Holy Scriptures and Israel

Announcer: Shalom. Holy Scriptures and Israel is a ministry designed to share with the Jewish people the good news of the Lord Jesus, Yeshua the Messiah, and to instruct Christians on the Jewish roots of their faith. And now, teaching God's word from a Hebrew Messianic perspective, here is Gideon Levytam.

Gideon Levytam: The study of 1 John chapter 2. Every sin that I have committed and every sin that you have committed has been washed away by the blood of Yeshua the Messiah. 1 John 1:7, we already read that, "If we confess our sins," remember that? "And if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Yeshua the Messiah cleanses us from all sin." What happened when you became a believer, when I became a believer in Yeshua? All our sins, all the things that we have done to dishonor God, have been washed away.

When Yeshua was nailed on that cross some 2,000 years ago, He cried—remember John 19—He says, "It is finished. Nigmar." It's been done. God had been satisfied. The blood of the Messiah was shed on the tree. All the sins of the people who have confessed that Yeshua is their Lord and their Messiah have been washed away. When God looks at you and me today, He looks at us not through Adam anymore, He looks at us through Yeshua, through Christ, through the Mashiach, and He sees perfection.

White as snow, sometimes I love to sing that song. "White as snow, white as snow, though my sins were crimson, yet now had been washed away by the blood of the Lamb." And God looks at us as clean and forgiven. But someone had to pay the price. And that's why He's saying in 1 John 2:12, "I write unto you, dear children, because your sins are forgiven. And it was for His name's sake." The name of Jesus, Yeshua the Messiah, who says for those sins I have paid.

It's such a relief to know that we don't have anymore to carry on our shoulder the burden of our sins because someone paid for our sins and they've been dealt with once and for all. We can now, as dear children, as part of the family of God, now instead of loving this system that hates God, we are to follow the Father, to follow the Messiah, guided by the Holy Spirit, by Ruach ha-Kodesh, Ruach Elohim, and led by Him and love the Father. We read in Scripture in the same epistle, we're going to get to it, "We love Him because He first loved us."

And so John is reminding—and he's speaking to all of us as he wrote some 2,000 years ago—he's writing to a family, to the Mishpacha, and he says, "Listen, I don't want you to forget, you see, dear ones, your sins are forgiven, and it's been forgiven you because of the name of Yeshua the Messiah." Remember what Matthew, we read in the gospel of Matthew, "And you shall call His name Yeshua, for He will save His people from their sins."

What a wonderful thing to know that our sins are forgiven and that we are part of the family of God. On that basis, I and you, the believer, is not to love this evil system, the cosmos of evil system headed up by Satan. Instead of being drawn after this world, we are to be drawn after Jesus, looking unto Yeshua, the author and the finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despised the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.

Verse 12 is a very important verse and Yeshua Himself called His own disciples with the very same name, the same word, little children. I read this John chapter 13 and verse 33, and He says, "Little children, yet a little while and I'm with you. Ye shall seek me, and as I said unto the Jewish people, whither I go ye cannot come, so now I said to you, a new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another." It is interesting that Yeshua used the very same word, little children. It doesn't matter the age, but it simply matters that everyone was a child of God, they've accepted Yeshua the Messiah.

Now verse 13 and 14, He builds up upon this. And here, Yochanan, that is John, now he points out to three levels of growth among the family of God. We have in the family of God various levels of growth among the people of God, in the family of God. Notice now how he divides these three distinctions here of the spiritual growth among the people of God. Look what he does in verse 13. "I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known Him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father."

He used three levels. Number one, we have fathers, Avot. Number two, we have young men, in Hebrew Bachurim, young men, young women. And number three, we have little children, this is Yeladim in Hebrew. The word for little children here is to be distinguished from the little children in verse 12 because it's a completely different word here. Here, the word for little children is simply to be distinguished. He's speaking about again the Greek, I have to say it, it is paidion, which is different from the one that we have heard in verse 12.

What is the difference? In verse 12, it's applied to all believers, born ones. In verse 13, the little children apply to a just young believer in Yeshua the Messiah who just became a believer yesterday, today, maybe one year or two years walking with Yeshua the Messiah, but he or she are young in their faith. So we have three levels or three groups you might say in the spiritual growth from among the people of God: fathers, young men, and little children. We can write it also for the sisters here: mothers, young ladies or young women, and little daughters, you might say. It's applied for both, for male and female.

What we really see here is that there are three groups in three levels. Brothers and sisters, you and I have to ask ourselves the question: how long a time you are in the things of the Lord? One year, two years, three years, four years, five years? What stages are you in the spiritual growth for those that belong to Yeshua? Are you still a babe, a little baby that still needs to drink milk all the time and need to be changed by diapers, you might say spiritual diapers every day because you are not growing? Are you a young man or a young lady who is really fighting for the things of the Lord and moving forward and growing spiritually and being a good testimony here in this world, overcoming that wicked one, Satan himself?

Are you a father or a mother in the Messiah who really has a good counsel to give to the young one, to assist them in their spiritual growth? Where do we fit into these three stages of spiritual growth here, as we have it in 1 John chapter 2 and verse 13? Look at this, what he's saying to the Abba, to the fathers, to the Avot, to the Imahot. He says in verse 13, "I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known Him that is from the beginning."

The fathers, we have very few fathers in the church today. But what we read about those fathers, those Avot, fathers or mothers, we can say, they are the ones that know Him that is from the beginning. The Him here is Yeshua, Jesus the Messiah. They know Him in a sense that they have been so attracted to Him that the world no longer has any attraction whatsoever. They know Him in an intimate way. He doesn't say that you know about Him, but you know Him. You know Him intimately.

The fathers are these men and women of God who have accepted Yeshua the Messiah as their Lord and Savior and have lived for many years and they grew spiritually and they become mothers and fathers among the people of God. The evident is because you can see that in their attitude, in their conduct, because they know Him. And you notice that it says in verse 13, because you know Him that is from the beginning. The word here has to do with the incarnation of the Messiah.

The Messiah was always eternally existed as the eternal Son of God, but He entered humanity and He became a man. And He suffered and He lived here in this world and He died on the tree for the salvation of the human race. It is here that the fathers are those that have intimate relationship with Yeshua the Messiah. How, brothers and sisters, we need the fathers and the mothers who are those that can help us all who are struggling, who need counsel, who need balance in our lives. Where would you go if you need some advice? If you need to pour out your heart to someone and to share your burden with someone?

You would like children go to their mom and dad, to Abba and Ima, and they say, "I really need your help. I need your advice. How can I deal with this issue in my life? What can I do?" And you can go to the fathers, to the mothers, to the godly men and women, followers of Yeshua the Messiah, because they can help us, because they know Him that is from the beginning. They already have worked with Him enough. They have suffered for the name of Yeshua the Messiah in this world, and the world is no longer attractive to them, nothing whatsoever. They just want to know more about Yeshua the Messiah.

Shaul, Paul, said it in Philippians chapter 3, "That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, to be conformed to Him, to His image." He longed to know more of Yeshua the Messiah. That's a father, that's a mother. We read in the Scripture in the book of Judges, the book of Shoftim in Hebrew, about the mother in Israel. Turn for a moment to Judges chapter 5 about Devorah, Deborah, that is called among our people Israel a mother in Israel. Judges chapter 5, verse 7, "The inhabitants of the villages ceased, they ceased in Israel until that I, Devorah, Deborah, arose, that I arose a mother in Israel. Ima b'Yisrael."

How we need these mothers, the sisters, and these fathers, the brothers, who matured and live for the Lord to help us to have some godly counsel. You see, it says in verse 13, because ye have known Him that is from the beginning. Fathers and mothers today in the body of Messiah, it's a gold mine to have in our midst whenever we have a brother or sister that can assist us with mature spiritual counsel that will put some sense into our mind to help us to look to the Lord, to follow after Him, and not to allow the world to draw us away from a relationship with Yeshua.

Back to 1 John chapter 2 and verse 13. We not only have fathers, but he said, "I write unto you, young men," and we can say young women as well, Bachurim, Bachurot. "I write unto you, young men, because ye overcome the wicked one." You see, the young men, the young brothers, the young sisters who have walked for a while with the Lord, they have accepted Him, they belong to Him, and they want to follow Him. They now have many challenges in their lives, but they are successfully with the help of the Spirit of God, influenced by the word of God, overcome that wicked one.

That wicked one is Satan, Ha-Satan, the wicked one, the one that shoot darts at every one of us in order to cause us to be drawn away from the Lord, to be taken into this world system headed up by him with all its influence. These young men to whom Yochanan wrote to, they overcome that wicked one. Turn to Revelation chapter 12. This overcoming is mentioned there in Revelation chapter 12 during the tribulation period, when our own nation Israel will go through Tzarat Yaakov, through the tribulation period. It says that Satan will be cast from heaven to this earth.

Verse 10 of Revelation chapter 12, "And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, 'Now is come salvation and strength and the kingdom of our God and the power of His Messiah, for the accuser of the brethren is cast down, which accuses them before God day and night.'" Satan, Satan is accusing you and me every day. He's accusing us before God every time. In the context of Revelation chapter 12, he's accusing the remnant of Israel during the tribulation and he says, "Look at this, these are claiming to be your people, these are these Hebrews, the Jewish people, the brethren," he's calling them here. "Look what they did, look at how the wrong they have done." He's accusing, just like he accused Job, Iyov, as we read it in the book of Job.

How do you think they have overcome this Satan, this wicked one? Look at Revelation chapter 12 and now verse 11, "They overcome him by the blood of the Lamb." They claim the blood of Yeshua the Messiah not only positionally for their salvation, but practically in their lives. 1 John chapter 2 and verse 13, "I write unto you, young men, because ye overcome the wicked one." How they overcome the wicked one? By the blood of the Lamb. How do we overcome? All the influence in this world is against us like a flood of influences, influencing young people to go through drugs and alcohol and all kind of things and telling them, "What do you need religion? Just take the world and follow the world and its system."

Those young men and young women who want to follow Yeshua, they can overcome this evil one and its system by following the Lord, by living for Him, by being occupied with Him, by reading their Bibles and praying and spending time with believers gathered around Yeshua the Messiah and growing and becoming men and women of God, young men, young women of God. It's such a joy to see when a young brother and young sister say, "I have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back. The world behind me, the Lord before me, I'm following the Lord. I will stumble, I will fail, I will make mistake, I will sin, but I will repent and turn back to Yeshua the Messiah and follow after Him. Lord help me," they would say, "I cannot do it on my own," and the Lord will help them.

"I'm writing unto you, young men, because ye overcome the wicked one." Satan is vicious, he's wicked. Sin will take us further than we ever wanted to get there. That's what he does. He lead us, the people of God, further than we ever planned to get to because he's like wooing us, drawing us, pulling us away from the things of God into the things of this evil system, the things of this world. How sad it is when we fail and stumble and instead of listening to the Lord, listen to Satan. Then later on we say, "Oh boy, I should have listened to the Lord, I should have waited for Yeshua the Messiah's counsel, but instead I've listened to the voice of Satan."

This is exactly what happened in the Garden of Eden. Eve was beguiled by Satan saying to her, "Has God said? Is really God's word correct?" And you know she had been beguiled and Adam her husband end up to disobey the Lord. And as we know the story very well, how sin entered into this world. Satan is not someone to play with. He's clever, but God is greater than him. Yeshua is greater than him. Young men and young women, he's saying I write unto you why? Because you successfully have overcome Satan. And as we know from Revelation chapter 12, you overcome him by the blood of the Lamb looking unto Yeshua, the author and finisher of our faith.

The third group here in verse 13 is the little children. This time again it's a different word, it's no longer teknion, but it is paidion, it's a different word. Here it's really speaking about babies in the Messiah, little children, Yeladim you would say in Hebrew. Those are the ones: "I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father." They are the ones who say, "Daddy, Abba, Abba, help me, Abba carry me, Abba show me, Abba give me." In other words, they were just born and just became part of the family of God. We have some of those in our midst in our Bible studies, those who just became believers maybe six months ago, maybe a year ago, two years ago, they are young believers.

It has nothing to do with age. You can be 95 years of age and be a newborn babe if you just accepted Yeshua the Messiah today. It has nothing to do with age. You can have a child that is very young age, when he or she were seven years old they've accepted Yeshua, and now they are 35 years old, they are already 20, 30 years in their faith and they are much more mature than believers who just accepted the Lord, doesn't matter what age they've accepted the Lord.

Become a newborn babe, and you see these ones according to verse 13, they know the Father. They just became children of God, sons and daughters among the family of God, just need to grow. Brothers and sisters, we need newborn babes, and we need fathers, and we need young men, young women, we need all those three. We need new believers to come in and we need young men carrying on, young women for the Lord, and we need mothers and fathers who are there to counsel us, to assist us, to help us to be established in the faith, like Devorah, mother in Israel, like Yochanan, a father among the believers in Yeshua the Messiah.

1 Corinthians chapter 13, Paul says, "When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child, but when I became a man, I put away childish things." As a young man, a young woman, I now put away childish things and I seek to follow Yeshua the Messiah. Back to 1 John chapter 2 verse 14. John repeating what he already wrote but he adds something else. He makes a little change in verse 14. "I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known Him that is from the beginning. I've written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one."

In this second portion of John repeating what he wrote, he number one eliminated the little children. Why? Because he understood that the little children need to grow and it's natural. When you become a newborn baby in Yeshua the Messiah, it is of necessity for you naturally to grow and to mature and to become stronger in the Lord. But he did make the change with regard to the young men. When it's come to the fathers, he repeated the very same thing that he said in verse 13. "I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known Him that is from the beginning." He didn't change anything here.

Why he didn't change? Because you cannot go any higher than knowing Him that is from the beginning. Once you have arrived, you might say, there's nothing more to know. You can only know more of Him and more of Him and more of Him, you can never exhaust Him. So when it's come to the fathers, he says, "Listen, you know Him that is from the beginning." But when it is come to the young men and young women, he adds something that is very important. He says, "I have written unto you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one."

In verse 13, he already said that you have overcome the wicked one. But how do we overcome the wicked one? Satan attacks His people, the people of God. How can we overcome Satan and all his vicious attack against the people of God? We must be strong. Not strong in ourselves, but like Ephesians 6 says, "Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might." Ephesians chapter 6. And then he added in verse 14 about the young men, "Not only that you are strong, but the word of God abideth in you."

These young men and women appropriated the word of God, the Tanakh, the Brit Hadashah, the Scripture, God's word, they have appropriated this word of God into their lives. The word of God changes us. It convicts us. Sometimes I know our hearts and our conscience are seared, are hardened. But if we allow the Spirit of God to speak to us and our hearts are not seared, are not hardened as a rock, when it's softened by the Spirit of God, the word of God abide in us and enable us to overcome the wicked one by being strengthened with Yeshua the Messiah and His word in our lives.

And this is exactly what Yochanan is saying to these three levels of believers in verses 12, 13, and 14. They are not to love the world, the evil system of this world, which is headed up by Satan himself, because they are born ones of God.

Announcer: You have been listening to the Holy Scriptures and Israel with Gideon Levytam. Gideon teaches God's word from a Hebrew Messianic perspective. For more information about this ministry, write to Holy Scriptures and Israel, Box 1411, Niagara on the Lake, Ontario, L0S 1J0, or visit our website at holyscripturesandisrael.com. You are also invited to Gideon's weekly Bible teaching on Fridays at 11:00 AM and 7:00 PM and Saturdays at 1:00 PM at Willowdale Christian Assembly Hall, 28 Martin Ross Avenue in Toronto. Holy Scriptures and Israel is made possible by your prayers and financial support. If you would like to support the program, visit holyscripturesandisrael.com. God bless you. Shalom, shalom.