I want to talk about something called the Divine Council World View. Are you familiar with the perspective? The Divine Council Worldview is the closest perspective I have seen or read about that explains how the ancient near eastern cultures would have seen the world, both the natural world and the supernatural world. It was the way the ancient Hebrews looked at things, and therefore, it was the way Jesus looked at things.
Some of what you’ll hear in the next few weeks may be familiar to you. Some of it may be completely new, and some of it may stretch your view of the bible. I’m bringing this up, not merely to stretch your intellectual curiosity, but because a proper worldview of the ancient world directly impacts the way we access and conduct spiritual warfare, which again, will be our next stop on this journey. When the ancient near eastern peoples looked around their world, they saw the supernatural everywhere. They saw supernatural creatures in the trees, the mountains, the heavens, and the seas. They literally believed that our world and the supernatural world were superimposed on one another. This too, was Jesus’ worldview, which we’ll get into in a little bit.
I want to start by pushing a little on some general modern Christian boundaries. If you ask the random Christian on the street there are basically three categories of supernatural creatures in the universe. There’s God; He’s obviously in a class by himself. There’s Angels, and they are the "catch all" for "good" supernatural beings. They deliver messages and fight in various places in scripture and work directly for God. Finally, there are Demons, which are viewed as the dark counterpart to the angels. They work for/with Satan, the fallen angel, leading many of us to assume that all demons are fallen angels, which often leaves us with a lot of questions about the how and why of it all. How did they all fall? Why did God allow it? Do angels have free will? If so, is repentance an option? And we could go on and on and on from here.
I want to open your mind to the idea that the supernatural world is much, much bigger than this. I want you to think of it this way. Look around the world and observe the wide variety of creatures God created here on Earth. Why would we think that he was not equally creative in his design of the spiritual realm? Scripture, of course, is not a supernatural scientific textbook designed to give us all the in’s and out’s of the supernatural universe. But I think we have much more information in scripture than we think we do.
Let’s start with some vocabulary. I want to preface this by saying that we’re not building Theology here. I’m simply going over some root language so we can have a fuller understanding of the context of what we are going over the coming weeks. Again, this all goes back to our understanding of what the bible is really saying. Remember, the Bible is written for us, but not to us. How many of you know that "God", is not God’s name? Almost all the names we have for God, are not names. They’re character descriptions; the Great Healer, The Great Physician, The Lord of Lord’s. These are all titles or classifications. The only true name we have for God is Yahweh, and we’re not actually sure the vowels are correct in the name. That’s where we get Jehovah from. But we’re pretty sure that one’s wrong. Everything else in scripture that speaks of "God" is not actually a name.
The word most often translated in OT scripture as God is Elohim. Elohim doesn’t actually mean God, or gods. It simply means a supernatural being, of which, of course, Yahweh is. But you’ll also notice in scripture that there are actually a lot of things referred to by the title Elohim, that are not Yahweh. Everywhere you see the term God, god, gods or sons of god, Nephilim, Rephaim you’re actually looking at some version or conjugation of Elohim. Now, we can tell by sentence structure and syntax and a few other things when Elohim is meant to be Yahweh, so I’m not trying to say let’s just throw it all out. But I want you to open your mind to a wide understanding of supernatural spiritual beings.
"Angel" is the next loaded term. Angel means messenger. It’s not a classification of being. It simply gives the being we’re talking about a job title and in the case of scripture a relationship to Yahweh. Angel in scripture means messenger of God. I think, and this is just my personal anecdote, that this is why, in scripture and extrabiblical sources, we have so many different physical descriptions and experiences with “Angels”. They’re not all the same creatures. They’re just the messengers whom Yahweh has chosen to deliver that message, whatever it may be.
Lastly, demons. "Demon" is a Greek word. There is really no one-for-one equality in Old Testament scripture, and there’s a reason for that. In classic Greek, "Demon" has no connotation of good or evil, it just means supernatural being. Again, let’s not draw theology out of what I’m saying. I mean what I’m saying, literally. Demon, by itself, does not tell us, at this point in historical literature, if the entity is good or evil. It’s similar to the Hebrew word Elohim in that way. Much of the uncomfortable squirming going on right now is simply translation issues. We’re going to flesh some of this out over the next few weeks and see if we can better see the supernatural world the way Jesus would have. The first section of scripture I want to jump into is Psalm 82.
Psalm 82:1–8 (ESV)
1 God has taken his place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods he holds judgment:
2 “How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? Selah
3 Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute.
4 Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”
5 They have neither knowledge nor understanding, they walk about in darkness; All the foundations of the earth are shaken.
6 I said, “You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you;
7 nevertheless, like men you shall die, and fall like any prince.”
8 Arise, O God, judge the earth; for you shall inherit all the nations!
Ok, what sticks out to you having heard that Psalm? What do you think about it? Does it conjure any questions? How about, "who are the other gods?" Much ink has been spilled about them being false idols, or human beings, but the text doesn’t really leave room for either of these options to be a true interpretation. Remember elohim - these are all elohim. We translate that word to be God, which sometimes, in Yahweh’s case, it is, but other times, it simply means supernatural being.
Let’s jump into the Wayback (time) machine and see if we can wrap our heads around this. In Genesis we read that the ancients looked up at the sky, and they saw stars as heavenly bodies. We still use that vocabulary today in our more poetic, scientific explanations, but they meant it literally. They saw supernatural entities behind those objects. This framework gave the ancients a way to see and interact with the spiritual realm. In the Bible, they are referred to as “sons of God” or Rulers & Authorities or sometimes The Divine Council. In Genesis 1, they’re introduced as "The Hosts of Heaven". This would be the sun, moon, and stars. It’s spelled out under that title in Deut 4:19,
"And when you look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon and the stars—all the heavenly (hosts) array—do not be enticed into bowing down to them and worshiping things the LORD your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven."
Later on in scripture, we’re told that this Divine council was cheering Yahweh on in His creation of the world. There are also stories of the Divine Council being invited by Yahweh to participate in making decisions that play out on earth. 1 Kings 22:16-23 -
The king said to him, “How many times must I make you swear to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORD?” Then Micaiah answered, “I saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd, and the LORD said, ‘These people have no master. Let each one go home in peace.’ ” The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Didn’t I tell you that he never prophesies anything good about me, but only bad?” Micaiah continued, “Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne with all the multitudes of heaven standing around him on his right and on his left. And the LORD said, ‘Who will entice Ahab into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death there?’ “One suggested this, and another that. Finally, a spirit came forward, stood before the LORD and said, ‘I will entice him.’ “ ‘By what means?’ the LORD asked. “ ‘I will go out and be a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all his prophets,’ he said. “ ‘You will succeed in enticing him,’ said the LORD. ‘Go and do it.’ “So now the LORD has put a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all these prophets of yours. The LORD has decreed disaster for you.”
Much of the dialogue in the book of Job,other than Job himself, is between God and His Divine Council. Satan is even looked at as part of the Council at that time. He is the adversary that God allows to work over Job. One of the first questions that often comes up when we’re looking at the Divine Council is, "Why does Yahweh need a Council?" The answer is, He doesn’t. But we know that God likes to share his authority on earth, as we have witnessed throughout Genesis, and perhaps He also chooses to share authority in Heaven as we saw in Kings and the Psalms, just to name a few.
Then things take a turn for the worse. We see twin rebellions in Genesis 6 & 11. The spiritual rebellion takes place in Genesis 6:1-4 -
"When human beings began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, the sons of God (Elohim) saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. Then the LORD said, 'My Spirit will not contend with humans forever, for they are mortal; their days will be a hundred and twenty years.' The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown."
"Men of Renown" actually translates to "Men of the Name". Which name? The name above all names. It’s clear in the text, Yahweh is not happy with this decision. There is actually a more complete explanation of this in 1 Enoch, which I know most of us don’t consider part of the Bible, but the ancient Hebrews did, and so do some sects of Christianity today. So I might advise you to read through that book if you’ve never had the chance. Man sinned at the Tower of Babel, and you’re welcome to go back and familiarize yourself with the text (Genesis 11).
Moses points out the architecture here in Deut 32:7-9
7 Remember the days of old;
consider the generations long past.
Ask your father and he will tell you,
your elders, and they will explain to you.
8 When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance,
when he divided all mankind,
he set up boundaries for the peoples
according to the number of the sons of Israel (original translation is Sons of God).
9 For the LORD’s portion is his people,
Jacob his allotted inheritance.
God set above every nation on earth, at the time, an elohim to guide them. He alone took Israel. This is why the prophets of Yahweh looked out at the corrupt kings of the earth and saw a Spiritual rebellion behind them. We’re actually told during the Exodus story that Pharoh was inspired by the gods of Egypt.
Ex 12:12
“On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD."
Upon the Hebrew’s release from Egypt, they are invited to join in a covenant partnership with Yahweh, but they are unable to fulfill the tenants of this relationship covenant. They again fall into worshiping other Elohim and again are marched off into slavery in Babylon. Then begins the wait, again, for freedom. This is where Jesus comes in. He announced that he had come to take back power and authority, leaving the modern reader with the question, "power and authority from whom?"
Paul tells us in Col 2:13-15
"When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross."
Paul didn’t mean the earthly powers and authorities. Nothing Changed immediately for Israel. Rome would not fall for several hundred years, and Israel would be wiped off the map in a few decades. Jesus was fighting a bigger battle, and the Apostles knew that to be true.
Jesus final words in Matthew 28:18-20
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Jesus, now the perfect blend of natural and Supernatural, took total control and invited the Apostles to spread his kingdom, aside and apart from the now alone earthly powers. Now let’s be clear here. Jesus won the decisive battle over the other powers of the Earth, but he did not destroy them. They’re still around. They are THE problem with humanity today. That’s why the apostles said that our problems are never with another human. They are always with the evil powers working behind them. That’s also why Paul gave us the lecture on the spiritual armaments of God and told us that our true and only weapon is the “Word of God”.
