The fall of Satan at the coming of Jesus marks the separation of the New Testament from Judaism. Michael is mentioned explicitly in Revelation 12:7-12, where he does battle with Satan and casts him out of heaven so that he no longer has access to God as accuser (his formal role in the Old Testament). The seven archangels (or four – the traditions differ but always include Michael) were associated with the branches of the menorah, the sacred seven-branched lampstand in the Temple as the seven spirits before the throne of God, and this is reflected in the Book of Revelation 4:5 ("From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God" – ESV). New Testament Saint Michael, Archangel, painting from Melchor Pérez de Holguín, (1708) And in other writings, he is responsible for the care of Israel (and he may be the "one like a son of man" mentioned in Daniel 7:13–14) and the commander of the heavenly armies he is Israel's advocate contesting Satan's claim to the body of Moses he intercedes between God and humanity and serves as High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary and he accompanies the souls of the righteous dead to Paradise. In the traditions of the Qumran community, he defends or leads the people of God in the eschatological (i.e., end-time) battle. Įnoch was instrumental in establishing the pre-eminent place of Michael among the angels or archangels, and in later Jewish works, he is said to be their chief, mediating the Torah (the law of God), and standing at the right hand of the throne of God. He is mentioned again in last chapters of the Book of Daniel, a Jewish apocalypse composed in the second century BC although set in the sixth, in which a man clothed in linen (never identified, but probably the archangel Gabriel) tells Daniel that he and "Michael, your prince" are engaged in a battle with the " prince of Persia", after which, at the end-time, "Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise". The fact that Michael is introduced implies the knowledge of him and the other named angels. The Book of Enoch lists him as one of seven archangels (the remaining names are Uriel, Raguel, Raphael, Sariel, Gabriel, and Remiel), who, in the Book of Tobit, "stand ready and enter before the glory of the Lord". A mosaic of the same painting decorates St. Judaism Guido Reni's Michael (in Santa Maria della Concezione church, Rome, 1636) tramples Satan. Christianity adopted nearly all the Jewish traditions concerning him, and he is mentioned explicitly in Revelation 12:7–12, where he does battle with Satan, and in the Epistle of Jude, where the author denounces heretics by contrasting them with Michael. The earliest surviving mentions of his name are in third- and second-century-BC Jewish works, often but not always apocalyptic, where he is the chief of the angels and archangels, and he is the guardian prince of Israel and is responsible for the care of Israel. Michael, also called Saint Michael the Archangel, Archangel Michael and Saint Michael the Taxiarch is an archangel in Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and the Baha'i faith. Protector of the Jewish people, Guardian of the Catholic Church, Vatican City, France, Germany, Normandy, dying people, poor souls, bankers, grocers, police officers, military personnel Many other local and historical feasts.īanner, scales, weighing souls, sword, slaying Satan or a dragon.12th of each month in Coptic calendar (Coptic Churches).21 November (Old Calendar Eastern Orthodox Churches).8 November ( Eastern Catholic Churches).
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