The Divine Council
Does G_D rule the world through a Divine Council of supernal angels? For many, this may be a new idea, however, deep within the Rabbinic tradition, this is quite ancient.
There is an idea in the Bible that G_D, in His Divine Wisdom, governs the world with the assistance of a council of angels. These higher-dimensional beings are sometimes referred to as, "Princes," or "The Divine Council."
In this organizational structure, each nation has been assigned a particular angel to oversee and guide them. This extra layer of governance creates a natural separation between the nations and G_D. However, in distinct contrast, the nation of Israel has a direct connection to the Creator. In His own words, Israel is G_D's own portion.¹
The Supernal Angels
Not merely cosmic babysitters, the role of these supernal angels extends beyond observation. They are believed to intercede on behalf of their respective nations, advocating for Divine protection and guidance. They also serve as a conduit for the blessing of judgment that a nation might accrue through its collective behavior. We also see this idea referenced in the opening of Psalms 82.²
They have an important job to do, though, throughout history, this has also posed a few problems for humankind. To begin our journey, let's explore why G_D has structured the world in this way, and what led to the delegation of the Nations.
A Divine Council
According to tradition, the incident at the Tower of Bavel was a cataclysmic event in the making - the depths of which we will cover in an upcoming article.
Suffice it to say that some among humanity had acquired the knowledge to reverse engineer G_D's creative linguistic coding with evil intentions. If allowed to persist, their efforts would have radically shifted the balance of power, bringing another significant collapse to all of creation.
The Zohar³ teaches us that their means of accomplishing this act was through the [mis]use of language. Some maintain the idea that this original language was a form of the Holy language, Hebrew. It was for this reason that G_D acted to scramble their languages, thwarting their efforts.
To safeguard against this happening again, G_D decided to place the nations under these angelic rulers, each with their own unique energy (mazal), and language.
The supernal princes joined together with Hashem so that Hashem would cast the nations down from His Holy Tongue and from under His unified, holy providence. Instead, those supernal princes would control the nations to govern them and influence them from that point on, each angel over its own nation with its own language. - Abarbanel on Genesis 11
Additionally, each angel operates within its own fixed boundaries, not intruding upon another division⁴.
With each angel having its own unique energy and influence, this might explain why some cultures are so diverse in a spiritual sense - each with its own gifts, struggles, and vices.
I recall many stories from friends who have lived and worked overseas as they described the spiritual undercurrents of various places as being different than the United States. Some places are more prone to overt demonic activity and in need of exorcisms, while others have a more covert spiritual darkness.
