Israel's Ancient Confession

            Israel’s ancient confession of faith declares, “Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God—the Lord is one.”  Contemporary Christians tend to hear the declaration of God’s oneness as a statement of monotheism, which it certainly is:  there is only one God, who reveals Himself as a Trinity—three (‘tri-’) in unity (‘-inity’)  Jewish reflection, of course, has disagreed with Christian trinitarianism and has used Deuteronomy 6:4 as an argument against it, especially against the doctrine that Jesus is the Son of God.

            Be that as it may, there is more going on here.  The declaration, “The Lord is one,” is not just about monotheism or polytheism.  It also includes the notion of the absolute uniqueness of Israel’s God’s.  (One of my old professors who had spent much of his life in Australia had picked up some British turns-of-phrase, and he used to translate the phrase, “He’s such a one!”)  It was just 2 chapters ago that Moses had spoken about the absolute uniqueness of their God, who is nearby and powerful and talks to His people with such commandments.

            A couple of things come out of that absolute uniqueness.  The first is captured in the command of 6:4—“Hear!”  God speaks; His people listen.  Their entire life grows out of the words that He says.  He declares them His treasured possession.  He constitutes them as a holy nation.  He orders their life according to His command.  Listening to those words generates two responses.  First, it generates what we call faith:  complete trust in the singular God.  Moses describes it as the complete devotion of the heart, soul, and might to the Lord.  Second, it generates obedience to those commands.  So, Moses exhorts, “Take care, lest you forget” (6:12)!

            And that devotion and obedience sets the agenda for life.  This faith in this unique God is to be passed on to one’s children.  It is to saturate one’s life so that it’s on the doorpost (so that you see it coming and going) and on your hands (so that you see it no matter what you’re doing) and on your head (so that it’s always in mind).  No one likes a fanatic.  Winston Churchill once said, “A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject.”  But a little fanaticism is exactly what’s called for here.  Too often contemporary Christians compartmentalize their faith and only attend to it for that hour or two that we are at church each week.  But Deuteronomy 6 would remind us that we are Christians not just at church, but at home and at work.  Frankly, the way that we carry our Christianity and the words of the Lord into our homes and into our workplaces may be even more important because those are the settings in which we serve as witnesses to the absolute uniqueness of our God who saves us through Jesus.