Shaddai

Learn Hebrew

Hebrew for Christians
BS''D
The Promise of Love...
Vine and Branches

The Promise of Love

Further thoughts on the Ve'ahavta...

by John J. Parsons

Ve'ahavta et Adonai...

You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart (Deut. 6:5)

By faith regard this commandment as a prophecy about your inner life: "You shall love (ve'ahavta) the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might" (Deut. 6:5). Only the Savior can quicken a dead heart, after all, and fill the soul with holy affections. Only the LORD can impart to us strength needed to take hold of promises as he writes his Torah upon our heart. As it is written, "For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever" (Rom. 11:36).
 

וְאָהַבְתָּ אֵת יְהוָה אֱלהֶיךָ בְּכָל־לְבָבְךָ
וּבְכָל־נַפְשְׁךָ וּבְכָל־מְאדֶךָ

ve·a·hav'·tah · et · Adonai · E·loh·he'·kha · be·khol · le·vav'·kha
oo·ve·khol · naf·she·kha · oo·ve·khol · me·oh·de'·kha
 

"You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart
 and with all your soul and with all your might"
(Deut. 6:5)



Hebrew Study Card
 

Yeshua said, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments..." (John 14:15). The logical contrapositive statement is, "if you do not keep my commandments, you do not love me." Our struggle to obey is really a struggle of the heart to love (or to trust that we are loved). We can read Yeshua's words with true hope, however: "When you love me, you will keep my commandments." In other words, as you love Yeshua and know his heart, you will fulfill his Torah, since the love of God is the gateway of all meaningful obedience.

Your Heavenly Father sees in secret... "The deepest thing in our nature is this region of heart in which we dwell alone with our willingnesses and our unwillingnesses, our faiths and our fears" (William James). It is there, in the secret place of the heart, where the sound of the "knock" is either heard or disregarded (Rev 3:20). May the Lord give us the willingness to do His will and the courage to believe in His love; may he deliver us from doubt and from every other fear. And may we all be strong in faith, not staggering over the promises, but giving glory to God for the miracle of Yeshua our LORD.

"The LORD your God will return as you return, and will have mercy upon you, turning to gather you back..." (Deut 30:3). This too has both a present and prophetic application. First, in the present hour, if you turn to God, he will show you compassion, and he will "gather back" all those distant and fragmented parts of yourself into shalom and wholeness. He will restore your lost days; he will bring you out of exile and give you comfort in Yeshua. He makes all things new (2 Cor. 5:17; Rev. 21:5). "Draw near, therefore to God, and he will draw near to you" (James 4:8). Second, the LORD will return to earth to restore Zion during the time of the final redemption. The LORD will turn captivity into mercy; he will turn in his compassion to his people. As it is written: "I will be found by you, declares the LORD, and I will bring you back..." (Jer. 29:14). Maranatha!
 


Hebrew Lesson
Deuteronomy 6:5 reading (click):


 



<< Return
 

 

Hebrew for Christians
Copyright © John J. Parsons
All rights reserved.

email