Hero Israel The Lord is our God. The Lord is one. What do those words mean? And in particular, what does the word echad mean? One.
And is this a teaching that would preclude any belief in God's complex unity or tri-unity, God is one God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? We'll dig into the scriptures. Let's see what the word of God actually says, and let's see what. Jewish tradition says about it as well. This is Michael Brown.
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So go there now, Discover Messiah. on YouTube, click subscribe and then click the bell. This way you'll be notified about every new video that is posted. All right. The Shema, which means here, here O Israel, Shema.
This is The most sacred prayer that is said daily, the recitation of these words, when recited by religious Jews, they'll close their eyes. and put their hand over their eyes just to, for intense concentration, to say, Shema Yisrael, Hero Israel, Adonai Elohinu. The Lord is our God. Adonai Echad, the Lord is one. And this is you could say the central fundamental truth of Judaism.
And it's something that was often quoted to me when I came to faith in Jesus, Yeshua. As the Messiah of Israel in late 1971, I was immediately told: well, your beliefs go against that. You believe in three gods or a three-part God, and God is one.
Now, of course, there are all kinds of misunderstandings about God's triunity and what was meant by that. But if you say that God is triune, or God is somehow three and one, then he's not really one. That that would be the argument.
Well, the first problem is then echad is the wrong word to use. There is a word in Hebrew, Yachid, which would mean an exclusive one. That exclusive one could mean then one in the most intense, singular possible way, so that he could not be complex in his unity. And I like to speak of God being complex in his unity because there's one God and one God only. He sits enthroned in heaven.
at the same time that he fills the universe with his presence. At the same time that he manifests himself in different ways on the earth and different visible ways on the earth. And at the same time that he works invisibly among us by his ruach, by his spirit.
So one God, one God only complex in his unity. But I've had traditional Jews for years say, well, no, that's contrary to God being echad.
Well, it's the wrong word to use. for many, many reasons. First It could simply be saying that there's only one Hashem, only one Yahweh. In other words, You had in the ancient world a world full of idols, idol worship. And it wasn't just that they worshipped many different gods.
but that they worship gods in different locations. You had the Baal, the Baal of this location and the Baal of that location.
So you had local deities as opposed to one supreme deity. And then even among the idol worshipers, there was one in one location that was a little different than the other in another location. or worship differently or revered differently. And there are scholars and commentators, including Jewish commentators, who say what the text is saying. that there's only one Hashem, only one Yahweh, not many different ones in many different locations.
So that's one thing. The second thing is the The meaning of the word echad. This is not the word that you want to use. If your argument is that he is not complex in his unity or he is not triune three in one, it's not the right word to use. Echad simply means one, like our English word one.
I've said this for decades, written it, said it in debates. Nothing mysterious about it. Others have said the very same thing, including Orthodox rabbis. that ichad just means one, like our English word means one.
So the first time you have it used is in Genesis chapter 1, verse 6. You have evening and morning, yomachad. one day So This is evening, morning, the two together make up one day. And then the second time you have it used, Genesis 2.24. The man and his wife, Adam Vachava, the man and his wife, Adam and Eve, will be Basarachad.
One flesh.
So when a man and a woman join together in marriage, they become Basarachad, one flesh. You have it used for the making of the tabernacle, that all the different parts of the tabernacle make for one mishkan, one tabernacle.
So the word ichad in and of itself simply means one. And does not speak of any type of exclusive unity that would preclude belief in God's complex unity or God's tri-unity. But let me go a little deeper here. I've got a five-volume set of books. It is the Chumash, so the five books of Moses.
Elucidated with the understanding of Rabbi Menachem Mendelschneerson, the Labavature Rebbe.
So the most influential Jewish leader of the last century, his influence continues to grow as Lubavitch is the world's largest Jewish outreach and educational network.
So this is five volumes of translation and commentary. elucidating what Lubabachirk Rebbe taught.
So these are not my words as a follower of Jesus. These are not the words of some Christian apologist. These are not the words of some liberal progressive rabbi who has a critical view of Scripture. These are the words of an ultra-Orthodox Jew. who was so influential in his day that many of his followers believed and still believe.
that he is the Messiah.
So let me read what he says. This is his comments on Deuteronomy chapter 6, verse 4. Thus, the Shema is first of all a reminder that God is our God. That is, that as Jews, we possess an innate, inviolable belief that God is not only immanent, but also transcendent. But in addition, we are enjoined to know God's transcendence, not only to believe in it.
This is why the verse continues, God is one. The adjective one can describe one entity among many. He is one of them. A unity composed of parts, one body, made of many limbs and organs, or A unique entity, one, and only. Although God is certainly one in the third sense, as will be explained shortly, when we say God is one.
We mean one in the second sense. For the intent behind these words is that the world and all its constituents, rather than being individual disparate entities, are in fact part of God. This realization flows logically from the awareness of God's transcendence. For when we say that God transcends the universe, we obviously do not mean that He does not. that he does so in a physical sense, for God is not corporeal.
Rather, we mean that God, even as he is present within and throughout creation, is at the same time beyond it and unaffected by it, not at all... Bias towards the material perspective of creation. The point is that the Labavature Rebbe himself was saying. that the word ichad can have different meanings and and he's actually using it in a wider range. in a range that encompasses all of creation.
But there's another argument to be made. In traditional Judaism, You have God described as utterly transcendent, so he's not corporeal, he doesn't have a physical body. He's untouchable in that sense. He's invisible. to the natural eye.
And how does he interact with us on earth?
Well, his presence on the earth, his manifest presence on the earth, is called his shechinah. which Christians often know is Shekinah, but the Hebrew is Shekinah.
So his shechinah is his manifest presence on earth.
Now there are other aspects of God's presence and activity on earth that are described in different ways. But there is Jewish tradition that says that the Shechinah goes with Israel into exile. And until the Jewish people return from exile to the Holy Land, that God will, in a sense, be. fractured in a humidity. And there are ultra-Orthodox Jews who pray on a daily basis for the, quote, reunification of the Holy One.
Because his shechinah is separate from him.
Now again, these are mystical concepts in Judaism. All I'm saying is there are aspects of God's oneness even in Judaism that are complex. Or his memorah, his word which represents him, which goes out from him. and which is involved with creation, which can be worshipped. These are other aspects of God's oneness that are expressed in Judaism.
or the tent spherote, the divine emanations that speak of how this transcendent God can ultimately interact with human beings here on earth. and yet they would all be different aspects of the one God.
However, I want to stop there. Because I don't believe the main point of Deuteronomy 6 is a philosophical discussion. of the nature of God in terms of philosophically what do we mean by one. No, the purpose of the verse is to say, He is our God, He alone, that one. Alone.
There's even a midrash, a homiletical interpretation going back to Genesis the 49th chapter. Where Jacob, as he's prophesying over his sons and telling them what's going to happen in Acharite Yamim in the latter days. detects idolatry in their midst. And you're going to worship idols, so there's idolatry here. And one of them says, Shema, Israel, listen, Israel.
Our father is speaking to him, the man. Listen, Israel. The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. In other words, he's the only one that we worship.
Now Let me put a couple of graphics up here for you. The new Jewish Publication Society version from 1985 and then subsequent revisions. This is how they translate Shema Israel Abdana Lehinim Abdana Chad. Hero Israel. The Lord is our God, the Lord alone.
This is probably the most widely used Jewish translation of our day. We're certainly in recent decades. Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord. alone. In other words, that one alone, ichad, can be used in that sense.
And I believe that is the better way to translate this.
So even in the New Testament where it's affirmed that he is one God, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one, meaning he alone, this one God, is the God that we worship.
So in the footnote in the New Jewish Publication Society version, it says compare Roshbaum. and Ibn Ezra. And then they say others translate the Lord our God, the Lord is one. But what they say is the more accurate translation is the Lord alone.
So here's Ibn Azra. For those that can read Hebrew, I put the Hebrew text up here along with the English. All right, but I'll read the English and the Hebrew is below. where uh where he starts with there's vahatam levado and the meaning of levado so He says the name Yahweh was repeated in order to state Yahweh Echad, the Lord is one, the meaning of which is only Yahweh, only Hashem. He says this, there are many proofs.
that Yahweh alone is God. The verse states that in that day the Lord shall be one. Echad, Zechariah 14, 9, speaks of men's thoughts. In my opinion, the word one is connected to the word king, for Scripture writes, And the Lord shall be king over all the earth, in that day shall the Lord alone be king and his name one. The latter is similar in meaning.
2. For then I will turn to the peoples to pure language, that they may call upon the name of the Lord. Behold, all the nations will speak one language. The name of the Lord will therefore be one. And then Roshbam.
So these are some of the major Jewish traditional commentaries. Roshbaum. And again, I've got the Hebrew here on the bottom for those that can read Hebrew and want to look at that. The Lord is one. Him alone we shall serve.
And we shall not join any other God with him in service, not even by engaging in divination or sorcery, as I explained. Above Alright, so hear it once more. Hero Israel. The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. When you look at the Ten Commandments, what does God say?
Don't make any other image. Don't make anything. resembling anything on the earth to worship me. Don't do that. and then have no other gods, have no other gods before me.
And when you go through the prophets, that's the constant message. He alone is our God. He alone is our God. Worship no other gods. That's what the Shema is saying.
He alone is our God. And even to say the Lord is achad, I believe that with every fiber of my being, and Yeshua reaffirmed that. And the teaching of the entire Bible says the same thing. There is one God, one God only. He is one, not many different gods as to his nature.
He is complex. in his unity. And remember, he transcends our thoughts in ways beyond anything we can imagine.
So we bow down and worship what is revealed about him, understanding that our little human minds can only grasp so much of who God is in his greatness and his infinitude.
So we bow down and worship the one true God.
