The Supernatural Worldview of the Bible I

We're going to begin tonight actually a three part series. Pastor Stephanie has asked me to teach about a particular set of topics. I did it at the ladies meeting on a couple of Mondays and it'll be some of that will be overlapped for those of you who were with there, but who were there. But the Lord has also added me add and augment and do some things differently. It won't be on consecutive Wednesdays but I think it's looking like maybe once, once a month we'll come and we're going to talk about this topic.

Are you ready? Drum roll please. There you go. Thank you very much. We're going to talk about the supernatural worldview of the Bible and how it intersects with the natural realm.

And you know, a supernatural worldview sounds like something that comes out of a textbook and indeed it does, but it's just, it's just simply put, it's what the Bible to say about the supernatural realm. The Bible is in of itself a supernatural book inspired by the Holy Spirit in conjunction with humanity. But the Bible is in fact all about supernatural stuff, right? The things that we see are less real than what we don't see. What happens on the earth and what manifests on the earth has its origin in what we don't see.

And we're wise to have a working knowledge of what's going on behind the scenes tonight. The two topics I'd like to cover in terms of the supernatural realm and you know what, I'm not going to force it. If we get to the second one, we do. If we don't, we don't. Right?

We'll just, we'll take it as it comes. But tonight I want to talk about the term the divine council. And the second thing I want to talk about are other gods in the Bible. Other gods in the Bible.

The type of ministry tonight is going to be more conference ish than inspirational message. But I double dog dare you not to be inspired by the word of God because we're going to look at a lot of scriptures. I dare you not to be inspired by it and not to hear from the Holy Spirit. And my prayer is, and I've been praying this for you and for me because I'm on a learning journey and a curve along with you is that the Lord would open up our minds to understand the scriptures. Because if he doesn't do that, they're just words, right?

If he doesn't breathe on the word of God, then they're just words. Satan knows the Word of God, right? Satan spoke the word of God to Jesus. But unless they're God breathed, unless he breathes on those words, they don't create life. And so we want that.

And even if you hear tonight and this has. You're like, why did I come? I needed something else. Except. And not this topic.

Do you know that the Lord has a really cool way of kind of meeting you where you are, where the Holy Spirit is there, Is he just moving and meeting needs? So just, just relax and breathe in and we're going to have a good time tonight. Okay? I have to lay some considerable groundwork for this material because we're going to be building on top of it. So, you know, indulge me that as well.

That usually I just hit the ground running, you know, that's my mo. I don't think I can do that tonight. I want to take my time with you. So let's start here. Let's open up our Bibles, or your devices, as it were, to Genesis, chapter six.

And we are going to look at verse 13.

God is explaining to Noah why he is sending the flood.

So God said to Noah, I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. Now, there's an interesting word. There's an interesting Hebrew word in this verse, and it's the Hebrew word that's translated as violence. And you know what that Hebrew word is?

Hamas. It is the Hebrew word hamas. And if you're going to say it right, you got to put the in it and all those H's. It is a Hebrew word, hamas. And I really am intrigued by that.

If you are familiar at all with eschatological teachings, the end time teachings in the Bible, you know that there's going to be another cataclysmic event a la the flood, and there's going to be a new heaven and a new earth come. And so when I read this, I don't get scared. I get super excited, right? Because he knows he's got it. What are the odds that that would be the word of the day?

And so because of the time that we live in, because of the violent time, would you agree that we live in, we are also living in a time of violence. It's imperative if we want to have peace, that we understand the full context of what's going on. Because much of it, we have no control over it. We love to have control. I feel the safest when I'm in control of whatever's going on around me.

And there are things in play that we just don't have control over. You know, the news and getting information. I don't think there's anything wrong with that. But the limit of that is information. Right, but it's only through God's word that we get revelation and then direction.

Okay, what am I supposed to do with this information? And so the macro goal tonight is to give you context for what's happening in the world today as it overlaps and does overlap with the supernatural worldview of the Bible and to really help you quite literally understand what in the world is going on.

Let's begin. Well, that's our second beginning. Let's do number two with buried treasure. Number one. Maestro.

Ta da. Isn't that kind of cool? A couple of Items there. In 1978, there are some archaeologists, they went into an area of Afghanistan and they did an archaeological dig. It took them, I think, a year, maybe a year and a half.

But in that dig, you know, digging archaeologically is a slow process, process. And the deeper they got, the more things they unearthed. That was among the things they unearthed. But in all, they unearthed 20,600 artifacts from this place in Afghanistan, right? Like, wow, that just seems bizarre.

That was called no man's land. But here you have in no man's land these, you know, 20,000 artifacts of gold and silver and gems and ivory and coins. And what they had unearthed, the value of it is incalculable. It is absolutely priceless. There we have one of the gold belts and that fancy Manchi crown.

Bactrian gold, if you've ever heard the term Bactrian gold. But that's what they unearth, and that's what was unearthed. Such is the word of God. You know, those things right there, they were dated. Here's a fancy history word, circa 100 B.C.

to 100 A.D. okay, so just an ease of calculation. If they. If the dig was in 1978, those things were buried for 1,978 years. They were there that whole time, and nobody found them. There was a timing to it.

I would suggest that such is some components of. Of the word of God. There is buried treasure in the written word of God. There are things. This is not a textbook.

We can memorize and say we know the Bible. Re. I didn't see you. Hi, honey.

There are things in here that are yet to be discovered. They're not new things. They are buried things. And the question becomes, are we willing to take the time we need to unearth and search for those things that are buried.

I also think there is a timing involved when certain things are unearthed. Right. It just seems like the Lord just keeps a door closed until the time is right and then he'll seem to lead his people to this truth. But I'm telling you, what we find in the Word of God has that kind of priceless value. As we be able, as we are starting and hoping to discern the times, I want to manage your expectations a little bit.

That's a big thing with me. When it comes to the supernatural realm, how it works and its inhabitants. The Word of God very disappointingly does not provide a systematic presentation of the supernatural world. Roman Numeral 1. A. I love that.

That would be super duper. No, the information about the supernatural realm and its inhabitants are not. And even about the divine council and other gods is not presented in a systematic way. It's rather presented as individual jigsaw puzzle pieces. Various verses in different books of the Bible that we have to take piece by piece and connect them to one another to see the picture that emerges.

This is not a new concept. It is exactly the way the Lord determined to handle how he would reveal who Jesus is, who the Messiah was. So there are theologians who say, one fella said, There are over 456 separate verses in the Old Testament alone that identify or point to Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah. There are different places and different books. Right.

For example, Isaiah 7:14, Behold, the virgin will conceive and give birth. Who is that referring to? Mary? Yeah. Jeremiah 31:15.

Thus says the Lord, A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children. She refuses to be comforted for her children because they are no more. What is that referring to? Herod's decree to kill every child under two years old.

Right. Puzzle piece, puzzle piece. Micah 5:2. But you, Bethlehem, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come a ruler out of Israel. Where was Jesus born?

He lived. His hometown was Nazareth. But where was he born? Bethlehem. Puzzle piece.

Hosea11 1. Out of Egypt, I called my son. Well, what happened? Joseph and Mary were warned, you better get the baby, go up to Egypt. And then God brought him home.

Isaiah 61:1 2. You know that famous passage, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me, et cetera, et cetera. Jesus read that scroll in his hometown synagogue. You know, I don't know how much on the nose you can get than that. And then there was, you know, say so Psalm 22, which is all of it, which describes a kind of a gruesome crucifixion scene.

But you had all these verses in different parts of the Bible. But it wasn't till they were all put together and began to connect to one another that the people began to see little by little, my gosh, this describes Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph and Mary. And indeed there was a timing to that. And it's why he wasn't immediately recognized, because it was for people who had an ear to hear and a heart to know who knew what the Word said and began to put the puzzle pieces together and search for the truth. And that each piece that went in, all of a sudden the face of Jesus of Nazareth arose.

And it's the same thing with other topics, large topics in the word of God. And even with those puzzle pieces, they still needed the Holy Spirit to unlock to them what it meant. Number two, please. After resurrecting, Jesus said this to his disciples. Luke 22:44, 47.

He told them, these are my words, that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, the Psalms, the prophets and the Psalms that would be referring to all the Bible, just not exclusively those books must be fulfilled. Then he what opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. Because at that point they were beginning to wrap their mind around the point that the things preceding Jesus life and his ministry was Messiah ish. But this death was not. And the Lord had to show that, yes, he was led silent like a sheep to the slaughter.

He was wounded for your transgressions. He was bruised for your iniquities. A chastisement of his peace, of our peace was upon him. And by his stripes we are made healed. And so they still had to further understand that he completed the picture.

But it was the Holy Spirit who did that. And it was the hearts that wanted to hear. There's some people that just don't. They're not interested in truth. And my husband and I were just talking about that a little while ago.

You think, well, if I could just, you know, reason and say, I mean, come on, here's this and this and this. No, there's some people who have come. You could. They. They come to an a.

What they believe is true. And then they, if it doesn't support what. What they believe is true, then it's rejected. It's frustrating, right, because you want to say, but, but, but, but sometimes God gives people over to their own deception to their own choice they made. And it's sad, but it's the way it is nevertheless.

Did I finish reading that verse? I don't think so. 24:46. He told them this is what was written. That Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day.

And repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be prepared, preached in his name to all nations. All nations, beginning at Jerusalem. So tonight I'm going to give you some scriptural puzzle pieces about the supernatural world. I'm going to ask the Holy Spirit to help, help us interlock them and open our minds to understand. I will not be able to answer every question that you have about the supernatural realm.

Again, we have two more lessons after this, so it may happen. In those lessons, you will likely leave here with more questions. And that's a good thing, you know, because he who asks gets answers. It's a good way to fellowship with the Lord. The material that I'm going to present to you tonight has been influenced by a particular scholar.

His name is Dr. Michael Heiser. How many here have heard of Dr. Michael Heiser? Okay, a number of you. He has made it into the mainstream of the evangelical church. His writings, I would say since about 2015.

I became acquainted with Dr. Heiser. Listening to a Dr. Michael Brown podcast. Anybody? Dr. Michael Brown. He's a friend of the house and theologian scholar, Somebody for whom I have a great deal of respect.

Dr. Brown had Dr. Heiser on his podcast and I thought, well, he's probably on a nut job if Dr. Brown had him on his podcast. And, and they have worked collaborative. Collaboratively on some things. What's the guy named from Bible Project? Tim.

Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. He is. Also has done some work with Dr. Heiser. They have written forwards for his books and, you know, so I, they, I borrowed. He borrowed on their influence, as far as I was concerned, to be interested in material.

He is an extremely unlikely person to write about this topic. The first book he released was in 2015 about the supernatural realm. He is like the nerdiest book nerd ever, right? So he's not like one of those guys that are sitting, you know, like prophetic and which I respect nothing but, you know, there's all different kinds of giftings in the body of Christ, right? So he's not waiting for.

He's looking up words. His PhD is in Hebrew and Semitic languages. Right. He was the head guy at Logos. Like he knows what every book that says everything.

And yet God brought him into this realm in just A really odd way and I think it was for a time and a season and it came to him this one verse that he had read many, many, many, many, many times. One time he read it and it was like, oh, I've never seen that before. And from that single revelation he has gone to produce a tremendous amount of material and he has a lot of books out there. Dr. Michael Heiser h E I S E R He's all over YouTube, rumble, whatever you use. He's not proprietary about his information.

I don't think he's perfect on everything he says. I don't think he's the end all and the be all on this topic but I think he makes a very valuable call contribution and I don't think for some reason this, this, it, it, it's been, I mean the ancients understood this right? This again is buried right buried. So it's been there, the ancients understood it, it has been written about in theological journals and, and scholarly articles but it just now coming into the mainstream and I'm wondering if there isn't indeed a timing to that that's going to coordinate with the time in which. In the time in which we live.

The Divine Council. I just want to start with a definition of a divine council. As I understand it, that phrase is a group of celestial beings led by Yahweh whose purpose is to carry out Yahweh's will. The Divine Council. Group of celestial beings led by Yahweh whose purpose is to carry out Yahweh's will.

Now, the chosen, how many of you seen the chosen? Yes. You're not saved. I presume if you haven't seen the chosen.

I know there are some critiques of that content, but I think if you, if you accept it for what it is, I think it's wonderful. Not a substitute for your Bible. You know, you don't want to create theology out of it or doctrine. For somebody like me, it has been invaluable because when I read, I'm an information processor. Words don't create pictures for me, you know, so I have a hard time reading, difficult time reading fiction and enjoying it.

Because the whole point of fiction is to create pictures with words. And I'm an information processor. So for me when I read the Bible it's about processing information. So to see the chosen, to see some things actually before me was really helpful to me. And one of the things I knew, but I didn't conceptualize was how highly organized and relational Jesus was.

You know, Jesus created an organization of people he desired to work in concert with, with people around him. He would sit down, hang out and talk with them. Talk about what do you think? How do you think we should feed these guys? Do you guys have any fish?

What do you think we ought to do? You know, knowing ultimately what he needed to do but to bring in a community with him as he carried out the Father's will. Is it too far relief to make the connection that the way Jesus led his disciples when he was on the earth earth was exactly the way he saw his Father manage up in the heavenlies? What did Jesus say? I do what my Father does.

I do what I see him do. And I see my Father working with his people up there. So when I come to earth, I am going to create my organization. And even though I am the Son of God and indeed God, I am going to rely and pull on these people and work together to accomplish my Father's will on the earth.

Now, I'm not just guessing about the Father working in concert with a divine council or a group of people. There are biblical examples of it and I'd like to show them to you. Number three, please. We're going to look at Job. Just a few verses of job, chapter 16 through 12.

This is out of the English standard Version. I have some of my students from rds. You can going to hear me launch into the Hasatan discussion again. Yeah, yeah. All right.

Verse 6. Now, there was a day when the sons of God, the Bene Elohim, right, son, Ben Elohim, God, came to present themselves before the Lord and Satan also came among them. Now look at that. Are these sons of God? Humans are celestials.

They are celestials. Can we all agree on that? Absolutely. Now, your English translations translate Satan as a proper name, but in Hebrew it is not a proper name. In the Hebrew, that is actually two words.

It's a common noun. It's called ha, Satan, the adversary, the accuser.

We have transliterated. When you transliterate Hasatan, we've taken Satan and we've made it a proper noun into Satan. But that's not what it is in the Hebrew among the council, among those presenting themselves before the Lord is the adversary, the one who brings the accusation. You don't see the name, the proper name Satan in the Bible well into much later Judaism. It appears once in First Chronicles, and then, boy, it's all we come out of the gun in the Gospels.

You know, it's fully developed that as Satan as a name. But here that's not what he is. He's among those who are before the Lord giving an account. And his account is to see what this is, what these have done wrong. And let me show you, when you're talking about the people on the earth, that's no short list.

Then the Lord said to Hasatan, I have to say it that way because the other side just grates me. From where have you come? And Hasatan answered the Lord and said, from going to and fro in the earth and from walking up and down on it. And the Lord said to Satan or Hasatan, have you considered my servant Job? There is none like him on the earth.

A blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil. Then Hasatan answered the Lord and said, does Job fear God for no reason? Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has on every side? You've blessed the work of his hands and his possessions and have increased, and his possessions have increased in the land. But stretch out your hand to touch all that he has and he will curse you to your face.

And the Lord said to Hasatan, behold, all that he has is in your hand, only against him. Do not stretch out your hand. So Hasatan went from out of the presence of the Lord. Now think about this in your own head. If you had to describe this situation, how would you describe it?

Does it not seem like some kind of meeting, some kind of organizational situation with the CEO? Yeah. Where the B' Nai Elohim, the sons of God, are coming to present themselves with all the other celestials in their various forms. And the Lord is doing business and checking on what's happening on the earth. The Lord is so invested in the earth.

It's the thing that is being fought over at this very moment.

The origin is not the earth, but the target is the earth and its inhabitants. And we're seeing that playing out before us today, this week and last week, in our very eyes, right before our very eyes in this scenario. There seems to be a give and take discussion. And I always, I always feel like if I was. If I was Yahweh, I was Elohim, I would have said to Hasatan, I don't give a rip what you think.

I mean, that's what I would have when you said that. What do I care what you think? Because I think you're a loser. No, I think. I think, you know, somewhat at Job's expense.

Elohim had something else to do and prove. But you know, I'M not God. And thank God, because a lot of people be dead. I think it'd be bad. And some people for just driving bad.

So that just. You know what I mean? You're in the left lane. Move over, Use a turn signal. Like, I think I just want to pick up the car, levitate it, see how you like it.

Trying to make that left turn. You're not using your turn signal. That's wicked. Okay.

First Kings. Do I have that on there, honey? First Kings 22, Joel. Yes. Thanking you too much.

All right, I want to discuss the context of this. First Kings 22:19 through 23. Right now, the. The kingdom of Israel is divided. We've talked about this a number of times.

There are some issues, some involving Solomon, some involving the other people. And the kingdom has been divided into the north and south, much like we were divided in the north and south during the confederacy time that were the Civil war time. Nevertheless, the king of the northern part of Israel, which is called Israel, is King Ahab, bad guy, the king of Judah. The southern part is Jehoshaphat. Good guy, personal opinion, not the sharpest knife in the butcher block, but that's just me.

So Jehoshaphat, which, I mean, they're cousins, right? They're cousins. He really shouldn't have had anything to do with Ahab, but he decides to go visit him. I think they had children who were married. Don't quote me on that.

Anyway, so Jehoshaphat goes up to visit Ahab, and they're just chatting. And Ahab said, you know what? The Arameans, they took Ramoth, Gilead. If you and I combine our forces, we can go and grab that city back on the other side of the Jordan. Let's go do that.

And so Jehoshaphat said, my army is yours. Whatever I have is yours. He says, but before we do that, let's at least consult, you know, consult the prophets. Let's see if it's a good thing to do. And so Ahab said, oh, I'm all about consulting the prophets.

So he brings 400 prophets in. And they began to say, yes, you will be victorious. You will gore the enemy with these gourds of iron. And so all these 400 prophets are saying, you're going to be victorious. Go up against the Arameans.

Go take Ramoth, Gilead. Well, the unfortunate thing was, of all those 400 prophets, not a one of them was a prophet of Yahweh. They were prophets of other gods. And Jehoshaphat knew that. And so he Looks at Ahab.

He says, ahab, hey, buddy, you don't have not one prophet from Yahweh here. In what is the funniest verse in the entire Bible, Ahab says this. Yes, we do have a guy, but I hate him. He never says anything good about me, Right? So nevertheless, Jehoshaphat presses for him and says, you I know.

We want to hear what he has to say. Well, this prophet's name is Micaiah. They go get him. At first, he comes in. He's just messing with Ahab because he says, you don't want to know what I have to say.

Finally, Ahab takes him to task and said, tell me what you have heard from the Lord. And Micaiah tells him, well, here's what I've heard from the Lord. You gonna die.

It's over. You go up and. You go up and take Ramoth. Gilead. You try.

You go in this war, you're going to die. To which Ahab, he looks at Jehoshaphat and he goes, didn't I tell you? He never says anything good about me.

And then Micaiah reveals what he saw in the heavenlies. First Kings 22:19. And Micaiah said, therefore hear the word of the Lord. I saw the Lord sitting on his throne and all the host of heaven. The host of heaven is the word.

Sabah, I know there are a number of you in here who have been to Bible college, right? So to. Some of you might think that's so boring. Don't tell me that. But there's other people that I do think enjoy knowing that.

So the Saba, the host, the army, standing beside him on his right hand and on the left. And the Lord said. Said, who's he talking to? The Saba, the host, the heavenly host, the army. And the Lord said, who will entice Ahab that he may go up and fall at Ramoth?

Gilead.

Now, what does the Lord want to happen to Ahab?

Live or die, man. Live or die. Wasn't that the karate kid? Doesn't even tweak that kid's nose after that. And one said one thing.

And another said another. Who's talking? The heavenly host, who will go up and entice Ahab. And one said one thing, and one said another thing. Then a spirit came forward and stood before the Lord, saying, I will entice him.

Now, the word there, spirit, and again, many of you are familiar with it, is that word Ruach, Right? Spirit. It's the same word that when it's combined with Kodesh holy in the Bible is Ruach Kodesh, the Holy Spirit and a spirit, not the Ruach Kodesh, not the Holy Spirit, but a spirit among the host comes and said, I will do it in verse 22. And the Lord said to me, him, the Spirit, by what means? And he said, I will go out and be a lying spirit.

That's a Ruach spirit, Shakir, not Shaquill Shakir, in the mouth of all his prophets. And he, the Lord said, you are to entice him and you shall succeed. Now go out and do so. Now, Micah transitions from saying what he saw to speaking directly to ahab in verse 23. Now, therefore, behold, the Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets.

The Lord has declared disaster for you and for his faithfulness. You know, Micaiah gets slapped in the face and imprisoned. And I'll tell you, there's people who have problems with this verse. He says the Lord told a lie. He made people tell a lie.

Well, I don't know. It's in the Bible. I don't have a problem with it. We're talking about war. What do you think?

He's going to be tying his shoes and tiptoeing through the tulips? You know, to the shrewd, he shows himself shrewd. To the pure, he shows himself pure. Ahab was a. Was a shrewdy.

As shrewd as they come. Well, anyways, I have to tell this rest of the story because it kind of makes me. I don't think Jehoshaphat's that smart. First. First, the only prophet of the Lord says, you gonna die.

And he and Jehoshaphat goes with them anyway. Then when they go out to battle, Ahab tells Jehoshaphat, you know what'll be a funny trick? I'll dress like a regular guy and you dress like me. And then we'll confuse him. And for some reason, Jehoshaphat thought that was swell.

And of course, all of the Arameans came and tried to kill him. By the grace of God, he didn't die. But as it were, an errant arrow did hit Ahab and Ahab did die. The point of all that is not to poke fun at Jehoshaphat. I probably would.

We'll reject that later. But to show you the similarities in these two accounts in Job and this one in Second Kings, right? So what is the point of this? The point is that the Lord works in concert with his created celestial community, a divine council, the sons of God The Bene Elohim and the host, the army to carry out his will on the earth. Jesus had that same collaborative relationship with his disciples when he was on the Earth, and he has that same relationship with his disciples now.

That's us, through the Holy Spirit. We partner with him to carry out his will on the Earth. He doesn't need the help. He just seems to like it. He prefers for us to volunteer.

God didn't create beings who were automatons without flesh. Perhaps then neither the celestials nor the terrestrials, terrestrials who are us, would be in his image if we didn't have will to choose. He likes to equip us and empower us to do things on his behalf. But that doesn't mean that God's celestial family right now, just because the Holy Spirit is on the Earth through the church, that doesn't mean that God is not working actively up in the heavenlies. I mean, we're very aware of him working through us, but I mean, have you ever read the Book of Revelation?

There's a bunch of stuff going on up there. They're just not sitting around. I think sometimes we think they're the Hebrew 11 crowd of witnesses. Like this. Oh, I thought sort of.

Oh, that one messed up. Go get him, Mike. Aw, look at. He's so nice. He prays all the time.

His wife's always yelling at him about something. He's so sweet.

Oh, there is activity going on in the heavenlies. It's the origin for what's happening here. You know, I won't go into that. We got plenty of time to talk about demons. We will talk about demons and the original of demons in an upcoming, upcoming Wednesday night.

Okay. To this point, we touched on the topic of the Divine Council, those celestial beings in Yahweh's advisory board. I'm going to transition. I think I can get this second topic through before tonight, and that is other gods in the Bible. And to do that, we have to look at a particular and familiar Hebrew word.

And I've already said it a number of times. It's Elohim. Or to say it like you need to Elohim. You just sound smartified when you do that. Okay, so we're very familiar with that, right?

We sing that song, right? Forever. Yahweh Adonai Elohim the great I am lives in me. Elohim is a Hebrew word and it's translated as God or gods. In the Old Testament, other than Yahweh, Elohim is the most common word used to Reference.

The Lord God Almighty used to reference Yahweh, right? 2600 times. Most of the times. 2600 times. Elohim is used most of the time to reference Yahweh, but fasten your seat belts.

The Hebrew word Elohim is not always used into the Bible to refer to the Lord God Almighty. I'm going to show it to you. It's not blasphemy, but promise you. Cross my heart. I've been dutified by Pastor Stephanie.

This is all good. I'm going to give you some sample verses. Number five, please. Genesis 1:1. In the beginning, God Elohim created the heavens and the earth.

Fun fact about Elohim. Elohim in and of itself is a plural of the word. Hebrew word El. El means God. When Yahweh revealed himself to Abraham, he said, I am El Shaddai.

I am God, Almighty God who is more than enough. When the Lord appeared to Hagar and helped her in the desert when she was struggling with Ishmael, when Sarah had kicked her out, she referred to him as El Roi. You are the God who sees so in and of itself, Elohim is a plural form of El. But Elohim. Elohim can also.

It is a funky word. It can also be used as a singular. A singular noun. And I won't go into all of that. And why?

Because I think then your smoke will come out your ears anyways. It can be translated. Elohim can be translated as a single noun referring to one God. It can be transfer translated as plural Gods referring to more than one God. It can mean either the Lord God Almighty or a lesser God.

And it simply depends on the context and the other words that are around it in this particular verse. Verse. Because this is the plural form of El, Elohim. And I am in Hebrews like S. In English, you like. Melech is king.

Malachim is king. So you put this anytime you see the I am in a word like. We know when you're reading Hebrew tomorrow at the breakfast table. What am I talking about? This is just ridiculous.

It's. It's S ish. So bum bum bum bum bum. Okay. It can refer to either one of those things.

So let's go to the next verse. I think it's on the same slide. Deuteronomy 32:17. Moses, a song of Moses. Moses is talking to the children of Israel, verse 17.

They sacrificed two false gods. Your Bible. I'm telling you, we're going to talk about some translation stuff. That word gods is not Elohim. That word is Shadim.

Any of you in here a Michael Kahn reader, if you see any of his material. Okay, then I won't tell you about that. Shadim is a whole different word. Shadim is really. It should be translated demons.

It is an Assyrian word that refers to the God they sacrifice protecting spirits that was usually materialized or depicted as the bull colossus. And so if you wonder why, when the. The children of Israel came out and they were in the desert and Moses was too long, and they made a golden image, it was of a calf, it was of a Shadim, it was of a demon. So this is not the word Elohim. It is the word Shadim, and it is more properly translated as demon.

That word is only used one other time in the Old Testament in Psalm 106, 37. And again, talking about the Israelites, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters to false gods. That is Shadim. If you have the niv, it'll say false gods or any number of translations. You have the esv.

It'll, I think, more rightly translate that as demons. They sacrifice their sons and daughters to the Shadim, to the demons. Let's start again. The song of Moses. They sacrifice to false gods, which are not God Eloha, Gods, Elohim.

They had not known gods that had recently appeared, gods your ancestors did not fear. The last two gods are implied. They're not in the text, but they're added for understanding. So what do we see here? Right.

Moses is using the same word, Elohim, referring both to the Lord Almighty and to other beings. There is a distinction, and yet there is a similarity. There is only one Elohim, Yahweh, but there are lesser Elohims that belong in the same realm.

Number six, first Samuel, 28, eight through 13. Saul is king. He's on the downside of his reign. Samuel is dead. Samuel was his frenemy, you know, he was everything he needed and everything he loathed, both at the same time.

They're going to do battle against the Philistines. Saul wants to know, am I going to win? He calls for his priests and say, tell me, are we going to win this war? But there's been no dream, there's been no vision. There's been nothing to give Saul any kind of confidence in engaging the Philistines.

And so he says, you know, he's going to violate his own law. And he tells his men, find some occultist for me, because I. Or somebody who can contact the dead because I Need to know what's going to happen. I want to contact Samuel. And you know, Saul had already, you know, kicked out all of the occultists out of Israel.

It was forbidden by the law for the people and the children of God to. To mess with people who had knowing spirits or could contact the dead. Why would he have to forbid something that was not possible? You don't want to mess with that. That is not a joke.

These spirits have been around a long time and they don't have good intentions toward you especially. They hate humanity, period. But a child of God times a million. But Saul is desperate. And he said in his mind, he wants to talk to Samuel.

So verse 8. So Saul disguised himself, putting on other clothes. And at night he and two men went to the woman, this occultist. And he said, use this word is consult. It's actually a very precise Hebrew word that says, use your ability to contact the dead.

That's what that Hebrew word means.

Consult a spirit for me, he said, and bring up for me the one I name. But the woman said to him, surely you know what Saul has done. He has cut off the mediums and the spiritists, the ones who contact the dead and the ones who have a knowing spirit, familiar spirit from the land. Why have you set a trap for my life to bring about my death? Saul swore to her by the Lord, Yahweh, as surely as the Lord lives, you will not be punished for this.

And the woman asked, whom shall I bring up for you? And he said, bring up Samuel.

And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried out at the top of her voice and said to Saul, why have you deceived me? You are Saul. And the king said to her, do not be afraid. What do you see? And the woman said to Saul, I see a ghostly figure.

That is the Hebrew word Elohim. Your translation might say spirit. Your translation might say God. The Niv said, ghostly spirit. But it is, I see an Elohim ascending out of the earth.

That is in the Hebrew. And it is indeed Samuel. And his first thing he asks is, why did you bother me?

And he knows why he's been summoned. And he goes on, saul says, I want to know how we're going to do tomorrow, you know. And. And Samuel says this kind of not very cryptic remark. Tomorrow you and your sons are going to be with me.

You're good. You're going to die. The. The point is, Samuel's disembodied spirit is called by the Bible an Elohim.

I just do one more first. Kings 11:33 Number seven, fellas, gals. The prophet Ahijah is explaining to Jeroboam, my God is dividing the nation of Israel. And the prophet tells Jeroboam, I will do this because they, the Israelite, have forsaken me and worshiped Ashtoreth the Goddess. That's the word Elohim of the Sidonians, Chemosh, the God Elohim of the Moabites, and Molech, the God Elohim of the Ammonites.

And have not walked in obedience to me, nor done what is right in my eyes, nor kept my decrees and laws, as David Solomon's father did. Are the Elohim in this verse referring to the Lord God Almighty? They are not. I'm not going to do. Guys, I'm not going to do number eight, so don't put that up.

So what am I saying? Am I saying that God Almighty is just one of an equal number of Elohim spiritual beings? God forbid. I am not saying that. What I'm saying that is in the Hebrew Bible, in the Hebrew language, as the word Elohim is being used, it is not always referring to the Lord God Almighty.

And if we can understand that, we can wrap our mind around the supernatural nature of all of creation. I mean, is it too difficult to believe that God, who created a terrestrial family for Himself, would have in times past, created a family in another kind of image of him whom he used to work out his will? My goodness. The things we know are this.

When compared to what God is doing in the universe, we don't have a clue. We go about our lives and the things that we get guilty Allah, don't put your turn signal on and get out of the left lane. The things we get worked up about and we focus on and we get the relational issues that we just let consume us when there are cosmic issues at play. Cosmic. And God does what he always does.

He combines with his sons. There are the celestial B' nai Elohim, that realm. And there are the terrestrial B' nai Elohim, sons of God. And together we are to work with him over this piece of dirt, fighting for it, called the earth.

Just throw number nine up there real quick. The word Elohim as it is used in the Bible is primarily a reference to Yahweh, but also refers to a spirit being, a celestial being, or a disembodied being.

This one last verse, I have to because it ties it up so nicely. It combines both the notion of other gods and divine counsel. Psalm 82, 1:8, verse 10. I mean, slide 10, please. This is out of the English Standard Version.

God Elohim has taken his place in the Divine council. Elohim has taken his place in the Divine council. In the midst of the gods, Elohim, little G. Little G. Gods. He holds judgment. How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked?

Give justice to the weak and the fatherless? Maintain the right of the afflicted and destitute? Rescue the weak and the needy? Deliver them from the hand of the wicked? They have neither knowledge nor understanding.

They walk about in darkness. All the foundations of the earth are shaken. I said, you are God's Elohim, Little G. Sons of the Most High, Wa Elyon, all of you. Nevertheless, like man, Adam, you shall die.

So you have these Elohim. The implication here is you have not done what you should have done with regard to the earth. And because you have not done that, there is a punishment that's coming out for you. You shall not live forever, but like men, you shall die and fall like any prince. And the psalmist ends with this, Arise, O God Elohim, judge the earth, for you shall inherit all the nations.

And you might say, well, I thought he inherited all the nations already. Oh, there's a lot going on. There's a lot going on now. You know, tonight I've given you some puzzle pieces, but the puzzle's unfinished, so you should be confused. I would actually be disappointed if you were not a little bit confused.

Good for you if you are. Listen to this again. Next time we're going to talk to you about cosmic geography. We're going to talk about how these various sub Elohim came to be over the nations. And it just will all make a great deal more sense to you once I lay it out for you.

Let's just return by close with talking again about Moses. Not Moses. I always confuse those guys. Moses and Noah. It's the long O.

In the days of Noah, there was very much violence. And because there was so much violence that the Lord was going to destroy the earth. And Jesus talked about the days of Noah also. And he said, the sign of my coming and the end of the age is going to be like the time of Noah. They'll be laughing and singing and marrying and giving in marriage.

And so you're going to have these contrasting aspects in the world. When Jesus comes again, there will be violence and then there will be people who don't have a clue about what's going on.

We don't want to Be among those. We want to be able to discern the times. Let me tell you, there's some bad times coming for the earth. But you don't have to be afraid because Jesus talked about two people who built a home. One of them built a house, their house on a rock.

One of them built their house on sand. And the thing, the storms came. Did the storm hit both houses? Oh, yeah, the storm hit both houses, but the house that was built on the rock stood. And how do you build your house on the rock?

Jesus said this. If you come to me, if you hear what I say, and here's usually the clencher and do it, you will be like the one who built their house upon the rock. And I'm telling you, with all that's going on right now and the uncertainty, if you have come to him, I'm assuming you're here. You did. You're hearing his word.

The due part is up to you. You don't have to be afraid because the Lord will keep you in the palm of your hands. Don't let go of him. Let's stand up. I'm going to pray for you.

Hallelujah. Glory be to God. Arise, O God, judge the earth, for you shall inherit the nations. Father, we look forward to that time when the nations of this world will become the nations of our God and of his Christ. And he shall reign.

Jesus shall reign. The government shall be on his shoulders. Hallelujah. Glory be to God. When the kingdom of God will be fully established and consummated on the earth.

Lord God, help us to stay firm. Help us to stay close. Lord God, help us to stay connected to. To your word. Open the eyes of our understanding so that we may understand what is the hope of our calling.

Our calling is to be the sons and daughters of God and reign with you and continue to see your will played out on the earth. Father, we give you glory. Now just lift your hands up to the Lord. Give him glory. Give him glory.

Give him glory. He's worthy. He's worthy. He's worthy. Hallelujah.

Worthy are you, Lord? Worthy.