God’s Zeal for Justice Amont Men Displayed in the Divine Counsel

2026-05-31T07:12:40Z

link to sermon

Psalm 82

1 God stands in the divine assembly; he administers judgment in the midst of the gods. 2 “How long will you judge unjustly and show favoritism to the wicked? Selah 3 Judge on behalf of the helpless and the orphan; provide justice to the afflicted and the poor. 4 Rescue the helpless and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.” 5 They do not know or consider. They go about in the darkness, so that all the foundations of the earth are shaken. 6 I have said, “You are gods, and sons of the Most High, all of you. 7 However, you will die like men, and you will fall like one of the princes.” 8 Rise up, O God, judge the earth, because you shall inherit all the nations.

Ephesians 1:15-22

15 Because of this I also, hearing of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, 16 do not cease giving thanks for you, making mention in my prayers, 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him 18 (the eyes of your hearts having been enlightened), so that you may know what is the hope of his calling, what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance among the saints, 19 and what is the surpassing greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his mighty strength 20 which he has worked in Christ, raising him from the dead and seating him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 above all rule and authority and power and lordship and every name named, not only in this age but also in the coming one, 22 and he subjected all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of the one who fills all things in every way.

Ephesians 2:4-7

4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, 5 and we being dead in trespasses, he made us alive together with Christ (by grace you are saved), 6 and raised us together and seated us together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that he might show in the coming ages the surpassing riches of his grace in kindness upon us in Christ Jesus.

Running thoughts #

Seated in the Heavently Places with Christ Jesus #

We are aware of the idea of resurrection, and Christ’s resurrection. We know for those born-again that we’ll be raised heavenward.

What about “seated”? We are seated with Christ, this is royalty language - describes the right to rule, reign, and judge.

So when Paul tells the Ephesian saints that they’ve been seated with Christ in the heavenly places…. what does it mean right now?

We are “there” with him (Jesus), right now - seated, ruling with Christ.

Founding of the Divine Council #

Job 38:4-7

4 “Where were you at my laying the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you possess understanding. 5 Who determined its measurement? Yes, you do know. Or who stretched the measuring line upon it? 6 On what were its bases sunk? Or who laid its cornerstone, 7 when the morning stars were singing together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

When the morning stars were singing together and all the sons of God shouted for joy… divine language, beings already in existence when the foundations of the earth were laid.

Job 1:6

And it happened one day that the sons of God came to present themselves before Yahweh, and Satan also came into their midst.

Job 2:1

And then one day the sons of God came to present themselves before Yahweh, and Satan also came into their midst to present himself before Yahweh.

The “sons of God”. They present themselves before God, and they’re different than other spiritual beings like Cherubim. These beings have some function apart from God’s immediate presence, thus they gather to present themselves (not that they were/are always there like the throne guardians)

Deuteronomy 32:7-9

7 Remember the old days, the years long past; ask your father, and he will inform you, your elders and they will tell you. 8 When the Most High apportioned the nations, at his dividing up of the sons of humankind, he fixed the boundaries of the peoples, according to the number of the sons of God. 9 For Yahweh’s portion was his people, Jacob the share of his inheritance.

Moses is referencing Genesis 10/11, The Tower of Babel. There was 1 language, but humans decided to build a name for themselves rather than obey God’s commands, so Yahweh confused their language and scattered them. Moses adds the commentary that the “borders of the people” were fixed “according to the number of the sons of God”. The Divine Council was given the job of ruling over the scattered people, to lead them back to Yahweh.

Yahweh creates a new inheritance for himself through Jacob (Abram -> Israel)

A note about Yahweh’s character - he freely delegates to his creation (human and divine) responsiblities as it pertains to ruling creation. No one forced Yahweh to do this delegation, he has every right to rule as an authoritative dictator since he is the creator of all things, but he partners with his creation, even in their failures.

Failing of the Divine Council #

Now to the spiritual gods over the nations, he says:

Psalm 82:2

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

They were supposed to govern righteously

Psalm 82:3-4

3 Judge on behalf of the helpless and the orphan; provide justice to the afflicted and the poor. 4 Rescue the helpless and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”

There are appropriate penalties for judgement. The duty was to protect the weak and provide justice. The goal was for the vulnerable to be delievered from the hands of the wicked.

Bob summarizes with some modern language: crime prevention and crime punishnment. These are the mechanisms by which the wicked are kept in check, and it’s through no other means (re: the history of every civilization ever)

Verse 5, the Psalmist continues and the “they” are the subordinates - the people of the world placed under the ruling of the gods.

Psalm 82:5

They do not know or consider. They go about in the darkness, so that all the foundations of the earth are shaken.

God is saying to his council, “They (the humans) do not know. They don’t know how to rules or judge, look at them and you have ruled poorly, you have allowed injustice to reign rather than rule and reign yourself and the victims in this are the helpless humans and rest of creation”

ie. the sons of God in the divine council are partly to blame for the people’s moral ignorance. If the people aren’t ruled in a way that leads to morality, corruption takes over. Because it has, the judgement of the divine council comes next:

Psalm 82:6-7

6 I have said, “You are gods, and sons of the Most High, all of you. 7 However, you will die like men, and you will fall like one of the princes.”

God's zeal for justice is clear

He will judge his own council to death for their failures.

Fulfilling of the Divine Council #

The fulfilment of the divine council is found in Jesus. Yahweh comes himself to govern rightly.

The fulfilment happens at Jesus’ Ascension - Matthew 28.

The Ascension from Heaven’s perspective is in Daniel 7.

Daniel 7:13-14

13 “I continued watching in the visions of the night, and look, with the clouds of heaven one like a son of man was coming, and he came to the Ancient of Days, and was presented before him. 14 And to him was given dominion and glory and kingship that all the peoples, the nations, and languages would serve him; his dominion is a dominion without end that will not cease, and his kingdom is one that will not be destroyed.

Confirmed agin in Ephesians 1

Ephesians 1:20-23

20 which he has worked in Christ, raising him from the dead and seating him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 above all rule and authority and power and lordship and every name named, not only in this age but also in the coming one, 22 and he subjected all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of the one who fills all things in every way.

Jesus’ seat is above all rule and authority and power and lordship and every name named.

Through Jesus we, believers, are ‘sons of God’. The Divine Council’s failure to govern the nations well should be somewhat of a warning to us, and an affirmation of our calling to rule the earth well. Those who love Jesus, in the same way the 70 sons of God were supposed to lead the nations back to the Lord, are to be agents of rescue for the weak and the needy. Jesus gives us this ministry.

Sancity of Life #

No one is weaker than the unborn. The fallen sons of God were given a harsh judgement for their failure to govern justly. Christians are the “new” sons of God, we are the ones with the charge and authority to govern well. What do I do with the authority and responsibility God has given me to protect the weak?

meditate on God’s zeal for justice
do not forget the unborn in prayer (I need to pray more in general anyways)

Posts tagged: DCT