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: This study of Nehemiah chapter 3. Every one of us has been sealed by the Holy Spirit. We belong to the Lord, and yet at times we're not allowing Him to lead us in our life. We are sealed by the Spirit of God, but we are not to grieve Him. He is a person, a divine person, God the Holy Spirit, Elohim HaRuach. For us as believers, the Lord is exhorting us not to grieve Him. That Fountain Gate represents for us the movement of the Holy Spirit of God where we can be used by Him and serve the Lord Yeshua the Messiah.

Turn with me to John chapter 4 and verses 13 and 14. Here are the words of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah to the Samaritan woman. He said to her, "Yeshua answered and said unto her, whosoever drinks of this water shall thirst again. But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst. But the water that I shall give him shall be in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life." You see what Yeshua is really saying to the Shomronit, the Samaritan woman? The one that will believe in Me, he will receive in himself the Holy Spirit of God as the fountain of living water. The Holy Spirit of God ought to guide us, and to lead us, and to instruct us in our lives.

In John 7 and verse 37, Yeshua continued and He is now specifically showing to us that the fountain of living water represents the Holy Spirit of God. He says, "In the last day, that great day of the feast, Yeshua stood and He cried and He said, if any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink. He that believeth on Me, as the scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living waters." Then the Spirit of God explained to us what He means by that. It says in verse 39, "But this He spoke of the Spirit, which they that believe on Him should receive. For the Holy Spirit was not yet given because that Yeshua was not yet glorified."

The Holy Spirit of God is represented here by the Fountain Gate. It's really a gate that was existing in biblical time in the city of Yerushalayim, and the Fountain Gate represented the Holy Spirit of God, which you and I are to be guided by. Israel in a future day will be restored, and the Spirit of God will open to them. But today, individuals like you and I who accepted Yeshua ought to be guided by the Holy Spirit of God.

In fact, in Galatians 5 and verse 16, the Apostle Paul says, "Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh." In Galatians 5, he continues and says, "Be led by the Spirit of God." It's so wonderful to see a brother or a sister that is walking in the Spirit or a brother and a sister that are led by the Spirit of God. To see a believer that is being led by the Spirit of God, he or she will present before us the person of the Lord Yeshua, the Lord Jesus. They will show us more of the image of the Son in their lives. That's why we are exhorted again and again to be filled by the Spirit, to walk in the Spirit, to be led by the Spirit, to be controlled by the Spirit. That Fountain Gate represents before us the leading of the Holy Spirit of God.

This is very challenging for us because we are so easily inclined to walk in the flesh. In our Bible studies, we talked about it, how easy we allow the old nature to take its course, and what an encouragement it is for us to walk in the power of the Spirit of God. One more verse I'm going to connect with this here in our passage about the Fountain Gate that we can learn from that. Turn to Galatians 4 and verse 6 and I want you to notice that Paul says, "And because you are sons," and we can add the word daughters, "God had sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying Abba, Father, Abba Avinu."

Because we are sons and daughters, God sent into our hearts—every one of us have in our hearts the person of the Holy Spirit of God—and we can cry Abba Avinu, Abba our Father, help us in our life with the many challenges that we experience in our life. Now you will notice from verse 15 all the way to verse 25, the gate was built but also some parts of the walls. Notice in verse 15, they built the doors, the locks, the bars of the wall. They went all the way unto the Pool of Shiloach.

The Pool of Shiloach, it's called in English Siloah, but in Hebrew it's called Shiloach. It's a pool that was existing there by the City of David. That pool, if you remember, the blind man in John chapter 9, Yeshua told him to go to wash his eyes at the Pool of Shiloach. The word Shiloach in Hebrew means "to be sent," and it really represents for us God who sent His Son, the Messiah, in order to heal the brokenhearted, give life to those that were without life, give hope to mankind. You notice it was by the King's Garden. It is the garden that David had. Then later on, it says the stairs went down all the way to the City of David. The City of David is where David named the city of Jerusalem the City of David. It's called even up until today the City of David.

Notice further down in verse 16, the rulers of the half part of Beit Tzur, he continued on unto the sepulcher of David. Notice in these two verses, you have David's garden, you have David's city, and you have David's sepulcher. David was the King of Israel, the one that God had raised to be the man after God's own heart. God raised him to be the king of Israel. He was the second king of the people of Israel. Notice in verse 17, it says the Levites participate in that. Even the Levites. The Levites are the spiritual leaders of Israel. Even the Levites participated in the building of the walls of the city of Jerusalem.

Notice verse 20. It says after him, Baruch, the son of Zabbai, earnestly repaired also some pieces of the walls of Jerusalem. He was earnest in building. He didn't do it carelessly. He worked hard with sincerity of his heart. He was earnestly serving and building the wall of the city of Jerusalem. Ultimately, they arrived at the house of Eliashiv, the high priest. So you can see that even the high priest had to have the wall get all the way to his own house, and there you find others continuing to repair all the way until the next gate.

We are right now at the Fountain Gate. There are those five gates on the east side of the city of Jerusalem. If you can imagine, there is the Mount of Olives, there is the Mount Moriah, right in between there is the valley. When someone looks from the Mount of Olives into Mount Moriah, he is really facing those five gates on the eastern side of the city of Jerusalem. The Fountain Gate represents before us the Holy Spirit of God, which will lead us, and guide us, and control God's people to continue on in the will of the Lord. Well, let's move down back to our chapter. We are now in Nehemiah chapter 3, and now we read verses 26 and 27, and that is the Water Gate.

We read, "Moreover, the Nethinims dwelt in Ophel unto the place over against the Water Gate towards the east and the tower that lieth out. After them, the Tekoites repaired another piece over against the great tower that lieth out even unto the wall of Ophel." So you notice the next gate, this is gate number seven, is called the Water Gate. In Hebrew we call it Sha'ar Hamayim. Apparently, there was some water flowing through this gate. Maybe it went through the gate or beside it. It is near the Fountain Gate.

The Water Gate represents before us the word of God. Then we can very clearly see—and I'd like you now to turn with me to Ephesians chapter 5—here is where the husbands are exhorted to love their own wives. Look how Paul is giving an explanation about the word of God. He says in verse 25, he says, "Husbands, love your wives, even as the Messiah also loved the assembly and gave Himself for it." Then he says in verse 26, "That He might sanctify and cleanse it by the washing of the water by the word."

Notice that the scripture often time when the word of God is spoken about, it is often been represented by water. You remember in the upper room before Passover began in John chapter 13, when all the disciples gathered around Yeshua the Messiah to celebrate Pesach? Well, everybody sat down. Nobody rose up to wash the feet of the disciples. So Yeshua, getting up, he took a towel in His hand, took a basin with water, and He began to wash the disciples' feet.

The water represents before us the cleansing power that the word of God has. That's why when we come to our meetings together, we always teach the word. Why? Because there's an effect. The word of God speaks to us. The power of the Spirit of God speaks to us, convicts us, and helps us to take another step for the Lord, another day to follow Yeshua the Messiah. There is a cleansing power that the word of God is representing.

To be a little bit more visual, when we take a bath, we take a shower, we cleanse ourselves externally, but when we read the scripture, it's affecting us. There's an element of cleansing by the reading of the word and the hearing of the word of God. That's why we should never be tired of listening to the word of God. It has an element of cleansing. God uses His word to cleanse us. We get so quickly dirty in this world, and that's why we need ongoing cleansing as we walk here in this world.

Some verses that I would like to read in connection with the cleansing power of the word of God. Psalm 119, verse 9, "Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way?" How can a young man cleanse his way? "By taking heed according to Thy word." There's a cleansing power through the word of God. That's why we need it all the time. God has to speak to us through His word.

Look at Psalm 119 and verse 97. David said, "O how love I Thy law," in Hebrew the word Toratkha. He said, "It is my meditation all the day long." I can assure you, he didn't mean only the ten words of Exodus chapter 20, but he meant the whole scripture. Verse 98, "Thou through Thy commandments has made me wiser than mine enemies, for they are ever with me." Verse 99, "I have more understanding than all my teachers, for Thy testimonies are my meditation." And then verse 100, "I understand more than the ancient because I keep Thy precepts."

There in these verses you have the words Mitzvotekha, Edotekha, and Pikudekha in Hebrew. Your commandments, Your testimonies, Your precepts all are parts of Torah, the laws of the Lord. The word of God has an effect upon our lives. It speaks to us. Notice what happened to us when we deviate from the word of God, when we stay away from reading the scripture, when we stay away from listening to the Bible teaching, whether it is at the meeting or whether it is elsewhere. We incline to drift further away from the Lord Himself.

Here we get encouragement to go through that Water Gate, you might say, and to apply the word of God into our lives as we walk here with the Lord. This is important. One more verse in connection with it in the New Testament, 2 Timothy chapter 3. In verse 16, as a younger brother, Paul's encouraging him to study the scripture. He said, "All scriptures is given by the inspiration of God. Timothy, it is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be mature, thoroughly furnished unto all good works."

Of course, not only Timothy, you and I as well, and for instructing us to live a life that is pleasing to the Lord. So the Water Gate, it represents before us the word of God. The word of God is powerful, is sharper than two-edged sword, and it's able to divide asunder, and it's able to discern things that you and I cannot discern. Very interesting to see how important is the word of God.

So far we have covered the Sheep Gate, the Fish Gate, the Old Gate, the Valley Gate, the Dung Gate, the Fountain Gate, and the Water Gate. Every one of these gates represents before us something in connection with our lives as believers. We enter in through the Sheep Gate, we accepted the Messiah. We continue on through the Fish Gate, we are becoming fishers of men, we share the message of the word of God. We are going back to the Old Gate because it reminds us of the truth that we have always learned in past history from God's word.

Then we have to go sometimes through the Valley Gate because at times we are going to go through trials, and it is very important for us to be humbled as before the Lord. Then we have to remove the garbage out of our lives, that sinful nature that we have, all the garbage that creeps into our lives. Then the Spirit of God can lead us as we walk with the Lord, guided by the Spirit of God, and we can get some light and help from the word of God. The word of God is important in our life as believers.

But now notice this. Here's the next gate. It's called the Horse Gate. In Hebrew, it's called Sha'ar Hasusim. Now, what does horses represent in the scripture? Often time in the word of God, a donkey or an ass represents peace. When Yeshua the Messiah rode into the city of Yerushalayim, you remember He rode on an ass, on a colt, on a donkey? He came in peace. He wanted to establish the Messianic kingdom. He wanted Israel to accept Him. He rode on a donkey, but He was rejected. He was despised when He came at His first coming.

But the Horse Gate, beloved brothers and sisters, represents before us the Lord Yeshua the Messiah who is going to come in His second coming. But He's going to come this time as a warrior. It represents war, and conflict, and fight in the life of God's people. Now, you notice it very well that when you became a believer in Yeshua the Messiah, all of a sudden things were not the same as they used to be. We have various conflicts in our lives. There are many enemies that are seeking to harm the people of God.

We have conflict within ourselves, within the world in which we live in. The attacks of the enemy, we are in a warfare. We find ourselves constantly in conflict. We struggle. We are constantly being attacked and we are called to fight the good fight, not to fight with carnal things, but to fight as we are guided by the Spirit of God. So the Horse Gate represents before us the warfare that we experience in our lives.

Let me just show you a couple of verses. The first one is found in Deuteronomy chapter 20. God had instructed Israel already then and there to realize that there's a battle and that they are to trust Him. In chapter 20 and verse 1, it says, "When you're going out to battle against your enemies and see horses and chariots and a people that are more than you, be not afraid of them, for the Lord your God is with thee, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt."

Israel, when you see these enemies of yours on a multitude of horses ready for battle against you, Israel, don't be afraid of them because I'm with you. I'm going to lead you. I'm going to minister to you. You and I also when we have these fights constantly, there's this conflict that we're going through every day of our life, we also need to trust that the Lord will assist us and the Lord will minister to us and help us to win that battle that we have entered into the moment we accepted Yeshua the Messiah.

You remember what Paul said in Ephesians chapter 6, verse 10? "Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood." Look at this. Our warfare is not against flesh and blood, "but we are wrestling against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand against an evil day."

So we have entered into a battle and that Horse Gate represents before us the fact that we're going through battles. Look at the condition that existed when we become believers. Our families reject us. When we accepted Yeshua, our fellow workmen and work women do not accept us at our work. Even young people who become believers in Yeshua go back to school, misunderstood by their friends. We have constantly battles to deal with. Some husbands have their wives not believers. Some wives have their husbands not believers. Some children reject what their parents have taught them. There are constantly battles.

But the battle belongs to the Lord, and He is able to help us as we are going through these battles. I can assure you that if I'll ask each one of you today how is your situation in your home, in your work, in your life, and you will tell me, "You know, brother Gideon, I have this problem and that problem and this conflict and that conflict." What shall we do? Well, we have to realize that we are part and parcel of this world that rejected the Messiah. When we identify with Yeshua, we really became associated with Him and the world reject us, the enemy reject us. We are to continue on to go through this battle but not without the help of the Lord. It is His power that enable us to continue on to fight that fight.

Turn to Revelation 19. We see Yeshua coming in a future day and He is riding upon a horse, a white horse. Revelation chapter 19, verse 11, it says, "And I saw heaven opened and behold a white horse, and He that sat upon him was called faithful and true, and in righteousness He does judge and make war." See that? The horse often is representing a warfare. So when Yeshua came in His first coming, He rode a donkey. He sought to bring shalom and peace. He actually established shalom by dying for us on the tree and making peace through the blood of His cross.

But the world rejected Him. Israel our nation did not accept Him at His first coming. So at the second coming, He's no longer riding a donkey, He's riding a horse. He's going to come and He's going to judge this world in righteousness. But for you and I on an individual basis as we walk here in this world, we have to realize that we're going to have conflict in our life. I encourage you, just like you need to encourage me, because all of us are experiencing these conflicts in our day-by-day life as we live here in this world.

What shall we do? Well, we always have to turn our hearts to the Lord and to realize that it is He alone that is able to help us to win that battle. We are not to fight with each other. Our enemies are not our brethren. Those that believe in Yeshua the Messiah, we should seek to have harmony among each other. At time we don't see things eye to eye, but our brothers and sisters are not our enemies. Our brothers and sisters are those that we will spend eternity with. We are to love them. We are to be patient with each other. We are to bear with each other.

We are to seek to establish and encourage each other. Our fight is not against our brothers and sisters. Our fight is elsewhere. The enemy seek to harm us, the enemy seek to cause us much havoc. You will notice when we're going to go back to chapter 4 and chapter 5 and chapter 6 of the book of Nehemiah that these Jewish people that began to build the walls of Jerusalem find themselves constantly under attack by their enemies, and they needed the guidance and the help of the Lord to protect them from their enemies. So the Horse Gate represented before us the warfare, the conflict that we experience every day in our lives as believers.

The Horse Gate was in verse 28, where the priests participated in that and everyone built against his house. Again, I want to underline the word "against his house" because some of the houses were built upon the wall, were very connected to the wall of the city of Jerusalem.

Guest (Female): 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 on 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.