WHAT THE BIBLE REALLY SAYS ABOUT GOD’S HEAVENLY HOST
MICHAEL S. HEISER
Angels: What the Bible Really Says about God’s Heavenly Host
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Print ISBN 9781683591047
Digital ISBN 9781683591054
Lexham Editorial: Douglas Mangum, Abigail Stocker
Cover Design: Brittany Schrock
1 Old Testament Terminology for the Heavenly Host
2 The Heavenly Host in Service to God
4 The Language of the Heavenly Host in Second Temple Judaism
5 Second Temple Jewish Angelology
6 The Heavenly Host in the New Testament
7 Special Topics in New Testament Angelology
8 Myths and Questions about Angels
Index of Subjects and Modern Authors
Index of Scripture and Other Ancient Literature
ABD Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary. Edited by David Noel Freedman. 6 vols. New York: Doubleday, 1992
Ant. Josephus, Jewish Antiquities
AYB Anchor Yale Bible
BAR Biblical Archaeology Review
BASOR Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research
BBR Bulletin for Biblical Research
BCOT Baker Commentary on the Old Testament
BECNT Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament
BNTC Black’s New Testament Commentaries
BSac Bibliotheca Sacra
DDD Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible. Edited by Karel van der Toorn, Bob Becking, and Pieter W. van der Horst. Leiden: Brill, 1995. 2nd rev. ed. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999
DOTP Dictionary of the Old Testament: Pentateuch. Edited by T. Desmond Alexander and David W. Baker. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2003
DOTWPW Dictionary of the Old Testament: Wisdom, Poetry & Writings. Edited by Tremper Longman III and Peter Enns. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2008
DNTB Dictionary of New Testament Background. Edited by Craig A. Evans and Stanley E. Porter. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2000
DNWSI Dictionary of the North-West Semitic Inscriptions. Jacob Hoftijzer and Karel Jongeling. 2 vols. Leiden: Brill, 2003
DPL Dictionary of Paul and His Letters. Edited by Gerald F. Hawthorne and Ralph P. Martin. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity ...
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About Angels: What the Bible Really Says about God’s Heavenly HostEveryone knows that angels have wings, usually carry harps, and that each of us has our own personal guardian angel, right? We all have some preconceptions about angels from movies, television shows, and other media, but you might be surprised to know that a lot of those notions aren’t based on anything from the Bible. If you read Luke 1:26–38 and imagine the angel Gabriel standing before Mary with neatly folded white wings, you’re not getting that picture from anything the Bible itself says. What the Bible really says about angels is overlooked or filtered through popular myths. This book was written to help change that. It’s a book about the loyal members of God’s heavenly host, and while most people associate them with the word “angel,” that’s just one of many terms the Bible uses for supernatural beings. In The Unseen Realm, Michael Heiser opened the eyes of thousands to seeing the Bible through the supernatural worldview of the ancient world it was written in. In his latest book, Angels, Dr. Heiser reveals what the Bible really says about God’s supernatural servants. Heiser focuses on loyal, holy heavenly beings because the Bible has a lot more to say about them than most people suspect. Most people presume all there is to know about angels is what has been passed on in Christian tradition, but in reality, that tradition is quite incomplete and often inaccurate. Angels is not guided by traditions, stories, speculations, or myths about angels. Heiser’s study is grounded in the terms the Bible itself uses to describe members of God’s heavenly host; he examines the terms in their biblical context while drawing on insights from the wider context of the ancient Near Eastern world. The Bible’s view on heavenly beings begins with Old Testament terms but then moves into literature from the Second Temple period—Jewish writings from around the fifth century BC to the first century AD. This literature from the time between the Old Testament and the New Testament influenced the New Testament writers in significant ways. With that important background established, the book focuses on what the New Testament tells us about God’s holy ones. Finally, the book reflects on common misconceptions about angels and addresses why the topic is still important and relevant for Christians today. |
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