The Unseen Realm Quotes

“We are created to image God, to be his imagers. It is what we are by definition. The image is not an ability we have, but a status. We are God’s representatives on earth. To be human is to image God.”
― Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible

“Seeing the Bible through the eyes of an ancient reader requires shedding the filters of our traditions and presumptions. They processed life in supernatural terms. Today’s Christian processes it by a mixture of creedal statements and modern rationalism.”
― Dr. Michael Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible

“Baptism, then, is not what produces salvation. It 'saves' in that it reflects a heart decision: a pledge of loyalty to the risen Savior. In effect, baptism in New Testament theology is a loyalty oath, a public avowal of who is on the Lord’s side in the cosmic war between good and evil. ... Early baptismal formulas included a renunciation of Satan and his angels for this very reason. Baptism was—and still is—spiritual warfare.”
― Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm

“When an enemy wants nothing but your defeat and annihilation, neutrality means choosing death.”
― Dr. Michael Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible

“Yahweh had chosen to accomplish his ends through imagers loyal to him against imagers who weren’t. This commitment to humanity, his original imagers on earth, is one often-missed reason why, when humanity (Israel) failed to restore God’s rule, God took matters into his own hands by becoming human in Jesus Christ.”
― Dr. Michael Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible

“In classical Greek literature, which preceded the time of the New Testament, the term daimon describes any divine being without regard to its nature (good or evil). A daimon can be a god or goddesss, some lesser divine power, or the spirit of the departed human dead.5 As such, it is akin to Hebrew elohim in its generic meaning.”
― Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible

“THERE’S NO DOUBT THAT PSALM 82 CAN ROCK YOUR BIBLICAL WORLDVIEW. Once I saw what it was actually saying, I was convinced that I needed to look at the Bible through ancient eyes, not my traditions.”
― Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible

“Pharaoh was the son of Re. Israel was explicitly called the son of Yahweh in the confrontation with Pharaoh (Exod 4:23; cf. Hos 11:1). Yahweh and his son would defeat the high god of Egypt and his son. God against god, son against son, imager against imager. In that context, the plagues are spiritual warfare. Yahweh will undo the cosmic order, throwing the land into chaos.2”
― Dr. Michael Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible

“Salvation in the Old Testament meant love for Yahweh alone. One had to believe that Yahweh was the God of all gods, trusting that this Most High God had chosen covenant relationship with Israel to the detriment of all other nations. The law was how one demonstrated that love—that loyalty. Salvation was not merited. Yahweh alone had initiated the relationship. Yahweh’s choice and covenant promise had to be believed. An Israelite’s believing loyalty was shown by faithfulness to the law.”
― Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible

“The serpent (nachash) was an image commonly used in reference to a divine throne guardian.”
― Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible

“Salvation means believing loyalty to Christ, who was and is the visible Yahweh. There is no salvation in any other name (Acts 4:12), and faith must remain intact (Rom 11:17–24; Heb 3:19; 10:22, 38–39). Personal failure is not the same as trading Jesus for another god—and God knows that.”
― Dr. Michael Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible

“If humanity had not been created with genuine freedom, representation of God would have been impossible. Humans would not mirror their Maker. They could not accurately image him. God is no robot. We are reflections of a free Being, not a cosmic automaton.”
― Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible

“By God’s design, the Scripture presents the messiah in terms of a mosaic profile that can only be discerned after the pieces are assembled. Paul tells us why in 1 Corinthians 2:6–8. If the plan of God for the messiah’s mission had been clear, the powers of darkness would never have killed Jesus—they would have known that his death and resurrection were the key to reclaiming the nations forever.”
― Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible

“Yahweh desires a kingdom rule on this new Earth that he has created, and that rule will be shared with humanity. Since the heavenly council is also where Yahweh is, both family-households should function together. Had the fall not occurred, humanity would have been glorified and made part of the council. This is not speculation.”
― Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible

“WHAT DOES GOD NEED WITH A COUNCIL? This is an obvious question. Its answer is just as obvious: God doesn’t need a council. But it’s scripturally clear that he has one. The question is actually similar to another one: What does God need with people? The answer is the same: God doesn’t need people. But he uses them. God is not dependent on humans for his plans. God doesn’t need us for evangelism. He could save all the people he wanted to by merely thinking about it. God could terminate evil in the blink of an eye and bring human history to the end he desires at any moment. But he doesn’t. Instead, he works his plan for all things on earth by using human beings. He’s also not incomplete without our worship, but he desires it. I’m not saying that the question of whether God needs a council is pointless. I’m saying that it’s no argument against the existence of a divine council.”
― Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible

“Neither of these events that God foresaw ever actually happened. Once David hears God’s answers, he and his men leave the city. When Saul discovers this fact (v. 13), he abandons his trip to Keilah. Saul never made it to the city. The men of Keilah never turned David over to Saul. Why is this significant? This passage clearly establishes that divine foreknowledge does not necessitate divine predestination. God foreknew what Saul would do and what the people of Keilah would do given a set of circumstances. In other words, God foreknew a possibility—but this foreknowledge did not mandate that the possibility was actually predestined to happen.”
― Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible

“the original task of humanity was to make the entire Earth like Eden.”
― Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible

“Believe it or not, you are sacred space. Paul in particular refers to the believer as the place where God now tabernacles—we are the temple of God, both individually and corporately.”
― Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible

“tells us in Ephesians 1:20–21 that when God raised Jesus from the dead, “he seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion” (ESV). It was only after Christ had risen that God’s plan was “made known … to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places” (Eph 3:10). These cosmic forces are “the rulers and the authorities” disarmed and put to shame by the cross (Col 2:15). The incident at Babel and God’s decision to disinherit the nations drew up the battle lines for a cosmic turf war for the planet. The corruption of the elohim sons of God set over the nations meant that Yahweh’s vision of a global Eden would be met with divine force. Every inch outside Israel would be contested, and Israel itself was fair game for hostile conquest. The gods would not surrender their inheritances back to Yahweh; he would have to reclaim them. God would take the first step in that campaign immediately after Babel.”
― Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible

“I use the phrase “the satan” deliberately. The Hebrew (satan) means something like “adversary,” “prosecutor,” or “challenger.”
― Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible

“The point of this brief reconstruction is not that Israelites took only the lives of the remnant of the giant clans. Others were certainly slain. The point is that the rationale for kherem annihilation was the specific elimination of the descendants of the Nephilim. Ridding the land of these bloodlines was the motivation.13 If Numbers 13:28–29 is to be believed, the Anakim were scattered throughout the land of Canaan. Joshua 11:21–23 makes it clear that these were the peoples targeted for complete elimination, not every last Canaanite.”
― Dr. Michael Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible

“In other words, legalism was not intrinsic to a biblical theology of the law. The heart of salvation in biblical theology—across both testaments—is believing loyalty to Yahweh.”
― Dr. Michael Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible

“The Hebrew vocabulary for holiness means to be set apart or to be distinct. While the idea has a moral dimension related to conduct”
― Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible

“Egypt and her gods had been defeated”
― Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible

“Yahweh chose to disinherit the nations at Babel.”
― Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible

“Personal failure is not the same as trading Jesus for another god—and God knows that.”
― Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible

“Personal failure”
― Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible

“to them. These were the mighty warriors that were from ancient times”
― Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible

“upon”
― Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible

“Yes”
― Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible