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Judgment among the gods – Psalm 82

A Plea for Righteous Judgment

Where, O Lord, will we find righteous judgment, truth of testimony, a jury of understanding?

If not at the Throne of Heaven, give us gods among us with Your own heart for justice and mercy.

Have mercy upon us, heavenly Father, for all men are sinners. Yet let us know your love for righteousness by Your penalty of the guilty.

Vindictive man of dust, cunning woman of deceit:

Do you cry out for vengeance against those who have trespassed your rights, while you plea for mercy for your betrayal of good?

What jury will hear their guilt while overturning your own sin?

82:1 מִזְמֹור לְאָסָף אֱֽלֹהִים נִצָּב בַּעֲדַת־אֵל בְּקֶרֶב אֱלֹהִים יִשְׁפֹּֽט׃

Psalm 82: A psalm of Asaph.

God stands in the divine assembly;

he pronounces judgment among the gods:

“How long will you judge unjustly
and show partiality to the wicked?

The LORD God Most High! Among other gods?

What can it mean to speak of a divine assembly? Who can judge? Who are these judges of men and women?

We cannot know or face Almighty God in this life. Man knows not the judgment of the Most High, justice which makes right all that is wrong. The plea of this Psalm cries out to the Judge of all, to his appointed rulers.

God takes His stand in His own congregation;
He judges in the midst of the rulers.
Psalm 82:1 NASB

The NASB translation of Psalm 82 may help clarify, referring to the other gods as the congregation of God, rulers over the judged who He also judges.

Almighty God has all Authority! He sits among other gods, rulers of that which the Lord delegates.

Justice required of other gods

3 Provide justice for the needy and the fatherless;
uphold the rights of the oppressed and the destitute.
4 Rescue the poor and needy;
save them from the power of the wicked.”

5 They do not know or understand;
they wander in darkness.
All the foundations of the earth are shaken.

Our earthly judges, rulers seated in the thrones of justice, must judge rightly, helping their own subjects. These other gods in our earthly congregations owe obedience to the God above all gods.

6 I said, “You are gods;
you are all sons of the Most High.
7 However, you will die like humans
and fall like any other ruler.”

I say: to the President, the Premier, the Prime Minister; to the King and Prince, the Queen and Empress: You are gods – rulers over men and women under your dominion. Yet know your Authority comes down from the Most High God of Creation.

Though you eat bread by the sweat of your subjects, you will return to dust and you will fall like any prince, your ashes returned to dust.

Our plea to God

He IS God! above all men, above all spirits, above all rulers of heaven and earth! Our Father God rules over the congregation of the other gods. We can ask for justice and we may ask for mercy. Yet in true humility and obedience all will bow down.

8 Rise up, God, judge the earth,
for all the nations belong to you.

The Lord will judge the earth and nations.

Until that Day, He appoints judges, gods among us, men and women subservient to Almighty God.

David also says:

86:8 אֵין־כָּמֹוךָ בָאֱלֹהִים אֲדֹנָי וְאֵין כְּֽמַעֲשֶֽׂיךָ׃
Psalm 86:8 KJV

elohiym ‘Adonay ma`aseh

Among the gods there is none like unto thee, O Lord; neither are there any works like unto thy works.

David also declares:

For the LORD is great, and greatly to be praised: he is to be feared above all gods.
For all the gods of the nations are idols: but the LORD made the heavens.
Psalm 96:4-5 KJV

Say among the heathen that the LORD reigneth: the world also shall be established that it shall not be moved: he shall judge the people righteously.
Psalm 96:10 KJV

The LORD יְהֹוָה Yĕhovah shall judge righteously.

He IS a God among the gods of the earth, even in the council of the rulers of the heavens and the earth.

The gods and idols of the heathen, other nations who do not judge righteously must bow down to the LORD God, for He will give the rulers of the lands true and just council.

God among other gods

Many men and women of many nations worship gods of many names. God appoints other gods, rulers and judges, over the heathen and over the faithful. These will bow down to the Lord God, as will all men of dust and angels worship at His Throne.

We are His created. Let us worship the Lord.

One Flock, One Shepherd

6:4 שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָֽד׃
6:5 וְאָהַבְתָּ אֵת יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ בְּכָל־לְבָבְךָ וּבְכָל־נַפְשְׁךָ וּבְכָל־מְאֹדֶֽךָ׃
Deuteronomy – KJV

: שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל‬; “Hear, [O] Israel”

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:

And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

Jesus, Shepherd of Israel, Son of God

Controversy erupts in Jerusalem among religious and political leaders – controversy even to this day. The Messiah Jesus comes before us as Redeemer and Sacrifice for our sins.

He was and IS and will be God, Judge of all souls.

Yet in this incident Jesus stands accused as a Son of Man, a god among other gods appointed to rule over the Jews.

John 10:

11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

Jesus then refers to the rulers of the Jews, as “hired hands,” judges who do not care for the lives of their flock. It’s no small insult to the leading religious authorities, who later will convict Jesus wrongly before their own court. This God will become the Perfect Sacrifice for the sin of the world.

Solomon’s Porch overlooking the Temple courtyard

God among the appointed gods

23 Jesus was walking in the temple in Solomon’s Colonnade. 24 The Jews surrounded him and asked, “How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”

25 “I did tell you and you don’t believe,” Jesus answered them. “The works that I do in my Father’s name testify about me. 26 But you don’t believe because you are not of my sheep…

“I and the Father are one.”
John 10:30 CSB – words of the Messiah Jesus

The religious officials answer:

33 “We aren’t stoning you for a good work,” the Jews answered, “but for blasphemy, because you—being a man—make yourself God.”

34 Jesus answered them,
“Isn’t it written in your law, I said, you are gods?
If he called those whom the word of God came to ‘gods’—and the Scripture cannot be broken— do you say,
‘You are blaspheming’
to the one the Father set apart and sent into the world,
because I said: I am the Son of God?
John 10:34-36 CSB

Jesus escapes their stoning during the Festival of Lights to become the Sacrifice of Most Holiness during the Passover.

He IS the body and blood, shed for our sin.

Let us worship and bow down only to Christ, our Lord and Savior. He IS a God among other gods and He will judge their righteousness and ours.

Amen.

November 7, 2018
Times of Difficulty – 3

Watch Yourselves

Luke 21:

34 “But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. 35 For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. 36 But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

Watch yourselves! A warning of apocalypse.

“Be on guard,” states the King James, with the same Greek word where Jesus warns to ‘beware of false prophets.’ And in case you missed it, Jesus reiterates the warning. “Stay awake;” “keep on alert,” the King James Version warns. Matthew records Jesus using these warnings together as one.

[ctt title=”‘Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come.’ – Mark 13:33″ tweet=”Do the cares of this life obscure the Light of eternal life? Watch yourselves!” coverup=”Kj6Z5″]

Who does Jesus warn?

21st century readers could easily dismiss this. Jesus is just preaching to the people of His day. The Temple will be destroyed and Israel will be destroyed. And that’s the end of it.

Not quite. Although these events of which Jesus warned did take place, as is so often the case, prophecy also applies to other times. Just because you and I live in a different place and a later time does not exclude us from the truth.

Jesus warns of impending disaster: ” and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap.” How often over time does this apply to so many.

[ctt title=”For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth.- Luke 21:35″ tweet=”Disaster prophesied by Jesus: not just for a forgotten time centuries past.” coverup=”1nRD9″]

Not just Jerusalem. A disaster of the scope of Sodom and Gomorrah comes more to mind. (Lot was on watch. Only Lot sought to obey the Lord by fleeing sin.)

Jesus does not speak of only ancient Judea, Samaria and Galilee which Rome would destroy later. The Lord warns, “all who dwell on the face of the whole earth.”

Do those who ignored the warnings of Noah also come to your mind?

Judgment!

We don’t like it, the thought of being judged by another. Yet a sovereign God surely rules in righteousness and will judge the living and the dead! We prefer to see Jesus as our humble example of living to love God. Jesus invites us to think of God as Father. Jesus challenges us to love others.

Yet He often warned of a judgment to come, a judgment with eternal consequence. Here is just one more example of the Almighty authority of Christ Jesus (which could be easily dismissed).

The Son of Man

Allow me to isolate what Jesus warns.

“… But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength… to stand before the Son of Man.”

Judgment! Jesus clearly warns the He will be our judge. And you will not stand in your own strength, but in His.

Jesus IS the Son of Man! Jesus also clearly states for all with ears to hear:

“I and the Father are one.” –John 10:30

Revelation 14:14-16

Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and seated on the cloud one like a son of man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand.

And another angel came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud,

“Put in your sickle, and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.”

So he who sat on the cloud swung his sickle across the earth, and the earth was reaped.

To be continued…

August 29, 2017
The Fire of His Wrath, The Gospel of His Salvation

The fire of the Lord consumes the complacent,

The wicked and the righteous fleeing their homes.

They flee His great wrath and abandon their plans,

The Gospel of His Salvation will comfort or condemn.

Revelation 14 King James Version (KJV)

NOTE: For ease of reading our contemporary language the ESV is recommended; I have chosen the KJV for its powerful poetic presentation and direct translation from the original Greek. The Revelation of Jesus Christ to the Apostle John is presented here by excerpt only, a brief glimpse into awe unspeakable. Read the Book of Revelation in its entirety. You will be blessed.

And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion…

Make no mistake: the apocalypse here revealed is from the Revelation of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, to the Apostle John. The Book of Revelation is a trumpet warning of the wrath of God to this generation and generations to come.

Christ is Atonement for man

He IS the sacrificial Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, the Messiah, Christ, who suffered and died for your sins and for mine.

Leviticus 4:35
And he shall take away all the fat thereof, as the fat of the lamb is taken away from the sacrifice of the peace offerings; and the priest shall burn them upon the altar, according to the offerings made by fire unto the LORD: and the priest shall make an atonement כָּפַר for his sin that he hath committed, and it shall be forgiven him.

Revelation 14:

2 And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder:

The LORD GOD speaks! The LORD speaks with a voice of absolute power and majesty and might. The LORD proclaims the victory of the Lamb of God over the sin of the world.

And angels worship the LORD!

3 And they sung as it were a new song before the throne…

Do you take ANY time to worship Almighty God? Do you worship the One who has created you? He has dominion over all creation; for the LORD IS and was and will always be! The LORD is worthy of worship. He IS a father unto those who seek him. He is a consuming fire to those who flee from him.

6 And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,

7 Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.

What do you think of the Judgment?

Who would not fall down in fear in this awesome moment? Who would fail to worship the LORD of all creation?

How presumptuous of man to exhaust our brief days of mortal consumption with no regard of the Image reflected in our soul.

Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? – Genesis 18:25b

His purifying judgment shall consume more than Sodom. Neither shall pillar of salt stand nor ash-baked corpse remain in that awful day. His fire will make way for a new heavens and a new earth!

Returning to Revelation 14

…Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.

14 And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.

15 And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.

And in the end…

Yes, there is more to the Apocalypse. Can your soul bear it? Will your soul not awaken from the sleep of death to the sounds of deafening waters and unspeakable thundering of His Voice? Are you not in awe of the LORD GOD?

Remember your days, that we are dust. The LORD has created us for himself, for worship, for our own sacrifice of love to others, as the Lord God Almighty gave His only Son Christ Jesus on the Cross as Perfect Sacrifice for our sins.

The Lamb of God will come on the clouds! He will stand on Mount Zion once more and rule as the loving King of all creation. The Lord will judge the sins of mankind and He will cover the sins of the saints.

Did you know that in Christ Jesus you are a saint of God?

For God IS as a Father to you, as well as a Father to Jesus the Messiah, the Sacrifice of the LORD’s great love and mercy. The Lord God IS in the Holy Spirit reaching into your soul to embrace the worship of your soul with a purpose of love to follow faithfully.

Will you respond? Will you call on the LORD, while it is yet today?

August 7, 2016