It is important for us to keep in mind that there is no one book in the Bible that stands alone…
…and of course, that includes Deuteronomy and the New Testament writings.
Although I’ve said this a million times before, it bears repeating.
If one does not study the Torah and thoroughly absorb its principles and patterns, I can guarantee you will MISUNDERSTAND AND MISAPPLY the books that come after.
Moses in Deuteronomy assumes his audience already possesses a working familiarity of the many topics that came before.
He will refer to many of the major events in Torah such as the Golden Calf incident, the whole affair involving Balaam, Balak and the people of Moab as mere passing references.
For instance, he refers to the time when Miriam was struck with leprosy because of her rebellion as “what happened to Miriam“.
If you hadn’t already read and studied Torah, you’d have no idea what Moses was talking about…and that’s just scratching the surface.
Onward.
Out of all the five books of the Torah, Deuteronomy is probably the one book that has influenced traditional Judaism more than Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers combined.
For instance, did you know that out of the original 613 commands in Torah, about 200 of them come from Deuteronomy?
Or did you know that Rabbinical HALAKAH (Rabbinical legal rulings) is based on how Moses expounded on the Law here in Deuteronomy?
That’s right.
If one understands the form and protocol of how Rabbis come to their legal conclusions, you will realize that their method is much more like the pattern seen here in Deuteronomy than in any of the other four books of the Torah that came before.
Next…
…did you know the three main prayers that are a part of modern day Jewish liturgy originate in the Book of Deuteronomy?
The three main prayers are…
-THE SHEMA
-AMIDAHAND
-ALEINU.
Note the one at the top of the list called the SHEMA.
That one little word represents the most important and most fundamental tenet that undergirds not only the whole of the Book of Deuteronomy…
…but is also the one word that defines the very core identity of a Jewish person in any location in any time period.
What is the SHEMA prayer?
Here it is:
“HEAR O’ ISRAEL,
THE LORD OUR GOD,
THE LORD IS ONE”
When Yeshua was asked by the prominent rabbis of his day what the most important teaching of them all was, he answered them with the SHEMA.
Quite ironic how Christianity seems to be the only religion in the world that has discarded this creed of its founder.
Understand that the SHEMA was an earth-shaking revelation of gargantuan proportions to all peoples in this era INCLUDING THE HEBREWS.
Remember, at this time the whole world was polytheistic (the belief in many gods).
And yes, this includes ancient Israel.
Every human culture at the time believed in the existence of multiple gods and that each nation had their own deity that governed the territorial boundaries of their country.
When we read expressions like “God of gods and Lord of lords” in Scripture, we need to understand this wasn’t a hyperbolic statement emphasizing the majesty and grandeur of HASHEM.
No, in those days, the people understood that expression literally.
The ancient Israelites did NOT believe their God was the only god in existence.
Their understanding was that there were absolutely other gods who existed, it’s just that they were permitted to only have allegiance to ONE God…because the God they worshipped tolerated no competition.
What’s also interesting is that according to the cultural mindset of the time, the more gods one had, the hipper it was.
Kind of like how guys brag about having many girlfriends in our day and age.
In those days, it was actually an embarrassing thing to only have one god.
According to the wordly mindset of the time, Israel considered themselves God-poor.
Rich,
Normally I am 100% with you but I can’t go more than about 85% on this one. The main point I disagree with is that ancient Israel felt they were God-poor. Everything we read in the bible tells us they recognized that God was more powerful, and not only that but that God was the only REAL God. Yes, they recognized other gods existed, but not as a living thing- only as a man-made belief system that wasn’t valid.
I prefer the Shema that ends with “alone” instead of “one” as the usage for “echod” because it more definitely identifies the idea that we have only one God, and that he alone is the true God.
Other than this I like the rest of the article.
Hi Steven,
Thanks for your comment.
Honestly, I paused before writing “God-poor” because as you wisely pointed out,
I felt like it might be taken the wrong way.
When I described Israel as being “God-poor” I always meant it from the
perspective of the worldly ways of thinking at the time when “The more
gods one has, the better!” seems to have been the prevailing notion in
those days.
Of course, we now know the opposite is true.
He or she who has faith in HASHEM is God-rich, and it is the
polytheists and the idolators who are really God-poor.
I may edit it the article a bit to achieve further clarification.
We’re in agreement on this point brother.
Shalom,
Rich
I hate it when writer’s of these types of articles have to LIE about Christianity. The author of this article wrote: “Quite ironic how Christianity seems to be the only religion in the world that has discarded this creed of its founder.”
This is a flat out LIE! Shame on You! I am a Christian and I happily follow the founder of Christianity, Yeshua the Messiah. I happily proclaim the Shema! How dare you claim we Christians disregard the SHEMA!
Chris, Please see Article 3 of our Faith Statement (which I have copied below). This site does NOT accept the Trinity.
3. Foremost and greatest among the commandments according to R’ Yeshua is the Shema:
‘HaShem is our G-d, HaShem is one; and you will love HaShem your G-d…’
(Mark 12:29-30, Mattityahu 22:36-38).
As Shaul a.k.a. Paulos (Paul) says, for us, there is one G-d,
the Father (1 Corinthians 8:6), Whom R’ Yeshua loves (Yokhannan 14:31);
his Father and our Father, his G-d and our G-d (Yokhannan 20:17),
the only true G-d (Yokhannan 17:3).
‘Blessed be the G-d and Father of our lord Yeshua the Messiah’
(1 Kefa / Peter 1:3, Ephesians 1:3, Colossians 1:3, 2 Corinthians 1:3).
As the Torah says, HaShem is the Most High G-d / the Highest Power
(Bereishit / Genesis 14:22), the G-d of gods / powers (Devarim / Deuteronomy 10:17),
whereas R’ Yeshua has a G-d (Mattityahu 27:46, Hitgallut 1:1, 1:5, 3:12, et al.),
being the beginning of G-d’s creation (Hitgallut / Revelation 3:14),
the Firstborn Son of G-d (Yokhannan 3:16, Colossians 1:15, Tehillim 89:26-27).
We therefore renounce the senseless idolatry foisted on the nations by Rome
in the form of the trinity, which twists the title ‘Son of G-d’ into
‘G-d the Son’—which never once appears in the writings of R’ Yeshua’s
first disciples and emissaries—and mindlessly says the Spirit of Truth,
who does not speak on his own authority (Yokhannan 16:13) is also the
Most High G-d, HaShem.
As Shaul says, HaShem ‘who alone has immortality, who dwells in
unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see.’…
…’Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the
glory of the immortal G-d into a likeness of an image of mortal man…’
(Romans 1:22-23a).
No man of the dust has ever seen nor can see the face of G-d
(Shemot 33:18-23, Yokhannan 1:18, 1 Timotheos 6:16).
You may also find the following quote from a noted scholar to be
quite enlightening.
That Yeshua (Jesus) never regarded himself as G-d is most obvious
from his reply when hailed as “good master”: “Why do you call me
good? There is none good but one, G-d” (Mk.10:18; Lk.18:19).
When the disciples would know the exact time of the coming of
the Kingdom of Heaven, he tells them: ‘That day and that hour
no man knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the son (Messiah),
but the Father (G-d) only’ (Mt.24:36). Yeshu is thus not omniscient:
he and the Father are not equal in knowledge. When we remember that,
in the Garden of Gethsemane, he begs the Father to let the cup pass
from him; and that, during the crucifixion, he cries out, ‘My G-d,
my G-d, why has You forsaken me!’ – it is prefectly manifest that
in no sense did he look upon himself as G-d. Like every Pharisaic
Jew he believed in the absolute unity of G-d, and he turned to G-d
in time of trouble. [Joseph Klausner, “Jesus of Nazareth”, pg.377]
May HASHEM (the Father who Yeshua instructed us to direct our prayers
to) lead us into all truth.
Shalom,
Rich
I can not agree more Rich .blessings