STAND FIRM: Glmpses of the Third Celestial Rebellion

      In this series of articles, we seek to recover the first-century Jewish foundation of the angelic world. We know their views through glimpses given in Scripture and writings from the intertestamental times — from the close of the Old Testament to the first advent of Jesus. These books from that period aren’t to be treated as Scripture, but they do give us insight into the mindset of the Bible’s first audience. They also flesh out small glimpses we get in Scripture that would otherwise seem completely out of left field.

      I’ve shared they saw three angelic rebellions, not just the rebellion of Satan in the Garden of Eden, which is the first of their three. The second rebellion is briefly told in Gen. 6:1-4, but its repercussions appear throughout the Bible. As shared, the first-century Jewish audience understood this second rebellion to be the rebellion of 200 angels referred to as Watchers who took wives, had children and taught mankind secrets. They believed their children became the giant Nephilim. Then those angels were imprisoned in the underworld while the souls of the Nephilim became the spirits the New Testament calls demons. That rebellion was viewed to be the root cause of the flood. This was the second celestial rebellion. So, we’ve looked at the first two rebellions, the third was also associated with an event retold in Genesis. I will share that account in the following article, but let’s start with the other glimpses of this third rebellion in Scripture.

      The apostle Paul gave insight into the spirit world in his letter to Ephesus. He provides unique details in his writing about spiritual warfare. “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12 ESV).

      I chose to use the ESV here because it gives us fresh words for this familiar passage. Notice it didn’t just say angels and demons but called them rulers and authorities. I’ve often glossed over it, but Paul is pulling from what happened in the third celestial rebellion. He is also consistent with the glimpses of this rebellion in the Old Testament.

      One Old Testament glimpse comes from Daniel, and it is one of the strangest passages. In Daniel 10, we find Daniel distraught over a vision he received about the last days. He fasted and prayed for God to give further explanation. Eventually, an angel came to him with answers, but in the process, the angel revealed the workings of the angelic world: “Then he said to me, ‘Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words. The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days, but Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I was left there with the kings of Persia, and came to make you understand what is to happen to your people in the latter days’”(Dan. 10:12-14 ESV).

      This angel revealed, and Daniel recorded for us, how those angels war behind the scenes of this physical world. He also revealed that there are “prince angels” over territories. In this passage, he told of the angel prince (angelic ruler, angelic authority, or cosmic power) of Persia. Later in the passage, he revealed an angel prince of Greece and an angelic prince of Israel: “Then he said, “Do you know why I have come to you? But now I will return to fight against the prince of Persia; and when I go out, behold, the prince of Greece will come. But I will tell you what is inscribed in the book of truth: there is none who contends by my side against these except Michael, your prince (Dan. 10:20-21 ESV).

      Another passage in the Psalms gives a glimpse into the angelic rulers of the nations: “God has taken his place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods he holds judgment: ‘How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked’… I said, ‘You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you; nevertheless, like men you shall die, and fall like any prince.’ Arise, O God, judge the earth; for you shall inherit all the nations!” (Psalm 82 ESV).

      This passage is wild, like Daniel 10. The Psalm depicts God meeting with an angelic council. They are each referred to as judges and princes of the nations. They’re likely the angelic Prince of Persia, the angelic Prince of Greece and their counterparts. They’re being reprimanded for leading the nations astray and the Psalm ends with God taking the nations from them. Alone, the passage sounds random and wild. I’m guilty of treating it as merely poetic license, but when the third celestial rebellion is understood, both the bizarre passage in Daniel 10 and Psalm 82 makes sense. In the next article and final one of this series, we’ll look at the passage that tells of this rebellion directly.

         — Jake is a state missionary and would love to share about the work in Northwest Arkansas and encourage your church to stand firm. (standfirmministries.com)