Troublesome Topic: WHICH SET OF STATEMENTS ABOUT GOD NEEDS TO BE ADJUSTED?

Related to the topic at hand, there is one major dilemma, and two possible solutions.

We must accept the many statements in the Bible which indicate that the God of creation is the only true God and all other entities that people think have divine power are demons pretending to be gods, or we must believe the statements referring to other gods are true statements and reinterpret the statements about the God of Creation being God alone to mean something different. In either case we must say that one group of statements is being used in a way that is not literal and does not mean what it sounds like it means. Which group of statements should we reinterpret?

I believe the statements about God being the only God and there is none other are intended to be true and literal. The statements connecting foreign gods to demons are intended to explain that they are not true gods, not divine entities, but demons doing things that will impress a gullible population and convince them that these gods have divine powers.

Michael Heiser’s explanation that the statements about God being the only God are similar to Nineveh and Babylon (pg. 35) which claimed “there are none beside me”, is not conclusive. In fact, comparing the claims of human cities to the claims of the Creator God is hugely different (everyone knew there were other cities). The basis of greatness of these cities is known to have been short-lived, i.e. great for a little while. The greatness of YHVH is based on His being Creator. When a city made the claim there is none other, their opposition would only wait and try again when they saw weakness; when the Creator God makes such a claim, the opposition could do nothing to change that. God alone can rightly make that claim, and He did. We should take Him at His word!

Michael Heiser’s proposed worldview gives these other gods real power, but less than that of YHVH. His interpretation shows YHVH as being considerably weaker than the picture we are given of Him in the Bible.

The next lesson in this section is THE THEORY OF THE COUNCIL OF THE GODS EXPLAINED