No Need For Idols (Isaiah 44:6-23) Series

Today we pick back up in our Isaiah series today in Isaiah 44:6. It's kind of a big passage and a big message so I just want to dive right in. Let's start by reading just the first verse, Isaiah 44:6:

(6) Thus has said Yahweh, King of Israel,

and its Redeemer, Yahweh of Armies:

"I [am] the First/Beginning, [Isaiah 41:4; Rev. 1:8, where this language is used of Jesus]

while I [am] The Last,

while except for me, there are no elohim/gods, [Isaiah 43:11; 45:5, 14, 18, 21; 46:9; *Paul]

In most churches around the country, verse 6 teaches straightforward, and obvious, truths about God. Yahweh is the One King, the One Redeemer, the One who controls the armies of heaven ("Yahweh of Hosts," as it's traditionally translated, doesn't grab quite the same way. The word means "armies," either on earth or in heaven). Yahweh also very clearly says that He is the only elohim. Apart from him, there are no gods.

Now, if you've been with us for a while, this should bother you because you know that other parts of the OT very clearly teach something different. Let me read one passage, and one bonus verse, to you:

Psalm 82 (NRSV updated, some translations hide the Hebrew here, others are okay):

1 God has taken his place in the divine council;

in the midst of the gods he holds judgment:

2 “How long will you judge unjustly

and show partiality to the wicked? Selah

3 Give justice to the weak and the orphan;

maintain the right of the lowly and the destitute.

4 Rescue the weak and the needy;

deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”

5 They have neither knowledge nor understanding;

they walk around in darkness;

all the foundations of the earth are shaken.

6 I say, “You are gods,

children of the Most High, all of you;

7 nevertheless, you shall die like mortals

and fall like any prince.”[a]

8 Rise up, O God, judge the earth,

for all the nations belong to you!

In this psalm, we see God's divine council. Yahweh is God Most High. He reigns supreme; He has ultimate authority. In this council, we also see divine, spiritual beings who are called "elohim," "gods," who have been acting wrongly. They've been failing to do the job Yahweh gave them. The psalmist calls them out on that, and tells that they will die like mortal humans because of that.

Now let's read a verse from our Exodus study, Exodus 12:12:

And I will pass through the land of Egypt on this night,

and I will strike every firstborn in the land of Egypt-- from human, and up to domestic animal--,

while against/among all the gods of Egypt I will do punishments/judgments.

In all the plagues that Yahweh brought on Egypt, He wasn't just battling with Pharaoh. He was battling with the gods of Egypt. The elohim. And we can see that most clearly with the magicians. Moses turns a staff into a snake, and so Pharaoh's magicians. I don't think this was a trick. They were tapping into the power available to them, through the gods of Egypt. The gods were working with the magicians to harden Pharaoh's heart/resolve, and to fight God's plan for his people. And so what we see in Exodus, is that the gods of Egypt were like the gods of Psalm 82, fighting against God, resisting his purposes, not doing things the right way. And so God's acts of judgment weren't just against humans. The Hebrew in Exodus 12:12 is open to being understood a couple ways, but probably God was doing acts of judgment not only on earth against Pharaoh, but also against the gods of Egypt in heaven. [The alternative is to understand the preposition "b" as meaning "among the gods of Egypt," in which case God is announcing that He will bring whatever judgment He desires on Egypt as the gods look on helplessly. They will be bystanders.]

These two passages, Psalm 82 and Exodus 12:12, could easily be multiplied, but I feel like I've made my point, at least as a refresher for those of you who've been here a while. In most of the OT, there are many spiritual beings called "elohim," or "gods." These elohim are created beings. They are under the authority and judgment of Yahweh, God Most High. They aren't his equal, in any way. They are God's divine heavenly family, and some of them are good children, and others are bad (and for those who are interested, Michael Heiser's book The Unseen Realm is essential reading; all of this is ultimately drawn from there).

So the question then becomes, what do we make of Isaiah 44:6? Verses that aren't a problem for most people, are a huge problem for us. In verse 6, Yahweh very clearly says that there are no elohim apart from him.