The Dew From Heaven
The philosophers have argued over the nature of God and Christians have also argued over the nature of God.
"Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts; I am the First and I am the Last; besides me there is no God."
Why doesn't the Lord of Hosts just say that he is the only god? That would be simple, direct, unequivical. Instead, he uses this figure of speech. People tend to interpret "besides" to mean "other than" rather than "next to" or "equal to". Lets look at how this figure of speech is used elsewhere in the bible.
"This is the rejoicing city that dwelt carelessly, that said in her heart, I am, and there is none beside me: how is she become a desolation, a place for beasts to lie down in! every one that passeth by her shall hiss, and wag his hand."
(Zephaniah 2:15)
This is very literal. The New Living Translation is less literal:
"This is the boisterous city, once so secure. “I am the greatest!” it boasted. “No other city can compare with me!” But now, look how it has become an utter ruin, a haven for wild animals. Everyone passing by will laugh in derision and shake a defiant fist."
Now let's take a look at how Isaiah uses the figure of speech:
"Therefore hear now this, thou that art given to pleasures, that dwellest carelessly, that sayest in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me; I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children: "(Isaiah 47:8)
Obviously, it just doesn't work if the person is literally alone in the world. They are boasting that they are the greatest!
Likewise Jehovah, the Most High God, the Lord of Hosts, the premortal Jesus, is boasting that no other god is his equal.
Psalms 82 has long been a source of confusion. Jesus uses it to justify himself before the Jews, who are ready to stone him. Some have suggested that "God" was a figure of speech for a judge, and that it is talking about some unknown group of human judges. But of course, judges are not gods. Jesus wasn't advocating diminishing the word God to refer to judges, nor was he suggesting that his use of the word God only referred to judges. He was quoting a scripture about the Divine Council or Heavenly Court, the Archons or gods that were appointed to judge and guide the nations. Like the premortal Jesus, these gods had yet to experience mortality in the days of King David. Like Jesus, they were appointed to be gods over the nations. Psalms 82 starts off with the topic of the song:
v. 1 "God has taken his place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods he holds judgment:" (English Standard Version)
One of the interesting finds among the Dead Sea Scrolls was an earlier version of Deuteronomy.
"When the Most High assigned lands to the nations, when he divided up the human race, he established the boundaries of the peoples according to the number in his heavenly court. “For the people of Israel belong to the LORD; Jacob is his special possession." (Deuteronomy 32:8,9, New Living Translation)
The modern notion of the nature of God is not compatible to the ancient ideology where a God was in charge of a nation. Jehovah was the God of the Israelites, and although it doesn't name them, the Israelites believed that other nations had their gods as well.
As the Most High God, Jehovah reserved Israel unto himself, but as the Most High God he was also over all the nations of the earth.