The Realm of the Spirit, Here on Earth
Human, Earthly Pictures Used to Speak of That Realm
By Jonathan Mitchell
Jesus told Nicodemus,
"The Spirit (or: Breath-effect, or, exhaled Breath; or: wind) habitually breathes or blows where It (or: He) is presently intending (willing; purposing), and you continually hear Its (or: His) voice, but yet you have not seen, and thus do not know, from what source It continuously comes, and where It progressively goes and habitually brings [things and folks] under [Its] control.(or: The wind constantly blows where it presently sets its will, and you constantly hear its sound, but yet you have not seen and do not know from where it is coming, nor where it is going; or: = The wind continuously blows and the Spirit normally breathes {respires} - in the place that each has purpose. And so you are often hearing the sound that either makes, although you have not perceived from what place it is presently coming, as well as to what place it is presently leading, under [its influence or control].) (Jn. 3:8a; [cf Eccl. 11:5a; Acts 2:2; 1 Cor. 2:11-12])
Paul told his listeners,
"Yet YOU folks are not constantly existing within the midst of, nor in the sphere of, Flesh (or: As for you, you are not in union with the natural realm, nor are you centered on the alienated, natural human condition, nor in Torah-keeping with flesh sacrifices), but rather within spirit, in the sphere of Spirit, in union with Breath-effect, and centered on [His] Attitude, since indeed God's Spirit (or: if so be that [the] Breath-effect which is God; or: if, as is the case, an attitude which corresponds to God) is continuously housing Itself (making His abode; residing; dwelling; by idiom: cohabiting; living together as husband and wife) within the midst of, and among, you folks,,," (Rom. 8:9a)
This article will share some thoughts on the realm of the Spirit, here on earth, but will not be able to offer an exhaustive treatment of this topic. To do that, it would require a book. Our purpose is to be a catalyst for thoughts, meditations and listening.
In Jn. 3:8, above, Jesus' words painted a picture for Nicodemus, using the earthly phenomenon of the wind. This worked well, since the Greek word "pneuma" meant either "wind" or "spirit." From the elements (or, morphemes) of "pneuma," we get a literal meaning: "breath-effect." By understanding this, we can immediately perceive three potential spheres of meaning that could potentially be indicated by this one word: spirit, wind or breath. The context should indicate the intention of the author, but there are scholars who agree that ancient texts may have words or passages that are multivalent (having, or susceptible of, many applications, interpretations, meanings, or values). The next thing that Jesus said, in Jn. 3:8b, shows us that Jesus was speaking about the Spirit, as well as the wind:
"Thus is everyone (or: does everyone constantly exist being) - the person (or: the [corporate] Person [= the Second Humanity]) being birthed, having been born forth from out of the midst of the Spirit (or: In this manner exists all mankind, which is in the state of being born from the Breath-effect)."The Bible has had a history of different ideas concerning how the Scriptures should be read, and then interpreted. The simplistic idea that "the plain reading of the text is the author's meaning" has often led to divisions within the body of Christ, when different individuals and different groups "plainly" read the ancient texts in differing ways. The history of the Protestant Reformation offers us many examples of this (cf "Rebel in the Ranks: Martin Luther, the Reformation, and the Conflicts That Continue to Shape Our World," Brad S. Gregory, 2017).
So, how are we to understand what Paul said in Rom. 8:9a, above? If we connect Paul's statement with that of Jesus, we can discern that both of them were speaking about the spirit of God. But how are we to understand this realm of existence?
In 1982, Paul G. Hiebert wrote, "The Flaw of the Excluded Middle" (Missiology: An International Review, Vol. X No. 1). As a missionary to India, he had been confronted with native spiritual practioners, of various sorts, from the traditional religions. Even as converted Christians, when Christian leaders could not solve the people's medical or other problems, their converts would turn to their local "medicine men/women" for cures or advice. While the missionaries would dismiss these local practices, Hiebert observed that the realm of animistic spiritism was a worldview of the people to whom they had been sent. This worldview he described as a "middle level" between Western empirical secularism and conventional Christian perceptions of the spiritual world. Missionaries would, by belief, culture and training, reject (and thus exclude) this middle level of "earth spirits," and in so doing be unable to meet the practical needs of the people. We bring this up not to critique the behaviors of missionaries, but simply to point to the existence of a worldview which believes in a spiritual realm of existence which lies between what "normative Christians" view as simply a two-realm cosmology: the realm of God, and the realm of human existence (the "natural world"), or, as "heaven and earth," a dichotomy which we see repeated throughout both the OT and the NT.
Worldviews are composed of thoughts, which are made up of words or mental pictures. These normally arise from cultural or familial traditions, and/or religious practices of people groups. These thoughts and views inhabit our minds and the core of our beings. Jesus informed us that:"For example, from out of the heart (the core of our being) habitually come forth worthless reasonings (wicked designs; considerations having a bad quality; miserable and laborious dialogues and arguments), murders, adulteries, fornications and prostitutions (or: sexual misconducts; [cf Lev. 18:6-23]), thefts, false testimonies (or: perjuries; false presentations of evidence), blasphemies (malicious slanders; abusive misrepresentations)" (Mat. 15:19). And we read in Jas. 1:14,
"Yet each person is repeatedly probed and put to the proof (tested and tried in an ordeal), being continuously dragged (or: drawn) out and entrapped under his own over-covering passion (by his own full longing, craving or lust; or: by what he sets his desires upon)." [Gen. 3:6]
We suggest that these two verses point us to the origin of bad, or evil, spirits, because words are spirits, whether good or bad. Jesus instructs us, in Jn. 6:63,
"The Declarations (Gush-effects; spoken words; sayings; results of the Flow) which I, Myself, have spoken to (or: in; with; for) you folks are (or: continue to be; exist being) Spirit (or: spirit; Breath-effect; attitude)."
Thoughts can become mindsets. Mindsets can become strongholds within us, creating a spirit, or an attitude, that can set or control our personalities. Attitudes (which are spirits) will affect our emotions, and our emotions will in turn affect our attitudes. Our spirits radiate out, and affect our environment, and other people. They can bring Life (as with Jesus), or they can radiate death (as with some of the Pharisees - Mat. 23:27).
From our own experiences, we acknowledge that these spirits, of the "middle level," are real, and suggest that focusing on them will tend to draw them into our world of experience. That said, Jesus told us that He is the Way (Path), the Truth (the Reality) and the Life. Was Jesus negating the "middle level" of "earth spirits"? No, for He invaded their "middle level," both confronting them and casting them out of people. He WAS the God realm, and operated from the sphere of God's kingdom (sovereign influence and activity). His ministry to people with physical or mental/spiritual/psychic disorders was to heal them or deliver them from whatever distorted condition was imprisoning them. The "souls" of those folks had been living in the "middle level," and were thus subject to the spirits within that level. We have now been given the same ministry as was given to Jesus, as we see Paul unpacking it in 2 Cor. 10:
3. For you see, though habitually walking around and about (ordering our behavior) within flesh (= in the physical, human condition), we are not now serving as a soldier (or: continuing in military service) in correspondence and accord to flesh (= on the level of estranged and enslaved humanity, or in line with the human condition; or: = in the sphere or mode of old covenant Jewish reasonings), [cf Eph. 6:12-19]
4. for it follows that the tools and weapons of our military service (or: campaign) [are] not fleshly (= do not pertain to our human condition; ["are not the weapons of the Domination System" - Walter Wink]), but rather, [are] powerful and capable ones in God (or: those with inherent means of influence, by, and with, God), focused toward [the] pulling down (or: face to face with a demolition) of effects and results of fortifications (or: strongholds; strongly entrenched positions [of the "Domination System" - W. Wink, Engaging the Powers]),
5. progressively tearing down and demolishing conceptions (or: concepts; the effects of thoughts, calculations, imaginations, logical rules, the keeping of mental records or accounts, assessments, evaluations, reasonings and reflections, or misleading arguments and subjective beliefs) and every height (or: high position; high-effect) and lofty [attitude, purpose, obstacle or result of status] that is habitually lifting itself up against (or: elevating itself up on so as to put down) the intimate and experiential knowledge of, and insight from, God, and then taking captive every effect of perception, concept and understanding (result from directing one's mind) - one after another - and leading them prisoner into the hearing obedience of the Christ (or: the humble attentive listening, which comes from the Anointed One; or: the submissive paying attention, which is the Anointing).
In Gen. 2, we read that God formed the human from moist soil and then He blew into his nostrils the Breath of Life, and the human became a living soul. In the OT, the term "soul" usually meant "a human being." In Christianity, most folks consider a person to be "body and soul." But Paul added another dimension, "spirit," in 1 Thes. 5:23:
"Now may the God of the Peace and this Joining, Himself (or: Yet the very God who is Peace and Joined-harmony can), set you folks apart [being] completely whole (or: wholly perfect; entirely mature; wholly finished and at the goal), and may your whole allotment (= every part) - the spirit, the soul and the body - be blamelessly kept (unexceptionally guarded and maintained) within, and in union with, the Presence of our Lord, Jesus Christ (or: in the sphere of this Presence, which is our Master, Jesus Anointed)."
You might say that Paul added a third dimension, placing the level of "soul" as a middle realm. We suggest that this might correlate to the three spheres of the Tabernacle/Temple: the outer court, the holy place and the holy of holies. The innermost chamber was God's realm and throne. Recall that we are characterized as being the "Temple of God" - God's home (a temple was the 'home' of a deity).
Since Jesus said that a person who wanted to follow Him must deny himself, take up his cross, and then destroy (the active voice - not "lose") his or her "soul" (psyche, ego, or self), in Mat. 16:24-25, we might conclude that He was speaking about our identity and consciousness of what Paul called the first Adam, in 1 Cor. 15:45,
"Thus also (or: In this way also), it has been written, "The first human (or: man), Adam, came for existence (or: was birthed) into [being] a living soul" [Gen. 2:7]; the Last Adam into [being] a continuously life-making (life-producing; life-creating; life-forming) Spirit (or: Breath-effect; Attitude)."
That soul, which died ("in the trespass and sin" - Eph. 2:1; Rom. 5:12), might be what we call the realm of the soulish or psychic, the realm in which a person can be subject to spirits of the "middle level" of spiritual animism or witchcraft. In Rom. 8, Paul instructs us:
7. Because of that, the result of the thinking (disposition; thought processes; mind-set, outlook) of the Flesh (= attention to Torah boundary-markers, custom and cultus; or: from the human condition) [is; brings] enmity, alienation and discord [streaming] to God (or: hostility or active hatred with a view to God), for, you see, it continues not being humbly aligned and supportive (habitually placed under and submitted; or, as a middle: subjecting, humbly arranging or marshaling itself) to the principle and law which is God (or: in God's principle; by the Law, code and custom from God), for, indeed, neither is it able nor does it have power.
8. Now these folks continuously existing in the sphere of (or: So people being in union with, or centered in, or in the midst of) Flesh (or: = the organic, natural realm; = the alienated human condition; or: = the religious system of flesh sacrifices or Torah boundary-markers and customs) have no power and are not able at any point to please God (or: to fit or adapt to God; or: to be content with God; or: to be acceptable in God). [cf Isa. 30:1-5; 31:1, 3a; 29:13-14; 1 Cor. 1:19-30]
With these thoughts in mind, we now focus on the topic of what some call "the court of heaven," or "the council of God." On the outset, we ask, "Does God have a council, or a court?" Many Christians think that He does, and of course this would be "in heaven." The term "heaven" includes "the spiritual realm of God," the "outer space of the stars, planets and galaxies," or just, "the sky," which includes our "atmosphere," for the clouds of the sky can touch the mountains and fill the valleys.
However, thinking of God as dwelling in a remote, inaccessible realm of spirit distances Him from us, and by definition, restricts our access to Him. This view (whether in Deism or common Christian thought) keeps God away from us, in our thinking and in our world view. Those with this view think of God as being remote. And this paradigm contradicts both the OT and the NT witnesses about God. Israel's history and many of the Psalms record God's interactions with the realm of earth and human activities. We suggest that this view/paradigm is false.
But, what about those places in Scripture which indicate that the common understanding is correct? Some see evidence for this in Ps. 82:1,
"God stood (or: takes a stand) within the midst of a synagogue of gods (or: a gathering together composed of gods), and within [the] midst, He continues thoroughly dividing for examination, discerningly evaluating, and then making decisions concerning (fully judging) gods!" (LXX, JM)
May we suggest reading, Who are the gods of Ps. 82?.
We posit that those gods (elohim, in the Heb. text), of Ps. 82:1, were the leadership of Israel.
Another picture that has been interpreted as a "heavenly council" is in Job, chapters 1 and 2. The setting there is God plus "the sons of God," in the Hebrew text, or "agents of God," in the LXX. We suggest that this picture corresponds with the symbolic vision in Rev. 4:4ff, where the elders of Israel (we suggest) are seated around the throne. Neither the sons of the book of Job, nor the elders, in Rev. 4, give any advice to God… they are just present. In the Job story, God interacts with the adversary, who comes on stage, and He asks it for a report of what he's (or: it's) been up to. Then God brings up Job, and the adversary (the LXX uses the word normally rendered "devil" - someone who thrusts something through another, to cause harm) responds in accord with the accepted wisdom of Israel (we see this same wisdom via Job's "friends" in the midsection of the book, as well as Job's response to what adversity has done to him). When the adversary has permission, we see that it works via "the Sabeans" (1:15), then in "God's fire from heaven" (probably lightning - vs. 16), and next some "Chaldeans" (vs. 17), and finally "a great wind" collapsed the house of Job's eldest son, killing his four sons (vss. 18-19). These were all the work of humans, or weather - both of which can be adversarial to people.
In Job 2, Job's body develops ulcerous, painful sores and boils, but Yahweh does not let this malady take Job's life. Now Job gives no credit to "satan" having done this, but sees all of this as from the hand of the Lord, blesses Yahweh, and does not attribute folly to God (1:21-22). In 2:10, Job makes his famous affirmation, "What, shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?" Then follows the discourses of the men, and Job's responses. The adversary never enters the story after his challenge to God about touching Job's body (2:5). In 2:6, Yahweh tells the adversary that Job is in the hand of this adversary, and the sores/boils are the immediate outcome. Bodily sickness was Job's adversary, not a malevolent spiritual being, as common theology thinks. What we have is personification - a common rhetorical tool.
Yahweh comes on stage in chapter 38 and challenges the men about "darkening counsel" by "words without knowledge," and then confronts Job for a few chapters! Also, the "sons/agents" of chapters 1 and 2 are not mentioned again, unless these are detected to be Job's friends who come into his presence as a further test of Job. We should also note that in 1:6 and 2:1, the setting is "when the sons of God came in to present themselves before Yahweh (a Feast Day?), "and satan came also AMONG them." 2:1b informs us that satan ALSO came to "present himself (or itself) before Yahweh." This story and the picture presented are poor evidence that God has "a council." We suggest that it is more of a synagogue or temple setting.
Some interpreters look to the vision in Isa. 6:1ff as a picture of "the heavenly council," with the presence of the seraphim (literally: burning ones), and then with God asking the question, "Whom shall I send, who will go for Me?" They assuming that He is addressing a "council" with this question, and then Isaiah, as an onlooker, speaks up: "Here am I, send me!" We should notice that the setting of this vision was the Temple. The burning agent takes a hot coal from "the altar." That would have been the altar of incense. Again, this mystical presentation does not suggest the presence of a "council," any more than do the symbolic visions (cf Rev. 1:1, "He indicated [it] by signs {or: symbols}") of agents in the book of Revelation. The message of the Good News is that God's Realm (kingdom; sovereign influence and activities) is "at hand (near enough to touch; accessible)." We see the New Jerusalem (the Lamb's Bride) descending from the atmosphere to the earth, where her gates are never shut. She, and God's presence within her, are always open for kingdom business.
Paul informs us, in Eph. 2:6, that:
"He jointly roused and raised (or: suddenly awakens and raises) [us] up together, and caused [us] to sit (or: seats [us]; = enthroned [us]) together in union with, and among, the ruling heavenly people, and within the things situated upon the imposed heavens (or: centered in the full, perfected heavenlies; or: among those comprising the complete and completed heavenlies; in union with the celestial people; among the folks [residing] upon the atmospheres) within, in union with, and in the sphere of, Christ Jesus,"
Then, in Acts 20:28 Paul instructs his listeners that they are:
"to be continuously (or: habitually) acting as shepherds of God's [other MSS: the Lord's {= Christ's or Yahweh's}] called-out community which He built and produced as a surrounding for Himself (or: made to encompass Himself), through (or: by means of) His own blood,"
Notice the verb of the last clause: "built and produced as a surrounding for Himself." The verb is 'peripoieo' - from 'poieo' (build, construct; produce; make) with the prefix, 'peri' (around; in a circle). That "surrounding" is "the called-out community." Paul used this same verb in 1 Tim. 3:13,
"You see, those men giving supporting service and dispensing [goods, instruction or aid] in a fine, beautiful, excellent and ideal manner, continue in (or: by; for; among) themselves building around themselves a beautiful (fine; excellent; ideal) circular staircase (that which enables folks to step up to a higher place) and much confident freedom of speech (outspokenness and open boldness, which is the right of citizens) resident within faith, trust and loyalty - that which is resident within, and in union with, Christ Jesus."
The noun from this verb is found in Eph. 1:14,
"a release into freedom (liberation from slavery or imprisonment) from that which was made to surround [us/you] (or: of the encircling, possessing, acquisition of earnings; or: which is that which has been constructed as a perimeter around [us], overwhelming [us])."
The noun is also used in 2 Thes. 2:24,
"on into which, through our message of goodness, ease and well-being, He also called you folks [other MSS: us] into an Encompassing [cf Heb. 12:1] (or: unto a forming of an encirclement; with a view to establishing a perimeter; into the midst of creating a surrounding and a procuring) of the glory (or: which is the glory; from this praise-inducing manifestation and assumed appearance) of our Lord, Jesus Christ."
He wants US to surround Him and be with Him (Jn. 14:3, 18, 23).
In closing, we point to Heb. 12 as the symbolic "earthly" location from the heavenly Jerusalem,
23. [that is] in (or: to) an assembly of an entire people (or: a festal gathering of all, in a universal convocation) and in (or: to) a summoning forth (or: a called-out and gathered community) of firstborn folks having been copied (from-written, as from a pattern; or: enrolled; registered in a list) within [the; or: various] atmospheres (or: in the sphere of heavens), and in (or: to; with) God, a Judge (an Evaluator and Decider) of all people, even (or: that is; also) among (or: to; with) spirits of right and just folks (or: centered in the sphere of breath-effects from people who are rightwised, fair and in right relationship within the Way pointed out) having been made complete and brought to the destined goal (perfected; finished; matured), [cf Rev. 3:12; Eph. 2:6; Phil. 3:20; Rev. 14:1-5; Ex. 4:22]
24. and in (or: to) Jesus, a Medium (or: an agency; an intervening substance; a middle state; one in a middle position; a go-between; an Umpire; a Mediator) of a new and fresh (young; recently-born) arrangement (covenant; settlement; a deposit throughout, in every direction; a placing through the midst; or: a will and testament), and to and in blood of sprinkling, and to One continuously speaking something superior to (or: stronger and better than) Abel. [cf 10:22, above; Mat. 17:1-5; Rev. 21:9b-22:5; Jn. 4:21; Ps. 46:4; 132:13; Isa. 28:16; 33:5]
The Bible is full of language of "place." It begins with "the heaven and the earth," then moves to a Garden in Eden, and later speaks of the slavery in Egypt, a journey through a wilderness, ending in a land of Promise. The Land (of Israel, and for the twelve tribes) is a thread that runs from Abraham on into the new creation. Inserted for a time is exile in a foreign land. And within the center of Israel's cultus, there is God's tent, with its outer court, holy "place," and "holy of holies." Zion and Jerusalem are also "place" themes. With the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah, there is the place of abiding in the Vine, or as Paul put it, "being in Christ." These are only a few examples of "place language" - and all of them are located here, on earth, and are associated with earth's atmosphere (heaven). For,
"Consider! God's tent (the Tabernacle of God) [is] with mankind (the humans), and He will continue living in a tent (dwell in a Tabernacle) with them, and they will continue being (will constantly exist being) His peoples, and God Himself will continue being with them" (Rev. 21:3).In Ps. 20:2, we read this prayer:
"May He send-off help to, and for, you from out of [the] temple (or: from the midst of a set-apart, holy place; = [the] sanctuary); may He take hold on the side opposite of you and give you supporting assistance, from out of the midst of Zion." (LXX, JM)
We are His temple; His throne is within us, where we are seated together (joined with Him - 1 Cor. 6:17) on the Mercy Seat of our hearts to minister His Life, His Love and His presence to those around us and around the world.
Jonathan
PS from John Gavazzoni:As an analysis of the dimensions of spirit and soul, a possible paraphrase of Paul comes to mind, as in, "to be centered in the effect of the influences of the vanity/futility of our soulish creaturehood, is death, but to be centered in our God-begotten spirit, is life and peace."
I see the soul, i.e., our self, as a temporal, material, age-related encasement of our God-begotten spirit. To live out from that outer encasement is to be subject with all creation to its vanity/futility, i.e., to be constantly missing the mark of being right-wised, i.e., right in being, with right with Being.
It has seemed to me that the spirit of man is, by nature, always - in some form or another - emanating outward and expressing itself. But in our eonian existence, that expression comes forth through the soul, and to the degree of our soul's corruption or incorruption, that emanation shows forth Godness or ungodliness.
One of Watchman Nee's observations was that our spirit takes on the "coloring" of our soul as it expresses itself and emanates outwardly. In the world of the study of psychology, at least at the pop-level, much is made of becoming centered. The spiritual man is centered in his very center, while the carnal man is centered in that outer encasement of the spirit, i.e., he is centered, not in his center, but in his periphery (the soul). From that outer-center comes the animistic spirits with "their" conclusions regarding what life is all about, being able to set its mind on things below, and not above, where Christ, our Man-mediator, sits at the right hand of God.
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