The Shema

“Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One.”(Deuteronomy 6:4)

Generally, we tend to focus on the last point of the passage: the oneness of God. I want to call attention to the second phrase in this verse: “the Lord is our God”. What do we mean when we say that He is OUR God? In what way is do we possess Him? Is He not the God of all creation?

When God sent Moses to take us out of Egypt, He told Moses that the purpose of the exodus was that He will take us unto Himself for a nation and He should be to us for a God (Exodus 6:7). This theme is repeated often throughout the Scriptures (Leviticus 11:45, Numbers 15:41, Deuteronomy 26:17, Jeremiah 32:38 – to mention a few). How are we to Him for a nation? And how is…