Hey everyone welcome back to our series covering Spiritual Beings as one of the Bibles main characters. This is a continuation of our foundational series What is the Bible.
Check out the video of this teaching by clicking here
Context is the key to any material. Television series, movies, literature, you name it, context is really important. Depending on the level of context you posses regarding a subject, the better you will be versed in that content.
Our material is no different. We have been laying a foundation with our What is the Bible series for all future material that we hope to cover here on Critical Thinking Aloud. In this installment will be building off of the teaching proceeding this, so if you haven’t had a chance to review that material yet, do so now by clicking here.
We love teaching others the ancient Near Eastern context of the Bible because we have experienced the clarity that interpreting scripture through this lenses can bring.
Today we will be continuing our study of Spiritual Beings as the Bibles main characters.
How we are going to learn
In this teaching we will be looking at the topic of spiritual beings as one of the Bibles main characters through the worldview of the ancient Near Eastern biblical authors. As I have done in the past with other teachings I want to quote from scholarly sources to make my point. I do this in hope that you will see this isn’t just my interpretation of the Scriptures but that this view is steeped in acadeemia.
We will be using two amazing sources which we highly recommend.
- Faithlife Study Bible: This is an amazing resource that is free if you download the app or use it online. To download the app or use this resource online visit their website here. This resource is also available in print which you can purchase here.
- The NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible: This is my favorite resource for gaining a better understanding for the ancient Near Eastern worldview of the Biblical authors. This is available in a multitude of variations all of which you can find on our resource page here.
Lets gets started
The Divine Council
Over the past weeks we have been talking about how many of the ancient Near Eastern cultures viewed the gods residing in a council and how this idea was not abandoned by the Israelites but transformed.
Here is a part of a quote that we have been using to ground us in this the biblical authors worldview
“The idea that the gods operated in community, however, posed serious problems for the theology of Israel, in which only one being had divine authority. This theology did not eradicate the divine council from the Israelite thinking; instead the council was transformed. Rather than being comprised of various gods, the council featured the “sons of God” over whom Yahweh presided and whose activities he delegated… These council members were not gods who had autonomous divine authority on a par with Yahweh’s, but they were spirit beings given a role in Yahweh’s governance of the world.”
The NIV Culture Backgrounds Study Bible: Article on the Divine Council on Pg. 615
Although there are other Spiritual Beings on Gods Council serving at His behest in the Biblical authors ancient Near Eastern worldview Yahweh alone is sovereign over everything including these other deities. Here on Critical Thinking Aloud we defined Sovereignty not as meticulous control but that of the ability to rule as one pleases.
Yahweh has seen fit to rule by sharing His authority with His Council not by control. This is what Yahweh wants!
Yahweh wants a big blended family of loyal Spiritual and Human Beings who He shares His authority with to spread His Kingdom, and He accomplishes this in the spiritual realm through His Council.
What are they?
The divine council is made up of spiritual beings known in the Biblical narrative as the sons of god. The translation of the Hebrew word בני האלהים, romanized: bənê haĕlōhîm, the sons of god informs us that these are spiritual beings by nature.
All Elohim inhabit the spiritual realm, for they are spiritual beings. Here is a saying that I love that has helped me a ton to understand all this
“all spiritual beings are elohim including Yahweh, but no other elohim is Yahweh.”
Nehemiah proclaims this same truth this way
“You are Yahweh, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you.
Nehemiah 9:6
There are many different members who are present on the council all of which differ in role and status.
Job Descriptions
In the past two installments we have covered some of the roles of the spiritual beings on Yahwehs Mountain. Cherubim/ Seraphim, and Angels are only a couple job description of those who occupy position on Yahwehs Council.
Cherubim/ Seraphim- who’s role on Gods Council is His “body guards”, guardians and transportation specialist.
To review that material click here
Angels- while differing in rank and other responsibilities their main role is to deliver important messages from God to people.
To review that material click here
Like all members found on Yahwehs Divine Abode, these Spiritual Beings fulfill certain tasks given to them by the Creator to help govern creation.
We aren’t going to go over all of the roles which are found on Yahweh’s council here, but if these studies have interested you on this subject, check out this book to get a more in-depth study.
Angels: What the Bible Really Says About God’s Heavenly Host by Michael Heiser- Get it now by clicking here.
How are these Beings Described?
Now that we have gone over who these members are on Gods Heavenly Council and a few of the roles that are held by them let’s proceed to study some different ways that the Bible describes these beings.
Spirits
The Hebrew word רוּחַ (ru.ach) ‘spirit’ is described by the step bible as meaning a plethora of things, one of which is Spirit. While this word can be used for the Spirit of God it is also used in passages to describe members of Yahwehs Council.
“Then a spirit (ru.ach) came forward and stood before the Lord, saying, ‘I will entice him.’ And the Lord said to him, ‘By what means?’”
2Ch 18:20
*We will be covering this passage in more detail in a later installment to see how this council operates.
Holy Ones
The Hebrew word קָדוֹשׁ (qa.dosh) ‘holy’ is described by The Step Bible as meaning this
1) sacred, holy, Holy One, saint, set apart
STEP Bible From Tyndale House, Cambridge UK
This word does not only refer to heavenly beings but is used in the O.T. to describe anything that is mention as Holy or “set apart”. There is however passages that do use this word to describe members of God’s council
“And you shall flee to the valley of my mountains, for the valley of the mountains shall reach to Azal. And you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones (qa.dosh) with him.”
Zec 14:5
Heavenly Host
The Hebrew word שָׁמַיִם (sha.ma.yim) ‘heaven’ is described by The STEP Bibles in multiple ways one being
1) heaven, heavens, sky
STEP Bible From Tyndale House, Cambridge UK
Here is a short Excerpt from Dr. Heiser’s book on Angels to help us understand why we should render some uses of this word as Spiritual Beings apart of God’s Council.
“The Hebrew word is found always in plural form. 11 In a handful of passages, šamayim describes the members of God’s supernatural host and should be translated (though it often is not) as ‘heavenly ones’ for clarity on that point.”
Heiser, Michael S.. Angels: What the Bible Really Says About God’s Heavenly Host (Kindle Locations 368-371). Kindle Edition.
Not all passages where heavens are mentioned in the Old Testament should be rendered as these spiritual beings. But here are couple examples of where in the Scriptures it is an appropriate to interpret this word for heavens as “Heavenly Ones”.
“Behold, God puts no trust in his holy ones (qa.dosh) , and the heavens (sha.ma.yim Heavenly Ones) are not pure in his sight;”
Job 15:15
Let the heavens (sha.ma.yim Heavenly Ones) praise your wonders, O Lord, your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones (qa.dosh)!
Psa 89:5
*notice how both of these references to the Spiritual Beings on Gods Council appear together in these verses, I would conclude that this is by design to telegraph a particular point in the authors worldview.
Stars
The Hebrew word כּוֹכָב (ko.khav) ‘star’ is defined by The STEP Bible as meaning star.
Of coarse we know now with our modern scientific discovery’s that stars are flaming gas ball in the sky. This was not the way the ancient Near East thought about stars. They believed that these were Spiritual Beings.
Old Testament Passages
“when the morning stars (ko.khav) sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?”
Job 38:7
Isa 14:13
“You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; above the stars (ko.khav) of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north;”
*Make a mental note about this passage because we will be returning to this verse when we study who it was that wanted to over thrown Gods Council.
New Testament Passages
The New Testament author of the Book of Revelation explicitly says that stars are “angels”
“As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.”
Revelation 1:20
I want to end this portion of our study by critically thinking together. We have demonstrated before that by changing the way we interpret the Bible there can be a profound impact on even the most well known Bible passages. A new level of understanding is attained when we leave our modern interpretations behind and adopt the ancient Near Eastern Biblical authors way of thinking.
God’s Promise to Abraham
“And he brought him outside and said, ‘Look toward heaven, and number the stars (ko.khav), if you are able to number them.’ Then he said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be.'”
Gen 15:5
I wanted to drawl our attention to the passage above. Most of us are familiar with this scripture and the notion of God promising a childless elderly Abraham that his offspring will be as numerous as the stars of the sky.
While most of us have probably thought of this passage as only addressing Yahwehs promise to provide Abraham with countless descendants in a numerical sense, (which it surely does), I would contest that there may be something deeper being proclaimed here.
Another Look
Let’s take another look at this verse knowing what we do now about the ancient Near Eastern Biblical authors view about how spiritual beings can be refer to as stars. Yahweh’s proclamation for Abraham to “Look toward heaven, and number the stars (ko.khav)…So shall your offspring be” is very interesting.
We know that in time the nation of Israel does become as numerous as the stars of the sky. Some scholars also believe in addition to the amount of the descendent, Yahweh could also be addressing the nature to which these offspring will become.
In the ancient Near Eastern worldview the stars are believed to be divine beings. These spiritual beings serve on Gods council and are granted everlasting life by remaining loyal to Yahweh alone. Therefor when Yahweh pronounces to Abraham that “so shall your offspring be” there is a context that He may also be sharing that these offspring will become like the Spiritual Beings in nature through their trusting loyalty in Him.
Sources for this Interpretation
Here is a quote from Michael Heiser book on this topic
“This destiny, to be like the stars as it were, has deep Old Testament roots. The key passage is Gen 15:5, that the offspring of Abraham would be like the stars. Paul quotes this passage in Rom 4:18 as part of his argument, which includes the statement that Abraham and his offspring would inherit the kosmos (Rom 4:13). Most Bible interpreters take the promise of Gen 15:5 as a numerical one. This is certainly the case, but there is a noteworthy stream of Second Temple Jewish interpretation—culminating in the New Testament—that considers the promise qualitative as well. The point is that believers, the children of Abraham through faith in the promised messianic seed, would not only be as numerous as the stars but would be made divine, as stars, the members of the heavenly host, were considered to be. Being made “like the stars” is part of the biblical theology of glorification or theosis . For the relevant primary sources and academic secondary literature, see David A. Burnett, “ Abraham’s Star-Like Seed: Neglected Functional Elements in the Patriarchal Promise of Genesis 15 ,” MA thesis, Criswell College, 2015.”
Heiser, Michael S.. Angels: What the Bible Really Says About God’s Heavenly Host (Kindle Locations 7057-7065). Kindle Edition.
Check out this podcast if you want to learn more about this view of Abraham promise
Naked Bible 164: Paul’s Ascent and Angelic Torment with David Burnett
This was just brief scratching of the surface on the subject of Gods Council but once again for a deeper study go and get this resource and dig for yourselves.
Check out this short video series on Spiritual beings by our friends over at The Bible Project by clicking here. They are amazing and super helpful to better grasp what we will be covering in this series.
Join us again next time for the continuation of our study on the topic of Spiritual Beings as one of the Bibles main characters.
Biblical doctrine derives from the Biblical Text
Citations:
NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible Grand Rapids, Michigan USA Zondervan 2016
STEP Bible From Tyndale House, Cambridge UK
Heiser, Michael S.. Angels: What the Bible Really Says About God’s Heavenly Host (Kindle Locations 368-371). Kindle Edition.
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Check out the book referenced above Angels: What the Bible Really Says About God’s Heavenly Host by Michael Heiser for a more in-depth study on these Spiritual Beings who are on Gods council. Get it now by clicking here.
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