Holy Scriptures and Israel

Gideon Levytam: Shabbat Shalom. Please open your Bibles to Nehemiah Chapter 13. We read from verses 15 to verse 31. This is the last message on the beautiful book of Nehemiah, this Hebrew man that had on his heart to come back from Persia in order to rebuild the walls of the city of Jerusalem and to set up the gates thereof. He was so faithful that he did so in his work using the rest of the Jewish people who were in the land. They built the wall, and the final chapter, 13, is rather a sad chapter because it shows us how failure is rising up again and again among God's people, whether it is Israel, our people historically, or whether it is among the body of Messiah, among the believers in the church age. We can see how failure is part and parcel in the lives of God's people and how God desires constantly to remind us to be closer to Him.

So we read in Nehemiah Chapter 13 and verse 15. In those days saw I in Judah some treading wine presses on the Shabbat, and bringing in sheaves, and lading asses; as also wine, grapes, and figs, and all manner of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the Shabbat day: and I testified against them in the day wherein they sold victuals. There dwelt men of Tyre also therein, which brought fish, and all manner of ware, and sold on the Shabbat unto the children of Judah, and in Jerusalem.

Then I contended with the nobles of Judah and said unto them, "What evil thing is this that ye do, and profane the Shabbat day? Did not your fathers thus, and did not our God bring all this evil upon us, and upon this city? Yet ye bring more wrath upon Israel by profaning the Shabbat." And it came to pass, when the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark before the Shabbat, I commanded that the gates should be shut, and charged that they should not be opened till after the Shabbat: and some of my servants set I at the gates, that there should no burden be brought in on the Shabbat day.

So the merchants and sellers of all kind of ware lodged without Jerusalem once or twice. Then I testified against them and said unto them, "Why lodge ye about the wall? If ye do so again, I will lay hands on you." From that time forth came they no more on the Shabbat. And I commanded the Levites that they should cleanse themselves, and that they should come and keep the gates, to sanctify the Shabbat day. Remember me, O my God, concerning this also, and spare me according to the greatness of Thy mercy.

In those days also saw I Jews that had married wives of Ashdod, of Ammon, and of Moab: and their children spake half in the speech of Ashdod, and could not speak in the Jews' language, but according to the language of each people. And I contended with them, and cursed them, and smote certain of them, and plucked off their hair, and made them swear by God, saying, "Ye shall not give your daughters unto their sons, nor take their daughters unto your sons, or for yourselves. Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? Yet among many nations was there no king like him, who was beloved of his God, and God made him king over all Israel: nevertheless even him did outlandish women cause to sin.

Shall we then hearken unto you to do all this great evil, to transgress against our God in marrying strange wives?" And one of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was son-in-law to Sanballat the Horonite: therefore I chased him from me. Remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood, and the covenant of the priesthood, and of the Levites. Thus cleansed I them from all strangers, and appointed the wards of the priests and the Levites, every one in his business; and for the wood offering, at times appointed, and for the firstfruits. Remember me, O my God, for good.

This is the word of the Lord. As we read Nehemiah Chapter 13, we find it rather sad in the last days of our people Israel before the Messiah came. In fact, beloved brothers and sisters, the book of Nehemiah was written at the time when Nehemiah came from Persia and he returned back, and the book of Nehemiah was written actually as the last book in the Tanakh, in the Old Testament. Of course, we know that the book of Malachi is written at that time as well. But Malachi and Zechariah and Haggai preached to the return remnant who came back from Persia, and later on, more than 70 years, others came back. You would assume that things will be rather well after a time of being away from the Lord.

And you find out that in Nehemiah Chapter 13, there's rather a sad conclusion here to this servant of the Lord, the book of Nehemiah. 400 years later, guess who is going to come? The Messiah Yeshua is going to come, and He's the one who will present Himself as the Messiah of Israel. After 400 years of silence, the Messiah would arrive, and John the Baptist will say, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of this world." And unfortunately, when the Messiah Yeshua came, Israel as a nation did not accept Him as our Messiah, our Savior, and our Lord.

And so Chapter 13 is rather a sad conclusion to the book of Nehemiah. By the end of Chapter 12, they were celebrating the building of the wall. They were marching on the wall of Jerusalem. They were singing praises to the God of Israel. Things were rather well, and then Nehemiah went away for a short time, and when he comes back, what does he find? You notice, by the way, in Chapter 13 and verse 6, but in all this time was I not in Jerusalem, for in the two and thirtieth year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon came I unto the king, and after certain days obtained I a leave from the king, and I came to Jerusalem and understood the evil that was going on there.

Now imagine, you can just understand Nehemiah. He built the wall. He set up the gates. He encouraged the people of Judah to be restored to the Lord, and things seemed to be good for a while. But when he left, it didn't take too long, and things have crept in. And the people of Israel, the people of Judah departed from the ways of the Lord. If you remember, we pointed out a few things that happened in those days that Nehemiah was not there. Chapter 13, verses 1 to 3, they took Moabite and Ammonite wives for themselves. Then they made alliance with the priests and some of the people of Samaria that were there.

Then Nehemiah had to reclean the Temple again and to dedicate this to the Lord in verses 6 to 9. And the last point that we find out in verses 10 to 14, he restored the portion that belonged to God's servants. In fact, what happened is that God's servants gave up on ministering the word of God among God's people, Judah, the Jewish people, because others have crept in, took their place, and the Levites could no longer serve among the people of Israel.

And so now, beloved brothers and sisters, in these verses 15 to verse 31, I want to highlight a few more things that were really problematic when Nehemiah returned and he found out that things were going on in the land of Israel. The first thing I want you to notice is that it was important for our Jewish people of old to maintain and to keep the day that God has dedicated to the nation of Israel, the seventh day of the week called the Shabbat in Hebrew. This is the only name that any day is given in the Bible to a certain day.

The word Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday are not biblical names. In Hebrew, we call them the first day, the second day, the third day, the fourth day, the fifth day, the sixth day. And the only day that has a name in the Hebrew Scripture is the seventh day, and it is called Shabbat. God made a covenant with our people of old, the people of Israel, and He gave Israel as a nation this Shabbat as a sign of the covenant that He made with His beloved nation, the nation of Israel. So when Nehemiah comes back after being away for a while, not only that things were wrong in other areas, but he discovered that the Shabbat day, which ought to be hallowed by the nation of Israel, was not.

And so in verses 15, 16, 17, and 18, he describes the violation of the Shabbat day by our nation of old, the nation of Israel. Well, let me tell you, I just came back of course from Israel, and of course, you find out when the Shabbat day comes, the stores are not open, the buses do not run, the people do not go to work. The religious community is going to the synagogue. They do not have any manner of work in their lives. They don't hold money in their hands. They do nothing of a sort but simply devoting the day to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

It's not been done by all our people, the people of Israel, but the conservative people surely devote themselves to keep the Shabbat day unto the Lord. Now the rabbis over the years, the generations, they took the verses from the Bible and they added certain regulations how to keep the Shabbat day, and there is about 1,500 instructions on how to keep a Shabbat day unto the Lord. But the God of Israel gave clear instruction to Israel how to maintain the day for Him.

And so you notice as I'm reading what Nehemiah tells us in verse 15. In those days saw I in Judah some of the people instead of devoting this day to the Lord, they find themselves working, carrying all sorts of things, buying and selling on that very day that God had instructed Israel to keep as unto Him hallowed. Listen to this. "In those days saw I in Judah some treading wine presses on the Shabbat, and bringing in sheaves, and lading asses; as also wine, grapes, and figs, and all manner of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the Shabbat day: and I testified against them in the day wherein they sold victuals."

Now can you imagine, the people of Israel who were called to hallow the Shabbat day find themselves buying and selling and carrying and doing all sort of things on that day that God have asked them under the law, Exodus Chapter 20, "This day will be hallowed by you, people of Israel." Look with me in Exodus Chapter 20 verse 7. We read in verse 7, God said to Israel when He gave them the Torah, the law, "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain." But notice verse 8, "Remember the Shabbat day to keep it holy. Le-kadesh in Hebrew, to set it apart. Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work: but notice how God mentioned the seventh day is, and He giving it a name here, the Shabbat of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates." Verse 11 said, "For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that in them is, and He rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Shabbat day and hallowed it."

Israel have received a command from the Lord not to do any manner of work on that Shabbat day. But Nehemiah, coming back after being away, and what does he see? Some treading wine presses, bringing sheaves, lading the donkeys, as also wine, grapes, figs, and all manner of burden which they brought into Jerusalem on the Shabbat day. So what does Nehemiah have to do? You see Nehemiah lived in the last days before there was a silence of 400 years between the days of Nehemiah and Malachi until the days when the Messiah has come, and what does he do? He is charging and challenging those Jewish individuals that act in such a way.

You know Nehemiah lived in those days. He understood God's command for them, and he submitted himself to this, and he expected the people of Judah to do so in the same way, and so he charged them, he testified against them. Notice he says, "Listen, if the Lord have instructed our people of Israel to keep the day unto Him, we must remember that we are to submit to His authority." Now go to Exodus Chapter 35. There's an additional instruction for Israel. In Chapter 31, he mentioned that this is the sign of the covenant that God made with the nation of Israel. And here in Chapter 35, the first few verses, the Lord continued to give instruction to Israel through Moses.

And Moses gathered all the congregation of the children of Israel together and he said unto them, "These are the words which the Lord has commanded that ye should do them." Notice verse 2 and verse 3. "Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be to you an holy day, a Shabbat of rest to the Lord." Listen how strict it was. "Whosoever does work therein shall be put to death." Look at verse 3. "Ye shall kindle no fire throughout your habitation upon the Shabbat day." It was not a suggestion for Israel of old. It was a command. If one does not keep the Shabbat or do any manner of work, he is going to put to death.

One could not even light a fire on a Shabbat day. In Numbers Chapter 15 tells us that he was stoned when he did such a thing on the Shabbat day. That was even long before the rabbis gave interpretation to this. This was a biblical instruction by the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And so Nehemiah is acting upon it. He says, "Listen, this is the command from the Lord. You cannot do so." And so we read in verse 16 that it was not only that the Israelis have done so, but at that time they were mingling and affiliating with the nations around them, and so in verse 16, we find out that some men from a place called Tyre or Tzor in Hebrew, this is present-day Lebanon, he says they came and they knew that they could do so.

And so what did they do? Verse 16. "There dwelt men of Tyre also therein, which brought fish, and all manner of ware, and sold on the Shabbat unto the children of Judah, and in Jerusalem." Can you imagine, you know they say, "Okay, well, if the people of Judah themselves buying and selling and working and so on, well, we can do business also. So we're going to bring fish from Tyre, from Tzor, from Lebanon, and we're going to bring also all manner of ware, all kind of things to sell, and we're going to sell them on a Shabbat day." So they brought it to the city of Jerusalem and they were selling it to the people of Judah, to the people of Israel.

Now of course, beloved brothers and sisters, if the people of Israel violate God's law, God's word, well, the people of the nations around them will do so the same. For them, it doesn't matter because it didn't apply to them. They said, "Well, we're going to make some business with the people of Judah and we're going to bring the stuff and we can sell it to them in the city of Jerusalem." Now I want to remind you that earlier before Nehemiah had gone to Persia for a while to the king, they already made a commitment that they are not going to violate God's word. But they did it again. If you just go back in Nehemiah to Chapter 10, and notice what it says in verse 31.

In those days the people, the priests, and the Levites already made a covenant with God, and we read here in verse 31, "And if the people of the land bring ware or any victuals on the Shabbat day to sell, we would not buy it of them on the Shabbat or on the holy day that we would leave the seventh year and the exaction of every debt." In other words, they are saying to them, "Listen." They made a commitment already to God like you and I many times make a commitment to the Lord. "Lord, I'm not going to do so. I promise you, I'm going to commit myself. I'm going to be faithful in doing so." But it doesn't take too long and we break our commitments to the Lord.

The priests and the Levites and the people of Israel already a few years earlier devoted themselves. They said, "We will not buy and sell from the people of the land who are going to come from Tyre and elsewhere. We are not going to do so." But they violated God's way. It didn't take too long. Now, are we any better? Are we superior than them? We know very well how oftentimes we as believers in Yeshua the Messiah in this present-day dispensation fail the Lord many, many times. How oftentimes we are not submitting to His authority, and we are not better. We just can see what Israel have done in the past. We too do so in this present day.

And that's why the Apostle Paul said all these things happen unto them as an example for you and I. 1st Corinthians 10, Romans Chapter 15 verse 4. Whatsoever things happened aforetime were written for our learning. We can learn from their experience and apply this to ourself. So in verse 15, some of our Jewish people have done so. In verse 16, some of the Goyim, of the Gentiles from Tyre have done so on a Shabbat day. Now in verse 17 and 18, Nehemiah contended with the nobles of Judah. And so we read, "And I contended with the nobles of Judah, and I said unto them, 'What evil thing is this that ye do, and profane the Shabbat day?'"

You know it became an evil, in Hebrew we call it Ra or Ra-a. They are doing in violating maintaining the Shabbat day. That's why sometime brothers and sisters some of our Jewish people, and I remember that in my life with my grandfather who was so strong in keeping the Shabbat day to the extent that he will not allow any one of us that was within his area to violate this. Shabbat day, you are not working. Shabbat day, you are going to the synagogue. Shabbat day, you are keeping to the Lord. Shabbat day, you cannot do certain things that you do on the six days of the week.

And he was so strong in that. My grandmother as well was preparing the Shabbat. The Shabbat is like a bride that was coming to be accepted by our Jewish people. Over the years it had been introduced in such a way. And so Nehemiah said to the nobles, "Why are you doing this evil thing? You profaning the Shabbat day." And by the way, those nobles, it's called Chorei Yehudah. These are the leaders of Israel. The nobles. They did not set the example, and the word contended come from the word Lariv or Ariva. He was fighting and arguing with them because he took the word of God for what it says, and he challenged them.

And so he reminded them. You know, brothers and sisters, again, in Israel's history and in the body of Messiah's history, it's the same old story. All the time when things happen to us in our lives that lead us astray from God, it happened before. And if we haven't learned from the past, the Lord will allow us to learn from experience. And he said to them in verse 18, "Did not your fathers thus? Didn't they do the same thing? And did not our God bring all this evil upon us, and upon this city? Yet ye bring more wrath upon Israel by profaning the Shabbat." He says, "Don't you remember, brethren?" he saying to them. "The reason that we were in Bavel, the reason that God brought Nebuchadnezzar and sent us to Bavel for 70 years, our fathers, is because the very same thing, disobedience to the word of God."

And we, you and I, can say this as believers in the body of Messiah, believers in Yeshua the Messiah, how many times when we disobey the word of the Lord, whether it is in one area or another that He gave us instruction in the B'rit Hadashah, He allow us to experience the consequence of disobedience. And when we don't obey, we don't learn from mistakes that our fathers have done or other believers have done in the past, we repeat the very same thing and then later on we say, "Lord, I should have not done that. I should have think before. I should have prayed before. I should have waited on You. I should have submit to Your authority." You remember King Saul, Samuel had to tell him, "Obedience is better than sacrifice." Saul, if you would obey the word of the Lord, you would have not lose the kingdom. But he didn't obey and he lost the kingdom. He played the fool. He thought he knew better than God. And unfortunately, we are not different than this. Turn to the prophet Jeremiah with me for a second. He reminded Israel about the fact that our fathers have done so in the past. And that's the reason why they found themselves in Bavel because God have judged the people of Judah when they disobey His word. Look at Jeremiah Chapter 17, in verse 21. He says those words, "Thus saith the Lord: Israel, take heed to yourselves..."