Steve Webb 0:00 The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Steve Webb 0:03 This is the Lifespring! One Year Bible in podcasting since 2004. I am your OG Godcaster. Steve Webb. It's the law Monday and we'll read Deuteronomy four through six. I'm calling this episode, the Trinity. The website is Lifespringmedia.com. and I'll have contact information at the end of today's show. Before we read, let's pray. Our heavenly Father, how we love you, and we thank you for our time together. We thank You, Lord, for giving us your word so that we can know you better. Bless us today. As we read, I pray in Jesus name, Amen. All right, are you ready? Let's begin. Steve Webb 0:42 Deuteronomy, chapter four. Now Israel, in light of all that, listen to the regulations and the case laws that I'm teaching you to follow, so that you may live, enter and possess the land that the Lord your ancestors, God is giving you. Don't add anything to the word that I'm commanding you and don't take anything away from it. Instead, keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I am commanding all of you. You saw with your own eyes, what the Lord did concerning the Baal of Peor, the Lord your God destroyed everyone who followed the Baal of peor. But all of you who stayed true to the Lord, your God are alive today. So pay attention. I'm teaching all of you the regulations and the case laws exactly as the Lord my God commanded me. You must do these in the land you're entering to possess. Keep them faithfully, because that will show your wisdom and insight to the nations who will hear about all these regulations, they will say, Surely, this great nation is a wise and insightful people. After all, is there any great nation that has gods as close to it as the Lord our God is close to us whenever we call to him? Or does any great nation have regulations in case laws is righteous as all this instruction that I'm setting before you today, but be on guard and watch yourselves closely so that you don't forget the things your eyes saw, and so they never leave your mind as long as you live, to teach them to your children and your grandchildren. I remember that day when you stood before the Lord your God had horrible when the Lord said to me, gather the people to me, I will declare my words to them so that they will learn to fear me every day of their lives on the fertile land, and teach their children to do the same. Then you all came close and stood at the foot of the mountain. The mountain was blazing with fire up to the sky with darkness, cloud and thick smoke. The Lord spoke to you out of the very fire itself. You heard the sound of words, but you didn't see any form, there was only a voice. The Lord declared his covenant to you, which he commanded you to do the 10 commandments, and wrote them on to stone tablets. At that time, the Lord commanded me to teach you all the regulations and the case laws that you must keep in the land that you're entering to possess. So watch your conduct closely, because you didn't see any form on the day of the Lord spoke to you at Hora about of the very fire itself. Don't ruin everything and make an idol for yourself, a form of any image, any likeness, male or female, or any likeness whatsoever. Whether of a land animal, a bird that flies in the sky, an insect that crawls on the earth, or a fish that lives in the sea, don't look to the skies to the sun, or the moon, or the stars, all the heavenly bodies and be led astray, worshipping and serving them. The Lord your God has granted these things to all the nations who live under heaven. But the Lord took you and brought you out of that iron furnace out of Egypt, so that you might be his own treasured people, which is what you are right now. The Lord was angry with me because of your deeds and swore that I couldn't cross the Jordan or into the wonderful land that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance. I will die here in this land. I won't cross the Jordan River, but you will and you will take possession of that wonderful land. So all of you watch yourselves. Don't forget the covenant that the Lord your God made with you by making an idol or an image of any kind or anything the Lord your God forbids because the Lord your God is an all consuming fire. He is a passionate God. Once you have had children and grandchildren and have grown old on the land, if you ruin things by making an idol in any form whatsoever, and do what is evil in the eyes of the LORD your God and anger him. I call heaven and earth as my witness against you today. You will definitely disappear and quickly from the land that you are crossing over the Jordan River to possess. You won't extend your time there but will instead be totally destroyed. The Lord will scatter you among the nation's only a very few of you will survive in the countries where the Lord will drag you there you will worship other gods made of wood and stone by human hands. Gods that cannot see it Listen, eat or smell, you will seek the Lord your God from there. and you will find him if you seek Him with all your heart, and with all your being in your distress, when all these things happen to you in the future, you will return to the Lord your God, and you will obey his voice. Because the Lord your God is a compassionate God. He won't let you go, he won't destroy you. and he won't forget the covenant that he swore to your ancestors. Now look into it into the days long past before your time, all the way back to the day God first created human beings on earth, from one end of heaven to the other. Has anything this amazing ever happened? Has anything like it ever been heard of before? Has any people ever listened to a God's voice speaking out of fire as each of you have and survive? or has any God ever tried to take one nation out of another nation using tests, miracles, wonders wore a strong hand and an outstretched arm, or awesome power, like all that the Lord your God did for you in Egypt while you watched you were shown these things so that you would know this. The Lord is the only God. There's no other god except Him. From heaven, He made you hear his voice in order to discipline you. On Earth, he showed you his great fire. You heard his words from that very fire. and because he loved your ancestors and chose their descendants after them, God brought you out of Egypt with his own presence by his own great power, in order to remove larger and stronger nations from before you and bring you into their land, giving it to you as an inheritance. That's where things stand right now. No, then today. and keep in mind, that the Lord is the only God in heaven above or on Earth below. There is no other. Keep the Lord's regulations in His commandments. I'm commanding them to you today for your well being and for the well being of your children after you so that you may extend your time on the fertile land that the Lord your God is giving you forever. Then Moses set aside three cities on the eastern side of the Jordan River, so that anyone who killed someone accidentally and without prior hatred could flee to one of those cities and be safe Beezer in the wilderness on the plateau for the Reubenites Ramoth in Gilead for the Gadites and Golan invasion for the Manasa sites. Now this is the instruction that Moses set before the Israelites. These are the laws and the regulations and the case laws that Moses made to the Israelites when they came out of Egypt. This took place across the Jordan River in the valley opposite Beth peor in the land of Sai Han, the Amorite king who ruled in Heshbon, who Moses and the Israelites defeated when they came out of Egypt. They took possession of his land and the land of org Bayesians King, the two Amorite kings across the Jordan River to the east, from Aroer, which is on the banks of the Arn and River all the way to Mount Zion, also known as Herman, and all the desert regions across the Jordan River on the east down to the Dead Sea, beneath the slopes of Mount Pisgah. Steve Webb 8:17 Deuteronomy chapter five. I sent for all the people of Israel. Here's what I said to them, Israel, listen to me, here are the rules and laws I'm announcing to you today. Learn them well, be sure to follow them. The Lord our God made a covenant with us at Mount Horeb. He didn't make it only with our parents. He also made it with us. In fact, he made it with all of us who are alive here today. The Lord spoke to you face to face, his voice came out of the fire on the mountain. At that time I stood between the Lord and you. I announced to you the Lord's message. I did it because you were afraid of the fire. You didn't go up the mountain. The Lord said, I am the Lord your God. I brought you out of Egypt. This is the land where you were slaves. Do not put any other gods in place of me. Do not make statues of gods that look like anything in the sky or on the earth or in the waters. Do not bow down to them or worship them. I am the Lord your God. I am a jealous God. I punish the children for the sin of their parents. I judge the grandchildren and great grandchildren of those who hate me. But for all time I come to show love to all those who love Me and keep My commandments. Do not misuse the name of the Lord your God. The Lord will find guilty anyone who misuses his name. observe the Sabbath day. keep it holy, just as the Lord your God commanded you. Do all of your work in six days. But the seventh day is the Sabbath in honor of the Lord your God. Do not do any work on that day. The same command applies to Your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your oxen, your donkeys, and your other animals. It also applies to any outsiders who live in your cities. I want your male and female servants to rest, just as you do. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt, the Lord your God reached out his mighty hand and powerful arm and brought you out of there. So He has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day. Honor your father and mother, just as the Lord your God commanded you, then you will live a long time and the land he is giving you and things will go well with you there. Do not commit murder. Do not commit adultery, do not steal. Do not give false witness against your neighbor. Do not long for your neighbor's wife. Do not long to have anything that belongs to your neighbor. Do not long to have your neighbor's house or land male or female servant, ox or donkey. Those are the commandments the Lord announced in a loud voice to your whole community. He gave them to you there on the mountain. He spoke out of the fire cloud and deep darkness. He didn't add anything else. Then he wrote the commandments on two stone tablets, and he gave them to me. The mountain was blazing with fire. You heard the voice coming out of the darkness. So your elders and all of the leaders of your tribes came to me. You said, The Lord our God has shown us His glory and majesty, we have heard his voice coming out of the fire. Today we have seen that a man can still stay alive even if God speaks with him. But why should we die? This great fire will burn us up will die if we hear the voice of the Lord our God again. We have heard the voice of the living God. We've heard him speaking out of the fire. Has any other human being ever heard him speak like that and stayed alive. go near it. Listen to everything the Lord our God says, then tell us what he tells you. We will listen and obey. The Lord heard you when you spoke to me. He said to me, I have heard what these people said to you. Everything they said was good. But I wish they would always have respect for me and their hearts. I wish they would always obey all of my commands, then things would go well with them and their children forever. Go and tell them to return to their tents, but you stay here with me. Then I will give you all of my commands, rules and laws. You must teach the people to follow them in the land I am giving them as their very own. So be careful to do what the Lord your God has commanded you. Don't turn away from his commands to the right or to the left. Live exactly as the Lord your God has commanded you to live, then you will enjoy life in the land you will soon own things will go well with you there. You will live there for a long time. Steve Webb 12:53 Deuteronomy chapter six. Now this is the commandment. and these are the statutes and judgments which the Lord your God has commanded to teach you that you may observe them in the land which you are crossing over to possess, that you may fear the Lord your God to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, you and your son and your grandson all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged. Therefore, Hero Israel and be careful to observe it, that it may be well with you, and that you may multiply greatly as the Lord God of your fathers has promised you a land flowing with milk and honey. Here, O Israel, the LORD our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. and these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house. When you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes, you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. So it shall be when the Lord your God brings you into the land of which he swore to your fathers to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you large and beautiful cities which you did not build houses full of all good things which you did not fill. You went out wells which you did not dig vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant. When you have eaten and are full. Then beware lest you forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt from the house of bondage. You shall fear the Lord your God and serve Him and shall take holds in his name. You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are all around you. For the Lord your God is a jealous God among you. Let the anger of the LORD your God be aroused against you and destroy you from the face of the earth. You shall not tempt the Lord your God as you tempted him and masa. You shall diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God, His testimonies and his statutes which He has commanded you, and you shall do what is right and good in the sight of the Lord, that it may be well with you, and that you may go in and possess the good land of which the Lord swore to your fathers to cast out all your enemies from before you, as the Lord has spoken. When your son asks you in time to come, saying, What is the meaning of the testimonies, the statutes, and the judgments which the Lord our God has commanded you, then you shall say to your son, we were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. and the Lord showed signs and wonders before our eyes great and severe, against Egypt, Pharaoh and all his household, then he brought us out from there that he might bring us in to give us the land of which he swore to our fathers. and the Lord commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God for our good always, that he might preserve us alive as it is this day, then it will be righteousness for us if we are careful to observe all these commandments before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us. Steve Webb 16:07 In chapter six, verses four and five, Moses is telling the children of Israel, the great commandment, the one that encompassed all the others. It's the commandment that Jesus quoted when the Pharisees asked him, which was the greatest of all the commandments, those verses our hero, Israel, the LORD our God, the Lord is One, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. Well, since Jesus said that this is the greatest commandment, we should understand it as clearly as possible, don't you think? This verse seems like a good place to spend a few minutes on the Trinity. Now many of you probably have a pretty good grasp on the idea of a Triune God, but I know there are some in the Lifespring family who are fairly new to Christianity. and this is such an important topic that I do want to at least touch on it. This won't be an in depth word study, but more like a 30,000 foot flyover view. Okay, so you might say, The Lord our God is one. What about Jesus and the Holy Spirit? They're gods, aren't they? No, they're not. and what I mean by that is, they're not separate gods. and this is where the idea of the Trinity comes in. Orthodox Christianity, or traditional Christianity, if you prefer, believes that God is a trinity, that there are three distinct persons who are together, one God, not three gods, one God, it can be difficult to sort of get your head around this. So let's look at the word that was used in the original language, Hebrew for the word that we translated into English as one. Here in Deuteronomy 6:4, the Hebrew word echad is used. Here, O Israel, the LORD our God, the Lord is echad! Echad refers to a single item made up of multiple parts, it's called a unified one. Well, are there other places in the Bible that the word echoed is used? Yes, there is. Let's look at a few. The first time we see this word echad is in Genesis one five, the Young's Literal translation renders it this way. and there is an evening, and there is a morning, day one. It was one day with two parts evening and morning. Echad day. In Genesis 2:24, we read, Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh or echad flesh. In Exodus 26:6 "And you shall make 50 clasps of gold, and couple of the curtains together with the clasps, so that it may be one tabernacle." Well, obviously the tabernacle was made up of many parts. and here it is called, One tabernacle. Echad tabernacle. Listen to Ezekiel 3715 through 17. Again, the word of the Lord came to me saying, As for you, Son of man, take a stick for yourself and write on it for Judah and for the children of Israel is companions, and then take another stick and write on it for Judah, the stick of Ephram, and for all the house of Israel, his companions, then join them one to another for yourself into one stick, and they will become one in your hand. Two sticks become echad. So the idea of three persons in echad God is not foreign to Scripture. and there is a Hebrew word by the way for a single item made up of one alone. That word is yachid. and this word is used in connection to one god exactly zero times in the Old Testament. Nowhere does the Bible say that the one God is a single entity, he is always referred to as echad God. Here's some examples of yachid from the Bible just so you see how it's used. In Genesis 22:2, we read "He said, 'Now take your son, your only son (or your yachid son), whom you love Isaac and go to the land of Moriah and offer him there is a burnt offering on one of the mountains in which I will tell you.'" in Judges 11:34 "Now she was Jephthah's one and only yachid child; besides her, he had no son or daughter." And one more time Zechariah 12:10 "They will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only (yachid), son." So I think you're beginning to see the difference between yachid as one and only and ehcad God, a unified one. So let's move on. Again in verse four, we read the Lord our God, the Lord is one. So in the phrase, the Lord our God, the Hebrew word for God, here is Elohim. Well, Elohim is a plural word. El is singular, Elohim is plural. and in Genesis 126, we read, then God said, Let us make man in our image, the word for God there is Elohim. Then Elohim said, "Let us make man in Our image, according to our likeness." Let us. Our image. Our likeness. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit were all present at the creation, as one God. At Jesus' baptism we had Jesus there being baptized, the Holy Spirit descended from heaven like a dove. and the Father spoke, saying, "This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." All three persons of the Triune God were present at the baptism of Jesus, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We have many, many, many verses that teach us that God is One, and in him there are three distinct persons. and there are many who misunderstand or who don't want to understand this concept, but it's important for believers to at least trust that this is true by faith. Announcer 22:09 What do you think? What do you think? Steve Webb 22:12 Yes, let me know. Did you find this interesting, enlightening? Do you have more questions about it? Let me know Sandy. Boostagram. Other ways to contact me are coming right up. Tomorrow. We'll be history Tuesday, and we'll read Second Chronicles 25 through 28. Announcer 22:28 The Lifespring! One Year Bible is solely supported by your value for value donations of time, talent or treasure. Steve Webb 22:38 Well, here's how to reach me. Besides sending a Boostagram with a modern podcast app, you can call the Lifespring family Hotline at plus 1-951-732-8511. Or if you have a comment or a question, go to comment Lifespringmedia.com If you have a praise report or prayer requests go to prayer.lifespringmedia.com and this Wednesday will be our last time of prayer on the show until I returned from my vacation on the second week of August. So keep that in mind. and last my email address is Steve at Lifespringmedia.com. Steve Webb 23:18 Brother Scott did today's album art. Thank you, Brother Scott. Thanks also to Sister Denise Michael Haner, Jason Paschall and sister Brittaney. and you should have a new newsletter in your inbox. Check it out. Thank you, beloved for spending time with me until tomorrow. May God bless you richly. My name is Steve Webb. Bye. James Cooper 23:41 All the programs in the Lifespringmedia.com family are made possible by the generous gifts of people like you. Transcribed by https://otter.ai