Episode 12- Territorial spirits

Intro

Do my standard welcome, do a short recap on where we have been and then give a short sumary of where we are going to go in this episode. Then do the socila media plug.

Body -setting the stage

I WILL HAVE TO WORK ON SOME KIND OF INTRO TPO LEAD INTO THE QUESTION AND SET UP THE FLOW.

Where did Paul Get this from?

English Standard Version Chapter 6

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

Ephesians 1:20-21 “which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.”

Ephesians 3:10 “so that the multifaceted wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places.”

Colossians 1:16 “for by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, or dominions, or rulers, or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.”

Colossians 2:15 “When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.”

So we see in these texts these terms:

The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible Paul and the Deuteronomy 32 Worldview

• “rulers” (archontōn or archōn)

• “principalities” (archē)

• “powers”/“authorities” (exousia)

• “powers” (dynamis)

• “dominions”/“lords” (kyrios)

• “thrones” (thronos)

• “world rulers” (kosmokratōr)

These lemmas have something in common—they were used both in the New Testament and other Greek literature to denote geographical domain authority. At times these terms are used of humans, but several instances demonstrate that Paul had spiritual beings in mind.

So again? Where did Paul get these ideas from? Did he just pull it out of thin air, how did develop this thinking and understanding ?? Now, we are going to come back here at the end, but I want to briefy, from a high level persepctive talk about how the Apostle Paul and the other NT authors developed this kind of thinking predominantly from their Old Testamnt and also from some extra biblical sources.

Old Testament

The Lexham Bible Dictionary The Council of the Gods/God

Most Bible translations show that Israel believed in an assembly of heavenly host under the authority of Yahweh. Modern translations do not show clearly that this assembly is similar to pantheons of ancient Near Eastern cultures. A close reading of the Hebrew text and comparisons with other ancient non-biblical texts from Canaan demonstrate this similarity

Example 1

Deut 32:8-9 ““When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, When He separated the sons of mankind, He set the boundaries of the peoples According to the number of the sons of Israel. “For the Lord’s portion is His people; Jacob is the allotment of His inheritance.”

The notion that different nations were allotted to different gods or heavenly beings was widespread in the ancient world.

The origin of this idea is to be sought in the ancient Near Eastern concept of the Divine →Council.

Example 2

the existence of national deities is assumed in the Rabshakeh’s taunt: (assyrian court official) “Who among all the gods of the countries have delivered their countries out of my hand that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?” (2 Kgs 18:35 = Isa 36:20).

Example 3

In Dan 10:13, the angelic interpreter tells →Daniel that he has been sent in response to the visionary’s prayer, but he has been delayed because “the prince of the kingdom of Persia opposed me twenty-one days, so Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me”. He adds that when he is through with this first prince, “the prince of Greece will come” (10:20). He also refers to →Michael as “your prince” (10:21) and as “the great prince, the protector of your people” (12:1). By analogy with Michael it is clear that the “princes” of Greece and Persia are the patron angels of these nations.

Example 4

The book of Sirach (the wisdom of Ben Sira) which is an extra biblical wisdom text that is not found in the Hebrew Bible, but was a circulated book in the early church) Sir 17:17 “He appointed a leader for each nation, and Israel is the portion of the Lord.”

Example 5

Psalm 82 “A Psalm of Asaph. God takes His position in His assembly; He judges in the midst of the gods.

How long will you judge unjustly And show partiality to the wicked? Selah Vindicate the weak and fatherless; Do justice to the afflicted and destitute. Rescue the weak and needy; Save them from the hand of the wicked. They do not know nor do they understand; They walk around in darkness; All the foundations of the earth are shaken. I said, “You are gods, And all of you are sons of the Most High. “Nevertheless you will die like men, And fall like one of the princes.” Arise, God, judge the earth! For You possess all the nations.”

Psalm 82:1, the first elohim must be singular, since the Hebrew grammar has the word as the subject of a singular verbal form (“stands”). The second elohim must be plural, since the preposition in front of it (“in the midst of”) requires more than one. You can’t be “in the midst of” one. The preposition calls for a group—as does the earlier noun, assembly. The meaning of the verse is inescapable: The singular elohim of Israel presides over an assembly of elohim.

Psalm 82 goes on to describe how Israel’s God accuses the other אֱלֹהִים (elohim) of corruption and sentences them to die “like humankind.” This plurality does not refer to human beings.

Psalm 89:5–7 places the God of Israel “in the assembly of the holy ones” (בִּקְהַל קְדֹשִׁים, biqhal qedoshim) and then asks “For who in the clouds (בַּשַּׁחַק, bashshachaq) can be compared to Yahweh? Who is like Yahweh among the sons of God (בְּנֵי אֵלִים, beney elim), a god greatly feared in the council of the holy ones (בְּסוֹד־קְדֹשִׁים, besod-qedoshim)?”

Psalm 29:1 commands the same sons of God (בְּנֵי אֵלִים, beney elim) to praise Yahweh and give him due obeisance. Divine “sons of God” (בְּנֵי אֵלִים, beney elim, בְּנֵי הָאֱלֹהִים, beney ha'elohim; or בְּנֵי אֱלֹהִים, beney elohim) appear in other biblical texts (Gen 6:2, 4; Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7; and Deut 32:8–9, 43 (Septuagint; Qumran); Heiser, “Deuteronomy 32:8”).