We are walking through something that may be a new concept for many of you. It’s called the Divine Council Worldview. In short, it explains to us that Yahweh, our God, lives in a much bigger supernatural world than we may have previously been taught. Yahweh’s big picture endgame is to create a family. He started with a human family, in the Garden of Eden, and a supernatural family, composed of other supernatural beings in heaven. These beings are not merely angels, but vatious powerful, supernatural creatures. They are, however, created beings. They are not rivals to Yahweh, in terms of power, benevolence, and the like. Like our creation on earth, Yahweh created everything, including all the supernatural beings in the heaven.
Some of these creatures rebelled against him, so we know that they’re given free will. I know this has been one of the big questions about the nature of angels and the like. They, like us, have freedom to choose. Sometimes they choose Yahweh and sometimes they choose themselves, just like we do. Scripture tells us of three primary spiritual rebellions which coincide with major earthly events. The first we looked at was the fall in the garden. In that fall, humanity, under the advice/coercion of the serpent, chose poorly. We are often told that this is the main cause of most of our ongoing earthly problems in the human realm. This is partially true. What is not often discussed though, is the fact that the serpent was Yahweh’s "bodyguard". (figuratively speaking) He was in the garden to us in this holy space. This caused the first documented fall in the heavenly realm. The serpent was cursed and set to roam the earth until its judgement.
The second great fall took place just before the Flood narrative, with Noah. We’re told that the Nephilim were on the earth in those days, The "Sons of God" took human women as their wives and had children. This angered Yahweh and he set orders that they be wiped out in the future. This is the primary cause for the Old Testament genocides that we see in scripture. Humans are driven out of the land, but the Anakim, the children of the Nephilim, were to be killed.
Hopefully we’re all tracking at this point? If you’re completely lost, I’m sorry, I’d love to talk about this with you. You can also go back and watch the first two parts of this series on the Facebook. I’m going to run through the vocabulary again really quickly.
So far we’ve covered that "Elohim" is always translated in scripture as god - sometimes capital "G" sometimes little "g" - always god though. This can often throw us into a kerfuffle, because when we read "god", little g, we have been taught to think that this means that Yahweh, God Almighty, has equals. That’s not what the text is saying. Elohim is most accurately translated "supernatural being". Of which, there are many. They are not rivals to Yahweh, but they all fit into the classification of "supernatural being". Because of this confusion, I’ve been trying to use the term "Yahweh" for God Almighty, and "elohim" for other supernatural beings. The other supernatural beings are given several names or titles; the Heavenly Bodies, the Stars above, and the sons of God, to name a few. Most references in scripture about things we in modernity would consider to be "in space", are references to supernatural beings.
Some of those beings took it upon themselves to come down from heaven and take human women as their wives. They created the Nephilim. The word is a combination of elohim (little e) and human. This is given very little ink in Genesis, but gets fleshed out much more in the rest of the Torah and even the New Testament. We’re left with the impression that this was a sexual relationship in nature, not like the Holy Spirit when it came over Mary to create Jesus. Nephilim are also called Anakites, Anakim, Rephaim and men of renown, which means "men of the name" (the name of Yahweh).
Ok, everyone with me so far? Here comes the third great rebellion - it starts at the tower of Babel.
Genesis 11:1–9 (NIV)
The Tower of Babel
11 Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. 2 As people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.
3 They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. 4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; (This goes back to the name above all names, the men of renown. When they say, make a name for themselves, they’re looking to become like Yahweh.) otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”
5 But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. 6 The LORD said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”
8 So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9 That is why it was called Babel —because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth.
The supernatural side of this is not really explained here. But Moses explains this fuller in one of his songs in Deuteronomy.
Deuteronomy 32:7–12 (NIV)
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 (oldest text say sons of God, which is one of those titles I spoke about).
9 For the LORD’s portion is his people,
Jacob his allotted inheritance.
10 In a desert land he found him,
in a barren and howling waste.
He shielded him and cared for him;
he guarded him as the apple of his eye,
11 like an eagle that stirs up its nest
and hovers over its young,
that spreads its wings to catch them
and carries them aloft.
12 The LORD alone led him;
no foreign god was with him.
Moses is regaling his people with the stories of his forefathers at Babel. He’s saying remember when Yahweh divided up humanity and gave each a nation, this of course, happened at Babel. He divided them up according to the number of the “sons of God”. That’s the number of members of his Divine Council. He allowed those elohim to rule the other nations of the earth. For Yahweh’s portion, he took Israel and, in this song, more specifically, Jacob. He explains that Jacob was saved and nurtured by Yahweh, and Him alone. No other gods, elohim, had any part of it. The other elohim were supposed to rule justly and fairly. Yahweh took for himself a nation meant to be priest to lead all other nations back to Yahweh. But the others on the Divine Council had other ideas and they ruled poorly.
Psalm 82:1–8 (NASB95)
1 God takes His stand in His own congregation;
He judges in the midst of the rulers.
2 How long will you judge unjustly
And show partiality to the wicked?
Selah.
3 Vindicate the weak and fatherless;
Do justice to the afflicted and destitute.
4 Rescue the weak and needy;
Deliver them out of the hand of the wicked.
5 They do not know nor do they understand;
They walk about in darkness;
All the foundations of the earth are shaken.
6 I said, “You are gods,
And all of you are sons of the Most High.
7 “Nevertheless you will die like men
And fall like any one of the princes.”
8 Arise, O God, judge the earth!
For it is You who possesses all the nations.
God is quite angry here. He’s set the other elohim to die like mortals and all that implies. They have corrupted His gift and He’s had it. Asaph’s begging with Yahweh to take back control of His world. Help the weak and needy. Yahweh responds, you’re elohim, but you will be judged and die like the humans you were meant to protect. This is spelled out more clearly during the judgement at the end of days. The prophet Isaiah takes chapters 33-35 to explain how this will all play out. But here’s just a taste.
Isaiah 34:1–4 (NIV)
Judgment Against the Nations
34 Come near, you nations, and listen;
pay attention, you peoples!
Let the earth hear, and all that is in it,
the world, and all that comes out of it!
2 The LORD is angry with all nations;
his wrath is on all their armies.
He will totally destroy them,
he will give them over to slaughter.
3 Their slain will be thrown out,
their dead bodies will stink;
the mountains will be soaked with their blood.
4 All the stars in the sky will be dissolved
and the heavens rolled up like a scroll;
all the starry host will fall
like withered leaves from the vine,
like shriveled figs from the fig tree.
Isaiah in his usual cheerful way, is explaining that Yahweh has had it. He’s rolling up the sidewalks and turning out the lights on evil and all its fun; human and elohim alike. You’re either with Him or against Him, there’s no in-between. Remember the vocabulary. When he’s talking about the stars of the sky and the starry hosts of heaven, he’s talking about those ruling elohim that have been corrupting the leaders of the nations and the nations themselves. So these elohim know they’re in the penalty box. How do you think they’re handling that position? Well interestingly, we have some insight into this from Daniel.
Daniel 10:7–14 (NIV)
7 I, Daniel, was the only one who saw the vision; those who were with me did not see it, but such terror overwhelmed them that they fled and hid themselves. 8 So I was left alone, gazing at this great vision; I had no strength left, my face turned deathly pale and I was helpless. 9 Then I heard him speaking, and as I listened to him, I fell into a deep sleep, my face to the ground.
10 A hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. 11 He said, “Daniel, you who are highly esteemed, consider carefully the words I am about to speak to you, and stand up, for I have now been sent to you.” And when he said this to me, I stood up trembling.
12 Then he continued, “Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. 13 But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia. 14 Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future, for the vision concerns a time yet to come.”
Daniel 10:20–21 (NIV)
20 So he said, “Do you know why I have come to you? Soon I will return to fight against the prince of Persia, and when I go, the prince of Greece will come; 21 but first I will tell you what is written in the Book of Truth. (No one supports me against them except Michael, your prince.
Ok, there are a few things here. This is one of the most vivid descriptions of an elohim we have in all of scripture. Notice anything? No wings. The idea that angels have wings comes from extra biblical material well after the New Testament was written. They’re mostly described as powerful or magnificent looking men. That’s really a side note, I just want you all to start rethinking your impressions of some of these beings in heaven. We’re starting to get glimpses of the true organization of the world, both on earth and in heaven.
First is the word, "Prince". We often think of this as a royal title, which is of course true, but in this case, Prince means ruler/protector of.. These are spiritual beings set to rule and protect the nations of the earth. We know that because Daniel tells us in his vision that he’s told about The Prince of Persia, the Prince of Greece and Michael the Chief Prince of Israel. These Princes are warring with each other, and Michael steps in to protect the one Daniel is speaking with, so he may continue his mission to visit Daniel. We’re going to get into this more when we speak about spiritual warfare in a future sermon, but I want you to understand that there are spiritual beings, originally sent by Yahweh, to rule over the nations of this earth. This came about as a result of Yahweh’s order after the fall of Bable. They became evil and corrupt, and they passed that corruption on to their earthly rulers and into the population of humanity in general.
This is why the Zionist perspective is so important to the Jewish people. They believe that they are directly ruled over and led by God. In replacement theology, (this is the idea that Christianity replaced Judaism as the chosen people), this would mean that we are now ruled over by God directly. However, there are no truly Christian nations and there really never have been, which makes this interpretation very difficult to swallow.
This understanding that corrupt heavenly princes/rulers still today rule over the nations of the earth provides us with a radically different worldview. Israel itself was wiped off the map for 2k years. We don’t really know what happened to Michael, is he back in charge of Israel? Is he somewhere else? Did Yahweh retire him to heaven with another assignment? What we know for sure is that good and bad elohim still rule and influence nations. Now I want you to think about what that truly means for today. I would be willing to bet in the last 10 years everyone in this room has asked themselves the questions “who the hell is running this country?” You may be more right than you know.
This brings us back to Jesus, which we’ll discuss more later, but I think this is part of why the Messiah was so difficult for the Israelites to swallow. They, in their minds, were looking for an earthly Messiah, to combat earthly evils. I don’t think it ever occurred to them that the Messiah’s true job was to overthrow the Supernatural princes and powers. Jesus defeated these rulers and others with his death on the cross, but they’re still there. Still in charge. They will fall, as Isaiah predicted. But for now, they remain in place. We look to people to be responsible for their own actions, and we should. I don’t think evil or good elohim can make us do anything. But like Jesus was tempted in the desert, they offer us temptation. Sometimes, seemingly more than we can bear.
In medicine there’s a saying. “Think horses before Zebras”. It means think about the simple, regular answer and rule them out before we move on to the more exotic answer. I’m sure in medicine that’s a good rule. This is the Catholic approach to exorcism, and ours too in the Vineyard if I’m being honest. First, we look for natural causes, depression, bipolar, schizophrenia. But I wonder if that serves us well in the church? Should we look for earthly answers before spiritual ones? Or earthly causes before spiritual ones? I’m not sure anything in life has a one-size-fits-all answer. But it does leave room for discussion. What do you all think?