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 Levitan.

Gideon Levytam: Let's please open our Bibles and we will go today to the last portion of the book of Hebrews chapter 11 and we hope that today we'll be able to finalize the 11th chapter of the book of Hebrews. It's so nice you know to read this book that is written to Jewish people, Hebrews who have accepted the Messiah and they have been going through difficult time. They have been suffering, persecuted, rejected by their family members, perhaps like we too. And I'm sure that they have been paying a greater price that we can ever imagine. We too are so thankful here today.

We live in a country that we have liberties, we have many privileges, but these early Jewish believers, they have gone through difficult days when they had to be separated from their families, when they had to be despised and rejected, when they had to be also wondering what should we do? Should we go back to the temple sacrifices or should we follow after Yeshua? Of course they knew that Yeshua was the Messiah, but they have been in the danger of going back to that which had been finalized when the Messiah has come. and I'm using this word finalized is because all the temple sacrifices and the system that had been given to Israel our people of old had been pointing to the coming of the Messiah.

When the Messiah have come, when the Messiah have come, he fulfilled, he became the lamb of God which took away the sin of the world. And therefore there is no more need for sacrifices. There is no more need for all those rituals which pointed to him because when we have Messiah, Messiah, Yeshua, Christ, the Lord Yeshua the Messiah, we have everything. And we don't need to be occupied with rituals, but we are to be occupied with the person of the Messiah. So here look now, Hebrews 11 is a chapter that deal with faith. And I said it before and I said it again, he is quoting only Hebrew people from the past.

Only Old Testament saints, I should say there were some who were not Hebrews there. He doesn't quote the writer any New Testament saints, but he is bringing to light the people of faith which were living for God before the Messiah have come. And so right now, beloved brothers and sisters, we are in Hebrews 11 and we are in the last 11 verses of this chapter beginning from verse 30 all the way to verse 40. Hebrews 11 verses 30 to 40. And now we continue now. By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were compassed about for seven days.

By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not when she had received the spies with peace. And what shall I say more? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and all the prophets. What shall I say more? He's saying in this verse 32. And he's telling them of those men of God in the past Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah and David and Samuel and of all the prophets. And he continue in verse 33 and he's saying who through faith subdued kingdoms, brought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouth of lions, quench the violence of fire, escape the edge of the sword.

Out of weakness they were made strong, waxed violent in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead raised to life again and others were tortured not accepting deliverance that they might obtain a better resurrection. Verse 36 and others had trial and of cruel mockings and scourging. Yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonments. They were stoned, they were sawn asunder. They were tested, they were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskin and goatskin being destitute, afflicted, tormented. And listen to this expression in verse 38 of whom the world was not worthy.

They wandered in deserts and in mountains and in dens and caves of the earth. And these all having obtained a good report through faith received not the promise. Why? Verse 40 God having provided some better things for us that they without us should not be made perfect or mature or fully developed. And I'll stop here with the reading. Very interesting last expression or last verses of Hebrews chapter 11. You see the writer here is now building upon what he have already begun. He began, if you remember, when he's encouraging the Hebrew believers of first century to continue trusting the Lord Yeshua the Messiah in spite of the fact that they were rejected, in spite of the fact that they were puzzled because of the existence of the temple then.

He was encouraged them and he was telling them that faith is the substance of things hoped for. Faith is the evidence of things which are not seen. And he's building here in this chapter beginning with Abel and he's building upon the history of the men and women of faith of the Old Testament time. And as he's sharing with them, he's bringing to light the kind of people that these people have been. And you remember, he just take a little portion of the history of these people, Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah and all the others that we have spoken about, Isaac and Jacob and Joseph and Moses that we have already have been speaking about.

All of these men and women have been people of God who had faith in God. They have gone against the world that told them there is no God. They have gone against the streams that came against them who says don't live for God. And they trusted God without to see, with simply believing what God said in his word. That's what faith is all about. That was faith. It's not that we have faith in faith, but faith in a person in the living God who send the Messiah Yeshua to this world for us. And now in those verses in which we just read today verses 30 to 40 there are two things that we want to be labeled a little bit today.

First of all, we can see that in verses 30 and 31 with Joshua and with Rahab we see that faith thus ultimately wins. Even though faith does not seem like winning at the beginning or during the time when a person still trusting while he doesn't see certain things, yet we learn from these two individuals by the name of Joshua and Rahab that faith always wins the battle. Faith in God always wins even though seemingly it doesn't seem to be seen to the natural eye. Faith always seem to win because it is faith in God's word.

Look what we read here in the first verse, verse 30. It says here by faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were compassed about seven days. We by the way just read in the scriptures in the sixth chapter of Joshua how that the walls of Jericho was falling down. How that possible? You see Jericho was one of the the first city that our people Israel have entered in when they enter into the land. Can you imagine? You are coming out from Egypt, you have been a slave for 430 years. You are walking in the wilderness for 40 years.

All the generation dies and the new generation is coming in and he's going into the new generation going into the promised land. The first thing they are facing is a huge walled city. The natural men will say it is not possible. In fact, beloved, if you remember when before the spies were sent the two spies, there were 12 spies who went into the promised land. Already we read it in the book of Numbers and 10 of them said no, we are not able to get into this land. We are not able to take it. There are giants there.

There are great walls there. We are not able to get in and to take it over. We are unable to do that. And you know, isn't it true in the life of every one of us there are certain things that we say to the Lord, Lord, I'm not able to carry this through. I'm just not strong enough, Lord. There's so many big obstacles before me and I'm not able. Too many rejections, too many things to stumble the believer. And he says I'm not able and the Lord is cheering us up. You see out of the 12 spies of Numbers 13 two of them brought a good report.

And when they brought a good report the two that brought a good report, Joshua and Caleb, those are the only two from the older generation that enter into the land. And you know what the report that they say? They didn't trust themselves. They said God is able. We are able to do it with the strength of the Lord. Not I, not we, not us, but God is able to empower us to be able to take over the promised land. And so here we see now Joshua who was by the way young servant that served Moses years before.

Now he become the captain. You see it took years of walking with the Lord to become a leader later on. And he was learning from the servant of the Lord Moshe, Moses, which we have dealt with him in the past. And now Joshua become the leader. And you know how precious when you think of Joshua, the verses in Joshua that brother Thomas have read to us. I just want to read just one verse there once again Joshua chapter six and look what it says there about Joshua. It says about Joshua something very simple and yet very profound in Joshua chapter six.

It says here when God told Joshua the Lord said to Joshua in verse two, the Lord said unto Joshua, see I have given into thine hand Jericho and the king thereof and the mighty men of valor. And ye shall compass the city, all ye men of war, and go around about the city once, and you shall do this way six days in a row. And then he says, and the seventh day he says you will go throughout it seven times. It says in verse four and then you are going to take the city over. Now what if God going to tell you today, dear brother or sister, if God going to tell you to walk around a city seven times, seven days and seven times on the last day and you will be able to take the city over, you and I might say what is it God expecting for me to do?

I mean what is it walking around and walking around every day, one day of a six day and on the seven day seven time blowing the trumpet? It sound like a unimaginable request. What you blow the trumpet, you know, give me a sword, give me a gun, give me a bomb, give me an airplane, give me to do something. But God is telling no, Joshua. I am going to win the battle for you. Let's make a parallel for a moment in our lives as believers. Sometime we want to win a battle in our own energy, in our own flesh.

We try to win a battle, we try to do something for God and we do it in energy of the flesh and we find ourselves being defeated at the end. Why? Because we sought to do it in the energy of the flesh. And God teach us many time it 's not by might, not by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord. It is he who give us to win a spiritual battles just like there he gave Joshua to win that battle against the city of Jericho. And so listen to this. Joshua simply obeyed the Lord.

What he does Joshua in our chapter six, Joshua the son of Nun verse six, he called the priest. He said to them, take the ark of the covenant, take seven priests, bear seven trumpets and go ahead and walk around the city. Simple obedience, simple obedience. You know by the way how sin came into the world by disobedience. That's how sin came in. Don't eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God said to Adam, Adam ate of it and he failed. And he sinned. And he plunged the human race into sin.

That's how sin came into this world, disobedience. And we have to say that many times in our lives we are disobedient. We don't obey. We don't obey our parents. We don't obey the law. We don't obey God. The natural man has an inclination to disobey. We never been taught to disobey. We disobey by nature. Obedience bring blessings and bring results. And one verse, in fact even we read we don't read even the the name of Joshua here in the Hebrews 11, but we know that he led the campaign against the city of Jericho. And so we read about Joshua or about the fall of Jericho that he fell by faith.

It says in verse 30 and I'm back to Hebrews 11 30. By faith the walls of Jericho fell. What whose faith? Joshua's faith, the nation's faith. They simply believed what God said and the walls of Jericho fell down. You know the walls of Jericho represent human power, human strength. You never win against human strength with another human. Flesh does not win with another flesh. It has to be done with faith in God. If we have many walls that are lifted up before us in spiritually speaking, in our life many challenges that we are facing with many walls of experiences, many walls of challenges, many walls of suffering and trials, the only way to go through those walls and the only way for those walls to fall down is simply by faith in the Lord Yeshua the Messiah.

That's what he's saying to us as he's writing to those Hebrews in verse 30. By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were compassed for seven days. And now he moving now. Not only he's speaking about Joshua. Joshua was a man of God, but here we see something very interesting. We find in verse 31 of a woman that was not a Hebrew. She was not Jewish. She was from the city of Jericho. And it says in verse 31 her name was Rahab, Rahab you call it in English. And Rahab actually was a prostitute.

She was a woman that was despised by the authority that was rejected by the system then. They were only using that woman for sexual relationship. She was a prostitute and it says here that she by faith the harlot, it says here the harlot Rahab, she did not perish with them that did not believe when she had received the spies in peace. Here we see a woman. By the way yesterday in our Bible class we talked about the Samaritan woman in John chapter four. The Samaritan woman in John chapter four, she lived with a man that was not hers and she was married already for five husbands.

And the Lord met her. The Lord came to win her to himself. He wanted to correct her. He wanted to be saved. You see the Lord Yeshua, Jesus the Messiah didn't come only for those that are high and mighty. He came to seek and to save those which were lost. Us, we were sinners. We deserve to be separated from God and he came for us. And he came to Rahab as well. And you remember the story about Rahab when the two spies came to the land to spy the land. It says about Rahab that she lodged him.

Maybe she thought they were coming for some kind of physical relationship, but no fall was the thought. They didn't come for that. They came to spy the land, to see the land and to see the city. And they came to prepare things for the destruction of the city of Jericho. And you know what we read about Rahab? It says she said unto the men I know that the Lord had given unto you the land and that your terror is fallen upon us. And that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you.

That's what she said. See Rahab heard. You know, listen brothers and sisters, faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Nobody need to twist your arm, nobody need to twist our arm, nobody need to give us all kind of thing. We hear the message of the gospel, we hear the message about the Lord Yeshua the Messiah who died for us, who paid the penalty for our sin. And we need to accept it and believe it. Faith cometh by hearing, hearing by the word of God. And Rahab heard. She heard about the God of Israel.

She heard about what Israel have done to the nations as they were traveling in their wilderness journey. She heard and she wanted to accept the God of Israel. And she took the spies, she hid them there. She said to those who sought to come to kill them that they have gone in another way. And she led them down by the walls and let them go back to their own people. And the spies made a promise to her. He said to her, because you have done so you are going to be preserved by the Lord and you will not perish with the rest of the nation.

And so we read here in verse 31 by faith the harlot Rahab did not perish. With them they did not believe. You notice that again the word faith and the word believe is mentioned so many times in this chapter. It's the chapter of faith. Simply people like the harlot Rahab, she didn't do much. She simply believe what God said and what God have done. And so through her faith she have committed herself to the God of Israel. And by the way when you read in the genealogy of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah in Matthew chapter one, guess who is in that genealogy?

We find out that she as well is found in the genealogy of the birth of the Lord Yeshua the Messiah. And so precious to see these two individuals here by the name of Joshua and Rahab. While Joshua's name is not mentioned here, but we know that it is through the faith that he had and Israel had that they have won against the city of Jericho. So these two individuals are being brought to the highlight as the writer is writing to those first century Jewish believers in the Messiah. So now after reading verses 30 and 31, now I want you to go down with me and to notice that from verse 32 all the way to verse 40 we have the heroes of faith mentioned, some at least some of them.

But first of all in verse 33 we have some name mentions. I do not know why the spirit of God chosen to mention those men, but God knows why. And you know he giving us a list in verse 32 and it says listen, what shall I say more? The writer is saying. I said so much already about all these men and women that are part of the nation of Israel, part of the Hebrew nation, the vast majority of them if not all. And he says now, what should I say more? He's telling him, look Hebrews, what I'm going to tell you more?

I could tell you, I can give you list of individuals who are people of faith just like you. I can give you a list of them, but just he saying he saying what can I say more? For the time would fail me to tell you of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets. He says listen, I'm writing to you such a letter. He says time fail me to write to you all these. I could tell you more about Gideon, I could tell you more about the Barak and about Samson and Jephthah and David and Samuel and the prophets.

I could tell you so much more. When we think about those names, let me just tell you Gideon for example in Hebrew's name is Gideon. It's come from the Hebrew word a cutter down, but Gideon did not start as a great man of faith. In fact Gideon was a farmer that was afraid in the beginning and he was hiding from the Medianites. But God raised him up. He wanted to do something for God and for the people, but he was afraid. Don't we feel afraid sometime? I do. If you say that you don't, you are not saying the truth.

We have sometime fear what's going to happen? What about this? What about that? What about our children? What about our family? What about my job? What about my position? What about this? And you know sometime instead of trusting God we turn around and we doing things with our own ingenuity. See we are very good at that. We are like Jacob. We have our own plans and our own agendas. And God tells us listen, I understand that you might be like Gideon afraid. You afraid sometime, but he lifted him up and he told him, you go in this your strength.

We find it in Judges six and seven and so on how Gideon by the strength of the Lord move forward and trusted God. And speaking about Barak, you remember Barak?

Guest (Male): You have been listening to the Holy Scriptures and Israel with Gideon Levitan. 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.