---
title: Daniel 12:1
url: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/daniel-12-1/
markdown: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/daniel-12-1.md
type: verse
perspective: Protestant (historic Nicene) response to Jehovah's Witness teaching
reference: Daniel 12:1
testament: OT
section: Prophets
index: https://jw-apologetics.app/llms.txt
---

# Daniel 12:1

## Text (Berean Standard Bible)

> “At that time Michael, the great prince who stands watch over your people, will rise up. There will be a time of distress, the likes of which will not have occurred from the beginning of nations until that time. But at that time your people—everyone whose name is found written in the book—will be delivered.

## JW Usage

Daniel 12:1 — "during that time Michael will stand up, the great prince who is standing in behalf of your people" — is a foundational Watchtower proof-text that Michael the Archangel is the pre-human and post-ascension identity of Jesus. Michael is "the great prince"; Michael stands up to deliver God's people; therefore Michael = Jesus. The identification is reinforced elsewhere by 1 Thessalonians 4:16 ("the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a commanding call, with an archangel's voice") and Jude 9 (where Michael is named the archangel).

## Protestant Usage

Role-overlap is not identity. Moses also delivered God's people from bondage, yet Moses is not Jesus. The identification move — Michael has a deliverance role, therefore Michael is Jesus — ignores what the New Testament actually says about Jesus's relation to angels. Hebrews 1:5 asks, "to which of the angels did God ever say, 'You are my son'?" — the expected answer is *none*, because the whole chapter argues the Son is *above* every angel. If Jesus is Michael, Hebrews 1 contradicts itself. Jude 9 is decisive at the other end: Michael, facing the devil over Moses's body, "did not dare to bring a judgment against him in abusive terms, but said, 'May Jehovah rebuke you.'" Michael *appeals to higher authority*. Jesus, by contrast, rebukes demons directly with his own authority (Mark 1:25 — "Be silent, and come out of him!"). Michael appeals to the Lord; Jesus *is* the Lord being appealed to. Two different agents, two different authorities.

## Arguments Using This Verse

- [Jesus Is Not Michael the Archangel](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/jesus-not-michael.md) — Hebrews 1:5 / Jude 9 [Deity of Christ]