The Living Heavens: Angels, Stars, and Biblical Cosmology
Materialistic science emptied the heavens of meaning, but Scripture and Jewish tradition insist the cosmos is alive, conscious, and populated by angelic beings as numerous as the stars.
Almost 70% of Americans say they believe in angels¹. Somewhere deep in humanity’s collective memory lies an intuition that the heavens are alive. Ask someone where angels live, and nearly everyone, child or adult, and they will instinctively point upward.
Where Do Angels Live?
The plain meaning (peshat) of the Bible implies that a sort of descent occurs when Angels² visit humanity.
💡 For example, the Hebrew word Nephilim (נְפִילִים) comes from the root word naphal (נָפַל), which means to fall. Nephilim is thus a plural word that means fallen ones.³
Though modern vocabulary may understand angels in terms of inter-dimensional beings, for millennia, many civilizations assumed this hierarchy in a literal sense.
Nevertheless, something changed. Through a sequence of movements: Newtonian physics, the Enlightenment era, and emerging cosmology, a shift occurred in the collective psyche. Rupert Sheldrake comments⁴ on this:
"The heavens have been handed over to science; the celestial realm to astronomy, and astronomy has nothing to do with God, spirits, or angels..."
The skies transformed from a vibrant spiritual realm into an empty space governed by physics. Ancient beliefs were arrogantly cast aside, regarding only that which can be measured. The new collective assumption: the universe is lifeless, and anyone who suggests otherwise can expect ridicule.
Where the ancients recognized the celestial influence on the terrestrial, astronomy focused on the stars, but severed the spiritual connection.
It is interesting that mainstream science has nearly come full circle on many of these assumptions, even making recent disclosures of extraterrestrial life at the public level.
However, the Biblical and Rabbinic traditions never surrendered the heavens. They are alive as ever.
Angels and Stars
Tradition teaches that angels fill creation in countless ranks and classes. Every force of nature, every nation, every phenomenon has an angel charged with governing it⁵.
Angels also have bodies, and those bodies are stars.
The Bible tells us that it was G_D who created the celestial bodies in the sky and knows each one by name (i.e, Isaiah 40:26; Psalm 147:4). Known in Hebrew as kokhavim (כּוֹכָבִים), these celestial bodies serve many purposes, from marking seasons and months to serving as witnesses to humanity's affairs:
I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day: I have put before you life and death, blessing and curse. Choose life—if you and your offspring would live...
- Deuteronomy 30:19
This implies that the universe has a degree of consciousness.
Angels On a Ladder
According to the Torah, angels have always been here and have been directly involved with the management of our world. The angels comprise a delivery system for blessings (Chesed) or discipline (Gevurah), depending on our behavior.
This is what Jacob saw in his vision:
He had a dream; a stairway was set on the ground and its top reached to the sky, and messengers of G_D were going up and down on it. - Genesis 28:12
This ascending and descending includes the reporting on human activity and, particularly, the angelic governance of the nations.
The Angelic Host and the Nations
If you recall, after the Tower of Bavel, G_D appointed an angel over the dispersed nations, keeping Israel for Himself. Each of the 70 nations has an angelic administrator, and these angels are known as the Divine Council⁶.
But there is more. The Zohar states:
“Over all these stars and constellations there have been set chiefs, leaders, and ministers, whose duty is to serve the world… Each star has over it a being appointed who ministers before the Holy One as its representative.”
- Zohar, Terumah 86
Star Worshipers and Pagans
This structure created a foothold for idolatry. Many of these nations associated their patron gods with the constellations, stars, and planets visible from their lands. Their worship was often directed toward their angelic administrators, whom they mistook for G_D.
A common nickname for ancient Gentile pagans is Akum (עכו״ם), an acronym meaning “worshipers of stars and constellations” (עובדי כוכבים ומזלות – ovdei kokhavim u’mazalot).
Though they made a tragic error, I don't think they were completely ignorant. I believe they sensed something spiritual moving in the heavens, for which they appealed.
The New Testament Angels
The connection between the angels and stars was common in the first century, appearing numerous times in the New Testament.
In Revelation, the connection is explicit:
“The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches…”
- Revelation 1:20
The author connects Jesus’s message to these communities through their Angelic representatives symbolized by stars.
Paul warned his Gentile audience in Colossians to avoid reverting back to their former traditions of paganism:
"Be careful not to allow anyone to captivate you through an empty, deceitful philosophy that is according to human traditions and the celestial bodies of the world, and not according to Messiah". - Colossians 2:8
Falling Stars
Revelation 12:4 also speaks of stars falling from heaven. With the above tradition, the meaning becomes clear: in the end times, these angelic rulers will be terminated from their positions of power, and the nations under their protection are left vulnerable to suffer the consequences.
Jesus himself uses this imagery:
“…the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.” - Mark 13:25
For a modern reader, this sounds like ancient superstition, but for a first-century Jew, it signaled the collapse of angelic thrones and the reordering of cosmic authority on Earth that prepared for the Messianic kingdom.
And, it is this tradition that Paul cites in this often-quoted passage from Ephesians;
“Our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the rulers and powers… the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” - Ephesians 6:12
Angelic Rebellion
Kabbalistic tradition shares that the evil actions of humanity can influence the angels. This unlocks a degree of free will for the Angel.
"When a person acts wrongly, they cause evil to approach the heavenly hosts... in this way, they [angels] have an aspect of free will based on the actions of man."
- Leshem. Volume 2, pg 140
When national sin increases, the corresponding angelic administrator becomes exposed to this evil, and the nation is primed for collective judgment.
This might explain the motives of the Watchers who corrupted humanity, leading to the great flood.
Angelic misalignments cause disharmony between other angels and eventually leads to broader conflict in the upper worlds.
The influence of this is seen in our physical world in the form of famine, war, strife, disease, economic hardships, and other catastrophes. When we see a nation struggling with these problems, we can often associate these as outcomes from the spiritual decline that preceded.
It is in these times that we need to be more diligent and steadfast in our spiritual growth⁷.
The Living Heavens
Though many in our generation inherited a sky emptied by science, the world seems to be coming back to our original position.
Our universe is not lifeless.
The cosmos is filled with purpose, hierarchy, and consciousness.
and, we're not alone, and never were.
Notes:
² Angels and Intermediaries & Aliens, Idols, Demons, and Angels
³ The Rise and Fall of the Nephilim: Exploring the Legends of Fallen Angels and Giants
⁴ The Physics of Angels: Exploring the Realm Where Science and Spirit Meet. Rupert Sheldrake and Matthew Fox. Pg.11
⁵ Genesis Rabbah 10
⁷ The Merit of the Righteous. Abraham, Sodom, and the Scales of Justice
Understanding the Sefirot eBook
This ebook will attempt to offer a starting point to understanding the complex subject of the Sefirot, as represented in Jewish tradition.
This work includes charts, diagrams, and explanations of the ten Sefirot and a few common arrangements for readers to become acquainted with, and begin utilizing this ancient information for spiritual development.