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Podcast Introduction

Today is MONDAY, the day we read from the Law. We’ll read Deuteronomy 4-6  I’m calling today’s episode “The Unified One.“

Comments on Deuteronomy 6

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. 

Since Jesus said that this is the greatest commandment, we should understand it as clearly as possible, don’t you think?

We haven’t talked much about the concept of the Trinity on the show. But this verse seems like a good place to spend a few minutes on the subject. Many of you probably have a pretty good grasp on the idea of a triune God, but I know that there are some ls fam members who are fairly new to Christianity, and this is such an important topic that I do want to at least touch on it. This won’t be an in depth word study, but more like a 30,000 foot flyover view.

So you might ask, “What about Jesus and the Holy Spirit? They’re Gods, aren’t they?” No. No they are not. And what I mean by that is that they are not *separate* Gods. 

And this is where the idea of the Trinity comes in. 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. 

It can be difficult to get your head around, so let’s look at the word that was used in the original language, Hebrew, for the English word “one”. Here in Deuteronomy 6:4, the Hebrew word echad is used. “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is echad!” Echad refers to a single item made up of multiple parts, also called a “unified one.” 

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: The Young’s Literal translation says: “…and there is an evening, and there is a morning — day one.” It was one day, with two parts: evening and morning. Echad day.

Genesis 2:24: Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. Echad flesh

In Exodus 26:6 “6 And you shall make fifty clasps of gold, and couple t