Supernatural by Michael Heiser: Eye-Opening Or Deceptive?

This review is based entirely on, Supernatural, by Dr. Michael Heiser, who claims to open the eyes of Christians to truths about the unseen spirit realm that help us to better understand what it means to be a follower of Christ. To keep things simple, we deal with his statements and teachings about the supernatural, along with the biblical scriptures he uses in an attempt to support his teachings. We then look at scripture from the Christian Bible that not only does NOT support his teachings, but that directly contradicts the falsehoods he presents as biblical truth.

The very first thing that should raise red flags about Mr. Heiser's teachings is the fact that he considers scripture from extra-biblical books such as the apocryphal book, Enoch. In Enoch 9:1-3 we see the souls of men calling to angelic beings (one is named Gabriel) to intercede for them before God. That alone is enough to reject the teachings of the entire book of Enoch about the spirit realm. Why? Because the author is placing angels--or some type of supernatural being--in the place of Christ as Intercessor. Any teaching that displaces Christ as Intercessor is not of God. Now we might ask, what could be wrong with holy angels making intercession before God for mankind? Asking that question gains nothing. The question to ask is, "Is it even true that angels make intercession to God for mankind?" If the God-inspired scriptures of the Christian Bible say no, while the apocryphal book of Enoch says yes, we have a conflict. And indeed, there's a conflict. Enoch contradicts the Bible. God's Word says in no uncertain terms that Christ is the only mediator, and that He is the only one who makes intercession for sinful man (1 Tim. 2:5, Heb. 7:25). Now then, Moses, as well as other saints, interceded for Israel. And ordinary Christians today continue to intercede for others. So, how is Christ the only Intercessor? Because it was His Spirit in the saints of old, and it is His Spirit in the saints of today, who is doing the interceding.

Remember, the Bible calls saints priests. Priests make intercession. The apostle Peter wrote this to the saints: "Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ." (1 Peter 2:5).

"Priesthood...by Jesus Christ" plainly tells us that there is still a priesthood, and that that priesthood is by Christ who is in heaven whose true followers (Christians) are "sub" priests on earth in service to Him, the eternal High Priest. That eternal High Priest is clearly identified throughout Old and New Testament scripture as none other than Jesus. The apocryphal book of Enoch places angels in a position only Christ holds. That is nothing less than a different gospel. Therefore, we dismiss its teachings. They have no authority. Let us realize how serious it is to be lured into another gospel, because if we are ensnared in a false gospel, we begin to preach it. And what was said of any being who preaches another gospel? We read, "...If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed" (Galatians 1:9)

With that said, let us focus strictly on the actual biblical scriptures Michael Heiser has twisted to support the anti-Christian doctrines of extra-biblical sources on the supernatural, such as the book of Enoch.

Popular Misconceptions About Angels

As Mr. Heiser emphasizes that angels play such an important role in the unseen world, he purports to correct "wrong" understanding about angelic beings early in his book, Supernatural. He says, "A lot of what Christians imagine to be true about the unseen world isn't. Angels don't have wings. (Cherubim don't count, because they are never called angels, and are creaturely. Angels are always in human form."

Really? Revelation 8:13 says, "And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven..." We also read, "And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven..." (Revelation 14:6). With what did those angels fly? No, we cannot say for certain that they flew with wings. We only know that they flew. But considering that most life forms that fly do indeed have wings, why would Mr. Heiser say with a certainty that angels do NOT have wings? God-inspired scripture simply does not tell us either way. Mr. Heiser and everyone else should, therefore, leave the question alone of whether those particular angels flew with wings or not.

Mr. Heiser also states that cherubim and seraphim are not angels. Now then, Ezekiel, chapter 28, reveals that Satan was a covering cherub (verse 16). And we know that covering cherubim indeed have wings (Ex. 25:20, 1 Ki. 6:27, Ezek. 10:5, 10:8). Conclusion: Lucifer was created a Cherub, and created with wings. But is he an angel? Are cherubim angels? Let us look at where the Bible reveals that Satan is an angel. And if we find that he is an angel, that means cherubim are angels, because he was created a covering cherub.

The passage of 2 Corinthians 11:13-15 speaks of false apostles and deceitful people "transforming themselves into ministers of righteousness" (verse 13). We know the passage is speaking of deception, and NOT of a literal transformation into a different life form. It is interesting that verse 14 reads, "...Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light." Just as those false ministers remain people... just not the type of people they pretend to be, Satan remains an angel... just not the angel of light he pretends to be. God-inspired scripture flat out calls him an angel. And God-inspired scripture says he was created as a covering cherub. And God-inspired scripture reveals that cherubim are winged. So, this time, there is no inference. We repeat what God's Word actually reveals, without adding to it, or taking away from it.

Conclusion: Michael Heiser's statements that angels do not have wings, and that cherubim are not angels contradicts what biblical scripture says. What is more is that Mr. Heiser says angels always look like men. But, if we read about the appearance of the cherubim in Ezekiel, chapter 10, we quickly see that NOT all angels look like men. Ezekiel 10:14-15 say, "And every one had four faces: the first was the face of a cherub, and the second face was the face of a man, and the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle. And the cherubim were lifted up. This is the living creature that I saw."

Earlier in the same chapter of Ezekiel, we're told that these Cherubim have many eyes all over their body, including their wings (verse 12). How then can Mr. Heiser say that angels always look like men? The Christian Bible has concretely established that Cherubim are indeed angels, winged--and in this passage--justifiably called a "creature" (verse 15). The word "creature" not only refers to a created form of life, it can also express how strange a form of life appears to us. The word is strong enough to refer to forms of life and beings that are not known to inhabit planet Earth. In the United States, monster movies can be called "creature features". And, The Creature From The Black Lagoon (1954) featured what could be described as a monster. While absolutely no negative connotations are intended in reference to the holy cherubim in Ezekiel 10, the fact remains that the appearance of those angels of the Lord was "creaturely" in every sense of the word. So, Mr. Heisers's statement that angels always look like men is contrary to what God's Word reveals.

Let us now move on to some teachings of Heiser that are not just erroneous concerning angels, but erroneous and downright dangerous concerning the gospel as a whole. And, no wonder, because he allowed himself to be influenced by a different gospel.

The So-Called Divine Council Of God

In his book, Supernatural, Mr. Heiser stresses the need to believe that God has a council of divine beings in heaven with whom He shares decision making. He then cites passages that he says proves this. But a closer look at those passages prove otherwise.

In reference to angelic beings, Mr. Heiser says, "The sons of God (angels) are also decision makers. These beings in the 'council of the holy ones' are real. In the first chapter of this book, I quoted a passage in which God met with his heavenly host to decide how to get rid of king Ahab."

The passage Mr. Heiser references is 1 Kings 22:19-23, which says, "...I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left. And the Lord said, Who shall persuade Ahab that he may go up and fall at Ramoth Gilead? And one said on this manner, and another said on that manner. And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the Lord, and said, I will persuade him. And the Lord said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also. Go forth, and do so."

This passage reveals several serious errors and dangerous teachings of Mr. Heiser who said, "God met with his heavenly host to decide how to get rid of king Ahab." That is not true. We just read that verse 20 of that passage says, "And the Lord said, Who shall persuade Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth Gilead?" God only asked who would do the persuasion. He had ALREADY decided HOW Ahab would die: He was to die in the battle at Ramoth Gilead. The so-called "holy council" of spiritual beings did NOT make that decision as Mr. Heiser claims.

What's even more disturbing is that Mr. Heiser teaches that God took council with the spirit who stepped forth and offered to do the work of persuasion. Let us realize that that was a lying spirit. That means that was an evil spirit. Yes, even evil spirits serve the purpose of God. The killing of Jesus had to be done by somebody, because it served God's purpose. That is plainly said in Acts 4:27-28. Satan was used to test Job's faith (See the book of Job). And, we see yet another example of this truth when God sent an evil spirit to trouble King Solomon (1 Samuel 16:14). But what we never see in God-inspired scripture is the Lord taking council even with holy angels to give them a voice in His decisions.

How can anyone claim to be a Christian, and teach that God takes council with evil spirits, when He does not even consult holy angels to make His decisions? God offers limited choices (2 Samuel 24:12, 1 Chronicles 21:10). We can even choose to reject Him. We do not, however, have any say in the decisions He makes. Mr. Heiser repeatedly teaches that God consults with all types of spirit beings in heaven to help Him make decisions. We repeat: the Bible tells us God does not even take council with holy angels in His decision making. How can Mr. Heiser have Him consulting with a lying spirit? What's more is that we read, "For who hath known the mind of the Lord? Or who hath been his counsellor?" (Romans 11:34).

The Spiritual "Watchers" Who Make Decisions For God... According to Michael Heiser

Mr. Heiser cleverly attempts to prove to Christians that the spirit beings known as the "Watchers" also appear in the Bible, and that they participate in God's decisions. That is not true, as we will prove. Mr. Heiser quotes that when God decided to punish Nebuchadnezzar with insanity, that he allowed the spirit beings called Watchers to make the decision for Him. Mr. Heiser claims that Daniel 4:17 is the proof of that, because it reads, "This matter is by the decree of the watchers..."

He points out that verse 24 lets us know that the Most High acted according to the decree of those Watchers. What a masterful attempt to deceive. Now let's see what the fourth chapter of Daniel reveals about the Watchers' decree and the Most High's decision.

The fourth chapter of Daniel begins with King Nebuchadnezzar speaking. The King says, "Nebuchadnezzar the king, unto all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied unto you. I thought it good to shew the signs and wonders that the high God hath wrought toward me...." (Daniel 4:1-2). In verse five, the king tells us he had a dream that frightened him: "I saw a dream which made me afraid, and the thoughts upon my bed and the visions of my head troubled me. Therefore made I a decree to bring in all the wise men of Babylon before me, that they might make known unto me the interpretation of the dream. Then came in the magicians, the astrologers, the Chaldeans and the soothsayers. And I told the dream before them. But they did not make known unto me the interpretation thereof. But at the last Daniel came in before me, whose name was Belteshazzar, according to the name of my god, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods, and before him I told the dream, saying..." (Dan. 4:5-8).

At this point, Nebuchadnezzer is the one who is still speaking. And, we know of a certain that Nebuchadnezzar's speech, so far, reflects the beliefs of a pagan. He flat out tells us that Daniel's name, Belteshazzar, is the name of his god (verse 8). What else do we need to read to know that, at this point in the story, Nebuchadnezzar is an idol worshiper? But there is more. The king calls for the wise men, magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans and soothsayers to interpret his dream. No true follower of the God of Israel would do that, knowing it is strictly forbidden by God (Deut. 18:10-12). Furthermore, the king says that the "spirit of the holy gods" is in Daniel. Neither an Old Testament believer in the God of Israel, nor a New Testament Christian would ever refer to God as "holy gods".

So, Nebuchadnezzar's speech is clearly filled with pagan thought and expressions. "Watchers" is one of those expressions. In verse 13, Nebuchadnezzer is still speaking. He says, "I saw in the visions of my head upon my bed, and, behold, a watcher and an holy one came down from heaven." (verse 13.)

He reveals what the "watcher" and "holy one" said, and then he finishes telling his dream by repeating the words he heard in the dream. He says that the "watchers" and the "holy ones" said, "This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones..."

Mr. Heiser twists the words of a pagan into "support" for belief in spiritual beings called "watchers" who supposedly help God make decisions. But, Daniel clearly identifies who those decree-making "watchers" actually are. ALL of them are the Most High. Daniel says, "This...is the decree of the most High..." (Dan. 4:24). Remember that Nebuchadnezzer is the one who is clearly a pagan here. So, what he says reflects pagan understanding of the spirit realm. And that pagan understanding matches what Mr. Heiser teaches about the spirit world, which means Mr. Heiser is promoting pagan thought. Again, Nebuchadnezzer is the one who said it was the decree of the Watchers, NOT Daniel. The pagan king called the very same beings "watchers" and "holy ones" that Daniel called the Most High. This directly contrasts Nebuchadnezzer's pagan thought with Daniel's God-inspired thought about the spirit realm. Nebuchadnezzers's pagan understanding of spiritual matters considers the watchers to be different spirits who are involved with making the decree of the "holy ones", who are also different spirits. The plurality should not strike us as strange. Pagans believe in multiple gods. And the true God is in THREE persons. Plurality is on both sides. To a pagan, the plurality of the Most High is three different spirits. To the righteous Daniel, the three person of the Most High is still only ONE God. So, no. This passage does not tell us there are lower-ranking "watcher" spirits who help God make His decisions. This passage tells us that such is the thought and understanding of PAGANS. Nebuchadnezzer was a pagan. The three persons of the Godhead in this passage are watchers and holy ones ONLY to Nebuchadnezzer, the pagan. To Daniel, the same "watchers" and "holy ones" all have the same rank, because they are the persons of the triune Most High. Conclusion: Mr. Heiser is exposed as teaching us to see the spirit world through PAGAN eyes, not through the wisdom of the Most High.

Let us never forget that the Bible records the words of God (several passages), the words of pagans (several passages), the words of followers of Christ (several passages), the words of demons and devils (Mark 5:7-12 and many more), the words of Satan himself (Luke 4:6 and others), and even the words of animals (Num. 22:28-30). Now if we take the words of Satan and apply them to God, we are in serious error. If we take the words of pagans and apply them to the saints, we are in error. Do we now understand how important it is to keep straight WHO is talking in scripture? Nebuchadnezzer, a PAGAN, is who spoke of Watchers in Daniel, and said they made a decree. But when a saint of God interpreted the same dream, he corrected that thought, and told the king that the decree of those so-called Watchers was not of any Watchers at all. That was the decree of the Most High (Dan. 4:24).

The gods Of The Nations According To Michael Heiser

Mr. Heiser teaches that when God confused the language of mankind at Babel, forcing them to cease building the tower, that He also placed a supervising angel over every group among the scattered families of earth, which became nations. He also claims that God reserved Israel (a nation to come) under His own supervision. At some point, according Mr. Heiser, those supervising angels fell from grace. And, instead of teaching the nations to worship God, they taught the nations to worship them instead. This is Heiser's explanation... pagan explanation for why every nation has its own gods.

The first problem is that such a claim is not found anywhere in any part of the Bible. Mr. Heiser, however, was very clever at selecting biblical passages to twist to try to make pure paganism appear Christian. The principle passage he uses for the origin of national gods is Deuteronomy 32:8-9, which says, "When the most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel." Now, according to Mr. Heiser, what that scripture really says is, "When God separated people by language, He assigned a governing angelic being to each nation, and that those were the spirit beings in His divine council. But He chose to be Israel's direct supervisor."

Before explaining what Deuteronomy 32:8-9 is saying, we must ask: In what part of that passage do we read about supervising angels in some divine council being assigned to govern the scattered nations? It is not there! Now, it's worth pointing out that Mr. Heiser reminds us that the original Hebrew text of Deuteronomy 32:8-9 reads "sons of God" instead of "sons (children) of Israel", thereby signifying that angelic beings are the sons being referenced, not mortals. Let's go ahead and replace "children of Israel" with "sons of God". But, does that change things? Not at all.

Do we so easily forget that angels are not the only sons of God? Mortals who serve Christ are also the sons of God, because they are the brethren of Christ through whose Spirit they have been adopted by the Father...Christ's Father, which is why they cry "Abba, Father" (Romans 8:15).

"The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God." (Romans 8:16)

But, let's return to Old Testament times to see if mortal saints were considered sons of God before the times of Christ, because what happened at Babel is Old Testament. The truth is that, because Christ is the Savior in BOTH testaments, His followers are sons of God in BOTH testaments. We read, "Thus saith the Lord, Israel is my son, even my firstborn" (Exodus 4:22). Exodus is Old Testament. We also read that God said to Israel, "Ye are children of the Lord your God..." (Deut. 14:1). Deuteronomy is Old Testament. What's most interesting is that we read that the natural descendants of Jacob--whose name was changed by God to Israel--as well as the Gentiles who receive the God of Israel are flat out called children of God. We read, "The number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered. And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the SONS OF THE LIVING GOD." (Hosea 1:10)

Mr. Heiser's insistence on calling the children of Israel the sons of God in Deuteronomy 32:8-9 does not make the passage refer to angelic beings, as we have seen that mortal saints are also called sons of God. What's more is that the tenth verse of the same passage identifies who the children of Israel/God are. We read, "For the Lord's portion is his people: Jacob is the lot of his inheritance". Jacob was not an angelic being. He was a man. All of his children, whether Israeli or Gentile are mortals. All of those mortals who serve His God... the God of Israel, are children of Israel, and children of God. Mortal ones.

Now then, where are we left as far as divine beings in that Deuteronomy 32:8-9 passage? There are only three types of beings listed: 1. The most High, which we know is the Lord. 2. The children of Adam, which we know are ordinary mortals. 3. The children of Israel/God, which have also been identified as mortals who serve the God of Israel. How then does Mr. Heiser come up with a certain number of angelic beings who are supervising angels over the various nations?

So, what does Deuteronomy 32:8-9 mean? We read, "When the most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel/God. For the Lord's portion is his people. Jacob is the lot of his inheritance." The most High is God who divided the people based on language. He scattered them across the world (Gen. 11:7-9). "He set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel/God" means that God determined land boundaries for all the nations.

Of course people migrate freely across the world. And, land is won and lost in war. The boundaries being referred to here are those that cut off where the Promised Land begins... an inheritance reserved for the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob even before they were born. So, the nations could make war all they want, and conquer and lose land, causing their boundaries to be changeable, just as we've seen throughout history. But the Promised Land is land whose boundaries are determined by God for His people... as they walk in obedience to Him.

But what does "according to the number of the children of Israel/God" mean? Remember, the children of Jacob (Israel) start with only twelve people... his sons. But remember also what God said about the number of the children of Israel: They shall become as numerous as the "sand of the sea" (Hosea 1:10). But the nation would not grow all at once, but rather down through the years. As the population of the children of Israel grew, so would their need for more land. This is why their bounds are according to their numbers. This is not speculation. This is actually said in the scriptures.

We read that God said, "By little and little I will drive them out from before thee until thou be increased, and inherit the land" (Ex. 23:30). We also read, "And if the Lord thy God enlarge thy coast, as he hath sworn unto thy fathers, and give thee all the land which he promised to give unto thy fathers. If thou shalt keep all these commandments to do them, which I command thee this day, to love the Lord thy God, and to walk ever in his ways, then shalt thou add three cities more for thee, beside these three" (Deut. 19:8-9). Enlarged boundaries for an enlarging nation of children of Israel/God. Hence, "according to the number of the children of Israel/God."

But What About The Prince Of Persia, Greece And Israel?

Mr. Heiser continues to twist biblical scripture to support the belief that God placed a supervising angel over every nation, and that those angels at some point fell from grace, and became the idol gods of the nations. Other passages he misuses to support this erroneous belief are found in Daniel 10:13, 20-21. We read, "But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days. But, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me... and when I am gone forth, lo, the prince of Grecia shall come... there is none that holdeth with me in these things, but Michael your prince."

Mr. Heiser uses these scriptures to support the logic that every nation was assigned a prince... an angelic being. The passage shows that Persia has a prince. Greece has a prince, and Michael is the prince of Israel. The being in Daniel's vision is clearly an angel of God (Dan. 10:5-6). This same being tells Daniel that a prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood him. No mortal, in his own might, can withstand an angel. So, the prince that withstood him was also some type of angelic being. And in verse twenty, we learn that a prince for Greece is coming. What's even more interesting is that we learn that Israel has a prince: Michael. Because the Michael in the book of Daniel is not called an archangel, we do not know for sure if he is the archangel Michael we see in Jude 9, in a dispute with the Devil. We suspect he is, because he is the prince of Israel, and Moses was one of Israel's deliverers.

What we do know for sure is that all of the princes in the chapter of Daniel are angels or some type of spirit being, and they are over kingdoms. So, let us explain why we vehemently reject Michael Heiser's teaching that God placed an angel over each nation way back at the scattering from the tower of Babel? First of all, Persia, Greece, and Israel are not simply individual nations. They are all kingdoms that encompassed many nations. And yes, though we don't tend to think of Israel as a kingdom, it is. Israel encompasses many nations, because so many Gentiles have been joining Israel since biblical times when they accepted the God of Israel. The Bible says a mixed multitude went up out of Egypt (Ex. 12:38), which is why God gave Israel laws for how to fully accept the foreigner into the nation (Ex. 12:48-49). Also, Jesus is King of Israel, and speaks of His coming kingdom (Luke 22:29-30). Israel has a King, so Israel is a kingdom.

Nevertheless, we have no biblical basis for saying that God appointed each nation, or even each kingdom a supervising angel responsible for teaching his assigned nation to follow the God of Israel. Remember, Mr. Heiser claims that every nation's supervising angel/prince betrayed God, and stirred their assigned nations to worship them instead of God. With Heiser's logic, we would be forced to accuse even Michael, the prince assigned to Israel, of failing at his job of supervision.

Did not Israel turn and worship other gods multiple times? Yet, we do not read that Michael ever fell from grace, or that he ever desired to be worshiped in place of God, or that he ever became any nation's idol. Mr. Heiser answers that by claiming that Israel's idolatry came from their free will. That Michael was just to influence and direct them, but that he could not control their will. But how can we say Michael's, as well as the other so-called supervising angels' role, was one of influencing the nations toward God, when we never see Michael interacting with Israel? You have to interact with someone in order to influence him.

In Daniel, we simply learn that Michael, obviously a stronger angel than the one sent to deliver a message to Daniel, only helps that weaker angel fight, so he can get through to deliver the message to Daniel. We don't read that Michael even talked to Daniel... or anyone else in Israel for that matter. The only other time Michael shows up in scripture is in a dispute with the Devil over the body of Moses, and also in a war with Satan and other fallen angels. How is any of that supervising and influencing the nation/kingdom of Israel? Again, you cannot influence anyone with whom you never speak. In the case of Israel, we are told various angels indeed were involved with Israel receiving the law, and messages by God (Acts 7:53, Gal. 3:19, Heb. 2:2). But not one of those angels is identified as Michael.

Is it possible that those angels were sent by Michael? No, because angels who spoke to members of Israel identified themselves as coming from the presence of God, and/or simply say directly that they were sent by God. They do not mention Michael (Zechariah 2:3-4, Luke 1:26, Rev. 22:16). What Mr. Heiser teaches about "supervising" and "influencing" angels has been--according to scripture--found false in the case of Michael. Why then should we apply his same teachings in the case of the other "supervising national" angels? Support for teaching that God assigned a specific angel to each nation to influence and supervise them is totally missing in God-inspired scripture.

So, did Satan assign national angels? After all, he does run a kingdom. Jesus says that in plain language (Mat. 12:26, Luke 11:18). The apostle Paul even speaks of the existence of satanic principalities when he tells believers to dress in the whole armor of God to be able to do war against spiritual wickedness in high places (Eph. 6:11-12).

A principality is the region over which a prince rules. Now if there are wicked spiritual principalities, there is a wicked spiritual prince in power. But who put him there? God or Satan? Why would we assign his "appointment" as an act of God when Satan also rules a kingdom? The only time we explicitly see God giving dominion over the present earth is when he gave dominion to Adam and Eve over the earth before they sinned.

Absolutely no where in scripture do we read of God giving dominion to even a holy angel to replace the dominion Adam and Eve lost when they sinned. In fact, we are told who now has dominion: Satan. We read, "If our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost, in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not" (2 Cor. 4:3-4).

Jesus has already told us Satan operates a kingdom. Kings appoint sub-rulers. Why would we not think that Satan is the one who appoints wicked princes over wicked spiritual principalities? The Bible reveals he has the power to do that. That is not saying that God is not in control. We saw how Michael helped the angel of God who struggled with a wicked prince. That wicked spiritual being, though a prince, was not able to block the message Daniel was to receive from God. The fact remains that Satan is the god of this world. He has a kingdom. There are wicked spiritual principalities over which there must be a prince. But Mr. Heiser says God originally appointed them? Incredible!

Could it be that the god of this world is not Satan, and that even if he is, that he cannot appoint princes over principalities? No. Because Luke 4:1-7 plainly tells us that the Devil indeed has power to appoint rulers over kingdoms. We read, "And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them, for that is delivered unto me, and to whomsoever I will I give it. If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine." (Luke 4:5-7)

What more do we need in order to understand that, at some point in time after Adam and Eve fell, dominion over the kingdoms of the entire world was delivered to the Devil... along with power to appoint whom he wants over them? Yet Mr. Heiser essentially says God messed up by appointing angels over nations... angels who did not remain faithful to Him. And we can't say that Satan was appointed dominion when he was a holy angel, because Adam and Eve were appointed dominion. And Satan was already evil by the time man was placed in the garden... long before the tower of Babel.

Let Us Make Man In Our Image After Our Likeness

Finally, let's look at Mr. Heiser's claim that when God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness" that He was not talking to the other persons of the Trinity, but rather to his "divine council of spirit beings". Heiser's twisted logic is that the members of the Trinity would not say any such thing among themselves, because all three persons of the Godhead always know everything all three are thinking. There are two serious problems with that claim. First, to say that the Lord was speaking to some heavenly council of divine beings when He said that is pure addition to scripture. Absolutely no where in the Bible does it say that. Second, if the persons of the Trinity do not talk among themselves, why then do we read things like, "For unto which of the angels said he at an time, Thou art my Son. This day have I begotten thee?" (Heb. 1:5). Is this not God talking to God the Word? Didn't God the Son already know what God the Father was thinking? God the Word, who was made flesh, spoke back to God, saying, "A body hast thou prepared me." (Heb. 10:5). Now wouldn't God already know that He had prepared a body for God the Word?

Why then does Mr. Heiser teach that they do not tell one other things they already know? If that were true, we would not read, "By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord" (Gen. 22:16). And again, we read, "When God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself" (Heb. 6:13).

You have to talk to swear! How can this be anything less than the Trinity talking to the Trinity? And how can God the Son, as eternal High Priest in heaven, make intercession for us to God the Father without talking to Him? We read, "...It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us" (Rom. 8:34). We are told of Jesus' intercession for us also in Hebrews 7:25 and in 1 John 2:1 where He is called our Advocate with the Father. How can you advocate for someone without speaking to the one before whom you want to defend him? Do we really think the Father did not see us when we sinned? As though God the Son has to first inform God the Father that we've sinned again. Ludicrous thought! Pagan nonsense!

Michael Heiser's teachings appear to be Christian, but closer examination reveals they are heavily influenced by paganism.

"But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ" (2 Cor. 11:3)

"That we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive" (Ephesians 4:14).