Love Israel

Guest (Male): Shalom and welcome to Viahavta 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: Hello again. We're going to see that same biblical truth and that is this: because the children of Israel were doing what is right in the eyes of God, there was much opposition against them. And this is a principle that's true in every generation. When you are faithful, when you are committed to the things of God, be prepared to suffer. There will be great opposition against you, but do not let this opposition be a source of discouragement. Rather, persevere, endure, overcome, and understand that the defeat of the enemy has already been accomplished. By what means? Very simply, because of the cross.

It is through that cross that we see something. We know that we will have victory and that victory will be an eternal victory. This is what salvation is all about. That word salvation, when we look at it rightly, this Hebrew word Yeshua, what it literally means is victory. An eternal victory where the enemy will know no future, but we will have a kingdom future. So let's begin as I said earlier. Open up your Bibles and look with me to the book of Ezra, chapter 4. We're going to begin in verse 12. And again, we see this discouragement coming from the enemies of Israel.

And understand that the term Israel is a kingdom word. It speaks about those who will in the end prevail. That term Yisrael means just that. It means to strive but to overcome, to experience that victory, and that is our future as the children of God. So let's begin. Look with me if you would to Ezra chapter 4, and we're going to begin in verse 12 where it says, "And let it be known to the king that the Jews, the ones who have gone up from you, they have come unto us to Jerusalem." And what are they doing? Well, what God commanded them to do. They are building this rebellious city and not just a rebellious city, but also we have a word for evil, this evil and rebellious city.

And notice something else. "Also the walls, they are completing, and the foundations they are strengthening or repairing." Either translation is acceptable. So they're strengthening the foundation. Why? Well, if we're going to build in a way that's pleasing to God, one that's going to reflect the power of God, we need the right foundation. And that's why, spiritually speaking, the foundation that we need is a foundation that is built upon the truth of God's word. Whenever we build upon the truth, we can expect that there will be a spiritual repair, and that repair will strengthen us and will cause us to overcome, to endure, to persevere, and to complete what God has instructed us to do.

Let's move on now to verse 13 where it says, "And now, let it be known to the king that if this city is rebuilt and the walls are completed..." What's the threat? Well, unfortunately, we see that so frequently those who are in politics, what interests them? They enter into politics because they're really committed to money, and they see their political power as a source of wealth. And if we look so frequently today, we see how political leaders, they become wealthy through corruption. And more and more when we look at this world, and we can just look at nation after nation after nation, we see that more governments are reflecting this corruption. It is not pleasing to God, and what do we have here? Well, this same thing being taught.

Look again at verse 13 where it says, "And now, let it be known to the king that if this city is rebuilt and the walls are completed, then they will not pay taxes. They will not pay tribute or custom or anything will be given, and what will be the outcome? And you, oh king, will see the damage to the treasury of your kingdom." So from their standpoint, it's all about money. That if Jerusalem is rebuilt, then this kingdom is going to suffer. Well, that's okay. Why? Because we're not speaking about the kingdom of God. God's kingdom never suffers. God's kingdom will overcome all things.

So we need to be committed to the kingdom truth so that we are on the right side, that we are committed to the things of God and the things that are related to His kingdom. So all of this is a threat that you might lose some money. But understand something. When we look biblically, and I can give you the chapter, if you look sometime at Luke's Gospel in chapter 16, that parable of the unjust manager, we see something. We see that those who belong to this world are oftentimes more committed to what they want than the sons of light, meaning believers. And what does it say here? Well, it says towards the end of this parable, it talks about how money is called unrighteous, unrighteous money.

Now, why is that? Because the kingdom that God will establish is going to be a kingdom of righteousness. But we're going to find that money uniquely belongs to this world. And when we're earthly minded or worldly minded, what are we going to be concerned about? Money. But when we're kingdom minded, we understand something. There is not going to be any money in the kingdom of God. And what does Isaiah say? Isaiah says, "Come and receive without exchange, without cost." Everything in the kingdom of God is going to be provided. The word in Hebrew, b'chinam, meaning without cost. So this is the future that we have. There will be no money in the kingdom of God.

Now look please to verse 14. "And now, because we are eating from the salt of the palace," meaning they are receiving provision from the palace. And then they say, "Oh king, your disgrace we did not find acceptable in our eyes. Therefore we have sent and we have informed you, oh king." Now, what are they doing? They're acting as though they are so loyal to this king, but they're not. Because they do not want to see the kingdom of God, this kingdom of power, this kingdom of justice, this kingdom of righteousness. They're not interested in that. They are interested in the things of this world, and they're motivating this king based upon his financial considerations rather than being considerate of the righteousness of God.

Let's press on to verse 15. What does it say here? It says, "And now, let there be a search in the book of remembrance of your forefathers, and let it be found in the book of memorials, and let it be known that this city is once again a rebellious city doing harm to kings and provinces. That they were rebellious in the past, therefore this city was destroyed." Now, why does it mention that here again? What they're saying is this: "You need to research more about this city." What city? Jerusalem. And they're saying that it was a city of strong kings, and because of that, they were able to do certain things. And what was that? They were able to come out from the authority of what we would call tyrants and others. And these kings were able to bring security, peace, justice, and righteousness to the nation of Israel.

And then after Israel's fall, the nation of Judah. This is what the scripture is telling us. Now look if you would to verse 16. "We are making informed the king that if this city is rebuilt and the walls are completed, then there will not be to you a portion in the other side of the river." Now, this is the concern. No king wants to lose land, and therefore they're warning him and they're trying to manipulate him saying this: "If this city is rebuilt and the walls are completed, then you are going to lose land." But we need to see something and that is this. We see that the leaders, and I'm speaking primarily about Cyrus, and after Cyrus we see another one, Ahasuerus, and ultimately we see Darius. These kings, they were kings that had a kingdom commitment. And they are going to be used by God to do the right thing, and this is what we should be committed to: that which is right.

And how do we know what is right and what is wrong? Through scripture. It is only when we form our decisions based upon the influence of scripture, then and only then are we going to be individuals that are used by God and that are a blessing to the purposes of God. Let's press on. Look if you would to verse 17. "The king sent this commandment." And who did he send it to? Well, these ones who are enemies of the children of Israel. Look again at verse 17. "The king sent this commandment to Rehum who was the commander and Shimshai the scribe and to the rest of their companions, the ones who dwell where? In Samaria." Now, Samaria, also known in English by the term Samaria, this is north of Jerusalem.

And what God is doing, it's very simple to understand. He is strengthening Samaria. Why? Because this becomes the foundation for a strong Jerusalem. And what we see here is, and it's an important term, what we see is restoration. The people under Ezra, under later on Nehemiah, and under an earlier leader and that is Zerubbabel, we see that these groups came back to the land and they were strengthening themselves there. They were rebuilding Jerusalem for one purpose, and that is for a kingdom purpose. And the kingdom we're talking about is a future kingdom where a king, and we could call him the Lord of Lords, will rule over that city not for just a while, but forever. And the city I'm speaking of is not the Jerusalem of our days, but as we see in the book of Revelation, the New Jerusalem, that kingdom Jerusalem.

So let's press on. Look if you would to our next verse, verse 18, where it says here, "And the letter which you have sent unto us, it says, we have read it in a very thorough way." In Hebrew, m'phorash. What's m'phorash? Very, very detailed. "So we have read it in a thorough way." Verse 19. "And from me it is given a command, and let it be checked and let it be found that this city from the days of old was lifted up against kings and it was rebellious, and it practiced sedition and it was done in it this sedition." So all of this is speaking about how Jerusalem is a great threat to leaders. Well, it is, because Jerusalem one day will have a perfect leader. Not someone who is fully man, but rather one who is both fully man and fully God who is going to rule upon the throne of David.

And what is this one going to do? He is going to bring about a righteous order. Now, that word righteous, if we're only using the Greek language, the same word for justice and righteousness is the same in the Greek language. In Hebrew, just like in English, we have two different words. We have the word mishpat in Hebrew for justice, and we also have the word tsedek for righteousness. But in the Greek language, there's only one word. Now, I want to point out something of great significance. We see in the scripture that our God, the God of Israel, is a God of vengeance. What does the scripture say? God is speaking and he says, "Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord." Now, what is vengeance in the New Covenant?

Well, that word vengeance is a very important word. It is comprised of two Greek words, one "ek" which means out of, and then the second one is the word righteous. So what does God's vengeance bring about? God's vengeance brings about righteousness. And why is that so important? Because righteousness, when one does righteousness, what is manifested? The glory of God. And that's what the kingdom of God is all about. There's a very significant scripture in the book of Zechariah. It talks about how there's going to be a kingdom change. What is that kingdom change? Well, it says at nighttime now, when nighttime comes, what do we expect? Darkness. But in the kingdom, and I'm speaking first about the millennial kingdom, when nighttime comes, what is there going to be? There's going to be light.

And that light is a unique light, just like we saw on day one of creation. God spoke and he says, "Let there be light," and there was. But that light was not a physical light because light wasn't created until the fourth day, speaking about the sun, the moon, and the stars. None of those existed on day one, they came later. And what does the scripture teach us? Well, the scripture teaches that this light that was there reflected the glory of God. And this is going to be the foundation of the kingdom of God. It's going to be a kingdom of glory. So let's press on. Look again at verse 18. It says, "The letter which you sent unto us, it was read thoroughly." Verse 19. "And from me it is given a commandment. Let it be checked and let it be searched out and found that this city from the days of old was lifted up against kings, and it was rebellious. It was a city of sedition, and this was done in it."

So again, what do we see about Jerusalem? We see that there is much libel, much things being said against the character of this city. And what we find is biblically the character of Jerusalem is a holy, is a just, and is a righteous character. And that's what God wants to do. He wants to establish Jerusalem as his capital, first in the millennial kingdom, those thousand years, and then thereafter, we see that there will be that New Jerusalem which will rule forever and ever in righteousness manifesting the glory of God. Well, let's press on to verse 20. And it says, "Strong kings were upon Jerusalem, which were ruling on the other side of the river." And then we see this phrase for taxes, and then we have the head tax and also custom or tribute. "They were giving to them."

So what do we see? These strong kings, they were recipient of these taxes, this tribute, these customs. They were all being paid to Jerusalem. Why? Acknowledging the God of Israel, acknowledging the righteousness and the justice of Jerusalem as a unique place, as a place different from other capitals of empires. It had a holy character, and that's why Jerusalem biblically we call it Ir Hakodesh, meaning the holy city. Because the holy city represents the purposes of God. Well, let's press on. Look if you would to verse 21. It says here, "Now let it be given a commandment for what purpose? A commandment to cease or to stop these men and this city that it should not be rebuilt, and also which from me is given a command."

So we find here that this one wants to be the one who gives the command. And what commandment is he committed to? Having the city not be rebuilt. Why? He does not want the purposes of God. Let me just share with you a important truth from an eschatological perspective. And when I say eschatological, I'm talking about the last days. We're going to see more and more in this world that there's going to be fewer and fewer people that believe in a literal kingdom of God. And we see that biblically where? Well, what are people going to say? They're going to say, "Where is his coming? From long ago we've heard this promise of this one who is coming." Well, be assured. He will come, he will return, and he will do three things.

Number one, he's going to save that remnant of Israel, that one-third. Secondly, he is going to pour out retribution. I can say that differently: he is going to pour out his judgment, his wrath upon the enemies of Israel. And we'll find that those ones who are enemies of Israel, they are going to be destroyed by the wrath of God, God's judgment. And then what is the third thing that is going to happen? Well, the kingdom is going to be established, first for those thousand years in Jerusalem, and thereafter, after that great white throne judgment that we read about in Revelation chapter 20, we can expect once more that there is going to be a mighty kingdom established, and that kingdom, the New Jerusalem, will have no end. It will be a kingdom of perfection, a kingdom of holiness, of righteousness, of justice, and of peace.

Now, when I say peace, what do I mean by that? Biblically speaking, this word peace relates to the will of God being fulfilled. And that's what the New Jerusalem is all about. It is about God's will being completed, being fulfilled. And if you are a servant of God, you're going to be committed to just that. You are going to be committed to the will of God being fulfilled. That is what we are about, who are faithful in the truth of God. So let's press on. Look if you would to verse 21 where it says, "And now they give a command to cancel out or to cease these men and this city, that it should not be rebuilt unto which I or from me is given a command." Verse 22. Then there's a warning. It says basically, "Be warned from doing an error in this, lest there will be made a great loss and damage to the kingdom."

Now, all of this is a fear tactic. That's what I want you to see. This one who is speaking, they are enemies of God. They are enemies because they are against the purposes of God. God has made it very clear. He's spoken to people like Ezra and Nehemiah and Zerubbabel that the time according to the will of God, it's time to go back to Judah and to rebuild what the enemy has destroyed. All of this is an image of restoration. And restoration is related to redemption, and it's a manifestation of God's promises being fulfilled. That is what we should think about when things are restored: the promises of God being fulfilled. Well, look again at verse 22. It says, "Be warned from doing an error in this, lest the loss will be great. And then what else? And there will be damage to the kingdom." Verse 23. "Then when the copy of the letter of Artaxerxes the king was read before again these same wicked individuals, Rehum and Shimshai the scribe and their colleagues." It says, "They went quickly to Jerusalem."

Why did they go there? "Against the Jews in order to bring to a ceasing them with what? Two things: with power and strength." They did not want the Jewish people to behave in this power and this strength that God provided that the work would be done. And all of this is about one thing. It is about sowing discouragement. It is about causing the people to give up because the opposition is great. And that's why we see something. Let me just jump forward a little bit to the book of Revelation. One of the things we see is this. Messiah is speaking and he says, "Because you have kept my word of endurance or perseverance." It's interesting. When we look at Messiah's teaching for the last days, now I'm talking about these seven letters to these seven congregations that were in exile.

Now, why were they in exile? None of them were congregations from the land of Israel. Why? Because right now every believer, although our citizenship is in the kingdom of God, we're not in the kingdom of God right now. We are still in this body, in this world, and therefore we're going to know the opposition of the enemy. Doesn't mean that that opposition has to conquer us? Absolutely not. But we're going to experience this hatred from those who belong to the world. But here's the message. The one who is in us is greater than the one who is in the world. Meaning this: we will not be defeated. If we persevere, if we endure, if we overcome, if we take hold of grace, what is grace going to do? Well, let me just simply say something that we need to be reminded of. Because in some ways we all know the verse: by grace you have been saved. That is true. Never would one want to disagree with that.

But that grace that saves us also continues to work in our life. How so? That grace that saves us also teaches us to deny ungodliness and to live soberly and righteously where? In this present age. So grace saves, that's true. But grace also works in our life to teach us to overcome, to persevere, to endure, and to overcome. And again, we see over and over first for believers and then for the children of Israel that there is a necessity of overcoming. That's what the scripture is speaking about. So look again at verse 23. "Then when the copy of the letter of Artaxerxes the king was read before Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe and their colleagues, it says they went hurriedly to Jerusalem against the Jews. Why? To cease them by force and by strength."

Now notice. They wanted to force them no longer to do these three things. What are the three things? No longer to build the temple, not to do something else, and that is to build the walls of the city. They didn't want those two things. They didn't want a temple, they didn't want Jerusalem to have walls for protection. This is what they were against. But God, he is going to laugh at the foolishness and the futility of the enemy's lies. Don't let the enemy discourage you, but persevere, overcome, endure. That's what we're called to do. Well, let's look at our last verse, verse 24. And then it says, "And then the work of the house of God ceased, which is in Jerusalem. And it was ceasing until the second year of the kingdom of Darius the king of Paras or Persia."

So what do we see? We see a temporary victory. That during this time we see, but it's not forever. There is a limited victory for the enemy. They were able to discourage, they were able to bring a ceasing to these three things: building the temple, building the walls around Jerusalem, and completing the foundations. All of this, what happened? The enemy was able to triumph, but here again, this triumph is going to be short-lived. Why? Because God's faithfulness is going to be manifested. And what I mean by that is simply this: God is going to show himself that he is all powerful, and it will not matter what the enemy wants or what the enemy doesn't want to happen.

We're going to see in the future that God is going to restore Jerusalem and that there's going to be a temple built. Now, understand something. This first temple that is going to be built will not be one that is pleasing to God. Why? Well, the catalyst for this next temple to be built is going to be the Antichrist. And why does he want that temple so badly? For one purpose: in order to commit the abomination of desolation. Let me share with you something. There are many people who get something very, very wrong. I'm constantly asked the question, "Don't I believe that the Antichrist will be Jewish?" No, I don't see anything in the scripture that points to that as a biblical truth.

Why? Well, this is what people tell me, and I hear it all the time. "Well, if the Antichrist is not Jewish, then why do the Jewish people receive him?" Where is the verse of scripture that says that the Antichrist is going to be received by Israel? Quite the contrary. What we're going to find is that Israel's going to reject the Antichrist, and this rejection of the Antichrist is going to be why two-thirds of the Jewish people will be put to death in this last days. Now, again, we need to understand something. If you look, and let me give you a verse of scripture, Revelation chapter 13 and verse 5, it speaks about how there's going to be authority. That word authority can also mean power. It's the Greek word exousia.

That Antichrist, and I'm talking about primarily his empire, is going to be given authority and power to function. What does the scripture say? Look carefully at Revelation 13 and verse 5. That Antichrist empire is going to be able to function for 42 months. That is the first half, and that first half comes to a conclusion with an event. The Bible's very clear. Just look at Daniel chapter 9 and verse 27. What does it say? It tells us there that the abomination of desolation is going to happen in the middle of the week. And then two things have to happen after that. The first is going to be the sealing of that 144,000. Now, let me just point out something. That 144,000 that we meet in Revelation chapter 7 cannot be the same 144,000 that we meet in Revelation chapter 14. Why? One primary reason: the ones in chapter 7 are on earth.

But when we look carefully at Revelation chapter 14, that group of 144,000, where are they? They are worshipping God. Where are they worshipping God? Before the throne of God. Where? In heaven. And the question is how did they get there? Well, it's very simple. All those that we read about in Revelation chapter 14, they are committed to the Lamb. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They do not get involved in idolatry. They trust in God. Their names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. So we see that there's going to be first a time of persecution, first and foremost upon believers, and then after the abomination of desolation, after we see that remnant of Israel that is going to be sealed with the seal of God upon their foreheads, we see something else.

And what is that? We see that there's going to be a second event. And this will happen when? Well, again, no one knows the day or the hour, but I'm referring to the rapture. That rapture will happen—again, we don't know the day or the hour—but we do know this. It will happen before the wrath of God begins. Those of us who have received that gospel, we will never, ever, ever, ever experience the wrath of God. Why? Because Messiah on that cross, he paid the price for all of our sins. Those in the past, those in the present, and those that are yet to be committed. All of our sins are forgiven, and more than that, all of our sins are forgotten by God.

And what is the third blessing that we were imputed with the righteousness of the Son of God? So that when we go and stand before God for judgment—and again, it's not a judgment of where we're going to spend eternity, that's not what the scripture says. It's a judgment of rewards. And we learn something. All of those things that we've done that weren't sufficient, they are going to be refined in fire. That fire and that refinement is going to remove the impurities, so what is left is something that is indeed pleasing to God, that we will have a good reward. Who? Those who trust in the promises of God. Those who have received the truth concerning who the Messiah is.

So we will have a glorious future. Let me conclude by saying this. In the same way that God brought the children of Israel back to the land in order for Messiah to come the first time, what is he doing today? The same thing. He's bringing the people back to the land. Why? So Messiah will come, and he'll come two more times. The first at the time of the rapture, and then he'll come again, and I'm speaking about the second coming. And what does the scripture say? When he comes the second time, that second coming, the saints are going to be with him. Meaning this. We are going to have a front row seat for Israel's salvation, for the judgment and the condemnation of the enemies of Israel.

And the third thing we're going to see is Messiah who is always faithful, always true to his promises. He will establish his kingdom, that kingdom of righteousness, that kingdom of justice, that kingdom of peace. That is our future. My hope is this: that you are ready, that you are committed to suffering for your faith, that you will be persecuted for righteousness. But as Paul says, he says, "I don't consider worthy in comparison this present-day suffering to the future glory that we are going to have in Messiah Yeshua, in the Lord Jesus." We have a wonderful future. Let us persevere. Let us endure. Let us overcome, and let us watch so that we are found faithful. This is the call that each believer has upon their life. Let us be committed to that call, and let us walk in obedience. Not because our salvation depends upon it, but because we have been saved. We are going to have a testimony of obedience and perseverance and endurance. I close with that. 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.