Some time ago I wrote a blog titled: “Understanding
the Book of Job – Finally”. While I suggested that I may have found the lesson
of Job, I admitted that there were still mysteries. In that
blog I said, “The book opens with an unexplained gathering in some heavenly
dimension. Verse six says, ‘Now there was a day when the sons of God came to
present themselves before the Lord.’ Everybody pretty much agrees that “sons of
God” are angels. The interesting thing to me is that on a specific day they, ‘came
to present themselves.’ Was this a head count to see if more had joined the
enemy? Was it some sort of performance review?” Thanks to Michael S. Heiser’s
book, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the
Supernatural Worldview of the Bible, I think I may have at least a partial
answer to those questions.
Heiser is an impeccably qualified scholar of the
Hebrew language. His point is that the Jews who wrote and read the Old
Testament had a more complete understanding of some aspects of the “unseen
realm” than moderns do. He proposes that over the centuries, filters have been
placed over our view of the Old Testament which have clouded our interpretation
of what it actually says about God and His creation. We generally speak as if
we understand God’s material creation: “In the beginning, God created the
heavens and the earth.” No problem.
What we seldom consider is that before “in the
beginning,” God created a spiritual host of beings in a realm that can only be
called “unseen” because we know so little about it. Heiser thinks the Jews
grasped some of the nuances of the unseen realm better than we because of their
closer tie to the language the Bible uses to describe it. His theory sheds
light on the curious passage in Job among many others.
Briefly, Heiser suggests that the word frequently
used of God in the Old Testament Hebrew, Elohim, is not a name, but a class
distinction. By that he means that the elohim are a class of beings who live in
a realm associated with but distinct from our material universe, ie. a spiritual
realm. Taking that view, as supported by the Hebrew language, it becomes
acceptable to believe in multiple elohim. This explains why it is so often used
in the plural, elohim, but also appears as singular, el. The God who rules the
elohim is designated El Elyon or God Most High. Therefore, when “elohim” is
used, it often makes sense of otherwise difficult passages if we think of it as
meaning “spirit beings” rather than “gods.”
Getting back to Genesis, it is recorded in 1:26 that
God said, “Let us make Adam (Hebrew
for humans) in our image.” Every time
“God” was used up to that point, it was the Hebrew word, “El,” a singular form.
The question arises as to why the plural “us” and “our” were used. It makes
perfect sense when we realize that the “sons of god” who were called “elohim”
were present at creation (Job 38:7). It may also shed some light on what
happened soon after creation: the fall.
Eve was not surprised to be addressed by a “serpent”
in the Garden. Heiser suggests this is because the elohim continued their
presence in Eden after creation keeping an eye on the human inhabitants. We
know that El spent time with them “in the cool of the afternoon.” Heiser also
points out that the word translated “serpent” in Genesis 3 can mean “watcher.” So
it may be that the being who approached Eve with the temptation was not a
creepy snake, but a beautiful, known entity with whom she had regular contact (Ezekiel
28:11–19). This aligns well with other Old Testament references to Lucifer,
which means Morning Star, and is thought to be another name for Satan. None of
that sounds very reptilian.
When the watcher who had come to be known as “Satan,”
meaning “adversary,” came to El Elyon as reported in the book of Job, it was
logical for the Most High to ask what his underling had been up to. The watcher’s
answer, “Watching your material creation.” Again, Heiser suggests this reflects
the “serpent’s” having been condemned to crawling around in the dust. He was no
longer a regular inhabitant of the “heavenly” realms; he had been banished to
earth. However, it is not unreasonable that he
would still be responsible to his ultimate superior, and that he might appear
before Him from time to time.
God’s spirit beings surrounded Him throughout
history. They were there at creation, there in Job’s time, and they are present
in the time of the book of Revelation. If you read carefully, perhaps like a Jew
says Heiser, you find them throughout the Old Testament in all the references
to “other gods.” True, the One God emphasizes his uniqueness, commanding
loyalty to Him alone, but even in doing so, implies the existence of other gods
as options. It was not until Moses that El Elyon revealed that His name is
Yahweh, meaning “the self-existent one.” The supreme spiritual being, El Elyon,
rules over all the elohim in the spirit realm and over His material creation
including humans.
Ever since reading Heiser’s book, I find myself
discovering more places where the “unseen realm” becomes briefly visible in the
pages of Scripture. It makes so much sense every time it pops up, I know Heiser’s
view must be true. A first principle in Bible interpretation is to read a
passage as the original audience would have read it. Michael S. Heiser has
helped me to read the Old Testament in a way that recovers the supernatural
worldview. This is good. After all, God is the ultimate supernatural; His book
is supernatural; we need supernatural help to understand it (the Holy Spirit).
It is only logical that we should maintain a supernatural view wherever
possible.
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