The Deuteronomy 6: 4 is repeated in the NT by the
Lord Himself: “Hear, Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord” (Mark 12:
29). Astonishingly, some dismiss this Scripture by saying that the
words “Hear, Israel” prove that it was intended for Jews, and that
therefore it forms no part of what is to be believed by Christians.
Now of course the verse is addressed to Israelites (both when
uttered by Moses and when spoken by the Lord), and it is also true
that what has been made known to us as Christians regarding the
Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit far exceeds anything previously
revealed to God’s earthly people. However, Scripture also teaches
that “I Jehovah change not” (Mal. 3: 6), and thus what is revealed
in the NT about God does not somehow militate against, weaken or
cancel what has been made known in the OT. God is what He is and He
does not change. It is significant that having said that God “is
one, and there is none other besides him” (Mark 12: 32), the scribe
in the passage in Mark is looked on by the Lord as having spoken
“intelligently” (v34).
So what does the word
one mean in this context?
Some, in focusing on the fact that Scripture makes known God to be a
plurality of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, will have it that the word
one here cannot mean one in the sense of
singular, but merely one in the sense of a
unity of persons. Now while this interpretation may be theologically
convenient, it ought not to satisfy the believer. As ever, the
question must be ‘Is it true?’ The Greek word used for
one (eis) in Mark 12: 29
occurs thirty or so times elsewhere in the Gospel of Mark
and in every instance means one in
number, that is, a singularity. On either side of the
contested passage, one has
its plain and obvious meaning: “one of the scribes” (v28) and “one
of his disciples” (Mark 13: 1). The same is true in
Deuteronomy—every instance of the word
one throughout the book
means one in the sense of
one in number. The Jews listening to the Lord in Mark would
understand one to mean a singularity, and there is no evidence whatsoever that
the Lord meant the word to convey anything else. Nor will it do to
appeal to the NT Scriptures concerning marriage such as Matthew 19:
5, 6. The man and the woman (two separate individuals) are united
together in order that they might
become one (a singularity).
A fundamental
tenet of Judaism was belief in one God in contrast to the rampant
polytheism with which Israel was surrounded. He was not
many
Jehovahs, but
one Jehovah. The
twelve tribes were, however, warned about an intellectual belief
without faith in God: “thou
believest that God is one” (eis)
“Thou doest well. The demons even believe, and tremble” (James 2:
19). However, the apostle does
not say that believing
that “God is one”—a singularity—is an error. God
is a singularity,
hence “Draw near to God, and
he will draw near to you”
(James 4: 8, my emphasis). Does this truth conflict with what we
read in the NT about the plurality in the Godhead suggested by
Father, Son and Holy Spirit? Only if we think that God lies within
the bounds of that which is explainable! We shall learn nothing by
prying into the ark (see 1 Sam. 6: 19)—except perhaps the
foolishness of going beyond what God has been pleased to reveal.
What in fact do those who say that one
signifies a unity mean? Of whom does this unity consist? The usual
answer is that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are one God.
However, while certainly true, this is not the language that
Scripture uses. Turn to
that part of Scripture which is undeniably Christian in
character—the epistles of the apostle Paul: “there [is] no other God
save one … yet to us [there is] one God, the Father, of whom all
things, and we for him … One God and Father of all, who is over all, and through
all, and in us all” (1 Cor. 8: 4, 6; Eph. 4: 6; eis throughout).
Here we have God in His oneness spoken of again,
but He is not presented as the
Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit united together in one.
Christ came to make known God
as Father—the revelation of plurality in the Godhead comes in
almost incidentally. Worshipping the Father in spirit and truth (see
John 4: 23) necessitates a knowledge on our part of the Holy Spirit
as well as the Son, but the primary objective of divine revelation
is to make known God as Father. Time and time again in the epistles
we have the expression “God our Father” (Rom. 1: 7 etc.), “God [the]
Father” (Gal. 1: 3 etc.) or “God and Father” (1 Pet. 1: 3). As a
matter of fact, Scripture never
directly says that God is
three—but it uses explicit terms to assert that God is one. Those
who read the Bible through theological spectacles need to remember
that divine revelation is just that—a revelation. It is the height
of folly to try to mould it to suit our own thoughts.
Note: Since this was first written, attention has been drawn to
Zech. 14: 9: "And Jehovah shall be king over all the earth: in that
day shall there be one Jehovah, and his name one". If nothing else,
this proves that the testimony that God is one is not confined
merely to the OT but will be found in the coming kingdom age too. It
has to, because God does not change: "I
Jehovah change not" (Mal. 3: 6).
