“Prase Him above, ye heavenly hosts.”
– from the Doxology written by Thomas Ken, a 17th-century Anglican bishop.
Who are they and what role have they played in history, play now and will play in the future?
How many of them are there?
How many fell and became corrupt?
This is a record of some of the amazing things I have learned in my study of the heavenly hosts and the Council of God. I will start with my notes from the book, “Unseen Realm” by Dr. Michael S. Heiser. These notes and thoughts are insufficient to replace a careful reading of Dr. Heiser’s book, which I hope you will want to do. I also highly recommend his podcast found at https://nakedbiblepodcast.com. I especially enjoyed the series on Acts.
The Unseen Realm
Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible
by Dr. Michael Heiser (1963 – 2023) — I highly recommend this book. It is the source of many of my notes, comments and thoughts on the heavenly hosts.
The Divine Council of heavenly hosts — the elohim
The Hebrew word “elohim” can be singular or plural. It translates as “god” or “gods” and it refers to spiritual beings that are not human.
God (Yahweh / Yahuah) is the Most High elohim. There is only one God whom we worship. The lesser elohim are spiritual beings but are not “gods” as English understands the word.
Psalm 97:9 For you, O Lord, are most high over all the earth. You are highly exalted above all gods. [elohim]
He created all the other elohim. He created them to be his family (of spiritual beings) to rule with Him until His second created family (humans) was ready to take over their rule. We, the believers, will replace them and rule over them in the new heavens and the new earth.
When humans rebelled against God (Yahweh) at the building of the tower of Babel, He divided them up into nations and placed lesser elohim over them as their rulers. [Genesis 11:8-9, Genesis 10, Deuteronomy 32:8-9] Some of the elohim rebelled against God (Yahweh) and will be punished at Judgment Day. [Psalm 82]
Psalm 82:1 God [elohim] stands in the divine assembly; he administers judgment in the midst of the gods [elohim]. — Note: the grammar of this verse informs us whether the word “elohim” is singular or plural. (You can’t be in the “midst of” a singular being.)
The heavenly hosts have various responsibilities and fit into a hierarchy of archangels, cherubim, seraphim, angels (which are specifically messengers), HERE… They are found in the scriptures giving God council, carrying out His plan, delivering messages, observing creation, praising Him, and a host of other tasks. (Pun intended.)
Following are some verses referencing the elohim and some of their roles:
Psalm 82:6 I have said, “You are gods [elohim], and sons of the Most High, all of you.
(completing the Psalm quoted above)
Job 1:6 Now there was a day when the sons of God [elohim] came to present themselves before the Lord (Yahweh).
(also Job 2:1 — same text)
The Bible as a Mosaic
The Bible must be understood as a mosaic, which, when all the pieces are considered, gives a full picture of God’s will and His plan. The modern worldview founded in Christian traditions and doctrinal creeds does not help us to view the scriptures the same as the ancient Hebrews viewed them. Their worldview gave them an understanding of how everything fits together in this mosaic. We need to develop such a worldview as we read and study the Bible, setting aside the filters of tradition and presumptions that hinder our understanding.
Genesis 6, the Flood and the Tower of Babel
Genesis 6: These major events shape the roles of the heavenly hosts through the rest of the biblical narrative. Without the intervention of the evil “sons of God” who corrupted some of the ancient Hebrews, there woudn’t have been a need for the Flood. God used the Flood to wipe out the depravity and resulting offspring from these corruptions. “The Lord (Yahweh) 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.” Genesis 6:5
The Flood: God needed to rid the earth of the evil doers and their DNA so that He could see a fresh start with the only man who was good and righteous — Noah. “Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God.” Genesis 6:9
“Everything on the dry land in whose nostrils was the breath of life died. He blotted out every living thing that was on the face of the ground, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens. They were blotted out from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those who were with him in the ark.” Genesis 7:22-23
The Flood made a clean start but, of course, it did not wipe man’s propensity to sin. Nor did it completely wipe out the DNA of the corrupted beings: the Nephilim. We find the Nephilim blood in Noah’s family tree; specifically in the sons of Japheth, leaving open the possibility that Japheth’s wife carried the DNA of the Nephilim. The war between the good elohim and the evil ones [the heavenly hosts] continued.
The Tower of Babel: Under the leadership of Nimrod, a very infamous Nephilim, the people began to build a tower to conquer and replace God (Yahweh), Himself. There is much speculation about the nature of this tower, some suggesting that it was electronic or may have contained some sort of transporter technology. It very likely was huge in size and may have been shaped like a Babylonian ziggurat. The end result of this effort was the confounding of the languages of man and the dividing up of the people into 70 nations. At this point God (Yahweh) appointed elohim (heavenly hosts) to rule over the 70 nations and He determined to focus on Abraham and his tribe, thus establishing His people: the Israelites.
This turning point in history effects all of the geographical and social events to come — from the conquering of the peoples in the lands that God had promised to the Israelites to the progression of the ministry of Jesus. For example, the events in Acts that record the coming of the Holy Spirit to the believing Jews, then the Samaritans, then the Gentiles, follows the so-called “Table of Nations” in Genesis after the people were dispersed with their own languages. [Dr. Michael Heiser teaches this in his podcast series on Acts: nakedbiblepodcast.com] Podcast on Acts 1