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It is written:
Daniel 10:13-But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; and behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia.
Throughout the pages of the Bible, we read that angels are in a position of power over the nations of men. The passage here in Daniel is an excellent example of this. The Prophet Daniel was told by an angel that he had been sent to him twenty one days earlier, but the had been delayed in combat by “prince of the kingdom of Persia.” It was only with the help of Michael, “one of the chief princes,” that this angel finally made it to the Prophet with God’s answer to his prayers. The word “prince” in context has reference to “angels” (cf. Daniel 12:1-2), thus showing us that the angels were connected with the governance of the nations.
In the Book of Deuteronomy, there is a Scripture which directly bears on the relationship of these angels with the nations of men. Indeed, as we will see, other Scriptures also bear out these truths.
Deuteronomy 32 is found in what is known as the Song Of Moses (also located in Exodus 15). It is a song of worship to God in which He is exalted and praised for His goodness and faithfulness. The Song also contains many amazing teachings and prophecies, all of which center on God and His ultimate purpose for mankind in bringing forth the Messiah.
In Deuteronomy 32:8, we find this interesting statement of the Prophet:
Deuteronomy 32:8-When the Most High divided their inheritance to the nations, When He separated the sons of Adam, He set the boundaries of the peoples According to the number of the children of Israel.
The events of this passage relate back to the time of the Dividing of the Nations in the Book of Genesis, in a passage often referred to as the Table Of Nations (Genesis 11). There, God divided the descendants of Noah into seventy nations. What is fascinating is the last phrase of this verse, “according to the number of the children of Israel.” This is based on the Masoretic Text (the manuscript copies of the Hebrew Old Testament language, which our English Bibles are primarily based upon).
However, there is something interesting here when we study this passage in other Bible translations.
Deuteronomy 32:8 (Brenton)-When the Most High divided the nations, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the nations according to the number of the angels of God.
Deuteronomy 32:8 (CEV)-that God Most High gave land to every nation. He assigned a guardian angel to each of them,
Deuteronomy 32:8 (GNB)-The Most High assigned nations their lands; he determined where peoples should live. He assigned to each nation a heavenly being,
Deuteronomy 32:8 (NET)-When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when he divided up humankind, he set the boundaries of the peoples, according to the number of the heavenly assembly.
When we compare the translations, we see that some follow the Masoretic text (“according to the number of the children of Israel”), while others follow the Greek Old Testament (“according to the number of the angels of God” and that equivalent).
What is going on here?
When we carefully study the matter and apply some logic, we will see that the rendering “according to the number of the children of Israel” rendering makes no sense, because the nation of Israel was not a nation at the time of the Tower of Babel! Scholar Michael Heiser points out:
“When God divided the nations—the punishment at Babel when the languages were confused—he distributed them among “the sons of God.” Some Bible translations have “sons of Israel” instead of “sons of God.” But Israel didn’t exist at the time of the Tower of Babel. God only called Abraham and began the nation of Israel after Babel (Gen. 12). “Sons of Israel” can’t be right. “Sons of God” is also what the Dead Sea Scrolls say, the oldest manuscripts of the Bible. The ESV has it right. Deuteronomy 4: 19-20 is the opposite side of that coin. That passage has God allotting these other gods to the nations he dispersed at Babel. These two passages associated with the rebellion at Babel, are the Old Testament’s explanation of why the other nations worship other gods—it’s the result of a divine punishment from the God of Israel. What this means is that the tower of Babel event is akin to what’s described in Romans 1, where Paul tells us that God gave humankind over to its own rebellion. Because the nations would not obey him, God basically gave humanity up to lesser gods. God gave them what they wanted—other gods to follow. The result was self-destruction and idolatry.” (Michael Heiser, The 60 Second Scholar: 100 Insights That Illumine the Bible, 64-65 (Kindle Edition)
Heiser also documents here another passage in Deuteronomy that is relevant to our study.
Deuteronomy 4:19-And take heed, lest you lift your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun, the moon, and the stars, all the host of heaven, you feel driven to worship them and serve them, which the LORD your God has given to all the peoples under the whole heaven as a heritage.
Notice that the Hebrews are commanded not to worship “the host of heaven,” and that God had given these “to all the peoples under the whole heaven as a heritage.” The “host of Heaven” is a phrase used often in the Bible to refer to angels.
For example:
Deuteronomy 17:3-who has gone and served other gods and worshiped them, either the sun or moon or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded,
1 Kings 22:19-Then Micaiah said, “Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing by, on His right hand and on His left.
2 Chronicles 18:18-Then Micaiah said, “Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing on His right hand and His left.
Godawa has noted:
“The idea of Yahweh “allotting” geographical territories to these sons of God who really existed and were worshipped as gods (idols) shows up again in several places in Deuteronomy: Deut. 4: 19-20 And beware lest you raise your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, you be drawn away and bow down to them and serve them, things that the Lord your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven. Deut. 29: 26 They went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods whom they have not known and whom He had not allotted to them. “Host of heaven” was a term that referred to astronomical bodies that were also considered to be gods or members of the divine council.[ 10] The Encyclopedia Judaica notes that, “in many cultures the sky, the sun, the moon, and the known planets were conceived as personal gods. These gods were responsible for all or some aspects of existence. Prayers were addressed to them, offerings were made to them, and their opinions on important matters were sought through divination.”[ 11] But it was not merely the pagans who made this connection of heavenly physical bodies with heavenly spiritual powers. The Old Testament itself equates the sun, moon, and stars with the angelic “sons of God” who surround God’s throne, calling them both the “host of heaven” (Deut. 4: 19; 32: 8-9).[ 12] Jewish commentator Jeffrey Tigay writes, “[ These passages] seem to reflect a Biblical view that… as punishment for man’s repeated spurning of His authority in primordial times (Gen. 3-11), God deprived mankind at large of true knowledge of Himself and ordained that it should worship idols and subordinate celestial beings.”[ 13] There is more than just a symbolic connection between the physical heavens and the spiritual heavens in the Bible. In some passages, the stars of heaven are linked interchangeably with angelic heavenly beings, also referred to as “holy ones” or “sons of God” (Psa. 89: 5-7; Job 1: 6).[ 14] Daniel 10: 10-21 speaks of these divine “host of heaven” allotted with authority over pagan nations as spiritual “princes” or rulers battling with the archangels Gabriel and Michael. Daniel 10: 13, 20 13 The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days, but Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me… 20 “But now I will return to fight against the prince of Persia; and when I go out, behold, the prince of Greece will come. In conclusion, the entire narrative of Deuteronomy 32 tells the story of God dispersing the nations at Babel and allotting the pagan nations to be ruled by “gods” who were demonic fallen divine beings. God then allots the people of Israel for himself, through Abraham, and their territory of Canaan. But God’s people fall away from him and worship these other pagan gods and are judged for their apostasy. We will now see that Yahweh will judge these gods as well.” (Brian Godawa, God Against the Gods: Storytelling, Imagination and Apologetics in the Bible, 22-24 (Kindle Edition): Warrior Poet Publishing)
So, God had given the nations of the Earth over to the angels at the time of the Tower of Babel.
Why does the Masoretic render “according to the number of the children of Israel” in Deuteronomy 32:8, when it should clearly be “according to the number of the sons of God?” The most likely answer is that the scribes who were making copies of these earlier Hebrew manuscripts deliberately changed the passage because they believed that the Bible teaching regarding other gods and goddesses would compromise the uniqueness of Yahweh.
Commenting on this issue from another passage (Deuteronomy 32:43), Heiser documents:
“As was the case in Deuteronomy 32: 8, the Masoretic Text omits the divine beings associated with the nations. Deuteronomy 32: 8, 43 were both altered when the Masoretic Text was produced, ca. AD 100.2 Hannah’s remark represents the overwhelming scholarly consensus on the matter: “It seems safe to conclude that the original text of the Song of Moses (Deut 32: 1–43) affirmed a belief in heavenly guardians, whether lesser deities or angels, set over the nations as a kind of cosmic patron, although later editors sought to remove this.” 3 The point to take away should not be missed: Second Temple-period Jews would have been reading about gods allotted to the nations in their Old Testament.” (Michael S. Heiser, Demons: What the Bible Really Says About the Powers of Darkness, 160 (Kindle Edition): Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press)
Please notice Deuteronomy 32:43 in this regard:
Deuteronomy 32:43-Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people; For He will avenge the blood of His servants, And render vengeance to His adversaries; He will provide atonement for His land and His people.”
The rendering here (NKJV) follows the Masoretic text. Notice how this same verse is rendered in other translations of the Bible:
Deuteronomy 32:43 (Brenton)-Rejoice, ye heavens, with him, and let all the angels of God worship him; rejoice ye Gentiles, with his people, and let all the sons of God strengthen themselves in him; for he will avenge the blood of his sons, and he will render vengeance, and recompense justice to his enemies, and will reward them that hate him; and the Lord shall purge the land of his people.
Deuteronomy 32:43 (CEV)-Tell the heavens to celebrate and all gods to bow down to the LORD, because he will take revenge on those hateful enemies who killed his people. He will forgive the sins of Israel and purify their land.
Deuteronomy 32:43 (NLT)-Rejoice with him, you heavens, and let all of God’s angels worship him. Rejoice with his people, you Gentiles, and let all the angels be strengthened in him. For he will avenge the blood of his children; he will take revenge against his enemies. He will repay those who hate him and cleanse his people’s land.”
Again, we see the same thing as in Deuteronomy 32:8. The Hebrew Masoretic text seems to remove the Divine calling of these angels over the nations from the passage. The allotting of the nations to fallen angels is affirmed in other ancient Hebrew texts. Heiser documents:
“There are several indications in the apocryphal book of Wisdom of Ben Sira (or Book of Sirach; included in the LXX) that the Deuteronomy 32 worldview was part of Jewish theology. The seventeenth chapter describes humanity in general as God’s creation (Sir 17: 1–7) and then transitions to the Jew, with whom God entered into a covenant relationship and gave his laws (Sir 17: 12–14). Whether Jew or gentile, Ben Sira (Sir 17: 15–16) 4 describes God’s clear knowledge of human acts and thoughts and the divine retribution to be accorded to all men and women as they deserve. The Lord knows human “ways” because “they cannot be hidden from his eyes.” 5 Then, in verse 17 we read, “He [God] appointed a leader for each nation, and Israel is the portion of the Lord” (LES). The word translated “leader” is a participial form of the lemma hēgeomai, “to be in a supervisory capacity, lead, guide.” 6 In this particular passage and elsewhere in the LXX (e.g., Deut 5: 23; Josh 13: 21; 2 Sam 6: 21; 1 Kgs 16: 16; Ezek 43: 7) the term clearly denotes “high officials” or someone “of princely authority.” 7 Hannah comments of Sirach 17: 17, “This parallels exactly the original text of Deuteronomy 32: 8–9.” 8 As we noted in chapter 2, LXX material in Daniel 10 is divided. The Theodotion text of LXX Daniel 10: 13, 20 allows for a reading of divine beings being rulers of the nations, whereas other LXX texts do not. 9 As noted above, Sirach 17: 17 and Deuteronomy 32: 43 are clear instances of passages in the LXX outside Theodotion Daniel 10: 13, 20 that bear clear witness to the Deuteronomy 32 worldview perspective. The same is true in pseudepigraphical texts from the Second Temple period. DARK POWERS OVER THE NATIONS: The Pseudepigrapha Philo of Alexandria is also in line with this text of Deuteronomy 32: 8–9, writing that God “set boundaries of nations according to the number of the angels of God; and the portion of the Lord became his people, Jacob, the lot of his inheritance, Israel.” 10 The Second Temple book of Jubilees makes certain statements in its retelling of Old Testament stories that collectively reflect the Deuteronomy 32 worldview. 11 As we saw in an earlier chapter, in Jubilees 10 the writer has God speaking to the archangels tasked with rounding up and ridding the earth of the demons that were the result of the Genesis 6 debacle (Jub 10: 4–5). The leader of the evil spirits, Mastema, requested that a certain number of the demons be permitted to remain on the earth under his charge. Specifically, we must recall that Mastema asked God (Jub 10: 8): Let them [the spirits] do everything which I tell them, because if some of them are not left for me, I will not be able to exercise the authority of my will among the children of men because they are (intended) to corrupt and lead astray before my judgment because the evil of the sons of men is great.” 12 God’s response was to allow a tenth of them to escape judgment (Jub 10: 6–11), but the demons left on earth “were restrained from following the sons of Noah” (Jub 10: 13). The idea that the demons were prohibited from harassing the “sons of Noah” is odd, as all humanity after the flood extended from the sons of Noah. Jubilees 15 may help explain the author’s thinking: 30 For the LORD did not draw Ishmael and his sons and his brothers and Esau near to himself, and he did not elect them because they are the sons of Abraham, for he knew them. But he chose Israel that they might be a people for himself. 31 And he sanctified them and gathered them from all of the sons of man because (there are) many nations and many people, and they all belong to him, but over all of them he caused spirits to rule so that they might lead them astray from following him. 32 But over Israel he did not cause any angel or spirit to rule because he alone is their ruler and he will protect them and he will seek for them at the hand of his angels and at the hand of his spirits and at the hand of all of his authorities so that he might guard them and bless them and they might be his and he might be theirs henceforth and forever. (Jub 15: 30–32) 13 The key is verse 32. God did not allow “any angel or spirit” to rule over Israel—a clear reference to the Deuteronomy 32 worldview. Israel was Yahweh’s allotted inheritance (Deut 32: 9), but the other nations were put under the authority of lesser gods (spirit beings). This language, coupled with Jubilees 10: 1–13, where one-tenth of the demons sprang forth from the spawn of the Watchers, creates a subtle connection between the sin of the Watchers at the time of the flood and the incident at Babel. Scholars have taken note of this link: The evil spirits are not precluded from pursuing all of Noah’s children, at least not in the long run.… Jubilees wants to claim that national boundaries are essential for understanding the role of demons. Ultimately, the demons are precluded only from pursuing Israel.… Jubilees develops the link between demons and idolatry, and further links demons and idolatry to other nations. 14 Jubilees 15: 31 clearly says that God caused the spirits assigned over the nations “to rule so that they might lead them [the nations] astray from following him.” Hannah writes: “The nations are to be led astray from following God because of their sin at the Tower of Babel.” 15 While the theology of Deuteronomy 32 is affirmed, the second and third rebellions found in the Old Testament are thus conflated with Satan as the overlord. 16 The notion that the Old Testament does not include that God wanted the nations led astray is an inventive thought that makes God’s denunciation of the gods of the nations in Psalm 82: 2–5 duplicitous. The Animal Apocalypse (1 Enoch 85–90), a highly symbolic retelling of the history of Israel, also reflects the Deuteronomy 32 worldview. In his scholarly commentary on this portion of 1 Enoch, Patrick Tiller describes it as follows: [The Animal Apocalypse] is presented as an allegorical dream of the antediluvian patriarch, Enoch, in which he sees a story about bulls, sheep, various animals that prey on the sheep, and humans who interact in various ways with the sheep and bulls. Each element in the story is primarily a sign for some object of human history outside of the story. Cattle represent humans from the time of Adam to Noah, some of the early Shemites, and the restored humanity of the ideal future. Sheep represent Israel. Various unclean predatory and scavenging animals and birds represent the Gentile nations. Stars represent the fallen Watchers, and humans represent other angelic figures, except for the owner of the sheep, who represents God. 17 The important imagery is that the sheep represent Israel and the owner of the sheep represents God. In the Animal Apocalypse, the owner (God) puts18 the sheep (Israel) in the control of “seventy Shepherds, that is, to seventy angels, which, of course, recalls the seventy angels of the Angelic Patron Legend.” 19 God’s abandonment of his sheep (Israel) to the seventy shepherds corresponds to the Davidic monarchy in exile. 20 The period of the seventy shepherds is itself divided into four subperiods, the last of which ends with the dawn of the messianic age. 21 This is one reason why scholars refer to the allegory as an apocalypse. Many Jews of the Second Temple period, including the author of this portion of 1 Enoch, expected the messianic age to correspond with the ending of exile, still defined as Israel being in subordination to foreign powers. The seventy shepherds overtly represent the angelic patrons of the gentile nations. Their role is oppression of the sheep (Israel). The writer of 1 Enoch 85–90 cleverly subverts the Deuteronomy 32 worldview, where Israel is Yahweh’s exclusive possession and the sons of God were allotted to the nations: In turning Israel over to the nations, God in effect turns them over to the nations’ heavenly patrons.… [T] he author of the Animal Apocalypse has taken the concept of the angelic guardians of the nations and stood it on its head, so to speak. Here the angelic patrons function not so much as guardians of the Gentile nations, although they are that to be sure, nor even as angels charged with leading the Gentiles astray, as in Jubilees. Rather, they function as a means of punishing Israel. 22 The enthusiasm of the shepherds for their task goes too far, however. As Stuckenbruck notes, “The shepherds become disobedient when of their own accord they exceed the limits set by God on the assignment.” 23 God responds by commissioning an angelic scribe to monitor the treatment of the sheep and to prevent the shepherds from killing too many of them (1 En 89: 59–64). This scribe’s activity is subsequently described in 1 Enoch 89: 70–71, 76–77; 90: 14, 17, 22.24 The commissioned shepherd-scribe has drawn a good deal of scholarly attention. Stuckenbruck remarks of this passage that “the angelic being appointed to monitor the shepherd’s treatment of Israel seems to presuppose a tradition that aligns the people of God with an angel.” 25 This, of course, reminds us of the way the book of Daniel describes Michael as Israel’s prince (Dan 10: 21; 12: 1). Hannah’s observation reflects the consensus of scholarly suspicion: “As the narrative proceeds, there are a number of clues that this angelic figure is probably to be identified with none other than the archangel Michael.” 26 The clues followed by scholars in identifying the shepherd-scribe as Michael include the fact that, as Michael does in the book of Daniel, 1 Enoch 90: 13–14 has the shepherd-scribe going to battle for the sheep (Israel) and that Michael is specifically named as the archangel “put in charge of the good ones of the people,” a common designation for Israel in the Septuagint.” (Michael Heiser, Demons: What the Bible Really Says About the Powers of Darkness, 161-167 (Kindle Edition): Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press)
In many ways, this all is similar to another passage of Scripture from the Psalms.
Psalm 97:7-Let all be put to shame who serve carved images, Who boast of idols. Worship Him, all you gods.
This passage uses the Hebrew word elohim (gods). In the Greek Old Testament, this word is often translated by the Greek translators with the word “angel.” In fact, this passage is quoted by Paul in Hebrews.
Hebrews 1:6-But when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says: “LET ALL THE ANGELS OF GOD WORSHIP HIM.”
Do you see how the “gods” are identified as the “angels?” We see this in numerous passages in the Old Testament, where the Hebrew word “gods” or “sons of God/gods” is translated into Greek with the word “angel” (cf. Job 1:6; 2:1-2; 38:4-7; Psalm 8:5; 138:1).
Indeed, the passage from Psalm 97:7 is extremely interesting for several reasons. The angels of the passage are literally said to have been those who worshipped God in the past.
“So Aben Ezra on the place observes, that there are some (meaning their doctors) who say, that ‘all the gods are the angels’; and Kimchi says, that the words are not imperative, but are in the past tense, instead of the future, all the angels have worshipped him; that is, they shall worship him; as they have done, so they will do.” (John Gill, Commentary On Hebrews 1:6).
That leads us to this interesting translation:
Psalm 97:7 (TPT)-Shame covers all who boast in other gods, for they worship idols. For all the supernatural powers once worshiped the true and living God.
It is also worth mentioning that God calls upon these fallen angels in this passage to repent of their wickedness and return to serving Him as they once had.
Why had God put these angels over the nations? Some believe that this was a form of Divine punishment. It is believed that these fallen angels had already rebelled against God, and that God was therefore “giving over” sinful humanity at Babel to serve these gods. In other words, it is believed that the pairing of the angelic powers with the nations that formed from Babel was equivalent to what occurred in Romans 1, where God “gave over” certain people to various lusts and vices in accordance with their rejection of Him.
“I will argue that the Sons of God who inherited the nations at Babel (Deut 32: 8-9) and ruled those nations in antiquity (Psa 82: 2-3) were already fallen and evil when they received their allotment. Here’s why… First, the dominant paradigm of the Old Testament is the single nation of Israel as set apart by Yahweh to be a light to the darkened world of the Gentile nations, considered as a whole to be against God (Isa 49: 6; Psa 2: 1-2). All the nations worshipped gods that were not Yahweh. And even by the time of the New Testament, the Jews considered the word Gentile to be synonymous with sinner (Matt 5: 47; 10: 5; 18: 17; Act 4: 25-26). Paul writes in Galatians 2: 15, “We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners.” So the biblical understanding of nations in Genesis 11, Deut 32 and Psalm 82 are Gentile nations who are generically idolaters. Second, let us not forget that all the nations created at Babel consisted of people in rebellion against Yahweh at the very start. The confusion of tongues and division of mankind was a judgment for sinful man who had sought deity with their pagan temples to the gods. So the context of Deut 32: 8-10 is division as judgment, not as neutral separation. Third, earlier in Deuteronomy, Moses clarifies God’s command not to worship the heavenly host, defined interchangeably as both gods and as astronomical bodies (sun, moon and stars). But he states that he allotted those gods to all the other peoples. Deuteronomy 4: 19–20 19 And beware lest you raise your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, you be drawn away and bow down to them and serve them, things that Yahweh your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven. 20 But Yahweh has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be a people of his own inheritance, as you are this day. This allotment of the gods/ host of heaven to the peoples is reminiscent of the description of God “giving over” pagans to their idolatrous worship of creation in Romans 1: 24-28. The contrast of God setting apart Israel “to be a people for his own inheritance” in Deut 4: 20 after the allotment of the heavenly host in verse 19 is a reiteration of the allotment contrast in Deuteronomy 32. These verses refer to the same allotted inheritance. In Deuteronomy 4 it’s clear that Yahweh did not give the nations to be ruled by righteous heavenly host who then fell through accepting undeserved worship. Rather, Yahweh gave the host of heaven to all the peoples to worship as their gods because they were already idolaters. He was “giving them over” to their idolatry and giving the false gods their own people to rule over. On first glance the phrase “to all the peoples under the whole heaven,” would appear to mean everyone, including Israelites. But the context contradicts that inclusion when Moses says, “But Yahweh has taken you (Israel) to be a people of his own inheritance.” “All the peoples under the whole heaven” is contrasted with Israel, not included with her. Another passage in Deuteronomy reinforces this notion of sinful nations allotted to fallen gods. In Deuteronomy 29: 26 Moses tells the Israelites that when they entered the land of Canaan, they “went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods whom they had not known and whom he had not allotted to them.” So God allotted the fallen gods of the heavenly host to the Gentile nations of Canaan.” (Brian Godawa, Psalm 82: The Divine Council of the Gods, the Judgment of the Watchers and the Inheritance of the Nations (Chronicles of the Nephilim), 195-226 (Kindle Edition): Los Angeles, CA: Embedded Pictures Publishing)
These fallen angels continue to war against God, even though He calls them to repentance through His Son. The unrepentant will face God’s judgment one Day.
Psalm 82:1-8-God stands in the congregation of the mighty; He judges among the gods. 2 How long will you judge unjustly, And show partiality to the wicked? Selah. 3 Defend the poor and fatherless; Do justice to the afflicted and needy. 4 Deliver the poor and needy; Free them from the hand of the wicked. 5 They do not know, nor do they understand; They walk about in darkness; All the foundations of the earth are unstable. 6 I said, “You are gods, And all of you are children of the Most High. 7 But you shall die like men, And fall like one of the princes.” 8 Arise, O God, judge the earth; For You shall inherit all nations.
Isaiah 24:21-It shall come to pass in that day That the LORD will punish on high the host of exalted ones, And on the earth the kings of the earth.
So, let’s put all of this together to summarize what we have learned so far.
At the time of the Tower of Babel, humanity again rebelled against God. As a result, seventy human nations were formed from the descendants of Noah. These seventy nations were then allowed to follow the fallen angels, who had also rebelled against God.
The original reading of Deuteronomy 32:8 documents this truth, and it is reiterated in passages such as Deuteronomy 4:19-20; 32:43; and Daniel 10:12-13. We also see the same truths affirmed in ancient Hebrew history books outside of the Bible, and it is also confirmed in the ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament. However, the later Hebrew scribes tried to omit these truths by editing out these supernatural powers in Deuteronomy 32:8 and 43.
Because God is good, He calls upon both fallen angels and sinful humanity to return to Him in repentance and to be saved.
Applying all of this to nations, we learn some important lessons.
First, every nation of humanity has the choice before it to follow the Lord, or to reject Him. Rejecting Him means following in the paths and ways of the fallen angels. God invitees us to follow Him: the fallen angels try to coerce us to follow them. The ultimate choice is ours.
Jeremiah 18:1-10-The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying: 2 “Arise and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause you to hear My words.” 3 Then I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, making something at the wheel. 4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter; so he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make. 5 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying: 6 “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter?” says the LORD. “Look, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel! 7 The instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, to pull down, and to destroy it, 8 if that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it. 9 And the instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it, 10 if it does evil in My sight so that it does not obey My voice, then I will relent concerning the good with which I said I would benefit it.
America is an excellent example of this. We have a great deal of documentary evidence that many of America’s founders desired to be a nation that was governed primarily by the principles of the Word of God.
“The documentary evidence of the Christian origin of this nation is voluminous; it would take hours even to quote it. The Supreme Court of the United States thoroughly studied this issue, and in 1892 gave us what is known as the Trinity Decision. In that decision, the Supreme Court declared, “These, and many other matters which might be noticed, add a volume of unofficial declarations to the mass of organic utterances that this is a Christian nation.”5 That is where this nation began.” (D. James Kennedy with Jerry Newcombe, What If America Were A Christian Nation Again? 203-204 (Kindle Edition); Nashville, TN; Thomas Nelson)
One author, a Native American commissioned to write down the legends of his people for future generations, documented about the Christian foundations of our nation:
“In 1811, New York Supreme Court Chief Justice James Kent in People v. Ruggles held: “‘…whatever strikes at the root of the Bible tends manifestly to the dissolution of civil government….’ We are a Christian people, and the morality of the country is deeply engrafted upon the Bible…. The Bible in its enlarged sense, as a religion revealed and taught in the Bible, is part and parcel of the law of the land…” (People v. Ruggles, 1811) The South Carolina Supreme Court upheld the Christian foundation of this nation when it ruled in 1844 ” Charleston v. Benjamin, “The Bible is part of the common law of the land, with liberty of conscience to all. It has always been so recognized…. Judge Nathaniel Freeman in 1802 charged Massachusetts Grand Juries as follows: “The laws of the Christian system, as embraced by the Bible, must be respected as of high authority in all our courts…. [Our government] originating in the voluntary compact of a people who in that very instrument profess the Christian religion, it may be considered, not as republic Rome was a Pagan, but a Christian republic.” (City of Charleston v Benjamin, 1846)..”. (Chief Joseph Riverwind, Assisted by Laralyn RiverWind That’s What The Old Ones Say: Pre-Colonial Revelations Of God, 146-147 (Kindle Edition); Marble, NC; Word Branch Publishing)
Despite this, we also know that there were many forces that desired America to be a nation that would bring forth again the pagan Mystery Religions of the ancient world.
“Years of research among the records of olden peoples available in libraries, museums, and shrines of ancient cultures, has convinced me that there exists in the world today, and has existed for thousands of years, a body of enlightened humans united in what might be termed, an Order of the Quest. It is composed of those whose intellectual and spiritual perceptions have revealed to them that civilization has a Secret Destiny–secret, I say, because this high purpose is not realized by the many; the great masses of peoples still live along without any knowledge whatsoever that they are part of a Universal Motion in time and space….All of the great leaders of ancient times realized and taught that the establishment of a state of permanent peace among the nations depended upon the release of human ideals, but through properly trained and disciplined minds capable of interpreting these ideals in terms of the common good. World democracy was the secret dream of the great classical philosophers. Toward the accomplishment of this greatest of all human ends they outlined programs of education, religion, and social conduct directed to the ultimate achievement of a practical and universal brotherhood. And in order to accomplish their purposes more effectively, these ancient scholars bound themselves with certain mystic ties into a broad confraternity. In Egypt, Greece, India, and China, the State Mysteries came into existence. Orders of initiated priest-philosophers were formed as a sovereign body to instruct, advise, and direct the rulers of the States. Thousands of years ago, in Egypt, these mystical orders were aware of the existence of the western hemisphere and the great continent which we call America. The bold resolution was made that this western continent should become the site of the philosophic empire. Just when this was done it is impossible now to say, but certainly the decision was reached prior to the time of Plato, for a thinly veiled statement of this resolution is the substance of his treatise on the Atlantic Islands. One of the most ancient of man’s constructive ideals is the dream of a universal democracy and a cooperation of all nations in a commonwealth of States. The mechanism for the accomplishment of this ideal was set in motion in the ancient temples of Greece, Egypt, and India. So brilliant was the plan and so well was it administrated that it has survived to our time, and it will continue to function until the great work is accomplished….Not only must we preserve that which we have gained through ages of striving, we must also perfect the plan of the ages, setting up here the machinery for a world brotherhood of nations and races. This is our duty, and our glorious opportunity.” (Manly P. Hall, The Secret Destiny of America, 105-135 (Kindle Edition)
Our hope-both individually and as a nation-is tied up in following Jesus Christ. What will we choose?
Years ago, the preacher where I was raised shared this poem in a sermon he preached. It speaks powerfully to us today.
I Dreamed I Saw America On Her Knees
C.L. Powell
I dreamed I saw America on her knees.
I dreamed I heard her say: “God, help us, please.”
I saw our children playing happy and free.
I heard them sing: “My Country, tis of thee.”
I walked inside an old country school;
I heard the children quote the golden rule.
I saw the people passing on their way.
I heard them with kind words to say.
I saw a family, with happy boys and girls.
They were a familiar scene, in a Godly world.
I heard a mother call in words so kind,
“Come to the house, children; it’s supper time.”
I saw them around the table, I hear Daddy say,
“We must thank God for our food; let’s pray.”
I walked into a place of worship; I heard them sing,
Not with style nor glamour; just voices, with a Godly ring.
I awoke from my dream with glad refrain.
Please help us bring America back to God again!
Friends, the Lord Who has the power to save this nation has the power to save you. He wants to save you from sin, and is now calling you to Him to be saved. He says that His desire is that even the most wicked will turn from their wicked ways and turn to Him and live (Ezekiel 18:23). He loves us so very much that He sent His Son Jesus Christ to die for our sins on the Cross of Calvary (John 3:16; 1 Timothy 2:6), be buried, and rise from the dead on the third day (1 Corinthians 15:1-8). He is calling upon you now to trust in Him as the only Savior (Acts 16:31). Will you not as a believer in Him repent of your sins, confess Him as the Son of God, and be baptized into Him with the determination to live faithfully-even to the point of death-as a member of His church (Acts 2:38; 8:37; 1 Timothy 6:12)? When you fall short as a Christian and sin, He will forgive when you repent and confess your sins to Him in prayer (1 John 1:9). Why not turn to Him today? If I can assist you in any way, please call on me.
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.