Who Are The Chief Princes? Who Are The 7 Stars In The Lord’s Right Hand?
Daniel 10:13
Angels were serving before God prior to the new Temple arrangement
“But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia.”
The ‘chief’ or ‘principal’ angels referred to in the Book of Daniel are the original angels who serve directly before God.
They are also mentioned in the Book of Revelation in chapter 8:
2″ And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets.”
They include Gabriel and Michael who are both mentioned in the Bible. There were a total of seven of these princely servant to begin with.
The Bible writers mentions two Books which are not contained within the Books we have available in the recorded Bible today. They both tell about these seven powerful angels by name and much more.
One is the Book of Jasher:
“And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day.” Joshua 10:13
They are also spoken about in a prophetic book written by the man Enoch. That book is quoted from in the Book of Jude :
“And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,” Jude 14
Available text from Enoch’s writings go into detail about the existence of these seven angels and what transpired as result of the fall.
Jude obviously had information we don’t have access to today. The Bible does not contain the following account that Jude writes about:
“Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.”
One fellow disciple observed : “Despite his great power, Michael is still in total submission to the Lord. His dependence on the Lord’s power is seen in Jude 1:9:
“But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, ‘The Lord rebuke you.‘” (Some believe that Michael is another name for Jesus. But this is wrong. Jesus is not an angel. He helped his Father create the angels. Jesus is a unique creation).
Notice that Michael isn’t ‘lord’, but answers to the Lord.
The righteous angels have a rank and are submissive to authority, and for this reason they are used as a picture of a wife’s submission to her husband.
The Bible tells us, “That is why a wife ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels” (1 Corinthians 11:10). If you take into consideration the great strength of the angel named Michael; the submission he has toward God is all the more beautiful.”
Beyond these facts, the only begotten son of God was not a member of that group of seven angels. Satan however was an angel of that order at one time but fell. He was replaced.
That there were a group of angels that included Gabriel, Michael, and others is common knowledge and has been throughout human history.
The only begotten son of God, Christ, has always been set apart from all other beings and things. He is unlike any other since no other can claim to have been begotten by God. He has no peers or peer group.
As was mentioned previously, Satan was an angel of that order at one time but fell. He was replaced.
Where are those 7 angels now?
Let’s examine Revelation chapter 2 for the answer.
Jesus is standing in the Sanctuary already holding 7 stars
Jesus In The Sanctuary-John’s Vision
In the Revelation to John, he is sees Christ standing in the Holy compartment of the Temple of God in Heaven.
Before Him at a distance are seven golden lamp stands which He says represent the complete congregation of those to whom He is addressing.
They are out before Him because they are human beings made of flesh and as of yet are not where He is, which is in Heaven in the Sanctuary.
The lampstands represent humans in their human enviroment here on Earth. They are not in Heaven.
When John in the vision is instructed to measure the Temple, he is told not to measure the “outer courtyard”:
Revelation 11:1
“I was then given a stick that looked like a measuring-rod, and was told, “Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, and count those who are worshiping in the temple. 2 But do not measure the outer courts, because they have been given to the heathen,”
The lampstand exist in the corrupt enviroment here on Earth that Satan and the other fallen angels were thrown down to.
However, within the Temple sanctuary he is seen in holding “seven stars”.
Note that these stars are seen in His right hand. His right hand would have to be connected to His right arm. His right arm would then have to be connected to the right side of His body. And while He is addressing John His body is standing with His feet firmly planted in the Temple Sanctuary.
These therefore have to be already existing spirit creatures because they are with Christ at the time He is addressing the complete church represented by the lamp stands before Him.
He cannot be referring to earthling man as the Watchtower Organization has claimed these 7 stars to be.
Jesus gives the identity of the 7 stars clearly:
Revelation 1:20
20 Here is the secret meaning of the seven stars that you see in my right hand, and of the seven gold lampstands: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
Yet many refuse to believe Him. Some have the teaching (‘Jehovah’s Witnesses’) that Jesus is calling human men ‘angels’. They say that these angels are symbolic of their elders.
Below is an excerpt from the Watchtower magazine identifying their human leaders as being the 7 stars in Jesus right hand.
It is also important to know the Watchtower doctrine has relegated the term ‘angel’ to be synonymous to ‘messenger’; as if delivering messages is the only task an angel is called upon to perform in service.
Many prominent post exit JW’s teach this erroneous conclusion as well. It is hard to fully escape Watchtower brainwashing.
Watchtower 07 4/21
. How were anointed overseers who served on bodies of elders depicted at Revelation 1:16, 20, and what can be said of appointed elders who are of the other sheep?
6 These “gifts in men” are overseers, or elders, appointed by Jehovah and his Son, through holy spirit, to shepherd the sheep with tenderness. (Acts 20:28, 29) To begin with, these overseers were all anointed Christian men. At Revelation 1:16, 20, those who served on bodies of elders within the anointed congregation were symbolized by “stars” or “angels” in Christ’s right hand, that is, under his control. In this time of the end, however, with the number of anointed overseers still on earth ever dwindling, the vast majority of Christian elders in the congregations are of the other sheep. Since these are appointed by representatives of the Governing Body under the leadings of the holy spirit, they too can be said to be under the right hand (or, under the direction) of the Fine Shepherd, Jesus Christ. (Isaiah 61:5, 6) Since the elders in our congregations submit to Christ, the Head of the congregation, they deserve our full cooperation.
(end of Watchtower comments)
There is no biblical basis whatsoever for these extrapolations. The statement begins with declaration as if it were as proven fact in which there is no connection established:
“How were anointed overseers who served on bodies of elders depicted at Revelation 1:16, 20, and what can be said of appointed elders who are of the other sheep?”
How grandiose to replace the true identity of these seven loyal angels with self-appointed weak human beings! These are nothing more than lies designed to place earthling men in a role of unquestionable command and control.
Nowhere in the Bible are men referred to as ‘angels’.
While Acts 6:15 states about Stephen, “All those sitting in the Council fixed their eyes on Stephen and saw that his face looked like the face of an angel”; the passage doesn’t refer to him as an ‘angel’. The Bible doesn’t call men ‘angels’ anywhere.
And Jesus actually says they are angels!
These angels minister on behalf of the Lord where the lamp stands are (Earth). They as mortal beings are exposed to possible corruption or failure just the same as human beings are. They are not incorruptible. So Jesus warns them of the consequences of any deviation.
There have been Holy angels serving before God’s throne for eons of time. They now have a share in priestly service (as the seven in the Revelation to John). They have not been forgotten or discarded.
In the Revelation to John these angels are seen coming out of the Temple sanctuary and are also seen in the Heavenly temple courtyard:
Revelation 14:
14 Then I looked, and there was a white cloud, and sitting on the cloud was what looked like a human being, with a crown of gold on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand.
15 Then another angel came out from the temple and cried out in a loud voice to the one who was sitting on the cloud, “Use your sickle and reap the harvest, because the time has come; the earth is ripe for the harvest!”
16 Then the one who sat on the cloud swung his sickle on the earth, and the earth’s harvest was reaped.
17 Then I saw another angel come out of the temple in heaven, and he also had a sharp sickle.
18 Then another angel, who is in charge of the fire, came from the altar. He shouted in a loud voice to the angel who had the sharp sickle, “Use your sickle, and cut the grapes from the vineyard of the earth, because the grapes are ripe!”
The angelic ‘chief princes’ were given to Christ by God and are now subject to him. They now serve and answer to Christ as their Master.
This had always been part of God’s divine plan. Consider 1 Corinthians 15:27,28:
27 For the scripture says, “God put all things under his feet.” It is clear, of course, that the words “all things” do not include God himself, who puts all things under Christ.
28 But when all things have been placed under Christ’s rule, then he himself, the Son, will place himself under God, who placed all things under him; and God will rule completely over all.
Were all of the angels in Heaven were aware of this special son of God? Did all the angels know the Son of God? It appears not.
If it were so there would be no explanation for the scene recorded in the Book of Revelation in chapter 5 verses 1 through 4:
1″And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals.
2 And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?
3 And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon.
4 And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon.”
John is not witnessing an earthly scene but one played out in Heaven right before the throne of God.
When this scene occurs all the angels are assembled before the throne of God in attendance.
When as verse two states the cry goes out to those in attendance, “Who is worthy to open the book and loose the seals thereof?”, there is silence for no one among them was worthy to approach the throne of God.
Ask yourself this: If all present during that vision scene were familiar with who the chosen one was (Christ), then why would there have been any uncertainty and silence from those in attendance when the strong angel ask his question? There could have only been one possible choice given all he had done. Also they would have all known that the ‘chosen one’ would of course have to be the heir of the Kingdom. After all, all creation was to become his inheritance.
And if you will notice, Christ does not approach the throne of God out of the midst of the assembled group of angels, but is lead in to appear before the throne of God.
This is when the angelic body is introduced to the son of God and his identity becomes known to them.
The chief princes mentioned in the Book of Daniel are the original angelic servant who served God.
The seven stars that Jesus holds in his right hand are those angels subjected to Christ.
Again, if Christ was well known, there would have been no question as to who was worthy. And if he was a member of an existing group, certainly they would have known he was the worthy one.
Jesus is the only begotten son of God. Michael is as the Bible describes an archangel, one of the principal angels who served before God’s throne. These were the chief angels referred to in the Book of Daniel.
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