The Divine Council

The Divine Council is a term used in some translations of the Bible to describe the group of beings in heaven who, with God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, make decisions and direct actions within heaven and on earth. We were intended to have this same authority on earth (Genesis 1: 26-28) but gave it up as well as our direct relationship with God when we turned from God and listened to the influence of the fallen beings who rebelled against God early in Earth's history. We know these fallen as the satan, the devil, and demons.

When we think of the fall, we usually think of the temptation of Eve in the Garden of Eden by the satan (Link to a page or Heiser's teaching explaining this), and we are right to do so, but many believers are unaware of the two other deceptions/rebellions that took place as well. The second is described by scholars as the corruption of mankind. We get a glimpse of what happened when we read Genesis 6:1-6. This is where mankind truly lost favor with God (Genesis 6:7-8) and became so depraved and wicked God intended to completely wipe mankind off the earth. Gratefully, God found Noah, and started over with him. Unfortunately, mankind's depraved and corruptible mind found other ways to get God's attention, this time they chose to not come and be reconciled to God by his grace, but intended to make their own way back to God and his realm. This is the Tower of Babble story from Genesis 11. It is here that mankind was dispersed again and not only given new languages but new guardians as well. Who were/are these guardians and what did they do? Good question. To find out, we need to dig into scripture's original languages and into some non-biblical texts. You can read up on this HERE. But we need to understand an important fact before this post ends.

Fact: God in his love for us, came down to earth to fix what we can not and take back the power from the fallen that we gave up to them by giving up his own life as ransom for ours. God has rules that even he submits himself to and so, the debt of sin had to be paid and accounted for. Instead of putting that burden on us, he took it upon himself to fulfill the law, the rules by which He demands everyone to live by. That is love, that is grace, and an incredible example of how much God wants us in his family. If someone has shown you this type of sacrificial love - taking a punishment meant for you or giving up their own life (figuratively or in reality) to save yours, please share it if you would. Sharing their story is not just an encouragement to others, but a way to honor their sacrifice.

To learn more about the Divine Council, check out this Bible Project series: https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/intro-spiritual-beingss