I said that the prayer that I cited in The Stranger’s Book,

to send us a spirit of knowledge to reveal the mysteries, so that we may know ourselves; specifically, where [we’ve] come from, where we’re going, and what we need to do to live.”

covered an area of deep interest to me, that of the Before Life. Much is said about the After Life but almost nothing about the Before Life.

Recently I was excited to find a number of videos by the late Old Testament scholar, Dr. Michael S. Heiser. Before I present some of the material, I’ll provide some links. He has an official YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/user/professorheiser. Here is his official website, https://drmsh.com/. Here is his obituary at the Logos Bible Study Program where he was scholar-in-residence for 15 years. Here his books can be purchased: Michael Heiser (February 14, 1963–February 20, 2023).

I have touched on the After Life theme in other writings such as The Book of Enoch. However, my research is nothing compared to that of a scholar like Dr. Heiser. Therefore, I shall use his writings to abstract a picture of the beginning.

The Unseen Realm

I believe his major body of work is collected in an oeuvre called The Unseen Realm. An overview is contained in the following documentary (1:11:48 minutes).

The starting point is that Yahweh, the supreme God, the God above all other gods, who created all other gods, presides as the head of a council of all the other gods. These gods are described as sons of God and form the heavenly host, his heavenly family.

Mankind forms God’s other family, an earthly family. Eden was created in the way that God wanted the whole earth to follow as his kingdom1. This was to be man’s job (10:21). This task is described further beginning at 22:00. Eden was the home and headquarters of God2.

The first supernatural rebellion in the divine council was reflected by the rebellion in Eden in Genesis 3 (12:30). The second rebellion in Genesis 6 describes the sons of God of the heavenly council who stepped out of their role as Watchers and mated with the daughters of the sons of man’s creating the Nephilim. The story of the Nephilim follows. The video describes it as the transgression of the boundary between heaven and earth.

Deuteronomy 32 describes the conditions leading to the third supernatural rebellion, the Tower of Babel. God had divided the earth among the sons of God3 with Jacob’s people being those of God’s portion. Beginning about 35:08 is the distinction between God’s holy territory and the lands around given to the other heavenly princes. This act was the start of a rebellion that resulted in Babel.

Around 34:00 is the idea that where God is on earth is sacred space. I won’t flag this as a questionable item but note that I believe all creation of God retains his presence and in that sense is sacred.

Eden was where God resided. Man’s rebelliousness resulted in his eviction from Eden – God’s presence (41:16). This created the need for Jesus’ sacrifice to lift us from death, back into God’s presence.

Beginning at 44:15 is a very interesting discussion of the rock at Caeserea Philippi which to the ancients, symbolized the gates of hell. Here, Jesus made his famous declaration of his Church based on his divinity, that would withstand “the gates of hell” which symbolically he stood before.

16And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.

17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.

18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Matthew 16:16-18, KJV.

Included is a discussion of the fallen gods and Baal in particular. Heiser reminds us that Satan has no claim on God’s people.

Beginning about 55:25 is a discussion of “cosmic geography”, the nations of Babel ruled by fallen God’s which Paul presents as the Great Commission, to reclaim the souls of the Gentiles. Included (57:51) is the fact that God is present in every believer (1 Corinthians 6:19). Every believer is holy space.

What is Problematic for Me

Here I enumerate aspects of what is presented as being problematic for me. The bible was written by peoples who could only write and describe things within their experience and worldview. For example, our scientific knowledge allows us to give a specific explanation of a nuclear bomb explosion. Someone in biblical times might describe it as fire rained down from heaven. They would not be wrong! Each problem in the list below informs a broad discussion deserving of its own separate treatment in its own article.

  1. Problems with heaven on earth. The same problem occurs with Christ’s reign on earth (Revelation).
  2. It makes absolutely no sense that the God who existed before time began and created the universe would reside in an earthly Eden.
  3. It is puzzling that the whole heavenly battle is being fought over a piece of earth, that this is the focus of the heavenly,supernatural realm when the entire universe is available.

Other Series on Spirituality

The other series of articles that I have published can be found at A New Direction.

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The POOG

I started a blog in 2011 called The POOG, an acronym for "pissed off old guy". This is the current incarnation.

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