BSD_1984

Save you the time: The Unseen Throne: Psalm 82 and the Divine Council is a biblical-theological examination by Brian A. Dempsey (published by Everstone Press, his first book). It focuses on Psalm 82 and the broader “divine council” motif in Scripture.  Core Thesis: The book engages deeply with the popular Divine Council Worldview (DCW), especially as popularized by Michael Heiser in The Unseen Realm. While affirming a supernatural biblical worldview—including the reality of Yahweh’s heavenly court and spiritual beings—Dempsey argues that Psalm 82 does not depict God judging rebellious celestial beings (as Heiser and others interpret it). Instead, it portrays Yahweh pronouncing judgment on unjust earthly rulers (human judges or kings) in a divine courtroom scene.  Key Elements of the Book • Exegetical Focus: It provides a close, text-driven analysis of Psalm 82 in its Hebrew context, examining its language, structure, and placement within the Psalter. Dempsey reexamines the divine council motif across the full witness of the Hebrew Scriptures (including connections to Deuteronomy 32 and other passages). • Critique of Heiser/DC W: It offers a thoughtful, scholarly rebuttal to certain interpretations of Psalm 82 in the Divine Council framework, highlighting exegetical issues while not necessarily rejecting the entire DCW. It emphasizes a high view of God’s sovereignty and structured spiritual administration.  • Theological Emphasis: The book upholds the Bible’s supernatural elements but prioritizes careful hermeneutics and Scripture as the primary authority. It addresses debates about the governance of the nations, heavenly beings, and Yahweh’s unique rule.  Audience and Style It targets serious students of Scripture—especially those familiar with or influenced by Heiser’s work—who want a rigorous, nuanced alternative grounded in exegesis rather than speculation. Readers describe it as a clear, well-researched contribution that deepens understanding of Psalm 82 without dismissing the “unseen” spiritual realities of the Bible.  In short, The Unseen Throne is a concise, exegetically rich critique and re-reading of a pivotal psalm. It seeks to clarify the divine council concept while centering Yahweh’s unchallenged authority over both heavenly and earthly realms. It’s available on Amazon and positioned as a helpful counterpoint in ongoing discussions about biblical supernaturalism.

@marksbury a.co/d/0eJVuQH6 Would probably read that as well.

Michael Heiser has done immeasurable harm to the church. He has a cult-like following of people who have a completely unbiblical hermeneutic to interpret scripture.

@Traffickershit @angelshalagina Right, b/c the objective was only to secure the Eastern Russian language speaking population, ya’ know the folks being shelled by the Ukrainian Azov battalion. But if the Ukraine is gonna push the point then Putin may be obliged to go big and deep.

@BSD_1984 @angelshalagina Something that hasn't happened in almost 4 years of war

Dear Moscow, If you smell smoke, that’s us. If you hear buzzing, that’s us too. If you’re panicking - good. Sincerely, Ukrainian drone swarm P.S. We don’t knock.

@Osinttechnical This is the first time that the F/A-18 mating ritual has been caught on film.

Footage of the mid air collision between a pair of Navy Super Hornets/Growlers during the Gunfighter Skies Air Show at Mountain Home Air Force Base moments ago.

@visegrad24 Disproportionately responsible for this type of violence.

The Italian authorities have announced that yesterday’s car-ramming attack in Modena by Salim El Koudri was not a case of terrorism but due to “mental health issues” 🇮🇹🇲🇦

@Gerashchenko_en You talk like a terrorist

Moscow and Moscow region will remain under Ukrainian strikes until Putin signs a capitulation. Today the largest Ukrainian attack on Moscow and the Moscow region since the beginning of the war took place. Russian military infrastructure and oil facilities that generate money for Russia’s war machine were under attack. Social media is now full of videos from residents of the Moscow region complaining that they “never thought the war would reach them.” According to opinion polls, 75% of Moscow residents support the actions of Russian troops in Ukraine. They also support continuing the war rather than starting negotiations. These figures are roughly twice as high as the Russian national average. Residents of Moscow participate the least in the war, suffer the fewest casualties, and the Russian authorities do everything possible to ensure that life in Moscow and Saint Petersburg remains almost unchanged from pre-war times. As long as it did not directly affect them, Muscovites either supported the war or pretended it had nothing to do with them. Moscow is the center of the empire. Russia has always been deeply polarized: Moscow treats many of its own territories and peoples as colonies. Strikes on other Russian regions barely concerned the Russian authorities. For Russia and its regime, Moscow is the political, financial, ideological, and symbolic center that embodies the full concentration of power. Moscow is the main imperial symbol dominating vast regions - Putin’s personal fortress, from which the neo-imperial state is controlled and the war is directed. That is why Putin was so afraid of Ukrainian drones during the parade. Ukraine has now developed - and continues to develop - our long-range strike capabilities against Russia. And we will act symmetrically. Moscow’s air defense systems can no longer fully protect Russian military and oil facilities. Russia’s war against Ukraine is now also being fought on Russian territory. Leave Ukrainian territory, pay reparations, and it will all end!

@Atul_Gawande Ebola outbreak?! Must be an election year!

WHO declares health emergency due to Ebola outbreak in Congo w 80+ deaths. Undetected for weeks. USAID and CDC once worked there to strengthen surveillance. As I wrote in 2023, that cut detection to <48 hrs & costs. That’s now gone. This is the result. nytimes.com/2023/12/25/opi…

@ZelenskyyUa Just don’t bitch about it when Kiev is leveled then.

Our responses to Russia’s prolongation of the war and its attacks on our cities and communities are entirely justified. This time, Ukrainian long-range sanctions reached the Moscow region, and we are clearly telling the Russians: their state must end its war. Ukrainian drone and missile manufacturers continue their work. I am grateful to the Security Service of Ukraine and all the Defense Forces of Ukraine for their precision. The distance from Ukraine’s state border is over 500 km. The concentration of Russian air defense in the Moscow region is the highest. But we are overcoming it. Glory to Ukraine!

She made the decision that was right for her. $52,000/year? Tax free? For 20 years? Maybe she knows she’s not disciplined enough to not blow it all on beers and vacations. She might have deadbeat mooching family members or friends hassling her all the time. Either way, congratulations!

An 20-year-old Canadian girl won $1M (tax free in Canada) in the lottery and chose $1,000/week instead of the lump sum. Is this wise or the worst financial decision of her life? What are you doing when this happens to you??

@AttorneyCrump I smell a hoax. Where’s Jussie?

A historic Black cemetery in Palmetto, Florida, was vandalized, with graves damaged and “Trump” and “DeSantis” spray-painted across tombstones. Our ancestors deserve dignity in life and in death. Desecrating sacred burial grounds is hateful, painful, and unacceptable. We must protect Black history and honor the families impacted by this cruelty.

“If God created the universe for mankind, why is it so empty of life?” Your presupposition isn’t accurate. God created for His own purposes by His own council. If you loose sight of this truth then everything following is vanity and foolishness. Man is part of the story. God was, is, and will always be Preeminent.

If God created the universe for mankind, why is it so empty of life? What is the point of endless dead planets? It’s like creating a terrarium the size of Florida for one little lizard.

@MrGeorgeWallace The full expression of Woke-ism. It eventually eats its own.

Alex Haley grew up in Tennessee. He traced his family tree back to his original enslaved, African ancestor, then wrote 'Roots'. He received a Pulitzer Prize for it. Knoxville just banned it 'cause it might make white kids sad.

In reading TUR and listening to the Naked Bible podcast, MH is trying to remind us that of the Cultural context (2nd Temple period) in which Christ lived/died/resurrected as well as the NT was written. There are a lot of ‘possessions’ and ‘demons’ in the gospels. That isn’t seen throughout the OT. Not a lot in the early church documents (letters, epistles) either. MHs niche was expanding on this facet of the day. Enoch and other non-canon writings are referenced in the NT because the recipients of these letters understood the context. Consider that the inspiration of the HS didn’t disallow these cultural references so there must be some practical explanation. That was his shtick.

@5Solas2 Ok I’ll bite…what is the unbiblical hermeneutic?

“Tyre is an ancient Phoenician city with Roman ruins and a hippodrome.” This should tell you all you need. Tyre has been a football for thousands of years. Israel is currently in possession. Depending on when you look back it was Britain or Ottoman, etc ad nauseam. This is how it works - Lebanon was occupied by power proxies to harass Israel. Then Israel started to eliminate that power base and all its subsidiary proxies. Explained.

Can anyone explain to me why Israel and only Israel is able to order people from another country to evacuate their home? Anyone? Israel has issued an evacuation order for Tyre, Lebanon, displacing 200,000 more people. Tyre is an ancient Phoenician city with Roman ruins and a hippodrome.

From Full Grok: Yes, in Jehovah’s Witnesses (JW) theology, denying Christ’s full deity as defined at Nicaea (i.e., rejecting the Trinity and viewing Jesus as a created being, the first creation of Jehovah, often identified with Michael the Archangel) is a core, non-negotiable belief required for anyone in the organization, including the anointed 144,000.  JW View on Christ and the 144,000: JWs explicitly reject the Nicene definition of Christ as “true God from true God, of one substance with the Father.” They teach: • Jesus is God’s Son, the highest created being, but not Almighty God (Jehovah). • There is no Trinity; the holy spirit is God’s active force. • This aligns more closely with Arianism than Nicene orthodoxy.  The 144,000 “anointed” (or “little flock”) are a literal, limited group selected by God from Pentecost 33 CE onward. They alone: • Have a heavenly hope and will rule as kings and priests with Christ in heaven. • Are “born again,” in the New Covenant, with Christ as their mediator. • Partake of the Memorial emblems (bread and wine). The vast majority of JWs (“other sheep” or “great crowd”) have an earthly hope of living forever on a paradise earth.  To qualify as one of the anointed (and thus part of the 144,000), a person must: • Be a baptized JW in good standing. • Receive a special “anointing” by holy spirit, giving them a firm inner conviction of their heavenly calling (they “know” it without doubt). • Maintain faithful conduct, faith, and loyalty to Jehovah’s organization until death (or the end). • Hold to JW doctrines, including the rejection of the Trinity and Christ’s full deity.  God sovereignly chooses and seals them (Revelation 7:4; 14:1). Personal ambition does not qualify someone. However, the organization teaches that only those aligned with “the truth” (JW teachings) can be selected. Professing belief in the Trinity or Nicene Christology would disqualify a person as unfaithful or apostate. Tiered/Hierarchical System from a Human Perspective? Yes, JW eschatology and practice create a clear two-tier (or hierarchical) structure among believers, even if ultimate selection is God’s sovereignty:  • Tier 1: The Anointed (144,000) — Heavenly rulers, born again, New Covenant members, partakers at Memorial. They form the “faithful and discreet slave” class (historically linked to the Governing Body). Their role is superior in authority and privilege during the Millennium. • Tier 2: The Great Crowd/Other Sheep — Earthly subjects, not born again in the same sense, no heavenly hope, do not partake of emblems. They benefit from the rulers but are not co-rulers. From a human/organizational viewpoint: • There are observable criteria and self-identification (partaking publicly signals anointed status). • Loyalty to the Governing Body (mostly anointed) and organizational teachings is essential for approval. • Numbers of self-identified anointed have fluctuated (historically declining post-1935, with some increase in recent decades), but the doctrine emphasizes a completed or nearly completed number.  • This creates a practical hierarchy: anointed have greater spiritual responsibility and authority. JWs emphasize that this is not earned by works but by God’s undeserved kindness plus faithful obedience. Critics (including many Christian traditions) argue this introduces a form of spiritual elitism or works-based qualification not explicit in Scripture, contrasting with the biblical view that all believers share one hope and one body (e.g., Ephesians 4:4-6; one flock under one Shepherd).  In summary, within JW belief, correct doctrine on Christ’s nature (denying Nicene deity) is foundational to being “in the truth” and thus eligible for anointing. The system is hierarchical in its distinction between heavenly rulers and earthly subjects, determined ultimately by God but discerned and lived out through organizational faithfulness.

@grok A core tenet on the Bible Students/JW belief system is to deny the deity of Christ as being the second person of a Triune God as defined at the Nicene Council (325 AD) which was directed against Arianism which stated Jesus was a created being. Is the denial of Christ’s deity, as defined at the Council, necessary to be considered worthy/acceptable to be amongst this 144k? Then isn’t it logical to conclude that from a human perspective, there is a tiered or hierarchical system to determine whether a person has qualified to be considered worthy of inclusion by God’s sovereignty?

@grok Bummer for the folks born and brought in after all the ‘anointed’ positions where allocated. How does JW sell the lesser position to its modern adherents? What if a current participant is actually more worthy to be included in the 144K? So even in death you could be displaced?

@EcciusMaximus @grok Did Ignatius really say this or is this a fabrication? If a fabrication, then from who, where and when?

The early Church already called itself Catholic and it already looked to Rome for authority WHILE the apostles were still alive. ✍🏻Ignatius of Antioch wrote in 100AD stating that “wherever the Pope appears there is the Catholic Church. ✍🏻Irenaeus of Lyons eighty years later in 180AD wrote all the Popes from his time to Peter the apostle. The idea that the RCC didn’t exist in the time right after Jesus is a fictional tale @WesleyLHuff likes to tell people to avoid the obvious truth right in front of his eyes.

@grok @CertainSpeaks Which notable non-Bible Student/JW historical figures have been identified as being part of the 144k?

In the pre-1935 Bible Student teaching, the great multitude was also spirit-begotten Christians with a heavenly hope, but in a secondary role: serving as priests/ministers before God's throne in the heavenly temple (Rev 7:15), not as co-rulers/kings with Christ like the 144,000 little flock. It mainly consisted of dedicated Bible Students who professed the heavenly calling but weren't part of the sealed 144,000. Russell and early leaders saw it as including others outside their group who accepted "present truth," though the anointed were increasingly tied to their movement. The name "Jehovah's Witnesses" didn't exist until 1931.

@grok @CertainSpeaks @grok “great crowd as a secondary heavenly class” is definitely a lesser position than those co-reigning with Christ. In the original teaching, who made up the great multitude? Weren’t these Non-JW with the 144k made up exclusively of JWs?

Before the mid-1930s, Bible Students (early JWs) taught that both the 144,000 "little flock" and the "great multitude/crowd" (Rev 7:9) had heavenly hopes—the 144k as joint heirs ruling with Christ, the great crowd as a secondary heavenly class serving in the temple. In 1935 at the Washington, D.C. convention, Rutherford identified the great crowd as the earthly "other sheep" with paradise-earth hope. This shift came as more converts showed no heavenly calling and the anointed number appeared nearly filled, enabling broader recruitment. JWs see prior teaching as incomplete "light" progressively clarified, not a fixed error.