February 23, 2025 • 29 mins
Our exploration dives into the title "God Most High" and the implications it has on our understanding of divine authority. Against a backdrop of creation and rebellion, we discuss Yahweh's divine council, the nature of spiritual warfare, and the challenges faced by both humans and angels alike.
• Unpacking the theological significance of "God Most High"
• Exploring the nature and role of the Divine Council
• The implications of the narrative of the fall of man
• Understanding the broader context of spiritual rebellion
• The story of the Nephilim as a reflection of divine disorder
• Insight into the term "Elohim" and its implications
• The overarching theme of redemption through chaos
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Announcement (00:01):
Hello and welcome to the Waking Up to Grace
podcast, where we celebrate andexplore the finished work of our
Lord Jesus Christ.
Tune in to the Waking Up toGrace podcast on every major
platform.
You can also listen to ourepisodes and read our full
transcripts atwakinguptogracecom.
And now here's Lenny.
Lenny (00:22):
Welcome back to the podcast.
Everyone Welcome back to thepodcast.
Everyone Welcome back.
Have you ever wondered why theGod of our Bible is considered
to be God Most High?
If he is God Most High, thenwhat would be God Less High?
Does this idea make you feel alittle funny?
Does it sound contrary tomonotheism, which is the belief
(00:43):
that the God of our Bible is theone and only true God?
Most people today think thatway.
Christians seem to be afraid toexplore this issue when
presented with the passages inour scripture that refer to what
is known as Yahweh's divinecounsel or the heavenly hosts.
Today, we're going to be usingthe ESV Bible translation, and
(01:04):
the scriptures teach us that allthings were created through
Yahweh.
Melissa (01:08):
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the
earth.
Lenny (01:13):
And that's in Genesis, chapter 1.
So Yahweh created the heavensand the earth.
Melissa (01:18):
And then we read Before the mountains were born or you
gave birth to the earth and theworld.
Even from everlasting toeverlasting, you are God.
Lenny (01:31):
And that's Psalm 90 in the NASB translation.
Yahweh is the only being tohave always existed.
He is from everlasting toeverlasting.
Think about that for a minute.
That means there is nobeginning or end.
It's very similar to whatChrist Yeshua said to the Jewish
people in John, chapter 8.
Melissa (01:52):
Jesus said to them, truly, truly, I say to you
before Abraham was, I am.
Lenny (02:00):
And then John said of Christ Yeshua in the Gospel of
John.
And then John said of ChristYeshua in the Gospel of John.
Melissa (02:05):
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with
God and the Word was God.
He was in the beginning withGod.
Lenny (02:15):
And that's right in the first chapter and the first
verses.
So the Father, son and HolySpirit were in the beginning of
creation, together as one.
They were already there in thebeginning because they have no
beginning or end.
Creation had a beginning andthey were there because they
created it.
The heavenly realms, the earthand the hosts of heaven were
(02:38):
created by Yahweh.
There is no God like him.
He is Lord over all things.
Yahweh is sovereign over allcreation, including his heavenly
hosts.
Without Yahweh there is no life.
Our New Testament writers werewell aware of this.
Melissa (02:56):
In John, chapter 1, he also wrote All things were made
through him and without him.
Lenny (03:02):
And then Paul writes in Colossians we certainly don't
need to worry about any lessergods causing a problem with our
theology, do we?
Learning about these thingsonly deepens our understanding
(03:23):
of what the authors of our NewTestament writings were up
against.
It will help us to have clarityin much of what is written,
because the writers of our NewTestament understood the ancient
scriptures far better than wedo today.
We just talked about the nameof the Lord in a recent episode.
Yahweh's name matters in ourunderstanding of scripture.
His name was above all names.
Melissa (03:47):
We read in Philippians, chapter 2, Therefore, god has
highly exalted him and bestowedon him the name that is above
every name.
Lenny (03:57):
I explained in that episode how Yahweh's name is in
Yeshua's name.
This includes who he is as wellas his literal name.
And Yahweh is the one and onlyLord who is three persons and
one being.
Yeshua is Yahweh in human form.
Yahweh is the creator of allthings.
He created the heavenly hostsbefore he created the world.
(04:19):
His name was above all names,because there were other names
in the heavenly realms.
Let's get started with ourpassage in Romans and build on
this topic from there, shall we?
I think this will be a goodstarting point to begin our
study.
There actually is more in thispassage than meets the eye.
Melissa (04:38):
Paul, a servant of Christ.
Jesus called to be an apostleset apart for the gospel of God,
which he promised beforehandthrough his prophets in the holy
scriptures concerning his son,who was descended from David
according to the flesh and wasdeclared to be the son of God in
(04:59):
power according to the spiritof holiness, by his resurrection
from the dead.
Jesus christ, our lord, throughwhom we have received grace and
apostleship to bring about theobedience of faith, for the sake
of his name, among all thenations, including you who are
(05:20):
called to belong to Jesus Christ, to all those in Rome who are
loved by God and called to besaints.
Grace to you and peace from God, our Father and the Lord Jesus
Christ.
Lenny (05:35):
So I want to focus on the two statements.
Was declared to be the Son ofGod in power according to the
Spirit of holiness, and we havereceived grace and apostleship
to bring be the Son of God inpower according to the Holy
(05:57):
Spirit.
As we discussed already, yahwehwas the only God in power.
In turn, this statement ispretty loaded.
In turn, this statement ispretty loaded.
I see this passage saying thatYeshua was declared to be the
Son of God and Yahweh the Son ofGod who has His power.
It was the resurrection thatproved this, standing according
(06:17):
to the writing.
Why would that be?
Because, as we read earlier,yahweh is the author of life.
John, chapter 1,.
Melissa (06:27):
Only Yahweh can defeat death.
Only Yahweh can give life tothe dead.
No other spirit being, norhuman being can do this.
Lenny (06:44):
But then we have Paul bringing the obedience of faith
for the sake of his name amongall the nations.
This is where our storylinebegins for today's episode.
Melissa (06:54):
To the Ephesian church, paul writes Put on the whole
armor of God that you may beable to stand against the
schemes of the devil.
For we do not wrestle againstflesh and blood, but against the
rulers, against the authorities.
Are you hearing what Paul issaying here?
Lenny (07:23):
Paul is describing a rebellion in the heavenly realms
.
We make a mistake if we believeSatan is the only spiritual
force at work here.
Although he clearly played alead role in this spiritual war,
satan was not the only deitywho rebelled against Yahweh.
This idea goes all the way backto Genesis, the very beginning
of our scriptures.
(07:43):
When we go back to thebeginning, the heavens and the
earth were created before man.
We will look at the supportingpassages as we dive into this.
So hold tight.
But if we take the view thatthe scriptures reveal, adam and
Eve, while in the Garden of Eden, would have been in the
presence of Yahweh and hisdivine counsel, satan or the
(08:03):
serpent were only one of manygods that were appointed by
Yahweh for his purpose.
Ancient Hebrews understood thatthe fall of man was not only due
to the sin of Adam and Eve, butalso due to the rebellion of
the heavenly hosts.
The gods were appointed byYahweh to serve mankind.
Satan rebelled against Yahwehand got man kicked out of Eden.
(08:24):
Satan did not want to serve man.
He was too good for that.
He wanted to be in power.
Isaiah describes tyrant kingsin parallel with Satan.
Melissa (08:36):
How you are fallen from heaven, o day star, son of dawn
, how you are cut down to theground, you who laid the nations
low.
You said in your heart I willascend to heaven, above the
stars of God.
I will set my throne on high.
I will sit on the mount ofassembly in the far reaches of
(08:57):
the north.
I will ascend above the heightsof the clouds.
I will make myself like theMost High we see in this passage
that Satan truly believed hecould be like the Most High.
Lenny (09:06):
We see in this passage that Satan truly believed he
could be like the Most High.
The Most High is Yahweh.
What would make a creation ofthe Lord think it can be equal
to or above him?
It's my opinion that it comesfrom the same error that mankind
falls into time and again.
Evil rulers and tyrant kings,as well as lesser gods and
(09:27):
angelic beings who rebel againstthe will of God, all seem to
think they will get away with it.
They seem to think they areable to trick or even defeat God
and his sovereign plans.
How could they possibly thinksuch a thing unless they believe
they had a totally free will?
The concept of having freeautonomy apart from the will of
Yahweh seems to lead to prideand rebellion, while those who
(09:51):
honor him always have faith inhim.
Why do they have faith in him?
Is it because they think he canwin, or is it because they know
he will win Something to chewon?
As you're looking at scriptures, but continuing on Ezekiel
addresses Satan even moredirectly.
But continuing on Ezekieladdresses Satan even more
directly.
Melissa (10:08):
You were in Eden, the garden of God.
Every precious stone was yourcovering Sardius, topaz and
diamond, beryl, onyx and jasper,sapphire, emerald and carbuncle
, and crafted in gold, were yoursettings and your engravings.
(10:28):
On the day that you werecreated, they were prepared.
You were an anointed guardiancherub.
I placed you, you were on theholy mountain of God, in the
midst of the stones of fire.
You walked, you were blamelessin your ways, from the day you
were created tillunrighteousness was found in you
(10:50):
, in the abundance of your trade.
You were filled with violencein your midst and you sinned.
So I cast you as a profanething from the mountain of God
and I destroyed you.
O, guardian cherub, from themidst of the stones of fire,
your heart was proud because ofyour beauty.
You corrupted your wisdom forthe sake of your splendor.
(11:15):
I cast you to the ground.
I exposed you before kings tofeast their eyes on you by the
multitude of your iniquities.
In the unrighteousness of yourtrade, you profaned your
sanctuaries.
So I brought fire out from yourmidst.
It consumed you and I turnedyou to ashes on the earth in the
(11:38):
sight of all who saw you.
Lenny (11:41):
Wow, ponder that for a moment.
We see the ultimate demise ofSatan spoken here through Isaiah
.
He clearly is not going tosurvive what he had coming.
But in regards to Eden, in thebeginning you have this amazing
guardian cherub, who is supposedto work for God, telling Eve
(12:01):
that God lied to them about thefruit.
Satan, who can be traced backas a serpent through scripture,
told Eve they would be like theLord.
If they ate the fruit, theywould know what God knows was
the concept.
As we know, adam and Eve tookthe bait.
They fell for the sametemptation that Satan had for
himself.
They wanted to be like God MostHigh.
(12:21):
They wanted to know what heknows.
Have you ever questioned God'sjudgment?
I think we all do in some wayand at some point in life, but
our scriptures seem to teach usthat it's not the right thing to
do.
Most today will accept thesetruths.
But Satan was not the onlymember of the divine council.
There was a host of lesser godsand angels having various
(12:42):
levels of authority.
This divine council would havebeen in Eden, in the presence of
Yahweh, with Adam and Eve,before Adam and Eve were created
.
Melissa (12:50):
we read in Genesis 2, Thus the heavens and the earth
were completed in all theirhosts.
Lenny (12:58):
And then about Satan.
Melissa (13:00):
We read in Ezekiel your heart was proud because of your
beauty.
You corrupted your wisdom forthe sake of your splendor.
Lenny (13:09):
Satan was proud he didn't want to serve mankind.
I've come to believe thatSatan's purpose in causing the
fall would be to corrupt mankindand to rule over them, not to
serve them.
Yahweh did take his Holy Spiritaway from Adam and Eve, as well
as removing them from Eden,where they had access to the
Tree of Life, as well asremoving them from Eden, where
they had access to the Tree ofLife.
But he also cursed Satan andannounced what is considered to
(13:31):
be the first gospel account inGenesis, chapter 3.
Melissa (13:35):
And I will put enmity between you and the woman and
between your seed and her seed.
He shall bruise you on the headand you shall bruise him on the
heel.
Lenny (13:46):
What I see in this passage and I'm not alone here
is Yahweh telling Satan he wouldfix the problem that he created
here.
From her seed.
One will come and destroy youis what Yahweh tells Satan in
this passage.
God was going to bring mankindback into his fellowship and
Satan's defeat would come frommankind.
So what would you do then?
(14:08):
If you're Satan hearing this,what would most political
leaders be thinking?
Here might be a good startingpoint, because they all seem to
think the same way.
Does corrupting mankind soundabout right?
Melissa (14:20):
In Genesis 6 we read when man began to multiply on
the face of the land anddaughters were born to them, the
sons of God, Of course, thesepassages like every other are
(14:42):
argued among scholars.
Lenny (14:44):
Many see these simply as human beings.
But the term sons of God comesfrom the Hebrew words.
All uses of Elohim in the OldTestament of our Bibles refer to
spiritual beings.
Elohim is only used of those inthe spirit world.
If they are called Elohim, theyare not of the physical realm.
(15:06):
They are not a human.
They are not of the physicalrealm.
They are not a human, they arespirit beings.
Michael Heiser, a well-knownand highly accredited Bible
scholar, says Elohim is a placeof residence locator.
What he means is that Elohim isonly used of those in the
spirit world.
The term Elohim is used allthroughout scripture.
Often is used to describeYahweh.
Other times it is used inplural form to describe the
(15:29):
lesser gods.
It is like the word deer in ourlanguage.
We don't say deers when werefer to more than one.
We still say deer.
The amount has to be determinedby the context.
But in regards to our Genesispassage, we read something even
more shocking.
Melissa (15:46):
After the sons of God took these women to be their
wives, the Nephilim were on theearth in those days and also
afterward, when the sons of Godcame into the daughters of men
and they bore children to them.
Those were the mighty men whowere of old, men of renown.
Lenny (16:05):
Did you catch that?
I could never help but wonderwhat was going on here when I
would read this passage, butthen I would be nudged back into
a less extreme view of thispassage by many who teach
scripture.
It must be those strangeminority views that promote
weird thoughts about some kindof super giants that could be
dangerous or just majorlydistracting.
(16:25):
I'd better just calm down, Ithought to myself.
But then one day it dawned onme what view of scripture do you
have that falls into themainstream category?
Are you really going to letthis go without exploring it a
bit further?
Well, I couldn't let it go.
I believe that the truthmatters, and the more we're in
truth, the less we'll live inlies.
(16:47):
I also discovered that it playsa strong role in further
understanding the finished workof our Lord, christ Yeshua.
So if you're one of thosepeople that call these things a
distraction, keep listening.
I will prove that this has todo with the finished work of
Christ Yeshua far more than youwould imagine.
But getting back to the pointhere for now, these sons of God
had sexual intercourse withwomen, and the result was these
(17:09):
giants who were very powerful.
These were like hybrid angelmen and they were corrupting
mankind.
The ancient Hebrews saw this asthe reason for the flood.
It wasn't just men being evil.
It was a spiritual war going onagainst mankind and a rebellion
against Yahweh.
Now these rebellious sons ofGod faced a judgment.
(17:29):
Jude tells us about thejudgment of these angels.
The fallen sons of God weresent to Tartarus for their
transgression.
Peter and Jude both referencethis story in the New Testament.
These writers understood thatGenesis 6 recorded the second
supernatural rebellion.
Tartarus is a Greek word forthe realm of the dead, such as
(17:50):
Hades or what some translationscall Hell.
Those angels would stay thereuntil the day of the Lord
Judgment Day.
Melissa (17:58):
But as we read earlier, the Nephilim were on the earth
in those days and also afterward.
Lenny (18:05):
I don't know how they survived the flood, but they
were not just ordinary men, theyfigured it out.
At least some of them didenough to continue in their
corruption after the flood.
They had not been wiped out andwere still at large.
Pun intended.
It is written, we can't deny it, and we read a lot about this
(18:26):
in Scripture, if we're payingattention.
The specific term sons of Godwas used twice here in Genesis,
but then it's used again threetimes in Job.
Melissa (18:36):
Now, there was a day when the sons of God came to
present themselves before theLord, and Satan also came among
them.
Lenny (18:45):
And that was Job, chapter 1, and then in chapter 2 we
read Again.
Melissa (18:49):
There was a day when the sons of God came to present
themselves before the Lord, andSatan also came among them to
present himself before the Lord.
Lenny (18:59):
And then in chapter 38,.
Melissa (19:02):
Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth
?
Tell me, if you haveunderstanding, who set its
measurements, since you know, orwho stretched the line on it,
on what were its bases sunk, orwho laid its cornerstone when
the morning stars sang togetherand the sons of God shouted for
(19:23):
joy.
Lenny (19:24):
So the morning stars and son of God here both refer to
divine beings.
They were part of the divinecouncil.
If you make these sons of Godto be humans, you'll have to
explain a couple of things One,how their children were
super-powered giants and two,how they existed before the
creation of the earth.
(19:45):
The term sons of God is foundone more time in the ESV
translation due to the fact thatthey included newer scriptures
that were found among the DeadSea Scrolls at Qumran in their
search for context.
Melissa (19:58):
Deuteronomy 32 reads when the Most High gave to the
nations their inheritance.
When he divided mankind, hefixed the borders of the peoples
according to the number of thesons of God.
Lenny (20:15):
We then see several other passages in our scripture that
describe this divine council orthe heavenly hosts, starting
with Psalm 82.
Melissa (20:23):
A psalm of Asaph.
God has taken his place in thedivine council, in the midst of
the gods, he holds judgment.
Lenny (20:31):
And then in Psalm 89.
Melissa (20:33):
Let the heavens praise your wonders, o Lord, your
faithfulness in the assembly ofthe Holy Ones.
For who in the skies can becompared to the Lord?
Who among the heavenly beingsis like the Lord, a God greatly
to be feared in the council ofthe Holy Ones, and awesome above
all who are around him?
(20:54):
O Lord, god of hosts, who ismighty as you are, o Lord, with
your faithfulness all around you.
Lenny (21:03):
Then, in the following passages, the focus is on God's
prophets who enter into God'sheavenly throne room, where God
is discussing things with hiscounsel.
True prophets were instructeddirectly by Yahweh and spoke on
his behalf, as we'll seeJeremiah 23.
And then in verse 22.
Melissa (21:38):
in my counsel, then they would have proclaimed my
words to my people and theywould have turned from their
evil way and from the evil oftheir deeds.
Lenny (21:42):
Then in Job 15,.
Melissa (21:45):
Are you the first man who was born, or were you
brought forth before the hills?
Have you listened in thecounsel of God and do you limit
wisdom to yourself?
Lenny (21:56):
And there's God being sarcastic with Job.
And then Daniel referred tothese sons of God as watchers.
Melissa (22:04):
The sentence is by the decree of the watchers, the
decision, by the word of theholy ones, to the end, that the
living may know that the MostHigh rules the kingdom of men
and gives it to whom he will andsets over it the lowliest of
men.
Lenny (22:21):
That's chapter 4, verse 17.
Then back in verse 13, we read,and then in verse 23, and
because the king here aswatchers but then we read of
(22:47):
them as hosts of heaven in otherareas, and Yahweh is declared
sovereign over his heavenlycouncil.
Nehemiah, chapter 9,.
Melissa (22:56):
You are the Lord, you alone.
You have made heaven, theheaven of heavens, with all
their hosts, the earth and allthat is on it, the seas and all
that is in them, and youpreserve all of them, and the
host of heaven worships you.
Lenny (23:14):
Then in Daniel again worships you.
Melissa (23:21):
Then in Daniel again, chapter 4, verse 35, all the
inhabitants of the earth areaccounted as nothing and he does
according to his will among thehosts of heaven and among the
inhabitants of the earth, andnone can stay his hand or say to
him what have you done?
Lenny (23:34):
It's abundantly clear that these hosts of heaven, or
any human being, are not goingto mess up the will of Yahweh.
In this way, we can know thateverything has purpose.
There's something to learn fromall these events, and there is
something that our Lord isteaching us.
This would go for the unseenrealms as well.
The obedient hosts of Yahwehwould learn from the disobedient
(23:55):
, and they also have work to dofor their Lord as he instructs,
in order to accomplish his goodpurpose.
Allowing his creation to makechoices within his will is a
most awesome thing.
It is truly incredible to beable to see these things unfold
before us through the holyscriptures.
Then, in these next passages,we get to see Yahweh operating
(24:17):
through his divine counsel.
He's meeting with his heavenlyhosts and making things happen.
In these cases, they operatefor him rather than against him.
They do what's good in his eyes.
1 Kings 22.
Melissa (24:31):
Micaiah said Therefore, hear the word of the Lord.
I saw the Lord sitting on histhrone and all the hosts of
heaven standing by him on hisright and on his left.
The Lord said who will enticeAhab to go up and fall at Ramoth
Gilead?
And one said this, whileanother said that.
(24:52):
Then a spirit came forward andstood before the Lord and said I
will entice him.
The Lord said to him how?
And he said I will go out andbe a deceiving spirit in the
mouth of all his prophets.
Then he said you are to enticehim and also prevail.
Go and do so.
Lenny (25:14):
This was not a human taking God's instruction to
entice Ahab.
It was a spirit, a member ofour Lord's council, one of his
hosts, and a similar situationis recorded by the prophet
Isaiah in chapter 6 of.
Melissa (25:28):
Isaiah, sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and
the train of his robe filled thetemple.
Above him stood the seraphim.
Each had six wings With two hecovered his face and with two he
covered his feet, and with twohe flew.
(25:51):
And one called to another andsaid Holy, holy, holy is the
Lord of hosts.
Lenny (25:58):
The whole earth is full of his glory, and the
foundations of the thresholdsshook at the voice of him who
called, and the house was filledwith smoke.
Melissa (26:11):
But then Isaiah continues in chapter 6 with
Odius saying and I heard thevoice of the Lord saying Whom
shall I send and who will go forus?
Then I said here I am, send me.
Lenny (26:25):
This time Isaiah says Send me.
Instead of a spirit, now youhave Isaiah, the man saying Send
me.
Pretty cool, yeah.
We see here that there is anintended function of the divine
council for the purpose of thewill of Yahweh.
Yahweh asks his hosts whomshall I send?
Who shall go for us?
(26:46):
The council of Yahweh workclosely with them.
But like mankind, the heavenlyhosts have a will of their own
and are able to rebel againstthe Lord.
But just like mankind, theheavenly hosts cannot surpass
the will of Yahweh.
Yahweh is the only being thathas ever and will ever have
totally free autonomy.
You will not defeat the will ofYahweh.
(27:07):
You're not free to do that, andwe will see that truth unfold
all throughout the scriptures.
But it seems that, just likemankind, many of these Elohim
felt that they had some kind offree will, that they could
somehow defeat the plans ofYahweh.
They must have thought he gavethem a bit more power than he
actually did.
Melissa (27:27):
In Psalm 82, we read how long will you judge unjustly
and show partiality to thewicked?
Lenny (27:35):
This passage refers to the rebellious heavenly hosts
and rulers of the nations.
It's apparent that not all ofthe members of the divine
council chose to obey thecommands of Yahweh.
Satan was not alone in hiscorruption.
He had plenty of company in thespiritual realms.
According to scripture and herewe will begin the next chapter
in our epic story of a spiritualrebellion against Yahweh and
(27:58):
mankind there are three majorrebellions against Yahweh that
took place and three times thatour Lord chose to temporarily
reject mankind.
But he had a plan from thebeginning to bring them back
into his favor, and in a big way.
After deceiving man in thegarden, after corrupting mankind
before the flood, the battlecontinued on.
(28:19):
The third major event we seehappen is recorded at the Tower
of Babel in Genesis.
Stay tuned for our next episodewhen we dive into what all this
has to do with the finishedwork of our Lord Christ Yeshua.
See you guys next week and havea great day out there.
God bless, bye-bye.
Announcement (28:38):
Thank you for listening to the Waking Up to
Grace podcast brought to you bythe finished work of our Lord
Jesus Christ.
If you enjoyed today's episode,we would love to hear from you.
You can send encouragement ourway right from our episodes and
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Hello and welcome to the Waking Up to Grace
podcast, where we celebrate andexplore the finished work of our
Lord Jesus Christ.
Tune in to the Waking Up toGrace podcast on every major
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And now here's Lenny.
Lenny (00:22):
Welcome back to the podcast.
Everyone Welcome back to thepodcast.
Everyone Welcome back.
Have you ever wondered why theGod of our Bible is considered
to be God Most High?
If he is God Most High, thenwhat would be God Less High?
Does this idea make you feel alittle funny?
Does it sound contrary tomonotheism, which is the belief
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that the God of our Bible is theone and only true God?
Most people today think thatway.
Christians seem to be afraid toexplore this issue when
presented with the passages inour scripture that refer to what
is known as Yahweh's divinecounsel or the heavenly hosts.
Today, we're going to be usingthe ESV Bible translation, and
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the scriptures teach us that allthings were created through
Yahweh.
Melissa (01:08):
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the
earth.
Lenny (01:13):
And that's in Genesis, chapter 1.
So Yahweh created the heavensand the earth.
Melissa (01:18):
And then we read Before the mountains were born or you
gave birth to the earth and theworld.
Even from everlasting toeverlasting, you are God.
Lenny (01:31):
And that's Psalm 90 in the NASB translation.
Yahweh is the only being tohave always existed.
He is from everlasting toeverlasting.
Think about that for a minute.
That means there is nobeginning or end.
It's very similar to whatChrist Yeshua said to the Jewish
people in John, chapter 8.
Melissa (01:52):
Jesus said to them, truly, truly, I say to you
before Abraham was, I am.
Lenny (02:00):
And then John said of Christ Yeshua in the Gospel of
John.
And then John said of ChristYeshua in the Gospel of John.
Melissa (02:05):
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with
God and the Word was God.
He was in the beginning withGod.
Lenny (02:15):
And that's right in the first chapter and the first
verses.
So the Father, son and HolySpirit were in the beginning of
creation, together as one.
They were already there in thebeginning because they have no
beginning or end.
Creation had a beginning andthey were there because they
created it.
The heavenly realms, the earthand the hosts of heaven were
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created by Yahweh.
There is no God like him.
He is Lord over all things.
Yahweh is sovereign over allcreation, including his heavenly
hosts.
Without Yahweh there is no life.
Our New Testament writers werewell aware of this.
Melissa (02:56):
In John, chapter 1, he also wrote All things were made
through him and without him.
Lenny (03:02):
And then Paul writes in Colossians we certainly don't
need to worry about any lessergods causing a problem with our
theology, do we?
Learning about these thingsonly deepens our understanding
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of what the authors of our NewTestament writings were up
against.
It will help us to have clarityin much of what is written,
because the writers of our NewTestament understood the ancient
scriptures far better than wedo today.
We just talked about the nameof the Lord in a recent episode.
Yahweh's name matters in ourunderstanding of scripture.
His name was above all names.
Melissa (03:47):
We read in Philippians, chapter 2, Therefore, god has
highly exalted him and bestowedon him the name that is above
every name.
Lenny (03:57):
I explained in that episode how Yahweh's name is in
Yeshua's name.
This includes who he is as wellas his literal name.
And Yahweh is the one and onlyLord who is three persons and
one being.
Yeshua is Yahweh in human form.
Yahweh is the creator of allthings.
He created the heavenly hostsbefore he created the world.
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His name was above all names,because there were other names
in the heavenly realms.
Let's get started with ourpassage in Romans and build on
this topic from there, shall we?
I think this will be a goodstarting point to begin our
study.
There actually is more in thispassage than meets the eye.
Melissa (04:38):
Paul, a servant of Christ.
Jesus called to be an apostleset apart for the gospel of God,
which he promised beforehandthrough his prophets in the holy
scriptures concerning his son,who was descended from David
according to the flesh and wasdeclared to be the son of God in
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power according to the spiritof holiness, by his resurrection
from the dead.
Jesus christ, our lord, throughwhom we have received grace and
apostleship to bring about theobedience of faith, for the sake
of his name, among all thenations, including you who are
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called to belong to Jesus Christ, to all those in Rome who are
loved by God and called to besaints.
Grace to you and peace from God, our Father and the Lord Jesus
Christ.
Lenny (05:35):
So I want to focus on the two statements.
Was declared to be the Son ofGod in power according to the
Spirit of holiness, and we havereceived grace and apostleship
to bring be the Son of God inpower according to the Holy
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Spirit.
As we discussed already, yahwehwas the only God in power.
In turn, this statement ispretty loaded.
In turn, this statement ispretty loaded.
I see this passage saying thatYeshua was declared to be the
Son of God and Yahweh the Son ofGod who has His power.
It was the resurrection thatproved this, standing according
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to the writing.
Why would that be?
Because, as we read earlier,yahweh is the author of life.
John, chapter 1,.
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Only Yahweh can defeat death.
Only Yahweh can give life tothe dead.
No other spirit being, norhuman being can do this.
Lenny (06:44):
But then we have Paul bringing the obedience of faith
for the sake of his name amongall the nations.
This is where our storylinebegins for today's episode.
Melissa (06:54):
To the Ephesian church, paul writes Put on the whole
armor of God that you may beable to stand against the
schemes of the devil.
For we do not wrestle againstflesh and blood, but against the
rulers, against the authorities.
Are you hearing what Paul issaying here?
Lenny (07:23):
Paul is describing a rebellion in the heavenly realms
.
We make a mistake if we believeSatan is the only spiritual
force at work here.
Although he clearly played alead role in this spiritual war,
satan was not the only deitywho rebelled against Yahweh.
This idea goes all the way backto Genesis, the very beginning
of our scriptures.
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When we go back to thebeginning, the heavens and the
earth were created before man.
We will look at the supportingpassages as we dive into this.
So hold tight.
But if we take the view thatthe scriptures reveal, adam and
Eve, while in the Garden of Eden, would have been in the
presence of Yahweh and hisdivine counsel, satan or the
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serpent were only one of manygods that were appointed by
Yahweh for his purpose.
Ancient Hebrews understood thatthe fall of man was not only due
to the sin of Adam and Eve, butalso due to the rebellion of
the heavenly hosts.
The gods were appointed byYahweh to serve mankind.
Satan rebelled against Yahwehand got man kicked out of Eden.
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Satan did not want to serve man.
He was too good for that.
He wanted to be in power.
Isaiah describes tyrant kingsin parallel with Satan.
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How you are fallen from heaven, o day star, son of dawn
, how you are cut down to theground, you who laid the nations
low.
You said in your heart I willascend to heaven, above the
stars of God.
I will set my throne on high.
I will sit on the mount ofassembly in the far reaches of
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the north.
I will ascend above the heightsof the clouds.
I will make myself like theMost High we see in this passage
that Satan truly believed hecould be like the Most High.
Lenny (09:06):
We see in this passage that Satan truly believed he
could be like the Most High.
The Most High is Yahweh.
What would make a creation ofthe Lord think it can be equal
to or above him?
It's my opinion that it comesfrom the same error that mankind
falls into time and again.
Evil rulers and tyrant kings,as well as lesser gods and
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angelic beings who rebel againstthe will of God, all seem to
think they will get away with it.
They seem to think they areable to trick or even defeat God
and his sovereign plans.
How could they possibly thinksuch a thing unless they believe
they had a totally free will?
The concept of having freeautonomy apart from the will of
Yahweh seems to lead to prideand rebellion, while those who
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honor him always have faith inhim.
Why do they have faith in him?
Is it because they think he canwin, or is it because they know
he will win Something to chewon?
As you're looking at scriptures, but continuing on Ezekiel
addresses Satan even moredirectly.
But continuing on Ezekieladdresses Satan even more
directly.
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You were in Eden, the garden of God.
Every precious stone was yourcovering Sardius, topaz and
diamond, beryl, onyx and jasper,sapphire, emerald and carbuncle
, and crafted in gold, were yoursettings and your engravings.
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On the day that you werecreated, they were prepared.
You were an anointed guardiancherub.
I placed you, you were on theholy mountain of God, in the
midst of the stones of fire.
You walked, you were blamelessin your ways, from the day you
were created tillunrighteousness was found in you
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, in the abundance of your trade.
You were filled with violencein your midst and you sinned.
So I cast you as a profanething from the mountain of God
and I destroyed you.
O, guardian cherub, from themidst of the stones of fire,
your heart was proud because ofyour beauty.
You corrupted your wisdom forthe sake of your splendor.
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I cast you to the ground.
I exposed you before kings tofeast their eyes on you by the
multitude of your iniquities.
In the unrighteousness of yourtrade, you profaned your
sanctuaries.
So I brought fire out from yourmidst.
It consumed you and I turnedyou to ashes on the earth in the
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sight of all who saw you.
Lenny (11:41):
Wow, ponder that for a moment.
We see the ultimate demise ofSatan spoken here through Isaiah
.
He clearly is not going tosurvive what he had coming.
But in regards to Eden, in thebeginning you have this amazing
guardian cherub, who is supposedto work for God, telling Eve
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that God lied to them about thefruit.
Satan, who can be traced backas a serpent through scripture,
told Eve they would be like theLord.
If they ate the fruit, theywould know what God knows was
the concept.
As we know, adam and Eve tookthe bait.
They fell for the sametemptation that Satan had for
himself.
They wanted to be like God MostHigh.
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They wanted to know what heknows.
Have you ever questioned God'sjudgment?
I think we all do in some wayand at some point in life, but
our scriptures seem to teach usthat it's not the right thing to
do.
Most today will accept thesetruths.
But Satan was not the onlymember of the divine council.
There was a host of lesser godsand angels having various
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levels of authority.
This divine council would havebeen in Eden, in the presence of
Yahweh, with Adam and Eve,before Adam and Eve were created
.
Melissa (12:50):
we read in Genesis 2, Thus the heavens and the earth
were completed in all theirhosts.
Lenny (12:58):
And then about Satan.
Melissa (13:00):
We read in Ezekiel your heart was proud because of your
beauty.
You corrupted your wisdom forthe sake of your splendor.
Lenny (13:09):
Satan was proud he didn't want to serve mankind.
I've come to believe thatSatan's purpose in causing the
fall would be to corrupt mankindand to rule over them, not to
serve them.
Yahweh did take his Holy Spiritaway from Adam and Eve, as well
as removing them from Eden,where they had access to the
Tree of Life, as well asremoving them from Eden, where
they had access to the Tree ofLife.
But he also cursed Satan andannounced what is considered to
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be the first gospel account inGenesis, chapter 3.
Melissa (13:35):
And I will put enmity between you and the woman and
between your seed and her seed.
He shall bruise you on the headand you shall bruise him on the
heel.
Lenny (13:46):
What I see in this passage and I'm not alone here
is Yahweh telling Satan he wouldfix the problem that he created
here.
From her seed.
One will come and destroy youis what Yahweh tells Satan in
this passage.
God was going to bring mankindback into his fellowship and
Satan's defeat would come frommankind.
So what would you do then?
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If you're Satan hearing this,what would most political
leaders be thinking?
Here might be a good startingpoint, because they all seem to
think the same way.
Does corrupting mankind soundabout right?
Melissa (14:20):
In Genesis 6 we read when man began to multiply on
the face of the land anddaughters were born to them, the
sons of God, Of course, thesepassages like every other are
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argued among scholars.
Lenny (14:44):
Many see these simply as human beings.
But the term sons of God comesfrom the Hebrew words.
All uses of Elohim in the OldTestament of our Bibles refer to
spiritual beings.
Elohim is only used of those inthe spirit world.
If they are called Elohim, theyare not of the physical realm.
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They are not a human.
They are not of the physicalrealm.
They are not a human, they arespirit beings.
Michael Heiser, a well-knownand highly accredited Bible
scholar, says Elohim is a placeof residence locator.
What he means is that Elohim isonly used of those in the
spirit world.
The term Elohim is used allthroughout scripture.
Often is used to describeYahweh.
Other times it is used inplural form to describe the
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lesser gods.
It is like the word deer in ourlanguage.
We don't say deers when werefer to more than one.
We still say deer.
The amount has to be determinedby the context.
But in regards to our Genesispassage, we read something even
more shocking.
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After the sons of God took these women to be their
wives, the Nephilim were on theearth in those days and also
afterward, when the sons of Godcame into the daughters of men
and they bore children to them.
Those were the mighty men whowere of old, men of renown.
Lenny (16:05):
Did you catch that?
I could never help but wonderwhat was going on here when I
would read this passage, butthen I would be nudged back into
a less extreme view of thispassage by many who teach
scripture.
It must be those strangeminority views that promote
weird thoughts about some kindof super giants that could be
dangerous or just majorlydistracting.
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I'd better just calm down, Ithought to myself.
But then one day it dawned onme what view of scripture do you
have that falls into themainstream category?
Are you really going to letthis go without exploring it a
bit further?
Well, I couldn't let it go.
I believe that the truthmatters, and the more we're in
truth, the less we'll live inlies.
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I also discovered that it playsa strong role in further
understanding the finished workof our Lord, christ Yeshua.
So if you're one of thosepeople that call these things a
distraction, keep listening.
I will prove that this has todo with the finished work of
Christ Yeshua far more than youwould imagine.
But getting back to the pointhere for now, these sons of God
had sexual intercourse withwomen, and the result was these
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giants who were very powerful.
These were like hybrid angelmen and they were corrupting
mankind.
The ancient Hebrews saw this asthe reason for the flood.
It wasn't just men being evil.
It was a spiritual war going onagainst mankind and a rebellion
against Yahweh.
Now these rebellious sons ofGod faced a judgment.
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Jude tells us about thejudgment of these angels.
The fallen sons of God weresent to Tartarus for their
transgression.
Peter and Jude both referencethis story in the New Testament.
These writers understood thatGenesis 6 recorded the second
supernatural rebellion.
Tartarus is a Greek word forthe realm of the dead, such as
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Hades or what some translationscall Hell.
Those angels would stay thereuntil the day of the Lord
Judgment Day.
Melissa (17:58):
But as we read earlier, the Nephilim were on the earth
in those days and also afterward.
Lenny (18:05):
I don't know how they survived the flood, but they
were not just ordinary men, theyfigured it out.
At least some of them didenough to continue in their
corruption after the flood.
They had not been wiped out andwere still at large.
Pun intended.
It is written, we can't deny it, and we read a lot about this
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in Scripture, if we're payingattention.
The specific term sons of Godwas used twice here in Genesis,
but then it's used again threetimes in Job.
Melissa (18:36):
Now, there was a day when the sons of God came to
present themselves before theLord, and Satan also came among
them.
Lenny (18:45):
And that was Job, chapter 1, and then in chapter 2 we
read Again.
Melissa (18:49):
There was a day when the sons of God came to present
themselves before the Lord, andSatan also came among them to
present himself before the Lord.
Lenny (18:59):
And then in chapter 38,.
Melissa (19:02):
Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth
?
Tell me, if you haveunderstanding, who set its
measurements, since you know, orwho stretched the line on it,
on what were its bases sunk, orwho laid its cornerstone when
the morning stars sang togetherand the sons of God shouted for
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joy.
Lenny (19:24):
So the morning stars and son of God here both refer to
divine beings.
They were part of the divinecouncil.
If you make these sons of Godto be humans, you'll have to
explain a couple of things One,how their children were
super-powered giants and two,how they existed before the
creation of the earth.
(19:45):
The term sons of God is foundone more time in the ESV
translation due to the fact thatthey included newer scriptures
that were found among the DeadSea Scrolls at Qumran in their
search for context.
Melissa (19:58):
Deuteronomy 32 reads when the Most High gave to the
nations their inheritance.
When he divided mankind, hefixed the borders of the peoples
according to the number of thesons of God.
Lenny (20:15):
We then see several other passages in our scripture that
describe this divine council orthe heavenly hosts, starting
with Psalm 82.
Melissa (20:23):
A psalm of Asaph.
God has taken his place in thedivine council, in the midst of
the gods, he holds judgment.
Lenny (20:31):
And then in Psalm 89.
Melissa (20:33):
Let the heavens praise your wonders, o Lord, your
faithfulness in the assembly ofthe Holy Ones.
For who in the skies can becompared to the Lord?
Who among the heavenly beingsis like the Lord, a God greatly
to be feared in the council ofthe Holy Ones, and awesome above
all who are around him?
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O Lord, god of hosts, who ismighty as you are, o Lord, with
your faithfulness all around you.
Lenny (21:03):
Then, in the following passages, the focus is on God's
prophets who enter into God'sheavenly throne room, where God
is discussing things with hiscounsel.
True prophets were instructeddirectly by Yahweh and spoke on
his behalf, as we'll seeJeremiah 23.
And then in verse 22.
Melissa (21:38):
in my counsel, then they would have proclaimed my
words to my people and theywould have turned from their
evil way and from the evil oftheir deeds.
Lenny (21:42):
Then in Job 15,.
Melissa (21:45):
Are you the first man who was born, or were you
brought forth before the hills?
Have you listened in thecounsel of God and do you limit
wisdom to yourself?
Lenny (21:56):
And there's God being sarcastic with Job.
And then Daniel referred tothese sons of God as watchers.
Melissa (22:04):
The sentence is by the decree of the watchers, the
decision, by the word of theholy ones, to the end, that the
living may know that the MostHigh rules the kingdom of men
and gives it to whom he will andsets over it the lowliest of
men.
Lenny (22:21):
That's chapter 4, verse 17.
Then back in verse 13, we read,and then in verse 23, and
because the king here aswatchers but then we read of
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them as hosts of heaven in otherareas, and Yahweh is declared
sovereign over his heavenlycouncil.
Nehemiah, chapter 9,.
Melissa (22:56):
You are the Lord, you alone.
You have made heaven, theheaven of heavens, with all
their hosts, the earth and allthat is on it, the seas and all
that is in them, and youpreserve all of them, and the
host of heaven worships you.
Lenny (23:14):
Then in Daniel again worships you.
Melissa (23:21):
Then in Daniel again, chapter 4, verse 35, all the
inhabitants of the earth areaccounted as nothing and he does
according to his will among thehosts of heaven and among the
inhabitants of the earth, andnone can stay his hand or say to
him what have you done?
Lenny (23:34):
It's abundantly clear that these hosts of heaven, or
any human being, are not goingto mess up the will of Yahweh.
In this way, we can know thateverything has purpose.
There's something to learn fromall these events, and there is
something that our Lord isteaching us.
This would go for the unseenrealms as well.
The obedient hosts of Yahwehwould learn from the disobedient
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, and they also have work to dofor their Lord as he instructs,
in order to accomplish his goodpurpose.
Allowing his creation to makechoices within his will is a
most awesome thing.
It is truly incredible to beable to see these things unfold
before us through the holyscriptures.
Then, in these next passages,we get to see Yahweh operating
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through his divine counsel.
He's meeting with his heavenlyhosts and making things happen.
In these cases, they operatefor him rather than against him.
They do what's good in his eyes.
1 Kings 22.
Melissa (24:31):
Micaiah said Therefore, hear the word of the Lord.
I saw the Lord sitting on histhrone and all the hosts of
heaven standing by him on hisright and on his left.
The Lord said who will enticeAhab to go up and fall at Ramoth
Gilead?
And one said this, whileanother said that.
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Then a spirit came forward andstood before the Lord and said I
will entice him.
The Lord said to him how?
And he said I will go out andbe a deceiving spirit in the
mouth of all his prophets.
Then he said you are to enticehim and also prevail.
Go and do so.
Lenny (25:14):
This was not a human taking God's instruction to
entice Ahab.
It was a spirit, a member ofour Lord's council, one of his
hosts, and a similar situationis recorded by the prophet
Isaiah in chapter 6 of.
Melissa (25:28):
Isaiah, sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and
the train of his robe filled thetemple.
Above him stood the seraphim.
Each had six wings With two hecovered his face and with two he
covered his feet, and with twohe flew.
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And one called to another andsaid Holy, holy, holy is the
Lord of hosts.
Lenny (25:58):
The whole earth is full of his glory, and the
foundations of the thresholdsshook at the voice of him who
called, and the house was filledwith smoke.
Melissa (26:11):
But then Isaiah continues in chapter 6 with
Odius saying and I heard thevoice of the Lord saying Whom
shall I send and who will go forus?
Then I said here I am, send me.
Lenny (26:25):
This time Isaiah says Send me.
Instead of a spirit, now youhave Isaiah, the man saying Send
me.
Pretty cool, yeah.
We see here that there is anintended function of the divine
council for the purpose of thewill of Yahweh.
Yahweh asks his hosts whomshall I send?
Who shall go for us?
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The council of Yahweh workclosely with them.
But like mankind, the heavenlyhosts have a will of their own
and are able to rebel againstthe Lord.
But just like mankind, theheavenly hosts cannot surpass
the will of Yahweh.
Yahweh is the only being thathas ever and will ever have
totally free autonomy.
You will not defeat the will ofYahweh.
(27:07):
You're not free to do that, andwe will see that truth unfold
all throughout the scriptures.
But it seems that, just likemankind, many of these Elohim
felt that they had some kind offree will, that they could
somehow defeat the plans ofYahweh.
They must have thought he gavethem a bit more power than he
actually did.
Melissa (27:27):
In Psalm 82, we read how long will you judge unjustly
and show partiality to thewicked?
Lenny (27:35):
This passage refers to the rebellious heavenly hosts
and rulers of the nations.
It's apparent that not all ofthe members of the divine
council chose to obey thecommands of Yahweh.
Satan was not alone in hiscorruption.
He had plenty of company in thespiritual realms.
According to scripture and herewe will begin the next chapter
in our epic story of a spiritualrebellion against Yahweh and
(27:58):
mankind there are three majorrebellions against Yahweh that
took place and three times thatour Lord chose to temporarily
reject mankind.
But he had a plan from thebeginning to bring them back
into his favor, and in a big way.
After deceiving man in thegarden, after corrupting mankind
before the flood, the battlecontinued on.
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The third major event we seehappen is recorded at the Tower
of Babel in Genesis.
Stay tuned for our next episodewhen we dive into what all this
has to do with the finishedwork of our Lord Christ Yeshua.
See you guys next week and havea great day out there.
God bless, bye-bye.
Announcement (28:38):
Thank you for listening to the Waking Up to
Grace podcast brought to you bythe finished work of our Lord
Jesus Christ.
If you enjoyed today's episode,we would love to hear from you.
You can send encouragement ourway right from our episodes and
transcripts page or reach Lennyprivately from the contact form
at wakinguptogracecom.
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