The Heavenly Boardroom Meeting

Psalm 82 begins with this astounding statement: “God presides over heaven’s court; he pronounces judgment on the heavenly beings.” Is this a description of a heavenly boardroom meeting? Are we to understand this to mean that there are indeed other heavenly beings (lesser gods) in heaven right now in addition to the God we Christians worship?

In the story of Job Satan accuses God of protecting his servant Job. Once again a heavenly being is portrayed as challenging God’s method of managing his creation. Who is this Satan anyway: Is he the Devil? 

Well the Hebrew word translated as Satan simply means “Accuser” or “Adversary.” Is this a reference to a heavenly being other than God? Does this story prove that there are lesser gods in heaven other than Yahweh, the one true God of all creation?

Well if we read these ancient texts in a strict literal (flat) sense then I suppose we might conclude that other lesser gods do in fact exist because the Bible says they exist. But maybe there’s a better explanation, one that is a bit easier for modern readers of the Bible to swallow—let alone believe.

Do I believe such lesser gods exist and are located in some heavenly boardroom? No! Then why does the Bible imply that they do exist? Well, ancient people actually believed that their tribal (regional) gods really did exist in heaven. They also believed that their gods were in competition with rival gods and that their gods could beat their neighbor’s gods in a mano a mano competition (thus the story of Elijah’s Yahweh besting the Canaanite god Baal). This is just how ancient folks thought you see.

Now why is this important for Christians to know today? Well understanding the thought world that lies behind the Scriptures helps lead us to a better understanding of texts like Psalm 82 and the Book of Job. More importantly, it helps prevent us from making false assumptions about what the Biblical writers were actually trying to say (original intent you see).

For example, knowing that the earth revolves around the sun and not the other way around helps us better appreciate the story conveyed in Joshua 10:13 in which the sun and moon stopped in the middle of the day for a whole day. How could this happen since the earth revolves around the sun and moon? It didn’t, at least not literally did it happen.

Does this make the Bible untrue or unreliable? No, but it does make the Bible more human than is often believed, which ironically makes the Bible more believable—and this is my point!