Morning Stars and Sons of God

In His first speech responding to Job, God bombards Job with questions with the intent of humbling Job, reminding him of the Creator-creature distinction. In the first stanza of God’s speech (38:4-7), the Lord asks Job if he was either present or a participant in the building project of creation. At the laying of the cornerstone, God states in verse seven that “the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy.” The morning stars and the sons of God are presented in this verse as one overlapping group. This motif is present a number of times in Scripture (Judges 5:20; Isaiah 24:21; Revelation 1:16,20; 3:1; 12:4,7-9) and causes us to ask, “are stars, angels?” Though there is much that can be made of this motif, at the very least the overlapping of “the morning stars” and “the sons of God” reminds us that the tangible and intangible worlds are more connected than we may imagine.

The overlapping of the worlds (physical and spiritual realms or worlds) is one theme that is present in the book of Job itself. Though unknown to Job and his friends, the reason that Job is experiencing such calamity is because of a meeting of the divine council. Job’s life is not a series of randomized events, nor determined by the effort of Job and his community; rather Job’s life is incredibly affected by a realm that he cannot see. But this reality is not unique to Job. This is the reality of all life. The Christian worldview is one in which we affirm that the Triune God is intimately involved in this world. And that worldview is also a reminder that we are not alone.

The concept that we are not alone is not unique to Christianity. Though with a pagan confession, nearly all ancient peoples would have believed that there was a spiritual realm. Ancient cultures were known to believe in a plethora of gods that were responsible for various aspects of life. Therefore they would practice the occult for the sake of rain, crops, fertility, wars, and general blessings. Yet, in the age of modern science, there was no longer a need for the spiritual realm, because all things could be explained through the five senses. But interestingly, that is not where our culture rests today. Between former and current presidents’ Freudian slips concerning aliens, as well as Netflix’s series Stranger Things[1] being one of its most lucrative shows, the culture is clearly open to the reality that humanity is not alone and the existence of another realm.

The culture’s exploration should not be alarming to the Christian, though. As one Christian thinker suggests: the world is catching up to where the Church has always been.[2] But more importantly, we have the surety that the spiritual realm is not chaotic and overwhelmed by demo-gorgons (Stranger Things reference), but is rather under the sovereign rule and control of the only true God. Even more, we have the comfort of knowing that “we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God” (Hebrews 4:14) who has “suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18), therefore we now are “raised up with him and seated with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 2:6).

[1]Stranger Things is a series about the existence of another realm, known as the “upside down” filled with demo-gorgons and other creatures that affect the “real world”.

[2]Mere Fidelity Podcast. March 4, 2026 Episode. “The Spirituality of Aliens” https://open.spotify.com/episode/4K9nwEK2maGdIUsNElCkt5?si=88e2177ac71643e9