Thoughts

In chapter 6, verses 4 and 5, Moses is telling the children of Israel the Great Commandment, the one that encompasses all the others. It’s the commandment that Jesus quoted when the Pharisees asked Him which was the greatest of all the commandments. 

4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. 

Deuteronomy 6:4-5 NKJV

Differences Matter

I’m going to talk a bit about this, but before I do that, look at verse 4 from the Good News Translation:

4“Israel, remember this! The Lord—and the Lord alone—is our God. 

Did you see the difference? New King James Version says, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one!” The GNT said, ““Israel, remember this! The Lord—and the Lord alone—is our God.”

“The Lord is one” vs “the Lord alone.”

Beloved, in the vast majority of verses, when you compare translations, the meaning of the verse does  not change. Different words can carry the same meaning. But in this extremely important verse, the meaning is entirely different. 

“The Lord alone” means, “the Lord and only the Lord. No other god.” Would you agree?

“The Lord is one,” means the Lord is one. There are not multiple gods. There is only one god. Would you agree to that?

It’s a very important point, beloved. Judaism and Christianity are monotheistic religions. We do not have multiple gods.

How Many? One? Two? Three?

So now, this begs the question, “What about Jesus and the Holy Spirit? They’re Gods, aren’t they?” No. No they are not. 

We need to talk about the Trinity. Orthodox Christianity, or traditional Christianity if you prefer, believes that God is a Trinity, that there are three distinct persons who are together, one God. Not three Gods. One God. 

What Is A Trinity?

I can be difficult to get your head around, so let’s look at the word that was used in the original language for the English word “one”. Here in Deuteronomy 6:4, the Hebrew word echad is used. Echad refers to a single item made up of multiple parts. The word for a single item made up only of one thing is yacheed.

Are there other places in the Bible that the word echad is used? Yep. Let’s look at a few.

The first time we see echad is Genesis 1:5: So the evening and the morning were the first day. One day, two parts: evening and morning.

In Exodus 26:6 “6 And you shall make fifty clasps of gold, and couple the curtains together with the clasps, so that it may be one tabernacle.” Obviously, the Tabernacle was made up of many parts, but here it is called one tabernacle.

Listen to Ezekiel 37:15-17: “15Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 16“As for you, son of man, take a stick for yourself and write on it: ‘For Judah and for the children of Israel, his companions.’ Then take another stick and write on it, ‘For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel, his companions.’ 17Then join them one to another for yourself into one stick, and they will become one in your hand.” Two sticks become echad.

So the idea of three persons in echad God is not foreign to Scripture. 

One God, Three Persons

Also, the phrase used here in this verse, “The LORD our God”. The Hebrew word for God here is Elohim. This is a plural word. And listen to this. A Rabbi by the name of Simeon ben Joachi said the following about the word Elohim: “Come and see the mystery of the word Elohim; there are three degrees, and each degree by itself alone, and yet notwithstanding they are all one, and joined together in one, and are not divided from each other.” 

One final reference, though there are dozens more. In Genesis 1:26 we read, “Then God said, “Let us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness…” The word for God used is Elohim. Let Us. Our image. Our likeness. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit were all present at the creation, as One God. 

At Jesus’ baptism, the Holy Spirit descended from Heaven like a dove, and the Father spoke, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

We have so many verses that teach us that God is One, and in Him are three distinct persons.

There are those who misunderstand or who do not want to understand this concept, but it is important for believers to at least trust that this is true, by faith. 

I hope you have found this to be interesting, if not enlightening. 

Today’s Bible Translation

Bible translation used in today’s episode: Ch. 4 CEB, Ch. 5 NIRV, Ch. 6 GNT

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