The elections are now behind us and we do have a new president. The slogan right now appears to be “Change is Coming.” Many of us are hoping that the change will be for the positive. Yet I’m sure others are hoping that not too much change will come! Take for instance the former president P’noy, I’m sure he is hoping change won’t be in the form of legal cases and prison terms. How discouraging it must be for the presidents who go from the palace to the prison. I mentioned to my wife that P’noy did not go from the palace to the prison and she replied “not yet at least!”
The problem the Politian’s face are the various political systems and all the opposition and distrust. Often the disunity in the political system makes it difficult for a president or leader to accomplish their agenda. It takes a strong and sure leader to be able to push their agenda in-spite of political opposition.
This morning we will eventually be studying Revelation chapter four. When John began his letter Jesus Himself gave us a simple outline of the Book of Revelation in Revelation 1:19 (NASB) — 19 “Write therefore the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall take place after these things.” The outline follows the past tense, present tense, and future tense structure. The past tense was simply John seeing the start of his vision which was him seeing Jesus. This would have been what is recorded in the first sixteen verses of chapter one. Then the present tense was the messages to the seven churches of Asian minor who are representative of all local-churches throughout the Church Age. The present tense aspect of the letter is recorded in Revelation 1:17-3:22. I mentioned the Church Age; this era was coroneted at the Last Supper, commenced at Pentecost and will end with the rapture of the Church. As for the third tense concerning the outline of Revelation, it begins with chapter four and follows through until the end of the book. Thus the events that we will end with today are still future events.
Revelation four is a rather short chapter with only eleven verses. Yet it has a specific theme and that is the throne of God. The Throne of God is directly mentioned eleven times and referred to several more times. When you think of the Throne of God you should see the object (a throne) as signifying the sovereignty of God. Thrones were the place where kings would exercise their sovereignty. In the ancient middle east an actual throne could have been anything from a padded chair to a pile of pillows. The common denominator was what took place at the throne. Kings exercised sovereignty and to be sovereign they had to have the ability and right to reign over subjects. As creator God has the right to reign over His creation. The question is, does He have the ability to reign over creation? We must peer into the throne room of God to see exactly “how” He reigns.
The bulk of today’s message will be spent on shaping our understanding of how God exercises sovereignty. First we will look into the throne room and see who is present. Then we will look at what exactly the participants are doing. Then finally we will discuss our future role within God’s throne room.
When you think of Heaven what do you think God is doing there? Do you see Him as being so holy that nobody can approach Him and therefore He is sitting there in a big empty room alone? Or do you see it as a room that has a throne center stage and all beings present are constantly giving Him praise? Often that is how I picture it, and for me that is an exciting picture. What about Satan, do you see him present? How about angles? Sure, I can picture them there! How about demons, are they there? Has heaven always been the same? The scriptures indicate that numerous persons have been to, or at least looked into, heaven.
Years ago I was working with a church outreach that was ministering to the poor (back in the U.S.A.) One gentleman who attended the outreach on a regular basis shared a story of how he died and went to heaven. His tale was familiar in that he states that he saw a great light and then was told that he had to return to earth. He even went so far as to say that the Lord had a great mission for him and that is why he had to return. The problem was that he was addicted to alcohol and that he was not involved in any type of ministry outside of attending our mission and receive a free meal and Bible study. I guess things could have changed but I know that he has now already passed away without accomplishing anything great for the Lord.
I saw a news program recently where the investigative reporter interviewed people of various cultures and religions who all claimed to have died and gone to heaven. Most saw a great light, most were told that they had to return, and most were told that their god had something special in store for them. Different gods and religious backgrounds yet the same story.
At least three people are recorded in the Bible as having gone to heaven with various others having at the very least looked into heaven; none of them died to get there. Right now we are going to look at two of their stories and see what they saw. Turn in your Bibles to the book of Isaiah chapter six:
Isaiah 6:1–8 (NASB) — 1 IN the year of King Uzziah’s death, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple.2 Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings; with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.3 And one called out to another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory.”4 And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke.5 Then I said, “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.”6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, with a burning coal in his hand which he had taken from the altar with tongs.7 And he touched my mouth with it and said, “Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away, and your sin is forgiven.” 8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here am I. Send me!”
The first that I want to point out is the plural pronoun there in verse eight. It is that way in the original language and it raise the question of who exactly is there in the throne room? From the context we see the Lord and we see angelic beings called seraphs. The text does not indicate how many seraphs were present. The second throne room scene that I want us to look at is in the book of Ezekiel. Turn to chapter one where we will skim the chapter and highlight a few verses. Notice in verse one that the heavens were opened and Ezekiel saw visions of God; not visions from God (though God would have likely been the one who produced the visions the point is that the visions were about Him).
Ezekiel 1:1 (NASB) — 1 NOW it came about in the thirtieth year, on the fifth day of the fourth month, while I was by the river Chebar among the exiles, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God.
In his vision Ezekiel see four creatures:
Ezekiel 1:4–5 (NASB) — 4 And as I looked, behold, a storm wind was coming from the north, a great cloud with fire flashing forth continually and a bright light around it, and in its midst something like glowing metal in the midst of the fire.5 And within it there were figures resembling four living beings. And this was their appearance: they had human form.
The creatures had the appearance of having four faces:
Ezekiel 1:10 (NASB) — 10 As for the form of their faces, each had the face of a man, all four had the face of a lion on the right and the face of a bull on the left, and all four had the face of an eagle.
Theologians are unsure what the four faces represent. Some say they represent that the living creatures have dominion over the wild beasts, as seen in the face of the lion, the dominion of domesticated animals, face of the bull, mankind, and lastly the dominion of flying creatures. Other theologian believe that the four faces represent power (the lion), servitude (the bull), intelligence (the man) and swiftness (the eagle). For our study today we do not need to delve deeper into what the faces may mean, we only need to take note of the faces.
Further in our survey of Ezekiel one we see wheels that has the power to move in any direction and that has eyes that can see all things. Furthermore, we see a spirit controlling these wheels:
Ezekiel 1:12 (NASB) — 12 And each went straight forward; wherever the spirit was about to go, they would go, without turning as they went.
Ezekiel 1:20 (NASB) — 20 Wherever the spirit was about to go, they would go in that direction. And the wheels rose close beside them; for the spirit of the living beings was in the wheels.
In some of your translations it may present the word “spirit” in a plural form but in the original language the word is singular. The spirit represents God’s divine agenda, or as MacArthur puts it a “divine impulse.” It may or may not be a reference to the Holy Spirit (a theology that was mostly foreign to the original recipients) but is indicative of God’s will.
Then finally in verses twenty-three through the end of the chapter we see God ruling from His throne. The point that I want to stress is that God is always accompanied by divine beings of the spiritual realm. In the two pictures that we saw the beings are likely of the highest class of spirit beings who are tasked with guarding the holiness of God. We see this spiritual guardianship with the figurines that covered the Ark of the Covenant, images of angels being woven into the veil of the tabernacle, and the angles that decorated the temple(s) of Israel.
The question that I now want to ask is, were these guardians of holiness the only spirit beings present with God? Let’s look at a collage of scriptures and discover if more spirit beings could have been present, and we will do so starting at creation (God speaking to Job):
Job 38:4–7 (NASB) — 4 “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding,5 Who set its measurements, since you know? Or who stretched the line on it?6 “On what were its bases sunk? Or who laid its cornerstone,7 When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
In the ancient middle east they thought of the stars as being spirit beings. In Job God asks where was Job during creation? Then He adds that, what Job would have thought of as spirit beings, were not only present but also rejoiced at the work of creation. We see this multiplicity of beings present during creation early in the book of Genesis. Turn to Genesis chapter one where we will look at a very familiar passage:
Genesis 1:26–28 (NASB) — 26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”27 And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.28 And God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
Often when we see the plural pronouns used in verse twenty-six we think of it as a reference to the trinity. While it is true that the trinity would have been present at creation, to think of the pronouns as referring to only the trinity leaves us with a gaping question; what does it mean for humans to be of a trinitarian makeup? The doctrine of the trinity is all about three separate persons being one God. In what way are we three separate persons? If you are thinking body, soul, spirit (trichotomy) this would be three components that make up one person. The trinity is three persons that make up one God. I want to propose that the “us” in verse twenty-six is not a reference solely (or maybe even partly) to the trinity but rather God was conversing with the spirit beings who were present with Him at the time of creation. Yet if this be the case what does the statement “in our likeness” mean? Let’s turn to other scriptures to see if we can’t discover the answer.
Psalm 82:1 (NASB) — 1 GOD takes His stand in His own congregation; He judges in the midst of the rulers.
Who exactly are these rulers? Let’s look at Psalm 82:1 in several different translations to see what can be discovered!
Psalm 82:1 (NLT) — 1 God presides over heaven’s court; he pronounces judgment on the heavenly beings:
Psalm 82:1 (RSV) — 1 God has taken his place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods he holds judgment:
Psalm 82:1 (NET) — 1 God stands in the assembly of El; in the midst of the gods he renders judgment.
In the original language the word elohim appears twice in this verse. The first time it is translated as “God,” the second time it should be translated as “gods.” The problem for most Christians is that we were taught that elohim should be translated as “God” and with the translation we should assign all of the attributes of God to the term. Yet elohim is better understood not as a quantitative term that demands God’s attributes but rather as a relational, or locational, term that communicates beings within the spiritual realm rather than the physical realm where we reside. Look back at the NLT translation and see how the translators translated elohim as “heavenly beings.” This is an apt description. Or we can look at it this way; take the next verse that we look at and ascribe the attributes of God, such as omnipresent and omniscience, to the term elohim and see what outcome you derive:
1 Samuel 28:12–13 (NASB) — 12 When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice; and the woman spoke to Saul, saying, “Why have you deceived me? For you are Saul.”13 And the king said to her, “Do not be afraid; but what do you see?” And the woman said to Saul, “I see a divine being coming up out of the earth.”
The phrase “divine being” is elohim in the original language. None of us should believe that Samuel the deceased prophet took on the attributes of omnipresent and omniscience after his death! What changed was Samuel was no longer in the physical realm but rather the spiritual which is where the place of the dead is located.
If you think of “elohim” as being a term that has attributes ascribed to it then you will end up with polytheism and a pantheon of gods. But if you understand “elohim” as simply meaning beings who reside in the spiritual realm it eliminates that possibility. The Bible does indeed teach that it is okay to use the term god for beings other than God. Notice how Deuteronomy chapter six verse four is phrased:
Deuteronomy 6:4 (NASB) — 4 “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one!
The verse actual presupposes that there are other gods! That is why Moses writes “the Lord is ‘our’ God. This understanding of the allowance of spirit beings that can use the term “god” is the basis for Jesus’ argument with the religious leaders in John chapter ten:
John 10:34–36 (NASB) — 34 Jesus answered them, “Has it not been written in your Law, ‘I SAID, YOU ARE GODS’?35 “If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken),36 do you say of Him, whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?
It is important that you understand that elohim is a term that is at times translated as heavenly being[s], or spirit being[s] (which is what God is thus the use of the term for Him) but the main point that I want you to grasp is that God presides over a divine council. Let’s look at a few more sections of scripture that describe this divine council.
1 Kings 22:19–22 (NASB) — 19 And Micaiah said, “Therefore, hear the word of the LORD. I saw the LORD sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing by Him on His right and on His left.20 “And the LORD said, ‘Who will entice Ahab to go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?’ And one said this while another said that.21 “Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD and said, ‘I will entice him.’22 “And the LORD said to him, ‘How?’ And he said, ‘I will go out and be a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ Then He said, ‘You are to entice him and also prevail. Go and do so.’
Here we discover that God poses a question to the spirit beings gathered around Him. These beings would be His divine council. Notice that the Lord established what He wanted the outcome to be (the death of Ahab) but He left the means by which the outcome would be achieved undetermined. Through interacting with the council a plan was devised and commissioned. Another example of God taking council:
Job 1:6–12 (NASB) — 6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them.7 And the LORD said to Satan, “From where do you come?” Then Satan answered the LORD and said, “From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it.”8 And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil.”9 Then Satan answered the Lord, “Does Job fear God for nothing?10 “Hast Thou not made a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side? Thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.11 “But put forth Thy hand now and touch all that he has; he will surely curse Thee to Thy face.”12 Then the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power, only do not put forth your hand on him.” So Satan departed from the presence of the Lord.
We see in this passage, and in a similar passage in Job2:1-6, that Satan was in heaven and reporting to God what he observed on earth. [It is possible that the translation should be “the satan” – technically the term satan at this point in the revealing of scriptures is a title which carried the meaning “the accuser” rather than a proper name. Satan only became a proper name in the intertestamental period.] We read that again God defines the end but allows the means to be determined by Satan while they were in council. We see the same thing in the New Testament:
Luke 22:31 (NASB) — 31 Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat;
[The “you” there in the verse is plural and Jesus is referring to the disciples and not just Peter alone.] I have been using the expression “divine council” as we saw earlier in the RSV translation of Psalm 82:1. I’m sure by now some of you are thinking “why would God need a divine council.” He doesn’t! He doesn’t need a divine council any more than He needs humans of even angels. God does not need angels to guard His holiness! God also does not need people for whatever reason. Yet God has created both the spiritual realm and the physical realm where He can allow created beings to share the joy He experiences being Himself. God allows us to co-operate with Him in tasks, thus giving us opportunity to share in His joy.
How many of you have gone on a mission with Evangelist/Pastor Bhoie and experienced true exhilarating joy when you shared the gospel with the lost, or better yet, was there when they decided to trust in Jesus Christ for their salvation? Sharing the gospel is co-operating with God. As a matter of fact, believing the gospel message is co-operating with God. If you say you believe in prayer, then what you are truly saying is that you believe that God has allowed you the opportunity to decide on a course of action. This is co-operating with God, and in like manner this is what God is allowing the spiritual realm to engage in when He has a divine council. This co-operation is what it means when Genesis 1:26 states “Let us make man in our likeness.” The Spiritual realm was allowed to have some input into creation and this is what should be understood in the use of the plural pronouns. Let’s look at the Genesis one passage again:
Genesis 1:26–28 (NASB) — 26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”27 And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.28 And God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
Notice when it comes to the planning stage the pronouns are plural but when it comes time to evoke power it is God alone who is at work. In the same manner that the spiritual realm co-operates with God, functioning as a divine council, we are like them when we rule the earth by ruling over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth. The predetermined end is that we bring the earth under our control. How that end is achieved is up to us to decide.
Another place where we see the divine counsel interacting but God doing the work is in the story of the Tower of Babel found in Genesis eleven:
Genesis 11:6–8 (NASB) — 6 And the LORD said, “Behold, they are one people, and they all have the same language. And this is what they began to do, and now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them.7 “Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.”8 So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of the whole earth; and they stopped building the city.
Here we see mankind disobeying the mandate to fill the earth and as a result God uses the divine council to be the instruments to confuse the languages. Yet again it is God who receives the credit. In Deuteronomy we discover the specific course of action taken by the council so as to render punishment to the peoples, punishment rendered for not filling the earth but rather coming together as one and attempting to devise their own religion (that was the purpose of building the tower). Let’s read:
Deuteronomy 32:8–9 (NRSV) — 8 When the Most High apportioned the nations, when he divided humankind, he fixed the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the gods; 9 the Lord’s own portion was his people, Jacob his allotted share.
Many Bible translations read that the allotment was according to the sons of Israel but the Dead Sea Scrolls record that the term is elohim. This makes sense as at the time of the tower of Babel Israel was not even a nation. You may ask what about Jacob being God’s allotment? The episode of the Tower of Babel is followed immediately by God calling Abram which is the genesis of the creation of Israel. God declared one nation to be His and immediately set out to form that nation.
The punishment rendered on the peoples were they were scattered, their language was confused, and they were assigned an elohim to rule over them; elohims who were members of the divine council.
Deuteronomy 4:19 (NASB) — 19 “And beware, lest you lift up your eyes to heaven and see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, and be drawn away and worship them and serve them, those which the LORD your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven.
[The sun, moon and star is expressive for spirit beings.] One thing that you should understand about the divine council is that it is not just made up of holy angels. As a matter of fact, holy angles seem sparse in my reading and understanding of the council. When Satan was demanding permission to sift the disciples this incident likely took place in a council meeting and not only was Satan present in the same locale as the Father but he had a ‘right of claim’ that emboldened him to actually make a demand. It was Jesus praying (the Son co-operating with the Father) that placed a limit on how much Satan could sift (not beyond a point of unrepair).
Furthermore, the divine council fell short of fulfilling their task and will be judged accordingly. This is the context of Psalm 82. Let’s read the Psalm:
Psalm 82:1–8 (NASB) — 1 GOD takes His stand in His own congregation; He judges in the midst of the [elohim].2 How long will you judge unjustly, And show partiality to the wicked?.3 Vindicate the weak and fatherless; Do justice to the afflicted and destitute.4 Rescue the weak and needy; Deliver them out of the hand of the wicked.5 They do not know nor do they understand; They walk about in darkness; All the foundations of the earth are shaken.6 I said, “You are gods, And all of you are sons of the Most High.7 “Nevertheless you will die like men, And fall like any one of the princes.”8 Arise, O God, judge the earth! For it is Thou who dost possess all the nations.
The Psalmist tells us that they will die. Death in the scriptures means to separate, and the ultimate separation is to be separated from God. We see this separation take place in Revelation twelve:
Revelation 12:9 (NASB) — 9 And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
Revelation twelve is the primary passage where we can exegetically discover the pre-tribulation rapture of the Church. We will leave that teaching for whomever will be teaching this passage later this year. Yet the first six verses foretell the rapture of the Church and then are immediately followed by the ejection of the divine council that we have been discussing this morning. One final thought that you need to understand before I wrap up the introduction and that is, when studying Revelation, you need to realize that it is not always chronological. An example would be that the events of Revelation four follow the events of revelation twelve. And this now brings us to our passage of study, Revelation chapter four.
In Revelation four we see many of the elements that are found in Ezekiel one. We see God reigning from the throne, the angelic guardians and the same four faces that we saw in Ezekiel, the Holy Spirit and the radiance of glory. In both passages we see the rainbow reminder that God will not destroy the world with water (the main point may be that God will not destroy all the occupants of the earth). Yet what I want us to focus in on are not the similarities but rather what is now included in the throne room of God. We read in verse four:
Revelation 4:4 (NASB) — 4 And around the throne were twenty-four thrones; and upon the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white garments, and golden crowns on their heads.
Here we discover elders sitting on thrones. Who exactly are these elders? Never in scriptures do we read of spirit beings being called elders. Angels, archangels, demons, watchers, elohim, sons of God; but not elders. Similarly, we never see angles being clothed in white robes nor given and wearing golden crowns. These are terms that are applied to redeemed humanity. Israel and the Church are led by elders and believers are given white robes and golden crowns. These elders are representatives of the Church. The book of Revelation was written to give humanity a roadmap of the Great Tribulation. The function of the Tribulation is to redeem Israel and any person who is willing to place faith in Jesus Christ in-spite of the persecutions initiated by the anti-Christ. As for the Church, we will have already been raptured away.
Let’s take a few moments to refresh our memories as to what some of the promises are that were given to the Church:
1 Thessalonians 5:9 (NASB) — 9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ (The context of this verse is the Great Tribulation)
Revelation 2:26–27 (NASB) — 26 ‘And he who overcomes, and he who keeps My deeds until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations; 27 and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of the potter are broken to pieces, as I also have received authority from My Father;
Revelation 3:5 (NASB) — 5 ‘He who overcomes shall thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father, and before His angels.
Revelation 3:10 (NASB) — 10 ‘Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell upon the earth.
Matthew 19:28 (NASB) — 28 And Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
Luke 22:29–30 (NASB) — 29 and just as My Father has granted Me a kingdom, I grant you30 that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
1 Corinthians 6:2 (NASB) — 2 Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is judged by you, are you not competent to constitute the smallest law courts?
2 Timothy 2:12 (NASB) — 12 If we endure, we shall also reign with Him; If we deny Him, He also will deny us;
2 Timothy 4:8 (NASB) — 8 in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.
1 Peter 5:4 (NASB) — 4 And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.
A second point I want you to see in Revelation four is the contrast between the current divine council and the one in which we will be a part of. Let’s first look at the current:
Isaiah 14:12–14 (NASB) — 12 “How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the earth, you who have weakened the nations!13 “But you said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, And I will sit on the mount of assembly in the recesses of the north.14 ‘I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’
Now let’s look at the council that is to come:
Revelation 4:10–11 (NASB) — 10 the twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne, saying,11 “Worthy art Thou, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for Thou didst create all things, and because of Thy will they existed, and were created.”
That is quite a contrast! I mentioned at the beginning of this message that It takes a strong and sure leader to be able to push their agenda in-spite of opposition. God is sovereign! Even in view of the fact that He works with a divine council that is at the very least bursting with opposition. Yet in order for God to be fully Himself He desires to exercise sovereignty over free-willed beings rather than just over beings who respond instinctly.
Are you prepared to be a part of the divine council that is yet to come? How is your ability to co-operate with God? Are you evangelizing and offering prayers in faith believing that God will work with what you are praying for? Are you growing in your ability to discern the difference between right and wrong? That is, is your discernment and integrity growing? Earlier when we read Psalm 82 we saw the heart of God in His indictment against the current rulers of this world:” How long will you judge unjustly, and show partiality to the wicked? Instead of showing favoritism to the wicked they, the divine council, should have been vindicating the weak and fatherless; doing justice to the afflicted and destitute. Rescuing the weak and needy; delivering them out of the hand of the wicked. Growing in these areas now will help prepare us for the task that God has in store for us in the future.
To God be the Glory.
