Holy Scriptures and Israel

Announcer: 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: This study of Nehemiah chapter 2. This word for queen is not the normal word that we use in scripture. The word that we use in scripture for queen is Malkah. Melek for king, Malkah for queen. The first time the word Malkah is mentioned in the Bible is in 1 Kings chapter 10 and verse 1 about the Queen of Sheba, Malkat Sh'va. She came to visit King Solomon.

The word here is not Malkah. The word here in Hebrew is Shegal. This word Shegal is only mentioned twice in the Tanakh. One time here, and another time in Psalm 45 you find the word is Shegal. When it says the queen also sitting by him, the word Shegal can also mean more than just a queen. It could be a companion, it could have been a person that is related to the king. It's not necessarily the word Malkah.

Some Bible teachers believe that this queen or this Shegal that was sitting by him may be Esther, the queen that was married to Ahasuerus, Xerxes, the one who was the father of this man. If he was her son, she may very well have a great influence upon this man by the name of Artaxerxes. You remember Esther is the name that she has in the diaspora, but her Hebrew name is Hadassah.

She became the queen married to King Xerxes, who had embraced her to be his wife. You remember Vashti had to be taken out of the way. Queen Esther was chosen from all the beautiful women in Persia at that time. It may very well be that this was the Queen Esther who is the Shegal here in this verse that had an impact upon him and influenced him to give Nehemiah the room to go to care not only of Nehemiah's people, but it was Esther's people.

You remember how Esther saved all our Jewish people in the time when Haman wanted to kill all the Jewish people years before. The Spirit of God, by divine design, put in this clause 'the queen also sitting by him'. Here is the king's statement. He says, "For how long shall thy journey be? And when wilt thou return?" So it pleased the king to send me, and I set him a time.

The king didn't want to lose Nehemiah. He was such a faithful servant. He had to let him go because he sensed the urgency that he had in his heart. He said to him, "Nehemiah, how long you will go, and when you will return?" He wanted him to come back. It says here at the end of verse 6, "So it pleased the king to send me, and I set him a time."

How long a time Nehemiah would give him we do not know, but if you turn to chapter 5 and verse 14, you will notice that Nehemiah had gone for 12 years. It says in verse 14 of Nehemiah chapter 5, "Moreover, from the time that I was appointed to be the governor in the land of Judah, from the 20th year even unto the two and 30th year of Artaxerxes the king, that is 12 years, and I and my brethren have not eaten the bread of the governor."

In chapter 5 we learn that for 12 years he had gone to Judea, to Jerusalem. If you read in chapter 13, after 12 years he had gone back to the king and then he returned back to the city of Jerusalem. For 12 years, Nehemiah left Shushan the Palace, the city of Shushan. He went to Jerusalem. He built and he worked around the city of Jerusalem in the land of Israel, and he only returned after 12 years.

I don't know what happened, maybe he sent information to the king and said, "Listen, I need more time to stay to finish the job that I have here," and the king allowed him. But the king asked this twofold question: "How long is your journey going to be, and when will you return?" Nehemiah, how long it's going to take, when you're going return? I set him a time. The word for time, z'man, simply means that he set up a certain time, but apparently it took him 12 years to help with the situation in the land of Judea.

Number one, he requested that he be sent by himself. Number two now, beloved brothers and sisters, in verse 7 he requested letters. Nehemiah was a very practical man. He was not merely a person who was heavenly minded but no earthly good. Practically, he knew what he was doing and so in verse 7 he says, "Moreover I said unto the king, if it please the king, let letters be given to the governors beyond the river that they may convey me over until I come unto Judah."

He knew very well what was going to happen. He was going to cross the Euphrates river and as he arrived in the land of Israel, the governors might say to him, "Who sent you? How can you come to this area? Who gave you permission?" Nehemiah said, "I want those letters from the king." Notice letters here are plural because everywhere he went, there were governors there.

Can you imagine if he passed through an area with a new governor, and everyone needed to get a letter from the King Artaxerxes saying that he gave the permission for Nehemiah to come into the city of Judea. He was very wise. It's not only enough to pray to the Lord. We have to trust the Lord, but we also have to take responsibility to be practical.

A believer is not only heavenly minded, but is also responsible in a practical way here in his or her life. Nehemiah was very practical. Yes, he prayed and he trusted the Lord, but he was not waiting there and doing nothing. He was taking responsibility. I'm going to pass the river. I'm going to have those rulers there. What I'm going to tell them? They will ask me some questions. Well, here's the letter from King Artaxerxes. He gave me permission to come to the land of Israel and to the city of Jerusalem.

A third request is found in verse 8. We find out that he is asking for an additional singular letter. Notice that in verse 7 it's a plurality of letters for the governors, but in verse 8, it was a singular letter to the man by the name of Asaph. "And a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the king's forest that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace which appertain to the house and for the wall of the city and for the house that I shall enter into. And the king granted me according to the good hand of my God upon me."

The third thing that he does is trust the Lord and share with the king. But wait a minute, when I go to the land of Israel and I have to build a wall, what am I going to build them with? I need some material. I need timber, I need wood. I need to be able to build the walls of the city of Jerusalem and the gates. He asked for timber and he asked for a letter for Asaph. He's the keeper of the king's forest.

He asked from Asaph to give him lumber. Can you imagine him coming to Asaph and giving him this letter? Asaph may very well be on the other side of the river close to the Judea area, but he will give him the material to build the walls of Jerusalem and the gates. If we are going to build, we have to build with some material. While here it was physical material, in our building of the body of Messiah, it is also spiritual material.

Yesterday in our Bible class of 2 Corinthians, the Apostle Paul showed us what kind of material he used for the building of the body of Messiah. Notice what it says in 2 Corinthians chapter 6, verse 4: "But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God." We minister to God. We serve the people of God. We approved ourselves as a servant of God.

Then he gives us a list. How did we minister? In much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in watchings, in fastings, by pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Spirit, by the love unfeigned. Verse 7: "By the word of the truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left."

Paul, how did you minister? How did you build? He says look at the material that we use in building. If we are going to serve the people of God, it must be with an attitude that is pleasing to the Lord. Verses 6 and 7 tell us by pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering. Longsuffering in ministering to the people of God is very long. It involves patience and trials that come in the lives of the people.

By love unfeigned love, he says. By the word of truth, by the power of God. It was not done by our own power. It was done by the power of God. Of course, Nehemiah was also gracious and loving to the people of God, but he used material. We are talking about the spiritual house of God. If we are to build the body of Messiah, we ought to use the kind of spiritual material that will be edifying and a blessing to the body of Messiah.

Nehemiah so beautifully requested to send himself, asked for letters for the governors, and asked for a letter for the one who is responsible over the timber. It says in verse 8, "But when the king granted me," Nehemiah understood that it was according to the good hand of my God upon me. The king gave him this permission and gave him all the letters, but Nehemiah understood that behind the king, there was a loving God, the God of Israel.

He is the one that in His good hand allowed me to receive this. In every service we do, really we are using things that the Lord has given to us to do, but behind everything, it's the good hand of God upon us as we serve Him in the ministry. It is beautiful to see that in the life of Nehemiah. I want to mention one or two things about this passage. I mentioned it earlier, but I just want to re-emphasize it one more time.

We need people like Nehemiah today. We need brothers and sisters who want to serve the believers in these dark days in which we live. Yeshua, Jesus is coming soon. The church age will soon draw to an end. In fact, the time that we live in today is very similar to the time in which Nehemiah lived. While there is a restoration to the truth of the word of God that happened a few hundred years ago, in the Dark Ages, they didn't have the Bible in their hands.

They were not teaching the Bible. There was a revival in church history in the 1800s. Chronologically in the seven churches of Asia Minor, there was a revival and the truth of the word of God and the preaching of the gospel went forth into this world. We see that as time passes by, there is a decline. We really live very similarly to the days of Nehemiah.

The temple was built in Jerusalem, but everything else was broken into pieces. The walls were broken down and the gates were burned with fire. Like today, we live in very similar days. How do you and I handle the situation today when we can see that everything is broken to pieces? On every corner you have a church building. This one has this name, the other one has that name. It is such a salad that you never know where to go or who teaches the truth. What shall we do?

Paul warned Timothy. In 2 Timothy chapter 3, verse 1 he says, "This know also, that in the last days 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, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away, Timothy."

Paul wrote this 2,000 years ago, but he wrote about now, in the last days. Nehemiah was now coming back to rebuild the walls. The temple was already rebuilt, but everything else was still broken. There was discouragement and everything was broken down. We live at exactly the same time today of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Paul's writing to Timothy.

In 2 Timothy chapter 2, verse 19 he says, "Nevertheless the foundation of God stand sure, having this seal: The Lord knoweth them that are his." Timothy, you might not know who belongs to me, but the Lord knows. The foundation of God stands sure. It doesn't change even though there is a chaotic condition. Verse 19: "Let every one that nameth the name of the Lord depart from iniquity."

Verse 20 is a very interesting verse: "But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; some to honor and some to dishonor. If any man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified and meet for the master's use and prepared unto every good work." The days will come in this so-called body of Messiah where things are not always going to go well.

There will be a decline in the last days. Things are going to be so bad that the house of God is now considered to be a great house. This is what we would call today Christendom. Many have many names. "Oh yeah, I believe in Jesus, but he's not God. Oh, I believe in Jesus, but he's not born of a virgin birth. I believe in the Bible, but there is no triunity in the Bible. I believe in God, but you can lose your salvation."

I don't know if somebody knocked on your door lately saying that they are from the Jehovah's Witnesses. They believe in Jehovah and they are witnesses for Jehovah, but Yeshua is not divine. He is an angel or something like that. This is the condition of the professing church in the last days. I'm using the word church because Yeshua used the word ecclesia, called-out ones. In the last days, that will be the condition, Timothy.

Should we say God is not true? Paul said to Timothy, "No. Nevertheless the foundation of the Lord of God stand sure. We may fail, God's people may fail, but God's word will never fail. We can trust God's word. We can lean on God's word." How are we going to handle it in a great house? You have all kinds of vessels. Some are vessels of silver, some of gold, but also you have vessels of earth and wood.

Some are honoring the Lord and some are dishonoring the Lord. If a man or a woman therefore purge himself from these, then he or she shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified and meet for the master's use and prepared unto every good work. We need people like Nehemiah today because he prepared his heart as a vessel to be a blessing to the people of Israel.

He longed to help build, to set up the walls and the gates so the people would be established, encouraged, and blessed by the things of God. His name, Nehemiah, means the comfort of Jehovah. That's the kind of man he was. Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning. We need to ask the Lord to help us as we too are called to serve Him in a time such as this.

Finally, beloved brothers and sisters, Nehemiah is ready to go. He is going to go to the city of Jerusalem, to the land of his forefathers, to the place where he had so much yearned to go. In verse 9 it says, "I came to the governors beyond the river and I gave them the king's letters." He went very wisely. "Here's a letter for you, and here's a letter for you, and here's a letter for you. I have permission by King Artaxerxes."

God worked in the heart of the King Artaxerxes. It says in verse 9b: "The king had sent captains of the armies and horsemen with me." Can you imagine? The king sent along with him people to protect him and the captain himself. Probably 11, 12, 13 years ago, I went to Saint Petersburg in Russia to preach the gospel on the streets. I'll never forget that.

We were a group of Messianic Jewish people handing out tracts when the Iron Curtain fell, so it must be more than 25 years ago. I am so thankful because they gave me a personal guard. I was handing out my tracts and all of a sudden a man came to me and said, "This is Israeli propaganda." I shivered because what was I, a Jew, doing in Russia? All the Jews leave Russia, and this Jewish guy comes to Russia.

I said, "What in the world am I doing?" When you are younger, you are not thinking so much. Of course we had a heart desire to serve the Lord. But when this guy came and he said to me, "You come with me," in Russian, and I didn't understand much Russian. I know now a little bit more, slava bogu and so on. Nevertheless, this man who was my guard said, "What do you want from him? Leave him alone." And the guy left me alone.

We had guards that were just watching over us because they knew that was a tough time to be there handing out tracts on the streets of Saint Petersburg. I know I need to trust the Lord. Nehemiah could trust the Lord. He said the Lord would protect him, but it sure was something else when he came and said, "Here are the letters, and by the way, this is the guy who is the captain of the army and the horsemen of King Artaxerxes."

I can assure you that the governor said, "Quickly, go pass along. You not only have the letters, but you have the horsemen who came along to protect." Of course Nehemiah trusted the Lord, but it sure was a great help that the Lord provided for him that protection as he entered into the land of Israel and to the city of Jerusalem. Finally, brothers and sisters, look what happened in verse 10.

You would think that when Nehemiah comes to Jerusalem to help the Jewish people that everybody would be happy. It says in verse 10, "When Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel." It grieved them. This man Sanballat and the other man Tobiah were known to us as the Samaritans, who already opposed the children of Judah.

Remember the Samaritans, we talked about it in John 4 with the Samaritan woman. We can share a little bit more about it in our next ministry meeting. If you quickly turn to Nehemiah 4 verses 1 and 2 where we read: "But it came to pass that when Sanballat heard that we builded the wall, he was wroth and he took great indignation and he mocked the Jews. And he spake before his brethren and the army of Samaria, Shomron."

Apparently Sanballat was a Shomroni who opposed the Jewish work in the city of Jerusalem, the building of the temple, the building of the wall, and the establishing of the order that God has set and had given to the children of Israel. When he came, you would think everybody would be happy. He immediately finds that it grieved Sanballat and Tobiah that there was a man who came to seek the welfare of the children of Israel.

What we will learn from that, brothers and sisters, is if you're going to serve the Lord, if I'm going to serve the Lord, if we're going to seek to be a blessing to the people of God, I can assure you that the enemy will seek to oppose the servants of the Lord. You will find very quickly that Satan opposes the work, the world opposes the work, and also the flesh in man opposes the work of the Lord. But Nehemiah carried on. May the Lord help us to learn from Nehemiah in spite of opposition so we can be a blessing to God's people and honor the Lord in our service for Him.

Announcer: 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.