This is a guest series by Dr. Drew Grumbles. See Part 1 Here, Part 2 Here, Part 3a Here, Part 3b Here, and Part 4a Here.
Isaiah’s book heralds the good news of God’s salvation from beginning to end (see Isa 40:9). Many call the book of Isaiah the “Fifth Gospel.” Jerome called the prophet Isaiah “an Evangelist” (i.e. writer of a Gospel book).[1] Intricately tied to Isaiah’s gospel, however, is the deity of YHWH. That YHWH alone is God makes him able to save. “There is no other God besides me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none besides me” (Isa 45:21). Isaiah proclaims that the idols and other gods are false gods and thus cannot be depended upon to save. In contrast, YHWH invites the nations to turn to him and be saved, for he is God and there is no other (Isa 45:22). We previously refuted some of the arguments from the “other gods” view as to how to understand these “monotheistic texts” in Isaiah. Now we present a positive case for what Isaiah declares.
The Only Elohim
First, then, we notice that YHWH claims he is the only elohim and no other exists. In Isa 43:11 he only claims that he is YHWH and no other can save. At the end of Isa 45:6, 18 he makes the same claim. One could say that this claim is not explicitly one of exclusive deity. To say, “I am YHWH” is like this author saying, “I am Drew N. Grumbles; there is no other Drew N. Grumbles.” Although the claim is pedantic, the sense by implication would entail that none is like Drew N. Grumbles. So it goes with YHWH, some say. Only YHWH can save because none is like him, possessing all his properties. However, Isaiah goes beyond this to make more explicit YHWH’s sole deity. Even in Isa 45:18 he describes YHWH parenthetically, “He is God [elohim]!”[2] Isaiah 44:6 is even more clear, “. . . besides me there is no God [elohim].”[3] Isaiah 44:8 then says, “Is there a God [Eloah] besides me? For there is no Rock; I do not know a one.”[4]Isaiah 45:5 says, “. . . except for me there is no God [elohim].”[5] Isaiah 45:14 says, “They will plead with you, ‘Surely God [El] is with you, and there is no other; no other God [elohim] exists.’”[6] Also, in Isa 45:22, YHWH claims, “I am God [El] and there is no other.”[7] Isaiah 46:9 demonstrates even more clarity, saying, “I am God [El], and there is no other; God [Elohim] and no other like me exists.”[8] The church from its earliest period had no doubts about the meaning of these texts. The church fathers plainly acknowledge that these verses teach a singular God, and thus they repeatedly comment on how this does not deny the Son’s equal and co-essential deity. Though he comes from the later period, Chrysostom speaks apt words on Isa 45:6, saying, “The prophets were not denying the Son (God forbid!), but they wished to cure the Jews of their weakness and, meanwhile, to persuade them to give up their belief in the many gods that did not exist.”[9] Since these texts strongly proclaim the existence of one God, the real question among Christians was how this related to the Son’s divinity, not that of the “other gods.”
The First and the Last
Second, we should further examine how YHWH claims in these verses to be “the first and the last” (Isa 44:6; 48:12). This claim provides an additional detail beyond using words like “except/besides.” YHWH claims that, as to divinity, he is “first and last,” i.e. none came before and none came after. Isaiah states this most explicitly in Isa 43:10, “Before me no God [El] was formed, and there will not be any after me.”[10] This statement differs from the first commandment (Exod 20:3), which forbids placing a god “in front of” God, in terms of priority. The use of “after” indicates that Isaiah speaks of chronology when he says El “is the first.” The “other gods” view concurs that El is the uncreated deity, thus first in time. They would differ with the interpretation that “after” excludes any other gods. Perhaps they would say this means “no other God like YHWH” was formed after YHWH, or that no other El (the top god of the Canaanite pantheon) was formed. However, these texts in Isaiah (as elsewhere in Scripture) clearly demonstrate that El and Elohim function as interchangeable titles for God. Thus, the most natural reading shows that no god ever came after YHWH.
Clearly YHWH does not claim to be the last entity to exist, for he created the world. Many beings came after him, including the angels. Nor can this mean he will be the “last god standing.” The context (see below) of predicting and controlling the future reveals that YHWH claims to be the only God who knows the “last things.” This is true of him because he is “the last,” the only God who exists from beginning to end. The phrase functions as a merism, a rhetorical device to include everything in between, as in Gen 1:1, “God created the heavens and the earth.” Thus, when YHWH says he is “the first and the last” as God, he means no god ever came in time in between.
Proofs for Exclusive Deity
Third and finally, we observe how YHWH gives specific proofs for his exclusive deity. YHWH contrasts himself with the “gods” by demonstrating unique characteristics about himself. Such proofs do not merely communicate that YHWH is unique, however. Here, YHWH uses them to show “there is no other elohim besides me” (e.g. Isa 44:6). Two characteristics mark YHWH—he predicts the future and controls history. In Isa 46:9–11 we read, “. . . for I am God [El] and there is no other; God [Elohim], and there is none like me, declaring, from the first, the end, and from of old things not done, saying, ‘My counsel will stand, and I will do all my pleasure.’” YHWH claims he is El, that there is no other, and that no elohim (God) is like him. How can this be proven? YHWH argues that only he declares the future, and that he makes sure his purposes come to fruition. In other texts, Isaiah uses the inability of “the gods” to predict the future as a sign of their non-existence. Isaiah 41:23 says, “Tell us what is to come, that we may know that you are gods [elohim]; do good or do calamity . . . .” The gods cannot tell the future nor even accomplish any of their purposes independently. Later, Isa 41:28 says the gods are “not counselor[s],” i.e. they cannot state anything about the purposes of historical events.[11]This demonstrates that they are not gods. Isaiah 41:24 concludes, “You are nothing.”[12]
More texts make the same claim. In Isa 42:8–9 YHWH explains why he alone deserves glory—he can declare new things before they happen (Isa 42:9). After stating in Isa 44:6 that no other elohim exists, YHWH challenges others (the gods) to declare the future before it takes place. Similarly in Isa 45:21, YHWH challenges the gods to “take counsel,” the same word used in other texts about having purposes (יָעַץ) in the world. He implies that the gods have no counsel. He continually challenges them with the fact that only he declares the future. This is why, YHWH concludes, no elohimexists besides him. Then, in Isaiah 45 YHWH explains how he upholds the world. In Isa 45:7 he states that he creates light and darkness, peace and calamity. Recall that in Isa 41:23 the gods could cause neither good nor calamity, but YHWH says that he can. Repeatedly, YHWH provides specific proof that the other gods do not exist.
Conclusion
Gary V. Smith says, “There were many other pretenders who claimed to be gods and many people who falsely believed that there were other deities with other names, but none of the other angels, seraphim, demons, or other supernatural beings were Yahweh and they could not do what Yahweh could do.”[13] We have demonstrated that Isaiah presents a clear picture of the existence of only one God. Some seek to deny this interpretation of Isaiah. Sadly, though, others admit the possibility yet still conclude that other gods exist. As McDermott, for example, puts it, “But even if Second Isaiah really denies the objective reality of the gods, this would not solve the problem. Most other Old Testament authors still assert or suggest their existence. Right alongside texts that (might) deny any other gods but Yahweh are texts that acknowledge them. This cannot be denied.”[14] Simply put, McDermott allows for the possibility that “Second Isaiah” contradicts the rest of Scripture. For us, this cannot be an option. We must remember our principle of the clear Scriptures interpreting the unclear. Isaiah, in our estimation, is very clear about God’s singularity. Next, we turn to clear texts in the New Testament that also speak forthrightly about only one God’s existence.
[1] Steven A. McKinion, ed., Isaiah 1–39, ACCS OT 10 (Downers Grove, IL: 2004), 3.
[2] הוּא הָאֱלֹהִים
[3] וּמִבַּלְעָדַי אֵין אֱלֹהִֽים׃
[4] הֲיֵשׁ אֱלוֹהַּ מִבַּלְעָדַי וְאֵין צוּר בַּל־יָדָֽעְתִּי׃. On the use of eloah, Motyer writes, “It can only be in order to stress the singularity of the one and only God (Motyer, Isaiah, 345).
[5] זוּלָתִי אֵין אֱלֹהִים
[6] יִתְפַּלָּלוּ אַךְ בָּךְ אֵל וְאֵין עוֹד אֶפֶס אֱלֹהִֽים׃
[7] אֲנִי־אֵל וְאֵין עֽוֹד׃
[8] אָנֹכִי אֵל וְאֵין עוֹד אֱלֹהִים וְאֶפֶס כָּמֽוֹנִי׃
[9] Mark W. Elliot, ed., Isaiah 40–66, ACCS OT Vol. 11 (Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity, 2019), 74.
[10] לְפָנַי לֹא־נוֹצַר אֵל וְאַחֲרַי לֹא יִהְיֶֽה׃
[11] וְאֵין יוֹעֵץ
[12] הֵן־אַתֶּם מֵאַיִן, “do not exist.” See also Isa 41:29.
[13] Gary V. Smith, Isaiah 40–66, NAC 15B (Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing, 2009), 256–257.
[14] McDermott, God’s Rivals, 52.