el echad The One God

Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us? why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, by profaning the covenant of our fathers?  Malachi 2:10 (KJV)

The names of God reveal the character of God to us.  Throughout Scripture God reveals Himself to us through His name.  In Malachi God is called el echad or The One God.  In a world filled with idol worship and gods of man’s own making this name is supremely important.  When God was declaring
His law to the Hebrews the very first command was

“You shall have no other gods before me.”

The title One God has more to do with the pre-eminence of God than it does with numbers.  There is no other god beside our God.  All those that claim to be god or are elevated to that status by men are not gods.  They are imposters with limited or no power.  There is only One God and His name is Jehovah. 

The Hebrew word for God is el.  It is used of both pagan gods and The One True God.  However, we find descriptions used in conjunction with el that speak of Jehovah’s character.  In Malachi the word echad is used to form the name el echad  or “One God” literally “God is One”.  A thorough search of God’s Word reveals that the word “echad” is used in various ways that all shed light on the unsearchable depths of God.

The most common use of the word means “one” the numerical prime that denotes singleness. 
Here are two examples:
Genesis 1:9, “Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into ONE place.” 
Genesis 3:22, “The man has become as ONE of us…”

In this sense there is only ONE God.  There are no others. 

Echad also means “first” as in “I am the first to cross the finish line”.  This is used in Genesis 1:5 when God spoke, “The evening and the morning were the FIRST day.”  To Honor God we must allow Him to take His rightful place in our lives.  He is the first and the last!  Beside Him there is no other.  When we put our concerns, our joy, our glory, our honor, or anything else above God we have taken this name in vain.  He must be First or we have not honored Him as God.  This is why Scripture teaches us to give Him the first fruits of all of our labor.  This is honor.  When Cain offered an unacceptable sacrifice to God it was most likely because he had brought God seconds and not firsts. 

Are we living our lives to honor God as “el echad”?  There is only One God and He is First!