Troublesome Topic: HOW POWERFUL ARE THE SPIRITS OF THE NEPHILIM AND OTHER MEMBERS OF THE DIVINE COUNCIL?

Michael Heiser does not try to describe their power in specific terms so we must deduce the answer as we read what he wrote.

According to what Heiser has written, the various gods in the council of the gods, including the spirits of the Nephilim, can change what God has created, or they can create their own reality. For example, the demons that Heiser and many others erroneously call angels, could make insemination of human woman possible, and make it possible for the woman to carry and give birth to their child.

According to Heiser, during the Old Testament era the members of the divine council were somehow involved in almost all the major decisions God made. Heiser says that God listened to their council, even if he didn’t always do exactly what they suggested. Heiser says that the members of the divine council were involved in the giving of the law and had hands-on participation in the life of the people of Israel. For example, when they needed judges to represent God before the people, Heiser says it was these divine figures that served as judges (even though the passage from Exodus chapter 18 through chapter 22 makes clear that Moses was to appoint human judges or magistrates do accomplish this task). 

They were also involved in calling and commissioning the men and women we read about in the Bible that did great things for God. In fact, at one point the book makes it sound like God told them he needed someone and allowed them to choose who it was. That is how John the Baptist came into the picture (pp 274-275). Did they create the miracle of his birth, or did God do that while following their recommendation? Is either of these options even possible?

Through the entire book the difference between the power of God and the power of the divine council is blurred. When he says that humans were (and still are) elevated to members of the divine council (page 271 among others), that makes things even fuzzier. Who does what? Who is responsible for taking action? Do we end up with too many chiefs and not enough Indians? What role do normal humans have in all this? The last question is the most unclear in Heiser’s book. I think he may have left it unclear on purpose.

The next lesson in this series is DOES GOD TAKE COUNCIL FROM DEMONS?