The Jewish people say this phrase, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord,” whenever they are gathered together at a temple or synagogue. Jewish people and Christians do have much in common. Both are sons of Abraham, both are believers in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and both are chosen by God to be a special people.
Some Jewish people mistakenly believe that Christians believe in three Gods because we believe in the Trinity. The Shama, “The Lord our God is one Lord,” has been a stumbling block for years to the Jewish people, and it has prevented them from seeing the truth that Jesus truly is their Messiah.
If they understood the meaning of one in this passage, they would see that truly God is three in one. The word for one in Hebrew in this passage is echad, which means a cluster-like a cluster of grapes. The Trinity is not three Gods, but one God-God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
I recall a dream I had years ago when we were preparing to go to India on a missions journey. This dream caused me to think we should be going to Israel instead of India.
In the dream I was in Jerusalem at the time of the Feast of Tabernacles. At this time Jewish people build little booths outside their homes and eat their meals there as a family for seven days. I dreamed that I went from booth to booth explaining that the God that Christians serve is the same God they serve. The God that Christians serve is not three Gods. The Lord opened the eyes of their understanding, and they believed and accepted Jesus as their Messiah.
The major difference between Jewish people and Christians is that Christians know God as their heavenly Father, not just creator God. We came to this knowledge after we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior. No man can know the Father unless the Son of God reveals this to them. We can pray for our Jewish brethren this way:
Father, draw these dear people to You by revealing Your Son to them. Pull the veil off their eyes and open the eyes of their understanding to see You as their heavenly Father. Let them receive Your Son Jesus so He can reveal You as their heavenly Father. Amen.
READ: Deuteronomy 5:1-6:25; Luke 7:11-35; Psalm 68:19-35; Proverbs 11:29-31
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