The Unseen Realm by Michael S. Heiser—a book review

Cover image of Michael Heiser's new book, The Unseen Realm.

Cover image of Michael Heiser’s new book, The Unseen Realm.

Ever since I learned Michael Heiser was writing The Unseen Realm I was excited to read it. I first discovered his work when I was doing research for my Th.M. thesis on Genesis 6:1–4. Having read much of his Ph.D. dissertation on the divine council, I looked forward to seeing this book published so that his excellent research would be accessible to more people.

Dr. Heiser earned his Ph.D. in Hebrew Bible and Semitic Languages from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 2004. He runs several websites dealing with subjects that many may consider to be fringe topics, such as debunking the claims made by those who promote the ancient aliens hypothesis. He is the academic editor at Logos Bible Software (the Bible program I have used every day for over 12 years now so I greatly appreciate his work there). I’ve also read his two novels dealing with the paranormal, The Façade and its sequel, The Portent.

The Unseen Realm focuses on what Heiser calls the “Deuteronomy 32 worldview” of the Bible. For those unfamiliar with this concept, it is based on the biblical teaching of the divine council, a term that appears in Psalm 82:1, ESV. God created certain heavenly beings that regularly meet with Him, and several passages speak of this assembly as though it were a council meeting. The Lord rules over the other members, and even though He doesn’t need their advice, He often asks for it before acting (see 1 Kings 22:19–23 for a great example). In Deuteronomy 32:8–9 we learn that when God judged the people at Babel, He placed these council members (called “sons of God” or in Hebrew, bene ha ’elohim) over the various people groups, but declared that Israel would be His nation. When God disinherited the peoples at Babel He set in motion a plan to redeem mankind while confounding the evil spiritual forces that seek to thwart Him. God would build a nation from one man (Abraham), and through him, the Lord would make a great nation (Israel) that was to be a beacon of light in a dark world and an instrument of judgment on wicked nations. Eventually, God would send His Son to come in the flesh as a descendant of Abraham, and He would die for the sins of the world.

Beginning with the early chapters of Genesis and moving throughout the Bible, Dr. Heiser shows how this Deuteronomy 32 worldview shows up over and over again. In our Western mindset we frequently overlook the supernatural battle going on around us, but this book demonstrates the Bible is filled with references to this realm, hence the book’s subtitle (Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible).

At over 400 pages (in the PDF copy I was sent), there is simply too much material to address in a book review, so I will highlight a few sections that I really appreciated and point out what I felt was a weakness in the book.

I highly recommend this book, if for no other reason, students of the Bible would be exposed to the concept of the divine council. If you want the Bible, particularly the Old Testament, to come alive like never before, then you need to read about this subject. If you want to understand the cultures in and around Israel throughout the Old Testament and why Israel so quickly slipped into idolatry, then this book is for you. Dr. Heiser is the leading expert on the subject, and he does a great job of writing at a non-technical level while providing extensive documentation in the footnotes for those who want to dig deeper.

Understanding the divine council makes it much easier to see what took place before the Flood “and also afterward” whenever the “sons of God” sired children by the “daughters of men” (Genesis 6:1–4). Heiser gives ample space to this topic, showing some of the problems with the views that seek to interpret “sons of God” as human beings, and demonstrating why the earliest view (that they were heavenly beings) is the accurate one. As someone who is currently finishing up a lengthy book on the topic of the sons of God and the Nephilim, I was concerned that Heiser may have beat me to it and that I’d be “reinventing the wheel.” Thankfully, he does not dwell long on the subject. He makes a good case for his position and then moves on. So the two volumes will complement each other quite well.

Heiser’s discussion of the kherem (items and people “devoted to destruction”) in chapter 25 is outstanding. One of the things I noticed while studying for my thesis is that when Joshua conquered the land, he was only told to wipe out the men, women, and children in certain places, but in other places, he was not given this command. In fact, Moses told the people that in some cases, they could make an offer of peace with a city (Deuteronomy 20:10–15), but in other instances, they were to thoroughly wipe the people out. Understanding what was really going on in these places goes a long way to answering the skeptical attacks on God’s character for the conquering of these peoples.

The book also does a good job of helping readers learn about the ways the Israelites interacted with the people around them. Even those who penned Scripture were not afraid to use concepts and the terminology from the surrounding pagan nations, although they often needed to redefine or refine the concepts to fit within Hebrew theology. Too many Western Christians, particularly from conservative backgrounds, avoid any possible linkage of the Scriptures with Ancient Near Eastern writings. This is probably due to the abuse of this concept by the liberals who act as if the Hebrews borrowed everything from these cultures. I believe Heiser strikes a nice balance in this book.

Although I was very pleased with the book overall, I didn’t agree with everything in it. I believe the greatest weakness in the book is Heiser’s goal of finding the Deuteronomy 32 worldview in nearly every section of Scripture. It is certainly present in many places, but Heiser may have read this idea into some passages. One that comes to mind is his discussion about the Apostle Paul’s view of himself in relation to the Deuteronomy 32 worldview. I strongly disagree that when Paul wrote Romans 11:25–27, he had himself in view as the instrument to bring in the full number of Gentiles so that all Israel could be saved (p. 305). There were a few other instances where I felt the author was reading the Deuteronomy 32 worldview into a passage, so as always, be sure to compare all that you read with Scripture to make sure it lines up.

The Unseen Realm will open your eyes up to world of the Bible and the worldview of its writers, enabling you to understand so much of it to a greater degree. I recommend it for anyone wanting a deeper grasp of what the Bible is all about. To order your copy and to see what others are saying about the book, please visit The Unseen Realm website.

[Disclaimer: I received an advance PDF copy of the book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.]

About Tim Chaffey

I am the founder of Midwest Apologetics and work as the Content Manager with the Attractions Division of Answers in Genesis. I have written (or co-authored) several books, including In Defense of Easter, God and Cancer, The Sons of God and the Nephilim, and The Truth Chronicles Series (see the publications page for more details). Please note: the opinions expressed on this site are my own and do not necessarily represent the views of Answers in Genesis.

Comments

The Unseen Realm by Michael S. Heiser—a book review — 16 Comments

  1. To everyone,

    This is an old post but I wish to comment despite.

    GOD’S ways are not our ways. We only see in part. Bare in spirit (not “mind”) that God will always remain in HIS complete fullness, unknown. Just as the heavenly host marveled over our/this creation and any/all of HIS creations, we will eternally remain in awe of HIM along with any/all HIS eternally devoted beings.
    So, I am extremely pleased when a Christian makes scriptual breakthroughs in the current times.

    In this age where media is sporting offensive to God agendas (we all see them clearly); Ufology as a new ?-mark against GOD’s kingdom, LGBT grafting-as-norm movement, hidious violence desensitization, clear political corruption for flaunting human dominion as capable of being master of all his decisions and above accountability to anyone; to name only a few, I celebrate Dr. Heiser’s life dedication and purpose of continuing the GOD intended “unvailing” of HIS design for HIS human/earth creation.

    I assert by spiritual conviction that GOD is an inclusive GOD toward HIS beings; We, heirs with CHRIST JESUS.

    I find no error, concern, blinding obession, fault, with Dr. Heiser’s scriptural clarifications. I only see “a man” sensitive to the age inwhich he/we live, seeking out in scripture & pertinent historical documents, TRUTH against/to dispell, the ongoing anti-christ movement’s growing complex attempts to misdirect all humanity. This, which has inspired me to reach into GOD’S WORD much, much more fervently.

    His life devotion honors GOD and has reached a large audience to the Glory of GOD.

    I will see you and CHRIST JESUS our Lord/Savior/Brother very soon. In fact, at the completion of my vapor.

    To all my brothers and sisters in CHRIST JESUS, love to you especially and let’s keep our lamps feeled and wicks trimmed!!

  2. Tim,

    Thank you for this review. I have read the book and it truly opened my eyes. I had never heard of the “divine council” before this. None of my seminary courses even mentioned it. I have been debating teaching this in a discipleship class in the church I am pastoring and your blog helped me in may decision. Thanks again!

  3. Tim,
    Thankful for your book review on The Unseen Realm. I haven’t read that book yet since the interview I heard with Dr. Heiser recommended reading Supernatural for a more condensed version of his thoughts in Unseen. I find in this book amazing understanding of passages never discussed by preachers or bible scholars. But I often am hesitant to grasp hold of concepts so out of the ordinary line of thought for fear I am going to be deceived. In search of further affirmation that others believe what I see to be true about this topic through Michael’s book and through scripture, I found your review. I am doing a study on the kingdom of God and this book has given me some enlightenment. Can you recommend any other books I might read as well?

    • Hi Susan,
      Based on reviews, I’d recommend The Coming Kingdom by Andrew Woods. I haven’t read it yet, but I just placed an order for it today (with the $5 off promo code on a $20+ book for Prime day). I’m looking forward to reading it. It is supposed to go through the entire Bible to see what the Bible means when it speaks of the kingdom, and explaining how so many people get it wrong. Hope this helps!

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  5. Mr. Chaffey,

    Thank you for this review. You echoed what I was feeling about Dr. Heiser’s book. This is the first time I have been exposed to the “Divine Counsel” and it made a whole lot of sense. It seems to me that this paradigm has a LOT of explanatory power even for today in the events we see going on. However, like you, I got s sense that Dr. Heiser was reading too much of this view into other passages in the bible. Being a layman I am not equiped to counter a person on the level of Dr. Heiser other that to say, “I don’t agree”.

    I feel that the “Divine Counsel” paradigm needs to be flushed out and the body of Christ will do well to embrace it.

  6. I only discovered this book through Glenn Becks’ The Blaze. I have recently become interested in this topic, from other non – traditional sources, namely Trey Smith videos via youtube. Dr.Heiser provides a more sound biblical view of an idea that seems obvious to me. He walks the reader through texts that the reader knows should be understood, but we glance over. I can seem to stop reading it, and I enjoy learning about God’s handiwork, and seeing behind the scenes.

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  10. Tim

    Thanks for taking the time to review my book, and for the enthusiasm your review conveys about its content. I’m especially glad to see someone like you read it and encourage your audience to do the same, as I think it has a lot of apologetic payoff.

    I appreciate it!

    Mike

    • Dr. Heiser,
      You’re very welcome. Thanks for writing the book and for all your work in this area and with Logos—both have been tremendous blessings to me.
      I agree that there is a lot of apologetic payoff. You reach certain audiences that the vast majority of Christians won’t because they avoid these topics. I pray God will use this book to reach unbelievers with the gospel and to help believers come to a deeper understanding of Scripture.
      Keep up the great work!
      Tim

  11. I do not have a comment about the book nor the review. I only wish to thank you for providing a website where I can read about topics I’ve ‘seen’ in Scripture all of my life but were carefully skipped over or interpreted differently than what I, even as a preteen thought seemed more obvious, by my fundamentalist church.

    We were not narrow so much as those things that didn’t seem obvious (believing God would have made it plainer if we needed to figure it out say ‘for our salvation.’ )

    Thus, I appreciate discussions on topics such as this book and your comments which are enlightening as well as–for me, pleasing to find that my early responses were not far off by just common sense.

    • Karen,
      Thanks for taking the time to read the post and for your encouraging comments. I’m glad to know that my blog has been helpful for you.
      I think the common sense interpretation is usually the right one. We get into trouble when we start making excuses for the text or trying to find a different interpretation because we don’t like what it says.
      God bless!

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