“God’s Monsters” by Esther Hamori–A Book Analysis Series (Part 5: Demons and Spirits of Falsehood at God’s Beckoned Call)

Welcome to Part 5 of my book analysis series of Esther Hamori’s new book, God’s Monsters. In this post, we are going to look at Hamori’s take on DEMONS and DECEIVING SPIRITS the Bible…demons and deceiving spirits in God’s entourage!

Chapter 5: Demons in God’s Ranks
Of all the chapters in the book, chapter 5 is the most interesting. Hamori’s basic argument here is that there are passages in the Old Testament that depict various Canaanite deities in YHWH’s entourage (not that she ever says “YHWH”—she always keeps it at the generic “God”). Now, it is true that throughout the Old Testament other gods are mentioned, and it is true that one of the defining characteristics in the Old Testament is that it makes it a point to argue that certain “gods” are not gods at all. For example, the sun and moon in Genesis 1 are not gods, as other ANE cultures believed. They are simply lights that the Creator God has placed in the sky. The point being the so-called “gods” of other ANE cultures are ultimately under the control and sovereignty of YHWH.

That brings up a rather unique challenge. That means that YHWH is ultimately responsible in some way for disasters, death, and pestilence. If everything is under God’s sovereignty, then everything that happens in the world ultimately goes back to Him. This takes us to the old question, “How could a good God allow bad things to happen?” And yes, it is a challenging question. For our purposes there, though, it is worth noting that throughout the Bible, when God brings judgment on evil, oppressing nations, He does so through historical means and historical events. He punishes Israel via the Assyrian army, for example.

Still, when the biblical writers talk about God’s judgment, they will often use vivid literary/mythological imagery. This is what Hamori emphasizes here in chapter 5. Specifically, she notes that the Hebrew words that are often translated in the Old Testament as pestilence, destruction, plague, hail, and death are also variations of words elsewhere in the ANE that are the names of certain deities: Dever, Qetev, Resheph, Barad, and Mavet respectively. So, if you read certain verses as if they were names of lesser deities, they take on a different flavor. For example:

• Psalm 91:3, 6: “the pestilence [Dever] that stalks in darkness,” and “the destruction [Qetev] that wastes at noonday”
• Isaiah 25:8: God will “swallow up Mavet forever”
• Hosea 13:14: “O Mavet, where are your plagues? Oh Sheol, where is your destruction?”
• Jeremiah 9:21: “Mavet has come up through our windows….”

The most interesting passage is that of Habakkuk 3:3-16. The passage is a description of the power of YHWH as the Creator to bring about destruction upon Babylon. Hamori doesn’t give us that context, but by now we should see that’s par for the course. In any case, she specifically highlights Habakkuk 3:4-5. Most translations have something like this: “The brightness was like the sun; rays came forth from his hand, where his power lay hidden. Before him went pestilence, and plague followed close behind.”

Hamori argues that the words translated as “hidden,” “pestilence,” and “plague” are actual names of Canaanite deities, Hebyon (considered a demon), Dever, and Resheph. The result is that we have a picture of YHWH coming with His destructive power, accompanied by these lesser destructive beings. She thus translates the part in question as, “There was Hebyon, his powerful one. Dever stalked in front of him, and Resheph headed out behind him.”

In all fairness, that is an intriguing and possible translation. Still, the verses need to be understood in light of the larger context: Since YHWH is the Creator God, He also has the power to “de-create” and bring destruction. In Habakkuk, the prophet acknowledges YHWH’s sovereignty to first punish Judah for its sins by means of the upcoming Babylonian invasion, but then also to punish Babylon for its own sins. And, as is seen time and time again throughout the Bible, those who worship false gods who are associated with oppression and death will end up being judged by those very things. Since YHWH is the sovereign Creator God, He can use the very forces people worships as “gods” to punish them.

But Hamori really isn’t into nuanced, thoughtful contemplation of context. Her take amounts to this: “Look! God uses demons to torture and destroy people!” And never mind that Dever, Resheph, Barad, and Mavet aren’t actually considered demons, but rather Canaanite gods—that lessens the shock value. It’s much more scandalous to say, “God used DEMONS” rather than “The Old Testament emphasizes that YHWH is more powerful than Canaanite deities.” And let’s not forget that throughout the Old Testament, these words clearly are references to pestilence, destruction, plague, hail, and death, and not any kind of deity. Sure, in the ANE, the mention of “pestilence” might bring up the image of the actual figure of Dever, just like people today might imagine “the grim reaper” when someone mentions death, but that doesn’t mean the actual deity is being referenced.

So, all in all, Hamori makes an interesting ANE cultural point when it comes to the connection with certain Canaanite deities, but she overplays her hand, especially considering how she goes about interpreting other passages throughout the chapter. Case in point, Psalm 78, a psalm that, in 78:42-52, looks back at how YHWH saved the Hebrews out of Egypt during the Exodus. These verses specifically recall the ten plagues. Hamori zeroes in on 78:48-50. Most translations read: “He gave over their cattle to the hail, and their flocks to thunderbolts. He let loose on them his fierce anger, wrath, indignation, and distress, a company of destroying angels. He made a path for his anger; he did not spare them from death, but gave their lives over to the pestilence.” Hamori claims that “Psalm 78 raises the specter of God sending demonic plagues upon Israel” (162), with “hail” really being “Barad,” “thunderbolts” really being “Resheph,” “death” being “Mavet,” and “pestilence” being “Dever.”

Now, given the fact that there is a clear reference to “destroying angels,” one can make a case that behind the ten plagues there is the specter of supernatural forces. Again, ANE people probably would see Mavet behind the word “death,” just like we might see the grim reaper. But to claim God is literally using demons is a juvenile attempt at shock value that any self-respecting biblical scholar wouldn’t engage in. So, when Hamori ends the chapter with, “Should we picture God sending his demons to commit these unthinkable acts of cruelty, or of him doing it himself? Which is worse?” (164), sorry, the Psalm isn’t saying “God sent demons,” and these “acts of cruelty” are acts of judgment on a nation that oppressed and enslaved people.

I suppose Hamori feels the same way about when the Allies fought back the Nazis and destroyed them. All that destruction! Those unthinkable acts of cruelty, destroying those innocent Naz…and mean people!

Chapter 6: Manipulative and Mind-Altering Spirits
Not only is God worse than demons, but Hamori also claims that God purposely manipulates and deceives His own innocent followers, who oftentimes are more moral than He is. Let’s look at a few of her examples from chapter 6. I can’t go through them all, here is just a sample.

First, there is the story of the prophet Micaiah and Ahab in I Kings 22. The story is this: Ahab and Jehoshaphat consult Ahab’s prophets to see if they should go to war with Aram. All of Ahab’s prophets say, “Yeah! YHWH wants you to win!” Then Micaiah says, “Yeah! YHWH wants you to win.” Ahab says, “Wait, Micaiah, I hate you. You’re always telling me bad things. What gives?” Micaiah says, “Yep, you’re right. YHWH sent a spirit of falsehood so that your prophets would tell you to go to war, and so that you’ll be killed in battle.” Ahab imprisons Micaiah, goes to war, but in disguise, but then gets killed anyway. The end.

Now, Ahab is the king of the northern kingdom of Israel. Not only did he introduce Baal worship to the country, he also maintained golden calf worship. That basic historical context tells us that Ahab’s prophets, although they claimed to speak for YHWH, were either prophets of Baal or prophets associated with the golden calf shrines—they were false prophets. The point of the story, thus, is that YHWH brings judgment and death upon Ahab because he puts his faith in false prophets and idols. Micaiah, a true prophet of YHWH, literally tells Ahab this, but Ahab goes to war anyway and dies.

How does Hamori interpret I Kings 22? Simple. Those other prophets were “truthfully reporting the divine message given to them” (174). God’s primary loyalty isn’t to Israel, or those prophets, or to humankind. His loyalty is to the lying spirit. God just schemed to get Israel into a war “just to kill of Ahab” (176). All those innocent deaths just to get Ahab!

Second, there is Gideon’s son Abimelech in Judges 9. In the story, Abimelech conspires with Shechem, slaughters his entire family, and has Shechem hail him as king. Eventually, Abimelech and Shechem have a falling out. They double-cross him, and he proceeds to destroy them all. He then continues on in his rampage to Thebez, where he is killed when a woman throws a millstone out of a tower and crushes his head. In Judges 9:23, we are told that God “sent an evil spirit” between Abimelech and Shechem, and that led to the double-cross and eventual slaughter. Now, as we’ve all seen throughout history and really good stories, when two bad actors team up with each other to do some horrible dead, eventually, because they are bad actors, they turn on each other and bring about their own destruction. Hitler turned on Stalin, the orcs and goblins turned on each other and that allowed Sam to save Frodo. This is what is happening in Judges 9. And, of course, because YHWH is the one true God who is sovereign, the biblical testimony is that He is ultimately behind it. YHWH’s judgment comes at the hands of their own treachery.

That’s not how Hamori sees it. No—God sent an evil spirit. He instigated the treachery and everyone is killed: “The ruler God rejects is violently eliminated, his conspirators are slaughtered, and (no surprise) the further death told is enormous. Discord, deception, death” (182).

Third, there is Sennacherib in II Kings 19:6-7. In the story, when Hezekiah appeals to YHWH for deliverance from Sennacherib’s siege, Isaiah tells Hezekiah that YHWH will “put a spirit” in Sennacherib and that he will “hear a rumor,” return to his own land, and eventually will be killed.

Now, the story of Sennacherib’s invasion in II Kings 18-19 (and Isaiah 36-38) can be a bit confusing. Part of my PhD thesis looked at this. The long and short of it is that this prophecy of Isaiah is played out in the rest of the narrative. The “rumor” Sennacherib hears is that King Tirhakah of Ethiopia was coming to fight him—that delays the siege of Jerusalem. Later on, when YHWH “sends the angel of YHWH” to decimate the Assyrian army, Sennacherib goes back to Nineveh, never having taken Jerusalem. And later on, we are told he is killed by his own sons.

Hamori sees it a slightly different way. She writes, “This isn’t God’s first rodeo. It worked with Ahab, and it’ll work with Sennacherib. This time, though, God puts the deceiving spirit directly into the king he wants to knock off, not into his advisors” (183). Then again, “God’s matter-of-fact statement that he’ll put a spirit in Sennacherib to deceive him into returning to Assyria and get killed.” “Doesn’t it seem like spreading a rumor to hurt someone should be…beneath God?” (184).

There’s only one slight problem: there is NOTHING in I Kings 19:6-7 that says it is a “deceiving” spirit. Nowhere does Isaiah says YHWH will “deceive” Sennacherib. Isaiah prophesies certain historical things will happen, and they do. Hamori’s interpretation here is just mind-numbingly bad. There’s no other way to put it.

Let’s Finish with Some New Testament…and an Agenda
I’ve skipped over quite a bit in chapters 5-6, but I want to end with what Hamori says about Paul’s words in II Thessalonians 2:9-12. It reads: ^“The coming of the lawless one is apparent in the working of Satan, who uses all power, signs, lying wonders, and every kind of wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason, God sends them a powerful delusion, leading them to believe what is false, so that all who have not believed the truth but took pleasure in unrighteousness will be condemned.”

Again, there is no time to fully unpack what Paul is saying here. What we see here is the same dynamic I’ve highlighted earlier. Paul says that the “lawless one” (an antichrist figure) will employ the deceiving work of Satan, and many in the world will be deluded and follow after him. God allows it to happen. Since He is sovereign, He allows people who take pleasure in unrighteousness, refuse the truth, and reject salvation in Christ to be deceived and deluded, and eventually condemned. He allows people to suffer the consequences of their choices. And, just like He “hardened Pharaoh’s heart,” He “sends them a powerful delusion”—but the “hardening” and “delusion” in question is one of their own choosing. That’s the point being made.

Hamori doesn’t see it that way. She sees God and Satan as a tag-team: “God engages in what was described moments earlier as the characteristic activity of Satan. We saw God and Satan like this once before, synchronized in split screen, peas in a pod” (193).

It is at this point that Hamori also shows her particular political biases and agenda. She blackballs all Evangelicals and then says, “Don’t approve of someone’s convictions, actions, or identity? Attribute it to a ‘spirit of [thing you dislike].’ Feminism?  A spirit of rebellion! Queer? Gotta know that’s some kinda spirit!” (197) then end adds objections to abortion and sex outside of marriage as things also oppressive and mean that those Evangelicals do.

Okay, whatever. That has absolutely nothing to do with what Paul is saying in II Thessalonians, but hey…

Hamori ends with this juvenile gem. I don’t even need to respond to it. Just read it and enjoy: “Satan may be called the ‘deceiver of the whole world,’ but God is the commander of the heavenly army who dispatches his deceiving spirits, taking aim at Israelite kings and foreign kings, towns and cities and nations, the innocent subjects of experimentation still locked in the divine laboratory—and finally, all of the people worldwide ‘who are perishing because they did not receive the love of truth,’ so he targets them with deceit leading to their eternal condemnation. Maybe God is the real ‘father of lies” (200).

Wait, I do need to say one thing. Those aren’t the words of a responsible, mature biblical scholar. They are the words of a blue-haired, angst-ridden teenager who is wearing a Che Guevera t-shirt and denying there were any real atrocities by Hamas on October 7^th because God, the United States, Israel, and Evangelicals are all evil oppressors…blah blah blah.