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: The study of Acts Chapter 27. That was a place where all the family of Noah, who believed in the God of creation, could be protected when they remain inside and be safe and sound with all the flood that happened. We call it in Hebrew "the Mabul" historically in the history of creation. How the only ones that were safe are those that were remaining in the ark in obedience to the Lord. For us, the ark is a picture also of the church, of the assembly, of the person of the Lord Jesus, the Messiah. He is our protection. He is our safety from the storms that the enemy seeks to pour out upon the people of God.

And so it is so important to see right here that when God gave an instruction to the servant of the Lord, how important it is for those following him or at least going along with him to submit to what the Lord is saying. "Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved." He said it to the commander, to the centurion, he said it to the soldiers. "Hey, listen, there are people who are going to be leaving now the ship, those shipmen," he says in verse 30. And if they are not remaining in the ship, they are ultimately going to lose their lives because this is the word of the Lord. He said, "I believe what God had said."

And so you can see in the next verses here, beloved brothers and sisters, Paul's warning was adhered to because it says in verse 32, they loosed the lifeboat and they let it go. Notice verse 32. It said, "Then the soldiers cut off the ropes of the boat and they let her fall off." In other words, they now did not have anything to take them to safety. That little lifeboat was supposed to be used by those who would need to go off ship so they can get into shore safely. But Paul received an instruction from the angel of God that all are to remain on the ship. And therefore, beloved brothers and sisters, the soldiers apparently listened to what Paul had said unto them.

And you can see it throughout the whole journey that Paul must have had an influence upon the very centurion and the soldiers that were taking him as a prisoner to Rome. We can just imagine what Paul was talking over with people during the journey. He must have shared with them the gospel. He must have shared with them about Yeshua the Messiah. Of course, we don't read this here in the text, but in experiences of weeks that have gone by from Caesarea on the way to Rome, he must have spoken to people on the boat, on the ship and shared with them the message. And it seemed to be that they have listened to what he have to say and the very fact that they cut the rope, verse 32, to allow the only source of life for them to be taken out and to be dropped, to let it go, to fall into the sea, shows that they must have listened to the counsel of the Apostle Paul.

And you can see the confidence that he have. I don't know where we would be in a time such as this when the storm is coming and fear comes upon us. What will we do? How will we react in a time such as this? We know ourselves very well that unless the Lord will help us to react in a way that is with the help of the Lord, we will probably react in the same way that the shipmen may have done, like trying to save our lives, trying to find a way to protect ourselves because that is the nature of the human heart. That is the nature of man.

But Paul had a complete trust in God. "Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved." You notice "except these" meaning the mariners, the shipmen, then "you soldiers, you centurion" will not remain alive because their being remaining on the boat will depend on the protection of the life of the rest of the group. So very interesting, the commitment and the faithfulness of Saul. So in verses 27 to verse 32, Saul's warning to all, "Abide in the ship. It's the only place of safety." That's the way that God had given him instruction for the people.

So we are moving on now. Remember, we are in the midst of that storm, in the midst of these terrible conditions. Now we find Paul not only as one that warns, we find him as one that encourages all. He is such an amazing man, Paul Saul. Verse 33 to 38, we find him encouraging the people to eat and to meet their physical needs. In verse 33 and 34, the long 14 days, they really didn't eat because of fear. They fasted, the people.

It says in verse 33, you did not eat for nearly two weeks. And while the day was coming, Paul besought them. He said, "Take meat." The word for meat really should be "take food," "take bread." Saying, "This day is the 14th day that ye have tarried and continued fasting, having taken nothing." Apparently those 14 days, we read about it already in verse 27, 14 nights, apparently those 14 days where the ship was on its own, totally at the mercy of God, people could not eat. They didn't meet their physical needs. They fasted out of fear, out of wariness. They probably lost their appetite. Oh, do we ever lose our appetite when fear is coming our way?

And Paul now is encouraging them. He says to them, "Listen, you have not been eating now for 14 days." In verse 33, he says, "Listen, the day was coming on. Take food," he's telling them in verse 33. "This is already the 14th day that ye have tarried and continued fasting. You haven't taken anything. You haven't eaten anything." You can see the concern of the Apostle Paul for all the people that were with him on the ship.

In verse 34, he said unto them, "Eat." And I can assure you, give them a beautiful promise. Look at this verse here. He says, "Wherefore I pray you, take some food, for this is for your health." And then look at what he's telling them: "For there shall not an hair fall from the head of any of you." This is an expression that is found already in the Bible, in the Hebrew scripture already in the time of 1st Samuel, in 2nd Samuel, in the book of Kings. There are certain passages in the Old Testament, in the Hebrew scripture where this expression, "there's not a hair will fall from your head," it is an expression of physical deliverance.

When you have this expression that a person's not even one hair will fall out of your head, that really simply speaks to the fact that they will be physically protected. There are a couple of verses that we can read on that if you turn please back to the passage we read in 1st Samuel chapter 14. You remember what we just read earlier in our reading. 1st Samuel chapter 14, it was Saul, the king of Israel, who wanted to slay his very own son and the people of Israel stood against King Saul on behalf of Jonathan, his son.

And it says here, and I'm re-reading that verse that we have just read earlier. Saul cast lots and wanted actually eventually to slay his son because his son had done something that did not please him. And so we read in verse 44, "Saul answered, 'God do so and more also, for thou shalt surely die, Jonathan,'" he said to his son. But the people in verse 45, 1st Samuel 14:45, the people said unto Saul, "Shall Jonathan die who has wrought this great salvation in Israel? God forbid. As the Lord liveth, there shall not one hair of his head fall to the ground, for he has wrought with God this day." So the people rescued Jonathan that he die not.

And this expression found here in verse 45, "there shall not one hair of his head fall to the ground," is a promise of protection. It's a promise of survival. It's a promise of physical salvation that they will be spared and the person will not die. So here we find the Apostle Paul is saying to the people on the ship who are really ready to make shipwreck, some of them are ready to leave the ship and to flee to try to protect and to preserve themselves alive from the storm and from the upcoming shipwreck. And yet Paul said to them, "Listen, don't leave the ship. There shall no one hair fall of the head of any of you. You will be preserved alive. You will not die."

The same expression we have in Luke chapter 21. I want you to turn now to the Gospel of Luke chapter 21, where Yeshua himself as he was sending his servants to go and to share the message. In Luke chapter 21, the Lord himself also had made the same promise for those that will follow him and that will serve him. Remember at the Olivet Discourse, they ask him all these questions concerning the future day when there will be the tribulation period and what's going to happen with the temple and when he is going to come again, when these things are going to happen.

Remember the Lord Jesus gave instruction concerning the persecution of the believers. And you remember what he said? And I'm just going to jump over in Luke chapter 21, it says in verse 17 and 18, "Ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake. But then he said, 'But there shall not an hair of your head perish. In your patience possess ye your souls.'" And so this is Luke 21:17, 18, and 19. "There shall not an hair of your head perish." Again, it's an expression of protection and survival, that "I will protect you and you will not die."

And so this is the promise that Paul gives all those that were at sea with him on the ship on the way to have shipwreck. He is saying to them, "For there shall not an hair fall from the head of any of you," this is in verse 34. Beautiful promise. Again, he trusted God. I always go back to verse 25 where he says, "I believe God." He simply trusted God's word and he says, "You will be protected. Not one hair will fall from your head," verse 34.

And so in verse 35, look at the example that the Apostle Paul is encouraging them to eat. They haven't eaten for 14 days. He asking them to eat. He told them it is for your own health, it is for your own sake. Then he give them the example and look what he does in verse 35. "And when he had thus spoken, he took bread and he gave thanks to God in a presence of them all, and when he had broken it, he began to eat." You notice interesting verse 35.

Remember Paul, Saul, is a Jewish believer in Yeshua the Messiah. He grew up while he was not born in the land, he was in Tarsus, he grew up in Jerusalem. He was taught under Rabbi Gamaliel. He was instructed in all the Jewish customs and ways of life. And the custom was to take bread and then to give thanks and then to break it and then to eat and to give to the others. And the process is always the same: taking the bread, giving thanks, breaking it and giving this to the rest to eat and to give it to the others.

And he may have even prayed as it says here he gave thanks to God, he may have prayed the same way that we still pray today: Baruch atah Adonai Eloheinu Melekh ha-olam hamotzi lechem min ha-aretz. Blessed are Thou, oh Lord our God, King of the universe, who bringest forth the bread out of the earth. That's the way at home in Yerushalayim, in Jerusalem, every Shabbat, every Friday night when the Shabbat comes in. My grandfather just the same like my father and I myself as well will take the bread, will give thanks, will break it and give it to the rest of the people in the family around the table.

This is not the Lord's supper, but this is the giving thanks that is the way we have been taught and the people of Israel have been taught all their lives, especially through in this case it is a rabbinic custom that have been developed long time ago. Even when Yeshua the Messiah, if you remember, sat at the upper room to celebrate Pesach with his disciples, the custom was the same. It is the way in which the Apostle Paul as a Jewish man, a believer in Yeshua the Messiah, he took the bread, he gave thanks, he broken it, he eaten of it and given to the others. Interesting way in which he practiced this right at sea with the Roman soldiers as well as the mariners and all the prisoners there at the sea.

Could you please turn with me to the Gospel of Luke for a moment and to chapter 24. Those points and this order have been practiced by Yeshua the Messiah himself as he met the two on the way to Emmaus. In Luke chapter 24, we find the very same thing that Yeshua is doing with the two on the way to Emmaus. This is not the Lord's supper, it is the custom of giving thanks for the bread and the wine that God provided for his own people, the people of Israel in this case.

Look, we read in verse 28, Luke 24:28. "They drew nigh unto the village where they went, and he made as though," this is Yeshua, "as though he would have gone further. But they constrained him saying to him, 'Abide with us, for it is towards evening and the day is far spent.' And he went and he tarried with them." Yeshua came in to those two who went to Emmaus on their return.

And then in verse 30, "it came to pass that as he sat at meat with them," you notice he is guest but he become the host. And he's sitting with them. "He took bread," you notice verse 30. "Then he blessed it and then he brake it and then he gave it to them." The very same order that we see found in our chapter in verse 35 of Acts Chapter 27. The custom that the Apostle Paul, that Saul maintained throughout his life as a believer in Yeshua the Messiah. Taking bread, blessing the bread, giving thanks to God. Baruch atah Adonai Eloheinu Melekh ha-olam hamotzi lechem min ha-aretz. Blessed are Thou, oh Lord our God, King of the universe, who give us the bread out of the earth. And then he break it, tear it apart, and ate and gave a portion to the rest.

What an example Saul have been, always giving thanks. You know, it is something that we never should forget. We should never neglect as believers. Wherever we are, at home, whether we are in a restaurant, whether we are on the highway, wherever we are, to develop in our hearts a thankful heart for whatever the Lord has given to us. Simple and yet so profound shows us the heart, the spiritual condition of the Apostle Paul of Saul. He gave thanks for the bread and he broke it after he ate, he gave it to the others.

And so you see now in verse 36 to verse 38 of our chapter, look at how the people have eaten and been satisfied. It says in verse 36, "Then they were all of good cheer and they also took of the bread, of the food, some of it and they ate." You see that? They have been satisfied now because they haven't eaten for two weeks because of the storm. They were fasting not so much fasting out of commitment to God, but fasting out of fear. No desire to eat anything. Paul is now meeting their need.

And beloved brothers and sisters, can you imagine how many people were on that ship moving along with Paul and the others and Luke on the way to Rome? There were 270 souls that now finally have eaten on the sea there on the ship. "And we were in all in the ship 276 souls." Luke include himself. You notice he used the word "we." This is Luke the writer. How particular he was. He's telling us the measurement of the depth of the sea. He's mentioning the names of every island and every port. He's mentioning the amount of people that were on the ship as they journeyed on the journey to Rome. He's very meticulous, very particular, this man, this writer of the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts, this man, this great physician by the name of Dr. Luke. What an amazing writer he was. Of course, he was divinely inspired and yet he's giving us all these details mentioning to us here in this Book of Acts.

Now you notice that it says there were 203 score and 16 souls. This is 276 souls now in connection here, it's in connection with the eating of the bread. All of them did not eat and he mentioning 276 souls now have finally put some bread and have eaten and now they have been having good cheer. They have been satisfied. And then verse 38, it says, "When they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship and cast out the wheat into the sea." You remember earlier they also cast out the cargo, but they didn't cast out the food. But now they are just getting closer to shore.

Paul had promised that no one's hair will be lost, they all will remain alive. He met their need by encouraging them now to eat bread. And now that they have been satisfied, they cast the rest of their leftover food because it says they cast out the wheat into the sea. You know from wheat you make bread and they even cast this out now because they are anticipating to get to shore one way or another. The casting of the rest of the cargo is found in verse 38.

So so far, beloved brothers and sisters, two things we learn on this message today from verse 27 to verse 44. Number one, that Paul gave them warning to abide in the ship, it's the only place of safety. That's verses 27 to 32. Secondly, he gave them an encouragement to eat food, to eat bread from verse 33 to verse 38.

And finally now in the last portion of this chapter in verse 39 to 44, Paul's promise from God came true. You can see the word Paul have said to them that were with him at sea truly have been fulfilled because God had give him this promise. And so we see here, brothers and sisters, in verses 39 to the end of the chapter how this promise that he received from God truly came to pass.

So here in verse 39 to verse 41, there is a plan to get the ship to shore. They are trying to get it to shore. In verse 39, by the time that they could see the shore, they did not recognize where they were arriving. They didn't recognize what land, what portion it was. So verse 39, "When it was daytime, they knew not the land. And they discovered a certain creek with a shore into which they were minded if it were possible to thrust in the ship."

So apparently daytime have arrived. Earlier it was midnight, verse 27. Now the day have broken. They see the land but they don't know where they are. Remember they were nearly 500 miles that they were driven by the wind and by the waves without any human control of the ship. They've arrived now. They saw a land they didn't know. They discovered that there was a creek. Apparently there was a certain breakthrough that they could reach with driving or seeking to control the ship to go into that creek that will lead them to shore. So as it says, "into which they were minded if it were possible that they would thrust the ship," they were try somehow to govern the ship to use that creek to get to shore.

Notice now verse 40, it says they lifted up everything. Listen: "When they had taken up the anchors, they committed themselves to the sea. They loosed the rudder bands and they hoisted up the mainsail to the wind and made toward the shore." In verse 40, they really come to a point that they trusted themselves to the sea. So they have done three things: they took up the anchors—remember those four anchors in verse 29 they threw in the back part to stop the ship from moving? Now they have lifted up the anchors. Secondly, they loosed the rudder bands. You know there were the ropes that they governed the rudder in the back? They loosened it up, they let it go. And thirdly, it says here that they hoist up the mainsail to the wind. You know the mainsail that control the direction of the ship? They simply hoisted it up and they committed themselves unto the sea. They were hoping that they would go into shore through that creek mentioned in verse 39, but they committed themselves to the sea and they made toward the shore.

Verse 41 of course tells us what happened to the ship. It says here in verse 41 that, "Falling into a place where two seas met, they ran the ship aground and the forepart stuck fast and remained unmovable, but the hinder part was broken with a violence of the water." So as the ship was moving forward into that creek toward shore, apparently they touch land and the front part of the ship stuck in the sand.