IS HEISER FRINGE? Why Mike stayed UNSEEN. 

🔔Check out the full interview here🔔 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-FQLxgRlgyzU.htmlsi=AmoV6oaB1VBIYHgR

Dr. Heiser's work allowed me to develop a comprehensive world view that is unshakable. I will be forever grateful.

Dr. Heiser opened my eyes! He led me to Christ. Thank you so much for keeping his work alive. God bless you and your ministry!

I first came across Dr. Mike's work in 2016. It was at a time where I was questioning my understanding of the Bible, as well as all the man-made doctrines in our church, several of which looked opposed to biblical teaching. It was a fluke that I found his book, Unseen Realm. After reading portions of it, I immediately knew what I had been missing -- all the connections were made clear. I felt vindicated in my long-term thinking that we, as modern humans, were missing something essential regarding Scripture. I also felt validated in my feelings about man-made doctrines. I chose to use Dr. Mike's book as the text for our daughter's 7th & 8th grade Bible Class. She ate it up! Now, about to graduate from college, she tells me that she would have walked away from Christianity had it not been for Unseen Realm. It answered many conflicting questions she (and many young people) struggle with. She now feels grounded in her faith and is deeply in love with Jesus. It was amazing to me how much pushback and accusations of being a heretic I faced when trying to share this approach of reading the Bible in its ancient historical, linguistical, and cultural context rather than through our modern glasses. My daughter was even expelled from a youth group when she respectfully pushed back against very erroneous and potentially damaging teaching. She was basically told she wasn't saved because she was too young when she claimed belief in Jesus. This is the kind of stuff being taught in our churches. I am now actively taking online classes from Dr. Mike's school in FL, "The Awakening School of Theology". In addition, I also host a weekly ladies Bible study and am the high-school Sunday School teacher in our "new" church. When I teach, you can bet it incorporates the supernatural worldview of the Bible. This is the way in which I'm trying to fulfill my part of the Great Commission.

Heiser, himself, claimed he never had an original thought in his life… He was a dot connector… he was simply accruing and organizing the peer reviewed information that is readily available to doctorate Bible scholars as common knowledge and sharing it in an organized, cogent manner understandable to the average pew sitter… his work continues to revolutionize my reading & understanding of the biblical text…

Dr.Heiser had a remarkable way of communicating deeply theological topics from often inacessible academic biblical scholarship materials in a concise way that is clearly understandable to the lay person.

I found Heiser in 2014 in high school. I read some of his papers on Deut 32 and Psalm 82, and the rest is history. Most influential biblical scholar in my life.

I totally loved the way he brings together why we were even created! No one has ever answered that at all, especially with all the contextual proof, that people have just overlooked. Some refuse that there are other "gods" and refuse to consider the evidence. I feel blessed for studying Michael's work.

Dr. Heiser's work has been a true blessing to me. So many questions have been answered for me, and I have a new found passion for the Bible. I discovered him not long before he was diagnosed with the cancer that ultimately ended his life. I miss him, but I am grateful he left us so much to continue to study. Thanks for the video.

Heiser actuallly often stated himself that what he shares is not new news, but that he brings them into one place for the laity. What a blessing Shalom

I think Heiser is on point concerning the spiritual realm and the Apostle Paul speaks to this in Ephesians 6:10-24. There is a realm that we have been and are still taught to ignore.

He absolutely changed the way I read my Bible, forever grateful.

Heiser provides the most cohesive and comprehensive approach to dealing with this world view based on the text, not systems. That is the brilliance. He doesn’t try to force or fit ideas into a theology; the text is the text. Also, he’s not dogmatic regarding areas that are not clear. He’s not afraid to say he’s not sure.

Dr. Heiser is one of the men on my Mount Rushmore of faith. Tim Keller on applying scripture to culture, William Lane Craig on apologetics and philosophy and Michael Heiser on OT and the biblical worldview and cultures that produce it.

Dude, keep ringing them bells, man! I love Matthew Bates' work and this is great to see/hear him interface with Heiser's. You're doing God's work, my friend. :)

Ring them bells- You should check out Brewery Ministries. I recently found him, he was a student of Heisers. Definitely worth checking out .

I heard him compare his teaching to The Bible Project - helping Christians to see that we are part of a dynamic, supernatural story. As we grasp that meta-narrative the Bible opens up to us and the ministry of Jesus makes more sense to us. Reversing Hermon is a must read!

He researched Old Testament.. pieces that are important for Christians.. ! He is missed, God Rest his Soul, thank you for this !

As a lay person who doesn’t have any degrees or advance degrees in theology these are all new to me. Dr. Heiser opened my eyes on how I read my bible today. Just he said he is a “syntheheiser.”

Before i even knew of Heiser i had a dream of the Unseen Realm in my own personal like. The series of dreams carried me through the most difficult 7 years by showing me my one true God is in cimplete control over all those small gods who were interfering and trying to destroy my life. The dreams told me the outcomes and fear didnt exist when the bad things hit me in the face. Instead, i gained resiliance and perseverance because the note that was delivered to me in my dream by a spirit person who was guarded by 2 other powerful warriors who protected the middle spirit in the deliverance of the note read in an ancient language 3 words. Jesus is Power. That along with my trust in the greatest of greats was all i needed. To ever doubt Christ is impossible now after those years. Since I know what betrayal is now, i fear ever being weak enough to betray my God. I would rather be dead than ever do that now thst I experienced the Unseen Realm.

The OT is largely a territorial war. If there were no other supernatural beings acting as sovereigns over "the nations", then who was God revealing himself to be? With whom was he using the jews to do battle with? These were rebel elohim/angels.

I've been curious about this topic. Thanks for posting. I came across Heiser relatively recently. His Deut. 32 worldview talks sound radical on the surface, and there's an extremely loyal following with people saying things about him that may or may not be cult-y. But his open handed presentation, presenting things in a pretty neutral manner seems to point to legit, so I've been taking it slow, listening to some of his stuff not specifically about the divine council just to check him out. I'm listening to his podcast series on OT references in Revelation right now and it's been very insightful. I haven't made up my mind on his position on the divine council worldview but I do think he is legit, and chose to spend his career informing the unwashed masses rather than in academic circles so he gets good guy points for that.

I shared stuff with Mike a few years ago when he was working on his phd and it was engravings on stone depicting the council of 12. At first he was skeptical about it and now he used the information and expanded on it.

Evil people, ignorant people and those powers, thrones, dominions so on and so forth do not want people to know the truth and what the history of that truth looks like. Doc Heiser is a huge reason, due to God's plan, in my process of maturation as a believer and is still ongoing to this moment.

Dr Heiser brought me back to Christianity!

Expanded the boundaries..

Great video! And the good news is one doesn’t have to have a doctorate or masters degree to understand the message of the gospel….we are spiritual beings called to live with the mind of Christ.

I came across Dr Heiser maybe 5 or 6 years ago and was shocked. I thought he might be Later Day Saint or something and I couldn't get the pastors at that church in Charlotte to read Unseen Realm so when he said he was moving to Jacksonville to open AWKNG School of Theology I jumped to move to meet him in person. I was initially skeptical and wanted to meet him in person to figure out if he was making things up. Maybe there's 1% that I think he was making connections that are too speculative for me to be definite, but as I keep studying I have a suspicion that I'll eventually find I think Heiser's obsession with "coherence" is correct.

The cult like behavior that surrounds the Mike Heiser character is sufficient to cause an aware person to question the whole thing

Note to Dr. Mason: At 3:37 you say "That's what the Biblical Text says." No it does NOT. That's one interpretation of Psalm 82:1. Another interpretation of Psalm 82 is that God stands in His Own assembly. This could mean that the Assembly is made up of Supernatural Beings....NOT DIVINE BEINGS. Big difference!!

Thank you for this.

doesnt seem so radical, just a bit more detail on the divine council and the more specific involvement of this heavenly hierarchy, I dont see what the fuss is all about,

It is viewed as fringe, because, mainly in western modern religion, the majority of people have been conditioned to go by scholars and theologians, rather than the anointing that comes from the baptism that Jesus speaks of. This is found at the end of Matthew, where Jesus tells the disciples that baptizing people in the Father Son Holy Ghost Name, is what will teach the people, and not the disciples themselves. This is why Jesus also, at the time, told His disciples to not go out and tell others that He was Jesus the Christ. Because it had to be a personal revelation from heart to heart, rather than a theological treatise that was prayed by the best theologians or scholar of the day. This is why Heiser is it was considered fringe. But those of us who have been personally handling against that which is unseen, and much of the rest of the world outside America. We know the reality of the unseen.

QUESTION for those who study these things (the Unseen World in sacred scripture) as I do. First let me say that I fully embrace Dr. Heiser’s interpretation with regards the Watchers in Gen 6 being cosmic spiritual beings who “did not keep to their own domain but deserted their proper dwelling place” and had intercourse with human females which resulted in their offspring, the Nephilim. Having grown up with a strong supernatural (and spiritual warfare) worldview in light of scripture; earning an Undergraduate Degree in Bible and Theology, as well as a master’s degree in theology; and being involved in demonology work and experiences of helping people being affected by preternatural beings, I’ve long held this view. However, in DEFENDING this interpretation, I have discovered a weakness (I think) in “our” position. (Yes, I understand the other views are far weaker…re: the Sethite Interpretation; the Divinized Human Rulers view that Dr. Heiser covers in “Reversing Hermon”.) I’m wondering if I’m overlooking something in this apparent flaw in our ointment - if you will - and if there’s an explanation that I haven’t thought of. Here’s the issue, which I will build with three important facts: (1) The resulting situation of Genesis 6:1-4 precipitates the flood, which supposedly wipes out all of the Nephilim. The argument of a localized flood are weak, and I reject that - as Heiser did. So one would think the Nephilim are wiped out from the earth. (2) BUT then later in the history of the Israelite nation, in Numbers 13, Moses sends spies into the land of Canaan, and those spies come back and report, “there we saw the Nephilim, the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim, and we seemed like grasshoppers…” (13:33). So clearly, the issue with the Watchers (the rebel heavenly hosts who caused round one in Genesis 6) had somehow continued POST flood. (3) In 2 Peter 2:1-10, we discover that the perpetrators, “the angels who sinned” were NOT spared but God “held them captive in Tartarus with chains of darkness and handed them over TO BE KEPT for judgment.” It’s very clear they were not released at any point and are still in Tartarus today. So, with those three facts, where did the Nephilim in Canaan come from, as well as Og, the King of Bashan who was a Rephaim, related to the Nephilim? (see Deuteronomy 3:11). I remember seeing some video wherein Heiser stated that in answer to this problem, apparently these rebel angels did not stop after the flood, but continued their perverted practice. But if they were thrown into Tartarus, how could this be? Is it a matter of timing? Were they thrown into Tartarus only AFTER they continued their nefarious activity and sometime after the flood where they had time to lay with human women and produce more offspring? Or did ADDITIONAL angels rebel - a new group - and repeat the same perverted acts after the first two hundred (the number according to 1 Enoch) were “arrested and imprisoned”? What do you think?

the other gods are spiritual elohim when speaking Jesus we must open minds, think spiritual and broaden knowledge, as we will not be waring against Flesh, but SPIRITUAL.. Yes those same ruling elohim/ spirits/gods live TODAY..

Your guest said something that I don't think Heiser would agree with. The idea that we are supposed to be kings and rule alongside Jesus. I think that's borderline blasphemy. Is that not similar to what Satan said? "I will be like God"?

Heiser had some decent points, but he went off the deep end in places. Pastor Joe Schimmel has done a great job of explaining these in his Spiritual Warefare 1 and 3 posted on Blessed Hope Chapel in just the last few days.

There are some slight problems with this material, it seems to me. The aura of a conspiracy is itself weird. But also the three-fold fall? Why not include Cain’s fratricide? It seems more accurate to me to say there’s a general spiral downward. The emphasis on the Nephilim is strange, too. For example, when humanity is created in God’s image, that itself is the language of sonship. So it’s not clear that the sons of God inevitably refer to spiritual beings: human beings have already been described along those lines. So it is fitting that Luke calls Adam God’s son. More importantly, the table of nations detailed after Noah (the seventy nations descended from Noah) give a different vision of nations. They weren’t created at Babel, though that’s when they were scattered. They are creatures of the Lord’s own making in their own right. Again and again, we see that the Lord loves them, even though compared with his own grandeur they are like dust on the scale. Each of them will be represented in the New Creation. Further, the nations still relate like siblings to Israel, who is the Lord’s firstborn son. So if the nations are disinherited, they’re so in the manner of Esau (re: Edom). But then we’re surprised to learn that the Lord has graciously provided for Esau as well. Now Christ has opened the door for the nations to know their Maker. Through the Gospel, they do. This is a much more positive vision than these videos generally present. The powers are overthrown. The Enemy still rages against the Lord and his Messiah. But whole nations can embrace Jesus. Further, in Jesus’s death and resurrection the Lord’s plans have already been revealed to be biggest than. Every rebellion, so much so that we can know with confidence that every effort to thwart the Lord’s good purposes will ultimately be turned to serve those good purposes and redound to the Lord’s glory. Finally, at Pentecost the whole community of the Church was brought into the divine council. Before this, special prophets were given such access and they would relay what they heard. Just as importantly, the prophets would dare to advise God within the council, interceding on others’ behalf like Abraham or Moses. But now the Spirit is given to every Christian and all the Church. We ARE seated in the heavenly places. Still, I appreciate that these videos seem to stay within the bounds of orthodoxy, which is of course a gift. But the cloak and dagger vibe is unnecessary.

Heiser is only fringe because he gets it.

In Isaiah, God makes it clear that there are no other gods beside Him, and He says He knows not any. So this notion that there are other gods is demonstrably false. So it seems this is just an equivocation fallacy where ‘Elohim’ may, in one use, refer to the one true God, and it can also be equivocally used to refer to lesser spirit beings. But that doesn’t make those beings an actual deity.

Your guess is opposed millennial I take it? Anytime someone refers to Jesus as King Jesus that tips off of post-millennial and Kingdom theology

If there were 'other gods', all of them would be used by God for His perfect purposes and it does not retract from who He is, but rather dr Heiser opens insight into ancient understanding, and, when Christ came and exposed and exorcised demons... To show He is Lord of lords and God Himself... And 'Gid over powers and principalities of the air'. The only thing i can find so far that i'm opposed to in dr Heiser and John Walton's virws so far is that they purport we are 'partners' with God on earth... We can never 'partner' with God... He is supreme 🙏🙏❤️❤️

Michael Heiser was not, "fringe" in the least! He was CLEARLY heretical at the most fundamental level.

While Heiser held many Biblical truths, his Divine Counsel Worldview was not consistent with the ONLY one God revealed in the Bible.

Isaiah 46 verse 9 pretty much sums it up: "Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me." "None" means "none"... in the Hebrew, and Greek, and English, and French and every other original text or proper translation of the Bible. Only those deceived by Mormonism, neo-pagan gnosticism, or fanciful Greek and Roman mythology believe in a plurality and hierarchy of gods. Heiser's DCW is pure heresy. It is pantheism. It is not Christian. Sadly Heiser was more influenced outside the faith than what has been orthodox doctrine for thousands of years. Read The Unbiblical Realm by Heath Henning and reread your Bible. I pray you will discover the truth.

Novel? God of the Nations Real? Paul says they are not. There is One God, Father Son and Spirit. That’s enough for me to count his ideas as false.

Heiser has the credit in peaking an interest in the Ancient Near Eastern world and the Old Testament...but once you look at his claims in the light of other OT biblical scholars like John Walton.. it's obvious Heiser made a big mistake in interpretation. Namely .by not distinguishing the difference between REFERENCE and AFFIRMATION in scripture. The "divine council" is reference not affirmation.. it's not revealed by the authors of scripture not more than the DOME firmenant is revealed in Genesis 1. The result : nothing political in the insight. Those who say they adjusted their world view around it .. are losing their common sense. Don't blindly follow

Mike was not unseen. Sounds like neither one of you guys even read his most scholarly work, "Unseen Realm" completely through. You're both disqualified to critique Michael Heiser. To say what he taught was common knowledge reveals your ignorance. Out of all of his commentary, all you guys share is a shallow documentary??? Get a clue.

Jonathan Kleck channel is more true than anything thing Mike has shown. And he always brings the Word.

Where does the Bible say that God wants to unite the nation and have a human ruler over them with Jesus as king as you state at the end?