The scriptures reveal a profound spiritual reality where the Lord, Yahweh, is the one true God who presides over a council of spiritual beings. These beings, also called Elohim, are not gods in the ultimate sense but are created spiritual entities given assignments by the Creator. This understanding helps frame the cosmic order and the authority structure God established. It invites us to see the biblical narrative through a wider, more majestic lens. [08:21]
God presides in the great assembly; he renders judgment among the “gods.” How long will you defend the unjust and show partiality to the wicked? Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.
Psalm 82:1-4 (NIV)
Reflection: When you consider the vastness of God's authority over both the seen and unseen realms, how does that reshape your understanding of His power and your place within His creation?
The Lord entrusted certain spiritual beings with responsibilities over nations, intending for them to lead with justice and righteousness. However, these beings rebelled against their divine assignment, choosing to exercise their authority in wickedness and show partiality. This rebellion introduced a profound corruption into the world order, a theme that echoes throughout the biblical story and explains the deep brokenness we see. [10:18]
“I said, ‘You are “gods”; you are all sons of the Most High.’ But you will die like mere mortals; you will fall like every other ruler.”
Psalm 82:6-7 (NIV)
Reflection: In what areas of your own life has God given you responsibility or influence, and how can you guard against the temptation to use that authority for self-interest rather than for His purposes?
A particular and startling rebellion is recorded in Genesis, where heavenly beings transgressed a fundamental boundary. These "sons of God" saw the "daughters of humans" and took them as wives, an act of leaving their proper domain. This was not a minor infraction but a catastrophic violation of the created order that had severe consequences for all of humanity and precipitated divine judgment. [21:08]
The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.
Genesis 6:4 (NIV)
Reflection: Where might you be tempted to cross a God-ordained boundary because something looks desirable, and what would it look like to choose contentment and obedience instead?
The corruption that resulted from this spiritual rebellion was so profound that it contaminated humanity on a fundamental level. The inclination of every human heart became only evil all the time. This context helps us understand the drastic nature of the Flood; it was God's necessary response to a creation overrun by a unique and devastating form of evil that threatened to destroy His purposes entirely. [17:06]
The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.
Genesis 6:5 (NIV)
Reflection: How does understanding the depth of this corruption deepen your appreciation for God’s holiness and the incredible grace found in His plan of redemption through Christ?
The New Testament writers point back to this event not as a curious myth but as a grave warning. These angels are presented as an example of those who abandoned their God-given place and are now held for judgment. Their story serves as a sobering lesson on the importance of faithfulness to the role and station God has assigned to each of His creatures, both spiritual and human. [29:43]
And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day.
Jude 1:6 (NIV)
Reflection: What is one specific area where God has placed you—be it in your family, work, or community—and how can you actively pursue faithfulness in that assignment this week?
Genesis 1–11 frames the cosmic problem: Yahweh stands as the one true God who rules over a divine council of other spiritual beings called Elohim. Scripture uses the same Hebrew terms for both the supreme God and these subordinate spiritual officers, and the divine council motif explains passages that otherwise read oddly if read only in human-political terms. Genesis 6 introduces a crisis when the “sons of God” encounter the “daughters of humans,” producing Nephilim and provoking divine judgment. Close reading of the Hebrew and parallel uses of bene elohim in Job and the Psalms point to spiritual beings rather than merely human lineages or royal pretensions.
The angelic interpretation receives support from New Testament writers who assume a preexisting story of spiritual beings abandoning their stations. Jude 1:6 and 2 Peter 2:4 describe angels who sinned and were bound for judgment, language that aligns with the Genesis account and with ancient Jewish literature such as 1 Enoch. 1 Enoch expands the brief Genesis notice into a fuller narrative about “watchers” who descend, take wives, sire giants, and earn binding and judgment; that tradition shaped Second Temple Jewish thought and influenced early Christian writers.
The line of argument presents three standard readings—Sethite (human lineage), royal (divine kings), and angelic (spiritual beings)—and builds a case for the angelic reading by surveying lexical patterns, parallel passages, and early interpretive history. The angelic reading also addresses why a catastrophic flood would follow: a profound corruption of human and spiritual order demanded sweeping remediation. The account raises theological implications about persistent crossover between spirit and flesh, the origin and nature of demonic hostility, and the peril of abandoning assigned roles. Finally, the material invites practical caution: divine ordering of roles and boundaries matters, violations carry cosmic consequences, and careful study of these early texts reshapes how the rest of Scripture’s narrative of redemption is read.
I'm at the end, I'm gonna ask, okay, what are the, what are some implications? In other words, why does it matter? Right? Is it, does it affect us at all spiritually? Because this could just be kind of curiosity. And we could become spectators in this rather than trying to say, why does it matter? But having said that, that there'll be a time for q and a. I I also want, if there's a place I've just kinda lost you, stop me and ask, okay, go back and say that again.
[00:04:39]
(29 seconds)
#WhyItMatters
Because if I lost you, probably lost somebody else. So, I've been wrestling with this and so I may assume certain things and you may be like, you just seem like you went from point three to point six and I didn't get four and five. So I'm I'm not gonna be bothered if you wanna just stop me and, and ask some questions. So we're gonna, just go after it. So, I've been calling this three, spiritual rebellions.
[00:05:09]
(26 seconds)
#AskForClarity
So you gotta understand it in context, right? And so it's telling us there's one main god. And so, the the translators just make that decision. Okay? Elohim presides in the great assembly. He renders judgment among the Elohim. How long, now this is what what Yahweh Elohim, the big Elohim, says. How long will you, he's talking to these to these spiritual beings he's given assignments. How long will you defend the unjust and show partiality to the wicked?
[00:09:30]
(32 seconds)
#ElohimInAssembly
And the Lord, Yahweh, regretted that he had made human beings on the earth. And his heart was deeply troubled. So the Lord said, I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created. And with them, the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground, for I regret that I have made them. But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. So this is where the story of Noah begins because of this situation with the sons of God coming to the daughters of of of men, and the Nephilim being created.
[00:17:01]
(32 seconds)
#SethiteInterpretation
So the third view is that some of these Elohim, some of these angels, that are in the divine council, have somehow left their station and have taken on some kind of human identity. And they have come and, intermarried or at least mated with, with, human women. And so that's the third view. Now as wacky as that sounds, I'm telling you that's what the the scripture seems to be pointing to. So let's just take this third view, which I'm gonna focus in on.
[00:20:39]
(38 seconds)
#HeiserScholarship
So biblical support for these being the spiritual beings view. Okay? That the sons of God, the belly so the biblical support. We're gonna look at two things. One is where else do we see this or similar language used in the bible? And we're gonna say, does this view explain anything or clarify anything in the bible that we kinda like going, I don't know why they ever talked about that. Well, if this is true, now I know why they talk about that. Alright, So we're gonna try to do a and b.
[00:22:57]
(31 seconds)
#MorningStarsAndAngels
So Judah's writing and he says, for certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people. And he's trying to, he's trying to just say be on your, be on your lookout for these people. They're they're doing what they shouldn't be doing. And so he's he's now he's gonna give us an example like an analogy. And now he says that god will judge that, but that god will also protect those who are godly. He's gonna use the example here, and then of how God protected Noah.
[00:28:57]
(35 seconds)
#PeterAndOneEnoch
Verse six. And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority, but abandoned their proper dwelling. These he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting change for judgment on the great day. So I can't think of anybody who doesn't know, or I mean bible scholar who doesn't say, well that's pointing to back to Genesis six. Now here's the something. You can say, well, it could be something else. Well, you have any other any other antecedent for it?
[00:29:32]
(35 seconds)
#OneEnochWatchersNarrative
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