Lessons #261 and 262
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+ 1. It is best to use this note after you have listened to the lessons because there are +
+ comments given in the actual delivery not in the note. +
+ 2. The Bible abbreviations are as follows: CEV =Contemporary English version, +
+ CEB = Common English Bible, ESV= English Standard Version, +
+ GW = God’s Word Translation, ISV = International Standard Version, +
+ NAB=New English Bible, NASB= New American Standard Bible, +
+ NEB= New English Bible, NET = New English Translation, +
+ NLT = New Living Translations NJB = New Jerusalem Bible, +
+ NJV = New Jewish Bible, TEV = Today’s English Version. +
+AMP = Amplified Bible, UBS = United Bible Society +
+ 3. Notes have not been edited for grammatical errors. +
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Food sacrificed to idol: supernatural beings (1 Cor 8:4-7)
. 4 So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world and that there is no God but one. 5 For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”), 6 yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live. 7 But not everyone knows this. Some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat such food they think of it as having been sacrificed to an idol, and since their conscience is weak, it is defiled.
The second proposition of this section that we started to consider in our last is that there is hierarchy in the concept of supernatural beings revealed in the Scripture. As we stated, this proposition means that there is the supreme being called “God” with the “g” capitalized and there are other lesser supernatural beings called “gods” with the “g” of lower case to differentiate from the supreme being. We started to consider facts that should help us to understand these “lesser gods.” A first fact is that these “lesser gods” are infinitely inferior to supreme God so that they are not the object of worship. A second fact is that these “lesser gods” are real and not merely figures of imaginations. We started to demonstrate that they are real in several ways. We indicated that they must be real for the supreme God to be described as “God of gods,” understood as, “the greatest of all gods, the mightiest of all lords” in Deuteronomy 10:17. We also stated that these lesser gods must be real for them to be involved in certain activities. The first activity we considered is that they are commanded to worship the Lord in Psalm 97:7. Only beings that are real that are involved in worship. It was with this first activity that we stopped in our last study, so we continue with the activities that indicate the lesser gods are real.
God presides in the great assembly; he gives judgment among the “gods”:
The sentence God presides in the great assembly is to be understood that God takes His place in a heavenly council convened by Him since the phrase the great assembly is literally “assembly of God.” Those gathered to hear His decision are described as “gods.” The word “God” and “gods” are translated from the same Hebrew word (ʾělōhîm) and that seem to have caused problems to some interpreters. Some interpret them to be Israel’s judges or Israel’s foreign oppressors. Such interpretation is not supported by the context, especially what is said about the gods in verse 7 of dying like humans. The most appropriate interpretation is to take the gods as divine beings, that is, the lesser gods, some of whom are gods of the nation or the divine created beings that are assigned the responsibility of governing the nations as we will consider later but they failed in their responsibility. The divine council attended by the gods is similar to that described in Job 1:6–7:
6 One day the angels came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them. 7 The LORD said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Satan answered the LORD, “From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it.”
The phrase the angels is literally sons of God or sons of gods indicating that those who came to present themselves before the Lord are divine beings.
The second thing that Psalm 82 tells us about these lesser gods that convey they are real is that they govern the nations and so they were expected in their capacities as judges or governors of the nations to help those in need or the oppressed instead of helping the wicked as we may gather from Psalm 82:2–4:
2“How long will you defend the unjust and show partiality to the wicked? Selah
3Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. 4Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.
We will consider later in more detail about their ruling of nations.
The third thing that Psalm 82 tells us about these lesser gods that convey they are real is that God declared them to be created members of His divine council in Psalm 82:6:
“I said, ‘You are “gods”; you are all sons of the Most High.’
The supreme God described members of His divine council as “gods” where the same Hebrew word that means the supreme God is used. Therefore, to ensure there is no confusion as what He said to these lesser gods, God provides the explanation given in the sentence you are all sons of the Most High. It may not appear that this sentence is an explanation of the previous declaration regarding the lesser gods, but it is. This is because the Hebrew line begins with a Hebrew particle (we-) that is often translated “and” in our English versions although not translated here in Psalm 82:6 in the NIV and majority of our English version but a handful of English versions translated it with the word “and.” Nonetheless, the Hebrew particle has several other usages. In our passage, it is probably used in an explanatory sense so that it should be translated “that is” to indicate that what follows explains in what sense the supreme God called the lesser gods “gods.”
The supreme God conveys that these lesser gods or created supernatural beings in a unique class are members of His divine council although they are not of equal rank with Him since He is their creator as implied in the phrase sons of the Most High. That this phrase conveys that the lesser gods are members of the supreme God’s divine council is implied in the words used in the phrase. The first word “sons” is translated from a Hebrew word (bēn) that is used to describe various family relationships such as “son” or “grandchild” as it is used in Genesis 45:10:
You shall live in the region of Goshen and be near me—you, your children and grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and all you have.
The phrase your children is literally your sons while the word grandchildren is literally sons of your sons. The word is used to denote people, nation, or inhabitants of a place so it is used to describe a people in Genesis 19:38:
The younger daughter also had a son, and she named him Ben-Ammi; he is the father of the Ammonites of today.
The phrase the father of the Ammonites is literally the father of children of Ammon. The word may be used to connect an individual with duty or place among others as it is used to describe Abraham’s servant in Genesis 15:3:
And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.”
The phrase a servant in my household is literal a son of my house. The word may be used to denote membership of social class. So, it is used to describe oppressed individuals in a society that a ruler should not forget because of drinking habitually in such a way as to impair the ruler’s sense of justice in Proverbs 31:5:
lest they drink and forget what the law decrees, and deprive all the oppressed of their rights.
The phrase the oppressed is literally the sons of affliction. The word in the plural is once used for humanity in Ezekiel 31:14:
Therefore no other trees by the waters are ever to tower proudly on high, lifting their tops above the thick foliage. No other trees so well-watered are ever to reach such a height; they are all destined for death, for the earth below, among mortal men, with those who go down to the pit.
The phrase mortal men is literally sons of men/children of humankind. In our passage of Psalm 82:6, the word is used to describe relationship between those called “gods” and the being described in the phrase the Most High.
The relationship between those called “gods” and the Most High is twofold: that of the same general nature and subordination. Those called “gods” and the Most High are supernatural in nature but distinct in that those called gods are subordinated to the Most High because He created them. These gods are members of divine council as divine beings who are created. The interpretation we have given is warranted because of three factors.
The first factor that is behind our interpretation of the relationship between those called “gods” and “the Most High” as that of the same general nature and subordination is the influence of the understanding of the Near Eastern concept of the “council of gods under a supreme god.” There was the belief that every nation had its god but that there was one supreme god over all the gods so the phrase sons of the Most High is to be understood as the lesser gods are of the same general nature as the Most High but under His authority.
The second factor behind our interpretation of the relationship between those called “gods” and “the Most High” as that of the same general nature and subordination is grammatical. The Hebrew used a phrase that requires we interpret the relationship between the lesser gods described as “sons” and the Most High as belonging to the same class of the supernatural beings. The word “sons” as we have noted could be used to describe human relationship. It can also be used to describe those who will be God’s people as Prophet Hosea declared in Hosea 1:10:
“Yet the Israelites will be like the sand on the seashore, which cannot be measured or counted. In the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’
The phrase sons of the living God is a description of humans that will belong to God. Therefore, the use of the phrase Most High tells us that those described as sons belong to a different class from humans, but this class is that of divine ones or supernatural beings. Thus, those described as “gods” are divine beings as the Most High but under the authority of the Most High and are created by Him. The idea of creation of the lesser gods is implied in the third factor we will consider.
The third factor behind our interpretation of the relationship between those called “gods” and “the Most High” as that of the same general nature and subordination is the implied meaning of the phrase Most High. The expression “Most High” is translated from a Hebrew word (ʿělyôn) that may mean “upper” in the sense of something that is higher as it is used in description of the rooms in temple of Ezekiel’s vision, as stated in Ezekiel 42:5:
Now the upper rooms were narrower, for the galleries took more space from them than from the rooms on the lower and middle floors of the building.
The word means “Highest, Most High” as a title of God. It is a word that is used to describe the creator by Abraham as recorded in Genesis 14:22:
But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have raised my hand to the LORD, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, and have taken an oath
Melchizedek used the same word to describe God as the creator of the universe in Genesis 14:19:
and he blessed Abram, saying, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth.
The word is used to describe Israel’s God in Psalm 18:13:
The LORD thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded.
The first line used Hebrew word (Yahweh) that is used to describe Israel’s God but the second line used our Hebrew word indicating that it is a term that is used for Israel’s God. This is also confirmed in Psalm 78:35:
They remembered that God was their Rock, that God Most High was their Redeemer.
The God Israel remembered as their Rock is described with our Hebrew word in the phrase God Most High. So, there is no doubt that the word is used for Israel’s God. Our Hebrew word is used to indicate that God is sovereignly in control of all things, as we read in Psalm 97:9:
For you, O LORD, are the Most High over all the earth; you are exalted far above all gods.
The Lord described with our Hebrew word indicates that He is the supreme ruler of the world, far greater in power than the lesser gods. Thus, our Hebrew word indicates that God is the creator and sovereignly in control of all things. The implication is that those describe in the phrase of Psalm 82:6 sons of the Most High are lesser gods and created by the Most High under whose authority they remain. In any event, the third thing that Psalm 82 tells us about these lesser gods that convey they are real is that God declared them to be created members of His divine council.
The fourth thing that Psalm 82 tells us about these lesser gods that convey they are real is that they are to be given death sentence, as stated in Psalm 82:7:
But you will die like mere men; you will fall like every other ruler.”
This verse states the punishment that would come to the lesser gods because of their failure to be concerned with the less privileged among people. The word “die” is translated from a Hebrew word (mûṯ) that has the sense of to pass from physical life and lose all bodily attributes and functions necessary to sustain life. This meaning is not what is intended for divine beings. Anyway, the sentence you will die like mere men although is concerned with mortality of humans because the Hebrew word (ʾāḏām) used may mean “humankind” but it could also refer to the first human Adam. Thus, the punishment the lesser gods will suffer is like that of Adam. They would, as Adam and hence humanity, lose their immortality. This is not all. Adam was kicked out of the Garden of Eden so these lesser gods would certainly be kicked out of heaven so that they would no longer be members of the divine council or assembly. Adam lost his rule of the world to Satan at the fall so the lesser gods will lose their function of ruling the nations. Our concern is not with going into all the details of expounding on this verse, but the second sentence you will fall like every other ruler supports the interpretation of loss of rule of the nations by the lesser gods. Our concern is that the idea of losing immortality and ruling function attest to the reality of these lesser gods. In other words, because these lesser gods would lose their immortality, implying they would spend eternity in lake of fire as humans that are unbelievers would, they must be real beings.
We have so far focused on the activities of the lesser gods based on Psalm 82 to prove they are real but there is one more activity we need to mention that proves they are real. It is that these lesser gods may know, to a limited extent, what the future holds as implied in Isaiah 41:23:
tell us what the future holds, so we may know that you are gods. Do something, whether good or bad, so that we will be dismayed and filled with fear.
This verse is concerned with the challenge of the God of Israel to the gods of the nations. There are two challenges given to them in this passage. The first is to predict the future and the second is to act or do something regardless of its nature. The two challenges imply that lesser gods are capable of the actions stated in consortium with the supreme God. The lesser gods who attend divine assembly or the divine council would be privileged to know what would happen in the future as God would have revealed that to them. Take for example, the spirit that deceived the prophets of Ahab to give him assurance of victory in battle, did so because he was in attendance in divine council, as we may gather from 1 Kings 22:19–22:
19 Micaiah continued, “Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne with all the host of heaven standing around him on his right and on his left. 20 And the LORD said, ‘Who will entice Ahab into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death there?’ “One suggested this, and another that. 21 Finally, 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 lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets,’ he said. “‘You will succeed in enticing him,’ said the LORD. ‘Go and do it.’
The spirit described here was in divine council and so he could deceive and act in deception to Ahab’s court prophets. The implication is that any lesser god that attends the divine council or assembly would be capable of predicting the future because God disclosed such event in the assembly of the gods. We are arguing that unless the lesser gods in association with the supreme God can predict the future the Lord would not have thrown out such a challenge. This being the case, then the fact that lesser gods can predict the future once they attend the divine council must mean they are real. In any event, we have stated two facts about the lesser gods – a first fact they are infinitely inferior to supreme God so that they are not the object of worship. A second fact is they are real and not merely figures of imaginations. So, we consider the third.
A third fact is that some of the lesser gods form part of the group of the supernatural beings called demons as implied in Deuteronomy 32:17:
They sacrificed to demons, which are not God—gods they had not known, gods that recently appeared, gods your fathers did not fear.
The word “demon” is translated from a Hebrew word (šēḏ) that appears only twice in the OT Scripture; in our passage and in Psalm 106:37:
They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons.
Authorities tell us that the Hebrew word is related probably to the Babylonian word (shêdu) meaning “demon, protective deity, or malevolent spirit.” In Deuteronomy 32:17, it is used in the sense of “a created supernatural being, rebellious, and hostile to God and anyone allied with Him.” Anyway, demons are said not to be God. The word “God” is translated from the Hebrew word (ʾělôah) we indicated means “God” or “god” but here it refers to God of Israel as the supernatural being who originated and rules over the universe. Demons are defined with the word “gods” that is translated from the Hebrew word (ʾělōhîm) that we indicated could mean “the true God” or “gods,” that is, the lesser gods we have been considering. Because the true God has already been referenced then our Hebrew word refers to the lesser gods. This being the case we should understand the demons then are in the class of lesser gods although they are malevolent. By the way, the OT Scripture says nothing about the origin of demons or their identity per say. Nonetheless, in later Judaism, the belief in demons was widespread. Several theories were advanced to account for their origin. Some say that demons were the result of sexual relationship between fallen angels and women based on the passage of Genesis 6 that we will mention later. Other theories include the thought that they were a special creation by God, or that they were the result of sexual relations between Adam and Eve and spirits, or that some of the generations of the Tower of Babel were turned into demons. These various speculations notwithstanding, the third fact we wanted to convey is that lesser gods form part of the group of the supernatural beings called demons.
A fourth fact is that some of the lesser gods were part of the supernatural beings that had sexual relationship with women that is described in Genesis 6:1–4:
1 When men began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. 3 Then the LORD said, “My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days will be a hundred and twenty years.” 4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of men and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.
We have studied this passage in detail when we studied the book of Genesis, so we are not here going to rehearse what we studied. However, we want to emphasize that the phrase the sons of God refers to the lesser gods we have been considering although we use the word “angel” or “heavenly beings” to describe the Hebrew phrase. The reason we contend that the Hebrew phrase bene ’elohim translated into the English as sons of God refers to the lesser gods is because of what we considered in Psalm 82:6 where those describe as “gods” are called the sons of the Most High that is the same “sons of God.” Thus, we contend that those involved in the incident of Genesis 6:1-4 are members of the lesser gods.
A fifth fact is that some of the lesser gods are part of the supernatural beings described as “angels.” The first use of the word “angel” in Genesis without any qualification, such as “angel of the Lord”, is in describing those heavenly beings dispatched by the Lord to Sodom to destroy it and Gomorrah, as we read in Genesis 19:1:
The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground.
The word “angel” is translated from a Hebrew word (mǎlʾāḵ) that may mean “messenger.” It is used for human messengers sent on a business or diplomatic mission as in the case of those Jacob sent to Esau as he was returning from Paddan Aram, as recorded in Genesis 32:3–6:
3 Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom. 4 He instructed them: “This is what you are to say to my master Esau: ‘Your servant Jacob says, I have been staying with Laban and have remained there till now. 5 I have cattle and donkeys, sheep and goats, menservants and maidservants. Now I am sending this message to my lord, that I may find favor in your eyes.’” 6 When the messengers returned to Jacob, they said, “We went to your brother Esau, and now he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.”
The word is used for prophets as God’s messengers as it is used to describe Prophet Haggai as we read in Haggai 1:13:
Then Haggai, the LORD’s messenger, gave this message of the LORD to the people: “I am with you,” declares the LORD.
The word is used for priests who are considered God’s messengers as we read in Malachi 2:7:
“For the lips of a priest ought to preserve knowledge, and from his mouth men should seek instruction—because he is the messenger of the LORD Almighty.
The word may mean “angels” or “heavenly messengers” as those who carry out special tasks from the Lord, as for example, in carrying out the function of protection as implied in Psalm 91:11:
For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways;
The Hebrew word we considered is one that is more commonly translated “angels” in our English versions but there is another Hebrew word (ʾǎbbîr) that as an adjective means “mighty, valiant” translated only once with the meaning “angel” in Psalm 78:25:
Men ate the bread of angels; he sent them all the food they could eat.
This notwithstanding, those described as “angels” are heavenly messengers in their function but that does not tell us anything about their nature. They are described as “angels” only because they have been dispatched by God to carry out a specific function.
Be that as it may, we contend that angels are part of the lesser gods. This fact is implied in the translation of the NIV in Job 2:1:
On another day the angels came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them to present himself before him.
The phrase the angels of the NIV is literally the sons of God. That aside, we can demonstrate by considering other passages that angels are indeed part of the lesser gods by comparing two passages in Psalms. Angels are described as either “mighty ones” or “heavenly hosts” as we read in Psalm 103:20–21:
20 Praise the LORD, you his angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding, who obey his word. 21 Praise the LORD, all his heavenly hosts, you his servants who do his will.
Angels in these two verses are described firstly as “might ones,” that literally reads “warriors of strength.” Secondly, they are described in the words of the NIV as heavenly hosts although the Hebrew reads literally hosts. The word “hosts” is translated from a Hebrew word (ṣāḇāʾ) that may mean “an army” but here it has the sense of the heavenly entourage of Yahweh. The instruction in this passage of Psalm 103 is for the angels described as “mighty ones” to praise God, that means they are commanded to speak words of excellence about the Lord. This same command is one that is also required of those the NIV translated as “might ones,” as we read in Psalm 29:1:
Ascribe to the LORD, O mighty ones, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.
The word “ascribe” is translated from a Hebrew word (hǎḇ) that may mean “to give” but the Hebrew verb in some context has also the meaning of “to praise” as in 1 Chronicles 16:28:
Ascribe to the LORD, O families of nations, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength,
Using the meaning of the Hebrew verb that means “to give” or “to bring,” the worshippers in the Temple in Jerusalem are urged bring with them the Lord’s glory and strength. This is better understood to mean that the worshippers are to bring their praise to the temple. Hence, it is fitting to translate the Hebrew word with the word “ascribe” or “praise” as that is the word used in the NCV and a few other English versions to translate our Hebrew word. That aside, our concern is with those in both Psalms 103:20-21 and Psalm 29:1 that are instructed to praise God. In Psalm 103, they are identified as angels described in two ways “mighty ones” and “heavenly hosts” but in Psalm 29, they are described in the NIV with the phrase mighty ones indicating that the command to praise the Lord in Psalm 29 is addressed to those who are recognized as angels. However, the phrase of Psalm 29:1 mighty ones is more literally from the Hebrew sons of God/gods. Because the praise is addressed to the Lord or Yahweh then the phrase should simply be translated as sons of God. The sons of God, as we have already established, refer to the lesser gods so we can confidently assert that angels are part of the lesser gods but so described because they are the class of lesser gods that are messengers who carry out specific tasks the Lord assigns them in different situations. It is because they are messengers that the angels the Lord deployed in the last plague of the death of the firstborn in Egypt are described as “destroying angel” as we read in Psalm 78:49:
He unleashed against them his hot anger, his wrath, indignation and hostility— a band of destroying angels.
These lesser gods called angels regularly report back to the Lord regarding their assignments or activities as implied in the assembly of the gods with the supreme God that Satan appeared, as indicated in the passage we cited previously, that is, in Job 1:6–7:
6 One day the angels came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them. 7 The LORD said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Satan answered the LORD, “From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it.”
Anyway, the fifth fact that we have expounded is that some of the lesser gods are part of the supernatural beings described as “angels.”
The sixth fact is that some of the gods or lesser gods rule the nations as we have indicated previously but we need to consider this fact in a little more detail than merely a passing statement. This fact is derived from Deuteronomy 32:8–9:
8When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when he divided all mankind, he set up boundaries for the peoples according to the number of the sons of Israel. 9For the LORD’s portion is his people, Jacob his allotted inheritance.
There is a problem of what the original Hebrew reading is of verse 8. For example, the Septuagint of Deuteronomy 32:8 reads:
When the Most High distributed nations as he scattered the descendants of Adam, he set up boundaries for the nations according to the number of the angels of God.
Before we consider the problem of verse 8, we should recognize that the passage of Deuteronomy 32:8 implies that God divided mankind into nations when He scattered humans. The Scripture reveals that God divided humankind into nations and languages after the fiasco of the event of Tower of Babel according to Genesis 11:8–9:
8 So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9 That is why it was called Babel—because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth.
With this understanding, we proceed to consider the problem of Deuteronomy 32:8 as we have it in the NIV.
The reading in the NIV of Deuteronomy 32:8-9 implies that God created the same number of nations as there were Israelites. He assigned territories to nations but chose Israel as His, according to Deuteronomy 7:6:
For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession.
A major problem with taking the idea that God created the same number of nations as there were Israelites is that the nations in the Table of Nations in Genesis 10 total seventy. To alleviate this problem, some sources, such as the Targum, contend that the number of Israelites meant in Deuteronomy 32:8 must be the number of the Israelites that migrated to Egypt as stated in Deuteronomy 10:22:
Your forefathers who went down into Egypt were seventy in all, and now the LORD your God has made you as numerous as the stars in the sky.
Therefore, the Targum adds “seventy” after the word “number” in Deuteronomy 32:8. This approach does not solve the problem of God creating the same number of nations as there were Israelites since Israel did not exist at the time of the division of humankind into nations. This difficulty is further enhanced by the fact that Deuteronomy 32:9 reads For the LORD’s portion is his people, Jacob his allotted inheritance. This clause implies that Israel was God’s allotted inheritance so that the other nations must have been someone else’s allotted inheritance. But verse 8 does not tell whose inheritance the other nations are.
The problems we have cited would be eliminated by accepting as original, the readings found either in the Dead Sea Scrolls or the Septuagint or other texts that read different from the Masoretic Text. The phrase of Deuteronomy 32:8 the sons of Israel of the Masoretic Text, the basis for the translation of our OT, reads “sons of God” in the Dead Sea Scroll and “angels of God” in the Septuagint. We noted previously that the Septuagint translated the Hebrew phrase that translates “sons of God” with the phrase “angels of God” so that the original Hebrew text would have contained the phrase that translates into the English as “sons of God.” We have also noted that the phrase “sons of God” refers to “gods” or to the “lesser “gods” so that the translators of the NRSV are correct in their translation using the word “gods” in that instead of the phrase the number of the sons of Israel we find in the NIV, the NRSV reads the number of the gods. Of course, the NIV gives a footnote that refers to the readings found in the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Septuagint.
The reading of the phrase of the NIV the number of the sons of Israel of Deuteronomy 32:8 as the number of the gods or the number of the sons of God means that following the incident of the Tower of Babel, God portioned the nations and territories of the world according to the number of the “lesser gods” or “gods” that He assigned governance of the nations. This being the case, verse 9 of Deuteronomy 32 implies that God assigned the other nations to the lesser gods while explicitly stating that He kept Israel for Himself. The picture then is that God as the supreme ruler of creation decided to directly rule Israel Himself while He assigned the rule of other nations to the lesser gods. This situation would be like that of a king governing the capital of his realm personally and assigning the provinces to subordinates, similar to what is implied during the reign of King Xerxes, as we read in Esther 1:1–2:
1 This is what happened during the time of Xerxes, the Xerxes who ruled over 127 provinces stretching from India to Cush: 2 At that time King Xerxes reigned from his royal throne in the citadel of Susa,
That Xerxes deployed governors to help his rule is implied in the counter letter sent to the various provinces to counter the plot of Haman to exterminate the Jews, as we read in Esther 8:9:
At once the royal secretaries were summoned—on the twenty-third day of the third month, the month of Sivan. They wrote out all Mordecai’s orders to the Jews, and to the satraps, governors and nobles of the 127 provinces stretching from India to Cush. These orders were written in the script of each province and the language of each people and also to the Jews in their own script and language.
God chose Israel as a special people to demonstrate His plan and so He ruled them directly so there is a sense that Israel is His capital among on the nations. No wonder He described Israel as His firstborn in Exodus 4:22:
Then say to Pharaoh, ‘This is what the LORD says: Israel is my firstborn son,
That aside, before we comment further about the lesser gods ruling of the nations, we should deal with the possible reason for the different reading of Deuteronomy 32:8 found in the Masoretic Text and the other readings that we referenced.
The difference in the reading of Masoretic Text from others may be probably due to one of two reasons that led the scribes that compiled the OT Scripture in the Masoretic Text to change the original Hebrew to what we have in the Masoretic Text. First, those who compiled the Masoretic Text might have felt that using the original Hebrew phrase that could be read as “gods” or “sons of God” may cause their Jewish readers to assign the same authority and power to them that may then lead to worshipping these lesser gods alongside of the supreme God. Second, the compilers might have considered the concept of “sons of God” to be similar to that of polytheistic pantheons such as present among the Canaanites that convey the idea of assembly of the sons of god under the head of the gods. This would also challenge the worship of the true God. Consequently, to avoid any thing that leads to idolatry, the scribes made the change from what is found in the original text. You probably may say to yourself if that is the case how can we be sure that what we have advocated is the original reading. Well, God in His goodness worked in such a way that original reading was preserved in the Septuagint that was translated for the Greek speaking Jews that has also been preserved by early Christians. Furthermore, the Dead Sea Scrolls confirmed the original reading.
In any event, the situation in Deuteronomy 32:8-9 is that once humanity rebelled against God in refusing to spread out according to His word that He judged the nations and disinherited them, so to say. Humankind in their rebellion has shown that they lost their rule of the world. For after all, one reason God created humans was to be rulers as that is the fundamental meaning of creating humans in God’s image as we considered in our study of Genesis. Anyway, continued rebellion of humans led to God appointing the lesser gods to rule the nations with Him ruling Israel. His rule of Israel began in a sense with Him choosing Abraham so that a new nation was formed through him that the Lord ruled directly without the lesser gods. This, of course, changed when Israel was sent to exile as we will allude later in our study. With this comment, let us return to the concept of lesser gods ruling the nations.
The concept of lesser gods ruling the nations is hinted in the appearance of the gods or divine beings periodically before God as we read in the passage, we cited previously, that is, Job 1:6–7:
6 One day the angels came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them. 7 The LORD said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Satan answered the LORD, “From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it.”
This repeated appearance of the lesser gods is also evident in the second assembly of the lesser gods with the supreme God reported in Job 2:1–2:
1 On another day the angels came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them to present himself before him. 2 And the LORD said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Satan answered the LORD, “From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it.”
Recall that the phrase the angels in both passages is literally sons of God that we have argued referred to the lesser gods. The situation in the appearances of the lesser gods before God seem to be that of reporting to Him their activities of ruling the nations. Satan as a lesser god is certainly a ruler of the world probably in the capacity of an investigator and prosecuting attorney that periodically reports to God what he sees taking place on earth. He is singled out here in the narrative of Job because he was in a class by himself among the lesser gods when it comes to governance of the earth as he was over all the other gods that govern the nations. We say this because, it seemed that it was as he caused Adam and Eve to sin that he took over from them the rule of the world and so he claimed to be the ruler of the world during his temptation of the Lord Jesus, as we read in Luke 4:5–7:
5 The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. 7 So if you worship me, it will all be yours.”
Satan’s claim to being the ruler of the world was not disputed by the Lord Jesus who through His death on the cross dethroned him. Anyway, the reference of lesser gods in Job proves they are involved in governing of the nations. Of course, we have already noted in Psalm 82 that God rebuked them for not ruling justly as they should.
Another reference to the fact that lesser gods govern nations is hinted in Daniel 10:13–14:
13 But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia. 14 Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future, for the vision concerns a time yet to come.”
The concept of lesser gods ruling the nations and territories is conveyed in the phrase the prince of the Persian kingdom. The prince in view is not a human ruler since no human being could prevent a divine being from carrying out his assignment as the prince of Persian kingdom is declared to have done. It is true the word “prince” may refer to a human ruler but it can also refer to a divine being since the Hebrew word (śǎr) that may mean “prince” is used in the description of the Messiah in Isaiah 9:6:
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
The Hebrew word translated “prince” is used to describe the heavenly being that approached Joshua as he was poised to attack Jericho that is described as the commander (our Hebrew word śǎr) of the Lord’s army in Joshua 5:14:
“Neither,” he replied, “but as commander of the army of the LORD I have now come.” Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence, and asked him, “What message does my Lord have for his servant?”
Thus, the prince of Persian kingdom is a reference to a divine being that governs Persian kingdom although this divine being is considered the guardian angel of the Persian kingdom. This being is a lesser god that is either in rebellion to God otherwise he would not be opposing an angel sent to Daniel or that he is being possessive of the kingdom he guards. The situation must be that the lesser god that rules Persian kingdom would not permit interference in the affairs of people in the kingdom that he rules hence his resistance to the angel sent by God to deliver the answer to Daniel’s prayer.
By the way, Michael is the greatest of the guardian angels of nations as implied by the fact his help was enlisted by the angel that was sent to answer Daniel’s prayer. He is also the guardian of Israel, in that he defends and protects her, according to Daniel 12:1:
“At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time your people—everyone whose name is found written in the book—will be delivered.
The idea of Michael ruling Israel seemed to contradict what we considered in Deuteronomy 32:9 of God’s direct rule of Israel but that is not the case. The resolution to the conflict is that Israel was ruled by God directly until they rebelled against Him and He sent them into exile. Thus, since the Lord assigned lesser gods to the nations due to rebellion against Him, it followed that once Israel rebelled against God, He then assigned Michael to be their governor or defender. Anyway, the point we have established is that lesser gods rule the nations. This must be considered God’s punishment to the nations for rebellion against Him that He did not want to rule them directly.
Our consideration of the lesser gods indeed explains the apostle admission of gods in heaven and on earth. The gods on earth are those lesser gods that God assigned to rule nations. Thus, we know that there are gods on earth because God placed them there. Therefore, you should from today recognize that there are divine beings called lesser gods that are in heaven and on earth as the Holy Spirit conveyed through Apostle Paul, but they are under God’s authority. Thus, our second proposition there is hierarchy in the concept of supernatural beings revealed in the Scripture.
10/09//20