Judaism’s unique claim: National revelation

by Chaya Cikk
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Judaism is the only religion that claims national revelation happened. God appeared to over 3 million people at Mount Sinai. You don’t forget an event like that.

What Is National Revelation?

Revelation according to the Oxford Dictionary is the act of revealing or appearing. A person might reveal how they did a magic trick or a prophet might reveal how God spoke to him. A revelation could also be a form of communication. When God communicates with one prophet through a dream for example. National means on a big scale, not to one person but to lots of people.

Judaism & National Revelation

National Revelation would mean that God communicated with or revealed Himself to the people. Not just one specific person or prophet but to a nation. An example of this is when God revealed Himself to the Jewish People on Mount Sinai. It was a national revelation, 3 million people witnessed this event.

When God revealed himself to the Jewish People on Mount Sinai there were witnesses. You can believe in something you saw. It is much harder to believe a single person’s prophetical dream than it is to believe in national revelation. When G-d appears to a single person it makes sense that other people might ask for proof, because they were not there to experience G-d speaking.

One of the most famous phrases known throughout the world is “שמע ישראל ה אלוקנו ה אחד“. This means “Hear, O Israel, the L-rd our God, the L-rd is One”. The letters ע and ד are normally written out bigger than the other letters. עד in Hebrew means witness. One of the explanations for this is that we, the Jewish people, were all witnesses to Gods revelation.

Judaism’s unique claim to National Revelation is what makes the religion so unique.

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