Chapter 20 Refuting Monotheism | What About "Almighty God?" | Is Any Thing Too Difficult for Yahweh? | The Growing Power of God | The Prophet Zarathustra

What About "Almighty God?"

The phrase "Almighty God" appears often in the English Bibles.  Based on this, the monotheists assert that the God of the Bible is all powerful.  However, this is wrong because it fails to understand the meaning of the Hebrew word El Shaddai, which is erroneously translated "Almighty God" in the English Bibles.  El is Hebrew for God; however, shaddai does not mean "Almighty."  Rather, it means "wilderness," since the Akkadian shadu and Hebrew sadeh are cognates that mean wilderness. 1  Akkadian was the eastern branch of the Semitic lingual group, and thus closely related to the Hebrew language.  The Hebrew words sadeh and saddai both appear dozens of times in the Bible and they both mean "wilderness," that is, the desert.  We can see that saddai is related to shaddai in the Biblical book of Judges, because the Hebrews of the northern hill country could not pronounce the "sh" sound, 2 and so this means that saddai is a homonym of shaddai.  Furthermore, this makes sense of Moses' statement to Pharaoh, "Let us go celebrate a festival in the wilderness for our God Yahweh," 3 and of many other Biblical passages that link the God of Israel to the wilderness. 4 

Thus, El Shaddai means "God of the Wilderness," not "Almighty God."  The God of Israel is not Almighty God.  Rather, he is a god of the dry desert wilderness.

Is Any Thing Too Difficult for Yahweh?

Yahweh speaks, "Is there any thing too difficult for Yahweh?" 5 and the Prophet answers, "Lord Yahweh, there is not any thing too difficult for you." 6  The monotheists might claim this supports their position for believing in an all powerful God.  However, the Hebrew word dabar, which is translated "thing" here, more specifically means "word," "decree," or "statement of intent."  Many introductions to Prophetic oracles in the Bible begin with dabar, establishing the fact that dabar means "prophetic proclamation."  Here are a few examples:

"The dabar of Yahweh that came to Zephaniah." 7

" The dabar of Yahweh that came to Jeremiah." 8

"The dabar of Yahweh that came to Hosea." 9

"The dabar of Yahweh that came to Joel." 10

"Hear this dabar that Yahweh has spoken." 11

In both places above where Yahweh asks "Is there any dabar too difficult for me?" Yahweh immediately follows the statement with a prophecy – in these two cases, the prophecies relate to the birth of Isaac and to the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem. 12  Hence, the context clearly indicates the meaning of dabar is related to Yahweh's personal guarantee to prophetically fulfill certain events in the future.  Therefore, dabar does not mean just any "thing," but specifically is associated with prophecy. 

As we have already stated, the fact that Biblical prophecy is often vague in detail, and without a definite time frame for fulfillment, indicates that Yahweh prefers to give himself enough leeway in order to make sure that prophecy can be fulfilled in the event that unforeseen circumstances may interfere with his dabar.  In this light, the question, "Is there any dabar too difficult for Yahweh?" does not establish God's almightiness, but rather it establishes God’s personal guarantee that he will do whatever it takes to make something happen.  It relates to his ability to force future events and thus fulfill prophecy, not to his foreknowledge of those events.

The Growing Power of God

Among the Writings, which are the least authoritative Hebrew scriptures, there stands the book of Job, wherein Job allegedly stated,

"I know that you (God) can do everything." 13

Job himself seems to have been something like a King Arthur of the ancient Near East – a real historical figure around whom fictional legends accreted.  Hence, we cannot be too certain of the book's accuracy.  Be that as it may, the key Hebrew word in this passage is yakol, which means "can" or "could."  Yakol is often accompanied by another verb to form a meaning such as "could find" or "can number." 14   However, if yakol is not accompanied by another verb, it means to "overcome" or "prevail." 15  In the passage from Job, the latter is the case – yakol is not accompanied by another verb, so the meaning is "to overcome."  The phrase "can do" or "could do" should be yakol lahsoth in Hebrew, as it is in numerous places in the Bible. 16  But the Hebrew word lahsoth, which means "to do," is not present in the passage from Job.  The translation above has inserted the verb "to do" when in fact the Hebrew does not substantiate it. 

Moreover, the verb tense is the imperfect, which is analogous to the English present and future tenses, and designates incomplete action.  This means that God will be able to do everything in the future. 

Based on this information, here is how the passage should read:

"I know that you (God) will overcome everything."

This means God will become all powerful sometime in the future.  This interpretation squares with Psalm 82, wherein Yahweh stands in the congress of the gods and declares his intent to overthrow the other gods so that he can reign supreme.  He hasn't accomplished it yet, but plans to do so in the future.  This also squares with what Gabriel told Mary, "For with God, nothing will be impossible." 17  The almightiness of God is something that will be realized in the future.

We can also see this in Revelation, where the Greek word Pantocrator is erroneously translated as "Almighty" but really means "ruler of everything," since panto means everything and crator means ruler.  The passage in Revelation speaks of the second coming of Christ, a time still yet in the future, about which the 24 elders say,

We give thanks to you, Lord God Pantocrator, who is and who was and who is to come, for you have taken your awesome power and have begun to rule. 18

Thus, Christ is called Pantocrator, the "ruler of everything," only after he vanquishes all his enemies at Armageddon, only after he has "begun to rule."  God must fight a battle against other forces in order to become the ruler of everything.  He is not currently all powerful, but hopefully will become all powerful sometime in the future.

The turning point in the war seems to have been the first coming of Jesus Christ.  In the Hebrew language, the word Satan has a numerological value of 359.  The Hebrew word Mashiach meaning "Messiah" has a value of 358, which is one less than that of Satan.  That’s the Old Testament.  But in the New Testament, the Greek word Satan has a numerological value of 552, which is one less than 553, the value of Bar Enosh which means "Son of Man" as it appears in Daniel, "Behold, one like the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven… His dominion is an everlasting dominion." 19  Jesus Christ constantly called himself the Son of Man throughout his ministry.  We can deduce, therefore, that Satan was one greater than the Messiah before the coming of Christ (359 > 358), but Christ has now surpassed Satan by one point since he has become the Son of Man (553 > 552).  Thus God is becoming more powerful. 

"Bible Code," there are not infinite combinations yielding infinite "hidden codes."  Thus, numerological calculations reveal believable expressions of divine communication.  Numerology reveals that unseen forces had a hand in the development of holy languages and the ordering of their alphabets, as it says, they made new tongues at the tower of Babel.  They arranged the letters so that they could communicate hidden mysteries those who study the science of numerology.

The Prophet Zarathustra

Zarathustra was an Iranian Prophet.  He taught that there exist two eternal forces, one good and the other evil, and that the good will eventually win the war between the two, but it has not won yet.  Both God and Satan the Devil, whom he called Angra Mainyu, i.e. "Evil Spirit," were together in the beginning, and they are diametrically opposed to each other even to the point of absolute hatred. 20  Moreover, there are a group of gods that have taken sides with the Devil, and there is an alliance of gods that have taken sides with the Good God – we humans having free will to choose between the two – and if the good alliance gains more gods and humans to its side then "we can defeat evil by this increase in numbers." 21  Thus, God is not in complete control, because the Devil is in the same league with him.  This explains why evil and suffering exist – God does not allow it, he just can't overpower it.

Why should we care about what Zarathustra said?  We should care because Zarathustra was a Prophet who foretold the physical incarnation of Jesus Christ hundreds of years before it happened.  He said, "May Asha attain a body." 22  This passage is from the Gathas, which are the part of the Zoroastrian holy texts that scholars believe are the real words of the ancient Prophet Zarathustra himself.  Duchesne-Guillemin says about this verse, "He (Zarathustra) desires that righteousness may become incarnate and strengthened by the action of mankind." 23  In a later Zoroastrian text, a comment is made, apparently about this verse, that in the Gathas it says there is a wise man called "the Word incarnate." 24

The word Asha means "Righteousness," but it also carries a deeper meaning, because Asha is the second member of the divine triad of the Gathas.  Zarathustra believed in a Trinity of sorts, the first member being Ahura Mazda (Lord of Wisdom), the second member being Asha (Righteousness), and the third member being Vohu Mainyu (Good Spirit).  These three, which are the three most frequently mentioned spiritual entities of the Gathas, roughly correlate to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  The fact that the second member of this Trinity, Asha, is the divine manifestation to become incarnate, thereby being analogous to Christ, coupled with the fact that Zarathustra elsewhere repeatedly speaks about the coming of multiple Messiahs, 25 provides a case that Zarathustra was indeed a Prophet of Christ, on par with Isaiah, David, Jeremiah, Zechariah, and the other Hebrew Prophets who also foretold his coming.  Zarathustra even swears allegiance specifically to Asha, the second person of the Trinity,as his Prophet. 26 

Zarathustra also implies that a certain figure he called "the man of insight" would accomplish some kind of atonement on behalf of all others:

"We present offerings of service to you, Ahura, and to Asha, asking that you accomplish the destiny of all living things in the kingdom through Vohu Mainyu.  For the salvation of the Man of Insight, who is among you, O Mazda, will hold good for all." 27

This man of insight is identified as Mazda acting in the capacity of Asha, with the fruits of Vohu Mainyu, 28that is, divine Wisdom acting in the capacity of the Logos with the fruits of the Holy Spirit.

Another Zoroastrian scripture strikes a chord with evolution in a rather remarkable way, converging with the scientific belief that DNA arose only once on this planet:

"Ahura Mazda created all living things from a single species." 29 

Certain ancient Christians were very fond of Zarathustra.  One of the texts found at Nag Hammadi bears the title Zostrianos, which is an Egyptian form of the name Zarathustra.  The Christian text states, "Zostrianos, the gods have told you these things." 30  It thus affirms the reality of Zarathustra's divine revelations.  Another ancient Christian authority, Mani of Mesopotamia, who taught in the 200's AD, formed a Christian denomination based on both Jesus Christ's teaching and on Zarathustra's teaching, asserting that the message of Christ and of Zarathustra are from the same God. 

Zarathustra also has certain commonalities with the Hebrew Prophets.  Like Moses, he prays with his arms outstretched. 31  Like Isaiah, he "declares anathema all predatory animals" on account of their wicked violence, which is of the Devil and unfit for the kingdom of God. 32  Like Revelation, Zarathustra saw an apocalypse at the end of the age, 33 and also a day of judgment at the time of the end. 34  Like Jesus and John, he foresaw a major makeover of the universe after the end of the age. 35  Like Jeremiah, Amos, Hosea, and David, Zarathustra despised those who killed animals merely to sacrifice them. 36 

In another Zoroastrian writing, which may have been written too late to be a prophecy, it states that the Savior will be born of a fifteen year old virgin. 37  This is intriguing because some manuscripts of the nativity story in Protevangelion say that Mary was 14 years old when she conceived Jesus, 38 which would most likely mean she was 15 when she gave birth to him.  Hence the early Christian nativity story lines up with the nativity story of the Zoroastrian Messiah.  In another late prophecy it speaks of humankind being in the grave for three days and three nights before passing over into the afterlife.   This explains why Clopas the uncle of Jesus said, "They crucified him… and what's more, this is the third day," as if everyone knew the third day was significant. 40

Then there is the matter of how certain Zoroastrian kings of Persia paid homage to both their own Zoroastrian God and also to the God of Israel.  King Darius called Yahweh "God of Heaven." 41  It is known from archaeology that Darius worshipped Zarathustra’s God, Ahura Mazda, as evidenced by Darius' inscription on an ancient monument, wherein he repeatedly states "Ahura Mazda helped me" to conquer other nations and "by the grace of Ahura Mazda" the empire was founded.  In one place he briefly mentions that other gods helped him too, which can only mean that Zoroastrianism was originally no more monotheistic than was Judaism or Christianity. 42  It was Henotheistic.  Yet it was not polytheistic, because Darius far and away worshipped Ahura Mazda above other gods.  Cyrus, who was also possibly a Zoroastrian, says, "Yahweh God of Israel – he is God." 43  In turn, the Bible asserts that Cyrus is Yahweh's anointed one. 44  Xerxes, the Zoroastrian king who followed Darius, was the husband of the Biblical Esther, who supposedly saved the Jews from Haman.  The festival of Purim which commemorates this event might actually be a Jewish adaptation to the older Zoroastrian festival of No Ruz. 

All this data tends to confirm that Zoroastrians, Hebrews, and Christians share a common source of divine inspiration, that they all originally were Henotheists, and that they believed God was not yet all powerful.