Book Review: Atomic Power With God thru Fasting and Prayer by Franklin Hall

I’ll start right off by saying this book is challenging. The topic of fasting is challenging to begin with, both to do and to understand. The writing is clear but there is a lot of repetition between chapters. The illustrations from actual events are compelling. They call to mind stories of the power of God from the second great awakening.

Hall discusses Biblical stories of fasting (e.g., Jesus, Paul, Moses), Biblical precepts about the practice, reasons why we should fast, the essentials of fasting and the human appetites to be mastered, very straightforward instructions on how to do it (drink lots of water, phases to expect, how to end one), the effects on the physical body (besides being hungry), and how to break the fast. On the practical side, he talks about the health benefits of fasting in terms of cleansing the body (digestive system, blood, etc.), conquering addiction to food or other things (smoking), and getting the body to readjust its metabolism to a healthier weight set-point. He also talks about healthy living post-fast, what foods to avoid (written in 1950, well before ultra-processed foods were the norm, and the bane of healthy diets).

He identifies four human appetites - spiritual, hunger, sex, and greed. In the normal human condition our lives are controlled by one of the last three. By overcoming hunger (which takes a few to several days) the other appetites are demoted in our soul. At the point our spiritual appetite can take control and urge us into Godly behavior. Hindrances and obstacles to a life of faith are removed, initially in small ways but eventually as an appetite altogether.

On the spiritual side, the first point is that after fasting forty days, Jesus told Satan that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Then He started His ministry with preaching and miraculous works of power (healings, casting out demons, raising the dead). When we deny our bodily desires, we are open to focus on the essence of spiritual life - to hear God’s voice, to secure our faith in God’s presence, to know what God wants us to do and to pray for, and devote our whole heart to Him. In the quiet times that we need to set aside, any or all of these things empower us to become and to do in the spiritual realm. And this empowerment leads to the same kinds of ministry that history records both in the Bible and in more recent revivals. Yes, it seems that all revivals of which I have heard were intimately tied to intense fasting and prayer.

When I was forced to fast as a result of a medical procedure, the physical effects followed just as the book describes. More importantly, when I set aside quiet time to wait on the Lord, I was able to grasp just how helpless I am apart from the Lord. And the physical pain that could only be partially medicated and resulting hours of being awake in bed were perhaps a foretaste of what eternity will be like for those we cannot reach, who will regret their actions in this life that they cannot undo in the next, their separation from God, and their inability to do anything at all.  I did not sense any new spiritual depth to pray for lost sinners or nations at war (both of which desperately need prayer), but this was not primarily a spiritual fast.

And so the book concludes that a great spiritual awakening is in the making, a mighty revival of power, signs, wonders and miracles. The Holy Spirit is on the move and we must respond with fasting and prayer. This was written in 1950, before the Charismatic revival (portrayed in the movie The Jesus Revolution), or the Catholic charismatic conferences. But in the 21st century, we face unprecedented spiritual challenges discussed in The Return of the Gods (and innumerable other books and media). We need to buckle down and learn from prior generations how to experience God’s power and presence through fasting and prayer.

Worship

 What is the point of worshipping God? We show reverence and admiration for Jesus. He said that the day would come when we would worship in spirit and in truth. Singing praise is one dimension - when we declare His attributes aloud. The written words of the songs are complemented in our freestyle worship. We speak or sing of His nature and character and His works in unscripted declarations as the Holy Spirit gives them to us.

Jesus’ works are manifest in so many ways that they seem inexhaustible. He created the heavens and the earth, and all that is in them. The beauty and intricacy of nature are beyond awe-inspiring. His hand in history is recorded both in the Bible and man’s written history. But equally important, His work in our individual lives shapes us into what He is calling us to become. Through teachings of the church, through fellowship and discipleship, and through chastening, the events of life, Jesus forms us into His image.

We have glimpses of Jesus’ nature and character, although obviously not the transcendent dimensions. He is perfectly holy - meaning that He is undividedly devoted to moral purity, doing what is right, and separated from evil and sin, even from sins of omission. By His very nature, He loves, and shows love to all who will receive Him. He loves those who reject Him too, but cannot show His love in any way other than trying to win them to Himself, and He will allow sin to reap its harvest in their lives in hope they will turn to Him.  He will not participate in evil. We have difficulty understanding how to choose or reconcile bad things happening to good people and God seemingly allowing it, but that is where His transcendence is paramount.

Jesus’ love desires and works for the best long-term interests and outcome of others. It manifests as being patient and kind. not envying, not boasting, not being proud. It does not dishonor others, is not self-seeking, is not easily angered, keeps no record of wrongs, does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth, always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Because of all these (above) Jesus is worthy of our worship. His glory is revealed. He has high renown and honor won by both His works and His magnificence. C. S. Lewis wrote an essay called the weight of glory, based on 2 Corinthians 4:17, that our current lives are should be focused on the unseen, eternal promises of God, and the weight we sense when He is present with us.

The point of worshipping God is not just that He is worthy to be publicly acknowledged for His nature and character, His works, and His goodness to us. It is to join together in public agreement, in detail, about His essential attributes, and to focus our own minds and hearts on these things. His holiness can be imparted to us, His love can flow through us to others. If we sense His in singing about Him in reverence and awe, we are closer to that eternal outcome, of becoming like Him.

We can sing and we can testify, but beyond that, we should devote our lives totally to Him. He gives us stewardship over His resources that He has given us: our time, our abilities, the money we have, our families, our energy. Worship also includes doing what He asks us to, as faithful stewards. Some He calls to travel to foreign lands as missionaries and evangelists. Some He asks to work building His kingdom locally. He asks all to be generous with their finances, while being faithful stewards. Generosity does not mean enabling others’ sinful or irresponsible behaviors, but helping those truly in need. Worshipful actions by us encourage others to similarly worship Jesus through their lives.

Book Review: The Return of the Gods by Jonathan Cahn

Complementing The Unseen Realm, which discusses the Biblical passages relating to the fallen elohim, the Return of the Gods addresses how these enemies of God are actively working to destroy Christianity in the modern world. The book focuses on how three specific ancient pagan gods - the dark trinity of Baal, Moloch, and Ishtar - are re-introducing their religion in the post-Christian western world. The longest discussion is on how the sexual deviancy of the modern world in all its forms - unrestricted sex, abortion on demand, homosexuality, transvestite apparel, gender redefinition and transition, the destruction of innate identity - is all traceable back to pagan worship of Ishtar (under many names) thousands of years ago.  It seems odd that spirit beings (fallen elohim) would engage in the sexual debauchery described in ancient writings about Ishtar. Perhaps part of their fall from grace is sexual perversion, or perhaps it is a metaphor for the fervency with which they want humans to worship them, and certainly a tool to destroy Christianity in the modern world.

The fallen elohim are true to their character and have only one new tool (modern electronic media), but seem to be sticklers for dates and events. For example, the riot at the Stonewall Inn in New York City from June 28-July 2, 1969 started on the anniversary of the ancient celebration of Ishtar and Tammuz.  (Tammuz was one of Ishtar’s lovers, that she mourned when he died. ) Later, three Supreme Court decisions, in 2003, 2013, and 2015, related to homosexuality were decided on June 26 of each year. 

I often wondered why Aaron made the golden calf when Moses tarried in God’s presence, and then centuries later Jeroboam made two golden calves at the north and south end of the northern kingdom of Israel. The answer is here - this is one of Baal’s manifestations, one that he seduces religious people to worship when they rebel against YHWH. And … the charging bull was installed on Wall Street in 1989 (approximately twenty years after the Stonewall Inn riot). Does the emphasis of our culture on material success, epitomized by bull markets, constitute idolatry of worshipping Baal? And…  what is the significance of a display of artifacts related to the ancient gate of Ishtar in Babylon at NYU at the beginning of the COVID crisis (November 2019-May 2020)? 

The pattern of the introduction of anti-life values is directly correlated with the pagan religious practices into a post-Christian United States. The fallen elohim, whose history is recounted in the Bible and explained in Heiser’s book mentioned above, are attempting to lead as many as possible away from Truth. The weapons of our warfare are identified in Ephesians 6. Prominent among them are the belt of truth and the gospel of peace. Evangelization and teaching are the only hope for winning this spiritual battle. It is not so much that these fallen pagan wanna-be gods are fearsome or powerful (although they do have some power), but that they deceive people and our culture into self-destruction. 

Our future depends on peeling back the devil’s facade with Truth incarnate. Declaring the truth to our nation and culture must be buttressed with fasting and prayer to focus our hearts on the ultimate Victor, engage Him in our specific battles, and bring the power of the Holy Spirit directly into the lives of those who need to be saved from evil incarnate. Jesus promised that the gates of hell would not prevail against His church, based on the confession of Him, the keys to heaven’s kingdom and binding of the powers in heaven.

Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 16:16-19)

Make America Healthy Again?

Since Robert F Kennedy, Jr., plans to get America to eat healthier foods, it seems like there are two steps in this, neither of which has, to my knowledge, been even outlined.

The first step is to identify what constitutes healthy food. 

• It is easy to generalize and say that refined sugar, fat, preservatives, and artificial flavor enhances, (snd other additives) are unhealthy, but how much? Is there a structured rating scale supported by medical research and having consensus by the relevant dietary and medical staff of how much of what is bad and how much is acceptable? 
• There are many variables in this because of the variety of medical conditions triggered - obesity is the obvious target, but there are cancer, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, liver disease to name a few - and the contributors to these are variegated as to both content and quantity. The public is drowning in warnings issued, both in media and on the packaging of the food items themselves. 
• So the first challenge is to develop a straightforward but simple framework so that the general public can understand what items are unhealthy, both in a general sense, and for specific medical conditions. 
• For the latter, it seems that diabetics and people with allergies of various types know what they need to avoid, unless some processed food item slips in an additive buried in the ingredients list that is not noticed. 
• But for the former, perhaps there should be a simple scale from -100 to +100 with -100 being extremely unhealthy in general (totally junk food that has no nutrition value and actively degrades health), and +100 being extremely healthy. (Fresh fruits and vegetables for example.) I know there are some diet plans that do this (assigning scores to foods) but there would need to be a consensus so that the general public and the food producing and processing sectors would have a common scale that is based on medical science.
• And there would probably need to be an ongoing open forum about the scores assigned to additives like potassium sorbate and the thousands of other preservatives and flavor enhancers. And also about how the scores of processed foods and fast food would be determined from the combination of the many ingredients.

The second step is how to get people to choose the healthier options once they are clear. 

• It is easy to propose something like banning unhealthy foods, but complex in practice unless we go to a quasi-totalitarian state. Prohibition didn’t work all that well a hundred years ago.
• The clarification of the health value or risk would likely incentivize many to choose better options, but not all. (Some people still smoke despite its undisputed health consequences.)  
• An incentive option might be to tax food with negative health consequences, in proportion to the score assigned, and maybe even subsidize the healthiest foods. The fast food industry would doubtless complain if it is forced to subsidize fresh produce, but it might also help poorer people choose apples and carrots and oatmeal over double cheeseburgers and French fries, if they were less expensive.   

For a Biblical context, instructions regarding food have four specific phases. However, health implications vs. religious implications (i.e. honoring God and His creation) aren’t always clear. 

• Initially, God told Adam that He gave him plants and tree fruit for food.  (Genesis 1:29-30).
• After the flood, God gave Noah everything that moves as food, with the caveat that he was not to eat meat with blood in it (presumably meaning raw meat). (Genesis 9:3-4)   The timing isn’t spelled out, but in Genesis 6:3 God reduced human lifespan to 120 years. Prior to that, the patriarchs had lifespans on the order of 900 years. Could there be a causal connection?
• When Moses received the law in the wilderness, very detailed rules for kosher food were spelled out.  (Leviticus 10:8-15; 11:1-47;  Deuteronomy 14:3-21). Although health implications are not identified in the Biblical text, the book None of These Diseases by McMillen and Stern describes some of them. Daniel 1:12-15 suggests that diet is healthy. (N.b., FDA under RFK, Jr.)
• Jesus declared all foods clean. (Mark 7:19) However, the context of the passage indicates that  Jesus specifically was referring to internal defilement, addressing heart issues like  sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance, and folly, and stating that physical uncleanness is insignificant compared to these. (Mark 7: 1-23)

It is also worth noting that the concept of processed foods did not exist in Biblical times. The only preservative was salt, and flavor enhancers were limited to naturally occurring spices. Hence it does not speak to things like  potassium bromate, butylated hydroxytoluene, red dye #3, monosodium glutamate, or high fructose corn syrup. 

Of course, poor health isn’t just due to junk food. The stress of modern life certainly contributes, as do excessive alcohol consumption and drug use.  The war on drugs has been going on for over fifty years, and its successes seem outweighed by its lack of success: drug cartels control large swaths of Latin America; roughly one in eight  people over age twelve use illegal narcotics at least monthly. More than six percent of the adult population have an alcohol abuse disorder. Roughly three out of four adults report stress-related physical or mental health symptoms. Stress can result from many issues such as living in poverty, dysfunctional domestic relationships,  job-related pressures, peer pressure, “social” media… the list goes on. 

Dealing with all this goes more to culture than government actions. Historically, small towns and their way of life reduced some of the stressors, but modern electronic media have erased their former isolation. The government can do little to change culture. It can perhaps find a new strategy for the drug war, raise taxes on alcohol, set standards for social media content. Government cannot impose the Biblical standards for a healthy, functioning society and culture, until the return of Jesus to earth to rule as the rightful king, nor can it provide the reassurances Jesus discussed in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:25-34). Only Jesus can exercise perfect justice for all, with faithfulness and righteousness being the accepted standard for social behavior. The Lord Himself will bless all people, and the rebel will be a small minority recognized as a sinner who will reap what he sows by rejecting Christ. 

In the meantime, it will be fascinating to see how the Trump administration, and RFK, Jr. in particular, approach the much more modest challenge.

Book Review: The Declaration of Independence, A Study in the History of Political Ideas, by Carl Lotus Becker

Writing in 1922, Carl Becker discusses the development of the natural rights philosophy and the political theory of the British Empire preceding the revolution, the process of drafting the Declaration of Independence,  the literary qualities of the language in the declaration, and the development of political theory subsequent to the declaration, in the French Revolution and the 19th century, particularly its relationship to the reign of terror, and slavery in the United States.

The evolution of political theory based on God, Nature, and Reason over the preceding century laid the groundwork for the reasoning articulated in the Declaration. This was the migration from the divine right of kings to rule as God’s appointed agents to the concept of a compact between rulers and the ruled, based on the revelation of natural law. If men and nature are created by God, then reason can be used to deduce from what we learn from nature through science human nature and how people ought to interact in social and political structures. Over the course of the 18th century philosophers had expounded theories of how this leads to the right form of government. The Founding Fathers (and Thomas Jefferson in particular) leaned heavily on this to write the Declaration of Independence. The logic led to conclusions such as “the British Parliament must be limited by the law of nature, which affirms that the happiness of the society is the first law of every government.”  But the logic of the colonies was fluid, adapting to the changing circumstances over the ten years preceding the declaration, as the politics evolved and the colonists sought redress from perceived wrongs. In fact, although the Declaration blames the king, a large part of the offensive actions came from Parliament, where the colonists had neither voice nor vote. In the end, the justification and declaration were largely written for the justification of the rebellion to those on the sidelines, the other nations of Europe. 

After lengthy discussion of the editing process and the literary qualities of the Declaration, Becker goes on to its impact on nineteenth century events and issues such as the French Revolution and slavery. He discusses how Rousseau and Hegel and other philosophers interpreted and either endorsed or rejected the concept of inalienable rights.   He states, “To ask whether the natural rights philosophy of the Declaration of Independence is true or false is essentially a meaningless question.” He explains that it is the application of the higher law by humans (he does not use the words fallen or sinful, but the concept is there) that addresses whether government promotes the general welfare or the private agenda of the rulers. 

Returning to the fundamental question, when is rebellion against authority justified? What are the fundamental principles for resolving conflict in governance? I think that Carl Becker is trying to address these questions, but perhaps not so baldly stated:

• What is the government supposed to do? What is its ultimate objective, and what should it do to achieve that objective?
• How do people discern and decide what these objectives and actions should be?
• If people do not agree, what is the process for resolving disagreements and making a decision?
• What are the limits for which living with actions that are disagreed with becomes unacceptable, and breaking the relationship becomes necessary?

We can see this in the church, clearly laid out in the Bible, at least by example. The Bible tells us the objectives, and the church should do what Jesus wants. (Carry out the Great Commission, teach new believers, care for the poor, etc.) In the book of Acts we see how the early disciples discerned God’s will, and how they handled disagreements about what God wanted. They waited for the call of God through the Holy Spirit. (Acts 1:14, 2:4; 4:23-31 ) When they had differences of opinion they held discussions or councils at various levels to talk through the issues. (Acts 15:6-29; 15:36-40) The Holy Spirit spoke through various means and people and the apostles recognized this. Occasionally Paul gave instructions to expel someone who was clearly either not  a believer and/or had the intent of damaging the church, and could not be persuaded by discussion. (1 Corinthians 5:1-13; 2 Thessalonians 3:14; 2 Timothy 4:14) 

Becker does not consider church governance, so implications of this for the book being reviewed are a bit far afield, but not totally irrelevant as they set a context. As regards secular governance, the prevailing philosophy of the 18th century included the divine right of kings, based on passages such as Romans 13:1-7 and  Jesus’ comments on paying taxes to Caesar (Matthew 22:15-21; Mark  12:14-17;  Luke  20:21-25).  On the other hand, in Acts 5:27-32 the disciples argued with the Sanhedrin (not the king, but they had authority in Jerusalem to imprison) and asserted that when God commanded them to do something and rulers forbade it, they would reject that usurpation of divine authority. The Founding Fathers were making no claim about a direct command from God. Instead, their reasoning was that the Bible says that God had made humans as His image bearers. In addition, natural law (discovered through scientific research) was considered as a divine revelation of the God of nature and and the nature of God and could be cited. Hence, rulers who mistreated them violated their Divine commission and image, and therefore were as evil as the Pharaoh who enslaved the Israelites. They did not claim a call like  the one Moses received, because God’s revelation had already been recorded in the Bible.

What does philosophizing about 18th century philosophy of governance have to do with the 21st century?  The government of England in 1776 had a concept that it was all about earthly and secular matters, that the role of spiritual matters in governance was that the Bible said what it said and that was it (ignoring Acts 5), political governance was in the hands of man, and the Church of England spoke for God. The colonials had a view that God is an active participant in these matters in the daily conduct of life.

In our era there is a similar dichotomy between those who believe that the separation of church and state means that God is disconnected from governance, and those who believe the Bible should be our guide. Both views ignore a third perspective: the entire fabric of the unseen realm, the rulers and battles that Daniel the prophet was told about, warfare in heavenly places (Ephesians 6), and the ultimate authority of Christ and His imminent return to earth to rule over it. Even those who advocate for morality, righteousness, justice, and mercy often do not address human government from the perspective of  dealing with rulers, authorities, powers of the dark world, and spiritual forces of evil in the heavenlies. (Ephesians 6:12) The Declaration of Independence was a statement that invoked spiritual values as a motivation for actions; in our day, the times and seasons force us to consider how to deal directly with the spiritual realities that are unseen.

The Trials of Job and the Beatitudes - the Great Commission and defeat of Satan

Job’s legendary suffering hints at the spiritual realities that Christ proclaimed in the Sermon on the Mount. Let’s start with a recap of Job’s heroic faith. 

• He lost everything in the world - his possessions, his children, his health. 
• Then his wife told him to curse God and die. (Job 2:9) 
• Then his three ‘comforters’ spent 29 chapters telling him that he was a terrible sinner and he should repent, because obviously God would not inflict this punishment on him otherwise. (Job 3-31) 
• In the midst of this Job made some strong statements of faith.  
• That even if God were to kill him, he would hope and trust in Him. (Job  13:15) 
• That his redeemer lives and that he would see Him in the flesh - the resurrection of the just. (Job 19:25-27) 
• Job ends with a plea for God to answer him. Then Elihu spoke up to point up that there are some things about God that we don’t understand, because He transcends our limited understanding. (Job 32-37) 
• God then answers Job’s plea to hear from Him, but doesn’t really answer the question Job asked. Instead, He points to the power and glory of nature, and asks Job if he can do, or even understand these things. (Job 38-41) 
• Job repents of thinking that he could understand God or contest with Him in court, and God blesses Job. 
• God tells Job’s ‘comforters’ to ask him to pray for them, because their legalistic understanding of God completely misrepresented Him, and He was angry. (Job 42:7-9) 

The real reason Job was tested (that God approved of him, and Satan accused him of mercenary faith, and that Satan was the destroyer) was never mentioned by God to Job.

Turning to the beatitudes, Jesus’ statement of how He would live out His life through the lives of His followers (Matthew 5:3-12):

• Job’s spiritual poverty was exemplified through the other traits. (Job 1:20-21; 2:10)
• Job mourned for those who suffered, long before he mourned the loss of his family. (Job 29:12,16)
• Job was meek enough to pray for His ‘comforters’ when they had so badly accused him and judged him without evidence. (Job 42:9-10)
• Job sought to honor God with His life. (Job 31:1-32)
• Job showed mercy to his ‘comforters’ as per the above.
• Job’s heart-devotion to God led him to want to see God face-to-face. (Job 31:35-37)
• Job ultimately made peace with his ‘comforters’, but through a correct honoring of God, and not through surrender to Pharisaical legalism.  (Job 26:2-4; 42:10-11)
• Job did not rejoice when he was accused of being a horrendous sinner and they said all manner of evil about him, but he did retain his faith in God. He knew that a redeemer would come. His wife did not believe it. (Job 19:25-27; 2:9)

Another interesting note is that he did not choose, at the point of deepest suffering, to say he would rather go to his eternal reward. Instead, he wanted to see God’s redemptive work revealed on earth. 

When we are confronted with the outpouring of evil, it seems as though a portal has been opened between the spiritual and natural realms, that allows Satan and his minions access to rain evil on the earth. In Matthew 16:13-20, Jesus took His disciples to the region of Caesarea Philippi to talk about His power and reign over evil. When Peter correctly named Him as the Christ, the Son of the living God, Jesus explained the authority that the church has over evil. “… on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 16:18-19) He then went on to describe His upcoming death, and the ultimate victory over sin and evil that He would thereby accomplish. Peter did not understand this at the time, but in retrospect we have a much clearer picture. 

The point of all this should be clear: when we see evil rampant on the earth and empowered by Satanic forces that have emerged from the spiritual realm into the earth, we know that Jesus has already defeated them through His death and resurrection. (Matthew 16:21)   The victory is real in our lives through following His footsteps. (Matthew 16:24-26) As a New Testament fulfillment of the revelation Job received from God in a whirlwind, Jesus then took the disciples up to a high mountain and was transformed before them, revealing His glory. (Matthew 17:1-8) This type of the rapture of the church stands as a promise for the ultimate outcome for Jesus’ followers who exercise the power of His death and resurrection to overcome evil. Job had only a dim revelation of this, but the church has now been fully empowered to oppose and defeat Satan and his cronies when they are on the earth. 

Beyond that, the church can take the offensive, since this portal exists, to attack Satan’s spiritual strongholds, with the promise of Christ that the gates of hell cannot overcome the power of the rock of Jesus Himself. This power is released through the keys of the kingdom of God: the confession of His name and sovereignty, and obedience to Him in taking on His armor. (Ephesians 6:12) The beatitudes describe the life of Christ as lived out in His people - what this victory looks like. That current culture reflects the opposite indicates that we must take the offensive to the gates of hell. Victory is promised when the Great Commission is completed. (Matthew 28: 18-20, Mark 13:10) Could that be God’s intention when He created the portal?  

Supernatural Seminar with Michael Heiser - understanding the unseen powers and God’s purpose

 

This Four part lecture series on YouTube is largely based on Dr. Heiser’s book The Unseen Realm. Each video (ranging from 50 to 80 minutes each) has a link to the next. These videos were filmed a few years before his death in 2023. Most of the video recaps materials from the book, about the elohim, the divine council, the three rebellions, the fallen elohim, the Nephilim (children born to human women fathered by fallen angels), Moses and Joshua dealing with this demonic seed, and the New Testament perspective on spiritual warfare in this context. This is a different  medium (and more accessible to many) than his scholarly tome.

One point Dr. Heiser makes is often understated or ignored by others, which is God’s purpose in creating humanity. God created the elohim, with the purpose of assigning them roles in His creation. He then (later) created humanity, with the purpose of assigning them different roles. (Genesis 1:28) Dr. Heiser infers that Satan and other rebellious elohim were furious that they were being sidelined for this role. It is not entirely clear whether Satan’s rebellion preceded God’s decision and plan, or was because of it. In any event, Satan conspired to destroy humankind by tricking and tempting humans into self-destructive sin, which continues to this day.

What the rebellious elohim did not understand was God’s plan of redemption. They did not truly understand His nature and character: how His love and His holiness merged into the greatest rescue plan in all eternity - Jesus’ propitiatory death on the cross. God’s plan is that redeemed humans will have His nature and character inextricably embedded in the core of their very being. And that these redeemed humans will then fulfill His plan to have an earth ruled and cared for by humans who share His values, His character, His essential essence.

The implications of this for our present life should be obvious (at least, after watching the videos). Our present life should be focused firstly on being in right-standing with God, and then disciplining ourselves to conform to His image. This means that we have to learn to see every situation from His viewpoint, to respond with love and holiness and justice and mercy integrated in working to a result that He would seek. This training occurs in our everyday life situations, it is the purpose of our current life on this earth. We see this exhibited in first responders, farmers, medical professionals, veterinarians, teachers, and many others.  That is, people called by God to careers that involve helping people be fruitful and increase in number, filling the earth and subduing it, ruling over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground. If we are ultimately to serve Christ in eternity, He has to be able to trust us! This is more than career, it is a heart fully submitted to His heart.