God's Divine Headquarters
Audio read by Tom Parks - MP3
Audio read by Charlie Corder - MP3
There is a celestial “headquarters” (Elohim) comprised of its supreme head as the Father, His firstborn Son (Christ Jesus) at His right hand, other “Sons of God” and other staff who are subsidiary personnel (angelic hosts), as described in Job 1:6, 2:1; Psalm 82:1; Isaiah 6:1–8; Ezekiel 1:4–28;1 Kings 22:19–23, along with Deuteronomy 33:2 and Revelation chapters four and five. There is also Psalm 110 where David said, “The Lord [YHVH] said unto my Lord [Adoni], sit you at my right hand.” Notice that in this description the divine throne in heaven is occupied by two personalities — both “Lords” — within a specific space with both sitting on thrones.
This other “Lord” was a member of the divine hierarchy reckoned as being of the order or rank of Melchizedek. Paul in Hebrews said this Melchizedek was likened (in matters of genealogical records) to be the “Son of God” in heaven because there was no earthly record of Him having any human descent (Hebrews 7:3). Being placed in the category of a “Son of God” shows that Melchizedek (the King of Righteousness and Peace) was not an angel. Indeed, He was so powerful that David said He sat on the right hand of YHVH in heaven (Psalm 110:1) which throughout Hebrews (1:3, 8:1, 10:12, 12:2) as well as in Mark 16:19; Colossians 3:1 and 1 Peter 3:22 is a position reserved for Christ Jesus.
The biblical records likened Melchizedek, in Paul’s view, to “THE Son of God” (not simply “A Son of God”). This title was afforded Him because Paul said there was no human account showing Melchizedek’s father or mother, or of Him having descent from a human, nor was there any death record of Him like humans normally have. Melchizedek was not like a normal human being born on this earth when Abraham met Him. Rather, He was a heavenly “Son of God.” In summation, Melchizedek is simply a name of Christ before His incarnation and again after His resurrection. It is the name Christ holds in His role of being a priest for the entire human race. But Christ was at first (and still is) the chief of the heavenly group of divine beings who make up the Family of God. He sat on the right hand side of YHVH because He was God’s firstborn Son (Colossians 1:15) of all the “Sons of God” in heaven.
This heavenly group of divine beings is shown in Psalm 89:5–6. It describes a single divine congregation and assembly made up of many members. This Psalm again mentions a number of “Sons of God” and they were well known by the ancient writers of Israel.
“The heavens shall praise your wonders, O Lord [YHVH]: your faithfulness also in the congregation of the saints [that is, in the heavenly assembly or group of the ‘holy ones’ (plural)]. For who in the heaven can be compared unto the Lord [YHVH]? who among the Sons of God [the Hebrew is: ‘among the Sons (plural) of God’ (singular)] can be likened unto the Lord [YHVH]?”
Psalm 89:5–6
Yes, who “among the Sons of God” in heaven can be compared to YHVH who is the Father of this divine Family? The Father (who is YHVH) is in top position. Not only that, the next verse of Psalm 89 gives significant information which shows that those “Sons of God” and the others making up the “heavenly assembly” (the Divine Group) fear the power and the glory of the Father. Notice the next verse.
“God is greatly to be feared in the Assembly of the Saints [the Holy Ones making up the divine Assembly or Congregation in heaven], and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him [who surround His throne and make up His heavenly court].”
Psalm 89:7
Why are these “Sons of God” and the others in the divine assembly surrounding God’s throne fearful of Him (YHVH)? Simply because some of that heavenly group have displeased YHVH with their actions and He has had to judge them with chastisements because of their wayward ways. Wayward ways? That’s right! We have been told in Genesis 6:2, 4 that some of the very “Sons of God” displeased YHVH by marrying the Daughters of Men before the Flood. Some angels also joined in that rebellion to the Father by expressing similar lusts and being sensual. As a result of their waywardness, YHVH had to sit in judgment on some of the very spirit beings who comprise His heavenly assembly. This included some of His own “Sons” and some of the angels who left their first estate and habitation in heaven to lust after human females. Now this point may be difficult for some of us to accept because we have normally been taught that those who make up the divine Assembly of God in heaven could hardly do wrong. Oh? Look at Psalm 82:1.
“God stands in the congregation of the mighty [the Hebrew is: “God stands in the assembly of El” — God here is in the singular and He stands “in the Assembly of God”]; HE JUDGES AMONG THE GODS [the Hebrew here is Elohim, or “Gods” in the plural].”
This is not an earthly scene. It is heavenly. And believe it or not, even “the Gods” need to be judged on occasion, and YHVH will perform His judgments upon any of those in the heavenly assembly if He disapproves of their actions. That is precisely what Psalm 82:1 states, “He judges among the Gods.” YHVH judged those “Sons of God” who married and had sexual intercourse with the Daughters of Men which they should not have done. YHVH also placed the angels who joined them in that revelry into a punishment (1 Peter 3:18–21; 2 Peter 2:4, 5; and Jude verses 6 and 7). Yes, God’s chastisement even comes to His own “Sons of God” in heaven if they fail to meet His divine standards of conduct. As I quoted to you earlier in this book, the apostle Paul quoted Proverbs 3:11–12 to show how God deals with His children (no matter who His children are):
“My Son, despise not you the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when you are rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loves, he chastens, and scourges EVERY SON whom he receives.”
Hebrews 12:5–6
The chastening is to correct them, not to destroy them or to alienate them from the Family forever. There is a reconciliation coming between God and His human children, as well as between God and His heavenly “Sons” who were not always true to Him in their manner of living.
So, God does correct some of His heavenly children. The fact that disobedient things can be done by those in heaven who are lesser in rank than the Father and the Firstborn Son should not surprise those who understand the Bible. Indeed, it was known by the ancients that the heavens were not pure and clean in God’s eyes.
“Behold, he [God] puts no trust in his saints [holy ones]; yea, THE HEAVENS ARE NOT CLEAN IN HIS SIGHT.”
Job 15:15
The term “holy ones” includes some of the “Sons of God.” Some “Sons of God” have not been true to their calling. In fact, Christ said that in heaven the Father was “the only true God” (John 17:3), but Christ by virtue of His rank is a true God too (1 John 5:20). Others in heaven denominated “Gods” have not been true in their lives. And this includes angels. It was known that even “the stars are not pure in his [God’s] sight” (Job 25:5). The “stars” in heaven are controlled by the “holy ones” whom God has set over them and they have not been always “pure” and “true.” No angel in heaven is perfect in every deed.
“Behold, he [God] put no trust in his servants; and his angels he charged with folly.”
Job 4:18
The heavens actually need PURIFICATION because God’s truth has not always prevailed in heaven among the residents. The consequence has even led to violence and war. Christ taught,
“From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven SUFFERS VIOLENCE, and THE VIOLENT take it by force [by forceful acts].”
Matthew 11:12
The Book of Revelation tells us of such war in heaven. “There was war in heaven” (Revelation 12:7). These wars are mentioned in the Old Testament as well.
“And it [the Little Horn] waxed great, EVEN TO THE HOST OF HEAVEN [the angelic army of heaven]; and it cast down some of the host [the army of spiritual beings] and of the stars [angels] to the ground, and stamped on them.”
Daniel 8:10
The angel Gabriel even had fights with the angels of Persia and Javan (Daniel 10:10–13, 20).
These wars in heaven are with violence and force! Just because Christ said that in the resurrection we will be like the angels (Matthew 22:30) does not mean that angels are always holy and pure in what they do. Indeed, when Christ returns to put down rebellion on this earth, He will also CLEANSE and PURIFY the heavens.
“He shall have put down [subdue totally] all rule and all authority and power. For he [Christ] must reign, till he has put all enemies under his feet.”
1 Corinthians 15:24–25
But the final outcome of Christ subduing His enemies will be a thorough reconciliation of all hostile forces in the heavens and on earth to God the Father and to the Firstborn Son.
“Having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, WHETHER THEY BE THINGS IN EARTH, OR THINGS IN HEAVEN”
Colossians 1:20
Yes, “all things” will be brought to a harmonious relationship with the Father and Christ. This will happen when God will become “all in all” (1 Corinthians 15:28, Greek, “God may be all things [plural] and in all things [plural]”). The destiny of God is to bring all things into Him.
In the future the heavens will be purified of all the violence, hostilities and wars. Angels can have sexual lusts, and envies, and corruption in their behavior just like we humans can on earth today. The angels need to mend their ways; and they will through the power of God working in them. And this will include the other “Sons of God” that have had experience with wrongdoing in the time of Noah (Genesis 6:1–4), and in the time of the judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah. Paul said it was not animal sacrifices of this earth that purify humans or heavenly beings from their wrongdoing. It was the sacrifice of Christ that does the purifying. “But the heavenly things themselves [are purified] with better sacrifices than these [the animal sacrifices]” (Hebrews 9:23). A full purification and reconciliation between God the Father and all hostile powers in the universe will finally become effective.
“That in the dispensation of the fullness of times he [God] might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are IN HEAVEN and which are ON EARTH; even in him [Christ].”
Ephesians 1:10
Until then, God the Father will bring “the Gods in heaven” to judgment and chastisement when they err. Recall Psalm 82:1. It shows that “God stands in the congregation of El [God]; he judges among the Gods.” Yes, the “Gods” have erred and they are judged (and will be judged) by YHVH.
The activities of this heavenly group of divine personalities are given an extensive description in Psalm 45, but under a happy occasion, not one of judgment. Paul in the Book of Hebrews (1:8–9) quoted Psalm 45 to show that the principal “God” in this Psalm in the time of David was Christ Jesus before He came to earth as a baby in Bethlehem. Since the subject of Psalm 45 is Christ Jesus in heaven before His birth, we should read all of Psalm 45 to see some aspects of Christ’s life before He appeared on earth. The “Ophir” and “Tyre” in Psalm 45 are heavenly sites, not earthly. 1
We find in Psalm 45 a description of the Household of God when Christ was reckoned as the “Son” and also as “God” whom God the Father anointed above “his fellows” [equal companions]. As you read, you may be surprised to see that Christ Jesus is shown as a King at one of His normal state nuptial banquets. The Psalm shows Christ being engaged to a new “king’s daughter” who is encouraged to forget her own father’s dynasty and to join Him in matrimonial union as His new bride (verses 10, 13, 16). Also at this nuptial scene is Christ’s Queen standing in honor next to Him. Also at the festivities are the daughters of other kings who already belong to Him in His household (verse 9). With Christ as the bridegroom, princes are promised there will be children from this union (verse 16). The bride-to-be also gives her own dowry to her new matrimonial partner, and this includes her own virgins (verse 14).
Since Psalm 45 shows a literal nuptial scene normally found with Middle Eastern kings in David’s time, Christ’s later teaching about Himself coming in His kingdom to wed ten virgins may be more apropos than some may have imagined (Matthew 25:1–13). No, I am not advocating polygamy in any way! Since 1961 I have visited the Middle East many times and observed Islamic society in action. I have never seen their polygamist marriages producing ideal relationships. Western governments who ban such marriages for humans today are quite within their rights in passing such laws. But I am pointing out that the Bible (and consequently God Himself) does not ban such unions. Indeed, Christ is returning to marry several women at one time. And let us not hastily call this allegory.
Recall that in the resurrection Christ said there will be no more “marriage” between the Sons and Daughters of God as we know it today (Mark 12:25). This is because the marriage bond in our present social system is associated intimately with “death” and also with the curse of servitude imposed on all women (Genesis 3:15–16). In the resurrection there will be no more “death” and the curse of servitude on women will be lifted and even annulled. Our system of marriage (and all such marriages) will then be legally void.
But males and females are biologically made by God to have sexual relations within the bounds of a legal and social framework that God sanctions. The description of such a legal union in the resurrection cannot be “marriage” with our human parameters of social inequality as Christ reminds us. But the word “wedlock” is different. It means to be “wedded to someone” through a pledge, but without death or the “ownership of women” being the factors of the union. The word “nuptials” could legitimately apply because the word signifies a veil (it means having an insignia) that denotes a pledge to be legally united in a holy union for a male and a female. The Bible does not demand that all become “pledged.”
Though our present marriage status ends with the death of one of the spouses, a person in the resurrection could pledge to remain with that same spouse if they both wished it. This would be a “repledge,” not like a new “marriage” which has death and ownership of the woman as a part of its legal parameters. This future union of the male and female is what Peter expressed as being ideal (1 Peter 3:7). Or, if one so desires, one could then elect to remain single and unpledged (e.g., 1 Corinthians 7:8–9 for the principle). On the other hand, it would be perfectly permissible for one to be pledged to another in the resurrection because all marriages on earth will have terminated at death. These explanations are thoroughly legal from the biblical point of view.
It is not right simply to allegorize away Psalm 45 and Matthew 25:1–13 as most Catholic and Protestant theologians are prone to do. If Psalm 45 were allegory alone, then Paul’s teaching about Christ being the Son of God in the Book of Hebrews must also be looked on as allegorical and this means no literalness can be placed on what Paul taught about the divine status of Christ. It is our modern theologians who completely allegorize these sections of Scripture written by Paul and the other apostles, and a great deal of proper and very informative teaching in the Holy Scriptures is abandoned as a result. Thus, Christians miss out on understanding some important doctrines of the Bible. Paul was not allegorizing.
Paul knew that the Godhead is actually a divine Family of persons made up of males and females who will always act like males and females. Paul taught that if one wanted to understand the Godhead, one should go to the teachings of nature that we find in the created things of the earth (see Romans 1:19–20). Recall that in nature all the higher animals have sexual characteristics and differences — they are males and females. In all higher forms of vegetation, one observes the universal standard of male and female flora. Even in the inanimate sub-atomic particles, there are positive and negative forces that can be analogously compared to the male and female sexes. And, of course, there are male and female humans who are both in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26). Clearly, the Godhead is made up of males and females!
Only the male side of this divine Family is emphasized in Scripture because they are the ones given authority by the Father to teach this knowledge of God, though one can see a glimpse of the feminine side in the discourse on Wisdom (a feminine personification) mentioned in Proverbs 8:22–36.
One of the Laws of God that mankind (especially Christian believers) say they accept with all their might (as a guard to the security of marriage and family unit) is one of the Ten Commandments that states in the clearest of terms, “You shall not commit adultery” (Exodus 20:14). While modern Christians uphold this law with the greatest esteem, they vilify and hold in the highest disdain God’s interpretation of it (they repudiate the interpretation of God at the very time it was given to Israel). The very person who wrote that command was Moses, who at the time had two wives. One was Zipporah (Exodus 2:21–22; 4:24–26) and the other a wife was of Ethiopian origin (Numbers 12:1).
When Aaron and Miriam (the brother and sister of Moses) objected to Moses being married to the Ethiopian woman, God made Miriam’s hand leprous to show the wrath of God at their disapproval, when in fact God had approved Moses’ second marriage, which included his right to have sexual relations with her (Numbers 12:1–12). So, Moses had two wives, slept with both of them at various times in succession and never once did he break the Ten Commandments by committing adultery in the eyes of God. I bring these things out to show that God views sex differently than we humans often do. It is not that I approve of polygamy, but we need to be aware that it is a legislated law of the Bible and God uses it.
Remember that God Himself was married to two sisters at one time. Their names were Aholah and Aholabah (Ezekiel 16:1–63; 23:1–49). He was also married to the “Barren Woman” of Isaiah 54:5 at the same time He was married to the two sisters. This was perfectly proper for God to do under the laws that He gave to Moses for Israel to keep (Deuteronomy 21:15–17). And remember Levirate marriage: if a brother died the next brother in age was to take his widow and have sexual relations with her in order to give his brother heirs (Deuteronomy 25:5–10). A curse was placed on the brother if he failed to perform this duty of marrying his brother’s widow (even if he already had a wife).
Before Moses’ law was put in operation, we find that Abraham had one wife named Sarah and two concubines with whom he had sexual relations. One concubine was Hagar and the other was Keturah (whom he later married after Sarah’s death). He had one child by Sarah, one by Hagar and six by Keturah (Genesis 16:1–16,25:17). He slept with all three successively and never once committed adultery. And so it was with Jacob. He had two wives and two concubines, had sexual relations with them all in a successive manner and never once committed adultery.
In the time of the Kingdom of Israel, King David had several wives and concubines that were approved of by God and the community (2 Samuel 5:13). David did not commit adultery until he went into Bathsheba. Solomon had seven hundred wives (princesses given to him by the various kings of the earth) and three hundred concubines (1 Kings 11:3). And though those 1000 women turned him away from God, God never accused him of committing adultery by having sexual relations with as many of them as he wished. In fact, God’s appraisal of Solomon (in spite of his giving in to the heathen wishes of his wives) is shown in the Book of Nehemiah, “But of many nations there was no king like him [Solomon], who was loved of his God” (Nehemiah 13:26). This appraisal was made even though his outlandish women caused him to sin by allowing idolatry to come into the land. The Scripture shows that God loved Solomon in many ways and Solomon must have known it.
Indeed, one of the most righteous priests ever to live in Israel was Jehoiada. He lived to be 130 years of age (2 Chronicles 24:15).And what did Jehoiada do when Joash came to the throne in Jerusalem? The Holy Scriptures state, “And Jehoiada took for him [Joash] two wives; and he begat sons and daughters” (2 Chronicles 24:3). So righteous was Joash that he “did that which was right in the sight of the Lord all his days wherein Jehoiada the priest instructed him” (2 Kings 12:2). This means in the clearest of words that God approved of Jehoiada the priest providing Joash with his two wives. Joash did not commit adultery by having sexual relations with these two women.
Esther in the Bible heeded the plea of her uncle Mordecai to become one of the chief wives (if not the chief wife) of the Persian king (Esther 2:1–23) and as a result she helped save the entire Jewish nation from destruction. There was not the slightest condemnation by the biblical prophets or by God Himself that it was wrong for this sexual (and legal) arrangement to be made with the Persian king.
That is not all. Paul quoted Psalm 45:6–7 (in Hebrews 1:8–9) as a direct reference to what Christ Jesus had done long before He came to this earth as a baby boy in Bethlehem. The events of Psalm 45 explain what happened to Christ in heaven before the Psalmist ever composed Psalm 45. And what do we find Christ Jesus engaged in at this distant time in the past when He was then reckoned as a “God” among others who were His “fellow Gods” (Psalm 45:7; Hebrews 1:9)? The whole Psalm depicts a wedding of Christ Jesus (in His previous spirit life, long before His birth in Bethlehem) who had His queen stand next to Him as He consummated an additional nuptial relationship with a female joining His harem in heaven, along with other “king’s daughters” already there. Read the Psalm for yourself. You may be shocked at what you read.
It states in the plainest of language that the “God” of the Psalm (whom the apostle Paul said was Christ Jesus before He was born to this earth) was having a grand nuptial ceremony with majestic fanfare and celebration that all in the universe rejoiced in. And, believe it or not, Christ’s queen stood by His side approving the whole thing. This is not allegory. It is precisely how the ancient kings in the time of David conducted their political and social affairs with other nations and with the princesses in the world.
Indeed, when Jesus Christ comes back and establishes His Laws on earth to govern mankind, one of the first things He will do is to restore the Law of Polygamy in which a man can have more than one wife at a time. Christ had better do so because one of the first things Christ intends to do is to marry five virgins wise enough to have their lamps full of oil at the time He returns. 2 See Matthew 25:1–13. Again, I am recording Scripture, not advocating polygamy. Believe me, I hold no ulterior motives for stating these facts.
This is NOT allegory alone (though national unions are intended by the meaning of His illustration). After all, Christ only gave allegory and parables when He taught the masses (Matthew 13:13–16, 34–35). In this section of Matthew 25 about the “Ten Virgins,” Christ was speaking to His disciples. True, this was an illustration of Christ “marrying” the nations, but how was such “marrying” done in early biblical times? This is explained by Christ Himself in Matthew 22:1–14). He said the Kingdom of God was like a King (verse 2) [this would be analogous to God the Father] who made a single wedding banquet (see Matthew 22:8 where the Greek is singular) but he wanted the “one son” to marry several women at the same time. This is the case because in verses 2–4, and 9, the word in the King James rendered “marriage” or “wedding” is actually PLURAL and there were several women being married to the “one son” at the single wedding banquet.
Thus, in Luke 12:36 when Christ returns at His Second Advent, Christ is said to first enter into several marriages [that’s right, marriages, for the word in Greek is again plural]. And indeed, that is precisely what Christ said also in Matthew 25 about the ten (or five) virgins that He intends to marry at one banquet because the word in verse 10 is plural. The Greek for Matthew 25:10 shows Christ will have several marriages at one time (just like the King of Matthew 22 would do for his “one son”). Again, let us be plain. The word in the original is in the plural. These words in the singular and plural should always be distinguished and not frivolously translated as being identically singular in all applications. It was quite common in early times for several women to be married to one king or prince.
What the parables no doubt intended to show (within the framework of ancient society) was that the nations of the world would secure peace treaties with the new world ruler (Christ) by sending their daughters to Him in Jerusalem and that marriage alliances would then be made between those royal sovereigns. This is certainly the way it was done in the time of David and Solomon.
These parables may seem strange to us in many ways, 3 but I am simply an expositor of the Holy Scriptures and it is easy to see what the Word of God actually states. I simply leave the matter with you. I bring these things to the fore to show that there will be sexual activities among the Family of God in the future and that they will all be done within an environment of holiness and righteousness under God’s divine guidance and approbation. They certainly have already occurred among those in heaven. Other than this, it is not safe to go.
A second point needs to be made about Christ’s teaching of the “Ten Virgins” being prepared to marry Him when He returns at His Second Advent. If the teaching of polygamy (approved of throughout the early Holy Scriptures) was somehow wrong in New Testament times, Christ would have avoided giving such a cardinal teaching about His Second Advent with an example of things He disapproved. This illustration was of prime importance to Christ.
Let me give an example of something that Christ would certainly disapprove and you would not find Him using it approvingly in an illustration He might relate. Take for example an oriental custom of smoking of opium at a marriage feast. The use of such drugs is condemned in the Holy Scriptures — see Revelation 18:23 where “sorceries” means “poisonous drugs.” Do you think for a moment that Jesus would say, “Go fill up your opium pipes with enough opium to last you until the marriage feast that you will have with me when I return”? Absolutely NOT! That is because the basic subjects of the illustration that Christ wished to use would in themselves be wrong. But with the matter of polygamy, that was different. Christ used His illustration in Matthew 25 simply because polygamy was (and is) reckoned by Him not only to be right, but it is a social custom that God not only approves but He practices it Himself. Christ has advocated and used it in the past and He will do so again in the future.
Again, I am not approving of polygamy for us today, but these scriptural references cannot easily be dispensed with in the flippant and frivolous manner that most theologians jettison them today. We need to try to understand them, not to ridicule these customs. There is even a prophecy of a period in the future when several women will want one man, and it does not say God will disapprove.
“And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, ‘We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by your name [that is, in marriage], to take away our reproach.’”
Isaiah 4:1
Indeed, though polygamy is a Law of God, in my present view it has a very low priority as one that should be brought back into existence. But it does put sexual activity in perspective. My main intention in this research study is to show biblical teachings (even Laws of God) that reveal viewpoints of God regarding sexual matters between humans that are often not those shared by the majority of mankind. I hope this biblical material has been helpful toward that end.
In biblical contexts, it is always the male side of the Godhead that is shown to govern at the single “Headquarters” (Elohim) of the universe. God the Father will never give up His position as Head and ultimate ruler of the Family. No one will ever take His place. This is the same regarding the Firstborn position of Christ Jesus. No one will ever take that rank away from Him, and He will always be our superior in matters of government. Yet, all of us will be equal with the Father and Christ in the sense that we will all be members of the same divine Family with an equality of bodily composition and spiritual righteousness. When all others in the universe witness us in the future, they will recognize an equality in all the members of the Family of God.
What is most important to recognize is the feminine side of the Godhead. Indeed, there is no Family on earth (whether animal, vegetable, mineral or human) that does not have the male AND FEMALE aspects somewhere and somehow structured within their various species. To say that any Family of which we are familiar is made up of “sexless” creatures is to manufacture a monstrous type of a Family totally unlike what we are like as Sons and Daughters of God.
The divine “Headquarters” is one power center made up of a single Group of divine persons. It is like the motto of the United States. It is e pluribus unum: “out of many there is one.” This phrase which characterizes the separate states of the single United States can equally describe the Godhead. Though there are human similarities to the divine Headquarters, when we look at the President of the United States being in charge of the “Headquarters” of the United States at Washington, D.C., there is one major difference with this analogy. With the Godhead, the Father is an omnipotent Patriarch and He rules with absolute authority without permission from a legislative or a judicial group of executives as does the President of the United States. In a word, YHVH rules like a King and He judges even “among the Gods” (Psalm 82:1). So, the “Sons of God” are judged by a father.
And though it is not popular to use the term nowadays, it can be said with certainty that the Father rules as a dictator. Better yet, He rules and directs as a Father and we humans have the right to call Him “Abba Father” (Romans 8:15) which is nearly equivalent to our terms of endearment like “Papa or “Dad.” One could even call Him “Daddy” and it would be appropriate. Paul said we are so close in our family relationship to the Father through Christ that we can actually use these terms of endearment without the slightest disrespect being shown to the omnipotent Head of the Family. So, the Father is a great and powerful Patriarch who rules as a King over a divine Family of sons and daughters, who look and act like He does, and who presently have a measure of His power and glory. Soon, however, through our resurrections from the dead, we will assume full-status membership within the divine Family itself. We will become a part of the Supreme Headquarters of the universe. But the Father will remain the Father and in top authority.
Indeed, in regard to the United States, the President often speaks for the whole of the United States collectively and there is no other President besides him when he does this. And so it is with YHVH the Elohim of Israel in the language of the Bible. He can speak in the first person and represent the whole of the Family as He does on several occasions in Isaiah (Isaiah 45:4–5). The Lord (YHVH) as the Commander in Chief represents this collective group called the Family of God which are really a Family of Divine Beings with the Father and the Firstborn Son at the head, and of which you, I and all people having the Holy Spirit are a part. All members of that Family can be called “God” because that is the surname (Elohim) of the Family itself.
This is why the apostle Paul in the Book of Hebrews quoted from Psalm 45:6–7 said,
“But unto the Son he says, ‘Your throne, O God, is for ever and ever [Greek: age of the age]… Therefore God, even your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows [the other Sons of God].’”
Hebrews 1:8–9
Divine members of that Family of God is what we are destined to become when we are resurrected from the dead. We have been planned by the Father in His blueprint (which describes His purpose) to be His Sons and Daughters in His own personal, special and unique Family. The Father personally planned this glorious reward and salvation to be given to us by grace before the foundation of the world (2 Timothy 1:9).
This is why it is important to find out “What” God is first, rather than “Who” He is. It is the same in the New Testament. The Greek word for Elohim is Theos. This word can easily (and correctly) be institutionalized by using the English word “Deity” or “Divinity” or the “Divine” as its translation. Note the different slant when this is done with John 1:1. It is instructive and gives a meaning we can understand.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with Deity [Divinity], and the Word was Deity [Divinity]. The same was in the beginning with Deity [Divinity].”
Jesus as Deity (or Divine) can even bear the name of the Father and use the name YHVH in the first person because He is the Father’s firstborn Son and His divine agent to accomplish the Father’s will on earth (e.g. Zechariah 14:3–4 which the New Testament applies to Jesus). Jesus is simply the firstborn Son who is a part of the divine Family of which we are also a part. This is the Family that the Father of Jesus Christ (called YHVH) heads, and controls, and we are designated members of that same Family with Jesus Christ.
1 See my work “The Geography of Heaven” at http://www.askelm.com/doctrine/d990501.htm. ELM.
2 And He may have another five to marry if the other five virgins are smart enough to get enough oil to last them to the wedding feast so that they too can enter into a polygamist marriage with Christ. ELM.
3 These parables are indeed strange, and I do not profess to understand why these things will be done in this fashion. I am simply showing what Scripture says. ELM.
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