Did God give the nations to the angels? Deuteronomy 32:7-9.

 I listened “briefly” to a speaker on YouTube as they stated that Deuteronomy 32, verse 8, in the Greek Septuagint, tells how God gave the nations to the angels of God.

It is statements like this that prompt me to dig into the scriptures to prove or disprove if what they say is true. If it is true, then what are we supposed to do with this information? By the way, most of us cannot read nor understand the Septuagint Greek and would, therefore, be out of the loop and incapable of proving that something like this assertion is true or false. I happen to have a lexicon on my Bible program and was able to struggle through it by making comparisons to the Strong's numbers.

Before we begin our commentary, let's summarize the biblical verses we'll be discussing. These verses have a significant association with Genesis 6 and the sons of God.

“Remember the days of old, Consider the years of all generations. Ask your father, and he will inform you, Your elders, and they will tell you. "When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, When He separated the sons of man, He set the boundaries of the peoples According to the number of the sons of Israel. "For the LORD'S portion is His people; Jacob is the allotment of His inheritance.”
Deuteronomy 32:7-9 NAS95

Let's consider several other translations of verse 8 before we move forward.

The New King James version reads like this:

“When the Most High divided their inheritance to the nations, When He separated the sons of Adam, He set the boundaries of the peoples According to the number of the children of Israel.”
Deuteronomy 32:8 NKJV

An object of confusion is the interpretation of “ He set the boundaries of the peoples According to the number of the children of Israel.” The variety of renderings reads like this:

• “according to the number of the children of Israel.” WEBA

  Consider this. When God's people left Egypt we are told there were over a million people. It is sometime later that God calls them His people or the children of Israel. So the burning question is, are there over a million nations? Seems like it sometimes but the answer is no. On the practical side God tells Abraham that his descendants will be as uncountable as the sands of the sea but God never said they would all be nations with boundaries.

• “according to the number of the heavenly assembly.” NET Bible

  The NET Bible is touted to be one of the best  in its alignment with original translations. On that note, if we can compare the nations to angels in heaven, and though Satan managed to deceive and draw one-third of the heavenly angels to follow him to earth, where they are harassing and demonizing living humanity. Those left in heaven are two-thirds of a vast and innumerable number. Two-thirds still hold to their original purpose and plans; they are messengers of God, which is one of the themes we can see when we do a word study.

• “under the care of divine guardians.” The Message

  Written by Eugene Peterson, this takes the Bible to an understandable but simplistic level. Some of what he said brought me to tears, while most is too vague and distanced from original texts to be meaningful. Still, it is odd that Mr. Peterson found what few others found, the implication of divine guardians. Unfortunately, these guardians are not defined, therefore we can only assume what side of the heavenly war they were on.

• “By the number of the sons of God [or sons of Israel].” LSV

  Ah, this is peculiar, not because it is improbable, but because we lack explanation. Here is where we tie the Biblical character Job into the narrative, for in the book of Job, chapter one, we see “the sons of God,” angels, presenting themselves before God, and Satan came among them. Satan, too, was a son of God. This leaves the door open to God assigning fallen angels over apportioned boundaries assigned to the nations. 

• “He assigned to each nation a heavenly being.” GNB

  Here, we have merely another way of saying what I just talked about. A Google search produced this, “some estimates say there are 6,500 living languages today, while others say there are 7,117.” Certainly, there are more than enough angels to fill all of God's needs and still have a massive army.

• “He made as many nations as there are angels.” ERV

  I essentially covered this topic when I covered the NET Bible, so it is beyond imagination to think that God would make the number of nations equal to the armies of heaven.

• “according to Israel's population.” CJB

  Deuteronomy 32:8 tells us that God set the boundaries of the people. The people we see associated with the tower of Babel, whom God separated and moved across the continents with new languages, are the nations. To the Jews, these nations are anyone who is NOT a Jew; they are non-Jewish, and godless by Jewish standards. At the time Deuteronomy was written, Israel's population was somewhat constrained and countable. The Jewish people are scattered everywhere, and their numbers are uncountable.

Enough of this speculation, as you should be able to ascertain that the variety of possibilities is painfully large, and most of those leaning toward angelic involvement as a direct assignment from God are typically the least reliable translations. The context directs me to focus on Israel, so when it refers to some group called “their,” I can know that the verse is talking about the Jews and Israel. 

Other questions that arise pertain to:

• What did they inherit?

  I have to consider the Jewish people—Abraham's descendants and those of Ishmael and Esau's lineage.

• Who is He referring to when He says “the sons of Adam”?

  The reality is that all of us are sons of Adam, but a tighter definition could be those who follow after the righteousness of God. What makes this statement odd is that even Noah was not that righteous.

• What people group is He talking about when He speaks of the boundaries of the people?

  In general, boundaries are meant to corral and restrict, yet we don't see that happening now; why? (It's a rhetorical question that does not demand an answer. The people group leans more toward which group, descendants, became the perpetual enemies of Israel and the Jews? The answer is the Assyrians – Islamic Middle Easterners.

• What is the significance of this statement, “according to the number of the children of Israel?

  I will address these questions in depth below.

• “ Consider the years of all generations.” Why direct the listener to do this?

  - Because you can learn of the character of God and how He interacted with humanity.

  - Ignoring instructions like this leads the foolish to make statements about God, declaring Him to be evil and dangerous.

  - Your considerations may also paint the picture of successes and failures when mankind followed or did not follow God's leading.

  The writer goes on to say,

  “Ask your father and he will inform you.”

  “Your elders, they will tell you.”

  Perhaps the reason behind the need to ask is that the answers bring information that is life-changing.

The context of Deuteronomy 32:8, as given by God, has everything to do with the next two assertions, and they focus on a time when:

• “When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance,”

  The nations and the Gentiles are one and the same.

  Since the Gentiles include the descendants of Ishmael and Esau, and they are descendants of Abraham, what kind of inheritance did the Gentiles get? 

  Note that Abraham, out of human emotion and love for Ishmael, cries out for God to accept Ishmael. The answer is NO.

  And Abraham said to God, "Oh that Ishmael might live before You!" But God said, "No, but Sarah your wife will bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; and I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. "As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I will bless him, and will make him fruitful and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. "But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this season next year." Genesis 17:18-21 NASB

  Consider the Middle East. Is it one nation? The answer is NO. So then, what is the commonality? Islam and their hatred of Israel.

  Genesis 10 helps to define the nations being divided after the flood.

  Genesis 10:32 KJV  These are the families of the sons of Noah, after their generations, in their nations: and by these were the nations divided in the earth after the flood.

  The King James version tells us that He divided the nations to their inheritance.

  This is a direct reference to Deuteronomy 32:8.

  “When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, When He separated the sons of man, He set the boundaries of the peoples According to the number of the sons of Israel.” Deuteronomy 32:8 NAS95

  This highly significant event is given to us in Genesis 11.

“And Jehovah came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of Adam had built. And Jehovah said, Behold, the people is one, and the lip one to all of them, and this they are beginning to do, and now all which they have purposed to do will not be restrained from them. Come, let Us go down and confuse their language so that they cannot understand one another's speech. And Jehovah scattered them from there, over the face of all the earth. And they stopped building the city. On account of this its name is called Babel, because Jehovah confused the language of all the earth there. And Jehovah scattered them abroad from there on the face of all the earth.” Genesis 11:5-9 LITV

Although Genesis 11 does not specifically say that He set boundaries, to some degree, these people stayed where they were put.

• And the time “When He separated the sons of man,”

  The sons of man are descendants of the first man, Adam. This also means that they are subsets of Noah's descendants. Within a few generations, they are deemed to be among those who built the tower of Babel, a symbol of evil.

  The logic behind all descendants being from Noah's descendants lies in the fact God had to destroy all of humanity, with a few exceptions because they were all genetically modified for evil. (This information is found in Genesis 6. The genetic modification aspect lies in the definitions of relatively simple Hebrew words.)  

  Many, like myself, make the religious assumption that Noah was a righteous man, following the Lord in every way. We continue our assumption by thinking that he would have taught his sons that following after the Lord was the right way to do things. Those instructions may not have been realized since all history was, for the longest time, orally preserved. Clearly, we can see that an oral history, which included the intimacy that Adam and Enoch had with God, was conveyed.

  Here is my religion interjecting itself in my attempts at Biblical understanding. After getting off the boat, we find a drunk Noah and Ham, one of the sons, taking some bizarre sexual advantage of his drunken father.

  Many of Ham's descendants end up in Egypt and the Northern African nations, but one stands out as evil and that is Nimrod.

  Japeth's offspring give us Gog or Magog, which play a role in several end times battles.

  Shem's progeny eventually produced the path to Jesus; however, some of Shem's offspring became enemies of God. One of those descendants is Elam. Elam is the name of a person, but in time, it becomes a place. A fascinating piece of information was uncovered when I looked up the Hebrew meaning of Elam. It means hidden or distant.  

  Read what Isaiah has to say about a future time for Israel.

  Isaiah 11:10-11 NKJV  "And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, Who shall stand as a banner to the people; For the Gentiles shall seek Him, And His resting place shall be glorious."  11  It shall come to pass in that day That the Lord shall set His hand again the second time To recover the remnant of His people who are left, From Assyria and Egypt, From Pathros and Cush, From Elam and Shinar, From Hamath and the islands of the sea.

  When the Root of Jesse, Jesus, finally stands as a banner to the people, Jew and Gentile will give Him honor. This can only happen during the millennial reign. The Jews today are still scattered among the nations.

  Try to imagine Noah and his family, with their wives and possibly children, stepping off the boat.

  How long did it take for their numbers began to become innumerable?

  Here is a chart that might help you.

  

  Soon you want warmer weather and room to move. It was during days like this that we got Genesis 11:5.

  “And Jehovah came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of Adam had built.” Genesis 11:5 LITV

  
  
  Now, God separated the peoples here at the Tower because they all spoke the same language and were of the same mind.

  Allow me to show what that same mind looked like.

  “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”
  Genesis 6:5 NASB

• “He set the boundaries of the people according to the number of the sons of Israel.”

  He may offer us an explanation in the next statement.

  "For the LORD'S portion is His people; Jacob is the allotment of His inheritance.”
  Deuteronomy 32:9

  "How many of these people who are working anywhere near the tower were a part of “the Lord's portion?”

  The short answer is none.

  Why would I say that?

  We do not see any of Shem's or Japeth's descendants involved in Babel, but we do see Nimrod, one of Ham's descendants, there, and we know that Ham and his descendants were cursed.

  We can know from scripture that the fallen angels returned and interfered with humans. Consider how many stories you have heard, whether it was some mystery show on television or it was a documentary that spoke of something that appeared to have a 

  human shape.

  “The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.” Genesis 6:4 NIVHow do we explain the Titans of Greek Mythology?

  David, the shepherd, killed Goliath, a giant with an approximate height of 9 feet 9 inches. We are told of Og, who, “According to the Bible, King Og of Bashan had an iron bed that was nine cubits long, which is approximately 13.5 feet long.

  What do you think things like Bigfoot, commonly called Sasquatch and has many other versions and regions, are?

  If the techniques used in Genesis six to penetrate the human genome and make it useless for God's purposes were no longer practical, wouldn't it behoove the fallen angels to use an alternative approach?

  The things I mentioned above are clearly out there with no reasonable explanation short of fallen angel technology.

  Satan told Jesus that all the magnificence of earth's kingdoms and their riches were his to give. How would he have controlled them? Perhaps it is Satan who assigned fallen angels to have control over the nations.

A laymans commentary on Matthew 24. No man knows the day or the hour. Matthew 24: 36.

Because many, like those who say King James only, will get literal and demand that the examples we use are exacting. Perhaps you need to be reminded that any English translation started as a lost Hebrew version, Septuagint Greek, and Latin long before they became an English version. 

The section title in most Bibles goes like this:

No One Knows That Day and Hour

CONTEXT –

Jesus is talking to Jewish disciples about a time when He will come back as the Jewish Messiah they expect and finally rule over the earth, as they anticipate.

At this point in time, this has nothing to do with the church.

"But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.”
Matthew 24:36 NKJV

“But of that day” is the Greek word hēméra. It has meanings of the time from one sunrise or sunset to another, an occasion, and a time in general.

This verse could easily be read, “Of that occasion no one knows,” and still understand its meaning. It is especially important as Jesus knew that none of these men would see this moment in time from the earth, and this applies to their Jewishness as all but one of them (Judas Iscariot) eventually accepted the price that Jesus paid on the cross, as the payment for their salvation, making them followers of Christ.

Having learned about the Galilean wedding ceremony, which Jesus gave credence to when He went to the marriage in Cana - a Galilean community where He performed His first public miracle, I have come to understand that it is the father that tells the groom, now is the time to go collect your bride.

“Hour” is the Greek word hṓra; It means an hour, a time, a season, or a definite space or division of time.

The word hour is a common word, yet it can also mean a variety of things, such as a season.

As I try to explain what is coming, I frequently allude to the Baseball World Series, where teams endeavor, for months, to obtain the title of Champion. Once the two teams make it to the World Series, they play a best-of-seven games series within an established time frame in September.

A team can sweep the series by winning four straight games. Combinations of wins and losses can determine the champions, but there will never be a tie. We know that each game will cycle through nine innings, but the amount of time spent playing the game is difficult to control, as ball games have gone on for hours as they try to break the tie.

How does any of this relate to the end?

The events that lead up to the seven years of God's wrath have peaked. For me, that means we are either in or at the World Series. Some will say that we are in the World Series now. Each game is a roller coaster of emotions as we watch incredible plays and errors being made. All the while, the crowd screams and yells as they pull for one side or the other. Quickly, there is the realization that we have no control over how long the individual innings, which make up the games, will last, just as we have no control over when the Father will say, Son, it is time to go get your bride – the church.

With the Gaza war, a situation has developed in which there is no way that Israel will come out looking good; that is an uncomfortable thing for me to say, seeing as they are God's people and nation, and yet Scripture tells me that two-thirds of Israel, at some point, will be ravaged and killed. October 7^th has already demonstrated what it means to be ravaged. Whether this massive attack happens after the events in Gaza come to an end or during, I, nor anyone else, knows. I just know that the entire world will turn on Israel. Ask yourself, with the idiotic rioting on the university campuses, is this scenario so difficult to picture?

Since America decided to deny that Islam is taking over this nation, just as they have been doing in every other “civilized” nation, it is easy to see how or why we used to be one of the greatest nations on earth, will soon be gone from the picture or rendered incompetent.

Nobody paid attention when former President Barack Obama repeatedly stated that “they” were working hard to bring this nation down to a third-world level. I see that happening now.

I can't tell you exactly where we are in God's timeline, but I can tell you that because the church is still here, the seven years of death and destruction, which will exceed every form of death and destruction, you could think of, has not yet begun.

Pay close attention to Israel, as it is the barometer that tells us how close we are to the catching away of the church.

As we move forward, I again ask, What is the context of Matthew 24:36?

He is talking to Jewish disciples and the church was yet to be formed, so we can't attribute this to the church. This is the same thing we see in Acts 1:6-7.

“Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, "Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" And He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority.”
Acts 1:6-7 NKJV

If Jesus is talking to Jews, then what rules apply to the church?

Strangely, John speaks about the time in which the Holy Spirit would come upon everyone in two ways: 1. He comes when you ask Jesus into your life. Think about the logic behind that process. Since the three are one and Jesus is removed from the earth, then it only makes sense that the Holy Spirit, a part of the trinity, would come and fill the void left when Jesus left. 2. The other is when you ask the Holy Spirit to come into your life and fill you; this is empowerment.

“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”
Acts 1:8-11 NKJV

What are we told happens when the Holy Spirit comes?

John 16:13-15 KJV “ Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.  14  He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.  15  All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.”

• “He will guide you into all truth;”

• “for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak;”

  Speaking on behalf of the Father.

• “and He will tell you things to come;”

• “for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you;”

  Why? Because “...He will tell you things to come.”

It is fairly easy to ascertain that the church is associated with the infilling of the Holy Spirit, and it is the job of the Holy Spirit to inform you about things to come. So it is NOT a secret and the Father is the one that makes it known to you.

I know that the events we have seen rapidly emerging on Earth are a lead in to the church being caught away to be with Jesus.

Paul had much to say about the catching away of the church.

“But as it is written: "EYE HAS NOT SEEN, NOR EAR HEARD, NOR HAVE ENTERED INTO THE HEART OF MAN THE THINGS WHICH GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM." But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.”
1 Corinthians 2:9-12 NKJV

Paul, in writing to the church in Ephesus, spoke about the mysteries. The Words of Scripture are the mysteries.

“if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you, how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already, by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets:”
Ephesians 3:2-5 NKJV

We are the apostles and prophets. Paul prayed over Timothy that he would have an understanding.

“Consider what I say, and may the Lord give you understanding in all things.”
2 Timothy 2:7 NKJV

You can whine and say, I don't know, but you will have no sympathy from the Father.

“But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.”
1 John 2:27 NKJV

This next set of passages demonstrates one of the triggers associated with the launch of God's wrath and the antichrist.

“For when they say, "Peace and safety!" then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness.” 1 Thessalonians 5:3-5 NKJV

Several translations use the terminology “Peace and security!”

Why tell you this? 

Because many, like those who say King James only, will get literal and demand that the examples we use are exacting. Perhaps you need to be reminded that any English translation started as a lost Hebrew version, Septuagint Greek, and Latin long before they became an English version.

The World Economic Forum and the UN are calling for peace and security. 

A portion of a UN web page tells us this.

In 2 Thessalonians, Paul speaks of the removal of the church as the event which releases the antichrist upon the world.

“For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.”
2 Thessalonians 2:7-8 NKJV

Daniel chapter nine indicates that the antichrist will confirm or make a covenant or agreement for seven years, depending on what translation you use. This agreement is then broken halfway through the seven-year length of that covenant.

Daniel 9:27 NAS95  "And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate."

Here, “he” is the reference to the antichrist. Make is the Hebrew word gâbar, and means to confirm or strengthen. So it is safe to assume that he will give a powerful affirmation to an existing covenant/treaty. When it says many, it does not necessarily include Israel. And one week equals seven years.

Is it possible that He is talking to the church?

Only if you can see that the church was formed and initiated by the infilling of the Holy Spirit, and it is the church, more than anyone else, that should understand what is going on around us and, therefore, know and understand how close we are to going home.

I know I have covered many of these reasons lately, but they are vital to the hope that we cling to.

• Israel became a nation on May 14, 1948.

  Why is that important?

  Because Israel is the fig tree that is producing fruit.

• When Jesus told His disciples about the events surrounding His return as the warring Messiah, He warned them about the events leading up to that event.

  So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near—at the doors!”
  Matthew 24:33 NKJV

  That means that the catching away of the church and the releasing of the antichrist upon the world would have happened 7 years previous. We, the church, are not looking for the Messiah to return. He is our beloved and our groom.

  The things are detailed in Matthew 24, and though we are getting glimpses of those things, they are NOT the things until Jesus releases the Father's wrath upon the earth after the church is gone.

If you are one of those who have let some fool strip your hope away from you by telling you that we have to endure God's wrath, then you need to understand what 1 Thessalonians is telling us.

“and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.”
1 Thessalonians 1:10 NKJV

Both Noah and Lot are examples of righteous men being delivered from wrath and they are meant to encourage us.

God sent two angels to rescue Lot and his family.

Genesis 19:13-22 NKJV  “For we will destroy this place, because the outcry against them has grown great before the face of the LORD, and the LORD has sent us to destroy it."  14  So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who had married his daughters, and said, "Get up, get out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city!" But to his sons-in-law, he seemed to be joking.  15  When the morning dawned, the angels urged Lot to hurry, saying, "Arise, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the punishment of the city."  16  And while he lingered, the men took hold of his hand, his wife's hand, and the hands of his two daughters, the LORD being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city.  17  So it came to pass when they had brought them outside, that he said, "Escape for your life! Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be destroyed."  18  Then Lot said to them, "Please, no, my lords!  19  Indeed now, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have increased your mercy which you have shown me by saving my life, but I cannot escape to the mountains, lest some evil overtake me and I die.  20  See now, this city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one; please let me escape there (is it not a little one?), and my soul shall live."  21  And he said to him, "See, I have favored you concerning this thing also, in that I will not overthrow this city for which you have spoken.  22  Hurry, escape there. For I cannot do anything until you arrive there." Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.”

So the angels removed Lot, his wife, and the two daughters and set them outside the city. Lot did not feel strong enough to run all the way to the mountain, so they let them go to the town of Zoar. Note the words they said to Lot, we cannot do anything until you arrive there. “There” was safety.

In the case of Noah, having finally finished building the Ark, God put them in the Ark and closed the door. Why? Because the deluge that was to come was meant to cleanse the earth of genetically modified “people” who had only one thing on their minds

Genesis 6:5 NAS95  Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

I am NOT telling you to be a false prophet, but use your brain, read your Bibles – Daniel would be a good start, and pay attention to what is going on in Israel, all while listening to the Holy Spirit. Actions such as this will give you insight into how God is moving forward as He fulfills the end-times narrative. We are there, and that is why I listen daily for the trumpet blast that calls us home.