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ARCHANGELS
Archangels are liaisons
between God and humans; they are in control the soldiers of Heaven in the combat against hell, and they are also guardian
angels to distinguished people, for example, the leaders in religions and states. They hold the sacred decrees of God. There
are no names presented in the other biblical reference of an archangel. 1st Thessalonians
4:16 speaks about the second coming and says: “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command,
with the archangel’s call, and with the sound of the trumpet of God.” …”seven
angels who stand before God” is written in Revelation 8:2, unfortunately, no names are given. The seven angels who stand
before God are explained and elucidated as archangels. The names of the seven angels
are given in the Book of Enoch as Uriel, Raguel, Michael, Seraquel, Gabriel and Raphael (Raphael is also noted as the prince
of the order of the archangels). The Catholic Church believes Gabriel and Raphael to
be archangels. They have raised Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael to sainthood. There are
a lot of devotions to these angels. The nearest to the physical world are indeed the angels. They are the “postal workers”,
if you will, of heaven, delivering prayers to God, as well as answers and other messages to humans. They are true representation
of God’s will.
Kabbalah, a religion that is thousands of years old and
the basis of Jewish mysticism, provides us with the joining of the archangels with the four directions and the four elements
(earth, air, fire, and water). Appointing angels to correspond to the seven traditional planets (Saturn, Jupiter, Mars,
Venus, Mercury, Sol {the sun}, and Luna {the moon}), and the twelve contellations is also the doing of Kabbalah. Today, these
beliefs have spread out to some of the New Age groups and other traditions.
As many of you know, there is a hierarchy of angels, and it branches
the heavenly hosts into nine different choirs of angels. Archangels create the 8th choir, and are chief angels whose
job description includes looking after the carrying on of us humans. Their job description also involve assuming the role
of guardian angels to world leaders and command the armies of the heavenly hosts. Archangels also happen to be the
holy messengers of God and bring God's messages to humans.
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Is there Biblical ground for believing that Lucifer
was an archangel before his fall? That he was equal to, or perhaps superior to Michael? Most scholars believe
there is. Even though the Bible credits Lucifer as being an angel before he fell, it never specifically names him as an archangel.
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How many archangels are there?
Well, it all depends on who you're asking. The common Protestant outlook has named particular angels "archangels"
based on the Bible. Michael is the only angel the Bible refers to as an archangel twice. In 1 Thessalonians 4:16,
"For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet
of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first." The name of the archangel is not mentioned in 1 Thessalonians.
However if you read Jude 9, it states:
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!”
Because the Bible only names Michael as an archangel, the christian world agrees he is indeed an archangel.
The Roman Catholic
Church adopts a somewhat larger collection of the Hebrew scriptures than the Protestant churches. The Catholic Bible has books
not found in the New Testament called the Apocrypha. The Book of Tobit is one example. In the Apocrypha, Gabriel and Raphael
are specified archangels.
Revelation 8:2
"And I saw the seven angels who stand before God; and to them were given seven trumpets."
Many consider the seven angels to be archangels. I am one of the many people who believe it to be so.
A system of seven archangels is an old tradition in Abrahamic religions. The earliest reference
to a system of seven archangels appears to be in Enoch I (the Ethiopian Enoch), where they are given as Michael,
Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Raguel, Zerachiel and Remiel.
Centuries later, Pseudo-Dionysius gives
them as Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Chamuel, Jophiel, and Zadkiel. Pope Gregory I lists them as Michael, Gabriel, Raphael,
Uriel, Simiel, Orifiel, and Zachariel.
Eastern Orthodoxy venerates Michael, Gabriel, Raphael,
Uriel, Selaphiel, Jegudiel, and Barachiel. Another Catholic variation lists them as follows, with corresponding days of the
week: Michael (Sunday), Gabriel (Monday), Raphael (Tuesday), Uriel (Wednesday), Sealtiel (Thursday), Jhudiel (Friday) and
Barachiel (Saturday).
In angelology, different informants conflict
on the names and identities of the seven archangels. Several occult orders identify each archangel
with one of the original seven luminous "stars"--named as:
the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars,
Jupiter, and Saturn. However there are debates as to which archangel conforms to which body.
THE SEVEN ARCHANGELS
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*Enoch I (Ethopic Enoch)
(The earliest reference
to the 7 archangels) 1. Uriel
2. Raphael
3. Raguel
4. Michael
5. Zerachiel
6. Gabriel
7. Remiel
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*3 Enoch (Hebrew Enoch) 1.
Mikael
2. Gabriel
3. Shatqiel
4. Baradiel
5. Shachaqiel
6. Baraqiel
7. Sidriel
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*Testament
of Solomon 1. Mikael
2. Gabriel
3. Uriel
4. Sabrael
5. Arael
6. Iaoth
7. Adonael
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*Christian Gnostics 1. Michael
2. Gabriel
3. Raphael
4. Uriel
5. Barachiel
6. Sealtiel
7. Jehudiel
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*Gregory
the Great 1. Michael
2. Gabriel
3. Raphael
4.
Uriel
5. Simiel
6. Orifiel
7. Zachariel
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*Pseudo-Dionysius 1. Michael
2. Gabriel
3. Raphael
4. Uriel
5. Chamuel
6. Jophiel
7. Zadkiel
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*Geonic Lore 1. Michael
2. Gabriel
3. Raphael
4. Aniel
5. Kafziel
6. Samael
7. Zadkiel
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*Talismanic
Magic 1. Zaphkiel
2. Zadkiel
3. Camael
4. Raphael
5. Haniel
6. Michael
7. Gabriel
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*In The Hierarchy
of the Blessed Angels 1. Raphael
2. Gabriel
3. Chamuel
4. Michael
5. Adabiel
6. Haniel
7. Zaphiel
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*Muslim Lore
( in muslim lore there are
4 archangels instead of 7) 1. Gabriel
2. Michael
3. Azrael
4. Israfel
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