What is the divine council and who is allowed to be in it? What are Satan’s permissions and God’s allowances.
The divine council appears clearly and at least two passages of Scripture. Psalm 29:1 tells the “heavenly beings” to describe glory to the Lord. These beings are thought to be part of a divine council that meets with God on a regular basis.
Psalm 89:6 says that there is no comparison between God the “heavenly beings” who are in the skies. The skies in the time of David would be considered the heavens. So these are beings other than God who are in some way comparable to him.
The word for God, Elohim in Hebrew, is in the plural. It can refer to the God of Israel with what is called the royal plural, or plural in majesty. It is a way of saying that he is so great the Cingular just isn’t good enough.
There are other places, like Job 1:6 and Job 2:1 where the “Sons of God” (angels) and Satan go before the Lord to be evaluated by him and present themselves to him. All of these creatures that are celestial beings are subject to God.
The divine council is specifically mentioned in Psalm 82:1. God convenes the Council and sits above the other “gods.” There are also ideas in Scripture about territorial spirits and celestial beings throughout the Bible. “Sons of God” usually refers to angels.
Some even suggest that when God speaks about himself as, “Let us…” that he speaks to either the other members of the Trinity from the Father’s perspective or that he is speaking to his divine council. It is more likely that this is a Hebrew construction that I referred to earlier as the plural majesty. The word for God, Elohim, is plural, and therefore the subject “us” must be plural to match it grammatically.
The most important thing to understand about the divine council is that God convenes it, he calls for it, and that he sits above it. None of these beings are greater than God. They don’t even come close.
Even Satan, who is confined to the earth after his fall from heaven, is subject to, and limited by, God. He can only do what God allows him to do. Although he is the Prince of the Power of the Air (Ephesians 2:2), and the god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4), he still must do only what God allows.
When the divine council shows up, is more about God telling them what he is about to do. They do not get a say or are able to inflict anything other than praise to God for his divine plans. It’s almost like he has a little club of celestial beings he tells about his great plans. They have no governance over God’s decisions.
