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Daniel 4 – Watchers and Holy Ones

I’m adding to the comment I made to Mike’s Post below…

I looked these words up on Old John Gill’s Commentary…Now this is from about 275 years ago. So it’s not a new idea or an unknown idea.

Daniel 4:13

and, behold, a watcher: which Saadiah interprets of Bath Kol; but Aben Ezra, Jarchi, Jacchiades, and Ben Melech of an angel; so called because incorporeal, ever watches, and never sleeps, and is always attentive to, and observant of, the commands of God so the angels in the fragment of Enoch are called “egregori”, watchers; and the same word is here used in the Alexandrian copy. Some (k) render it “an enemy”, “an holy one”: according to the sense of the word in 1Sa 28:16, and produce it to show that angels are called enemies:

and an Holy One; one of the holy angels that never sinned, nor left their first estate, but continued in it; in which they are established by Christ, and are impeccable; are perfectly pure and holy in their nature and actions: such an one came down from heaven; the place of their abode, as it seemed to Nebuchadnezzar in his dream.
(k) Lex. Kabalist. in voce איוב p. 54, 55.

Daniel 4:17

This matter is by the decree of the watchers,…. That is, the cutting down the tree, and what is signified by it, was with the advice, consent, and approbation of the watchers, by whom is generally understood angels; not that they were the authors of this decree, but approvers of it; and were ready, not only to subscribe it, but to execute it; it being against a wicked man, and an oppressor of the Lord’s people: they are represented as assessors with God; called into a consultation with him; alluding to the manner of kings and princes, who have their privy council, whom they advise with on occasion; though, properly speaking, nothing of this nature is to be attributed to God, only after the manner of men; see 1Ki 22:19.

and the demand by the word of the Holy Ones; the same as before, in other words; watchers and Holy Ones being the same, the holy angels; See Gill on Dan 4:13, and the decree and the demand the same; or the request (o), or petition; which shows what concern they had in the decree; they only requested it might pass, or be carried into execution; though some understand this of saints on earth, who, in their prayers and supplications, requested for the judgments of God to come down upon this proud monarch: though, after all, it may be best to interpret the whole of the three Persons in the Godhead, who are perfectly pure and holy, essentially and inderivatively; and may be called watchers, because they watch over the good, to bring it upon the Lord’s people; and over the evil, to bring it upon their enemies: and to them well agree the decree and the demand; and the rather this may be thought to be the true sense, since this decree is called the decree of the most High, Dan 4:24, and who is expressed in the next clause:

Below I’m sharing my final thoughts about this whole Unseen Realm thing that seems to be popping up in the Evangelical Church now. It’s certainly real as Gill comments. The exact wording “Unseen Realm” was used 65 years ago in MLJ.org Ephesians sermons archive. Again the idea is not new…..

Dr. Micheal Heiser wrote a book titled that “Unseen Realm” before he died. Two good friends gave me a copy and asked that I read it…I did and had some concerns…The Justin Peter’s video below recently gathered a great swell of controversy, but I think it summaries my own observations and concerns after reading the book.

The Justin Peter’s video Podcast address this well. It gets really good after the 25 min point, where the discussion turns to how Heiser is creating or supporting new heresy for our modern world although he denied it….saying he was Orthodox. You can see his error when you listen to the discussion of the liberal theology, Heiser’s dissertation, and the delight of the Mormons (who have a multi-god theology already, and we they can themselves become “gods”), and Word of Faith (who have a little “gods” theology, where we are and can be like “little gods” even now with enough faith). He adds Charismatics into the discussion later in the video. Heiser’s church after he moved to Florida and in the bizarre discussion in the last 20 minutes about Heiser new definitions of the “Trinity”. We don’t need a new definition it only offers confusion to an already difficult subject.

Dr. Michael Heiser: God Is The Highest Of Many Gods – Was He Right?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKX_wbneUyM

Please stick with the Traditional view of the Bible, Heiser’s stuff mixes things from what would become the Gnostic world, tied to LXX-SEPTUAGINT, Dead Sea Scrolls and Alexandrian Bible Fragments.

This is where Heiser is getting his idea that he if finally piecing all this. “Correctly” together. It’s somewhat like both Mohamed (Islam); our Joseph Smith (Mormonism) where new knowledge is revealed and it there case new and “better” religion is formed. Again Heiser doesn’t go that far in establishing a new religion, but he dangerously plays into the confusion in the world and in many way gives credibility to these alternative was of thinking.

I for our am sticking to the Traditional Protestant reading andview. I’m not ready to give that up. Although I do see all of this working as part of Satan’s ultimate plan of deception….there really is something to the Unseen Realm.

Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones speaks about this and even used the very words “Unseen Realm” in sermons of his Ephesians 6 Armor of God series: Here are two examples…. 60+ years before Heiser.

Ephesians 6:10-13 KJV
10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

SERMON #4190
Spiritism
A Sermon on Ephesians 6:10-13
Originally preached Nov. 20, 1960
Spiritism: A sermon on Ephesians 6:10-13

SERMON #4191
Spiritism and the Christian
A Sermon on Ephesians 6:10-13
Originally preached Nov. 27, 1960
Spiritism and the Christian: A sermon on Ephesians 6:10-13

BTW…the whole series is great, but few are up to the challenge since it will take a year to work through it.

Here are some of the Scripture references the Peters video quotes…with a bit more context and old commentary.

Psalm 82
Psa 82:1  A Psalm of Asaph. God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods.

Psa 82:2  How long will ye judge unjustly, and accept the persons of the wicked? Selah.
Psa 82:3  Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy.
Psa 82:4  Deliver the poor and needy: rid them out of the hand of the wicked.
Psa 82:5  They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth are out of course.

Psa 82:6  I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.
Psa 82:7  But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes.

Psa 82:8  Arise, O God, judge the earth: for thou shalt inherit all nations.

Psalms 82:1 GB
82:1 [A Psalm of Asaph.] God standeth in the congregation of the {a} mighty; he judgeth among the gods.
(a) The prophet shows that if princes and judges do not do their duty, God whose authority is above them will take vengeance on them.

Gill
Psalms 82:1
God standeth in the congregation of the mighty,…. The Syriac version renders it, “in the congregation of angels”; they are mighty, and excel in strength, and there is a large company of them, even an innumerable one, and who surround the throne of the Majesty on high. Christ, who is God over all, was among those on Mount Sinai, and when he ascended to heaven; and with these he will descend when he comes a second time, Psa 68:17. The Targum interprets it of the righteous thus,
“God, whose majesty (or Shechinah) dwells in the congregation of the righteous that are strong in the law.”

It may be better understood of such as are strong in the Lord, in the grace that is in Christ, and in the exercise of grace upon him; who are gathered out of the world unto him, and unto distinct societies and congregations; in the midst of which God is, where he grants his presence, bestows the blessings of his grace, and affords his divine aid and protection; and where Christ the Son of God is, and will be to the end of the world. The words may be rendered, “God standeth in the congregation of God” (a): that is, in his own congregation, his church and people; but it seems best of all to understand the words of rulers and civil magistrates, of the cabinet councils of princes, of benches of judges, and courts of judicature; in all which God is present, and observes what is said and done; perhaps reference may be had to the Jewish sanhedrim, the chief court of judicature with the Jews, consisting of seventy one persons; in the midst of which Christ, God manifest in the flesh, God in our nature, stood, and was ill used, and most unjustly judged by them, of whose unjust judgment complaint is made in the next verse:

he judgeth among the gods: which the Syriac version renders “angels” again; and so Aben Ezra interprets it of them, who are so called, Psa 8:5, but rather civil magistrates are meant, the rulers and judges of the people, who go by this name of “elohim”, or gods, in Exo 21:6, and are so called because they are the powers ordained of God, are representatives of him, are his vicegerents and deputies under him; should act in his name, according to his law, and for his glory, and are clothed with great power and authority from and under him; and therefore are before styled the “mighty”. Among these Christ, the Son of God, judges, to whom all judgment is committed; he qualifies these for the discharge of their office, he directs them how to judge, and all the right judgment they make and do is from him, “by” whom “kings”

reign, and princes decree justice; by whom princes rule, and nobles, even all the judges of the earth; and to whom they are all accountable, and will be themselves judged by him another day, Pro 8:15 so the Targum,
“in the midst of the judges of truth he judges.”

(a) בעדת אל “in congregatione Dei”, Pagninus, Cocceius, Gejerus, Michaelis; so Vatablus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Ainsworth.

Psalms 82:7 GB
82:7 {e} But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes.
(e) No title of honour will excuse you, but you will be subject to God’s judgments, and tender account as well as other men.

Psalms 82:6 Gill
I have said, ye are gods,…. In the law, Exo 21:6 or they were so by his appointment and commission; he constituted them judges and magistrates, invested them with such an office, by which they came to have this title; see Rom 13:1, and so our Lord interprets these words, that they were gods “to whom” the word of God came, which gave them a commission and authority to exercise their office, Jhn 10:35, or rather “against whom” it came, pronouncing the sentence of death on them, as in Psa 82:7, to which the reference is; declaring, that though they were gods by office, yet were mortal men, and should die. The Targum is, “I said, as angels are ye accounted”; and so judges and civil magistrates had need to be as angels, and to have the wisdom of them; see 2Sa 14:20. Jarchi interprets it of angels, but magistrates are undoubtedly meant:

and all of you are children of the most High; the Targum here again renders it,
“the angels of the most High:”

and so Aben Ezra explains it of them who are called the sons of God, Job 38:7 but men in power are meant, who, because of their eminency and dignity, their high office, post, and place, are so called; see Gen 6:2.

Psalms 82:7 Gill
But ye shall die like men,…. As men in common do, to whom it is appointed to die, Heb 9:27 or as common men, as men in the lowest class of life: the wise man dies as the fool, the king as the peasant, high as the low, rich as the poor; death levels and makes all alike: or as Adam, as the first man, so Jarchi, who was lord of the whole universe; but being in honour, abode not, but became like the beasts that perish; sinning he died, and so all his posterity, even those who have the greatest power and authority on earth; see Psa 49:2 and not only die a corporeal death, but an eternal one, dying in their sins; as Christ threatened the Jewish rulers, Scribes, and Pharisees, if they believed not in him, Jhn 8:21.

and fall like one of the princes; or the chief of them, Satan, who fell like lightning from heaven, Luk 10:18 or rather as one of the giants that lived in the old world, famous for their injustice and oppression, that fell in the deluge, Gen 6:4 or any of the Heathen princes, tyrants and oppressors, such as are mentioned in the following psalm, Psa 83:9. This may have respect to the destruction of the Jewish nation, which is called the falling of them, Rom 11:11 and the words may be rendered, “and ye shall fall together, equally and alike, O ye princes” (a); when the Jewish state, civil and ecclesiastical, fell, they fell with it, and together; the princes of this world then came to nought, or were abolished, they and their authority, as the Apostle Paul says they should, 1Co 2:6 the sceptre then departed from Judah, and the lawgiver from between his feet; all rule and authority ceased among them, as Jacob foretold it would, Gen 49:10.

(a) כאחד “pariter; sive ex aequo”, Maius apud Gataker. Cin. c. 10. p. 292.

KJV Search Results – gods
33 Verses Found, 38 Matches
Deu 4:28  And there ye shall serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.
Deu 5:7  Thou shalt have none other gods before me.
Deu 6:14  Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you;
Deu 7:4  For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly.
Deu 7:16  And thou shalt consume all the people which the LORD thy God shall deliver thee; thine eye shall have no pity upon them: neither shalt thou serve their gods; for that will be a snare unto thee.
Deu 7:25  The graven images of their gods shall ye burn with fire: thou shalt not desire the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it unto thee, lest thou be snared therein: for it is an abomination to the LORD thy God.
Deu 8:19  And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the LORD thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish.
Deu 10:17  For the LORD your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward:
Deu 11:16  Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them;
Deu 11:28  And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known.
Deu 12:2  Ye shall utterly destroy all the places, wherein the nations which ye shall possess served their gods, upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every green tree:
Deu 12:3  And ye shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place.
Deu 12:30  Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise.
Deu 12:31  Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God: for every abomination to the LORD, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods.
Deu 13:2  And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them;
Deu 13:6  If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers;
Deu 13:7  Namely, of the gods of the people which are round about you, nigh unto thee, or far off from thee, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth;
Deu 13:13  Certain men, the children of Belial, are gone out from among you, and have withdrawn the inhabitants of their city, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which ye have not known;
Deu 17:3  And hath gone and served other gods, and worshipped them, either the sun, or moon, or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded;
Deu 18:20  But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die.
Deu 20:18  That they teach you not to do after all their abominations, which they have done unto their gods; so should ye sin against the LORD your God.
Deu 28:14  And thou shalt not go aside from any of the words which I command thee this day, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.
Deu 28:36  The LORD shall bring thee, and thy king which thou shalt set over thee, unto a nation which neither thou nor thy fathers have known; and there shalt thou serve other gods, wood and stone.
Deu 28:64  And the LORD shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and stone.
Deu 29:18  Lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from the LORD our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations; lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood;
Deu 29:26  For they went and served other gods, and worshipped them, gods whom they knew not, and whom he had not given unto them:
Deu 30:17  But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them;
Deu 31:16  And the LORD said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers; and this people will rise up, and go a whoring after the gods of the strangers of the land, whither they go to be among them, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them.
Deu 31:18  And I will surely hide my face in that day for all the evils which they shall have wrought, in that they are turned unto other gods.
Deu 31:20  For when I shall have brought them into the land which I sware unto their fathers, that floweth with milk and honey; and they shall have eaten and filled themselves, and waxen fat; then will they turn unto other gods, and serve them, and provoke me, and break my covenant.
Deu 32:16  They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger.
Deu 32:17  They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not.
Deu 32:37  And he shall say, Where are their gods, their rock in whom they trusted,
33 Verses Found, 38 Matches
Deuteronomy
33 Verse(s)38 Match(es)
Increasing Corruption on Earth
Gen 6:1  And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them,
Gen 6:2  That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.
Gen 6:3  And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.
Gen 6:4  There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.
Gen 6:5  And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Gen 6:6  And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
Gen 6:7  And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.
Gen 6:8  But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.

Genesis 6:4 Gill
There were giants in the earth in those days,…. That is, in the days before the sons of God took the daughters of men for wives, in such a general manner as before declared, or before the declension and apostasy became so universal; even in the times of Jared, as the Arabic writers (n) understand it, who say that these giants were begotten on the daughters of Cain by the children of Seth, who went down from the mountain to them in the days of Jared, see Gen 5:20 the word “Nephilim” comes from a word which signifies to fall; and these might be so called, either because they made their fear to fall upon men, or men, through fear, to fall before them, because of their height and strength; or rather because they fell and rushed on men with great violence, and oppressed them in a cruel and tyrannical manner; or, as some think, because they fell off and were apostates from the true religion, which is much better than to understand them of apostate angels, whom the Targum of Jonathan mentions by name, and calls them Schanchazai and Uziel, who fell from heaven, and were in the earth in those days:
and also after that, which shows that the preceding clause respects giants in former times:

when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, came into their houses and chambers, and lay with them:

and they bare children unto them, or giants unto them, as may be supplied from the former clause; for the sense is, as there were giants before this general defection, so there were at this time, when there was a mixture of the Cainites and Sethites; which were the offspring of the sons of God, or posterity of Seth, mixing with the daughters of men, or the posterity of Cain; for this is not to be understood after the flood, as Aben Ezra, Ben Melech; and so they are described in the following words:

the same became mighty men; for tallness and strength, for power and dominion, for tyranny and oppression:

which were of old: like those that were of old before; or who in after times were spoken of, as in the days of old:

men of renown, or “of name” (o); whose names were often made mention of, both for their size and for their wickedness; they were much talked of, and extolled for their exploits, and even wicked ones: they were famous men, or rather infamous; for some men get a name in the world, not for their goodness, but for their greatness, and sometimes for their great wickedness; which sense is countenanced by what follows: that there were giants in these early times is confirmed by the testimony of many Heathen writers; such were the Titans that made war against Saturn, begotten by Ouranus, who were not only of bulky bodies, but of invincible strength, as Apollodorus (p) relates, and Berosus (q) speaks of a city about Lebanon, called Enos, which was a city of giants, who were men of vast bodies, and of great strength, inventors of arms and music, were cannibals, and exceedingly debauched.

(n) Elmacinus & Patricides apud Hottinger, p. 235, 236. (o) אנשי השם “viri nominis”, Montanus. (p) De Origine Deorum, l. 1. p. 14. (q) Antiqu. l. 1. fol. 5. 2. vid. Horat. Carmin, l. 2. Ode. 19. Ovid Metamorph. l. 1. Fab. 1.

John 10
Jhn 10:30  I and my Father are one.
Jhn 10:31  Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him.
Jhn 10:32  Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me?
Jhn 10:33  The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.
Jhn 10:34  Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?

Jhn 10:35  If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;
Jhn 10:36  Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?
Jhn 10:37  If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not.
Jhn 10:38  But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him.
Jhn 10:39  Therefore they sought again to take him: but he escaped out of their hand,

John 10:34 Gill
Jesus answered them, is it not written in your law,…. In the law which was given unto them, of which they boasted, and pretended to understand, and interpret, even in Psa 82:6; for the law includes not only the Pentateuch, but all the books of the Old Testament: it is an observation of one of the Jewish doctors (t), that
“with the wise men of blessed memory, it is found in many places that the word law comprehends the Prophets and the Hagiographa.”
Among which last stands the book of Psalms; and this may be confirmed by a passage out of the Talmud (u); it is asked,
“from whence does the resurrection of the dead appear, מן התורה, “out of the law?””

It is answered,
“as it is said in Psa 84:4, “Blessed are they that dwell in thy house, they will still praise thee, Selah; they do praise thee”, it is not said, but “they will praise thee”; from hence is a proof of the resurrection of the dead, “out of the law”.”

The same question is again put, and then Isa 52:8 is cited, and the like observation made upon it. Moreover, this is a way of speaking used by the Jews, when they introduce another citing a passage of Scripture thus (w), הלא כתיב בתורתכם, “is it not written in your law”, Deu 4:9, “only take heed to thyself”, &c. so here the Scripture follows,

I said, ye are gods? which is spoken to civil magistrates, so called, because of their authority and power; and because they do, in some sort, represent the divine majesty, in the government of nations and kingdoms. Many of the Jewish writers, by “gods”, understand “the angels”. The Targum paraphrases the words thus:

“I said ye are accounted as angels, as the angels on high, all of you;”
and to this sense some of their commentators interpret it. Jarchi’s gloss is, ye are gods; that is, angels; for when I gave the law to you, it was on this account, that the angel of death might not any more rule over you: the note of Aben Ezra is, “and the children of the Most High”: as angels; and the sense is, your soul is as the soul of angels: hence the (x) Jew charges Christ with seeking refuge in words, that will not profit, or be any help to him, when he cites these words, showing that magistrates are called gods, when the sense is only, that they are like to the angels in respect of their souls: but let it be observed, that it is not said, “ye are as gods”, as in Gen 3:5, but “ye are gods”; not like unto them only, but are in some sense gods; and besides, to say that they are like to angels, with respect to their souls, which come from above, is to say no more of the judges of the earth, than what may be said of every man: to which may be added, that this objector himself owns, that judges are called אלהים, “gods”, as in Exo 22:9; the cause of both parties shall come before אלהים, “the judges”; and that even the word is used in this sense in this very psalm, from whence these words are cited, Psa 82:1, “he judgeth among” אלהים, “the gods”; and both Kimchi and Ben Melech interpret this text itself in the same way, and observe, that judges are called gods, when they judge truly and aright: all which is sufficient to justify our Lord in the citation of this passage, and the use he makes of it.

(t) R. Azarias in Meor Enayim, c. 7. fol. 47. 1. (u) T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 91. 2. (w) T. Bab. Beracot, fol. 32. 2. (x) R. Isaac Chizzuk Emuna, par. 2. c. 51. p. 440, 441.

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