Is Jesus the same person as Archangel Michael as Seventh Day Adventist claim using Daniel 12 and Revelation 12?

Evidence for Christianity ^ | 3 August 2009 | John Oakes

[Cronos]

Question:

I have come across a statement which a 7^th Day Adventist claims. They say Jesus and the Archangel Michael is one and the same person. Their reading is in Daniel and also revelation with the war in heaven, I think its chapter 12. I find this hard to believe.  What are your views in this?

Answer:

No, Jesus is DEFINITELY not Michael.  I am a bit surprised to hear a 7th Day Adventist making this heretical claim.  This would be no surprise at all coming from a Jehovah’s Witness, as they believe that Jesus is not God, but a very high and powerful angel.  As far as I know the 7th Day Adventists as a group believe that Jesus is God/deity so the typical member of this group should not make such an outrageous claim.

Chapter 12 of Daniel is not good ground for teaching that Jesus is an angel.  It mentions "At that time, Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise."  If you read the book of Daniel in its context, "that time" is a reference to the time when God comes in judgment on the Greek persecutors of the church (see Daniel 11:35-45).  If you are having trouble understanding that this is the context, I suggest you get a copy of my book Daniel, Prophet to the Nations (www.ipibooks.com).

Now, I can see why a Bible student who is somewhat versed in Daniel who has not studied it deeply might make this mistake of interpretation.  Begining in Daniel 12:2, the last vision of Daniel shifts forward to the future–to the final resurrection.  It can be confusing to understand the shift of time frame between Daniel 11 and Daniel 12.

The context of Daniel 11and 12 does not support that Jesus in an angel.  I believe the evidence outside Daniel is much stronger against this heretical conclusion that Jesus is not God.  Hebrews 1:4-14 ought to settle this question.  "So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs."  This entire section proves that Jesus is so vastly greater than the angels that there is really no comparison between him and the angels.  Hebrews 1:1-3 shows that Jesus is God.  No angel is "the radiance of God’s glory."  A general rule of Bible interpretation is that difficult passages ought to be interpreted in the light of clear and obvious passages of scripture.  In other words, even if one were to conclude that it is possible Daniel 12:1 implies Jesus is an angel, one is required to take the entire weight of scripture into account to ask if this really is a reasonable interpretation of this somewhat difficult passage.  The conclusion from the weight of scripture is that, even if one cannot say for sure just from Daniel 12, we can decide from the context of the entire Bible that this conclusion is certainly not a correct one.

There is no indication in Revelation 12 that Jesus is identified with Michael.  I see no basis whatsoever to use Revelation 12 to teach that Jesus is an angel.

[Cronos]

Seventh Day Adventists share this belief (that Jesus is one of the Archangels - Michael in particular) with the Jehovah's witnesses.

The Seventh-day Adventist Church is the largest of several Adventist groups which arose from the Millerite movement of the 1840s in upstate New York, a phase of the Second Great Awakening. William Miller predicted on the basis of Daniel 8:14–16 and the "day-year principle" that Jesus Christ would return to Earth between the spring of 1843 and the spring of 1844. In the summer of 1844, Millerites came to believe that Jesus would return on October 22, 1844, understood to be the biblical Day of Atonement for that year. Miller's failed prediction became known as the "Great Disappointment".

Hiram Edson and other Millerites came to believe that Miller's calculations were correct, but that his interpretation of Daniel 8:14 was flawed as he assumed Christ would come to cleanse the world. These Adventists came to the conviction that Daniel 8:14 foretold Christ's entrance into the Most Holy Place of the heavenly sanctuary rather than his Second Coming. Over the next few decades this understanding of a sanctuary in heaven developed into the doctrine of the investigative judgment, an eschatological process that commenced in 1844, in which every person would be judged to verify their eligibility for salvation and God's justice will be confirmed before the universe. This group of Adventists continued to believe that Christ's Second Coming would continue to be imminent, however they resisted setting further dates for the event, citing Revelation 10:6, "that there should be time no longer."

The Jehovah's Witnesses arose from them as In 1869 Charles Russell viewed a presentation by Advent Christian preacher Jonas Wendell[12][13] (influenced by the Millerites)[14] and soon after began attending an Adventist Bible study group in Allegheny, Pennsylvania led by George Stetson. Russell acknowledged the influence of Adventist ministers including George Storrs, an old acquaintance of William Miller and semi-regular attendee at the Bible study group in Allegheny

[Guenevere]

No

[Cronos]

Strangely enough Daniel chapter 10 refutes the Seventh Day Adventist and Jehovah's witness' allegation that Jesus is the archangel Michal

13 but the prince of the kingdom of Persia[e] stood in my way for twenty-one days, until finally Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me. I left him there with the prince of the kingdom of Persia,

Here Michael is just ONE of the chief princes (i.e. archangels)

then later on

No one supports me against these except Michael, your prince,

- Michael is the angel looking over Israel

[nonsporting]

Hebrews has the obvious answer:

4 having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.

5 For to which of the angels did He ever say:

“You are My Son,
Today I have begotten You”?
And again:

“I will be to Him a Father,
And He shall be to Me a Son”?

6 But when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says:

“Let all the angels of God worship Him.”

7 And of the angels He says:

“Who makes His angels spirits
And His ministers a flame of fire.”

8 But to the Son He says:

“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever;

Hebrews 1:4-8

God the Father calls Jesus the Son, "God".

God the Son is not an angel.

[RinaseaofDs]

Outstanding post.

[Candor7]

Why not ask St. Michael himself?

Apparently he manifests when properly called.

See:

https://www.wikihow.com/Work-With-Archangel-Michael

Follow the instructions.

[sauropod]

Mark

[Tell It Right]

I never tried to link Michael with Jesus.

But as far as the timeline in Daniel 12 goes, I always put it side-by-side with Revelation 11. Revelation 11 seems to be a repeat of Daniel 12 with a few different details.

[sauropod]

Why is this website advocating praying to an angel?

[Candor7]

Why is this website advocating praying to an angel?>>

I dunno.

But I am guessing if you need to talk to someone, you need to pick up a phone and dial the number.

[texanyankee]

What & where is the alleged statement that Adventists have made?

Reference?

[AndyTheBear]

There is an unfortunately arbitrary chapter break between Daniel 11 and 12 in the middle of a prophecy right before Michael is mentioned as a rising Prince at the very start of Chapter 12. If one starts reading right at Chapter 12, they may think that this prophecy starts there and Michael seems a lot more important than he does if you read the prophecy from the start.

[Bayard]

Oh look its Arianism revisited.

Jesus not being God, but just a creation of God like the Angels.

He therefore has no absolute power to save, because the redemptive value of his self-sacrifice is not that of God himself.

Ergo, Arians are not saved.

[SouthernClaire]

What a horrible thing to do. Is this what you do with all who disagree with you?

After this public bitch slapping, I fear that he may always have a reserve when conversing with Christians trying to get him to see the light.

Thanks for putting all your Christian charity out there for the world to see.

I believe “guile” is the word I’m looking for.

Well done, Cronos. Well done.

[Cronos]

Neither did I - so I was amazed that Adventists think that Jesus is an angel!

[SouthernClaire]

P.S. Your beliefs aren’t “all that” either.

[Cronos]

“Arians are not saved.”

Yes, Jehovah’s Witnesses and Adventists

[Cronos]

you can read their website. I didn’t know they believed Jesus and Michael were the same person

[Cronos]

bitch-slapping? This is bringing forward something that most people may not know and is interesting about their reasoning. It’s like learning about why the Mandaeans believe what they believe

[SouthernClaire]

Right. Others not privy to the thread may fall for that. Coy.

I know what it is and you know what it is.