The Spiritual Realm - Part 6
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Today, you will be exposed to a lot of new information. There are three things I want you to remember -
First, Yahweh is a God of order, therefore spiritual beings are ordered.
Second, Yaweh shares responsibility.
Third, He is coming again to bring full order and continue to share his work with us.
Let’s review what we have covered so far.
The current realms are the third heaven, the earth, Sheol, Tartarus, and Hell.
The five terms of nature are: spirit (ruah) (pneuma), god, gods (el) (elohim) (theos) (theoi), heavenly ones (samayim), stars (kokab) (aster), holy ones (qedosim) (hagios).
The first seven of the 26 terms of status for Yahweh are: LORD God (Yahweh Elohim), LORD (Yahweh), Lord GOD (Adonai Yahweh), Spirit of the LORD (Ruah Yahweh, I AM (Hayah) (Ego Eimi), Father (Abi) (Patera), Ancient of Days (Attiq Yomin).
Today, we continue our journey 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 rather than from 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 is 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 seven terms that describe the status of Spiritual Beings.
The first is Archangel (archangelos). It literally means “chief messenger.” It is used twice in the bible - in 1 Thessalonians 4:16 and Jude 9.
16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
9 But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you.”
The term comes from Second Temple writings, specifically 1 Enoch, where there are seven archangels listed, of which Michael is one.
These are chief angels with great power. They choose to use their power in service to God.
In 1 Thessalonians 4:16, it is used to declare the coming of Jesus. Come, Lord Jesus, come!
In Jude 9, it is used to contend with the devil, but it is submitted to the power of Yahweh. As we contend for the faith, may we submit our power to Yahweh as well.
The next four terms are: Assembly (Edah) Psalm 82, Congregation (Qahal) Psalm 89:5, Council (Sod) Psalm 89:7, and Court (Din) Daniel 7:9-10. These are all forms of referencing Yahweh’s divine council.
A Psalm of Asaph.
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!
Congregation (Qahal) Psalm 89:5
5 Let the heavens praise your wonders, O Lord, your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones!
Council (Sod) Psalm 89:7
7 a God greatly to be feared in the council of the holy ones, and awesome above all who are around him?
Court (Din) Daniel 7:9-10
9 “As I looked, thrones were placed, and the Ancient of Days took his seat; his clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was fiery flames; its wheels were burning fire.
10 A stream of fire issued and came out from before him; a thousand thousands served him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him; the court sat in judgment, and the books were opened.
There are spiritual beings who are part of the divine council that holds judgment with God over the happenings of creation. Some examples for further study would be 1 Kings 22:19-23; Job 1:6; 2.
In Psalm 82:6, the divine council participates with Yahweh in judging the “sons of the Most High,” which is a synonym for the sons of God. It is this term of status that we will look at now.
The sixth term of status is Sons of God (Bene Elohim). The examples are: Deuteronomy 32:7-9; Job 38:4-7; Psalm 89:6-7.
“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell me, if you have understanding.
Who determined its measurements—surely you know!
Or who stretched the line upon it?
On what were its bases sunk,
or who laid its cornerstone,
when the morning stars sang together
and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
For who in the skies can be compared to the Lord?
Who among the heavenly beings is like the Lord,
a God greatly to be feared in the council of the holy ones,
and awesome above all who are around him?
Remember the days of old;
consider the years of many generations;
ask your father, and he will show you,
your elders, and they will tell you.
When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance,
when he divided mankind,
he fixed the borders of the peoples
according to the number of the sons of God.
But the Lord’s portion is his people,
Jacob his allotted heritage.
The term “sons of God” is used six times in the OT, seven if you count “sons of the Most High” in Psalm 82:6. Some would interpret these terms to mean humans. But given the OT context, this term in the OT is a term of status for spiritual beings, unlike in the NT, where it refers to God’s human family.
From this observation, we can conclude that God has a spiritual family and a human family. We will discuss this more later.
In Deuteronomy 32:8, we learn that God divided the nations according to the number of the sons of God after the tower of Babel in Genesis 11:8.
The status of the sons of God then is to be over the nations. From this, one can conclude that this is where the gods of the nations come from.
According to Psalms 82, the sons of God did not deal justly with the nations and are judged by the LORD. The sons of God being over the nations brings us to the seventh term, Prince.
The seventh term of status is Prince (Sar), which comes from Daniel 10:13-14, 20; Daniel 12:1.
The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days, but Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I was left there with the kings of Persia, and came to make you understand what is to happen to your people in the latter days. For the vision is for days yet to come.”
Then he said, “Do you know why I have come to you? But now I will return to fight against the prince of Persia; and when I go out, behold, the prince of Greece will come.
“At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book.
In these passages, we see that there are spiritual beings with the title of princes over the nations, and specifically, Michael is over Israel.
Could the term “Prince” be another way to refer to the sons of God? It would seem congruent to me, given that both are over the nations.
We also see that the term is mixed in regard to allegiance to Yaweh. Michael is for Yaweh while the other princes are not.
What are the three things we are to remember?
First, Yahweh is a God of order, therefore spiritual beings are ordered.
Second, Yaweh shares responsibility.
Third, He is coming again to bring full order and to continue to share his work with us.
