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: Shalom, everyone. I would like you to please open your Bibles to the book of Ephesians, chapter 2, verses 11 to 22. God's provision of peace for each and every one that have trusted in Him. We are going through it verse by verse. I'm reading from verse 11.

Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:

But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;

And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.

Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.

This is the end of the second chapter of the book of Ephesians. An extremely important passage for us to study together as both Jewish and non-Jewish believers together. An amazing passage that teaches us the position of Gentile believers with the Jewish believers in Christ, in the Messiah.

I do not know if you have noticed when we have read this passage that three times the apostle Paul, Sha'ul, used the word peace. In Hebrew, of course, it is the word Shalom. This word Shalom here in this passage comes from the Greek word *eirene*. That's where we get the name Irene.

You would notice in verse 13, he says, "Yeshua is our Shalom, our peace." Also in verse 15, he said that He made peace, He made *eirene*. And also in verse 17, He came and preached peace. Three times the apostle Sha'ul, Paul, writing to the Ephesian brothers and sisters in the local assembly, reminding them that the peace that they have is because of the finished work of our Lord Jesus, Yeshua the Messiah.

This is so important, beloved brothers and sisters, for all of us need to realize as we study this that it is important to get a hold of it. There is a song, a hymn, that is sung among the believers in many places in the world called "A Mind in Perfect Peace with God."

A mind at perfect peace with God, oh, what a word is this! A sinner reconciled through blood, this, this indeed is peace. By nature and by practice far, how very far from God! Yet now by grace brought nigh to Him, through faith in Jesus' blood.

So near, so very near to God, I cannot nearer be; yet in the person of His Son, I am as near as He. So dear, so very dear to God, more dear I cannot be; the love wherewith He loves the Son, such is His love to me. Why should I ever careful be, since such a God is mine? He watches over me night and day, and tells me, "Thou art mine."

The writer of this hymn that wrote this song must have studied Ephesians chapter 2, specifically verses 11 to 22. A mind at perfect peace with God because of the fact that we know our Lord Yeshua the Messiah and we know what He accomplished for us. We can have now all this redemption when He died for us on the tree.

So the apostle Paul now wanting them to remember that throughout the history they were far from the Lord, but now they have been brought nigh. Now remember that the vast majority of the brothers and sisters in the local assembly at Ephesus were non-Jewish individuals. They were saints who were saved from among paganism. They believed in this great Diana of the Ephesians. They came from paganism, they came from idolatry, they came from that which was contrary to the God of Israel.

But now, beloved brothers and sisters, God brought them into this body of Messiah, the body of Christ. And Paul reminded them where they came from and what they possess as believers in the Lord Yeshua the Messiah now. Well, in the previous ten verses of this second chapter, we have been emphasizing the grace of God that it is presented to the Ephesians through our Lord Jesus the Messiah.

This grace, he says to them in Ephesians chapter 2 verses 8 to 10: "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, in Messiah, Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."

So in the first ten verses, the apostle Paul emphasizes God's grace towards these Gentiles who came to faith in our Lord Yeshua, Jesus the Messiah. But now he is moving forward and he is not so much dealing with the grace of God, though it is included here, but he is dealing with the place of blessing to which those brethren came when they have trusted in Yeshua, Jesus the Messiah.

Now he is reminding them how far they had been in the past and how near they came when they have accepted Yeshua the Messiah. So notice what he is saying in verses 11 and 12. First of all, he reminds those brethren at the local assembly of Ephesus, and he is saying to them, "Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands."

You notice the word "wherefore." The apostle Paul is saying to them, in light of all what I have already told you in the first ten verses, therefore remember, brethren, before you became believers in Jesus, Yeshua the Messiah, you were Gentiles in the flesh, meaning *goyim* or of the nations of the world in the flesh. *Babasar* in Hebrew, who are called uncircumcised by those which were called the circumcision.

This is the Jewish people. In other words, if you remember from chapter 17 of the book of Genesis, God gave our forefather Abraham the sign of the covenant that He made with him. And the promise that He had given to Abraham, He gave him a sign of this covenant, and that was a circumcision. Genesis chapter 17, verse 9 to 14. I'm reading:

And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations. This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised. And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you. And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed. He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant.

You see, beloved friend, every man child, every Hebrew boy had to be circumcised at the age of eight days old. And that was the sign, the mark in the body, in the flesh of the covenant that God made with our father Abraham. It was the sign. In other words, every Hebrew Jewish Israeli boy must be circumcised.

Everyone of us who were born to a Jewish family have been circumcised when we became eight days of age. Our parents have done so. My father, my grandfather, all my family had to be circumcised when they were eight days of age. It was the responsibility of our parents. This command was also given to our people Israel by the law. In Leviticus chapter 12, verses 1, 2, and 3, there we read those words:

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a woman have conceived seed, and born a man child: then she shall be unclean seven days; according to the days of the separation for her infirmity shall she be unclean. And in the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.

That was incorporated to the law, and all our Hebrew people had to be circumcised at the age of eight days old. The parents' responsibility was to circumcise their sons. A boy, a male child has to be circumcised. So in a sense, it is a mark of the Hebrew as a distinct nation, separated from all the nations of the world. And this is why the apostle Paul, Sha'ul, is now saying to the brethren those words.

He says, you remember that in time past, before you became believers in Yeshua the Messiah, you were Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hand. In other words, the Hebrews have distinguished themselves and still distinguishing themselves from the nations of the world. The Hebrews are the circumcised, the non-Hebrews are the uncircumcised.

Even King Saul, Melech Yisrael, the King of Israel, when he was going to die, he did not want to be killed by the uncircumcised Philistines. And that's the way it was looked upon. The uncircumcised, the people that are not belonging to God, but the circumcised people are the people of God, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

So Abraham received this covenant from God. It was not Abraham who made the covenant with God, but God made the covenant with Abraham. It is called the Abrahamic Covenant. So God, who made this distinction, promised that He will bless the descendants of Abraham. The Abrahamic promises is a wonderful promise, and the sign of it was evident in the circumcisions of Abraham's descendants.

The Hebrew word for circumcision is *Brit Milah*. Two Hebrew words. *Brit* means covenant, *Milah* means to circumcise, a cutting off of the flesh. It was a God-given command to Abraham and his descendants. And there was a purpose for that. God intended that the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, namely the people of Israel, will serve as a blessing to all the nations of the world.

So you can just imagine when there was one chosen man, and through him the whole nation came into being, and the rest of the world was intended to be blessed through the descendants of Abraham. Well, it was the sovereign choice of God alone. And you and I now who are believers in Yeshua the Messiah also have been chosen, even from before the foundation of the world in the Messiah, in Christ. Long before even we were born.

So you and I as well are part of this elected company that is called the *ekklesia*, the church, the called out ones. We are not better than others, but we have been chosen by the Lord according to Ephesians chapter 1 and verse 4 where we read, "According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love."

So they were called the uncircumcised ones by those who were called the circumcision, namely by the nation of Israel. Then he continued now in verse 12 of Ephesians chapter 2. He is reminding those brethren five things that they were without. You see, the *goyim*, the nations of the world, were without so many things that the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, namely the nation of Israel, had enjoyed because of God's election.

And so notice what Sha'ul, Paul says in verse 12. They were outside, they were without God in this world. Those Ephesians were told by the apostle Paul that at that time when you became believers, that ye were without Christ. At that time in before you became believers, you were without *HaMashiach*, without Messiah. This is number one.

Number two, he said, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel. Again, without citizenship. Thirdly, you were strangers from the covenant of promise. They did not have any covenant. Fourthly, having no hope. They did not have any hope, these Ephesians, before they became believers in Yeshua the Messiah. And fifthly, without God in the world.

Can you imagine the condition of the nations of the world? And those believers in Yeshua the Messiah now of the city of Ephesus, what a blessing they have been brought to. But before they became believers in Yeshua, Jesus the Messiah, they were without Messiah, without citizenship, without covenant, without hope, and without God, without *Elohim* in this world. Hopeless and helpless. Without any future whatsoever.

This is what was the condition of the Gentile world. And it is still the condition of the Gentile world, those who refuse to accept the person and the work of God's Son, the promised Messiah, the Redeemer, the Savior, our Lord Jesus the Messiah.

Stay with me here for a moment on those five statements. The first one is without the Messiah. The Hebrew word for Messiah, *Mashiach*. The Greek is the word *Christos*. Without Christ. But notice what Psalm 2 is saying in verses 1 and 2: "Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord," this is Jehovah, "and against his anointed," His *Mashiach*, His Messiah, saying...

You see, Psalm 2 verses 1 and 2 shows us that the whole nations of the world were against the living God, but also against the *Mashiach*, the Messiah. The whole world counsel against God, they counsel against the anointed, the Messiah. But as far as the Hebrews, the Jewish people were concerned, there was a promise of *Mashiach* for our people.

But the Gentile world has not this hope, as it says here. They were without *Mashiach*, without any of the promises of the coming of the Messiah to redeem that which was promised to the nation of Israel. Secondly, he says that being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel. The commonwealth has to do with citizenship of the nation of Israel.

God have chosen this nation Israel, and He gave to every Israeli that was born a citizenship in this nation. Many blessings connected with the nation of Israel. While the Gentile nation, the people from among the nations of the world, had no citizenship and no privilege and relationship with the living God. They had no citizenship. In other words, they are not part of the commonwealth of the nation of Israel.

A commonwealth has to do with rights and privileges that belong to the persons that belong to that country. There are various countries these days who belong to what is called the commonwealth. Well, in Canada, for example, Canada is part of the commonwealth, which belong together, united with other nations such as Britain and Australia and other countries, and they all have what you call the commonwealth.

And the Gentile nations of the world did not have this enjoyment of being part of this commonwealth of the nation of Israel. So he is telling this to the brothers and sisters of Ephesus. Years ago, before the Messiah came, if a Gentile wanted to believe in the God of Israel, he could become a proselyte. A person who was a God-fearer, who believed in the God of Israel, but they have never had a common citizen with the ordinary Jewish Israeli person.

So imagine, here the apostle Paul reminding the brothers and sisters of Ephesus that they came from so far away and they've been brought into this privilege of becoming united with others in the body of Christ. Another thing that I want to remind you is that the apostle Paul said that they were without covenants. Again, they were strangers from those covenants that God have made with His people, the people of Israel, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

So you can just see how God had brought them in such a favored place. When we study the scripture, we find out that there are eight covenants in God's word. We have the Adamic Covenant, the Noahic Covenant. These covenants were made long before God even chose Abraham and his descendants. But after that, from chapter 12 of the book of Genesis and forward, the remaining five covenants that are found in the *Tanakh*, that is the Old Testament, God made those covenants with the nation of Israel, Abraham and his descendants.

The Abrahamic Covenant is in Genesis chapter 12. He made this covenant with Abraham our father. Then on Mount Sinai, when our people of all Israel came out of Sinai, God made a covenant with the nation of Israel. It's called the *Har Sinai* Covenant, Mount Sinai Covenant. He made it with the whole nation of Israel.

Later on in Deuteronomy chapter 29, God made the Land Covenant with the people of Israel, giving them a promise that this land will belong to them. He gave Israel the land. Then later on, when He established a king upon the throne, He made the Davidic Covenant. David, the king of Israel, was promised that him and his seed will be sitting on the throne, the king of Israel. We read it in 2 Samuel chapter 7.

God promised that David and his descendants are going to sit on that throne of David. It will be an eternal throne, and God is going to make for David an eternal throne and an eternal house. And the final covenant that God made with Israel is found in Jeremiah chapter 31 and verse 31. The prophet Yirmeyahu was speaking about this final covenant, and we call it *Brit Hadashah*, the New Covenant.

And you can see how clearly that the covenant will be with the household of Israel and the household of Judah. This covenant, Yeshua the Messiah spoke about it when He pointed to His shed blood when He is going to die on the tree and bring about this promise of the New Covenant. This is such a wonderful truth to understand. We must bear in mind that the covenants were made with Israel and not with the church.

The church came under the blessing of the New Covenant, but all those covenants were made with the people of Israel, including the New Covenant. And Israel as a nation haven't entered into the blessing and the joy of this covenant. Yet you and I as believers in Yeshua Jesus the Messiah have already now entered into the blessing of this covenant, but the covenant itself is made with the household of Israel and the household of Judah.

What a blessing it is that the apostle Paul reminding these brothers and sisters of the city of Ephesus. So then, I want you to notice now that they also were without hope. Paul said that you had no hope, without hope. Can you imagine what it meant for these individuals to have no hope? It's sad when we have so many people who refuse to accept God's offer, but really they do not have any hope. They are hopeless.

When a person that refuse to accept Yeshua the Messiah continue on and leave this scene without faith in a Messiah, he or she have no hope. Can you imagine what it means, having no hope whatsoever? When a person who was not part of the nation of Israel, he or she could not look forward to something glorious as Israel the nation had, the hope of the return of the Messiah, the establish of the Messianic Kingdom.

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 11:00 AM and 7:00 PM and Saturdays at 1:00 PM 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.