The Shema

Hear, O Israel: The Lord, our God. The Lord is One. And you shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart and with all of your soul and with all of your strength. Deuteronomy 6:4-5.

This is the first part of the Shema Yisrael, a Jewish prayer that all Jews say when they wake up and before they go to sleep. The entire Shema (which means Hear in Hebrew) includes Deuteronomy 6:4-5, Deuteronomy 11: 13-21 and Numbers 15:37-41. That is a LOT to say every morning and every night, much less to memorize…

In thinking of Jesus – He was a man without sin… which meant that he kept all of the Jewish laws, All 613 of them. The Shema re-affirms a Jew’s personal relationship with God’s rule and describes the blessings and curses that come with keeping or breaking a covenant with God.

Think of it like saying the pledge of allegiance every morning before school starts – Yes, our little Christian school still does that. We say that we are a part of America. I pledge allegiance to the flag, and to the republic for which it stands. (America is my country) One nation, (We are unique and united) under God, (founded and established by believers in the Almighty God for his purposes) indivisible with liberty and justice for all (benefits) . Maybe they should have added some curses for treason as a reminder …. Haha.

Jewish history is interesting to me because even though they don’t believe that Jesus was the Messiah (unless they are messianic of course) they have literally spent thousands of years digging into the Torah and the prophets so they can sure shed some light on the culture, what Jesus was thinking and how he was trained.

Reciting the Shema was stated by the Torah scholars and Rabbis as “receiving the Kingdom of Heaven” (according to Wikipedia) and the Talmud points out that subtle references to the ten commandments can be found in all three portions of it.

So when we go about saying that we are “teaching” or “bringing the Kingdom” what this means is not just bringing all of the benefits of living in the Kingdom of God to people but also sharing that God must be our King in order to be a part of that Kingdom.

The speaker of the Shema states that God is one God (Father, son and Holy Spirit as one) , also Unique – the ONLY ONE – and pledges to Love the Lord God with ALL his heart (conscience, passions, courage, mind, and will) with all his soul (appetite, flesh, living being, physical appetite) and with all his strength (abundance, riches, treasuries, excess, resources). With everything that he has, everything he is and everything he wants to be.

I looked this up in the Book of Legends of the Midrash and Talmud and it stated that a Jew should love God with both your good and bad inclinations (heart) with your soul – you must be willing to give your very life for the love of the Lord (Hasheem) and you must love the Lord with all of your resources, but you must also thank him for any judgement that he meets out. – Remember that the Jews do not believe that they have a savior who took the punishment of our sins on him. So, I would say a messianic version of that statement would be to love the Lord God with all that you have and thank him profusely for sending a Savior whose blood washes away all of our sins and makes us right with the King.

When praying I asked the Lord, “What do you want me to know about the Shema”

He said, “My words are chosen carefully. There is a reason for each. Hear – They must be spoken, make your pledge aloud not for my ears but for yours… Israel, and all my covenant people, including you, say “The Lord is our God.” The declaration and promise, “The Lord is One” There is no one like me. I am the only God. And a reminder, in order for you to be my covenant people you must love me with all of your heart – every part. All of your mind – I capture your thoughts – all of your strength – I am the one who makes you strong, I am your provider, your resource. Follow me – give it all up for me and let me fill your heart your soul and your strength with more than you can imagine. “

After I began studying this, every passage seemed to shine out that God wants all of our hearts…

2 Chronicles 16:9 For the eyes of the Lord roam to and fro throughout the whole earth to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless (fully devoted) towards him.

Deuteronomy 4:29 But if from there you will seek the Lord your God, you will find Him if you seek him with all of your heart and with all your soul.

Jeremiah 29:13 You will seek Me and Find Me if you search for me with all your heart. – I did a study on that verse because God woke me up with it one morning – rolling over and over in my head… To Seek means to request – to exact to desire to demand and find means to acquire, attain, to encounter to gain. When I prayed about that one the Lord said, “I want to be your resource – I want to be the answer. Open your heart to me and give me it all – so many times when I am only an option I remain hidden along with my resources - I am looking for lovers who are laid down – all in – It is all or nothing. “

Give Him your all today.