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 the book of Malachi, chapter two. They don't have any agreement at home about many, many things. They can't enjoy and read the Bible together. They can't pray together, obviously, because one believes in the living God and the other does not. And there's no joy in a spiritual sense because that's what happens when there are two gods in one home.

And because God loves His people, He wants them to be a blessing, to enjoy their life when there is common ground upon which they can walk together. And you see what happened because in the next verse here, in verse 13, the people of Judah were coming to the altar to offer sacrifices. Notice it says here, "And this have ye done again, covering the altar of the Lord with tears, with weeping, and with crying out, insomuch that He regardeth not the offering any more, or receiveth it with good will at your hand."

In other words, they are wondering, so they come to the temple and they're offering sacrifices. Notice it says they are crying with tears and they are weeping, and so on. And God does not appreciate their sacrifices because they want to live like that, but they want to continue to be religious and offer sacrifices. It just doesn't work. It's our life, isn't it? Beloved brothers and sisters, we cannot have two masters.

And what happened is many times that a believer who has gone away, gone astray from the Lord, he or she who violated the word of God and continues on and do not judge themselves, it doesn't matter how many times we're going to go to the altar and we will offer sacrifices, and we will have tears and weeping and crying. We will see that the Lord will not accept those offerings because He simply does not receive the offering. These individuals made their choice, and they haven't departed from that and repented of that.

Thank God that God always receives those that repent and turn to Him. If we confess our sins, 1 John 1:9, He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. But if we continue on in our own way, no matter how much religious activity we will do, it's just not going to work. It's just not going to work because the Bible teaches us here, you are crying, you are shedding tears, you are weeping, but He says that God is not regarding the offering anymore. He does not receive it with a good will at your hand. It just doesn't work.

So can you imagine that happened in the time where the temple was in existence? Israel was now back in the land. It seems to be that we are just the same, that we learn that we never learn and we repeat the same old story. It happened in Israel's history. It happens in church history. It happened after those in the last days of Israel's return from captivity. It happens now after the revival and the gospel is being preached and the restoration of the truth of the word of God. We learn that we never learn and that we need God to help us to be reminded that His ways are always right and our ways, if we do it in our own way, we are always going to be wrong.

And so beloved brothers and sisters, after the first point that Malachi mentioned to Israel, that they profaned the covenant of their fathers by entering into marriage with the daughters of the idols, what happened now in verses 14 to 16, after he pronounced the judgment in verses 12 and 13? He does not receive their offerings because they continue on in that way. Now in verses 14, 15, and 16, Malachi points to the people of Judah who now profane not only God's ways by marrying the daughters of pagan gods, but now by divorcing their own Jewish wives.

Here is the next verses that we have in verse 14, 15, and 16. Notice what he said. It says in verse 14, the rebellious people now ask God why You're not receiving our sacrifices. It began in verse 14, "Yet ye say, Wherefore?" The word "wherefore" is the question why. Israel is asking God, "Wait a minute, why don't You receive our sacrifices? We are coming to the altar, we are praying there, we are weeping, we are crying, we shed tears, we offer sacrifice, whether it is animal or whether it is minchah, all kind of gifts to the things of the Lord, and still God does not receive them."

They wonder why. And they should never have wondered why because they know very well that God have already commanded them throughout the history of Israel, not to identify themselves with the gods of the Gentile world. But now he had a second accusation against them. And a second accusation is now that they were putting away their own wives in order to marry the pagan wives. Notice what he says in verse 14. "Ye say, wherefore, why?" Then notice what He's answering. Malachi is speaking on behalf of the Lord in verse 14b.

Malachi gave them the reason and he says, "The Lord has been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously, yet is she thy companion and the wife of thy covenant." In other words, Malachi is pointing to the fact that when these two Hebrews, Israelis, Jewish men and women got married together, he says the Lord was witnessing that. Beloved brothers and sisters, in a marriage union, the Lord is a witness.

It is not only the people who stand there and hear the vows that are being made by the husband to be and the wife to be, but he says the Lord was a witness. He's the one that observed there, that was right there in the midst when you took your vow and you committed yourself to one another. Why then you deal treacherously? By the way, the word "treacherously" comes from the word betrayal. Why do you betray the wife of thy covenant? In Hebrew it says "eshet britcha," the wife of your covenant.

What we really learn, beloved brothers and sisters, and we are failing in that so much, is that actually God is a witness. When two people decide to get married, it's not only the people around that watch and observe and hear the vows by the husband to be and the wife to be, but actually the Lord is the one that is witnessing. We don't see Him with our visible eyes, yet He's the one who witnessed the marriage union, the ceremony itself, as well as when the couple is making a decision to marry one another.

Remember what we read in Genesis chapter two and verse 18? And the Lord God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone. I will make him a help meet." Then if you remember later on, the Lord God caused a deep sleep, verse 21, to fall upon Adam and he slept. And He took one of his ribs and He closed up the flesh instead thereof. And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made He a woman. He built the woman and He brought her unto the man.

The first one that instituted marriage was God Himself. He's the one who created Adam. He's the one who put him to sleep. He's the one who brought Eve, Chavah, and brought her to him. This became a picture of the Lord Yeshua the Messiah and the bride, all those that belong to Him. When Adam died, you might say, or slept, it is a picture of the death of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah. And the bride, or the people that came out of his death, namely are all those who became believers in the Lord Jesus the Messiah.

In fact, the scripture teaches us that Israel is called the wife of Jehovah and the church is called the bride of the Messiah, the bride of Christ. That's why it says in verse 24 of Genesis chapter two, "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother and shall cleave unto his own wife, and they shall be one flesh." Genesis 2 and verse 24. Now can you imagine? God is saying through Malachi in verse 14, He says, "Listen, God is a witness."

I know we have done many, many weddings, but you don't think like that many times. You see the people are standing, they say what a wonderful dress the bride hath and how handsome is the bridegroom who's standing there in the front, and here comes the bride. But we don't realize that there is a living God who is a witness to that. He loves to see the marriage union, which is a picture of the marriage of the Lamb, a picture of the Lord Yeshua the Messiah, who is the one that is called the bridegroom.

When the bride will come to be with Him, she will spend with Him time in eternity. So here he's saying God is the witness. And look what you are doing, he's saying to the people of Judah, the people of Israel. He says, "You say why God does not receive your offering and your sacrifices? Look, it's because God is a witness. He was there when you married your wife or your husband. He was pleased when you two, who believed in the true and living God of Israel, were right there in your midst and He wanted to bless you."

But what you're going to do and what you have done? You put her away. Then you went and you married, you wanted to marry the daughters of those who do not believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Yet she is your companion. She's the wife of your covenant. She's the one that you married when you were young. Now look at you, you're getting older and where is she? You put her away. It grieved the heart of the Lord.

Sadly, in the professing church today, almost every second marriage is broken. They say that the marriage relationship in the professing church today is very similar to the unbelieving world. Every second marriage. It's amazing when you really think about it. And those of us whom the Lord has preserved in our marriage, it's nothing but the grace of God. We are not better. It is truly indeed only the grace of God that preserved us thus far.

In this next statement in verse 14, he says look, you have been unfaithful to the wife of your covenant. You've broken the marriage covenant and that is really that which dishonored the Lord when the people of Israel behaved in such a way. Israel is a wife of Jehovah. When marriages were broken and a man put away his own wife, in a sense, it's saying to God that our relationship with You is not really as You mentioned that it should be. The same thing with the church, with the body of Messiah.

When the marriages are broken, we are really saying that Christ the Messiah and the church are really not united. We can break it at any time. The scripture clearly says that the marriage union is a picture of the Christ, of the Messiah and the assembly, the church. So now in verse 15 and 16, look at this. This is the final message to them before he continues on. Malachi is asking Judah, "did not God make husband and wife one, echad?" You notice that he says to them in verse 15a, "And did not He," namely God, "make one?"

You remember what we just read in Genesis 2:24? Let a man leave his father and mother and cleave unto his own wife and the two, hashnaim, yihiyu l'echad. The two shall be echad, a compound unity, united together. Didn't God make it? Malachi is saying this to the people of Judah, to the people of Israel. This is the question that he asked them in verse 15. And not only so, beloved brothers and sisters, look at verse 15b. God mentioned that even the spirit of God was involved in the marriage union of believers.

Notice what he says here in verse 15, "did not He make one? Yet had He the residue of the spirit." The portion, the part in a marriage was involved by God Himself. The Holy Spirit of God is involved in a marriage union. Then he continued and he said, "And why, oh why one? Why does God make two people who believe in Him united in marriage as one? Why?" Look at the answer in verse 15b, "That He might seek a godly seed." A godly seed.

Not all believers have a godly seed, but a godly seed is what God desires in a marriage union. Now what's going to happen if there is one a believer and the other one is not a believer? How can the children be influenced by the things of the Lord? If the father says one thing and the mother says another thing, the one believes in one thing and one God and the other one believes in another, what kind of message do the children receive?

God wants blessing for the family. When a husband and wife have the same mind of the Lord, it helps them in their instruction of their children. The children have to make a decision for the Lord, and if they don't, God will deal with them, but at least it gives them a ground upon which they can stand and get instruction from the Lord. According to verse 15, He might seek a godly seed. That's what God wants. He wants His people to marry in the Lord, to have children, and their children will be influenced by spiritual things.

They themselves will continue to live for Him here in this world, especially in a world that rejects God and God's word. If the children will not hear the message of the word of God from their parents, they will hear something against God elsewhere. At least they have an umbrella under which they can be exposed to the word of God. They are responsible as they grow to the Lord by themselves, but at least God is seeking a godly seed.

In verse 15, Malachi asks Judah, he says did not God make of the two one, echad? By the way, the word echad in the Bible is a compound unity. You find it a few times in scripture, even in that which we recite every week. "Shema Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Echad." Here's the word echad. "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one." That word "one" is a compound unity that teaches us of the tri-unity of the godhead: the Father, the Son, the Spirit. Abba, Ben, Ruach HaKodesh.

The tri-unity of the godhead. There is one God, yet three persons in the godhead. There is one marriage, yet there are two people who are in that marriage union, echad, a compound unity. But no, they made a decision that they're going to put out their wives, the one that it says here is the wife of their covenant, so they can marry the unbelieving daughters of the nations of the world who did not believe in the true and living God. There was twofold problem that existed in those days among the restored remnant of the people of Israel.

Notice what it says here in verse 15 at the end. Therefore, God gives warning. "Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously," or unfaithfully, "against the wife of his youth." Notice he used the word "the wife of his youth." You know how many a man today was married 30 years ago and now they are in their retirement age and they look back to the time when they had the wife of their youth? The wife who knew them, the wife who took care of them, the wife who knew all their weaknesses and failure.

Because of the weaknesses that we have in our flesh, they put away their wives and they're getting older and they're all alone. They try to find some satisfaction elsewhere and they find out that they fail and the wife of their youth is no longer with them because they put her away. So now we conclude here in verse 16. The Lord God of Israel actually is declaring that He hates divorce. "For the Lord, the God of Israel, saith that He hateth putting away."

He hateth divorce. Why? One might ask. Look what divorce does. Divorce breaks homes. Divorce brings pain upon everyone. Divorce causes all sort of issues in a life of the people of God and brings all sort of problems in every area. God hates it because He wants the best for His people, whether it is Israel historically or whether it is the body of Messiah today. God hates divorce because He knows what divorce does.

The pain that goes along with divorce lingers and lingers and lingers unless God comes in in grace. The pain that divorce brings about to the life of families and children and individuals, imagine what it does. So God hates it. God gave warning to His people Israel. He gives warning to us today. Listen, you make sure that you do the best you can, trust Me and lean on Me to build your marriage union because eventually it's going to bring you blessing in your life if you will adhere to My voice, He's saying to us all.

He hates divorce. Notice what he says happens in divorce. "For one covereth violence with his garment," says the Lord of hosts. What does that mean, to cover with a garment? To put a cover on your bride, on your wife to be, speaks of you intending to marry her and she going to be yours and you're going to get married. But if you cover her and then in a sense put her away, what you do? You cover her in view of violence.

It brings trouble, pain, and sorrow. God is saying the best is to do My will, He's saying to Israel, He's saying to us today. He hates putting away, for one covereth violence with his garment, says the Lord of hosts. If you remember, it was when Boaz and Ruth went underneath Boaz's covering and he actually promised his protection for her and he took her to be his wife. Boaz and Ruth were in a line of Yeshua the Messiah and she became part of the genealogy of the birth of Yeshua, Jesus our Messiah.

At the end he closed that, "Therefore," he says, "take heed to your spirit that ye deal not treacherously." That you would deal not wrongfully, or that you will deal not in betrayal, but just be faithful. Trust Me and lean on Me and eventually I will bless you if you will only adhere to My words. Malachi is saying to the people of Judah. Beloved brothers and sisters, this is an amazing passage to read about a people that came back to the land, back to the sacrificial system.

Everything was back in order, yet disobedience brought about this. Isn't it the same in our life as well? When we disobey the Lord, eventually we lose out. God does not receive the glory that He deserves, and we end up losing out and later on we regret it and in a sense we cause for ourselves harm in our life as believers. Today there are many situations such as this. The people of God need to help each other to understand situations such as this.

Seek to be a blessing to those that have gone through these experiences and encourage them to come back to the word, to come back to the Lord. God is a God of restoration and He's able to restore those that have gone through experiencing such a situation. He loves His people and He desires to build His people and restore them back to Himself. May the Lord help us, especially these days. Can we say amen to that?

Guest (Male): You have 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 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.

Gideon Levytam: I hate divorce. For one covereth violence with his garment, says the Lord of hosts. The best is do My will. Adhere to My words. Amen. Shalom, shalom.