Romans 13: The powers in the Jewish worldview

Psalm 82
God presides in the great assembly; he gives judgment among the “gods”:
“How long will you defend the unjust and show partiality to the wicked?    Selah
Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed.
Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.
“They know nothing, they understand nothing. They walk about in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken.
“I said, ‘You are “gods”; you are all sons of the Most High.’
But you will die like mere men; you will fall like every other ruler.”
Rise up, O God, judge the earth, for all the nations are your inheritance.

The Old Testament presents a view of God that includes other celestial beings, some good, some bad. We can think back to the beginning chapters of Job, with Satan presenting himself at the gathering of the “sons of God.” Certain passages, as we saw in yesterday’s post, associate those beings with nations of this earth. Each nation has its “angel,” with Israel belonging to God himself.

For the biblical writers, there was no concept of separation of church and state. In fact, there was no separation of earthly and heavenly. The earthly state was an expression of heavenly realities.

In New Testament writings, we still see “the powers” as beings outside of this earthly realm. We can see that in some of the passages I referred to yesterday:
Romans 8:38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,
Ephesians 3:10 so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.
Ephesians 6:12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
Colossians 1:16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.
Colossians 2:15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.
1 Peter 3:22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.

1 Corinthians 15 tells us that there will be a time when these powers will be destroyed:

Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all.” (1 Corinthians 15:24-28)

These powers are enemies of Christ, just as death is an enemy of Christ. Their claims to authority stand in rivalry to Jesus’ lordship. Their hold over men will one day be broken. But that day has not yet come.

5 thoughts on “Romans 13: The powers in the Jewish worldview

  1. laymond

    “Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.”

    Tim, I believe the Jewish way of thinking was, this would happen gradually, one step at a time, and soon.
    The modern Christian believes this will happen in the blink of an eye, and have no idea when. (in my opinion)
    So who is right? Are we gaining, or loosing ground?

  2. nick gill

    Tim,

    But if every nation had an angel, and not all the angels rebelled and became evil powers, would it stand to reason that not all earthly governments are naturally enemies of Christ?

    Keep challenging us, giving us unfamiliar perspectives on the story of God!

  3. Tim Archer Post author

    Something I still don’t understand is how they viewed changes in rulers. Did the power behind that ruler change as well? When the Kings of Israel fell into idolatry, did that power come to have authority over Israel?

    It’s a very different way of looking at the world than I am used to, yet I am becoming convinced that was how they saw it.

    As we look at Romans 13, we also have to ask ourselves if Paul, a non-Palestine Jew, would have looked at things somewhat differently.

    Grace and peace,
    Tim Archer

  4. heavenbound

    Anytime we look at old testament books, the thought of prophetic messages must be kept in the forefront. Setting Israel apart from the nations, receiving blessings from the Father and not giving blessings to the nations set them apart. Was Egypt recieving blessings? Was Rome recieving blessings? Was ancient Babylon recieving blessings? They had riches, power and might. the fact that Israel was a theocracy definitely made them different before the establishment of a King to rule, Saul being the first. The people wanted to be like other nations and God allowed them to have a king. Now the point of Israel having both a religious group leading and a king made things more difficult for the people. I am sitting here talking to people on a computer, my wife and sister in law are on cell phones. I voted on a T.V. show from my computer, I just finished communicating on facebook. Now we sit here and are talking and trying to relate how people thought, acted and were moved by God well over 2000 years ago…………hmmmmmm.
    Would someone mind telling me how this relates to that?

  5. Pingback: Romans 13: Submitting to the powers | TimothyArcher.com/Kitchen

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