THE SHEMA
by Charlene Hios
Sh’ma Yisrael Adonai Elohenu Adonai echad
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one” (Deuteronomy 6:4).
The shema is a short but potent command which God gave to the Israelites through Moses as they were preparing to enter into the Promised Land. Through the centuries it has become an integral part of Jewish prayers, a vital element of Jewish daily lives. It has been recited since early Talmudic times as the opener to a more complete set of verses - Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and 11:13-21. It is written and placed on the threshold of their living quarters, and some literally follow God’s command to write it down and wear it on their hands and foreheads (Deut. 6:8-9).
Here in the shema we find a significant fundamental doctrinal truth. We also find a resultant obligation. Verse 5 says,
V’ahavta et Adonai Elohecha b’chol l’vav’cha u’v’chol nafsh’cha vu’chol m’odecha.
“You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”
The Hebrew word shema means ‘hear,’ yet at the same time it demands that the hearer respond with her or his total being, a response of obedience:
- Respond to the command from the covenant God Yahweh
- Respond to the creator God Elohim
- Respond by loving the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might
The LORD is the name for our covenant God Yahweh
- who revealed Himself to Moses in the burning bush
- whose name “I AM” Jesus claimed for himself: ego ami in Koine Greek
When Jesus was asked which is the greatest commandment, the shema was his response! He freely stated this knowing that the monotheism of this statement was not a threat to His deity. The use of the Hebrew word echad for ‘one’ is not defined in the absolute singular as it appears to be in the English. The use of echad reveals a compound unity. In no way does the shema contradict the doctrine of the trinity. The first use of echad comes into play in Genesis 2:24 when the man and the woman became one flesh yet still two separate beings. The shema teaches us that God is a unity within Himself (God-Elohim), yet the main thrust of the shema is to emphasize the absolute uniqueness of Yahweh (LORD). “There is none like Him.”
The entire message of Scripture is built upon the shema. The Bible leaves us with no doubt that man is no longer able to love or to worship God in the way that God originally intended. Why? It is because of our fallen and sinful nature, because of our corrupt heart.
How fitting and how necessary it is then that the Son of God should obey the demands of the shema on our behalf. The all encompassing love of our God required by the Law found the perfect expression in our representative before our Heavenly Father, the sinless Messiah, the Lamb of God. He, Jesus, fulfilled God’s requirement on our behalf. It is through Jesus that we are able to relate to the shema in a vital and meaningful way.
In Deuteronomy 30 Moses wrote of a time when God, having circumcised the hearts of His people, would enable them to love Him with all their heart, with all their soul, and with all their might. Today, under the New Covenant, under our spiritual rebirth through Christ Jesus, through the inward change (circumcision) of our heart, we experience the shema!
We hear, therefore we must be obedient! “Hear O’ Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone!"
