Hey, welcome to the Methodist Voice. The purpose of our time together is to grow in the knowledge of God revealed in the pages of scripture. 2 Corinthians chapter 3 tells us that when we contemplate the God revealed in scripture, it transforms us into His image. The transformation beautifies our minds and hearts and we then beautify the world together. We think that's time well spent. Thanks for joining us. I hope you enjoy today's episode.
Welcome everyone to episode three of the Primeval podcast. In our last episode, we covered Genesis 1, 1 in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. And so that's describing God creating physical reality. In Genesis, we are provided an account of a supernatural God's self-disclosure to humanity, a humanity which exists within physical reality. In that reality, the supernatural realm is hidden from us.
As such, the creation account of Genesis doesn't discuss with much detail the creation of other key characters who exist in a non-physical supernatural reality. It's important to note that because many of these beings will be introduced later in Genesis 1 through 11 without any introduction whatsoever. And the story kind of unfolds in the beginning as these two realities really existing as one reality. Humans interacting with these beings in a way that we don't currently interact with them.
And so that's also a part of the story that we'll explore as the episodes unfold. The fact that human beings initially appear to have or share a reality, the same reality with these beings and interact with them on levels that we don't currently. So this is a good point to discuss. A question that begs asking, when were the angels created? Who or what are they? Because they appear all over the pages of these stories without any explanation.
So these beings are non-material spirit beings who exist separate from the physical universe. That's how we would understand it currently. As such, these beings do not exist within time and space like we do. They don't require an environment of a physical universe for their existence like we do. Furthermore, the laws of physics don't appear to apply to their being or operation like they do to humanity. And as such, they're capable of way more than we are on many different levels.
Since Genesis is giving an account of God creating the physical universe, their creation is not included here. And so the best record we have of the timing of their created existence is from the book of Job. In Job 38, and this will play into when we get into the seven days of creation, Job 38 and this description will play into our thinking there as well. Here's what it says in Job 38 verse 1.
And this is in response to Job kind of lamenting the circumstances of life that he has suffered and the injustices that he feels he has suffered and his contemplating those with his friends. This is God's response to all of their opining. Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said, Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Dress for action like a man. I will question you, and you make it known to me. Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?
Tell me if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements? Surely you know. Or who stretched the line upon it? On what were its bases sunk? Or who laid its cornerstone when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy? It's important to consider this here in our study of Genesis because while the creation of these created non material and in comparison with humans, God like beings, what we typically call angels, is not recorded anywhere in scripture.
Their operations are everywhere. So Job, what we just read is the closest account of their creation that they were present and participating while God was in the act of creating the physical universe. They're already there. And so their operations are everywhere and that applies to both for good and for evil. And so this will be especially important to consider when we discuss the downfall of humanity, which we're going to read about later in Genesis.
The blame for which will be largely borne by the rebellious and evil contingent of these beings. So in order to better understand their role in the story, we're going to look at what the dictionary of deities and demons in the Bible has to say about these entities. This is a very good resource. And so let's first look at what it has to say about the word angels. It's based upon the Hebrew word malak. And so the consonants L and K in the Semitic languages signify send.
It's a function with a more focused nuance in certain languages of specifically send with a commission, send with a message. They're messengers. And so malak is a job description. It's a function. It's not a class of being. So this speaks of a role that these beings fulfill, not the nature of the beings itself. A problem arises because the same word is used of human beings who played this same role both in the Old and New Testaments.
The Bible characteristically uses malak to designate a human messenger. Here's an example, first Samuel 11, four, first Kings 19, two, a small number of the over 200 occurrences of the word in the Old Testament refer to God's supernatural emissaries as God's envoys. They represent extensions of God's authority and activity beings mighty in strength who perform his word, Psalm 103 20.
Supernatural messengers in other ancient Near Eastern cultures typically are identified by the lexical item or the definition in that language also used to identify human messengers or subordinates sent on missions. So there is therefore no specially reserved term to distinguish a class of such gods, little G gods from other little G gods on the other hand, or from human messengers.
And so the translation of malak by angel in English Bibles obscures the ancient Israelite perception of the divine realm. Where English angel is used for the English angel is the undifferentiating term for all of God's supernatural assistance malak originally could be applied only to those assistants whom God dispatched on missions as messengers. Thus, an early Israelite from the period of the monarchy would probably not have identified the term like cherubim and seraphim as Malakim or angels.
Because the frightful appearance of these creatures cherubim and seraphim would have made them unlikely candidates to serve as mediators of God's message to humans. And indeed, there's no record of their ever having done so in the Old Testament. So even the Greek word angelos meant at first simply messenger.
It's only in later texts in the Old Testament and everywhere in the Apocryphal in the New Testament text that the words malak and angelos became generic terms for any of God's supernatural assistants, whether they function as messengers or not. So the word malak or angel is the word we use to refer to humanoid looking divine beings. We'll continue to use that word throughout this podcast for the humanoid looking divine beings that are manifest in scripture.
And even those appear in several different types or classes. So for instance, in Jewish literature from the second temple period, a tendency can be observed to differentiate between groups, categories or ranks of angels. For instance, the word archangel is used. It brings a hierarchy into the angelic world. Not all angels are created equal. Not only do they have different functions and different types or classes, but different ranks.
There's a lot more variety there than what we typically think of. A lot of different roles. So there is a kind of a hymn, a hymnic passage was probably something that was sung or a poem. Extoling Jesus Christ in the book of Colossians, it says, for in him all things in heaven and earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers and powers. That's a variety of different positions of authority and spheres of influence held by these divine beings.
That's what it's referred to. All things have been created through him and for him. So even though they have their divine in nature and have significant positions of authority and large spheres of responsibility, they're still created beings by the one true God and his unique son, Jesus Christ. And they're created to serve his plans and purposes. Not all of them do. That's Colossians 1 16. So here the term thrones, like the other words, denotes heavenly beings.
You could say you could use the term gods, little G gods. It occurs within this meaning only here in the Bible. But the words are found in similar lists like in first Corinthians 15 24, Ephesians 1 21, Ephesians 3 10, 6 12, 1 Peter 3 22. While rulers and powers are mentioned together in places like Colossians 2 10 and verse 15. The author of the epistle to the Colossians is not interested, we'll say it's Paul, in the exact function or hierarchy of the four heavenly beings mentioned in 1 16.
He emphasizes that all of them are subordinate to the creator and his son, the firstborn of all creation in whom they were created. They have definitely been subdued and rendered powerless at the death and exaltation of Christ. They've been defeated. Believers have authority over these beings. That doesn't mean that they have ceased to exist or ceased to function. Paul refers to them as the god of this world. Satan, the leader of them is the god of this world.
So there's a hierarchy that exists on the good side of the equation and the bad side of the equation. Colossians 2 15 and 1 Peter 3 22 says they have been defeated even though they continue to exist and function. But at the end of time, every ruler, every authority and power will ultimately be destroyed. So there will be an end to their existence and function. 1 Corinthians 15 24. Human beings should worship God and his son, not inferior angelic beings.
Now that should be obvious, but you've got to say it. Just throw it out there because somebody will get scared because you're talking about this topic like you are. You know, I don't think anybody listening to this thinks we're supposed to be worshiping any of these beings. We're only worshiping the one true God and his son, Jesus Christ. But let's move on to a different term. Even a different divine being altogether. There's the term cherubim. It occurs 91 times in the Hebrew Bible.
It denotes the Israelite counterpart of the Sphinx. That's one of the reasons we chose that figure as the image for this podcast because this these beings described as cherubim are represented in many different cultures, not just Israelite or Egyptian, but it's the Israelite counterpart of the Sphinx known from the pictorial art of the ancient Near East. And that's true. Like we say in Egypt and Assyria, many different places you can find these types of characters, even in China.
In the Bible, the cherubim occur essentially in two functions as guardians of a sacred tree or as guardians and carriers of a throne. The biblical cherubim sometimes appear as guardians of the sacred tree. We'll see that in Genesis chapter three. You'll also see it in first Kings 629, Ezekiel 41 18, Ezekiel 28 14. The most important function of these beings is that of bearers of Yahweh's throne, like found in Ezekiel 10 20.
In this function, the cherubim expressed the royal majesty of Yahweh, his holiness, his presence. The other word that we find in the Bible describing an even different class of beings is the word seraphim. That's the name given to beings who sing to Yahweh as king, like in Isaiah six verses two through three. They carry out an act of purification for Isaiah in verses six through seven. The seraphim are now generally conceived as, wait for it, winged fiery serpents with certain human attributes.
That's weird. It's generally taken, the word seraphim, as a derivative of the verb serap, to burn, to incinerate, to destroy. Is it ringing a bell for you? Since the verb is transitive, serap probably denotes an entity that annihilates by burning. While the etymological sense is thus the one who burns enemies. The term refers several times to some serpentine being. That should be creating a picture and ringing a bell for you of a creature in mythology described as doing these types of things.
In light of how these beings are described, hopefully it's brought up the picture of what we call dragons here. Just like the figure of the Sphinx can be found all over the world in ancient cultures, so can the figure of the dragon. Dragons are worshiped in places like not just the ancient Near East, but China, even South Central America. They have figures like the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl. There's no explanation for that.
Why do all of these completely disconnected ancient cultures have this dragon figure that they recognize and worship? There's no good explanation for that. Mesopotamian, Hittite, Canaanite, Egyptian, Iranian, Greek myths. They all describe battles between a figure representing chaos, like a dragon, and causing rebellion, and a still young supreme god who restores the order of the gods by overcoming the monster.
Marduk vs Tiamat, the weather god vs Iliancas, Bael vs Yam, Horus vs Seth, Indra vs Vrita, Apollo vs Python, Zeus vs Typhon. The conflict usually takes place in primeval ages, but is sometimes transposed to the world of human history and reenacted on special occasions like a military victory or an ascension ceremony. Whereby the king appears as the god who triumphs over the dragon.
The execution of rebels and other enemies seems sometimes to have been inspired by the killing of the dragon in mythological traditions. So it's a common myth found in all cultures throughout time. So in closing, it is the rebellious contingent of these beings who were likely worshiped by the ancients. They were rebellious in receiving worship from the ancients. That is what they desired, and it was not tolerated by the one true god revealed in the pages of scripture.
It's the activity of these beings which was recorded in their mythologies and even in Jewish books like Enoch. Genesis is going to function to set the record straight on precisely who the uncreated god is, how he is differentiated in both character and type from these created, but in comparison to humans, little g, god-like beings. They play a major role not only in Genesis 1-11, but in the entire story of scripture. So this has just been a brief introductory overview of the topic.
Basically according to Job, these beings were created before god began the creation of the physical universe, and they witnessed and celebrated to some extent may have participated with god in the creation of the physical universe. So their knowledge about it far transcends that of human beings. So that's why we're covering it here.
This has just been an introductory overview, but stay tuned because we will be discussing with even more detail in future episodes the nature of the being and the activity of these creatures as they're described and alluded to in scripture, but only in very vague ways. We'll have to get more information about them from other places that reveal more information about who and what these beings are, how we're to think about them, how we relate to them, etc. So, hope you enjoyed this episode.
We will continue in the book of Genesis chapter 1 in the next episode. See you then. Have a good one. Hi.