Perspectives An Introductory Look at Yahweh’s Divine Counsel
by Jeffrey T. McCormack
In recent years, there has been a rise of interest in the subject of giants called “Nephilim” and the Sons of God called “Watchers” in the Bible. Much of this interest swirls around the End Times crowd and involves speculation that approaches the absurd.1
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adly, more and more people today are uninformed about the Hebrew and biblical concept of Yahweh’s divine council, which included divinely appointed princes also known in the Bible as “sons of God” and the “Watchers.” An examination of extra-biblical ancient Hebrew writings brings this concept into sharper focus. For those with eyes to see it, the divine council is also clearly present in Scripture, so we will stay within the canon for this introduction. While the Church often explains the plural “us” in Old Testament passages as a reference to the triune godhead (e.g., Gen 1:26, “Let us make man in our image,” during day six of creation, and Gen 11:27, “Come, let us go down . . .,” at the Tower of Babel), this reading of Trinitarian theology into these verses does not reflect the ancient Hebrews’ understanding. Rather, the Hebrews understood these passages as examples of Yahweh speaking to His heavenly council.2 While Scripture is clear that God is one (Deut 6:4), it also speaks in terms of a cosmic worldview that includes a body of divine beings. This body comprises a sort of governmental bureaucracy that works alongside of and in counsel with Yahweh. The idea of Yahweh having a governing body around Him may sound strange to us today, but it was not so to the ancient Hebrews, nor to the early Church who gave us the Scriptures. These angelic beings are referred to by different names, one of which is “sons of God”: Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them. (Job 1:6 & 2:1; cf. Gen 6:1-2) They are also known by the term “Watchers” and/or “holy ones,” as we see in Daniel: “The sentence is by the decree of the watchers, the decision by the word of the holy ones” (4:17). This council is also evident in the Psalms: God has taken his place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods he holds judgment . . . . (Psalm 82:1-2) Let the heavens praise your wonders, O LORD, your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones! . . . Who among the heavenly beings is like the LORD, a God
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FULFILLED MAGAZINE • SUMMER 2016
greatly to be feared in the council of the holy ones, and awesome above all who are around him? (Psalm 89:5-7) The Dictionary of Biblical Imagery informs us that “the divine assembly is . . . a board of advisors or counselors with whom the supreme deity consults, an ‘assembly of the holy ones’ (Psalms 89:5)”3 Biblical scholar Michael Heiser elaborates: The term divine council is used by Hebrew and Semitics scholars to refer to the heavenly host, the pantheon of divine beings who administer the affairs of the cosmos. All ancient Mediterranean cultures had some conception of a divine council. The divine council of Israelite religion, known primarily through the psalms, was distinct in important ways.4 Space does not permit discussing it here, but read 1 Kings 22:19-22 to see this divine council at work. Author Brian Godawa also notes, “Biblical scholars refer to this hierarchy as the divine council, or divine assembly and it consists of beings that are referred to in the Bible as gods.”5 Now, in early history, as the people became more disobedient toward Yahweh, He finally disowned them, turning them over to the leadership of these princes/sons of god. He turned them over to these “gods,” and Yahweh Himself chose a new people for His own: When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he divided mankind, he fixed the borders of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God. But the Lord’s portion is his people, Jacob his allotted heritage. (Deut 32:8-9) This is referring to the division of humanity at the Tower of Babel (Gen 10), when Yahweh divided humanity into the 70 nations (Gen 11). The nations were divided and to each Yahweh assigned one of these divine sons of god to be their respective “god.” Thus, when we read of gods such as Baal and Molech, we are reading of these angelic leaders. These gods were not, however, to be worshipped or followed by Yahweh’s people: And beware lest you raise your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, you be drawn away and bow down
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