The Divine Council




"God has taken his place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods he holds judgment..."
-Psalm 82:1 (English Standard Version)

I recently read a book recommended by a colleague of mine called The Unseen Realm by Michael S. Heiser where he delves into this mysterious yet present 'divine assembly' or council.

It sort of blew my mind a bit.

Why? Well, I've not really looked that closely at this supernatural realm where God exists as well as other divine beings. Sure, I know of angels, demons, and of course, satan/the accuser, etc. but there seems to be much more to it. The Ancient Near East cultures had at least a belief in this collection of divine beings. For the ancient Hebrew Israelites, Yahweh was the ruler supreme with complete authority.

For me, even though I'm still wrestling with this idea, I can see how this would relate to the 'spiritual warfare' that Paul speaks of at the end of the letter to the Ephesians. If Yahweh gave both supernatural and natural beings free will, that would open the door to both realms having conflicts.

As Heiser wrote,
"One of these attributes is freedom—free will that reveals itself in decision-making. If humanity had not been created with genuine freedom, representation of God would have been impossible. Humans would not mirror their Maker. They could not accurately image him. God is no robot. We are reflections of a free Being, not a cosmic automaton.

Heiser, Michael S.. The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible (p. 59). Lexham Press. Kindle Edition.

So I will continue to think and pray on this 'unseen' realm as it were and consider how I can honor Paul's mandate to stand firm with all of the armor of God available, trusting Jesus for ultimate, final victory!

10 Finally, be strengthened in the Lord and in the strength of his power. 11 Clothe yourselves with the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand against the schemes[u] of the devil. 12 For our struggle[v] is not against flesh and blood,[w] but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world rulers of this darkness,[x] against the spiritual forces[y] of evil in the heavens.[z]
-Ephesians 6:10-12 NET



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Going along with the crowd?

Image
Over the last several years I've found some helpful writings from the early church writings of the first few centuries of Christianity. Here is a quote I found interesting today (from www.commonprayer.net): Cyprian of Carthage, a third-century North African bishop, wrote, “The world is going mad in mutual extermination, and murder, considered as a crime when committed individually, becomes a virtue when it is committed by large numbers. It is the multiplication of the frenzy that assures impunity to the assassins.” It made me think of the old idea of peer pressure and going with the flow of culture rather than standing out and even swimming against the downstream flow of secular modernity.  Maybe Cyprian was correct in seeing how evil can become standard if enough people in a society or culture accept it? I guess it seems like the idea of strength in numbers and fitting in, etc. Jesus spoke of this danger during His ministry - specifically in the message on the mount He gave in Mat
Read more
Image
I sometimes get a bit down with my physical self. I'll complain inwardly about my poor eyesight, bad hearing, and desire to consume things that are bad for me. Hmmm. That reminds me of an old Alan Jackson song called "Everything I Love"... Anyway, I digress... We are told in Scripture that our bodies are special temples where God dwells - His presence in and through us is powerful. It's crazy to think about. Listen to the Apostle Paul's words in 2 Corinthians 4:7ff (NT Wright's New Testament for Everyone translation): But we have this treasure in earthenware pots, so that the extraordinary quality of the power may belong to God, not to us. 8 We are under all kinds of pressure, but we are not crushed completely; we are at a loss, but not at our wits’ end; 9 we are persecuted, but not abandoned; we are cast down, but not destroyed. 10 We always carry the death of Jesus about in the body, so that the life of Jesus may be revealed in our body. AND... 16 For this
Read more
Image
In honor of the upcoming St. Patrick's Day, here's a post I originally wrote back in 2006 - thought I'd share it to kick off this new blog... I’ve always wondered why some in the Christian church are so enamored with Celtic stuff. I mean, the Celtic crosses, the artwork, the old stone church buildings, the ‘mystery’, what’s this all about anyway? I then read a short little book about Celtic Christianity called Listening for the heartbeat of God – A Celtic Christianity  by J. Philip Newell and I really connected with this whole Celtic thing for the first time.  I guess what really resonates with me is this idea that God is the heart of all creation, and, since He is, when you really dig deep in every human heart, despite human sin and evil, you will ultimately find the good placed there by God. This is counter to the notion which has its roots in the early Christian church father Augustine who taught that humanity is basically evil and unable to do anything good without God.
Read more