TEACHING NOTES Introduction In this series we have learned that the other gods in the Bible are real spirits created by God (Yahweh) to do good. But these spirits rebelled and desire to destroy humanity. These other gods are the enemies of God’s will to dwell with humanity forever. What will God do about these other gods? Today we’re going to end this series where we started in Psalm 82—the judgment of the other gods. ‌ Psalm 96:4–5 4 For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; he is to be feared above all gods. 5 For all the gods of the nations are demons, but the LORD made the heavens. ‌ Psalm 82:1–4 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.” ‌ The divine council = Heb. el edah - the assembly of gods. There are many passages that speak of God’s council of spiritual beings. This does not mean that God needs “counsel” or advice. Counsel and council are not the same. God is the Creator and authority over His council of spiritual beings. God uses these spirits to do His will, but God does not need them. God likes to allow His created beings (both spirits and humans) to participate in His will. ‌ In the midst of the gods = This council/assembly is made up of elohim, which is the Hebrew word for spiritual beings. While the idea of the divine council may seem strange to us, this was a common belief in most ancient religions. Most ancient people believed that their god involved other spirits, although in pagan religions these spirits and gods often fought each other. ‌ He holds judgment = The Psalmist is telling us that this is a heavenly court scene. God has assembled the other gods to announce His judgment and sentence on these rebellious spirits. We see a similar idea happening at the beginning of Job when the sons of God are presenting themselves before Yahweh (see Job 1:6; 2:1). The point here is that these other gods are accountable to Yahweh. These spirits have a job to do and are accountable to Yahweh for how they performed the task. ‌ What were these gods supposed to do? - Give justice to the weak and fatherless - Maintain the right of the afflicted - Rescue the weak and needy - Deliver them from the wicked ‌ Psalm 82:5–7 “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, you shall die like men, and fall like any prince.’” ‌ They = Refers to humans who have been oppressed, or at least neglected, by these other gods. ‌ Walk in darkness = The nations, including Israel, are oppressed and kept in darkness because they have rejected Yahweh and His light. According to Deut. 32:8-9, humanity had rejected Yahweh at the Tower of Babel and Yahweh assigned humanity to the sons of God. ‌ You are gods, sons of the Most High = Yahweh God clearly states that these beings are “gods” (Heb. elohim) and are “sons of the Most High” (Heb. ben elyon). Contrary to some modern interpreters who say these “gods” are actually human kings on earth, this passage is clearly referring to spiritual beings. God created these beings to do good, but they rebelled and became evil. ‌ You shall die like men = This is further proof that the “gods” are spiritual beings and not human kings/rulers. If these were humans, God’s sentence of “you shall die like men” would make not sense. These spiritual beings were created to be immortal/eternal. However, because they have rebelled they are sentenced to death and destruction. ‌ Psalm 82:8 8 Arise, O God, judge the earth; for you shall inherit all the nations! ‌ Arise = Heb. qumah - raise up. In the ancient Greek Septuagint—which was the Old Testament used by the apostles—the word here is anasta, which is the word used in the New Testament for “resurrection.” So, God is going to solve this problem of rebel gods corrupting humanity with a resurrection and judgment of all the earth. ‌ You shall inherit all the nations = The nations rejected God at the Tower of Babel and were given over to the other gods. While these gods should have led the nations back to Yahweh, they rebelled and led the nations to worship them as their gods. The purpose of this resurrection and judgment is God reclaiming the nations for Himself. In other words, God is going to get what He always wanted—the nations coming back to Him as their God. ‌ Psalm 82 tells us: - God will judge and condemn the other gods. - God will provide a resurrection. - God will judge those on earth. - God will redeem all the nations. ‌ This is called “The Day of the LORD” ‌ Isaiah 24:21–23 21 On that day the LORD will punish the host of heaven, in heaven, and the kings of the earth, on the earth. 22 They will be gathered together as prisoners in a pit; they will be shut up in a prison, and after many days they will be punished. 23 Then the moon will be confounded and the sun ashamed, for the LORD of hosts reigns on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and his glory will be before his elders. ‌ On that day = This refers to the Day of the LORD or the day of judgment. There is more than one Day of the LORD in the Bible. When the northern kingdom of Israel was destroyed and taken captive by Assyria in the 700s BC, this was considered a Day of the LORD. When the southern kingdom of Judah (Jerusalem) was destroyed and taken captive by Babylon in the 500s BC, this was also a Day of the LORD. When Jerusalem was destroyed again in AD 70 by the Romans, this was also a Day of the LORD. This means that the Day of the LORD is a day of judgment on God’s people. However, the final Day of the LORD is a day of judgment for all of creation. ‌ The LORD will punish the host of heaven, in heaven = This refers to the judgment of the heavenly hosts or the spiritual beings who rebelled. The Bible describes the dwelling of these spirits as “the air” or the space between heaven and earth. This is why the devil is called “the prince of the power of the air” (Eph. 2:2). This judgment of the heavenly hosts is described in more detail in 2 Pet. 3:9-13 below. ‌ And the kings of the earth, on the earth = Not only will spiritual rebels be judged, but also the kings and rulers on earth. We should also remember that in the ancient world kings and rulers were believed to be possessed by the spirits of the gods. ‌ Gathered as prisoners in a pit, prison = Multiple Jewish texts describe the destination of rebel spirits as a pit or prison. The book of Jubilees and the book of 1 Enoch describe this in detail. The sons of God who came down to the daughters of men in Gen. 6:1-4 are said to be imprisoned in the pit, which is a special place in Sheol/Hades. The Greeks also believed that the Titans (their version of the sons of God) were imprisoned in a place called Tartarus, which is the same Greek word Peter uses (although often wrongly translated as hell) in 2 Peter 2:4 “For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell [tartatus] and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment;” ‌ After many days they will be punished = There are a few options of interpretation for this line. The first option is that this Day of the LORD will not arrive for many days. In other words, this day would come many days from the time of Isaiah. The second option is that the host of heaven will be punished for many days or for eternity. The third option is that both are true and this is certainly true. ‌ The moon confounded, the sun ashamed = In the ancient world, almost every culture worshiped the sun and moon as gods. This is also why the creation story in Genesis 1:16 refers to “the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars.” The author refuses to use “sun and moon” to avoid calling them by the same names as the cultures who worshiped them as gods. ‌ The LORD of hosts = Heb. Yahweh Sabaot - Yahweh is the God of the heavenly hosts or the other spiritual beings in the heavens. ‌ Reigns on Mount Zion and Jerusalem = In the Bible, Mount Zion is considered to be the earthly dwelling of God and is often another name for Jerusalem. At the time of Isaiah, the exile signaled that God had left Jerusalem. Ezekiel is shown a vision of God leaving the temple in Jerusalem as Babylon was closing in to destroy the city (Ezek. 10). This is why the prophets long for the day when Yahweh would return to Jerusalem. And He did return when Jesus arrives in Jerusalem. And He will come again on the final Day of the LORD. ‌ His glory will be before his elders = This could refer to human elders or the elders in heaven, which John sees in Revelation 4, or it could refer to both. After all, we’re told that when He returns “every eye shall see him” (Rev. 1:7). ‌ 2 Peter 3:8–9 8 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. ‌ One day is as a thousand years = Peter is quoting from Psalm 90:4 “4 For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night.” In the Bible, a “thousand” is never used literally mean exact one thousand. For example, Psalm 50:10 says that God owns “the cattle on a thousand hills” which obviously does not mean only a one thousand hills. “Thousand” simply means “many” or “innumerable.” So, Peter is not saying that exactly one day equals exactly one thousand years to God. He is simply saying that God is outside of time and is not bound by time as we are. ‌ The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise = Toward the last half of the first century AD (the time in which the New Testament was written), believers were growing impatient about the return of Jesus. The phrase “as some count slowness” refers to those who think Jesus is taking too long to return or perhaps are thinking that He will not return. ‌ He is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish = The reason that the return of Jesus seems delayed is because God is patiently giving more people time to repent. ‌ 2 Peter 3:10 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. ‌ Come like a thief = The return of Jesus will be unexpected. Jesus told the apostles that His return would be like a thief in the night (Matt. 24:43). Jesus also said that no one but the Father knows the time of His return (Matt. 24:36). ‌ The heavens, heavenly bodies = The heavens (plural) refers to the space between earth and heaven (singular) the throne of God. The heavenly bodies refers to the spiritual beings who rebelled. ‌ The earth and the works done will be exposed = At the return of Christ, all sin and secretive evil will be revealed and exposed for what it really is. Some later manuscripts read “the works done therein shall be burned up.” Just as gold is heated and the impurities are removed, evil will be burned up and the righteous will remain. ‌ 2 Peter 3:11–13 11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, 12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! 13 But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. ‌ Dissolved = Grk. lyomenon - released, undone. The idea here is not about destruction, but about creation being released from the curse of sin and rebellion. God is not going to destroy His creation, but will cleanse it of evil and renew creation (more on this below). ‌ Holiness and godliness = Grk. hagios kai eusebeia - set apart and devoted to God. While holiness includes moral purity, it is not limited to this. Holiness is about being set apart in devotion to God. For example, the furniture in the tabernacle/temple was called “holy to the LORD.” This means that these objects are set apart for divine use. ‌ Waiting and hastening = The people of God should patiently await the coming of the Lord. However, this does not mean that we should do nothing while we wait. Peter says we should hasten (Grk. speudo - hurry) the coming of Jesus. But how can we hasten that day? By doing the will of God and reaching everyone we can with the Gospel. This is exactly what we see the apostles doing in Acts and the rest of the New Testament. ‌ The heavens will be set on fire = In the Bible, fire has two main purposes: (1) to destroy, (2) to purify. Water has the same purposes in the Bible. Earlier in 2 Peter 3:5-7 Peter says that God used water to purify the earth of evil in the flood and that the next purification will be done with fire. The purpose is NOT to destroy the earth, but to purify the earth of evil. ‌ New heavens and a new earth = Peter uses the same word as John uses in Rev. 21:1 for “new” which is kainos. In Greek there are two words translated into English as “new”. The word neos means, “something new that did not previously exist.” But kainos means, “renewed, something existing that is made into something different.” Therefore, God is not going to destroy the heavens and earth, but will purify and renew creation in which no evil will exist ever again. ‌ The Bottom Line When Christ appears again, all evil spirits and the humans who followed them will be removed. Those who are faithful to Christ by living a life of repentance will inherit eternal life with God face to face in a sin-free creation. ‌ How to Respond Prayer: Ask God to reveal what needs to change. Repentance: Agree with God and repent of sin. Worship: Thank God for what He is doing in you. Communion: Take Christ in and renew faithfulness. ‌ Further Study: Revelation’s Description of the End ‌ Two Resurrections & 1,000 Years (Rev. 20:1-6) Modern views of this text teach that the “thousand years” refers to a literal kingdom of God setup on earth. However, this passage does not use the words “kingdom” nor “earth” because John is seeing Christ ruling from the throne in heaven. The “thousand years” refers to the time between the cross and the end of this age. The first resurrection refers to the resurrection of the Old Testament saints at Christ’s resurrection (see Matt. 27:51-53). The second resurrection refers to the final resurrection of all humanity at the end of the age. These two resurrections are separated by a “thousand years”—a number which is never literal in the Bible (see Ps. 50:10; 2 Pet. 3:8). It simply refers to a long time, or as Isaiah 24:22 says “after many days.” This is the current age in which in live. ‌ Final Battle & Defeat of Satan (Rev. 20:7-10) Just before the end, Satan will gather the nations to war against the saints and “the beloved city” (that is, the church - see Rev. 21:9-10). But fire will come down from heaven and consume the enemies of God (Rev. 20:9). This is the same event that Peter is describing in 2 Pet. 3:8-13. Then the devil will be thrown into the lake of fire and be tormented forever (Rev. 20:10). ‌ Resurrection & Judgment of Humanity (Rev. 20:11-15) This passage describes the second resurrection mentioned in Rev. 20:5-6. All of the dead will be raised and “judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done” (Rev. 20:12). Those whose names are not in the book of life, meaning those who are enemies of God, are thrown into the lake of fire and are destroyed (the second death). ‌ Renewed Heaven on Earth (Rev. 21-22) Once we are resurrected and judgment has been completed, the righteous will live on a renewed/purified earth with God forever (Rev. 21:1-3). This renewed creation will literally be heaven on earth, which is what the garden of Eden was intended to be. This is why the new creation is described with imagery from the garden of Eden (tree of life, river of life, fruit, etc). In this renewed creation there will be no more pain, no more tears, and no more death (Rev. 21:4). There will be no more evil nor evildoers (Rev. 21:8). And we will reign with God forever and ever (Rev. 22:5).