(NOTE: Some of the themes of these articles may not be appropriate for young readers. Please keep that in mind when sharing this information).
It is written:
“God stands in the congregation of the mighty; He judges among the gods.” (Psalm 82:1)
The pagan gods and goddesses exist.
But they are not truly GOD.
Instead, they are comprised of two groups:
1. The angels who rebelled against God.
2. The demons (spirits of the dead Nephilim) which remained in the world after the Flood, even to this day.
There are several lines of evidence which document these facts. The first one that we will examine is from the Book of Psalms.
In the 82 Psalm, the Bible talks about how God “judges among the gods.” Now, most study Bibles have a footnote with this passage that suggests the text is talking about human judges in courts of law. Others believe that the “gods” here are referring to fallen angels, since they are thus identified in verse 6 as “children of the Most Hight,” (bene elohim-a phrase often used in Scripture to reference angels-see Job 1:6; 2:1-2; 38:4-7). Godava has well written:
“Much scholarly debate has occurred over the identity of these “gods” of the divine council. Are they human judges who merely represent divine justice or are they actual divine beings? I am convinced that they are Yahweh’s heavenly host of divine beings surrounding his throne, referred to with the technical term, “Sons of God.” Here’s why…First off, the Psalm itself uses the Hebrew word “Elohim” which is accurately translated as “gods.” As much as Christians have been conditioned to think that the Bible says there are no other gods that exist but Yahweh, this simply is not biblical. I have explained elsewhere, based on orthodox scholars smarter than me (see here and here and here), that the Hebrew word for “gods,” elohim, is not a metaphor, and it is not polytheistic. It is a reference to created yet divine beings that we sometimes imprecisely refer to as “angels.” They are biblically referred to as “holy ones” (Deut 33:2-3; Heb 2:2), “host of heaven” (1 King 22:19-23) or “Sons of God” (Job 1:6; 38:7). Both the Old Testament and the New Testament refer to false gods as having demonic spiritual reality behind their earthly façade (Deut 32:17; Psa 95:5-6 LXX; Psa 106:37-38; 1 Cor 8:4-6; 10:18-20). It is not polytheistic or henotheistic to acknowledge this biblical reality. But it does open up a view of the world that includes supernatural agents other than Yahweh and “angels” who interact with humans in history. Psalm 89 clarifies this “assembly of gods” as being divine, not human, because it is in the heavens, not on earth. Psalm 89:5–7 5 Let the heavens praise your wonders, O Yahweh, your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones! 6 For who in the skies can be compared to Yahweh? Who among the gods is like Yahweh, 7 a God greatly to be feared in the council of the holy ones, and awesome above all who are around him? In this text, we see that there is an assembly of gods/holy ones who surround Yahweh in the heavens. The text explicitly calls the assembly of Yahweh’s holy ones “gods.” But it uses the hypothetical question of incomparability with Yahweh, “who among the gods is like Yahweh?” The implied answer is none of them. They are gods, but not in the same sense as Yahweh is God. So, there you have it. The Bible itself saying that there are gods, but they are not the same kind of divinity as Yahweh. But they are called “gods.” Something that makes Evangelical Christians skittish, but something one must accept if one accepts the Evangelical principle of Sola Scriptura. If the Bible says it, it’s true, regardless of where our pre-conceived biases may lean.” (Brian Godawa, Psalm 82: The Divine Council Of The Gods, The Judgment Of The Watchers, & The Inheritance Of The Nations, 65-103 (Kindle Edition); Los Angeles CA; Embedded Pictures Publishing)
The “gods” of the world are actually fallen angels who have rebelled against the one true God.
While they cause misery and suffering in our world, the Day of Judgment approaches for them as well as for humanity.
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