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: The study of Acts chapter 27. People of God, men and women who are godly people who have a good counsel to give us in our lives, and Paul gave them the counsel. Paul gave them what he suggested to them, but they did not listen to what Paul had to say.

Supposing that things are fine, the wind seems to blow softly in a certain place, and yet they sailed close by Crete, hopefully they wanted to get to the place where they will stay there for a longer time. But here it is, brothers and sisters, in verses 14 to 20, the storm at sea.

You know, make an application here. When storms coming into our lives, what do we do about those storms? How do we handle a situation such as this in our life? You remember when we read Psalm 77, the writer of the Psalm, Asaph, he said, "I cried unto God with my voice, even unto God with my voice, and he gave ear unto me."

"In a day of my trouble I sought the Lord. My sore ran in the night and ceased not. My soul refused to be comforted. I remembered God and was troubled. I complained and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah." And then he was wondering, when he was crying to God, why does God allow things to happen to him in his life?

And then he asked the question, "Will the Lord cast off forever? And will he be favorable no more? Is his mercy clean gone forever? Does his promise fail forevermore? Has God forgotten to be gracious?" He asks all these questions, the psalmist, in his own life.

You and I may ask the very same question in our own life. Did the Lord forget me? Why does he not answer my prayer? Is he no longer going to be gracious to me like he was in the past? That's the lesson that we learn from such verses as this, because those verses seems to be redundant. He went from this down to that place, from this island to that island, and the wind was contrary. All these teach us those spiritual lessons concerning the life experience of the people of God.

And here is the storm now. In verses 14 to verse 20, we have the wind, the tempest, the stormy wind at the sea, as the apostle and Luke and others are joining them on the way to the city of Rome. Let's just look at those verses, just a few verses at a time.

First of all, verse 14, the stormy wind began. "Not long after, there arose against it a tempestuous wind." The word for tempestuous simply means a stormy wind, and they even a name for that wind. It's called Euroclydon. And that is such a strong wind, apparently, that it's simply called here tempestuous or a stormy, a strong wind came against them. Well, earlier the wind blew softly in verse 13. Now, as they left assuming that everything gonna be fine, not listening to the advice of Shaul, Paul, now they experience that stormy wind that come against them in verse 14.

And verse 15, the ship could no longer bear that storm, that wind. "And when the ship was caught and could not bear up into the wind, we let her drive." They couldn't handle now anymore the ship. They were perhaps trying to hold on the sails and so on, that they carry on to maintain straight the ship. They couldn't any longer. So you know what they did? They let it go. As it says here in verse 15, "We let her drive." They could no longer control the ship, and they let the ship drive on its own in the middle of that storm.

In verse 16, it says here that they had to even bring in that lifeboat that was in the back because that lifeboat probably would have been gone away and sunk because it says here in verse 16, "running under a certain island, which is called Clauda, we had much work to come by the boat." In other words, we had a hard time to even bring in the lifeboat. You know when you take a ride on a big ship, you have a lifeboat somewhere. Sometimes they drag it along, that in case something happen, people can go into the small lifeboat and get out of the area. But they had to bring it into the ship, this lifeboat, and they had a hard time to bring it into the ship.

In verses 17, 18, and 19, look at the labor of the people who sought to save themselves and to save the ship. Look what they've been doing. In verse 17, 18, and 19, "When they had taken up, they used helps, undergirding the ship, and fearing lest they should fall into the quicksands, struck sail and so were driven." That quicksand, shallow water, they were worried about an area that the wind and the wave will take them into a lower area, there was quicksand, there will be shallow water. They were trying to maintain the ship and everything that is there. They were struggling on that ship, on that storm.

And then, look at this in verse 18. "And we being exceedingly tossed with a tempest, the next day they lightened the ship as well." Now, what did they do? They started to throw things outside to lighten the ship. It remind me in the time of Jonah the prophet. You remember Jonah, the prophet of Israel, in chapter one, when he was called to go to Nineveh? And instead of going to Nineveh, he disobeyed the Lord, and he went down to Jaffa, went into a ship, and went towards Tarshish. And on the way, God sent that storm, if you remember, beloved brothers and sisters, and the sailors did not know what to do.

They started to throw everything outside so the ship will be lightened, it'll be easier to sail. They were afraid for their lives. And here we see the very same thing. The people there, Paul, Luke, and their friend, the servant Aristarchus with them, and the soldiers, and the centurion, and the prisoners, and many other sailors and so on, all are working hard in order to save themselves out of this storm. You will notice how many time we have the word "we," which include Luke. Even Luke was working along trying to help in order to maintain the ship in a right way so they will not ultimately lose their lives.

I'm reading again in verse 19, "The third day we," notice Luke including, "we cast out with our own hands the tackling of the ship." It was casted out with our very own hand. Everybody participated in trying to save themselves from the damage that could happen to the ship and to their own life as they are journeying here on the way to the city of Rome. Not listening to the counsel of Paul or Shaul, not listening to his advice, and simply continue on their journey because obviously the captain knew better and the owner of the ship knew better and the sailors knew better, and they did not listen to the advice of Shaul, Paul.

And notice what happened in verse 20. At the end, it was so awful, so terrible, they lost even hope that they will remain alive. Verse 20 says, "When neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest," this is wind, "lay on us. All hope that we should be saved was taken away." So here we have a ship full of people, prisoners, centurion and soldiers, and sailors and so on, the captain, the owner of the ship, all lost hope that they will be saved because the storm was so strong against them.

I do not know if you have experienced a little bit being on a sea when the storm came and the wave came, that you really were afraid that you may not retain your life. The life is over because of the way things have been. I remember just one time and I did tell you this, I mentioned it before, on a way from the island of Patmos when we returned from Patmos to Turkey on our tour to Israel. I remember this very well. We had a small boat, not a big ship like perhaps they have had here. But when we came back, the wind was literally contrary.

You see the wind by the way the wave rose and the boat was going boom, and up, and hitting back the sea, and again up, and hitting. And many of us went on the side of the boat holding tight, puking. It was terrible experience there. No one could really rest. We're all praying, laying there on our back and talking to the Lord. We all of a sudden become very spiritual, you see, when there are problems coming such as this. You all of a sudden become very spiritual.

In fact, the people in Jonah's time, they cry to their God, each one to his own God, when the storm have happened there when Jonah was laying asleep there in the lower part of the ship, and all were praying each one to their own God. According to this passage, all hope that we should be saved, by the way the "we" is mentioned here, Luke is writing. All hope that we should be saved was then taken away. They thought it is gone, it is the end of their lives.

And in the midst of it, beloved brothers and sisters, in the midst of storm, in the midst of difficulty, praise God for the servant of the Lord. Praise God for one such as the apostle Paul, though a prisoner here, and yet one that the Lord can speak to use him to give an encouragement in the midst of a storm. We need that so much. The journey of the believer is full of experiences.

Sometimes we are so discouraged. Sometimes we are so dismayed. Sometimes we feel like things are not worthwhile, what in the world am I doing, and why things have turned up like this in my life. And we get so discouraged and so dismayed that we have to be so thankful for someone such as Paul and others throughout our life who give us a word of encouragement in the midst of a stormy days of our life. And here the apostle Paul is such an encouragement.

And why he was an encouragement? Because he had the mind of the Lord. Because the Lord has spoken to him. Because he was discerning the purposes and the plans of God for his life. And even though he knew that he was going to get to Rome, he didn't necessarily knew what will transpire through this experience all the way to Rome. All along he trusted the Lord, and the Lord have revealed things unto him. And here, brothers and sisters, you can see the cheering of the people in the ship by this man by the name of the apostle Paul.

And here he began to speak. These are the last verses in this portion of the ministry today, verses 21 to verse 26. A few things we find out. First of all, notice Paul while all hope that we should be saved was taken away, look what we find out in verse 21. "After long abstinence Paul stood forth in the midst of them and he said, 'Sirs, ye should have hearkened unto me, and have not loosed from Crete,' this is from Fair Havens area, 'and to have gained this harm and loss.'" Now he telling them you should have listened to me because it was not a good time, it was a danger time to travel at sea.

But in the next verse, the apostle Paul tell them, and notice verse 22, he assured them that they will not lose their lives. Look what he says, "And now I exhort you to be of good cheer," he's encouraging them, "for there shall be no loss of any man's life among you, but only the ship." He's telling them, "Listen, I can assure you that you're not going to lose your life. Anyone that is here on that ship will not lose their life. The ship will suffer ultimately damage, but no one that is on that ship will lose his own life."

And can you imagine, they are in the middle of the storm. They probably looking at him and wondering, what does this man is saying here? But yet, Paul giving them a reason why he say what he says. Because he received a revelation from the Lord. The angel of the Lord spoke with him and said to him, look at this, verse 23, "For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am and whom I served." This is an amazing. The Lord is through an angel now speaking to the apostle Paul, as he mentioned, by night, this night, the angel of God spoke to him and said to him, "Listen, Paul, you and the rest of the people on the ship will not lose their life. None of them will lose their life."

What a promise that the Lord had given to the apostle Paul through this angel. And the word here, the angel stood by me, this is not the first time that he uses this expression. When he was writing to Timothy, in 2nd Timothy chapter 4, verse 17, he said to Timothy about an angel that stood by him. He says, "Notwithstanding the Lord," in this time, "stood by me, and he strengthened me, that by me the preaching might be fully known." Paul already, you could see, again encouraged him to continue on and to move about and to serve him.

And he says, "Listen, the angel of the Lord stood by me this night." And he says, "I am belonging to him and I serve him." Now some may suggest that this expression the angel of the Lord or the angel of God apply to the Messiah Yeshua himself, because in 2nd Timothy chapter 4 and verse 17, he says the Lord himself stood by me. In Acts chapter 23 and verse 11, we find that the Lord himself stood by him in verse 11 and spoke with him.

It may be a direct revelation from the living God, from the Lord, the Messiah in glory who spoke to the apostle Paul in the midst of the storm to give him an encouragement that they will not lose their life. He says, "I belong to him" in verse 23, "and I'm the one who serve him. I'm the servant of the Lord. He stood by me at night and gave me a promise that no one's life will be lost in this storm. Yes, the ship will be ultimately broken, but the lives of those that were in the ship will be maintained and safely arriving to shore."

And again, brothers and sisters, many Bible teachers make an application here on this journey of the apostle Paul to the church, to the body of Messiah. Because we are all on a journey. The body of Messiah, the believers are on a journey. The church had a beginning and the church will have an end when the rapture will occur and the church will be completed. And the journey is full of storms. Is full of trials. Is full of wind which is contrary.

But there is an assurance that even though there are many storms in the lives of the people of God, everyone will come to shore safely. Even though the ship will be broken and to pieces. And we know the church in many way is broken into pieces. The divided condition of the church of Yeshua the Messiah. Many frictions and divisions among the people of God, but every child of God that is truly belong to Yeshua the Messiah going to arrive safe on shore to the other side. There is the promise that we have in the scripture.

We can bring many verses into here. "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish," and so on. "And no one is able to pluck them out of my hand." There is the promise. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth on him shall not perish but have everlasting life. Many take this lesson here and applied that to the condition of the church on its journey towards the other end.

And so what an encouragement here he give them. "There stood by me this night the angel of God whose I am and whom I serve." And look what he say to me in verse 24. "Paul, fear not. You must be brought before Caesar, and lo God has given thee all them that sail with thee." Look at this. Here's the promise that the angel tell to Paul on the journey there. He says, "God has given to you all those that are here in that ship, and you must be brought ultimately to stand before Caesar."

Twofold promises. Fear not, Paul. You must be brought before Caesar, number one. And God had given thee all them that sail with thee. And now, brothers and sisters, just by way of reference, how many a times God gave historically to our people Israel these promises such as fear not, Israel. Fear not, he says so many time to Israel when Israel as a nation were under tremendous amount of persecution.

For example, even with our forefather Abraham, in Genesis chapter 15, it says, "Fear not, Abraham. I'm your shield and I'm your great reward. I promise you something, I'm going to fulfill this," Abraham God said in chapter 15 of Genesis and verse 1. When Jacob had all his children, specifically Joseph now in Egypt, and he didn't know what to do, and Joseph has invited him to come down to him after so many years that he didn't see him.

God said to Jacob, "Jacob, don't be afraid, Yaakov, to go down to Egypt. Don't be afraid. Fear not." He encourages him to go ahead and see and have a visit with his son, which ultimately promised him to bring his people out of the land of Egypt back into the promised land. And we can just look at it how many time God encourages the people of God to trust him and not to be afraid and to continue to move after him.

If you don't mind, for a moment, just turn to the prophet Isaiah. I just want to read you a verse there in Isaiah chapter 41 and verse 8. "But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend. Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof, and said unto thee, thou art my servant; I have chosen thee and not cast thee away. Fear thou not," God says to Israel, "for I am with thee. Be not dismayed, for I am thy God." This is Isaiah 41 and verses 8, 9, and 10. "Fear thou not, for I am with thee," God had said to the people of Israel.

And we can go on and on, even Yeshua the Messiah, if you remember, he said it to Simon Peter, "Fear not," in Luke chapter 5 and verse 10. You know, every one of us, brothers and sisters, need this encouragement from the Lord when there are storms in our life to trust him and to be encouraged to continue to follow after him. So here's the twofold promises to the apostle Paul. Number one, in verse 24, "You must get into Caesar, to see Caesar, to give a testimony before him." That's a promise that he's going to arrive to Rome safe and sound. Number two, "God also have given all these men that in the ship, they given to you as well for safety."

Well, I'm going to end here with verses 25 and verses 26, and Paul encourages the people there that on the ship and he said to them in verse 25, "Sirs, in light of all this, sirs, be of good cheer, for I believe God that it shall be even as it was told unto me." "I believe God." How many times Paul said, "I know whom I have believed and I am persuaded that he would keep the promises which he have given unto me. I know whom I believe." He's saying to them, "I believe God. If he said that we are going to arrive safe and sound without losing our lives to Rome, he will definitely do so. The ship will be broken, but we not gonna lose our lives."

The cheering of the people by the apostle Paul, who believed God. And beloved brothers and sisters, just by way of conclusion here of this ministry meeting, this is one of the greatest weakness we can say that we have in our life. We don't trust God in experiences in our life. We simply like the man of old who said to the Lord, "Lord, I believe, but help my unbelief." We have often find ourselves in our life simply don't trust God for many things in our own life. Not trusting him.

And the apostle Paul here said simply to those people in the midst of the storm, "I believe God. And that," he says, "it shall be even as he had said in his word to me." Paul is saying to the people at the ship. But look at this. It says, "Howbeit we must be cast upon a certain island." We're going to get to Rome eventually. We're not going to lose our lives, all of us here in this ship, but we're going to end up to be cast into a certain island.

And we're going to spend some time, and apparently when we're going to get to chapter 28, we're going to find out that this island that they end up to be cast all those people, 276 people, have been cast into an island safe and sound, alive, the island is called Melita. And ultimately they're going to arrive to Melita and they will continue there on the way to Rome. But the promises of the Lord to the apostle Paul will surely come to pass. A man that said, "I believe God." May the Lord also help us also to just simply believe God, believe his word, even though we are in a stormy situations in our life, difficulties coming across our way, simply to say, "God, help me to simply believe in you, to trust you for what you allow me to experience in my own life."

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 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.