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Are you ready to worship? A checklist

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , on September 21, 2008|

Now “worship” can be a big word. It can refer to the entirety of the way we live our lives; the decisions we make and the behavior we exhibit. But I’m thinking more specifically of when we come to praise God, to pray to God and to listen to his word, whether that be personal worship or communal like we do each Sunday.

I would like to share with you about how to be prepared for these times of worship so that you can enter into it fully, freely, meaningfully and powerfully. I hope that this is something you can use as a tool to examine yourself; a checklist of seven items. (more…)

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God Doesn’t Sleep

Posted in Psalm 121, tagged , on July 27, 2008|

Let’s begin by reading Psalm 121:

“I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.”

Sleep is an odd thing really. Have you ever thought about it? I think about it from time to time. Why did God make us so that we need to sleep? I’m assuming that God could have made us differently, but he didn’t.

  • We spend 1/3 of our lives asleep
  • A person of 70 years has slept 204,400 hours

Yet without sleep, we get sick, mentally ill and we will even  die.

But my point today is that God doesn’t sleep. This comes from our Scripture reading – “He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.” – Psalm 121:3-4

Now false gods may sleep . . . in that they don’t answer or respond to people. Remember the story of Elijah? He challenged the priests of Baal and they all gathered together to see which god would answer by sending fire to consume the offerings. And when the priests of Baal called out nothing happened. And so Elijah taunted them saying of Baal – “Either he is musing, or he is relieving himself, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened” – 1 Kings 18:27.

The true God may seem to be asleep in that God doesn’t appear to hear us. As the Psalmist prays – “Awake! Why are you sleeping, O Lord? Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever!” – Psalm 44:23. And there are times when we struggle with God in prayer and with God’s will and timing. And we ask, “Is God listening?!”

But, as our text tells us . . .

God Doesn’t Sleep!

  • God is always active and busy for our well being
  • God is awake and working, even while we sleep

So lets look at what this means: God is active for us even when we sleep

1. God watches over us as we sleep

When we sleep we are weak and vulnerable. So in Old Testament times you needed a watchman who stayed up during the night to look out for enemies and attack. Even if you lived in a walled city, there needed to be watchmen on the wall.

The night is also a time of evil. We know that “darkness” is used as an image of evil in Scripture. And we know that we are more susceptible to fear of the demonic at night.

The point of Psalm 121 in saying that God will not slumber is that God is watching over us to protects us. God is our watchman. Six times Psalm 121 says, in one way or another, that God will “keep us.” This means that:

  • God will oversee us as we sleep and are vulnerable
  • God will protect us from any evil of the darkness

Because of this we do not need to fear, but can have peace:
– Psalm 91:5 says, “You will not fear the terror of the night . . ..” Why? Because God is our refuge and fortress; our shelter, the Psalm tells us. It is like we are sleeping in God’s house.
– Our own Psalm 121:6 says, “The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.” The moon here is seen as a sinister or even demonic power. But God is our protector.

So we can sleep peacefully knowing that God is protecting us:

  • “I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the Lord sustained me” – Psalm 3:5. God kept him from danger.
  • “In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.” – Psalm 4:8.

2. God can minister to us in the night

We may be trying to rest, we might be asleep or half asleep, but God can do work in our lives.

Psalm 16:7 says, “I bless the Lord who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me.” Job 35:10 says, God gives “songs in the night.” 

And there are many examples in the scriptures of how God speaks to us in dreams. Job 33:15-16 says, “In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on men, while they slumber on their beds, then God opens the ears of men and terrifies them with warnings.”

3. God provides for our needs as we sleep

Psalm 127:2 says, “It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.” This last phrase can be translated differently. I prefer the alternative that shows up in some translations or the footnotes of others (NRSV) “he provides for his beloved during sleep.” This fits the context best.

The point of the verse is that we don’t need to wear ourselves out with our work. God is busy providing for our needs, even while we sleep.

And beyond our work – we can let go of our burdens and anxieties for tomorrow and next week and next month. We can let go and rest because God is busy working on all this even as we rest.

God is taking care of us 24/7 with no sleep, and no vacations. The point of all this is to say that God is always there for us!

Isn’t our God great in power that he needs no rest? And isn’t our God merciful to us, working on our behalf even as we sleep? Let us be thankful to the Lord. We serve a good and powerful God!

I would like us to end with a benediction based on Psalm 121:7-8: May the Lord keep you from all evil; May the Lord keep your life. May the Lord keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.

William Higgins

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Are You Ready for a Visit from God?

Posted in Luke 19, Revelation 3, tagged , , , on March 16, 2008|

 In the story of the triumphal entry, on Palm Sunday, Jesus is presenting himself as a king to the capital of his people – Jerusalem. But then, in Luke’s telling of the story, Jesus pauses before he enters the city and speaks. And this is what I want us to look at today under the title “Are You Ready for a Visit from God?”

Luke 19:41-44 – “And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, ‘Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.’”

I would like to pick up on this last phrase “the time of your visitation”  to make the point that . . .

This was a visitation from God

God was coming to Jerusalem in the coming of Jesus. Now this idea is not new. God “visiting” people is a regular theme in Scripture:

  • The exodus – when God came to see Israel’s suffering in Egypt and deliver them – this is called a visitation of God in Genesis 50:25.
  • The return from exile in Babylon is a visitation of God. Jeremiah 29:10 says, “For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place.” And God brought them back to Judah.
  • The second coming – when Jesus will return and all humanity will stand before him is called “the day of visitation” in 1 Peter 2:12.

God doesn’t just visit in these big kinds of events. God also visits people throughout the course of history, even just individuals:

  • Ruth 1:6 says, Ruth heard that  “the Lord had visited his people and given them food” – at a time of famine. God provided for his people in a specific situation.
  • Luke 7:16 notes that the people said “God has visited his people!” when Jesus raised a young man from the dead.
  • Acts 15:14 speaks of the giving of the Spirit to Cornelius and his family as a visit from God. 

As you can see, God does various things in his visits – acts of mercy and salvation, the giving of the Spirit, miracles, and provision of needs. In other places, that we could look at, God even comes to visit judgment on people. God does various things when he comes for a visit.

In our story, on Palm Sunday, God is coming to give them “peace.” This word means wholeness and blessing; it means salvation. Jesus is coming to fulfill the promises of God to his people. But . . .

Jerusalem wasn’t ready for God’s visit

They were clueless. Jesus already knew this. He had already predicted before – “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed . . .” – Luke 9:22.  And all this in Jerusalem.

So he knew they weren’t aware of what God was doing:

  • As he says in v. 42 –  “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.”
  • And he says in v. 44  – “you did not know the time of your visitation”

They didn’t know what was going on.  As a result of this, they don’t receive Jesus, or the peace he brings. As the story goes on to tell, they oppose what God is trying to do through Jesus.

Instead of peace (because they weren’t ready and opposed Jesus) they receive God’s judgment. Luke 19:43-44 says, “For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you . . ..”

This is a reference to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD about 40 years later. This was a horrendous event where many hundreds of thousands died and the city was destroyed. This is prophesied here by Jesus and carried out by the Roman armies.

And this causes Jesus to weep, as v. 41 says, “when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it.” He knew what was coming.

This is a sad story from history, but we shouldn’t let it stop there – thinking only of the past and of other people. Because this has to do with us. And we can learn from this. That’s because –

God still visits us today

I am sure we can each testify of times when God has visited our lives. How God has come to us in a powerful way and has blessed us. But God doesn’t just visit us as individuals. God also visits churches. And this is what I am focusing on today.

An example of this is Revelation 3:20. Jesus says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.” This is a familiar passage. This is not talking about an individual being saved (despite any sermons you may have heard or tracts you have seen). This is Jesus talking to a whole congregation – the church of Laodicea. His purpose is to get them back on track again with their Christian lives and to remold their Christian community.

And this is framed in visitation language. Jesus is visiting them – coming by for supper – as it were. God visits us as congregations.

And so I ask – “Does God want to visit us at Cedar Street?” I don’t know what you believe, but I believe the answer is unequivocally – yes!

As we pray and seek the Lord, I believe that God has something for us.

  • I believe that God wants to bless us and give us more of his Spirit.
  • I believe that God want to show us more of who he is and do great things in our midst.
  • I believe God wants to bring his salvation to us and through us to others.
  • I believe that God wants to challenge us, to move us out of our ruts and comfort zones and push us forward.

But, after reading the story of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, we have to ask ourselves – 

Are we ready?

We are not different than the people in our story – the people of Jerusalem. That is to say, we are just as capable of blowing it as they were.

The people of Jerusalem were busy with their schedules and so are we. The people of Jerusalem were satisfied with the way things were, by and large, and don’t need Jesus coming in and changing things. And so often we are satisfied with the way things are.

So what I am saying is that we need to be alert and not just coasting in our Christian lives and in our congregational discernment.

May we not be caught unaware as God seeks to move among us, as I believe he will. May God’s visit not be hidden from our eyes so that we don’t know the time of our visitation.

In the language of Revelation 3:20 May we hear Jesus’ voice when knocks on our churches door and may we let him in.

Let us be alert and let us receive what God has for us as he moves in our midst. William Higgins

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Why we should worship God

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on February 18, 2007| Leave a Comment »

I want to start a series on worship today and have us look at this theme for a few weeks.

 I shared from Psalm 95 in our praise time. Now I want to read the first seven verses. You can follow along. It’s a beautiful call to praise and worship.

Psalm 95:1-7 – “Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!  For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.”

Worship is a big word. It can really cover every area of our lives – how we act, talk – all of our obedience and submission to God. But I want to use it more specifically to refer to praise, adoration, thanksgiving, acts of devotion, and expressions of love that we offer to God. Whether we do this through prayer, saying things, silence, raising hands, bowing down, etc..

Today as we begin our series on worship I want us to focus on why we should offer up worship to God.

1. God is amazing, stunning, awe-inspiring

Psalm 95:3 says, “For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.” Deuteronomy 10:17 says, “For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God.”

Not only is God awesome, God is beautiful. Psalm 27:4 says, “One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple.”

There is an amazing scene of God’s throne in heaven in Isaiah 6:1,4. This passage says, “I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple . . . And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. “

As we see from Isaiah 6 and also Revelation 4, all around the throne of God there is the constant chorus, “holy, holy, holy.” Holy means incomparably different & better than anything else around. This is what God is.

To get a sense of the awesome greatness of God, when people see just a glimpse of God, it is overwhelming (and more than a glimpse can be fatal). Here are some examples:

  • Israel: In Exodus 19–20 God appeared in clouds, smoke, fire, thunder and lightening. God shook the earth and there was the sound of a trumpet. Then in chapter 20:18-19 the people were afraid trembled and stood far off. They said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.”
  • Moses: In Exodus 33:17-23 God showed him his glory. But Moses had to be put in a protective place – the cleft of a rock. And he had to have his face covered by God’s hand. Only then could he look at God’s back, lest he die.
  • Temple priests: 2 Chronicles 5:13-14 tells us about the dedication of Solomon’s temple. As the gathered crowed praised God, God appeared and filled the temple as with a cloud, “so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God.”
  • Peter, James, John: In Matthew 17 the story is told of Jesus’ transfiguration. These there disciples were able to see Jesus’ glory. Peter was confused. And then God appeared in a bright cloud that overshadowed them and spoke. It says that they “fell on their faces and were terrified.”
  • John: In Revelation 1:17 John saw the glorified Jesus. And he fell down as if he were dead!

Nothing and no one compares to God! If you have not experienced the presence of God – God’s beauty and awesome power, well you have to experience it to know what I’m talking about. It is truly mind blowing. When you do experience it, you cannot, not acknowledge the greatness and beauty of God, as you are awed and overwhelmed.

2. God has a right to our praise

Psalm 95 also helps us see this. Vs. 4-6 say, “In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also. The sea is his.” If we ask why is it his? It goes on and tells us, “for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land.”

Then it comes to us: “Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!” God is our Maker. And so God has a right to our worship as our Creator. Since God created us, every gift we have, every talent we possess and every good thing about us comes from God.

I Corinthians 5:7 says, “What do you have that you did not receive?” that is, from God. James 1:17 says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father.” But even more basically, we should give thanks just for the chance to live and breath and experience life. It is not owed to us, God did not have to make us. It is a gift from our creator. We literally owe God everything. And so certainly we owe our worship – our thanks and praise.

3. We should be grateful for all that God does for us

God is not just amazingly awesome, not only does he deserve our praise for creating us, he deserves our praises because of all that he does for us:

Once again Psalm 95 gets us started. Psalm 95:1 says, “Come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!” We praise God because God saves us in our times of trouble. He is our rock of salvation.

Psalm 145 describe some of God’s deeds, and his character revealed in his actions toward us.

  • v. 8 – “The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.”
  • v. 9 – “The Lord is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made.”
  • v. 14 – “The Lord upholds all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down.”
  • v. 15 – “The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season.”
  • v. 17 – “The Lord is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works.”
  • v. 18 – “The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.”
  • v. 19 – “He fulfills the desire of those who fear him; he also hears their cry and saves them.”

God is not only good to us, God is good to us beyond what we deserve because of our sin, rebellion and lack of concern for God. Yet God cares for us, provides for us, and hears our prayers.

 

So for all these reasons:

  • because God is amazing,
  • because God created us and we owe it to our creator,
  • and because God blesses us constantly with kindness and goodness.

we should praise God!

But remember this, God is so great, that even if we fail to do what we should, creation itself will have enough sense to pick up the chorus. As Jesus says in Luke 19:40,  “I tell you, if these people were silent, the very stones would cry out” in praise to God. (Psalm 19). We don’t want to be outdone by rocks!

William Higgins

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Love God! Deuteronomy 6

Posted in Deuteronomy 6, tagged , , , , on February 11, 2007|

We are continuing to look at the Shema this week, the name for Deuteronomy 6:4-5:

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”

Last week we talked about how v. 4 of the Shema teaches that there is only one true God. And since there is only one true God we should beware of the lure of false gods, who seek to take away our allegiance with their promises of help and hope when, in fact, only the true God can truly meet our needs.

Today we want to look more at verse 5 and loving God.

1. What it means to “love” God

In America we usually think of love as an emotion. Then we apply this to God. To love God then means that we

  • feel good about God
  • like God
  • have warm feelings for God
  • feel attached to God

In the Scriptures, however, loving God is about loyalty that issues in obedience to God. In Deuteronomy love of God and obedience to God go hand in hand.

  • Deuteronomy 11:1 – “You shall therefore love the Lord your God and keep his charge, his statutes, his rules, and his commandments always.”
  • Deuteronomy 11:13 – “And if you will indeed obey my commandments that I command you today, to love the Lord your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul . . .”

Jesus confirms this connection in John 14:15. He says, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”

John says this – “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments.” –  1 John 5:3

So love is certainly not just an emotion. It has to do with things like:

  • commitment
  • devotion
  • and loyalty

all of which lead to obedience. It’s a choice we make to do what God says. That’s why we can’t say, ‘I don’t feel like loving God today.’ You choose to love God day in and day out, whether you feel like it or not, by walking in his ways.

2. The Shema calls us to complete love of God

This comes out in the words used in Deuteronomy 6 – “heart,” “soul,” and “might.” This covers every part of us, from our inner person to our physical strength.

Actually, when the Shema gets repeated, the descriptions  of the parts of us change:

  • Deuteronomy 6 – (Hebrew text): heart, soul, might
  • Deuteronomy 6 – (Greek text): mind, soul, strength
  • Jesus in Mark 12: heart, soul, mind strength
  • The scribe in Mark 12: heart, the understanding, strength
  • Jesus in Matthew 22: heart, soul, mind
  • The scribe in Luke 10: heart, soul, strength, mind

Different parts of us are mentioned, with different words and in different orders. The point, however, in all of these is the same – we are to love God with our whole person, with every part of us, however you want to say that.

But not only are we to love God with every part of us, we are to love God with all of every part of us. V. 5 says, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”Not a portion of each part of us, but all of each part of us.

You can’t say it more clearly. The Shema calls us to complete love for God.

3. The greatest temptation is to try to love Yahweh and another god

It is often not choosing between Yahweh or another god, but between serving Yahweh alone or Yahweh along with another god or gods. A little background here. In a world where there were many gods/idols, you need several gods to get all the help you need; to cover all the bases.

  • one for good crops
  • one for fertility
  • one for warfare
  • one for healing

What this means is that you have to give a part of your devotion to all of these gods, in order to get what you need. Many gods equals many loves.

This is why the Shema is the way it is. V. 4 teaches us first of all that there is one only true God, who can care for all of our needs. Then v. 5 calls us to love the true God will all of our heart, soul, and strength.

Since there is only one God, there is need for only one love on our part. We don’t need to divide our loyalties to this god for this thing and other gods for other things.

This was the constant temptation of Israel – to serve Yahweh, but also another god. They believed in Yahweh but would sneak along another idol for a particular need, where they weren’t sure Yahweh could take care of them.

But we do the same thing, for instance with wealth. God can take care of us, but I will also pile up a load of wealth – just in case.

But as Jesus so clearly teaches us, you can’t be loyal to two gods at once. “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” – Matthew 6:24. You have to choose. If you don’t you will just end up despising your heavenly Father.

——————-

So I like to say the Shema in my prayer times and in corporate worship, to remind us that we have one true God. And to call us to give our whole selves to this God, who can care for all of our needs. It is a kind of pledge of allegiance for followers of Jesus.

William Higgins

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Notes on the Shema

Posted in Deuteronomy 6, tagged , on February 5, 2007|

1. Where does the verb go?

Deuteronomy 6:4 literally says, “Yahweh our God, Yahweh one” or without the divine name, “The LORD our God, the LORD one.” There are a number of ways to translate this. You have to supply the verb “is.” But this is done differently.

  • Some put the verb between the two phrases, like the KJV – “The LORD our God is one LORD”
  • Some put it in the first phrase, like the NRSV – “The LORD is our God, the LORD alone.”
  • Some put it in both phrases, like the NASB – “The LORD is our God, the LORD is one!”
  • Some put it in the last phrase, like the ESV – “The LORD our God, the LORD is one.”

I would argue for the last option. Here are the reasons:

1. With regard to the first phrase – in the other 22 instances in Deuteronomy where “our God” is used with “Yahweh,” “God” is never the predicate to “Yahweh. (This is also true when the much more numerous -“your God” is placed with “Yahweh”). This would be the only instance in Deuteronomy of this.

2. In the Greek version of the Old Testament (LXX), the verb is with the second phrase. This is also true in the Nash Papyrus, Targum Neofiti and the Peshitta.

3. In the New Testament the verb is always with the second phrase. This is so in the discussion on Deuteronomy 6:4 between Jesus and the scribe in Mark 12:29, 32. And it is also so in various allusions to the Shema where the phrase “God is one” is used (for “the LORD is one”) – James 2:19, Galatians 3:20, Romans 3:20.

4. Zechariah 14:9 places the verb (a future tense) with the second phrase – “Yahweh will be one . . ..”

2. What does “Yahweh is one” mean?

“One” should be taken in the sense of ‘one and only.’ The sense of the phrase, “Yahweh is one” is – ‘Yahweh is [our] one [God]’ or ‘Yahweh is [our] only [God].’

Several things point to this meaning:

1. The focus of Deuteronomy is not on the nature of God (how God is internally structured) or even on monotheism (there are no other gods), but rather on Yahweh’s exclusive claim on Israel as their only true God.

Deuteronomy 6:4 is really another way of saying the first commandment, “You shall have no other gods before me.” You are to have only Yahweh as your God; Yahweh is to be the one,  and the only one.

2. This is the sense of Zechariah 14:9 – “On that day the Lord will be one and his name one.” This is a reference back to Deuteronomy 6:4. As the first part of the verse says, “the Lord will be king over all the earth.” It speaks to a time when only Yahweh will be acknowledged as God.

3. In the New Testament, the phrases – “there is one God” and “there is no God but one” are explications of the phrase – “The LORD is one” or as it shows up in the New Testament, “God is one.”

  • I Corinthians 8:4-6 – “Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that ‘an idol has no real existence,’ and that ‘there is no God but one.’ For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many ‘gods’ and many ‘lords’ – yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist . . ..” The phrases “there is no God, but one” and “there is one God” allude to the Shema and mean there is only one true God.
  • Ephesians 4:4-6 – “There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” The phrase “(There is . . .) one God and Father of all” is an allusion to the Shema and means that there is only one true God.
  • I Timothy 2:5 – “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus . . ..” The phrase “there is one God” is an allusion to the Shema and means that there is only one true God.

4. In Jesus’ discussion with the scribe on the Shema, “God is one” means there is only one true God. After Jesus quotes the Shema, the scribe summarizes it as follows – “You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him” – Mark 12:32. “God is one” means “there is no other besides him.” And Jesus approves of this. So the sense is that the Lord is our only God.

[Note also the references to the “only God” in the New Testament, which are almost certainly allusions to the Shema – John 5:44; 1 Timothy 1:17; Jude 1:25.]

To put it all together Deuteronomy 6:4 can be rendered, “Yahweh our God, Yahweh is our only God.”

3. The Shema in Judaism

I am referring to the Shema and only referencing Deuteronomy 6:4-5. This is based on what is quoted by Jesus in Mark 12. (Although this doesn’t mean that he was giving the whole Shema in this discussion).

Apparently the Shema was originally Deuteronomy 6:4-9. Later, after the time of Jesus, Deuteronomy 11:13-21 and Numbers 15:37-41 became a part of the Shema. Also, the phrase “Blessed be the Name of His glorious kingdom for ever and ever” was added after saying Deuteronomy 6:4.

William Higgins

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There is Only One True God. Deuteronomy 6:4-5

Posted in Deuteronomy 6, tagged , , , on February 4, 2007|

Let’s begin by all saying these verses together – “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” – Deuteronomy 6:4-5

Today we are looking at a very important text, which in Jewish tradition is called the “Shema,” from the first word – “hear,” which in Hebrew is “shema.”

1. The importance of the Shema

When a passage has its own name, you know it must be significant – you know, the golden rule, the ten commandments. And this passage is indeed important

  • It summarizes the central message of the Old Testament – there is one true God.
  • It is a restatement of the first of the ten commandments and the one upon which all the others are built – “you shall have no other gods before me.”
  • Jesus calls it the greatest commandment in Mark 12:28-30. Jesus was asked, “’Which commandment is the most important of all?’ Jesus answered, ‘The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’”

The central importance of this passage was recognized, in that it was said twice a day by devout Jews (with other texts that call the people of God to true loyalty); once in the morning and once in the evening.

Early Jewish Christians, and I do not doubt Jesus himself, would have engaged in this practice as well. It is a continual remembrance of the true God, and a call to faithfulness. It is a practice that I would like for us to use as well, at least from time to time in our worship services.

Next, a question –

2. What does “the Lord is one” mean?

Next week we will ask the question, ‘What does it mean to love God . . .?’ from verse 5. But today we look at the first part in  v. 4 – “The Lord our God, the Lord is one.”

Alright, let’s break this down and look at it, and I will ask you to bear with me as we work through this.

First of all, literally it says, “Yahweh our God, Yahweh one.” Notice that the personal name, “Yahweh,” is replaced by “Lord” in our translations, out of reverence for the divine name. It shows up in our English translations as the word “LORD” in all capital letters. So when you see this it means “Yahweh.”

Also, note that there is no verb in the original. It has to be supplied. Without getting into the details, the best solution is to insert “is” in the last phrase – “Yahweh our God, Yahweh is one.” [See – Notes on the Shema]

So we have “Yahweh/God is one.” But what does this mean? In later church history this caused much speculation about the nature of God, or how God is put together. Speculations that go beyond what the Scriptures have to say.

In Scripture, there is a much more basic concern. In the context of Deuteronomy 6, Yahweh is presented as Israel’s one & only God. The point is that Yahweh has an exclusive claim on Israel as their only God.

Similarly, when the Shema shows up in the New Testament, the point is that there is only one true God. Here are some examples from the New Testament. Paul gives us a version of the Shema in 1 Corinthians 8:5-6. He says, “For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many ‘gods’ and many ‘lords’— yet for us there is one God.” In this passage Paul understands “Yahweh/God is one” as “there is one (true) God.”

In Mark 12:32, after Jesus speaks of the Shema, the scribe rephrases what Jesus has just said in these words, “You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him.” And Jesus approves of this. The phrase, “God/he is one” is he same as saying, “there is no other beside him,” that is, that there is only one God.

So you can see in these examples that the phrase, “Yahweh/God is one” is the same as saying ‘there is only one true God.’ It can be translated literally as “Yahweh our God – Yahweh is our only God.” Or it can be translated, “The Lord our God, the Lord is our only God.” The point is that only Yahweh is to be our God.

Now, you might be thinking to yourself,

3. What about Jesus?

Just a word here. The apostolic writers were adamant that there is one true God, the Father. But they went on to say that Jesus, the Savior, is God’s Son. They even used the Shema to confess this belief:

  • 1 Corinthians 8:6 says,  “. . . there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist” and then Paul goes on to say, “and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.”
  • 1 Timothy 2:5-6 says, “For there is one God” and then it says, “and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all.”

So, there is only one God, but they added that Jesus is God’s Son, come in the flesh and is Lord of all. That’s where the Scriptures leave it. And that’s where we’ll leave it for now.

Alright, getting into some application here –

4. The Shema calls us to beware of false gods

It’s trying to get us to understand – “Hear!” “Listen!” That’s why its repeated so often – morning and evening. Remember that there are other gods that want our allegiance! As Paul said in I Corinthians 8:5, “indeed there are many ‘gods’ and many ‘lords’” out there. So we need to beware.

A “god” uses their powers to give us help and peace in exchange for our allegiance, service and honor. We don’t have many literal idols around, or even things that we literally would say are gods. But there are still many gods and lords today.

Once could be your country, depending on your attitude toward it. Do you look to it for your help and security? Do you listen to it even when it tells you to do what is against the way of Jesus? We need to remember Acts 5:29, where Peter said, “we must obey God rather than men.”

Perhaps it’s drugs & alcohol. Do you look to these to solve your problems, or make them go away? Do you sacrifice of yourself and your family to serve them, to obtain them?

Maybe it’s possessions and wealth. Jesus talks about this as a god in Matthew 6:24. And I think it is the most dangerous and alluring god in America. Do you think having more money and possessions, will give you peace and solve your problems? Do you devote yourself to obtaining it, storing it up and protecting it so it will give you security against the future?

A god can be almost anything – a person, our career, popularity or acceptance with a peer group. What do you look to, to provide for you, give you peace, protect you, make your problems go away, give your life meaning? What do you serve? What are you willing to sacrifice for above the true God? There is your god!

What is yours?

The Shema calls you to set any such god aside and give yourself fully to the true God, to trust in God and to serve God with your whole heart.

Finally, since there is only one true God,

5. Only the true God is able to truly give us the help and peace we need

In speaking of idolatry, Jeremiah 2:13 says, “for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.”

The gods, although they seem to promise so much, are broken cisterns; cracked containers that can’t hold water. They can’t truly satisfy us. We end up thirsting to death if we rely on them because they don’t deliver.

Only the true God can give us what we so desperately need. God is the “fountains of living water.” How futile it is that we go around seeking after other gods, giving them our service and obedience, when only the true God can meet our deepest  needs.

I would like us to end by standing and saying together a paraphrase of the Shema:

‘Father, you alone are God and we give ourselves fully to you. We choose not to give any part of ourselves to other gods. We commit to love you with all that we have, and all that we are.’

William Higgins

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