Psalm 82 You Are Gods Explained | (un)ANSWERED

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We've all experienced the odd occurrence in the Bible and was left with fringe questions.

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Watch and listen as we leave no question unanswered.

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Hey everyone. Have you ever been perusing the channels on your TV and come across some prosperity gospel,

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TBN preachers who claim you and I are little gods? The idea they give is that you have way more power than you think you have.

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You can name it and claim it and whatever you want will be yours. You're in the same class as the one true

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God. Maybe you have some Mormon friends or acquaintances, and they were finally honest with you about the goal of their religion, eternal progression.

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Not just simply becoming more like God in a moral or holiness sense, but the ability to become divinized, change natures, take on the same deity that God has.

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No matter what you've heard, two of the key passages involved in these wild ideas are

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Psalm 82 and John chapter 10 verses 30 through 39. Today on Unanswered, we will once and for all settle the question, what does the scripture mean when it says you are gods?

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Jesus himself quotes from Psalm 82, and so we will look to see how he interprets the psalm and how he applies it in its context.

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For Jesus could not misinterpret the word of God since he is the one from whom it comes. And so let's read

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John chapter 10 verses 30 through 39 to get an idea of what we're talking about. It says,

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The Jews answered him, Jesus answered them,

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Do not believe me. This is a powerful declaration of Jesus.

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This is no addition to the text. This is in the original language. Jesus himself professed this very statement,

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That word are in our one is a form of amy, like ego amy,

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I am. This speaks to being, what one is, be, or am. In this way, it's like as if Jesus is saying,

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I and the Father share one being, one mission, one will, and their works together.

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In the prologue in John chapter 1, it says, This is further evidence of that.

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Jesus is the word. He is the logos who was from eternity and was with God, giving distinction between him and the

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Father and was God demonstrating deity. This is essential background information to answering our question today.

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What about Old Testament examples of this plurality and unity or Trinity?

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The pre -incarnate Christ, a Christophany, appears before Abraham and the angel of the

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Lord and he says in Genesis 22, Because remember,

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John affirms along with the rest of Scripture, no one has ever seen the Father and yet God is there speaking before Abraham.

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In Isaiah chapter 6 verse 8, God refers to himself in both singular and plural terms.

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It says, This is the majestic plural.

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This is triune. In parts of Nehemiah 9, we see a distinction and yet unity in the

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Holy Spirit and the Father. Of course, many of us remember in the creation account in Genesis 1 -26,

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God says, When the angels came to warn

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Lot to flee the city of Sodom, it says, Because it says in Genesis 19 -24,

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Yahweh out of heaven. Yahweh from here, from Yahweh there.

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There appears to be a distinction and yet a unity, a oneness. And besides all these, there are so many more scriptural texts that speak to this.

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Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. One God. But these Jewish leaders couldn't believe it.

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They couldn't see it. And so verse 31 says, There have been three clear -cut accounts of the

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Jewish leaders wanting to kill Jesus thus far in John. John 5, John 8, and now

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John 10. All three instances share the perception that Jesus was claiming equality or oneness with God.

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They were correct in one way, but not correct that Jesus makes himself out to be an additional

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God. The Jewish leaders lay out the charges. You, being a man, make yourself out to be

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God. It's comical that people actually believe

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Jesus never made the claim to deity. Even these unbelieving Jews can see that he did.

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But now we come to the controversial section of this passage. Verse 34. And so before we continue, let's read

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Psalm 82 in its entirety. It says, And show partiality to the wicked, say

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La. Arise, O God, judge the earth, for it is you who possesses all the nations.

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It appears the Lord has given the title of gods to a certain group. I said you are gods.

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Said reveals. That is an honorific title given by the one true

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God to this group. Now this alarms you. Just know that this Hebrew word and even the phrase, sons of God, have been legitimately used for angels, fallen angels, rulers, kings, idols, and judges.

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But for the vast majority of the use of Elohim, it is used for Yahweh, the only

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Lord. There are three common interpretations to this group. One, some believe these to be angels with authority over nations.

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This is a divine council of sorts with angelic beings who have failed God. However, the context of John 10 doesn't lend to this.

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Angels are not mentioned in the Psalm or in John. There is little to no indication of this.

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And we don't see angels turning into men and dying. Number two, some believe the gods and sons of the

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Most High are the people of Israel at Mount Sinai. That they rebelled against God in making the golden calf, and therefore all that first generation died and never got to see the

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Promised Land. They were destined to wander. Died like men. I personally think the third option that I'm about to give is the best contextual fit, and Jesus shows us it is to us.

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Verse 35 demonstrates that the ones who were gods are, according to Jesus, the same ones to whom the word of God came.

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You see, from the tablets of God, to the words of Moses, to the prophets of God, leaders, rulers, and judges of Israel had access to the word of God.

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They knew it, and they were to know it deeply. Kings, priests, judges, they were to be over God's people, to lead and shepherd them rightly.

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They were given this honor to be called by the Lord, gods. And this goes right in line with John 9 and John 10.

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Jesus is addressing the leaders, the shepherds of God's people, and so when considering Psalm 82,

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God holds a trial in which He judges among earthly leaders, rulers, and judges in Israel, men whom

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He has let be called gods for their special offices. They were given elevated statuses as kings and rulers, roles that in a derivative way mimic the

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God over all creation. But they have judged unjustly and shown partiality to the wicked.

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They won't perform justice and help the fatherless, the destitute, the weak and needy. He says these rulers walk about in darkness, much like the

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Jewish leaders in front of Jesus who have made gods out of themselves. And so what is the

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Almighty's judgment? Despite the special honor and titles He gave them, they will die like any regular man.

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They lose the endowed honor of God. Why? Because their works profane the title of the

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Lord. What is the title of the Lord? Elohim. God. They are not fit to be called gods.

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The name of the Lord cannot be stained, and so the same is true of the men before Jesus.

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As they charge Jesus with blasphemy, He is charging them back with biblical blasphemy.

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They have failed to be God's representatives. They are not worthy of the gifted title the

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Lord gave them. For not judging rightly, God will judge them. They are now known as mere mortals.

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Death will come to them, the highest price of treason against God. Now before we continue on with what

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Jesus concludes about Psalm 82, He says the Scripture cannot be broken. The Scripture cannot be broken means that the

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Scripture cannot be proved false or made void. This statement is meant to be a rebuke at the

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Jewish leaders because their law is so precious to them. They are setting aside the authority of God's Word because it currently doesn't fit their agenda.

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They are not consistent. What Jesus is saying is if there are others whom

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God, the author of Scripture, can address as God, on what biblical basis should anyone object when

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Jesus says, I am God's Son? The Scripture cannot be broken shows

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Jesus understands Scripture to be eternal in its authority and relevance, even when someone doesn't like it.

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Jesus says, If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came, and the Scripture cannot be broken, do you say of him, and he's speaking of himself, whom the

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Father sanctified and sent into the world, you are blaspheming because I said I am the Son of God?

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That is now Jesus' correct application of Psalm 82 against the blasphemy charges of the

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Jews. He's not trying to prove his own deity with this Psalm but rebuke his opponents in that they continue to neglect the

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Scriptures in the heat of their hatred toward Jesus despite a professed knowledge and attachment to those

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Scriptures. Why do you say of him, meaning Christ himself, whom the

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Father sanctified and sent into the world, and we're talking not just a title or honor but expressed divine authorization and holiness, why do you say of that one you are blaspheming because he said he is the

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Son of God? In other words, the Lord Almighty gave this title of God to ruling men but they abused the people.

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They blasphemed God by having that lowercase g title and not ruling like how the

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Lord would rule so these men died like anyone else. They had that honor stripped away from them.

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But how much more should Jesus be called the Son of God for not simply being given an honor or a title but being one with the

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Father? He is the one who has the right to claim theos over himself.

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He is not they. He is the Son of the Most High.

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He is without a doubt the true Son of God. It's him. As he said in John 6 .27,

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he is the one whom the Father set his seal certified for this mission, certified in Christ's deity.

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Jesus is not profaning the name of God. He doesn't abuse this title. He lives up to it because it's in his very nature.

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What the Son does showcases the actions and character of the

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Father. One commentator says of this passage, if the judges in the Old Testament were given offices that merited the title

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God's, is it not both logical, per exegesis, and appropriate, per application, for the

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Father to have another office that receives the title? You see, all of the

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Old Testament was filled with men who acted as God's representatives and mediators.

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Judges, prophets, priests, and kings. These men needed God to carry these offices out correctly.

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God and man together. But man is sinful. The Lord now sends down his one and only

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Son, totally God and totally man, to be the ultimate form of all these things.

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Judge, prophet, priest, and king. God won't use men for this anymore.

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He will use his divine Son who took on flesh. The Son of God, then, isn't the same as Psalm 82's sons of the

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Most High. He is the singular, capital S, the Son of God.

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And yet this statement about being the Son of God is not so much about Jesus contrasting himself against mere mortals.

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That's too easy. This has moved to come back to the oneness with the

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Father that he started with. Jesus isn't given the title God like those men.

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He is the Son of God. And therefore, Psalm 82 .8 is fulfilled in this very moment with Jesus before the

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Jewish leaders. It says, Arise, O God, judge the earth, for it is you who possesses all the nations.

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Men couldn't do it right. God has come down into his own creation and he will do it.

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And it will touch every nation because he owns them all. What we see here is only

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Jesus is worthy to be judged. He is the righteous judge. To do what the judges of Psalm 82 and now the

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Jewish leaders of the first century could not do. He will serve with equity.

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He will serve with grace and goodness. Jesus is not only their replacement but the fulfillment of their offices.

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He is God, uppercase G, and Judge, uppercase J. From this moment forward, not a single man will ever be given the title

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God, never again. Here in John 10, Jesus reserves that only for himself because only he can live up to it perfectly.

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And ironically, during this time of the Feast of Dedication, the Jews are remembering some of Israel's greatest heroes.

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But the best and greatest hero and representative of God is standing among them right here.

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He will judge the earth, but first, he will save it. And so now you know, not only will no man or woman ever be divinized or become a god,

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Jesus says that honorific title is over with. Now no one will ever mistake that he,

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Jesus, is the true and divine only Son of God. Let's consider this one answered.