Psalm 82

The use of the Hebrew word “Elohim” (pronounced eh-lo-HEEM), translated here “God,” is a very common way to refer to Yahweh, the only true God and the Lord of the universe. But Elohim can be used to refer to false gods (though they are either demonic or nothing at all), to angels, and even to rulers among men. There is a majesty and dominion that is borrowed from the Almighty God even among men made in His image that demands that we use the authority that we have been granted to pursue His great purposes alone. When we use power for selfish gain and glory, we are rightly condemned as oppressors who will one day face the real Elohim in person.

The true God takes His place in the midst of all the heavenly council as the Almighty One. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are there before all the angels and now, before all those human beings who have been granted eternal entrance into the place of highest rule and authority through the blood of Jesus Christ. In the midst of that great assembly, the Lord our God reigns.

He considers the tyrants on the earth, and challenges them. “How long will you judge unjustly

and show partiality to the wicked?” Even if thieves and enslaving men among the earth's corrupt rulers were able to deceive everyone around them, which is not easy, they cannot fool God. He knows what evil rulers do in the secret meditations of their hearts. They are looking for their own gain, and have decided to judge controversies among their subjects based on who can pay them a bribe.

By this system the weak and the destitute suffer. Rulers should judge justly. Has the poor man been wronged by a rich oppressor? A ruler should use the authority that he has been given under God to set things right. He should rescue the weak and the needy, and deliver them from the hand of the wicked.

Not only will Christ and the heavenly host judge people one day, but even we will also judge angels. Think of the power and majesty of fallen angels on the earth. Consider the temptations that Satan was allowed to bring before Jesus of Nazareth. Yet our Lord resisted Him with the Word.

We are warned that this fallen angel still roams about as a roaring lion seeking whom he might devour. How is it that such a powerful being will flee when the church prays together to resist him? The answer is found in Elohim, and in the Son of God, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, who is King of kings and Lord of lords.

Meanwhile, corruption seems to be everywhere among men. As the restraints of moral absolutes are rejected by those who have decided that they are smarter than any possible god, societies are unraveling. Nothing has improved in the soul sickness of arrogant humanity. There is still much wickedness among the men and women of the earth, As the restraints of godly standards of conduct are removed, righteousness is first denigrated and then redefined. True morality fades more and more among men, while wickedness prospers.

Though people who have neither knowledge or understanding have determined that they are their own little I-AMs, they actually walk about in darkness. Lust is exalted. The poor are oppressed, both by the rich, and by those who are trying to get rich by claiming to be the defenders of the weak. Those who should be noble leaders have decided to manage mobs of fools for their own gain, and the foundations of honorable conduct among mankind are shattered.

Rulers and judges on the earth should be better than this. They are Elohim, sons of the Most High. But like any prince or usurper, they will die the death of mortal men. The best of them will be remembered with monuments. When the worst die, the monuments they forced men to build in their honor will be torn to the ground. Even their graves will be dishonored. Soon other wicked people are waiting to take their places at an opportune time.

But now a Son of Man has come in the Name of the Most High God. He has not come to make Himself wealthy, but to give His life for us as the best of all gifts. He is highest Elohim in His true divine nature, but now He is also Elohim as a Man who will rule perfectly over redeemed mankind for the glory of God and for the good of His glorious subjects. He reigns in the assembly above, and we worship God through Him in the assemblies below.

When He came to die for us, false religious authorities pretended to be offended that He was making Himself equal with God. As John records in John 10:31-36,

The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?” The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.” Jesus answered them, “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 am the Son of God’?

The true Son of God has come to save us by His death and resurrection. He is reigning on High now as King in the heavenly assembly. He will come again to judge the living and the dead. “Arise, O Elohim Jesus, judge the earth; for you shall inherit all the nations!”