spiritual battle. He is referred to as the prince of Daniel s people (Daniel 10:21 New World Translation). According to The Watchtower, a JW publication, The name Michael means who is like God thus indicating that this foremost prince upholds Jehovah s sovereignty. 2 They then reason that Michael is a champion of God s people and equate him with the anonymous angel sent ahead of the Israelites in Exodus 23:20-21. 3 Based on this information, JWs teach that it was Michael who delivered many important messages to God s people throughout the Bible. They also credit him as being the angel of the LORD mentioned in Exodus 3:2. The Watchtower concludes, Is there anything here to make us believe that Michael and Jesus Christ are the same person? Well, Jesus is called the Word (John 1:1). He is God s spokesman. This special angelic messenger, too, was clearly God s chief spokesman to the Israelites. 4 Moving on in the book of Daniel, we next find Michael mentioned in chapter twelve. In Dan. 12:1 Michael stands up on behalf of Daniel s people. The JWs reason that since the phrase stand up elsewhere in Daniel s prophecies means to rule as king, Michael will also begin to rule as king. Again, The Watchtower says: 2 Michael the Great Prince, 27. 3 Ibid. 4 Ibid.
3 Before Daniel died, the last Jewish king, Zedekiah, had been deposed. There would be no Jewish king for centuries to come. Daniel s prophecy showed that one day in the future God s people would once again have a king Michael. Ezekiel, Daniel s contemporary, foretold the coming of one who has the legal right to rule again as king of God s people (Ez. 21:25-27). This one is not to be identified with the Levite Maccabees who exercised some authority during a brief period of independence. Not being descendants of King David, they had no legal right to be kings. Rather, it was Jesus Christ who was anointed by God to rule as king in a heavenly kingdom (Luke 1:31-33; 22:29-30; Psalm 110:1). He was the only one thus anointed. It is therefore only logical to say that Jesus and Michael are the same person. 5 JWs also conclude that the one like a son of man who is given a kingdom, whom they agree is Jesus, mentioned in Daniel chapter seven is further proof that Jesus and Michael are the same being. According to their reasoning, since Jesus becomes king in one prophecy and Michael becomes king in the other prophecy, it is reasonable to conclude that they are also dealing with the same person. 6 Furthermore, Michael is called the archangel in Jude chapter nine and is arguing with the devil over the body of Moses. JWs argue that this is an example of Michael s closeness to the Israelites and further evidence that he was the angel put in charge of their protection. The fact that Michael is referred to as the archangel in Jude 9 strengthens the JWs belief about his power and prominence. According to their teaching, Among God s spirit servants, only two names are associated with authority over angels: Michael and Jesus Christ (Matt. 16:27; 25:31; 2 Thes. 1:7). This, too, argues that Jesus and Michael are the same. 7 5 Michael the Great Prince, 27. 6 Ibid., 28. 7 Ibid.
Moreover, JWs use 1 Thes. 4:16 as further evidence of Jesus being Michael the 4 archangel. It reads, The Lord [Jesus] himself will descend from heaven with a commanding call, with an archangel s voice and with God s trumpet (NWT). The Watchtower suggests, But now he calls, not with a man s voice as he did then, but with all the power of an archangel s voice. However, only an archangel can call with an archangel s voice And no one but Jesus has been given the authority to resurrect the dead. Hence, this rousing prophecy gives additional strong reason for identifying Jesus with the archangel, Michael. 8 Finally, we last see Michael in the book of Revelation. In Revelation chapter twelve, Michael and his angels defeat the dragon and its angels in a great battle. JWs reason that since Jesus is prophesied to defeat Satan, then it is only logical to conclude that Jesus would lead the angels in the great battle mentioned above. They conclude, Hence, the conquering Michael referred to in Revelation twelve must be Jesus, who was told by Jehovah to go subduing in the midst of [his] enemies (Psalm 110:1-2; Acts 2:34-35). 9 The reason the name Michael is used instead of Jesus, according to the JWs, is because it refers to Michael standing up as a conquering monarch in Daniel chapter twelve. 10 The JWs ultimate conclusion is this: Hence, the fact that Michael is the archangel, chief of the angels, the fact that he stands up to rule as King, and the fact that he takes the lead in casting Satan out of heaven at the time of the birth of God s Kingdom all lead to just one conclusion: Michael the great prince is none other than Jesus Christ himself. 11 8 Michael the Great Prince, 28. 9 Ibid., 29. 10 Ibid. 11 Ibid.
Orthodox Christianity s View of Jesus Christ 5 In light of the all the evidence and biblical proof used by Jehovah s Witnesses, should Christians tuck their tails and run? Is orthodox Christianity off base or have the JWs misinterpreted key scripture passages? I believe the latter is true, and I would now like to counter the arguments presented in The Watchtower and taught widely by JWs. First, we need to define Christianity s view of Jesus Christ. Orthodox Christian teaching states that, Jesus Christ was unique in that He alone, of all who ever lived, was both God and man. The New Testament teaches the fully unified deity and humanity of Christ. The Nicene Creed states the uniform belief of all orthodox Christianity that Christ was fully God and fully man in one person. All heresies regarding Christ deny one or both of these propositions. claim that Jesus is the created spirit creature Michael, as the JWs do, is to virtually laugh in the face of historic Christianity. Their view completely denies the deity of Jesus Christ which results in a faulty faith in an imaginary savior. Next, it is important to realize the fatal flaws found in most of the arguments presented by the JWs. For example, Michael s title of prince and the meaning of his name do not indicate that he is Jesus Christ. Daniel 10:13 says that Michael was one of the chief princes. In other words, there are others like him or at least equal to him. However, John 3:16 says that Jesus is God s only begotten Son. The Greek word used for only begotten, or one and only son, is monogens. 13 12 To 12 Norman L. Geisler, Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 1999), 135. Ron Rhodes, The Ten Most Important Things You Can Say to a Jehovah s Witness (Eugene, Oregon: Har 13 - vest House Publishers, 2001), 43.
It means unique or one of a kind. Jesus is not one among equals. He is also not a prince at 6 all. Revelation 19:16 refers to Jesus as the King of kings, and Lord of lords. We also read in Heb. 1:5 that no angel will ever be called God s son, yet again showing the distinction between Jesus and Michael. The fact that Jesus is referred to as the Son of God only supports His claims of deity. Christian author Ron Rhodes writes, Though the term son of can refer to offspring of, it carries the more important meaning of the order of. The phrase is often used this way in the Old Testament: Sons of the prophets meant of the order of the prophets (1 Kings 20:35). Sons of the singers meant of the order of the singers (Neh. 12:28). Likewise, Son of God means of the order of God and represents a claim to undiminished deity. 14 The next argument given by the JWs is that Michael stands up to rule as king in Daniel chapter twelve. This is an obvious misinterpretation of the text since Heb. 2:5 clearly tells us that angels will not rule the world. It is not to angels that he has subjected the world to come, about which we are speaking (Heb. 2:5 NASB). Apparently, some of the recipients of the book of Hebrews were tempted to assign angels a position above that of Christ. The author of Hebrews made it clear that angels would not rule. Christ, on the other hand, is said to be the ruler of God s Kingdom (Gen. 49:10; 2 Sam. 7:16; Psalm 2:6; Dan. 7:13-14; Luke 1:32-33; Matt. 2:1-2; Rev. 19:16). 15 This clearly shows that Jesus cannot be Michael the archangel. Moving on, JWs cite Jude 9 as further proof of Michael s importance. They draw an unnecessary conclusion by assuming that since Michael is referred to as the archangel then there 14 Rhodes, The Ten Most Important Things, 46. 15 Ibid., 44.
cannot be another archangel. We have already established that Michael is one of the foremost 7 princes. Simply using the definite article in Jude 9 does not prevent the possibility of others having the same rank. If you refer to someone as the football player for example, does that mean there are no other football players in the entire world? Of course not. The JWs conclusion is unwarranted. Furthermore, Jude 9, the very verse used by the JWs to prove their point, actually works against them. Jude 9 says, But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but said, The Lord rebuke you (NASB). Michael, the great prince who is supposed to rule over the whole world does not even have authority to rebuke a fallen angel. Jesus, however, rebuked the devil on many occasions (Matt. 4:10; 16:23; Mark 8:33). In fact, the word for Lord used in Jude 9 is the Greek word kurios. 16 It is used for Lord all throughout the New Testament, often referring to Jesus (Phil. 2:9-11). The Apostle Paul wrote that every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. This is a direct reference to the words of God about Himself in Is. 45:22-23. Rhodes says that, Paul was drawing on his vast knowledge of the Old Testament to make the point that Jesus Christ is kurios and Yahweh the Lord of all humankind. Jude 9. 17 The point is that Michael was actually referring to Jesus in his statement from 16 Ron Rhodes, Reasoning from the Scriptures with the Jehovah s Witnesses (Eugene, Oregon: Harvest House Publishers, 1993), 184. 17 Ibid.
8 Continuing on, does 1 Thes. 4:16 mean that Jesus is the archangel since He calls with an archangels voice? Rhodes has the following question for the JW, If the reference to the archangel s voice makes the Lord Jesus an archangel, then to be consistent doesn t having God s trumpet make Jesus God? 18 This, in and of itself, is not meant to be evidence of Christ s deity. The point is, 1 Thes. 4:16 by no means proves that Jesus is Michael. JWs assume the archangel s voice describes Jesus, however, that is read into the text and is not explicitly stated. It is just as logical to assume the archangel s voice is in addition to Jesus. Lastly, JWs believe that since Michael and his angels are battling the dragon and its angels in the book of Revelation, then Michael must be Jesus. Is this conclusion warranted? Once again, the answer is no. The fact that Michael s company of angels is referred to as his angels does not mean that Michael created them (JWs believe that Michael [Jesus] created all other things, including angels). If that were true, then the logical conclusion would be that the dragon (Satan) created his angels as well, which we know is not the case. Also, a commanding general would refer to the men he leads as his men, however, in reality they are the president s men. In this case, Michael would be the general and Jesus would be the president. In conclusion, it is important to realize that Jesus Christ is the creator of angels, not an angel Himself. Colossians 1:16-17 says that Christ created all things, including thrones, powers, rulers, and authorities. In the Jewish culture, these words were used to describe angels and the spirit realm. 19 The New World Translation of the JWs inserts the word other and 18 Rhodes, Reasoning from the Scriptures, 183. 19 Ibid., 185.
changes the meaning to Christ created all other things. The word other, however, is not 9 found in the original writings. Also, the entire first chapter of the book of Hebrews is devoted to showing Christ s superiority over angels. All throughout the Bible, the same words and phrases are used to describe both Jehovah God and Jesus Christ. Numerous other evidences for Christ s deity could be given, but neither space nor time allow. The point of this paper, however, is to show that Jesus Christ is not, nor has He ever been, Michael the archangel. The mysteries of the Trinity and Christ s incarnation still remain to be explored, but we can be sure that the conclusion that Jesus and Michael are one in the same is a faulty one. It is sad to see the Jehovah s Witnesses wholeheartedly devoted to a Jesus who only exists in their faulty doctrine.
BIBLIOGRAPHY Geisler, Norman L. Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 1999. Rhodes, Ron. Reasoning from the Scriptures with the Jehovah s Witnesses. Eugene, Oregon: Harvest House Publishers, 1993. Rhodes, Ron. The Ten Most Important Things You Can Say to a Jehovah s Witness. Eugene, Oregon: Harvest House Publishers, 2001. Michael the Great Prince: Who is He? The Watchtower, December 15, 1984. 10