4. God Alone

Deuteronomy 32:15-21 describes Israel turning from the God who cared for them. The poem says they forgot the Rock who bore them and gave them life. They worshiped other gods and sacrificed to beings the text calls no gods. The result is broken loyalty and judgment. Read the passage beside Deuteronomy 6:4, which calls Israel to hear that the LORD is one. Together, these texts ask readers to think carefully about what the Bible means when it speaks of God’s oneness and of other spiritual powers.

Chapter 4 argues that the biblical word elohim can refer to more than one kind of being. Heiser rejects the idea that references to other elohim prove Israel moved from worshiping many equal gods to worshiping one. In his account, God is incomparable and supreme, while other spiritual beings are not rivals on his level. Deuteronomy 32 itself draws a sharp line: Israel has abandoned the God who made them for objects of worship that cannot take his place.

The poem’s warning is not only about ancient idols. People still give ultimate trust to things that cannot carry the weight placed on them: success, money, approval, control, or a cause that becomes more important than loving God and neighbor. These things are not all spiritual beings, and the passage should not be forced to say that they are. But its question remains useful: what has taken the place of faithful trust? Whatever we worship in practice will shape our choices, our loyalties, and our care for other people.

The passage describes God as the Rock who bore Israel and gave them birth. That image shows the relationship behind the command to be faithful. God is not one option in a crowded marketplace of equal powers. He is the source of life and the one who rescued and sustained his people. Israel’s betrayal is serious because it turns away from the one who gave them life. The text warns that rejection has consequences, but it also shows that God sees and responds to the people’s unfaithfulness.

Readers may differ over how to understand every reference to elohim. Heiser’s argument is one reading to assess against Scripture. Begin with the passages themselves: Deuteronomy 6:4 confesses the LORD’s oneness, and Deuteronomy 32:15-21 condemns the worship of other gods. These claims are not interchangeable, but they belong together. The Bible’s confession of one God is a call to undivided worship and loyalty.

Consider what receives your attention when you feel afraid or uncertain. Is it something that can help in a limited way, or have you begun to rely on it as if it were God? Faithfulness does not require panic about every ordinary comfort. It means remembering who gives life and refusing to give ultimate honor to what cannot save.