John Mark Hicks

Since I am sometimes asked to offer an opinion about the “Deuteronomy 32 Worldview” (or “The Divine Council Worldview”) unpacked by Dr. Heiser in his book The Unseen Realm, I thought I would reflect on his perspective in a blog post. This will save me some time when responding to inquirers.  Though this is far too brief given the voluminous material available, this is my first attempt to say something in print about his work.

Before I unpack my understanding of Heiser’s worldview, I caution the reader that I am no expert regarding his work. I have read a couple of his books, watched dozens of videos (out of hundreds), read some of his blogs, and listened to dozens of podcasts by him, interviews with him, and podcasters supporting him (as well as a few critiques). However, there is more that I have not seen, read, or listened to than I have. Consequently, I may totally misunderstand him, or he may have explained something somewhere about which I am ignorant. What I say, then, is tentative and needs further exploration or explanation. I certainly do not have any final word about his “worldview”—far from it; this blog is only a beginning probe, undertaken by a beginner in all things Heiser. So, I am sure I have misunderstood or misnamed some elements. I invite correction so that I might not only be fair to our late brother but also to learn from him.[1]

A Summary of Heiser’s “Worldview”

Heiser’s book is a narrative unfolding of the story of God from creation to new creation in the light of the fundamental conflict between rebellious elohim (gods, heavenly beings) with their servants (human rebels) and Yahweh whose loyal servants follow the Most High El (God, Yahweh). Heiser styles it the “Deuteronomy 32 Worldview” (or “Divine Council Worldview”) because Deuteronomy 32:8-9 provides a touchstone for seeing the cosmos through a particular lens. While the Hebrew noun elohim may refer to Yahweh (and most often does), it can also refer to heavenly spiritual beings (thus, “gods” or perhaps a variety of “angels”). Yahweh is an elohim (a heavenly, spiritual being) but no other elohim is Yahweh because Yahweh is the Most-High El. These heavenly beings are not the creator nor are they comparable to Yahweh.  They are radically and ontologically different. Though called “gods” (elohim), they are not supreme and are themselves creatures (they are not eternal but created like what we typically think about angels). In essence, elohim may, at times, refer to any being who is spirit (ruach, in contrast to body) and resides in the heavens (a spiritual location). But Yahweh alone is eternal and sovereign. Heiser is a monotheist, not a polytheist since the elohim are created beings whom Yahweh gifted with residence in the heavenlies.

Yahweh created a family to partner with Yahweh (who is the Triune Creator) in shepherding and ruling the creation. This family has both unseen divine (“sons of God”) members—including the divine council—and a visible human family (Adam was also a “son of God”). Both lived together in Eden. Yahweh intended Eden to eventually fill the earth where both the divine and human members of God’s family would live together in harmony. The “sons of God” (the divine council) were present at creation. Consequently, they had greater knowledge than the human family (Adam and Eve). For example, they already had a knowledge of “good and evil” that Adam and Eve did not have (Genesis 3:22). The members of both the divine and human families, however, possessed free will and were capable of loyalty (partnering with God) or rebellion (seeking autonomy).

Creation experienced a detour. The story in Genesis 3-11 proceeds with a succession of rebellions. Coaxed by one of Yahweh’s elohim who was jealous of humanity, Adam and Eve rebelled. This resulted in the exclusion of the couple from Eden as well as the casting down of the rebel el (god) as lord of the underworld (or death). Another rebellion came in the form of “sons of God” (Yahweh’s elohim) copulating with the “daughters of men” (human beings), which produced the Nephilim (e.g., giants or a warrior race), though not all the “sons of God” rebelled (as is evident from Job 1). Another rebellion came in the form of human hubris to erect an idolatrous sanctuary at Babel.

At this moment, Yahweh decided to choose a nation as the means by which the promised seed (cf. Genesis 3:15) would redeem the world. Yahweh chose Israel and covenanted with them as God’s firstborn son among the nations. But Yahweh divided the other seventy nations of Genesis 10 among the elohim to rule, according to Heiser’s reading of Deuteronomy 32:8-9. These elohim, whether already rebellious or they later became rebellious (Heiser’s view), enslaved the nations to evil and fomented conflict between Israel (Yahweh’s covenant people) and the nations (whom the elohim ruled). These elohim did not rule justly and the Psalmist called upon Yahweh to judge the earth that was ruled by these elohim in unrighteousness (Psalm 82). The history of Israel is a history of this conflict as the rebel elohim and the enslaved nations sought to destroy Israel or to enslave Israel by bringing them under their rule.

Yahweh sent the unique (monogenes), fully divine and uncreated Son of God to redeem Israel and the nations from the rule of these elohim. This one of a kind Son of God is Yahweh incarnate; Yahweh in the flesh. The work of Jesus as the Messiah was to suffer death as our substitute and break the chains of the elohim by his resurrection. The ministry of Jesus reversed the curse, liberated Israel and the nations, and dealt with the guilt and power of sin. In the incarnation of the Logos and the outpouring of the Spirit in Acts 2 Yahweh is revealed as a triune Godhead (or Trinity): Father, Son, and Spirit. Heiser argues there are strong indications of this Godhead in the Hebrew Scriptures as well. The three persons are equally divine, uncreated, and ontologically superior to the created elohim. This triune Godhead is the one God of Israel, Yahweh, the Creator of all that exists and the Eternal Sovereign of the cosmos.

The story of Israel continues through the church as Israel and the nations give their allegiance to Yahweh as Father, Son, and Spirit. The people of God align themselves with Yahweh through baptism (a loyalty oath), gather in communities loyal to Yahweh and dedicated to each other, and proclaim the message of Yahweh’s victory over the rebel elohim. Ultimately, when the Messiah, the Davidic Son of Man, returns to finally destroy the rebellious nations and defeat the rebellious elohim (as in Revelation 19:11-21), Yahweh will rule the new heaven and new earth and fill it with righteousness and peace. This is what Yahweh intended from the beginning, starting with Eden (Revelation 21-22). Eden is restored in a glorified state because of the victory of Jesus over the powers and principalities.

Affirmation

I share a lot of common ground with Heiser regarding the narrative plot of Scripture, and I would affirm the following points in agreement with him (and this is not an exhaustive list).

• Yahweh alone, as three persons in the Godhead, is the creator of the cosmos and ontologically different from everything else that exists.
• The divine council has a function in the biblical narrative; it may be referenced by the plural elohim as in Psalm 82 or the “sons of God” as in Job 1. They are heavenly partners with God in the unseen realm.
• The “serpent” in Eden is a created being who is a member of the heavenly (divine) council. He rebelled against Yahweh by seeking to undermine the divine project and wrest control of the world through deceiving humanity. He is not, however, “the satan” of Job 1-2 (the adversary or accuser; hasatan in Hebrew). That heavenly being, as one of the sons of God, is a prosecutor within the divine council for Yahweh’s interests in the world.
• The conflict between Israel and the nations is rooted in the conflict between Yahweh and the rebellious elohim. This conflict continues in the present. Paul names them as the “principalities and powers,” and Revelation identifies these powers as the Dragon who rules through his beasts.
• The work of the incarnate Yahweh who is Jesus, the Messianic Son of David and Son of Man, includes and highlights a Christus Victor theology of atonement (though not the only atonement metaphor used in the New Testament). The Messiah defeats the powers and ultimately destroys the rebellious elohim.
• The work of these heavenly beings (the elohim as a whole) is to serve Yahweh and humanity, and ultimately humanity will be enthroned with the Davidic King, Jesus the Messiah, to reign over the heavenlies. [For Heiser, humans will sit in the divine council and replace the rebellious elohim who were part of the council.]
• Heiser emphasizes a strong sense of continuity between the story of God in the Hebrew Scriptures and the story of God in the New Testament, between Israel and the church (one people of God from Abraham into the eternal future), and between the origin (Eden) and the goal (new Eden). It is important to see the writers of the New Testament as living within and elaborating on the “worldview” of the Hebrew Scriptures. It is one story.

Questions/Concerns

First, while I see the enslavement of the nations to rebellious elohim as part of the story, I am not as certain about the identification of 70 council members imaged by the 70 elders of Israel (Exodus 24:1-11). These council members rule over the 70 nations derived from the Tower of Babel story in conjunction with Deuteronomy 32:8-9 (using the variant reading of Qumran and the LXX). While Heiser’s interpretation is credible, I don’t think it is necessary. Nor is it necessary to say that every nation has its own real deity or every nation has been assigned a god (one of the elohim); a guardian god to whom Yahweh has delegated the right to rule and judge. One can read the “prince of Persia” and “prince of Greece” in Daniel 10 in this light, though not necessarily. It may be a metaphor; it is uncertain. Moreover, I am not convinced, though I am not totally dissuaded either, that the “sons of God” in Genesis 6:1 are heavenly beings (e.g, the elohim). Succinctly, I am not so sure we can extrapolate a “worldview” from Heiser’s reading of Genesis and Deuteronomy. I think it is too ambiguous and uncertain to formulate a worldview that shapes all other readings of Scripture. It is important to affirm, however, that Yahweh uses rebellious elohim to rule and judge the nations, though without Yahweh giving up Yahweh’s own sovereignty (note: Heiser does not say Yahweh gives up ultimate sovereignty; quite the contrary). Perhaps that is a sufficiently grounded “worldview” that enables a healthy reading of the conflict between Yahweh and the rebellious elohim in the history of Israel and among the nations. While the heavenly beings were intended to partner with God in the unseen realm and humanity was intended to represent God in the visible realm, the rebellion of some of the elohim led humanity into its own rebellion.

Second, another question concerns the language of “sons of God” in the New Testament (e.g., Galatians 3:26, “you are all sons of God…”). I understand Heiser’s inaugurated eschatology (already sons in one sense, but not yet sons in another sense), but I am a bit disturbed by Heiser’s conclusion (as I understand it). Essentially, does he believe deceased saints (all of them?) will join the divine council and replace the deposed rebellious elohim such that these saints are now themselves elohim?  I readily affirm that the redeemed “sons of God” will share in the inheritance of Jesus the Messiah, but not as those who sit in the divine council as elohim (heavenly spiritual beings) but as resurrected and glorified humans. In other words, they are still part of the human council (family) but not part of the divine council (elohim; family). They sit with the crowned and enthroned Messiah, the Son of David, as co-rulers over the cosmos. They sit as human royalty, not as divine elohim. And yet, due to the exaltation of the Messiah, redeemed humanity will sit in judgment upon the rebellious elohim and exercise authority over them. They are “sons of God” by adoption; they are part of the human family of God, just as Adam himself was a “son of God” in the beginning.

Third, while I am willing to see the narrative as a conflict between Yahweh and the rebellious elohim (some originally part of the divine council as sons of God), I fear Heiser’s reading of the whole narrative is so colored by this lens that he sometimes (perhaps often) sees more than is actually there in the text. For example, while listening to his podcast series on Hebrews, I thought some of his interpretations were problematic (e.g., his understanding of ecclesia [assembly] in Hebrews). He seems to see the divine council in texts that are neither explicitly nor readily amenable to such an understanding. So, my caution is that while the divine council perspective has legitimacy, let us be careful that we don’t read it into texts where it is not present or necessary for understanding what the text is doing. In other words, the language of “worldview” may justify framing texts under this rubric when they are not, in fact, expressing that rubric. Perhaps it is best to simply affirm the reality of the divine council rather than making it a “worldview.”  Then again, perhaps I am making too much of the use of the word “worldview.”

Fourth, while I appreciate the intent to read the Hebrew Scriptures within their ancient near eastern context (and I affirm that goal) as well as to hear the writers of the New Testament in the context of a Hebraic worldview (including their use of Second Temple texts), I find it problematic to read the Hebrew Scriptures through the lens of the 1 Enoch (and other apocalyptic texts such that we assume the same meaning between them and the New Testament). I recognize 1 Enoch was a popular Jewish text and is referenced in Jude (also alluded to in 2 Peter). At the same time, I don’t think it is methodologically helpful to read the New Testament as an expression of the worldview present in 1 Enoch or to hear Genesis 6:1-4 in that context (which is a distant interpretation of that text).  For example, the “watchers” appear only in Daniel 4:10, 14, and 20 in the Jewish Scriptures but they are main actors in 1 Enoch. Some interpreters have given that function a huge role in their understanding of the elohim in the Hebrew Bible. I think that is methodologically problematic.

Fifth, a significant hermeneutical question is whether the use of Ancient Near Eastern cultural contexts, language, and imagery is appropriated or affirmed by the writers of the Hebrew Bible. By appropriation I mean that perhaps this language is not always seeking to assert a reality but rather to deconstruct a Mesopotamian or Egyptian myth. I don’t deny the reality of the elohim or a divine council. At the same time, I do think sometimes (perhaps often) the biblical writers appropriate a nation’s cultural mythology and names for gods rather than assert their reality. But that is something that must be assessed on a case by case basis rather than through a philosophical principle that automatically excludes the reality of the elohim (such as happens in naturalism).

Sixth, I invite us all to some hermeneutical humility. It seems to me that advocates of the “Divine  Council Worldview” are much more certain about their perspective than the evidence permits. Or, perhaps another way of saying this is that while Heiser’s reading of Genesis 1-3, 6, 11, Deuteronomy 32:8-9, and Psalm 82 is credible, it is not certain. I think it is difficult to build a “worldview” from such controverted texts. At the same time, I must assume a humble position to listen and learn as I am sure that I have missed some important features of the biblical drama. Indeed, I have learned much from Heiser, even though the “worldview” language is a bit disconcerting to me.

Seventh, this point is not a criticism but an acknowledgement. Heiser’s “worldview” is a systematic construct (a function of systematic theology). While he rightly points to features of his worldview in the text as a function of biblical theology, his presentation of this worldview as a coherent systematization of the biblical data is a constructive act, that is, he produces a system with working parts based on his reading of the whole Bible. That is not necessarily a bad thing; we all do it to one extent or another. Yet, systems tend to see themselves where they do not actually appear in the text, and they have a tendency to unwittingly reform the data to fit the system. This is a danger for all systems, and we all share that danger with our own systems (yes, we all have one). In such cases, the system forms the meaning of the text rather than permitting the text to speak for itself and on its own terms (and the latter is something Heiser rightly insists upon). I am quite confident that Heiser does not want the system to dictate biblical interpretation and counsels us to avoid such practices. Nevertheless, it happens to all of us, and it is a caution for any who seek to sustain a constructed “worldview” that is not itself explicitly systematized in the text itself.

Conclusion

I never met Dr. Heiser, but I know some who knew him and even studied with him. I have no doubt he was a careful and humble scholar. I honor his work, and I appreciate his insights. They have helped me deepen my knowledge and understanding of God’s story in Scripture. In fact, if I were to revise my theodrama book Around the Bible in 80 Days: The Story of God from Creation to New Creation, I would include some of his insights and emphasize some aspects more than I did. I have learned from him.

At the same time, we must all practice a radical humility in envisioning the unseen heavenly realm and interpreting Scripture’s unveiling of that realm. There is, as we all know, so much we don’t know and don’t understand. For that reason, I tend to focus my attention on God’s actions in history and our human responses rather than on what the elohim are doing or have done in unseen ways and in unseen regions. It is a theodrama (which Heiser would not deny, of course); it is about God’s acts. I realize the elohim interact with and participate in the theodrama in relation to humanity (they are both humanity’s servants and adversaries, depending on their allegiances in the conflict), and yet I think their workings are not as clear or revealed as some think. We can disagree about that as brothers and sisters. I sure Dr. Heiser would welcome gracious disagreement as well. 

This is why I would not elevate my thinking about the heavenly beings (elohim, angels, watchers, etc.) into a “worldview,” though they do have a function in the theodrama itself.  Perhaps this is what Dr. Heiser means, and he has certainly contributed to understanding the theodrama in many ways. I am grateful for that.

May Heiser rest from his labors! Peace to all.

[1] I thank Stan Wilson for reviewing my piece before its publication (though not in this final form), and his comments were very helpful. Stan was a close friend of Heiser, and he wrote his dissertation exploring a topic suggested by Heiser with Heiser as an outside reader. Stan made several suggestions which I have incorporated, but—of course—I am responsible for the final form of this piece. Any mistakes are mine.

“Dios vio todo lo que había hecho y era muy bueno” (Génesis 1:31a).

“…Maldita serás entre todos los animales…Maldita la tierra…” (Génesis 3:14a, 17b).

Dios creó el orden, la vida y la luz de una tierra caótica, inanimada y oscura. Por acto divino, la vida surgió de la nada, la luz apareció en la oscuridad y el orden reformó el caos. La oscuridad vacía y sin forma se convirtió en una realidad ordenada, empapada de luz y llena de vida.

Dios creó un jardín en esta tierra (Edén) donde reinaban la vida, la comunidad y la paz. Lo que creó fue “muy bueno”. Y Dios descansó en la creación, disfrutando de su mundo y deleitándose en su pueblo. La creación estuvo llena de paz o shalom (en Hebreo).

La historia del Génesis, sin embargo, pasa de la paz a la violencia, de la comunidad a la sospecha, de la vida a la muerte. El caos entra en la experiencia humana, el mal crece en el seno de la libertad y la muerte humana se convierte en una realidad en la tierra buena que Dios creo.

La transición del shalom al caos, iniciada por el deseo humano de autonomía, es a lo que me refiero con “maldición”. Dios usa este lenguaje cuando se dirige a la serpiente y al hombre en Génesis 3. La serpiente está maldita (3:14b) y la tierra está maldita (3:17b).

Este no es lenguaje científico. Es una metáfora de la expansión del caos en la buena creación de Dios. Es una metáfora del quebrantamiento, del vandalismo del shalom (como lo llama Cornelius Plantinga). Es un desvío del propósito divino de vida, paz y comunidad hacia la muerte, la violencia y la tiranía. La maldición de Génesis 3 anticipa la espiral humana hacia la inhumanidad en los capítulos 3-11. La humanidad, diseñada para ser la imagen (representar) de Dios en el mundo como gobernantes en su buena creación. Por el contrario, la humanidad por sus ojos crearon ídolos  que podían alcanzar los cielos y crear un nombre para ser famosos ellos mismos. (Génesis 11:4). La humanidad se convirtió en su propia maldición mientras vivía en un mundo roto.

La maldición, o el quebrantamiento, se representa una y otra vez en el drama humano. Es una historia de muerte, destrucción y deshumanización. En lugar de ser la imagen de Dios, la humanidad creo sus propias imágenes para adorar. Sus imágenes no son meros ídolos de madera y piedra, sino superestructuras de codicia, poder y genocidio. Derramaron sangre inocente. Construyeron palacios a costa de los pobres. Tomaron el poder para el beneficio de ellos mismo. La humanidad alcanzaría el poder y la riqueza a través de la violencia y la codicia.

Esta es la condición humana. Se ha vuelto natural para los seres humanos, prácticamente su “segunda naturaleza”. Aunque los humanos están diseñados para el bien: la paz, la comunidad y la alegría, están deformados hacia el mal: la violencia, la tiranía y la angustia.

Pero la gracia de Dios no nos deja en nuestro dolor y esclavitud. Más bien, Dios actúa para redimir, restaurar y renovar. Lo vemos en Génesis. Adán y Eva tienen hijos, Dios llama a Abraham para que bendiga a todas las familias de la tierra, y Dios guarda para sí un pueblo que bendecirá a toda la tierra. Dios renueva la faz de la tierra con su gracia.

Mi escena favorita en La Pasión de Cristo de Mel Gibson es cuando Jesús, cargando la cruz, cae de rodillas debido a el peso. Su madre corre hacia él y sus ojos se cruzan. Con sangre corriendo por sus mejillas y sosteniendo el símbolo del poder y la violencia romana, Jesús dice: “He aquí, Madre, yo hago nuevas todas las cosas”.

Esta es la promesa de Dios. Será el acto escatológico de Dios en la nueva creación, en los nuevos cielos y la nueva tierra. Allí el viejo orden habrá pasado y la voz de Dios declarará: “Yo hago nuevas todas las cosas” (Apocalipsis 21:5a).

Se acerca el día en que “no habrá más maldición” (Apocalipsis 22:3). No habrá más oscuridad. La gloria de Dios llenará de luz la tierra. No habrá más violencia. Las naciones recibirán sanidad y caminarán a la luz de Dios. No habrá más muerte, ni luto ni lágrimas. El Árbol de la Vida y el Agua de la Vida nutrirán al pueblo de Dios para siempre.

Se acerca un día en que la maldición será revertida, revocada y rescindida.

“Ya no habrá muerte, ni llanto, ni llanto, ni dolor” (Apocalipsis 21:4b)

“Ya no habrá más maldición” (Apocalipsis 22:3a).

[Translated by David Garcia]

Texts: Revelation 20:11-15; 21:1-7; 22:1-5

Days 78-80 in Around the Bible in Eighty Days.

What will “heaven” be like? It is the place where God dwells within a renewed creation, filled with renewed relationships, and an ever deepening intimacy with God, each other, and the creation itself. It is a dynamic of loving intimacy that continually grows without envy, jealousy, violence, and broken relationships. It is not static but dynamic.

Judgment is that process by which God separates evil from good. This separation not only identifies and clarifies the reality of evil, but it also refines and purifies people so that god’s people are fully perfected in the love of God. Judgment is the moment when evil is identified, humanity examined, the earth is purified by fire, and the people of God—fully sanctified by the love of God—are invited into the new creation to live upon a new earth where righteousness dwells.

The new Jerusalem, the dwelling place of God, descends upon the new heaven and new earth to fill the new creation with the glory of God. It is God’s own presence joined in fellowship with God’s people. The creation will never again be filled with pain, sorrow, and death but with joy and life. The curse has been removed, and life will flourish. Having made all things new, the people of God inherit the fullness of the Abrahamic promise, including a people that includes all nations and a land in which to flourish.

This new reality is described as a city with a garden where living water brings life to the cosmos. There is no temple there nor is there any night because God dwells there and fills the city with God’s presence and light, that is, with God’s glory. This is the fundamental goal: God dwells with the creation. Every morning God will be new to the creation because we will never exhaust God’s glory and person, and the creation will enjoy a dynamic communion with God.

In this new creation, humanity is serves the one who sits on the throne, worships God and the Lamb, and reigns with them forever. The original vocation of humanity is renewed—they will reign with God within the new creation.

This reign entails that they will continue to fill the earth with God’s glory as they live in communion with God and each other. They will cultivate the earth through their reign. We might imagine that humanity will continue to create art, songs, literature, etc. as they renew their vocation in the new creation. What exactly that looks like no one really (or certainly fully) knows. But perhaps we can say, it is more than we could ever imagine.

Lord, come quickly.

Texts: 1 Corinthians 15:21-28; 50-57; 2 Peter 2:11-13

Days 75-77 in Around the Bible in Eighty Days.

The voice from the throne announced, “Behold, I am making all things new” (Revelation 21:5). Ultimately and finally, God makes all things new through resurrection.

Though Jesus was seemingly defeated by the powers in his death, God vindicated him through resurrection. When Jesus came to life again, this was no mere resuscitation but the birth of new creation itself. The body of Jesus was transformed from a life animated by flesh and blood into a body animated by the Spirit of God. His human resurrection body still participated in creation (materiality) but was now enlivened by the immortal life of God’s Spirit.

The resurrection of Jesus is the first fruit of a new humanity as part of this new creation. When we were baptized into Christ, we were baptized into his resurrection to walk a new life in the present and participate in his new creation resurrection in the future. In other words, the resurrection of Jesus entails our resurrection. Our mortal bodies will be transformed into likeness of the immortal body of Jesus the resurrected Messiah. His resurrection is our resurrection.

Furthermore, the resurrection of the children of God through the resurrection of Jesus entails the resurrection of creation itself. Both the body of Jesus and our bodies are part of God’s good creation. They are work of God’s creation and participate in the reality of creation. When God renews our bodies according to the pattern of the resurrection of Jesus, it involves the renewal of creation itself. It is, in effect, the resurrection of creation from death to life, from the bondage of decay to the freedom of liberation. It is a new heaven and new earth—a new creation. New creation resurrection bodies live in the new creation.

In this new (resurrected) heaven and new earth, the resurrected people of God will live and reign with the resurrected King Jesus in the cosmic temple of God upon the new earth forever.

Texts: 2 Corinthians 3:17-18; 13:13; 1 Corinthians 12:4-7

Days 68-70 in Around the Bible in Eighty Days.

For many the Holy Spirit is an impersonal, imperceptible, and indiscernible force.  Cloaked in mystery, many find it difficult to “get a handle” on the Spirit. The Spirit has no “face” like Jesus nor any personal metaphors, such as parent, mother, or husband, like Israel’s God.

Our desire, of course, is not so much to control or manipulate the Spirit as much as it is to have a way of conceiving or visualizing the Spirit’s identity. Without any framework for understanding, we are at a loss to even identify what the Spirit does in our lives much less experience God through the Spirit.

Our pneumatic imagination needs a little help. Paul, I think, offers such. The Spirit appears in practically every chapter of Paul’s letters, and saturates his theology. While “God in Christ” is the center of Paul’s theology, the Spirit is a living, enabling, and enriching presence that connects redeemed humanity with the Redeemer God. We have access, Paul says, to God in Christ “by the Spirit” (Ephesians 2:18).

Without some understanding of the Spirit, then, our experience of God remains in a conceptual wasteland. That is not only lamentable but dangerous. Spiritual discernment entails that we “see” the Spirit at work in our lives or else we will mistake other spirits for the Holy Spirit.

So, what does Paul offer us by way of a conceptual landscape that will help identify the Spirit in our lives. I “see” in Paul a three-fold typology for thinking about the Spirit’s work. This typology is not a box in which to enclose the Spirit, nor is it a gizmo to manipulate the Spirit. Rather, it is a tool to unmask our eyes so that we might “see” what the Spirit is doing–to recognize the Spirit in our lives.

Communion

The Spirit’s foundational function is to facilitate communion between God and us. Our communion with God is the “communion of the Holy Spirit” (2 Corinthians 13:12).

Jesus did not leave us as orphans; instead, God poured out the Holy Spirit upon the church. This out-pouring is the gifting of God’s presence among us. We are inhabited by God through the Spirit (Ephesians 2:22); we are the temple of the Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 6:19). The Spirit is the one through whom we experience God in the present. The Spirit’s presence enables our communion with God; more than that, communion in the Spirit is communion with God.

This presence, which is the fulfillment of God’s presence in the temple in Israel and anticipates the fullness of divine presence in the new heaven and new earth, is how we now live in fellowship with God. We worship in the Spirit (Philippians 3:3), we pray in the Spirit (Ephesians 6:18), and we are washed in the Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:11).  We are “in the Spirit because the Spirit of God dwells” in us (Romans 8:9). The Spirit is the air we breathe, and every breath is communion with God.

This communion, of course, is not merely vertical. It is also horizontal, that is, we commune with each other by what we share in the Spirit (Philippians 2:1). We love each other in the Spirit (Colossians 1:8). Because we have all been baptized in the Spirit and have drunk of the same Spirit, we are one body where ethnic, economic, and gender barriers are transcended (1 Corinthians 12:13;  Galatians 3:28).

We “see” the Spirit when we enjoy the sweet fellowship of others, experience the peace and joy of the Spirit in communion with God, and encounter God in the assembly of God’s people as we worship in the Spirit. We must not secularize these moments as if they are produced by our own internal powers. Rather, we relish them and delight in them because we know, by God’s promise, that the Spirit is present to generate them. They are moments where heaven and earth meet in the Spirit.

Transformation

The Spirit communes with us, and this communion is transformative. The Spirit is no passive presence. On the contrary, the Spirit is an active, enabling and transforming presence. The Spirit dwells within us so that we might live in the Spirit.

Salvation involves transformation. Because we are children of God, God sends the Holy Spirit into our hearts and we experience the intimacy of divine communion. But this is not the end game; it is not God’s goal. This intimacy includes a shared life, and it transforms us. We are increasingly, by the Spirit, transformed (metamorphized!) into the image of Christ from “one degree of glory to another” (2 Corinthians 3:18).

The Holy Spirit is the presence of divine holiness within us, and this holiness bears fruit. Paul called it the “fruit of the Spirit” (Galatians 5:22). This is what it means to “live by the Spirit,” that is, it is to manifest a life of love, joy, peace, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The Spirit leads us into a such a life by renewing our hearts, empowering our souls, and moving our wills.

The presence of the Spirit is a necessary first step for such a life, and without that presence there is no transformation that images Jesus who himself was led and empowered by the Spirit. The reality of that presence, however, is evidenced in a holy life as we are “sanctified by the Spirit” (2 Thessalonians 2:13).

We “see” the Spirit when we are patient with the stubborn, when we are kind to the ungrateful, when we are at peace in the midst of the storm, when we are generous with the poor, and when we are gentle with those who disagree. We must not secularize these moments as if they are self-actualizations. Rather, we give thanks that the Spirit is at work in our lives to empower them. We credit the Spirit rather than our programs, our will power, or our own goodness.

Giftedness

God gives the Spirit as a communing and transforming presence. God created to commune with us, and God redeems to transform us. And God goes one step further. God gifts us so that we might participate in the transformation of the world.

“Through the Spirit,” Paul writes, God gives the body of Christ the capacity to serve each other and the world. These “manifestations of the Spirit” are for the “common good,” and the gifts are “activated” and distributed by the Spirit of God (1 Corinthians 12:7-8, 11).

It is important, however, to note that presence comes first, then transformation, and finally giftedness. We might think of this as a spiral of activity where there is reciprocity but also movement toward a goal. God dwells in order to commune. That communion transforms us, and, as people in the process of transformation, God gifts us so that we might participate in the mission of God. The gifts are best used by transformed people. This is why 1 Corinthians 13 comes between 1 Corinthians 12 and 14. Giftedness without love is useless; more than useless, it is detrimental. Transformation must shape the use of the Spirit’s gifts.

Too often the lists of 1 Corinthians 12 become the focus when talking about gifts. Romans 12 also has a list of gifts. The two lists are not the same; in fact, there is little overlap. Neither are exhaustive, and together they are not exhaustive. They are illustrative.

Gifts are whatever capacity we have to participate in the mission of God. Whatever “talent” we use to further the mission of God–whether it is software programming, musical ability, environmental passion—they are divine gifts. Too often we talk about “talents” as if they are natural dispositions independent of God’s work among us. One of the reasons we feel so distant from the Holy Spirit is because we secularize our gifts; we minimize the Spirit’s role. Giftedness, inclusive of “talents,” is a manifestation of the Spirit!

We “see” the Spirit when transformed people (or, better, people in the process of transformation) use their gifts in service to the mission of God, which is the transformation of the whole world. We “see” the Spirit when an environmental biologist cares for the creation, when a nurse compassionately cares for the sick, when a debt mediator reconciles a creditor and a debtor, and when an actor embodies the gospel in a drama (even if the drama never mentions God at all). We “see” the Spirit’s gifts in action when brokenness is healed.

Conclusion

Often we don’t “feel” the Spirit in our lives, and sometimes we misinterpret what the Spirit is doing. There is no promise that we will always “feel” the Spirit, and there is the persistent danger that we will misinterpret what the Spirit does. This is why is it is important to “see” the Spirit through the lens of the biblical narrative, the story of God. Whether we feel the Spirit or not, God has promised the Spirit’s presence, and God has provided a narrative that frames our understanding of the Spirit’s work so that we might “see” the Spirit.

The most significant danger we face, I think, is the minimization of the Spirit. We minimize the Spirit when we secularize what is, in fact, the Spirit’s work. We often fail to “see” the Spirit because we attribute whatever goodness, joy, or warmth we experience to powers other than the Spirit. We fail to “see” the Spirit because we are blinded by our own pride.

The Spirit is personal, discernible, and visible. The Spirit is God among us to transform us into the image of Christ and to gift transformed people with good works for the sake of the body and the world. We “see” the Spirit every day, if only we have eyes to see what God is doing.

Texts: Acts 6:7; 4:23-31; 12:24; Revelation 5:9-13

Days 65-67 in Around the Bible in Eighty Days.

When God created the cosmos, God invested in humanity a particular vocation:  fill the earth, subdue the chaos, and shepherd (rule) the creation (Genesis 1:28). As participants in the new creation, the people of God extend this human vocation into the life of the kingdom of God as part of the new creation.

The goal is to fill the earth. Ultimately, this is not biological but filling the earth with the glory of God. The goal is for Jesus the Messiah to “fill all things” (Eph. 4:10). Participants in the new creation, fill the earth by continuing in the basic human vocation of living to the glory of God but also by making disciples as the church flourishes. Just as God intended both humanity and Israel to be fruitful and multiply, so God intends to fill the earth through the growth and multiplication of disciples (the verbs of Gen. 1:28 in the Greek translation are the same as in Acts 12:224, for example).

One aspect of filling the earth with God’s glory is subduing the chaos and/or the powers that oppose God’s reign in the world. Just as the part of the original human vocation was to overcome the chaos in the world for the sake of human flourishing, so part of the vocation within the new creation is to subvert the reign of the powers. This subversion includes naming the idolatries, liberating the oppressed, and living in missional communities that bear witness to the new creation. The early church, as in Acts 4, boldly proclaimed the message of the Lordship of Jesus that identified the powers and their evil.

Shepherding the earth was also part of the original human vocation and as we still live in a good creation and the human vocation is still our task in the present creation, new creation disciples also care for the earth. Further, the creation will participate in new creation, and even now the creation participates in the praise of God and the Lamb who is worthy. Disciples of Jesus are priests within the creation, for the sake of creation, and groaning for the liberation of creation.

Texts: Acts 2:42-45; 3:1; Eph 4:7-8, 11-12

Days 62-64 in Around the Bible in Eighty Days.

Previously, we have seen the formation of community through a shared initiation (baptism), shared faith in Jesus the Messiah (through the apostles’ teaching), and a shared table (breaking bread). These were communal moments in Acts 2. Together, 3000 were baptized and then gathered in the temple to listen to the apostles and in homes to break bread.

Alongside the above three, community was also formed in other ways in Acts 2: communal prayer, shared generosity, and giftedness for the sake of the body.

When Acts 2:42 names “fellowship” (koinonia) it uses a broad word that encompasses many dimensions. Last week we concentrated on “breaking of bread” as one expression of that fellowship.

Another expression of that fellowship is an active community in their life together. They held all things in common (koina). This was the sort of fellowship meant people sold their possessions in order to meet needs within the community. It was, apparently, need-based, but it was a communal sense of shared life that generated resources to meet these needs. Indeed, the Jerusalem community was able to become what God always intended in Israel: “There was not a needy person among them” because “they had everything in common (koina)” (Acts 4:33-34; cf. Deuteronomy 15:4). The proceeds from the sale of property, including fields and homes were “distributed to each as any had need” (Acts 4:35). This generosity is expressed by the assembly of Jesus throughout the book of Acts (for example, Acts 11:29).

Another expression of fellowship was communal prayer. Acts 2:42 refers to “the prayers.” This identifies a particular set of prayers or timing of prayers, or perhaps a pattern of praying among the early believers. When Peter and John went up into the temple at the ninth hour of prayer (“the prayer of the ninth hour” or 3:00 PM), it refers to a specific moment in the temple courts when devout Jews gathered to pray. Peter and John joined them there. Apparently, it was their habit to do so. (Three in the afternoon was the time of daily evening sacrifices.)

Of course, this was not the only time the church gathered to pray. In Acts 4:23-31, believers assembled to pray for boldness in the face of hostile powers advancing against them. “When they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.” The assembly of Jesus continued to pray throughout the rest of the book of Acts (for example, Acts 6:4; 12:12; 14:23).

Another expression of fellowship is gifted leadership. The Apostles are highlighted in the first chapters of Acts. Their “many wonders and signs” inspired awe among the people (Acts 2:43; 5:12-16). The shared resources were placed at their feet for distribution (Acts 4:35; 5:2). The people selected deacons or administrators to help distribute these resources (Acts 6:1-6), and evangelists were sent out to surrounding areas like with Philip to Samaria (Acts 8:4-8; 21:8). Along with these evangelists, God raised up prophets and teachers (Acts 11:27; 13:1; 15:32; 21:9) and appointed elders in every church (Acts 11:30; 14:23; 15:2, 22; 20:17). God gifted the community with leadership—apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastor-teachers are the leaders of the renewed Israel. This gifted leadership equips the body of Christ for ministry (Ephesians 4:8–16).

Through a shared life together, led by people gifted by God, the assembly of Jesus prays together and shares their resources with the needy among them. It is this kind of community that has the favor of people, and people want to become a part of it (Acts 2:47).

Texts: Romans 5:1-5; 8:18-27; Hebrews 5:8-10

Days 71-74 in Around the Bible in Eighty Days.

Divine grace empowers hopeful waiting even as we groan for wholeness, for shalom.

We live in-between-the-times. The creation is a very good place to inhabit. Yet, it is presently filled with chaos, both natural and moral. In many ways, God’s good creation is also a broken place, especially where human sin contributes its nauseating and tragic influences. Some call this “fallenness.” Whatever we may name it, we live in a reality filled with both good and evil, both order and chaos.

Evil and chaos create suffering in human lives. And sufferers groan under the burden, yearning for deliverance. We groan for a world without suffering. We yearn for shalom in every aspect of life, both body and soul. We groan for release from the brokenness of the world. We yearn for the death of death itself. We seek something or someone who will free us from this bondage, especially death.

The gospel offers hope. The grace of God appeared in Jesus of Nazareth. Through the resurrection of Jesus, God defeated death. The gospel means, through the pouring out of the Spirit, that victory has already arrived and is experienced even now. But the fullness of that hope has not yet appeared.

We live with hope by the power of God’s grace, and yet we continue to groan under the bondage of decay. We groan and wait in hope. We lament and hope.

Divine grace empowers hopeful waiting even as we groan for wholeness, for shalom.

Texts: Acts 1:6-8; 2:16-21, 37-41

Days 56-58 in Around the Bible in Eighty Days.

The prophet Joel promised Israel, who at the time was suffering a great national tragedy, a time when God would restore its fortunes. They would never again be same and all who called on the name of the Lord would be saved (Joel 2:25-3:1).

Peter announced in Acts 2, “This is what was spoken through the prophet Joel” (Acts 2:16). Whatever was happening on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2 was a moment to which Joel pointed. It was the beginning of the restoration of Israel.

The question the disciples asked in Acts 1:6-8 about the time when God would restore Israel was not a bad question. They were, however, too anxious about the timing. Jesus told them to wait, and the Spirit would come. When the Spirit came, the restoration of Israel began.

Just as Joel foretold, God poured out the Spirit upon Israel through the newly enthroned Messiah. This pouring, however, was not limited to an individual or even to a specific group. Rather, it was poured out on “all flesh,” including Jew and Gentile, women and men, and enslaved and free. On that day, the Spirit testified to the reality of the kingdom secured at the right hand of God by the resurrected Jesus.

Just as God had gathered Israel at Mount Sinai, so now God gathered renewed Israel at Mount Zion. Through repentance and baptism, they became a newly gathered people who would continue the mission of Israel as a light to the nations. And they would inherit the promise God made to Abraham–experienced through the gift of the Spirit—to continue and purse that mission by scattering missional communities devoted to Jesus across the world.

Texts: Luke 24:30-35; Matthew 28:18-20; Ephesians 1:20-23; Galatians 6:14-16

Days 52-55 in Around the Bible in Eighty Days.

We can only imagine the despair of the disciples in the crushing darkness of the crucifixion and burial of Jesus. The Christian calendar calls it “Holy Saturday.”

We can only imagine the joy of the disciples on the morning of the third day. The Christian calendar calls it “Easter.”

The movement from despair to joy is typified in the table at Emmaus. There Jesus revealed himself to two disciples; they experienced an epiphany that transformed mourning into dancing. They ran to join other disciples in Jerusalem, and together they celebrated at table with the risen Lord.

In Luke, it was at that table that Jesus commissioned them while in Matthew it was in Galilee. The commissioning brings the whole story of Israel to a climactic moment as the disciples are scattered throughout the world to fill it with the glory of God through making disciples among all the nations.

This old agenda (filling the earth with the glory of God) is renewed because the Messiah has ascended to the throne of David as the Lord of creation. This is new creation, and Jesus reigns as both Lord and Messiah.

New creation is inaugurated by the enthronement of the slaughtered but risen Lord. New creation has begun. As disciples scatter across the world, through the gospel God shines the light of new creation out of the darkness into the hearts of people who become new creatures.

A new age has dawned in the resurrection and enthronement of Jesus, who is both Lord and Christ.