Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. (Deuteronomy 6:4-5)
In Hebrew, the word שמע Sh’ma (“hear”) is written with the Hebrew letters ש shiyn, מ mem and ע ayin. The Hebrew word אחד echad (one) is written with the letters א alef, ח chet and ד dalet. In a Hebrew Bible, the last letter in each of these words, the ע ayin and ד dalet respectively, are intentionally enlarged in order to draw attention to something very important. When these two letters are combined they form the word עד ad which means, “witness.” The interpretation of this textual peculiarity is that, those who declare that “God is One” are authentic witnesses of the one true God of Israel.
The Hebrew language has another message to reveal when it comes to the word אחד echad or “one.” As we stated, the last letter in this word is the letter called ד dalet. If you were to view this as written in Hebrew, you could see that dalet looks a lot like another Hebrew letter called ר resh. In fact, only a small extension on dalet separates the two as far as their appearance, However, their sounds are very different. Furthermore, were the dalet of echad to be mistaken for a resh, the end result would be very different. Instead of the word echad, the result would be the word אחר acher. which means “another.” This very word appears in the verse, “For you shall worship no other (acher) god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God” (Exodus 34:14).
The point is this: with just the slightest of changes in one letter, the statement that “the LORD is One” could be changed to “The LORD is another” — in other words, just one among many. Thus we are reminded of Messiah’s words that “not one jot or tittle” is to be removed from the Word of God because, as you can see, doing so could have disastrous results. A person could be mislead to think that there are multiple paths leading to eternal life through the god of one’s own choosing. The fact is, however, there is only one way that leads to the One and Only God. As followers of the “way, truth and the life,” we are uphold this truth as faithful witnesses declaring the Word of the LORD unto a wayward generation. So then, just as we have heard and received, let us proclaim His truth that others may also “hear” and receive life.
Blessings and Shalom,
Bill
Recent Comments