Caller: I have a question about I Thessalonians 4:16, about the voice of the Archangel. It reads: the Lord shall descend from heaven Himself with the voice of the Archangel, with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. And that resembles St. John 5:25 where the Lord says: Verily, verily, I say unto you that the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God and they that hear shall live. Is the voice of the Son of God the voice of the Archangel?
Pastor Doug: Yes and no. The Bible is telling us—first of all, let me do a little study on the Archangel. Michael, the Archangel, is another title for Jesus. Now before anyone turns their radio station, let me explain that. Some people are shocked to discover that but there’s a lot of Bible support for it. I’m not saying that Jesus is an angel. The word ‘angel’ is used many ways in the Bible. King David was called an angel and he was a human.
An angel means ‘a messenger’. Cherubim and seraphim are specific creatures that we often call angels. Michael, the Archangel, is a title for the highest messenger who is as God. That’s what that means. When it says, the Lord Himself comes down from heaven with the voice of the Archangel it means the Lord comes with the voice of the greatest messenger. Directly from the Greek, that’s what it’s saying. And if you go to Daniel 12:1 it says: At that time shall Michael stand up, the great Prince that stands for the children of thy people.
Caller: So He’s the Chief Prince also?
Pastor Doug: Yes, well, King of Kings.
Caller: When Daniel had that vision, Gabriel referred to Him as the Chief Prince, and I know that the Lord Jesus is the Prince of Peace, but then the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost—there’s three Princes possibly?
Pastor Doug: I wouldn’t take it that far. I’m simply saying that Christ is that great messenger. One of His names is Michael. For instance, the Bible says that Jacob wrestled with an Angel, and then later it says he wrestled with the Lord. Well, he wrestled with Christ. Jesus was the one. One reason I know that is that the Bible says No man has seen the Father at any time. So if Jacob saw the Lord he must have seen God the Son, and that would be Jesus. The Bible tells us that Michael is the one who resurrected Moses in the Book of Jude. So if He’s the resurrection and He’s raising the dead when He comes down from heaven, Michael the Archangel is another title for Christ.