What the Bible Teaches About the Unseen World - and Why It Matters

Referring to Psalm 82:1, "these beings in the 'council of the holy ones' are real." This book is not some fantastical course in angelology or demonology. This gives an intelligent, biblically sound look at the unseen realm throughout the Bible and what it means for us today. This is written with the goal of Salvation in Jesus(Yeshua) for every person in mind. "The powers of darkness know whose side we are on by our behavior....Whether or not we believe it, we are being watched - by both sides of the spiritual war." Now I need to read back through the Bible with all this in mind. Finished this volume just in time, soon I should receive the companion volume Unseen Realm.

Very straightforward presentation of his thesis. Useful summary for those who might find his book The Unseen Realm difficult to read due to its more technical slant. You will gain a new perspective on what the supernatural realm consists of and how we interact with it.

I would have given this book 5 stars - the information is not only awesome but inspiring for every Christian alive - and a great study for Bible students. HOWEVER there is one dangerous and unfortunately prevalent ideology Heiser espouses in the book. And that is Imputed Righteousness. This is a doctrine of men, not the Bible. He states on page 125 "...salvation cannot be lost by moral imperfection." NOT SO. The Apostle Paul emphatically states in 1 John 5:16 "There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that you should pray about that." Note there IS A SIN LEADING TO DEATH...by the way he is speaking to the church about praying for a struggling brother/sister. This has nothing to do with non-saved people.

Also in Revelation 19:8 "It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints" note the righteous ACTS of the saints. So Heisner cannot claim it doesn't matter if you are a moral reprobate or not. You can remain saved. Sorry no. We are forgiven of our PAST sins -then we are to leave our filthy past behind us and walk as a new person. No saved person should be out there molesting, getting drunk, etc. Light has no part with darkness.

Rev 3:18 "I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see" Jesus is pleading with reprobate church members to get "white clothes to wear" in other words stop SINNING and do the righteous acts of the saints.

Finally here is a list of the sins that lead to death which are enumerated twice in the New Testament - Galatians 5:19-21 "Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will NOT inherit the kingdom of God." Get it? Will NOT inherit the Kingdom of God - again he was speaking to the Church not the unconverted.

So again - great book. A MUST read for Bible facts and history - not theology. In that area Heisner is unfortunately following the doctrines of men.

This book is nothing short of heresy. It proposes that Christianity is a polytheistic religion instead of monotheistic. It proof-texts five obscure passages out of their context ignoring 2,000 years of church history and builds a worldview on a very frail foundation. It’s conclusion is that angels are gods and on God’s divine counsel and that our goal is to one day be on God’s divine counsel as divine beings. Let us not forget that Satan fell from heaven because he refused his design as a messenger and wanted to be divine. Original sin came into humanity from that same desire. When you replace the center of God’s nature with authority instead of Love and feed the ego of pride, what you have is another cult formed from taking Scripture out of context and “discovering” something by building your faith on a theory that is not substantiated or verified by the rest of Scripture.
Be careful. Be wise. Read this book with a critical eye. Look up every passage in their context. Examine the Hebrew and Greek for yourself. Ask critical questions. Read the second paragraph of chapter 15 and see Mr. Heiser’s proposed heresy for yourself.

Supernatural is a “cut down” version of Michael Heiser's other book, "The Unseen Realm." So it’s quite a bit smaller. But the premise is the same. I read the book on an extended bus ride in just about two hours. Much like the Unseen Realm, I couldn’t help myself. I wrote in my review of the Unseen Realm “This was the most thought provoking, thrilling, insightful book I have read all year.” This could be said of Supernatural as well.

Psalm 82:1 says, “God has taken his place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods he holds judgment.” The word for “God” in the first instance is Elohim, which is a natural and often used term for God. However, the second use of “gods” is also Elohim. This was the starting point for Dr. Heiser’s research (which spanned 15 years). Dr. Heiser proposes that there is a Divine Council of heavenly beings that God uses, although he doesn’t have to. Just like He doesn’t need humans, he doesn’t need a pantheon of divine beings to council Him. But there are several instances where the Divine Council shows up in both testaments. For example, the book of Job see’s one of these members. Translations often use the word “Satan” for the exchange in Job 1:6-12. However, the word for “Satan” is actually translated more accurately, “the tempter.” Dr. Heiser explores this more in the Unseen Realm than in Supernatural, but you understand my point.

There are other implications that are significant. Genesis 6:1-4 is often a section of scripture open to interpretation and more often times than not, debate. Who are these “sons of gods” (ESV)? Dr. Heiser postulates that they are actually members of the Divine Council who bred with humanity to taint the bloodline of Adam. Remember in Genesis 3 that God promised a savior who would crush the head of the serpent (who he also believes is a Divine Council member). So the interbreeding of these two beings would create a mixed bloodline to thwart God’s plan. Well the end result of this were giants who ruled in the land of Canaan. So when we come to the time of Joshua and David, the great genocides of Israel invading the land of Canaan, the purpose was to cleanse the tainted bloodline. A very interesting proposal.

I could say much more about Supernatural, but I’d encourage you to read my review of the Unseen Realm and to pick up a copy for yourself. What I found most helpful about Supernatural was Dr. Heiser put a section at the end of each chapter dedicated to why this matters. I think often times people are intimidated of theology because they believe there is nothing practical about lapsarianism or consubstantiation versus transubstantiation. The truth of the matter is that all theology affects methodology: meaning that whatever theological convictions you hold will influence how you live your life. There is no escaping this conclusion. What Dr. Heiser proposes is that all of this is essential to formulating a biblical worldview that has in mind the unseen powers that are at work. Dr. Heiser notes how the Apostle Paul understood this when he used language of the other realm such as principalities, powers, rulers of darkness, etc. In our rationalistic Western world, we often have trouble accepting the fact that there are forces at work that are otherworldly. Dr. Heiser is encouraging us to accept the plain fact of the Bible as reality.

I highly recommend this book if you are interested in getting your feet wet in the unseen world. However, if you want to drink more deeply of this really intriguing doctrine, I would recommend you pick up a copy of the Unseen Realm (and read my review too). I already have several friends who shared in my excitement and have picked the book up for themselves. Be warned though: your life and your view of the world may never be the same again.

This is a cliffs-notes version of his longer Unseen Realm.

Key argument: “In at least some cases, God decrees what he wants done but gives his supernatural agents freedom to decide what it means” (23).

Image of God

Genesis says God says “Create in our image” and it says God created in his image.” Since God is speaking to the Divine council and not the Trinity, this means that the Council and God (and presumably we) have something in common (29). We are to image God’s rule on earth.

Divine Rebellions

The Old Testament never says there was an angelic rebellion (37). Revelation 12:7-12 is talking about the birth of Christ. There was another corporate transgression, but it was the beings in Genesis 6. Peter and Jude say that these angels are placed in eternal darkness under chains. If we take 1 Enoch seriously (and Peter and Jude) did, then from these beings came the Nephilim, and when the Nephilim died, their spirits became demons.

The physical descendants of the Nephilim are called the Anakim and the Rephaim (Numb. 13:32-33; Deut. 2:10-11; some of these Rephaim show up in the underworld realm of the dead (Isai. 14:9-11).

Cosmic Geography

Deuteronomy 32 Worldview: Geography in the Bible is cosmic (52).

Daniel 9-10: foreign nations are ruled by divine princes.
1 Sam. 26:19: David fears being in a land of foreign gods.
2 Kgs 5: Namaan takes Israelite dirt back
Paul uses a range of terms for divine, hostile beings–thrones, principalities, powers
Nota Bene:

Angels don’t have wings. Cherubim do, but they are never called angels (Heiser 19).
Any disembodied spirit is an elohim (Gen. 1:1; Deut. 32:17; 1 Samuel 28:13; Heiser 20).
God has a supernatural task force (1 Kgs 22:19-23; Ps. 82:1).

Disclaimer: Faithlife Corporation/Lexham Press/Logos Bible Software (The publisher of this book) gave me a free copy of this book in exchange for the review. However, I also own the companion resource to this book entitled The Unseen Realm, which I purchased myself.

Dr. Heiser’s book on Supernatural is essentially an abridged edition of his longer volume The Unseen Realm. Whereas The Unseen Realm (which I am also reading through at the moment) is more geared toward a scholarly/academic setting and is a little more in-depth and technical, Supernatural condenses the major takeaways of The Unseen Realm into an edition that is shorter, easier and quicker to read, and more geared toward the everyday churchgoer. My edition also came with a companion study guide that can be used in a Bible Study environment (that while I enjoyed it, I enjoyed Heiser’s book itself more).

In terms of recommendations of the two resources, I would recommend typical churchgoers first read Supernatural over The Unseen Realm, as Supernatural is easier to read, and it also contains sections at the end that give some practical applications to the material presented in each chapter (The Unseen Realm’s applications are not as “prominent” as they are in Supernatural). Even for scholars in academic settings, reading through Supernatural first to get a good overview of the material may help one better digest the material in The Unseen Realm, as The Unseen Realm is more scholarly and technical. While even in The Unseen Realm, Dr. Heiser is clear in his writing style and not oblique, his material is enough of “charting into new territory” for many Christians where it can take more than one reading to fully soak it all in.

In terms of the content itself in both Supernatural and The Unseen Realm, Dr. Heiser presents a solid thesis and explanation on the supernatural world and the unseen, spiritual realm. Dr. Heiser isn’t afraid to shake up understandings of biblical passages held by mainline Christians, and he isn’t afraid of holding back Bible passages on the supernatural realm that many Christians either won’t talk about or causally glance over. I can also tell that in Dr. Heiser’s arguments, he is well-researched and has spent years of research in the field when writing these resources. There is clearly not any lack of research on his part, and he’s left no stones unturned.

In terms of my assessment of his research, some of his interpretations on Bible passages presented are certainly not what I or what people have heard in Christian circles before, but after reviewing his material, some of his interpretations do fit the overall context of the Bible, and I would agree with some of them, and they have certainly helped me better understand the Bible in a better contextual light. Some of his interpretations I would have to perform additional research on before I would endorse them, as in some instances, some of his interpretations go further than I have been able to mentally wrap my mind around and endorse. Additionally, some of the terminology he uses in the resource (such as the term “divine beings”) is hard for typical Christians who have been absorbed in referring to only Yahweh God as the Divine Being is hard to get used to (most Christians would probably use the term “angels” there instead).

All in all, I would still recommend Christians read these resources as they challenge Christians to get back into their Bibles and examine what the Bible teaches on the supernatural realm in its context. Theologians, Old Testament scholars, and anyone wishing to better understand biblical interpretation will benefit from reading these two books.

When I finished reading “Supernatural” the first thought that came to mind was, "My goodness; it's a manifesto."
And then, "If we Christians can get this, we really will change the world." The book offers truly good news.

But it doesn't start off as good news. "Supernatural" starts off with a survey of the Old Testament, which is mainly filled with bad news: the rebellion of both human and divine beings and the influence those divine beings have had on the affairs of the world. The efforts of both human and divine beings left God's plans to bring an Edenic paradise to earth in a tattered ruin.

Seemingly.

All along, Dr. Heiser explains, God had a stealth plan in motion, so stealthy in fact, it went as unseen as the demonic entities who held sway over the world for so long.

Thus, "Supernatural" serves as a good introduction to the material covered in depth with Dr. Heiser’s "Unseen Realm." It’s targeted to the non-specialist, the reader who doesn’t need the source material or detailed justification.

Supernatural helps address
• Modern concerns many Christians have with some of the violence and even genocide in the Old Testament
• The struggles many Christians have with trying to force natural or logical explanations on clearly supernatural biblical passages
• Why so many devout and highly educated 1st Century Jews so quickly accepted and worshiped a man named Jesus as God.
• Why the cosmic battles in Eden, before the flood, at Babel, and in Canaan matter to us today.

Dr. Heiser helps us to understand the cosmic narrative of the Bible with the supernatural eyes that the authors of the Bible had.  He strips away the confusion and cuts to the chase, explaining just what the authors meant in many confusing passages. Dr. Heiser gives you enough knowledge to motivate you to want to re-read the Bible with fresh eyes.

After pointing out the several supernatural threads of the Old Testament we modern readers often miss, Dr. Heiser shows out how the New Testament authors weaved those threads into a cohesive garment of God's plans. When believers don this garment, it will change how they think about the world and their faith. Their renewed thinking will change their actions, and these actions will change the world.

I'm telling you, the last few chapters of Supernatural pose a cross-denominational manifesto for Christians to change the world. I highly recommend this book.

A couple months back, I wrote about Michael Heiser's book, The Unseen Realm. That book was a somewhat scholarly approach to what the Bible says about the world that many modern, Western people ignore: the spiritual world.

Now Michael Heiser has put out another book on the same theme, but with a more popular level audience in mind.

This new book is called Supernatural.

To be completely honest, I preferred The Unseen Realm over Supernatural, but that is probably because I prefer more detail and scholarly research rather than less. The basic content is pretty much the same, however, so if you want a quicker, easier read to get the same message, you might prefer reading Supernatural.

Both books encourage the reader to look at what the Bible says about what is going on in the world around us that we never see. Most importantly of all, Michael Heiser encourages the reader to live in a way that they can get involved in the world of the spirit by how we live, act, and think.

The first step, of course, is becoming aware that the spiritual world exists, and Michael Heiser's books will walk you through what the Bible says about it.

My only issue with the book is how much emphasis Heiser places on the "Divine Counsel" motif in Scripture. The theme is definitely prominent in Scripture, but I was never quite sure what Heiser was saying about this theme in the Bible, or what he was implying about it. Was he saying that there truly are other "gods" in addition to Yahweh? Was he saying that these were just the angels? Was he saying that somehow we could participate in this Divine Counsel? Where and how do the "principalities and powers" fit within these supernatural perspective?

I hope to have Michael Heiser on as a guest for my Theology.fm podcast in December to ask him some of these sorts of questions.

This author, a Christian Scholar, was silent regarding his and other theological positions. I waited for him justify his obvious belief in Replacement Theology. He avoided this as well as the many unfulfilled prophesies for Israel. He has a mystical idea about God reestablishing new Garden of Eden for the entire Earth. This lacks support from the Bible since he failed to mention the 1,000 year reign of Jesus. I am not debating other than to say the Church has not, nor will it ever replace Israel and the saved Jewish people, my opinion. The unconditional promises made to Abraham are for Israel and not the Church. His belief may come from stretching the meaning of Romans 4:13 and the same for Galatians 3:29. It is noted the author never mentions the 70th Week of Daniel or Matthew 24. Yet he wants Christians to understand they will become members of a divine council and pass judgement, really.

The author takes a scholarly approach, researching a subject that, for whatever reason, has been off-limits in years gone by. His findings and conclusions are truly eye-opening and have the potential of blessing every sincere believer. If you want to know more about the God of the Bible, this book is for you.

As I read Supernatural and the longer volume Unseen Realm I kept thinking about the experience of walking down a street in New York City and peering through the view windows cut into barriers around huge construction sites. Through one window I could see workers pouring concrete and through another, a pile driver or crane at work. It was impossible to imagine how all the restricted images were connected to one another, yet I understood there must be a coherent plan behind it all. In Supernatural and Unseen Realm Dr. Mike Heiser takes us to the difficult and obscure, overlooked and neglected Bible passages which are portals to the unseen realm. Heiser reminds us that those things we are privileged to see through the biblical text are not random or disassociated but rather glimpses of a supernatural place outside of our physical world, an active, coherent, functioning realm, designed and administered by the Most High God for His eternal purposes.
As in my analogy of the construction site, we look but we cannot see all. An engineer at our side would help us see more. I think that is the role biblical scholar Dr. Michael Heiser fulfills as he walks us around the site examining those Bible passages that give us views of the supernatural. I found these books to be nourishment for mind and soul.

I purchased Heiser's The Unseen Realm first and it is a deep discussion of the same topic. I am only part way though Supernatural but it covers the subject and is an easier read. I am thankful I was pointed to this book. It has opened up a refreshed joy and hope for me! My mom has even purchased both of these books to give to friends so they too can be blessed. I have not read any of Heiser's books that are not thoroughly interesting and enlightening.