Love Israel

Guest (Male): Shalom and welcome to Veahavta Yisrael, a Hebrew phrase which means you shall love Israel. We hope you'll stay with us for the next 30 minutes as our teacher, Dr. Baruch, shares his expository teaching from the Bible. Dr. Baruch is the senior lecturer at the Zera Avraham Institute based in Israel.

Although all courses are taught in Hebrew at the institute, Dr. Baruch is pleased to share this weekly address in English. To find out more about our work in Israel, please visit us on the web at loveisrael.org. That's one word, loveisrael.org. Now, here's Baruch with today's lesson.

Dr. Baruch Korman: Well, we're now ready to move into chapter three of the book of Ezra. Now this third chapter is about change. This is who God is. And what did we see? We saw that there were people in exile, the Babylonian exile. But God at the right time, exactly after these 70 years were completed, He began to do what He said He was always going to do and that is to bring the people back to the land.

I want us to look at the scripture again, Ezra chapter three and verse one. Notice the timing. Now I've said something that I believe is very significant and what is that? Well even though when we look at the spring festivals, and I'm speaking about Passover, also the feast of unleavened bread, and then some other important acts of observance like the festival called Reshit.

It's a one-day observance, it's not a Shabbat, but it is a day that we are called to do something, to make an offering. And we see that this is also the very day that Messiah rose from the dead. 50 days later, we have a festival and that is known as the feast of weeks, or much in the church will call it Pentecost. Because there's two methodologies for counting. We count those seven weeks. Obviously, seven weeks is 49 days and the next day is the 50th day or Pentecost.

Look with me as I said to Ezra chapter three, beginning with verse one where it says, "And the seventh month arrived." That's literally what it says, the seventh month arrived. Now what I want you to understand is this. Even though many significant aspects of Messiah's work when He came the first time were done on these important days, these appointed days, but when we look at the fall festival, and there are two festival periods, the springtime and the fall.

When we look at the fall, it's not so much about teaching us when these key events will happen in the end times, but rather we learn about them. We learn about what God is going to do and bring into reality from the truth of these fall festivals. Look again at verse one. "And the seventh month arrived and the children of Israel in cities." That's what it says. Doesn't say in the cities, but simply in cities.

Why is that important? Well, it shows again God's faithfulness because God promised to bring the people back to the land, specifically the land of Judah. And now we see that the people are back and they are in cities. Look now to verse one, the second half. "And the people, they were gathered as one man to Jerusalem." Now notice what it speaks about. One man is an idiom for unity.

I will also say this. When we see the word for "one" in the Bible, we read just a few minutes ago from Deuteronomy 6:4, "Hear O Israel, the Lord your God, the Lord is one." We see that oftentimes the number one speaks about God. And therefore, what it's saying here is that the people, they were submitting to God. There was unity. And so we read, the people, they were gathered together as one man to Jerusalem.

Look now to verse two. "And Yeshua," of course, this is referring to another individual, not Yeshua the Messiah, but it says, "And Yeshua, the son of Jozadak, and his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and his brethren." What did they do? Look at the second half of this verse. "And they built the altar of the God of Israel to offer burnt offerings upon it, burnt offerings according to the Torah, what is written in the Torah."

There it says, "the law of Moses" and notice how Moses is referred to. It says here "the man of God." Now this is what all of us should strive for. We want to be known as a man of God or a woman of God. And we know why Moses was spoken of this way, because he was the most humble of all people. That's what we need to be.

If we are under the authority of Messiah who is the Son of God, God with us, then we need to realize that He is great, He is God, and we need to be humble. We need to be submissive and we need to be obedient. That is to say, we need to recognize His authority over us. Again, it speaks about what is written in the law of Moses who is the man of God. Verse three.

Now most Bibles for whatever reason they change the order. I'm not. I'm going to read it exactly as it says. Verse three: "And they prepared the altar upon its bases." Meaning they positioned it in the proper way upon its bases. Then it says, "because of fear upon them from who? From the people of the countries." It says here, "and they offered up upon it," meaning upon the altar, "burnt offerings unto the Lord, burnt offerings of the morning and of the evening."

Now what is being stated here? A very important truth. We see a restoration. First of all, we see that the altar was built. And we're going to find out that that's what they began with. Why? The altar is necessary for sacrifices. Today, if you went to Jerusalem, there is no altar. There is no place whereby we can offer up sacrifices. One implication is that in many ways Messiah, He fulfilled many of the sacrifices.

I want us to realize something. In the Millennial Kingdom, there will once again be sacrifices of animals. Why is that? Well, whereas the sacrifices pointed forward to the supreme sacrifice, and what is that? The Passover sacrifice. And who is that Passover sacrifice ultimately, and we talked about this in our call to worship? It is Messiah.

He laid down His flesh and He gave of His blood in order that we would have eternal redemption and that we would be welcomed into the Kingdom of God. And now there is a restoration of that altar being built in Jerusalem. It being raised up, prepared properly on its base in order that proper worship can be done. So there's this restoration.

Now I want you to look at verse four, where it says something also of great significance. Look at verse four: "And they did the Feast of Tabernacles," that is Hag HaSukkot, "as is written. And the daily burnt offering in that day according to the number, according to the judgment, that is the direction of the word of the Lord daily." So we see again what was destroyed.

How do we know it was destroyed? Well, the word of God tells us in Jeremiah. It tells us that the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed, set on fire and burned up on the tenth day or the ninth day of Av. Now most scholars will say the primary destruction was on the tenth, but the destruction began on the ninth day. And we see that there was a loss. This is what the scripture is speaking of.

But there's going to be a change. What is that change? Look again at verse four: "And they did the Feast of Tabernacles," that is Hag HaSukkot, "as it's written and the daily burnt offerings in the day in the number, according to the judgment of the word of the Lord daily." So they were doing this on a daily basis. Now let's look at verse five: "And afterwards, the burnt offerings," and then we have the word "tamid" which refers to the daily, the sacrifices that were always constantly to be made.

For not only the burnt offerings of the daily sacrifice, but also for months, this is the new moon, and for all the appointed days of the Lord they were sanctified. And it says, "and for everyone," then we have a word, "mitnadev." Now mitnadev means to volunteer. It shows a willingness, it shows a commitment, it shows a generosity. So all the ones who were moved to volunteer, to be generous, and then it says "nedavah" which is a word for generosity unto the Lord.

Very simply, the people have been restored. God is at work. God is moving to bring about things as they once were. And now, again, I'll say that same word, there's a restoration of these things. And because of these restorations, we see something. The people are moved to volunteer. Now what is that a reference to? Well, it shows a commitment.

This is something that I would say that is lacking today among many believers. We need to be more committed. I just got back earlier today from our Bible camp in Romania. And what did we talk about? The primary theme was discipline. And why were we talking about discipline? We were speaking about things that God calls true believers to do. And therefore, these things, we need to show a commitment to. We need to show a discipline.

We find here at the end of verse five where it's speaking about those who were willing to volunteer, they were willing to demonstrate, have a testimony of a willingness to be committed to the things of the Lord. Therefore, now in verse six, from day one of the seventh month, they began to do something. They were offering up burnt offerings unto the Lord and notice what it says. And again, most Bibles don't pay close enough attention. It is not the word for "temple." If that's what it says in your Bible, it is inaccurate. It is the Hebrew word "heikhal."

This is not the word bayit. This is the word heikhal and it's referring to the sanctuary. Most scholars would say the Holy of Holies. So this is what it speaks of. And it says, "and the sanctuary of the Lord," it says, "it was not founded." It had not been yet established. So what's going to happen? Well, again, people are going to demonstrate their commitment.

Look now at verse seven, our last verse. It says, "and they gave money." Now the work wasn't done yet, therefore people did something. They were not stingy, but they were generous. We saw that at the end of verse five. They had a generous spirit within them to offer up to the Lord what was necessary. Look again at verse seven: "And they gave money to," and we have the masons. Those are those individuals who were like blacksmiths, those who worked with iron and such.

And then also, we have another word, if your Bible says "carpenters," that's not the best way to translate this word. This is speaking about those individuals who had a skill to make things. So we might say artisans is another way to say that. To bring wood, what type of wood? Cedar wood from Lebanon to the sea. And where? Well, everyone knows that the ancient port for Israel is in a place called Yafo.

I realize that many people call it Jaffa, but if we look at what's said here, it is the word Yafo. This is that ancient port city, the same port that Jonah departed from in disobedience. And it says, "according to," notice what the scripture says, "according to," and we have the word "rishyon," which is the license. Now this can be a word that has to do with permission.

We might say the Temple of God be built. But again, what is singled out is that unique place, that sanctuary. So when we look at this passage of scripture, Ezra chapter three, the first part, there's an emphasis on this restoration. This return and restoration brings about a return to what? Well, we can't miss it. We're seeing a Torah worship.

And by the way, when the Millennial Kingdom is established here again, what is going to bring about the Millennial Kingdom? The second coming of Messiah where a remnant of Israel, that one-third remnant, will look upon the One who has been pierced and they are going to receive Him. And not just the Jewish people, but there will also be a remnant from, and let's get this right, from the various nations that went up to war in Jerusalem.

They didn't want the will of God, but when they saw God's faithfulness—and this is the important thing—when Israel begins to return to the land, if we look at Ezekiel chapter 37, they were still in idolatry. They had not a faith that was pleasing to God. But God is going to teach them that faith. How's He going to do that? Well, we don't have to guess. We see, for example, in Jeremiah chapter 30 verse 7 where it says, "et-tzarah hi l'Ya'akov," a time of tribulation for Jacob, meaning Israel.

But there's good news: "u-mimmennah yivvashea," which means and from it, from this time of tribulation, what's going to happen? That one-third remnant is going to be brought to salvation. So God is allowing this tribulation, these difficult times. The word here for tribulation is the Hebrew word "tzarah," which is trouble. God will allow trouble upon Israel. Why? To bring about a spiritual change.

Let me conclude with this. What I'm talking about is not just unique to Israel. If we study Revelation chapters two and three, we find undeniably God is not pleased with the church. Now why do I say that? Well, it says many times, "I know your works and I've not found them complete or sufficient." And what does God call the church to do? To repent. And to overcome. And to watch. And to endure.

You know what that tells me? Because Messiah says, "I want you to persevere and endure and to overcome and to watch," that means there are things that we have to endure. There are things that require perseverance. And that is going to bring, just like it did for Israel, it's going to bring a blessed change to the church. Just like Israel is going to come to faith because of this time of trouble, this tribulation.

Will the church suffer in the last days? Yes. There will be most powerful persecution in the last days. And that is to bring about a change among believers, that we don't rely upon self but we're taught that we need to rely upon God. Now, I'll conclude with this. There's a very well-known scripture about Messiah's return and I'm speaking about at the time of the Rapture.

The question is this: Will the Son of Man find faith upon the earth? Most Bibles and here again, it's hard to translate this, but there's a very significant Greek word "ara." What is that word? Ara always introduces an interrogative. What is that? A question. Well, we saw that. When the Son of Man is made to return, will He find faith on the earth? Why does it say "made to return"?

Well, that's what the scripture does in the passive voice. And it shows His humility, shows His submissiveness, shows that He is waiting to obey His Father. Now, the Son of Man, whenever we see that term "Son of Man," it is written for an example to us. If the Son of God was humble, submissive, and obedient, how much more so do we who are mere human beings, how much more do we need to follow that example?

What does the scripture say? When the Son of Man is made to return, will He find faith on the earth? The particle "ara" implies a negative response. So when we see Messiah coming for specifically believers, for the church, the vast majority of the world is not going to be faithful. The vast majority is going to lack faith, not walking in the truth of God.

I'll close with this. When we look at the word faith, emunah, it is related to the Hebrew word emet or truth. So what is faith? Faith is just not believing something. I hear people teach that all the time. If you have great faith, then it almost obligates God to act. That is false. It is only when we have a biblical faith. What is that? Rooted in the truth of God.

That's what impresses God. That's what God wants to see us conducting our life not based upon what is right in our own eyes, but us conducting our life, making those decisions based upon the truth of God. Well, I'll close with that. Until next week when we conclude chapter three. Until then, may God bless you, may He lead you, may you be listening to Him for His leadership and the direction of the Holy Spirit in your life. Until then, Shalom from Israel.

Guest (Male): Well, we hope you will benefit from today's message and share it with others. Please plan to join us each week at this time and on this channel for our broadcast of loveisrael.org.

Again, to find out more about us, please visit our website loveisrael.org. There you will find articles and numerous other lectures by Baruch. These teachings are in video form. You may download them or watch them in streaming video. Until next week, may the Lord bless you in our Messiah Yeshua, that is Jesus, as you walk with Him. Shalom from Israel.