Holy Scriptures and Israel

Guest (Male): 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: Last Sabbath meeting we have been talking about the first 11 verses of Acts chapter 1 but I would like today to continue in Acts chapter 1 and to speak in additional information that we all can have concerning what early first century Jewish believers believe in. This is very important because what they believed in 2000 years ago is the same thing that you and I as Hebrew or non-Hebrew Christian or Messianic Jews and Gentiles, we are also exalted to believe in today. 2000 years already passed by since Yeshua have come and finished the work on the tree for us and what they have held two years ago is the same thing what you and I are exalted to hold today.

Nothing changed, beloved brothers and sisters. When it's come to the word of God, nothing changed except the fact that we live in a different era 2000 years later that the church as a church is in this state of the latter sin age, latter sin stage that we have it in the book of Revelation, but nevertheless the fundamental ABC of God's word still remain in every generation including for you and I today. When we reach Acts chapter 1, the church was not formed yet. The body as believers united into one body was not yet in existence.

And yet these Jewish believers have come to trust in Yeshua the Messiah and they believed in things that you and I today are exalted to hold on to and I want you to see it. They perhaps in their generation they say, Lord, how much we need your help and how much we fail to keep what you have taught us in the word and you and I can say the same thing today. And so in Acts chapter 1 we going to continue today to begin from verse 12 on towards the end of the chapter. Let me read you those verses and we will take them one step at a time.

In verse 12 we read, then returned they, this is those disciples to Jerusalem from mount that is called mount Olives. In Hebrew we call it which is from Jerusalem about a Sabbath day journey. And when they were come in they went up into an upper room where abode there Peter and James and John and Andrew and Philip and Thomas Bartholomew and Matthew and James the son of Alphaeus and Simon Zelotes and Judah or Yehuda, the brother of James, the brother of Jacob. 11 disciples are here. All these continue with one accord in prayer, in supplication with their women and Mary the mother of Yeshua and with his brethren.

In those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples and he said, the number of the names together were about 120 people and men and he says to the men and brethren, this scripture must need to have been fulfilled which the Holy Spirit by the mouth of David spoke before concerning Judah's This is Judas Iscariot which was a guide to them that took Yeshua, that took Jesus. For he was numbered with us and had obtained part in this ministry. Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst and all his bowels gushed out.

And it was known unto all the dwellers in Jerusalem in as much as that field is called in their proper tongue or proper language that is to say the field of blood. For it is written in the book of Let his habitation be desolate and let no man dwell therein and his bishopric or his overseer let another take. Wherefore of these men which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Yeshua went in and out among us beginning from the baptism of Yohanan unto that same day that he was taken up from us must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection.

And they appointed two, Joseph called Barsabas who was surnamed Justus and Matthias or Mattityahu. And they prayed and they said, Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, show whether of these two thou have chosen that he may take part of this ministry and apostleship from which Judas by transgression fell that he might go to his own place. And they gave forth their lots. And the lot fell upon Mattityahu and he was numbered with the 11 apostles. Note that how many times the word apostles are mentioned here at least twice in verse 25 apostleship and 26 he was numbered with the apostles.

We are going to get to that in a moment, but I would like now to just go back for a moment and you remember in the last ministry meeting the first 11 verses of the book of Acts we have learned a few things about those disciples that they were taught by the resurrected Messiah by Yeshua the Messiah who was resurrected already before he went back to the father's house, before he was taken out from before them, he was speaking with them and he really taught them the truth concerning number one the resurrection of the Messiah, number two the coming Messianic kingdom, number three the power of the Holy Spirit and number four the second coming of the Messiah.

They have held to these principles, to these truths. They have learned those things from the Lord Yeshua himself. How important the resurrection of the Messiah, the coming kingdom of Israel, the Messianic kingdom, the Holy Spirit of God that will give them power to preach the word and share the message of the gospel. And finally before he was taking the promise of his coming again. This same Yeshua who was taken up from you will come back, will come again in the same manner, in like manner which you have seen him going into heaven. And so he have gone to heaven.

He was taken away from them. He have gone to heaven. So what are they to do? They didn't remain in mount Olives in but they turned back and they worked down the mount of Olives and up to mount Moriah and they went back to the city of Jerusalem. Now just to make sure that you understand the site that mount Olives is really not far from mount Moriah where the temple was. The distance is very short. You can do it in maybe 20 minutes, half an hour walking. Mount of Olives going down the slopes of the mountain, through the valley and going up to mount Moriah and you find yourself right in the temple mount where the temple have existed.

Every time when we take groups of believers to visit the land of Israel we show them the beautiful site of mount Moriah for mount Olives and the beautiful site of the area where once the temple stood. And so those disciples now remember the Lord Yeshua the Messiah is not with them. He have gone. They had the statement from these two men, the angels who told them this same Yeshua will come again in the same manner. He is going to come. They had this assurance, they had this understanding and we have been speaking about it last time.

Yeshua is coming back. He is going to come back. He is going to establish what he promised in the scripture, the Messianic kingdom where he is going to rule as king of kings and Lord of lords. Those verses now that we have just read verses 12 all the way to verse 26 are verses that in between chapter 1 before the Lord have gone and chapter 2 where the Holy Spirit of God was going to come to form the church, the assembly, the body of Messiah and in between they had these Hebrew, Jewish, Israeli believers had to deal with certain issues.

And you can see what they believed in those next verses that we just read. First of all I want you to know this that those disciples even before the body of Messiah was formed Acts chapter 2 they believed in the unity of God's people. Now I tell you that when we look at the condition of the church today and we have to speak of ourselves. We don't want to point it to somebody else. We see how we have failed to maintain the unity of the body of Christ. Now I know the body was not yet formed.

It will be formed in Acts chapter 2, but they believe that every believer is part of a company that is redeemed, that belong to God, that belong to Yeshua. And you can see in what they have done. You notice that if you follow with me those verse 12, 13 and 14 it says they returned to Jerusalem from mount of Olives. And it was a Sabbath day journey and when they were come they went up into an upper room where they abode Peter, James, John, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James, James, Simons, Zelotes, Judas the brother of James and listen to them.

They all continue with one accord in prayer and supplication with the women and Miriam the mother of Yeshua and with his brethren. Those three verses shows us what they did. They have left mount of Olives They went down the slopes of the mountain and they went to the city of Jerusalem and their beloved brothers and sisters they gathered together. Now I want you to see there was no titles there, pastors, shepherds, bishops. All these titles that we often think about, but there were leadership of those whom God had raised to lead the believers as shepherds.

They gathered together in the city of Jerusalem and it says in verse 13 it says they were come and they went up to an upper room. Now that's interesting because many suggest that this upper room in verse 13 of our chapter is the same upper room of chapter 14 of the gospel of Mark and verse 15 when Yeshua said to the disciple when they asked, where do you want us to prepare that we will celebrate the Passover? That was in the gospel before the Lord Yeshua died on the tree. And he said to them, you go to the city, meaning the city of Jerusalem and there shall meet with you a man bearing a pitcher of water.

You follow that man and wheresoever he shall go in you say into the goodman of the house, the master saith, where is the guest chamber where I shall eat the Passover with my disciples? And he will show you a large upper room furnished. And he said, prepare he said, there you make ready for us the Passover. So many suggest that the upper room it must be a higher room above, maybe on the higher floor of the home. He says there in the upper room Yeshua celebrated the Passover with his disciples. There Yeshua introduced to the disciples the fact that he is the cup and the bread he speak of his death, that he is going to suffer, that he is going to shed his blood and he going to give his body for the redemption of mankind.

And in the upper room was the place that he is gathered with these disciples and they all came back to the same upper room. suggestion by some. We do not know. It's not an accident that they have gone back to the upper room and there, beloved brothers and sisters, it says in verse 14 they all continue with one accord. Can you imagine the sight? All those disciples and many more than just the 11 will find this out that there were more than just the 11. They were there in one accord. There was harmony. There was unity.

There was nobody that was assigned to see, oh, you going to be leader number one and you going to be leader number two, but there was a measure of order because they were all had one purpose and one goal in mind is to have the Lord Yeshua the Messiah before them. And they were with one accord in that upper room. Now what a sight it must have been. You know there is a verse, a psalm that we often singing and we sometimes sing it in Hebrew here Beautiful psalm. Psalm 133 Behold how good and how pleasant it is for for the brethren to dwell together in unity.

They believed in that, beloved brothers and sisters. By the way psalm 133 is a prophetic psalm that is looking forward for the restoration of Israel our nation. It is there where we read it is a psalm of degrees. David wrote it and he said, how good how good it is and how pleasant it is when brethren dwelling together in unity. You know how pleasant it is? You know when there are friction among the people of God, the heaviness that we have on our hearts, the sorrow that we have in our hearts, the sadness that comes upon us, the fact that we have no liberty, we have no power because friction among the people of God takes away from the liberty of the Holy Spirit in the midst of God's saints, God's people.

But David said many years ago looking forward for Israel's restoration. And we can apply it to any generation. How pleasant, how good Psalm 133 1 and how pleasant did is when brethren dwell together in unity. How pleasant it is. You know if we gather together in a meeting and we have a united heart listen, I'm not talking about uniformity. I'm talking about unity. Uniformity mean that everybody have to dress the same, everybody have to talk the same, everybody have to hold the same Bible, everybody have to walk the same, the same shoes, the same shirts, the same makeup and all this whatever it is.

That is uniformity. But we are not called to have uniformity. We are called to have unity. There is a different between uniformity. I don't expect and I don't think it's right to push somebody to be exactly like me. And I don't think it's right for others to press another person to make him exactly like them because we are not called to be exactly like somebody else. We are called to be like the Messiah Yeshua. And everyone is called to seek to be conformed not to the image of each other, but to the image of God's beloved son.

And so how beautiful it is. You know it is different that when you come to a meeting the brothers and sisters are united and you leave the meeting with a freshness in your own heart. You wish to come back because that's the place where the gathered saints are, where the believers are and there is a harmony and unity, but you know when there is no harmony and where there is no unity you don't want to go to that place. You don't want to be with that person. You don't have any intention to be there and especially if you are wrong as well, you know yourself you should not be if you have not this type of heart desire to be a part of the people of God where you are being a blessing to the people of God.

That's what the believers in early century believed. The church was not even formed, beloved brothers and sisters in Acts chapter 1, but they believed in the unity of the people of God. Now not on expense of truth, not on expense of fundamental truth of the Bible. We cannot be united with someone who say for example that Jesus the Messiah was not born to the virgin Miriam. Cannot be united with a person who denied the fundamental word of God or somebody reject the deity of the Messiah or somebody reject the promises of the scripture. Whatever it is we cannot unite on other basis or on other ground except the ground that we have in God's word.

Now I know we deviate to that all kind of views about many, many things, but I'm speaking, beloved brothers and sisters, among the people of God the necessity of believing in the unity of the body of all believers. And so you know Psalm 133 goes on it says it is like the precious ointment upon the head that ran down upon the beard of Aaron's beard and went down to the skirts of his garments. You know Aaron is a type of Yeshua the Messiah, the great high priest. And when the oil came upon Aaron's hair came down the side, down to his beard and all the way down to his skirts and to the garment and all the way down to the bottom of the skirt of the garment that he had.

And it's a picture of the Holy Spirit of God that poured upon the head speaking about the Messiah and all the way down to the rest of the people of God. It's a future, it's a picture of Israel's future restoration where the Messiah will be restored, when he will restore to his place and when Israel will acknowledge him and they will receive the blessing from him because the blessing going to flow to every Israeli individual in a Messianic age. And we can receive that blessing as well as believers today. The blessings of the headship of the Lord Jesus in the church age can fall, can come down upon all believers and it should come down upon all believers if those believers are submissive to the word of God.

He continue and he doesn't speak about also about Aaron and Aaron's beard, but it goes on and he says in verse 3, it is like the dew of Hermon. And as the dew that descend upon the mountains of Zion and you notice that you know the dew is again another picture of the Holy Spirit of God. Mount Hermon is the highest mountain in the land of Israel. It's again another picture of the Lord Jesus the Messiah. Who is the head? Who is the king? Who is superior than anyone else? And the blessing flow from him to the rest of the mountains of Zion.

Again I would like to suggest, brothers and sisters, that it takes us to the future day when Israel going to be restored, when the Messianic kingdom going to be established, but the people that believed in Yeshua the Messiah even though they were anticipating the future day they believed in the unity of the people of God. And they were working towards it. Sometime we have to be ashamed when we see that we have participated and have been part of dividing the people of God. And we don't realize that God knows everything. And God hates divisions. And we failed him so much.

We know it. And God does not look at this and being pleased. He is grieved over this. And he help us, allow us to experience this in our own life. Lack of joy, lack of power, lack of shalom, lack of peace because we have been part of these things. Now we fail and the Lord knows that there is always room for restoration, always room for to confess before the Lord and say, Lord, help me that I will be used to be part of that which unify believers rather than scattering the people of God. You know it says at the end of Psalm 133 it says there the Lord commanded his blessing.

The Lord's blessing is when the people of God are united together and when the people of God in a spiritual state they desire to be a blessing to God's people. And so they came back. They left mount Olives they walked and they went all the way after coming down the slopes, going up to the mountain in Jerusalem and then they went to the upper room and the Bible tells us in this verse all continue with one accord in prayer and supplication. And notice there by the way with their women and Miriam the mother of Yeshua and with his brother apparently his brethren who early in the gospel did not believe on him.

Later on they became a believers that Yeshua the Jesus is still truly the promised Messiah. And so they gathered together there and they have one accord united together. How far today we are from Acts 1 when they all began in one accord. And we look at the state of the church today and you can see how far are we from where we began. I want to read another verse if you turn with me to Ephesians chapter 4 for a moment. And you ask and I may ask, well how dear brother Gideon, how do we practice?

How can we maintain? How can we seek to do, to build or to unite the people of God? And the Lord is giving us an answer. The apostle Saul Paul giving us an answer in the book of Ephesians and he tells us it is a hard work. He tells us notice that he says in Ephesians chapter 4 verses 1 to 4 he said, therefore I the prisoner of the Lord I beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called with all lowliness and meekness, longsuffering, forbearing one another in love endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit in bond of peace.

There is one body, there is one spirit even as ye are called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and father of all who is above all and through all and in you all. verses 1 to 6 I don't know if you caught this one word here that the word is in verse 3 endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit in bond of shalom, in bond of peace. Endeavoring means that you seek hard to do that, you work at that. You see we never are called to keep the unity of the body because the unity of the body is a positional truth that everyone who have accepted the Lord Yeshua the Messiah, he is part of the one body, universal body that Yeshua have formed.

He keeps this body. You and I are never called to keep the unity of the body. But we are called to keep the unity of the spirit. That means that we are called to endeavor, to work hard, to seek, to pray, to be really working hard, laboring hard to maintain unity, practical unity among the people of God. And we have to admit to our own shame. Every one of us in his own area of life we somehow instead of being a cause of unity we have end up to be a cause of dispersion. Look at the church today.

How do you think all this happened? Now of course I know Acts 1 we are not talking yet about the church because the church did not start as yet. It started in Acts chapter 2. But when you just imagine where we started there just before the church, just at the beginning in the foundation there up till today 2000 years later, look at the condition that existing today. The scattering of the saints, the divisions of all sort of groups of Christians, all kind of names that have been given.

Guest (Male): 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 a.m. and 7 p.m. and Saturdays at 1 p.m. 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.