The Lord He is One

The expectations of this life socially and otherwise can be spiritually dizzying, distracting and leave us feeling fragmented and exhausted.

Matthew 11:²⁸ Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. ^"My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

I ask myself at times whose yoke it is I am wearing or who I am serving when the burdens in life feel neither easy nor light.

The Shema (means to hear) is recited and considered the most important prayer by Jews:

^{(first part) Deuteronomy 6:4} “Hear (Shema שמע), O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one ("Echad" אחד)

In the ancient world of polytheism people were required to serve, appease, and please many gods. God calls His people to worship Him alone in this scriptural command. We may not have wooden statues we worship but it is my guess by the level of distraction in the modern church and more than likely in our own lives we are seeking to please and appease more than just our one God. Maybe its the opinions of men, family members, co-workers, or church people. I know people pleasing is a big problem for many of us. It was one of the biggest problems of the religious rulers of Jesus' time. They did things to be seen by men and to be thought highly of by them, or maybe our god is our own belly (Phil. 3:19) or our fleshly desires

The Hebrew word for "one" is "Echad" and is closely related to the word for unite

^{Psalm 86:11} Teach me Your way, O LORD; I will walk in Your truth; Unite ("Yechad" יחד) my heart to fear Your name.

We see from the above verse that our fragmented hearts have to be united and become single in loyalty and purpose.

^{Matthew 6:22}The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.

The greek word for "single" in this verse, according to "Strong's Concordance" means: undivided, focused, without a double agenda, needlessly distracted, without folds, uncomplicated.

" the mind has two objects in view, a legal intention to serve God, but an ultimate intention to serve self." ~ Charles Finney

I find many times the double agenda going on in my heart of trying to please both God and man or God and myself. This is truly exhausting.

^{Colossians 3:22}Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God;

It would uncomplicate many things in life if the one and only person we desired to please was Him.

^{Psalm 27:4}One thing I have desired of the LORD, That will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD All the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the LORD, And to inquire in His temple.

This agrees with the second portion of the "Shema"

(part 2)Deut. 6:4 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.

Our heart (affections), soul (thoughts), and body (actions) need to be united in worship and purpose.

"in our vision we penetrate all things, seeing only One God at the bottom, at the top, in and through all things. We look in any direction, inward, outward, upward or downward and, as did the prophet Isaiah, we see only One -- there is no other. “Hear O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one.” ~ Fred Pruitt Word Press

I like Luke's account of Mary and Martha when Martha complains there is too much to do and her sister wouldn't help. This was Jesus' response:

Luke 10:41 "you are worried and troubled about many things. ⁴² But one thing is needed" ...sitting at His feet and hearing Him. (our undivided attention)

The Shema (The Lord is One) begins with the command to "Hear" Who we listen too largely reveals who we worship. It seems at times as if there are a thousand voices calling for our attention but as Jesus told Martha that there is only one that is necessary. Oh..if we could just get that.

This noisy fragmentation and distraction in our souls and demands of all the other voices manifests its destructiveness in our souls and spirits in even in physical ways.

The true test of our worship sometimes is who or what we run to when life contains tragedy or trial.

Psalm 22:²⁰Deliver from the sword my soul, From the paw of a dog mine only one ("Yachid" יחיד).

The above verse is from "Young's Literal Translation" Most modern translations omit the word "yachid" meaning "mine only one". This passage of scripture shows us that the Psalmist looks to "only one" to deliver him.

What if He was the "only One" we ran to for our help and hope? What if we didn't work so hard in our strength to figure everything out and try to make it work out. What if we really knew He is the only One who can truly save us in any given trial or situation.

Even when we sin it is against God more so than it is to any person we sin against. David writes this psalm in reference to his adultery with Bathsheba and having her husband killed.

Psalm 51;⁴ Against You, You only, have I sinned

The pictograph for "one" gives us some further insight to "one's" meaning.

The first letter is an Aleph is a picture of an ox and represents the idea of something strong and leading also it also represents the will. Our will strongly leads us to our loyalties. Are our loyalties one and undivided?

Aleph is the first letter of the Hebrew Aleph-Bet and represented by the number 1 which contains the idea of unity, singleness of purpose.

Malachi 2:10 Has not one God created us?

In the Jewish version of the ten (sayings) commandments. The first one is

"I am YHWH your Elohim (God)"

It is the acknowledgment of and the faith in the one and only God that enables us to obey the rest of the commands.

Also Aleph being first can mean just that. We must put God first in all things.

The three letters of this word also correspond with the three shepherds describing one Jesus in the New Testament. (Chief, Good, and Great)

^{John 10:16} And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.

Again we see the combination of "one" shepherd in three descriptions and the importance of hearing His voice.

I also notice in John 10:16 He says "they will hear My voice" Aleph being strong and leading also refers to the "will" God being one to us requires the cooperation and action of our our will. We must consciously decide to put Him first.

Deuteronomy 30:¹⁹ I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; ²⁰that you may love the LORD your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days;

The Aleph represents the Chief shepherd the strong and leading one which the picture of the ox shows us.

^{I Peter 5:4} and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.

The second letter of echad is Chet and is a represented by a fence it can communicate the idea of a protected relationship. In fact Aleph and Chet (the first two letters of echad) together spell brother.

^{Psalm 133:1} Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brethren to dwell together in unity!

Contained within this Hebrew word is a picture of oneness expressed in the bond of brothers dwelling together in unity or as one.

A fence also speaks of boundaries and can be seen as an enclosed courtyard to keep sheep in which leads to the expression of the shepherd in our second letter chet. When we live in that exclusive intimate relationship with Jesus we are enclosed in protected relationship by the "Good Shepherd" We see this intimacy and protected relationship communicated in John chapter 10

^{John 10:14} I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. ¹⁵ As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep

Chet expresses also Exclusivity of relationship. He is ours and we are His.

^{John 17:11} Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are

The final letter of the Hebrew word for "one" is "dalet" and is a picture of a door which can indicate the idea of an entrance to or path into or out of and also it comes with the idea of clinging like an ancient door to a tent. A tent door was a curtain that hung down from the top. We could think of it like our modern door how it is "hinged" so that it remains joined to the structure itself. In fact the Hebrew word for cling is "devaq" its first two letters being dalet and bet together meaning the door of a house or tent.

God being the one and only to us requires us to cleave and cling to Him. The first mention in the bible using the word cleave is in reference to the union of husband and wife.

^{Genesis 2:24} Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

Adam is commanded to prefer his wife over all others. Apart from a wife the parent/child relationship is the most closely bonded. This is an example of what God intends for us to do in our relationship with Him

^{Luke 14:26} “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.

Just like God asked Adam to leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife he is showing us that He wants us cleave to him in a way that our relationship to Him is closer than any of the others.

I can't help but think of Abraham when God asked him to sacrifice His one and only son. Abraham was cleaving to the goodness of God in His moment of decision. He showed that He preferred God's way over his own in making the promise come to pass.

Dalet represents the "Great Shepherd"

Hebrews 13: the God of the peace, who did bring up out of the dead the great shepherd of the sheep -- in the blood of an age-during covenant -- our Lord Jesus,

It is through the blood that Jesus shed that we are able to enter into covenant relationship with God.

I loved this Biblical description of cling that agrees with and compliments the concept of "one" and "unity"

Job 41:¹⁷One unto another they adhere, They stick together and are not separated

Cleaving to Him shows our love for Him and our obedience is the action that expresses clinging. Fearing Him is also included in this idea. Who we fear is who we obey. If we fear the opinions of man we will obey what we believe is pleasing to man. If we fear God we will desire to please Him and Him alone.

Deuteronomy 10:²⁰ Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God; him shalt thou serve, and to him shalt thou cleave, and swear by his name.

We serve whom we fear.

Deuteronomy 11:²²For if ye shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you, to do them, to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cleave unto him;

Cleaving to Him is an act of love

^{Deuteronomy 13:4}Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.

Everything we do is evidence of what or who we cling to.

^{Joshua 22:5}But take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law, which Moses the servant of the LORD charged you, to love the LORD your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to cleave unto him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.

Heart and soul must be united in order to cleave to Him

May we pray that God would give us a "united" heart of oneness to cling to and follow after the "One" and only true God.

Ezekiel 11:19 ¹⁹And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you

Jeremiah 32: ³⁸ They shall be My people, and I will be their God; ³⁹ then I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me forever, for the good of them and their children after them.