The Shema
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Dessert First
Dessert First
The Bible is a unification of history, leading us to Jesus
We should not presume the liberty of making the scriptures fit into our westernized format of thinking.
To properly understand the scripture we must understand who they are, where they are, and what is happening. We must never presume that their thought processes are representative of ours.
Time Machine
Time Machine
Travel back with me to the time of the ancient Hebrews in 1700 BC
The Hebrew went from a place of comfortable living in Egypt to one of slavery
Leaving Egypt to worship God
1446 Israel camps at Mt Sinai
They live through the dessert until they see the Promise Land, but are scared to take it so their children at allowed to go in.
And now we join them...
And now we join them...
the Israelites have heard of the people in the promised land. The giants, descendants of the Nephalim.
The despicable gods of the foreigners.
The human sacrifice practiced by some.
The Israelites stand on the border of the Jordan preparing to cross over.
Moses Teaches Them
Moses Teaches Them
4 “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! 5 “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
Shema
Shema
Listen with your whole person
Yahweh יהוה
Yahweh יהוה
“He will be”
Stopped Yahweh and used Adonai
The name of God given to the Israelites by Moses
We refer to him as LORD, call caps.
Love (Ahavah)
Love (Ahavah)
The kind of affection or care that one shows for another
God chose Israel because of his Ahavah for them.
Ahavah is like a parents love for their children.
This is to show itself through action.
You shall ahavah your neighbor as yourself.
Heart
Heart
No understanding during this time of the mind, not even a word for it.
The heart is where you feel, make decisions, know
Soul
Soul
Nephesh
Somehow we have tied it to a greek idea of our should being trapped until death. This is not Hebrew at all.
Basic meaning is throat. The entire person.
People do not have a Nephesh, they are a Nephesh.
Really is a translation of me or I. Talking about the entire person.
As the dear panteth for the water so my nephesh pants for you.
Devout the entire significance to our creator.
Strength
Strength
The Hebrew word here is not really strength. Meod really means “much”
Love God with all your mind and power
The word meod allows all the aspects of a persons life to honor and love God.
Where does this leave us...
Where does this leave us...
Some will ask why have I never heard this before.
Some will say I did not understand the importance of the Shema to the Hebrew people.
Some will still say sounds kind of religious.
To all of us though, we must genuinely ask ourselves, am I loving God this way now, last week, today?
You see the Shema is more than a prayer as we see it. The shema is a pledge really, each day in the beginning and at the end professing our belief in a single amazing God. 2nd, the shema reminds us how we are supposed to