Moses, one of the Old Testament figures that made it into the “hall of faith” in Hebrews 11, wrote these words near the end of his life: “Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other” Deuteronomy 4:39.

Again, there’s little doubt that these words smack of intolerant “exceptionalism” to many in our world today. I guess it is still in the heart of man to try to make God conform to our image and perception rather than accepting that He doesn’t always align with our picture of reality. Maybe it’s because it is deeply embedded in human nature to want to make everything bend to our way of thinking, rather than believing that there is really something out there that is really God—whose nature by definition demands, on the other hand, that we yield to His rule over the world. In that way of thinking, and by that definition, a true God would not live up to His name if He shared supremacy and authority with any others.

And Hezekiah prayed to the LORD: “O LORD, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth” (2 Kings 19:15).

“This is what the LORD says—Israel’s King and Redeemer, the LORD Almighty: I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God” (Isaiah 44:6).