Messianic Viewpoint

Guest (Female): Shalom and welcome to Shalom Ariel and to our 23rd sermon in the Gospel of Mark with Messianic leader Jacques Isaac Gabizon. There's a great worship song which includes these words: "Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord and he will lift you up, up into heaven." Great words, but first, and for these 12 disciples who we are going to hear about today, the mountain was the first stop.

Imagine being called up by Yeshua to stay with him, to learn from him, then to be sent out to preach and cast out demons. Why was it so important to cast out demons? Because we are reminded that there are two kingdoms at war and the fighting in the principalities and powers is not yet over.

And so, as we are called up to the mountain to fight, how do we do it? We do the fighting the way Yeshua did, and we answer the enemy with the word of God. But in order to do that, we need to be ready in and out of season. We need to hide the word in our heart, not as something forgotten like a buried treasure.

We know how much the enemy tries to hide himself from us. But in this hide and seek warfare, we realize that the more we keep the word hidden, the more the enemy will be seen, exposed, caught, and tagged. Our job, of course, is not just to keep things hidden, but to make what is hidden evident. To have our spiritual heart pumping power into our physical, emotional, and spiritual being and to expose our faith and confirm which team we are on. When we stand strong on the mountaintop, even those giants appear very small. Be blessed as you listen in to today's program, and shalom shalom.

Jacques Isaac Gabizon: Let's bless the Word before we open it. Blessed are you, oh Lord our God, King of the universe, who has given us the word of truth and has planted everlasting life in our midst. Blessed are you, oh Lord, who gives the Scriptures. Amen. And so let us open our Bibles to the book of Mark, chapter 3. You can also follow along as the main passages will be on the screen for us.

We are here in Mark at a major crossroads in the life of Yeshua. Seeing that the leaders of Israel rejected him as the Messiah, as their Messiah, as their Savior, he now prepares the ground for a new era in the Kingdom of God. Here he begins by selecting 12 men from the remnant of Israel to form a new leadership, and it begins in such a solemn way, as if history was reset to a new start.

See how it starts, verses 13 to 15. "And he went up on the mountain and summoned those whom he himself wanted, and they came to him. And he appointed 12 so that they would be with him and that he could send them out to preach, and to have authority to cast out demons."

Here we're told that he went up the mountain. While we're not told which mountain it is, this information reminds us of the beginnings of the nation of Israel, just when for the first time it was called a nation. It was then when Moses went up the mountain, Mount Sinai, to meet God, to receive the covenant of the law. At that moment, Israel became that nation.

And the same words, "he went up the mountain," in Greek are repeated seven times in the Septuagint of chapter 19 of Exodus, where we see the birth of the nation. And just as this chapter of Exodus, the word "mountain" is mentioned 12 times, and any Jew reading or listening to Mark would make that connection. This is where the readers of Mark are brought to consider.

It was there in Exodus 19:6 where God gave the purpose of the election of Israel. And he told her, "You shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation." That's why Israel was chosen. A purpose we find that is repeated this time to a remnant of the nation of Israel. While in the past Israel had not exercised this task of being the priestly nation, here in Mark, we can see a seed, a root forming for the accomplishment of this purpose as the 12 are being trained to prepare and prepare to do just that: to proclaim the word to all the nations.

The 12 disciples were to be the first foundation on which the nation was to be the priest, that is, represent God to the people of the world and proclaim salvation in Yeshua. You know that before this moment, the proclaiming of the word of God was done by individuals, like Joseph who brought his knowledge of God to the Egyptians, or Jonah who went to the Assyrians, or Isaiah who spoke to Moab and the neighboring countries, crying for them.

For the nation as a whole, the purpose of her election will be fulfilled during the millennium. But here we see the beginning with 12 Jews. And the number 12 is related to the composition of Israel into 12 tribes. 12 in the Bible is the number of governmental perfection. It is the symbol of organization. Heaven, our abode, our eternal abode, is built around number 12.

There are 12 gates, 12 angels at the gates, and each gate has the name of one of the 12 tribes of Israel. As for the name of the apostles, they are eternally inscribed on the 12 foundations of the eternal city which are our abode, as you see in Revelation 21:14. There we read that it rests on foundation stones and on them that is where the 12 names of the 12 apostles of the Lamb.

And so the choosing of the 12 disciples marks a new era in the history of Israel and of the ecclesia and of the Gentile believers who were soon actually to join in the church composed with Israel. So important was this choosing that Luke tells us that Jesus spent the whole night by himself in prayer before he actually brought or chose the 12.

Also, how interesting this information in the Bible and how surprising it must be to those who today are working so hard to wipe out the name of Israel. It's increasing. Whether it be through theology or through terrorism, these join hands in being the subject of an end-time prophecy found in Psalm 83:4, which register their words when they say and will say, "Come and let us wipe them out as a nation, that the name of Israel be remembered no more."

Well, it is impossible, the Bible says. It is impossible to wipe out the name of Israel, for the name of the 12 tribes and that of the 12 apostles for both will be engraved forever and ever in heaven. Amen. Think about it. While the New Jerusalem existed before, and while Israel was always under a constant danger of annihilation, even in the diaspora, these last 2,500 years, her name was always there on the gates of the abode of God.

Now before we meet the 12, there's a great principle that is set for us in the words and way the Messiah actually chose his men. Notice the progression in three words in the same verses of Mark 3:13 to 15. He went up the mountain and summoned, that is, those he himself wanted. He appointed 12 and then he sent them out.

There's a method. There's a plan of action where the Lord first summons and then he appoints and then he sends. And if this is the way of calling people, the question we can ask ourselves is, where am I in this movement? Because this is the way the Lord works. He did it in the Old Testament. How has it been applied in my life? Surely every one of us has been summoned. But have we responded to it? And have we acknowledged the appointment? And have we realized that we've been sent or we're being sent?

And the words are so well chosen. The first one, "summons," is the invitation to service. Here the Messiah chooses 12 among many others. There were many who followed. And among the many synonyms of the word to call in the Greek, this one goes beyond the mere fact of calling. It's made of two words: *pros*, meaning "with" or "unto," and the word "call," *kaleo*, which means "to call aloud," thus emphasizing the depth of the call.

Furthermore, this word was a legal term in secular Greek to name a witness or to summon somebody into court, as we believers should see ourselves are. We are witnesses. When we preach the word, we're a witness to the acceptance or the refusal. We have been, so to speak, summoned unto salvation, now being a witness of this great miracle in our very being. And through the many circumstances in our journey, we constantly watch, observe, and attest to all that the Lord is doing. We are the witnesses.

And the second word, "appoints," in Greek. This one is a special word. Out of the 11 Greek synonyms used in the New Testament for the word to appoint, this one actually is used to describe something brand new, like a new creation. As we read in Hebrews 12:27, when the author speaks about created things. The Septuagint uses this Greek word to describe how God creates in Genesis 1. And in just this very chapter of Genesis 1, it is used 10 times.

But that is so fitting. For when the Lord appoints a believer for service, and this is so important, he gives him or gives her the spiritual mean, the spiritual power to do the work. "You have been appointed" means "I've given you all the powers that you need to do the work that you're assigned to do." In fact, every believer is a new creature at his or her spiritual birth, and this metamorphosis is a process.

The miracle of transformation doesn't stop at the conversion, right? It is ongoing. As we're told, 2 Corinthians 5:17, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, who is in the Messiah, he's a new creature. The old things have passed away. Behold, new things have come." This is the new birth. This is an inner recreation of our fallen nature in preparation for the work that the Lord has assigned for us and in preparation also for the eternal life that he has prepared for us.

And so the growth never stops, but its maturing depends on our response to the call. So far, the person is summoned for service as a witness of the great salvation we have in Yeshua. Then he or she is appointed, that is, given all the necessary means to proclaim the word. And then the person needs to go. This is when the person is sent. This one is the most difficult: to decide to finally go.

You know, when we came back from Vancouver, we took one of Air Canada's biggest airplanes in their fleet. It was 450 passengers, actually could fit in there. It actually took a full hour to board the plane. So you can imagine the size, the weight of the aircraft. We were sitting somewhere in the middle, in one of the 11 seats per row, and I could barely see the end of the plane.

And while we're about to take off, I said, "Lord, I think we need a miracle this time." And you know, as the plane was on the runway and increasing in speed, I was looking out the window for takeoff. I knew that there was a moment where it could not stop. It had to take off. This is that certain point where the pilot cannot decide to remain on the ground. He cannot change his mind. He needs to carry the plane off the ground.

The life of the believer is similar. For the plane stopping after it crossed that final line of no return would have disastrous consequences. Likewise, when it comes to the life of a believer, very often he or she runs so fast at the beginning, building up speed and crossing that line into service for God, but then stops. They drop off and fall, and consequences could be dire. Others don't even get to the takeoff speed because they get stuck in between the call and the appointment, while others get stuck between the appointment and the sending.

Yeshua will speak about these stages through the parables again in the next chapter of Mark. Yes, there are many forces which constantly try to prevent us from taking off. But as an encouragement, just think of the wind. The wind into which the plane is flying. Many of you will remember that the word for "wind" in Hebrew and in Greek is the same word for the spirit, like the Spirit of God.

And when we are with God and following him like a bird, we just have to spread our wings and he will carry us up like the eagle. We don't need to stay on the ground, always roaring our engines, which could be very tiresome and without benefit. We just need to agree with God. He will do the rest and carry us to great heights.

And when I was on the plane feeling the lifting off of the plane, one verse came to my mind. Remember Isaiah 40:31? "Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength. They will mount up with wings like eagles. They will run and not get tired. They will walk and not become weary." These words were given to encourage the believers in Israel who were in the midst of so much evil.

The Lord had encouraged them. First, he says to wait on the Lord. The word "wait" is *qavah*. It comes from the word *tiqvah*, which means "hope." Hope in the Lord. And what happens when we hope in the Lord? The word says that we shall renew our strength. The word "renew" is used for a changing of clothes. The point is that hope, faith, gives us enough strength, and we are renewed in our spirit. And as a consequence, we can fly. So from being summoned and appointed, we then take off, and this is when the life of a believer really is at its best.

And there is one encouraging way in verse 14, in the way verse 14 is written. Notice how the words are phrased for us. Verse 14, it says, "And he appointed 12 so that they would be with him and he could send them out to preach." Now there's something that doesn't match in there. Can you see it? He appointed the 12 disciples for two things: that they would be with him, and second, that he could send them.

But how could they be with him if he's going to send them away? This is only true with Yeshua. Both statements are true in that his Spirit is always with us once we respond to his call. And when he sends us to proclaim the word in one way or another, he is with us and in us.

And notice in these same verses, the two reasons given for our being sent away, verses 14 to 15: to preach and to have authority to cast out demons. The first one, to preach or proclaim, that is, to make known, could be done in many ways through our words, but especially through our lives, our behavior, our changes in our lives. It always shows. And the world outside is very sensitive to the changes that occur in our lives.

But what about the second clause: to have authority to cast out demons? How does that apply to us today? When we read this phrase, we often think of exorcism and direct confrontation with demons. Well, this could at times be the case. There's another primary sense to these words. Let me first tell you about the word "authority," *exousia* in Greek. This word speaks of freedom of choice. It speaks of the right to act, the right to decide, that very thing that is impossible when one is under demonic influence. Something the demons want to deprive us of, so that we cannot make any decisions.

The word *exousia* is found in Romans 9:21, when it speaks of the potter having the right over the clay. But demons have no right over us. But now we have the right to be freed from them through God, of course. And to better understand the workings of demonic world, let us first consider the history of the demonic physical manifestation throughout the Scriptures.

Have you ever wondered why suddenly the demons manifested themselves right at the same time when Jesus was on earth and very rarely before and never in the same way? What happened? We don't read of such things in the time of Abraham or David or of the prophets. Why then at the time of Jesus? Could it be that with Jesus they could not hide anymore, working in the dark? This is what they do.

However, when Jesus came, they had nowhere to hide from his presence. And notice how they manifested themselves in the book of Mark. They're the ones who would often initiate the conversation, just like we saw in the first encounter in Mark, when Jesus entered a synagogue, a demon cried out and said, "What business do we have to do with you?" Mark 1:24. Yeshua did not say anything, but his presence unmasked all that is hidden.

And then we read in chapter 3, verse 11, that whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they would fall down before him. Even before he said or did anything. But what about the time preceding the coming of Yeshua? They were there. They were there always present, as they are today, and having the same strategy: hit and hide.

The first encounter was with Eve, if you remember. The devil did not come looking like a devil to Eve, but like a serpent, surely as an innocent-looking and good-looking serpent, perhaps veiling himself as he looked in heaven before his fall. In Genesis 6, we see the demonic invasion to stop the seed of the woman. But the people did not know that. These sons of God came and married women to corrupt the seed, most probably through possession of corrupt men.

But again, these demons were somehow disguised. Samuel understood the connection when he says "rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft." What is witchcraft? *Qesem* in Hebrew is from the word *qasam*, which described the practice of divination or calling on demons. Here rebellion against God has a demonic origin.

And so the existence of demons was known by the prophets. Even Isaiah, if you remember, he gave them names which are translated into animals. In Zechariah 3, Joshua the high priest did not know that Satan was standing next to him to test him and persecute him. The point is that just as they operated during the Hebrew Scriptures era, they are operating today, very subtly, very discreetly, which is much harder for us to deal than with a direct confrontation. When a demon manifests himself, we know who we are dealing with. This is relatively the easy part.

But when they attack from the back, which they do, then it becomes much more difficult to spot them and deal with them. And this is where the New Testament, the letters written for the believers, train us to recognize them and to properly fight them. Let us not lure ourselves into thinking that they're not active, for they are, and are always trying to undermine what is God's, what is godly, what is right.

Yeshua will emphasize this point in speaking of the two kingdoms of the world right in this chapter. You have the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan. But the Bible, the New Testament, tells us much about the organization and their field of action. Remember Ephesians 6:12? It tells us about their organization. There we're told that "our struggle is not against flesh and blood." But look at what it says: rulers, against the powers, against the world forces in this darkness, against spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.

First, it reminds us that we're fighting a spiritual battle. Not realizing the depth of the implication of this truth, we've already lost the war then. And then we learn that they are divided into four well-organized battalions, so to speak. Four, just like the four powers in the time of Daniel, or the four powers of the end time. We see their footprints of their influence in this world.

And then you ask, why do we need to know that they are divided into four well-organized battalions? This is for us to know that as Jesus uncovered them by his presence, he knows exactly where they are today. The word uncovers them completely. This must be the purpose of this verse. God knows, and that he knows is very comforting for us.

But then we're told how they operate. And this is important how they operate so that we may be ready to fight back. Let me give you one verse, important verse, 1 Timothy 4:1. See what it says: "But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from their faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons."

First, we have deceitful spirits roaming the places where believers are, the congregations, the churches. These spirits may refer to false teachers, or demons, or both working together in unison. It is, however, in the second clause that we read doctrines of demons, for this is where demonic activity is more active. It attacks the word of God. This is what they do today. Remove the Bible from a believer and you have no more direction, no more vision, you have chaos.

As they did with Israel, which brought God to say through Hosea, "My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge." In the history of Israel, demonic activity was done mainly through foreign false religion, as it is today through false doctrines. And Yeshua gave us such a great example on how to fight demon, how to cast out demon. Did you notice that at the temptation, when three times Jesus said, "It is written," right away, and three times the devil just disappeared? The devil's attack finally ended.

So surely they would attack our beliefs, and this is our means to fight back: know your Bible. This way we can cast out demon. So having an authority over the demon is primarily to be freed from their influence and to cast them out through the power of God. While there may be times there may be direct confrontation with an exorcism, most of the time it involves knowing the word of God and using it to fight back. Let us now meet the 12 apostles.

You know, the list is like a graduation list, for this comes after they have spent at least two years with the Messiah. Now they're trained. And now among many others, because there were so many who followed Jesus, Jesus chose 12 of them whom he summoned, appointed, and about to send. And at this point, he chose actually 12. And from that point on, it becomes "the 12." We read this 10 times over in the Gospel of Mark.

This appellation must have attracted the attention of many in Israel. You know that the rabbis used to call the 12 minor prophets "the 12." But here are a new 12 with a new mission and a new message.

Guest (Female): Shalom Ariel is a daily radio program emphasizing the Jewish perspective of Scripture. God is not through dealing with Israel, nor will he renege any of the promises he has made to her. Our teacher for this program, Jacques Isaac Gabizon, is a Messianic Jewish believer and Messianic leader at Beth Ariel congregation right here in Montreal.

If you've been encouraged by the messages, we'd love to hear from you. Give us a call at 1-888-685-5902 or you may write us at info@bethariel.ca, that's B-E-T-H-A-R-I-E-L all one word dot C-A. You are also welcome to join us for our Saturday morning services. We are located at 6297 Monkland Avenue, corner of Madison in NDG.

The message is given in English, but we do offer simultaneous translation into French and Russian. Services begin at 11:00 AM. We have Shabbat school for children of all ages up to and including teens. You may also download audio messages from our website at bethariel.ca and enjoy other in-depth teaching from Jacques Isaac.

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