(Ver 1.1)  I occasionally answer Bible questions.  If you have Bible questions you are free to leave them as a comment and I will get to them as I have the time.  In today’s subject I was specifically asked by a reader what my views were on the Arc-Angel Michael being the pre-existent Jesus.  This was a very strange question that I almost ignored.  However, I can see the reason behind the question and the harm that this issue raises, so I will address it in a quick Holy Spirit led Bible Response.   I will state plainly upfront that the main reason for addressing this subject is because it is a false teaching that promotes the lies of Satan.  Any subject that is a lie from Satan can always be countered with the Truth of God’s Word.   Clearly Satan is going to great extents to discredit the true identity of Jesus.   Rather than teach you directly about the lie, I would rather spend my time teaching you the truth found in the Bible.  In order to do this we need to address 9 basic questions:

1. Do angels have pre-existence or are they created beings?
2. How is Michael described in the Bible?
3. Is Michael an angel or a divine component of the Godhead?
4. Did Michael exist prior to Jesus’ birth?
5. Does Michael still exist after the birth of Jesus on the earth?
6. What “was”, “is” and “will be” Michael’s role in the Kingdom of God?
7. Is Jesus ever directly connected in identity to the angel Michael in the Bible?
8. Who did Jesus actually claim to be?
9. Is Jesus a direct component of the divine nature of the Godhead?

I will at least briefly touch on the answers to every one of these essential questions in this lesson.  These questions will be my outline for the lesson so you will know where we are going before we get there.  Let me give you my opening verse for this entire Bible lesson.  This verse has nothing directly to do with the subject of Michael but then it also has everything directly to do with the subject of who Jesus Christ is.  Read and study it closely:

1Jn 2:22  Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.

We should be able to see from this statement that the anti-Christ will be the one that comes denying that Jesus is the Christ.  He further goes to explain that the anti-Christ will also be the one that denies the existence of either the Father or the Son.  Either denial constitutes an anti-Christ spiritual teaching of perversion.  Why is it important for someone to affirm Jesus the Son’s existence?  Why is it important to affirm God the Father’s existence?  Both positions are placed on the same equal footing.  Both are given equal levels of importance.  Do you understand that if you deny one but not the other that you still remain an anti-Christ?  You cannot proclaim God is Father and deny Jesus is His Son because you have reduced the importance of Jesus while exalting the importance of God.  A partial lie is usually a harder deception to detect than a full complete lie.  In this verse God just clearly made Jesus the Son the equivalent to God the Father in importance and significance.   In this lesson we will discover why it is essential for every true Christian to know who the real Son is.

I believe that you will find that this teaching of Michael being a pre-existent Jesus originated from the Jehovah Witness group.  I believe that many in this organization are teaching that Jesus existed in heaven previously before coming to the earth in the form of the angel Michael.  This teaching would clearly lower Jesus to a distinct inferior level far below the level of the divine.  This teaching reduces Jesus status, character and ability to the inferior position of all angels and all other created beings.  Thus we have the first potential contradiction to my introductory subject verse that clearly places Jesus the Son on the same plain and level as the divine Father God.   This stated teaching position that reduces Christ from being deity, clearly places the Jehovah Witness group in the category that God calls the “anti-Christ” denying the Son’s equivalence.  That is potentially not a good group to be associated with by God’s definition.   Do you see the importance of not denying who Jesus was and is?  This is actually getting to be a very prevalent false teaching today because it keeps people from being saved.  If people deny that Jesus is the Christ, they cannot be saved.  If Jesus was just an angel or a normal man like you or I then we have no basis for our salvation.   Salvation is dependent upon believing correctly the truth and I really do not care what other religious people try to teach.  If anyone can get to heaven by believing anything that they want then Jesus was a liar.  Jesus very clearly said “I am the only way to the Father” (John 14:6).  Therefore, what you believe about Jesus matters very much.

The Jews today believe that God had no son. Therefore, they deny the Christ.  Islam today teaches and believes that God had no son.  So they categorically deny that Jesus was the Christ.  What we can clearly observe is a pattern of deception occurring.  This pattern of opposition represents a thread of lies that crosses boundaries between even opposing religions.  Both Judaism and Islam clearly teach and deny that God had no Son.  Now we can see this same erroneous religious philosophy corrupting modern church teachings and churches in a similar way.  The denial of the existence of the Son has now started to creep into churches.  How does one lie cross so easily between such diverse religions?  It would seem to me that there is an outside force that is prompting these separate lies of deception to be taught.   I believe that this outside force is the father of lies called Satan.  You need to ask yourself, why does Satan want people to not believe in the true identity of the Son of God?  Why is it important for people not to know the actual character, nature and origin of the man Jesus Christ?  This knowledge should peak your interest enough to find the answers because your eternal destiny rests upon you knowing the truth.   Don’t believe me?  Who then saved you?  Did an angel save you?  Did a man like Muhammad save you?  Who is your faith placed in to save you?  If it is not God then you have been deceived.

I believe that there should never be any direct connections of equivalence made between any created beings and any divine being.  We cannot lower the divine down or raise the created up to make them equal.  When anyone makes the statement that Jesus pre-existed in heaven in the form of Michael a potential angel they are lowering Jesus’ true divine position and claiming Him to be the equivalent to any other created being.  When they try to teach that Jesus is God today but before becoming a man he was Michael the potential angel, then they are raising Michael from the lower level of a created being to the level of the divine.  Either position is a corruption of the truth.  Any corruption of truth is a potential poison that may kill you.  I believe that where the confusion originated is when God the eternal divine chose by His will to be made mortal flesh and thus divine God joined Himself to His creation in a brand new manifested form.  This single act of God the divine was not expected by Satan and it seals the fate of Satan and this is why he fights it with all of his might to deny that it even occurred.   However, God by His own sovereign will did this for a very specific cause and purpose that I will not be able to fully address today in this lesson.

THE ORIGIN OF THE ANGELIC CLASS OF BEINGS

Let’s begin by researching and considering the origin of angels.  We should know from Bible study that there are only a few named angelic beings revealed to us in the Bible.  I did a more complete study of the subject of angels called “Understanding Angels” if you want to study this subject in more depth than I can spend today in this single lesson.  The three primary named angels are Lucifer, Michael and Gabriel.  These three angels each held special high roles in the organized structure of heaven.  I personally believe that each of these angels has at least some sub-ordinate angels under their authority and command.  However, I believe if you study the subject out you have to conclude that the angel Gabriel is not as strong of an angel power as either Michael or Lucifer.  We may look at this later.  However, ask the question, where did angels come from?  Are angels an eternal divine being like the divine God or do angels have a creation point where they first originated.

Eze 28:13  Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.

Eze 28:14  Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.

Eze 28:15  Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.

Reading these verses we can clearly see that God reveals the creation of the angel Lucifer.  The Hebrew word translated as “created” here is the exact same word used by God in Genesis 1:1 when God says He created the heavens and the earth in the beginning.  Therefore, we have a one for one word match that Lucifer the angel was also a created being with a stated beginning. I have to conclude just by this information that if one angel was created then every angel was also created.  This would certainly include Michael if he is an angel.  Therefore, ALL angels had an origination point with no status of pre-existence before being created.  Anything created must come from a creator outside of the realm of the creation.  This is just very basic self-evident logic observed all around us.  We understand when we see an automobile or building that someone apart from the automobile and building created them.  According to the Bible God is the only eternal being with no stated beginning and no end.  Therefore, God is the only qualified individual to begin or create anything with an origination point.   Do you understand this logic so far?

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE REVEAL ABOUT MICHAEL?

Let’s counter the false conclusion that Michael and Jesus are the same individuals using the information revealed to us in the Word of God.  This belief would either reduce Jesus to a created being class with no pre-existence the same as Lucifer or it would raise Michael to be an eternal being in the divine class and we are beginning to see that this is not true but we need more Bible evidence to prove it.  Clearly if Jesus is reduced to a created being the argument position fails the initial verse test that places Jesus the Son on the equivalent level as God the Father.  Let’s do a further analysis of the limited information given to us about the being Michael in the Bible.  I’ll start by going to the last mention of Michael in the Bible and then working backwards through the Bible:

Rev 12:7  And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,

Rev 12:8  And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.

Rev 12:9  And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

Here what we have is a stated future war being described to us that takes place in the spiritual realm of heaven between Satan and his angels and Michael and his angels.  It is very important to note three things in this description; the timing of the event, the location of the event and then the participants of the event.  We should be able to clearly see that this event is a future tense subject by backing up and reading the scripture in Revelation chapter 4 and verse 1.   We then should be able to clearly observe that this described event takes place in heaven (a spiritual dimension) and not here on the earth (a physical dimension).  Finally, we can see two opposing forces that are in conflict against each other.  One force is directed by Satan a created being and the other force is directed by Michael.  Therefore I have concluded from this information that Michael still exists in this future event description and this was written well after Jesus was raised from the dead and had ascended back into heaven in Acts 1.  Uh oh?  I think I can see a problem conflict coming.  Do you see it?  Are there two different individuals now?  One is called Jesus and one is called Michael?  What I can observe is that if Michael was the preexistence of Jesus then Michael should have ceased to exist when Jesus was manifested yet we see Michael still mentioned after Jesus was raised back into heaven.  Is Jesus now become Michael again?  Or are there two separate individuals with one named Michael and one named Jesus?

We find by continuing to read in Revelation that Michael and his angels prevail against Satan and his angels and that Satan and his angels are then cast back down to the earth in verse 9.   Here we have the confirmation of strength difference between angelic beings.  If Satan was stronger than Michael, then Satan would prevail but that is not the stated pattern that is revealed to us in the Bible.  Michael is clearly the winner in every confrontation with Satan, but we should note that both leaders have angels that are subordinate to them.  This is a verse that could imply Michael to be Jesus or equivalent to Jesus but that is a weak erroneous assumption that falls apart by further Bible study and analysis.

The being Michael is only directly named in 5 verses of the Bible.  Three times in the book of Daniel, once in the book of Jude and this verse here in Revelation 12 that we have just looked into.  Therefore we can only read a limited set of information given about this being and draw from them whatever facts are given to us.  We also need to be smart enough to not jump to any erroneous conclusions from the provided information that is not being directly revealed.   I personally believe that God provides us sufficient information to find the truth of Michael and Jesus and we will only come to one conclusion as we continue to explore all of the information provided.

I selected this verse in Revelation to study first because this verse helps us to begin to prove that Michael is not Jesus and that Jesus is not Michael.  Nowhere in the Bible is Jesus connected to be Michael.  They are always separate distinct named individuals.  These verses in Revelation 12 are speaking of Michael as a future heavenly warrior after the physical birth, life, death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ being taken back to heaven in Acts 1.  Thus we can easily conclude that the being Michael still exists even after God became a man in his son Jesus Christ.

God very clearly describes and names Jesus as being in heaven in 12 different verses in Revelation.  In 27 other verses in Revelation we find Jesus being titled the “Lamb” and these references are also directed as Him being in heaven.  Nowhere in the Bible is Michael ever called the Lamb, associated to be the Lamb or even close to becoming the lamb.   I believe that it is technically and logically impossible for Michael and Jesus to be both mentioned in a future prophecy book using two different names at the same time if they are the same individual.  That would make Jesus a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde; one man with two personalities and that is another contradiction with scripture that teaches us “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today and forever” (Heb 13:8).  God would not name the same individual with the name Jesus and the name Michael in the same book of the Bible.  Let’s read quickly the previous found Bible reference of Michael in Jude:

Jud 1:9  Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.

Michael is clearly revealed to be an “archangel” in this verse.  An archangel is a specific class of angelic beings which are of a higher order of responsibility than other angels.  What we have just accomplished is that we have determined proof that God in the Bible calls Michael an angel and not a divine being.  This makes Michael in the same class as Lucifer and helps us confirm that Michael was also a created being.  Here in this verse we can clearly see that Michael was in another dispute with the angel Satan over the body of Moses.  This is just a continuation of a pattern. Then notice what Michael says to Satan!  The archangel Michael says “The Lord rebuke you”.   That statement proves that Michael is not the “Lord”.  Uh oh?  That must be a new problem for anyone that says the Lord Jesus was a pre-existent Michael!   If the Lord Jesus was Michael, he would have simply said “I rebuke you” and that would have been all of that conversation and Michael would have revealed to everyone that he was the Lord.  I believe that we have just proven that Michael cannot be the Lord Jesus with this single verse and the previous one given to us in Revelation.  However, let’s look at another important verse found in the book of Daniel about this individual named Michael:

Dan 10:13  But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia.

Ok, here is another very interesting verse of truth containing more important facts about the identity and nature of the archangel Michael.  We find that the angel Gabriel is speaking to the prophet Daniel and he says the angel Michael came to help him to get through to defeat Satan in order to be present in this conversation.  This older spiritual war took place over a time period of 21 days in duration hundreds of years before Jesus was born on the earth.  Did you notice what this verse says about the named angel Michael?  Michael is very clearly described to be ONE of other unnamed “chief princes”.  We are not given the number of “chief princes” that were created but there is definitely more than one of them.  A chief prince denotes a type of ruler authority and means that there are sub-ordinate beings or princes under his command.  It also literally means that Michael is just ONE of these “chief princes” and I believe that this causes great difficulty of conflict if only one of these chief princes became the incarnate man Jesus.  What happened to all of the others and why were they not selected?  What God has just revealed about the angel Michael is that he is not a unique being.  What have we just learned from these three verses about Michael?  Here is a quick review of the basic facts:

1. Michael existed prior to the birth of Jesus found in the book of Daniel.
2. Michael was warring with Satan in the book of Daniel to help the angel Gabriel reach his destiny here on the earth.
3. Michael still exists after Jesus was born, died and was resurrected back to heaven according to Revelation 12.
4. Michael is still a warrior angel in Revelation 12 continuing to battle Satan.
5. Michael is nothing but a created archangel according to Jude.
6. Michael by his own confession says that he is not the “Lord” according to Jude.
7. Michael is clearly stated to be just one of other “chief princes” making him non-unique and no more special than any other created angel according to Daniel.  I believe that this does not make Michael special enough to die to take away our sins.

How can you from these facts given to us conclude that Michael is the pre-existed Lord Jesus Christ?  I honestly do not have a clue how this teaching can be considered legitimate using these basic Bible facts.   Why, is the Lord Jesus Christ called the “KING of kings and the LORD of lords” (Rev 19:6)?   It is simply to inform you that Jesus is not one “chief prince” of many but is rather the ONE LORD and KING of all.   If Michael was the Lord, he would have said to Satan “I rebuke you” and not “The Lord rebuke you”.  This is just so elementary that I don’t know why people are missing it.

WHO DOES THE BIBLE SAY JESUS WAS?

Who was Jesus?  Who did Jesus claim to be?  Did Jesus ever claim to be an angel?  What does the Bible reveal about Jesus to us?  Did Jesus ever claim to originate from Michael?  If you do not know it yet, Jesus was the eternal God coming personally to the earth in the flesh to die for your sins.   This is why Satan wants to discredit His identity.   Here are some quick verses to help establish this essential truth:

Mat 1:23  Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

Here is a very basic divine truth that needs to be established firmly in your heart.  The angel announces to us that a virgin shall conceive and bring forth a child and His name shall be called “Emmanuel”.  Emmanuel is a Hebrew name for the coming prophesied child that literally means “God with us”.   What is being described to us in this name definition is that the eternal Spirit of God will come and manifest physically in human form to be observed firsthand by His own creation.  The creation of God will for the first time be able to naturally observe their creator.  Jesus will be the full manifestation of the combined Spiritual divine Godhead united with His created natural mortal man.  Jesus Christ will be 100% God and 100% a man.  There is no angel Michael in this work mentioned.  The definition given to us from the name “Emmanuel” is simply that God will appear in the form of a man.  Jesus would have been given a different name if it was “Michael with us”.   Did you know that what a name means in the Bible is always important to God?  God conceals important items of truth in the names of many people found in the Bible.  If you don’t believe me then you need to go study the genealogy found in Genesis 5.  The meanings of each of the names from Adam to Noah teach the complete plan of salvation of God.  Every name has a purpose and teaches us something.  For example the name Michael means “Who is like God”.  That name teaches us that Michael is not God but rather a reflection of someone asking about Him or observing Him.   Take the name “Israel” as a direct contrast to the name “Michael”.  Both names contain the same Hebrew root word “el” which is translated as a “God”.  However it is the other root words combined with this word that makes them so different.   Do you know what the name “Israel” means?   The name “Israel” means “He will rule as God” and that informs us who Israel really is.   Israel is not just the name of a natural nation of people on the earth but according to the Bible it was a name of their God.  It is clear to me that whoever possesses the name “Israel” will be the God divine ruler.   I don’t have time to teach that but know the facts and understand that Bible names have meanings and that these meanings teach important messages.

I am going through the verses that declare Jesus to be God.  We just looked at the verse in Matthew where Jesus was named “Emmanuel” and discovered what it meant.    Let me give you other verses that say the same thing using different word descriptions.  Read these important facts closely:

Joh 1:1  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Joh 1:2  The same was in the beginning with God.

Joh 1:3  All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

In the beginning was the Word.  God initiates the book of John with words that parallel Genesis 1:1.   God basically connects Genesis 1:1 and John 1:1 together by His specific word selection.  God is giving his commentary on the Genesis 1:1 creation using new descriptions.  Here God says that the Word existed eternally and equally with God.  This Word being described here in John 1:1 was clearly God.  What we are observing is another parallel verse to my introductory foundation verse from 1 John 2:2.   However, in these verses in John we are seeing that God equates “the Word” to be equal with God and in 1 John 2:2 we saw that the Son was equal with God.  Do you know what that means?  I’ll tell you in minute.

I think we need to establish a basic foundational Christian truth to who this God is being described to us in the Bible.  This God called the Word in John 1:1 is the same as the God described to be a Spirit in John 4:24.   Therefore I believe that this God who is Spirit is the same as this God who is the Word.   Wrap your minds around what is being taught here because it is clearly way beyond normal human imagination.  God is clearly telling us that His Spirit, and His Word and His Son are all equal to one in the same.   How might you ask can I legally arrive at this conclusion?  I am simply using God’s created laws of mathematics and Algebra to facilitate this fact.  What law of mathematics am I speaking of?   There is a very basic law of mathematics that states if A=B and B=C then we know that A=C.  Do you see how I arrived at those statements now and how that they are correct?   We can clearly see if God = Word (John 1:1), God = Son (1 John 2:2) and God = Spirit (John 4:24) that we can apply the laws of mathematics and say that Word = God and Word = Son and Word = Spirit.   I think I probably went over the heads of many readers.  Hang in there if you do not enjoy mathematics like I do.

What we can read in John 1:3 is that God confirms to us that everything created in the beginning was created by the Word of God.  This eternal Word God created all temporary physical space and matter.  Continuing to read down in the first chapter of John you get to the confirmation of the identity of Jesus:

Joh 1:14  And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

This verse is very clear with the identity of Jesus as the Word God who is also Spirit.  Jesus was the stated Word/Spirit and He was made flesh for our benefit.  This is simply another way to say “Emmanuel” or God with us.   John writes that because God became flesh that we were able to behold (see, observe) His glory.  This was the creator God making Himself known in ways that blows the mind of devils, demons and natural men that do not want to believe in the existence of a loving God in the form of a Son.  This was an expression of divine love beyond normal human comprehension.  Why would an all-powerful God that could choose to do anything, choose to humble Himself to become a part of His own creation and walk around as if He was just one of us?

Eph 3:9  And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:

God continues to reveal in this verse that all of creation was performed by Jesus Christ the Word.  This clearly claims that Jesus Christ was the Word of God since God created everything by His Word as we have just seen in John 1:3.  If Jesus was the creator of all things then Jesus pre-existed all creation.  The only way this is possible is if Jesus is divine, eternal and the Lord God.   Notice the word ALL things in John 1:3.  If Jesus was Michael then this would make Michael a non-created being and that belief falls apart quickly.   This would mean Michael created everything and was God and that belief comes short of sound Biblical doctrine immediately just from the verses that we read about Michael.  There are so many contradictions to this teaching that I just can’t give them all to you.  But we will continue with a few more important verses of confirmation to the identity of Jesus:

Rev 19:11  And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.

Rev 19:12  His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.

Rev 19:13  And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.

I wanted to include these verses to help confirm who this Jesus is that is coming back to the earth in Revelation and help you see that He is not called Michael but rather in verse 13 He is named the Word of God again.  Who was the Word of God according to John 1:1?  We know the Word of God was God and thus this Word God comes back riding on the white horse to the earth.  There is no connection to Michael being stated here, formerly, presently or in any future tense.

WHO DID JESUS CLAIM TO BE?

Let’s examine who Jesus claimed to be while here on the earth to help prove that Jesus never said that He pre-existed as Michael.  Who did Jesus say was His Father?  Was it ever communicated that Michael was the father of Jesus?  Did Jesus ever claim to pre-exist?  In at least 70 verses in the N.T. Jesus is called the “Son of God”.  Clearly to be called a son means that the man Jesus originated from a source of parental beings.  From reading the Bible we know the physical natural mother of Jesus was named Mary and she is described to be a virgin having never known a man.  The angel appears to her and informs her that she has been favored and she will have a son.  She asks how this is possible and the angel tells her the Holy Spirit will come upon her and she will conceive.  If you do not understand the concepts of the virgin birth you need to read my lesson series on that subject.  I just told you that there are 70 verses that claim Jesus was the Son of God.  We must conclude that the Spirit/Word God became the Father of the man Jesus.  Therefore, the man Jesus was a product of the union between a natural woman’s egg and the Word of God coming from the Spirit that created all of creation with His Word.   Take note that if God can create a natural world by speaking words, it is a very small thing to get a woman pregnant by speaking the same kind of words.  Do you agree?   Let’s take a look at some things that Jesus spoke:

Joh 3:18  He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

Here in this verse Jesus speaking of Himself declares that His father was God.  Jesus claims to be the literal ONLY BEGOTTEN Son of God and that is a very important distinction to understand.  Earlier we saw that Michael was called one of several chief princes.  Clearly Michael was not a unique being.  Here Jesus clearly states that He is completely UNIQUE!  I’m not like Him, you’re not like Him, Satan is not like Him and Michael is not like Him.  Jesus is a one of a kind being God never having done this before.  So please tell me how a non-unique angel name Michael becomes a unique Son of God named Jesus?  Can you even try to make some new lies to explain that?  I pray that you are learning something.

Joh 14:9  Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?

What did Jesus just say in this verse?  Can you see it?  This verse is only understood if you know who Jesus really is.  If Jesus is not God in the flesh then Jesus just lied.  Jesus looked in the faces of His disciples and told them when you have seen me, you have seen my Father.  How can this possibly be if His father is not God and He is not His Father?  Go back to the law of mathematics again.  Jesus just said “Seeing Me = Seeing Jesus”.   Then Jesus literally says “Seeing Jesus = Seeing My Father”.   Therefore Jesus was claiming to be the same creator God in the flesh.  This is not rocket science people, can you see it?  Let me show you some other important verses that Jesus spoke:

Joh 5:17  But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.

Joh 5:18  Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.

Jesus just made a statement to the Jewish leaders and said that what He did was equal to what His Father was working.  Jesus had just healed a man on the Sabbath and this upset the religious minded people significantly.  However, that was not the final straw.  They heard these words that Jesus just spoke and realized that He had just said that He was equal to God and now they really wanted to kill Him.  Did you understand that?   Jesus said literally “My Father Works” and “I Work”.  That is a very clear reference to equality.  You cannot find any verse in the Bible that declares any angel to be equal to God.  That would include Michael, Gabriel and Lucifer and every other unnamed angel.  No angel is an equal to their creator.  Only the creator Himself can be called an equal.  Let’s look at one set of example verses to help confirm what I am teaching:  Look at these two verses very carefully:

Mat 4:6  And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.

Mat 4:7  Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.  

Here in context is Jesus being tempted after being forty days in the wilderness without eating.  The temptations are coming from the angel Lucifer also known as Satan.  The name Satan simply means “adversary”.  So Satan had become the enemy of Jesus.  In verse 6 Satan has just tempted Jesus by asking Him to cast Himself down off of a high place.  It would be like you standing on the rim of the Grand Canyon in Arizona and Satan telling you to jump.  But, did you notice what else was said?   Satan a chief prince said it is written that if you jump “He will give His angels charge over you and in their hands they shall bear you up and save you from the fall”.   Wow that is a strong statement?  Who is the He that will give His angels charge”.  It is not Michael even though Michael has angels under his command.  If Jesus was Michael here His response would have been totally different to this statement.  Did you notice what Jesus said and who Jesus claimed to be here?  Jesus quotes an Old Testament verse that says “Don’t tempt the Lord your God”.  Jesus was looking at the face of Satan saying I am your Lord God, why are you tempting me?  I think that is pretty clear that Jesus is not an angel and never was an angel.   I could just continue with many other verses but I’ll end with this one:

Mat 12:8  For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.

Here we have Jesus personally making another statement about Himself.  Jesus calls Himself the “Son of Man” but then He also follows that name by calling Himself the title of “Lord” and that makes it very clear who He was claiming to be.  Michael is never called Lord by anyone, in fact if you read in Revelation 19:10 when John sees an angel and falls down at his feet the angel rebukes John and tells him not to worship him, because he is a fellow servant with John.  God’s Angels and Christian humans are called “fellow servants”.  What was Michael?   Was Michael not an angel of God’s also?   If Michael is an angel like the Bible says then Michael is a fellow servant with me and not my Lord.   If any angel was ever guilty of calling himself Lord it will be Satan and he will be cast in the lake of fire for his lies.   Only the God in heaven is ever called the Lord hundreds of time in the Bible.   God has no problem with calling Himself LORD as is His right.   This is what Jesus just did with His statement of being the Lord in Matthew 12:8.

Jesus never claimed to be anyone but God.  Jesus never claimed to be a former angel.   Michael never called himself Lord but Jesus clearly called Himself Lord.  Jesus clearly claimed to be unique not conceived like any other human but the Bible says Michael is not a unique being.  Only Jesus can claim to be the “Son of Man” and the “Son of God” and both be true.  I believe I have given sufficient evidence in the Bible to establish that Jesus was not Michael in the pre-incarnation spiritual dimension.  I believe that we can see Jesus and Michael both being mentioned in future prophecy of Revelation and each have their own distinct roles and responsibilities.  Michael is clearly just a warrior angel of God.  He had a spiritual warring role in the book of Daniel to get Gabriel through to the earth with a message and we can see another example of him warring in heaven and casting Satan down to the earth in Revelation 12.  The role of Michael has not changed from Daniel to Revelation.  Michael was created to be an archangel and he has not departed from that role and he will remain in that role.

Can we now agree that Michael is not Jesus?  Can we agree that Jesus is God?  I could have given you many more scriptures but that was long enough for time spent on this type of question.  I have spent two whole days writing this Bible lesson and it took away from what I was working on for a month.  I hope I helped someone to understand the truth of the Bible and may it will help to point others to the one True God Jesus Christ.  I pray that God will continue to bless you, until I get the next lesson completed.