Our God is One

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one…” (Deuteronomy 6:4). 

The God you and I seek is the same as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He is the same Lord who came to Moses in a burning bush. When Moses was commanded by God to not only notice he belonged to God’s family, but also lead His people to freedom, Moses saw God was who He said He was. God called Himself, “I Am who I Am”.

Our God went to Moses, saw his value, and brought him back to Egypt to free His people. The God Moses is referring to in the Shema (Sh’ma) prayer is also the same God who brought Jesus into the world. He sacrificed so much for His people over time so that all my know His deep love.

He is the same God who loves you and desires to see that you know how loved you are.

At the time Deuteronomy was written, many people worshipped many gods, including the Egyptians. Many people tried to worship both the gods of the local community and the God speaking to Moses, so here Moses was explaining that our God was the only God, there is just one. They were not to worship other gods, but God alone.

What is most confusing about this statement to many who have been reading both the Old and New Testament or who have heard about God in a modern church setting. Most churches talk about how our God is a triune God. Triune means of three parts/sections in one. Our God has three ways we experience Him: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus), and God the Holy Spirit. Since hindsight is 20/20, if we have learned about the three aspects of God, calling God one seems like an untrue statement. However, all three parts of God united together is also called “God”.

I have heard the Holy Trinity of our God (His being triune) explained this way: If you tie three strings together, they are still three strings, but when you cross one piece over the other in a repetitive pattern, you will end up with a braid. The braid, while made of three strings, is hense forth mostly referred to as “a braid”. Similarly, God is technically three parts: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. All together they are our God, and we often refer to the Father with this term, but really the complication comes with our limited understanding of God. Our God is too complicated to know completely, so this invented word triune or Trinity helps put His vastness into words.

Photo: Kaboompics.com

Because of our culture being less about having multiple gods, it may seem easy to see that our God is the only God. But when Deuteronomy was written, many communities had many gods they worshipped and prayed to as part of their culture, as many still do today. In America, our worship and focus are wrapped up ourselves; our independence, fame, comfort, success, self-sufficiency, and happiness. Some would argue they are our gods since we spend our money, time, and resources on pursuing these things. Regardless of what we call gods, God is the only one worth our time and focus. Moses is inviting us to recenter our lives on God by declaring that He is all there is. By doing so, people are united by their common understanding that nothing of this world is capable of satisfying us as He does.

The Shema prayer in Deuteronomy 6:4-9 brings people who worship God into a unifying understanding of what we, the people of God (Israel) are all about one God, and next week we will look at what that main mission is. To get a head start, read this passage over and over and immerse yourself in what God says about what we, His people, need when we realize we have always had the freedom to choose Him.