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. Today we are going to start another study of another book. I would like to go back to the Tanakh, to the Old Testament. We're going to go to the book of Nehemiah. In Hebrew, we call the man Nehemiah. I would like you, please, to turn with me to Nehemiah, chapter one. I would like today, as an introduction, only to read the first three verses. Then we will make some introduction, we will look at that book, and see what the Lord has for us, beloved brothers and sisters.

So I'm reading the first three verses of Nehemiah, chapter one. "The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. And it came to pass in the month Chisleu, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the palace, that Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem. And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire."

This is the passage that I'm going to read so far in this ministry meeting, but I would like to connect with it two New Testament verses. If you please turn with me to Romans, chapter 15 and verse 4. Paul wrote to the brothers and sisters at Rome and he said to them, "For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope."

Then turn to 1 Corinthians, chapter 10 and verse 11. This verse often we quote that in our ministry meetings and Bible studies. And there the Apostle Paul says to the brothers and sisters at Corinth, "Now all these things happened unto them," namely our people of old, the people of Israel, "for an ensample: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the age are come."

Now when we study such a book as the book of Nehemiah, we have to realize that all these things that happened to our forefathers, namely the people of Israel, became for you and I as believers in this present day dispensation a great lesson. It's like a picture book to teach us certain things on how you and I are to behave in the time in which you and I are living, just before the Messiah is going to come. We would call it the Laodicean age, the last moment before the Messiah Yeshua is going to come for his own and then ultimately to come to restore the nation of Israel back to himself.

So when we study the book of Nehemiah, we want to look a little bit in this and see how does that apply to you and I, believers in the Lord Yeshua the Messiah, today. I would like to go a little bit, brothers and sisters, over the historical setting here that we have in the book of Nehemiah. You see, our forefathers left the land of Egypt. They have been for 40 years in the wilderness, in the midbar as we say in Hebrew. And they were just on the shore of the Jordan River, ready to enter into the Promised Land, the land of Canaan.

God gave a warning to the nation of Israel. Let me read you this warning found in Deuteronomy, chapter 28 and verse 58. God gave his nation Israel prior to entering into the Promised Land. The word of the Lord came to Israel and he says, "If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful name, THE LORD THY GOD."

Then go down to verse 63. "And it shall come to pass, that as the Lord rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you; so the Lord will rejoice over you to destroy you, and to bring you to nought; and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest to possess it. And the Lord shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and stone."

"And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest: but the Lord shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind: And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt have none assurance of thy life." Now just pause with me for a moment. Even before Israel our nation entered into the Promised Land, God gave our forefathers the warning.

He says, "Listen, I'm going to bring you into this land that I promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I'm going to give you this land because I have intended to give it to you, my people Israel. But here's the condition: If you are going to enter into the land and if you are not going to observe the law and the words that I have given unto you, I am telling you, I'm going to remove you out of this land and I'm going to scatter you among the nations of the world. And you're going to be a people that are dispersed. And there you will have a trembling heart, failing eyes, and sorrow of mind, and you will have no peace."

Now that happened before Israel even entered into the Promised Land. But lo and behold, beloved brothers and sisters, we are talking about the historical setting of the book of Nehemiah. Israel entered into the Promised Land. Israel conquered much of the land, not everything, but yet Israel experienced a time of disobedience and rejection of the Lord and influence by the nations around. And they did not obey the word of the Lord.

And I would like you to see what happened as Israel as a nation entered into the Promised Land. Then God gave our own nation, the nation of Israel, the kings to rule over the nation of Israel. But of course, why did he give them the king? Because our own people rejected the Lord from being a King over them. And they said, "Make us a king," the book of Samuel teaches us this, "that we will be like all the other nations."

So God gave Israel a king. And the king was the first king called Saul. And he was the first king of Israel. He was head and shoulders above everyone else. The people look up to this man, they look much at him, and he found out to be a failing king. Instead of leading our own nation to follow after the God of our fathers, Saul led our people astray. And he oppressed our people. He oppressed the nation of Israel.

And they cried for help and God had to choose another king, a king that would be a man after his own heart. And so he chose David. And you notice that from the year about 1040 BC, the beginning of the kingdom, the kings over our nation Israel, then we have the first king Saul, the second king David, and the third king Solomon. Saul, David, and Solomon, the kings of Israel. And they reigned from about 1040 to about 960 BC. Those were the kings of Israel, especially those three kings of Israel.

And what happened then? The nation of Israel again continued with rebellion against God. And the nation of Israel right now, because of Rehoboam, the son of King Solomon, he was oppressing, you might say, the nation of Israel and the kingdom was divided. And now from about 960 BC till about 605 BC, we have a divided nation. What we have is the Northern Kingdom called Israel, the ten tribes, and the Southern Kingdom called Judah. There were two different groups of kings who reigned over those two kingdoms. Imagine, the people of God now a divided nation.

And I would like to mention again, all these things happened unto them, namely Israel, for our learning, the learning of the believers in the present day dispensation of the Ecclesia, of the church, of the kehila, of the body of Messiah. Because everything began good, but it didn't take too long and the people of God became divided companies. Just like today, beloved brothers and sisters, the church, the body of Messiah is so divided, is so scattered, is so broken into pieces.

And that is exactly the time when the Lord is preparing himself to come and to take the people away from this world and to bring them to himself. But you notice the Northern Kingdom of Israel. It didn't take too long. They builded this golden calf in the north in Dan. And they worshipped the golden calf just like our fathers when they came out of Egypt. And instead of going to the city of Jerusalem to worship in Jerusalem, they ended up worshipping the golden calf in the north.

And they builded themselves all sorts of things and they didn't follow the instruction that God gave to the tribe of Judah. Well, in 722 BC, we don't read it here, the Assyrian came and took to Assyria all the ten tribes of the north. They have been taken captive and they have scattered them all throughout Assyria. And they left a little minority there and they mixed them up, and that's how we get the people that are called the Samaritans. They are mixed breed. They lived in the north of Israel in Samaria. And what happened? They have departed totally from the will of the Lord.

But Judah remained somewhat faithful. You had some good kings, you had some bad kings from the tribe of Judah, from the Southern Kingdom of Israel. And later on in about 606 BC, 605 BC, the tribe of Judah, the Southern Kingdom was taken captive by the king of Babylon by the name of Nebuchadnezzar. And so we read in the Bible, beloved brothers and sisters, that there were three times in which the Jewish remnant from the tribe of Judah, the southern tribe, were taken captive.

From 605 BC it was the first time. At that time, Daniel was taken captive. Then in 597 BC, Jehoiachin and other of the remnant of Israel were taken captive to Babylon. And in the third time that Nebuchadnezzar and his army came, Zedekiah in 586 BC, he himself was taken captive and the rest of the nation. The temple in Jerusalem was burned and destroyed. The walls of Jerusalem were completely broken. The gates of the city of Jerusalem were torn to pieces and broken down. And our people of old, the Jewish people, were for 70 years in the land of Babylon.

And why? Because they did not obey the word of the Lord, like you and I. When we don't obey the word of the Lord, we have broken fences and broken gates and a burned out spiritual enjoyment of the things of the Lord because just like our people of old have departed from the ways of the Lord, you and I as believers of this church age find ourselves many times in a very similar condition and similar situation.

Now please turn with me to Jeremiah, chapter 25. And we want to see the historical setting because it is very important if we are going to understand. And so God gave this warning through the prophet Jeremiah to our people of old, the people of Israel. And he said in chapter 25 and verse 8: "Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts; Because ye have not heard my words, Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the Lord, and Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual desolations."

"Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the candle. And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years."

"And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the Lord, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations. And I will bring upon that land all my words which I have pronounced against it, even all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah hath prophesied against all the nations."

Now notice again, beloved brothers and sisters, please look at this chart with me. You notice that the promise was that right here at about 605 BC, 606 BC, according to Jeremiah's prophecy in verse 11 of chapter 25, that the people of Judah, the Southern Kingdom now, will be taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar and they will remain in Babylon for 70 years. And the very Jewish people of ours who have had the land, have enjoyed the land and the many blessings that God had intended for them, now they find themselves for 70 years by the rivers of Babylon.

We find that the reason for that is because Israel, the Southern Kingdom also, like the Northern Kingdom, did not submit themselves to the word of the Lord. And so they were now for 70 years in the land of Babylon. And the Jewish people who once enjoyed the things of the Lord find themselves away from the city of Jerusalem for 70 years.

That is in our own personal experience in our life, not only as Jewish people who are somehow connected with the nation of Israel, but in the body of Messiah. Because we did not submit to the Lord, we didn't humble ourselves before him. Because pride rose in our hearts and self-will came into our life and we thought that we can do very well without the Lord, we will be fine. And how many times we find local churches broken into pieces, and we can only say, "I remember when things were so nice some years ago." And instead of standing for the Lord and for his own purpose and will in our life, we allowed things to creep into our life and we ended up really suffering the consequences of our own sins and our own self-will.

Now turn with me to Daniel, chapter 9. When Israel now have been in Babylon for 70 years, God gave a promise that he will restore them according to Jeremiah, chapter 25. And Daniel who was now in Babylon understood that the 70 years were going to get over and now is the time to be restored to the land. And so Daniel prayed.

And when he prayed, beloved brothers and sisters, God responded to him. Actually, the whole ninth chapter is the prayer of Daniel and the response of the Lord to Daniel. In chapter 9 and verse 21, it says, "Yea, whiles I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation. And he informed me, and talked with me, and said," and Gabriel began to give instruction to Daniel.

And he gave him a prophetic message that not only is speaking about the restoration of the people of Judah back to the land of Israel, but concerning the coming of the Messiah. And notice that, beloved brothers and sisters, in Daniel, chapter 9 and verse 24. He said, "Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy."

"Know therefore," this is verse 25 now, "and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall even in troublous times. And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined."

Here he said to him, "Listen, seventy weeks are determined upon thy people," this is the people of Israel, "and upon thy holy city," this is the city of Jerusalem. And so I want you to notice here that there is a 70 years of our people Israel that were in exile in Babylon. When the 70 years are over, Daniel is praying. And he is asking the Lord, the God of heaven, the God of our nation Israel, he says, "Listen God, you promised to restore our people to the land. You promised to bring us back to the land. Are you going to do so? We confess our sins and our failure. God, we want the restoration of the nation of Israel."

And lo and behold, God gave him this prophetic word from verses 24 on. But you see, he gave him additional information. Not only 70 years are going to pass by and the Jewish people will be restored, but he gave him a prophetic message about the time when the Messiah himself is going to come, and when the Messiah will be cut off and he will die on behalf of the nation of Israel and the nations of the world, and that ultimately there will be a restoration and a blessing.

But certain things had to happen before all this is going to transpire. And so he mainly said to him that the Messiah is going to come and to accomplish an amazing work. Number one, to finish transgression. Number two, to make an end of sins. Number three, for a reconciliation for iniquity. Number four, to bring in an everlasting righteousness. Number five, to seal up the vision and the prophecy. And number six, to anoint the most Holy.

That is yet is awaiting a future day. But 70 years have passed by and the time to restore the people of Israel back to the land is now going to start when Daniel prayed for the Lord's restoration of the Jewish people to Israel. And so, just like there were three deportation, or three times when the people of Israel were in exile, there was also three returns back to the land. And here is where we are right here in this last portion of the chart.

You see, in about 538 BC, the first return of the Jewish remnant from Babylon began. Zerubbabel led about 50,000 Jewish people to return back to rebuild the temple in the city of Jerusalem. You read it in the first six chapters of the book of Ezra. Then in 457 BC, Ezra came to beautify the temple in Jerusalem. Not only that it was built already, but it needed to be beautified. They brought all sort of material, all sort of things with them to beautify the temple in the city of Jerusalem. He came, if I'm correct, with about 1,500 Jewish people.

The vast majority of the Jewish people still remain in Babylon. That's where the story of Esther happened. It happened to the Jewish people who did not return to the land of Israel neither under Zerubbabel nor under Ezra. They were still left in Babylon in the land of Bavel. But now when we arrive to the book of Nehemiah, we are at about 444, 445 BC. When Nehemiah himself was going to go to the land of Israel, to the city of Jerusalem, Ezra and Zerubbabel had built the temple and had beautified the temple.

But there was still a problem there. The gates were still burned. The walls of the city were still torn into pieces and broken down. It was Nehemiah's exercise of heart and soul that he wanted so badly, he was so concerned with his Jewish brethren and with the city of Jerusalem that he wanted not only now to build the temple which was already in existence, but he wanted to build a wall around the city of Jerusalem and to fix the gates in order that the people will be in two ways preserved.

The reason that you have a wall is because of protection from the nations around. The reason that you have a wall is for separation from those that will try to come in and influence God's people. And this is an amazing truth for us to understand, beloved brothers and sisters. You and I are to have an exercise like Nehemiah had, to have those two things in mind when we are building the walls around the body of Messiah, you and I might say.

Why? Because there's so many things that are happening to the people of God, things that are hindering them from spiritual growth and breaking down and hurting the lives of the people of God. And on a personal level, how many people have broken lives? How many people of God have lives that are broken to pieces? They have turned away from the Lord. They're not attending meetings anymore. They don't read the Bibles anymore. They don't worship Yeshua the Messiah anymore. What happened? Well, disobedience, like in the lives of our forefathers, happened at times in the lives of God's people.

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, P.O. 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.