The Jewish world has a list of spirit beings and their hierarchy, but it goes outside the Scripture for too much information, so I don’t use it. Now that we know the divine council and the bene elohiym hierarchy, let’s look at the divine spirit “worker bees” that do our Abba Father’s good works. It is interesting to see what the people were thinking in their time as reflected in the writings of the time, but we will stay with the Scripture here.
The Heavens
The physical heavens are the incredibly spectacular creation of our Abba Father for us. Pastor John Piper has a great line, “God made the heavens so large and man so small to say something about himself.” The people’s knowledge of the solar system in ancient times is impressive, perhaps because it was all they had as an alternative to this life. Today we have so many options that too many miss the only ones that matter, the heavens and Heaven.
The people in ancient times didn’t have much else to do at night but look at the sky, and they knew it well. Because the stars and planets move around, ancient people assumed they were alive. It seems natural that marvelous things moving in the sky must be gods to the ancient people. Instead of chuckling at that belief, let’s understand that they actually were looking at our Abba Father and how what we can see glorifies him.
Amos 5:8, “seek him that maketh the Pleiades and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night . . .” Pleiades is a star cluster named the Seven Sisters, or in ELB, M45. It is visible almost everywhere on earth. Orion, The Hunter, is another significant star cluster visible from everywhere, known in ELB as M42. But the point of Amos 5:8 is the majesty of our Abba Father. Please pray on that.
S2M4 spoke to how believers should embrace science more as our Abba Father’s creation and astronomy should be at the top of the list. Sadly, our reverence for the majesty of the physical universe is weak at best. I suggest that an astronomy group should be part of every church because it truly is our Abba Father’s most outstanding achievement.
Astrology is a fascinating, heavens-driven subject that attempts to describe the effect the heavenly bodies have on us. When we view astrology as “magic,” it does not please our Abba Father. If we do not appreciate the majesty of the physical heavens, how can we possibly appreciate our Abba Father? But there is an incredible irony with astrology; it knows the heavens in great detail. As the planets move around, the changes in the gravitational pull could affect our brains and behavior.
We know it affects a clam’s nervous system; who knows what else? But there is zero reason for astrology not to recognize who put the stars and planets where they are for astrologers to observe. (For the record, our brain adjusts to most of the gravitational changes it experiences. Clams less so.)
If the previous paragraph seems a bit obtuse, I meant it. I see a lot of the metaphysical world in jail/prison, and inserting our Abba Father into their belief sets is similar to Paul in Acts 17:22-23, “And Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus, and said, Ye men of Athens, in all things I perceive that ye are very religious. For as I passed along, and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, To an Unknown God. What therefore ye worship in ignorance, this I set forth unto you.“
Astrology’s forecasts are considered blaspheme as magic, but the heavens are our Abba Father’s most outstanding achievement. The church survived letting go of the earth as the heavens’ center, and it will survive any search for the details of its existence as long as we are seeking our Abba Father’s glory. Please look for our Abba Father and his purpose in everything. When we condemn anything, we are missing our Abba Father. Please pray on that.
Here is the biggest problem with ignoring the amazing heavens; the majesty of the physical heavens is used in the Scripture to illustrate the majesty of our Abba Father. It is the best we have for human adjectives. Chapter 4, “Our Abba Father,” explains how he attaches his glory to his name so we can relate to him. And he is even more impressive in his final creation.
ELB keeps us tethered to this life and planet; therefore, too many miss the glory of our Abba Father revealed in the heavens. Please take a look at the majesty of the heavens and get started! The URL link for the Hubble telescope library is https://esahubble.org/images.
The universe is so massive that the earth is a tiny spec in the heavens. But we are our Abba Father’s tiny spec! Psalm 8:3-4, “When I (David) consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, The moon, and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? And the son of man, that thou visitest him?” That is the backdrop for the Scripture’s references to the stars and heavenly bodies. They are descriptive metaphors that glorify our Abba father.
The divine spirit world exists around the physical universe; the two go together. When we look at the heavens, we look at our Abba Father. The Hebrew word “šamayim” describes the space above, be it the sky, beyond the sky, or the spiritual realm where our Abba Father dwells. But sometimes šamayim refers to the divine spirit family as “heavenly beings,” or it says “the heavens” but means the divine spirit family. That is a lot of space to cover in one word, but that is the majesty of it. Not understanding this causes us to pass over many verses rich in glory.
Isaiah 40:26, “Lift up your eyes on high, and see who hath created these, that bringeth out their host by number; he calleth them all by name; by the greatness of his might, and for that he is strong in power, not one is lacking.” Paul recognizes that in 1 Corinthians 15:41, “There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differeth from another star in glory.”
Psalm 8:3, “When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, The moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;” Psalm 19:1, “The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament showeth his handiwork.” Jeremiah 10:12, “He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding hath he stretched out the heavens.”
Psalm 103:11, “For as the heavens are high above the earth, So great is his lovingkindness toward them that fear him.” Psalm 103:19, “Yahweh hath established his throne in the heavens; And his kingdom ruleth over all.” Psalm 89:5–7 provides a good overview of the spirit world heavens: Psalm 89:5, ” And the heavens (šamayim) shall praise thy wonders, O Yahweh; Thy faithfulness also in the assembly of the holy ones (qedōšı̂m).
The “heavens” in this verse means the divine spirit family, which can praise our Abba Father. Note the reference to the “holy ones” and their “assembly.” We will dive into that later in great detail because it is incredible what we are missing. Psalm 89:6, “For who in the skies can be compared unto Yahweh? Who among the sons of the mighty is like unto Yahweh,” Again, we see the reference to our Abba Father’s divine spirit family. None are like him (but we know of one who wants to be).
Psalm 89:7, “A God very terrible in the council of the holy ones, And to be feared above all them that are round about him?” Again, we see “the counsel of holy ones” in v89:7 referred to as an “assembly” in v89:5. Also note, “all who are around him.”
ELB reveals an excellent example of its bias in translating Deuteronomy 32:43, NKJV, “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people . . .” ESV, “Rejoice with him, O heavens; bow down to him, all gods . . .” That suppression of the divine spirit world runs through the translation of the Scripture in ELB. The difference in translation is profound, gentiles or heavens? It can be challenging to tell in some passages, but pay attention and look at different translations.
Stars
One of the difficulties in embracing the divine spirit world is the conflation of it with the physical heavens in the Scripture. Once we become aware of the process of the physical world testifying for the divine spirit world, we will start to light up wanting more.
Most of the time, references to stars are a metaphor or symbol for the divine spirits because there is no other way to express their magnificence. The stars are the “stars” of the heavens. “Star” also means “preeminent in a particular field,” as well as a flaming ball of gas. And just as we call many performing artists “stars,” the Scripture often refers to divine spirit beings as “stars.”
The first level meaning of “star” is “created by our Abba Father in heaven.” The object of the star metaphor determines the second-level meaning. It can be a divine spirit, a fallen divine spirit, or a flaming ball of gas. The latter is usually related to the brightness of the flaming ball of gas.
Numbers 24:17, “I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not nigh: There shall come forth a star out of Jacob, And a sceptre shall rise out of Israel, And shall smite through the corners of Moab, And break down all the sons of tumult.” That verse is from a great story about a true prophet with a mind of his own (Balaam), but that is not our point here.
Experienced believers will recognize the “star out of Jacob” as the Messiah, Jesus. The ancient’s view of the Messiah was a great human king, and our Abba Father cannot reveal who the Messiah really is in the Old Testament, so the maximum glory available for description is the star. “Out of Jacob” is not a flaming ball of gas. ELB always tries to describe our Abba Father by lesser terms like “person” when the Scripture reaches for the stars. Please pray on that.
Judges 5:20, “From heaven fought the stars, From their courses they fought against Sisera.” This reference is Judge Deborah’s victory in the face of being massively outnumbered by the Canaan general Sisera. But Sisera’s army was washed away in a massive downpour, clearly our Abba Father’s work, but through the divine spirits, referred to as the stars.
Job 38:7, “When the morning stars sang together, And all the sons of God shouted for joy?” The morning stars here are the divine spirits, the “sons of God.” They are the “bene elohiym,” discussed previously. They are the “morning stars” because they were created early in the process, before the earth and humans.
Psalm 136:9, “The moon and stars to rule by night; For his lovingkindness endureth forever.” The moon reflects the sun’s light to earth at night. That is science. But it is also our Abba Father caring for us in his design. The stars, the divine spirits, are also at work, watching over us. I implore you to convert the moon and stars to our Abba Father’s glory.
Daniel 12:3, “And they that are wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever.” The context is the prophecy of delivered souls when Jesus returns, and they will shine in glory as our Abba Father’s divine spirit helpers do for eternity.
If we only think of physical stars, we miss the glory of our Abba Father entirely. We need to see the stars as glorious metaphors that testify for our Abba Father. The New Testament affirms the universe as the image of our Abba Father’s majesty. Paul is well acquainted with the divine spirit world, and much of Paul’s writings make little sense without the divine spirit world included.
1 Corinthians 15:41, “There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differeth from another star in glory.” Philippians 2:15, “. . . that ye may become blameless and harmless, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom ye are seen as lights (stars) in the world.”
The New Testament also affirms the free will of the divine spirits as stars. Mark 13:25, “and the stars shall be falling from heaven, and the powers that are in the heavens shall be shaken.” Revelation 6:13, “and the stars of the heaven fell unto the earth, as a fig tree casteth her unripe figs when she is shaken of a great wind.” Revelation 12:4, “And his tail draweth the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth.”
When divine spirits are doing our Abba Father’s work, they are part of a team, actually the Family, and we always want to see the Family at work. That is the only way we can see ourselves as part of the Family. When divine spirits act on their own free will, they do the enemy’s work. That is a metaphor for us as well. When we are not acting as a team, as a member of our divine Family, working the Family business, the only alternative is doing the enemy’s work. Please pray on that.
The LORD of Hosts
Our Abba Father has a name for his spirit family, which is present in the Scripture but passed over in ELB. He also has a relationship name for himself as its God. Our Abba Father’s spirit family is called the “heavenly host,” which dulls our attention right from the beginning.
Genesis 2:1-2 opens with, “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day, he rested.” What is the standard takeaway from Genesis 2:1-2? God rested! But the entire sentence is critical to our relationship with these words emphasized, “and all the host of them.” “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.” The divine spirit family is an integral part of the creation, as revealed here, but we glance right over it.
When we go into a fancy restaurant, a host or hostess is there to greet us. We have little reaction to the word “host” in Genesis 2 and elsewhere because its common meaning is hospitality, not anything godly or essential. Nehemiah 9:6, “Thou art Yahweh, even thou alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all things that are thereon, the seas and all that is in them, and thou preservest them all; and the host of heaven worshippeth thee.” Psalm 33:6, “By the word of Yahweh were the heavens made, And all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.” The word “host” is a critical word to understand. “Host” in Scripture does not mean hospitality; it means an army, forced labor, or a large group acting in obedience. That is our Abba Father’s spirit family, and they are there to carry out or make his commands happen.
The heavenly host is our Abba Father’s divine spirit army created to help him complete his plan, and humans are his earthly host, also created to help him complete his plan. The “heavenly hosts” were brought forth in the six days of creation. But he did not describe them in the creation; we must search them out which ELB does not embrace.
Frequently in the Scripture, wisdom that we must be led to (or work for) becomes deep with meaning when recognized because we are led there by the Holy Spirit, who will teach us all things (John 14:26). When we think of our Abba Father, I suggest we not just picture him but learn to picture our Abba Father with his whole heavenly host lined up around him, even beyond the throne images we have in Revelation.
Verse 1 Kings 22:19, “And Micaiah said, Therefore hear thou the word of Yahweh: I saw Yahweh sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left.” Never picture our Abba Father alone in Heaven; he has quite the heavenly host serving him. Now, to get the picture right, render the heavenly host invisible. The heavenly host is still in our minds when we do that. Try it now; it is pretty cool! The invisible divine spirit world is as much a part of this life as the planet earth.
To drive our point home, we will tap into the binary names of Yahweh and bring up “Yahweh-Tzva’ot,” meaning “LORD of Hosts or LORD of Heavenly Armies,” which appears 285 times in Scripture. The heavenly hosts are that important, yet we miss it entirely in ELB.
Pronounce the name “zah vah OTE.” Most interlinear study aids use the English transliteration, Sabaoth. There are nine binary names for our Abba Father in the Old Testament described in S7M3, and we should know them all because they greatly enhance our relationship with our Abba Father. Let’s look at some examples of Yahweh-Tzva’ot that most people skim over without reaction.
2 Samuel 5:10 ESV, “And David became greater and greater, for the LORD, the God of hosts (Yahweh-Tzva’ot), was with him.” Isaiah 44:6 ESV, “Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts (Yahweh-Tzva’ot) “I am the first, and I am the last; besides me, there is no god.” Psalm 24:10 ESV, “Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts (Yahweh-Tzva’ot), he is the King of glory!” Malachi 3:17, “They shall be mine, says the LORD of hosts (Yahweh-Tzva’ot), in the day when I make up my treasured possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him.”
When we know Yahweh-Tzva’ot, the LORD of hosts, we can see the spirit world in action and more of our Abba Father’s majesty. When we see “God” or “LORD” and keep reading, we blow right past the passage’s concept. These are life-changing (saving?) concepts to know.
Our Abba Father created his divine spirit family, the heavenly host before he created his human family. They are divine worker spirits that are the actual craftsman or “doers” in the universe. Things do not just magically happen after uttering words. Thoughts get planted in people; matter gets moved, altered, and imitated by the divine spirit beings when our Abba Father commands them.
One of the most significant faith builders I see in my flock is when they realize that things controlled by our Abba Father don’t just magically appear or happen; there is a divine, intelligent, energetic process behind their happening. Understanding the divine spirit world can be complicated at first and somewhat foreign because neither tradition nor teaching present it in ELB.
In the New Testament, most of the divine spirit family conflates into the Greek word “aggelos” (or angelos), meaning “angels” and “messenger.” Just as we see the progression of our Abba Father’s plan from the Old to the New, the same is true for the divine spirit family affecting the plan. And with the same result, the Old Testament majesty gets discounted in ELB.
Overall, we have gods, the sons of God, mighty ones, angels, messengers, archangels, ministers, flames of fire, holy ones, heavenly ones, the heavenly council or the hosts of Heaven, the divine assembly, the princes of the nations, ha satan—the great accuser, the enemy, the unclean spirits, demons, the beasts that rise out of the sea, principalities, thrones, dominions, authorities, the essential elements of the world, the god of this age, the prince of this world, the ruler of the air, and the world-rulers of this darkness.
With all these different spirits, we can end up like the man who knows every detail in the “Kama Sutra” but does not know any women. Let’s change that old phrase to “but is not married,” to be more reverent and stay in our theme. We aim to bring our divine spirit family to life and embrace it, not just know it. We must fit all of it into our lives with our Abba Father.
Spirit Beings
Rûaḥ (OT) Pneumata (NT)
The Old Testament favors “spirit,” and the New Testament favors “angel” for revealing the divine work assignments, and we need to get more familiar with divine spirit beings. “Rûaḥ” is the most common Hebrew word for divine spirit beings. 1 Kings 22:23, “Now therefore, behold, Yahweh hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets; and Yahweh hath spoken evil concerning thee.” Judges 9:23, “And God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech:” 1 Sam 16:14, “. . . Now the Spirit of Yahweh departed from Saul. An evil spirit from Yahweh troubled him.” 1 Samuel 18:10, “And it came to pass on the morrow, that an evil spirit from God came mightily upon Saul . . .” Isaiah 19:14, “Yahweh hath mingled a spirit of perverseness in the midst of her; and they have caused Egypt to go astray in every work thereof, as a drunken man staggereth in his vomit.” Isaiah 37:7, “Behold, I will put a spirit in him, and he shall hear tidings, and shall return unto his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.“
When we look at our Abba Father preparing the world for Jesus in the Old Testament, we see his control over it through our divine spirit siblings. As the New Testament reveals, the fallen divine spirit references become more prevalent, especially concerning demons and harmful spirits. Mathew 8:16, “And when even was come, they brought unto him many (a)possessed with demons: and he cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all that were sick . . .”
Mathew 12:45, “Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more evil than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man becometh worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this evil generation.” Mark 3:11, “And the unclean spirits, whensoever they beheld him, fell down before him, and cried, saying, Thou art the Son of God.”
Hebrews has much to say about spirits and angels, v1:13-14, “But of which of the angels hath he said at any time, Sit thou on my right hand, Till I make thine enemies the footstool of thy feet? Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to do service for the sake of them that shall inherit salvation?” Hebrews 1:7, “Who maketh his angels winds, And his ministers a flame of fire?”
We will continue below with more examples, but we see in these verses that our Abba Father steers humans with members of his divine spirit Family. What should jump out at us is how involved our Abba Father is in dealing with the kings and rulers in the Old Testament. We want to bring that to life in our reading because there is no reason to believe it has stopped.
As mentioned above, our Abba Father does not just “will” people to do things. He uses his divine spirit family to cause people’s minds to make what they do seem like their own actions. Our Abba Father wants us to understand and live in his world, not just pass a quiz on it. And he wants us to know that. The more we know how involved our Abba Father is in our lives, the more inclined we are to be more obedient to him and stronger at resisting sinful temptation.
That is one reason I believe in understanding the divine spirit world and extracting ourselves from ELB. When tuned in, we can “experience” the divine spirit world around us and bring it to life. I often say things that leave me wondering, where did that come from? I shouldn’t give this away, but it is especially noticeable in counseling conversations.
In writing this book, I research, and I write, and in the morning, new wisdom is present that I cannot explain. I also notice it in preaching and praying. And my flock often seems to feel something as well. I beseech all my readers to “let go” of ELB and tune into the divine spirit world.
Traditional preaching downplays our living relationship with our Abba Father and our divine spirit siblings in ELB. We hear about our living God but not the intimate connection. I do not say I am right, and they are wrong because it’s not my call. I am presenting the Scripture available to us all, and I invite each of you to take control of your relationship based on your own experience.
But if you never seek, you will never find. Mathew 7:7, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” The Scripture shows us the complete world. The difference is life changing. As I look back on my corporate career, I can see our Abba Father’s hand in many situations I was unaware of at the time. Most of what I feel now as a believer is through the Holy Spirit with him in me, not from the worker spirits. When we see our Abba Father work in non-believers, it likely is worker spirits.
With all the above said, I can mention without distracting from the big picture that the words rûaḥ (OT) and pneumata (NT) also mean “wind” and “breath.” We must not let ourselves discount these words when used in the Scripture because we have a physical meaning for them in our minds. They are great metaphors that I love, but too many people lower their image to the physical when we should lift our understanding to the supernatural.
Guardian Angels
Before going any further, we should purge our minds of “guardian angels” and all the warm and cozy mental images that believers have of angels. The movie “It is a Wonderful Life,”[i] may be the most famous guardian angel movie ever made, and the genre is the basis for too many believers’ images of our Abba Father’s divine spirit world. So, let’s keep it simple, they do not exist in the Scripture. Our Guardian Angel is our Abba Father through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit within his plan for us.
My objection to the guardian angel concept is that it draws the attention away from the Holy Spirit in us and us in Jesus as believers in the body of Christ and substitutes a lesser spirit being. Our believer life is not about having or not having a guardian angel; it is about our relationship with our Abba Father in the body of Christ. Guardian angels are another ELB concept that keeps our focus on this life as we want it to be. Please pray on that.
Psalm 91, the second most quoted psalm (23rd is the first), is the predicate for “guardian angels,” v91:9-12, “For thou, O Yahweh, art my refuge! Thou hast made the Most High thy habitation; There shall no evil befall thee, Neither shall any plague come nigh thy tent. For he will give his angels charge over thee, To keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, Lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. . .”
Psalm 91 is an interesting message because it seems to conflict with the rest of the New Testament, which leads me to believe it is an “end times” message, especially with the phrase, “In their hands they shall bear you up . .”. I know; how dare he question Psalm 91? It is easy; I can read. Did Psalm 91 protect the Apostles from evil, even with the Holy Spirit? Along with “ask and you shall receive,” believers in ELB ignore the associated conditions, and the true nature of our Abba Father included in his covenants.
Our Abba Father promised the world to Israel, and they rejected him. In other words, Israel did not live up to their requirements in their covenant with our Abba Father; therefore, they lost his benevolence. As for Psalm 91 and the apostles, they had a Savior far more significant than a guardian angel. Moving to eternal life in paradise fulfills all the promises of Psalm 91.
The devil quotes v91:9 to Jesus in Mathew 5:4-6, “Then the devil taketh him into the holy city; and he set him on the pinnacle of the temple, and saith unto him, If thou art the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and, On their hands, they shall bear thee up, Lest haply thou dash thy foot against a stone.” Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.‘”
The phrase, “He shall give his angels charge concerning thee,” is our focus here. Every other occurrence of “yə-ṣaw-weh-” translates as “command.” The NIV, “For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.”
We might interpret the KJV and NKJV to mean the angels act independently, which is not so. The NIV and the rest of the Scripture capture the hierarchy with our Abba Father in control and are consistent with our Abba Father working through his divine spirits. Angels can disobey our Abba Father, but they cannot be him.
That is not a complete commentary, but the Psalm 91 promise is conditional on our finding the secret place and dwelling there, v91:1-2 NKJV, “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.” Our problem is we do not dwell in the secret place when we dwell in ELB. That is our failure in sin, not our Abba Father’s.
I also agree with what Jesus said to the devil, be careful who is telling you what Psalm 91 means. And FYI, “the secret place” is faith. Believers have faith but do not live in it. That reinforces my belief that redemption is one experience and this season of life with our Abba Father is another with very different individual experiences depending on his plan and our worldview. Avoiding the fiery pit is the beginning, but so much more is offered and missed in ELB.
Jesus also reveals a divine spirit presence for children in Mathew 18:10, “See that ye despise not one of these little ones: for I say unto you, that in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father who is in heaven.” Our Abba Father will judge those who hurt children severely, but this verse does not create “guardian angels” assigned to us, as many suggest. What it gives rise to is a “watcher” role the divine spirits play.
A single verse, out-of-context theology is ELB weakening our faith. Most believers have heard Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith Yahweh, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you hope in your latter end.” Our true Guardian Angel, our Abba Father, warns against false belief and teaching and then presents how he designed our life to work. Please read this a few times and pray on it.
Verses 8-15, “For thus saith Yahweh of hosts (hopefully you noticed the name), the God of Israel: Let not your prophets that are in the midst of you, and your diviners, deceive you; neither hearken ye to your dreams which ye cause to be dreamed. For they prophesy falsely unto you in my name: I have not sent them, saith Yahweh. For thus saith Yahweh, After seventy years are accomplished for Babylon, I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.”
“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith Yahweh, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you hope in your latter end. And ye shall call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me when ye shall search for me with all your heart.”(Let me repeat, “with all your heart.”)
“And I will be found of you, saith Yahweh, and I will turn again your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith Yahweh; and I will bring you again unto the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive. Because ye have said, Yahweh hath raised us up prophets in Babylon; with all your heart.” (Let me repeat, “with all your heart.”)
That is our Guardian Angel outside “the secret place,” and his message is very similar to what he told Moses before leading Israel out of slavery and into the promised land.
Angels
Malak (OT) angelos (NT)
In this chapter, we have walked through the supernatural world and focused mainly on the Old Testament spirit beings. The New Testament focuses on “angels,” especially in Revelation. The entertainment media have created images of angels in ELB that fill our need for a description of them which minimizes their supernatural nature. The word “angel” is a job description; it is not a synonym for all “spirit beings.” And again, I repeat, we are building faith and relationship here, not facts. Stay in the big picture.
The Angel of the LORD, the Word of the LORD, and the spirit of the LORD are Old Testament presentations of the pre-incarnate Jesus and the Holy Spirit. They are discussed separately in S4M2. Those messages will change your view of our Abba Father dramatically. Have you ever paid attention to these references in the Old Testament? Do you even know they are there?
The Old Testament word translated as “angel” is “malʾāk,” which means messenger. Joshua 16:7, “. . . only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent. ” These messengers were Joshua, Caleb, and the ten others sent by Moses to scout the promised land. The word angel is used to distinguish a spirit messenger from a human messenger, but we must always look at the context of the verse when reading “messenger.”
I often hear pastors say in ELB, “an angel is just a messenger,” and I cringe. They move listeners off the guardian angel concept and discount them in general. Still, our Abba Father sending a member of his divine spirit family to bring to us or plant a message in us is impressive, and I suggest it become the same to you as well. And a common occurrence.
2 Samuel 24:15-16, “So Yahweh sent a pestilence upon Israel from the morning even to the time appointed; and there died of the people from Dan even to Beer-sheba seventy thousand men. And when the angel (malak) stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, Yahweh repented him of the evil and said to the angel that destroyed the people; It is enough; now stay thy hand. And the angel of Yahweh was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.“
In 2 Samuel 24, we see our Abba Father working through a “malak” to carry out the punishment; it doesn’t just happen. The malak makes it happen, and our Abba Father directs it.
In the Old Testament, divine spirits also appear as men. There is no reason to believe they don’t appear today. Genesis 19 is the story of Lot in Sodom. V19:2, “and he said, Behold now, my lords (two angels in v19:1), turn aside, I pray you, into your servant’s house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your way. And they said, Nay; but we will abide in the street all night.” Please notice “lords” has no caps. In v19:10 they save Lot’s life, “But the men put forth their hand, and brought Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door.” Those spirits are much more than messengers.
Another example is Genesis 18:1-2, “And Yahweh appeared unto him (Abraham) by the oaks of Mamre, . . . and he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood over against him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself to the earth . . .” Abraham saw three “men” in his mind, but they were embodied divine spirit beings, one of whom he thought was Yahweh himself. Abraham was almost right. (You will see later.)
It is common to call the other two “men” angels, but if we think of divine spirit beings instead, we will have a better understanding. Deuteronomy 33:2-3 is fascinating in Moses’ last blessing of Israel, “And he said, Yahweh came from Sinai, And rose from Seir unto them; He shined forth from mount Paran, And he came from the ten thousands of holy ones: At his right hand was a fiery law for them. Yea, he loveth the people; All his saints are in thy hand: And they sat down at thy feet; Every one shall receive of thy words.“
I wish pastors taught this passage more often because it highlights the partnership between us and the supernatural world. Here we see divine spirit beings called saints and not angels. They are making sure the Entrance Generation has the law. The law was not just read and left to chance; it was put in the people’s hearts by divine spirits. Unless we fully tune in to our Abba Father working through his divine spirit family, we miss their work.
One of the roles of the Holy Spirit is to teach us about the Scripture. Notice how our Abba Father sent divine spirits to emphasize the law as delivered. The Entrance Generation did not have the Holy Spirit in them, only with them, but believers need to take more advantage of the Holy Spirit in us, and it starts with raising our antennae to capture his messages.
The previous verse helps us better understand Galatians 3:19, “What then is the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise hath been made; and it was ordained through angels by the hand of a mediator.” (Notice “saints” of the Old Testament are now “angels.”) Hopefully, your mind is now asking, who is the mediator? There is a case to be made for both Moses and Jesus as a double entendre. Paul re-enforces the divine spirits’ role in delivering the law to the Entrance Generation.
Now let’s experience the beauty of Scripture and realize the ignored divine spirit world. Next is an example of how understanding can bring us closer to our Abba Father. Psalm 104:1-4, “Bless Yahweh, O my soul. O Yahweh my God, thou art very great . . . Who maketh the clouds his chariot; Who walketh upon the wings of the wind; Who maketh winds his messengers; Flames of fire his ministers.”
Here we see rûaḥ translated as the wind in a beautiful poem that glorifies our Abba Father. Spirits are like the wind in that we cannot see them, yet we can feel their presence and force. Just remember to raise our image up to the divine spirit and not lower the spirit to the physical.
Notice he makes winds (rûhot) his messengers (malakim). That phrase also translates, “he makes his spirits angels.” Malakim is often translated as “angels. Flames of fire (ʾeš lahaṭ) is another name for a spirit – i.e., “He makes . . . spirits (ʾeš lahaṭ) his servants.” Please get in the habit of converting the metaphors to the divine spirits to bring them to life.
Psalm 103:19-22, “Yahweh hath established his throne in the heavens; And his kingdom ruleth over all. Bless Yahweh, ye his angels (malakaw), That are mighty in strength, that fulfil his word, Hearkening unto the voice of his word. Yahweh, all ye his hosts, Ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure. Bless Yahweh, all ye his works,
In all places of his dominion: Bless Yahweh, O my soul.”
Psalm 104 above says messenger; Psalm 103 says angel for malakim. “Who excel in strength” (gibborim) is also translated, ESV, “O you his angels, you mighty ones . . .” Our point here is not the Hebrew; that was for clarity. The point is to tune into the different descriptions and embrace the divine spirit world.
We see above “ministering” spirits (angels) referenced. Acts 12:5-8, “Peter therefore was kept in the prison: but prayer was made earnestly of the church . . . And behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him . . . Rise up quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands.”
Acts 27:22-25, “And now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. For there stood by me this night an angel of the God to whom belong and whom I serve, saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must be brought before Caesar; and indeed God has granted you all those who sail with you.’ Therefore take heart, men, for I believe God that it will be just as it was told me. However, we must run aground on a certain island.“
Mathew 4:10-11, “Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Then the devil leaveth him; and behold, angels came and ministered unto him.“
Luke 22:41-43, “And he was parted from them about a stone’s cast; and he kneeled down and prayed, saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. And there appeared unto him an angel from heaven, strengthening him.”
Most believers know these passages, but few pay much attention to the angels sent by our Abba Father to minister to them. That is our Abba Father working through his divine spirit family. It is very common to skip over the angel parts. And here is what we miss in Paul’s shipwreck; we pray for our Abba Father to keep our boat from sinking because we do not see the continuum of his plan for our life in partnership with him. All we see in ELB is our desired outcome.
We should focus our prayer on his will for strength and direction. The angel gave Jesus strength, and we assume he knew what to pray for. In Peter’s case, we see no prayer from him, but the church knew. Much more on prayer is in S7M8.
In Revelation, angels play a significant role. Revelation 8:10, “And the third angel sounded, and there fell from heaven a great star, burning as a torch, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of the waters.” V9:1, “And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star from heaven fallen unto the earth: and there was given to him the key of the pit of the abyss.“
The “greatest star” is the bright morning star, Jesus. Revelation 22:16, “I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things for the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright, the morning star.” Revelation 1:20 identifies a star metaphor as an angel assigned to a church, “As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, . . . the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches . . .”
Our Abba Father could have accomplished everything in the Revelation with a snap of his fingers. He didn’t even have to do that. My takeaway is twofold, and the first is, if our Abba Father does everything himself, what is our role? What do we do with our life with a despot? Where do we get our purpose? Even with a benevolent despot? Please pray on that. My second takeaway is his process of mercy included in his judgments.
Teachers tell us our Abba Father is all-knowing (omniscient), all-powerful (omnipotent), and all-present (omnipresent. But his most important characteristic for us is what he is not, all-doing! He delegates everything to his Son, the Holy Spirit, and his two Families, spirit and human. But ELB wants us to focus on ourselves in this life. Only in the context of the complete understanding of our Abba Father can we escape from ELB and fly with the eagles.
Watchers
There are references to “watcher” type divine spirit beings in Daniel 4. Daniel 4:13, “I saw in the visions of my head as I lay in bed, and behold, a watcher, a holy one, came down from heaven.” Scholars have a narrow focus on “watcher” because Daniel wrote chapters 1-4 in Aramaic, and the word only appears three times. The word translated means awake or watchful. The grammar also makes the present watcher a holy one.
Daniel 4:17, “The sentence is by the decree of the watchers, the decision by the word of the holy ones, to the end that the living may know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will and sets over it the lowliest of men.” The decree is from the watcher status. NIV translates it as messenger. The decision is presented with the status of the holy one. The holy one’s importance establishes the power of our Abba Father, the Most High.
The watchers played a significant role in Second Temple period writing which is not inspired canon but reflects what people believed at the time. When we conflate everything into “angels or messengers,” an enormity of meaning is lost. Our Abba Father deserves much better, and believers do as well.
It is common to go one step further and conflate the “eyes of Yahweh” with watchers. Proverbs 15:3, “The eyes of Yahweh are in every place, Keeping watch upon the evil and the good.” 2 Chronicles 16:9, “For the eyes of Yahweh run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly; for from henceforth thou shalt have wars.“
The Angel Gabriel
Gabriel is the only angel named in the Scripture which indicates he is special and is evidence of a hierarchy of angels. (Archangel Michael is presented in S4M2 because I see him as the pre-incarnate Jesus.) Gabriel means “man of God.” We first see Gabriel in Daniel 8: 15-16, “Then it happened, when I, Daniel, had seen the vision and was seeking the meaning, that suddenly there stood before me one having the appearance of a man. And I heard a man’s voice between the banks of the Ulai, who called, and said, “Gabriel, make this man understand the vision.”
We saw Gabriel explaining Daniel’s dream and prophecies. Gabriel also appeared to Daniel in chapter 9 to bring him another prophecy, which is another interesting read. We see Gabriel again in Luke 1:11-12 with John the Baptist’ father, “Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him.” V1:19, “And the angel answered and said to him, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and was sent to speak to you and bring you these glad tidings.”
John the Baptist is the second of three miracle babies created by our Abba Father and Gabriel was chosen to announce it. I do not spend a lot of time worrying about all the details of Gabriel’s title, it is enough to know he is there and focus on what he does, deliver important messages. Let’s look at Luke 1:26-27, “Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David.” You know this one and this is a good time to go read Luke 1 and take this all in with the Scripture.
Cherubim, Seraphim, and Four Creatures
These one, two, or three spirit-being types are in a separate section because they are not malak nor angelos, nor have they ever been described by any other name. They also have wings that seem backward from our vision of angels with wings but nowhere do angels, malak or angelos, or any other spirit being have wings. The media presentation of a cute little angel with wings is just that, a media presentation. What is most interesting is how close in relationship to our Abba Father, these beings are. They all seem “out there” which causes us to shy away in ELB. But if we stand back, they present an enormous image of our Abba Father’s glory and the meaning of holy.
Cherubim
We first see cherubim (one is a “cherub”) in Genesis 3:24, “So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden the Cherubim, and the flame of a sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.” There is something extraordinary about cherubim; I have chosen to leave it that way. Their description in Ezekiel is a great read. Our point in this message is to stand back and bask in their glory, not dive into the weeds, and soundbites in ELB seem a disservice. Ezekiel presents a symbolic vision, which means everything is something else and altogether seems to add up to God.
We start with their close connection to our Abba Father, not who they are. They have a complex symbolic description reflecting our Abba Father’s creation and play an essential role in the Ark of the Covenant, the tabernacle, and temple design. Perhaps as a substitute “symbol” of God’s power without being an idol.
Our Abba Father forbids any image of himself. But he rides on the cherubim, and the symbols remind us of him. In the temple, the cherubim symbols personalize our response to the temple and their connection to our Abba Father. The instructions to the craftsmen were to make images of the cherubim. When we see the cherubim, we think of our Abba Father. Please pray on that.
With the following verses in succession, I feel closeness with our Abba Father. The personal attention put into his Temple building is fantastic and made through his creation, not magic. 1 Kings and 1 Chronicles repeat the design of the temple.
Exodus 25:18, “And thou shalt make two cherubim of gold; of beaten work shalt thou make them, at the two ends of the mercy-seat.” V26:1. “Moreover thou shalt make the tabernacle with ten curtains; of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, with cherubim the work of the skilful workman shalt thou make them.” V36:8, “And all the wise-hearted men among them that wrought the work made the tabernacle with ten curtains; of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, with cherubim, the work of the skilful workman, Bezalel made them.”
Ezekiel 10:3-5, “Now the cherubim stood on the right side of the house when the man went in, and the cloud filled the inner court. And the glory of Yahweh mounted up from the cherub and stood over the threshold of the house, and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of Yahweh’s glory. And the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard even to the outer court, as the voice of God Almighty when he speaketh.”
Ezekiel 1:11 describes the cherubim in a glorious description, “And their faces and their wings were separate above; two wings of every one were joined one to another, and two covered their bodies.”
Ezekiel 1:1, “Now it came to pass . . . as I was among the captives by the river Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.” V1:5-8, “And out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had the likeness of a man, and every one had four faces, and every one of them had four wings. And their feet were straight feet; and the sole of their feet was like the sole of a calf’s foot; and they sparkled like burnished brass. And they had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides; and they four had their faces and their wings thus.“
The most famous cherub is in Ezekiel 28:12-13, “You were the seal of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God.” V28:14-15, “You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; You were on the holy mountain of God; You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones. You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created . . .” And then he fell. Notice that Eden, the garden of God, is on the mountain of God.
Seraphim
A seraph is one seraphim. They are only named once in Isaiah 6:1-3, “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”‘
What is essential about the seraphim is their proclamation of our Abba Father’s glory. That is their one job. Our job is to see them remind us that our Abba Father is holy, and we also are holy. In ELB, we read this passage as a spectator watching angels praising God. We treat the word “holy” as just a prefix or an adjective in ELB. Holy this, holy that, but it means “set apart.” And that is how believers should see themselves. Not of this world, but as set apart in our Abba Father’s world. Please pray on that.
The Four Creatures
Revelation 4:8-11 references four creatures, “In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night, they never stop saying: “‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,’ who was, and is, and is to come.”
Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor, and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever.“
The cherubim are below, the seraphim are above, and the four creatures are around the throne. The phrase “holy, holy, holy” occurs only twice in the Bible. On both occasions, the phrase comes from heavenly beings to those receiving revelation from God. The emphasis of the phrase “holy, holy, holy” is clearly on the holiness of God.
The holiness of our Abba Father refers to his being “set apart” or distinct from all of creation. The word holy is used more than 600 times in the Scripture. For example, the seventh day was called “holy” and set apart as unique in Genesis 2:3. The garments of Israel’s priests were considered unique and holy (Exodus 28:2). Our Abba Father is distinct from creation, being the creator of all things (Genesis 1:1). He is “set apart” because he is separate from sin, corruption, and impurity. He is perfect in all ways; he is exceptional, in a category by himself, unmatched by any other being or thing in the universe. Repeating a word three consecutive times is important in the Hebrew language. The repetition makes it stand out as important. We have a similar practice in English, as seen in the phrase “far, far away”; the repetition provides emphasis. Repeating the word three times indicates a state of completion or absoluteness. Isaiah and Revelation use the word holy three times to emphasize our Abba Father’s holiness and convey its completeness. Please pray on that.
3 It’s a Wonderful Life, credits seen at: https://movies.fandom.com/wiki/It%27s_a_Wonderful_Life/Credits
