AN/THE ARCHANGEL’S VOICE?
WHY JESUS CANNOT BE MICHAEL!
There are specific groups such as the seventh day Adventists that believe the following passage describes the risen Christ as an archangel:
“But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.” 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
According to these individuals, Jesus’ descent with the voice of an/the archangel is taken to be a reference to Christ himself. I.e., the voice of an/the archangel is none other than Jesus’ own voice. They further infer from their interpretation of this text that Jesus must be Michael since he is the only archangel explicitly mentioned by name in the NT:
“But Michael the archangel, when he, disputing with the devil, was arguing about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a blasphemous judgment, but said, ‘The Lord rebuke you!’” Jude 1:9
In this post I will show that such is not the case and that this is based on a gross misinterpretation of the inspired words of the blessed Apostle.
HOW SHOULD IT BE RENDERED?
To begin with, the interpretation and/or explanation of this passage is not as clear as these groups would have their followers believe. Case in point:
“because the Lord [= Yahweh or Christ] Himself will continue habitually descending (or: repeatedly descend) from [the] atmosphere (or: heaven) within the midst of (or: in union with) a shout of command, within the midst of [the] Chief Agent’s (or:in union with AN original messenger’s or A chief and ruling agent’s) voice, and within the midst of (or: in union with) God’s trumpet [note: figure of a message or a directive for action], and the dead people within Christ (or: in union with [the] Anointed One) will continue raising themselves up first (or: will one-after-another be standing up again in [the or their] first place).” 1 Thessalonians 4:16 Jonathan Mitchell New Testament (JMNT)
As the readers can see it is debated whether the Lord’s descent is accompanied by the voice of AN archangel, or THE archangel since the Greek word for archangel is anarthrous, i.e., it does not have the definite article preceding it. The same is true for the term trumpet, e.g., should it be a or the trumpet of God? More on this latter point later.
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WHY JESUS CANNOT BE MICHAEL!
There are specific groups such as the seventh day Adventists that believe the following passage describes the risen Christ as an archangel:
“But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.” 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
According to these individuals, Jesus’ descent with the voice of an/the archangel is taken to be a reference to Christ himself. I.e., the voice of an/the archangel is none other than Jesus’ own voice. They further infer from their interpretation of this text that Jesus must be Michael since he is the only archangel explicitly mentioned by name in the NT:
“But Michael the archangel, when he, disputing with the devil, was arguing about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a blasphemous judgment, but said, ‘The Lord rebuke you!’” Jude 1:9
In this post I will show that such is not the case and that this is based on a gross misinterpretation of the inspired words of the blessed Apostle.
HOW SHOULD IT BE RENDERED?
To begin with, the interpretation and/or explanation of this passage is not as clear as these groups would have their followers believe. Case in point:
“because the Lord [= Yahweh or Christ] Himself will continue habitually descending (or: repeatedly descend) from [the] atmosphere (or: heaven) within the midst of (or: in union with) a shout of command, within the midst of [the] Chief Agent’s (or:in union with AN original messenger’s or A chief and ruling agent’s) voice, and within the midst of (or: in union with) God’s trumpet [note: figure of a message or a directive for action], and the dead people within Christ (or: in union with [the] Anointed One) will continue raising themselves up first (or: will one-after-another be standing up again in [the or their] first place).” 1 Thessalonians 4:16 Jonathan Mitchell New Testament (JMNT)
As the readers can see it is debated whether the Lord’s descent is accompanied by the voice of AN archangel, or THE archangel since the Greek word for archangel is anarthrous, i.e., it does not have the definite article preceding it. The same is true for the term trumpet, e.g., should it be a or the trumpet of God? More on this latter point later.
AN/THE ARCHANGEL’S VOICE?
WHY JESUS CANNOT BE MICHAEL! There are specific groups such as the seventh day Adventists that believe the following passage describes the risen Christ as an archangel: “But we do not want you to b…
answeringislamblog.wordpress.com
