LITTLE GODS OF HAUGHTY HEARTS (PART II)

“The Meaning of Elohim Depends on the Context”

By Akin Ojumu

Word of Faith heretics like E.W. Kenyon, Kenneth Hagin, Kenneth Copeland, Creflo Dollar, and Joyce Meyers like to boast about being equal with God. In their reprobate minds, they believe they rank as high as the Almighty in the spiritual pecking order. Claiming to have the DNA of God, they say they are partakers of God’s divinity and sharer in all of God’s attributes, majesty, and power.

Known as the little gods’ doctrine, proponents of this blasphemous idea believe that “humans are actually divine, created “in the image of God” (Genesis 1:27) not only in having a soul, having dominion over the earth, or living in relationship with others, but by being of the same “spiritual class” as God Himself. Biblical theologians decry this concept as misguided at best, and heretical and cultic at worst” (Ref: Got Questions).

The go-to texts these false teachers use to substantiate their divinity claim are Psalm 82:6 and John 10:34. But as we said last time in this commentary, when you subject this phony baloney claim to the crucible of critical and contextual Biblical interrogation, it evaporates like snowball in hell.

Within its proper context, Psalm 82 is God rebuking human rulers for perverting justice. In verse 1, we see God taking His seat in the council of the judges and rulers of this world. These are people whom God raised up as rulers over the nations.

Now, where the protagonists of the little gods’ kerfuffle go off the deep end is that they get tripped up by the use of the word “god” in Psalm 82, which in this context is specifically used to refer to the judges, kings, and rulers of this world. 

The Hebrew word translated “gods” in Psalm 82:6 is the word “Elohim”. The term Elohim is most frequently used to refer to the one true God. However, there are several places in the Bible where Elohim is interpreted to mean other things. 

The following are just a few examples of other uses of Elohim.

Genesis 35:4 – “And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand…”

Elohim in the context of Genesis 35:4 refers to all the strange gods, i.e., pagan gods and idols.

Exodus 22:8-9 – “If the thief be not found, then the master of the house shall be brought unto the judges…For every breach of trust…the case of both parties shall come before the judges.”

Here in the above passage, Elohim is translated as judges i.e., human judges.

1 Samuel 28:13 – “And the king said to her, “Do not be afraid. What did you see?” And the woman said to Saul, “I saw a spirit ascending out of the earth.””

Elohim in this context means spirits, i.e. disembodied dead or ghosts.

Psalm 95:3 – “For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods.”

Elohim is used here to refer to all pagan gods. And Yahweh is above all other elohim.

As you can see, the word Elohim has different meanings. It’s the context that determines its proper and accurate interpretation. In the context of Psalm 82:6, the word “Elohim” is used to refer to the judges, rulers, and kings of the nations. These are ordinary mortals whom God, by His divine sovereignty, has chosen to exalt as judges, kings, and rulers among the people.

Hellbent on making the Scripture fit their preconceived heretical notion, the advocates of the little gods’ doctrine have chosen to build an entire empire of self-aggrandizement on the shaky foundation of twisted Scripture. Drunken on the Kool-Aid of self-glorification they erect a tower of heresy on the wobbly foundation of misinterpreted Bible text.

“I have said, ‘You are gods; you are all sons of the Most High.’ But like mortals you will die, and like rulers you will fall.” (Psalms 82:6-7).

As we shall see next time, although these judges, rulers, and kings are called “gods” in this Bible passage, they’ll eventually be told by God that they will still perish and die like mere mortals because of their wickedness.