Saint Michael and All Angels

Michael Protects Us in the Worst of Times

Revelation 12: 7 - 12

Although angels appear in the Bible from the days of Creation, they do not have individual names until the Jews return from the captivity in Babylon. The archangel Michael is called by name for the first time in the book of Daniel.

Michael appears in both Daniel and in John the Evangelist's book of Revelation. Both books are called apocalyptic (mot prophetic) literature - that means they talk about the present, what was happening exactly at the time they were written.

Both books were written separately and circulated hand-to-hand (often secretly) as a comfort to the believers during times of great persecution of the people of God.

Michael is always pictured as a fierce warrior, and the Jews of Daniel's time and the early Christians of John's day saw him as their protector. The truth of both books was that God 's people would survive and that their persecutors would be punished.

Some elements of both books seem to be written in code, but the words and images were a kind of shorthand that would have been easily understood by the people they were written for at that time.

And even though some Christians today go through terrible ordeals because of their faith, hardly any of us can even imagine how bad things were for the early Christians of John's time: they lived under constant threat of torture and death.

Some Christian fishermen believe that Michael is their special protector. They sing, Michael, Row the Boat Ashore, when they are caught in bad storms at sea.

Today would be a good day to sing the song, as we give thanks to the God who protects us in many different ways.