The Divine Council - Part 3

Divine Rebellions

Shabbat shalom and welcome again, everyone. It’s good to see y’all today. Shabbat shalom to those watching online as well.

To recap the last couple weeks, we started a series on The Divine Council. In the first week, I spoke about God and “the gods.” I put that in quotes there, “gods.” God, the Hebrew word Elohim, is a reference to any sort of superhuman being. Adonai Himself, angels, even the resurrected human dead as we saw with Samuel. The word is not so narrowly defined to apply only to Adonai.

We studied through Psalm 82, how God judges “the gods” these lesser spiritual beings, for ruling unjustly. Just what were they ruling? The nations. We looked at Genesis 11, the tower of Babel, in conjunction with Deuteronomy 32, where God divided up the nations according to the sons of God, or the heavenly beings. These are created beings, they are not like Adonai Who alone has all power and is without beginning.

Last week, in Part 2, Jeff spoke on two primary topics. First, the imago dei, or “image of God.” What does it mean to be made in the image of God. The ancient world saw this terminology, “image of God” as a reference to an appointed agent or representative of the gods. This often meant a lesser god was in the image of a greater god, or it referred to kings. Kings were the “image of God.” So the subversive nature of this is contained in the fact that Genesis 1 says all humanity was made to bear the image of God. That is, in Eden, all humanity was supposed to have this regal position, not just the highest classes of society.

Why did God make man in His image? What purpose does man serve? In short, God decided He wanted, as Dr. Heiser puts it, an earthly family. Last week, Jeff also looked at Psalm 8, where David says God made man a little lower than the angels. Some translations will say a little lower than the gods, or the heavenly beings.

Jeff then spoke about the nachash, the serpent of Genesis 3. About how this is a reference to a heavenly being, not a snake. He went over passages from Job, from Ezekiel, from Revelation. Between last week’s teaching and the Q&A, we talked a little about cherubim and seraphim, though we will have to delve more into those distinctions in the future.

Quite simply put, there was a heavenly rebellion, which Revelation speaks about, wherein some of these heavenly beings fell. And that’s today’s topic: Divine Rebellions.

Real quick, if you want more in-depth information about the topics in this series, there are a few resources I would highly recommend. The first part is Michael Heiser’s “Unseen Realm” book. Dr. Heiser is an OT and Hebrew scholar. The book is filled with references. Now it is a bit more of an academic book, so if you want a shorter, easier to read form of it, there’s Supernatural, also by Heiser. The general outline that we’ve been following these last couple weeks loosely follows the divisions of his books. I found it so helpful when I was studying the topic, I believe it’s a great way to delve into the topic as a whole.

The other resource I would mention is a couple videos by The Bible Project. I have actually contemplated playing a couple of them during these teachings, but decided against it, since we have people that watch online and watching a video through a video usually degrades both audio and video quality. At any rate, you can search YT for Bible Project. They have a playlist of 7 videos about Spiritual Beings, and while they are short videos, they are filled with information. The animation also helps to visually conceptualize what the topic is, and how these beings interact in the world.

But back to today’s topic. Now I will go ahead and inform you all right now: I will refer to a couple of texts which are outside the Biblical canon. If you’ve seen my 2-part teaching on Scripture already, you know that I have a high view of Scripture, and the books we have in our Bibles. Simply put, I do not advocate for dismantling that and adding other books in. That’s a rabbit trail I won’t be going down right now, but if anyone would like to discuss that at any point, I’d be happy to at a later time.

For now, again: I will refer to some extra-Biblical books. I do not consider these extra-Biblical books to be things that belong in Scripture. However, I refer to them primarily for 2 reasons.

Because they share a background and culture with the Hebrew people during the age from about the 3rd century BCE to the 1st century CE. That is, between what we call the intertestamental period and the New Testament period. The authors of these books shared a common history and culture with the authors of Scripture.

They provide additional insight into our studies of Scripture that help us understand some of the narratives and statements in the Bible. I use lexicons to look up the meanings of words I don’t know. I use dictionaries to get background info. I use contemporary ANE texts and works to compare the language and words used in the Bible to describe certain concepts. Just like Jeff mentioned a few ANE texts that use “image of God” language to help us understand that concept, so too do these extra-Biblical books help us understand Biblical concepts. They do not override the Bible, but they can supplement our understanding of it.

So with those two reasons, and the caveat about extra-Biblical works in mind, let’s continue.

Jeff read this verse last week, so we’ll start there.

Revelation 12:7–9 TLV

7 And war broke out in heaven, Michael and his angels making war against the dragon. The dragon and his angels fought, 8 but they were not strong enough, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. 9 And the great dragon was thrown down—the ancient serpent, called the devil and satan, who deceives the whole world. He was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.

The serpent of old. That twisting serpent, like Leviathan. The dragon. He was a heavenly being, who was thrown out of heaven. Comparing the passages Jeff read last week from Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28, we get a glimpse of this heavenly being. He exalted himself, he wanted to ascend above Adonai. In doing so, he led a rebellion in the Garden, deceiving the woman into eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He was thrown to earth, as the prophets describe.

These verses, as we begin piecing them together, paint a picture of rebellion. Not only did humanity rebel against God’s commandments - in our case, with the man and woman in the garden eating the free of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil - but also so did heavenly beings rebel.

This rebellion is not the only one described in Genesis. We discussed a little bit a couple weeks ago in Part 1 about Genesis 6, but if you recall, I said we would get to that later. Well, today is that “later.” For starters, let’s read the section from Genesis.

Genesis 6:1–4 TLV

1 Now when humankind began to multiply on the face of the ground and daughters were born to them, 2 then the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were good and they took for themselves wives, any they chose. 3 Then Adonai said, “My Spirit will not remain with humankind forever, since they are flesh. So their days will be 120 years. 4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, whenever the sons of God came to the daughters of men, and gave birth to them. Those were the mighty men of old, men of renown.

I mentioned in part 1 that “sons of God” (or b’nei Elohim in Hebrew) is a phrase that refers to heavenly beings. We looked at references from other Scriptures like Job, that show us these are created beings that are not humans.

So these heavenly beings took human wives, and raised up children. These children are called Nephilim. These heavenly beings are specifically called “Watchers” in some texts. In the extra-Biblical book of 1 Enoch, a book of which at least a significant portion predates the NT by a couple hundred years, we are told that the Watchers are the “sons of God” that descended in those days to take human wives. These Watchers, as they are known, are also attested in Daniel.

You can turn to Daniel 4 real quick. A little background here, while you’re turning there. Daniel 4 starts off with Nebuchadnezzar - because remember that Daniel is about yes, Daniel, while he was in exile in Babylon - Nebuchadnezzar acknowledges Adonai as the Most High God. Note the very specific wording used in Daniel 4:1 (or the end of chapter 3, depending on your translation) however: he was writing this proclamation to “all the peoples, nations, and languages who live in all the earth.” It is my view that the terminology used here is intentional, and it has echoes of what we discussed before. That is, about the nations and boundaries of the peoples being set according to the sons of God. The peoples - that is, simply the people themselves - the nations - that is, their territories - and languages - that is, their cultural and linguistic development. These three terms - peoples, nations, and languages - describe not simply all humanity, but all humanity as dispersed by God at the Tower of Babel.

Already here we see a shadow of this sort of language being used even in just introducing this section.

Now we turn to verse 10 (or, if you’re using the TLV or a CJB, it may be verse 7). The reason for the discrepency is because of how the verses are ordered in Jewish Bibles - because of the structure of the Aramaic text here - versus how they are in Christian Bibles.

Daniel 4:10–13 TLV

7 “These are the visions in my head while I was on my bed: I looked, and behold, there was a tree in the midst of the earth. Its height was enormous. 8 The tree grew large and became strong and its top reached to heaven; it was visible to the ends of the earth. 9 Its leaves were beautiful, its fruit abundant, and on it was food for all. Beneath it the beasts of the field found shade and birds of the sky lived in its branches, and from it all creatures were fed. 10 “I was watching the visions in my mind while on my bed, and behold, a watcher, a holy one, descended from heaven.

He then goes on to relate the dream, and Daniel interprets it. This section is interesting because it is written in Aramaic, not Hebrew, and is written from Nebuchadnezzar’s point of view. But notice in verse 10 (or 7) he says “I was watching the visions in my mind while on my bed and behold, a watcher, a holy one, descended from heaven.” This is the Aramaic word iyr, and it means just what we read: a watcher, one who watches. But he specifically calls it a holy one, and says it descended from heaven. These are three descriptions of one being: a holy one, a watcher, and one from heaven. This language makes it explicit that this being is sent from God.

Let’s continue with the vision, as well as Daniel’s interpretation.

Daniel 4:14–27 TLV

11 He called loudly, saying: ‘Chop down the tree and cut off its branches, strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit! Let beasts flee from under it, and birds from its branches. 12 Yet leave a stump with its roots in the earth, in fetters of iron and bronze, in the tender grass of the field. Let him be damp with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the animals in the grass of the earth. 13 Let his mind be altered from that of a man and let an animal’s mind be given to him and let seven periods of time pass over him. 14 This sentence is by the decree of the watchers, this verdict by the command of the holy ones, so that the living may know that the Most High is sovereign over the realm of man and bestows it to whomever He wishes, and may set over them even the lowliest of men.’ 15 “I, King Nebuchadnezzar, saw this dream. Now you, Belteshazzar, tell me its meaning, for none of the wise men of my kingdom are able to make known to me its interpretation. But you are able, for the spirit of the holy gods is in you.” 16 Then Daniel, whose name is also Belteshazzar, was perplexed for a brief time; his thoughts alarmed him. The king answered, and said, “Belteshazzar, don’t let the dream or the interpretation disturb you.” But Belteshazzar replied, “My lord, may the dream be for those who hate you and its interpretation for your enemies! 17 The tree that you saw grow large and strong, whose top reached to heaven and that was visible to all the earth, 18 whose leaves were beautiful and whose fruit was so abundant that there was food for all in it and beneath which the beasts of the fields lived and in its branches birds of the sky dwelt— 19 it is you, O king! For you have grown great and mighty. Your greatness reaches to heaven, and your authority extends to the end of the earth. 20 “ ‘You, O king, saw a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven and saying, ‘Chop down the tree and destroy it! Yet leave a stump with its roots in the ground, in fetters of iron and bronze, in the grass of the field. Let him be drenched with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts of the field, until seven time periods pass over him.’ 21 “This is the interpretation, O king. It is the decree of the Most High that has come upon my lord the king: 22 “You will be driven away from people and will dwell with the wild animals. You will feed on grass like an ox and be drenched with the dew of heaven. Seven periods of time will pass over you until you know that the Most High is sovereign over the realm of mankind and gives it to whomever He wishes. 23 “The command to leave the stump of the tree with its roots means that your kingdom will be restored to you as soon as you understand that Heaven is sovereign. 24 Therefore, O king, may my counsel be acceptable to you: Renounce your sins through righteousness and your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor. Perhaps your prosperity will be prolonged.”

Verse 17 says “This sentence is by decree of the watchers.” These Watchers have issued a decree, and then brought a message to Nebuchadnezzar. This paints the picture for us, related both to the passages here and to what we have already learned from Genesis, Deuteronomy, and the Psalms, that these Watchers are Divine Council members. This is where we step into some extra-Biblical literature to help fill in a few blanks.

We have established from Scripture itself that God has a council; that there are other heavenly beings; that these rule over the nations; that at least some of these beings are called Watchers; and that the “sons of God” took humans wives and had children, called the Nephilim.

The book of 1 Enoch is an extra-Biblical text that predates the NT, as I briefly mentioned a few moments ago. In it, we have additional information in a story told about Enoch as a prophet and scribe of God.

In that story, 200 of these Watchers, these heavenly beings, decide to make an oath with each other. They bind themselves by an oath to all descend together on Mount Hermon (remember this; it will come up in a later teaching) and to take human wives. Not only does this book describe the fall of these Watchers, these sons of God, and their taking of human women. It also describes that they began to teach mankind all sorts of wickedness. Magical incantations, drug sorcery, astrology, metallurgy (used in making weapons for war). Quite simply, they taught them all sorts of wicked things, and all the wicked things mankind already knew, the Watchers taught them how to do it yet still more. Man knew how to kill (we saw this with Cain and Abel); the Watchers - according to this book - taught them how to do it more efficiently.

We learned in Genesis 6 that the offspring of these beings were called Nephilim. We see the Nephilim again in Numbers 13, when the spies go into the land and see (verse 28), “The people who live in the land are strong, and the cities are large and fortified. Indeed, we saw there the descendants of Anak.” In verse 33, “We also saw the Nephilim there, the sons of Anak are of the Nephilim.” So Nephilim, Anakim, and also elsewhere they are called Rephaim. These are all the descendants of the union of the Watchers and humans. And they are giants.

There are also echoes of this in other ancient texts as well. There are ancient Mesopotamian texts - including many of them with their own flood narrative - which speak of the Apkallu. This is an Akkadian word which carries the same basic description as “sons of God.” That is, they were believed to be divine beings. Archeologists have uncovered little handmade figurines of apkallu buried in Mesopotamian buildings, thought to ward off evil spirits and powers. They were often buried in boxes that bore the word mats-tsarey, an Akkadian term which means “watchers.” The connection here may be theory, but seems too much to be coincidence to me. This is a very old legend. One thing of note, however, is that the Bible is clear: these events, and the results of them, were not good things.

Now 1 Enoch is not the only book to depict these events. There are echoes in the Damascus Document, a DSS text from about the 1st century BCE; along with the Book of Jubilees, from a few decades earlier than that. We find it mentioned in some of the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, books which date from between the first century BCE to the first century CE. We also find in a book called Pirke d’Rabbi Eliezer, a Rabbinic work from the 8th or 9th century CE, a similar recounting: angels descended and took human wives, and raised up giant offspring. All of these texts relate the same basic facts about Genesis 6, and they range from a couple hundred years before the NT was written, to nearly a millennia after it was written.

Going back into the Biblical collection of writings, we have two different NT books that support this recounting.

2 Peter 2:4 NASB 2020

4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, held for judgment;

Jude 5–7 NASB 2020

5 Now I want to remind you, though you know everything once and for all, that the Lord, after saving a people out of the land of Egypt, subsequently destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And angels who did not keep their own domain but abandoned their proper dwelling place, these He has kept in eternal restraints under darkness for the judgment of the great day, 7 just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these angels indulged in sexual perversion and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire.

Both of these passages from the NT reinforce the idea that the sin of Genesis 6 was the fall of the Watchers, in taking human women and bearing giant offspring. Both 2 Peter and Jude also say that God has delivered these beings over to darkness, for judgment. What’s that about?

Well this, too, is told in 1 Enoch. There we learn that because of their actions, God sent the archangels (like Michael) to round up the Watchers, and has held them in the earth, where they await judgment. In Yeshua’s sermon on judgment in Matthew 25, He says in verse 41, “Then He will say to those on His left, ‘depart from Me, you accursed people, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels.’”

A fire has been prepared for the devil and his angels, his fallen beings, but they have not yet been cast into it.

Knowing now what we do about the fall of the Watchers, and the effect it had on mankind, let’s turn back to Genesis 6. We read earlier about the sons of God taking wives, and them bearing the Nephilim. What follows immediately in verse 5?

Genesis 6:5–8 TLV

5 Then Adonai saw that the wickedness of humankind was great on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of their heart was only evil all the time. 6 So Adonai regretted that He made humankind on the earth, and His heart was deeply pained. 7 So Adonai said, “I will wipe out humankind, whom I have created, from the face of the ground, from humankind to livestock, crawling things and the flying creatures of the sky, because I regret that I made them.” 8 But Noah found favor in Adonai’s eyes.

In Gen. 6, thematically, we have:

Sons of God taking human wives

God proclaiming that His spirit will not strive with man forever

The Nephilim were born to the sons of God and human women

The Nephilim were mighty

Wickedness increased

Every thought and intent of the hearts of man were corrupt

God resolved to destroy humanity

Noah found favor.

We then shift focus to Noah and the ark and all that. But it makes sense, now, why wickedness spread just so far and so fast.

The first divine rebellion we know of, was the serpent, the enemy, ha’satan, rebelling against God, and wanting to be God. The second we know of, was Genesis 6, the fall of the Watchers, who wanted to create beings in their own image. The third, was when they wanted to build their own mountain - that’s what ziggurauts like Babel were supposed to represent - so they could be gods.

Now I have already said before over the last couple weeks that we will be getting into the NT portion and references in a future part. Obviously I’ve been up here long enough today, and I don’t want to cover so many different topics that you lose track of what today’s teaching was even about.

But just to offer a slight teaser for future parts. In the books I referenced earlier, 1 Enoch and Jubilees in particular, we learn something else about these Nephilim. Namely, that when they die, their spirits cannot return to God, since they were not an authorized creation. Humans were made to reproduce after their own kind. Dogs after their kind; horses after their kind; reptiles after theirs, and so on. But these Nephilim, these heaven-earth hybrid beings, were not authorized. Humans were made to be earth-dwellers; angels as heaven-dwellers; Nephilim, were neither. As such, their spirits do not return to God who gave them. According to these ancient writings, the spirits of these dead beings wander the earth, disembodied.

These, as they are called in the NT period, are demons. The malevolent spirits of dead Nephilim, who seek to possess a body because they themselves do not have one. But that’s for a future part.

Lastly, we can wrap up with, “Why should I care?” once again. And that’s always a fair question, right? Why should you care about this?

First, it opens our eyes to some difficult Biblical passages. It helps us understand what the Biblical writers already took for granted. The Bible does not explicitly state where demons come from, for example. It assumes a knowledge of such things. We read Yeshua casting out a demon, but no one interrupts Him and says, “Wait, where do demons come from?” Reading some of the material from their own time, we can find the answer to this question, as supported from what the Biblical writers DO say.

Second, it gives us hope. We know the “cosmic battle” so to speak, is not new. But we also know who ultimately has authority, and who will win.

Q&A

Alright, any questions? Recall again, if you will, that if its something to be addressed down the road, I’ll defer the question to that time. But be sure to ask anyway.

Aaronic Benediction (Num. 6)

Yeve-re-kakha Adonai

Va-yeesh-merekha

Yair Adonai panav ei-lekha

Vee-chu-nekha

Yeesa Adonai panav ei-lekha

Vaya-sim-lekha, Shalom

Aaronic Benediction (Num. 6)

May Adonai bless you and keep you

May Adonai make His face shine

upon you, and be gracious to you

May Adonai lift up His countenance

upon you and give you peace