Psalm 82: Part Two – The Allotment of the Nations to the Watchers

These posts are all excerpted from my newest booklet, Psalm 82: The Divine Council of the Gods, the Judgment of the Watchers and the Inheritance of the Nations. You can buy the booklet here.

In part one, I defined the biblical motif of Christus Victor as Christ’s victory over the spiritual powers who ruled sinful mankind. I defined the divine council biblically as an assembly of gods, called “Sons of God,” “holy ones,” and “heavenly host” who surround Yahweh, engage in legal counsel with him and carry out his decisions.

But the next question is, how did man come under the rule and authority of these gods, these divine beings from Yahweh’s heavenly host?

I am using Psalm 82 as a portal into this fascinating storyline of the Bible. So let’s take a look again at what it says.

Psalm 82:1–8
1 God has taken his place in the divine council;
in the midst of the gods he holds judgment:

2 “How long will you judge unjustly
and show partiality to the wicked? Selah

3 Give justice to the weak and the fatherless;
maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute.

4 Rescue the weak and the needy;
deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”

So we see that for some reason, God has given some of these members from his divine council a responsibility to rule over mankind on earth. Where did this come from? Why would God do such a thing? Isn’t God alone the judge of all the earth? And why is he blaming failure to rule on divine beings? Does that make them fallen angels?

To answer those questions, we need to go back to the beginning. Not Genesis 1, but rather, the beginning of the allotment of the nations to the gods. Back to the Tower of Babel. But rather than going straight to Genesis 11, that tells the story of Babel, we need to read what Moses reveals about Babel in Deuteronomy 32… Continue reading

Psalm 82: Part One – The Divine Council of the Gods

By Brian Godawa

I am going to post a series of five posts over the next month or so about Psalm 82. As I have been writing my novels, I realized that this is a key Scripture in dealing with the activity and fate of the Watchers over the nations. Since these Watchers are my main villains in my novel series, I need to lay out my Scriptural interpretation to justify why my narrative follows the course it does.

These posts are all excerpted from my newest booklet, Psalm 82: The Divine Council of the Gods, the Judgment of the Watchers and the Inheritance of the Nations. You can buy the booklet here.

Introduction: The Divine Council

One of the most intriguing storylines of the Bible is that of Christ’s victory over the powers. When I discovered it, it changed my life. It inspired me to write a series of twelve biblical novels that incarnate that story unlike anything done before (Chronicles of the Nephilim and Chronicles of the Apocalypse).

A Definition

But what exactly is this messianic cosmic battle and how does it affect us? It is sometimes named Christus Victor, and consists of the idea that mankind’s Fall in the Garden resulted in a sinfulness of humanity that was so entrenched against God, that it led to universal idolatry as embodied in the tower of Babel story (Gen 11). As a result of man’s incorrigible evil, God placed all of the nations and their lands under the authority of other spiritual powers, but kept one people and their land for his own: Israel. Those Gentile nations and their gods would be at war with the promised messianic seed of Israel. But in the fullness of time, Messiah would arrive, overcome those spiritual powers of the nations and take back rule of the earth in the kingdom of God.

Gods or Men?

Psalm 82 is a doorway into the Christus Victor narrative because it summarizes the three-act structure of that messianic story of allotment, judgment and inheritance. Here is the full text of the Psalm in all its simple and concise glory:

Psalm 82:1–8
1 God has taken his place in the divine council;
in the midst of the gods he holds judgment:

2 “How long will you judge unjustly
and show partiality to the wicked? Selah

3 Give justice to the weak and the fatherless;
maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute.

4 Rescue the weak and the needy;
deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”

5 They have neither knowledge nor understanding,
they walk about in darkness;
all the foundations of the earth are shaken.

6 I said, “You are gods,
sons of the Most High, all of you;

7 nevertheless, like men you shall die,
and fall like any prince.”

8 Arise, O God, judge the earth;
for you shall inherit all the nations!

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… Continue reading

Why this Novel Series Dominates the Top Ten in Biblical Fiction on Amazon

Chronicles of the Nephilim (and now its sequel series, Chronicles of the Apocalypse) has virtually monopolized the Biblical Fiction category on Amazon for a few years now.

It’s shocking. I honestly never thought this would happen.

Christians are more open-minded to the imagination than ever before.

And they want more stories of “meaty faith” not just happy talk “Christian Living” milk.

This is muscular Christianity.

Take a look at the Top Ten List.

 

Frankly Faraci Podcast: Are Godawa’s Biblical Novels Rated R Like the Bible?

The novel series Chronicles of the Nephilim is sometimes edgy and shocking, but no more than the Bible is.

I explained to Matt Faraci how I integrated imagination and fiction with theology in my Biblical novels while seeking to maintain an honorable fidelity to the holy Scriptures.

Find out why many of my fans say that these novels have brought to life the Scriptural narrative in a way that has not been done before for them.

Hear why this series has dominated the Top 20 in Biblical Fiction for years on Amazon.com.

Listen to the podcast here in all its glory!

 

Free Book: When Giants Were Upon the Earth – Watchers, Nephilim and Biblical War of the Seed

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For a Limited Time Only!

This is the Biblical and historical research behind the Best-selling series, Chronicles of the Nephilim.

“As someone Brian has tapped as a resource, I can tell you his focus is on peer-reviewed biblical scholarship. His sources are not his own opinions.”
Dr. Michael S. Heiser
PhD, Hebrew Bible and Semitic Studies
Academic Editor, Logos Bible Software

Click here to get your free book

Godawa Interviewed on Truth Frequency Radio: All Things Nephilim

Truth Frequency Radio

Check out the podcast here.

Rob Skiba: In this show, I interviewed my friend, author and Hollywood screenwriter Brian Godawa regarding his Biblical fiction novel series, The Chronicles of the Nephilim. We also talked about the research that went into these novels as well as his newest book in the new Chronicles of the Watchers series, The Dragon King. Giants, hybrids, fallen angels, demons and valiant warriors of YHWH – all the stuff you didn’t realize was actually in your Bible.