Sh'ma Yisrael.
The Sh'ma is the greatest confession of faith in the "One" True God of Israel. The Sh'ma is a declaration of faith and a pledge of allegiance to "one" God. It is the first prayer that a Jewish child is taught to say. They learn that they should love the Lord their God with all their heart, with all their soul and with all their resources. They learn that they should teach it to their children. Today Jews recite this prayer together with other verses, as prayers, twice a day. They do it early in the morning and again in the evening. The Sh'ma is regarded to guard the Jews from falling into idolatry and worshipping other false gods. This verse is the core of Judaism's central belief in the unity of God. It has been recited through the ages in synagogues, even today and will still be recited in the future. Many Jews believe that this is the verse that proves that there is only "one" God (singular form). There are many other people who also believe that there is only one God and do not believe in the Trinity. The word, Trinity is not in the Bible. The Jews believe this is the base for only one God but do they really understand what they say when they recite this prayer twice a day. The Jews believe in a strict monotheism and rejects the Trinity as being incompatible with the Sh'ma. Now let us come to the bottom line and heart of this matter. Jesus (Yeshua) was a Jew and as a Jew He believed in the Sh'ma and pronounced it as the most important commandment. Jesus (Yeshua) said many things in the New Testament, which do not support monotheism. He identified this commandment as the most important of all. Now let us look at it more closely.

Jesus said the following in Mark 12:29 - 30
"Jesus answered him: The first of all the commandments is: Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One. And you shall love your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with your strength. This is the first commandment". Jesus (Yeshua) quoted from the Old Testament in Deuteronomy 6:4-5. Jesus (Yeshua) knew this verse and know the true meaning of it!

From the original Hebrew: Sh'ma Yisrael Adonai Elohaynu Adonai Echad

Sh'ma (Strongs # 8085) is the Hebrew word for "hear". It means to hear intelligently, often with implication of attention, obedience, to listen, obey etc.

Israel (Strongs # 3478) means God strives, God prevails.

Adonai (Strongs # 136) it is in the plural form and this is used only in reference to the glorious Lord in all His powers and attributes. It should be translated as - My Lord. It is also in the intensive form. It also means Lord, Master and Owner. It comes from the root word, which means to rule.

Elohim (Strongs # 430). This word is in the plural form. "God in His fullness". It refers to God the Creator. It reveals that God has more than one part of His being.

Echad (Strongs # 259) is the Hebrew word for one in the plural form. It also means a unit, united unity. It comes from the root word "achad" which means to bring together, to unify, to collect one's thoughts.

To understand the name of God we need to look at other names of God. Jahweh (YHWH) is the personal name of God. In Hebrew when God is the Creator He is called "Elohim" but when His personal name is used, Jahweh is used. It means, "I will always be what I have always been" or "He who causes to be" or "Giver of Life". Jahweh is always used when it is associated with God's personal relationship with man. Ancient Jewish scribes considered His name to sacred to be spoken by humans. So when His name appeared in scripture and it required to be read aloud they said "Adonai" (My Lord) and when it was not aloud they said "Jahweh".

The verse is translated into English and through the translation the true meaning of the original words were lost. Many people believe in the translation as it is today and literally accepts it as it is written, but my feeling is that people were misled by this translation. I am referring to: "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One." Today many will stand on this word to proof that God is "single" and that there is only one God. The true meaning of the plural words is lost. If it was translated directly into the plural form we will not understand it and may cause more confusion. But since Jesus quoted these words it is necessary to explore it more.

I said earlier that Judaism is monotheistic (mono = one, theistic = God). Christians have been accused of being polytheistic (poly = many, theistic = God). We have to accept the truth by faith that He is One. God's Oneness is His divine nature and God's power is in his Oneness. These all support that there is only One God but is it really true? "As a believer I believe in the Trinity", that is that there are God the Father, God the Sun and the Holy Spirit. They are all in unity and they are all in one. Further more in the New Testament we read that we consist of three, body soul and spirit, but we are one. Jesus Himself said that He is Son of God (Hebrew 1:1 to Hebrew 2:4). He also said that He is Son of man. He also said that He is our High Priest.

Jesus (Yeshua) called this scripture the greatest commandment of scripture and it remains the central confession of Judaism to this day. The foundational truth for the world's redemption is that there is one God who creates and redeems and in the New Testament it shows that God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Compare it with the unity of man made in His image: man comprised of spirit, soul and body (1 Thessalonians 5:23). Man is not three beings but one with spiritual, emotional and physical elements. God said in the Old Testament that He made man according to His image. In Genesis 1:26 "And God said, let us make man in our image, after our likeness and let them have dominion over fish of the sea and over fowl of the air and over cattle and all over the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth." The "us" and "our" here does not refer to "one" but to the Godhead which consists of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. They all were responsible for the creation.

The word "Echad" which means "one" in the plural form, is continually used in reference to the one true God throughout the Bible. The Bible expresses God as three persons namely the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, yet as one God. This agrees with the original meaning, which is unity and oneness, together etc., and let us not forget that God should be also in the plural form. But today people still deny seeing the trinity of God.

Let us look at some scriptures in the New Testament. In John 1:1-3 we found the following: "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him and without Him nothing was made that was made." The Word is Jesus (Yeshua) the eternal, ultimate expression of God. In verse 14 it is confirmed by: And the Word become flesh and dwelt among us . . . Jesus (Yeshua) is the living (logos) Word (John 1:1). The Bible is the written (logos) word. (Hebrew 4:12) and the Holy Spirit utters the spoken (logos) word (1 Cor. 2:13). In the Old Testament God spoke the word into existence. In the gospels God spoke His final word through the Living Word - His Son.

In the Old Testament we found the following scripture. Many Jews will refer to this scripture and will even say they believe in it. It is found in Exodus 3:15 but interestingly it is preceded by who God really is. God identifies Himself to Moses as "I am who I am". God disclosed His Name (YHWH). The verb form for "I will Be" is identical (YHWH) but here a double verb is used "I Am Who I Am" which means "I shall continually be that which I have been" or "I will be all that is necessary as the occasion will arise". He then continued with: "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob has send me to you. This is My name forever and this is My memorial to all generations." It is then repeated again in the following verse to emphasize the importance of it. It specifically refers to the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob in both verses. The God of Abraham is a revelation of the Father. The God of Isaac is a revelation of the Son. Isaac was to be the sacrifice and then the Lord provided a lam to be sacrificed. Jesus (Yeshua) was the perfect sacrifice on the cross. The God of Jacob is a revelation of the Holy Spirit.

Now, let us look at some scriptures in the New Testament. Jesus Himself said "No man comes to the Father except by Me". It is God's plan of redemption. Jesus was the firstborn of the Father and the firstborn must be redeemed to make way for others.

In Ephesians, which is written by Paul, we will see the process by which God is bringing the church to its destined purpose. The church, which is the believers, is called to war, she is taught to walk and before she can walk she needs to stand. The believer's position is therefore important. God's intention is revealed to form a body to express Jesus (Yeshua) fullness on earth and to do it by uniting one people (Jew and Gentile) among whom God Himself dwells and to equip them, empower them and to mature His people. Therefore in Ephesians, which means " His very own", we should see the following as believers:

1. The Father chooses - Ephesians 1:3-6

2. The Son purchases, is the Redeemer, is the Peacemaker - Ephesians 1:7-12; 2:11-18

3. The Holy Spirit saves, seals and reveals - Ephesians 1:13-17; 3:5

John emphasized both the deity and the humanity of Jesus declaring that in Him God entered into a human life. Jesus is our Advocate with the Father. Jesus is our Savoir, send by God to rescue us from sin and only through Him (Jesus) can we have Eternal life. John describe the ministry of the Holy Spirit as Gods gift to us which assures us of our relationship to Jesus, that He abides in us and that we abide in Him. The Holy Spirit testifies to us and leads us unto a full realization of the truth concerning Jesus.

Jesus said Himself the following In John 15:26 when he refers to the Holy Spirit. "But when the Helper comes, whom I (Jesus) shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He (Holy Spirit) will testify of Me (Jesus)." Referring to the Holy Spirit Jesus also said in John 14:26 "But the Helper, The Holy Spirit, whom the farther will send in My name, He (Holy Spirit) will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all things that I (Jesus) said to you.

Now let us conclude with the following. In 1 John 5:7-10 we read the following: "For there are three that bear witness in heaven: The Father, the Word and the Holy Spirit and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness on earth: The Spirit, the water and the blood. And these three agree as one. If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for this is the witness of God, which He has testified of His Son. He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself, he who does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son". We see here that behind the three witnesses is God Himself. The assurance that comes to those who trust and believe in Jesus is from the Holy Spirit. To refuse to believe is equivalent to call God a liar.

It begin with "Hear o Israel, The Lord our God, the Lord is one". On a Torah scroll the letters "Ayin" and "Daled" of the first verse are enlarged. This spell out a Hebrew word "Uwd" (עוּד) (Strongs #5749) which means "to bear witness, witness to cause to testify, say again and again, take or call as witness, affirm solemnly, etc. ". A witness is one who testifies to the truth he has experienced or one who has knowledge of a fact and can give information about it. So when you say the Sh'ma you are testifying to the Unity and Oneness of God consisting of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit!