The Shema – A Declaration of Faith

can God change your life in the next 30 minutes I believe you're watching right now because God has something special for you join me for Jewish voice and you'll discover how Bible prophecy is coming to pass before our very eyes and why you need to stand with Israel you can play a role in God's endtime plan find out how I'm Jewish voice Shalom and welcome to Jewish Voice and thank you for joining us today I'm Jonathan bernis and I'm joined once again by my co-host Ezra Benjamin and Ezra today we're gonna talk about the most important commandment in all of Scripture in fact a famous Jewish rabbi there was a contemporary of Jesus he lived actually before Jesus said this is the most important commandment and it sums up every other commandment and according to the rabbi's 613 commandments but they can be summed up actually in two right and they're connected and we're gonna look at that today I'm talking about what we call the Sh'ma or the the prayer the declaration rather that God is one right and Jonathan in in our society today even people who aren't from a Jewish background you know there's so much pressure to just say what you believe is great and what I believe is great and pluralism and postmodern this and you know neo existential that whatever it is so much pressure to dumb down our faith right to dilute it but this commandment right here that we're going to talk about the Shema or here o Israel the Lord our God the Lord is one is a declaration that there's only one way and there's only one God yeah what what and what we want to expound on is why this is an important prayer right or rather confession for every Christian that's right watching because this is universal this is not the declaration of the Jewish people this is the declaration of the word of God that's right so what I want to dive into the Hebrew a little bit or specific words that are we can elaborate on from the Hebrew we go back we're going back to Deuteronomy chapter six okay and I'm starting in the fourth verse and this is the declaration here o Israel the Lord our God the Lord is one and then it goes on in verse five to say love the Lord your God with all of your heart with all of your soul and with all of your strength right so that's that's that that's the command to love the Lord with all of our heart with all of our soul with all of our strength in Hebrew Sh'ma Yisrael Adonai elohenu Adonai echad I learned that confession probably from age four on right it's really the central declaration of the Jewish faith anytime you have Jewish people gathering or even if somebody's praying on their own but especially corporate gatherings for prayer that that's going to be included the the schwa we say is is right at the core we repeat it over and over again in our liturgy but it should be an important part of Christian liturgy as well now the Hebrew brings out so much here o Israel the word the first word schwa right in Hebrew we want to put it up on the screen both in Hebrew and in English Sh'ma Ezra either means here as it's translated or listen right there's so much in the Bible about listening about hearing he who has ears let them hear correct and we meet a hearing as part of building faith we can't build faith without hearing without listening there's actually two hearings faith cometh by hearing or listening and hearing by the Word of God so we hear with both our ear but with our spirit as well and we get it into our heart sure that's the command get this listen to this enough hear this enough so that it gets into your heart it actually is intertwined with your life that's with who you are that's right and you know Moses is commanding all of deuteronomy's kind of a summary before Moses dies and the children visit take the promised land this summary of where we've been in Commandments for where we're going but he's not saying here oh god the lord our god it's saying here o israel in essence were exhorting one another listen up remember our faith remember who God is and of course this is at a time when the children of Israel the children of Abraham Isaac and Jacob yeah are the priesthood the children of Abraham that have been commissioned to bring the revelation of the one true god of the of the universe to the world and the world to the one true God exactly that this is a world of idolatry exactly and and paganism and it's the people of Israel that have been commanded to bring to the nation's to the the revelation of the one true God that inheritance now belongs to Christians as well you who have been grafted into Israel the people of Israel you've been grafted in as a wild olive branch to the olive tree and now you have become a spiritual son or daughter of Abraham and the Bible tells us clearly a royal priesthood same language that's right you know it's interesting Jonathan Moses knew or at least you know the Lord knew and was speaking through Moses they're about to go on their journey to the promised land through lands of idolaters through lands of pagan worship and interestingly even today when a Jewish young person in Israel finishes their military service one of the most popular things to do is to go to India or wherever in the world and dabble in Hinduism to dabble in these crazy religious systems and yet God reminds us and says remind each other I'm one and there's no one else amen amen so the other word that I want to look at in Hebrew that's part of this this confession is the word jihad yeah Sh'ma listen here o Israel the Lord your God the Lord is a hod in Hebrew so you can see it in English and in Hebrew Ahad which is translated 1 it's a very interesting word Ezra because it's a divisive it's it's it's a word that expresses more than just 1 as in single it also expresses the idea of a compound unity right Elohim is the Hebrew for God but it's a plural word it's a but it's not gods it's god that's eternally existent in father son and spirit Elohim but the Word of God which is the same word the talks that's used to describe marriage when the man and the woman become both sarahott one flesh this is the word that's used a cod and I believe that the best understanding in in this context is alone here o Israel the Lord God of Israel he alone is God amazing he alone is God because that fits the context of what follows so a God the declaration is not just that God is one but that he alone is God there is no other God there's no other gods before me no other gods are to be before me and that's the context here you will love him because he alone is God you will love him with all of your heart with all of your soul and with all of your strength with your entire being you will love the Lord Jonathan we can't surround ourselves enough with this confession because humans Israel Jew or Gentile there's no difference we're all prone to forget today we want to get you some super practical resources I like the practicality the daily usefulness of this a bookmark with this confession from Deuteronomy 6 a prayer journal write down with the Lord saying to you and right here on the cover is that same confession surround yourself with the word and with the declaration of faith Jonathan we have something even more practical central to Jewish faith and practice and also something which is going to help you to read we do ezrin we're going to talk more about this in the next segment but we want to give you an advanced opportunity this is a mezuzah and it's got a a symbol on here it's called the grafted end symbol I actually hold it the right way and you can see that this has both the menorah and the Star of David but also a fish this is a declaration from Romans chapter 11 that you as an wild branch have been grafted into the natural olive tree which is Israel your and faith of a but the faith of Abraham so you've been grafted in and more importantly as the handwritten scroll inside in Hebrew that's right that has the declaration Sh'ma Yisrael Adonai elohenu Adonai Akkad a declaration that God alone is God and then the words that follow that you're to love them with all your heart soul and strength and then a command that follows that we're gonna talk about to actually physically apply this to the doorpost of your house right so we we put it this scroll into what's called the mezuzah and we ask you to a fix this to the doorpost of your house and this is a reminder a constant reminder that your home belongs to God that that you belong to the Lord that your household belongs to the Lord and then for monthly support we also want to send you the beautiful plaque here o Israel the Lord our God the Lord is one we don't sell gifts yeah we don't sell products we create resources to sew into your life to bless you and to help you grow as you sow into this ministry that's right and enable us to help people in need particularly Jewish people in places like Zimbabwe that's right where we want to provide this week that's right I care we're talking about people that can't see without a pair of eyeglasses yeah or they can't see it all and they need service Jonathan with the mezuzah with a plaque like this the ideas you see and you remember you know I've seen hundreds of people in Zimbabwe in Ethiopia people from Jewish communities who literally can't see and it's simple things and eye disease a fly gets in their eye and creates some kind of bacterial infection they go blind we are able to fix that into reverse blindness for $30 a month you can help somebody see again so pick up the phone call now become a monthly partner here's how the Shema is one of the most important prayers in the Bible here o Israel the Lord our God the Lord is one to support your prayer life today jonathan has assembled a special group of resources as you join him with your support for Jewish people and their neighbors in Africa as you give a one-time gift of $40 or more we'll send you this hero is real Journal it's perfect for your Bible study notes and for keeping a record of God's blessings in your life a matching bookmark is included along with the journal you will also receive this beautiful grafted-in mezuzah to proudly mount on the doorpost of your home don't miss this opportunity to receive all of these resources as you support Jewish voice ministries with a one-time gift today of $40 or more your support today will provide the funds needed to continue our clinics in Africa which are transforming lives through medical care and giving us the platform to share the gospel with these precious people jonathan is encouraging you to join him as a monthly Shalom partner today your continued monthly support is vital in providing the ongoing care and treatment so desperately needed in these communities as you join us with your monthly support of just $30.00 today we will also include this framed artwork boldly declaring the words of the Shema a constant reminder in your home of the power and presence of God in your life join Jonathan today is a Shalom partner and receive all these resources for your ongoing generous support of just $30 a month your gift today is changing lives meeting the physical needs of individuals who so urgently require our help and also making it possible to share the love of Jesus in a very real and personal way imagine if you had the ability to take somebody who for 20 years hasn't been able to see anything in front of their face due to eye disease and in the name of Jesus caused them to see again well you know what you can for 250 dollars you can get somebody the best most modern technology eye surgery the world has to offer and you can get that to a which person in the remotest part of the world for $750 you can cause three people who have been blind to be able to see their children their grandchildren again you can do it in the name of Jesus please get involved call our 800 number now and let our representative know what level of giving you would like to participate in your one-time gift today will be used to bring the gospel of hope to thousands around the world if you would please consider joining Jonathan as a monthly Shalom partner your ongoing partnership with Jonathan of just $30 a month would be greatly appreciated if you prefer you can always choose to give online at Jewish Voice TV or you can also donate by mailing your gift to the address on the screen thank you for your generous support of Jewish voice and for making a difference in so many lives through your sacrifice now let's rejoin Jonathan and Ezra [Music] welcome back there's so much to talk about when we when we talk about the Shema that God alone is God and then what follows right which I want to talk about in just a moment but before we get back into the teaching I just wanted to take a moment to say thank you thank you to all of you who are supporting this ministry especially our Shalom partners our monthly supporters we literally could not do this work without you your support makes all the difference in saving Jewish life's in these communities that are enduring so much hardship so thank you again for all you're doing to help these people through Jewish voice Ezra I want to jump back into Deuteronomy chapter six and talk about what follows the shmup because it's part of our heritage right and what follows you know we say all the law and the prophets hang on these two things that are about to follow love the Lord your God I know we're gonna unpack that and love your neighbor as yourself right well what what follows is called the hata so it's the schwa and the V hafte and they're almost always together they're almost always communicated together a recite together in jewish liturgy because they belong together so not only D is God alone the one true God and not only are you to love him with all your heart soul and strength but these words which are being commanded today this is from Deuteronomy chapter 6 again verse 6 these words which I command you today are to be on your heart you'll to teach them diligently to your children speak of them when you sit in your house when you walk by the way when you lie down and when you rise up modern English all the time all day long all day long you talk about these things bind them as a sign on your hand they're to be for frontlets between your eyes and here's the thing write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates and that's why we have something called the mezuzah right which has these these words inside that's right and we're fixing it to every entryway every room that's right from the time you enter the home into the bedrooms into the kitchen everything but the bathrooms will have a mezuzah as a constant physical reminder right so important in Jonathan maybe we can take a moment here to explain maybe you've seen pictures of observant Orthodox Jewish people and when you see pictures of the men praying they have these black straps wrapped around their left arm and these boxes on their heads and you're thinking what on earth is that it comes from Deuteronomy 6 6 that's actually physically binding the word of the Lord inside that box from Deuteronomy 6 around an arm and binding it to your forehead and the idea is it represents my strength everything I do everything I do everywhere I go and I can't get it out of my mind it's a physical representation of the commandment to Israel so we're doing that in the morning we have the the these this these commands actually affixed to our doorpost Ezra why not right folks why not why not literally do these things as a constant reminder that we serve the one true God that's right and every time I enter my home I see the Moses every time I enter my bedroom right I see them as as and I'm reminded that I serve the Lord not only me but me and my household we I'll serve the Lord that's right you know Jonathan a blessing that I think sometimes we can forget because it becomes normal but we shouldn't forget is you know Jeremiah saw a day when God said I'm gonna write a new covenant right I'm gonna make a new covenant with the house of Israel and it's not gonna be written on tablets of stone it's gonna be written on the tablets of human hearts and so the Lord by his Spirit through our belief in Yeshua Jew and Gentile alike Jonathan has actually inscribed these words on our hearts in our spirits yeah great great awesome it's such a such a blessing as or the other thing that I want to make sure to mention is another reason that this is relevant to every one of you watching is because Jesus declared this to be right the most important commandment actually he says this and I'm reading from mark chapter 12 so we're moving over now to the New Testament to mark chapter 12 beginning in verse 28 it says one of the Torah scholars Pharisees came and heard them debating seeing that Yeshua had answered them well he asked him which commandment is first of all or most important and the response Yeshua's immediate response verse 29 the first is Sh'ma Yisrael Adonai elohenu Adonai echad and he he spoke in Hebron right I can I can guarantee you that he spoke in Hebrew that I'm sure of it and you shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart with all of your soul and with all of your mind and with all of your strength and then he gives us the second you shall love your neighbor as yourself and then goes on to say at the end of verse 31 there is no other commandment greater than these there it is that's the words of the Messiah yeah that's the words of Jesus himself God alone is God and you'll love him with all your heart soul strength and you'll love your neighbor as yourself yeah there's a story that is about rabbi akiva who I mentioned earlier and that he was being provoked and some of this students wanted to see him get angry and he was asked to stand on one foot and recite all the commandments may be expecting a harsh response or there's no way I'm gonna stand on one foot to read 613 commandments sure but the story goes whether it's true or not I don't know he stood on one foot and he said here o Israel the Lord our God the Lord alone is God you shall love him with all your heart soul and strength and you shall love your neighbor as yourself and then he put his other foot back down because that wraps the whole thing up that's the wrap in one passage that's powerful and if you will do those two things if you will follow those two great Commandments to love the Lord with all of your heart soul and strength and love your neighbor as yourself in fact Jesus want a step further and said greater than your self esteem each other greater than yourself you'll be fulfilling all of the other commandments so important all about loving the Lord you know I'm thinking of John in the book of Revelation he's hearing Jesus speak to the churches and it says you've done all these things but you forsook your first love it's all about loving the Lord first that's where it all boils down to Jonathan and it's so important we just can't stress enough the importance of surrounding ourselves with his word so that we can love them with all our heart soul mind and strength we want to provide some resources to you today we have super practical things put it on the doorpost of your house Jonathan you're gonna share with us the mezuzah in just a minute a prayer journal a bookmark super practical tools to help you remember the Lord and remember that that first and greatest commandment is to love him and also to love our neighbors as ourselves these are great resources we don't sell resources I say this over and over again we're not a resource ministry right but we do produce resources we create resources to invest in your life that's right because we want to give back to you as you sow into this ministry and enable us to reach Jewish people and their neighbors in desperate need we earn the right to share the gospel we earn a platform this week we're focusing on I care jumping yeah Jonathan you know about a year ago I was in northern Ethiopia in the midst of one of our medical dental and eye care outreaches and a mother brought a little girl to me made three years old and she had cataracts bilateral cataracts over her eyes she could barely see she could only see light but she couldn't see people and the doctor came to us and said the Ethiopian doctor said we can fix this but if we don't she'll go blind for the rest of her life and she'll probably end up a beggar on the streets we did fix it and for $30 a month we can fix it over and over and over again Jewish children others from the community young and old alike Jonathan what a privilege we have what a privilege you can have the Lord's giving you an opportunity here for partnership with us at $30 a month to cause blind people to see and to do it in the name of the Lord one of the greatest thrills that I've had in my life Ezra is watching eyeglasses put on elderly people that have never had glasses in their life they couldn't they couldn't see clearly for decades maybe that's right and then suddenly they could see clearly and the joy the amazement the thankfulness right stunning right you can be part of a miracle it's actually you can be part of a monthly miracles right by becoming a monthly partner we call our monthly partner Shalom partners and I encourage you to become a Shalom partner another thing we want to send you is this mezuzah with the declaration of the Shema inside you have fixed this to the doorpost of your house and I believe it will be a blessing to you and this this beautiful plaque here o Israel the Lord our God the Lord is one and thank you as you support this ministry and help us bless Jewish people with the good news of eternal life the Shema is one of the most important prayers in the Bible here o Israel the Lord our God the Lord is one to support your prayer life today Jonathan has assembled a special group of resources as you join him with your support for Jewish people and their neighbors in Africa as you give a one-time gift of $40 or more we'll send you this hero is real Journal it's perfect for your Bible study notes and for keeping a record of God's blessings in your life a matching bookmark is included along with a journal you will also receive this beautiful grafted-in mezuzah to proudly mount on the doorpost of your home don't miss this opportunity to receive all of these resources as you support Jewish voice ministries with a one-time gift today of $40 or more your support today will provide the funds needed to continue our clinics in Africa which are transforming lives through medical care and giving us the platform to share the gospel with these precious people Jonathan is encouraging you to join him as a monthly Shalom partner today your continued monthly support is vital in providing the ongoing care and treatment so desperately needed in these communities as you join us with your monthly support of just $30.00 today we will also include this framed artwork boldly declaring the words of the Shema a constant reminder in your home of the power and presence of God in your life join Jonathan today is a Shalom partner and receive all these resources for your ongoing generous support of just $30 a month your gift today is changing lives meeting the physical needs of individuals who so urgently require our help and also making it possible to share the love of Jesus in a very real and personal way call our 800 number now and let our representative know what level of giving you would like to participate in your one-time gift today will be used to bring the gospel of hope to thousands around the world if you would please consider joining Jonathan as a monthly Shalom partner your ongoing partnership with Jonathan of just $30 a month would be greatly appreciated if you prefer you can always choose to give online at Jewish Voice TV or you can also donate by mailing your gift to the address on the screen thank you for your generous support of Jewish voice and for making a difference in so many lives through your sacrifice now let's rejoin Jonathan and Ezra we just have a minute left in the program Ezra we try to take time in every program to pray for people's needs so finally well you will you do that there's people that have serious neighborhood this week and we've been receiving many letters yeah yeah well let's pray for you orde we lift up those watching and listening today yes way that you would demonstrate your power demonstrate your might demonstrate your love your merciful loving-kindness demonstrate your provision and demonstrate your miraculous power to break into the circumstances of their lives and turn things that the enemy meant for evil around for good we thank you Lord for financial provision we thank you for health yes we thank you for restored family relationship store we thank you Lord that you are working all things together for good for those who love you and who have been called according to your purpose in Yeshua's name in the name of Yeshua and we declared God alone is God that's right he's watching over you that's right if you'd like more information about our ministry if you have a need that you'd like us to join with you in faith over you can log on to our website it's Jewish Voice TV you can submit your prayer request we will pray over your need by name we love hearing from you and we want you to know that we care about you and more important goal of Xia's right and cares about you well that's all the time we have again I want to remind you as we close to pray for the Peace of Jerusalem this week someone 22:6 says they shall prosper that love thee so if you want to prosper this week for Israel pray for the Jewish people they need our prayers on behalf of Ezra and myself this is Jonathan bernis sang shil ohm and God bless you make sure to join us next week as Jonathan interviews authored Carl gallops about a secret message found in the scriptures Isaiah 53 and there are other passages of scripture that either the Orthodox forbid their congregations from looking at or highly discouraged them or never mention them never read from them never expound upon them because they so point to Yeshua

Channel: Jewish Voice

Views: 1,027

Rating: 4.9506173 out of 5

Keywords: what is the shema, declaration of faith, shema and faith, declare shema, the shema

Id: wnqsEBp-I0s

Length: 28min 34sec (1714 seconds)

Published: Sun Jul 05 2020