In recent posts, we looked at the deception in the garden of Eden that brought sin and death into the world (Gen. 3). We looked at the corruption that was caused by the disloyal, rogue sons of God (Gen. 6). We also looked at the tower of Babel event (Gen. 11) which we interpret as mankind wanting to control his own destiny and to make a name for himself without faithful loyalty to Yahweh. He wanted to be independent.
Deuteronomy 32 World View Concept
Heiser and others call a concept found in Deuteronomy 32:8-9 the “Deuteronomy 32 world view” not only because it helps describe what happened as a result of the Babel incident but it also becomes a way of thinking about salvation history. God essentially disinherits all the nations after the tower of Babel event. Then he calls Abram through whom Israel would come and through whom all the nations would be blessed (Gen. 12:1-3).
One could think of this concept as Moses’ world view. Deuteronomy means “second law.” It is a retelling by Moses of the teachings and events of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers right before the people go into the promised land. It is full of warnings and good news. Some of the warnings include warnings NOT to worship other gods. As you read the following verses:
- Understand that ancient people associated the sun, moon and stars with divine beings, the gods.
- Notice what God has allotted, or given, to whom.
- Also notice who it is that is the Lord’s inheritance.
19 And beware lest you raise your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, you be drawn away and bow down to them and serve them, things that the LORD your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven.
Deuteronomy 4:19 (ESV)
24 all the nations will say, ‘Why has the LORD done thus to this land? What caused the heat of this great anger?’ 25 Then people will say, ‘It is because they abandoned the covenant of the LORD, the God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt, 26 and went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods whom they had not known and whom he had not allotted to them.
Deuteronomy 29:24–26 (ESV)
20 But the LORD has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be a people of his own inheritance, as you are this day.
Deuteronomy 4:20 (ESV)
So Moses is saying that God allotted, portioned out, or gave the gods to the nations of the world but not to Israel. Furthermore, God considers Israel his own inheritance. These things Moses spoke AFTER Israel became a nation before the people were about to enter the promised land. But the following verses refer back to the tower of Babel.
God Divides Mankind
The following verses are where the Deuteronomy 32 world view is derived. Moses is referencing Babel and commenting on the results.
8 When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he divided mankind, he fixed the borders of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God. 9 But the LORD’s portion is his people, Jacob his allotted heritage.
Deuteronomy 32:8–9 (ESV)
The Most High is God himself. He gave the nations, that is all the other nations, their inheritance when he “divided” mankind, a clear reference to Babel. The word divided is the same root word that is used in Genesis 10:32 for “spread abroad.” The reason this is significant is because it links these two verses to the Babel event.
Moses says that God fixed the borders of the nations according to the sons of God. These sons of God are other elohim. God gave them oversight of the nations but then excoriates them in Psalm 82:1-2, 6-7 for judging unjustly and showing partiality to the wicked. The trouble is that many translations do not have “sons of God.”
A Text Critical Issue
While many translations read “sons of Israel” in Deut 32:8 (following the traditional Hebrew text’s reading of benei yisrael), “sons of God” (benei elohim in Hebrew) is the more probable original Hebrew reading based on manuscript evidence from the Dead Sea Scrolls (ca. 250 BC–AD 50). The Septuagint, the ancient Greek translation of the OT, also attests to reading “God,” not “Israel” for this verse.
John D. Barry et al., Faithlife Study Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012, 2016), Dt 32:8.
What we have is a text critical issue. All translations that have “children of Israel” or something similar follow the Masoretic text. The translations that have “sons of God” follow the Dead Sea Scrolls which is an older (textual) witness. Many translations will include a footnote about this variant reading.
Heiser explains this text critical issue here: https://youtu.be/Jt8OoMLrAyo?si=yk5KJpbizNoBe5o0
The Lord’s Portion
In verse nine, Moses says that God took Israel as his portion, as his inheritance. So why does any of this matter?
First, it helps to explain what was really going on behind the scene, theologically, at the tower of Babel event. It helps explain why the nations have different gods as we see later in the Old Testament. Second, the first 11 chapters of Genesis form an introduction to the rest of the Old Testament. The tower of Babel event, and Moses’ commentary in these verses are the end of the road, so to speak, for all of mankind. God is done with them. Mankind wanted to be on their own and God obliged them. But then, in chapter 12, God calls Abram. The rest of the Old Testament is about God’s relationship to Israel.
Looking Forward
This reading of “the sons of God” (bene elohim), instead of the “children of Israel”, suggests that your Bible really does have a supernatural world view. We see this described in Genesis 1-11 in almost fantastic ways. Our modern mind does not easily comprehend it. We see the supernatural world view of the Bible throughout the Old Testament. We also see it in the New Testament. But I still have to wonder when it comes to the New Testament, do we tend to pick and choose what is supernatural and what is not? Can our belief in the supernatural can be selective?
The three events mentioned at the beginning of this post demonstrate the interaction between the supernatural realm and the natural realm. They give us a fuller picture of the rebellion, failure, and depravity that was taking place in both the supernatural and the natural realms. You might say they had epic ramifications for humanity. But God knew all of these things were possible and he had a plan. A plan that, for some reason, would take about two thousand years to unfold.
Questions
- What does it mean that God would disinherit the nations. Doesn’t God love everyone?
- Mankind wanted to be on their own and God obliged them. Can you see any similarity between God disinheriting the nations after Babel and Romans 1:18-25?
- Earlier in the post, I mentioned that Deuteronomy is full of warnings and good news. What good news do the following verses describe? Deuteronomy 4:37; 7:7-9; 7:13; 10:15; 23:5.
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