We can’t explain Trinity, but we can’t explain anything without it.

The Word for today:
Deuteronomy 12, 13

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one! (Deuteronomy 6:4)

Known as the Shema, meaning "hear," Deuteronomy 6:4-5 emphasized God's unity at a time when the nations of the world were predominantly polytheistic. When translated into English, unity is all we hear in the Shema:

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one!

But when we look closely at the original Hebrew, we see deeper into the verse:

Hear, H8085 O Israel: H3478 The LORD H3068 our God H430 is one H259 LORD. H3068

The numbers you see are called “Strong’s Numbers.” First published in Strong’s Concordance in the late 1800’s, each number refers to a definition of the original Hebrew or Greek word.

What we need to see in the Shema is that LORD (H3068) and God (H430) are different words in the original (Hebrew) language. H3068 refers to the name of God which was revealed to Moses at the burning bush in Exodus 3:14. H430 is the name of God which we first encounter in Genesis 1:1.

The Shema, then, could be literally rendered as--

‘Hear, O Israel: Jehovah our Elohim (plural) is one Jehovah!’

It could be even more literally rendered as--

‘Hear, O Israel: Jehovah our Trinity is one Jehovah!’

Stand in the Rain has focused on the concept of Trinity in many articles over the years. Here are a few of them:

"through the rift"

"a triple-braided cord"

"no one 'gets' Jesus but by Him"

We struggle to understand the concept of Trinity. It taxes our imaginations, to say the least.

But as a practical matter, I am coming to realize that while Trinity raises some questions, it answers (1) more questions than it raises.

We can’t explain Trinity, but we can’t explain anything without it.

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(1) an example can be found in "through the rift," linked above