This does not mean Israel was without those who fell away or turned to other gods. Deuteronomy 6:4 makes this plain as it was intended to exclude polytheism and henotheism. From the text we can gather that there is one God and one way to worship Him. In singleness of heart, will and with all one's person. Our undivided commitment to God matches the number of God as well. Ten verses later Yahweh commands them not to go after “gods, the gods of the peoples who are around you.” (6:14, ESV) These other "gods" were clearly fictional gods and not worthy of their worship and commitment.
Trinitarians seek to posit that God here is only described as one in being not person. God is somehow so other than those created in His image (Gen.1:26-27) that He can somehow be one being and yet three persons. As proof they suggest that God's being is unlimited and unlike our own. While this is true in many ways it does not necessarily follow that God is more than one person. If God's being is unlimited and unlike ours to such a degree then certainly the same can be said of the person of God Himself. Especially in light of the fact that God or Yahweh is explicitly personal and clearly interacts as one to one existentially. Walther Eichrodt, from Basel University, notices that Yahweh's oneness is not only in reference to His being but also in His person.
"Linguistically, it is certainly possible to support the rendering "Yahweh our God is one single Yahweh"; that is to say, he is not a God who can be split up into various divinities or powers, like the Baals of Tyre, of Hazor and or Schechem, etc., but one who unites himself as a single person everything which Israel thought of as appertaining to God." (Theology of The Old Testament)
The Shema is not confusing. Yes, it has yielded much debate but some basic things can be said. God is echad or one. Echad is the Hebrew word for the number one. Every Hebrew boy or girl learns this at a very early age to distinguish one person or thing from another person or thing. In Deuteronomy 6:4 echad is no doubt used as it is in other places.
Echad signifies one place (Gen. 1:9), anyone soul or person (Lev. 4:27), or one justice (Num. 5:16). Here we have that there is only one Yahweh. He is one. There is no reason why echad cannot be referencing the person of God in Deuteronomy 6:4. Hebrew children regularly used echad to distinguish one person or thing from another. Unless the Trinitarian is willing to say that God is impersonal or a thing then the reference can include person. In the case of God He is most definitely personal.
The Biblical data clearly indicates that Yahweh or God exists as one personal Spirit being (Ps. 139:7-12; Isa. 31:3; John 4:24) who is invisible (Deut. 4:11-15; Job 9:11; 1 Tim. 6:15-16) omnipotent (Gen. 17:1; 18:14; Ps. 135:5-6), omniscient (Gen. 6:5; 1 Kings 8:39; Job 37:16), self-existent (Ex. 3:14; Isa. 43:10, 44:6; Jer. 10:10) who is personal enough to think and know (1 Sam. 2:3; 1 Chron. 28:9; Job 28:20-24), to create plans and act upon them (Isa. 14:26-27, Isa. 46:10; Isa. 55:11) make judgements (Prov. 5:21; Jer. 20:12) feels emotion (Gen. 6:6; Deut. 32:35-43; Job 19:11)) and respond to others (Ex. 3:7, 6:5; Job 34:28; Ps. 81:19).
Such things are true statements of what should be both the Jewish and Christian creed. This is not to deny that there are certain irreconcilable differences (between Judaism and Christianity) but it is to affirm, for the sake of this discussion, that Yahweh is one. This unchanging creed should help us govern our understanding of the majesty and might of the undivided True and Living God. There is no reason to suppose that the Shema includes a reference to the being of God but not His person. In light of the Incarnation this understanding does not change but further affirms that God is truly one and that one God has been manifest in the flesh. Jesus is that God manifest in flesh.
The Biblical data clearly indicates that Yahweh or God exists as one personal Spirit being (Ps. 139:7-12; Isa. 31:3; John 4:24) who is invisible (Deut. 4:11-15; Job 9:11; 1 Tim. 6:15-16) omnipotent (Gen. 17:1; 18:14; Ps. 135:5-6), omniscient (Gen. 6:5; 1 Kings 8:39; Job 37:16), self-existent (Ex. 3:14; Isa. 43:10, 44:6; Jer. 10:10) who is personal enough to think and know (1 Sam. 2:3; 1 Chron. 28:9; Job 28:20-24), to create plans and act upon them (Isa. 14:26-27, Isa. 46:10; Isa. 55:11) make judgements (Prov. 5:21; Jer. 20:12) feels emotion (Gen. 6:6; Deut. 32:35-43; Job 19:11)) and respond to others (Ex. 3:7, 6:5; Job 34:28; Ps. 81:19).
Such things are true statements of what should be both the Jewish and Christian creed. This is not to deny that there are certain irreconcilable differences (between Judaism and Christianity) but it is to affirm, for the sake of this discussion, that Yahweh is one. This unchanging creed should help us govern our understanding of the majesty and might of the undivided True and Living God. There is no reason to suppose that the Shema includes a reference to the being of God but not His person. In light of the Incarnation this understanding does not change but further affirms that God is truly one and that one God has been manifest in the flesh. Jesus is that God manifest in flesh.
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