The Divine Council (Part 2)

Genesis 1:26

26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in his own image,in the image of God he created him;male and female he created them.28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 29 And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. 30 And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

When Yahweh says, “Let us make man in Our image,” who is the “us” that Yahweh is referring to?

Naturally the question arises, in what way are we made in the image of God and the image of angels? What is this likeness that we share with our Creator and the heavenly beings? So, whatever conclusion we land on with regard to this image, we know that we must share this property with God and the heavenly beings. Let us turn our attention to these two words “image” and “likeness”.

So much of Christian literature seems incredibly vague on this point.

What we are discussing here is not a physical property. God is Spirit (John 4:24). We know that whatever this likeness is, it must not be a physical property, but a quality or character property that we share with God. We also know, based on the descriptions of heavenly beings throughout Scripture, that if we should see a human that looks like a heavenly being, we all ought to run in terror. Therefore, this shared image we have with Yahweh and the angels simply can’t be physical.

The passage here tells us what it means to be made in the image of God. To be made in the image of God was to be one with dominion. In fact, in the ANE being referred to as the image of God is regal language. It was the language reserved for kings and lesser gods.

The words used here to convey these ideas can be better understood in the light of a phenomenon registered in both Mesopotamia and Egypt, whereby the ruling monarch is described as “the image” or “the likeness” of a god. In Mesopotamia we find the following salutations: “The father of my lord the king is the very image of Bel (ṣalam bel) and the king, my lord, is the very image of Bel”; “The king, lord of the lands, is the image of Shamash”; “O king of the inhabited world, you are the image of Marduk.” In Egypt the same concept is expressed through the name Tutankhamen (Tutankh-amun), which means “the living image of (the god) Amun,” and in the designation of Thutmose IV as “the likeness of Re.”

Without doubt, the terminology employed in Genesis 1:26 is derived from regal vocabulary, which serves to elevate the king above the ordinary run of men.

Sarna, N. M. (1989). Genesis (p. 12). Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society.

In the ancient world, to be called the image of God was a high honor. The most remarkable thing, and the thing that the Ancient reader would have found totally astounding about the reading here in Genesis 1 isn’t just that God calls all men the image of God, but all women too. All people are representative of God’s authority upon the earth.

The function of an image-bearer is to be a representative of God. This means, not only has he given us the authority to rule over the earth, but also he expects all our earthly affairs to representative of His character.

3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,

the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,

4  what is man that you are mindful of him,

and the son of man that you care for him?

5  Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings

and crowned him with glory and honor.

6  You have given him dominion over the works of your hands;

you have put all things under his feet,

7  all sheep and oxen,

and also the beasts of the field,

8  the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea,

whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

9  O LORD, our Lord,

how majestic is your name in all the earth!

(Ps 8:3–9)

The Psalmist seemed to view, that as a part of God’s creative work, “Man” had been placed over all the handiwork of the earth. Scripture specifically says we have been given dominion over the earth. Now, remember, we’ve said that whatever quality we land on must be shared by both God and the heavenly beings. As we know, God certainly possesses dominion over both heaven and the earth. Given that, the man was made just a little lower than the angels, we can infer that the angels must have dominion as well.

Now we’ve established what image-bearers are and what they ought to do. We have also established we share this characteristic with the Lord and the heavenly beings.

So as Jonathan established last week from Psalm 82 and other passages, the heavenly beings not only have dominion, they have dominion over the territories of the earth and over the kingdoms of the earth. The question is what went wrong?

I’m about to introduce a wiley and rebellious character. We all know him by various names and titles, but probably most commonly he is known as satan. It’s important to understand satan isn’t a name, but actually more like a title or a descriptor. We don’t actually know this figure’s name. Scripture prefers to describe him rather than identify him by any name.

We’ve been talking about mankind being made in the image of God in the garden and we’re going to stay in the garden for a minute. This figure appeared to Adam and Eve in the garden.

Genesis 3:1

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say...”

Genesis doesn’t tell us much about the serpent. It just tosses him in there without any explanation as to who he is or why is there. Is it possible Genesis doesn’t explain who he is, because the Ancient Israelites were already familiar with who he is?

Explain hermeneutics, cultures, and historical-grammatical backgrounds. Give some examples.

Contrary to popular belief, this serpent was not a snake. Most artwork and Sunday school teachers will communicate a snake in the garden. I had a children’s minister tell me when I was a child that all snakes had legs at one time and they lost their legs as a result of the serpent’s deception in the garden.

Genesis 3:14

“Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field;on your belly you shall go,and dust you shall eat all the days of your life.

Licking the dust and going on the belly was a common Ancient idiom for all kinds of reptiles, not just snakes, and it was even a term used for enemies that would be subjugated (as in Psalms 72:9).

Why shouldn’t we think this was a snake? If this wasn’t a snake, what was it? Who would have been in the garden that the Israelites would have already been familiar with?

The Hebrew word here used for serpent is the word Nachash and it’s used variously throughout the OT. However, there are some curious usages of this word.

Isaiah 26:21-27:1

21 For behold, the LORD is coming out from his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity, and the earth will disclose the blood shed on it, and will no more cover its slain. 27:1 In that day the LORD with his hard and great and strong sword will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent (nachash), Leviathan the twisting serpent (nachash), and he will slay the dragon that is in the sea.

What we’re seeing in the garden is a sea dragon. We see here Scripture is referring to an eschatological event.

Perhaps, the most detailed description we get of the Leviathan is in Job 41. I’m not going to read the entire passage, but we see that this creature lives in the sea, breathes fire, has scales like impenetrable armor, and has teeth of terror. The final and most curious statement is in verse 34 that he is “king over the sons of pride”.

As Jonathan established last week and we’ve further established today, the heavenly beings were created as beings that were intended to have dominion over nations of the earth. The idea is that they were to guide and act as guardians to the people.

And we see, Satan appeared to be an image-bearer as well, and was to act as a guide

Instead of these heavenly beings acting as image bearers, representing the will and character of God to Adam and Eve and later to the nations, Satan deceived Adam and Eve and the nations, and it appears that it is the Leviathan (Satan) that leads this charge.

Ezekiel 28:1-19

English Standard Version Chapter 28

28 The word of the LORD came to me: 2 “Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre, Thus says the Lord GOD:

“Because your heart is proud,

and you have said, ‘I am a god,

I sit in the seat of the gods,

in the heart of the seas,’

yet you are but a man, and no god,

though you make your heart like the heart of a god—

3  you are indeed wiser than Daniel;

no secret is hidden from you;

4  by your wisdom and your understanding

you have made wealth for yourself,

and have gathered gold and silver

into your treasuries;

5  by your great wisdom in your trade

you have increased your wealth,

and your heart has become proud in your wealth—

6  therefore thus says the Lord GOD:

Because you make your heart

like the heart of a god,

7  therefore, behold, I will bring foreigners upon you,

the most ruthless of the nations;

and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom

and defile your splendor.

8  They shall thrust you down into the pit,

and you shall die the death of the slain

in the heart of the seas.

9  Will you still say, ‘I am a god,’

in the presence of those who kill you,

though you are but a man, and no god,

in the hands of those who slay you?

10  You shall die the death of the uncircumcised

by the hand of foreigners;

for I have spoken, declares the Lord GOD.”

A Lament over the King of Tyre

11 Moreover, the word of the LORD came to me: 12 “Son of man, raise a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say to him, Thus says the Lord GOD:

“You were the signet of perfection,

full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.

13  You were in Eden, the garden of God;

every precious stone was your covering,

sardius, topaz, and diamond,

beryl, onyx, and jasper,

sapphire, emerald, and carbuncle;

and crafted in gold were your settings

and your engravings.

On the day that you were created

they were prepared.

14  You were an anointed guardian cherub.

I placed you; you were on the holy mountain of God;

in the midst of the stones of fire you walked.

15  You were blameless in your ways

from the day you were created,

till unrighteousness was found in you.

16  In the abundance of your trade

you were filled with violence in your midst, and you sinned;

so I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God,

and I destroyed you, O guardian cherub,

from the midst of the stones of fire.

17  Your heart was proud because of your beauty;

you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor.

I cast you to the ground;

I exposed you before kings,

to feast their eyes on you.

18  By the multitude of your iniquities,

in the unrighteousness of your trade

you profaned your sanctuaries;

so I brought fire out from your midst;

it consumed you,

and I turned you to ashes on the earth

in the sight of all who saw you.

19  All who know you among the peoples

are appalled at you;

you have come to a dreadful end

and shall be no more forever.”

The Leviathan/Satan was in the garden. He was exalted. He was an image-bearer, intended to represent the glory of God and to act as a guardian in the garden, and yet He rebelled. Instead of acting as a friend and a guide to Adam and Eve, he deceived them.

Human were also intended to bear God’s image, and instead corrupted themselves by following after the dragon. All humanity is still called to be representatives of God. Every man and woman is still an image of God, but now they’re corrupted images. This is what makes sin so treacherous.

The dragon didn’t just corrupt human imagers, but heavenly ones as well. Revelation 12 mentions a dragon of future and past. It speaks of a dragon that has been locked in a cosmic battle, he’s been deceiving both earth and heaven, and he is featured in future events that have yet come to pass. I’m going to read only a section from the larger narrative.

Revelation 12:7-9

7 Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, 8 but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. 9 And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.

The dragon and his angels have continued to guide the nations, but into a domain of darkness. Every tyrant, genocidal ruler, and warmonger has been a product of the corruption of human hearts and the influence of fallen heavenly beings.

This is where the force of the gospel comes in. Christ isn’t just redeeming human hearts, but He is retaking the nations of the earth from the corrupted heavenly hosts. He has been granted all authority in heaven and on earth.

Colossians 1:13-20

13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

Christ is the image that Adam was supposed to be. He is the true representation of the mind and authority of God. Notice that He is reconciling heaven and earth. He is retaking all earthly kingdoms as well as reclaiming the authority from the heavenly beings that have corrupted it.