The Spiritual Beings
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Last week, we looked at the terms for the five spiritual realms and began our journey of dispelling misconceptions and understanding our place in God’s family.
The current realms are the third heaven, the earth, Sheol, Tartarus, and Hell.
Today, we are going to see what the Bible says about the beings that inhabit these realms. We are doing this to bring clarity and understanding since much of our thinking on this is caught from our culture, (which is formed from church tradition and fictional works such as “Dante's Inferno”, “Paradise Lost”, “Screwtape’s Letters”, and, in the most recent history, the TV series, “Stranger Things”), rather than biblical teaching.
We need to remember that the proper context to understand the Bible’s teaching is not our current cultural context, but the biblical one.
In Christianity today, we find two extremes concerning the supernatural. The first is minimizing and skeptical of the spiritual realms, the second is overemphasizing and being infatuated with the spiritual realms.
Obviously, neither of these extremes are true or healthy. This series will try to bring us as a church to the middle, where we know and understand what the Bible says, and thus we know how we fit into God’s family.
So, what are the biblical terms for the spiritual beings who inhabit these realms?
The terms for spiritual beings are divided into three categories.
The first category is terms that describe the nature of spiritual beings (ontology - what they are like).
The second category is terms that describe their status (their rank in relation to God and each other).
The third category is terms that describe their function (what spiritual beings do).
This week, we will cover the terms that describe the nature of spiritual beings.
There are five terms that describe their nature (what substance they are).
The terms are:
“Spirit” - in Hebrew רוּחַ (rûaḥ); in the Greek πνεῦμα (pneuma). For examples, let’s look at Genesis 1:2; Job 4:15-16; 1Samuel 16:14; John 4:24; Hebrews 1:14; 1 Timothy 4:1; 1 John 4:1.
2 Now the earth was formless and empty, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.
15 And a spirit glided before my face; the hair of my flesh bristled.
16 It stood still, but I could not recognize its appearance; a form was before my eyes; there was a hush, and I heard a voice:
14 Now the Spirit of Yahweh departed from Saul and an evil spirit from Yahweh tormented him.
24 God is spirit, and the ones who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
14 Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?
Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons,
1 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to determine if they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.LEB
We are distinct from spirits because our nature is one of embodiment, but we, too, have a spirit, as seen in Genesis 2:7 and 1 Thessalonians 5:23.
7 when Yahweh God formed the man of dust from the ground, and he blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.
Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
This reminds us that we live in both spiritual and physical realms as part of God’s family.
“God” or “Gods” - in the Hebrew אֵל (ʾēl) or אֱלֹהִים (ʾelōhîm); in the Greek θεός (theos) or θεοὶ (theoi). For examples let’s look at Deuteronomy 10:17-18; Psalm 82:1; 2 Corinthians 4:4, and Acts 14:11-12.
17 For Yahweh your God, he is God of the gods and Lord of the lords, the great and mighty God, the awesome one who is not partial, and he does not take bribes.
18 And he executes justice for the orphan and widow, and he is one who loves the alien, to give to them food and clothing.
1 God has taken his place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods he holds judgment:
In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
And when the crowds saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in Lycaonian, “The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!” Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker.
“Heavenly Ones” - in Hebrew שָׁמַיִם (šāmayim). This term usually speaks of the third, second, or first heaven, but there are a few times it refers to spiritual beings. For an example, let’s look at Psalm 89:5-7.
5 And so the heavens will praise your wonderful deed, O Yahweh, even your faithfulness, in the assembly of the holy ones.
6 For who in the sky is equal to Yahweh? Who is like Yahweh among the sons of God,
7 a God feared greatly in the council of the holy ones, and awesome above all surrounding him?
“Stars” - in the Hebrew כּוֹכָב (kôḵāḇ); in the Greek ἀστήρ (astēr). For examples let's look at Job 38:5-7 and Revelation 12:3-4.
5 Who determined its measurement? Yes, you do know. Or who stretched the measuring line upon it?
6 On what were its bases sunk? Or who laid its cornerstone,
7 when the morning stars were singing together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child, he might devour it.
“Holy Ones” - in Hebrew קֹ֑דֶשׁ (qedōšı̂m); in the Greek ἅγιος (hagios). The context determines if this is talking about saints or spiritual beings. In reference to spiritual beings, “holy” does not necessarily define their character, but their proximity to Yahweh, although one could debate if this is a description of nature or of status. For examples of spiritual beings, let’s look at Daniel 4:17 and Jude 14.
17 The sentence is by the decree of the watchers, and the decision by the command of the holy ones, in order that the living will know that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdom of humankind, and to whomever he wills he gives it, and he even sets the humblest of men over it.”
14 It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones,
From these examples, we learn that there is a diversity of terms for spiritual beings in the Bible, and we tend to use four terms: spirits, gods, angels, and demons. The first two of these terms are accurate to describe their nature. The second two are not. “Angels” does not address their nature, but their function as Yahweh’s messengers. More on that in two weeks. “Demons” does not address their nature, but their character or status. More on that next week.
We learn that spiritual beings are the same substance as Yahweh, being spirit or gods, but they do not have the same function or status as Yahweh. He is the God of gods, the Lord of lords. There is none like him in status or character, as we are reminded in Exodus 15:11
“Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods?
Who is like you, majestic in holiness,
awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?
In learning this, we dispel the misconception that there are no other gods.
We learned it is important to pay attention to context because spiritual beings are identified with the spiritual realms they inhabit with the terms “Heavenly Ones” and “Stars”, and our English translation can miss that.
We learned that we are embodied spirits, the part of God’s family who have the opportunity to inherit salvation.
I pray that if you have not received salvation through faith in Jesus, you will do that today.
I pray that if you have received the salvation offered, that you will go forth living as God’s sons and daughters, loving God with all that you are on the realm of earth, looking forward to the New Heaven and Earth that is to come.
