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 Daniel chapter one. My beloved brothers and sisters, I want you to see that God had given an instruction to Israel to keep their Shabbat year. Not only Shabbat weekly, that the Jewish people have every Shabbat, every seventh day the Jewish people were called to rest, not to do any manner of work on the seventh day. It is a Shabbat rest. But not only the weekly Shabbat He had given to the people of Israel, He also had given our own people the yearly Shabbat when it comes to the land.

Apparently, for many years, from the time that Israel had entered into the land, there were already violations and disobedience. God said what He was going to do in order to give the land 70 years of rest for every seven years, one year. He was going to take His people whom He loved dearly, and He was going to take them captive by Nebuchadnezzar for the land to fulfill 70 years of rest to the land.

Now, let's be careful not to point at Israel because we know very well that the church of Jesus the Messiah, oftentimes God needs to deal with the church in various ways because of disobedience to the word of God. God has to deal with us personally and with the collective company of believers in various local areas or in a total church community, if you will. God also needs to deal with believers because of disobedience.

That is the first reason. That is not the only reason why the people of Israel have been taken to Babylon. There is a second reason why the people of Israel have been taken to Babylon, I should say the people of Judah, the southern tribes right now we are speaking about. Second Kings chapter 21 is the second reason why Nebuchadnezzar came and took the people of Israel or the people of Judah into Babylon.

I'm not going to read everything. The first 15 verses are really what we need to read, but I'm just going to read just a few verses. Listen to what we read. Second Kings 21, verse 1: "Manasseh was 12 years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for fifty and five years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Hephzibah. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord after the abominations of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out before the children of Israel. For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed, and he reared up altars for Baal, and he made groves, and did as Ahab king of Israel, and he worshipped all the host of heaven and served them. And he built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord said, 'In Jerusalem will I put my name.'"

"And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord. And he made his son pass through the fire, and observed times and used enchantments, and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards. He wrought much wickedness in the sight of the Lord to provoke Him to anger. And he set a graven image of the grove that he had made in the house of which the Lord said to David and to Solomon his son, 'In this house and in Jerusalem which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel will I put my name forever. Neither will I make the feet of Israel move any more out of the land which I gave to their fathers, only if they will observe to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the law that my servant Moses commanded them.' But they harkened not and Manasseh seduced them to do more evil than did the nations whom the Lord destroyed before the children of Israel."

"And the Lord spake unto His servants the prophets saying, 'Because Manasseh the king of Judah has done these abominations, and has done wickedly above all that the Amorites did which were before him, and hath made Judah also to sin with his idols, therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel, behold, I'm bringing such evil upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whosoever heareth of it, both his ears shall tingle. And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria and the plummet of the house of Ahab, and I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. And I will forsake the remnant of mine inheritance and deliver them into the hand of their enemies, and they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies, because they have done that which was evil in my sight, and have provoked me to anger since the day their fathers came forth out of Egypt even unto this day.'"

Beloved, these are biblical records. I'm not saying it's in my mind. What we find out in the biblical record is a reason why God had to punish His beloved nation. He punished the people whom He loved dearly, the chosen people. He punished our own people of all because of disobedience and because of idolatry. Because of those two things. Number one, it was because Israel kept not the Shabbat. Number two, because Israel have fallen into idolatry.

By the way, do you know God said to Israel this way: "Do you want idolatry? Do you want to be like the other nations? Okay, I'm going to send you to the central place where idolatry has been reigning, so you can have for breakfast and lunch and supper, idolatry." And so, Israel had so much idolatry, or the Jewish people had so much idolatry at that time, that they began to remember the true and living God who was sitting, if you will, who wanted to dwell in the midst of our people in the city of Jerusalem.

It was there in Babylon when Psalm 137 was sung. By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down and we wept as we remember Zion. There they said to us, those that took us, as the psalmist says, "Sing unto us one of the Lord's songs." And there the Jewish people said, "How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?" And they made a commitment if you read the song, they say, "If I forget thee Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning." They hung their harps upon the willows, and they sat down and they wept when they remembered Zion.

How precious when you think about that. When you think of God said, "Listen, I love you Israel. I want the best for you, but listen to me." And Israel said at that time in history, "No, we're going to do, we want to learn like what the other nations are doing." God said, "Okay, I'm going to let you experience that." And He took them to the central place of worship. And you know, the Babylonian worship, they had a multitude of gods. Idolatry was something number one there. God took them into the center of Babylon and there they experienced what it's like to be a worshipper, to be under those who took them captive, who were idol worshippers.

Back to Daniel right now. In the first two verses, we have the deportation. We have the reason why they have been deported and notice what happened is that in verse two of chapter one of Daniel, notice what it says there. That Nebuchadnezzar not only that he took some of the Jewish people into Babylon, notice what it says there in addition to that. It says in verse two, the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with part of the vessels of the house of God, which he carried into the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, and he brought the vessels into the treasures of his god.

Can you imagine when Nebuchadnezzar, like at that time when a nation was fighting against a nation, the nation who defeated the other nation, what they would do, they would take their gods or their idols and they would bring it into their own temple to put it in the house of their god. And you know what they were saying by this? "My god is stronger than your god." But when they came to the city of Jerusalem and they went into the house of God, the true house of God, they did not find any idols there because Jewish people, the nation of Israel did not have in the house of God idols.

He took the vessels, and you can just imagine the value of the vessels that were in the house of God in the temple in Jerusalem. Every vessel, most of the vessels were made out of gold. And so what does he do? He's taking the vessels with him and you notice it doesn't say all the vessels. In verse two it says he took with him part of the vessels of the house of God. He didn't take all of them. He took part with him. He carried them into the land of Shinar and into the house of his god, and he brought the vessels into his treasure, the treasure house of his god.

It is amazing when you think about it. You know what it is saying? When somebody takes the vessels of one house of God to another, to his own idol temple, what he is really saying is very humiliating to the defeated nation because all the vessels that they used for their worship to worship the God of Israel is now being carried up by a pagan man into an idol house and there they're being set, if you will, in the house of his god. The house of his god, because they had many gods, was Marduk. That was the god of the Babylonians, one of the main or superior gods of the Babylonians.

What he was saying to the Jewish people and to the people of Israel, "Your God had been defeated by my god." And he set those vessels in the house of his god. By the way, notice it says into the, he brought them into the land of Shinar. It is interesting, the land of Shinar. Do you know where the present-day land of Shinar is? It is exactly what we find out in the present-day Iraq, what we have been speaking about. Today what you hear in the news so much about the land, about Iraq and in fact, Iraq, I think Saddam Hussein had one of his companies or soldiers he called them the army of Nebuchadnezzar. Very interesting.

The first time we find the land of Shinar in the Bible is found in Genesis chapter 10 and in Genesis chapter 11. In fact, the first tower of Babylon that was built is found in Genesis chapter 11, Bereshit 11. It is there where Nimrod built this tower and they said, "Let us make us a name." And it was there that God confounded the languages and we called the name the Tower of Babel, Babylon. And it comes from the word confusion. It was idolatry. It was the central place of idolatry. It was in the land of Shinar.

In fact, I want you to turn to Genesis 10 for a second. Genesis 10. Look at this, Genesis 10 and verse eight. It says here: "And Cush begat Nimrod." By the way, you know what the name of Nimrod means? Nimrod means "let us rebel." Can you imagine to have a name like that, Nimrod? Let us rebel. Nimrod, every time I call the name Nimrod, let us rebel. Nimrod. Well, notice it says Nimrod was born, Cush begat Nimrod, he began to be a mighty man of the earth.

He was a mighty hunter before the Lord, wherefore it is said, even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord. And listen, verse 10, the beginning of his kingdom was Babel and Erech and Accad and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. Out of that land went forth Asshur and builded Nineveh and the city Rehoboth and Calah and so on. But you notice it says in verse 10 at the end, "in the land of Shinar." Now, notice in chapter 11 and verse one.

Verse one it says: "And the whole earth was one language and one speech. And it came to pass as they journeyed from the east that they found a plain in the land of Shinar. Here it is again, the same name. And they dwelt there, and they said one to another, 'Go to, let us make brick and burn them thoroughly.' And they had brick for stone, and slime they had for mortar. And they said, 'Go to, let us build us a city and a tower whose top may reach unto heaven, and let us make us a name.'"

It all began right there. Idolatry and a man saying, "I want to make a name for myself," began right in Genesis 10 and 11, in a place called Shinar, the central place of idolatry. And by the way, people today try to get to heaven in the same way that the people in the time of Nimrod tried to get to heaven. Let us make a tower. We'll get up to heaven our own way, where God says there is no one going to come to heaven except through His way. People are still trying to build something to have their own righteousness instead of accepting the righteousness of God.

It's nothing new. It speaks of human effort. Man is trying to get their way to heaven in their own effort, with their own merit, and God will never accept it. Okay, go back to Daniel now, please. Daniel chapter one and verses one and two is the deportation. Deportation, the reason twofold. Number one, Israel failed to keep the Shabbat, yearly Shabbat for the land. God sent them for 70 years into Babylon. Secondly, Israel's idolatry because they wanted to be like the other nations and God says, "Okay, because you want to, I'm going to send you to Babylon so you can experience for breakfast, for lunch, and for supper, idolatry." And there they learned the lesson.

From verse three to seven of Daniel chapter one is the second section. We find there is a special selection of various individuals to come forward to serve the king of Babylon. And so let me read verses three to seven. It says in verse three: "And the king spake unto Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring certain of the children of Israel, and of the king's seed, and of the princes; children in whom there was no blemish, but well-favored, and skillful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability in them to stand in the king's palace, and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans."

"And the king appointed them a daily provision of the king's food, and of his wine which he drank, so nourishing them three years, that at the end thereof they might stand before the king. Now among these were of the children of Judah: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, Azariah; unto whom the prince of the eunuchs gave names, for he gave unto Daniel the name of Belteshazzar, and to Hananiah Shadrach, to Mishael Meshach, and to Azariah Abednego."

From verse three to verse seven, we have a special selection now. These Jewish boys, just like many other boys from other nations, have come as captive in the land of Babylon. Now Ashpenaz was to choose some of these individuals to stand before the king. In verse three, the king was the one that spake unto Ashpenaz. He was the master of his eunuchs that he should bring certain of the children of Israel and of the king's seed and of the princes.

Can you just imagine, some, you notice that it says here in this verse that not all, but he would bring some. Some of the children that they would become eunuchs. They will become eunuchs to become servants in the king's castle and palace to serve king Nebuchadnezzar. And so that particular individual by the name of Ashpenaz, he was the one who was supposed to choose individuals who were going to become eunuchs.

Sometimes we have a problem with the word eunuchs, and basically, the thought is to be castrated. In other words, a person that he will not be able to have children or to have family, so he can totally, entirely devote his time without anything to distract him to the service of the king. He was simply an individual that was called to come to serve the king. And these individuals will spend all their time and devotion to the king in the service of the king. Just for a verse to speak a little bit about eunuchs, look what Yeshua the Messiah said when He was here. Matthew chapter 19 and verse 11 and 12.

"But He said unto them, 'All men cannot receive this saying, except they to whom it is given. For there are some eunuchs which were so born from their mother's womb. And there are some eunuchs which were made eunuchs of men. And there be eunuchs which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it.'"

When you think of a eunuch, is a person who is simply, under the time of the Babylonian time, obviously that person was a person that could not have a physical relationship and completely and totally devoted his life to serve in the king's palace. But now here is Yeshua, Jesus the Messiah, the Lord Jesus is speaking here and He is explaining of the fact that there are three types of eunuchs. One of them, He says in verse 12, some eunuchs are they which were born this way. They were simply born with not being able to have the physical relationship, to perform physical relationship in order to have children, a family. That is by natural birth. That's the first one.

But then He says, "But there be some eunuchs which were made eunuchs of men." These are the eunuchs that were made eunuchs by other people such as Nebuchadnezzar and others that have made an individual eunuchs for the purpose of making them servants in his castle, in his palace. But then He gave us a third type of eunuchs, and those eunuchs it says here in verse 12, "And there be some eunuchs which have made themselves for the sake of the kingdom of heaven."

These are individuals that says, "Lord, I want so much to devote my time and my life for You that I am willing to not to have a family to tie me down." In other words, because there is a responsibility when a person has a family, a wife, children, there is a responsibility that we all have for that. And so this is an individual that made himself a eunuch for the sake of the Kingdom of God. In fact, I know a few individuals who are so devoted for the gospel, for the work of the Lord, that simply never got married, never had children.

They have simply said, "Lord, I am devoting my life for You. I'm going to commit my life for the service of the Lord. I'm not going to get married." Not because they don't want it or they don't like it, simply because they want totally and entirely to devote their life for the service of the Lord. But beloved, the eunuchs in the time of Nebuchadnezzar were not eunuchs who made themselves.

Guest (Male): You've 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.