- Name 16 of 70God of Gods
- HebrewElohei ha-elohim
- In plain wordsThe supreme God, above every rival
- Where to find itDeuteronomy 10:17, Moses' speech in Moab
God of gods is a title that means the highest God of all, the One above everything people have ever worshiped as a god. Moses used it in Deuteronomy 10:17 as Israel got ready to enter Canaan, a land full of temples and idols. The phrase answers a simple question: when so many gods are on offer, who is really in charge? Moses said the LORD is, and then he described what kind of God that is.
Moses on the edge of a crowded land
Deuteronomy is a set of speeches Moses gave near the end of his life, on the east side of the Jordan River in the land of Moab (Deuteronomy 1:5). The people listening were mostly the children of the generation that had left Egypt. They had grown up in the wilderness, eating manna and following the cloud. Now they were about to cross the river and live as farmers in Canaan.
Canaan had its own gods. The best known was Baal, a storm god who was believed to bring the rain that crops needed. For a farming people, the pressure would be strong: worship the god of rain, or your fields may fail.
Israel's record on this was shaky. In the chapter just before, Moses reminded them how they had made a golden calf at Mount Sinai, not long after God rescued them (Deuteronomy 9:16). And they had come out of Egypt, a land with a great many gods of its own. On the night of the first Passover, God had said against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment
(Exodus 12:12).
So Moses spoke plainly.
For the LORD your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward:
Deuteronomy 10:17
A few words need explaining. Terrible here means awesome, causing deep respect and fear. To regard persons means to play favorites, treating the rich and powerful better than everyone else. To take reward means to accept a bribe. The God of gods cannot be bought.
How Hebrew says "the very highest"
In Hebrew, the title is Elohei ha-elohim, literally "God of the gods." Elohim is the most common Old Testament word for God. It can also mean gods in general, or even powerful judges, depending on the sentence around it.
Hebrew often makes a superlative, the "most" or "highest" form of something, by repeating a word in this pattern. You already know some examples in English Bibles. The holy of holies is the holiest place. The Song of Songs is the greatest song. King of kings means the highest king. Strong's dictionary, a standard numbered word list for the King James Bible, notes that elohim is sometimes used this way. So God of gods means the supreme God, with no one above Him and no one beside Him.
This is not a family tree with God sitting at the top of a group of equals. Moses had already said the LORD he is God; there is none else beside him
(Deuteronomy 4:35). God of gods takes every claim people make for their idols and says the LORD is in a class by Himself.
In Daniel 2:47 the title appears in Aramaic, a language close to Hebrew that was spoken in Babylon. The Aramaic word for God, elah, is used for both halves of the phrase.
Five King James verses with this name
The exact phrase "God of gods" is in only five verses of the King James Bible. Each one comes from a very different moment.
He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment.
Deuteronomy 10:18
This is the verse right after the name, and it is the surprise. The God of gods defends orphans and widows and loves the stranger, meaning the foreigner or immigrant. Raiment is clothing. The highest God bends down to the people at the very bottom.
The LORD God of gods, the LORD God of gods, he knoweth, and Israel he shall know; if it be in rebellion, or if in transgression against the LORD, (save us not this day,)
Joshua 22:22
After the land was settled, the tribes east of the Jordan built a large altar, and the other tribes almost went to war, thinking it was a rebellion. The eastern tribes answered with this oath, saying the name twice. They meant that the highest God could see their hearts. The altar was only a witness that they belonged to the LORD too, and war was avoided.
O give thanks unto the God of gods: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Psalm 136:2
Psalm 136 repeats the line about mercy in every verse. Mercy means kindness you did not earn. The God of gods is praised first for being good.
The king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret.
Daniel 2:47
Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had a temple system full of his own gods. Yet after Daniel, a young captive from Judah, told him his dream and its meaning, the king admitted that Daniel's God was higher. The last of the five, Daniel 11:36, warns of a proud ruler who would speak against the God of gods
.
The idols we make now
Most people today do not keep a statue of Baal on a shelf. But anything can take the place of God in a heart. A simple test is this: what are you trusting to save you? What would crush you if you lost it? What gets your first thoughts in the morning and your last thoughts at night? For some it is money. For others it is grades, sports, a relationship, followers or the approval of a certain group. Paul even calls greed a kind of idol worship (Colossians 3:5).
None of those things can carry that much weight. They were never meant to. The God of gods can.
And remember how Moses finished his sentence. The highest God is not cold or far off. He looks after the orphan, the widow and the newcomer. That means honoring Him shows up in how we treat the people others ignore. It also means His people should never use this name to look down on anyone, including people who worship differently.
- Ask yourself honestly which good thing in your life has grown too big, and give it back its proper place.
- Read Psalm 136 out loud and count how many times it mentions mercy.
- Do one kind thing this week for someone who is new, alone or without family nearby.
God of gods is name 16 of the 70 in the book. It follows the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Its partner title from the same verse is Lord of lords, the next name on the list. To see how these titles fit together, start with the names of God in the Bible.
