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Quote The bible says that Jesus is an angel. It's just that you interpret the very same verses differently. We share the same text, just not the same interpretation. Perhaps, you can explain why the early church fathers agree with me. Here is an excellent study on the issue:
Mercy
Especially this One!
Exod 23:13
And in all [things] that I have said unto you be circumspect: and make no mention of the name of other gods, neither let it be heard out of thy mouth.
Quote (WorshippingJesus @ Jan. 07 2007,07:24) Quote The bible says that Jesus is an angel. It's just that you interpret the very same verses differently. We share the same text, just not the same interpretation. Perhaps, you can explain why the early church fathers agree with me. Here is an excellent study on the issue:
Mercy
Especially this One!
Exod 23:13
And in all [things] that I have said unto you be circumspect: and make no mention of the name of other gods, neither let it be heard out of thy mouth.
Of course, his sons all fell and became the principalities, powers and rulers of wickedness in high places. They stopped beings gods (i.e. judges, rulers, shepards) and set themselves up as Gods. (Baal, Asheroth and Apollo)Please read the above study about Jesus being an angel. Then after reading, tell me if you do not, at the very least, see a compelling case. Search your heart honestly.
Quote Col. 1:15, 16, RS: “He [Jesus Christ] is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation; for in him all things were created, in heaven and on earth.” David
The word for “Firstborn” is prototokos wich comes from the root word protos, which means;
1) first in time or place
a) in any succession of things or persons
2) first in rank
INTRODUCTION
Any person spending time with a Jehovah’s Witness discussing the deity of Christ will likely be confronted with the claim that Jesus Christ cannot be God because Scripture declares that he is the first created being. To support this claim the Jehovah’s Witness will point to Colossians 1:15 (“the firstborn of all creation” NWT), Revelation 3:14 (“beginning of the creation by God” NWT), and Proverbs 8:22 (“Jehovah produced me as the beginning of his way” NWT). This article examines the meaning of the term “firstborn” in order to assess the accuracy of the Witnesses’ claim concerning Colossians 1:15. The article will first examine the Old Testament background of the term “firstborn,” showing how Paul would have understood and used the word. This will be followed by an evaluation of the arguments the Watchtower uses in Reasoning from the Scriptures to defend their claim.OLD TESTAMENT BACKGROUND OF FIRSTBORN
The term “firstborn” has a rich background in Israelite history and literature. The frequent use of the word in the Old Testament (c. 158x) provides a good starting point for understanding its meaning. Additionally, the firstborn concept occurs in passages where the word does not. These passages must be consulted to avoid the “word study fallacy.” The occurrences in the Pentateuch (over half), describing Israel’s ancestry and earliest history, are especially important in establishing the significance of the word for the covenant people.CONCLUSION
The Old Testament background of the “firstborn” concept reveals the falsehood of the Witnesses claim that Jesus is a created being, the eldest in Jehovah’s family of sons. The use of the term in the Old Testament to signify the one who held the birthright took on greater significance when the birthright included the covenant privilege of advancing the promise of salvation through a coming Messianic savior. In fact, the term did not mean birth order when it involved this covenantal-redemptive privilege, for none of the patriarchs carrying the covenantally significant birth right was a firstborn son in the sense of birth order. They were firstborn only in the birth right sense. Ultimately the firstborn son who held the birth right in this covenantal-redemptive sense was the Messiah, Jesus.Jesus is the “firstborn” who brings the hopes and promises of the nation to realization. He is the firstborn who redeems the world (cf. Ex 4:22). He is the firstborn who rules His Kingdom (all creation) as the son of David (cf. Ps. 89:27; 2 Sam. 7:12-14). All previous history pointed to him and waited for him. The “firstborn” is the promised savior Messiah of Israel who rules and reigns over his creation. When Paul called Jesus the “firstborn” in Colossians he was declaring Jesus to be the long hoped for Messianic Savior.
Quote Quote
All other so called Gods are false. Above should be enough.Why take the word Eloyhim and try to change the harmony of the scriptures, when this word can be used for rulers, Judges, Angels, and many other appalations.
You say “all other God's are false.” A second later, you say: “this wrod can be used for …angels.”
Since angels can be called gods, and since “all other God's are false, apparently, you are saying that angels are “false gods.” Is that what you are saying?
I think he is having great difficulty understanding the word “god.”
It's true that the word “god” carries the though of someone who is worshipped.
But the word “god” (Elohim) means “mighty one,” essentially.WJ
ARE THE ANGELS FALSE GODS? (please answer this, because it seems apparent that you contradicted yourself earlier, and can't really answer this question.)david
Quote the expression “the firstborn of” occurs upwards of 30 times in the Bible, and in each instance that it is applied to living creatures the same meaning applies—the firstborn is part of the group. “The firstborn of Israel” is one of the sons of Israel; “the firstborn of Pharaoh” is one of Pharaoh’s family; “the firstborn of beast” are themselves animals. What, then, causes some to ascribe a different meaning to it at Colossians 1:15?
Is it Bible usage or is it a belief to which they already hold and for which they seek proof?
I take it this statement I made above is the “word study fallacy” that your website referred to.Quote OLD TESTAMENT BACKGROUND OF FIRSTBORN
The term “firstborn” has a rich background in Israelite history and literature. The frequent use of the word in the Old Testament (c. 158x) provides a good starting point for understanding its meaning. Additionally, the firstborn concept occurs in passages where the word does not. These passages must be consulted to avoid the “word study fallacy.” The occurrences in the Pentateuch (over half), describing Israel’s ancestry and earliest history, are especially important in establishing the significance of the word for the covenant people.
This paragraph doesn't really say much. I agree with the first couple sentences. Read them. Then, go back and look at what I said.Quote The word for “Firstborn” is prototokos wich comes from the root word protos, which means; 1) first in time or place
a) in any succession of things or persons
2) first in rank
I'm not sure why it's a “fallacy” to look at the use of the word in the rest of the Bible. As I said:
the expression “the firstborn of” occurs upwards of 30 times in the Bible, and in each instance that it is applied to living creatures the same meaning applies—the firstborn is part of the group. “The firstborn of Israel” is one of the sons of Israel; “the firstborn of Pharaoh” is one of Pharaoh’s family; “the firstborn of beast” are themselves animals. What, then, causes some to ascribe a different meaning to it at Colossians 1:15?Hi W,
The traditional defence of trinity belief-the fear of polytheism-but it is an empty sham as it is you who promotes other deities.THE LORD OUR GOD,
THE LORD IS ONE
When viewed without bias or preconceived ideas, the Bible reveals quite a lot about the structure of the Godhead. Unfortunately, most people's view of God is shaped primarily by tradition, with Scripture taking a secondary position. Trinitarians believe that God is three distinct but inseparable persons in one being. Binitarians, such as the Worldwide Church of God under Herbert W. Armstrong and most of the current WCG splinter groups, believe that God is a family which has been composed eternally of two separate beings, God the Father and Jesus Christ (the Logos). In the following seven sections, I'm going to trace what the Bible has to say about this misunderstood topic.(1) There Is Only One True God, The Father
Over and over, both the Old and New Testaments emphasize that there is only one true God. This doctrine, which has always been fundamental to Israel's faith, is summed up in “the Shema” (which literally means “hear” in Hebrew). Moses stated that God was one in Deuteronomy 6:4, which is the beginning of the Shema:DEUTERONOMY 6:4 “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God ['eloheynu], the LORD is one! (NKJV)
In the Scripture above, the word translated “our God” is the Hebrew word 'eloheynu. Scholars have long assumed that 'eloheynu is a plural form of the Hebrew word 'elohim. Because of this assumption, theologians have concluded that the Israelites understood the triune nature of God. Trinitarians believe that this verse means that God is one being composed of three distinct but inseparable persons, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Binitarians also believe that 'eloheynu indicates a plurality, although they believe that God is one “family” currently composed of the Father and the Son.However, both 'eloheynu and 'elohim are derivatives of the singular 'eloah, which is one of the Hebrew names for God the Father, the Most High God (see Pro. 30:4-5 below). 'Elohim is a plural derivative of 'eloah, while 'eloheynu, the term found in Deuteronomy 6:4, is a singular variation of 'eloah.
PROVERBS 30:4 Who has ascended into heaven, or descended? Who has gathered the wind in His fists? Who has bound the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name, and what is His Son's name, if you know? 5 Every word of God ['eloah] is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him. (NKJV)
In addition to revealing one of the Hebrew names for the Most High God, the passage above shows that God's status as Father and the fact that He had a special Son was recognized by the Israelites. This is contrary to Herbert W. Armstrong's position that the only member of the Godhead known to ancient Israel was the Logos, who became Yeshua the Messiah.Malachi 2:10 also shows that God's status as Father was known:
MALACHI 2:10 Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? . . . (NKJV)
But how do we know that the Trinitarian theologians are wrong? How do we know that the Hebrew word 'eloheynu is singular? One of the most basic methods available for understanding the Scriptures is simply letting the Bible interpret itself. A comparison of the Greek text found in Mark 12:29 with the Hebrew text of Deuteronomy 6:4 provides the evidence that 'eloheynu is singular and not plural.In response to a scribe's question about which commandment was the most important of all, Messiah repeats “the Shema”:
MARK 12:29 Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God [theos], the Lord is one.'” (NKJV)
The Greek word translated “God” in this verse is theos. According to The New Analytical Greek Lexicon (NAGL), this noun is singular, masculine, and in the nominative case (p. 201). Theos in Mark 12:29 directly corresponds to 'eloheynu in Deuteronomy 6:4. Because the Greek equivalent theos is singular, the Hebrew 'eloheynu must also be singular, or these Scriptures contradict one another. When you let the Bible clarify itself, it's apparent from the Greek text of Mark 12:29 that there is only one God.The scribe who questioned Yeshua confirms this understanding by his response:
MARK 12:32 So the scribe said to Him, “Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth, for there is one God, and there is no other [allos] but He.” (NKJV)
The Greek word translated “other” in verse 32 is allos, which Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words (Vine's) says “expresses a numerical difference and denotes 'another of the same sort'.” There is no other like God; He alone is immortal, having existed from eternity (see I Tim. 6:16 below). In Mark 12:34, Yeshua commends the scribe for having answered wisely. All indications from the text are that he agreed totally with what the scribe had said.Messiah called the Father the only true God in John 17:3 and distinguished himself from Him:
JOHN 17:3 [Yeshua said] “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” (NKJV)
Yeshua objected when the ruler called him “good” (Matt. 19:17, Mark 10:18, Luke 18:19), saying that there was only One who was good, God. John and Paul also made a distinction between the one true God and His son Yeshua the Messiah, as shown in the following Scriptures:
I JOHN 5:20 We know too that the Son of God has come, and has given us the power to know the true God. We are in the true God, as we are in his Son, Jesus Christ. This is the true God, this is eternal life. (Jerusalem Bible)
I CORINTHIANS 8:4 . . . We know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no other God but one. 5 For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many gods and many lords), 6 yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live. (NKJV)
EPHESIANS 4:4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. (NKJV)
I TIMOTHY 2:5 For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, (NKJV)
Along with Paul, James also states that there is one God:
ROMANS 3:30 Since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. (NKJV)
JAMES 2:19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe; and tremble! (NKJV)
(2) God Has Sons
This point is misunderstood to some degree by most Christians. In addition to showing that there is only one true God, the Bible teaches that the Most High God has sons. In the Old Testament, the term “sons of God” (Heb. beney 'elim, beney 'elohim, and beney ha'elohim) refers to the angelic host, as shown by the Scriptures below.GENESIS 6:1 Now it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, 2 that the sons of God [beney ha'elohim] saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose . . . 4 There were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God [beney ha'elohim] came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown. (NKJV) [For more information, refer to “Genesis 6 – Who Were 'The Sons Of God'?”]
DEUTERONOMY 32:8 When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he divided mankind, he fixed the borders of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God [beney 'elohim]. (ESV)JOB 1:6 Now there was a day when the sons of God [beney ha'elohim] came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. (NKJV)
JOB 2:1 Again there was a day when the sons of God [beney ha'elohim] came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the Lord. (NKJV)
JOB 38:4 “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding. 5 Who determined its measurements? Surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? 6 To what were its foundations fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone, 7 when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God [beney 'elohim] shouted for joy? (NKJV)
PSALM 29:1 O give the Lord you sons of God [beney 'elim], give the Lord glory and power; 2 give the Lord the glory of his name. Adore the Lord in his holy court. (The Psalms: A New Translation)
PSALM 89:5 The heavens proclaim your wonders, O Lord; the assembly of your holy ones proclaims your truth. 6 For who in the skies can compare with the Lord or who is like the Lord among the sons of God [beney 'elim]? (The Psalms: A New Translation)
The New Testament expands the concept of God's family by showing that humans can also become sons of God, just like the angels. In Luke 20:35-36, Yeshua states that humans who attain the first resurrection will be “equal to the angels” and will be sons of God, just as the Old Testament shows the angels are:
LUKE 20:35 “But those who are counted worthy to attain that age, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; 36 nor can they die anymore, for they are equal to the angels [isaggelos] and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.” (NKJV)
The Greek word translated by the phrase “equal to the angels” is isaggelos, which is a combination of isos meaning “equal” or “same” and aggelos or “angel.” This Scripture is corroborated by Revelation 21:17, which shows that after the resurrection there will be no difference between men and angels:REVELATION 21:17 Then he measured its wall: one hundred and forty-four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of an angel. (NKJV)
The book of Revelation also shows that the loyal angels are the brothers of the saints:REVELATION 12:10 Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren [adelphon hemon], who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. (NKJV)
In Revelation 12:10, John hears the voice of an angel in heaven proclaiming the coming kingdom of God and the expulsion of Satan and his demons from heaven. This angel refers to the saints as “our brethren” [adelphon hemon], indicating that the loyal angels and the saints are brothers.In I Timothy 5:21, Paul calls the holy angels the “elect angels”:
I TIMOTHY 5:21 I charge you before God and the Lord Jesus Christ and the elect [eklekton] angels that you observe these things without prejudice, doing nothing with partiality. (NKJV)
The word eklekton is a form of the Greek word eklektos, which means “chosen” or “elect.” The root word eklektos, or a variation of it, is used numerous times in the New Testament to refer to those humans called by God to be part of His family (Matt. 20:16; 22:14; 24:22, 24, 31; Mark 13:20, 22, 27; Luke 18:7; Rom. 8:33; 16:13; Col. 3:12; II Tim. 2:10; Tit. 1:1; I Pet. 1:2; 2:9; II John 1, 13; Rev. 17:14). Paul's use of the term in I Timothy 5:21 indicates that God also considers as His sons those angels who have remained loyal to Him.The Scriptures indicate that all who have the Holy Spirit are God's sons:
ROMANS 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. (NKJV)
Most scholars use the first two chapters of Hebrews to denigrate the position of the angels and claim that they are not sons of God. However, the author of Hebrews was simply emphasizing the superiority of the Messiah over the angels. This preeminence does not mean that the angels are not also God's sons. They have a different role in God's plan than Messiah and humanity, but any interpretation of the book of Hebrews which denies sonship to the angels obviously contradicts the Old Testament references cited above.(3) One Of God's Sons Is Yeshua The Messiah
This point is acknowledged by all parties. In the Gospels, Yeshua generally refers to himself as the “son of man,” and occasionally as the “son of God.” Nowhere in the New Testament does he claim to be God, even though the Jews sought to kill him because they thought he had made himself equal (isos) with God by saying that God was his Father (John 5:18).LUKE 1:31 “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David.” . . . 35 And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.” (NKJV)
JOHN 6:69 [Peter said] “Also we have come to believe and know that you are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (NKJV)JOHN 11:27 She [Martha] said to Him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.” (NKJV)
LUKE 22:70 Then they all said, “Are you then the Son of God?” So he [Yeshua] said to them, “You rightly say that I am.” (NKJV)
JOHN 20:31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name. (NKJV)
JOHN 10:34 Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, 'I said, “You are gods”'? 35 If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), 36 do you say of him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'?” (NKJV)
In the preceding passage from John, Yeshua is responding to the Jews' accusation that he was blaspheming and making himself God. Yeshua answered their charge by quoting from Psalm 82, which speaks of the judgment that will come upon the divine council of the “sons of God” (powerful angelic rulers) because they have judged unjustly. In this passage, Yeshua was equating himself to those “sons of God” that ruled in the divine council. In effect, his defense was “I am ALSO one of those 'sons of God'.”
It's interesting to note that the demons (who would be in a position to know his origin and status) never refer to Jesus as God, but always call him the “son of God” or the “son of the Most High God”:
MATTHEW 8:29 And suddenly they cried out, saying, “What have we to do with you, Jesus, you Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?” (NKJV)
MARK 3:11 And the unclean spirits, whenever they saw him [Yeshua], fell down before him and cried out, saying, “You are the Son of God.” (NKJV)MARK 5:7 And he cried out with a loud voice and said, “What have I to do with you, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore you by God that you do not torment me.” (NKJV)
LUKE 4:41 And demons also came out of many, crying out and saying, “You are the Christ, the Son of God!” And he, rebuking them, did not allow them to speak, for they knew that he was the Christ. (NKJV)
LUKE 8:28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before him, and with a loud voice said, “What have I to do with you, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me!” (NKJV)
(4) Only God The Father Has Existed From Eternity
This is a major point in proving that the Messiah is not the one true God. John 1:1, where the Word (Gr. logos) is called God (Gr. Theos), has been misunderstood and misinterpreted. Trinitarian theologians have used this verse to elevate the status of Christ due to their belief in his co-eternality and co-equality with the Father. However, a proper unders
tanding of this Scripture does not support this belief.JOHN 1:1 In (the) beginning was the Word, and the Word was with [the]* God, and God was the Word. (The Interlinear Bible)
* The Greek article ton (“the”) is untranslated in this version, as it is in most New Testament translations.New Testament Greek Syntax (NTGS) states that in the Greek language, “the basic function of the article is to stress the identity of a person, a class, or a quality” (p. 31). Thus, the presence of the article ton before “God” in John 1:1 stresses the identity of the Father; He is “the God.”
Here is how this verse is rendered in some other Bible translations:
JOHN 1:1 The Logos existed in the very beginning, the Logos was with God, the Logos was divine. (Moffatt Translation)
JOHN 1:1 In the beginning the Word existed. The Word was with God and the Word was divine. (The Complete Bible – An American Translation)
JOHN 1:1 In [the] beginning the Word was, and the word was with God, and the Word was a god. (New World Translation)
JOHN 1:1 The Word was in the beginning and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god. (The New Testament, in an Improved Version, upon the Basis of Archbishop Newcome's New Translation: with a Corrected Text)
John 1:1 makes it clear that both YHVH the Father and the Logos, who became Yeshua the Messiah, were already in existence at “a beginning” (the definite article “the” is not present in the original Greek). Since eternity has no starting point, the beginning mentioned by John must be a specific point in time. As such, it does not signify pre-existence from eternity. Interpreting this Scripture to mean that “ton theon” (“the God”) and “ho logos” (“the Word”) have eternally co-existed is unjustified.Most probably the “beginning” was the time spoken of in Genesis 1:1 – the establishment of the physical creation. This would fit in with all the Scriptures which say that God created the universe through Messiah (John 1:3, 10; I Cor. 8:6; Eph. 3:9; Col. 1:16; Heb. 1:2). If this is the “beginning” John speaks of, angels would also have existed at that time (Job 38:4-7). Nothing in John 1:1 precludes other beings from also having been in existence then. No one claims that the angels have co-existed eternally with the Father, even though they too were present early on during the physical creation.
The view that the “beginning” is the creation of the physical universe is supported by Yeshua's statement in John 8:44, as viewed in the context of Ezekiel 28:15:
JOHN 8:44 “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.” (NKJV)
EZEKIEL 28:15 You [Satan] were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you. (NKJV)
Yeshua said that Satan had been a murderer from “the beginning,” yet Ezekiel was inspired to write that Satan had been perfect in his ways from the time he was created until iniquity was found in him. The “beginning” spoken of by Messiah in John 8:44 was clearly sometime after Satan's creation. Yeshua's statement obviously does not mean that Satan has “eternally co-existed” with God; therefore, the phrase the “beginning” cannot be taken to signify eternal existence, which only God has.It is a fact that John 1:1 says that the Word was God (or “a God”). However, Messiah showed that the Scriptures also refer to angelic beings as “gods.” In John 10:34-36, Yeshua answers some Jews who wanted to stone him because they felt he was blaspheming by claiming to be the Son of God:
JOHN 10:34 Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, 'I said, “You are gods” [Psa. 82:6]'? 35 If it calls them gods [theous] to whom the word of God came, and Scripture cannot be set aside, 36 can you say that the one whom the Father has consecrated and sent into the world blasphemes because I said, 'I am the Son of God'?” (NAB)
According to The NKJV Greek English Interlinear New Testament, the word “gods” which Yeshua used in John 10:35 to refer to the angelic “sons of God” is the Greek theous, a plural form of the same word used in John 1:1 to describe the Word. As previously discussed, Yeshua here is associating himself with the “sons of God” that govern the world as part of the divine council. But that obviously does not mean these angelic rulers have existed for eternity with God. Likewise, John 1:1 should not be taken to mean that Yeshua the Messiah has eternally co-existed with the Father, who is greater than all (John 10:29). Too many Scriptures show otherwise.I Timothy 6:13-16 also shows that Messiah is not co-equal or co-eternal with the Father. In this Scripture, Paul clearly distinguishes between the two entities he is writing about: God and Yeshua the Messiah. Paul says that God alone is immortal, and that He has never been seen by man:
I TIMOTHY 6:13 Now, before God the source of all life and before Jesus Christ, who spoke up as a witness for the truth in front of Pontius Pilate, I put you to the duty 14 of doing all that you have been told, with no faults or failures, until the Appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 who at the due time will be revealed by God, the blessed and only Ruler of all, the King of kings and the Lord of lords, 16 who alone is immortal, whose home is in inaccessible light, whom no man has seen and no man is able to see: to him be honor and everlasting power. Amen. (Jerusalem Bible)
In this passage of Scripture, God is clearly differentiated from Yeshua the Messiah. The Messiah will be revealed when God the Father commands his return to earth (Mark 13:32), since only the Father knows when that will occur.Christ was seen in the Old Testament as the “Angel of YHVH” and in the New Testament both as a man and in a glorified state after his resurrection. It is stated throughout the New Testament that no one has seen God (John 1:18; 5:37; 6:46; I Tim. 6:16; I John 4:12). Obviously Paul is referring to God the Father as the One “who alone is immortal.”
If God the Father is the only immortal entity, then there was a point when no other beings existed. Therefore, this Scripture leads us to the logical conclusion that, at some point, Messiah did not exist. Revelation 4:8-10 also shows the immortal status of the Most High God:
REVELATION 4:8 “. . . Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” 9 Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever . . . (NKJV)
(5) God The Father Is The Creator And Source Of All Life
The Bible is specific in saying that the Most High God is the giver of all life and that He created all that exists. I Timothy 6:13 identifies two entities: God and Yeshua the Messiah. Paul says that God (not Messiah) is the source of all life, although other Scriptures show conclusively that God created all things through Messiah (see point 7 below).I TIMOTHY 6:13 I urge you in the sight of God who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus who witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate, (NKJV)
Revelation 4 pictures the heavenly throne room, the seat of God's universe-ruling government. The Father is shown sitting on His throne, with the angelic council of twenty-four elders seated around Him (see Psa. 29:1-2; 89:5-6 above). During John's vision, he sees the elders praise God:REVELATION 4:11 “You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things [panta], and by Your will they exist and were created.” (NKJV)
The angelic elders give God the Father praise because He created “all things” (panta, a plural form of the adjective pas, “all”). Nothing is excluded. This is a theme that runs throughout the e
ntirety of the Bible.ACTS 17:24 “God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. 25 Nor is He worshiped with men's hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things.” (NKJV)
MARK 13:19 “For in those days there will be tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the creation which God created until this time, nor ever shall be.” (NKJV)
REVELATION 10:5 The angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised up his hand to heaven 6 and swore by Him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things that are in it, the earth and the things that are in it, and the sea and the things that are in it . . .” (NKJV)
(6) The First Thing Created By God Was The Messiah
This is the most controversial point. The following Scriptures (A-E) used to support this assertion are examined in depth.(A) REVELATION 3:14 [Messiah said] “And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: 'The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning [arche] of God's creation.'” (ESV)
The Greek word translated “beginning” in Revelation 3:14 is arche. Regarding this word, Vine's says arche “means 'a beginning.' The root arch primarily indicated what was of worth. Hence the verb archõ meant 'to be first,' and archõn denoted a 'ruler'” (NT, p. 58).A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (BAGD) defines arche in Revelation 3:14 as “the first cause.” Not coincidentally, this is the only place in the Bible where it is assigned this meaning. However, the author admits that the meaning “beginning=first created is linguistically possible” (p. 112, emphasis mine).
The Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament (EDNT) states that arche “always signifies 'primacy' . . . whether a) of time: beginning (origin), b) of place: point of origin or departure, or c) of rank: power, dominion, kingdom, office” (vol. 1, p. 161).
In the booklet The God You Can Know!, Raymond F. McNair of the Global Church of God writes of this verse:
Some teach that Christ is a “created” Being–that He was the “first of the creation of God.” But the Bible does not teach that! The King James Version of the Bible might lead some to believe that Christ was created by the Father, but other translations more correctly render the meaning of Revelation 3:14. The proper rendering of this verse shows that Christ is “the Beginner [Originator] of the creation of God.” Christ was not the “beginning” of God's creation but was it's “Beginner” or “Originator.” Notice how this is rendered in the following translations: Christ is “. . . the ORIGIN of God's creation” (Moffatt); He is “. . . the RULER of God's creation” (NIV) (p. 4).
The word arche, or a form of it, appears in the Textus Receptus (the manuscript base from which the KJV and NKJV were translated) 58 times in 56 verses. Of those times, it is translated “beginning” 40 times in the NKJV ; conversely, it appears as “beginner” 0 times, “originator” 0 times, “origin” 0 times, and “ruler” 0 times (although the plural form archais is translated “rulers” once). The biblical usage of the word obviously contradicts what Mr. McNair claims.Additionally, the King James Version is not the only translation which renders the last part of Revelation 3:14 as “the beginning of the creation of God.” Other Bible versions which translate arche as “beginning” in Revelation 3:14 include the New King James Version, the New American Standard Bible, the Revised Standard Version, the Darby Translation, the Phillips Translation, the Webster Translation, the New World Translation, the English Standard Version, The NKJV Greek English Interlinear New Testament, and others. Even with the Trinitarian bias of the vast majority of New Testament translations, this word is translated “beginning” in several of the major translations currently available.
The other uses of arche in the book of Revelation also help determine its correct translation in Revelation 3:14. In the Textus Receptus, the exact same form of arche is used four times in Revelation (Rev. 1:8, 3:14, 21:6, 22:13). Each of the other three occurrences are rendered “beginning.” Therefore, translating arche as “beginning” in 3:14 is consistent with the way John uses the term in the rest of the book.
The meaning of arche is generally acknowledged by scholars, which is why some translators render it “beginning” even though they disagree with what the verse seems to say with arche rendered that way. Taken literally, Messiah confirms in Revelation 3:14 what Paul wrote of him in Colossians 1:15 (examined next). It is up to you to believe either the Word of God or the ideas and human reasoning of men.
(B) COLOSSIANS 1:15 [Messiah] who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn [prototokos] of every [pases] creature [ktiseos]: (KJV)
To understand what Paul is attempting to say in this verse, we will take an in-depth look at the Greek words prototokos pases ktiseos, which make up the phrase “firstborn of every creature.”Vine's says that prototokos is a compound of “protos, 'first,' and tikto, 'to beget' . . .” (NT, p. 240). In addition to Colossians 1:15, this word (or a variation of it) is found eight other times in the New Testament. Matthew 1:25 and Luke 2:7 use it to describe Yeshua as the “firstborn” son of Mary. In Romans 8:29 it denotes Christ as the “firstborn” among many brethren. Colossians 1:15 says that Christ is the “firstborn” of every creature. Colossians 1:18 and Revelation 1:5 both state that Christ, as the first human to be resurrected to spirit life, was the “firstborn” from the dead. Hebrews 1:6 speaks of Christ's return into the world as the “firstborn.” Hebrews 11:28 and 12:23 use plural forms of the word; 11:28 refers to the “firstborn” of the Egyptians who were slain by the death angel at the first Passover, while 12:23 speaks of the church of the “firstborn” whose names are written in heaven. In summary, the term prototokos is translated “firstborn” in each biblical usage of the word.
Regarding Colossians 1:15, Word Meanings in the New Testament remarks:
To say that Christ is “the firstborn of all creation” certainly poses a problem. Ever since the days of Arianism in the Early Church, those who deny the deity of Jesus have seized on this verse as proof that He was a created being even though the first one created by God (p. 349).
Because of the Trinity doctrine, which proclaims the co-equality and co-eternality of Messiah with the Father, the meaning of this verse has of necessity been distorted. It “poses a problem” because a literal understanding of Colossians 1:15 discredits the Trinitarian theology. Accordingly, you have scholars making such unsupported comments as the following:Prototokos . . . is used of Christ as born of the Virgin Mary, Luke 2:7; further, in His relationship to the Father, expressing His priority to, and preeminence over, creation, not in the sense of being the “first” to be born . . . (Vine's, NT, p. 240)
The expression “firstborn of all creation” (prototokos pases ktiseos, Col 1:15) occurs in the opening line of the Colossian “hymn” . . . and speaks of Christ's relationship to the creation. Stripped from its context and from other Pauline statements about Christ, this phrase might be understood to include him among created things (as simply the “eldest” of the “family”: prototokos in Rom 8:29 has this inclusive sense). The English word firstborn is misleading for it normally suggests someone who is born and therefore created. But this cannot be the significance of the term here . . . (Dictionary of Paul and His Letters, “Firstborn,” p. 302)The reason firstborn “cannot be the significance of the term” prototokos in Colossians 1:15 is because a literal understanding of the word would invalidate the Trinity doctrine. Therefore, main
stream theologians have been forced to interpret it figuratively based on their Trinitarian bias, even though an examination of the word as it is used elsewhere in the New Testament appears to indicate a literal meaning.Pases is a form of the Greek adjective pas. Vine's says the word “radically means 'all.' Used without the article [as it is in Col. 1:15] it means 'every,' every kind or variety” (NT, p. 21). Ktiseos is a form of the noun ktisis. Vine's says that “like the English word 'creation,' it also signifies the product of the 'creative' act, the 'creature,' as in . . . Col. 1:15” (NT, p. 137). NAGL says that in Colossians 1:15, ktiseos means “a created thing, a creature” (p. 250).
Given the information above, the KJV rendering of Colossians 1:15 appears to be the most accurate translation of the original Greek. If you accept that the Bible means what it says, then Colossians 1:15 clearly states that Messiah was the “firstborn of every creature.” He was the first being that God created. This fully supports what Messiah himself states in Revelation 3:14. Afterward the Father produced the rest of the creation through him and for him (Col. 1:16), because God's plan of salvation for mankind and Messiah's primary role in it were formulated before the physical creation (I Pet. 1:19-20, Tit. 1:2, II Tim. 1:9, Eph. 1:4-5, I Cor. 2:7, Rev. 13:8).
 HEBREWS 3:1 . . . Christ Jesus 2 being faithful to the One having made [poiesanti] him as also Moses was in His whole house. (The NKJV Greek English Interlinear New Testament)
The Greek word translated “having made” in verse 2 is poiesanti. This participle is a form of the Greek word poieo, which according to Vine's means “to do” or “to make.' It “is used in the latter sense (a) of constructing or producing anything, of the creative acts of God” (NT, p. 386).BAGD says this word is used “of God's creative activity” to mean “make, manufacture, produce [ti] something.” Regarding Hebrews 3:2, BAGD says poiesanti is used “of the relation of Jesus to God” (p. 680).
The KJV and NKJV, as well as most other translations, render poiesanti in Hebrews 3:2 as “appointed.” But is that a legitimate translation? In the Textus Receptus New Testament, poieo and its variations appear 581 times in 521 verses. Of those occurrences, they are translated “appointed” just once, here in Hebrews 3:2. The words “appoint” or “appointed” appear 27 times in the KJV; this is the only place that poiesanti or any of the variants of poieo are the underlying Greek word. Let's look at an occurrence of the specific form poiesanti in Revelation 14:
REVELATION 14:7 Saying with a loud voice, “Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made [poiesanti] heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.” (NKJV)
Based on the definition of this word, as well as its biblical usage elsewhere, it's obvious that poiesanti should be translated “who made” in Hebrews 3:2, not “who appointed.” Just as Moses was faithful, Messiah also was faithful to God the Father, who made (“created”) him.(D) JOHN 5:26 “For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave [edoke] to the Son also to have life in himself;” (NASU)
A close examination of this verse will show that Messiah has not eternally co-existed with the Father. Let's focus on the Greek verb edoke, translated as “He gave” in John 5:26 above.The Greek word edoke is a form of the finite verb didomi, which means “to give.” According to NAGL, the elements of this word are “third person, singular, aorist, active, indicative” (p. 116).
NTGS says that, “verbs are divided into three groups: finite, infinitive, and participle. Finite verbs have five elements: person (first, second, third), number (singular and plural), mood (indicative, subjunctive, imperative, and optative), tense (present, future, imperfect, aorist, perfect, and pluperfect), and voice (active, middle, and passive)” (p. 261). We'll look at each of these elements in edoke to determine its precise meaning.
First, the word is third person and singular, which refers to the one person being talked about, in this case God the Father. The word is in the aorist tense, which NTGS says “usually refers to past-time action as an event regardless of how long the event was in progress” (p. 303). Next is the voice. In the active voice, the subject (the Father) names the one being acted on (the Son). Mood indicates the speaker's attitude toward what he is saying. NTGS says that “the indicative mood is generally considered the mood of fact, reality, or certainty” (p. 261).
So if we take the literal meaning of edoke here, Messiah is saying that it is a fact (indicative mood) that God the Father (third person, singular, active voice-giver) at some past time gave (aorist tense), Messiah (active voice-receiver) life, which only the Father had inherent within Himself.
The fact that Messiah said YHVH the Father gave him life requires us to infer that Messiah did not have life before it was given to him by the Father. Any other interpretation of this verse specifically contradicts the proper usage of the Greek verb edoke and generally denies the function of language as a vehicle for conveying information. Therefore, this verse refutes the claim that Christ has co-existed with the Father for all eternity!
(E) PROVERBS 8:22 “The LORD created [qanani] me at the beginning of His work, the first of His acts of old. 23 Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth. 24 When there were no depths I was brought forth [cholaleti], when there were no springs abounding with water. 25 Before the mountains had been shaped, before the hills, I was brought forth [cholaleti]; 26 before He had made the earth with its fields, or the first of the dust of the world. (RSV)
This passage of Scripture comes from Proverbs 8, the “wisdom chapter.” Harper's Bible Commentary (Harper's) says of the eighth chapter of Proverbs that “the translation and interpretation of no passage in Proverbs is more hotly contested than this one, no doubt because Woman Wisdom's claims are so difficult to assimilate within later Judaism and Christianity. . . . The view of wisdom found here becomes important for the logos theology in the prologue of the Gospel of John . . .” (p. 507).In verse 22 above, the Hebrew verb and its object qanani are translated “created me,” following the example of the Aramaic, Syriac, and Greek versions of the Old Testament. According to Harper's, the KJV and NKJV follow “the more literalistic ancient authorities: Aquila, Symmachus, Theodotian, and Jerome” (p. 507) by translating this “possessed.”
Vine's says that although the primary meaning of the Hebrew root word qanah is “'to get, acquire, earn' . . . certain poetic passages have long suggested that this verb means 'create.' In Gen. 14:19, Melchizedek blessed Abram and said: 'Blessed be Abram by God Most High, maker [KJV, “possessor”] of heaven and earth' (RSV). Gen. 14:22 repeats this divine epithet. Deut. 32:6 makes this meaning certain in that qanah is parallel to 'asah, 'to make': 'Is he not your father, who created (qanah) you, who made ('asah) you and established (kun) you?' (RSV). Ps. 78:54; 139:13; and Prov. 8:22-23 also suggest the idea of creation” (OT, p. 52).
Harper's says that “it should be noted that the Hebrew verb cholaleti, here translated 'brought forth' (vv. 24-25), derives from the root chyl, which is generally associated with the physical activity of the female in giving birth. Hence, one must ask if Yahweh, in the manner of a female, gives birth (metaphorically?) to Woman Wisdom?” (p. 507).
No, it's not “Woman Wisdom” to whom God gave birth or brought forth, but rather the being known as the Logos, Yeshua the Messiah. In this passage of Scripture, wisdom is symbolic of Messiah. Indeed, Paul calls Chr
ist “the wisdom of God” in I Corinthians 1:I CORINTHIANS 1:24 But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. (NKJV)
(7) After Creating Messiah, God Then Created The Rest Of The Universe Through Him
Continuing with Proverbs 8, we see that “Wisdom” (Messiah) was with God as a “master workman” (“master craftsman”-NKJV) while He created the universe.PROVERBS 8:27 When He established the heavens, I was there, when He drew a circle on the face of the deep, 28 when He made firm the skies above, when He established the fountains of the deep, 29 when He assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters might not transgress His command, when He marked out the foundations of the earth, 30 then I was beside Him, like a master workman; and I was daily His delight, rejoicing before Him always, 31 rejoicing in His inhabited world, and delighting in the sons of men.” (RSV)
This fits in superbly with the remaining Scriptures which show that although God the Father created the universe, He did so through Messiah:JOHN 1:3 All things were made through him [Messiah], and without him nothing was made that was made. (NKJV)
JOHN 1:10 He [Messiah] was in the world, and the world was made through him, and the world did not know him. (NKJV)
I CORINTHIANS 8:6 Yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live. (NKJV)
EPHESIANS 3:9 And to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ; (NKJV)
COLOSSIANS 1:15 He [Messiah] is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation; 16 for in him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or authorities – all things were created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. (RSV)
HEBREWS 1:1 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; (NKJV)
CONCLUSION
The Bible conclusively shows that YHVH the Father is the only true God. He alone has immortality, since only He has existed from eternity. God has numerous sons, all of them a product of His will. These sons include the loyal angelic host as well as those humans called and given the Holy Spirit. The Father is the source of all life, and Messiah was the first being created. God then established the rest of the creation through him and for him.Hi Mercy,
Thank you.
However can you please provide WRITTEN and WITNESSED PROOFS for your following assertions.Godhead has members.
Christ is an angel.
Christ is the angel of the Lord.
Christ walked the earth before his birth.
Christ was created.
Our similarity to angels goes beyond the context of Lk 20.Thanks
David, Mercy. and NH.
Maybe you guys should get together and write your own Bible, or you could just use the NWT.
Because apparantly you do not accept all of the scriptures.
There is One true God! All other so called Gods if they are worshipped or acknowledged as Gods are false.
David, if you acknowedge a True Angel from God as a God, then you committ Idolatry!
This is what God says. Do you believe him?
Because apparantly you dont if you keep making arguments for other Gods.
Deut 5:7
Thou shalt have none other gods before me.Exod 23:13
And in all [things] that I have said unto you be circumspect: and make no mention of the name of other gods, neither let it be heard out of thy mouth.Deut 6:4
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:Isa 45:
5 I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:
6 That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.BTW. Was the Word/God with the Father when he made this statement, or was it the Father speaking?
Isa 45:21
Tell ye, and bring [them] near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the LORD? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me.Jer 10:10
But the LORD is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation.Zech 14:9
And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.I Cor 8
4 As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol [is] nothing in the world, and that [there is] none other God but one.
5 For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,)
6 **But to us** [there is but] one God, the Father, of whom [are] all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom [are] all things, and we by him.Matt 12:29
And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments [is], Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:I Jn 5:20
And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.Then we see Jn 1 and Heb 1. And of course many others.
Jn 1:
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 The same was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.Heb 1:
8 But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.
9 Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
10 And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands:
11 They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment;
12 And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail.
13 But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool?Then we have…
19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.I Tim 3:16
16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.Isa
6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.Rev 1:8
8 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.11 Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.
17 And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:
18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.Rev 22:
12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.
13 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.Acts 20:28
Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.Jn 20:
And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.
If you accept the above scriptures litteraly as they are, then they can only make sense from a trinitarian view.I challange any one of you to give me scriptural proof that the above scriptures can be interpreted in any other way!
Either accept them or deny them or ignore them.
There is One God! Father, Son and Holy Ghost.
I don't quite follow you Nick on the witnessed proofs.
However, I have huge numbers of scripture and a huge number of 1 century Jewish and Christian writings that attest to:
A divine council
Jesus being the angel of the lord
Jesus being created
Christ walked the earthQuote All other so called Gods are false. Above should be enough. Why take the word Eloyhim and try to change the harmony of the scriptures, when this word can be used for rulers, Judges, Angels, and many other appalations.
You say “all other God's are false.” A second later, you say: “this wrod can be used for …angels.”
Since angels can be called gods, and since “all other God's are false, apparently, you are saying that angels are “false gods.” Is that what you are saying?
David
BTW. You miss construe what I say here. The word “Eloyhim” was used in translating as God, Rulers, Judges, Kings, etc etc.
The point being you have to take the word in its context to see if it is to mean God, rulers, kings etc.
Therfore if it contradicts the whole of the context or scripture then you break the harmony of the scriptures by using the word in a false way.
Quote Hi W,
The traditional defence of trinity belief-the fear of polytheism-but it is an empty sham as it is you who promotes other deities.NH So you dont believe the Father or John 1:1 then do you?
Maybe Eusibus had a copy of Johns writings and it wasnt there?
The fact is there is alot, overwhelming almost, of evidence for the governing council and for the Jesus being the angel of the lord. So much evidence that the early church fathers mention these ideas at length.
So much scriptural evidence that you will have to keep saying over and over, “Well, I know the scriptures say that, but what it really means is [insert preconcieved trinity apology].”
It is not that these beliefs contradict the scriptures it is that you perceive that they do based on preconceived ideas and definitions of what monotheism is and how God decided to govern our earth.
Every time you say “Our God is one”. I will agree.
I agree worshipping other gods is false.
I feel that this view bypasses all these problems with far more accuracy and agility than a trinity belief.
THE HEAVENLY DIVINE COUNCIL
1. For nearly the past two millennia, there has been a general misunderstanding of the way God governs the earth. As this study will establish, there is a heavenly council of spirit beings that currently rules over our world. Paul referred to this group of spiritual entities in the sixth chapter of Ephesians:
EPHESIANS 6:12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. (NKJV)
This Scripture clearly tells us that there are evil spiritual powers in the heavens that rule over mankind and oppose God's people. This is a fact verified in many other biblical passages. However, due to scribal changes in the text and the doctrinal leanings of translators, this truth is generally not well understood by most believers. In this article, we're going to examine this vital information about the spiritual realm.
Let's start by looking at a controversial passage of Scripture from the farewell song of Moses in Deuteronomy 32. First, we'll examine the passage as it appears in most translations based on the traditional Hebrew text (the Masoretic Text, which was finalized between the 8th and 10th centuries C.E.):
DEUTERONOMY 32:7 “Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations. Ask your father, and he will show you; your elders, and they will tell you: 8 When the Most High divided their inheritance to the nations, when He separated the sons of Adam, He set the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the CHILDREN OF ISRAEL. 9 For the LORD's portion is His people; Jacob is the place of His inheritance. (NKJV)
However, there is a variant rendering of this passage. It's based on the third-century B.C.E. translation of the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek, the Septuagint, as well as Hebrew manuscripts of Deuteronomy found among the Dead Sea Scrolls at Qumran:
DEUTERONOMY 32:7 Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations; ask your father, and he will show you; your elders, and they will tell you. 8 When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when He separated the sons of men, He fixed the bounds of the peoples according to the number of the SONS OF GOD. 9 For the LORD's portion is His people, Jacob His allotted heritage. (RSV)
Here is this same passage as it was rendered by Sir Lancelot C.L. Brenton in his 1851 translation of the Septuagint into English:
DEUTERONOMY 32:7 Remember the days of old, consider the years for past ages: ask thy father, and he shall relate to thee, thine elders, and they shall tell thee. 8 When the Most High divided the nations, when He separated the sons of Adam, He set the bounds of the nations according to the number of the angels of God. 9 And His people Jacob became the portion of the Lord, Israel was the line of His inheritance. (Brenton's LXX)
The Greek phrase translated “angels of God” is aggelon theou; this interpretive phrase is found in nearly all the extant Septuagint manuscripts. However, several earlier manuscripts have instead huion theou, or “sons of God.” This is a literal rendering of the Hebrew phrase beney 'elohim found among the Dead Sea Scroll copies of Deuteronomy 32:8.
The Septuagint translators plainly understood that the “sons of God” (beney 'elohim) spoken of in Deuteronomy 32:8 and elsewhere were spirit beings (“angels”), and rendered it that way several times (Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7) in order to clarify the meaning. Thus the textual change from huion theou to aggelon theou.
The idea that the separation of mankind into 70 nations at the Tower of Babel was by and for the angelic “sons of God” is supported by the ancient Book of Jasher (Jos. 10:13; II Sam. 1:18):
JASHER 9:31 And they built the tower and the city, and they did this thing daily until many days and years were elapsed. 32 And God said to the seventy angels who stood foremost before him, to those who were near to him, saying, Come let us descend and confuse their tongues, that one man shall not understand the language of his neighbor, and they did so unto them. (pub. 1887, J.H. Parry & Company, Salt Lake City, Utah)
The paraphrased Aramaic translation of Deuteronomy 32:8-9 found in the ancient Targum called Pseudo-Jonathan supports the Septuagint rendering of verse 8, but also hints at the origin of the later alternate reading (“sons of Israel”):
DEUTERONOMY 32:8 When the Most High made allotment of the world unto the nations which proceeded from the sons of Noach, in the separation of the writings and languages of the children of men at the time of the division, He cast the lot among the seventy angels, the princes of the nations with whom is the revelation to oversee the city, even at that time He established the limits of the nations according to the sum of the number of the seventy souls of Israel who went down into Mizraim [Egypt]. (Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, translated by J.W. Etheridge)
The dispute over whether the Masoretic Text or the Septuagint represents the original is more than a scholarly argument among biblical text experts. The implication of the latter rendering of verse 8 is significant with regard to understanding how God governs the earth.
As the Targum explicitly brings out, Moses' mention of the separation of “the sons of men” refers back to God's division of Noah's descendants into 70 different nations, as recorded in the 10th chapter of Genesis:
GENESIS 10:32 These are the families of the sons of Noah, according to their genealogies, by their nations; and out of these the nations were separated on the earth after the flood. (NASU)
Chapter 10 of Genesis is the backdrop for Moses' statement in Deuteronomy 32:8 that God is responsible for the creation and placement of the nations (Heb. goyim). In fact, variations of the same Hebrew root word parad (“separate”) are used in both Genesis 10:32 and Deuteronomy 32:8.
If Moses was indeed referencing God's separation of the nations according to Noah's offspring (specifically their physical separation at the Tower of Babel), it is important to note that Israel is not listed in the index of the 70 nations found in Genesis 10. The nation of Israel did not yet exist at that time. Therefore, the statement that God “set the boundaries of the nations according to the number of the children of Israel” clearly seems out of context here.
However, if we accept the rendering of Deuteronomy 32:8 found in the Septuagint and the Hebrew copies of Deuteronomy from Qumran (which is supported by the testimony of the Book of Jasher), we face the same dilemma that the Jewish scribes later faced. Did the Hebrew Scriptures at one time suggest polytheism in the religion delivered to the Israelites?
Ancient Hebrew language expert Michael S. Heiser has shown that there is good reason to accept the earlier version of this Scripture. In his article on this passage, he writes:
. . . What could possibly be meant by the textual option that created a correspondence between the number of the nations in Genesis 10-11 and heavenly beings?
Literary and conceptual parallels discovered in the literature of Ugarit, however, have provided a more coherent explanation for the number 70 in Deuteronomy 32:8 – and have furnished powerful ammunition to textual scholars who argued against the “sons of Israel” reading in MT. Ugaritic mythology plainly states that the head of its pantheon, El (who, like the God of the Bible, is also referred to as El Elyon, the “Most High”) fathered 70 sons, thereby setting the number of the “sons of El” (Ugaritic, bn 'il ). An unmistakable linguistic parallel with the Hebrew text underlying the LXX reading was thus discovered, one which prompted many scholars to accept the LXX reading on logical and philological grounds: God (El Elyon in Deut. 32:8) divided the earth according to the number of heavenly beings who already existed from the time of creation.
. . . Understanding “sons of God” as the correct reading in Deuteronomy 32:8 in no way requires one to view Israelite religion as polytheistic. (p. 3, “Deuteronomy 32:8 and the Sons of God”)
Ugaritic is an ancient near eastern language that is closely related to biblical Hebrew. Evidently, Ugarit developed a divine mythology based on antediluvian truths regarding the one true God and His government of the world through the angelic creation. Ugaritic literature contains many council scenes where the chief deity 'El presides over the council of his divine sons, who stand before him on the holy Mount of Assembly.
We see a very similar scene portrayed in the Bible at I Kings 22 and II Chronicles 18, where YHVH's prophet Micaiah describes a vision of the heavenly council that he had been given in regard to a question posed to him by Ahab, king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, king of Judah:
II CHRONICLES 18:18 Then Micaiah said, “Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing on His right hand and His left. 19 And the LORD said, 'Who will persuade Ahab king of Israel to go up, that he may fall at Ramoth Gilead?' So one spoke in this manner, and another spoke in that manner. 20 Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD, and said, 'I will persuade him.' The LORD said to him, 'In what way?' 21 “So he said, 'I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.' And the Lord said, 'You shall persuade him and also prevail; go out and do so.' 22 Therefore look! The LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these prophets of yours, and the LORD has declared disaster against you.” (NKJV)
Here we see mention of the “host of heaven” (Heb. tzeva' hashamayim) which stands before YHVH. Clearly this is speaking of angelic beings, including those on the heavenly divine council. This vision seen by Micaiah shows that YHVH is in complete control of events. He only approves the course of action that suits His purpose, which in this case was to bring about the death of evil King Ahab (I Kings 22:20; II Chr. 18:19).
The “host of heaven” is spoken of in many Scriptures. Some Bible scholars attempt to downplay the true meaning of this phrase and imply that it speaks mainly of the stars in the sky. Contextually, however, it is evident that tzeva' hashamayim often refers to the realm of spirit beings in the heavens.
The New Bible Dictionary says this about the “host of heaven”:
This phrase (tzeva' hashamayim) occurs about 15 times, in most cases implying the object of heathen worship (Dt. 4:19, etc.). The two meanings 'celestial bodies' and 'angelic beings' are inextricably intertwined. The LXX translation, using kosmos, stratia, or dynamis, does not help to resolve this. No doubt to the Heb[rew] mind the distinction was superficial, and the celestial bodies were thought to be closely associated with heavenly beings. . . . The Bible certainly suggests that angels of different ranks have charge of individuals and of nations; no doubt, in the light of modern cosmology this concept, if retained at all (as biblically it must be), ought properly to be extended, as the dual sense of the phrase 'host of heaven' suggests, to the oversight of the elements of the physical universe–planets, stars and nebulae. (p. 495, “Host, Host of Heaven”)
Regarding the meaning of the related title “Lord of hosts” (Heb. YHVH tzeva'ot), the New Bible Dictionary states:
It is thought by some to have arisen as a title of God associated with his lordship over the 'host' of Israel; but its usage, especially in the prophets, clearly implies also a relationship to the 'host of heaven' in its angelic sense; and this could well be the original connotation. (p. 495, “Host, Host of Heaven”)
The following Scriptures indicate that the “host of heaven” is more than just the stars in the night sky:
NEHEMIAH 9:5 . . . “Stand up and bless the LORD your God forever and ever! Blessed be Your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise! 6 You alone are the LORD; You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and everything on it, the seas and all that is in them, and You preserve them all. The host of heaven worships You.” (NKJV)
Only living creatures can worship God. Clearly, the “host of heaven” here refers to sentient created beings which reside in the heavens.
JEREMIAH 19:13 “And the houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah shall be defiled like the place of Tophet, because of all the houses on whose roofs they have burned incense to all the host of heaven, and poured out drink offerings to other gods.” (NKJV)
Here Jeremiah draws a parallel between “the host of heaven,” to whom incense was burned and “other gods,” to whom drink offerings were poured out. This grammatical construction in Hebrew is meant to show that both the “host of heaven” and the “other gods” were the same. They were “the gods of the nations,” the angelic rulers assigned by God over the nations of the earth.
One of the most grievous sins of the ancient Israelites was their continual idolatry. Instead of worshiping the one true God, they instead worshiped the inferior “sons of God,” the “host of heaven”:
II KINGS 17:15 And they [Israel and Judah] rejected His statutes and His covenant that He had made with their fathers, and His testimonies which He had testified against them; they followed idols, became idolaters, and went after the nations who were all around them, concerning whom the LORD had charged them that they should not do like them. 16 So they left all the commandments of the LORD their God, made for themselves a molded image and two calves, made a wooden image and worshiped all the host of heaven, and served Baal. (NKJV)
II KINGS 21:3 For he [Manasseh] rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; he raised up altars for Baal, and made a wooden image, as Ahab king of Israel had done; and he worshiped all the host of heaven and served them. 4 He also built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, “In Jerusalem I will put My name.” 5 And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD. 6 Also he made his son pass through the fire, practiced soothsaying, used witchcraft, and consulted spiritists and mediums. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke Him to anger. (NKJV)
The Bible shows that the “host of heaven” was on the scene during the creation of the earth. In Job 38:4-7, we see YHVH questioning Job in order to prove a point to him. During that interrogation, He asks Job where he was during the creation of the universe:
JOB 38:4 “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding, 5 Who set its measurements? Since you know. Or who stretched the line on it? 6 On what were its bases sunk? Or who laid its cornerstone, 7 When the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” (NASU)
This Scripture clearly indicates that the “sons of God” (beney 'elohim, also called “morning stars” here) were present at creation week. This fact is supported by the first chapter of Genesis:
GENESIS 1:26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” (NIV)
This verse is often used by modern scholars to attempt to prove that the doctrine of the Trinity can be found in the Old Testament. Regarding this erroneous contention, The Eerdmans Bible Dictionary states:
The “us” in “Let us make man in our image” (Gen. 1:26; cf. 3:22; 11:6-7) refers to the “sons of God” or lesser “gods” mentioned elsewhere (6:1-4; Job 1:6; Ps. 29:1), here viewed as a heavenly council centered around the one God (cf. Ps. 82:1). In later usage these probably would be called “angels.” (p. 1019,
“Trinity”)
Deuteronomy 32:8 is paralleled by a passage from Deuteronomy 4 that speaks of the allocation of the heavenly host:
DEUTERONOMY 4:19 “And beware not to lift up your eyes to heaven and see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, and be drawn away and worship them and serve them, those which the LORD your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven. (NASU)
The “host of heaven” here is said to be “allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven.” The word allotted in Hebrew is chalaq, which literally means “apportioned” or “assigned.” In a statement similar to Deuteronomy 32:8, we are told here that God has assigned “the host of heaven” to the peoples of the earth.
The “host of heaven” are the same spiritual “principalities,” “powers,” and “rulers” Paul speaks of in Ephesians 6:12. These heavenly “powers” are mentioned many times in the New Testament:
MATTHEW 24:29 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.” (NKJV)
MARK 13:24 “But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; 25 the stars of heaven will fall, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.” (NKJV)
LUKE 21:25 “And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; 26 men's hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of heaven will be shaken.” (NKJV)
ROMANS 8:38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (NKJV)
I CORINTHIANS 15:24 Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. 25 For he must reign till He has put all enemies under his feet. (NKJV)
EPHESIANS 1:20 Which He worked in Christ, raising him from the dead and seating him at His right hand in the heavens, 21 far above every principality, authority, power, and dominion, and every name that is named not only in this age but also in the one to come. (NAB)
EPHESIANS 3:8 To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9 and to make all men see what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things; 10 that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places. 11 This was according to the eternal purpose which he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, (RSV)
COLOSSIANS 1:15 He [Christ] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For in him were created all things in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things were created through him and for him. (NAB)
COLOSSIANS 2:9 For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; 10 and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power. (NKJV)
COLOSSIANS 2:13 When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He [God] made you alive together with him [Christ], having forgiven us all our transgressions, 14 having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. 15 When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through him. (NASU)
1 PETER 3:22 [Christ] who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him. (NKJV)
In Hebrews 2:5, the author indirectly establishes the current rulership of our world by powerful angelic beings:
HEBREWS 2:5 It is not to angels that He has subjected the world to come, about which we are speaking. (NIV)
By saying that God will not subject the coming world to the rule of angels, the author implies that the current world is being ruled by spirit entities.
Chapters 1 and 2 of the book of Job show two instances of the divine council composed of the sons of God (the beney 'elohim) gathering in heaven for a meeting of the council:
JOB 1:6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them. 7 And the LORD said to Satan, “From where do you come?” So Satan answered the LORD and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it.” (NKJV)
JOB 2:1 Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the LORD. 2 And the LORD said to Satan, “From where do you come?” So Satan answered the LORD and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it.” (NKJV)
What we see described here appear to be accounts of the “sons of God” (beney 'elohim) coming to regularly scheduled meetings of the divine council. Satan also came to these meetings, but from the text we cannot tell if he is one of the members of the council, or if he simply appeared to bring a petition before the council. Other Scriptures seem to indicate, however, that Satan may be a high-ranking member of the divine council given charge over the kingdoms of the world (e.g. Luke 4:5-7).
A couple of other Scriptures mention the divine council in passing:
JOB 15:7 “Are you the first man that was born? Or were you brought forth before the hills? 8 Have you listened in the council of God? And do you limit wisdom to yourself? (RSV)
JEREMIAH 23:16 This is what the LORD Almighty says: “Do not listen to what the prophets are prophesying to you; they fill you with false hopes. They speak visions from their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD. 17 They keep saying to those who despise Me, 'The LORD says: You will have peace.' And to all who follow the stubbornness of their hearts they say, 'No harm will come to you.' 18 But which of them has stood in the council of the LORD to see or to hear His word? Who has listened and heard His word?” (NIV)
Psalm 82 is the most detailed description we have of a meeting of the heavenly divine council which was given rulership over the 70 nations of the earth:
PSALM 82:1 {A Psalm of Asaph.} God has taken His place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods He holds judgment: 2 “How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? Selah 3 Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. 4 Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.” 5 They have neither knowledge nor understanding, they walk about in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken. 6 I say, “You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you; 7 nevertheless, you shall die like men, and fall like any prince.” 8 Arise, O God, judge the earth; for to thee belong all the nations! (RSV)
In this psalm, we see God take His place as the leader of the divine council. The psalmist records that, during this meeting of the council, God criticizes the “gods” ('elohim) for their unfairness and wickedness in carrying out the responsibilities He has assigned to them. Asaph tells us that the sin and rebellion of the 'elohim have shaken the foundations of the earth. He records God's warning to these divine spirit entities, that their fate for corruption and disobedience will be to “die like men” (Heb. 'adam). Since clearly all men will “die like men,” attempting to apply this Scripture to human rulers, as some scholars do, is illogical. Asaph ends the psalm by exhorting God to judge th
e earth and its divine rulers, because all nations truly belong to Him and not to them.
Psalm 82:7 refers to the governing 'elohim as “princes.” This designation connects these council members to whom rulership of the nations was given (Deu. 32:8) with another passage of Scripture found in Daniel:
DANIEL 10:5 I lifted my eyes and looked, and behold, a certain man clothed in linen, whose waist was girded with gold of Uphaz! 6 His body was like beryl, his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like torches of fire, his arms and feet like burnished bronze in color, and the sound of his words like the voice of a multitude. . . . 12 Then he said to me, “Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard; and I have come because of your words. 13 But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; and behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia. (NKJV)
The Scripture above gives us an intriguing glimpse into the order and activities of the spiritual realm. Gabriel was sent by God to give Daniel insight into what would happen to his people (the Jews) in “the latter days.” However, this mighty angel was delayed for three weeks because “the prince of the kingdom of Persia” contested God's command. This prince of Persia clearly was not human; he was the divine council member who had authority over the nation of Persia.
Indeed, if Michael (who is described in Dan. 12:1 as the great prince who stands over the people of Israel) had not helped Gabriel, God's message to Daniel might not have been delivered. For additional information on Michael, the spiritual prince over God's portion, Israel, refer to my article “Christ in the Old Testament.”
DANIEL 10:20 Then he said, “Do you know why I have come to you? Now I must return to fight against the prince of Persia, and when I am through with him, the prince of Greece will come. 21 But I am to tell you what is inscribed in the book of truth. There is no one with me who contends against these princes except Michael, your prince.” (NRSV)
After conveying his message to Daniel, Gabriel states that he must return to again do battle with “the prince of Persia.” Furthermore, he states that he will also have to combat “the prince of Greece” after he has finished with “the Prince of Persia.” The picture portrayed by this brief narrative is one of opposition to God's will by the spirit beings of the council who have been given rule over the nations.
The book of Daniel mentions the fate of some of the “host of heaven” under the coming Antichrist:
DANIEL 8:10 And it [the little horn] grew up to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and some of the stars to the ground, and trampled them. 11 He even exalted himself as high as the Prince of the host [Yeshua, cf. Eph. 1:21; Col. 2:10; I Pet. 3:22]; and by him the daily sacrifices were taken away, and the place of His sanctuary was cast down. (NKJV)
We see from Daniel 8 that the Antichrist will come against these spiritual powers and “cast down some” of them and “trample them.” It's likely that the remainder will join his end-time rebellion against God.
Just as Psalm 82 speaks of the eventual fate of these heavenly princes, the prophet Isaiah tells of their coming punishment in a couple of passages:
ISAIAH 24:19 The earth is broken asunder, the earth is split through, the earth is shaken violently. 20 The earth reels to and fro like a drunkard and it totters like a shack, for its transgression is heavy upon it, and it will fall, never to rise again. 21 So it will happen in that day, that the LORD will punish the host of heaven on high, and the kings of the earth on earth. 22 They will be gathered together like prisoners in the dungeon, and will be confined in prison; and after many days they will be punished. (NASU)
As Isaiah 24:21 shows, the “host of heaven” ruling from “on high” are differentiated from the kings ruling on the earth below. Let's look at another prophecy of their doom:
ISAIAH 34:1 Come near, you nations, to hear; and heed, you people! Let the earth hear, and all that is in it, the world and all things that come forth from it. 2 For the indignation of the LORD is against all nations, and His fury against all their armies; He has utterly destroyed them, He has given them over to the slaughter. 3 Also their slain shall be thrown out; their stench shall rise from their corpses, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood. 4 All the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll; all their host shall fall down as the leaf falls from the vine, and as fruit falling from a fig tree. 5 “For My sword shall be bathed in heaven; indeed it shall come down on Edom, and on the people of My curse, for judgment.” (NKJV)
Like the “host” of the nations that come against the Messiah will be slain, the “host of heaven” (Heb. tzeva' hashamayim) who rule these earthly nations will also be defeated. The sword of the Eternal, wielded by the Messiah, will “drink its fill in the heavens” as well as on the earth.
We are told in Isaiah 34:4 that “the host of heaven shall be dissolved” (Heb. namaqu, literally “waste away,” “decay”). In Zechariah 14:12, the same Hebrew root word maqaq is used to describe the fate of those who come against Jerusalem at the end of the age.
There is a similarity between Isaiah 34:4 and II Peter 3:10-12 that deserves some attention. Peter speaks of an end-time fire in the heavens, which will melt and dissolve the elements:
II PETER 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements [stoicheia] will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and the works that are upon it will be burned up. 11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of persons ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, 12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be kindled and dissolved, and the elements [stoicheia] will melt with fire! (RSV)
The Greek word stoicheia, translated “elements” in the passage above, is understood by many scholars to refer to heavenly spirits. This understanding can be seen in several passages written by the apostle Paul:
GALATIANS 4:1 I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no better than a slave, though he is the owner of all the estate; 2 but he is under guardians and trustees until the date set by the father. 3 So with us; when we were children, we were slaves to the elemental spirits of the universe [ta stoicheia tou kosmou]. (RSV)
GALATIANS 4:9 But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and beggarly elemental spirits [stoicheia], whose slaves you want to be once more? (RSV)
COLOSSIANS 2:8 See to it that no one makes a prey of you by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe [ta stoicheia tou kosmou], and not according to Christ. (RSV)
COLOSSIANS 2:18 Let no one disqualify you, insisting on self-abasement and worship of angels, taking his stand on visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, 19 and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God. 20 If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the universe [ton stoicheion tou kosmou], why do you live as if you still belonged to the world? . . . (RSV)
The Dictionary of Paul and His Letters has this to say about the “elements” as spiritual powers:
A number of interpreters, perhaps even a majority, have concluded that ta stoicheia tou kosmou refers to spiritual powers of some sort. . . . The earliest extant extrabiblical Jewish evidence for the stoicheia being associated with both spirits and stars is later than the
first century (second and third centuries A.D.), but it is well attested and may very well represent beliefs contemporaneous with Paul (cf. Lohse, 99 n.41). The Testament of Solomon, a Jewish-Christian work usually dated to the third century A.D., but possibly containing material dating to the first century, testifies to a belief in star spirits called stoicheia. Seven bound spirits appear before Solomon and reveal their identity: “We are the stoicheia, rulers of this world of darkness [kosmokratores tou skotous, cf. Eph 6:12] . . . our stars in heaven look small, but we are named like gods” (T. Sol. 8:2-4). (pp. 231, 232, “Elements/Elemental Spirits of the World”)
If we understand the usage of stoicheia by Peter to be the same as Paul's usage in the Scriptures cited above, we can see that Peter was simply reemphasizing what the prophet Isaiah had said about the fate of the spiritual powers aligned against God. Isaiah stated the “host of heaven” would be dissolved; Peter said that these same “elemental spirits” would be dissolved by fire.
YESHUA'S RELATIONSHIP TO THE DIVINE COUNCIL
In the tenth chapter of John's Gospel, Yeshua answers the Jews' question regarding his identity:
JOHN 10:24 Then the Jews surrounded him and said to him, “How long do you keep us in doubt? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” 25 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me. 26 But you do not believe, because you are not of my sheep, as I said to you. 27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of my hand. 29 “My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand. 30 I and My Father are one.” 31 Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him. 32 Jesus answered them, “Many good works I have shown you from my Father. For which of those works do you stone me?” 33 The Jews answered Him, saying, “For a good work we do not stone you, but for blasphemy, and because you, being a man, make yourself God [theon].” 34 Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your law, 'I said, “You are gods [theoi]” '? 35 If He called them gods [theous], to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), 36 do you say of him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'? 37 If I do not do the works of my Father, do not believe me; 38 but if I do, though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in me, and I in Him.” (NKJV)
The passage above starts with the Jews asking Yeshua if he was the prophesied Messiah (v. 24). He answered by saying that he had already told them he was, and they didn't believe him (v. 25a). Yeshua goes on to say that the works he had performed before them in the Father's name were a testimony to his identity (v. 25b). Next he differentiated between those blinded Jews and the sheep his Father had given him (vv. 26-29). Yeshua finished his comments to the Jews by proclaiming that he and his Father were “one” (v. 30).
This answer prompted the Jews to charge him with blasphemy and prepare to stone him (vv. 31-33). In verses 34-36, Yeshua addressed the charge that the Jews had leveled against him, namely that he had blasphemed by proclaiming himself to be “God.” The Greek word theon is the equivalent of the Hebrew 'elohim.
Based on Yeshua's answer to the Jews, why were they planning to stone him? Did they think that he, a man, had proclaimed himself to be God the Father? Or did they understand his claim in a way that was different from the common Trinitarian understanding of today?
Rather than assume that we know, let's allow the Jews themselves define for us what they took Yeshua's claim to be:
JOHN 19:6 Therefore, when the chief priests and officers saw Him, they cried out, saying, “Crucify Him, crucify Him!” Pilate said to them, “You take Him and crucify Him, for I find no fault in Him.” 7 The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to our law He ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.” (NKJV)
Clearly the Jews understood Yeshua's claim to be that he was an 'elohim, one of the divine sons of God. Carefully notice Yeshua's specific reply to the charge of blasphemy. He first references the members of the divine council, who were called “sons of God” in the Old Testament (Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7; etc.), by quoting from Psalm 82:6 (v. 34). Then Yeshua asked the Jews, “Why do you say I'm blaspheming just because I've proclaimed myself to be the Son of God, when the Father Himself in the Scripture calls the members of the divine council gods ('elohim)?” (vv. 35-36).
Yeshua's response, including the reference to Psalm 82:6, was intended to convey the understanding that Yeshua, the Son of God, had preexisted his mortal appearance and was one of the members (in fact, the foremost member) of the divine council addressed in Psalm 82. Yeshua here was proclaiming himself to be an 'elohim (divine); he was NOT saying that he was the 'Elohim, the Most High, God the Father.
Many Christians base their understanding of this passage solely on verse 30. They assume that Yeshua's statement that he and the Father are one is an affirmation of the Trinity doctrine (or the less popular “Oneness” doctrine). However, the Bible clearly shows that the state of being “one” does not entail being “the same as” (i.e., Yeshua = the Father).
The example of Adam and Eve clearly illustrates this biblical principal:
GENESIS 2:21 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. 22 Then the rib which the LORD God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. 23 And Adam said: “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” 24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become ONE FLESH. 25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. (NKJV)
Yeshua himself quoted this passage when defending the sanctity of marriage to the Pharisees (Matt. 19:3-9; Mark 10:2-12). Clearly, a man and woman do not literally become one flesh when they marry. So out of necessity, it is essential to understand “one” here in a different sense. The Hebrew word for “one” (echad) often means “unity.” It is this meaning that Jesus intended when he said that he and his Father were “one.” Jesus was unified with the Father in accomplishing God's purpose and will (Matt. 26:39; John 5:30; 14:10, 24).
Yeshua's prayer to the Father before his crucifixion, recorded in John 17, confirms this understanding of “one”:
JOHN 17:11 “Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are.” (NKJV)
Yeshua prayed that the disciples God had given him would become one, just as he and the Father were one. How then were the disciples to become one? Were they to become some sort of divine triune being? Or were they to be united through the Holy Spirit to do the will of God, just as Yeshua was united to his Father during his entire life on earth?
JOHN 17:20 “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; 21 that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. 22 And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: 23 I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.” (NKJV)
When he prayed “that they may be one
just as we are one,” Yeshua was not praying for all believers to become a part of the Trinity. Yeshua clearly tells us that he and the Father are “one” by the Father being in him (through the Holy Spirit) and by Yeshua being in the Father (by doing God's will instead of his own). Yeshua always knew God's will because of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit; he remained in the Father by always doing His will. Yeshua's prayer for all believers was that the Father would make them one with both of them; this would be accomplished by God's Spirit flowing through Christ (the mediator) to dwell within them.
CONCLUSION
The world is currently ruled over by angelic principalities and powers that God gave authority over the nations. Just as the nations over which they rule, these mighty spirits have often chosen to go against the will of God. In choosing not to submit to God's authority, they have become the enemies of God and His chosen people. Eventually, the rebellion of these wicked spirits will lead to their judgment and punishment. The Messiah, the ruler of the sons of God on the divine council, will triumph over them at his second coming and will rule the nations according to the will of God.
Bryan T. Huie
January 22, 2002
Revised: September 28, 2002Quote (Mercy @ Jan. 07 2007,21:16) I don't quite follow you Nick on the witnessed proofs. However, I have huge numbers of scripture and a huge number of 1 century Jewish and Christian writings that attest to:
A divine council
Jesus being the angel of the lord
Jesus being created
Christ walked the earth
Hi Mercy,
So a divine council is a composite god or the heavenly assembly as shown in many places?Do you have SCRIPTURE with witnessing verses[2cor 13.1] that attest to
Jesus BEING created,
being an angel,
or the angel of the Lord?I know of not one single scripture making such statements and we should not teach beyond the words of the Master even if other foolish men did so.
The Spirit of Christ was with the prophets[1Peter 1] and was the water from the Rock but that is the Spirit of God in Christ, not the vessel that revealed that Spirit surely.
THE HEAVENLY DIVINE COUNCIL
1. For nearly the past two millennia, there has been a general misunderstanding of the way God governs the earth. As this study will establish, there is a heavenly council of spirit beings that currently rules over our world. Paul referred to this group of spiritual entities in the sixth chapter of Ephesians:
EPHESIANS 6:12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. (NKJV)
This Scripture clearly tells us that there are evil spiritual powers in the heavens that rule over mankind and oppose God's people. This is a fact verified in many other biblical passages. However, due to scribal changes in the text and the doctrinal leanings of translators, this truth is generally not well understood by most believers. In this article, we're going to examine this vital information about the spiritual realm.
Let's start by looking at a controversial passage of Scripture from the farewell song of Moses in Deuteronomy 32. First, we'll examine the passage as it appears in most translations based on the traditional Hebrew text (the Masoretic Text, which was finalized between the 8th and 10th centuries C.E.):
DEUTERONOMY 32:7 “Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations. Ask your father, and he will show you; your elders, and they will tell you: 8 When the Most High divided their inheritance to the nations, when He separated the sons of Adam, He set the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the CHILDREN OF ISRAEL. 9 For the LORD's portion is His people; Jacob is the place of His inheritance. (NKJV)
However, there is a variant rendering of this passage. It's based on the third-century B.C.E. translation of the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek, the Septuagint, as well as Hebrew manuscripts of Deuteronomy found among the Dead Sea Scrolls at Qumran:
DEUTERONOMY 32:7 Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations; ask your father, and he will show you; your elders, and they will tell you. 8 When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when He separated the sons of men, He fixed the bounds of the peoples according to the number of the SONS OF GOD. 9 For the LORD's portion is His people, Jacob His allotted heritage. (RSV)
Here is this same passage as it was rendered by Sir Lancelot C.L. Brenton in his 1851 translation of the Septuagint into English:
DEUTERONOMY 32:7 Remember the days of old, consider the years for past ages: ask thy father, and he shall relate to thee, thine elders, and they shall tell thee. 8 When the Most High divided the nations, when He separated the sons of Adam, He set the bounds of the nations according to the number of the angels of God. 9 And His people Jacob became the portion of the Lord, Israel was the line of His inheritance. (Brenton's LXX)
The Greek phrase translated “angels of God” is aggelon theou; this interpretive phrase is found in nearly all the extant Septuagint manuscripts. However, several earlier manuscripts have instead huion theou, or “sons of God.” This is a literal rendering of the Hebrew phrase beney 'elohim found among the Dead Sea Scroll copies of Deuteronomy 32:8.
The Septuagint translators plainly understood that the “sons of God” (beney 'elohim) spoken of in Deuteronomy 32:8 and elsewhere were spirit beings (“angels”), and rendered it that way several times (Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7) in order to clarify the meaning. Thus the textual change from huion theou to aggelon theou.
The idea that the separation of mankind into 70 nations at the Tower of Babel was by and for the angelic “sons of God” is supported by the ancient Book of Jasher (Jos. 10:13; II Sam. 1:18):
JASHER 9:31 And they built the tower and the city, and they did this thing daily until many days and years were elapsed. 32 And God said to the seventy angels who stood foremost before him, to those who were near to him, saying, Come let us descend and confuse their tongues, that one man shall not understand the language of his neighbor, and they did so unto them. (pub. 1887, J.H. Parry & Company, Salt Lake City, Utah)
The paraphrased Aramaic translation of Deuteronomy 32:8-9 found in the ancient Targum called Pseudo-Jonathan supports the Septuagint rendering of verse 8, but also hints at the origin of the later alternate reading (“sons of Israel”):
DEUTERONOMY 32:8 When the Most High made allotment of the world unto the nations which proceeded from the sons of Noach, in the separation of the writings and languages of the children of men at the time of the division, He cast the lot among the seventy angels, the princes of the nations with whom is the revelation to oversee the city, even at that time He established the limits of the nations according to the sum of the number of the seventy souls of Israel who went down into Mizraim [Egypt]. (Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, translated by J.W. Etheridge)
The dispute over whether the Masoretic Text or the Septuagint represents the original is more than a scholarly argument among biblical text experts. The implication of the latter rendering of verse 8 is significant with regard to understanding how God governs the earth.
As the Targum explicitly brings out, Moses' mention of the separation of “the sons of men” refers back to God's division of Noah's descendants into 70 different nations, as recorded in the 10th chapter of Genesis:
GENESIS 10:32 These are the families of the sons of Noah, according to their genealogies, by their nations; and out of these the nations were separated on the earth after the flood. (NASU)
Chapter 10 of Genesis is the backdrop for Moses' statement in Deuteronomy 32:8 that God is responsible for the creation and placement of the nations (Heb. goyim). In fact, variations of the same Hebrew root word parad (“separate”) are used in both Genesis 10:32 and Deuteronomy 32:8.
If Moses was indeed referencing God's separation of the nations according to Noah's offspring (specifically their physical separation at the Tower of Babel), it is important to note that Israel is not listed in the index of the 70 nations found in Genesis 10. The nation of Israel did not yet exist at that time. Therefore, the statement that God “set the boundaries of the nations according to the number of the children of Israel” clearly seems out of context here.
However, if we accept the rendering of Deuteronomy 32:8 found in the Septuagint and the Hebrew copies of Deuteronomy from Qumran (which is supported by the testimony of the Book of Jasher), we face the same dilemma that the Jewish scribes later faced. Did the Hebrew Scriptures at one time suggest polytheism in the religion delivered to the Israelites?
Ancient Hebrew language expert Michael S. Heiser has shown that there is good reason to accept the earlier version of this Scripture. In his article on this passage, he writes:
. . . What could possibly be meant by the textual option that created a correspondence between the number of the nations in Genesis 10-11 and heavenly beings?
Literary and conceptual parallels discovered in the literature of Ugarit, however, have provided a more coherent explanation for the number 70 in Deuteronomy 32:8 – and have furnished powerful ammunition to textual scholars who argued against the “sons of Israel” reading in MT. Ugaritic mythology plainly states that the head of its pantheon, El (who, like the God of the Bible, is also referred to as El Elyon, the “Most High”) fathered 70 sons, thereby setting the number of the “sons of El” (Ugaritic, bn 'il ). An unmistakable linguistic parallel with the Hebrew text underlying the LXX reading was thus discovered, one which prompted many scholars to accept the LXX reading on logical and philological grounds: God (El Elyon in Deut. 32:8) divided the earth according to the number of heavenly beings who already existed from the time of creation.
. . . Understanding “sons of God” as the correct reading in Deuteronomy 32:8 in no way requires one to view Israelite religion as polytheistic. (p. 3, “Deuteronomy 32:8 and the Sons of God”)
Ugaritic is an ancient near eastern language that is closely related to biblical Hebrew. Evidently, Ugarit developed a divine mythology based on antediluvian truths regarding the one true God and His government of the world through the angelic creation. Ugaritic literature contains many council scenes where the chief deity 'El presides over the council of his divine sons, who stand before him on the holy Mount of Assembly.
We see a very similar scene portrayed in the Bible at I Kings 22 and II Chronicles 18, where YHVH's prophet Micaiah describes a vision of the heavenly council that he had been given in regard to a question posed to him by Ahab, king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, king of Judah:
II CHRONICLES 18:18 Then Micaiah said, “Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing on His right hand and His left. 19 And the LORD said, 'Who will persuade Ahab king of Israel to go up, that he may fall at Ramoth Gilead?' So one spoke in this manner, and another spoke in that manner. 20 Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD, and said, 'I will persuade him.' The LORD said to him, 'In what way?' 21 “So he said, 'I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.' And the Lord said, 'You shall persuade him and also prevail; go out and do so.' 22 Therefore look! The LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these prophets of yours, and the LORD has declared disaster against you.” (NKJV)
Here we see mention of the “host of heaven” (Heb. tzeva' hashamayim) which stands before YHVH. Clearly this is speaking of angelic beings, including those on the heavenly divine council. This vision seen by Micaiah shows that YHVH is in complete control of events. He only approves the course of action that suits His purpose, which in this case was to bring about the death of evil King Ahab (I Kings 22:20; II Chr. 18:19).
The “host of heaven” is spoken of in many Scriptures. Some Bible scholars attempt to downplay the true meaning of this phrase and imply that it speaks mainly of the stars in the sky. Contextually, however, it is evident that tzeva' hashamayim often refers to the realm of spirit beings in the heavens.
The New Bible Dictionary says this about the “host of heaven”:
This phrase (tzeva' hashamayim) occurs about 15 times, in most cases implying the object of heathen worship (Dt. 4:19, etc.). The two meanings 'celestial bodies' and 'angelic beings' are inextricably intertwined. The LXX translation, using kosmos, stratia, or dynamis, does not help to resolve this. No doubt to the Heb[rew] mind the distinction was superficial, and the celestial bodies were thought to be closely associated with heavenly beings. . . . The Bible certainly suggests that angels of different ranks have charge of individuals and of nations; no doubt, in the light of modern cosmology this concept, if retained at all (as biblically it must be), ought properly to be extended, as the dual sense of the phrase 'host of heaven' suggests, to the oversight of the elements of the physical universe–planets, stars and nebulae. (p. 495, “Host, Host of Heaven”)
Regarding the meaning of the related title “Lord of hosts” (Heb. YHVH tzeva'ot), the New Bible Dictionary states:
It is thought by some to have arisen as a title of God associated with his lordship over the 'host' of Israel; but its usage, especially in the prophets, clearly implies also a relationship to the 'host of heaven' in its angelic sense; and this could well be the original connotation. (p. 495, “Host, Host of Heaven”)
The following Scriptures indicate that the “host of heaven” is more than just the stars in the night sky:
NEHEMIAH 9:5 . . . “Stand up and bless the LORD your God forever and ever! Blessed be Your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise! 6 You alone are the LORD; You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and everything on it, the seas and all that is in them, and You preserve them all. The host of heaven worships You.” (NKJV)
Only living creatures can worship God. Clearly, the “host of heaven” here refers to sentient created beings which reside in the heavens.
JEREMIAH 19:13 “And the houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah shall be defiled like the place of Tophet, because of all the houses on whose roofs they have burned incense to all the host of heaven, and poured out drink offerings to other gods.” (NKJV)
Here Jeremiah draws a parallel between “the host of heaven,” to whom incense was burned and “other gods,” to whom drink offerings were poured out. This grammatical construction in Hebrew is meant to show that both the “host of heaven” and the “other gods” were the same. They were “the gods of the nations,” the angelic rulers assigned by God over the nations of the earth.
One of the most grievous sins of the ancient Israelites was their continual idolatry. Instead of worshiping the one true God, they instead worshiped the inferior “sons of God,” the “host of heaven”:
II KINGS 17:15 And they [Israel and Judah] rejected His statutes and His covenant that He had made with their fathers, and His testimonies which He had testified against them; they followed idols, became idolaters, and went after the nations who were all around them, concerning whom the LORD had charged them that they should not do like them. 16 So they left all the commandments of the LORD their God, made for themselves a molded image and two calves, made a wooden image and worshiped all the host of heaven, and served Baal. (NKJV)
II KINGS 21:3 For he [Manasseh] rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; he raised up altars for Baal, and made a wooden image, as Ahab king of Israel had done; and he worshiped all the host of heaven and served them. 4 He also built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, “In Jerusalem I will put My name.” 5 And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD. 6 Also he made his son pass through the fire, practiced soothsaying, used witchcraft, and consulted spiritists and mediums. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke Him to anger. (NKJV)
The Bible shows that the “host of heaven” was on the scene during the creation of the earth. In Job 38:4-7, we see YHVH questioning Job in order to prove a point to him. During that interrogation, He asks Job where he was during the creation of the universe:
JOB 38:4 “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding, 5 Who set its measurements? Since you know. Or who stretched the line on it? 6 On what were its bases sunk? Or who laid its cornerstone, 7 When the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” (NASU)
This Scripture clearly indicates that the “sons of God” (beney 'elohim, also called “morning stars” here) were present at creation week. This fact is supported by the first chapter of Genesis:
GENESIS 1:26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” (NIV)
This verse is often used by modern scholars to attempt to prove that the doctrine of the Trinity can be found in the Old Testament. Regarding this erroneous contention, The Eerdmans Bible Dictionary states:
The “us” in “Let us make man in our image” (Gen. 1:26; cf. 3:22; 11:6-7) refers to the “sons of God” or lesser “gods” mentioned elsewhere (6:1-4; Job 1:6; Ps. 29:1), here viewed as a heavenly council centered around the one God (cf. Ps. 82:1). In later usage these probably would be called “angels.” (p. 1019,
“Trinity”)
Deuteronomy 32:8 is paralleled by a passage from Deuteronomy 4 that speaks of the allocation of the heavenly host:
DEUTERONOMY 4:19 “And beware not to lift up your eyes to heaven and see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, and be drawn away and worship them and serve them, those which the LORD your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven. (NASU)
The “host of heaven” here is said to be “allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven.” The word allotted in Hebrew is chalaq, which literally means “apportioned” or “assigned.” In a statement similar to Deuteronomy 32:8, we are told here that God has assigned “the host of heaven” to the peoples of the earth.
The “host of heaven” are the same spiritual “principalities,” “powers,” and “rulers” Paul speaks of in Ephesians 6:12. These heavenly “powers” are mentioned many times in the New Testament:
MATTHEW 24:29 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.” (NKJV)
MARK 13:24 “But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; 25 the stars of heaven will fall, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.” (NKJV)
LUKE 21:25 “And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; 26 men's hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of heaven will be shaken.” (NKJV)
ROMANS 8:38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (NKJV)
I CORINTHIANS 15:24 Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. 25 For he must reign till He has put all enemies under his feet. (NKJV)
EPHESIANS 1:20 Which He worked in Christ, raising him from the dead and seating him at His right hand in the heavens, 21 far above every principality, authority, power, and dominion, and every name that is named not only in this age but also in the one to come. (NAB)
EPHESIANS 3:8 To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9 and to make all men see what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things; 10 that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places. 11 This was according to the eternal purpose which he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, (RSV)
COLOSSIANS 1:15 He [Christ] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For in him were created all things in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things were created through him and for him. (NAB)
COLOSSIANS 2:9 For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; 10 and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power. (NKJV)
COLOSSIANS 2:13 When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He [God] made you alive together with him [Christ], having forgiven us all our transgressions, 14 having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. 15 When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through him. (NASU)
1 PETER 3:22 [Christ] who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him. (NKJV)
In Hebrews 2:5, the author indirectly establishes the current rulership of our world by powerful angelic beings:
HEBREWS 2:5 It is not to angels that He has subjected the world to come, about which we are speaking. (NIV)
By saying that God will not subject the coming world to the rule of angels, the author implies that the current world is being ruled by spirit entities.
Chapters 1 and 2 of the book of Job show two instances of the divine council composed of the sons of God (the beney 'elohim) gathering in heaven for a meeting of the council:
JOB 1:6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them. 7 And the LORD said to Satan, “From where do you come?” So Satan answered the LORD and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it.” (NKJV)
JOB 2:1 Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the LORD. 2 And the LORD said to Satan, “From where do you come?” So Satan answered the LORD and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it.” (NKJV)
What we see described here appear to be accounts of the “sons of God” (beney 'elohim) coming to regularly scheduled meetings of the divine council. Satan also came to these meetings, but from the text we cannot tell if he is one of the members of the council, or if he simply appeared to bring a petition before the council. Other Scriptures seem to indicate, however, that Satan may be a high-ranking member of the divine council given charge over the kingdoms of the world (e.g. Luke 4:5-7).
A couple of other Scriptures mention the divine council in passing:
JOB 15:7 “Are you the first man that was born? Or were you brought forth before the hills? 8 Have you listened in the council of God? And do you limit wisdom to yourself? (RSV)
JEREMIAH 23:16 This is what the LORD Almighty says: “Do not listen to what the prophets are prophesying to you; they fill you with false hopes. They speak visions from their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD. 17 They keep saying to those who despise Me, 'The LORD says: You will have peace.' And to all who follow the stubbornness of their hearts they say, 'No harm will come to you.' 18 But which of them has stood in the council of the LORD to see or to hear His word? Who has listened and heard His word?” (NIV)
Psalm 82 is the most detailed description we have of a meeting of the heavenly divine council which was given rulership over the 70 nations of the earth:
PSALM 82:1 {A Psalm of Asaph.} God has taken His place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods He holds judgment: 2 “How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? Selah 3 Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. 4 Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.” 5 They have neither knowledge nor understanding, they walk about in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken. 6 I say, “You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you; 7 nevertheless, you shall die like men, and fall like any prince.” 8 Arise, O God, judge the earth; for to thee belong all the nations! (RSV)
In this psalm, we see God take His place as the leader of the divine council. The psalmist records that, during this meeting of the council, God criticizes the “gods” ('elohim) for their unfairness and wickedness in carrying out the responsibilities He has assigned to them. Asaph tells us that the sin and rebellion of the 'elohim have shaken the foundations of the earth. He records God's warning to these divine spirit entities, that their fate for corruption and disobedience will be to “die like men” (Heb. 'adam). Since clearly all men will “die like men,” attempting to apply this Scripture to human rulers, as some scholars do, is illogical. Asaph ends the psalm by exhorting God to judge th
e earth and its divine rulers, because all nations truly belong to Him and not to them.
Psalm 82:7 refers to the governing 'elohim as “princes.” This designation connects these council members to whom rulership of the nations was given (Deu. 32:8) with another passage of Scripture found in Daniel:
DANIEL 10:5 I lifted my eyes and looked, and behold, a certain man clothed in linen, whose waist was girded with gold of Uphaz! 6 His body was like beryl, his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like torches of fire, his arms and feet like burnished bronze in color, and the sound of his words like the voice of a multitude. . . . 12 Then he said to me, “Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard; and I have come because of your words. 13 But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; and behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia. (NKJV)
The Scripture above gives us an intriguing glimpse into the order and activities of the spiritual realm. Gabriel was sent by God to give Daniel insight into what would happen to his people (the Jews) in “the latter days.” However, this mighty angel was delayed for three weeks because “the prince of the kingdom of Persia” contested God's command. This prince of Persia clearly was not human; he was the divine council member who had authority over the nation of Persia.
Indeed, if Michael (who is described in Dan. 12:1 as the great prince who stands over the people of Israel) had not helped Gabriel, God's message to Daniel might not have been delivered. For additional information on Michael, the spiritual prince over God's portion, Israel, refer to my article “Christ in the Old Testament.”
DANIEL 10:20 Then he said, “Do you know why I have come to you? Now I must return to fight against the prince of Persia, and when I am through with him, the prince of Greece will come. 21 But I am to tell you what is inscribed in the book of truth. There is no one with me who contends against these princes except Michael, your prince.” (NRSV)
After conveying his message to Daniel, Gabriel states that he must return to again do battle with “the prince of Persia.” Furthermore, he states that he will also have to combat “the prince of Greece” after he has finished with “the Prince of Persia.” The picture portrayed by this brief narrative is one of opposition to God's will by the spirit beings of the council who have been given rule over the nations.
The book of Daniel mentions the fate of some of the “host of heaven” under the coming Antichrist:
DANIEL 8:10 And it [the little horn] grew up to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and some of the stars to the ground, and trampled them. 11 He even exalted himself as high as the Prince of the host [Yeshua, cf. Eph. 1:21; Col. 2:10; I Pet. 3:22]; and by him the daily sacrifices were taken away, and the place of His sanctuary was cast down. (NKJV)
We see from Daniel 8 that the Antichrist will come against these spiritual powers and “cast down some” of them and “trample them.” It's likely that the remainder will join his end-time rebellion against God.
Just as Psalm 82 speaks of the eventual fate of these heavenly princes, the prophet Isaiah tells of their coming punishment in a couple of passages:
ISAIAH 24:19 The earth is broken asunder, the earth is split through, the earth is shaken violently. 20 The earth reels to and fro like a drunkard and it totters like a shack, for its transgression is heavy upon it, and it will fall, never to rise again. 21 So it will happen in that day, that the LORD will punish the host of heaven on high, and the kings of the earth on earth. 22 They will be gathered together like prisoners in the dungeon, and will be confined in prison; and after many days they will be punished. (NASU)
As Isaiah 24:21 shows, the “host of heaven” ruling from “on high” are differentiated from the kings ruling on the earth below. Let's look at another prophecy of their doom:
ISAIAH 34:1 Come near, you nations, to hear; and heed, you people! Let the earth hear, and all that is in it, the world and all things that come forth from it. 2 For the indignation of the LORD is against all nations, and His fury against all their armies; He has utterly destroyed them, He has given them over to the slaughter. 3 Also their slain shall be thrown out; their stench shall rise from their corpses, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood. 4 All the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll; all their host shall fall down as the leaf falls from the vine, and as fruit falling from a fig tree. 5 “For My sword shall be bathed in heaven; indeed it shall come down on Edom, and on the people of My curse, for judgment.” (NKJV)
Like the “host” of the nations that come against the Messiah will be slain, the “host of heaven” (Heb. tzeva' hashamayim) who rule these earthly nations will also be defeated. The sword of the Eternal, wielded by the Messiah, will “drink its fill in the heavens” as well as on the earth.
We are told in Isaiah 34:4 that “the host of heaven shall be dissolved” (Heb. namaqu, literally “waste away,” “decay”). In Zechariah 14:12, the same Hebrew root word maqaq is used to describe the fate of those who come against Jerusalem at the end of the age.
There is a similarity between Isaiah 34:4 and II Peter 3:10-12 that deserves some attention. Peter speaks of an end-time fire in the heavens, which will melt and dissolve the elements:
II PETER 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements [stoicheia] will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and the works that are upon it will be burned up. 11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of persons ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, 12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be kindled and dissolved, and the elements [stoicheia] will melt with fire! (RSV)
The Greek word stoicheia, translated “elements” in the passage above, is understood by many scholars to refer to heavenly spirits. This understanding can be seen in several passages written by the apostle Paul:
GALATIANS 4:1 I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no better than a slave, though he is the owner of all the estate; 2 but he is under guardians and trustees until the date set by the father. 3 So with us; when we were children, we were slaves to the elemental spirits of the universe [ta stoicheia tou kosmou]. (RSV)
GALATIANS 4:9 But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and beggarly elemental spirits [stoicheia], whose slaves you want to be once more? (RSV)
COLOSSIANS 2:8 See to it that no one makes a prey of you by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe [ta stoicheia tou kosmou], and not according to Christ. (RSV)
COLOSSIANS 2:18 Let no one disqualify you, insisting on self-abasement and worship of angels, taking his stand on visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, 19 and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God. 20 If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the universe [ton stoicheion tou kosmou], why do you live as if you still belonged to the world? . . . (RSV)
The Dictionary of Paul and His Letters has this to say about the “elements” as spiritual powers:
A number of interpreters, perhaps even a majority, have concluded that ta stoicheia tou kosmou refers to spiritual powers of some sort. . . . The earliest extant extrabiblical Jewish evidence for the stoicheia being associated with both spirits and stars is later than the
first century (second and third centuries A.D.), but it is well attested and may very well represent beliefs contemporaneous with Paul (cf. Lohse, 99 n.41). The Testament of Solomon, a Jewish-Christian work usually dated to the third century A.D., but possibly containing material dating to the first century, testifies to a belief in star spirits called stoicheia. Seven bound spirits appear before Solomon and reveal their identity: “We are the stoicheia, rulers of this world of darkness [kosmokratores tou skotous, cf. Eph 6:12] . . . our stars in heaven look small, but we are named like gods” (T. Sol. 8:2-4). (pp. 231, 232, “Elements/Elemental Spirits of the World”)
If we understand the usage of stoicheia by Peter to be the same as Paul's usage in the Scriptures cited above, we can see that Peter was simply reemphasizing what the prophet Isaiah had said about the fate of the spiritual powers aligned against God. Isaiah stated the “host of heaven” would be dissolved; Peter said that these same “elemental spirits” would be dissolved by fire.
YESHUA'S RELATIONSHIP TO THE DIVINE COUNCIL
In the tenth chapter of John's Gospel, Yeshua answers the Jews' question regarding his identity:
JOHN 10:24 Then the Jews surrounded him and said to him, “How long do you keep us in doubt? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” 25 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me. 26 But you do not believe, because you are not of my sheep, as I said to you. 27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of my hand. 29 “My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand. 30 I and My Father are one.” 31 Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him. 32 Jesus answered them, “Many good works I have shown you from my Father. For which of those works do you stone me?” 33 The Jews answered Him, saying, “For a good work we do not stone you, but for blasphemy, and because you, being a man, make yourself God [theon].” 34 Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your law, 'I said, “You are gods [theoi]” '? 35 If He called them gods [theous], to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), 36 do you say of him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'? 37 If I do not do the works of my Father, do not believe me; 38 but if I do, though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in me, and I in Him.” (NKJV)
The passage above starts with the Jews asking Yeshua if he was the prophesied Messiah (v. 24). He answered by saying that he had already told them he was, and they didn't believe him (v. 25a). Yeshua goes on to say that the works he had performed before them in the Father's name were a testimony to his identity (v. 25b). Next he differentiated between those blinded Jews and the sheep his Father had given him (vv. 26-29). Yeshua finished his comments to the Jews by proclaiming that he and his Father were “one” (v. 30).
This answer prompted the Jews to charge him with blasphemy and prepare to stone him (vv. 31-33). In verses 34-36, Yeshua addressed the charge that the Jews had leveled against him, namely that he had blasphemed by proclaiming himself to be “God.” The Greek word theon is the equivalent of the Hebrew 'elohim.
Based on Yeshua's answer to the Jews, why were they planning to stone him? Did they think that he, a man, had proclaimed himself to be God the Father? Or did they understand his claim in a way that was different from the common Trinitarian understanding of today?
Rather than assume that we know, let's allow the Jews themselves define for us what they took Yeshua's claim to be:
JOHN 19:6 Therefore, when the chief priests and officers saw Him, they cried out, saying, “Crucify Him, crucify Him!” Pilate said to them, “You take Him and crucify Him, for I find no fault in Him.” 7 The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to our law He ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.” (NKJV)
Clearly the Jews understood Yeshua's claim to be that he was an 'elohim, one of the divine sons of God. Carefully notice Yeshua's specific reply to the charge of blasphemy. He first references the members of the divine council, who were called “sons of God” in the Old Testament (Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7; etc.), by quoting from Psalm 82:6 (v. 34). Then Yeshua asked the Jews, “Why do you say I'm blaspheming just because I've proclaimed myself to be the Son of God, when the Father Himself in the Scripture calls the members of the divine council gods ('elohim)?” (vv. 35-36).
Yeshua's response, including the reference to Psalm 82:6, was intended to convey the understanding that Yeshua, the Son of God, had preexisted his mortal appearance and was one of the members (in fact, the foremost member) of the divine council addressed in Psalm 82. Yeshua here was proclaiming himself to be an 'elohim (divine); he was NOT saying that he was the 'Elohim, the Most High, God the Father.
Many Christians base their understanding of this passage solely on verse 30. They assume that Yeshua's statement that he and the Father are one is an affirmation of the Trinity doctrine (or the less popular “Oneness” doctrine). However, the Bible clearly shows that the state of being “one” does not entail being “the same as” (i.e., Yeshua = the Father).
The example of Adam and Eve clearly illustrates this biblical principal:
GENESIS 2:21 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. 22 Then the rib which the LORD God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. 23 And Adam said: “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” 24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become ONE FLESH. 25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. (NKJV)
Yeshua himself quoted this passage when defending the sanctity of marriage to the Pharisees (Matt. 19:3-9; Mark 10:2-12). Clearly, a man and woman do not literally become one flesh when they marry. So out of necessity, it is essential to understand “one” here in a different sense. The Hebrew word for “one” (echad) often means “unity.” It is this meaning that Jesus intended when he said that he and his Father were “one.” Jesus was unified with the Father in accomplishing God's purpose and will (Matt. 26:39; John 5:30; 14:10, 24).
Yeshua's prayer to the Father before his crucifixion, recorded in John 17, confirms this understanding of “one”:
JOHN 17:11 “Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are.” (NKJV)
Yeshua prayed that the disciples God had given him would become one, just as he and the Father were one. How then were the disciples to become one? Were they to become some sort of divine triune being? Or were they to be united through the Holy Spirit to do the will of God, just as Yeshua was united to his Father during his entire life on earth?
JOHN 17:20 “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; 21 that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. 22 And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: 23 I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.” (NKJV)
When he prayed “that they may be one
just as we are one,” Yeshua was not praying for all believers to become a part of the Trinity. Yeshua clearly tells us that he and the Father are “one” by the Father being in him (through the Holy Spirit) and by Yeshua being in the Father (by doing God's will instead of his own). Yeshua always knew God's will because of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit; he remained in the Father by always doing His will. Yeshua's prayer for all believers was that the Father would make them one with both of them; this would be accomplished by God's Spirit flowing through Christ (the mediator) to dwell within them.
CONCLUSION
The world is currently ruled over by angelic principalities and powers that God gave authority over the nations. Just as the nations over which they rule, these mighty spirits have often chosen to go against the will of God. In choosing not to submit to God's authority, they have become the enemies of God and His chosen people. Eventually, the rebellion of these wicked spirits will lead to their judgment and punishment. The Messiah, the ruler of the sons of God on the divine council, will triumph over them at his second coming and will rule the nations according to the will of God.
Bryan T. Huie
January 22, 2002
Revised: September 28, 2002Quote So much scriptural evidence that you will have to keep saying over and over, “Well, I know the scriptures say that, but what it really means is [insert preconcieved trinity apology].” Mercy
Then why dont you insert your belief and see if it differs!
Let me know your interpretation!
I know that these studies I post are long. But, if you truly want to understand my position then read them. If you see all kinds of errors then set me straight.
I have researched this alot (not a pride issue, I know we all study alot). I am not just picking a view I like best nor am I just remaining faithful to a tradition based off of where geographically i was born. I have not always believed this way, I feel I was led to truth.
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