Holy Scriptures and Israel

Guest (Female): 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: Shalom everyone. I would like to continue today in the study of the letter that Yohanan wrote, the epistle of First John. So please open your Bibles to the fourth chapter, First John chapter four. And we're going to read today the first six verses of this chapter.

Those six verses of First John chapter four are very important verses because in these six verses, Yohanan—the John—pausing for a moment in his writing to the believers about the importance of loving one another, and he is giving them a very important warning about false teaching that were already existed in first century, some 2,000 years ago.

So John is pausing and he takes those short moments, short verses, and he presents before his readers a passage that is very important: the danger of false prophets and false teachers that rose already in first century. And so listen to these verses, First John chapter four, verses one to six, and I am reading. Please follow me.

Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God, because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Yeshua the Messiah is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesses not that Yeshua the Messiah is come in the flesh is not of God.

And this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them.

We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error. I'm stopping here with the first six verses of First John chapter four.

Now really, brothers and sisters, the passage here in First John four, verses one to six is a very important passage for all of us to understand. I don't have to tell you, but we live actually in the days of Laodicea, in the last days of the church age. Soon Yeshua the Messiah is coming: first of all for the church, for the called-out ones, for believers who believe in Yeshua the Messiah. Secondly, he's going to come at the end of the Tribulation to judge this world and to restore his people Israel.

So in light of the order of events which word of God teaches us, we really live in the last days of the assembly, of the church, of the ecclesia. And it wouldn't take too long—we do not know when really, we cannot set up dates—but the Messiah is soon going to come. And when we listen to all sort of opinions in the world in which we live in, we find ourselves oftentimes hearing different messages, many opinions, many views about the person of our Lord Jesus Christ, Yeshua HaMashiach.

You hear all sort of things that many saying about Yeshua the Messiah. Some says he was a very nice rabbi or rebbe. Others says he was a great prophet. Others says he was a good man who really wanted to please God. Others say that he was maybe one of the prophets like Elijah or Yirmiyahu, Jeremiah. All sort of opinion people have about Yeshua, Jesus the Messiah.

And here we learn that already in first century, there were rising then—imagine, 2,000 years ago—we are not talking about now. Of course, it is even worse now. But already at the foundation of the assembly, of the church, of the ecclesia, there were things that were being taught by men, by false prophets, concerning the person of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah.

And here Yohanan, as a father to those children or to those people to whom he was writing, he's out of care and out of love for them, he write them a warning. And you notice he began by the word "Beloved." First John 4:1, he calls them "loved ones." John is actually the Hebrew apostle that oftentimes use the word, "I am the apostle whom Yeshua Jesus loved."

He never claimed to love the Messiah, though I'm sure and we know from the word of God that he loved him, but he always claimed that he was the one whom Yeshua loved, whom Jesus loved. You read it in the Gospels again and again in the Gospel of John, "I'm the disciple whom Jesus, whom Yeshua loved."

And so he is now writing in chapter four and he give warning to those people to whom he wrote in these six verses that we have read in First John chapter four. He is warning against false prophets. He is giving, you might say, a really important warning to the brothers and sisters who believe in Yeshua the Messiah, warning them that they need to be very careful whom they listen to and what they listen to, because already at that time, there were false teaching presented in the world in which we live in.

And so notice this, brothers and sisters, he now stopped to speak about love—he going to continue from verse seven on—and he's now beginning to give that warning. And he begin, first of all, in verse one. And you notice there he says to them, "Beloved," in Hebrew is "ahuvai", "those that I love so much, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God because many false prophets are gone out into the world."

He's warning the believers and he says to them, "Listen, don't be fooled. Don't be persuaded by something and someone else. Don't be careless in your walk with the Lord. But I'm telling you, because I love you and I'm giving you a warning, do not believe every spirit, but test and try the spirits to see whether they are of God or whether they are not."

And this expression here, "believe not every spirit, but try the spirit", oftentimes in the Bible, in the word of God, God always warn his people to test and to prove whether someone really ministered and teach and preach and share, whether it is really indeed found in the word of God. And the word here for "try", in other verses in scripture sometimes it used the word "to discern."

It's the same word in the Greek, the word is "dokimazo." It simply mean to discern whether something is of God or not. Another word for that is to examine, to test. And the word that we use here in this chapter four and verse one, to try it to see if it is indeed that which is from the Lord or that which is not from the Lord, because he is saying here in this verse one, "Don't believe every spirit, but test the spirit."

Why? Because many false prophets have already gone into the world. Now can you imagine? It is the foundation of the ecclesia, of the church. Everything just began. Of course, John is writing it about AD 90. He was an old man by that time. And of course, the church was born after Yeshua the Messiah died at about 30, 33 AD.

So about 60 years, the assembly, the church, the ecclesia is in its infancy, very young. Already at that time, there were those that has a better idea. They probably thought that they know better than what God said in his word. And as far as they were concerned, the word of God has not final authority.

Therefore, they had their own ideas who God is and who Yeshua is, and they introduced all sort of things concerning the person of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah. And so he's telling them, "Listen, don't believe every spirit and try the spirit whether they be of God or whether they would be not of God because many false prophets are gone into the world."

In Hebrew, the word "false prophet" is "nevi'ei sheker." A prophet is a person who not only telling forstelling or what's going to happen in the future, but a prophet is also telling forth. He's sharing God's word. He's teaching the word of God. He's telling us what God says in his word. A prophet is not only someone who speak about some future day, but someone who speak to the people of God and teach the word of God.

Now let me tell you that the false prophets did not begin at the church age. There were always false prophets among our people Israel, our Jewish people, in our history that God have warn our own people Israel from those that were false prophets. Turn with me to the prophet Jeremiah for a moment. In Hebrew, his name is Yirmiyahu. Jeremiah chapter 14 and verse 14 and 15.

God speak through Jeremiah to the people of Israel in chapter 14 and verse 14: "Then the Lord said unto me," Jehovah is speaking to Jeremiah, to Yirmiyahu, and he said, "The prophets prophesy lies in my name. I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake I unto them. They prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of naught and the deceit of their heart."

You see, God already said to our people of Israel, "Listen Jeremiah, tell the people of Israel that those false prophet were really not speaking my word, but they were speaking lies." They were commanding the people of Israel to do certain things, but they prophesy deceit that came out of their hearts. And he's saying this already long time ago, 600 years BC, through the prophet Jeremiah to the people of Israel.

Jeremiah chapter 23, verse 21: "I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran. I have not spoken unto them, yet they prophesied. If they had stood in my counsel and had caused my people to hear my words, then they would have turned them from their evil way and from the evil of their doing. Am I a God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God afar off?"

Then notice verse 25: "I have heard what the prophets said that prophesy lies in my name, saying, 'I have dreamed, I have dreamed.' How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies? Yea, they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart." And so beloved brothers and sisters, false prophets is not something new.

False teachers and prophets were something that have existed in the history of our nation Israel, and God gave warning through the prophet Yirmiyahu to the nation of Israel. He says, "Listen Israel, watch it. Those prophets will teach you things that are unbiblical, and be careful, test to see whether what they say is indeed the word of God."

And so Yohanan, also a Hebrew like Jeremiah, he's writing now to the assembly, to the church at large, to the mishpachah. Remember, he's writing to the family of God, to all believers everywhere. And he's saying, "Listen, I love you. And because I love you, I'm going to give you these warning."

He's saying to them, "Listen, don't believe everything that somebody's saying about God. You have to really see whether it is valid, whether it is found in the word of God, whether it is indeed the word of God." And he says, "Test it." Now brothers and sisters, the Bible teaches us that we really have in spirit realm the unseen world.

We are really today as believers in Yeshua the Messiah, we might not see the spirit realm, the angelic beings that existing that God have created, and yet we know very well that there is the spirit realm in which many things, many events are going on. We don't see the angels per se, the spirits, but yet we know that there is that spirit realm.

And the angels, whom God have created for himself, some of them of course fell and follow after Satan. The good angels, we might call them, are serving God, serving the people of God. But the demons, or the angelic activity, the evil angelic activity is constantly seeking to destroy the testimony of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah.

Paul said it of course, if you remember the passage in Ephesians chapter six and verse 12. Shaul Paul, he said, "We are not wrestling against flesh and blood." Ephesians 6:12. "But we wrestle against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."

And you see what happening really, because Satan is opposing God and opposing the people of God, Satan is using false preachers, false prophets to tell the people of God things that will sway them out from the truth, the narrow path that God had given for the people of God. And you know what was the problem in first century?

The biggest problem that was in first century is the problem of denying the humanity of Yeshua the Messiah. Some of those teachers who believed in what you call that Yeshua was like a phantom. What is a phantom? I took a note here the description or definition of a phantom. They say that it is someone who was seen, who was heard, and have been even sensed, yet having no physical reality.

They were saying about Yeshua the Messiah that he was like a phantom. He was seen, he was handled, he was touched, he was even sensed, but really there is no spiritual reality to the humanity of the Lord Yeshua from Nazaret. They didn't recognize—in fact, this was the Gnostics. They did not believe in the clear message of the word of God about the humanity of the Messiah.

So they believe this high knowledge. They thought that they know much more than everybody else, and they have diverted themselves from the simplicity of the word of God and therefore they began to teach false teaching. And John giving warning against it. And he's saying, "Believe not every spirit, but test it."

Why? "Because many false prophets, nevi'ei sheker in Hebrew, have already gone out into this world. They will teach false things." Let me show you a couple more verses for a moment in the scripture. Look at Second Peter, just go a couple of pages back. Second Peter chapter two.

Peter gave the same warning, Shimon Petros gave the very same warning to whom he wrote. And he says in verse one of Second Peter chapter two, he said, "But there were false prophets also among the people. Even as there shall be false teachers among you, who will privately shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them and bring upon themselves swift destruction."

"And many shall follow their pernicious ways by reason of whom the way of the truth shall be evil spoken of. And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you, whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not." Shimon Petros like Yohanan gave warnings.

That's now we are talking about the beginning of the church age, of the ecclesia, giving these warnings to those that belong to Yeshua the Messiah. You see, he's writing to the beloved one, to the family of God, to the mishpachat Elohim, to the children of God he's writing. "You be careful. Don't allow yourself to be influenced by false prophet. You make sure that you test it, that you check it out, that you make sure that you not allow yourself to be saturated with that which is not Bible, that is not simply clearly the word of God."

And I don't have to tell you, brothers and sisters, you listen to the news, you watch the television, you look at the newspaper, you watched on the internet and you find out so many views about the things of God. Many deny the truth of the word of God and that it was divinely inspired.

That's why Paul also said to Timothy, "Timothy, study the word of God to be yourself a man that is proving the truth concerning the word of God. A man that know, search the scripture. Make sure that you learn the word, that you find out what is true and what is false, because many false prophets have enter into this world. Be careful."

John, Yohanan is saying to this beloved brothers and sisters to whom he wrote, "There will be false prophets that will be influenced by demonic spirit, by Satan and its views, and they will seek to teach you things that are not found in the word of God." "Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth," Paul said to this younger brother by the name of Timothy.

Make sure that you learn it from the word of God rather than to allow somebody to tell you what he or she feel like to say that is not found in scripture. So he gave them this warning and he said to them, "Make sure that you test the spirits because many false prophet have enter into this world."

Now he is directing in the next verse, verses two, three and four, he is pointing to the mark of false teachers. How do we know when somebody is a false teacher? In light of the context here, he's emphasizing the humanity of the Messiah. There are many other passages in a Bible can help us to understand how to detect a false teacher or a false prophet.

But in the context of this chapter, chapter four of First John, John pointing out, Yohanan pointing out to the mark of the false prophet. Let me tell you what John is emphasizing here. He says, "You want to know how to find out if a person is really a false prophet?"

He says, "A false prophet deny that Yeshua the Messiah came in the flesh." "You want to know a false prophet? You don't need to be a theologian," John is really saying. "You know very well yourself who Yeshua was." He says, "All what you have to know to detect if someone is a false prophet is when someone denies the humanity of Yeshua the Messiah and teach it and force it and entice others by this teaching, he is a false teacher and a false prophet."

And Yohanan now unfolded before us. Look what he says in verse two. In verse two, he's saying confessing the humanity of Yeshua is of God. Look at this, it says here in verse two: "Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Yeshua the Messiah is come in the flesh is of God."

Now brothers and sisters, listen to this. This is very important. You see, today many people have a problem with the deity of Yeshua. I had a problem with this when I first was exposed to Yeshua, to Jesus. I had a problem. I said to myself, "I don't know, I'm Jewish. We learn in our own home that there is only one God. And now you come and you telling me that this man that died on a cross some 2,000 years ago is God?"

I had a lot of problem with that. And somehow, God have been so gracious to unfold the word of God, to open the scripture to me by the Holy Spirit of God because you and I cannot do it on our own. And somehow by the grace of God, I recognized that Yeshua is this God, the eternal Son of God.

I want you to turn with me to Isaiah for a moment. The verses that we just read earlier. Isaiah chapter six, chapter nine and chapter seven. Those chapters that we have read today in the prophet Isaiah. Just look at that for a second with me.

Isaiah chapter seven, first of all. The Lord is speaking to this man by the name of Achaz. Achaz was the one that was the king of Judah, the king of the tribe of Yehuda. And the Lord is spoke to him, it says in verse 10, "Moreover the Lord spake again unto Achaz," and he said to him, "Achaz, ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above."

So Achaz said, "I'm not going to ask for a sign, neither will I tempt the Lord." So he said, "Hear ye now, O house of David." Now God went beyond Achaz and he was not talking only to Achaz, but he was talking to the whole house of David, actually to the whole tribe of Judah.

And he was saying to the house of David, to the whole tribe of Judah, he said, "Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also?" And he said in verse 14, "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you," the word for "you" is plural, "lachem", it's not "lecha", "lachem".

"The Lord will give you a sign; Behold, the virgin shall conceive, and she will bear a son, and she will call his name Immanuel." God said to Achaz, "Achaz, listen, you ask a sign from me." And Achaz did not want to ask a sign from the Lord, so God is going beyond him and he speaking to the whole family of David, the king of Israel that have already passed by, but the family of David and the house of David.

And he's saying to this family, to these people of Israel at that time, to the tribe of Judah, he says, "Listen, I'm going to give you a sign. And what is this sign going to be?" He says, "Listen, the virgin is going to conceive and she shall bear a son."

Guest (Female): You have been listening to 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.