The Divine Council - Part 4

Sacred Space

Shabbat shalom once again, everyone. Welcome back for our regulars, and welcome for our guests, both here in person and online.

Today I’ll be talking about The Divine Council once again. Specifically I want to talk about Sacred Space as it relates to nations and land. If you’re familiar with the books I mentioned last week, Unseen Realm and/or Supernatural both by Michael Heiser, you may already be aware, but he uses the term “cosmic geography.” But in both cases it refers to the same thing. That is, that land, territory, matters to God.

Allow me a moment to offer a brief recap for those that perhaps didn’t catch parts 1 - 3.

First, We looked at passages like Psalm 82 and 1 Kings 22, to establish that God does indeed have council, and the members of it are elohim, “gods” or otherwise just heavenly beings. These beings are not like Adonai, in that they have a beginning; they were created; and they are subservient to Him. We looked at some other passages such as Genesis 10 and 11, where the nations are listed and then dispersed at Babel. We looked at Deuteronomy 32, where God mentions dispersing the nations according to the number of the sons of God, a reference we examined in-depth last week. We looked at Job to establish that the sons of God are heavenly beings, and that some of these heavenly beings rebelled against God and took human wives, raising up giant offspring.

We looked at the image of God, man’s dominion over the earth. We looked at the nachash, the serpent, and how he isn’t actually a snake at all.

All of this has allowed us to draw three primary conclusions.

There are heavenly beings in existence such as the angels. At least some of these are members of God’s divine council.

These same beings are in some cases called “gods.”

Some of these beings rebelled, and earned judgment for themselves in leading the nations astray.

So now we come back to today’s topic. In the examples we looked at previously - both in part 1 as well as part 3 just last week - we found that three events of rebellion took place in the first 11 chapters of Genesis.

We looked at the rebellion in the Garden. We looked at the fall of the Watchers, the sons of God, in Genesis 6. And we looked at the Tower of Babel. Continuing then, with this in mind, let’s remember that there is a geographic component to these events.

The Garden of Eden. Mount Hermon. The plains of Shinar. It was at the tower of Babel where things began to change. God would choose from among the nations of the earth, the people that would be HIS portion. Not the entirety of humanity, but one people. Through this people - as He promised to Abraham in Genesis 12 - all the nations of the earth would be blessed. Ultimately the restoration of all things, the ultimate re-creation, would be brought about by the seed of Abraham. This the ultimate fulfilment of the promise is found only in Yeshua. Amein?

So the nations, besides Israel, were ruled by their own “gods”, these lesser heavenly beings. God instructed Moses in Deuteronomy to warn the people about falling away and worshiping these beings.

Deuteronomy 4:19–20 TLV

19 and so that you do not lift up your eyes toward the heavens and see the sun and the moon and the stars—all the heavenly host—and are drawn away and bow down and worship them. Adonai your God has allotted them to all the peoples under all the heavens. 20 But you, Adonai has taken, and He brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt to be a people for His own inheritance, as you are this day.

This “heavenly host” is a poetic reference to supernatural beings. See, the ancient people often worshipped the sun, moon, and stars. But not because they understood them to be giant flame balls or rocks in space. Rather, they did so because they believed them to be heavenly beings. They related these celestial bodies, with spiritual beings. So the terminology is often interchangeable; references to spiritual beings as well as to stars and planets and such.

One more note and reference, if you want to turn to Deuteronomy 29.

I was asked I think two weeks ago, about these “gods” these beings, being appointed over the nations. Here’s another reference to this which we didn’t read previously.

Deuteronomy 29:22–28 (TLV)

21 “The following generation, your children who rise up after you, and the foreigner who comes from a distant land will say, when they see the plagues of that land and the sicknesses Adonai afflicted on it: 22 ‘Sulfur and salt, the whole land burnt! It cannot be planted, it cannot sprout, no grass can grow up on it—like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which Adonai overturned in His anger and in His wrath!’

23 “All the nations will say, ‘Why has Adonai done this to this land? Why this great burning anger?’

24 “Then they will say, ‘Because they abandoned the covenant of Adonai, the God of their fathers, which He cut with them when He brought them out from the land of Egypt. 25 They went and served other gods and bowed down to them—gods they never knew, that He had not allotted to them. 26 So Adonai’s anger burned against that land, bringing on it every curse written in this scroll. 27 Adonai has uprooted them from their soil, in anger and wrath and great fury, and hurled them into another land, as is the case this day.’

Verse 25 there: “They went and served other gods and bowed down to them - gods they never knew, that He had not allotted to them.” These aren’t just false, fake, made up, nonexistent beings that people decided to worship. These are actual beings we’re talking about, and the nations were apportioned to them.

So getting back to sacred space. That’s our topic for the day. Consider for a moment the references in Scripture to land. The Land of Israel is obviously important to God, right? How many times does He refer to the land in the Torah?

The Temple is sacred space. Mount Sinai was sacred space. Recall from Exodus 19 that when the people approached Mount Sinai, they were specifically instructed not to go up to the mountain or even touch its border. If they did, they were to be stoned or shot through with an arrow. This is Exodus 19:10-13. These are some strict boundaries here, not to be violated. And why? Because it was sacred space.

When the burning bush incident occurred, God told Moses to take off his shoes because the place he was standing was…holy ground. I invite you to recall that Horeb, the place where the burning bush took place, IS Mount Sinai.

In Joshua 5, when the “Captain of the army of Adonai” (3 guesses as to who that is, huh?) came to meet with Joshua. He commands Joshua to remove his shoes, because the ground on which he stands is holy.

These are but a few scant references to holy ground, sacred space. There are three additional examples that I think are useful for this topic, and understanding what it meant to the ancient Hebrews.

Turn with me, if you will, to 1 Sam. 26. Quick summary.

Saul has been trying to kill David. David has been eluding him. David, despite having had multiple opportunities to kill Saul, has spared his life. He snuck into Saul’s camp, but then left and went up on the mountain and called out to Saul. He reprimands Abner, Saul’s right hand, for not better protecting the king, and for allowing David to get so close undetected. Now we come to verse 17.

1 Samuel 26:17–20 TLV

17 Saul then recognized David’s voice and said, “Is this your voice, David my son?” “It is my voice, my lord the king,” David said, 18 then added, “Yet why is my lord pursuing his servant? What have I done? What evil is in my hand? 19 Now please, let my lord the king listen to the words of his servant. If Adonai has stirred you up against me, let Him accept an offering. But if men have done so, then cursed are they before Adonai, because they have now driven me out that I would not cling to Adonai’s inheritance, saying: ‘Go, worship other gods.’ 20 So now, let not my blood fall to the ground, away from the presence of Adonai. For the king of Israel has come out to search for but a single flea, just as one hunts for a partridge in the mountains.”

Do you see David’s concern? He relates that if people have convinced Saul to run David out of Israel, it means that David will be driven from the presence of Adonai, away from the inheritance of God. This is a reference to Israel being the land of Adonai, His portion, as He said back in the Torah, especially Deuteronomy. And what concept does David link this to, this abandonment of the land? He says running him out of the land would be the same as saying, “Go, worship other gods.” David does not voice a complaint about being driven away from the Tabernacle, but rather driven out of the land. He knew that the place a follower of Adonai needed to be, was in the Land of Israel.

For the next example, turn to 2 Kings 5. In this instance, I think we’re fine just reading the passages themselves, as the background needed is contained in this narrative passage. And hey, it’s always good to read more Scripture directly.

2 Kings 5:1–19 TLV

1 Now Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man in his master’s sight and highly esteemed, because through him Adonai had given victory to Aram. Though the man was a mighty man of valor, he had tza’arat. 2 Aram had gone out in bands, and had taken captive a young girl from the land of Israel. So she served Naaman’s wife. 3 Then she said to her mistress, “If only my lord went before the prophet who is in Samaria! Then he would cure him of his tza’arat.” 4 So Naaman went in and told his master, saying, “Thus and thus spoke the girl who is from the land of Israel.” 5 The king of Aram said, “Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” So he departed and took with him ten talents of silver, 6,000 pieces of gold, and ten changes of clothes. 6 He brought the letter to the king of Israel saying, “When this letter comes to you, behold, I have sent my servant Naaman to you, so you may cure him of his tza’arat.” 7 Now when the king of Israel read the letter, he ripped his clothes and said, “Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man is sending to me to cure a man of his tza’arat? But please consider, and see how he is seeking a pretext against me.” 8 Now when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had rent his clothes, he sent word to the king saying, “Why have you rent your clothes? Please, let him come to me, and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel.” 9 So Naaman came with his horses and his chariots, and stood at the doorway of the house of Elisha. 10 So Elisha sent him a messenger, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh will be restored, and you will be clean.” 11 But Naaman was angered and walked away, saying, “I thought he would surely come out to me, stand and call on the Name of Adonai his God, and wave his hand over the spot and cure the tza’arat. 12 Aren’t Amanah and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage. 13 But his servants approached him and spoke to him, and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he told you only to ‘Wash and be clean’?” 14 So, he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God. Then his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean. 15 When he returned with his entire retinue to the man of God, and came and stood before him, he said, “Behold, now I know that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel. Now please, accept a present from your servant.” 16 But Elisha said, “As Adonai before whom I stand lives, I will accept nothing.” Naaman pressed him to accept, but Elisha refused. 17 So Naaman said, “If not, then please, let your servant be given two mule loads of soil, for your servant will no longer offer burnt offering or sacrifice to any other god, except Adonai. 18 In this matter, may Adonai pardon your servant: when my master goes into the house of Rimmon to worship there, leaning on my hand, and I prostrate myself in the house of Rimmon—when I prostrate myself in the house of Rimmon, may Adonai pardon your servant in this matter.” 19 Elisha said to him, “Go in peace.” So Naaman departed from him some distance.

This story is important because it once again captures the idea of sacred space. Naaman was a man of means, and extreme wealth - did you catch how much he brought to pay to be healed? Ten talents of silver, that’s over $250,000 in today’s money, plus 6,000 gold coins, worth about $1.8M, in addition to a whole wardrobe worth of clothes. This man took millions of dollars with him, that was his means of wealth.

Yet after being healed, he asks for something: dirt. This clearly has no monetary value, and even if it did, Naaman wouldn’t need it. No, he asked for dirt because he believed that the dirt in Israel was part of the land, and that the land belonged to Adonai.

Naaman knew that he would have to escort the king of Aram into the temple of the false god Rimmon (elsewhere known as Hadad, hence the naming of many Aramean rulers as Ben-Hadad, son of Hadad). However, he recognized that only Adonai was truly God, and wanted to take some dirt with him. Now, to be fair, we aren’t told what he plans to do with the dirt. Maybe he wanted to place it in the temple of Rimmon, or maybe he wanted to carry it with him. Maybe he wanted to place it in his home, and dedicate a portion of it to Adonai. What’s important here though is the recognition that the dirt, the earth, the land, was sacred.

Next we have two references to sort of combine.

Go ahead and turn to Daniel 10.

Daniel 10:1–21 TLV

1 In the third year of King Cyrus of Persia a message was revealed to Daniel, whose name was called Belteshazzar. The oracle was true and concerns a great war. He understood the message and gained insight through a vision. 2 “In those days, I, Daniel was mourning for three whole weeks. 3 I ate no rich food, nor did meat or wine enter my mouth, nor did I anoint myself with oil, until the end of three weeks. 4 “Now on the twenty-fourth day of the first month, while I was beside the bank of the great river, the Tigris, 5 I lifted my eyes and looked, and behold, a man dressed in linen with a belt of fine gold from Uphaz around his waist. 6 His body was like yellow jasper, his face like a flash of lightning, his eyes like fiery torches, his arms and his feet like the gleam of burnished bronze, and the sound of his words like the roar of a multitude. 7 “Only I, Daniel, saw the vision; the men that were with me did not see the vision. Nevertheless, such a great terror fell upon them that they fled and hid themselves. 8 So I was left alone to see this great vision. My strength drained from me and my vigor was destroyed; I could not summon any strength. 9 Yet I heard the sound of his words. When I heard him speaking, I fell on my face in a deep sleep with my face to the ground. 10 “Then behold, a hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. 11 He said to me, ‘Daniel, highly valued man, carefully consider the words I am speaking to you. Stand up! For now I have been sent to you.’ When he spoke this word to me, I stood up trembling. 12 “Then he said to me, ‘Don’t be afraid, Daniel! For from the first day that you set your heart to understand and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard. I have come because of your words. 13 However, the prince of the kingdom of Persia resisted me for 21 days, but behold Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me because I had been detained there with the kings of Persia. 14 Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future days. For the vision concerns days yet to come.’ 15 “While he was speaking these words to me, I bowed my face toward the ground and was speechless. 16 Then behold, one who resembled a human touched my lips. I opened my mouth and spoke, and said to him that stood before me, ‘O my Lord because of the vision, anguish has overcome me and I have no strength. 17 For how can this servant of my Lord speak with my Lord since no strength remains in me and no spirit is left in me?’ 18 “Again the one who looked like a man touched me and strengthened me. 19 Then he said: ‘Highly valued man, do not fear! Shalom to you. Be strong, now! Chazak!’ “Even as he spoke to me, I was strengthened and said, ‘Let my lord speak, for you have strengthened me.’ 20 “Then he said: ‘Do you understand why I have come to you? Now I must return to fight against the prince of Persia! When I go, behold, the prince of Greece will come. 21 But first, I will tell you what is recorded in the writing of truth.’ (No one strengthened me against these, except Michael your prince.

These last two verses, 20 and 21: The prince of Persia was fighting against Michael, known as “the prince of your people.” We see this again in Daniel 12:1, Michael is known as the prince or ruler. Knowing then, the background to Deuteronomy 32, Daniel, and other such passages, we have the following statement from Paul in Acts 17.

Acts 17:26–27 TLV

26 From one He made every nation of men to live on the face of the earth, having set appointed times and the boundaries of their territory. 27 They were to search for Him, and perhaps grope around for Him and find Him. Yet He is not far from each one of us,

God set the boundaries of the people.

The Greater Narrative

Consider if you will, the process and sequence of events as we go through the narrative of Genesis 1 - 12.

We have Creation; we have a garden put eastward in Eden. We have humanity being created in God’s image, and made to be His representatives on the earth. And it was very good.

Then comes rebellion. The serpent, the dragon, deceived the woman. Thus sin entered the picture. Cain kills Abel, so now there’s an introduction of murder and violence. The world continues to decay. Then comes another rebellion. The sons of God, Watchers, angelic beings, left their heavenly domain and took human wives, and bore giant offspring, the Nephilim, who were known as gibborim, mighty men. Additionally, they taught all manner of wickedness to humanity. All the evil, wicked things that mankind did, they began to do all the more. So God resolved to destroy humanity, and that He did, with the flood.

After the flood, we get a break in the narrative. We come to chapter 10, which is pretty much just a listing of names. The sons of Noah, the sons of Japheth, the sons of Ham, the sons of Shem. Genesis 10:32, the very end of the chapter, says, “These are the families of the sons of Noah, according to their descendants, by their nations; and out of these, the nations were separated on the earth after the flood.”

So in recounting this, Moses writes the narrative up to this point, then stops, adds in this long listing of names of what is essentially all of humanity up to this point, and then continues back with the narrative in chapter 11 with Babel.

Then within just a couple generations, comes Nimrod, a “mighty man.” This may be a reference to Nimrod being of the Nephilim, but that’s conjecture. Nimrod, we were told in chapter 10, established the city of Babel, in the land of Shinar.

Now we have another rebellion. The people of the earth resolve to make themselves divine, to make themselves into gods. They decide to build the Tower of Babel. I mentioned this before, but scholars agree that the tower of Babel was actually a ziggurat. A sort of spiraling tower that was built to resemble a mountain. The reason being, mountains were seen as the dwelling place of the gods. God on Mount Sinai, or even Zeus on Mount Olympas in pagan mythology. They shared imagery because they believed the same thing regarding mountains.

So they decided to build their own mountain, to make themselves as gods. At this time, God confuses the languages of the people and scatters them. Comparing this then with what we’ve looked at from Deuteronomy 32, Daniel 10, Acts 17, we know that this is when He divided up the nations and apportioned them among the heavenly beings, the sons of God.

At this point God decided He would not deal with humanity as a singular people. Rather, He would split them into nations - the very thing the people of Babel were afraid of - and He would then choose His own nation. And that is the very thing He did next.

Genesis 11 begins with Babel, but how does it end? It ends with the genealogy of Shem. Shem fathered Arpachshad, who fathered Shelah. Then Eber, then Peleg, then Reu, then Serug, then Nahor, then Terah, then Abram. And what immediately follows with Genesis 12 begins the story of the nation of Israel, with Adonai speaking to Abram and telling him to leave his country, that he would be made into a great nation, and that he would be blessed, and he would be given land.

So see, we come back to land once again. Land in Eden, land in Shinar (Babel), and land promised to Abram.

A final word on sacred space, and then we’ll close.

Holy Ground

I mentioned earlier about the ground being sacred at the burning bush, and when the captain of Adonai’s army met with Joshua. This touches on the concept of holiness.

Now many of you may likely already be aware of this, but “holy” is not a very good term in English without its proper definition. We often define holy as simply that which pertains to God, but more specifically, it is that which is set apart for Him. Because God is altogether greater than and “other” than us. God is the source of life, and He alone possesses eternal (without beginning, without end) life.

So we see why holiness, or set-apartness, is so important in Scripture. Why even normal things that occur day-to-day such as getting sick, giving birth, engaging in sexual activity, losing blood, and touching a dead body - human or animal - cause uncleanness, and disqualify one from entering sacred space. All of these things either are death, or are associated with death or the things which sustain and bring life. But the point of these things is that God is super-natural, He is above and beyond our simple physical creation.

Now for the answer to “why should I care?”

The takeaway here, and the reason this matters, is to understand that there were powers and beings placed over the nations. To understand that sacred space matters, and that if Paul’s teaching that we are little dwelling places of the Holy Spirit, to remember that we ourselves are dedicated to Adonai. We were purchased with a price, the ultimate price, that Yeshua paid. Paul says that when someone is expelled from the assembly - in this case in 1 Cor. 5 where a man is committing adultery with his father’s wife - that he has been “turned over to Satan.” This language is intentional. The assembly, the ekklesia, the “Church” if I’m permitted to use the word, is sacred space. The spiritual congregation, not just the physical land it sits on, is sacred. Outside of that space is the world, and the ruler of this age is the dragon.

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