Raphael. St. Michael. c.1503-1504. Oil on panel. Louvre, Paris, France.
http://www.abcgallery.com/R/raphael/raphael9.html


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Michael_(Raphael)

St. Michael is a painting by the Italian High Renaissance painter Raphael (c. 1505). It is housed in the Louvre in Paris.

In a bleak landscape with the silhouette of a burning city in the distance, St. Michael has just forced the Devil to the ground and is about to kill him with a blow from his sword. The monsters crawling out from all sides are reminiscent of those created by Hieronymus Bosch, while the figures in the centre recall those from the Inferno of Dante's epic poem the Divine Comedy. On the left are the hypocrites in leaden coats, condemned to follow their torturous path, while on the right are the thieves being tormented by serpents.





http://www.christian-forum.net/index.php?s...rt=#entry228454

Sistine Madonna, Terrified Baby Jesus, Political Scandal, Pope Julius II,
half-mad militarist,forces Raphael artist

e-sword Notes from Commentaries:

Visit http://www.e-sword.net/commentaries.html

John Wesley's Explanatory Notes:
Rev 12:7 And there was war in heaven - Here Satan makes his grand opposition to the kingdom of God; but an end is now put to his accusing the saints before God. The cause goes against him, Rev_12:10-11, and Michael executes the sentence. That Michael is a created angel, appears from his not daring, in disputing with Satan, Jud_1:9, to bring a railing accusation; but only saying, "The Lord rebuke thee." And this modesty is implied in his very name; for Michael signifies, "Who is like God?" which implies also his deep reverence toward God, and distance from all self - exaltation. Satan would be like God: the very name of Michael asks, "Who is like God?" Not Satan; not the highest archangel. It is he likewise that is afterward employed to seize, bind, and imprison that proud spirit.

The People's New Testament by B.W.Johnson.
Rev 12:6-9

And there was war in heaven. The woman had been seen in heaven, and there she is seen to be assailed. She has, however, a champion who fights her battles. It must be remembered that Michael, the woman, the man child, the dragon, the conflict, and the casting down of the dragon are all symbols. This symbolism indicates the defeat of the dragon in his attempt. He is not only vanquished, but humiliated, "cast down." The first mighty attempt of Satan to "abolish the Christian name from the earth," signally fails. We have already written enough to show the reader that this represents the facts of history. Pagan Rome, the dragon, struck at the heart of the Church. Blood flowed in rivers, the blood of the saints, but the grandeur of their lives and the heroism of their deaths struck fear and conviction to the hearts of their enemies. Each martyr called forth an army who were ready to die for Christ. God exalted the man child, caught it to his bosom, protected it, and Pagan Rome went down. The dragon prevailed not. Baffled, he is cast to the earth.

Thank you, so very much . . . for this feedback !

from a dream earlier this year...

"you see the forming of the dragon".

Dragons in the Bible
http://www.fairrosa.info/dragon/bible.html

MICHAEL-Also St. Michael the Archangel and, in Arabic, Mika'il, perhaps the greatest of all the angels, whose name likely means "Who is like God?" He is captain of the hosts of the Lord and the most beloved of all residents of the heavenly host (with the possible exceptionof the archangel Gabriel). The figure of Michael probably originated in Chaldaea as a protective god or spirit. Accepted by the Jews, he emerged as so major an angel in Jewish lore that he was honored as the patron angel of the nations (out of seventy) who did not fall from grace, his bias entirely understood since it favored God's Chosen People.
Michael appears twice in the Old Testament and is noted, with Gabriel (and Raphael in the book Tobit), as one of the few angels actually mentioned in the Bible: in Daniel (10:13), he is called "Michael, one of the chief princes," and later (12:1) is a "great prince." Besides from these specific references, he is declared the ruling prince of the archangels, chief of the choir of virtues, the prince of the presence, and an angel of mercy and repentance. He is also credited with being the angel who spoke to Moses in the burning bush (an honor often bestowed upon Zagzagel); the messenger who stayed the hand of Abraham before he sacrificed his sin; and the angel responsible for massacring the Assyrian army of Sennacherib, a deed normally attributed to an otherwise unnamed angel of destruction but perhaps accomplished by Uriel, Gabriel, or others. He is accepted in lore as well as being the special patron of Adam. Supposedly he was the first angel in all of the heavens to bow down before humanity. Michael than kept an eye on the first family, remaining vigilant even after the fall of Adam and Eve and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden. In the apocryphal Book of Adam and Eve, Michael taught Adam how to farm. The archangel later brought Adam to heaven in a fiery chariot, giving him a tour of the blessed realm. After Adam's death, Michael helped convince the Lord to permit Adam's soul to be brought to heaven and cleansed of its great sin. Jewish legend also states Michael to be one of the three "men" who visited Abraham and one of the five angels, with Uriel, Metatron, Raphael, and Gabriel, who buried Moses. Apparently Michael had to fight with Satan for the body of the Lawgiver, an event mentioned in the New Testament Letter of Jude. Finally, in the Dead Sea Scrolls is the story "The War of the Sons of Light and the Sons of Darkness," in which Michael is described as the prince of light, leading forces of good against the darkness of evil.

Michael was embraced enthusiastically by Christianity and honored as the leader of the angels whose very name was used as a war chant by the holy angels during the war in heaven. As commander of the heavenly host, he led the good angels in their successful conflict against Satan and the fallen angels. He is named in the book of Revelation, fighting against Satan, and at the end of the world will command the hosts of the Lord in final conflict.

The Catholic Church honors Michael with four main titles or offices. He is the Christian angel of death, carrying the souls of all the deceased to heaven, where they are weighed in his perfectly balanced scales (hence Michael is often depicted holding scales). At the hour of death, Michael descends and gives each soul the chance to redeem itself before passing, thus consternating the devil and his minions. Michael is the special patron of the Chosen People in the Old Testament and is guardian of the Church; it was thus not unusual for the angel to be revered by the military orders of knights during the Middle Ages. Last, he is the supreme enemy of Satan and the fallen angels.

Michael has been the object of considerable examination on the part of theologians, especially regarding the apparent inconsistency of having an archangel-a member of the eighth and second-lowest choir of angels-lead the hosts of the Lord. Some, such as St. Thomas Aquinas, declare him to be the chief of the order of archangels. His high post is presumably explained by the fact that archangels are in the forefront of the fight in the world against evil, so Michael, as their chief, assumes the command of the angels by virtue of his experience. Others, most notably the Greek fathers such as St. Basil the Great, wrote that Michael was superior to all the angels; others appointed him the ruling prince of the seraphim, which would place him in the highest position in heaven.

Michael has been venerated by the Church from early time. His elevated position is made clear by his title of saint, by the number of churches dedicated to him, and by his many appearances in history. He supposedly visited Emperor Constantine the Great (d.337) at Constantinople, intervened in assorted battles, and appeared, sword in hand, over the mausoleum of Hadrian, in apparent answer to the prayers of Pope St. Gregory I the Great (r.590-604) that a plague in Rome should cease. In honor of the occasion, the pope took to calling the mausoleum the Castel Sant'Angelo (Castle of the Holy angel), the name by which it is still known.

The last visit certified one major aspect involving Michael, namely his role as an angel of healing. This title was bestowed at Phrygia, in Asia Minor, which also propagated the cult of angels and became a leading center for their veneration. Michael is reputed to have caused a healing spring to flow in the first century at Colossae, and his churches were frequently visited by the sick and lame. The angel is invoked additionally as the patron of sailors in Normandy (the famous monastery of Mont-Saint-Michel on the north coast of France is named after him) and is especially remembered in France as the spirit who gave Joan of Arc the courage to save her country from the English during the Hundred Years' War) 1337-1455). Perhaps his most singular honor was given to him in 1950 when Pope Pius XIII (r. 1939-1958) named him patron of policemen. Michael is also said to have announced to the Virgin Mary her impending death, declaring himself to be "Great and Wonderful."

Among the Muslims, Michael is one of the four archangels (with Azrael, Isfrafel, and Gabriel), and one of the two angels, with Gabriel, named in Qur'an. He resides in the seventh heaven and is popularly believed to have wings of emerald green.

A favorite angelic subject in art, matched only by Gabriel, Michael is most often depicted as a proud, handsome angel in white or magnificent armor and wielding a sword, shield, or lance. In some paintings he is shown with a banner or holding scales. Quite often he is seen, like St. George or some Madonnas, in conflict with a dragon or standing upon a vanquished devil. Of him was declared in Milton's Paradise Lost (Book VI).



EXCERPT FROM:

http://www.heart7.net/spirit/am.html

It is by tradition and not through any Biblical account, that Michael the Archangel is called Saint Michael. Sometimes when I am asked my name by people who have forgotten it, I do refer to Saint Michael, and tell the story of how my late father, the Reverend Raymond Selwyn Coldham-Fussell, named me Michael because I was born on the 23rd of September, this being close to St. Michael and All Angels Day on the 29th of September. I have been more involved with Pentecostal churches than Anglicans since 1985 when I was water baptised by total immersion.

A point I would like to make regarding the demise of Satan stems from the fact that scripture shows him as not being killed by Michael or anyone else, but assigned to the lake of fire.

Rev 20:10 "And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever."

Readers may find these notes from the Scofield Bible useful.

devil

Satan, Summary:

This fearful being, apparently created one of the cherubim

(See Scofield) - (Eze_1:5).
(See Scofield) - (Eze_28:12).

and anointed for a position of great authority, perhaps over the primitive creation, (note 3);

(See Scofield) - (Gen_1:2); (Eze_28:11-15).

fell through pride; (Isa_14:12-14); His "I will" (Isa_14:13) marks the introduction of sin into the universe. Cast out of heaven, (Luk_10:18), he makes earth and air the scene of his tireless activity. (Eph_2:2); (1Pe_5:8). After the creation of man he entered into the serpent.

(See Scofield) - (Gen_3:1).

and, beguiling Eve by his subtilty, secured the downfall of Adam and through him of the race, and the entrance of sin into the world of men. (Rom_5:12-14).


The Adamic Covenant...

(See Scofield) - (Gen_3:14).

...promised the ultimate destruction of Satan through the "Seed of the woman." Then began his long warfare against the work of God in behalf of humanity, which still continues. The present world-system (Rev_13:8) organized upon the principle of force, greed, selfishness, ambition, and sinful pleasure, is his work and was the bribe which he offered to Christ. (Mat_4:8); (Mat_4:9). Of that world-system, he is prince; (Joh_14:30); (Joh_16:11) and god (2Co_4:4). As "prince of the power of the air", (Eph_2:2), he is at the head of vast host of demons.

(See Scofield) - (Mat_7:22).

To him, under God, was committed upon earth the power of death. (Heb_2:14). Cast out of heaven as his proper sphere and "first estate," he still has access to God as the "accuser of the brethren" (Rev_12:10) and is permitted a certain power of sifting or testing the self-confident and carnal among believers; (Job_1:6-11); (Luk_22:31); (Luk_22:32); (1Co_5:5); (1Ti_1:20); but this is strictly permissive and limited power, and believers so sifted are kept in faith through the advocacy of Christ. (Luk_22:31); (Luk_22:32).

(See Scofield) - (1Jo_2:1).

At the beginning of the great tribulation, Satan's privilege of access to God as accuser will be withdrawn. (Rev_12:7-12). At the return of Christ in glory, Satan will be bound for one thousand years (Rev_20:2) after which he will be "loosed for a little season" (Rev_20:3); (Rev_20:7); (Rev_20:8) and will become the head of final effort to overthrow the kingdom. Defeated in this, he will be finally cast into the lake of fire, his final doom. The notion that he reigns in hell is Miltonic, not biblical. He is prince of this present world-system, but will be tormented in the lake of fire.

Blessings from
M I C H A E L
C O L D H A M-
F U S S E L L

Hello Michael:

Here is an excerpt of mine, you may have interest in ?

http://ezechiastunnel-templemount.blogspot...6/prophecy.html
SOME MORE EXCERPT'S FROM THE MESSAGE :

( EXCERPT: message May 18th, 2005 ):
. . .the flowers can also relate to the Hebrew idea and
the seed of fertility and birth of Michael . . .
can be viewed Tribes = north & south people. throne. eternal.


FACTS: The first flowering of the almond tree: "the awakening one", is indeed
the birth of Michael ( like the awakening ), as a metaphor to the Land of Israel geography wise.
The Hebrew Tribes, stretching from Dan in the NORTH, to Beersheba in the SOUTH.


http://members.aol.com/Wisdomway/twelvetribes.htm
( map of the Dan in the North, to Beersheba in the South )