I had high hopes for this book. The description sounded fascinating, and I really hoped to gain some depth of knowledge on the subject. Don’t get me wrong: the book does have some good information and would be an okay introduction to the Divine Council worldview. But if you’ve read Dr. Michael Heiser’s work already, this won’t add any real new information to your study.

Besides being fairly basic in its information, my biggest whinge with this book is that the author will quote Scripture then repeat that Scripture, often word-for-word, in his exposition. The book could probably have been half the length, or at the very least much more concise, with a bit of editing. It took me forever to get through this book, simply because it was sometimes unnecessarily wordy.

Yet, if you are looking for a way to dip your toes into the Divine Council worldview and beginning to read the Word of God with an eye to the supernatural, this book would be a decent, if verbose, place to start. I’ll give it 3 out of 5 stars.

Thanks to BooksGoSocial and NetGalley for the digital copy of this book for review purposes. I was not required to give a positive review. All opinions are my very own.

Roots of the Kingdom is author Glen Marx’s perspective on a variety of biblical and heavenly issues. The author has done extensive research and listed many of his sources for further study. This was a confusing book for me. The writing style was like a lecture, and at times I found my mind wandering. Some of the author’s ideas were valid, but others really missed the mark. It gets a 3 star review from me. A copy was provided by NetGalley.

I've read the bible, and done some studies as well as attended church for most of my life. But I've never really done a deep dive into parts of the Old Testament like this book. There is so much talk of Giants, and fallen angels mating with women, and I can't say that I believe all of it, though it does inspire my curiosity some more. One huge thing that I don't believe is that God would allow other gods in heaven, which this author does believe. Most of the things written about in here we won't know until we get there, but overall he's done a lot of research and speculation, but at least the author knows that he doesn't have all the answers either.

I am used to reading fairly dense academic texts on Biblical history and interpretation. Roots of the Kingdom, at first reads like a cut down version of The Unseen, with its friendlier more conversational tones. But before long the book steers onto its own path and explores fascinating situations such as the lying spirits message to Ahab, or the potential meaning of the position of Seraphim behind the throne of God.
All this contributes to a more comprehensive picture of what is going on in heaven and the very real 'heavenly council' that work with Yahweh. Utterly fascinating stuff and easier to read than other books on the subject.