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 Acts chapter 18. There are many who baptize children who haven't yet made a decision as believers to accept the Messiah. Now, the parents love them and want them to be saved, but baptism does not save.

What saves is faith in the Messiah, in his death, burial, and resurrection. And then a person is responsible to be, to be baptized, to go through water baptism and to identify with Yeshua the Messiah. So, verses 1 to 4, Paul arrives to Corinth and his ministry there.

Verses 5 to 8, Paul experienced rejection and opposition at Corinth, but there were those who became believers as we have read just as Crispus, as well as many of the Corinthians who believed and were baptized. Well, let's move on in this chapter.

In the next verses, verses 9, 10, and 11, Paul received some encouragement from the Lord. I don't know about you, brothers and sisters, but in the work of the Lord, there is a lot of discouragement. And because there are so many discouragements, the Lord from time to time can give us a little moment of encouragement.

Just to give us something to say, "Go on. Don't stop. Go for the Lord. Carry on, even though things are hard." There is opposition, but the Lord does not leave us without encouragement. I know I need that, and I know you need that, and we know from these verses 9, 10, and 11 that the Apostle Paul needed an encouragement from the Lord.

And he knows when to do that. He knows how to do that, and he knows who needed it. You know, we are talking so much about problems that believers experience in their lives, but here and there we get glimpse of encouragement. The Lord knows how to do that and he is encouraging his own people.

So here, brothers and sisters, look at this. He tells something to the Apostle Paul in verse, first of all, 9 and 10, we see the words of comfort and encouragement from the risen Messiah. He said in verse 9, "Then spoke the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision."

Paul perhaps went to the house of Justus, lay down there at night. He think perhaps of his own people and he says, "Why is it that my own people don't accept Yeshua the Messiah? I don't understand. I read to them the verses from the Bible. I show to them the promises that God had given our people, but they reject the Messiah."

"Why is it, God? I don't understand." Perhaps he said like this and he was laying there and then the Lord appears to him in a vision. And he's saying to him, "Be not afraid." Notice that, verse 9. "But speak. Hold not thy peace, for I am with thee and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee. For I have much people in this city."

The Apostle Paul is laying down at night, and he has this vision. And he tells him one of those precious words that many of our forefathers have heard from the God of Israel. The Hebrew word is *altira*. Be not afraid. How many time we find it in the word of God?

Let me just point to some of them in the Tanakh, in the Old Testament. If you turn with me to Genesis chapter 15. And the first one that heard this word, *altira*, "Be not afraid," was our forefather Abraham. In Genesis chapter 15, we find out this precious word presented to Abraham, our father, when God said to him in verse 1, "Abraham, notice this, Genesis chapter 15 and verse 1, 'After these things, the word of the Lord came to Avram in a vision.'"

"And God said to him, 'Fear not, *altira*, Abraham, I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward.'" Abraham must have been waiting for the promise of God for a son, and then he waits and he waits and he doesn't get the promise.

And God then have to say to him, "Avram, *altira*, Abraham, be not afraid. I am going to be the one that is going to be your exceeding great reward." See, Abraham needed to hear that from the Lord, like you and I need to hear that from the Lord. Like the Apostle Paul need to hear that from the Lord.

And the Lord, the glorified Messiah, said to Abraham, "Be not afraid." Now, there's so much fear that we experience when we testify the message of the gospel. We also talked about this earlier. How many a time we don't share the message of the gospel with people because we are afraid.

And because of the opposition, we just simply shiver and shrink back because we know what opposition is like and we do not like to experience opposition. Well, in this case, we find out that the Apostle Paul needed that encouragement and the Lord Jesus gave him that, the glorified Messiah gave this to him in verses 9 and 10 of Acts chapter 18.

Abraham heard that word, *altira*. Turn with me now to chapter 26 of Genesis. And look who is next received these words from God, *altira*, "Be not afraid." Genesis chapter 26, the second one is not only Abraham, but this time we find a man by the name of Isaac, is Abraham's son Isaac.

Look at this, verse 24 of Genesis 26. "The Lord appeared unto him," this is Isaac, "the same night, and he said, 'I am the God of Abraham thy father.'" And then he said to him, "Fear not, *altira*, for I am with thee, and I will bless thee, and I will multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham's sake."

Here is another man who have experienced this comforting words of "Be not afraid." Not only Avram, but also his son Isaac. And again, I would like to suggest, brothers and sisters, this is what the Lord have already spoken in the past to Abraham, to Isaac and Jacob and many of the forefathers of the people of Israel.

And here the Apostle Paul heard these precious words from our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, "Be not afraid." Let me give you just one more man. Turn to Genesis 46. And this time is Jacob, or Israel by that time, he is called as well. Genesis 46 and verse 3.

"And look what he hears from God. He said," this is God, "I am God, the God of thy father. Fear not to go down into Egypt, for I will there make of thee a great nation." The same words. "*Altira*, Yaakov, Jacob, Israel, be not afraid. Just go ahead, go to Egypt. I will promise you that I will make of thee a great nation," Israel, Jacob.

And so, brothers and sisters, here we see that the Apostle Paul needed this encouragement, and the Lord Yeshua telling him this in verses 9 and 10. I am back in chapter 18 of the book of Acts. Number one, be not afraid. Number two, speak. Do not hold thy peace is number three.

Number four, I am with you. Number five, no man shall set on thee to hurt thee. And number six, for I have much people in this city. Now, this is interesting. The Lord encouraging the Apostle Paul to not be afraid, to speak out, not to hold his peace.

He promised that no one is going to be able to hurt him. And then he said to him that he is with him. And finally he said, "I have much people here." Now remember the Apostle Paul just arrived to Corinth, and he had already met a few of the believers. But apparently, the Lord told him that he has much people here.

That suggests to us that the Lord have elected some, that he already knows who is going to come to know Yeshua the Messiah. He knows. Paul didn't know. He was preaching the gospel. We do not know when we share the message of the gospel who is the one that the Lord have elected and brought to himself.

We do not know, but we present the message to everyone. God knows whom is going to come to faith through Yeshua the Messiah. So God is saying, the Lord is saying, "I have much people here in this city. No one is going to hurt you. Don't be afraid. Don't hold your peace. Speak. I am with you."

"And I have many people here in this city." So, it's beautiful to see. So, apparently, the Apostle Paul continued there in Corinth. And it says here in verse 11 that he continued there in the city of Corinth for one year and six months. Apparently, he continued for a year and six months, this is a year and a half, from the time that he heard that vision from the Lord.

He has been a little bit before in the city of Corinth, and he remained a little bit later, so he must have been in the city of Corinth around maybe two years, two and a half years, some suggest even up to three years he had been in Corinth. But we do have this statement here for one year and six months that he was here from this point at the city of Corinth.

What did he do? He taught the word of God among them. He preached the message, and he taught the Bible. He preached the message of salvation, and he taught the word of God. He constantly taught the word of God. That's what brothers and sisters, what we are doing every Friday when we gather together for our Bible classes.

Every Saturday, Shabbat meeting, when we come for the ministry of the word of God, is constantly to teach the word of God. Yes, we have fellowship. We enjoy our time together, but the purpose of the gathering of the saints is to gather for the learning of the word of God.

A little bit here more and a little bit there, here a little, there a little, and we grow in appreciation of the scripture, of the word of God. So Paul received an encouragement from the Lord. Let me ask a question. You don't have to answer me. Do you need an encouragement today from the Lord?

And if you do, just wait on him. He will encourage you. He will give you a word of encouragement in his time, and it will be so precious to you, that it will give you strength to continue on, to say, "Lord, in spite of the opposition that I have in my life today, thank you for these encouraging words. I am going to continue to follow Yeshua the Messiah."

You know, it's not necessarily that heaven is going to open and you at nighttime are going to have Revelation chapter 23. It's not that, but the Lord is going to use someone to encourage you, or event in your life, or a situation, something he is going to use to encourage you to say, "Do not be afraid. Carry on in following me, following in a ministry that I have given you to do."

So, the Apostle Paul remained there for one year and six months from the time that he heard the word, and he taught the word of God. And what a blessing it must have been for him to see fruit and growth in the city of Corinth. Well, let's move on. We are nearing that portion where we finish that second missionary journey.

From verse 12 to 17, we find Paul before Gallio. He was a deputy of Achaia. Look at this. You can see the kind of attitude that this man by the name of Gallio, the deputy had. Listen to this, verse 12, first of all, and 13. The Jewish people brought Paul to the judgment seat.

And when Gallio was the deputy of Achaia, the Jews made insurrection with one accord against Paul, and they brought him to the judgment seat. And they said, "This fellow persuading men to worship God contrary to the law." Here the Jewish brethren, those who didn't believe in the Messiah, took Paul, a Jewish man who believe in Yeshua, and they brought him into this judgment seat there.

And it was at a time when Gallio was the deputy of Achaia. And they told him, they accused Paul, that Paul was persuading men to worship God contrary to the law of the people of Israel. Now, do you remember who was accused as well? You remember Stephen in Acts chapter 6 and 7 where he was accused that he brought a learning, a teaching that is not in accordance with the law of Moses.

And that he was speaking seemingly against God and against the temple. He was accused by the Sanhedrin. Paul is the same thing here, being accused. As if believing in Yeshua the Messiah is contrary to the law. But the law and the prophets spoke about the coming of the Messiah.

The law and the prophets again typify and prophetically spoke about the coming Messiah. And therefore to accuse Paul before Gallio was wrong. And so in verses 12 and 13, they put him there in the judgment seat. And in verses 14, 15, and 16, Gallio the deputy responded to the Jewish people of the city of Corinth, and he said to them, look at this, verse 14, "When Paul was now about to open his mouth, Gallio said unto the Jewish people there, 'If it were a matter of wrong or wicked lewdness, O ye Jewish people,' he said, 'Reason was that I should bear with you.'"

In other words, if he did something wrong, I should listen to it and I will bear with what you accuse him. "But if it is a question of words, of names, of your law," he says, "Look ye to yourself," he said, "For I will not judge of such a matter." He said, "And he drove them away from the judgment seat."

You know what he is telling them? "If he did something wrong and I need to judge him, fine. Show me what he did wrong. But if it is a matter of names and your law," he says, "I am not going to involve myself in a religion." In other words, brothers and sisters, apparently when it comes to the word names here, Paul was naming the name of Yeshua.

And it is the name of Yeshua that was rejected. And the Bible said, "There is none other name given among men whereby we must be saved." It is the name of Yeshua. You remember what we read in Philippians, that the name of Jesus and the name of Yeshua, every knee will bow. Every tongue will confess that Yeshua the Messiah is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

So it was the name of Yeshua that they refused to accept. And it is the name of Yeshua that today people around us refuse to accept. Jewish people and non-Jewish people, refusing the name of our blessed Lord Yeshua, which means salvation. And so he said to them, "If it is words of names of your law," he says, "Look you to yourself. I will not judge in such a matter."

"And he drove them away from the judgment seat." And now we arrive to verse 17. Here we find out that all the Greeks took Sosthenes, the chief ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before the judgment seat. And notice that Gallio cared for none of those things.

What we learn here from verse 17, that this man by the name of Sosthenes, he replaced apparently the chief ruler Crispus that we read of him in verse 8 of this chapter. And apparently he became a believer as well. And so the Greeks now took this man Sosthenes, the chief ruler of the synagogue, and they beat him before the judgment seat.

And so what we learn from these verses that both Jewish people as well as Greeks persecuted those who were believers in the Lord Jesus the Messiah. And so Sosthenes was beaten, and Gallio did not care. He is that deputy who said previously that he does not want to judge on a religious matter.

He drove everyone away, but apparently when Sosthenes was beaten, Gallio did not do anything about it. He cared for none of those things which were done unto the believers there before the judgment seat. And there finally, brothers and sisters, that in a sense was the end of the time of the Apostle Paul spending there in the city of Corinth.

Because in the last five verses, 18, 19, 20, 21 and 22, the Apostle Paul leave Corinth, and he is moving on now on the way to Antioch through a visit to the city of Ephesus. And so we find in verse 18 that after he tarried there yet a good while.

He took his leave of the brethren, and he sailed unto Syria. Again, he was heading towards Antioch in Syria. He took with him Priscilla and Aquila. And then notice, brothers and sisters, he shorn his head in Cenchrea for he had a vow. Now, most of us believe that the vow that the Apostle Paul had as a Jewish man, it was the Nazirite vow, found in the book of Numbers chapter 6.

But when the vow was ending, there was a responsibility of the person who took the vow to shave his head. You remember the Nazirite was called to have long hair, not to have any knife touching his head, not to touch a dead men, as well as not to drink any alcoholic beverages.

And so it seemed to be here that the vow that the Apostle Paul had, maybe a commitment to the Lord to serve him. Maybe a thankfulness to God for what he have done for him. He had a vow. And now when he was leaving Corinth in Cenchrea. Cenchrea was a port of the city of Corinth.

He shaved his hair because he ended his vow. You can read it in Numbers chapter 6, verses 13 to 18. When you have time, read that passage. And so he cut his hair. He shaved his head because the vow, the commitment that he had, the Nazirite vow, have ended.

And now he was heading on now towards Antioch through Ephesus. Notice that, verse 19 to 21 there. He went to Ephesus, and he left them there. This is Priscilla and Aquila. But he himself entered again. Notice that, into the synagogue. Coming to Ephesus, the first thing he does is going to the synagogue, and again he is reasoning with the Jewish brethren.

Again from the word of God. Yeshua is the Messiah. Look at what we read in scripture, the law, the prophets, the writings. Speaking about the Messiahship of Yeshua. But in Ephesus, he stayed very little time. We are going to speak about it later on when we are going to get to chapter 19.

And when they desired him to tarry, apparently these Jewish people in the synagogue of Ephesus, what had him to stay longer. "Paul, stay longer, Paul." But Paul said to them, "No." He said to them, "He consented not." Why? Because he wanted to go to a feast in the city of Jerusalem.

It says in verse 21, "But he bade them farewell." He said Shalom to them, and he says, "I must by all means keep this feast that cometh in Jerusalem. But I will return unto you again if God will." So nice to see this with the Apostle Paul. He wanted to keep a feast in Jerusalem.

Again, remember, he is a Jewish man, believer in the Messiah, understanding the truth of the church, of the body of Christ, the body of Messiah. But yet in a certain customs and certain things as a Jewish man, he kept. Not as binding under the law, but as a freedom, as a believer in the Messiah, he had liberty to keep certain things, like the vow of the Nazirite that he kept.

Like the feast that he was going to keep now in the city of Jerusalem. You know, he taught in Romans 14 that there are liberties that believers have. Someone want to keep a certain day, some do not want to keep a certain day. Someone want to eat a certain food, some do not want to eat a certain food.

But we have liberty. We are not binding ourselves under the law, but there is a liberty as believers in Yeshua the Messiah, which we see the liberty that he had as a believer in the Lord Jesus the Messiah. And finally, in conclusion, beloved brothers and sisters, verse 22, we find that when he had landed in Caesarea, that was the regions of Israel.

He was already in the land of Israel in Caesarea, in Caesarea. Notice that, what he does? He had gone up, saluted the church, and then went down to Antioch. Notice up and down. Up is going to the city of Jerusalem. Down is going away from the city of Jerusalem.

You know in scripture, you remember Isaiah chapter 2, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob." Going out of the city of Jerusalem is going down away from the city of Jerusalem. This is again and again mentioned to us in the word of God.

Going up to Jerusalem, going down from Jerusalem. So apparently, what we learn from this verse 22, that he visited the assembly in the city of Jerusalem. He took the time to visit those brethren, the leaders and the people in Jerusalem, that were where the beginning of the church has begun.

He made a visit to the city of Jerusalem, and then he went back to the city of Antioch from which he was commended to the Lord's work in Acts chapter 13. That's where he started his ministry. So with this verse, beloved brothers and sisters, the Apostle Paul concluded his second missionary journey.

Always going back to Antioch where he started and he must have been sharing with the brethren, "Hey, brethren, look what have happened to me. I have been here and I have been there and I visited there." And the encouragement that he could encourage the brothers and sisters in the city of Antioch.

And brothers and sisters, I'm going to stop right here, where the second missionary journey of the Apostle Paul have ended. And may the Lord use us and encourage us, just the same like he encouraged the Apostle Paul when he said to him, "Fear not. Carry on in the service for the Lord. Carry on in what you have in your hand to serve the Lord and to minister to others until the time that the Lord will come and take us to be with him in glory."

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.