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Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that Yahushua is Michael the Archangel. I approach this topic with care and respect for those who hold to this doctrine; nevertheless, the aim of this study is to call their attention to the problems that one faces when trying to defend this doctrine.
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There are two main passages in the Bible used to support this doctrine.
1 Thessalonians 4:16: “because the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a commanding call, with an archangel’s voice and with Yahuwah’s trumpet, and those who are dead in union with Christ will rise first” (New World Translation, 2013 revision).
Most of the English translations convey the same meaning as the N.W.T. rendering:
“For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of Yahuwah, and the dead in Christ will rise first” (1Thess. 4:16, NIV).
“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of Yahuwah; and the dead in Christ shall rise first” (1Thess 4:16, NAS).
Here they argue that since the Lord (Yahushua) is coming down with the voice of an archangel, and the word archangel appears in singular form, and is attributed to Michael (Jude 1:9), then we should assume that Yahushua and Michael are the same person. The problem is that not all translations render this passage the same way, for example:
“At the signal given by the voice of the Archangel and the trumpet of Yahuwah, the Lord himself will come down from heaven; those who have died in Christ will be the first to rise” (1Thess. 4:16, NJB).
“For the lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the cry of the accompanying archangel, and with the blast of Yahuwah’s trumpet, and those who died in Messiah will rise from dead first” (1 Thess. 4:16, One Yahuwah the Father Translation)
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Even if the N.W.T gave us the best rendering, they still have a hard time explaining passages in the book of Hebrews that upset the idea of Yahushua being an angel:
“And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Heb. 1:3, NAS).
“For to which of the angels did He ever say, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You’? And again, ‘I will be a Father to Him and He shall be a Son to Me’? And when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says, ‘And let all the angels of Yahuwah worship Him’” (Heb. 1:5-6, NAU)
“For example, to which one of the angels did Yahuwah ever say: ‘You are my son; today I have become your father’? And again: ‘I will become his father, and he will become my son’? But when he again brings his Firstborn into the inhabited earth, he says: ‘And let all of Yahuwah’s angels do obeisance to him’” (N.W.T., 2013 revision).
We see from Hebrews 1:5 that Yahuwah never said to any angel, “You are My Son, today I have begotten you,” but Yahuwah said it to Yahushua.
The JW’s also assert in their publication Reasoning from the Scriptures, under the topic “Yahushua Christ,” that Yahushua was known by the name Michael before coming to earth, and is also known by the name Michael since he returned to heaven, but they never quote a verse to support their claim:
“So the evidence indicates that the Son of Yahuwah was known as Michael before he came to earth and is known also by that name since his return to heaven where he resides as the glorified spirit Son of Yahuwah” (Reasoning from the Scriptures, p. 218-219).
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In terms of names being exalted, the name Michael is never mentioned; rather the name Yahushua is clearly exalted:
“Therefore also Yahuwah highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Yahushua every knee should bow, of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Yahushua Christ is Lord, to the glory of Yahuwah the Father” (Phil. 2:9-11, NAS).
“Now at that time Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people, will arise. And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time; and at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued” (Dan. 12:1, NAS).
In this passage Michael is called “the great prince.” Elsewhere he is called “one of the chief princes” (Dan. 10:13), suggesting that there’s more like him. This immediately refutes the singularity that the J.W.’s imply in Michael.
There’s another important factor to mention, which is the origin of Yahushua. In the gospels of Mathew (1:16) and Luke (3:23-38), the Evangelists give us an entire genealogy to show us Yahushua’ beginning. This then upsets the idea of Yahushua being a pre-existing angel in heaven.
“And the angel answered and said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy offspring shall be called the Son of Yahuwah’” (Luke 1:35, NAS).
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Finally we should point out the huge mistake that the JW’ s make associating Yahushua and Michael in their N.W.T. (2013 revision), refuting their entire doctrine. They link Luke 10:18 to Revelation 12:7-9. In Luke Yahushua says that he sees Satan already fallen like lightning from heaven:
“At that he said to them: ‘I see Satan already fallen like lightning from heaven’” (Luke 10:18, N.W.T. 2013 revision).
The word “fallen” has a cross reference to Revelation 12:7-9, where Michael is fighting the Devil and casts him down to earth:
“And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels battled with the dragon, and the dragon and its angels battled but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them any longer in heaven. So down the great dragon was hurled, the original serpent, the one called Devil and Satan, who is misleading the entire inhabited earth; he was hurled down to the earth, and his angels were hurled down with him” (Rev. 12:7-9, N.W.T 2013 revision).
We can then assert from their connection that since Yahushua is on earth seeing the Devil being cast out by Michael in heaven, they cannot be the same person at two different events and places at the same time.