The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible

by Michael S. Heiser

This was the theological lens through which an ancient Israelite viewed her own nation with respect to all others, and her elohim, Yahweh, against the gods of those nations. By definition Yahweh was superior. He was Most High (elyon)—the title used in Deuteronomy 32:8–9.1 The Old Testament therefore describes a world where cosmic-geographical lines have been drawn. Israel was holy ground because it was Yahweh’s “inheritance,” in the language of Deuteronomy 32:8–9. The territory of other nations belonged to other elohim because Yahweh had decreed it. Psalm 82 told us that these lesser elohim were corrupt.2 We aren’t told how the elohim Yahweh assigned to the nations became corrupt, only that they were. It is clear from Deuteronomy 4:19–20; 17:3; 29:25; and 32:17 that these elohim were illegitimate for Israelite worship. This cosmic-geographical perspective explains several odd passages in the Bible, and provides dramatic theological backdrop to others. Some of the most startling are in the New Testament. I’ll hold those until we reach the time of Jesus and the apostles. For now I’ll illustrate the point with some short, but fascinating, examples.