It isn't a failure!

It might seem that God could have just stepped in after the fall and eliminated free will and the divine and human rebels who had abused it. Eden would be ensured and that would be that. While that would produce the desired end, the original means—free participation in God’s creation by God’s free-will agents, designed to be like him—would have been abandoned, amounting to a very flawed idea and spectacular failure. A resolution like that isn’t fitting (or desirable) for the God of the Bible. God’s original objective must come about in the way he intended.—Michael Heiser, The Unseen Realm, 358

<idle musing>
That's the final snippet from the book. I saw an announcement yesterday that they are releasing a second edition, inserting stuff that Mike has on his website. They are calling it a posthumous tribute.

Next up is a collection of George Orwell essays that I picked up at a library sale last year. I bought it for his essay on the English language, but some of the other essays are well worth your time. Stay tuned!
</idle musing>

Who's on the defense here?

The theological messaging couldn’t be more dramatic. Jesus says he will build his church—and the “gates of hell” will not prevail against it. We often think of this phrase as though God’s people are in a posture of having to bravely fend off Satan and his demons. This simply isn’t correct. Gates are defensive structures, not offensive weapons. The kingdom of God is the aggressor. Jesus begins at ground zero in the cosmic geography of both testaments to announce the great reversal. It is the gates of hell that are under assault—and they will not hold up against the church. Hell will one day be Satan’s tomb.—Michael Heiser, The Unseen Realm, 284–85 (emphasis original)

That David guy—a man after God's heart?

The history of lsrael’s kings illustrates the point. King David was guilty of the worst of crimes against humanity in the incident with Bathsheba and Uriah the Hittite (2 Sam 11). He was clearly in violation of the law and deserving of death. Nevertheless, his belief in who Yahweh was among all gods never wavered. God was merciful to him, sparing him from death, though his sin had consequences the rest of his life. But there was no doubt that David was ever a believer in Yahweh and never worshiped another. Yet other kings of Israel and Judah were tossed aside and both kingdoms sent into exile—because they worshiped other gods. Personal failure, even of the worst kind, did not send the nation into exile. Choosing other gods did.—Michael Heiser, The Unseen Realm, 170

But how?

But did this salvation come by obeying rules? To ask the question is to miss the point. Salvation in the Old Testament meant love for Yahweh alone. One had to believe that Yahweh was the God of all gods, trusting that this Most High God had chosen covenant relationship with Israel to the detriment of all other nations. The law was how one demonstrated that love—that loyalty.—Michael Heiser, The Unseen Realm, 169 (emphasis original)

It's who we are…

Humans who survive birth without suffering severe impairment, however, are able to represent God as originally intended. They do so by means of a spectrum of abilities we have as humans. These abilities are part of our being like God. They are attributes we share with God, such as intelligence and creativity. The attributes God shared with us are the means to imaging, not the image status itself. Imaging status and our attributes are related but not identical concepts.—Michael Heiser, The Unseen Realm, 59 (emphasis original)

Imago Dei

This last example directs us to what the Hebrew preposition means in Genesis 1:26. Humankind was created as God’s image. If we think of imaging as a verb or function, that translation makes sense. We are created to image God, to be his imagers. It is what we are by definition. The image is not an ability we have, but a status. We are God’s representatives on earth. To be human is to image God.—Michael Heiser, The Unseen Realm, 42–43

It's a bit of a different outlook, to say the least...

My contention is that, if our theology really derives from the biblical text, we must reconsider our selective supernaturalism and recover a biblical theology of the unseen world. This is not to suggest that the best interpretation of a passage is always the most supernatural one. But the biblical writers and those to whom they wrote were predisposed to supernaturalism. To ignore that outlook or marginalize it will produce Bible interpretation that reflects our mind-set more than that of the biblical writers.—Michael Heiser, The Unseen Realm, 18 (emphasis original)

It's closed world, after all…

First, many Christians claim to believe in the supernatural but think (and live) like skeptics. We find talk of the supernatural world uncomfortable. This is typical of denominations and evangelical congregations outside the charismatic movement—in other words, those from a background like the one I grew up in.

There are two basic reasons why noncharismatics tend to close the door on the supernatural world. One is their suspicion that charismatic practices are detached from sound exegesis of Scripture. As a biblical scholar, it’s easy for me to agree with that suspicion—but over time it has widely degenerated into a closed-minded overreaction that is itself detached from the worldview of the biblical writers.—Michael Heiser, The Unseen Realm, 17

From beginning to restoration

The Christian life now is not about fear that we will fail to keep happy the One who loved us while we were still enslave to darkness. The Christian life is really about grasping two concepts: our adoption into God’s family—which means Jesus is our brother, and that God loves us like he loves Jesus—and our purpose in God’s plan to restore his kingdom on earth. We are, and will be, God’s new divine council. He is our Father. We are his children, destined to live where he lives forever. We are his coworkers, tasked with helping him release those still owned by the lord of the dead and held captive by unseen powers of darkness.

That is what the Bible is about, from Eden to Eden. That is your destiny. Your life now is not about earning your place in God’s family. That cannot be earned. It’s a gift. Your life now is showing appreciation for your adoption, enjoying it, and getting others to share it with you.— Supernatural: What the Bible Teaches about the Unseen World—And Why It Matters, page 154

<idle musing>
A fitting final excerpt from the book, wouldn't you say? As I said at the beginning, I like this book. It's a great introduction to the whole issue of the spiritual/unseen realm in the Bible. But—and this is a huge but—it's too simplistic. The real (unseen) world is more complicated than he makes it out to be. Sure, the general overview is correct, but if you spend much time reading the ancient sources, well, let's just say, "It's complicated!" And I think God wants us to see it that way, otherwise we would get too comfortable with the boxes we create. We do anyway!

So, I recommend the book as a first step. But go on and read other stuff; I haven't finished his more scholarly version yet, but what I have read seems good: The Unseen Realm. Another book, which I excerpted from extensively a year or so ago, is World Upside Down: Reading Acts in the Graeco-Roman Age.

A book that recently appeared and that I haven't had a chance to look at yet but looks great is Destroyer of the gods: Early Christian Distinctiveness in the Roman World by Larry Hurtado (and, yes, the lower case "g" on gods is correct!). Hopefully I'll be able to snag a copy of it at AAR/SBL!

Next up? Not sure. I haven't had a lot of time to read this summer, between cabins, Eisenbrauns, and copyediting. Hopefully I'll have something for you tomorrow : )
</idle musing>

Which will it be?

As Christians, we’ve probably heard many times that we need to be like Jesus. We certainly do. But when we hear that, we tend to process it only in terms of being good, or maybe “less bad.” We turn what’s actually a nearly inconceivable idea—that we will one day be as Jesus is—into a performance obligation.

Rather than feel guilty about how much we aren’t like Jesus, and pledge in our hearts to “do better,” we need to let the blessing of what he did, and will do, rewire the way we think about being like him. We can turn Christ-likeness into a task we must perform lest God be angry with us, but that’s bad theology. It turns grace into duty. Or we can be grateful that one day we will be what God is thrilled to make us—what he predestined us to be (Rom 8:29)—and live in such a way that people enslaved to dark powers will want to join us in God’s family. One perspective looks inward; the other looks heavenward.— Supernatural: What the Bible Teaches about the Unseen World—And Why It Matters, page 153–54

Of the world? Or not of the world?

When our worldview is attuned to God’s plan to rescue people from every nation, making them part of God’s family, we are not of this world. Being of this world is to be absorbed by the world’s concerns and living accordingly. Unbelievers should be able to tell from our speech, behavior, ethics, and attitude toward others that we’re not cynical, selfish, or harsh—that our focus is not on getting ahead or on using people. We should not live to gratify ourselves. We are to be the antithesis of these things. In other words, we are to live as Jesus lived. People wanted to be around him because he wasn’t like most everyone else.— Supernatural: What the Bible Teaches about the Unseen World—And Why It Matters, pages 144–45

We've lost sight of it

In essence, baptism was a loyalty oath and a message to the demonic powers (as well as any people present) of just whose side you were on in the spiritual war. Ancient Christians understood this better than we do today. Early church baptismal rites included a renunciation of Satan and his angels because of the this passage [1 Pet 3].— Supernatural: What the Bible Teaches about the Unseen World—And Why It Matters, page 144 (emphasis original)

<idle musing>
We've lost sight of that, though, haven't we? We're practicing atheists in our daily life, living by our own strength, doing our own thing. Of course, as so many songs say, when we reach end of our own strength, we cry out to God! As if God were simply an energy drink or a Powerbar™ that we took when we ran low on energy.

So, we're selling God short and robbing ourselves of the opportunity to enjoy the presence of God in our lives. Continually. Moment-by-moment. Resting in his love for us and living by his power in us.
</idle musing>

Yep, they're real

Another implication of the passages of Scripture we’ve examined is that the notion of demonic strongholds is biblical. We aren’t given a full description of demonic zones or turf boundaries, or even a spiritual pecking order for the dark side. We are told, however, that the unseen powers see earth as their domain. We’re told those powers resist God’s kingdom and don’t want people to become part of God’s plan to spread his good rule everywhere. That means we should expect resistance we can’t explain with logic or empirical evidence and we can’t defeat it on our own. God has given us his Spirit and unseen agents of his own to help us further his mission (1 Cor 3:16; 6:19; Heb 1:13; 1 John 4:4).— Supernatural: What the Bible Teaches about the Unseen World—And Why It Matters, page 133

<idle musing>
Mind you, this is written by a non-Charismatic! Further, he is correct—on both counts: demonic strongholds are a biblical concept. And, most important to remember for those who want to lay out a roadmap, we aren't given the details. Nor should we spend a great deal of time trying to develop a roadmap. It's a distraction from the task of living a godly life and shining in the corner of the world where God placed you.

3 By his divine power the Lord has given us everything we need for life and godliness through the knowledge of the one who called us by his own honor and glory. 4 Through his honor and glory he has given us his precious and wonderful promises, that you may share the divine nature and escape from the world’s immorality that sinful craving produces. (2 Pet 1:3–4 CEB)

What more do we need?
</idle musing>

The Messianic Secret

The “new plan” of God’s—that he would die and then rise from the dead to reverse the curse of the fall—isn’t at all evident in the Old Testament. Instead, clues are scattered throughout the Old Testament in dozens of places. Never is it all revealed in one place. The messianic profile is only clear in hindsight—and even then only to someone who already knows what to look for and expect.

Intelligent supernatural evil beings, of course, knew the prophesied son of David had arrived (Matt 8:28–29; Luke 4:31–35). That much they could grasp from the Old Testament. But nothing the demons ever say creates the impression that they understood Jesus was come to earth to die and rise again, reversing the curse.— Supernatural: What the Bible Teaches about the Unseen World—And Why It Matters, pages 101–2

<idle musing>
Which is why Paul can call it the mystery of the gospel...
</idle musing>

Take off the blinders!

It’s time we looked at ourselves through supernatural eyes. You are a child of God, fit for sacred space, not because of what you do or don’t do, but because you are in Christ, adopted by God (Rom 8:15; Gal 4:5). You’ve been extracted from the realm of darkness and “transferred … to the kingdom of his beloved Son” (Col 1:13).

We must never, not for a moment, forget who we are in Christ—and what that means to the world.— Supernatural: What the Bible Teaches about the Unseen World—And Why It Matters, pages 84–85

<idle musing>
Ah yes, where the rubber meets the road. The supernatural does intersect with the seen realm in a very real way.
</idle musing>

He's unlike us

Many of the strange laws and practices of the Old Testament are grounded in the need to teach people that God is unlike everything else. In his nature and character, he is unique; he is completely other than humanity and anything else. For Israel, that was a truth that had to be reinforced at all times. Otherwise, God might be thought of as ordinary.— Supernatural: What the Bible Teaches about the Unseen World—And Why It Matters, page 72

lt;idle musing>
It wouldn't hurt us a bit to realize that, either. We like a tame god, one we can control and manipulate. Fortunately, we don't have one!
</idle musing>

Whence salvation?

Being right with God is another way of talking about salvation. But despite what we’ve often been taught in Sunday school, salvation didn’t come to Israelites by obeying rules, by following the Law. Whether in the Od Testament or the New, salvation is never earned, or even deserved. It’s given by the grace of God in response to faith.— Supernatural: What the Bible Teaches about the Unseen World—And Why It Matters, page 72 (emphasis original)

<idle musing>
I like to tell people to read Hosea when they tell me that the OT teaches salvation by law. It's just not true! But it sure does make a nice, neat system : (

Life is messier than we want to admit...
</idle musing>

The plot

Our story so far: God cast aside the nations and their people at Babel. The lesser gods assigned to them took dominion (Deut 32:8–9). When God started over with Abraham, it was clear that he planned to one day reclaim the nations through the influence of Israel (Gen 12:3). But the gods of the nations would have to be forced to surrender their power and worship (Ps 82:6–8). That meant conflict—in both the seen and unseen realms. As soon as there was an Israel, she was in the crosshairs of the gods.— Supernatural: What the Bible Teaches about the Unseen World—And Why It Matters, page 67

<idle musing>
OK. Kind of. I would rate this as a bit too simplistic, but I have to remember he isn't writing this book for me. He is writing this book for the average person who hasn't spent most of their adult life reading ancient languages and ancient texts and histories. So, yes. I can agree with it as a basic overview.
</idle musing>

Image bearers

[R]epresenting God means every job that honors him is a spiritual calling. Every legitimate task can be part of moving our world toward Eden and blessing fellow imagers—or not. God doesn’t view people in ministry as more holy or special because of their job descriptions. God cares about how each of us represents him where we are. We either stand against the darkness, sharing the life God wants everyone to ultimately experience, or we don’t. The opportunity doesn’t need to be spectacular; it just needs to be taken.— Supernatural: What the Bible Teaches about the Unseen World—And Why It Matters, page 34

Boring

What I’ve heard in church over the years doesn’t just miss the boat—it makes the supernatural boring. And even worse, the church’s teaching emasculates the unseen, supernatural world, rendering it powerless.

A lot of what Christians imagine to be true about the unseen world isn’t. Angels don’t have wings. (Cherubim don’t count because they are never called angels and are creaturely. Angels are always in human form.) Demons don’t sport horns and a tail, and they aren’t here to make us sin (we do that just fine on our own). And while the Bible describes demonic possession in rightfully awful ways, intelligent evil has more sinister things to do than make sock puppets out of people. And on top of that, angels and demons are minor players. Church never seems to get to the big boys and their agenda.— Supernatural: What the Bible Teaches about the Unseen World—And Why It Matters, page 19