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: Okay, Shabbat Shalom everyone. Nice to see everyone here today. I would like you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Ephesians. We have covered the first chapter of the book of Ephesians, and today I would like to read the first 10 verses of Ephesians Chapter 2. I think this passage is so precious to our hearts because we can learn in this passage how the Apostle Paul impresses upon the believers at Ephesus the importance of what God has done for them and the grace of God. In Hebrew we say "the Chesed Elohim," the grace of God which brought salvation to those Ephesians believers.

You and I can say this for ourselves: it is indeed the grace of God that has saved us, that brought us to himself. It is something for us to get a hold of, never to forget the grace of God in our own lives, beloved brothers and sisters. So turn with me to Ephesians Chapter 2, and I want to read just the first 10 verses for this ministry meeting.

And I read: And you has he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: among whom also we all had our conversation in time past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, has quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) and has raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Messiah Yeshua. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

I'm stopping here in the 10th verse of the second chapter. The more I look over these verses in the book of Ephesians, the more I realize how important this book, this letter that the Apostle Paul wrote to these brethren at Ephesus. If you remember in the first chapter, which we have concluded in our previous meetings in dealing with the first chapter, the Apostle Paul in Chapter 1 dealt and pointed to believers' spiritual blessings.

You remember what he said in Chapter 1 and verse 3: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, who had blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ, in Messiah." There in this chapter he dealt with the spiritual blessings that believers are possessing because of what Yeshua the Messiah have done for them. But now in the second chapter, beloved brothers and sisters, the Apostle Paul is now moving not to merely talk about the spiritual blessings that we have received as believers, but now in Chapter 2 he is dealing with the position that we have because of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah.

The present position that every believer have because of what our Lord Yeshua have done for us. When he shared these 10 verses with those brethren, he majored on three points. I would like just to give you those three points before we're going to go systematically through those verses. The first thing that the Apostle Paul does in the first three verses of this chapter, he describe to the brothers and sisters at Ephesus, and to you and I, the condition that we were and we are by nature. He remind them of where they were and their true condition of the human race of flesh and blood. This is what he does in the first three verses of our chapter.

Secondly, from verses 4 to 9, the Apostle Paul describe what God have done for those that belong to him, for his own people through Yeshua the Messiah. Finally, in verse 10 Paul describe what God is doing in us and through us who believe in his Son, the Lord Yeshua the Messiah. There are three major points that we have here in the first 10 verses of Ephesians Chapter 2. Let's go through those verses together. Notice what he says first of all in verses 1, 2, and 3. Very important to remember.

I don't believe for a moment a person can get saved, can appreciate what Yeshua have done unless he or she recognize who we are by nature and what we are by nature without God, without Christ. Look what he says: first of all, in verse 1 he points out that men, women, people are dead in trespasses and sins. Everyone that is walking on the streets today who is not a believer in our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, who is not forgiven, he or she are really dead spiritually. A person who is not saved, he is lost.

A person who is not alive spiritually, he or she are dead spiritually. That's where we all came from, beloved brothers and sisters, whether we are Jewish or whether we are non-Jewish, whether we are born in the land of Israel, a descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, or whether we are part of the nations of the world. Every person that have entered into this world is by nature dead in trespasses and sin. Look what he is telling to them in verse 1: "And you," you Ephesians, "he has quickened," made alive spiritually, "who were dead in trespasses and sins."

You see what he is saying to the believers at Ephesus? He says, "Listen, you brethren at Ephesus, you were dead in trespasses and sins." Now, they were not dead physically, but they were dead spiritually. They were not able to communicate with the living God, just the same like you and I were never able to communicate with the living God until we came to faith in our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, the Messiah. That's what we were. If you remember, brothers and sisters, the Bible use the word "dead" in more than one way.

You remember how it all began. You remember in Genesis Chapter 2, where God place Adam in the garden of Eden. He gave to Adam this instruction, and we know it very well in Chapter 2 verses 16 and 17. God said to Adam, "Of the fruit of the trees of the garden you may freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you will not eat, for in the day that you will eat thereof, dying you shall die. You shall surely die." In Hebrew, "Mot tamut," dying you shall die.

Lo and behold, and you know the story in Chapter 3 of the book of Genesis, Satan came, beguiled Eve. Eve took of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, she ate of it, she gave it to her husband, and her husband Adam, in a direct disobedience to God, have violated the word of God, and he ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and he plunged the whole human race into sin. That's how sin enter into this world. Sin was not something dramatic that we might say that have happened; it was simply disobedience to the word of God.

Adam, who receive the word of God, have violated the direct command of God. No wonder we see it in our own life, how often we disobey the Lord. This is part of our old sin nature. Disobedience, you know what? We never need to train a child to disobey. You never need to do so. My mother never needed to train me to disobey. I did it naturally, and you and I do it naturally. That is sin. Sin came by disobedience, and how often we do so, even as believers, disobey God, disobey the Lord.

That's how sin came in. The moment Adam sinned, what happened? He didn't die physically yet, but he died spiritually. Adam no longer could have a relationship with God. He was hiding behind trees. He never felt this comfort that he had before he violated the word of God. When God sought for him, he says, "Adam, where are you?" And he said, "Have you eaten of the fruit of the tree which I told you not to eat?" And Adam, and you know the story, he began to blame Eve, his wife, and then Eve blame the Satan.

You can see the process that sin came into the world, but Adam died first of all spiritually, and the word for death in the Bible simply means separation. When someone died spiritually, he separated from enjoyment of a relationship with the living God. But not only that he died spiritually, it didn't take too long, of course. In their time they lived for much longer time that we live today. Adam in a certain time, certain age, died physically. Physical death, it is separation between the body and the soul and the spirit.

This is not the end, because beyond spiritual separation and physical separation, there is the eternal separation. That what will happen to every person who dies without dealing with his eternal soul, without accepting the Messiah, the Messiah. He or she will die eternally. Revelation Chapter 20 talk about the second death, when a person who will have to stand in the Great White Throne Judgment without accept the Messiah Yeshua, he will ultimately die eternally, and that is what you call the eternal separation, the eternal death.

So what we really see here, beloved brothers and sisters, Paul is telling to the believers at Ephesus, "You believers at Ephesus, you God had quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins." You were dead. A dead person, he cannot function. He cannot move. He cannot do anything, a dead person. That is really what happen with people who are not saved, are unregenerated. You and I have been just the same like this. Before Yeshua saved us and open our hearts to accept him, we were dead.

We didn't want God in our lives. We didn't want to read the Bible. We didn't want to sing about Yeshua the Messiah. We didn't want have anything to do with the living God because we were dead spiritually. That's the condition that you have had before you became believers in Yeshua the Messiah. Now I want you to turn to Isaiah for a moment, Chapter 59. I just want to read you this verse what God said to Israel, our people of old, many, many years ago, some 750 years before the Messiah Yeshua came.

Look what he is saying to Israel. What separate us from the living God? We know it very well. He said to the people of Israel in Chapter 59 verses 1 and 2: "Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened that he cannot save, neither his ear heavy that he cannot hear, but your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you that he will not hear." God is saying to the nation of Israel, "You know what cause separation between me and you? It's your sins and iniquities."

He's telling to the nation of Israel to remember that and realize that practically, because if they want to enjoy the relationship they ought to have with him, they ought to repent and be restored. To the Ephesians he says, "You know what? That's the way you used to be before you became believers. You were dead in trespasses and sins." You know what Paul said in Romans 6 and verse 23? "The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, our Lord Jesus Christ."

You were dead in trespasses and sin. You earned this death, this punishment, because of sin. Verse 1: sin cause separation. There are spiritual separation, there is physical separation, and there is eternal separation. There is spiritual death which lead to the physical death which lead to eternal death. A person who is not regenerated and believer in Yeshua the Messiah, he or she are spiritually dead, waiting the day that they will be physically dead, and ultimately they will be eternally dead, eternally separated from God.

In verse 2 and 3 of this chapter, he's continuing and he says men disobey God and chose rather to follow Satan than God himself. I want you to notice this. We cannot blame Adam and Eve because if you and I were there in the garden of Eden, we'd have done the very same thing. That's what he's saying in verse 2: "Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: among whom also we all had our conversation in time past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh."

Now you see, I just want you to notice three things here in these two verses, verse 2 and verse 3a. Notice he use the three enemies of the believers today: the world, the devil, and the flesh. Notice that. Do you know that when we became believers in Yeshua, we immediately notice that we have those three enemies in our life? The flesh is this old sinful nature. The world around us is a system that says, "Come, let's reject the Messiah. Come and follow my direction. You don't need God in your life."

This is an evil system in this world. And not to forget, of course, none else but Satan himself, who attacks the people of God constantly on a regular basis. Notice that. First of all, he is saying to them in verse 2 in the first part, "Wherein in time past," that mean before they became believers, "ye," and now Paul as a Jewish man talking to those Gentile believers at Ephesus. He says, "You non-Hebrew, non-Jewish believers at Ephesus, in time past you walked according to the course of this world."

This world is a system that deny God, they deny our Lord Yeshua the Messiah. That's where ye walked in time past. Secondly, "according to the prince of the power of the air." Who is the prince of the power of the air? None else but Satan himself. He is the prince of the power of the air. This is the atmospheric heavens. All those angels who followed after him, he's the prince of the power of the air. So we see the world and its ways. We see the prince of the power of the air, namely Satan here in verse 2.

He's called by the way at the end of verse 2, "the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience." You know what Satan does today? He influence the children of disobedience, in other words, the unbelieving world. We don't realize, beloved brothers and sisters, what is going on in the world in which we live in. We don't see things, but the satanic activities in this world definitely influence many here in this world to carry on in a godless life, in a life without Messiah, without Christ.

That's what Satan does all the time. You know how he does that? By sowing doubts in the lives of people, in the mind of people. You remember when he came to Eve in the garden of Eden and he ask her this very simple question, "Has God said?" You know how he does it? "Did God really say that you should not eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil?" And you know Eve say, "Well, maybe God after all didn't mean it that way." He sow doubts.

He sow all kind of seeds of desire to turn away from the things of God rather than to be brought closer to the Lord to Yeshua the Messiah. That's what he does, and he causes men to be blinded. 2 Corinthians 4 said, "The god of this world have blinded the mind of them that believe not." The god, small g, of this world, namely Satan, had blinded the mind of those that do not believe in Yeshua the Messiah. That's where we came from. That's what Paul said to the non-Hebrew believers at Ephesus.

He says, "You know, that's where you were in the past. You have been influenced by the world and its system. You have been influenced by the prince of the power of the air, which is the spirit that working now in the children of disobedience." Now notice that. He talked about the world in verse 2a. He talk about Satan in verse 2b. And now in verse 3a he's talking about the flesh, the old nature. Among also we, and now he identify himself as a Jewish person. You'll notice how many time he says "ye" and "we."

"Ye" is the Gentiles believers, "we" are the Jewish believers. He want to show how we are all guilty, we are all under the same condition. That's why he says in verse 3, "Among whom also we," Jewish believers, "we all had our conversation in time past in the lusts of our flesh." You see what he is saying? And the flesh is this old nature. When we talk about the flesh, we are not talking about the skin upon the bones. No. When the Bible talk about the flesh, is talking about the human nature.

The flesh, the old nature, which all of us possess the moment that we were born to our mothers and our fathers. We all have this flesh, the old nature, a sin nature. That's why even a nice baby, when a baby is being born, those of us who had children know how beautiful when you held your little boy, little son or little daughter, and you embrace them and you love them, but this little baby has a sin nature. He or she need to come to know Yeshua the Messiah before they leave this world because they have the same nature that their mom and dad has.

And their mom and dad had the same nature that their mom and dad has. And all of us have the same nature that Adam had received the moment he violated the word of God. Now look with me for a moment in Psalm 51. Look what David said about himself, the king of Israel, who was the beloved psalmist of our Jewish people, the people of Israel. He was honest enough to say about himself in Psalm 51 and verse 5, "I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me."

David, the king of our people Israel, the one that was the beloved psalmist of Israel could say such words about himself? Yes, because he knew his heart. He knew his failure. He knew his condition. He confessing, he said to God, "Have mercy upon me, oh God, according to your lovingkindness. I need your mercy, and I'm telling you God, I know that behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. I'm a sinner." Paul said in Romans 7, "Oh wretched man that I am."

When you look throughout the history of our people Israel, Old Testament, New Testament, the men and women of God all confess their own sinful nature. All of them without exception had to recognize their condition before a living God. You remember what Isaiah himself said: "Woe is me, for I'm a man with unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people with unclean lips, for mine eyes have seen the king, the Lord of hosts." David confessed, Shaul confessed, and the Apostle Paul writing to the Ephesians to remind them where they came from.

And brothers and sisters, we have to realize this in ourselves because that's apply to us and we fail as believers recognizing this old sin nature that rises again and again in our very own lives, even today as believers in Yeshua the Messiah. So he's pointing to the disobedience of men towards God, choosing to follow Satan rather than the Lord himself. In time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that worketh now in the children of disobedience: among whom also we, Jewish believers, had our conversation in time past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh.

There are so many verses that can be read in scripture concerning these things, and let me just read you one verse apply to every one of those statements. Turn with me to 1 John Chapter 2 verses 15, 16, and 17. First, the world and its system, the Apostle John wrote in 1 John Chapter 2, he didn't write to unbelievers, he wrote to believers like you and I. And he says in verse 15, "Love not the world, neither the things which are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. It is not of the Father, but it is of the world. And the world passes away and the lust thereof, but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever."

Now, when he says "Love not the world," it doesn't mean don't love the trees and don't love people, don't love the enjoyment of God's provision whatever he had given to us. He's talking about the system. Do not love the system of this world that is headed up by Satan, denying the Messiahship of our Lord Jesus, Yeshua.