the word Archangel derives from the Greek language and is a word composed of aren which means kandare and Angelos which means messenger so the archangels are those in leading positions and command the other Angels while ordinary Angels take care of the individual archangels like Gabriel carry command of God's far-reaching decisions for entire peoples or communities many believe there are seven archangels so it says in Revelations 8: 2 and I saw that seven angels stood before God Seven trumpets were given to them the archangels are the Angels who stand before God however only two are actually
known by name in the Christian Bible Michael meaning who is like God Gabriel signifying God's power the Christian Church mainly focuses on and acknowledges the existence of only the named archangel angs in the Protestant Bible which we pull our source material from this clarification is important because some historical texts have referenced the others by name as mentioned in the Book of Enoch including Raphael Angels Uriel raguel seriel and fuel nevertheless the Protestant Christian Church saw it as essential to discourage arbitrary interpretations of non-canonical texts as some of these books contradict the teachings of the Holy
Scripture historically even within the early church substantial Endeavors were undertaken to thwart the rise of the cult of angels and Angel worship as they bore the influence of unorthodox customs and hearkened back to Pagan Traditions centered around Celestial and divine Messengers with the concern of it evolving into a manifestation of idolatry now that we have that out of the way let's dive into the two arch Angels mentioned in the Holy Bible but first what are angels the reality of angels constitutes a fundamental element of Faith their unequivocal presence in the Bible stands as irrefutable evidence
of this belief these Spiritual Beings were fashioned by God at the Inception of time to serve as his Messengers and servants they have eternally beheld the countenance of God and stand ever ready to promptly heed his commands acting as devoted listeners and executors of his Divine word as such they are spiritual entities existing for God yet they also maintain a profound connection with Humanity through the alignment between the will of the almighty and his Creations Angels therefore reside in Perpetual contemplation of God and carry out his directives as his Messengers it is quite interesting that
in the Book of Job 1:6 God called the angels to come present themselves to him and among them was an unexpected figure Satan we do know Satan AKA Lucifer is a fallen angel but many are perplexed as to how and why he had access to the Divine Court who are the arch angels from time immemorial we have held the belief that the Angelic Legions are structured within a Heavenly Court wherein Angels possess varying ranks and bestowed Graces within this Angelic hierarchy the archangels occupy the loftiest positions while their responsibilities mirror those of the ordinary angels
to some extent their duties are more elevated and Paramount they are charged with the Perpetual contemplation of God offering ceaseless Praise by safeguarding and upholding his enigmatic Essence their very names inherently convey their roles and Essence as each concludes with L as in Michael and Gabriel a symbol denoting God what do the angels look like the Bible does not provide a clear depiction of the image of angels however Servants of God such as Ezekiel were granted glimpses of heaven and witnessed four living beings stationed around the Throne of God in Ezekiel 1 he described their
appearance as resembling coals of fire characterized by rapid lightning like movements wings that sounded like Rushing Water and coordinated actions akin to an Army's disciplined March some gospel scholars believe those to be angels as we see in scripture angels can sometimes appear as humans to the point where we may not even recognize that we are interacting with an angel Daniel gave an account of what the Archangel Gabriel looked like when he visited him Daniel 10 5 reads I lifted my eyes and looked and behold a certain man clothed in linen whose waist was girded with
gold of uphaz his body was like Barrel his face like the appearance of lightning his eyes like torches of fire his arms and feet like burnished Bronze in color and the sound of his words like the voice of a multitude in numbers 22:23 the donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand thus the donkey turned off the road and went into the field and balum struck the donkey to turn it back onto the road in this passage we see that balum didn't see the angel meaning
angels can also be invisible most of us do not know that angels in the Bible most likely do not look like what our imaginations perceive nor do they appear as our media would have us believe let's now dive into to the two archangels mentioned by name in the Bible Archangel Michael Michael's presence can be found in the Holy scriptures notably within the Book of Daniel and others his name Mikael originates from Hebrew signifying who is like God in popular depictions he is portrayed as a warrior clad in armor brandishing a sword or Poise to confront
a dragon a symbol of the Devil with a spear this representation mirrors Michael's role as a valiant combatant against the rebel Angels led by Lucifer Once Upon a time Michael and Lucifer served as the most shining among the Angels the strongest the bravest and the closest to God Michael is the commander of the Angelic hosts and led the Heavenly angels in the conflict that resulted in the expulsion of the rebellious angels from Heaven along with their leader Lucifer sending them to Hell Revelation 12: 7 to8 says then a war broke out in the sky Michael
and his angels fought against the Dragon the dragon Lucifer fought together with his angels but they did not Prevail and there was no more room for them in heaven following Lucifer's betrayal and Rebellion Michael has remained steadfast as God's defender against evil and its deceptions the battlegr for this ongoing battle has shifted from Heaven forbidden to Satan to The Souls of humanity these souls are incessantly lured by the Temptations of evil constantly provoked to rebel against God the devil seeks to persuade humans that God is a tyrant imposing limitations on their freedom and hindering their
complete self-fulfillment within the created World in response the Archangel Michael is dispatched from Heaven to safeguard and guide Humanity helping them to differentiate between good and evil truth and falsehood another instance where Archangel Michael faced the devil was was in a dispute over Moses's body in Jude 1:9 which reads but even the Archangel Michael when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses did not himself dare to condemn him for slander but said the Lord rebuke you the point Jude is making is that even an archangel like Michael when facing the devil
did not arrogantly condemn or rebuke the devil in his own authority but instead deferred to the ultimate authority of the Lord Joshua is also o believed to have encountered the Archangel Michael in Joshua 5: 13-15 which reads now when Joshua was near Jericho he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand Joshua went up to him and asked are you for us or for our enemies neither he replied but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come then Joshua fell face down
to the ground grounded in reverence and asked him what message does my Lord have for his servant the commander of the Lord's army replied take off your sandals for the place where you are standing is Holy and Joshua did so the one time we read about the two mentioned archangels working together was in The Book of Daniel Daniel 10:13 reads but the prince of the kingdom of Persia with stod me 1 and 12 days but Michael one of the chief princes came to help me and I remained there with the kings of Persia this verse
is part of a larger narrative in the Book of Daniel In this passage the Prophet Daniel had been fasting praying and seeking understanding from God during this time he had a vision of a glorious figure an Angelic being who came to him with a message this Angel is believed to be Archangel Gabriel whom we will discuss shortly Gabriel revealed that he had been dispatched to bring understanding to Daniel from God from the moment he began to pray however he had been delayed for 21 days because he had encountered resistance from the prince of the kingdom
of Persia in this context the prince of the kingdom of Persia is often interpreted as a powerful spiritual being possibly a fallen angel or a demonic Force who opposed the Angel's Mission this resistance prevented Angel Gabriel from reaching Daniel promptly what makes this passage particularly interesting is the mention of Archangel Michael described as one of the chief princes who came to the aid of Gabriel facing opposition angels are sometimes referred to as princes in the Bible so Michael the Angelic military leader came to Gabriel's intervention and helped Gabriel break through the resistance and deliver the
message to Daniel part of the message Gabriel deliv delivered to Daniel Reeds at that time shall arise Michael the great prince who has charge of your people and there shall be a time of trouble such as never has been since there was a nation till that time but at that time your people shall be delivered again Michael the Angelic Warrior and protector to the rescue after delivering the message to Daniel Angel Gabriel goes further to say in Daniel 10: 20- 21 so he said do you know why I have come to you soon I will
return to fight against the Prince of Persia and when I go the prince of Greece will come but first I will tell you what is written in the book of Truth No One supports me against them except Michael your prince Gabriel tells Daniel that on the way back he will continue the battle against the Prince of Persia the angel also foretells that after his confrontation with the Prince of Persia the prince of Greece will come another powerful spiritual adversary Gabriel tells Daniel not to worry and that his support in these spiritual battles comes from Michael
who is referred to as your prince lastly in John's Revelations about the end times as described in Revelations 20 John writes then I saw an angel coming down from heaven holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain and he seized the dragon that ancient serpent who is the devil and Satan and bound him for a thousand years and threw him into the pit and shut it and sealed it over him so that he might not deceive the Nations any longer until the thousand years were over based on all we
know thus far about Archangel Michael many believe this Angel to be him this shows you how powerful an Angelic Warrior Archangel Michael is Archangel Gabriel his name has its origin in Hebrew signifying power of God or God is mighty within the Christian tradition Gabriel holds a distinct role as a messenger according to Bible the Archangel Gabriel is the messenger Angel who appeared to people in the Old Testament and the New Testament on many different occasions Angel Gabriel makes God's message understandable to people and helps them to accept it with a pure heart in some appearances
Gabriel is mentioned by name and on other occasions he is thought to be the unnamed Angel who appeared and made announcements to Moses to the Shepherds at jesus' Birth to the m bearing women approaching jesus' tomb and to Jesus in The Garden of Gethsemane to strengthen him it is said that Gabriel taught the prophet Moses in the wilderness in order to write the Book of Genesis and he revealed the coming of the Savior to the Prophet Daniel The Book of Daniel presents one of the earliest appearances of Archangel Gabriel in Daniel 8: 15-19 and Daniel
9: 20-23 Gabriel is sent to Daniel to interpret his visions and provide insights into God's divine plan in these passages Gabriel serves as an Angelic interpreter helping Daniel understand the prophetic and apocalyptic Visions he has received in the Gospel of Luke Gabriel appears to the priest Zechariah while he is per performing his duties in the temple Gabriel informed Zechariah that his wife Elizabeth will conceive a son John the Baptist despite her old age zechariah's initial disbelief leads to Temporary muteness and he remains silent until the birth of his son this event is significant as it
announces the birth of John the Baptist who prepares the way for the ministry of Jesus perhaps the most famous appearance of Archangel Gabriel is in the anunciation to the the Virgin Mary in this profound encounter Gabriel delivers the Divine message that Mary will conceive a child Jesus by the Holy Spirit the Angel's words the holy spirit will come upon you and the power of the most high will overshadow you signify the miraculous conception of the Savior Mary's acceptance of this message is a testament to her faith and her integral role in God's Redemptive plan he
also appeared in a dream to Joseph to dissuade him from repudiating Mary as her pregnancy was the result of the holy spirit's work and of course because she bore a miraculous conception leading to the birth of Jesus in this instance more than any other Gabriel firmly established himself as the messenger of God it is thought that Gabriel was the young man that Mark described who was seated in jesus' Tomb and who also appeared to the myr bearing women intending to anoint the body of Jesus Mark said the young man clothed in a white robe told
the women do not be amazed you seek Jesus of Nazareth the crucified he has been raised he is not here behold the place where they laid him after all Daniel said in the Book of Daniel 8 that angel Gabriel looked like a man some biblical interpretations have sought to see him as the angel who will blow the horn announcing the day of judgment according to the Book of Revelations as well as 1 Thessalonians 4:16 which reads for the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout with the voice of the Archangel and with the
Trump of God and the dead in Christ shall rise first Archangel Gabriel's presence in the Christian Bible represents more than a messenger it signifies God's active involvement in the Affairs of humanity Gabriel's role as a Divine interpreter and bearer of of glad tidings reflects God's desire to communicate his will and purpose to humanity his messages are not mere announcements but profound Revelations of God's grace sovereignty and salvation Gabriel's interactions with Biblical figures like Daniel and Mary serve as a reminder that God's divine plan unfolds through human history often with the assistance of heavenly Messengers Gabriel's
significance lies in his Capac capacity to deliver God's message to humanity rendering it comprehensible and aiding Us in listening with pure hearts and embracing the almighty's will just as he did for Daniel by providing him with more insight and understanding in an answered prayer
