Judging Among the Gods

“God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods.”—Psalm 82:1

THE 82nd Psalm seems to have its special application during the time of Christ’s second presence. The “God” who stands in the congregation of the mighty could be, although is not necessarily, Jehovah, for the Hebrew word is elohiym, and might well be a reference to Jesus at the time of his second presence, when he “stands up” as the great Michael, with a resultant “time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation,” (Dan. 12:1) He stands among the “mighty” of this present evil world, and they are judged as unworthy of continuing their rulership over the peoples of the earth.

But the psalm has a deeper significance to the Lord’s people than merely to serve as a confirmation of our faith in Christ’s second presence, and that the hand of the Lord is in the affairs of men, for it indicates that this is a special testing time for the true church. In the 6th verse we read, “I have said, Ye are gods.” Jesus quoted this text and applied it to those to whom the Word of God came, that is; to himself and his followers. (John, 10:34,35; 17:8,14,17) While the “gods” of the first verse could well be the same class as the “mighty” of that verse, it would be reasonable to conclude that they are the same as the “gods” of the 6th verse, namely, the church class. The Gospel age has been the judgment day of this class, and the end of the age is a time of special testing.

In the ultimate sense Jehovah is the Judge of the church, but this does not mean that Jesus has nothing to do with this work of judgment. All things are of the Father, but by, or through, the Son, “and we by him.” (I Cor. 8:6). Since the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son, and since it was he who shed forth the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, it would appear that God has placed even the judgment of the church in his hands. (John 5:22; Acts 2:32-34) Peter wrote, “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God.” and Paul wrote, “We shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ”—I Peter 4:17; Rom. 14:10

The application of the principles of righteousness and justice exemplified in divine law is universal and unchangeable. So now, at the time when this present evil world is crumbling, our present Lord is standing in the assembly of the mighty ones of earth, judging them unworthy to continue reigning, and is also continuing his work of judging among the “gods”—those who are falling in sacrificial death like Prince Jesus—the standards of judgment, in so far as the basic principles of righteousness are concerned, being the same for both classes.

It is the practical application of these principles upon which the church is judged and found worthy of joint-heirship with Jesus that we wish to discuss particularly in this article. It is important always to remember that the fully consecrated of this time are being prepared, being trained, to serve as associates with Jesus in the blessed task of establishing righteousness and justice in the earth during the incoming new age, and to dispense blessings of life to those who then obey the laws of the divine kingdom, Let us not think of the Christian life as being merely a preparation to go to heaven; If we prove worthy we are to be dealing with the world for a thousand years, and to be trained properly for this it is essential that we know God’s present attitude toward the world, and why divine judgment has gone against the nations.

Judging Unjustly

Verse 2 of the psalm reads: “How long will ye judge unjustly, and accept the persons of the wicked?” A. reveal passage to consider in connection with this is that of 10:17,18, which reads; “For the Lord your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward: He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment.”

It is not necessary to argue the point that the “mighty’’ of this world have not been just in their handling of the affairs of the people. The iniquity of worldly rulers and “gods” is common knowledge. They have freely accepted the persons of the wicked into their governments whenever it was expedient to do so. The matter of right and wrong, of justice and injustice, of righteousness and unrighteousness, has not governed their course, but instead an insatiable lust for wealth and power, which in most instances has caused them to disregard human rights, particularly the rights of the poor.

But as Christians we should not view this sadistic picture of inhuman selfishness merely in a casual, disinterested sort of way. Inasmuch as we are being prepared to establish a new order, based upon justice and righteousness, it is essential that in our small sphere of influence we practice these principles of righteousness which the world is so obviously failing to practice; for upon this basis we are being judged of our worthiness to reign with Christ.

We are to judge justly, and we are not to accept the persons of the wicked. This does not mean, that we are to begin a work of judging at the present time, hut rather that in our dealings with our brethren and with the world we are to deal justly, endeavoring that all of our decisions be based upon and governed by justice. We are not to “accept the persons of the wicked”; that is, personalities or friendships should not be permitted to influence our judgment.

This is a very exacting requirement of the new creation. To accept the persons of the wicked does not necessarily imply that we fraternize with those who are openly sinners. With God there are no degrees of righteousness. One who is out of harmony with him in any sense is considered to be a sinner although not necessarily willfully wicked. Applied in its fullest sense this warning of the Lord is against the practice of permitting personalities to govern our thinking and acting. And it is so easy to do this, so easy to permit friendships to sway our viewpoint of what is tight and what is wrong.

Verse 3 reads; “Defend the poor and fatherless; do justice to the afflicted and needy.” Obviously God would have been pleased if the rulers of the world had followed this course, but we know they have not. On the ether hand, we know that this is exactly what the kingdom of Christ will do for the people, and we are being prepared to be associated with Jesus as rulers in that kingdom. (Psalm 72:4) Certainly, then, an essential preparation for rulership in such a kingdom is to take an interest in the poor and needy even know.

The Apostle James seems to have caught the spirit of the 82nd Psalm, for, when writing his epistle, he touches upon several very similar thoughts. As we have noted, the psalm warns against accepting the persons of the wicked, but urges dealing with all impartially; and James uses the illustration of a rich man and a poor man coming into our meetings, and shows that if we favor the rich man just because he is rich, and despise the poor man, we are partial, and are judges “of evil thoughts.”—James 2:2-4

As the righteous principles of judgment set forth in the 82nd Psalm apply to both the church and the world, so James not only admonishes us to consider the poor and needy,’ but also says to the world, “Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.” (James 5:1) And the apostle explains that these miseries were to come in the “last days” and because these “rich men” had’ not dealt justly with the poor and needy.

But again, let us not erroneously imagine ourselves righteous and pleasing to God simply because we can see—and perhaps like to talk about—the unrighteousness of others. The rich of this world, the rulers, the “mighty” ones, have failed; but there is a judgment going on among the “gods” to determine who among the professed followers of the Master are worthy to live and reign with him in his kingdom of righteousness.

The psalm states, “Defend [margin, judge] the poor and fatherless; do justice to the afflicted and needy.” Again James expresses a similar thought and to emphasize the importance of this to us as Christians, wrote, “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.” (James 1:27) And to do this is true godlikeness; for as we have seen in a passage already quoted, one of the qualities characteristic of God is that “he doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow.”—Deut. 10:17,18

Negative and Positive Righteousness

In James’ definition of “pure religion” he speaks of it as of two parts. We are to keep ourselves “unspotted from the world,” and we are to visit the fatherless and the widows. To express the thought in a more general way it means that “pure religion” consists both of what we are to be and what we are to do. We are to be pure, untainted by the sin and selfishness of the world around us; and besides this, we are to “visit” those in need, not just casually, when it is convenient for us to do so, but are to lay down our lives in this great service of others. Paul puts it in a very similar way, saying, “To do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.”—Heb. 13:16

James’ definition of “pure religion” is not to be taken too literally in the sense that a Christian should seek out all the Orphans and widows in the community and visit them from time to time. Obviously the “widows” and “orphans,” because they have been deprived of their caretakers, are used by James as symbolic of those who need help. They might well represent all those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, the poor in spirit who realize their need of divine help. To all of these we are to “do good” as we have opportunity, and especially when, through consecration, they become members of the “household of faith.”—Gal. 6:9,10

This phase of the Christian life should be kept constantly before us, for it is the very essence of Christlikeness. One of the best and most comprehensive summaries of Jesus’ earthly ministry is that one which states that he, “went about doing good.” (Acts 10:38) It was not a case merely of being good. Jesus did not go about to display his goodness, but to do good.

And Jesus was truly good, the perfect embodiment of all true goodness. He was “holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners.” (Heb. 7:26) He kept himself unspotted from the world, but his mission to earth would have been a failure had he not gone further than this. His righteousness would only have been negative had he not, in addition to keeping himself unspotted from the world, laid down his life for the world.

“Ye Are Gods,” If—

And so it shall be with all those who are truly following in the footsteps of Jesus. This is one of the facts which is being determined in the judgment of the church; Through the Psalmist the Lord declares, “I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High. But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes.” It is not straining the interpretation of this passage to think of it as saying that we are gods, children of the most High, if we indeed fall like one of the princes, that is, like Prince Jesus, who fell in sacrificial death, laying down his life doing good.

This, in fact, seems to be the underlying thought of the 82nd Psalm so far as the matter of divine judgment is concerned. The mighty ones of earth, the rich, the arrogant, the ones who have been in a position to establish justice, have failed to do so. Divine judgment goes against them. They go down in ignominy and shame in the great “time of trouble” resulting from the standing up of Michael. But this does not mean that God’s plan to establish a righteous order in the earth has failed; for throughout the Gospel age, and culminating in the harvest at the end of the age, he has been developing a new group of rulers, styled in the psalm, “gods,” and “children of the most High.”

The mighty ones of earth are cast off because they fail to manifest interest in the poor and needy, and by the same token the “children of the most High” qualify to reign with Christ because, like Jesus, they lay down their lives on behalf of the “widows and orphans,” as James expresses it, And these qualify because their interest is more than merely a passive one With them it is not a matter merely of refraining from oppressing the poor. They do not simply say to themselves or to others that they are glad a time is coming when all the needy ones of earth will be blessed, but do nothing about extending a blessing to them now. They are not content merely to keep themselves uncontaminated from the world, but, while doing this, they follow the example of Jesus in laying down their lives for the world.

How to Help the Poor

How can a Christian lay down his life for the world now? Here we are using the term “world” as it is used in John 3:16, where we read that “God so loved the world” that he gave his beloved Son to die for it. Here the world stands for the people, the entire human race. God loved these people, and Jesus loved them. The kingdom of Christ is established for their blessing, and we are promised that if faithful we will reign with Jesus his kingdom of blessing. But we sometimes forget that the condition upon which we may share in that kingdom reign is our faithfulness in dying sacrificially as Jesus died, “planted together in the likeness of his death,” being “baptized” in death “for the dead” world of mankind.—Rom. 6:5; I Cor. 15:29

But how are we to lay down our lives for the people? As we have seen, it is not the Christian’s work to seek out all the cases of poverty he can find and spend his strength and means to help them along material lines. No, the Scriptures do not indicate that this is the way we are to “visit the fatherless and the widows,” although no true Christian would withhold needed material assistance in cases which clearly become his special privilege to help. From the Lord’s standpoint there is a greater need that the people be given spiritual food and sustenance, and it is this great privilege which is ours today.

Coming back again to the 82nd Psalm we read, “Deliver the poor and needy rid them out of the hand of the wicked.” (Psalm 82:4) The Lord’s true people are but a “little flock,” weak and insignificant in the eyes of the world.. They would be helpless to deliver the poor and needy from the oppressions of this present evil order of things; but there is a deliverance which we can help to effect, and that is a deliverance from the hand of the wicked one, Satan. He is the prince of this world, the one who rules in the hearts of the children of disobedience. He is the great oppressor, the one who has the power over death.

And can we deliver anyone from the hand of this wicked enemy of God and of man? Eventually the whole world of mankind is to be delivered from his control, but some are being delivered now—delivered by the power of the truth. As we proclaim the truth, those who respond to it and follow its precepts are “delivered out of the hand of the wicked.” They are made free from superstition and fear. By the authority of the Word, and through the merit of the Redeemer, we can say to those who have hearing ears, “Be ye reconciled to God.” (II Cor. 5:20) And those, who are “reconciled to God” are through faith delivered from the bondage of sin and death.

A blessed work indeed is ours. And how it displays the wisdom of our God! He is training us for the work of reconciling the whole world of mankind to himself, and how appropriate that this training consist of more than mere theory, that we actually serve an apprenticeship; not only to be trained, but also to demonstrate our enthusiasm for the matter in hand: God loved the world enough to give his beloved Son to redeem the people; and he has decreed that all who will assist in the work of restoring those whom Jesus redeemed must demonstrate that they have the same unselfish love for mankind.

Love Supreme

And this indeed is the highest form of love, and to be imbued with it is the final test of worthiness to live and reign with Christ. It is love for those who do not love us, among whom are many who may even be our enemies. Jesus said, “If ye love them who love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?” Publican love will not get us into the kingdom.

But are we not supposed to love our brethren, someone may ask? Yes, certainly, but this is not the final test; not the fourth quarter mark in our race for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. It may be that at times, due to the imperfections of their flesh, that one or more of our brethren might manifest enmity toward us, and of course we should love them all in spite of their weaknesses. Generally speaking, however, loving our brethren in Christ is largely a matter of loving those who love us. It is a beautiful love, and it has its own exceeding great reward; but the love that will qualify us to be joint-heirs with Jesus in his kingdom is that godlike love which reaches out to bless those who do not love us.

This is the way God loved the whole world. It is the way he loved us, for the apostle reminds us that it was while we were yet sinners, hence alienated from him, that the Heavenly Father sent Christ to die for us. “While we were yet sinners”—what a revealing thought this is! (Rom. 5:8) We, together with all our brethren, were at one time sinners. God sent his Son to redeem us because he loved us. He sent one of his ambassadors to give us the good news. We heard, we accepted, we were delivered. Now we are no longer separated from God, no longer servants of the evil one. We have peace with God, and through Jesus have “access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.”—Rom, 5:1,2

Yes, we have access into the most marvelous grace ever bestowed upon human beings, the great opportunity of entering into the “glory of God,” of being “gods” to live and reign with Christ. But there is a condition attached—the condition of love. Do we love as God loved? Do we love as Jesus loved? Do our hearts go out to the poor and the needy? All mankind is really in this class. It is not our privilege to redeem the world, but we do have the privilege of dying sacrificially as Jesus died. We cannot give ourselves as a ransom for the people, but we can lay down our lives bearing the good news that a ransom has been provided and that those who accept this provision and obey the truth may be reconciled to God.

And when we thus lay down our lives doing all we can to deliver the poor and needy from the hand of the wicked, God counts it as being planted together in the likeness of Jesus’ death. It is thus that we “fall like one of the princes,” as stated in verse 7. As we saw in the article, “Like One of the Princes,” which appeared in the March Dawn, there have been two outstanding princes of the race. The first was Prince Adam. He fell before temptation and died as a sinner. But Prince Jesus was an overcomer. He died, not as a sinner who succumbed to selfishness and sin, but as an overcomer, who sacrificed life to destroy sin and, deaths

And it is our privilege to fall in death as Jesus fell; that is, sacrificially. If we do thus fall, sacrificially and victoriously, we will also be in the likeness of Christ’s resurrection. We will live with him; and not only that, but we shall also reign with him, to share in the work of actually doing what: we laid down our lives in sacrifice trying to do. It is a glorious prospect indeed!

In the last verse of the psalm Christ is addressed: “Arise O God, and judge the earth: for thou shalt inherit all nations,” The church, of course, will share this honor with him. The translators, not understanding the plan of God for his church—the “gods” who fall like one of the princes—have not given us an allowable appropriate translation of elohiym which appears in this last verse of the psalm, hence the possible and fuller meaning of the verse is somewhat obscured.

It is this Hebrew word elohiym which is translated “gods” in the first verse of the psalm, where we are told that God judgeth among the gods. The. same word is translated gods in the 6th verse, where we read, “I have said, Ye are gods.” As Jesus applied the 6th verse to The Christ, it is apparent that in the last verse of the psalm the elohiym could also apply to the entire Christ company—the entire house of sons.

But even though we retain the singular translation, “God,” there would seem to be no valid reason for not applying it to the entire Christ, for Christ’s body members, the “gods” of verse 6, will indeed share with him in the judgment and rulership of the world. Obviously the psalm depicts a work of judgment, a testing, in which the worldly fail. But there are some who do not fail; namely the “gods” who “die like men and fall like one of the princes.” They do not fail, but they “fall”—they fall in death, and from the human standpoint die just like other men.

But having fallen like Prince Jesus, Jehovah intervenes, and they arc raised from death in the “first resurrection.” He bids them “arise,” even as he did Prince Jesus. These are bidden to arise because they have fallen. It was so with Prince Jesus. God raised him from the dead. He was “the first-fruits of them that slept.” (I Cor. 15:20) The “first fruits” of the resurrection, however, include Christ’s body members—all who come forth in the first resurrection, {Rev. 20: 6) And why do they come up in the first resurrection? The apostle explains that it is in order that they might live and reign with Christ a thousand years,”—Rev. 20:4

And how clearly this wondrous thought is set forth in the verse under consideration if we translate elohiym in the plural, as it is in verse 6: “Arise O gods, judge the earth: for thou shalt inherit all nations.” (Psalm 82:8) Yes, the entire house of sons, all the “gods” of this age, those who have proved their qualifications through the sacrifice of their lives in the divine cause, will share in the work of judging the world. “Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world?” wrote Paul; and David wrote that they will “execute upon them the judgments written.” And together with Jesus they will also “inherit all nations.”—I Cor. 6:2; Psalm 149:8,9

Selfishness and Love

Referring to those who do not heed the admonition to consider the poor and needy, the 5th verse says, “They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth are out of course.” Had the mighty ones of earth followed the true course of justice and love instead of selfishness and hate, the “foundations of the earth” would not have been “out of course.” It is these mighty ones of this world who constitute the foundations of the earth, that is, of the present world order.

But now these foundations are crumbling. Civilization is falling because it has been civilized in name only. But there is to be a “new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.” (II Pet. 3:13) There will be a work of judgment in that new order. It will be the judgment day of all mankind, and we are now being prepared to participate in that work with Jesus, hence the announcement to The Christ, “Arise O God [or gods], judge the earth”—Psalm 82:8

And together with Jesus, the church will “inherit all nations,” for they are to “reign with him.” (II Tim. 2:12) This is beautifully emphasized by Jesus in Revelation 2:26,27, where we read, “And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.”

What a touching and personal assurance this is from the Master himself—“Even as I received of my Father,” Yes, this is what the Father promised to Jesus, and he is happy to have the overcomers share the reward with him. But again note the conditions, “He that overcometh, and keepeth my works.” Overcoming and working! Jesus overcame the world and its spirit of selfishness. He kept himself unspotted from it. And he worked. He went about doing good. He preached the kingdom, and gave examples of kingdom blessings. He served his disciples, and was zealously interested in everything which pertained to the plan of his Father. He was consumed by the zeal of God’s house;

Now he says, “And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works, … to him will I give power over the nations, … even as I received of my Father.” Blessed promise, re-echoing the words of Psalm 82:8; and including the church in the “hope of glory,” which it sets forth. Now that we are living in the “last days” when this whole psalm has its special setting, should we not more than over strive to be overcomers?

The returned Lord, the Head of the little flock of “gods,” is already present. He has stood up to take control. Many of the “gods” have already heard the call to arise in the first resurrection, and shortly the last remaining overcomers, falling victoriously in sacrificial death, will also hear that call. Then all together, the Christ company, exalted to glory, honor, and immortality, will judge and rule over the earth for a thousand years, for the blessing of all mankind.

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