Deuteronomy: At Journey's EndSample

One Lord, one pre-occupation

Right at the heart of today’s verses is what became the great credal statement: ‘Yahweh our God, Yahweh is one.’ The word translated ‘one’ is worth considering. There is a Hebrew word, yachiydh, to depict what is unique – the one and only one or a bare unit that admits no addition or multiplication. It is used, for example, of Isaac in Genesis 22:2. But in Deuteronomy 6:4, Yahweh is called echadh, which allows for a wider range of significance. In Exodus 26:6, for example, the tabernacle is described as ‘one’, that is to say it is a multiple unity – a bringing together of a huge number of individual, different parts into a glorious ‘oneness’. 

The Old Testament introduces us to a number of divine personages: the Angel of Yahweh, the Word of Yahweh, the Spirit of Yahweh. Indeed one of its favourite titles is ‘Yahweh of Hosts’, implying that within his oneness Yahweh holds together a host of potentialities and powers – we are to understand his oneness as multiple: his is a complex and wonderful unity. This is part of the Old Testament preparation for the New Testament revelation of God as the Holy Trinity where Yahweh’s unity is that of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. But, of course, Yahweh is one, too, in the sense that there is no other God. 

Consequently our verses insist on a parallel exclusive commitment to him: he is the only One; he calls for our total and exclusive devotion. He has spoken (v. 1); we obey (v. 2). He is the only One (v. 4); he calls for our whole heart and soul (vv. 5–6): the total commitment of our mental and emotional natures, devoted to him with all our ‘strength’ (that is, our energy, enthusiasm and gusto). He is One, therefore he looks for our domestic commitment: in what we teach our children (v. 7a) and the chosen topic of conversation in the home (v. 7b), from morning to night (v. 7c). His word is to guide what we do (our ‘hands’, v. 8), what we aim at in life (between our ‘eyes’, v. 8, nkjv) as well as the direction in which our eyes direct our feet. He is to be our public testimony (v. 9). The co-relative of One God is a one-track mind!

Reflection

What makes heaven perfect in every way is its exclusive focus on the throne of God and of the Lamb (Rev. 5:8–13).