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“I said, you are gods”—What is Jesus Saying in John 10?
I have made the argument in the past that Psalm 82 is better interpreted as a reference to angelic beings than a reference to human judges. However, many interpreters view Jesus’ quote of Psalm 82 in John 10 as further evidence that Psalm 82 is a reference to human judges. Is John 10 evidence that Psalm 82 should be understood as referring to human rulers? Within the context of John 10, the Jews are about to stone Jesus for making himself out to be God (John 10:33). In answer to the Jews picking up stones, in John 10:34-36, Jesus says the following: Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’? If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be broken—do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I…
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Is There a Divine Council in Psalm 82?
Psalm 82:1 states, “God has taken his place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods he holds judgment.” Later in Psalm 82:6-7 we read, “I said, ‘You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you; nevertheless, like men you shall die, and fall like any prince.'” The identity of the “gods” in Psalm 82 has been interpreted in a variety of ways. For sake of brevity, we will cover the two most popular understandings of “gods.” 1. The Gods as Human Judges Interpreting the gods in Psalm 82 as a reference to human judges is very common. Support for this idea is drawn from Exodus 22:8, where someone accused of being an accomplice to a thief comes “near to God” to take an oath about what happened. This is often interpreted as going before the Israelite judges (cf. Exod 21:6, where a master brings his…
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Not So Silent Night Above Bethlehem?
Will Varner recently posted over at Focus on the Family about how, although we often view the first Christmas night as a beautiful and tranquil evening, it was probably anything but that! Varner notes that although we often visualize angels as messengers of peace and good news, angels were often symbolically gathered for war! The first matter to consider is our mental image of angels. The biblical word cherubim has morphed into the English word cherub, which evokes images of fat and cute little creatures intended to warm our hearts. Such images are foreign to the Biblical description of angelic beings. The second matter is the Hebrew term tsva, often used to describe a group of angels and translated into English as “host.” But tsva is better understood as a military term, and in Modern Hebrew, tsva means “army.” Luke refers to these angels with the Greek word stratia, which translates that Hebrew tsva (“army”) in the ancient…
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Who are the Sons of God in Genesis 6?
Genesis 6 is one of those debated Old Testament passages where there are at least a few possible interpretations. There are three main options in identifying the sons of God: (1) rulers/kings, (2) the line of Seth, and (3) angels. Although each viewpoint has its advocates, I believe the angelic view corresponds best with the evidence. The situation is described as follows (Gen 6:1-4): Now it came about, when men began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose. Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.” The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of…