It has been my belief that one of the angels who delivered the message of Yitzaks impending birth to our father Abraham and his wife Sarah was none other than Arch-Angel Michael himself. Each of these angels, called Melachim {messengers}, had a specific mission in visiting the couple.
This article explains some of the mystical and kabbalistic insights we learn from the Tanach concerning just who this angel is...
http://www.inner.org/parshah/genesis/vayeira/E68-0212.phpThe Angeles Micha'el, Gabriel, and Rephael in the Bible
Micha’el in the Bible
In this article, we will concentrate on the names of the three angels: Micha’el, Gavri’el, and Repha’el. The name Micha’el appears 13 times in the entire Tanach (Bible). Since 13 is the gematria of “love,” in Hebrew (אהבה ), this is a beautiful example of self-reference, as Micha’el is the angel of loving-kindness whose inner experience is love. It is also the gematria of “one” (אחד ), thus completing the reference to Abraham as well, as Abraham is called both “Abraham, who loves Me [G-d]” and “Abraham was one.” As we shall see, 13 appears prominently in everything related to Micha’el.
Three out of these 13 appearances are as the name of the angel Micha’el and the remaining are names of men. All three times Micha’el is the name of an angel appear in the book of Daniel and if we take the sum of “Micha’el” and “Daniel,” we get a perfect square, a numerical sign of wholeness: מיכאל דניאל = 142 = דוד · דוד
The first time that the name appears is in reference to one of the spies1 that Moshe Rabbeinu sent to the Land of Israel. The verse there is: “For the tribe of Asher, Stur, the son of Micha’el,”2 למטה אשר סתור בן מיכאל . The verse divides neatly both grammatically (based on where a comma would be) and numerically (the two halves are both multiples of 13), based on the golden ratio (2:3 words and 7:11 letters, in this case). The first two words, למטה אשר equal 585 = 13 · 45, or אהבה · 45, while the last three words סתור בן מיכאל equal 819 = 13 · 63 or אהבה · 63 (819 is also the gematria of “simple oneness,” אחדות פשוטה , an important idiom describing the Oneness of the Almighty); both 45 and 63 are fillings of G-d’s essential Name, Havayah.
Since the name “Micha’el” appears as both the name of a man and the name of an angel let us look at these two words. The word “angel,” in Hebrew, מלאך is equal to 91, which is also r13, the triangle of 13, or the sum of integers from 1 to 13. The word for “man,” אדם is equal to 45, or r9. These two triangles divide the word “one,” אחד , along a golden ratio, in this case 3:2, as all three letters together, אחד = 13, and the first two letters אח = 9. Adding the two words together אדם מלאך we get 136, which is also a triangular number, 16.
Looking at the 13 appearances of this name in the Tanach, we find that 3 times it appears with the conjunctive “and” before it: ומיכאל . The sum of all 13 times, 10 times מיכאל and 3 times ומיכאל is 1331 = 113. 1331 is also משיח in mispar kidmi (אבגדהוזחטיכלמ אבגדהוזחטיכלמנסעפצרקש אבגדהוזחטי אבגדהוזח = 1331).
Gavri’el and Repha’el in the Bible
The name “Gavri’el” appears twice in the Tanach, both in the Book of Daniel and both times as the name of the angel. If we add these three names together: “Daniel, Micha’el, Gavri’el” דניאל מיכאל גבריאל we get 442 = טוב · יהוה , or “good” times “Havayah.” The initials of these three names spell מגד .
Repha’el appears only once in the Tanach as the name of a man.
From this we can say that it is indeed Micha’el who is the angel that connects the heavens and the earth (angel and man) together.
Let us sum all the appearances of the names of the three angels. We have: 13 · מיכאל ┴ 3 · גבריאל ┴ רפאל = 2116 = 462! Indeed, 46 is the midpoint of 91, the numerical value of “angel,” מלאך .
Micha’el the minister
It is from the book of Daniel that we learn that Micha’el is the ministering angel of the Jewish people. When speaking to Daniel, the angel Gavri’el mentions Micha’el three times:
The first time he describes him as “Micha’el one of the first ministers,” מיכאל אחד השרים הראשנים . The gematria of this phrase is 1275 = 50.
The second time he says: “Micha’el, your minister,” מיכאל שרכם .
The third time he calls him: “Micha’el the great minister,” מיכאל השר הגדול ; “the minister,” in Hebrew, השר is a permutation of “Sarah,” שרה , whose numerical value, as we saw yesterday, is 505 = 5 · מיכאל .
The sum of all three phrases is: מיכאל אחד השרים הראשנים מיכאל שרכם מיכאל השר הגדול = 2590 = 70 · 37, the significance of which will be explained shortly.
The initials of these nine words are: מאהה מש מהה = 441, or אמת , “truth,” = 212, or אהיה · אהיה , one of the Names of the Almighty. אהיה ┴ אהיה = 42, and there are 42 letters in all nine words.
Indeed, Daniel also saw these same three angels without referring to them by name. He simply describes them as “three people,” שלשה אנשים , which equals 1036 = 28 · 37. Recall, that above we saw that all three descriptions of Micha’el that appear in Daniel also equal a multiple of 37 (2590 = 70 · 37). But these two numbers, 2590 and 1036 share a higher denominator, 518 since 2590 = 5 · 518 and 1036 = 2 · 518. Two numbers that share a common denominator are congruent. Here, the common denominator is 518, while the multiplicands are 5 and 2. 5 and 2 are the most important division of 7, and as mentioned in the recent past, they constitute the numerical essence of the Hebrew word for “gold,”זהב , where the first letter ז = 7, and the last two letters ה and ב equal 5 and 2 respectively, giving us the equation 7 = 5 ┴ 2. Indeed, the common denominator 518 is itself a multiple of “gold,” since 518 = זהב · 37, or: 14 · 37
Micha’el Mission of blessing
Micha’el’s mission was to bring the news of Isaac’s birth to Abraham and Sarah. In the previous article, we saw that the angel Micha’el elevates a married couple to experience fraternal love in their relationship, a necessary component for the procreation of the lineage of the Mashiach. It follows that we should look at the gematria of “Abraham, Micha’el, Sarah”: אברהם מיכאל שרה = 854, which is also the numerical value of the first of the three priestly blessings:3 “May G-d bless you and safeguard you,” יברכך יהוה וישמרך . The sages explain that the words “bless you” in this blessing refer to blessing you with boys and the words “safeguard you” refer to safeguarding you with girls. Indeed, as explained in length in our forthcoming book on the mathematics of the Priestly Blessing, the three blessings correspond to the three patriarchs; the first of course corresponds to Abraham.
The initials of Abraham, Micha’el, and Sarah are אמש , the three ”mother letters” of the Hebrew language, whose gematria is 341 and the value of the connotation of G-d with which we end the first benediction of the Amida: “the Shield of Abraham,” מגן אברהם .4
The Hidden meanings of Micha’el
A notrikon is a phonetic method, whereby the syllables that make up a word are taken as separate units that refer to whole words, which usually make up a phrase from the Tanach, or an idiom of the sages. As such, the notrikon of a word is used as one of the principles of analysis of the Torah and has the power to reveal hidden meanings of words. So to end today’s teaching, let us see some of the various notrikons related to the name “Micha’el”:
1) "Who is like You among the powerful, G-d”5 – מי כמכה באלם ה'
2) “Who is like you, a nation whose salvation is in G-d”6 and “Jeshurun, there is none like G-d.”7 These two verses, which are part of Moshe Rabbeinu’s blessing before his death, link the greatness of G-d with the greatness of the Jewish people who believe that their salvation comes from G-d alone; and in Hebrew: מי כמוך עם נושע בה' and אין כאל ישרון .
3) “Who is as powerful as You”8 – מי אל כמוך , the first of the thirteen principles of mercy as stated in the prophets. It corresponds to the first principle of mercy stated by Moshe in Exodus, אל , “powerful,” which is the Name of G-d corresponding to the sefirah of loving-kindness, as does the angel Micha’el.
4) The most important and revealing notrikon of all is: “Who is like Havayah our G-d,”9 מי כיהוה אלהינו , which appears in the first of the Psalms that we recite during Hallel. The remaining letters are יהוה הינו , whose numerical value is 97, the value of מהיטבאל , the name that contains the secrets of the unification of מה and בן , as explained in length in the writings of the Arizal. Let us quote this verse in context:
Who is like Havayah our G-d, Who sits on high, Who stoops down to look at the heavens and the earth….He settles the barren woman in her home as a joyous mother of children, Haleluyah.
That the Almighty “stoops down to look at the heavens and the earth” is an allusion to G-d entering as the Divine Presence between a man and a woman in order to allow them to procreate, as the sages say: “There are three partners in [the creation] of a human, his father, his mother, and the Almighty.” We have seen that this relates to the angel Micha’el who was given this mission by G-d. The first barren woman who gave birth is Sarah, who merited giving birth to Isaac. When Isaac was born Sarah said, “G-d has given me laughter,” indicating her joyous state.
1. See Numbers chapter 13.
2. Ibid. 13:13.
3. Numbers
4. Based on the verse: “Fear not Abraham for I am shielding, your reward greatly.” Abraham’s reward, as explained in the Midrash was that he would have offspring who could shield others, which is where the idea of the shield of David and the shield of Solomon originates. All three shields, Abraham’s, David’s, and Solomon’s were fashioned with a star on them. Abraham’s was an eight-pointed star, David’s a six-pointed star, and Solomon’s a five-pointed star. [edit]
5. Exodus 15:11.
6. Deuteronomy 33:29.
7. Ibid. 33:26.
8. Micah 7:18.
9. Psalms 113:5.
Topic: Angel Michael in Genesis (Read 1874 times)