@SilverMoon I mostly agree with the basics of what you're saying, but would like to offer a few thoughts from my own perspective of the things I've learned in recent years as well 
If you look at the Hebrew, the word used for God in the Old Testament is "Elohim" which is a plural noun. Hence, it means "Gods." If one does any study of the Ancient Near Eastern cultures, this makes perfect sense, as all the Israelites' neighbors were polytheistic and there is a mountain of evidence to show that the Hebrews were as well. Actually, "polytheistic" is not the right word for it, but rather "henotheistic." In other words, they recognized that there exists a plurality or hierarchy of Gods, but they acknowledged and worshipped only one. All of their devotions were to be exclusive towards that God, hence the Old Testament speaking of God being a "jealous God" in many places.
You are correct—there is an abundance of evidence to indicate that God also had a female counterpart which was known as the "Mother Goddess," referred to by various names like Asherah, Ishtar, etc. In essence, the ancients understood the Gods as a family, and they understood humanity to be Their offspring. Ancient Jewish traditions believe that humanity also degenerated over time, hence the original Adamic generation was the purest, most intelligent and physically healthy and beautiful. They also believed that with successive generations this strength and beauty was lost through various means—genetic manipulation, interbreeding with other races of beings on (or inside) this planet (i.e., crustal-world demons), introduction of diseases from the cavern world / crustal realm (as well as immoral behavior), etc.
Mountains of archaeological evidence from virtually all ancient cultures also highlights a ubiquitous practice of ancestral worship, even amongst the Hebrews. The Old Testament speaks of the Divine Council in a number of places, and indicates the idea that there were many nations spawned by Adam, catalogued by the Jews as the "Table of Nations." Each nation had, as it were, its own first progenitor appointed as their patron deity or god. This gave rise to the numerous complex pantheons illustrated throughout later mythologies as well, such as those of the Greeks, Egyptians, Norse, Celtic, etc. Ultimately, this led to a congregation of Seventy Princes, or "Seventy Sons of God" who became known as "the Stars of El-Elyon." The title "El-Elyon" is the Hebrew original for what is translated in the KJV as "Most High God." These "Stars of El-Elyon" were those which Lucifer sought to surpass and conquer, along with El-Elyon Himself, referenced in Isaiah 14:13. We know that Lucifer lost that war because Isaiah 14 subsequently speaks of his corpse rotting in ignominious defeat, which I covered in more detail in this post.
However, over time, these Princes fell and neglected to teach their children proper laws of morality and righteous conduct. This is referenced in a meeting of the Divine Council as narrated in Psalms 82. Ultimately, only one nation took God Himself to be their patron deity—and that became the nation of Israel through the loins of Abraham. The Israelites and Jews also understood Michael to be their patron deity—suggesting that Michael was Himself an alternate name of God. This makes sense because nearly all Jews believe the angel which Jacob wrestled with was Michael, and of course, this "angel" was revealed to be God Himself (see Genesis 32:30).
Through a careful examination of the Book of Daniel, we also come to see this same Divine Council described in Daniel 7. In this Grand Council, there is a figure who stands over and above all the other princes, angels, and rulers, who is referred to as the Ancient of Days. At once, nearly all denominations of Bible-believing religions—Christians, Catholics, Orthodox, Protestants, Jews, etc.—recognize this figure to be representative of God the Father. This Ancient of Days sits enthroned over the Divine Council, and yet there is One whom He chooses out of the rest, denominated as "the Son of Man." Well just who is this Son of Man? Modern Biblical scholarship has determined that the "Man" here is in fact a reference to the Hebrew word "Adam." This may sound simplistic, but there are actually numerous scholarly works which I've collected that demonstrate this point beyond all refutation. One excellent study from a mainstream academic journal on this subject can be found here:
- “Son of Man as Son of Adam” by Joel Marcus, in Revue Biblique (École Biblique et Archéologique Française de Jérusalem, 1946-), vol. 110, no. 1, 2003, pp. 38-61
- "Son of Man as Son of Adam: Part II: Exegesis (continued)" by Joel Marcus, in Revue Biblique (1946-), vol. 110, no. 3, 2003, pp. 370-386
Another excellent, excellent book-length study on this issue can be found in The Son of Man in Myth and History by Frederick H. Borsch. You can also read the book for free online here:
Of course, "the Son of Man" is the title which Jesus adopts for Himself more than any other title which He uses throughout the Four Gospels in the New Testament. Hence it becomes clear that He knew precisely who His Father was.
Going back to the subject of the Divine Council, what clearly happened according to the Apostle Paul in Hebrews 1:6 is that God the Father stood before the Grand Council described in Daniel 7, and presented before them His First Begotten Son, saying:
Let all the angels of God worship him!
This is vividly illustrated in the ancient apocrypha known as the "Book of the Life of Adam and Eve." In this story, Michael presents this Son before the Grand Council, but the role of Christ is so similar to Adam's role in the spirit world, that the ancient authors actually got mixed up and confused, calling this son "Adam" instead of "Christ." You can read one translation of this apocrypha here: The Books of Adam and Eve
But a careful comparison of this scripture to Hebrews 1:1-9, Isaiah 14:12-15, and the Septuagint version of Deuteronomy 32:40, 43, we can clearly see that this story is supposed to be about Jesus Christ. However, again, the ancients conflated both of these figures in their minds, because spiritually and pre-mortally, their roles were so similar—both held positions as Spiritual Patriarchs and Fathers to the human race—that in later generations it became somewhat impossible to distinguish them in many aspects. Hence this apocrypha simultaneously communicates the ancients' understanding of the premortal Godly Council, which contained an exalted view of Adam as the literal “image of God,” worthy of being worshipped by the angels, yet also giving us a veiled view of their understanding of Jesus Christ as the Father in conjunction with Michael, truly exemplifying the worship of Christ in the primordial Divine Council.
I recognize that the logical connectives in my above statement may not sound too firm for the skeptic, but let's consider a vivid case in point of this issue which occurs right in the Bible. The example I have chosen comes from the angel which appeared to the Apostle John while on the Isle of Patmos. By all that this angel said and did you would have presumed that he were God Himself, and were it not for the fact that John attempted to worship him, there would have been nothing said to indicate otherwise. The natural confusion which occurred to John through this experience is clearly testified to in John’s own words. Consider the following:
I John [...] was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, saying, I am ALPHA and OMEGA, the FIRST and the LAST: and, What thou seest, write in a book [...] And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And I saw [...] one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. And [...] out of his mouth went a sharp two edged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the FIRST and the LAST: I am he that LIVETH, and was DEAD; and, BEHOLD, I am ALIVE for EVERMORE, Amen; and have the keys of hell and death. Write the things which thou hast seen.
(Revelation 1:9-19)
By all that this divine being has said, we would suppose that he were the resurrected Lord himself, yet consider what happened to John when he attempted to worship him:
And he [i.e. the angelic being] saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God. And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God.
(Revelation 19:9-10)
At the conclusion of the vision, John again recounts his experience in chapter 22:
And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things. Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship GOD.
(Revelation 22:8-9)
The question which naturally arises from this experience is how many other appearances, visitations, visions, and revelations have been given wherein the angel who delivered the message did not identify himself as being someone other than God Himself? In the above visitation, the Beloved Apostle John himself who experienced it did not know until the end of the vision that it was not God speaking to him. And if the individual who experienced it did not know, how are those who read the written record to know?
Getting back to the original subject at hand, when we consider the facts further, it becomes evident that there are many other supportive factors showing this grand spiritual hierarchy from the scriptures. In my post here, I delineated reasons why Abel was an early incarnation of the Christ. In fact, Seth was as well. There are early Gnostic writings, such as the Gospel of the Egyptians (written in Coptic), which refers to Seth "putting on Jesus as a garment"—i.e., reincarnating as Jesus on earth. Moreover, the ancient Hebrews were so zealous to show that their God was superior to the neighboring Canaanites, that they highlighted their grand ancestor Seth as the first worshipper of YHWH in Genesis 4:26—attempting to show that their religion and their lineage was older and more noble than the Canaanites'. Indeed, by this we can see that Seth was also Adam's "First Born" son—as in reality, he was Abel reborn—giving new meaning to Eve's cry of joy in Genesis 4:25:
And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew.
According to ancient mythology, the death of Abel had been so agonizing and unbearable for Eve, that she traveled into the spirit world to find her murdered child and brought him back to life again, in the person of Seth. I gave references to this in my aforementioned post.
Upon further analysis, we see that scriptures such as Hebrews 1:1-3 is actually a commentary on—or is alluding to—almost exactly the same comments made about Seth in Genesis 5:1-3. The fact is that the Grand Divine Council heretofore described had its literal counterpart on earth as well. Near the end of Adam's life, he presented before his Seventy Sons his final son Seth, commanding them all to bow down and worship him. Indeed, according to certain revelations from Joseph Smith, Jr. (D&C 107:43), Seth was a "perfect man" and "seemed to be like unto his father in all things, and could be distinguished from him only by his age." Who else in scripture is described as a perfect man, other than Jesus Christ?
And if Seth was like his father in all things, were not both Adam and Seth "perfect men"? Indeed, this was why Seth was appointed as the grand progenitor of the Chosen Lineage through which would spawn Enoch, Noah, Abraham, the whole House of Israel, and ultimately Jesus Christ Himself. Hence the gods literally and truly had one supreme God standing over them, with His Firstborn Son standing as His Appointed Heir in all things, who would be the only one among them that was truly "the upright one" (Deuteronomy 32:4; New Jerusalem Bible). Indeed, this Son was a God among Gods.
When we see things in this light, it becomes clear just how very much our family of Gods loves us and views us as their literal and legitimate offspring. Although humanity has fallen greatly from our original purity and Godliness, we can reclaim it again by living the laws they instituted for us, given by the God of all Gods.
I believe that the home of our Divine Family which I have here described was inside the Inner Hollow / Concave Earth, near the City of Eden which Olaf Jansen and his father witnessed, atop Mount Zion (also called Mount Meru or Mount Olympus), whereupon sits the Garden of Eden—the origin of all mankind. These Beings came here from another planet or star—perhaps our sun, or perhaps a Celestial Body from somewhere else—but I believe that one day our earth will become an Eternal Home to us in like manner, if we live so as to see it sanctified and purified from all wickedness and evil that currently reigns upon its face.
In my past posts, I've often focused much on describing the evil that exists in our world—but I hope that this post will illustrate that I also see much good—and much potential for us to return to our Godly roots and become one with Them again. We have a battle to contend with the Kingdom of Lucifer first, but we will not be alone. We must have faith that our Divine Family has not abandoned us—and that Their love and charity extends through and penetrates all spirits that will receive it. In this way will mankind at last be saved and brought back into the Glory of the Elohim.
