Video: The Unseen Realm

[Michael:D]

This video was brought to our attention by Greg and is posted here for easy access and discussion:



Published on Jan 28, 2016
Dr. Michael Heiser sits down with Derek and Sharon Gilbert to discuss "The Unseen Realm", a breakthrough work that SkyWatch TV CEO Tom Horn calls "one of the freshest, most important works ever written, and one that every serious Bible student should read as soon as possible and keep in their library."

[GregD]

I encourage everyone that sees this post to watch the video (and part 2 once it is made available to us). We really have no idea what the Bible tells us about the unseen forces at work, mostly fighting against God, because most modern translations of the Bible have watered the truth down. This video sparked my interest enough to order the book. Once I receive it (and read it of course) I will loan it out to anyone that wants to read it too.

Thanks for posting this Mike.

[Michael:D]

That was a very interesting presentation.

I liked the explanation that there may be many "Elohim" there is but one "Yehweh" - of course that sheds interesting new light on Gen 1:26 (CLV)

And saying is the Elohim, "Make will We humanity in Our image, and according to Our likeness, and . . ."

A lot of the geo/astro-political views of this "Unseen Realm" business would seem to indicate that these Elohim are still subject to the effects of time. I have always thought that when we leave this realm that time would still have some effect however we will also likely regain the ability to operate in formerly unseen dimensions. Suggesting that Time may be one of the more basic aspects of God (read Yehweh)

With a thought that everything that exists, exists within Yehweh it is not hard to imagine the existence of many superior beings in all of creation.

Great food for thought (and you know me: hungry)

[GregD]

From one hungry guy to another (I mean really... have you seen my waist line?), I'm glad you found the video interesting. I love looking into the things of the Bible. It is an inexhaustible source to research.

The first time I watched this video, I thought he was trying to say that there were many Yahweh type God's and they all got together to decide who gets Earth (Israel). That sounded way to Mormon for me so I backed the video up. Obviously, I wasn't listening closely enough. What Dr. Heiser explains in this video and/or the 2nd one, is that the word Elohim is not used exclusively for Yahweh but for any divine being, i.e. Angels. He says that Yahweh is Elohim but not all Elohim are Yahweh. Yahweh is God (capital "G"). Other Elohim are gods (lower case "g"). We see this all through the Old Testament, most notably in the 10 Commandments. Exo.20:3  Thou shalt have no other gods (elohim) before me.

So, what happened was, God was portioning out, or creating, national boundaries. Most translations say that the land was divided according to the sons of Israel but it should be translated sons of God (this phrase always refers to Angels, not men. See Gen.6:2 & 4, Job.1:6, 2:1 & 38:7) . Surprisingly, a couple of the modern day translations get this right. The International Standard Version (ISV) and the English Standard Version (ESV) both get this right. Of course the Concordant Literal Version (CLV) gets it right too. The problem with the sons of Israel interpretation is that way back when God portioned out the nations, Israel didn't exist.

What we have here is God portioning out the nations for His loyal Angels to administer.

Deu.32:8 When the Supreme gave the nations allotments, when He parted the sons of Adam, He stationed the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the sons of El.

God's portion was Israel. Apparently, these loyal Angels rebelled against God and wanted to run things their way. We see this in Psalm 82.

Psa 82:1 An Asaphic Psalm Elohim is stationed in the congregation of El; Among the elohim is He judging: 2 How long shall you judge with iniquity And lift up the faces of the wicked? 3 Redress the poor and the orphan; To the humbled and destitute grant justice. 4 Deliver the poor and the needy; From the hand of the wicked, give rescue." 5 They do not know and are not understanding; In darkness are they walking about; All the foundations of the earth are slipping. 6 I Myself have said:you are elohim, And sons of the Supreme are all of you." 7 Yet you shall die like common humanity, And like any other of the chiefs you shall fall." 8 Do arise, O Elohim; do judge the earth; For it is You Yourself Who shall have the allotment of all the nations."

Psalm 82 shows us that God became angry with the Angels (elohim) and said he would judge them. He said they would die like humans. This makes all too clear why God dealt so severely with the other nations in the Old Testament. Their spiritual leaders, the Angels (elohim) rebelled against Him, just as Satan did. Now, here's the really cool part...

Paul says in 1Co.6:3  Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?

He just throws that out there like it's common knowledge. We, as Christians are going to judge the Angels that fell and rebelled against God. We are going to play a major role in bringing God's Kingdom back under His control. How cool is that?

Ok, I've said enough. I just get excited when I learn new things about the Creator of EVERYTHING and how we are so important to His plans. Kind of makes the every day problems I have seem not as important in the overall scheme of things.

[Michael:D]

Great post, Greg - Thanks for encapsulating the essence of this video.

I am anxious to hear your thoughts after reading "The Unseen Realm." I think I would like to be added to the waiting list to borrow that book when you are ready to share.

I watched this again last night and was thinking about it this morning and cannot help but feel this way of thinking opens the door to a unification of the world's religions. I have always understood the movement to a worldwide religion to be not such a good thing... It will be interesting to see if this takes hold.

So it sounds like some of these angels have had their "tree of life" access revoked. This seems to indicate that simply existing in the higher dimensions (unseen realms?) is not a guarantee of immortality. In fact, wouldn't this make the angels mortal but for the grace of Yehweh? Perhaps they have had their "horizontal time" removed and are forced to exist only in the "vertical" flow.... but I digress

[GregD]

Thanks Mike. I didn't intend for that post to get so long but one thing led to another and voila... a book. :-)

It is amazing to me how many things tie into one another in the Bible. You start on one subject and three other related subjects pop into your head.

I hadn't connected the "one world religion" dots but I can see where you're coming from. After all, we're just one big happy religion worshiping the same "gods" (elohim), right? (he says with a smirk on his face)

Angels and the tree of life is an interesting thought as well. Most of us assume that angels are inherently immortal beings but Psalm 82 definitely puts another spin to that concept.

I look forward to reading this book and passing it along to anyone that wants to read it.

[Dave T]

I would love to have discussion on this video. I am not sure I understand or buy into some of the things that this author has put forth. Enlighten me please.

[GregD]

The 2nd interview has been posted.

https://youtu.be/G8qOMY6CQ4k

I tried to embed the video like Mike did in the original post but couldn't figure out how. Sorry.

Kinda like this? excuse the edit - Mike:D (thanks Greg)

[Michael:D]

 

Please see http://www.deburger.com/vestibule/index.php?topic=10.0 for video embedding instructions.
It is pretty easy once you know the secret.

[Michael:D]

Greg reads the introduction to the book:
http://MtZionIndy.org/library/audio/TheUnseenRealm/TheUnseenRealm-Chapter1.mp3

Thanks Greg!

[GregD]

HEY... YOU WEREN'T SUPPOSED TO POST THAT!!!!!!!! 

[Michael:D]

Oh... sorry. 

[Michael:D]

I guess I should link to the post where I read this book from start to finish:

http://www.deburger.com/vestibule/index.php?topic=188.0

[GregD]

Great idea (creating the link). Mike did a fantastic job reading the entire book for those of us that can't stay awake long enough to read a whole chapter. I listened to it while driving, made the trips much more bearable.

Thanks again Mike:D