Angel the power of the ancients flows through my blood

Praise him, you highest heavens, and you waters above the heavens! (Psalm 148:3вЂ“4) Praise him, sun and moon В praise him, all you shining stars! The common epithet вЂњYahweh SabaothвЂќ, sometimes translated вЂњYahweh of HostsвЂќ, refers to his status as commander of these beings. The biblical authors also tended to view the sun, moon and stars as celestial beings-the вЂњhost of heavenвЂќ-who served Yahweh. In both Genesis and the Babylonian account of creation, Enuma Elish, the sun, moon, and stars were given the role of keeping time and seasons. So Elohim made the dome and separated the waters that were under the dome from the waters that were above the dome. 54) The firmament ( raqiaК», something stamped or forged out of metal) was the dome-shaped structure that separated heaven from earth, and as a metonym, it could also refer to heaven or to the air between earth and heaven. The word itself might originate with the Akkadian shame, meaning вЂњplace of waterвЂќ. The word for вЂњheavenвЂќ or вЂњskyвЂќ in Hebrew was the plural noun shamayim, but the plural expressed the vastness of the sky rather than a belief in multiple skies or heavens. Where can I go from your spirit where can I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there (Psalm 139:8) You shall not make for yourself an idol or an image of anything that is in heaven above, or on earth below, or in the water under the earth. The traditional Israelite view we find in the Bible reflects this tripartite structure, with the Netherworld taking the name Sheol: A subterranean ocean lay beneath the Netherworld. 41) Some thought that the sun passed through the Netherworld at night.

The Netherworld was a shadowy realm below Earth, вЂњa gloomy place that had a social and political structure much like the urban life of MesopotamiaвЂќ. Earth was flat and circular, with the continents surrounded by an ocean and a ring of mountains at the base of the firmament. The sun, moon, and stars would pass through doors or gates in the firmament as they became visible in the sky. It was here that the high gods had their abode, and no human could hope to join them there. Heaven consisted of a cosmic ocean held back by a great sky-vault, the firmament. This model of the world was usually tripartite: Heaven, Earth, and Netherworld. Most students of the Bible are probably aware that the Old Testament authors followed the cosmological model used in Mesopotamia and Egypt. There are dozens of different threads that need to be explored before we can see the tapestry they produce in Christianity. This article might seem to ramble at first. Much of what I learned surprised me perhaps it will surprise you too.

Why is Paul concerned about mysterious angels, principles, powers, forces, and archons in his epistles? Why are interactions with demons at the forefront of JesusвЂ™ ministry in Mark? Why is heaven sometimes described as having different levels? Why does Paul describe people under the law as being enslaved to the elements? What motivated early Christians to worship a heavenly saviour? ItвЂ™s hard to answer these questions without a detailed understanding of ancient Jewish and Greek cosmology, so IвЂ™ve spent a great deal of time reading the best books I can find on the subject.

The Bible is often difficult to make sense of without the proper conceptual framework.

Angel the power of the ancients flows through my blood