Michael the archangel fighting with the Devil

By John Chopores

Daniel 10:13 "But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; and behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia.

This “prince” of Persia seems to me, to be a spirit being, for how could a mere human stand against an angel on assignment from God? There is a real possibility that this prince could be Satan, the Devil himself.

Daniel 10:21 "But I will tell you what is noted in the Scripture of Truth. (No one upholds me against these, except Michael your prince.

Daniel 12:1 ¶ "At that time Michael shall stand up, The great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people; And there shall be a time of trouble, Such as never was since there was a nation, Even to that time. And at that time your people shall be delivered, Every one who is found written in the book.

We can see from these verses that Michael the archangel is used by God to protect his people.

Jude 1:8 ¶ Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries.

The Greek word used here for “authority” is “kuriotes” which can mean: “the majestic power that the κύριος wields, ruling power, lordship, dominion”^{^[1]}.

The Greek word for “speak evil of” is “blasphemeo” it means: “blaspheme, insult, slander, curse,”^{^[2]}, “to slander, hence to speak lightly or profanely of sacred things”^{^[3]}.

In classical Greek it meant: “to drop evil or profane words, speak lightly or amiss of sacred things, βλ. εἰς θεούς Plat.: to utter ominous words, Aeschin.” ^{^[4]}

The Greek word here used for “dignitaries” is “doxa” , it can mean: “offices and honors, also those who held them) of angelic being … glorious angelic beings.” ^{^[5]}

9 Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!"

We see here, that Michael did not fight the Devil with the Devil’s methods! Cf. 2 Peter 2:11 whereas angels, who are greater in power and might, do not bring a reviling accusation against them before the Lord.

Rev. 12: 10 Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, "Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down.

The Greek word used here for “reviling accusation” is “diabolos”, it means: “devilish, malicious, slanderous” ^{^[6]} “slanderous, accusing falsely”^{^[7]}.

Revelation 12:7 And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought,

8 but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer.

Praise God, Michael and his angels won!

We see from this verse, that both Michael and the Devil, each, have some angels on their side.

^{^[1]}Arndt, W. (1996, c1979). A Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament and other early Christian literature : A translation and adaption of the fourth revised and augmented edition of Walter Bauer's Griechisch-deutsches Worterbuch zu den Schrift en des Neuen Testaments und der ubrigen urchristlichen Literatur (Page 460). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

^{^[2]}Swanson, J. (1997). Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Greek (New Testament). Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

^{^[3]}Thomas, R. L. (1998, 1981). New American Standard Hebrew-Aramaic and Greek dictionaries : Updated edition. Anaheim: Foundation Publications, Inc.

^{^[4]}Liddell, H. (1996). A lexicon : Abridged from Liddell and Scott's Greek-English lexicon (Page 151). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

^{^[5]}Arndt, W. (1996, c1979). A Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament and other early Christian literature : A translation and adaption of the fourth revised and augmented edition of Walter Bauer's Griechisch-deutsches Worterbuch zu den Schrift en des Neuen Testaments und der ubrigen urchristlichen Literatur (Page 204). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

^{^[6]}Swanson, J. (1997). Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Greek (New Testament). Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

^{^[7]}Thomas, R. L. (1998, 1981). New American Standard Hebrew-Aramaic and Greek dictionaries : Updated edition. Anaheim: Foundation Publications, Inc.

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