Questions on the Nature of God

Ever have something you just didn’t want to face? Nobody would even know

I could just skip this one…who would know that I did it because there were some things I was really at odds with—REALLY at odds

But integrity forces you to do what you know you must do;

David Crosby’s “Hero”The hero knew what he had to do and he wasn’t afraid of the fight

I’m no hero, and the fight was with myself—but I’d already projected it, Diane and Lee had been in the planning stages for music…couldn’t blow it off

But…I put on my big boy pants and settled in for what could be a really tough study

We never promised to do ALL of them, just a sampling within each book within the book; we are currently in book #3

It’s the way the collectors/collators put them into the complete work we have

Here, among the Psalms of Asaph, we have this one—that raises more questions than it answers

Some helpful background: The word “God or god in the text, elohim in all cases

Used by the ancient writers as God—the one God, gods—as in pagan deities, or others in the heavenly beings—the angels; even stretched out to include prophets in a compounded form, isho-elohim

Interpreters/scholars through the ages have had many takes on this: some see as many as 4 speakers, I see but 2: the Psalmist, and God Himself

The historical issues that may have prompted this writing are uncertain

The Question of God’s Council

Sometimes known as the heavenly council

Note on the propriety of heading capitalization: not commenting on big G, little g gods

The original texts do no generally differentiate

The differentiation we do have in English Bibles is a matter of convention within the translations

Other convention is capitalization of the pronouns; some translations do it, others do not

Though generally helpful, it can be interpretive at times

The concept shows up here in v. 1 with God taking His place in the council, in the midst of other gods

Our search must begin here: what is this Divine Council?

There are similar concepts among ancient pagan religions—the gods gathering together to determine the future of the earth and its peoples

Some “scholars” have tried to mingle the two—with Yahweh being the chief and ruling God among the deities--

What we do have in Scripture precludes that and reinforces the idea of the monotheistic ONE TRUE GOD, KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS

We have a few texts that mention it

Job 1:6 “Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them.” and 2:1 also

1 Kings 22:19–23 “And Micaiah said, “Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing beside him on his right hand and on his left; and the Lord said, ‘Who will entice Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?’ And one said one thing, and another said another. Then a spirit came forward and stood before the Lord, saying, ‘I will entice him.’ And the Lord said to him, ‘By what means?’ And he said, ‘I will go out, and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ And he said, ‘You are to entice him, and you shall succeed; go out and do so.’ Now therefore behold, the Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets; the Lord has declared disaster for you.””

That and the Job passages seem to indicate that even the fallen angels may have access to this assembly

It is also possible that God’s prophets have participated in this council, as suggested by by Jeremiah 23:18 “For who among them has stood in the council of the Lord to see and to hear his word, or who has paid attention to his word and listened?” This addressing the false prophets of his day

We have the sense of God sitting among all His heavenly creatures:

Psalm 29:1 “Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.” and

Psalm 89:5–8 “Let the heavens praise your wonders, O Lord, your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones! For who in the skies can be compared to the Lord? Who among the heavenly beings is like the Lord, a God greatly to be feared in the council of the holy ones, and awesome above all who are around him? O Lord God of hosts, who is mighty as you are, O Lord, with your faithfulness all around you?”

The Question of God’s Just Judgment

In v. 2, the Psalmist calls God’s judgment unjust. a common observation of the masses

How can a good God allow...

Insert your favorite atrocity here

To answer those questions, we go to the next question

The Question of Men being Gods

The best understanding is that it references all the heavenly beings, to include the fallen angelic beings—Satan and his minions

…though it could extend to earthy rulers under their influence: The identity of these “gods” is hard to determine. Some interpret them as spiritual powers that rule the world and others as human judges. But these alternatives are not mutually exclusive. Probably the human powers are treated as the earthly counterparts to spiritual forces (see Col. 1:16). (Holman Concise Bible Commentary)

Thus, the rebuke of vv. 6-7; we know that the end of the fallen angels is the lake of fire. Mt. 25 41

Matthew 25:41 ESV

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

and Rev. 20 14

Revelation 20:14 ESV

Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.

The Questions Resolved

Derrick Kidner

Psalms 73–150: An Introduction and Commentary (Psalm 82. The Gods on Trial)

With its bold, dramatic form this judgment scene brings some clarity to a confused human situation. It takes us in a few words behind and beyond our present wrongs, to portray God’s unbounded jurisdiction, his delegation of power, his diagnosis of our condition and his drastic intentions. The closing prayer responds fervently to the breadth of the vision.