Welcome back to Critical Thinking Aloud’s seventh installment on Spiritual Beings. This is the 24th part of our foundational What is the Bible Series. To review the material of the whole series click here. Today we are going to be continuing our discussion on rebel spiritual beings.
This is the second part of our study on the disloyal members of Gods council and our seventh installment on spiritual beings. You can review all of the material in our Spiritual Beings Series by clicking here.
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.
Let’s Critical Think Aloud together
We Know What God 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.
The Divine Council
Over the past installments we have been using the concept of how the ancient Near Eastern cultures viewed the gods residing in a council and learning more about how this idea was not abandoned by the Israelites but transformed. This notion has been the base for our teachings about spiritual beings as one of the Bibles main characters.
Here is a quote that we have been using to help ground us in 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
Other Spiritual Beings serving on Gods Council is not in conflict with the Biblical authors ancient Near Eastern worldview. Even though they believed that other spiritual beings exist, 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 how Yahweh wants to rule over His creation!
Believing Loyalty
Last week we covered how a members place on the council of God is directly tied to their Believing Loyalty to Yahweh. We went over how this is linked to each individual beings choice steaming from their God given free-will. Every being who was created to be in Gods family and serve on His council has to make the decision to remain loyal to Yahweh.
Unfortunately not every being wished to retain their statues as a member of God’s council and by their insurrection were cast of the Mountain of God. Contrary to many popular christian beliefs not every rebellious decision made to depart from the council happened at the same time.
Over the upcoming installments on Critical Thinking Aloud we will cover each of these rebellions separately in what we have labeled before as the Three rebellion motif.
**Before we move on to those topics we want to cover how these being fell and the implications that it had on the world.
Lets cover who it is that was removed from the council.
*Note: For clarity I will be referring to what some of these Beings are called after their rebellion. The information provided about them will entail that of pre and post sedition.
O How You Have Fallen
The Devil
The most infamous of all these beings is of coarse going to be Lucifer. No matter how much you think you know about this being, trust me over the upcoming teaching we are going to learn a few new things along the way. Here is some details about this being we can gather from the Bible.
He held a place on Gods council
“You were on the holy mount of God;
Ezekiel 28:14
you walked among the fiery stones.”
You were in Eden, the garden of God
Ezekiel 28:12-13
“So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God“
Ezekiel 28:16
“You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’”
Isaiah 14:13-14
Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”…
“The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
Genesis 3:1,13
***For more information on how the Bible conflates Eden, Gods Garden, Gods Mountain, and His council as all being the same see our teaching on the subject by clicking here.
He is a Seraphim which is a counter part to their Spiritual beings know as the Cherubim.
“You were anointed as a guardian cherub,
Ezekiel 28:14
for so I ordained you.”
“So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God” and I expelled you, guardian cherub“
Ezekiel 28:16
“Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made.”
Genesis 3:1
***See below the connection between the Seraphim and the Nachash
He is a Spiritual Being who is referred to as the na.chash (serpent, snake, serpent image (of serpent), fleeing serpent (mythological))
“Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made.”
Genesis 3:1 (Click on the word for serpent to see the definition)
The Nachash:
“The Nachash” which is the spiritual being known to most of us as the snake. Nachash is a Hebrew word that means “snake or “serpent” which is where our translations draw upon.
Here is another quote from The faith Life Study Bible to help understand other meanings that our associated with this word nachash.
“Proper nouns of people or cities that include the Hebrew nachash indicate that the term may also mean ‘bronze’ or ‘diviner’. Conceptual parallels between Genesis 3 and ancient Near Eastern material- which also forms the backdrop of passages with similar language (Isaiah 14; Ezekiel 28)- suggest that the nachash in Genesis 3 could be understood in two ways. The narrative may refer to a shining divine being– a member of God’s heavenly host or council…-in serpentine appearance. In addition, the serpentine imagery may be used to convey the motif of threatening disorder associated with other serpentine figures in the OT…” – Faithlife Study Bible: Notes on Genesis 3:1
This is an excerpt from our teaching: The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil
He is the shining one
“You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone adorned you: carnelian, chrysolite and emerald, topaz, onyx and jasper, lapis lazuli, turquoise and beryl. Your settings and mountings were made of gold; on the day you were created they were prepared.”
Ezekiel 28:12-13
“How you have fallen from heaven,
Isaiah 14:12
morning star, son of the dawn!“
“And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.”
2 Corinthians 11:14
He was created superior to all others in Gods creation and was know as being the wisest of all creatures.
“‘You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
Ezekiel 28:12-13
“Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made.”
Genesis 3:1
“Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor.”
Ezekiel 28:17
This Spiritual Being was a loyal member on Gods council until He decided to rebel.
“You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you. Through your widespread trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned.
Ezekiel 28:15-17
“Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made.”
Genesis 3:1
You were in Eden, the garden of God;…You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you. You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones….
Ezekiel 28:13,14
“I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon.”
Isaiah 14:13
This Seraphim was removed from the council because of His infidelity and restricted to the earth.
So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones. Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth;
Ezekiel 28:16-17
“How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth,”
Isaiah 14:12
“But you are brought down to the realm of the dead, to the depths of the pit.”
Isaiah 14:15
“‘Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life.“
Genesis 3:14
As we can see there is lot of information given to us out this being in the Biblical text. From this we are able to gather that on Gods Council the Devil was second in command, bore gems like a high priest, was a guardian cherubim but is serpentine in appearance, was the wisest of all creatures, but became prideful from his exulted position.
Spoiler
We will be continuing our study of this rebellious council member in future installments on Critical Thinking Aloud but we don’t wanna show all of our cards before we get into the three dual rebellion motif of the Hebrew Bible. During those teaching we will see a much more vivid picture of how the Bible describes council members pre and post insurrection.
We will see you next time for another installment of our What is the Bible Series: Disloyal Spiritual Members
Peace and Blessing
Biblical Doctrine Derives From the Biblical Text
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.
Citations:
NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible Grand Rapids, Michigan USA Zondervan 2016
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Check out the book referenced above Demons: What the Bible Really Says About the Powers of Darkness by Michael Heiser for a more in-depth study on these Spiritual Beings who were on Gods council. Get it now by clicking here.
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Where does Jesus fit in with this? Is he just the shiniest of them all? This material is very creative… But it is, sorry to be blunt, a long way from ‘Christian’ theology….
The ANET sources and cultural background are not the context for the gospel. God judged Canaan precisely for the outworking of this mindset… And Christian faith cuts totally across this animistic worldview.
Thanks for the comments Jon, and great question. We have spent a lot of time on this subject in the prior series Yahweh as the Bibles main character (click here to access that information https://criticalthinkingaloud.com/04/07/yahweh-series/). I would argue that this is not so much “a long way from Christian theology” as it is the foundation of Christian theology and modern christian theology has over time become distant from the authors original beliefs.
Again I would argue that the statement that ANE is not context for the gospel is false. The great commission is modeled after this worldview and the first christians understanding this worldview proclaimed Jesus to the nations in this exact order. “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:8
As removed as the church is today from this thinking and in turn as uncomfortable with these concepts we may be the truth remains you have no biblical Jesus apart from an Ancient Near Eastern worldview of the scriptures for that is His context and worldview.
Absolutely, God judged not only the people of Canaan but His own people as well. This Judgement did not come from sharing this ANE worldview but for placing other deities in His rightful place within this worldview. Ezekiel 8
It would be great to hear back from you once you reviewed the linked material above. Once again thanks for you thought provoking questions which helps to foster Critical Thinking.
Peace and Blessing Brother