D4-18: For The First Time In The Torah, Moses Hints That יהוה‬ Is The ONLY G-d In Existence

There is something really fascinating and important contained in Deuteronomy Chapter Four that I need to point out.

I need to point this thing out because honestly it probably just flies by everybody’s heads whenever they read this chapter.

This is something we all take for granted but believe me when Moses mentioned it, it raised the eyebrows of all those in his audience.

What am I talking about?

I’m talking about the part where Moses says that when God scatters the Israelites because of their idolatry He will allow them to repent and seek Him out.

I know what you’re thinking.

What’s so significant or mysterious about that statement?

It sounds like a pretty simple and unconcealed statement to me.

That’s probably what you’re thinking, right?

Well, it’s only simple to us because we already understand and take for granted that there is only one God in existence.

However, it wasn’t so easily understood to the Hebrews at that time.

I remind you that in the ancient Middle East, the common and unquestioned understanding of the time was that the spiritual world consisted of a multitude of gods…

…and that each of these gods were assigned to the various people groups and nations in the world.

Deities were believed to be territorial in nature.

Again, at this time, Israel did NOT believe their God was the only god in existence.

They just believed that Hashem was their own particular god…just like the nations had their own gods.

To them it was unthinkable that if they rebelled and were scattered across the globe their God would somehow find them and be able to bring them back to the Promised Land.

The Israelites had yet to fully understand that HASHEM’s power and presence were completely unrestrained by territorial boundaries or the governments of other nations.

You may be thinking but didn’t the God of Israel already demonstrate His supreme power when He laid waste to Egypt?

Yes He did.

However, ingrained age-old beliefs are not so easily weeded out.

Moses is for the first time in the Torah throwing out hints to the Israelites that YHVH is not just Israel’s God, but He is the Only God in existence everywhere and that He is eternal.

Moses is making it clear that when God has forced Israel to go into exile for their idolatry, they will still be able to take comfort in the fact that their God will still be with them even when they are living in the lands of the gentiles.

This would have been a difficult truth for the Israelites to accept because it ran so counter to the common understanding of the time.

Indeed it was a mind-blowing and revolutionary concept Moses was hinting at here.

The only way the people were going to get it was through time and experience.

There was also a strong and I might add ominous prophetic element to what Moses was saying here.

He was predicting a principle or cycle that would be repeated over and over again.

The cycle is as follows.

First, Israel would rebel by committing idolatry.

Second, God would respond by forcing the Israelites to leave the Promised Land and then scatter them.

In the foreign lands to which they were scattered, the Israelites would be hated and pressured to conform and worship the gods of the nations.

Finally, when Israel repented, God would bring them back to their homeland.

Even a cursory understanding of Israel’s history will reveal that this has been the general pattern that has occurred over and over again.