Everyone espouses some flavor of politics. Even Anarchists. Years ago, I stopped identifying myself as a Republican Conservative whatever other pronouns one might add to that. I even disenrolled from being a Republican in Colorado. A lot of readers who know me get a little grumpy when I say that. I tell them I am still very political in thought and action but not of any flavor they might want to put a label on.
Here’s my politics:
Psa 82:3 – 4 Defend the poor and fatherless;
Do justice to the afflicted and needy.
Deliver the poor and needy;
Free them from the hand of the wicked.
On the surface, this gets a bored sigh from a lot of people. On the other hand, no matter what political labels most people have, they can’t argue with that statement.
Let’s go to the really cool and peculiar part. Back up in the first verse of that Psalm:
Psalm 82: 1 God stands in the congregation of the mighty; He judges among the gods.
The Hebrew word for ‘God’ in that first verse is Elohim. It’s singular, referring to the Creator and most people don’t have a problem with that. The word for ‘gods’ is also Elohim but is plural. It’s sort of like the English word for Sheep. It’s the same word for singular and plural. The differentiation is in the pronouns. For example, “I’m looking for a sheep” is a singular use. On the other hand, “My sheep are missing” is a plural use.
The word, ‘gods’ is what gives people problems. Churchy, sidewalk thinking places that concept in the realm of pagan entities carved out of wood and other comfortable analysis. Let’s take this into what Mishael Heiser calls, ‘The Unseen Realms.’
The Bible is a peculiar, mysterious book. Don’t make the mistake of presuming it’s a collection of nice stories and morality plays. The Bible is a Mosaic that straddles time, history, people, the knowable spaces, and the Unseen Realms. According to Psalm 82, there are other gods of the supernatural besides the God of Israel, and there are other Sons of God besides Jesus Christ. These other gods, “sons of the most high” in Psalm 82, serve the God of Israel in a divine council. According to the 38th chapter of the book of Job, before the world was created and the earth first brought forth life, they were there. When God withdrew their inheritance as lords over earth and gave the planet to mortals, they were there and were obedient… for a time.
There is a lot here to unpack but go back to the title of this BLOG, ‘Politics.’ In the unseen realms, God was criticizing his supernatural ‘sons of the most high’ for failing to protect the innocent, defend the defenseless, and rescue the poor from wickedness. He was accusing them of the ultimate in self-centered corruption.
As a sinful, imperfect man, I strive to make my politics what Elohim expected of his ‘sons of the most high.’ I don’t always do a good job but that is both the standard and definition of my politics.
Inman
Not Wearing the mask of tyranny as we continue our COVID-19 foolishness but it is a beautiful Colorado blue sky day.
NOTE: These thoughts on Psalm 82 come from Michael Heiser’s book, Unseen Realm. I highly recommend his work and it’s available on Amazon.