nipotence,
these were united into a confederacy of divine forces under the dominion
of the one God, the "Lord of Hosts." Still these powers of heaven, earth
and the deep by no means at once surrendered their identity. Most of them
became angels, "messengers" of the omnipotent God, or "spirits" roaming in
the realms where once they ruled, while a few were relegated as monsters
to the region of superstition. The heathen deities, which persisted for a
while in popular belief, were also placed with the angels as "heavenly
rulers" of their respective lands or nations about the throne of the Most
High. At all events, Israel's God was enthroned above them all as Lord of
the universe. In fact, the Alexandrian translators and some of the rabbis
actually explained in this sense the Biblical names _El Shaddai_ and
_J.H.V.H. Zebaoth_.(227) The medieval philosophers, however, took a
backward step away from the Biblical view when, under the influence of
Neoplatonism, they represented the angels and the spirits of the stars as
intermediary forces.(228)

3. According to the Bible, both the Creation and the order of the universe
testify to divine omnipotence. God called all things into existence by His
almighty word, unassisted by His heavenly messengers. He alone stretched
out the heavens, set bounds to the sea, and founded the earth on pillars
that it be not moved; none was with Him to partake in the work. This is
the process of creation according to the first chapter of Genesis and the
fortieth chapter of Isaiah. So He appears throughout the Scriptures as
"the Doer of wonders," "whose arm never waxes short" to carry out His
will. "He fainteth not, neither is He weary." His dominion extends over
the sea and the storm, over life and death, over high and low.
Intermediary forces participating in His work are never mentioned. They
are referred to only in the poetic description of creation in the book of
Job: "Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?... When
the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for
joy."(229)

Proof of God's supreme power was found particularly in history, either in
His miraculous changing of the natural order, or in His defeat of the
mighty hostile armies which bade Him defiance.(230) Often the heathen
deities or the celestial powers are introduced as dramatic figures to
testify to the triumph of the divine omnipotence, as when the Lord is said
to "execute judgment against th