Troublesome Topic: DEUTERONOMY 33:2 and 32:12

Michael Heiser claimed that Dt 33:2 says that other gods, which the text simply calls “holy ones”, came with God at the giving of the law. Actually, the most natural reading of Deut 33:2 is that God was accompanied by angels who celebrated with Him as He gave the law.

But Heiser ignored or purposefully overlooked Dt 32:12, which says “YHVH alone lead him; [there was] no foreign god with him.” Or he dismissed this statement saying that these were not foreign gods because they were God’s children and part of His council, and God had invited them to participate with Him in these things. Notice that in this case, Heiser made a distinction between gods that were loyal to YHVH and those that were rebellious against Him. But on page 43 he said that all the lesser gods God created, the good and the evil, are part of the divine council. “They carry out his will in that realm, acting as his representatives.” On page 90 he stated clearly that after the fall into sin, the descendants of Adam and Eve were still imagers of God, still a reflection of what God is like (but see Genesis 5:3).

Once again I return to the issue of monotheism. The Israelites were taught to believe that the God of creation was the only one, there were no others. Dt 32:12 seems to be reiterating that no other god at all was present.

Next we will look at SEEKING AN ADVANTAGE BROUGHT THE FLOOD.