(More Bible Studies Available @ www.marktabata.com)
It is written:
Psalm 97:7-Let all be put to shame who serve carved images, Who boast of idols. Worship Him, all you gods.
In this passages of Scripture, there are many important lessons that the Lord teaches us about angels.
Let’s study.
The first thing to observe about this Psalm is that it is set squarely in the middle of a host of passages that discuss the Christian Age and the Second Coming. For example, Morris has well pointed out:
“Note the following: Psalm 95:1 “Oh come let us sing unto the Lord.” Psalm 96:1 “Oh sing unto the Lord a new song.” Psalm 97:1 “The Lord reigneth; let the earth rejoice.” Psalm 98:1 “O sing unto the Lord a new song.” Psalm 99:1 “The Lord reigneth, let the people tremble.” Psalm 100:1 “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord.” Then, when we look into the themes of the six psalms, we note that all seem to focus on the Lord as the great King and Judge of all the earth…“Psalm 95: 3 “For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.” Psalm 96: 10 “Say among the heathen that the Lord reigneth . . . He shall judge the people righteously.” Psalm 97: 9 “For thou, Lord, art high above all the earth: thou art exalted far above all gods.” Psalm 98: 6 “With trumpets and sound of cornets make a joyful noise before the Lord, the King.” Psalm 99: 2 “The Lord is great in Zion; and He is high above all the people.” Psalm 100: 3 “Know ye that the Lord he is God; it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves.” Although these beautiful psalms have been of immediate blessing to the people of God in every generation, it would seem that they are best understood in the context of the future thousand-year reign of Christ on earth (Rev. 20: 2–6). The unknown Psalmist, from that perspective, notes that God was first our Creator, then our Savior, then the fulfillment of His promised coming as Judge, and finally His reign as the great King of all creation.” (Henry M. Morris, Treasures in the Psalms, 225-226 (Kindle Edition): Green Forest, AR: Master Books)
Discounting his premillennialism claims, Morris makes an excellent case that this passage of Scripture is found within the context of the Christian Age, leading up to and culminating in the Second Coming. Indeed, several passages of Scripture from this section of Psalms are referenced in and applied to the New Testament and the events of the Second Coming of Christ.
Psalm 97:2-Clouds and darkness surround Him; Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne.
Revelation 1:7-Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen.
Psalm 97:3-A fire goes before Him, And burns up His enemies round about.
2 Thessalonians 1:8-in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Psalm 97:4-His lightnings light the world; The earth sees and trembles.
Revelation 11:18-The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come, And the time of the dead, that they should be judged, And that You should reward Your servants the prophets and the saints, And those who fear Your name, small and great, And should destroy those who destroy the earth.”
Psalm 97:5-The mountains melt like wax at the presence of the LORD, At the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.
Revelation 16:20-Then every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.
Psalm 97:8-Zion hears and is glad, And the daughters of Judah rejoice Because of Your judgments, O LORD.
Hebrews 3:8-DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS AS IN THE REBELLION, IN THE DAY OF TRIAL IN THE WILDERNESS,
The many references to this Psalm in the New Testament show us clearly that these events of this passage are tied to the Christian age and Second Coming of Christ.
Second, the passage references the “gods.” When we look at how this is translated in the Greek Old Testament, we see that the translators used the word “angels” in place of gods!
Psalm 97:7 (Brenton’s LXX)-Let all that worship graven images be ashamed, who boast of their idols; worship him, all ye his angels.
In the Book of Hebrews, Paul quotes this verse from the Greek Old Testament:
Hebrews 1:6-But when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says: “LET ALL THE ANGELS OF GOD WORSHIP HIM.”
Please notice that there is thus a clear connection between the “gods” and the “angels.” As we continue to study, we see that this goes back to the events of the Tower of Babel, where mankind was allowed to continue in rebellion against the one true God and worship and serve the various “gods” or fallen angels. Moses writes about this in two passages in the Book of Deuteronomy. While referring to the events of the dividing of the nations at the Tower of Babel, we read:
Deuteronomy 32:8-When the Most High divided their inheritance to the nations, When He separated the sons of Adam, He set the boundaries of the peoples According to the number of the children of Israel.
Please pay careful attention to the phrase, “He set the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the children of Israel.” Observe how this is rendered in the Greek Old Testament:
Deuteronomy 32:8 (Brenton’s LXX)-When the Most High divided the nations, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the nations according to the number of the angels of God.
Why does the Hebrew say “according to the number of the children of Israel,” while the Greek says, “according to the number of the angels of God?” There have been different theories about this difference. Some believe that a scribe was bothered by the idea that the nations would have been allotted to fallen angels, and so he changed the text in his manuscript copy (which some scribes then copied after him).
“Many English translations will read “according to the number of the sons of Israel” in verse 8 in place of “according to the number of the sons of God.” The difference arises from divergent manuscript readings. The Dead Sea Scrolls demonstrate conclusively that “sons of God” is the correct reading and that the traditional Hebrew text (the Masoretic Text) was altered, mostly likely because of a scribal concern about divine plurality. This textual issue and its implications are well known to Old Testament scholars. 3” (Michael S. Heiser, Demons: What the Bible Really Says About the Powers of Darkness, 147 (Kindle Edition): Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press)
Others believe that this was a simple scribal error. Regardless, we know that this passage cannot be translated “according to the number of the children of Israel” for the simple reason that the nation of Israel did not exist at the time of Babel!
“When God divided the nations—the punishment at Babel when the languages were confused—he distributed them among “the sons of God.” Some Bible translations have “sons of Israel” instead of “sons of God.” But Israel didn’t exist at the time of the Tower of Babel. God only called Abraham and began the nation of Israel after Babel (Gen. 12). “Sons of Israel” can’t be right. “Sons of God” is also what the Dead Sea Scrolls say, the oldest manuscripts of the Bible. The ESV has it right.” ((Michael Heiser, The 60 Second Scholar: 100 Insights That Illumine the Bible, 64-65 (Kindle Edition): Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press)
More to the point, other Scriptures indicate that the angels were allotted the nations at the time of the Tower of Babel. For example:
Deuteronomy 4:19-And take heed, lest you lift your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun, the moon, and the stars, all the host of heaven, you feel driven to worship them and serve them, which the LORD your God has given to all the peoples under the whole heaven as a heritage.
Throughout the Bible, the phrase “host of heaven” often had reference to angelic beings.
1 Kings 22:19-Then Micaiah said, “Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing by, on His right hand and on His left.
2 Kings 17:16-So they left all the commandments of the LORD their God, made for themselves a molded image and two calves, made a wooden image and worshiped all the host of heaven, and served Baal.
2 Kings 21:3-For he rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; he raised up altars for Baal, and made a wooden image, as Ahab king of Israel had done; and he worshiped all the host of heaven and served them.
2 Kings 23:4-And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, the priests of the second order, and the doorkeepers, to bring out of the temple of the LORD all the articles that were made for Baal, for Asherah, and for all the host of heaven; and he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel.
2 Chronicles 18:18-Then Micaiah said, “Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing on His right hand and His left.
It is fascinating that many of these passages not only connect the “host of heaven” with spirit beings, but specifically with the gods Baal and Ashtoreth.
We are also told in apocryphal and uninspired Jewish history books about how the angels were allotted dominion over the nations of man. The following lengthy quotation from Heiser showcases this nicely.
“As was the case in Deuteronomy 32: 8, the Masoretic Text omits the divine beings associated with the nations. Deuteronomy 32: 8, 43 were both altered when the Masoretic Text was produced, ca. AD 100.2 Hannah’s remark represents the overwhelming scholarly consensus on the matter: “It seems safe to conclude that the original text of the Song of Moses (Deut 32: 1–43) affirmed a belief in heavenly guardians, whether lesser deities or angels, set over the nations as a kind of cosmic patron, although later editors sought to remove this.” 3 The point to take away should not be missed: Second Temple-period Jews would have been reading about gods allotted to the nations in their Old Testament. There are several indications in the apocryphal book of Wisdom of Ben Sira (or Book of Sirach; included in the LXX) that the Deuteronomy 32 worldview was part of Jewish theology. The seventeenth chapter describes humanity in general as God’s creation (Sir 17: 1–7) and then transitions to the Jew, with whom God entered into a covenant relationship and gave his laws (Sir 17: 12–14). Whether Jew or gentile, Ben Sira (Sir 17: 15–16) 4 describes God’s clear knowledge of human acts and thoughts and the divine retribution to be accorded to all men and women as they deserve. The Lord knows human “ways” because “they cannot be hidden from his eyes.” 5 Then, in verse 17 we read, “He [God] appointed a leader for each nation, and Israel is the portion of the Lord” (LES). The word translated “leader” is a participial form of the lemma hēgeomai, “to be in a supervisory capacity, lead, guide.” 6 In this particular passage and elsewhere in the LXX (e.g., Deut 5: 23; Josh 13: 21; 2 Sam 6: 21; 1 Kgs 16: 16; Ezek 43: 7) the term clearly denotes “high officials” or someone “of princely authority.” 7 Hannah comments of Sirach 17: 17, “This parallels exactly the original text of Deuteronomy 32: 8–9.” 8 As we noted in chapter 2, LXX material in Daniel 10 is divided. The Theodotion text of LXX Daniel 10: 13, 20 allows for a reading of divine beings being rulers of the nations, whereas other LXX texts do not. 9 As noted above, Sirach 17: 17 and Deuteronomy 32: 43 are clear instances of passages in the LXX outside Theodotion Daniel 10: 13, 20 that bear clear witness to the Deuteronomy 32 worldview perspective. The same is true in pseudepigraphical texts from the Second Temple period. DARK POWERS OVER THE NATIONS: The Pseudepigrapha Philo of Alexandria is also in line with this text of Deuteronomy 32: 8–9, writing that God “set boundaries of nations according to the number of the angels of God; and the portion of the Lord became his people, Jacob, the lot of his inheritance, Israel.” 10 The Second Temple book of Jubilees makes certain statements in its retelling of Old Testament stories that collectively reflect the Deuteronomy 32 worldview. 11 As we saw in an earlier chapter, in Jubilees 10 the writer has God speaking to the archangels tasked with rounding up and ridding the earth of the demons that were the result of the Genesis 6 debacle (Jub 10: 4–5). The leader of the evil spirits, Mastema, requested that a certain number of the demons be permitted to remain on the earth under his charge. Specifically, we must recall that Mastema asked God (Jub 10: 8): Let them [the spirits] do everything which I tell them, because if some of them are not left for me, I will not be able to exercise the authority of my will among the children of men because they are (intended) to corrupt and lead astray before my judgment because the evil of the sons of men is great.” 12 God’s response was to allow a tenth of them to escape judgment (Jub 10: 6–11), but the demons left on earth “were restrained from following the sons of Noah” (Jub 10: 13). The idea that the demons were prohibited from harassing the “sons of Noah” is odd, as all humanity after the flood extended from the sons of Noah. Jubilees 15 may help explain the author’s thinking: 30 For the LORD did not draw Ishmael and his sons and his brothers and Esau near to himself, and he did not elect them because they are the sons of Abraham, for he knew them. But he chose Israel that they might be a people for himself. 31 And he sanctified them and gathered them from all of the sons of man because (there are) many nations and many people, and they all belong to him, but over all of them he caused spirits to rule so that they might lead them astray from following him. 32 But over Israel he did not cause any angel or spirit to rule because he alone is their ruler and he will protect them and he will seek for them at the hand of his angels and at the hand of his spirits and at the hand of all of his authorities so that he might guard them and bless them and they might be his and he might be theirs henceforth and forever. (Jub 15: 30–32) 13 The key is verse 32. God did not allow “any angel or spirit” to rule over Israel—a clear reference to the Deuteronomy 32 worldview. Israel was Yahweh’s allotted inheritance (Deut 32: 9), but the other nations were put under the authority of lesser gods (spirit beings). This language, coupled with Jubilees 10: 1–13, where one-tenth of the demons sprang forth from the spawn of the Watchers, creates a subtle connection between the sin of the Watchers at the time of the flood and the incident at Babel. Scholars have taken note of this link: The evil spirits are not precluded from pursuing all of Noah’s children, at least not in the long run.… Jubilees wants to claim that national boundaries are essential for understanding the role of demons. Ultimately, the demons are precluded only from pursuing Israel.… Jubilees develops the link between demons and idolatry, and further links demons and idolatry to other nations. 14 Jubilees 15: 31 clearly says that God caused the spirits assigned over the nations “to rule so that they might lead them [the nations] astray from following him.” Hannah writes: “The nations are to be led astray from following God because of their sin at the Tower of Babel.” 15 While the theology of Deuteronomy 32 is affirmed, the second and third rebellions found in the Old Testament are thus conflated with Satan as the overlord. 16 The notion that the Old Testament does not include that God wanted the nations led astray is an inventive thought that makes God’s denunciation of the gods of the nations in Psalm 82: 2–5 duplicitous. The Animal Apocalypse (1 Enoch 85–90), a highly symbolic retelling of the history of Israel, also reflects the Deuteronomy 32 worldview. In his scholarly commentary on this portion of 1 Enoch, Patrick Tiller describes it as follows: [The Animal Apocalypse] is presented as an allegorical dream of the antediluvian patriarch, Enoch, in which he sees a story about bulls, sheep, various animals that prey on the sheep, and humans who interact in various ways with the sheep and bulls. Each element in the story is primarily a sign for some object of human history outside of the story. Cattle represent humans from the time of Adam to Noah, some of the early Shemites, and the restored humanity of the ideal future. Sheep represent Israel. Various unclean predatory and scavenging animals and birds represent the Gentile nations. Stars represent the fallen Watchers, and humans represent other angelic figures, except for the owner of the sheep, who represents God. 17 The important imagery is that the sheep represent Israel and the owner of the sheep represents God. In the Animal Apocalypse, the owner (God) puts18 the sheep (Israel) in the control of “seventy Shepherds, that is, to seventy angels, which, of course, recalls the seventy angels of the Angelic Patron Legend.” 19 God’s abandonment of his sheep (Israel) to the seventy shepherds corresponds to the Davidic monarchy in exile. 20 The period of the seventy shepherds is itself divided into four subperiods, the last of which ends with the dawn of the messianic age. 21 This is one reason why scholars refer to the allegory as an apocalypse. Many Jews of the Second Temple period, including the author of this portion of 1 Enoch, expected the messianic age to correspond with the ending of exile, still defined as Israel being in subordination to foreign powers. The seventy shepherds overtly represent the angelic patrons of the gentile nations. Their role is oppression of the sheep (Israel). The writer of 1 Enoch 85–90 cleverly subverts the Deuteronomy 32 worldview, where Israel is Yahweh’s exclusive possession and the sons of God were allotted to the nations: In turning Israel over to the nations, God in effect turns them over to the nations’ heavenly patrons.… [T] he author of the Animal Apocalypse has taken the concept of the angelic guardians of the nations and stood it on its head, so to speak. Here the angelic patrons function not so much as guardians of the Gentile nations, although they are that to be sure, nor even as angels charged with leading the Gentiles astray, as in Jubilees. Rather, they function as a means of punishing Israel. 22 The enthusiasm of the shepherds for their task goes too far, however. As Stuckenbruck notes, “The shepherds become disobedient when of their own accord they exceed the limits set by God on the assignment.” 23 God responds by commissioning an angelic scribe to monitor the treatment of the sheep and to prevent the shepherds from killing too many of them (1 En 89: 59–64). This scribe’s activity is subsequently described in 1 Enoch 89: 70–71, 76–77; 90: 14, 17, 22.24 The commissioned shepherd-scribe has drawn a good deal of scholarly attention. Stuckenbruck remarks of this passage that “the angelic being appointed to monitor the shepherd’s treatment of Israel seems to presuppose a tradition that aligns the people of God with an angel.” 25 This, of course, reminds us of the way the book of Daniel describes Michael as Israel’s prince (Dan 10: 21; 12: 1). Hannah’s observation reflects the consensus of scholarly suspicion: “As the narrative proceeds, there are a number of clues that this angelic figure is probably to be identified with none other than the archangel Michael.” 26 The clues followed by scholars in identifying the shepherd-scribe as Michael include the fact that, as Michael does in the book of Daniel, 1 Enoch 90: 13–14 has the shepherd-scribe going to battle for the sheep (Israel) and that Michael is specifically named as the archangel “put in charge of the good ones of the people,” a common designation for Israel in the Septuagint. 27”. (Michael S. Heiser, Demons: What the Bible Really Says About the Powers of Darkness, 160-167 (Kindle Edition): Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press)
We also learn that the gods who were placed in charge of the nations at the time of the Tower of Babel were in rebellion against the one true God. Fallen man wanted to serve the fallen angels, and so God let them have their way! As Gilbert notes:
“In other words, God apparently decided that since humanity preferred to deal with small-G gods than Him, He’d give us what we wanted. This was punishment. God turned the nations over to the “sons of god” that Nimrod had tried to bring to his kingdom through the Tower of Babel…The “host of heaven” means the angelic denizens of the heavenly realm. That’s who God allotted to the nations. “So mankind was divided into seventy nations, the number of people groups named in the Table of Nations in Genesis 10, and allotted them to the bene ha elohim, of which there were, presumably, seventy.” (Derek P. Gilbert, Last Clash of the Titans: The Second Coming of Hercules, Leviathan, and the Prophesied War Between Jesus Christ and the Gods of Antiquity, 19-20 (Kindle Edition): Crane, MO: Defender Publishing)
Notice that throughout Psalms, the gods are identified as being in opposition to the one true God.
Psalm 82:1-A Psalm of Asaph. God stands in the congregation of the mighty; He judges among the gods.
Psalm 82:6-I said, “You are gods, And all of you are children of the Most High.
Psalm 95:3-For the LORD is the great God, And the great King above all gods.
Psalm 96:4-For the LORD is great and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods.
Psalm 96:5-For all the gods of the peoples are idols, But the LORD made the heavens.
Psalm 97:9-For You, LORD, are most high above all the earth; You are exalted far above all gods.
It is also interesting to consider this reference from John Gill in his commentary on Hebrews 1:6.
“So Aben Ezra on the place observes, that there are some (meaning their doctors) who say, that ‘all the gods are the angels’; and Kimchi says, that the words are not imperative, but are in the past tense, instead of the future, all the angels have worshipped him; that is, they shall worship him; as they have done, so they will do.” (John Gill, Gill’s Commentary, 338983-338985 (Kindle Edition): Washington, DC: OSNOVA)
In other words, Gill is pointing out that the Jewish rabbis noted that these “angels” or “gods” had at one time worshipped the one true God. So in Psalm 97:7, the gods are called on to worship God, just as they had once done (indicating again that they are currently in rebellion to the Lord). This leads us to the fascinating translation here of the Passion translation:
Psalm 97:7 (TPT)-Shame covers all who boast in other gods, for they worship idols. For all the supernatural powers once worshiped the true and living God.
So, we see that these “gods” or “angels” (in context) are actually fallen angels. Please notice that these fallen angels are called on to repent, and to return to the worship of the one true God!
“Interestingly, using a wordplay on idols (’ ĕlîlîm) and gods (’ ĕlōhîm), the psalmist calls on the gods themselves to worship the true God. The gods represented by the idols do not deserve praise; they should worship the true God. In this conception, the gods are real (see also Pss 82; 95: 3), but they are spiritual beings (angels and demons) created by the true God.” (Tremper Longman, Psalms: An Introduction and Commentary (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries), 344 (Kindle Edition); Downers Grove, Illinois; InterVarsity Press, USA)
With this information, we are also able to provide a possible explanation to an alleged contradiction that has sometimes been raised. We are told in Psalm 97:7 (and elsewhere-see Psalm 82) that fallen angels are called upon to repent and serve the Lord. The sacrifice of Jesus makes forgiveness possible for all, even fallen angels (cf. Colossians 1:16-21).
However, if that is the case, then what about Paul’s statement in Hebrews 2 which seems to forbid redemption to fallen angels?
Hebrews 2:14-16-Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. 16 For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham.
In verse 16, the Apostle is adamant that God “does not give aid to angels.” The “aid” of this passage is a reference to salvation. How then does this reconcile with the invitation and command for the fallen angels to repent?
One possible is found in the first chapter of Hebrews.
Hebrews 1:6-But when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says: “LET ALL THE ANGELS OF GOD WORSHIP HIM.”
Notice the word “again” in this passage. There is a great deal of controversy over the meaning and placing of this word. Some believe that it has reference to Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, when He was in a sense “again” brought into the world. Others believe that it is a reference to the Second Coming.
In fact, the evidence suggests that Paul is talking about the Second Coming. Remember the context of Psalm 97:7 that we noticed before? It was in the context of the Second Coming of Christ! More to the point, Reese provides some fascinating commentary on the subject:
“Westcott, Dods, Lenski, Kent, Alford, Delitzsch, and Hewitt agree with the ASV/NASB translators that the reference is to the second coming. Some have objected that the writer of Hebrews has nowhere in the preceding verses spoken of the first coming, so how could verse 6 be a reference to His second coming? This objection ignores what is implied about the incarnation in verses 3, 4, and likely clearly referred to in 5 (“begotten”). As far as angels being involved at the time of the second coming, this is the teaching of Matthew 13:41, 16:27, 25:31 and 2 Thessalonians 1:7, so this detail would fit. Kent urges the Greek word order suggests that “again” be taken with the verb; that the subjunctive mood of the verb “brings in” argues the event is still future; and the use of the conjunction “whenever” all tend to confirm the “second coming” interpretation for this verse.” (Gareth Reese, New Testament Epistles: Hebrews-A Critical And Exegetical Commentary, 2867-2874 footnote # 49 (Kindle Edition): Moberly, MO: Scripture Exposition Books LLC)
Armed with this knowledge, we see that the Lord does not give aid (salvation) to the fallen angels “now.” However, Psalm 97:7 and Hebrews 1:6 suggests to us that at the time of the Second Coming, these fallen angels of God will be called upon to repent and return to the service of the Son of God (Whom they had once worshipped). Will they do so? Several Scriptures seem to indicate that they will not (cf. Matthew 25:31-46). Regardless, one of the greatest lessons lessons of Psalm 97:7 is that God is willing to forgive all who will simply come to Him in obedience to His plan of salvation. Those who go to Hell (and those who remain in Hell) will be there because of their own refusal to repent, and not on any unwillingness of God to forgive. What Jesus accomplished at Calvary has the power to save whoever will (Revelation 22:17).
What a great God that we serve!
To Him be the glory forever and ever.
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with you all. Amen.