Divine Rebellions

This is another great sermon by Dr. Michael Heiser, on the Unseen Realms.  Read with enjoyment.

If you ask the average Christian, ‘Why is the world so depraved?’  They’ll say, ‘It was the Fall in Genesis 3.’ But if you asked the first century Jews the same question, you would get ‘There are three reasons.  The first was the Fall, because the sin of Adam and Eve was the entrance of rebellion into God’s good Creation, which broke mankind from close fellowship with God; and death for all of us arose because of it (Romans 5:12).  The second was the rebellion in Genesis 6:1-4 with the sons of God; and the third reason was what happened at Babel.’  Our question for study is, How did these other two sources of depravity factor in, and why did their consideration disappear in current theology? 

The first source of depravity was the Fall.  Dr. Heiser’s sermon portion on that issue will not be summarized here.  By excluding it, I am definitely not saying it is a lesser cause for depravity.  The reason for my exclusion is, he talks about the serpent, about the Garden of Eden, and many others, as metaphors.  A bit of Origen here, for the astute.  He’s saying that it might not have been a snake, it might not have been Eden.  Those terms have mystical, broader meanings instead.  My problem with this is, you’re moving away from a strict interpretation of Scripture, which I don’t want to see happen.  Keep in mind, we don’t know the appearance of the snake before it was cursed, and for all we know a snake could talk (elsewhere in Scripture a donkey talked, so anything’s possible in our supernatural world).  And, we don’t know the appearance of the Garden. I am certainly not suggesting Dr. Heiser is spreading lies; I am not demeaning his Christian spirit.  He is extremely knowledgeable on Scripture and he opened up new ways to look at verses that cleared up their meanings; and what he says makes sense.  My blog last week proves that. 

So let’s move on to his second reason for the causes of depravity in the world. We’ll start with Genesis 6:1-5, per ESV:

When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, ² the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. ³ Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.” ⁴ The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown. ⁵ The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

This was a supernatural event.  Unfortunately the real explanation of these verses is ignored or demythologized today.  Most churches will never preach a sermon on what really happened.  Even the commentaries usually fail us, typically explaining that it’s not supernatural. The sons of God, or they would say, godly sons of Seth, cohabited with pagan daughters of men, thus compromising the witness of God.  But there is no Scriptural proof for any of that.  (How is it that the women are all pagan?  And, why would humans bring forth aberrant children who grew up giants (Nephilim) who became ‘renowned’?)

In reality, this Genesis 6 episode, in its real meaning, is of huge importance. For one thing, its story is continued in New Testament writing.  For another, it explains much of why depravity proliferates just before the Flood, as verse 5 above imply. 

What really happened was, ‘sons of God’ were fallen angels (see last week’s blog), who crossed the forbidden boundary of heaven and earth, and cohabited with women on earth. This merger of immortal fallen angels, and mortal women, produced aberrant children called Nephilim—they were tall, huge, and powerful; so they were rock gods of the age.  But coming from fallen angels, they were wicked and violent. They were brilliant, but they taught the men and women of the time how we can destroy ourselves, as we shall prove—and mankind took to it gleefully, and evil behavior spread much faster and farther than before. (I have another blog on ‘altered DNA’ on this subject too).

For those who don’t believe this strange story, it gets confirmed in II Peter 2:4-6a:

For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; ⁵ and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly; ⁶ and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes…

Note the chronology of extremely gross sin here:  first, angels who sinned, then people are so evil that God wipes them out with Noah and the flood, then the wickedness of Sodom and Gomorrah.  It so happens that the sons of God are early in Genesis 6, Noah is in chapters 6-9a, and Sodom and Gomorrah are in chapter 19.  The same chronological order, as you can see in the ascending chapter numbers.  But if you acknowledge my assertion that they speak of the same events, you have to accept that the ‘sons of God’ are the same as the ‘angels who sinned.’

Jude 6-7 confirms this idea again:

 And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day; ⁷ as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.

With the double reference of ‘chains under darkness,’ these Jude verses cover the same event as II Peter.  And notice the great sin of the fallen angels—they did not keep their proper domain (heaven), but ‘left their own abode’—i.e., came to earth.  Sodom and Gomorrah is mentioned again, to emphasize the sexual problem of ‘going after strange flesh’ (in their case, homosexuality).  The fallen angels also went after strange flesh (human women). Keep in mind that angels become men several times elsewhere in Scripture, so the concept that fallen angels would do this is not impossible. 

The wicked Nephilim helped to proliferate sin in man by teaching men (1) skills and technologies for warfare—how to make swords and knives and spears; (2) about plants and herbs to intoxicate themselves—drugs, in other words, to produce altered states; (3) about astrology (not astronomy), which in effect made them turn into idolatry—worshipping the sun, moon, and stars, trying to control their future; and (4) arts of seduction which led to sexual immorality.  The result of all this was broken homes, bloodshed, worship of demons, some of that through altered consciousness.  These were all horrors, all accelerating men’s skill in destroying themselves as individuals and as society. This was the proliferation of sin that left God frustrated enough to declare an end to mankind in Genesis 6:5. 

The third major reason for man’s depravity was the tower of Babel. Genesis 11:1-9:

Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. ² And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. ³ And they said to one another…“Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” ⁵ And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. ⁶ And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. ⁷ Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another's speech.” ⁸ So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. ⁹ Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth. And from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth

To understand the significance of this, it’s necessary to get a backstory. It starts with Deuteronomy 32:1b, 4b-6, 8-9, ESV:

…hear, O earth, the words of my mouth…

4…A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he.
⁵ They have dealt corruptly with him;
    they are no longer his children because they are blemished;
    they are a crooked and twisted generation. ⁶ Do you thus repay the Lord,
    you foolish and senseless people? Is not he your father, who created you…
    ⁸ 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 ⁹ But the Lord's portion is his people, Jacob his allotted heritage.

Note:  In case your version translates v. 8 differently, keep this in mind:  the Dead Sea Scrolls proves that the correct phrase in v. 8 is “sons of God;” it even uses the word Elohim (see last week’s blog).  It’s not sons of Israel (which wasn’t even a nation yet!), nor sons of Adam, as other translations say.

What happened was, after the flood, God urged these 8 survivors (Noah’s family) to multiply over the face of the earth, as He had said to Adam and Eve at Eden (Genesis 1:28: 'And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over... )  After the flood, they again multiplied, as Genesis 10 shows; but instead of dispersing over the earth, as God wanted, they rebelled, refused to disperse, congregated in Babel (Genesis 11:4) and decided to build a tower to make themselves a great name. God probably thought, “This is the opposite of what I commanded.  I want a human family, I want the Edenic mandate to be fulfilled. I love you, I want the best for your lives, so please obey my commands, and you’ll get your best life. And your response?  ‘No, we’d like to build a tower.’  Unacceptable.”  (The reader needs to know that the tower was a ziggurat, built to offer sacrifice and barter with God. It was tall so they could bring their god to them to fulfill their desires. Unacceptable again, since our God did not work that way.)  So God probably thought, ‘You refuse to be loyal to me, so you want another god; so I will give you what you really want:  a divorce’ (Deuteronomy 32:5).  I will disinherit you. I’m still going to disperse you, divide you up (Deut. 32:8), and assign to each of your nations one of the sons of God (Deut. 32:8). These fallen angels, these demons who wish to be worshipped as gods, can be your new rulers.  You can be under their corrupt command, since you want to worship other gods. Let’s put you under their thumb.’ This is the Old Testament equivalent of Romans 1:18-25, wherein God “gave (humankind) over” to their persistent rebellion.  God thought, ‘Hopefully you will change your mind about Me leading you. I’m hoping you will flee to Me.’

But God still wanted a loyal, witness nation, a society who loves Him, to show what His leadership could do to bless a loyal nation.  He had His eyes on one man of great faith and godliness, Abram, and his wife Sarai (their grandson was Jacob, in Deut.32:9).  They became renamed Abraham and Sarah, but they couldn’t have kids, they were too old--so they were perfect to start a godly nation with.  You say, how is that?  Because God wanted them to see His power and love when He performs a miracle and they have a child together. Then they will teach of His power and love to their children. God then hoped they would continue a loyal family descending from that.  And every nation around them will hear of this power of God, too.  Besides the Biblical proof I’ve bolded and alluded to in Deuteronomy, why do I think this was the order of God’s thinking?  Because right after God’s language curse, Babel began dispersing people (as God wanted in the first place) in Genesis 11, and immediately God covenants with Abram in Genesis 12:1-3 to form a nation!  Here it is:

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country (Note: Ur) and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. ² And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. ³ I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

“All the families” meant God was thinking of the lineage of Abram eventually going through David, then eventually to Jesus, Christ the Redeemer. (Galatians 3:16).

The chosen nation Israel was supposed to finally be Yahweh’s family, starting from the godly Abraham.  They’re even called a “kingdom of priests” (Exodus 19:6).  Since a priest is a mediator between God and men, Israel was, through its godliness and witness, supposed to be a mediator between Yahweh and all the nations.  A witness having a testimony.

The sons of God that were to rule over the other nations, of course, failed God’s command to be just—they were corrupt (Psalm 82:2-7—from last week).  Their people were blind about our God; so now they were lost in the ugly power of sin in their lives.

There was a solution, beautifully hinted in Psalm 82:8, where God gives hope through all our failures—through His Son, Jesus:

Arise, O God, judge the earth;
    for you shall inherit all the nations!

The word for ‘arise’ is the same as the word for ‘resurrection.’  Sin’s death cannot defeat us, if we turn in faith to Jesus, who showed us that resurrection will defeat sin and have a new life in heaven when we die. 

I hope you’ve appreciated these nuggets from Scripture from Dr. Heiser, as much as I have.

God and gods

Dr. Michael Heiser’s Youtube on this subject are just too good to pass up.  Here’s the Cliff Notes version of one session.  Let’s begin with Psalm 82:1-7, using the English Standard version:

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? 
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,
    
The first word of the Psalm, God, is Elohim in Hebrew; this is the standard word for God.  But Elohim is also used for “midst of the gods” in verse 1, and “you are gods” in verse 6.  Interestingly, they are also called “sons of the Most High” in verse 6 as well.  The thing that disturbs us is, in the second and third use of Elohim, the surrounding Hebrew words definitely say it is plural.  So now it looks like a pantheon, Greek and Roman mythology stuff, doesn’t it? So let’s allow for the possibility that the Apostle writers, being from a different culture than ours, knew what that verse implies, yet they weren’t deterred from their doctrine of One God who rules over all.  So let’s continue to explore and keep an open mind. 

In this Psalm, who is God talking to?  Who are these ‘gods?’  They seem to be in a ‘divine council’ with our God—and they are His sons!  (Before you get carried away, the word “sons” here simply means “direct creation by God.”  Adam was a son of God.  Angels were too.)  To reconcile the use of Elohim in all this, some have suggested, ‘It’s the Trinity.’ But God is not talking to the other members of the Trinity, because He is chastising them for corruption; nor are any of the Trinity sentenced to death! So God is rebuking them and predicts His judgment upon them, yet they are also called ‘sons of the Most High.’  Hmmm.  Could these be angels?  It's true, after all, that some angels are corrupt--those led by Satan, who was once an angel.   

Modern commentaries suggest that God is talking to people, either Jewish elders or members of the Sanhedrin. But that can't be; He calls them 'gods.'  We're not Mormons.  Jesus, as God, never says or implies that men are actually ‘gods,’ that we’re the same as Jesus (as some apostate religions teach today).  So, the verses are not men either.
Look at Psalm 89:5-6, to learn more:

Let the heavens praise your wonders, O Lord,
    your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones!
⁶ For who in the skies can be compared to the Lord?
    Who among the heavenly beings is like the Lord,
⁷ a God greatly to be feared in the council of the holy ones,

The “assembly of the holy ones” or “heavenly beings,” or the “council of the holy ones,” or our “divine council” in Psalm 82 earlier—they are all “sons of God,” or “sons of the Most High.”   And they’re also “gods;” and “gods” are all translations of Elohim plural in Hebrew, which we might think only applies to our good God.  And they are counseling along with God Most High, singular, in the heavenlies, “in the skies.” So, we're back to thinking, are these angels? But there is evil among them; so some of them, at least, must have fallen (see Isaiah 14 for proof); but why are they still in heaven?  And why in His presence--and how do they get a position in council with Him?

Now for those who argue against this plurality of Elohim, you might argue by saying, “What about the Bible verse like Deuteronomy 4:35 where God says, “there is none besides me.”’  Well, in context, that is saying “There is no one who compares to Me.”  (So, our God is bragging; I don’t have any problem with God bragging.)  And for those who ask, why does God need a council? He’s omniscient.  In our response to that one, we might ask, why did God create Man?  He didn’t need us either; He’s not deficient.  The best guess is:  He must like our company; maybe He liked the angels’ company--even after they became corrupt. He has love for us--and we're corrupted in sin.  

I Kings 22:19-25 adds to this subject, but first a little background:  The Jews kingdom is divided—Israel in the north, under Ahab, and Judah in the south, under Jehoshaphat.  Ahab is trying to persuade Jehoshaphat to join him in conquering Ramoth-gilead.  Ahab asks of his own prophets about the battle, but these are an ungodly Baal-worshiping bunch that, of course, predict his victory (whatever he wants to hear--just like many of our pastors today).  But Jehoshaphat persuades Ahab to bring forth a godly prophet, Micaiah. So let’s pick it up at verse 19:

And Micaiah said, “Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing beside him on his right hand and on his left; ²⁰ and the Lord said, ‘Who will entice Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?’… ²¹ Then a spirit came forward and stood before the Lord, saying, ‘I will entice him.’ ²² And the Lord said to him, ‘By what means?’ And he said, ‘I will go out, and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ And He said, ‘You are to entice him, and you shall succeed; go out and do so.’ ²³ Now therefore behold, (Micaiah said), the Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets; (but) the Lord has declared disaster for you.”

God is again partnering with this same council in the heavens, this time called “the host of heaven.”   But people, be sure to understand that this group is not to be confused with the ones that serenaded the shepherds in Bethlehem.  In this case, they are deciding how Ahab is going to die, to be judged for his life of evil.  And, we see again that not all of the angels, or "gods," are good; “a spirit” is among them, a wicked one. (They are all spirits, being in the heavenlies.) Anyway, this spirit is ready to deceive Ahab (now let’s not get too sympathetic for Ahab—after all, he has drawn the people to worship Baal, a demon-god, and God made sure he had a last chance to hear Micaiah, a godly prophet, who does a good job of warning him. To no avail.)

Dr. Heiser concludes, after all this, that God has a heavenly council of spirits, made up of His first creation, which were called ‘angels.’  But since some of them are evil here, these verses must be after some angels fell.  Yet they are allowed to participate with Him, and they are strangely (and correctly translated) “gods” (direct creation by God) and “sons of God,” using Elohim. But clearly, we can determine by things that are said, who the real God (also Elohim) is; He is Higher than they are, and judges them as well. So clearly everyone in council knows that there is not an equality in the council.  There are several verses that confirm that Yahweh, our God, is “God of all gods” (Psa 86:8, 95:3). 

So evil gods—some of which, at least, used to be angels before they fell—also existed in the Old Testament. And they are all called Elohim, like our good God. We, as Westerners, like to associate unique, and good, attributes with the term Elohim—like omniscience and omnipresence, terms of a God who loves us--and ignore any other possibilities. We also want to make Elohim singular. We’re “used” to having only one God; and we get creeped out when the word is plural.  And we wonder why God would allow His enemies to be present in heaven, even participate, in divine counsel. But, as we can see with Scripture (if we use an open mind), these thoughts are invalid. The Biblical writers were evidently unfazed by these gods, this expansion of the definition of the Hebrew Elohim—we have to believe they simply knew their Scriptures better than we do. Don’t forget, God is the ultimate writer of all Scripture, so we cannot doubt its truthfulness. 

Elohim, as it turns out, is used for likely three different things that are not our God of the Bible:  (1) The mysterious “council” in heaven, as we have already seen; (2) gods of the nations, called Elohim in I Kings 11:33--they are named Asherah, Ashtaroth, Chemosh, and Milcom—each of which really was a powerful demon worshipped and ruled in a nation surrounding Israel. While we're on that, it seems to me, given the terrorism, that the fallen angels still have a role as powerful demons over nations; (3) A relative word, “shedim,” in Deut. 32:17, has the same meaning; and (4) disembodied human dead, I Samuel 28:13. 
Let's explain the last two: “shedim,” in Deut. 32:17. This Hebrew word is translated “demon” in the ESV, as I've indicated in bold below—but note that it is synonymous to "gods," Elohim.  

They (Ed. note: Israel) sacrificed to demons that were no gods, to gods they had never known, to new gods that had come recently, whom your fathers had never dreaded.

This proves that evil angels are actually demons. So the use of a different Hebrew word (shedim, which literally means ‘territorial entity’), compared to “the gods of the nations (Elohim), in ” #2 above, indicates that these demons in #3 above are ruling on a different level. This suggests a hierarchy of demons.
The #4 example for Heiser’s sermon is in I Samuel 28:13, which is the story of Saul needing a medium (or witch) to prophesy the winner of his upcoming battle with the Philistines. When he approached her, she says, “Whom shall I bring up for you?” (speaking of a physical appearance of the dead. But she doesn't really believe it will happen).  He said, “Bring up Samuel for me.” (Samuel had died). She was totally surprised when Samuel actually appeared and spoke. (It could be an artifice of a body, too). She was afraid.  Saul said, “Do not be afraid.  What did you see?” She said, “I saw a spirit…”  The Hebrew word for spirit is Elohim. Thus, Elohim is also used to describe disembodied human dead, as well.  By the way, all the stories about ghosts and haunted houses are still not real.  (Not all, but maybe some of them are).

Thus we conclude that Elohim is not simply used only for our God, with all His good attributes.  There are lots of Elohim because there are lots of spirit beings. All are called Elohim.  But no other Elohim is like Yahweh—simply by reading the text, you can deduce that. He is the Creator, He is sovereign over all. There is a judgment day coming for the other Elohim.   

Let’s give another Scripture.  In Daniel 4:13-24 we read of a vision of Nebuchadnezzar.  Daniel interprets it. Our relevant part of it is below.  He tells the king that his vision was predicting God’s decree of temporary insanity upon him (for pride), such that he would be wandering in fields eating grass for food.  These verses start with Nebuchadnezzar’s words. Daniel speaks starting at verse 24:

“I saw in the visions of my head while on my bed, and there was a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven. ¹⁴ He cried aloud and said…”And let him graze with the beasts on the grass of the earth.
¹⁶ Let his heart be changed from that of a man,
Let him be given the heart of a beast, And let seven (years) pass over him.
¹⁷ ‘This decision is by the decree of the watchers,
And the sentence by the word of the holy ones,
In order that the living may know
That the Most High rules in the kingdom of men…

²⁴  this is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree of the Most High, which has come upon my lord the king...

The Bible is, as always, consistent.  This decree came down from the ‘holy ones,’ here also given a new synonym, the ‘watchers.’  Yet the real decision was made by the Most High (our God).  But this is still participation … again allowed by God.  He evidently likes to do that.  We surmise that when He created spirits, He wanted children who were part of the family.  He feels that way toward us Christians, only stronger.  He gives us the Great Commission (Matt. 28:19-20) to have us participate in giving Him more children. 

This has given me another possibility for explaining another strange Bible verse that had left me puzzled.  I'm talking about God creating Adam and Eve in Genesis 1:26-27:

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 livestock 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.

How does your Study Bible explain the plural?  Mine says it's like a single king sovereignly using the plural to explain himself.  It says, "God was taking counsel with Himself." That sounds a little queasy. It could be that God was speaking with the other members of the Trinity.  But could it be, He was speaking to His heavenly council?  If you take that view, note that when He creates us in His "image," it's our God doing it, nobody else--we're created in His image.  The same wording is also in Genesis 11:7 at the tower of Babel, by the way.

And we can't avoid Job 1:6 and 2:1, which start out with "the sons of God."  Following our definition, one of them, Satan, formerly an angel, is a "son of God."  Satan was there to accuse Job, but note that God still invites all of these beings into His presence, and gave him permission to speak his accusation:

Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them.... 

So, Satan had access to the heavenlies. This further proves our point about the Elohim council. Thank God, someday He will no longer listen to his accusations, banish him from His presence, and throw him down to hell.

Now another question about "sons of God."  You may have asked this: How is Jesus the ‘only begotten’ Son of God (John 3:16, KJV) if other sons of God exist, as we have seen?  Some also say Jesus can’t be eternal if He is ‘begotten,’ a different question altogether.  The answer to both questions is this: The phrase ‘only begotten,’  is based on a past study of ancient manuscripts.  The Greek word was 'monogenes.'  It was originally guessed (there are about 50 Greek words in Scripture that we still don't know the real meaning) that it was made up of two words, monos, or 'only,' and 'gennao,' or 'beget, bear.'  But according to more accurate koine Greek (found by recent archaeological digs), it should be 'monos,' or 'only,' and 'genos,' which means 'class or kind.'  Thus, the 'only begotten' translation was wrong--it should be ‘one of a kind,' or 'unique.’  Jesus was unique--the Immanuel, God with us.  The interesting verse that’s a sideline proof is Hebrews 11:17:

By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son (ed. note: that's KJV.  ESV uses "only son")   

But 'only begotten' or 'only' can’t be an accurate translation, since Isaac was preceded in birth by Ishmael.  But it is correct if we substitute the correct words, “his unique son.”  And Isaac was unique; born from a freewoman, Sarah, born when his parents were 100 and 90 years old, an impossibility, a child of promise, instead of a child of a slave woman (Hagar). In the same way, Jesus is ‘unique’ in John 3:16: Yes, because Jesus is God!  Philippians 2:6 (NIV):

Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage…

Dr. Heiser finishes this session by clearing up another difficult phrase, in John 10:33-36, when the Jews were ready to stone Jesus because He claimed to be God:

“We are not stoning you for any good work,” they replied, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.”
³⁴ Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I have said you are “gods”’? (Ed. Note: He is quoting Psalm 82:6, at the beginning of this paper) ³⁵ If he called them ‘gods,’ to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be set aside— ³⁶ what about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’?  ³⁷ If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; ³⁸ but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him.”

Jesus, to defend His claim of deity, is saying, “Look, doesn’t Scripture have God speaking to other gods?  So, they are asserting there are other gods, and sons of god, who are real. So, since our own Scripture says that category exists; therefore when I say that I’m more than a man, it’s possible. So you can’t just assume I’m blaspheming if I make such a claim. If you want to condemn me, you can’t have as your ‘proof’ that I’m a mere man, and committing blasphemy.  Your real proof of what I am can only be by my works. Do I do works of God?

Let nobody say that Jesus did not claim to be God.  He did! 


I hope you enjoyed this paper and Dr. Heiser. I’ve got more from this knowledgeable man later.

Was Creation Done in Six Days?

There are huge debates that flare up in Christendom about Creation.  IF you believe that the Bible is the Word of God, it is very clear in what it says:  God created and populated our planet with life, ending with the crown of creation, Adam and Eve, in six literal days.  The very first words of the Bible, Genesis 1:1 says:
 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Then He says, at the end of the First day,
 So the evening and the morning were the first day.
 It uses the word ‘day,’ or 24-hours literally.  Then He repeats this exact phrase after each day of Creation: ….evening …morning …second day, and so on.  This repetition of 24-hour parameters supports the literal meaning of the word ‘day’ being 24-hour periods. In Exodus 20:11, at the time the Ten Commandments were given, it says this:  For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.
 It plainly says “six days.” It’s also true that the Sabbath day is, of course, one 24-hour period, in a week of 24-hour periods. Exodus 31:17 says the same thing, except it says that “on the 7^th day He (God) rested.”  Does it make sense to stretch the word ‘day’ to millions of years there?  Does it take millions of years for God to get up enough strength to continue on? There’s a rule in hermeneutics that says, use the literal meaning if at all possible. Given God’s omnipotence, it’s certainly possible He created all this in 6 days.  He could have created the earth to look old. Or, the Flood (since it reached mountaintops in depth) unleashed in rapid fashion a gigantic compression of weight, and a layer-upon-layer of mud in a disaster that could explain what has been found—but we haven’t seriously considered that idea; the experts smugly ignore those “wacko Christian scientists”--because their explanations are Biblical, not scientific, in origin. (Look up Institute for Creation Research, at ICR.org, or visit the narratives on the walls around Noah’s Ark in Kentucky for some real facts.  It's scientific, too). But given the “findings” of science, and their theories on evolution, we’re supposed to expand the word “day” in Genesis 1 to mean millions of years to allow their “science” to be assimilated into Scripture. So, modern  commentaries of Scripture often cave, and say ‘Yes, the word “day” in Genesis 1 likely means millions of years.’ So here we have a translation of a simple Bible word, “day,” redefined simply because science says so.  Actually, it seems that pastors and theologians are intimidated by science.  Some are even mind-pansied enough to accept evolution.
 Dr. John MacArthur has some wise words on this.  As before, I will Cliff Notes them, changing several phrases so as to offer explanation--but I have changed nothing of his ideas.  Read with enjoyment: 

No one gets past the first verse of the Bible without facing the test of submission to Scripture.  Is the ‘day’ actually a day?  It isn’t unclear--it is crystal clear that it is a day.  But that’s hard to swallow.  So you never get past the first verse of Genesis without declaring on whether you submit to Scripture being God’s Word.  You either accept it or reject it--but you don’t have the right to alter it by changing the meaning beyond what is clearly before you.  There are times when the literal meaning is not the meaning—such as hyperboles, anthropomorphisms, prophecies, poetry, idioms—but God wouldn’t start the Bible out in fuzzy words, and none of the examples I just gave are implied in Genesis.  So you must fall back on a literal day.
Flat out, there is no evolution in Genesis 1, 2, or 3—or anywhere else in the Bible. Our God is a God of truth, and of unbelievable power and knowledge.  In all the debates on inerrancy of original Scripture being passed down accurately or with multiple errors, the archeology over the centuries hasn’t dented one thing of any real importance being in error—and no scholar has suggested that translations of Genesis 1-3 have been altered any over the millennia.  So, we’re faced with those words being the words God wanted to tell us. Do we believe that God created ex nihilo, out of nothing?  But evolution says something came out of nothing.  That requires more faith than belief in God.  Those that would argue that ‘God used evolution’ have no Scripture to stand on—only ‘science,’ so called.  Which would you choose?  The current word of science?  Or the Word from God?
 Keep one important thing in mind as you consider:  “Creation science” is an oxymoron (note: meaning, words that have opposite meanings, and can’t go together).  Science is a study of natural law; Creation is supernatural.  No scientific method has the tools to study Creation. Scientists are supposed to rely on observable repetition. But the only one who knows how Creation happened is the One Who was there—God.  So a critical proof of science—‘observation’—has nothing to say. So when people say, ‘Don’t we have to apply science to the Genesis account?’  The fact is, you can’t apply science to a miracle.  So, you Christians out there, you don’t have to apply scientific methodology to explain Creation.  You can’t.  Because all science is based on observation, and verification by repetition.  But Creation has no observers, can’t be verified and isn’t repeated.  It cannot be described by any predictables that science are used to.
 So you can believe God, Who always tells the truth, or you can believe Charles Darwin.  He’s pretty convincing, apparently, because 99% of the universities are Darwinian in their "science" department.  Of the National Science Academy members who were self-described atheists, 100% of them believed in evolution.  It is our belief that they backed into atheism from how they interpreted biology to suit their own needs.
 You should know that moving from Biblical Creation to Darwin is apostasy—a defection from the Christian faith. And a bad eternal ending for its professants. Take a look at other people who move away from the Bible to teach other ‘acceptable’ doctrines--like Karl Marx (founder of socialism and communism), and John Dewey (founder of secular humanism).  Though Darwin was later than these other two men who did everything they could to shred Christianity, his theories were, like theirs, a way to explain the universe without God.  Apostate scientists looking for pseudo reasons to reject Christianity and God finally found an acceptable theory in Darwin. It’s what they want. If God can be separated from origins, then we could be separated from God; and if we could be separated from God, then we don’t have to worry about sin, and guilt, and judgement—and we’re free to do whatever we want.  So evolution is not a logical door that you enter and accept it; no, you back into it amorally (or immorally) because you want to get rid of God, and do whatever sin you want.
That is the baggage you’re accepting with Darwin.  Here’s some more baggage:  He believed in eugenics and even genocide (Editor’s note: see my blog on Margaret Sanger). Historians say he was a sadist and took great enjoyment in torturing and killing animals as a child.  He loved to kill birds by pounding on their heads with a hammer. Grown up, he carried on one voyage several guns, and hoped that he might be able to ‘kill cannibals’ (his quote--of course, maybe he could tell by the shape of his target's head--science of the day--if one person had eaten someone).  As a child, he would beat puppies. Reliable historians wrote that he, as an adult, suffered from depression, agoraphobia (fear of crowds), insomnia, vision alterations, hallucinations, malaise, vertigo, shaking tachycardia, fainting spells, shortness of breath, trembling, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, muscle twitches, spasms, tremors, cramps, bloatings, headaches, nervous exhaustion, skin blisters, tinnitus, sensations of loss of consciousness, and fear of impending death!  So said his doctors. I suspect he had more than a little guilt.  For assaulting God!  Now if you want to pick Darwin for your hermeneutical genius to interpret Genesis, you just need to know that. And yet, his book has redefined the worldview. But those who believe in it are using faith—because no one has an explanation for the Very Beginning.
 But as I proved before, you can apply it here too:  Creation had no observable beginning; so choosing it is totally by faith. Why not believe the revelation of the Creator? He is the only one who was there. All that’s left for you is, are you going to believe Scripture, or are you not?  But don’t come and layer Charles Darwin in God’s Holy Word. “Well,” somebody says, “couldn’t God have used evolution?” That’s an irrelevant question; that’s an irritating question.  He didn’t, because He told you what He did. He said He made everything in six days.  If you really believe in the attributes of God, are you going to argue with Him?  

Turn to Job 38; Job and his friends are searching for an explanation of why God has made him sick and poor when he has served God all his life.  Here is part of God’s response to him:
 “Who is this who darkens counsel By words without knowledge?
³ Now prepare yourself like a man;I will question you, and you shall answer Me.⁴ “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?Tell Me, if you have understanding.⁵ Who determined its measurements? Surely you know!
 God goes on like this for 4 chapters. This is His sovereignty--his mind is not our mind.  We can't begin to understand some things. This is a beatdown; poor Job— this is the count of 10, it is over.  Finally he says (Job 42),
 I have uttered what I did not understand,Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.But now my eye sees You.⁶ Therefore I abhor myself, And repent in dust and ashes.”
 This is what the evolutionists in this country need to do. Who do we think we are, rejecting God’s Word of what He has created?
 Yes, God is sarcastic and seemingly unfeeling in Job.  But there are at least three truths we learn.  (1) God is omnipotent and His motivation is past understanding; (2) He does bless Job abundantly later in his life; and (3) Job, because of sin, is not beyond suffering in the world, as we all do.  This is supposed to motivate us to seek heaven beyond this troubled life. My point here is, questioning God is a serious situation to be in—because it shows a lack of faith in Him.  Consider Hebrews 11:3:
 By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. Evolution proposes that what you see was made from something else that you see.  But God’s Word says that what you see was made out of nothing.
 Some people say, “We have to accommodate science,” so they came up with Intelligent Design (ID) as a “safe” middle ground of moderation. Truth is, that way the “Christian” scientists who encourage this “cop out” so they don't have to name God to their peers. They avoid embarrassment. They don’t have the faith that God will honor them someday for standing up for Him. And without faith, we cannot please Him, as Hebrews 11:6 says. Their refusal to name God as Creator is essentially a rejection of God. They are naming an impersonal force of intelligent design--but that’s not God; He is not impersonal.  They are denying His attributes.  For the ID people, here is a word:  "lukewarm." Consider the moderation exercised by the “lukewarm” “believers” in Revelation 3:15-16:

 “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. ¹⁶ So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. 

What is the effect of Jesus vomiting them out of His Body?  Being out of His Body means your place for eternity is the only other location—Hell. Same place as the evolutionists, who are really trying to escape God, unless they repent. They want to avoid accountability, morality, and God’s judgment. Effectively, the ID people have the same witness as the evolutionists.  Please go all the way with Christ. A president of an international Christian denomination was sent a question on his organization’s beliefs on Creation.  His response:

 The organization takes no stand on creation, avoiding such secondary issues; our efforts are designed to bring people together, based on the historically essential doctrines of orthodoxy. Creation falls into the category of non-essentials like spiritual gifts, eternal security, and the rapture.
 Amazing response…secondary issue?  So it doesn’t matter how life started (or how it ends, for these guys). These are not ‘secondary;’ they are primary.  Clearly by the ‘list of avoidables,’ this leader hates controversy. Here’s a simple test if you want to know who to donate to:  You want to know about whether a ministry truly stands up for the Bible?  Just call the head of the ministry and ask:  “Do you believe in a 6-day Creation as revealed in Genesis?”  If they say, “no,” then they don’t believe Scripture there, and they may also have other areas they feel like backing away from (or will in the future).  Our answer to Genesis 1 and 2 also reveals our attitude toward Scripture everywhere else.  But this amounts to judging God on what we like and what we don’t like in His Word.  (Ed. Note:  I have another blog on this idea). If we allow the culture to win over Christians on Genesis, then the culture can win over the Bible anywhere else. A few years ago there was a report done by the Christian Coalition who had polled 105 “Christian” colleges on the subject of Creation, among others. Only 5 believed in the literal Genesis account! In God’s plan of events, Creation is a primary issue in the Gospel.  I Corinthians 15:22 tie them together:

 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. 

Adam and Christ—the first and the last—the created and the Creator--are also explained in Paul’s Gospel teachings in Romans as well as other New Testament Scriptures.  These comparisons of Adam and Christ are important salvation opposites.  Consider belief in Christ a "restart" button--since you are born again (John 3), and a new creation (II Corinthians 5:17), you get to start over, repenting from the old ties to the world, and live a righteous life.
 What is the purpose of Creation—for us?  It glorifies God for His creation power.  The comparison of Adam and Christ points to God’s redemptive purpose; God is gathering a bride for His Son. God determined Redemption before the world began.  Then He performed Creation.  While we’re on earth, we know we are accountable to God.  We have forgiveness for our sins.  We are the Church, to display His grace and mercy, His compassion and kindness.  A redeemed humanity will glorify God and Jesus Christ forever. 

Let Us Give Thanks

In 1863, President Lincoln set Thanksgiving as an Official Day for the Nation.  This speech was written by Secretary of State William Seward:

The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity… no human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union.

But he wasn’t the first president to call for a day of thanksgiving to God. Here is George Washington’s speech in 1789:

Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor, and Whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me "to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanks-giving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness." Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be. That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks, for his kind care and protection of the People of this country previous to their becoming a Nation, for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his providence, which we experienced in the course and conclusion of the late war, for the great degree of tranquillity, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed, for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness…for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us. And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions…to render our national government a blessing to all the People, by constantly being a government of wise, just and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed, to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations (especially such as have shown kindness unto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord. To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the encrease of science among them and Us, and generally to grant unto all Mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.

Of course, there are many great verses thanking God in His Word. Here are a few:

• Psalm 95:2-3
Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song. For the LORD is the great God, the great King above all gods.

1 Corinthians 1:4-5
I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. For in him you have been enriched in every way--in all your speaking and in all your knowledge--
• Ephesians 1:15-16
For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.
• 1 Timothy 4:4-5
For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer.
• 1 Chronicles 16:34
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.
• Psalm 7:17
I will give thanks to the LORD because of his righteousness and will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High.
• Psalm 28:7
The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song.
• Psalm 100:4
Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.
• Isaiah 12:4
In that day you will say: "Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted.
• Jeremiah 33:11
the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of bride and bridegroom, and the voices of those who bring thank offerings to the house of the LORD, saying, "Give thanks to the LORD Almighty, for the LORD is good; his love endures forever." For I will restore the fortunes of the land as they were before,' says the LORD.
• Colossians 3:17
And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
• 1 Thessalonians 5:18
give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.