Intertwined with God

I continue my journey through the year-long Bible study I’m doing with some friends; we just recently finished Deuteronomy. This has been a fascinating trip thus far. By reading intentionally this way I’ve seen so many scriptures pointing to Christ, and recognized so many others quoted by Christ and the Apostles that I missed in my previous readings of these Old Testament books.

The studies over several days included a series of videos explaining the meaning of original Hebrew words in the Shema put together by The Bible Project. The Shema is a Jewish prayer using Deuteronomy 6:4-5, “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”

Learning what the words heart, soul and strength meant to the ancient Hebrews really increased my understanding of so much of the Bible, not just what God shared with the Israelites through Moses.

The word translated as heart in the Bible is levav or lev, and to the Hebrews meant all of your intellectual thoughts and emotions – basically the heart is physical life. The word nephesh has been translated as soul, but doesn’t mean what we interpret as soul. It actually means throat, but in a broader sense it means your entire body because life depends on what you put into your body through your throat. So, “people don’t have a nephesh; rather they are a nephesh – a living, breathing, physical being.” (from the video on Nephesh, see the link above) The word translated as strength is me’od, and actually means very or much and is used to stress the meaning of words around it. The only place in the Bible where it is translated as strength is in these verses of Deuteronomy. So in the Shema, people “are called to love God with all of their heart, that is, their will and affections, and with all their soul, that is, their whole life and physical being, and with all their me’od, that is, with all of their “muchness.” (from the video on Me’od, see the link above).

Considering those definitions and Jesus’ words throughout the New Testament commanding us to love and trust God, to have faith in Him without worry or anxiety, the meaning of what He was saying becomes so much more clear. What Jesus is telling us is that our very being and existence must be so intertwined with God that we don’t even know how to be concerned about anything else. Like a fabric woven strongly together so when you pull or tug there are no gaps or weaknesses in the strength of the weave.

That. That is the faith I want. That kind of faith most certainly moves mountains.

Jesus, give us that faith. Teach us to love you with all our lev, all our nephesh and with all our me’od. Become the fabric of our lives, Lord. If there is anyone reading this who doesn’t know You, please fill them with a desire to seek You, to trust You. You sacrificed your life for our sins, You rose from the grave and conquered death, and You are seated at God’s right Hand. You sent the Holy Spirit to dwell within our hearts. Father, Son and Holy Spirit – One True God, please hear our prayers. Amen.