Psalm 82:1a

Psalm 82:1a

God presides ..... among the gods

This verse has more to teach us because it was quoted by Jesus in John 10. In v34 the Lord reminds his listeners that their leaders were called “gods.” (Notice there is no capital G.) He has just announced that He is the Good Shepherd and that He and the Father are one! This didn’t go down well with His Jewish listeners who considered this dramatic pronouncement to be nothing short of blasphemy! They were ready to stone Him! He was obviously just a man; how could He claim to be God? 

John 10:34, “Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your Law, 'I have said you are gods'? If he called them 'gods,' to whom the word of God came—and the Scripture cannot be broken…”

What did Jesus mean when He said that “Is it not written in your Law?” I think He might have been referring to the Torah (first 5 Books of the Bible) and to the time when Moses pleaded with God to send someone else to Pharaoh to demand the release of the Hebrew slaves. Moses claimed that he was not eloquent, and God’s reply is, “What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well…. He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him.” Exodus 4:14-17. So, Moses will be like God to Aaron, because God is delegating and delivering His authoritative and sovereign message to Moses, who in turn will give it to Aaron, who in turn will join Moses and communicate it to Pharaoh of Egypt. 

This scenario is repeated in Exodus 7:1 where God says to Moses, "See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet.” Moses did not become God, but God’s power and authority were transmitted through him to Aaron and to Pharaoh. 

The point that Jesus makes in John 10 is that if God delegates His divine power to men and thus makes them “gods” why is it so hard for the Jews to understand that God has come to them as a man? It’s a very clever and well-reasoned argument and the antagonists of Jesus had no answer!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Psalm 4:1 Smear campaigns

Psalm 4:1    Smear campaigns   The background to this Psalm is so familiar; David is being slandered and maligned by his detractors.  It seems that some calamity has befallen the nation and the king is getting the blame! Lies are being told, a smear campaign has begun, and the reputation of the Sovereign is under threat.  As usual, if something goes wrong, culpability is laid at the feet of the one in charge.  David, quite rightly, turns to the Lord his God and prays for relief and for mercy. The Satan is a master of such campaigns and his emissaries gleefully turn on Christians in leadership positions although the whispering campaign can affect all of us. The whispering starts in our own heads, but it can also come from the lips of our detractors. It goes something like this: - You’re the reason it went wrong You messed up again You should have seen it coming Surely you know better You are not worthy You don’t know what you’re doing Someone else ought to be in c
Read more

Psalm 74:16

Psalm 74:16 God established the sun and the moon “ In  the beginning   God created   the heavens   and the earth.   2  Now the earth was formless   and empty,   darkness was over the surface of the deep,   and the Spirit of God   was hovering over the waters. 3  And God said,   “Let there be light,” and there was light.   4  God saw that the light was good,   and he separated the light from the darkness.   5  God called   the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.”   And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.” These, so familiar, words from Genesis 1 remind us of who is in charge! There would be no light without God. There would be no day or night without God. There would be no earth without God. And there would have been no living things unless God had created order out of chaos. The sun, moon and stars would not be fixed in their orbits without God and you and I would not exist unless He ordered our conception. It is because we see God as glorious, righteous
Read more
Psalm4:8        I will lie down and sleep                Th ere are times, in the life of all believers, when we no longer have control of situations. We can do nothing more. We have given our all, we have tried every possible solution and now it is out of our hands. As someone has wisely said, “It is time to let go and let God.” If we truly trust Him, if our faith will allow us, we can turn our backs on our enemies. We can block our ears to the threats. We can ignore the lies and the deceit and say,  “In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone Lord, make me dwell in safety.” I should imagine that the devil, having sent a hurricane our way is not amused, when we settle in our beds in the midst of it all and drift off into a peaceful sleep! But that is our right and privilege once we let the Lord God Almighty take control. These spiritual attacks are like whirlwinds, they blow with terrifying intensity and threaten to turn us upside down; the disciples witnessed one of thes
Read more