Jude 9 - “Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee”.
Hebrew names mean something; relating to that person or their destiny.
According to the Jewish Encyclopedia, The angels mentioned in the Torah are without names.
Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish of Tiberias (A.D. 230–270), asserted that all the specific names for the angels were brought back by the Jews from Babylon, and modern Bible commentators would tend to agree. Daniel is the first book in the Bible to call angels (only Michael and Gabriel) by names. This is interesting since he was at that time in captivity, having been taken captive by the Babylonians in the first siege along with Ezekiel and others.
Catholics held highly the names of the angels.
Raphael is named in several Jewish apocryphal books (Enoch, Book of Tobit). The book of Enoch also mentions all of the names of the supposedly 7 archangels: Raguel, Remiel, Saraqael, Uriel, Michael, Gabriel and Raphael (Enoch 20:1-8). In the Old and New Testament Canon we have mentioned Michael - Dan. 10:13, 10:21, 12:1, Jude 1:9, Rev. 12:7, and Gabriel - mentioned 4 times in scripture: Dan. 8:16, 9:21, Luke 1:19, 1:26, the other 5 angels are only mentioned in the books of the Apocrypha.
The names of the 7 archangels come from ancient Sumerian. The Sumerians lived about 5, 500 years ago in Southern Mesopotamia. They were one of the oldest known civilizations. From this area and civilization their culture spread to India, Egypt, and on to Europe. Iraq is in this area (Mesopatamia) and is where civilization started and where Abraham would have come from.
This is a list of the supposedly 7 archangels and what their names meant and their supposed responsibility:
Michael -A militaristic guardian angel (who is like El) Gabriel -The governor of Eden (able-bodied one of God) Uriel -Ruler of all, surrounding Eden(flame or light of God. Cherub associated with repentance) Raphael -Healing arts. (means healing God) Raguel -Judging and monitoring. Archangel of justice and fairness means friend of God Sariel or Sarqael -Punishment of crimes, means God’s command. Remiel -Responsible for spreading the word & news. Angle of Hope.
The name Lucifer is not mentioned in any of these but is mentioned in Isaiah 14:12, only!!! It comes from the Latin Vulgate and was not intended to be a proper name. It literally means “shining”. New translations do not even use the word Lucifer at all. There are those that teach Hebrew origins of root words which say the true meaning is “Howl” as in Is. 23:14 and others speaking of sudden destruction coming; like the woe, woe, woe scriptures in Revelation. The Hebrew for howl is “yalal” and for the word used in Isaiah 14:12 it is “heylel”. Some say it is a mistranslation. Either way, Satan's proper name is not Lucifer!
The name Michael means “who is like El”. He was considered to be the prince of the angels. The prince or advocate of Israel; guardian and protector of Israel. He fought with princes of other nations, particularly Satan-the accuser. (See Book of Daniel) However, in scripture we find that it is YHVH who commands the host of heaven. It is also YHVH who calls Himself the protector of Israel.
My personal belief is that angels do not have names. Upon factual research I believe that anyone will come to this same conclusion. The names that we do have are only relaying the meaning behind the name.
For example, in Jude 9 we read, “Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee”. This verse is referring to the conversation that took place in Zechariah 3:1-9. Anytime that Michael is mentioned it is the one and same as YHVH in visible form. Michael is always given the same attributes as YHVH. In ancient Jewish literature, Michael is known as visible YHVH. Since names in Hebrew always mean something, it is no wonder that instead of saying that “one who is like El” appeared, they would just say Michael, which means the same.
The phrase, “The Body of Moses” is really very simple. Just as the ancient people in Egypt were called the “children of the Nile”, and just as the Torah is said to have come “by Moses”, hence, the Israelites were considered the “body of Moses”. What this verse is trying to say is that visible Yahweh contented with Satan over the people of Israel. In Zechariah, Joshua the High Priest bore the sins of the people. Thus, his garments were dirty. Satan contended, as the accuser of the brethren, that the people were not worthy to be forgiven of their sins. However, YHVH sees the coming branch, Yeshua (Jesus), who will be High Priest and King, and He will forgive the sins of the people. Their iniquity will be forgiven. Yah rebuke you Satan! You are the loser!
If Gabriel means “able bodied of El” then which is easier to say? Just Gabriel of course!
Throughout the ages, pagan cultures have believed in angels and they have worshiped them. Worship of angels was common in Gnosticism. Worshipping angels could be calling on their names in prayer, or excessive honoring of angelic beings. This is against God’s Holy Word. We are not to worship created beings, but the Creator. Angels were created. They can, and do, aid mankind, but we are not to think too highly of them. Collosians 2:18, “Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind”.
Shalom!
Leisa