The Bible Book

91

See also: The Golden Calf 84–85 ■ The Nature of God 144–47 ■ The Divinity of Jesus 190–93 ■ The Trinity 298–99

EXODUS TO DEUTERONOMY

out the existence of other gods; it

simply points to the uniqueness of

Israel’s God. The Bible is not yet

proclaiming overt monotheism,

although Moses’s assertion may

amount to much the same thing.

The Israelites were only capable

of thinking and expressing

themselves in the terms available

in their own time, and it is possible

that this was the only way they

could describe monotheism.

The journey to monotheism

Even though the Israelites were

moving toward monotheism, the

Bible tells us that they definitely

did not think of God as existing

completely alone in heaven. He had

divine messengers, angels, to do

His bidding, and the biblical

writers show Him surrounded by

the “host of heaven,” a whole

heavenly court. One of the prophet

Micah’s visions in Kings even

reveals Him taking counsel from

attendant spirits. This almost

polytheistic idea of God as the

supreme deity over a whole host

of other divine beings could, over

Deuteronomy: a new voice

Something new enters the Bible

in Deuteronomy. The Israelites

are on the brink of the Jordan,

about to cross into Canaan, the

Promised Land. Here, on the

plains of Moab, Moses, now

close to death, recalls God’s

tender care for the Israelites,

urges them to live faithfully,

and seeks to prepare them for

their new life.

Leviticus and Numbers have

an abundance of Mosaic law-

giving, but the emphasis is on

matters such as purity and

liturgy. In Deuteronomy, more

than in the earlier books, the

law is put in the context of the

passionate relationship between

God and His people. Because He

loves them, God teaches the

people His laws and by keeping

those laws, the people are able

to gratefully respond to that

love. Relationships between the

people themselves are also

important. Deuteronomy’s law

code features statutes that

favor the disadvantaged and

encourage generosity.

time, have developed into the

entirely monotheistic belief that

he was, in fact, the one and only

god—the belief which exists today

across the Abrahamic religions.

Monotheism in the Bible

Just as the Israelites’ belief in

monotheism developed over time,

so did the Bible’s stance on the

matter. In Deuteronomy, Moses

says that “the Lord is God in

heaven above and on the earth

below. There is no other.” At first

glance, this seems like a definite

statement of monotheism, but it

could also be read to mean merely

that there is no other god like Him.

It would take generations of

reflection before a prophet—the

so-called Second Isaiah, or Deutero-

Isaiah, living during the Babylonian

Exile in the 6th century bce—was

able to formulate the Bible’s first

explicitly monotheistic statements.

This is recorded in Isaiah 44:6: “This

is what the Lord says—Israel’s King

and Redeemer, the Lord Almighty:

I am the first and I am the last; apart

from me there is no God.” ■

In Deuteronomy,

Moses tells the

Israelites there

is no other God

but theirs.

This could mean

there are no gods on

the same level.

But as God is separate

and above all others,

worshipping other gods is

pointless idolatry.

This is enshrined

in God’s law as the Ten

Commandments, which

forbid making idols or

placing other gods ahead

of the Lord.

Deutero-Isaiah goes

further, stating explicitly

that no Gods exist beside

the Israelite God.

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