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 the book of Amos chapter 5 and then finally we have the judgment of the Lord upon the whole world that remain rejecting him at the end of the Messianic kingdom and he will establish the eternal order. This is called the New Heaven and New Earth of the Revelation 21 and 22. So back to Amos please for a moment in Amos chapter 5 but notice what happened here. The Lord is speaking through Amos in verses 18, 19 and 20 and he says to some of the people of Israel who desire for the day of the Lord that he will come.

Notice it says in verse 18 woe unto you that desire the day of the Lord to what end is it for you? He said to them in verse 18 and he said to them the day of the Lord is darkness. He said it's not light. In other word, why do you desire the day of the Lord? Now pause here once again with me for a moment as we look at this. You see because beloved brothers and sisters the tribulation period because it they knew that the end of the tribulation will bring the millennial age, the kingdom reign and Israel restored and blessed.

They say wow we really want the day of the Lord. They desired the day of the Lord but they were mistaken to assume that they're going to be exempt from the punishment of God because they will have to experience the punishment of God as well. Now again if you just pause with me and think with me when Amos was preaching this message to the northern kingdom of Israel if you look at the map one more time when Amos was preaching do you know when he was preaching? He was preaching there sometime around 780 770 BC.

45 50 years later Israel will be taken captive by the Assyrian. Imagine from 772 BC up till today over 2,700 years passed by and Amos was already speaking about a future day that is yet to come in a coming day. And so he didn't see at all the days in which you and I living today. All what he saw soon Israel is going to be taken by the Assyrian. Then the day of the Lord will come, the judgment will come and ultimately Israel will be restored into the Messianic kingdom and blessing will flow. He didn't see the days in which you and I living today.

He didn't realize that we going to still take so many generation will pass until it's going to come to pass. You and I know that because we living today and we have the complete canon of scripture in our hand. So he says woe unto you the desire the day of the Lord and I want you to know he's saying to them that the day of the Lord he said in verse 18 and 19 he says listen it will be a day of darkness. A day of darkness and not light. There is a tribulation period before the Messianic kingdom will come.

There will be a time of darkness and sadness and sorrow that Israel will experience and the whole world with experience. Now if you just for a moment turn to for a moment just to read couple of verses in another prophet Zephaniah chapter 1 and verses 14 and 15. Look how Zephaniah describe the day of the Lord. Zephaniah 1 verse 14 the the great day of the Lord is near. It is near and hasten greatly even the voice of the day of the Lord. The mighty men shall cry there bitterly. Verse 15 that day is the day of wrath a day of trouble and distress a day of wastness and desolation a day of darkness and gloominess a day of of cloud and of thick darkness.

Verse 16 a day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced city and against the high tower. Verse 17 and I will bring distress. That's the tribulation period. I will bring distress upon men and they shall walk like blind men because they have sinned against the Lord and their blood shall be poured out as dust and their flesh as the dung. Zephaniah chapter 1 neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord's wrath but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.

But you see beloved brothers and sisters misunderstanding what the day of the Lord is cause these individuals from among our people Israel to say wow we really want the day of the Lord to come not understanding that the day of the Lord is a day of trouble. It will culminate with the second coming of the Messiah and the blessing of restoration of the people of Israel but the whole seven year of tribulation is a terrible time beloved brothers and sisters which Amos is seeking to instruct the people of Israel. And so he's telling them in verse 19 look how he described it in verse 19 the horrors that will exist on the day of the the day of tribulation, the day of the Lord.

We read here in verse 19 if a man did flee from a lion and a bear met him or went into the house and leaned his hand on the wall and a serpent bit him. In other word, a man will not be able to flee out of the trouble that he is going to experience when the Lord going to come in judgment. Notice verse 20 he says shall not the day of the Lord be darkness and not light even very dark and no brightness in it. So don't desire the day of the Lord Amos is saying to Israel in those days because it is only going to be against you because of your sin and disobedience and rebellions against me.

You know sometime I hear even today people sing and we sometime even sing that day that song for the day of the Lord is come. But we don't understand that the day of the Lord is the day of judgment. It is only after the day of the Lord after the seven year of tribulation that there will be this millennial age when the Messiah will rule and reign Israel restored blessing to the world doing the millennial the kingdom age. But until that that seven year of tribulation the day of the Lord going to be a day of trouble and the Bible settle it.

Amos tells us and Zephaniah tells us and even Yeshua himself in Matthew chapter 24 mentioned this specifically about the tribulation period and he said and I want to read this verse for us as well in Matthew 24. It says here I'm just going to read this one single verse in in chapter 24. Yeshua look what Yeshua said in these verses. He says he said to them for then shall be great tribulation verse 21 such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time no no ever shall be the tribulation. Jeremiah call it in Jeremiah 30 in verse 7 Jacob's trouble.

Terrible days will come and Amos saying woe unto you that desire the day of the Lord. It's not going to be a day of light for you. It's going to be a day of darkness. And if you haven't turned your heart to him you will end up to experience the judgment of God. That's what he's saying to the northern kingdom of Israel. And so now notice not only that that's the the first reason that he gives them this warning but again notice in verse 21 to verse 26 of Amos chapter 5 he give them the second reason why they will experience the first woe judgment.

And you notice what the second reason notice that the Lord hated and despised hypocrisy. He hated and despised religion without reality. This exactly the danger that you and I are today of. Just have a form of godliness but denying the power thereof. Religion you see that's what religion died. It does it in the past in the history of our people Israel and it's existing today in a in a history of the church the very same story, the very same experience. So in verses 21 and verse 22 the Lord tell them that he despised. Look what he's saying to them.

He says verse 21 I hate I despise your feast days. The Hebrew word is He says then I will not smell your solemn assemblies. The solemn assembly has to do with in Hebrew. You have all sort of gathering together and you have all sort of external time together very religious activity and so on and God says not only that I hate it I despise it. I don't enjoy it at all. He continue and he says he says in verse 22 though you offer me burnt offering and your meal offering I will not accept them neither will I regard the peace offering of your fat beasts.

In other word, they were going through a form. Sacrifices were offered. They were going through the normal you might say normal motion that God is expected from Israel to offer sacrifices and so on but God says listen I don't need your sacrifices if your heart is not in there. What's the point? You go through the motion, you have a religious activity but your heart is not there. And beloved brothers and sisters listen every feast that was given to our forefathers the people of Israel pointed to the Messiah. Every sacrifices that were expected from the people of Israel to offer was pointed to the Messiah.

The blood that was shed and poured upon the altar the feast that was celebrated whether it is Passover or whether it is Succot everything pointed to the Messiah of Israel who will come in the fullness of time. But if you offer those sacrifices and celebrate those feasts and reject the word of God and continue on in your own way in life what's the point? I despise it. I actually hate it. Verse 23 he says take thou from me the noise listen to this the noise of your songs. Don't sing. He sing. Can you imagine? Take this noise become a noise to him.

For I will not hear the melody of thy vials. See brothers and sisters we don't speak about Israel now only because it's a plight to us. We can go through the motion be religious but our hearts are far away from the Lord. Oh yeah we go to the church meeting, we sit in the pew we sing the song, we bring the sacrifice but our hearts are hardened and not broken before the Lord. And the Lord says very clearly says really I really hate it, I despise it, take it away from me. God is not going to be fooled by by man.

He knows the hearts of all of us and he saying this to Israel because they were going through the motion. They continue to go and through the motion and you notice I found it extremely interesting because in verse 21 he said I will not smell your solemn assemblies. What does it mean to smell the solemn assembly? You see when the solemn assemblies were practiced in biblical days there were sacrifices offered and the sacrifices rose up to God. And the aroma the smell of the innocent lamb that was killed spoke to God about his Messiah his son Yeshua the Messiah.

And when you offer all these sacrifices that really doesn't come from the heart and it doesn't speak of the Messiah. God says I don't want I'm not going to smell it. It doesn't give me any any enjoyment. And that's why he saying I'm not going to smell. He says put it away. I don't need you to bring this to me because I will not listen to your song. I don't want to have your your sacrifices offered because to me it has no value. You know in Genesis chapter 8 when Noah came out of the ark and he offered a sacrifices we read about this very interesting in chapter 8.

We find out how much satisfaction the Lord found in the sacrifice that Noah had offered. And I want you just to listen to this. It says in Genesis 8 verse 20 and Noah builded an altar unto the Lord and he took of every listen to the every clean beast and every clean fowl and he offered as a burn offering upon the altar. And then it says in verse 21 and the Lord smelled the sweet savor unto the Lord. And he said in his heart I will not again curse the ground anymore for man's sake for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth.

When Noah offered a burned offering we call it the in Hebrew that which rises up to God it spoke to God about the supreme sacrifice that will come. And God was satisfied. And on the basis of this sacrifice which pointed to the Messiah of Israel the savior of the world God could forgive sin. But to go through the motion that have happened here in Amos chapter 5 in the days of old that did not satisfy God and therefore he said to them I hate, I despise, take thou away from me your noise of your songs.

I will not hear the melody of your vials. God was sad when his beloved nation Israel conducted themselves in such a way and I can tell you that God is sad when you and I are having merely a form of religion and not reality in our hearts when we fall in love with Yeshua and seek to live for him and we know how much we fail ourselves. Day by day we are struggling with it when the world is creeping in, when Satan is attacking us, when the flesh is rising up and how we are struggling to live out our life for the Lord in a way that is pleasing to him.

And that's why the Lord will also expect from us to learn from what he said through Amos to the people of Israel. So notice now in verse 24 he's giving them the answer. In order for you to do the right thing and to be restored he said he said but let justice run down as waters and righteousness as a mighty stream. In other word, do the right thing. Let judgment or correctly justice in Hebrew do the right thing. Be fair, be right. Then he said and righteousness let it pour like a stream. In other word, when God's people do the right thing and then bring the sacrifices speaking of the Messiah God can accept it.

But when we go through the motion oh yeah we go through the feasts, we go through the offering the sacrifices but in our hearts we are not there where the Lord is. How can the Lord appreciate that? He can't. He can't and that's why he said to Israel he said he gave them a challenge in verse 24 he says let judgment run down as waters. Let do the right thing. Let justice run down and let righteousness be as a mighty stream. Do the right thing, seek to please the Lord and honor him and then you can come with the sacrifice and then still please the Lord.

Now you know that sadly when you read those verses many time even from our own Jewish circle the conservative Jewish people who do not believe that Yeshua is the Messiah know they say they use this verse and they say you see God does not want sacrifices. What he wants is he will do do the right thing, do good thing. We don't need the blood atonement. You see it says here let justice run down as water. Let righteousness be as a mighty stream. We will do the right thing, we'll go we'll do do good deeds and God will be happy.

We don't need the sacrifices because God says I hate and I despise it. But you see them like they and many others don't understand that it's still necessary to offer the sacrifice and of course it is the Messiah's blood that had to be shed because even the best of us who do the right thing still comes from an old sinful nature. And that nature sin nature had to be judged. And it was judged when Yeshua the Messiah paid for our sins when he died on the Roman cross. And so this verse is not to be used in such a way.

This verse means that that come and offer the sacrifices. But don't do it out of a hardness of your heart as a religious man or religious woman. Do it and also live your life in a way that is pleasing to me. Have your heart tender, do the right thing, seek to please the Lord in your life, live a godly life. That's what he's really saying. And so in verse 25 in verse 26 the Lord reminded Israel even of past history. He says in verse 25 he says have ye offered unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness 40 years oh house of Israel.

You see when you came out of the land of Egypt you offered sacrifices and offering doing the wilderness journey unto me but in additional to that look at this verse 26. But ye have borne the tabernacles of your Moloch and Chiun. He says your images the star of your God which ye made to yourself. In other word, he says even though you offered sacrifices doing the time of the wilderness journey between Egypt to Canaan yet you were not always true to me in a sense because you also even in those days he says you have borne the tabernacles of your Moloch and a Chiun your images the star of your God which is made to yourself.

In other word, they had all sort of thing that have allowed themselves to be crept in into the life of the history of Israel which happened in the past and is happening in the day when Amos is sharing with Israel and warning them of judgment a to come. I want you to turn with me to Acts chapter 7 for a moment and you will see that Steven the first Hebrew martyr have mentioned Amos there in his communication with the Sanhedrin at the early days of the birth of the assembly the the Ecclesia. Look what he say what we read in Acts chapter 7 verse 42 and 43.

This is the voice or the words of Steven who was speaking to the Sanhedrin. And you notice what he is sharing with them the whole history of Israel. And he arrived to verse 42 and he said to them then God turned and he gave them up to worship the host of heaven. As it is written in the book of the prophets. Who does he refer to? Amos. And he said all ye house of Israel have ye offered to me slain beasts and sacrifices by the space of 40 years in the wilderness? Ye ye took up the tabernacles of Moloch and the star of your God a figures which ye made to worship them.

And I will carry you away beyond Babylon. You see Steven is quoting what Amos had shared with the northern kingdom of Israel as a warning for the coming judgment and he's saying look at your behavior oh ye people of Israel. Ye you have offered unto me sacrifices in the wilderness but it was not only that because you violated my word and you have borne the tabernacles of your Moloch and Chiun your images a the star of your God which ye have made to yourself or which ye made a to yourself. And now notice in verse a 27 where he closed the first woe judgment because of hypocrisy.

He says here is what's going to happen Israel. In verse 27 a we read therefore dispersion will come. In Hebrew we call it Galut mean that this the captivity, the dispersion is the diaspora Galut in Hebrew and it is the Galut Ashur the Galut of Assyria. And so he said in verse 27 therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus. Notice that Damascus is present day a Syria. He saying that he's going to take them beyond Damascus. Here is Damascus here and he going to take them beyond Damascus because Assyria in Hebrew Ashur is greater than Syria.

It's a it's a lot of space. It's one of the kingdom that existed in the in those years and the Assyrian came and they took the nation of Israel beyond the city of the Damascus says the Lord whose name is the God of hosts. And so beloved brothers and sisters the first woe judgment is mentioned in Amos 5 verse 18 to 27. Now here is the second woe judgment is the 14 verses that following. Remember in biblical days we don't have a breakdown Amos 1, Amos 2, Amos 3, Amos 4, Amos 5. The divisions are made by men.

So he continues now and he's speaking about the second woe that is going to come upon northern kingdom and the second woe that God is really you might say unhappy to pronounce is the second reason is because of the fact that many in the northern kingdom have self security and self you might say confidence. They did not trust in the Lord. They thought that everything is fine with them.

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 11:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. and Saturdays at 1:00 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.