In this study, we look at examples of God (Elohim) judging the pagan gods (elohim). We also see that plagues of Egypt were meant to punish the gods of Egypt.
Scriptures
- Numbers 11:14-17
- Luke 10: 1- 2
- 1 Kings 22:19-23
- Psalms 82:1-8
- John 10:33-36
- Psalms 89:5-8
- Exodus 4:21-23
- Exodus 12:11-12
- Numbers 33:3-4
- Acts 17:26-27
- Joshua 2:8-10
- 2 Samuel 7:23
- 1 Cor 2:6-8,
- Col 2:13-15
- Ephesians 3:7-12
Review of Elohim
- The Hebrew word “Elohim” is used over 2,500 times in the Old Testament
- It is a name or title used to refer to God
- When Genesis 1 reads “In the beginning ‘God’ created the Heavens and the earth”, the word ‘God’ is the Hebrew word ‘Elohim’.
- Although Elohim would naturally be a plural word, it can also be singular if the verb associated with it is singular
- When used to represent the God of Israel, the word Elohim is singular, loosely means “God of gods”
- The word elohim is also used to refer to the pagan gods worshipped by the non-Israelite nations
- Exodus 20:3 “You shall have no other gods [elohim] before me
- This is similar to how in English we say “God” for the one true God, but use the same word with a lowercase ‘g’ to talk about lower beings - the pagan gods
- Each nation had different pagan gods (elohim) that had dominion and influence over them
- The nations would build idols to worship these gods
- Paul stated (1 Cor 10:18-20) that these false gods were not just inanimate idols, but they represented actual beings in the spirit realm - demons
- Thus idolatry was the worship of demons with the hope of having them inhabit the idols for the purpose obtaining knowledge, something material, or some acts of service from the demon
- God singled out Abraham and his descendants to stop worshipping these pagan gods and to worship Him alone
- Although God commanded the Israelites not to worship these other gods, they would periodically go back to worshipping them
- God’s plan was to eventually bring all nations back to worshipping Him alone
- This plan was to be accomplished through Jesus’ death on the cross which allowed that anyone who believed in Jesus as savior could be a “son of God” and be brought into the worship of the one true God alone
Delegation
We saw in previous studies that God’s angels act as His agents carrying out commands in His name. This pattern is seen elsewhere.
Moses’ Example
Numbers 11:14-17
14 I cannot carry all these people by myself; the burden is too heavy for me.
15 If this is how you are going to treat me, please go ahead and kill me—if I have found favor in your eyes—and do not let me face my own ruin."
16 The LORD [Yahweh] said to Moses: "Bring me seventy of Israel's elders who are known to you as leaders and officials among the people. Have them come to the tent of meeting, that they may stand there with you.
17 I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take some of the power of the Spirit that is on you and put it on them. They will share the burden of the people with you so that you will not have to carry it alone.
15 If this is how you are going to treat me, please go ahead and kill me—if I have found favor in your eyes—and do not let me face my own ruin."
16 The LORD [Yahweh] said to Moses: "Bring me seventy of Israel's elders who are known to you as leaders and officials among the people. Have them come to the tent of meeting, that they may stand there with you.
17 I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take some of the power of the Spirit that is on you and put it on them. They will share the burden of the people with you so that you will not have to carry it alone.
- Moses had been serving as the sole mediator between God and the Israelites
- God had put His spirit into Moses to aid him in leading
- God was going to put His spirit into 70 others to aid them in leading His people
Jesus’ Example
Luke 10: 1- 2
After this the Lord [Kyrios] appointed seventy-two[a] others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. 2 He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.
- Some manuscripts say 70
Many scholars claim that there were 70 nations when God divided up the nations after the Tower of Babel and assigned them to 70 Elohim
God’s Delegates
1 Kings 22:19-23
19 Micaiah continued, “Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with all the multitudes of heaven standing around him on his right and on his left. 20And the Lord said, ‘Who will entice Ahab into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death there?’
“One suggested this, and another that. 21Finally, a spirit came forward, stood before the Lord and said, ‘I will entice him.’
22“ ‘By what means?’ the Lord asked.
“ ‘I will go out and be a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all his prophets,’ he said.
“ ‘You will succeed in enticing him,’ said the Lord. ‘Go and do it.’
23“So now the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all these prophets of yours. The Lord has decreed disaster for you.”
- God is in the midst of a multitude of heavenly beings
- The multitude is prepared to act out His will
- Did God decide that Ahab would attack Ramoth Gilead?
- Yes
- That was His will
- Did He decide how?
- no
- Who decided how it would be done?
- An unidentified spirit
- God determines what His will is, but He may delegate the details to lower authorities
- God had delegated the rulership and judging of the nations to the Elohim, but they weren’t supposed to accept worship or interact with the people.
Now we’ll see God judging them...
God Judges the Elohim
Psalms 82:1-8
1God [Elohim] presides in the great assembly;
he renders judgment among the “gods” [elohim]:
and show partiality to the wicked?b
3Defend the weak and the fatherless;
uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed.
4Rescue the weak and the needy;
deliver them from the hand of the wicked.
5“The ‘gods’ know nothing, they understand nothing.
They walk about in darkness;
all the foundations of the earth are shaken.
6“I said, ‘You are “gods”[elohim];
you are all sons of the Most High.’[bene Elyon = sons of God]
7But you will die like mere mortals;
you will fall like every other ruler.”
8Rise up, O God, judge the earth,
for all the nations are your inheritance.
- God presides over a great assembly giving judgment
- This is similar to the court we saw in the lesson “Above the Law”
- He is judging the elohim
- He found that they were ruling unjustly
- He declares that they will die like “mortal men”
- It appears that they otherwise would not have ever died
- They were immortal
Roles of the Elohim
- They were assigned to be heavenly rulers over the nations
- They were expected to rule/judge justly
- They (at least some) are referred to as Sons of God
- They were supposed to judge humans. God judged them.
Opposing Views of Psalms 82
Verse is not talking about:
- The trinity
- It's saying that God is judging the Elohim
- He says “the gods know nothing; they walk in darkness”
- The elohim/gods judged unjustly
- Sons of God are humans (Jews or gentiles)
- Jews aren't over the nations
- Jews aren’t elohim/gods
- It’s referring to human rulers, and elohim have been translated ‘rulers’ or ‘judges’
- Human rulers aren’t referred to as elohim/gods by God
- Human rulers are already mortal
- Referring to ancient Jewish polytheism
- The Hebrews worshipped many Gods
- The Israelites didn’t believe that any other gods had the unique attributes of God
- Inanimate Idols
- Inanimate objects don’t judge
- God wouldn’t judge an inanimate idol
- Proof that humans/we are Gods
- It says “you will die like mortal men”
- Umm, it would say that “we know nothing, and we walk in darkness”
- The elohim are God’s equals
- God was judging them, so He is higher than them
- and as we’ll soon see executes judgment against them
- Henotheism
- No, they are not deity
- We acknowledge that others acknowledged these demons as God, but we don’t acknowledge them as Gods
- We refer to them as gods because other people identified them as gods, not because they're gods to us
- Like Zeus
Jesus’ View
John 10:33-36
33“We are not stoning you for any good work,” they replied, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.”
34Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I have said you are “gods” [Psalms 82:6] ? 35If he called them ‘gods,’ [theous] to whom the word of God [Theou] came—and Scripture cannot be set aside— 36what about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’?
- Jesus affirms that “gods” is the proper translation there
- Mormons claim that Jesus is equating Himself with these Elohim
- But Jesus says “the word of God” came to these Elohim
Similar Assembly Verse
Psalms 89:5-8
5The heavens praise your wonders, Lord,
your faithfulness too, in the assembly of the holy ones.
6For who in the skies above can compare with the Lord?
Who is like the Lord among the heavenly beings?[bene elim = sons of gods]
7In the council of the holy ones God is greatly feared;
he is more awesome than all who surround him.
8Who is like you, Lord God Almighty?
You, Lord, are mighty, and your faithfulness surrounds you.
- This verse uses similar language, and here it is clear that it is talking about Heavenly beings
- This verse clearly says that God is superior to all the other elohim
- God created them
- God is above them
Purpose of the Egyptian Captivity
What was the purpose of the Egyptian captivity and escape of the tribes of Israel?
Was He punishing the Israelites?
Was God’s main goal to free Israel from a Pharaoh who wrongly enslaved them?
Was God Punishing Pharaoh?
Exodus 4:21-23
21The Lord said to Moses, “When you return to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders I have given you the power to do. But I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go. 22Then say to Pharaoh, ‘This is what the Lord says: Israel is my firstborn son, 23and I told you, “Let my son go, so he may worship me.” But you refused to let him go; so I will kill your firstborn son.’ ”
- Should Pharaoh be punished if God caused him to do it?
- No
- Why would God harden Pharaoh’s heart if the goal was to free the Israelites?
- We’ll see…
- Israel was God’s “son”
- Why did God say to let them go?
- So that they could worship Him
God Punished the gods of Egypt
Exodus 12:11-12
11This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the Lord’s Passover.
12“On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods [’ĕ-lō-hê] of Egypt. I am the Lord.
- Is God bringing judgment on the Egyptians?
- no
- Who was God bringing judgment upon?
- The gods of Egypt
- Not Pharoah, not the Israelites, not the Egyptians
Numbers 33:3-4
3The Israelites set out from Rameses on the fifteenth day of the first month, the day after the Passover. They marched out defiantly in full view of all the Egyptians, 4who were burying all their firstborn, whom the Lord had struck down among them; for the Lord had brought judgment on their gods[ū·ḇê·lō·hê·hem].
- God performed the miracles in Egypt as judgment on the elohim that ruled over Egypt.
- The events in Egypt were God’s judgment upon the Egyptian gods [elohim].
- It was judgment against the demons that the Egyptians worshipped.
Show the Other Nations that God is Sovereign
Acts 17:26-27
26From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. 27God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.
- God desired that the nations hoping that they would eventually see Him out
Rahab and the Spies
Joshua 2:8-10
8Before the spies lay down for the night, she went up on the roof 9and said to them, “I know that the Lord has given you this land and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. 10We have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Seaa for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed.b 11When we heard of it, our hearts melted in fear and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below.
- God stated that His goal was to bring the nations back to Him. This was the first way He set out to accomplish this.
Allowing the Israelites to go into captivity (e.g. Egypt) served 3 purposes:
- Acted out judgment on the gods of Egypt who had ruled unjustly
- It allowed God to show the people of the other nations that He was superior to the other “elohim”. With the hope of bringing the other nations to Him.
- Made the Israelites worship God
2 Samuel 7:23
23And who is like your people Israel—the one nation on earth that God [Elohim] went out to redeem as a people for himself, and to make a name for himself, and to perform great and awesome wonders by driving out nations and their gods [elohim] from before your people, whom you redeemed from Egypt?d
- Redeem His people back to Him
- To make a name to Himself among the nations
- Drive out other god [elohim] from among the Israelites
What was God’s next step to draw the nations back to Him?
Jesus is Over This World
The fact that Jesus was coming to rule over the entire world was hidden from the elohim.
1 Cor 2:6-8
6We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. 8None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
...
Col 2:13-15
And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.
- What is the debt we owed? What is the legal demand?
- We have broken the law
- The penalty of sin is death
- What was God’s plan?
- That our debts would be wiped out by Jesus’ death
- When did God devise this plan?
- Before time began
- Did the rulers/elohim/demons know the plan?
- No
- What would they have done if they knew the plan?
- Not allowed Jesus to be killed
Ephesians 3:7-12
8Although I am less than the least of all the Lord’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ, 9and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things.10His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, 11according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. 12In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.
Conclusion
We saw that God delegated rulership and judgment of the nations to the elohim. These were spirit beings that were also referred to as Sons of God or sons of Elohim or bene Elohim. They were given the roles of:
- Being heavenly rulers over the nations
- Judge humans justly
They are subordinate to God. God monitors them and periodically judges them. One penalty they would face was that they would not live forever. We also saw that the Egyptian captivity and freeing the Israelites was tied to judgment of the Egyptian elohim/gods.
God had not revealed to the elohim that He had foreseen their leadership failure and that He already had another plan to replace them. This plan was to have His son, Jesus Christ, take dominion of this entire world in their place. Jesus has informed us that we will eventually reign with Him and be the new “Sons of God”.
Summary
- We looked at examples of God delegating judgment to other beings
- We saw in Psalms 82 God criticizing the elohim (sons of God) for judging unfairly
- We saw previously that when the term elohim (when not referring to God) was used for other gods
- Paul said that these were demons that people worshiped as gods
- God said that the reason for the 10 plagues of Egypt was to bring judgment on the Egyptian gods/elohim
- We saw that another reason for the Egyptian captivity and escape was to show the nations that God was superior to the other pagan gods
- The final reason for the Egyptian captivity was to display miracles to the Israelites drawing them back to God
- Finally we saw that the fact that Jesus was going to be placed above the elohim was hidden from them until after His death
Presenter: Michael Leadon
Extra Scriptures
Exodus 22:28 (NIV)
28“Do not blaspheme God (elohim) or curse the ruler of your people.
Exodus 22:28 (KJV)
28Thou shalt not revile the gods, nor curse the ruler of thy people.
- King James is a word for word translation; NIV is thought for thought
- Elohim here is plural
- Some translations translate it as judges
the Septuagint and the Vulgate both leave the word “gods,”
Delegation of 70
We saw in previous studies that God’s angels act as His agents carrying out commands in His name. This pattern is seen elsewhere.
Numbers 11:14-17
14 I cannot carry all these people by myself; the burden is too heavy for me.
15 If this is how you are going to treat me, please go ahead and kill me—if I have found favor in your eyes—and do not let me face my own ruin."
16 The LORD said to Moses: "Bring me seventy of Israel's elders who are known to you as leaders and officials among the people. Have them come to the tent of meeting, that they may stand there with you.
17 I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take some of the power of the Spirit that is on you and put it on them. They will share the burden of the people with you so that you will not have to carry it alone.
15 If this is how you are going to treat me, please go ahead and kill me—if I have found favor in your eyes—and do not let me face my own ruin."
16 The LORD said to Moses: "Bring me seventy of Israel's elders who are known to you as leaders and officials among the people. Have them come to the tent of meeting, that they may stand there with you.
17 I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take some of the power of the Spirit that is on you and put it on them. They will share the burden of the people with you so that you will not have to carry it alone.
Luke 10: 1- 2
After this the Lord appointed seventy-two[a] others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. 2 He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.
- Some versions say 70
Genesis 10 lists 70 names of people who God repopulated the world with after the flood.
Genesis 46:26-27
26All those who went to Egypt with Jacob—those who were his direct descendants, not counting his sons’ wives—numbered sixty-six persons. 27With the two sonsf who had been born to Joseph in Egypt, the members of Jacob’s family, which went to Egypt, were seventyg in all.
Sons of God
Job 1:6-7
6One day the angels [bene elohim = sons of God] came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satanb [the adversary] also came with them.
- The sons of God appear before God regularly
- It’s not clear why, but Satan came to accuse judge Job
- Since Satan is identified as being against men, they could possibly have come to give good reports (or both good and bad)
Jesus is Over This World
The fact that Jesus was coming to rule over the entire world was hidden from the Elohim.
Col 1:15-17
15The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
Ephesians 3:7-12
7I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power. 8Although I am less than the least of all the Lord’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ, 9and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things.10His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, 11according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. 12In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.
1 Cor 2:6-8
6We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. 8None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
Ephesians 1:18-23
18I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, 19and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength 20he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. 22And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.
Col 2:13-15
And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.
References
The Unseen Realm by Michael Heiser
(this is a Mormon site, but it had some good info on this page)
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