Archangels
Michael, Raphael, Gabriel, Jophiel, Raguel, Raziel, Uriel, all archangels….
The “chief Angels”, they carry God’s messages to humans and command God’s armies of Angels in constant battle with the “Sons of Darkness”. They look after the affairs of humankind and act as guardian Angels to leaders of world movements. These are the Angels who stand around God’s throne, ready to carry out the Divine and most important decrees to humans. According to the book of Revelation, there are seven Archangels who stand in the presence of God, but only four are mentioned in the Old Testament, Michael, Gabriel, Raphael and Uriel. The identity of the other three is subject to debate. The three recognized in the Judeo-Christian belief are Raguel, Jophiel and Chamuel. Other possible candidates are Ariel, Azrael, Camael, Haniel, Jeremiel, Metetron, Raziel, Sandalphone and Zadkiel.
Arch means principle or pre-eminent. The archangels are therefore chief angels. Chief angels have important tasks and convey God’s messages to humans. It is believed that there are millions of archangels throughout the universe and many more are now coming to Earth to help us. Each archangel is assigned a specific task by God, for example Archangel Michael is in charge of protection and strength, Raphael, healing and Gabriel communication and clarity. They have many angels working with them and can be in more than one place at a time. Archangel Michael is considered to be the senior archangel presently helping the Earth.
Another possible interpretation of the seven archangels is that these seven are the seven spirits of God that stand before the throne described in the Book of Enoch, and in the Book of Revelation.
The Seven Archangels are said to be the guardian angels of nations and countries, and are concerned with the issues and events surrounding these, including politics, military matters, commerce and trade: e.g. Archangel Michael is traditionally seen as the protector of Israel, the Church and Spirituality.
It is possible to make a distinction between archangel (with a lower-case a) and Archangel (with an uppercase A). The former can denote the second-lowest choir (arch-angels in the sense of being just above the lowest Choir of angels that is called only "angels") but the latter may denote the highest of all the angels (i.e., Arch-angels in the sense of being above all angels, of any Choir. The seven highest Seraphim, Michael being the highest of all, once Satan fell.
Some Christian groups, such as the Seventh Day Adventists, believe Michael the Archangel is another name for Jesus. It is believed that Archangel Michael walk once in human form and was known as “Jesus”.
In the Kabbalah, the Archangels are associated with the Sephirot, Hod. Archangel Michael is the leader of the seven archangels who serve on the seven rays of God—Michael, Jophiel, Chamuel, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, and Zadkiel—as well as Archangel Uzziel, who serves in the eighth ray of integration, and five more archangels for whom we have no names. We can pray to the Archangels, with this prayer from Archangel Michael's Rosary for Armageddon: “By the intercession of Saint Michael and the celestial choir of Archangels, may the Lord give us perseverance in faith and in all good works, in order that we may gain the glory of paradise. Amen.”
