“I am the first and I am the last, there is no God but me,” (Isaiah 44:6). This 8th century B.C.E. writer has strong opinions about the existence of other gods. His 15th or 13th century ancestors, however, did not share his opinions. Rather than updating their polytheistic world with a realization that only one god exists, the authors of the Torah wrote praises like, “Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods,” (Exodus 18:11) and “Who is like you, oh Yahweh, among the gods?” (Exodus 15:11). This is because the early Jews did not deny that other gods exist—only that they are as great as Yahweh.
Henotheism
Israel’s worship of only one god distinguished it from its Ancient Near Eastern neighbors. Jewish henotheism—the worship of one god while believing in others—intensified over time. So much so that it eventually faded into monotheism as visible in the writings and the prophets. Christians almost unanimously deny this information because they view their monotheism as a form of reverence for God. For the Christian apologist, however, early Israel’s henotheism is not necessarily the problem. Rather, it is Judaism’s transition from henotheism to monotheism that weakens Christianity’s foundation. That is, if the creator of the universe really gave a series of divine revelations to humanity, then it follows that the revelation’s core ideas would remain the same, uninfluenced by culture as time progressed. On that note, perceiving Yahweh as a special god among others is very different from denying the existence of any other god.
Ancient societies had several gods because each god served one specific purpose. The Canaanite pantheon, for example, includes a god for the moon (Yarikh), a god for fertility (Dagon), a god of the sea (Yam), a god of death (Mot), and so forth. Likewise, the Egyptian pantheon included gods for similar concepts (Iah, god of the moon; Renenutet, goddess of harvest; Wadj-wer, god of the Nile delta lakes; Osiris, god of death). If you wanted success in war, you prayed to a war god. If you were concerned about your crops, you prayed to an agricultural god. Polytheism made sense in a world where every concept had a different god. But once Israel decided that its god was all-powerful, there was no need for any others.
Monotheism
What made Yahweh special to Israel was not that he is the only god who exists, but that (as he constantly reminds them) he is the god who brought them out of Egypt (Ex 20:2, Deut 13:10, etc.). So their henotheism was not because Yahweh is the only god out there, but because Yahweh alone rescued them from slavery. Additionally, their god was designed to better fit their values, such as their disdain for human sacrifice (“every abhorrent thing that the Lord hates they have done for their gods; they would even burn their sons and their daughters in the fire to their gods,” Deut 12:31). Thus, Yahweh is not the only god, but he is the best god, “the Lord, God of gods” (Josh 22:22). Israel’s sole worship of Yahweh united its people, and so they prohibited the worship of anyone else. When things went wrong in Israel, it was often blamed on their worship of other gods. This devotion to Yahweh paved an easy transition from “Yahweh is the greatest god” to “Yahweh is the only god.”
If you still deny that Israel was ever henotheistic, then consider this. Why did the Israelites build a golden calf in Exodus 32? Because they were terrified and desperate. Once they became unsure of what had happened to Moses on his visit to Yahweh (v. 1), they sought the help of other deities. The OT authors later on did not feel the same terror of their ancestors wandering around in the wilderness. Their relative affluence freed them from the need to seek divine intervention elsewhere. This allowed them to state things like, “The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of human hands. They have mouths, but they do not speak; they have eyes, but they do not see; they have ears, but they do not hear, and there is no breath in their mouths” (Psalm 135:15-17).
More Options— the Golden Calf
Once the Jews in Exodus 32 had completed their idol, Aaron built an altar before it and declared that, “Tomorrow shall be a festival to Yahweh” (v. 5). Here you see that the Jews are planning to worship several gods at once, including Yahweh (notice that the calf represents several gods at once, undoubtedly as a dwelling place, v. 4). Once Yahweh informs Moses of what is going on, his anger at them is not for having worshiped non-existent gods, but rather for crediting other gods with having brought them out of Egypt (v. 8) and for their lack of loyalty toward him. Nowhere is there a mention of his status as the only god.
While it may be reverent to deny that Israel was once henotheistic, it is certainly intellectually dishonest. This is just one example of how the Jewish religion developed over time based on the surroundings of its adherents. Religions evolve—just like languages, cultures, politics, etc. If you read the Bible carefully, you will watch more of Judaism’s most foundational concepts—sin, death, the afterlife, the nature of God, etc.—all evolve too.
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