Are there other gods?

[Sower]

4 hours ago, other one said:

So, yes there are many gods, but the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are greater than any of the others because the others were really created fallen angels.  They were/are from the spiritual upper dimensions so are considered deity, however they are not at the same level of our three part God.

"A Psalm of Asaph. God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods"   Psalm 82,1

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities,
against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms"
 

If interested;

The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible, Dr. Michael Heiser.
I have the book and have read it. About the divine council ( gods) and much more. Interesting/informative..

[Michael37]

15 hours ago, Duck said:

I heard a preacher say that there are other gods.

Is he correct?

It depends on the context. In the OT the word "gods" is mentioned 235 times, mostly in reference to idols.

This passage has an interesting perspective:

Dan 11:36-39  And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.  (37)  Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.  (38)  But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces: and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.  (39)  Thus shall he do in the most strong holds with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many, and shall divide the land for gain.

Exo 20:1-6  And God spoke all these words:  (2)  “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.  (3)  You shall have no other gods before Me.  (4)  You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in the heavens above, on the earth below, or in the waters beneath.  (5)  You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on their children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,  (6)  but showing loving devotion to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments.

Interesting NT passages:

Php 3:18-19  (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ:  (19)  Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)

2Co 4:3-4  But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:  (4)  In whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

[other one]

6 hours ago, Sower said:

The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible, Dr. Michael Heiser.
I have the book and have read it. About the divine council ( gods) and much more. Interesting/informative..

I have also read his books, and watched dozens of hours of his videos.  I was kind of shocked when someone of his stature was saying what I had understood while listening to the Bible dozens of times.

[luigi]

23 hours ago, Duck said:

I heard a preacher say that there are other gods.

Is he correct?

As God is love according to 1 John 4:8 & 16, then what you love is your god. In Revelation 9:20, mankind is described worshipping demons through their love for the things their hands make. Materialism (the love for material goods) which is idolatry are therefore the gods/loves of mankind in Revelation 9:20. These false gods of idolatry are deemed the cause for the resulting plagues in Revelation chapters 8 and 9.

Revelation 9:20 And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk:

[Dennis1209]

Exodus 15:11 Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?

Psalm 82:6 I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.

god ~ ʼĕlôhîym

God ~ ʼĕlôhîym

In its simplest form, ʼĕlôhîym means spirit. The most High God distinguishes them.

Genesis 14:18-19 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God. ¹⁹ And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth:

Capitalization usually distinguishes between the spirits.

Deuteronomy 32:17 They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not.

Psalm 82:5-6 They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth are out of course. ⁶ I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.

They go about in the darkness The psalmist describes the elohim as inept and corrupt. They are unable and unwilling to fulfill their office and duties.

the foundations of the earth The Hebrew phrase used here, mosde erets, reflects ancient Near Eastern (and Israelite) cosmology. The ancient Israelites believed the world rested on pillars or a foundation.

are shaken The psalmist describes the failure of the gods (elohim in Hebrew) as having cosmic consequences. The very foundations of the created order are shaken when the heavenly realm endures corruption and evil. Only God’s intervention and judgment can remedy the situation.

The very stability of all life was threatened when the gods were disloyal to God (Yahweh).¹

¹ Barry, J. D., Mangum, D., Brown, D. R., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Ritzema, E., … Bomar, D. (2012, 2016). Faithlife Study Bible (Ps 82:5). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

  Miller elaborates:

The maintenance of justice and righteousness is the foundation of the universe, the responsibility of the divine council, and the issue upon which hang both the stability of the universe and the stability and effective reality of the divine world.… It is against this background that one must look at one of the texts in which the council of Yahweh is most explicitly present, Psalm 82. It takes place entirely in the world of the gods, although what is clear from the story is that that world is totally ruled and controlled by the Lord. The psalm depicts a meeting of the “divine council” (v. 1) in which God rises and pronounces judgment on the gods. The reason for the verdict against them is spelled out in detail and unambiguous. The divine ones, the gods who are supposed to provide for order/righteousness among the peoples of the earth, have utterly failed to do so. They have shown partiality to the wicked and failed to maintain the right of the poor and the weak. The consequence of this is stated to be a shaking of the foundations of the world.… The text assumes that justice as the center of world order is a responsibility of the divine world as a whole. Failure to bring that about calls into question the divine world. Indeed its consequence is a decree against the divine world that relativizes it and renders the divine ones mortal. The gods are condemned to death. The fate of the divine world, of gods as well as of human beings, is determined in the divine council.

The most dramatic instance of council members participating in God’s governance of the world is associated with judgment. According to Deuteronomy 32:8–9, members of the heavenly host were assigned as administrators of the nations:

When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance,

when he divided mankind,

he fixed the borders of the peoples

according to the number of the sons of God.

But the Lord’s portion is his people,

Jacob his allotted heritage.¹

¹ Michael S. Heiser, Angels: What the Bible Really Says about God’s Heavenly Host (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2018), 44–45.

 

[Still Alive]

On 7/14/2024 at 9:40 AM, Duck said:

I heard a preacher say that there are other gods.

Is he correct?

Absolutely there are other gods (small g). But there is one True God of everything. Capital G. there is Elohim singular and elohim plural. It is generally a term for those in the "unseen realm". They are all "elohim", but only one "The Elohim".

That's what Psalm 82 is about. https://biblehub.com/bsb/psalms/82.htm

[Still Alive]

13 hours ago, Sower said:

"A Psalm of Asaph. God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods"   Psalm 82,1

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities,
against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms"
 

If interested;

The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible, Dr. Michael Heiser.
I have the book and have read it. About the divine council ( gods) and much more. Interesting/informative..

I became a huge fan of Heiser's stuff. I was first exposed to it on my 90 minute commute each way with "The naked bible" podcasts. Changed a LOT of my beliefs about what we are being taught by questionably reliable "elders" today. 

[Duck]

On 7/15/2024 at 7:06 PM, Still Alive said:

questionably reliable "elders"

And preachers

[Duck]

On 7/15/2024 at 1:50 AM, Jayne said:

No, he is not correct.

Amen! Finally!

[Duck]

Thankyou Jayne. There are NO other gods, only those in people's imaginations. 

The preacher I heard is a false teacher.