Week 8  Lecture a: one god or many
 

The heavenly court

Ps 82, with its description of the divine council, reflects the situation found among other ancient Near Eastern peoples. Texts from Syria and Mesopotamian clearly indicate how those peoples believed the cosmos was governed.

Many peoples throughout the ancient Near East believed in and worshipped a collection of gods who jointly ruled over the cosmos and their human subjects. Texts from Ugarit (in modern Syria) believed that a divine council presided over the affairs of the cosmos. The head of this council was the patriarchal figure of El, the high God, and the creator. Under his direction, the divine council was the body that issued all decrees that affected the destiny of humans, the order of the cosmos, the distribution of power within the cosmos, human kingship, and the moral and legal order of society. It also decreed victory and defeat in war and generally controlled human affairs. The council was an expression of the complex distribution of power and influence seen in the cosmos. The notion of a council itself was a political model drawn from human experience. Ps 82 is the clearest description of a divine council in the Old Testament.
 

Isa 6:1-4 and 1 Kgs 22:9 provide descriptions of the heavenly court as perceived by two prophets. Note:

· Who besides YHWH is present.
· Who has authority in the court.
· Other aspects of these texts that reflect the divine council.

¹ In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple. ² Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. ³ And one called to another and said:"Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts;the whole earth is full of his glory." ⁴ The pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house filled with smoke.

1 Kings 22

¹⁹ Then Micaiah said, "Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, with all the host of heaven standing beside him to the right and to the left of him.

Notes:

· Changes are evident in the notion of the divine council in the Old Testament.
· In the ancient Near East the divine council was a place where the decentralisation of power in the cosmos was expressed. The gods debated matters and not even El got his way all the time. The shifts in power in the divine council were then reflected in human and other events.
· In Israel the council or heavenly court is a place where we see the centralisation of power (although even that is not without its complications, e.g. Job 1:6ff). YHWH is head of the council or court in the Old Testament. Other heavenly beings (seraphim, cherubim and other divine creatures) are present but only exercise responsibility at the behest of YHWH. In the council or court YHWH is seen in the roles of king with power to rule and control nature and history; as judge with prerogative to determine justice and righteousness; and as warrior with power to effect his decisions and protect those whom he choses.

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