Question: If God is one, why does he say “us” in Genesis 1:26 and 11:7? What is the Divine Council in the Bible?
Answer: Start with the biblical texts themselves.
“Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.’”
Genesis 1:26 (ESV)
The next verse immediately returns to the singular: “So God created man in his own image” (Gen. 1:27, ESV).
“Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil.”
Genesis 3:22 (ESV)
“Come, let us go down and there confuse their language.”
Genesis 11:7 (ESV)
Again, the following verse returns to the singular: “So the LORD dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth” (Gen. 11:8, ESV).
Who, then, is included in the “us”? Christians can rightly read the Old Testament in light of the fuller revelation of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. But if we first ask how Genesis itself, in its literary and ancient context, presents these plurals, a heavenly assembly is a natural background. The point is not to use these verses against the Trinity, but neither should later systematic theology simply be read back into every Old Testament plural. Heavenly beings may be present, summoned, or addressed, while the decisive creative and sovereign action remains YHWH’s own.
A Heavenly Assembly around YHWH
In 1 Kings 22, the prophet Micaiah describes a heavenly scene:
“I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing beside him on his right hand and on his left.”
1 Kings 22:19 (ESV)
YHWH asks who will entice Ahab, different members of the heavenly host respond, and one spirit volunteers for the task. The scene is not one of rival gods competing with YHWH. YHWH presides; the other heavenly beings stand before him and act under his authority.
Isaiah 6 gives another throne-room scene. Isaiah sees the Lord “sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up,” with seraphim standing above him (Isa. 6:1–2, ESV). Then he hears:
“Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?”
Isaiah 6:8 (ESV)
The prophet is drawn into the scene and answers the divine summons. Once again, YHWH is enthroned and surrounded by heavenly beings.
Psalm 82 and the “gods”
“God has taken his place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods he holds judgment.”
Psalm 82:1 (ESV)
The Hebrew uses elohim both for God and for the beings among whom he judges. Verse 6 continues:
“I said, ‘You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you.’”
Psalm 82:6 (ESV)
These beings are not portrayed as equal to YHWH. The psalm is a judgment scene: they are accountable to him.
Psalm 89 makes YHWH’s uniqueness even clearer. It speaks of the “assembly of the holy ones” and then asks:
“For who in the skies can be compared to the LORD? Who among the heavenly beings is like the LORD?”
Psalm 89:6 (ESV)
That is an important balance in the biblical picture: the heavenly beings are real, but none is comparable to YHWH.
Job also speaks of the “sons of God” presenting themselves before YHWH (Job 1:6; 2:1), and Job 38:7 describes the “sons of God” shouting for joy when God laid the foundations of the earth. These passages show that the biblical unseen realm contains more than one kind of heavenly being, even though Scripture does not give us a complete taxonomy of them.
Seventy, the Nations, and the Sons of God
Ancient West Semitic literature from Ugarit also contains traditions about El, Athirat, and a council of divine sons, including a tradition of seventy sons. That background becomes especially interesting when set alongside several biblical patterns: Genesis 10 is traditionally counted as seventy nations; Deuteronomy 32:8 in an ancient textual form refers to the “sons of God”; and Exodus 24 places seventy elders of Israel before God on Sinai.
These correspondences may reflect a shared ancient West Semitic background and symbolic patterns of nations, representation, and rule. But Scripture itself does not say that YHWH’s divine council had a fixed membership of exactly seventy. That number should therefore not be treated as a settled biblical count of the council.
Deuteronomy 32: The Nations and the “Sons of God”
Deuteronomy 32:8–9 is especially important. The Masoretic Text reads “according to the number of the sons of Israel,” but a Deuteronomy manuscript among the Dead Sea Scrolls preserves the reading “sons of God,” while the Septuagint tradition likewise reflects heavenly beings. Several modern English translations therefore follow or note this older textual tradition.
“When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he divided mankind, he fixed the borders of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God. But the LORD’s portion is his people, Jacob his allotted heritage.”
Deuteronomy 32:8–9 (ESV)
This creates a natural contrast: the nations are associated with the “sons of God,” while Jacob/Israel is YHWH’s own portion.
This interpretation is not a recent invention. Second Temple Jewish literature already preserves the same basic framework. Sirach 17:17 says:
“He appointed a ruler for every nation, but Israel is the Lord’s own portion.”
Sirach 17:17 (NRSVue)
Jubilees 15 goes further, describing spirits appointed over the nations while Israel is ruled by God himself. These texts do not determine the original wording of Deuteronomy, but they show that Jewish readers before the time of Christ were already interpreting the tradition in terms of the nations, heavenly rulers, and Israel as YHWH’s own portion.
When these heavenly rulers became corrupt, when they began receiving the worship of the nations, and how exactly Satan relates to these powers are not laid out in a complete biblical chronology. Psalm 82 shows that, by the time of the judgment scene, some heavenly rulers are corrupt and accountable for unjust rule. Beyond what the texts reveal, I prefer to leave the details open.
For the wider biblical storyline connecting Babel, the nations, Israel, Christ, and the nations again, see “Why Did God Choose Israel? — From Babel and the Nations to Christ.”
The Divine Council Is Not Unique to Israel
The idea of a divine council was not unique to Israel. Other ancient West Asian religions also pictured a high god presiding over other divine beings. Similar “heavenly court” imagery can even be found in other cultures.
The biblical claim, however, is not simply that YHWH occupies one more throne within a common pantheon. YHWH is the unique Creator and supreme ruler of the whole spiritual realm. The other heavenly beings are subordinate, accountable, and incomparable to him.
Conclusion
The aim of this article is not to construct a complete hierarchy of the unseen realm. It is to establish a more basic observation that the biblical evidence supports quite clearly: Scripture portrays YHWH enthroned as supreme ruler, surrounded by real heavenly beings whom he summons, commissions, and judges.
These beings may be called “sons of God,” “holy ones,” the “host of heaven,” and in some contexts even elohim. None of those terms makes them equal to YHWH. Psalm 89 asks the decisive question: “Who among the heavenly beings is like the LORD?” The answer is no one.
Deuteronomy 32 and Psalm 82 further connect this worldview to the nations and to the responsibility and judgment of heavenly rulers. Questions such as when these rulers became corrupt, the precise relationship between Satan and these powers, and whether the heavenly realm contains fixed ranks must be studied separately from the relevant texts. Where revelation stops, I prefer to leave the matter uncertain.
Research on the Divine Council is not new in biblical scholarship, but Michael S. Heiser (1963–2023) did more than most scholars to bring this material to a wider evangelical readership. His work on the biblical unseen realm, the Divine Council, angels, demons, and related themes has been especially influential in making these discussions accessible beyond the academy.
Further Reading
- Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible.
- Michael S. Heiser, Reversing Hermon: Enoch, the Watchers, and the Forgotten Mission of Jesus Christ.
- Gerald R. McDermott, God’s Rivals: Why Has God Allowed Different Religions?