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: Shabbat Shalom, everyone. Let's open our Bibles to the book of Malachi. Malachi chapter 2 is where we are studying today. The ministry today comes from Malachi chapter 2, and I would like to read for us this ministry meeting, the first nine verses of Malachi chapter 2.

Malachi was a prophet of Israel who spoke to our people about 400, 430 years before John the Baptist proclaimed about Yeshua the Messiah, "Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of this world." There were 400 years of silence. There was no message to our people, Israel.

And now, you might say, the final message from God to our forefathers, Israel, before that long silence until the Messiah has come and proclaimed to be the shepherd of Israel, the Messiah of Israel. So, Malachi is speaking to the priests of Israel, to the spiritual leaders of our forefathers, and look what he says to them at that time in Malachi chapter 2, verses one to nine.

He says, "And now, O ye priests," verse one, "And now, O ye priests, this commandment is for you. If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith the Lord of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings. Yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart. Behold, I will corrupt your seed, and spread dung upon your faces, even the dung of your solemn feasts; and one shall take you away with it."

"And ye shall know that I have sent this commandment unto you, that my covenant might be with Levi, saith the Lord of hosts. My covenant was with him of life and peace, of chayim and shalom; and I gave them to him for the fear wherewith he feared me, and was afraid before my name. The law of truth was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips. He walked with me in peace and equity, and did turn many away from iniquity."

"For the priest's lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law of his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. But ye are departed out of the way; ye have caused many to stumble at the law; ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi, saith the Lord of hosts. Therefore have I also made you contemptible and base before all the people, according as ye have not kept my ways, but have been partial in the law."

I'm stopping here after reading Malachi chapter 2 and verses one to nine. This is a very sad commentary upon the priests that God had raised among our forefathers, the people of Israel. It's rather a sad commentary that God gives us as He is directing His message to those priests using Malachi, the prophet of Israel.

Imagine, how sad the condition here, 430 years about before the coming of the Messiah. Because here, 430 years about BC, the nation of Israel, our own forefathers, have now returned back to the promised land. After they were 70 years in Babel, from 605 BC, after the destruction of the temple at 586 BC, now a few years have passed by.

They are already back in the land. They now should have said, "You know, we used to be by the rivers of Babylon. We wept there. We have seen how sad it is to be away from the Lord. And now the Lord has restored us back to our promised land. He has helped us to rebuild the temple in the city of Jerusalem. And now, we should enjoy Him. We should live for Him. We should be the kind of a people that will honor the God of our fathers, give glory to His name."

But it didn't happen. It didn't take too long when there was again a departure from the Lord. We read just earlier in 2nd Timothy chapter 3 that we read the whole chapter, in which the Apostle Paul said the very same thing about the last days in the assembly, in the church age. Many shall depart from the truth. They will not want to hear the word of God as they began in the early days.

And now that time has passed by, now I tell you, Paul is saying, Paul said to Timothy, "Perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection." In verse five he said, "Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof." He said to Timothy, "But thou hast fully known my doctrine and manner of life and so on."

He's saying to Timothy, "Timothy, I'm telling you that's what's going to happen in the last days of the church age." And as we are studying the book of Malachi, this is exactly what happened in the last days of Israel's history before the Messiah came to pronounce Himself as the savior of sinners, as the promised Messiah of Israel.

So as we study, as we learn the prophet Malachi, we can see the things that happened in those days, not even the people first, but the priesthood, the spiritual leaders of the people of God. And here we learn how God is pronouncing judgment upon the priesthood who are descendants of the tribe of Levi.

If you remember, in our previous ministry meeting, we have looked at chapter one, verses six to verse 14, and found, if you remember, the twofold statement that God said about the priests of Israel from verses seven to verse 14. In two ways in which the priests despised the name of the Lord.

Number one, the priests offered unacceptable sacrifices on the altar in the temple. They offered, as we read this, the blind, the lame, and the sick. They gave God the leftover. They gave God the no-good animals which were not acceptable by Him. And secondly, they dishonored the name of the God of Israel.

And the name, we mentioned earlier, that the name represents the character of God. What is in a name? In the name of God, as we read from the book of Exodus where God proclaimed the name of the Lord to Moses, and He said to him, "God is merciful. God is gracious. God is long-suffering. God is a good God." But He is also, not only that He is a loving God, He is also a holy God that He will have to judge sin because He's a holy God.

And so the priests dishonored the Lord in two ways. Number one, they have offered polluted animals, and number two, they dishonored the name of the Lord Himself. So now in the continuance of the message to the priests in Malachi chapter 2, verses one to nine, the Lord is presenting and showing the priests how unfaithful they were in comparison to the early days of the tribe of Levi, of the early day of the priesthood.

Isn't it so? Everything usually starts very well. Even in our own personal life. We began our walk with the Lord when we are born by the spirit of God. We begin very well. We make commitments to the Lord. We make resolutions. We say, "God, I'm going to follow You. I'm going to live for You. I'm going to do everything for You. God, just help me, help me so I can live for You in my life."

But then time passes by, and we forget our relationship with the Lord. Sin easily beset us. We look to the world around us. We are attacked by Satan, our enemy. The flesh is running within us, and we neglect, slowly but surely, we depart from that place where we were at the beginning.

And it's in our own personal life. It is in our own family life, in our own assembly life. And it's in a national way among the people of Israel. The assembly, the church at large, it slowly but surely we are drifting like a ship drifting from shore. And we always have to keep ourselves in check. Always have to remember to give short account, to keep short account with the Lord because we are a failing people.

We have an inclination to go astray, like anyone who has been before us. And so God had shown the leaders of Israel, the priests, how they have gone astray and how they dishonored by offering wrong sacrifices, unacceptable sacrifices, and not giving glory to His name. Now He is moving on in chapter 2 and verses one to nine. He is really showing the priests of Israel how they were unfaithful to the covenant that God made with their father, Levi.

And so notice what He does here in the first three verses of our chapter. Malachi chapter 2 and verse one, He first warned them. He warned those unfaithful priests for the consequence of their wrongdoing. He began of course in verse one, and notice what He says. He says, "And now, O ye priests, this commandment is for you."

He's directing the message through Malachi to the priests, the spiritual leaders of Israel. He says, "I want to tell you something. I'm directing my message now to you. I'm not going to talk about what the people have done, the rest of the nation of Israel. But I'm directing the attention of my message to you," He's saying to the priests, to the spiritual leaders of Israel.

And why He is saying this to them? Because He want them to pause and to realize that they have to take it to heart, they have to take the things of the God of Israel seriously, and not to assume that God doesn't see and that God is not going to deal with them. To take the things of the Lord seriously, and therefore it said, "O and now," notice the word "and now," in Hebrew word is "v'atah." It's right this moment. I'm directing my attention now to you and I want to tell you, priest, "O ye priests, this is the commandment that is addressed unto you."

And so in verse one He's directing this to them, why? Because the priests of Israel were spiritual leaders. They are responsible over the nation. Number two, the priests were guilty in leading our forefathers, Israel, astray. They were not an example to them.

Just the yesterday I received a text or an email from someone who said that in one of the congregations here locally, somebody was teaching from the pulpit that Yeshua is not the Lamb of God. Now I don't know how you can be a believer and reject the fact that Yeshua is the Lamb of God, is the one who came to die for the sin of this world.

So you can be a teacher and you can stand in the pulpit and you can preach the word with a Bible in your hand and yet you can reject what the scripture say. And you can teach others and others ending up to adopt that and turn away from the ABC of the word of God. So the priests of Israel were the spiritual leaders of Israel and they were responsible to teach the people of Israel and therefore God gives them a warning and He began His warning, He says, "This commandment is for you, O ye priests."

He continues now, and I want you to notice that, in verse two the Lord warns that if the priest will not hear and give heed to His word, eventually the Lord will discipline them. Notice what He says to them in verse two. "If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory to my name, saith the Lord of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings. Yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart."

In other words, the Lord is saying through Malachi to the priests of Israel, "Listen, I'm going to give you a warning that if you will not," as it says here in verse two, "will hear or listen to what I'm telling you and lay it to heart." In other words, don't only have it in your head, but bring it down to your heart, appropriate it to your life and make changes in your life.

If you will not listen to my word and hear what I have to say, eventually, as He says to them, "I will send curse upon you." Now in a moment, I'm going to mention that thought about that word for curse here. In Hebrew it's called "vearoti" or "me'era" or "arur." It comes from the Hebrew word "arur," one who is being cursed by God.

Now first, just I want you just to notice that expression here in verse two where He said to them, "If you will not hear, and if you will not lay it to heart, to give glory to my name." You remember, the whole theme here in the book of Malachi is that the priesthood of Israel, they didn't give God the glory to His name that He deserved.

He already began, if you remember, the whole book of Malachi in chapter one and verse six to show them that they did not give glory to His name. You remember what it said in chapter one and verse six? "A son honoreth his father, and a servant his master. If then I be a father, where is my honor? And if I be a master, where is my fear? Saith the Lord of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise," notice that, "despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name?"

You notice that the priests by their behavior despised the name of Jehovah, the name of the God of Israel. And so now He is telling them in chapter 2 and verse two that if they will not hear it, and if they will not appropriate it in their hearts and make changes in their life to give glory to God's name, He said to them, "I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings. Yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart."

Now just for a moment, if you don't mind to go with me back to the book of Deuteronomy for a moment. And in Deuteronomy chapter 28, Moses and our people Israel were just before entering into the promised land. And there God promised Israel that He will give Israel all the promised land, what we call today Canaan, the land of Canaan.

But at the same time as He gave Israel these promises, He also gave them a warning that He will bless them if they obey and that He will curse them if they disobey. And so we read in chapter 28 of the book of Deuteronomy, and I'm just going to read few verses. You notice in the first verses there, chapter 28 verse one, there God said, "It shall come to pass," verse one, "that if you shall hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all His commandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all the nations of the earth."

"And all these blessings," notice the word blessing, in Hebrew the word "bracha" or "brachot" in plural. "All these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God. Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed thou shalt be in the field." Verse four, "Blessed be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep." Verse five, "Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store." Verse six, "Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out."

Look at the blessing that God promised to the people of Israel just before they've entered to the land of Canaan, to possess the land of Israel. And it is all depended upon the fact that they will hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord the God of our fathers, the God of Israel. But on the other hand, beloved brothers and sisters, look a little bit further down in verse 15 of Deuteronomy chapter 28. In Deuteronomy chapter 28 from verse 15 to verse 19, He reverses that if they will not hearken unto the voice of the Lord.

Listen to verse 15, Deuteronomy 28:15, "But it shall come to pass, that if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all His commandments and His statues which I commanded thee this day; that all these curses," the Hebrew word "arur," all these "klalot" in Hebrew, "all these curses shall come upon thee and overtake thee." And He continue, notice verse 16, 17, 18, 19, just listen to this.

"Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field. Cursed shall thy basket and thy store be. Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy land, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. Cursed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and cursed shalt thou be when thou goest out."

You see, beloved brothers and sisters, these are the people of God to whom God said even though you came out of the land of Egypt, you were under the blood, you are just now ready, the new generation is ready to enter into the promised land. But you can be sure that even though you are the chosen people, I will have to deal with you as a father dealeth with his own children. I will discipline you if you will disobey me, and I will bless you if you will obey me.

Now time passes by, and Israel now is on the other side of their history, you might say, before now they are now in the land, and now they are in the last days, you might say, before the 450 or 430 years of silence. And now the Lord is speaking to the leadership of Israel. And He's saying to them in verse two, "If you will not hear, and if you will not lay it to heart to give glory unto my name, saith the Lord of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings. Yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart."

Now let me remind you about that God is a sovereign God. What is a sovereign God? A sovereign God is a God who is in full control over the affairs of this world. Nothing is hidden from Him. Not your life, neither my life. Not your thoughts, neither my thoughts. Nor your ways, neither my ways. God know everybody's situation in their lives.

And God yet want to save us, of course, but He want to bless His own people. But if His people live the kind of a life that dishonor Him, as a sovereign God He can send, and you notice this expression as it says here, "I will send a curse upon you." What does that mean "I will send"?

Because God is sovereign and He is in full control, He can send, you might say, as we read it here in verse two, as a sovereign God He is divine, He can send a supernatural hindrances to one's life. When He blesses someone, He send, you might say, a divine blessing to aid in the life of an individual. That's why we sometimes say, "This person have been blessed by the Lord." What do we mean by that? We mean that there is an extra grace given into this individual.

Guest (Male): 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 a.m. and 7 p.m. and Saturdays at 1 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. Ends.