Freedom to Fly!

Ok, let's have some fun with another look at the names of God.  This is fascinating!

Psalm 82 (King James with Correct Names of God inserted)

A psalm of Asaph

 ¹God (ELOHIM) standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods (ELOHIM).

 ²How long will ye judge unjustly, and accept the persons of the wicked? Selah.

Can this truly be Asaph (who is he by the way?) saying God judges unjustly?

 ³Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy.

 ⁴Deliver the poor and needy: rid them out of the hand of the wicked.

 ⁵They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth are out of course.

 ⁶I have said, Ye are gods (ELOHIM); and all of you are children of the most High (El Elyon).

 ⁷But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes.

 ⁸Arise, O God (ELOHIM), judge the earth: for thou shalt inherit all nations.

Please admit you are as fascinated as I am at verse 6!  And how did the translators decide which words "elohim" to capitalize and translate "God" and which to not capitalize and translate 'gods'?

Reminds me of the passage from Genesis 3:

²And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:

 ³But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

 ⁴And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

 ⁵For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods (elohim), knowing good and evil.

 ⁶And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

 ⁷And the eyes of them both were opened

The words of the woman and of the serpent are somewhat different that what God said to Adam though.  Take note:

¹⁶And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:

 ¹⁷But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

The woman added to what the LORD God told the man: ""neither shall ye touch it".   The serpent contradicted what the LORD God said and added to it as well:

And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

 ⁵For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods (elohim), knowing good and evil.

 ⁶And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

This is our natural tendancy is it not to embellish the words of God to make them sound more severe or to diminish their importance by adding to them in order to satisfy our own desires. 

Immediately upon eating of the tree they became "self" conscious!  There original state was one of "God" consciousness.

⁷And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

 ⁸And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.

The immediate effect of sin was a sense of separation from God, the awareness of "self".  Prior to the fall the man and woman walked with God in complete harmony and freedom; after the fall there was fear and separation, an awareness of "self".  As I have previously written, the key to returning to a state of unity with God is releasing of the power of "self, recognizing when "self" is attempting to sit on the throne of our lives and consciously releasing the authority it is attempting to usurp, back to El Elyon, the most high God.  Knowing good and evil has indeed opened our eyes and we have become like 'gods' running things according to our "self"ish ways. 

I Corinthians 15:

²²For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

 ²³But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.

 ²⁴Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.

 ²⁵For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.

Christ is reigning and all things will be put under His feet.  We are seeing the most high God exercising His ability to subject all things to Himself and will continue to see more.  The birth pangs are upon us in this age as we enter into the Sabbath rest of the Lord.  Psalm 82 is a passage for today.  He is the possessor of the earth and all nations are His.  He has the power to shake its foundations and woe to the inhabitants who belittle His power in favor of worshiping the god of "self".  In the New Testament there were many warnings to the Jewish people, the result of their disobedience and unwillingness to come into the new covenant cost them the price of severe punishment.  We are seeing another layer of the fulfillment of scripture for this day.  There will be severe judgment once again for those who refuse to come under the authority and blessing of the most high God, El Elyon.  He will possess the earth,  He will exert His authority over mankind,  He will do what it takes to subject all things to Himself, and He will bless and protect those who are surrendered to Him. 

I refuse to present this as some ultimatum, the fiery wrath of an angry God who will throw the evil doers into hell.  It is not about that, never has been, never will be!  God is the Almighty Father (Yahweh), Mother (El Shaddai), Possessor (El Elyon), Supreme God (Elohim), etc.  His desire is to bring His creation into maturity.  We all know that what matures us as individuals is the experience and trials of life. They bring out our worst and our best and refine us as we learn to surrender to God.  The time is right to bring creation into maturity.  There will no longer be place for fickle children as in the garden, who were not able to withstand the suggestion of the serpent, but grown up sons able to obey, be blessed and be a blessing. 

El Elyon first appears in scripture in Genesis 14:

¹⁸And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God (El Elyon).

 ¹⁹And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God (El Elyon), possessor of heaven and earth:

 ²⁰And blessed be the most high God (El Elyon), which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.

 ²¹And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself.

 ²²And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the LORD (Yahweh), the most high God (El Elyon), the possessor of heaven and earth,

God is raising up a Melchizadek priesthood in this day, in the likeness of Christ, the first born son, a priesthood who will minister before El Elyon, the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth. 

More about that another day.