1Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the ordinances, which Yahweh your God commanded to teach you, that you might do them in the land that you go over to possess; 2that you might fear Yahweh your God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you—you, your son, and your son’s son, all the days of your life; and that your days may be prolonged. 3Hear therefore, Israel, and observe to do it, that it may be well with you, and that you may increase mightily, as Yahweh, the God of your fathers, has promised to you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.
4Hear, Israel: Yahweh is our God. Yahweh is one. 5You shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might. 6These words, which I command you today, shall be on your heart; 7and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up. 8You shall bind them for a sign on your hand, and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes. 9You shall write them on the door posts of your house and on your gates.
10It shall be, when Yahweh your God brings you into the land which he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you, great and goodly cities which you didn’t build, 11and houses full of all good things which you didn’t fill, and cisterns dug out which you didn’t dig, vineyards and olive trees which you didn’t plant, and you shall eat and be full; 12then beware lest you forget Yahweh, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 13You shall fear Yahweh your God; and you shall serve him, and shall swear by his name. 14You shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the peoples who are around you, 15for Yahweh your God among you is a jealous God, lest the anger of Yahweh your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth. 16You shall not tempt Yahweh your God, as you tempted him in Massah. 17You shall diligently keep the commandments of Yahweh your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he has commanded you. 18You shall do that which is right and good in Yahweh’s sight, that it may be well with you and that you may go in and possess the good land which Yahweh swore to your fathers, 19to thrust out all your enemies from before you, as Yahweh has spoken.
20When your son asks you in time to come, saying, “What do the testimonies, the statutes, and the ordinances, which Yahweh our God has commanded you mean?” 21then you shall tell your son, “We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt. Yahweh brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand; 22and Yahweh showed great and awesome signs and wonders on Egypt, on Pharaoh, and on all his house, before our eyes; 23and he brought us out from there, that he might bring us in, to give us the land which he swore to our fathers. 24Yahweh commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear Yahweh our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as we are today. 25It shall be righteousness to us, if we observe to do all these commandments before Yahweh our God, as he has commanded us.”
The Lord Our God is One
Men in Robes Holding a Jug
To understand the Book of Romans, it is absolutely necessary to understand why Paul was writing it. He was addressing a division in the church in Rome. The Jewish Christians had left when exiled, and when they returned to Rome, they found Gentile Christians running the church. This ruffled feathers and caused division. God hates division. God loves unity. The great Hebrew prayer, the Shemah Yisrael, begins with the declaration, "Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one" (Deuteronomy 6:4). The Hebrew word used there for “one” is in fact the word “unity”. God is Unity. God is One. God desires for His people to worship together in peace.
Years ago, our little community of faith in Texas was visited by a group of Amish men and women from Wisconsin. They came to put a new roof on our fellowship hall, but only under a few conditions. One condition was that I would give a devotional every morning before we started work. As I prayed about what to teach on that first morning, my mind stumbled across Psalms 133. It states, “See how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to live together in unity! 2It is like the precious oil on the head, that ran down on the beard, even Aaron’s beard, that came down on the edge of his robes.” The anointing of Aaron isn’t recorded anywhere else in scripture, but David was talking about it. It must have been a big event, but that wasn’t the big idea in this verse.
David states that unity among brethren is like the precious oil used for anointing the head. I did a deep dive and learned that the “anointing oil” was a special blend of oils and spices set forth by God. It could not be holy with just one kind of oil. What made it holy was the mix of diverse ingredients, all required by God to make the special oil holy. God is not interested in uniformity, but in unity. Some of my Amish listeners understood the implications. Uniformity in dress, buttons, suspenders, and other outward things had very little to do with unity. We should all strive for unity in our church body if we’re not getting along with someone. Get that “thing” worked out. In this passage, Paul calls those who create divisions evil. Whether they know it or not, they are being used by Satan to stir up trouble. Don’t give the devil a foothold. Strive for unity with other believers with all your abilities. Paul knew that the only things that truly threatened the unity of God were divisions and offense. Always remember that offense is the bait of Satan. Don’t fall for it. As much as you are able to do so, focus on those things that bring you into unity with others in the church.