Overview: Divine Council Foundational Passages & Structure
Transcript
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Foundational Passages & Structure
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Grammatical-historical Exegesis. Each biblical document, and
each part of a biblical document, must be studied in its
contextboth its immediate literary context and the wider situation
in which it appeared. This calls for an understanding of the
following elements: Biblical languages Types of literature
represented Historical background / geography Life setting Elwell,
Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, 611-612
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The context for understanding the Hebrew OT is not: the Roman
Catholic Church The context for understanding Genesis is the
context in which it was written. the Protestant Reformation 20 th
/21 st century evangelicalism pre-late 19 th century
Christianity
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God did not create a new culture for Israel that was foreign to
the rest of the known world at the time. God worked in and through
ancient Israel as it culturally was. He did not change Israels
worldview so He could dispense revelation to them. Gods revelation
to Israel was culturally decipherable (i.e., they could understand
it) and culturally consistent (it was not alien to the
culture).
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We honor Gods decision to reveal truth to humanity WHEN, WHERE,
in what CULTURE, and to WHOM he did by letting the Bible be what it
is not making it what wed like it to be. Inspiration operates
within a cultural context chosen by God in his sovereign
wisdom.
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God of Israel (Psalm 82:1 and other pss) The gods of Yahwehs
divine council (Psa. 82:1) gods of various nations (for example)
Ashtoreth, the god(dess) [elohim] of the Sidonians, Chemosh,
[elohim] of Moab (1 Kings 11:33), Milcom, the god [elohim] of the
Ammonites Demons [shedim] (Deut 32:17 = KJV; BHS)Deut 32:17 BHS
Disembodied human dead (1 Sam 28:13)1 Sam 28:13 Angels (?) Genesis
35:1-7 (cp. Gen 32)Genesis 35:1-7
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elohim = place of residence term gods of councildemons angels
disembodied dead YHWH / godhead
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El / Athirat | Baal sons of El malakim YHWH / Godhead sons of
God Dt. 32:8-9 / princes of Daniel 10 malakim / angels (messengers)
Ugarit Israel
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YHWH / Godhead sons of God Dt. 32:8-9 / princes of Daniel 10
malakim / angels (messengers) Observations: Who is Absent? Israel
At Ugarit, MOT was the lord of the Underworld / Sheol, but is not
listed in the pantheon or offering lists (feared but not
worshipped). The word demons (shedim) in the HB is rare (Deut
32:17; Psa 106:37); not with Sheol; the rephaim are mentioned in
Sheol Helel ben Shachar is demoted [to Sheol (satan not used for
him or with Sheol in OT) The human dead are in Sheol; righteous
hoped for removal.
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at the source of the two rivers midst of the double deep
fountain Zion and Eden are well watered sacred gardens / mountains
(Gen 2:8-14; Eze 28:13-16; Joel 3:18; Ezek 47:1- 12) Mount Tsaphanu
tsaphanu yarkete tsaphon Zion is the heights of tsaphon (Psa
48:1-2; Isa 14:13) mount of assembled council puhru mo edhar mo ed
mount of assembly (Isa 14:13) Ugarit / El & Baal God of
Israel
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Decrees issued from the tents of El d d il Tents (see below) El
and the gods lived in tents & tabernacles hlm ms knt hl mo ed
ms kn Yahweh lived at the tent of meeting and tabernacle El and
council meet in a house and temple bt hklm bt hykl Lords house
temple Baals palace had paved bricks & a court that shone like
lapis lazuli lbnt hsr lbnt hsr Ex 24:9ff.; 27:9 (courtyard of
tabernacle) Els AbodeYahwehs (El) Abode
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The Greek form of the name Babel = Babylon and is from the
native Akkadian Bb-ilim, which means "Gate of the god", which
summarizes the religious purpose of ziggurats.
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A manifestation of ANE cosmology, The earth was a disc of land
which surrounded by a salt water ocean, both of which floated on
another sea of fresh water called Apsu. Above was a solid dome
firmament; stars fixed on it. A world mountain formed an axis mundi
that joined all three layers. The role of the temple was to act as
that axis mundi, a meeting place between gods and men. Rectangular
with four corners pointing in cardinal directions to symbolize the
four rivers which flow from the mountain to the four world
regions.
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19 And beware lest you raise your eyes to heaven, and when you
see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, you
be drawn away and bow down to them and serve them, things that the
L ORD your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole
heaven. 20 But the L ORD has taken you and brought you out of the
iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be a people of his own inheritance.
Deut 17:3 Israel apostasized; called demons in Deut 32:17
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Genesis 11 = the disinheriting of the nations Genesis 12 = Call
of Abram to create a new for Himself (His portion Deut 32:9) The OT
Story: Israel vs. the nations YHWH vs. their gods Examples: 1
Samuel 26:17-19; 2 Kings 5:17-191 Samuel 26:17-192 Kings 5:17-19
Deut 32:8-9 (cp. Deut 4:19-20) = basis for OT explanation for the
pantheons of the nationsDeut 4:19-20 Played out in election /
recipient of revelation Played out in the wars under Moses and
Joshua Jerusalem an Amorite site at one time (Ezek 16:3)
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1. The LORD is our God; the LORD is one. 2. The LORD our God,
the LORD is one. 3. The Lord our God is one Lord. 4. The LORD is
our God, the LORD alone. 5. Our one God is the LORD, the LORD.
POINT: The Shema presumes divine plurality; other gods are over the
nations they are real and were put there by Yahweh
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Corollary Question
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none besides me; none like me not denials of the existence of
other elohim; statements of incomparability. these denials occur in
the same chapters and books as those that refer to other elohim
(Deut 4, 32; Isaiah 40-66) these denials phrases are used elsewhere
we denial of existence cannot be possible.
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Denial PassagesHebrew phrases from them Deut 4:35 Deut 4:35
Deut 4:39 Deut 4:39 Deut 32:12 Deut 32:12 Deut 32:29 Deut 32:29 Isa
43:10-12 Isa 43:10-12 Isa 44:6-8 Isa 44:6-8 Isa 45: 5-7 Isa 45: 5-7
Isa 45:14 Isa 45:14 Isa 45:18 Isa 45:18 Isa 45:21-22 Isa 45:21-22 1
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 See Isa 47:8, 10; Zeph 2:15Isa 47:8, 10Zeph
2:15