The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible
An Unfiltered Look at the Unseen World
The psalmist declared that God presides over an assembly of divine beings (Psa. 82:1). Who are they? What does it mean when those beings participate in God’s decisions (1 Kings 22:19–23)? Why wasn’t Eve surprised when the serpent spoke to her? Why are Yahweh and his Angel fused together in Jacob’s prayer (Gen. 48:15–16)? How did descendants of the Nephilim (Gen. 6:4) survive the flood (Num. 13:33)? What are we to make of Peter and Jude’s belief in imprisoned spirits (2 Pet. 2:4; Jude 6)? Why does Paul describe evil spirits in terms of geographical rulership (thrones, principalities, rulers, authorities)? Who are the “glorious ones” that even angels dare not rebuke (2 Pet. 2:10–11)? Dr. Michael Heiser explores these biblical questions in The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible.
The Unseen Realm presents the fruit of Dr. Heiser’s fifteen years of research into what the Bible really says about the unseen world of the supernatural. His goal is to help readers view the biblical text unfiltered by tradition or by theological presuppositions. He presents a clear biblical theology that cuts through our modern worldview that tends to ignore the unseen world. “People shouldn’t be protected from the Bible,” Dr. Heiser says. But theological systems often do just that, by “explaining away” difficult or troublesome passages of Scripture because their literal meaning doesn’t fit into our tidy systems.
In The Unseen Realm, Michael Heiser shines a light on the supernatural world—not a new light, but rather the same light the original, ancient readers—and writers—of Scripture would have seen it in, given their historical and cultural milieu. This light allows today’s pastors and scholars to understand the biblical authors’ supernatural worldview by presenting a biblical theology that embraces, rather than avoids, the unseen realm.
This is a “big” book in the best sense of the term. It is big in its scope and in its depth of analysis. Michael Heiser is a scholar who knows Scripture intimately in its ancient cultural context. All—scholars, clergy, and laypeople—who read this profound and accessible book will grow in their understanding of both the Old and New Testaments, particularly as their eyes are opened to the Bible’s “unseen world.”
—Tremper Longman III, Robert H. Gundry Professor of Biblical Studies, Westmont College
“How was it possible that I had never seen that before?” Dr Heiser’s survey of the complex reality of the supernatural world as the Scriptures portray it covers a subject that is strangely sidestepped. No one is going to agree with everything in his book, but the subject deserves careful study, and so does this book.
—John Goldingay, David Allan Hubbard Professor of Old Testament, Fuller Theological Seminary
There is a world referred to in the Scripture that is quite unseen, but also quite present and active. Michael Heiser’s The Unseen Realm seeks to unmask this world. Heiser shows how prevalent and important it is to understand this world and appreciate how its contribution helps to make sense of Scripture. The book is clear and well done, treating many ideas and themes that often go unseen themselves. With this book, such themes will no longer be neglected, so read it and discover a new realm for reflection about what Scripture teaches.
—Darrell L. Bock, Executive Director for Cultural Engagement, Howard G. Hendricks Center for Christian Leadership and Cultural Engagement. Senior Research Professor of New Testament Studies, Dallas Theological Seminary
Top Highlights
“Since foreknowledge doesn’t require predestination, foreknown events that happen may or may not have been predestined.” (Page 65)
“The proper context for interpreting the Bible is the context of the biblical writers—the context that produced the Bible.1 Every other context is alien to the biblical writers and, therefore, to the Bible. Yet there is a pervasive tendency in the believing Church to filter the Bible through creeds, confessions, and denominational preferences.” (Page 16)
“Why is this significant? This passage clearly establishes that divine foreknowledge does not necessitate divine predestination.” (Page 64)
“The biblical use of elohim is not hard to understand once we know that it isn’t about attributes. What all the figures on the list have in common is that they are inhabitants of the spiritual world. In that realm there is hierarchy.” (Pages 31–32)
“The Old Testament writers understood that Yahweh was an elohim—but no other elohim was Yahweh. He was species-unique among all residents of the spiritual world.” (Page 32)
There’s More to See in the Unseen Realm
Based on the bestselling book by Michael S. Heiser, the new feature-length documentary The Unseen Realm casts a light on the strange and enigmatic plane of the supernatural that lies within the pages of Scripture. And what we discover are two distinct worlds—with vastly different inhabitants—created and ruled by one loving triune God. Watch the movie on Faithlife TV.
- Part 1: First Things
- Reading Your Bible Again—for the First Time
- Rules of Engagement
- Part 2: The Households of God
- God’s Entourage
- God Alone
- As in Heaven, So on Earth
- Gardens and Mountains
- Eden—Like No Place on Earth
- Only God Is Perfect
- Peril and Providence
- Part 3: Divine Transgressions
- Appearances Can Be Deceiving
- Like the Most High?
- Divine Transgression
- The Bad Seed
- Divine Allotment
- Cosmic Geography
- Part 4: Yahweh and His Portion
- Abraham’s Word
- Yahweh Visible and Invisible
- What’s in a Name?
- Who Is Like Yahweh?
- Retooling the Template
- God’s Law, God’s Council
- Realm Distinction
- Part 5: Conquest and Failure
- Giant Problems
- The Place of the Serpent
- Holy War
- Part 6: Thus Says The Lord
- Mountains and Valleys
- Standing in the Council
- Divine Misdirection
- The Rider of the Clouds
- Prepare to Die
- Part 7: The Kingdom Already
- Who Will God for Us?
- Preeminent Domain
- A Beneficial Death
- Infiltration
- Son of God, Seed of Abraham
- Lower Than the Elohim
- This Means War
- Choosing Sides
- Part 8: The Kingdom Not Yet
- Final Verdict
- Foe from the North
- The Mount of Assembly
- Describing the Indescribable
- Epilogue
- Title: The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible
- Author: Michael S. Heiser
- Publisher: Lexham Press
- Publication Date: 2015
- Pages: 384
- Format: Logos Digital, Hardcover, Paperback
- Trim Size: 6x9
- Hardcover ISBN: 9781577995562
- Paperback ISBN: 9781683592716
Michael S. Heiser (1963–2023) was a popular Bible teacher, author, and the founding executive director of AWKNG School of Theology. An expert in the Bible and ancient Semitic languages, he wrote numerous books, including The Unseen Realm, Angels, and Demons. For many years, he was scholar-in-residence at Logos Bible Software. He earned a PhD in Hebrew Bible and Semitic languages from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Reviews
131 ratings
Kenute P. Curry
10/23/2024
This book is amazing. It opened up my mind to a whole lot of things in the supernatural world - the Unseen Realm. I learned a lot of things and to see it in God's Word like this and to be able to understand these things was just really, really encouraging.Steve Roberts
9/29/2024
Excellent material - I am probably on board with 98%, the other 2% is because the room got dark because I forgot to pay the electricity bill.Steve Roberts
9/20/2024
Faithlife User
7/16/2024
The Bible BECAME alive!!! When I read this book!!! Opened my whole mind to the reality of what I was reading in church!!! I was looking at the maps that no one cares about in the back of my Bible! I left the church I was going to because of this book and his follow up!!! Amen I’ll see you soon Dr. H! ❤️❤️❤️
Candice Vos
3/20/2024
Craig Bullock
3/15/2024
Charles Cooley
1/28/2024
I have several of dr. H's books and want to get this one. The only way to get is to buy a bundle which includes audio books, I am hearing impared. I strongly dislike this requirement.
Robert Camp
11/4/2023
Michael Shain Bagley
9/9/2023
Jessica Gaffney, LCSW
8/4/2023
Dr. H has been instrumental for helping me through recovering my faith after a decade of a troubled realtionship that involved occult worship and violence. This book has caused a tumultous wave of unlearning and relearning about the spiritual life of our Bible and the error in some teachings in the charismatic church. I am forever thankful for our time with him, he is missed and I am in full support of the movement this book has caused world wide for a DCW.
