Among the world, there are many elohim/gods that many cultures have followed throughout history. So are all these other elohim living spiritual beings as well, do they even exist or does only the Elohim (God) of Israel exist? If so, where do they fit into the understanding of the Hebrew Israelites? Well first off, let’s take a look at a famous Hebrew passage that may give us some insight:
And God spoke all these words, saying:
2 "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
3 "You shall have no other gods before Me.
-Exodus 20:1–3
This is the first commandment of the 10 commandments. So why would the Elohim of Israel tell the Israelites not to worship other elohim if they did not exist? Let’s take a look at another interesting passage:
God stands in the congregation of the mighty;
He judges among the gods.
2 How long will you judge unjustly,
And show partiality to the wicked? Selah
3 Defend the poor and fatherless;
Do justice to the afflicted and needy.
4 Deliver the poor and needy;
Free them from the hand of the wicked.
5 They do not know, nor do they understand;
They walk about in darkness;
All the foundations of the earth are unstable.
6 I said, "You are gods,
And all of you are children of the Most High.
7 But you shall die like men,
And fall like one of the princes."
8 Arise, O God, judge the earth;
For You shall inherit all nations.
-Psalm 82:1–8
So here YAH is standing among “the Congregation of the mighty” as He judges/chastises and pleads with them on how to deal with humans. That these elohim (gods) should uphold righteousness, this tells us that YAH (Elohim of Israel) allowed them to rule over human regions but they did not uphold His Laws and are condemned. These mighty angels/elohim are of the fallen! YAH Himself said to them, they are elohim but they will fall like any man. He also considers them children of the Most High or sons of YAH, consistent of angels. But what regions do these mighty angels have dominion over?
When the Most High divided their inheritance to the nations,
When He separated the sons of Adam,
He set the boundaries of the peoples
According to the number of the sons of God.
9 For the Lord's portion is His people;
Jacob is the place of His inheritance.
-Deuteronomy 32:8, 9
Here we see that the Most High divided up “their” inheritance. “Their” being the sons of Elohim/the angels and their dominion of the nations when He separated the sons of Adam (this is also reiterated in Ecclesiasticus 17:17). But when did YAH separate the peoples of the world? This separation occurred when YAH saw that the people had united to create a tower that would allow them to escape through the dome/firmament if there was another flood:
But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. 6 And the Lord said, "Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them. 7 Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another's speech." 8 So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city. 9 Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.
-Genesis 11:5–9
Notice by the way that uniting the people against YAH is again the same scenario we see in Revelation 20 after the thousand year reign of KING Yeshua when satan is allowed loose again for a little while. The first thing satan does is unite the nations to fight YAH.
So this is clearly when the peoples of the world were separated and their speech was divided as well. According to Genesis 10, there were 70 nations initially. That would mean that there would be at least 70 angels ruling over the various nations but is there any scripture to back this up? Let’s take a look at a passage from Enoch as he was given a vision of the history of the world:
Note — this passage begins with the destruction of Jerusalem, the temple and the diaspora of the Jews.
92 I saw, too, that he forsook the house of their fathers, and their tower; giving them all into the power of lions to tear and devour them; into the power of every beast.
93 Then I began to cry out with all my might, imploring the Lord of the sheep, and showing him how the sheep were devoured by all the beasts of prey.
94 But he looked on in silence, rejoicing that they were devoured, swallowed up, and carried off; and leaving them in the power of every beast for food. He called also seventy shepherds, and resigned to them the care of the sheep, that they might overlook them;
95 Saying to them and to their associates, Every one of you henceforwards overlook the sheep, and whatsoever I command you, do; and I will deliver them to you numbered.
96 I will tell you which of them shall be slain; these destroy. And he delivered the sheep to them.
97 Then he called to another, and said, Understand, and watch everything which the shepherds shall do to these sheep; for many more of them shall perish than I have commanded.
-Enoch 88:92–97
So here in this passage, it begins with the destruction of Israel for their disobedience (Israel is the sheep) and Elohim content with their harsh discipline after their unfaithfulness for so long. Then He calls together 70 shepherds which He allows them to watch over the sheep among the beasts (this is the diaspora of Israel/Judah to the nations). He even gives the shepherds (fallen angels over the nations) the number of sheep for destruction but they abuse their privilege and destroy many more than they were supposed to. YAH knew that they would destroy more than He told them and therefore, told another celestial being to record what they do. That it would stand against them when they also are judged, remember that the angels themselves will be judged as well clearly since the fallen are headed to the lake of fire already. This also shows us that angels have free will just as humans do, otherwise why would they also be judged if they don’t have choice? This should have already been clear since there are “fallen” angels, hence they fell away from YAH. How can we as humans judge angels if they do not have the right to choose right from wrong?
Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unrighteous, and not before the saints? 2 Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? 3 Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life?
-1 Corinthians 6:1–3
So we see these 70 “shepherds,” we see the 70 nations from Genesis 10 coming about after Elohim separated the peoples in ancient Babel. This is where the other elohim come from regarding other nations. These are the fallen who rule among us in the incorruptible realm/spirit world. We know them by different names (Mithra, Tammuz, Zeus, Ishtar, Thoth, Horus, Krishna, Ra, Dagon, Marduk, Molech, Baal…etc), these are of the fallen angels along with the spirits of the nephilim (considered demons today) and Lucifer, the ruler of this world. This is why the divisions of land comes up within scripture, every spiritual ruler is associated with his allotted peoples and land.
And take heed, lest you lift your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun, the moon, and the stars, all the host of heaven, you feel driven to worship them and serve them, which the Lord your God has given to all the peoples under the whole heaven as a heritage. 20 But the Lord has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be His people, an inheritance, as you are this day.
-Deuteronomy 4:19–20
Then people would say: 'Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord God of their fathers, which He made with them when He brought them out of the land of Egypt; 26 for they went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods that they did not know and that He had not given to them.
-Deuteronomy 29:25–26
And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings,
-Acts 17:26
So it is clear that a people and land are associated together in this world and in the incorruptible realm. The fallen were supposed to care for Israel even in the diaspora (except for the ones given for destruction to them that Elohim had numbered) but they completely abused the people of Elohim while in captivity among their nations. This explains why YAH also has a people and even land allotted to Him.
And it was so, at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they did not fear the Lord; therefore the Lord sent lions among them, which killed some of them. 26 So they spoke to the king of Assyria, saying, "The nations whom you have removed and placed in the cities of Samaria do not know the rituals of the God of the land; therefore He has sent lions among them, and indeed, they are killing them because they do not know the rituals of the God of the land." 27 Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying, "Send there one of the priests whom you brought from there; let him go and dwell there, and let him teach them the rituals of the God of the land." 28 Then one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and dwelt in Bethel, and taught them how they should fear the Lord.
-2 Kings 17:25–28
If YAH has a specific land allotted to Him, it implies that the rest of the land on earth is allotted to others aside from Him. Here is a great example in the book of Daniel, a Jew taken into Babylon after the House of Judah was conquered.
Then he said to me, "Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard; and I have come because of your words. 13 But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; and behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia.
-Daniel 10:12, 13
So here we see a celestial being speaking to an Israelite (Daniel of the House of Judah), he reveals to Daniel that he had meant to meet with Daniel earlier but was prevented by the spirit prince of Persia and their kings for nearly a month. Eventually Michael, the spirit Prince of Israel showed up to help him. Again we see powerful celestial beings or angels being associated with a specific people/region.
Then he said, "Do you know why I have come to you? And now I must return to fight with the prince of Persia; and when I have gone forth, indeed the prince of Greece will come.
-Daniel 10:20
This is an exceptional statement being told to Daniel here in verse 20, now he mentions another spirit prince over Greece. Even more than that though is that Daniel wrote this between 536–530 BC. That was just before Babylon was conquered by the Persians and the Greek empire rose up after the Persian empire fell. This clearly shows us that what happens in the incorruptible realm directly influences this world!
So I think it is clear that the fallen are the lower elohim (gods) that rule the nations even still today. That each nation is allotted to a specific angel where this prince rules over his spirits within his kingdom as he sees fit via the incorruptible realm. These fallen are now known as the other elohim of the world aside from the one true Elohim of Israel, Yahuah. This explains why the world is so corrupt today but why YAH has allowed this setup, I have not found that answer in scripture yet. Keep in mind however that when YAH brought His people out of Egypt, a mixed multitude came with the Hebrews attaching themselves to Israel and their Elohim. Also now under the new Covenant, the Gentiles and other nations are grafted on to Israel so we see that YAH has always allowed those who respect His Laws and His Son Yeshua as KING into His Eternal Kingdom (please see my article Law Vs Love for further understanding of this statement).
Note: I mentioned that I’m not sure the reason that the fallen are allowed their own people and land. Remember that just as Lucifer was not initially wicked but eventually sinned, it could be the same for the angels that fell. Potentially, it could be to humble them since they followed behind Lucifer who felt He was/is equal to YAH. Then perhaps YAH gave them their own portion to rule to show them their faults and finally to be judged by the humans they ruled over. This is what Lucifer always wanted, to be like the Most High. Therefore, perhaps YAH allowed the fallen to be as He is to a portion of earth to humble them to the realization that they are not equal to YAH and never will be. However this is just my own current speculation.