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Bible teaching with an emphasis on Israel, prophecy and the Jewish roots of Christianity

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Episode: “Letters”

Myles and Katharine respond to letters and emails from viewers of the program and readers of the Levitt Letter. Tune in to hear them tackle controversial subjects that include conversion to Judaism, the ideology of Islam, and prophetic signs of our era.

Transcript

Caption transcript for “Letters”

00:04 At Zola Levitt Presents we love hearing from you.
00:08 And coming up on today's program we'll do just that.
00:11 We'll answer some of your letters.
00:31 Brethren, my hearts desire and prayer to God for Israel
00:35 is that they might be saved.
00:38 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek
00:41 for the same LORD over all
00:43 is rich unto all that call upon Him.
00:56 Shalom and welcome to our program, I'm Myles Weiss
00:59 and I'm Katharine Weiss.
01:00 And you know, we've asked to hear from you
01:03 and today we will be answering some of the those questions
01:06 that you've written in to talk to us about.
01:08 Right, we have the Levitt Letter with us
01:10 and we get questions every month
01:12 and we answer some of them, those that we can.
01:14 But I want to say that we love coming to you
01:16 from what appears to be Jerusalem.
01:17 We love our new set.
01:19 And we like being just as if we are in Jerusalem,
01:21 was if we are in the Land.
01:23 And it means a lot to us to know that we're connecting you with
01:26 God's purposes and God's meaning about Jerusalem and Israel.
01:31 And that's why I chose as the first question to answer
01:34 a question about the borders of Israel.
01:37 There's so much controversy in the world today.
01:39 Well they're always wanting Israel to give a piece of the land.
01:43 Right
01:44 And every time you give a shark a bite
01:46 he wants another bite.
01:47 Exactly so
01:49 The mandate that came from Britain was a certain amount.
01:51 The mandate that comes from God was even bigger.
01:53 We'll look at that in a moment.
01:55 But the constant pressure for Israel to give away
01:57 more and more of this tiny little sliver of land
02:00 is frustrating to read about.
02:02 So it's interesting to note God's view of it.
02:05 Here's the question,
02:17 Well it says right in Genesis 15:18
02:32 Myles, that's a big piece of land.
02:34 It is and it goes on actually in Exodus 23
02:37 it confirms that.
02:38 It says,
02:49 In other words, the land promised to Abraham
02:51 is so much larger than what we see Israel inhabiting now.
02:54 It would be a perimeter roughly of 1,200 to 1,500 miles
02:58 from half of Egypt, present day Israel,
03:01 part of Syria and extending into present day Iraq.
03:04 WOW
03:06 And it's been called "Greater Israel"
03:08 Very controversial because there's so much pressure
03:11 to make Israel smaller and smaller.
03:13 But God's promise is larger and larger.
03:16 It's an ever expanding kingdom, his throne, his kingdom
03:19 and so his promises are Yes and Amen.
03:22 We will see this come to pass in his timing and in his way.
03:25 I think we have to remember that it's not so much a land issue,
03:28 it's a sovereignty issue.
03:30 And it's an issue of that
03:32 God chose to say to this people, this is your land
03:38 And we're never going to get away from that we have to relate to a sovereign God
03:42 that has borders that he designs.
03:46 And the promise is to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
03:50 And Jacob's name?
03:51 Israel.
03:52 Abraham, Isaac and Israel.
03:54 And we always like to remind people,
03:56 we understand the blessings that is on our cousins, the sons of Ishmael.
04:00 In fact the Scripture's clear about the blessing on Ishmael.
04:04 We see it in terms of tremendous land holdings,
04:07 amazing oil wealth and multiplied numbers of people.
04:10 But my covenant, he says, is with Isaac.
04:13 And so this lineage has to do with the covenant of the LORD.
04:19 And here's a related letter that I think
04:21 is important for us to look at, at this time.
04:24 This question comes in,
04:40 Well, you have to do both because
04:43 philosophical reasoning apart from Scripture
04:46 is going to be humanism and kind of wobbly.
04:48 But again, it's an issue of sovereignty.
04:51 God chose Jerusalem and he never changed his mind.
04:55 Listen to this verse,
04:57 this is in 2 Chronicles 6:5-6
05:23 And this goes back many years.
05:25 And philosophically, theologically and
05:27 eschatologically, speaking of the end times,
05:30 God sovereignly chose Jerusalem,
05:33 sent his Name there
05:35 and then is requiring the world to deal with that,
05:38 to relate to his sovereignty.
05:40 He's not coming back to Washington.
05:44 He's not coming back to Boston, to London, to Paris.
05:47 He is coming back to Jerusalem.
05:49 That is his choice.
05:51 And it says there in Scripture.
05:52 Philosophically I could say that
05:54 politically based on international law,
05:57 the treaties, the United Nations starting back in 1920,
06:00 with the San Remo convention in Italy,
06:03 and then moving forward through all the resolutions
06:05 and through the wars, etc.
06:07 philosophically Jerusalem belongs to the Jewish people.
06:11 Jerusalem belongs to the LORD.
06:13 And you have to say that's why Islam is...
06:18 They're so contesting it because they know...
06:21 They know Myles...
06:23 They know that it's "the place", the " HaMakom ".
06:26 It's the place that God has promised to himself, and to his people.
06:31 He talks about Israel as his first born son.
06:34 In Exodus, he talks about it.
06:38 Because he's always picturing that he would have
06:41 the one son that would pay the price for us all.
06:45 So the Jewish people are very much tied into all the promises that God has.
06:50 Exactly so
06:51 And the place of Jerusalem is a stumbling block for the nations
06:57 In fact, the prophets talk about the nations coming up against Jerusalem
07:01 and that those that come against it will lose their footing
07:05 because of the power of that stumbling block.
07:07 And it is like you say.
07:09 It is an issue of sovereignty.
07:11 God says, this is my place.
07:12 HaMakom in Hebrew means "the place"
07:15 And that's what we see there.
07:17 Well the Temple Mount that's where it all began.
07:20 Where God sent Abraham to go up
07:23 and to offer up Isaac, and then stopped him,
07:26 sovereignly and poetically,
07:29 and made himself the lamb... the ram.
07:31 There's a ram.
07:33 And so that place is the place.
07:36 The blueprint where the whole story would be told
07:39 about Jesus coming and being the Lamb of God
07:43 that takes away the sins of the world
07:45 and be the final sacrifice.
07:46 Right
07:48 And that Sacrifice, that Lamb who becomes the Lion of Judah
07:51 is also related to the sovereignty of David being the king there.
07:55 Because Jesus is in the lineage of King David.
07:58 And so he chose Jerusalem,
08:01 makes it his throne,
08:02 puts David on the throne,
08:04 and then David's greater son Yeshua
08:07 will rule and reign from Jerusalem.
08:09 So God has never rescinded his philosophical reasonings
08:13 about having Jerusalem as his place.
08:15 I think it's interesting to note that what Islam
08:18 has put over the Dome of the Rock
08:20 is that God has no son.
08:23 But that is not the truth.
08:25 And you and I both know that he has a Son
08:28 that he is the Son of God that takes away the sins of the world.
08:32 And that not only did he enter into that Temple,
08:35 the second Temple that Herod built
08:37 and declare that this is my Father's House,
08:41 that He's a Father and He has a Son.
08:44 He's declaring the end from the beginning.
08:47 And let's remember that there's a Son of God
08:49 that He came to take away the sins of the world.
08:51 And let's stand with the Jewish people.
08:53 Let's pray and intercede for the Arab people
08:56 that they would be able to come out from the deception of Islam
08:59 and that they would be able to stand in the liberty that God has for them.
09:03 I have such a burden for the Arab people
09:06 because for the most part a lot of them do not want to be under Islam.
09:10 They want the liberty.
09:12 That they see the democracy that is
09:14 the only democracy in the Middle East is in Israel.
09:17 I was shocked to be reading Caroline Glick's latest book.
09:20 Caroline Glick is a reporter for the Jerusalem Post.
09:23 She's one of the best writers in the world and certainly in Israel.
09:27 And she speaks of the polls that have been taken
09:29 that don't get into the public domain
09:33 about would you rather be under Israeli rule or Palestinian rule?
09:36 Would you rather be here or there.
09:38 And I remember our driver one time.
09:41 Several
09:42 The Bedouin driver that we had.
09:44 He said, where the Jewish people rule - order.
09:47 Where my people rule - chaos.
09:49 Now that's anecdotal, I understand.
09:51 But Caroline Glick's articles speak about this polling that's been done
09:55 to prove that there is actually a hidden and private desire for the kind of democracy
10:01 and the kind of freedom
10:03 and the kind of philosophical way of living that is democratic and that Israel promotes.
10:09 Not abusive or not painful.
10:13 I'm not saying that Israel's perfect.
10:15 Because man isn't perfect.
10:18 That's why we have our Messiah.
10:20 But there is order.
10:22 And there is a difference between a democracy
10:26 and an ideological theocracy that oppresses those under it.
10:32 So I hope some of those Scriptures
10:34 and some of the Word that we've spoken
10:37 has answered the questions that you've written in to ask us about.
10:42 It's our joy to do that.
10:44 And let us keep having this dialogue
10:46 So keep writing in.
10:47 We'll be back after this.
10:50 Our offer on this program
10:52 "An Epic Love Story..." "Jews & Gentiles One in Messiah"
10:58 by Myles Weiss.
10:59 This booklet answers some questions you may have about timely and vital issues.
11:03 For example...
11:12 "An Epic Love Story" will take you on a journey through time
11:15 into the heart and mind of the Apostle Paul
11:17 when he was inspired to write to the Roman Church.
11:20 Call 1-800-WONDERS and ask for "An Epic Love Story"
11:28 For insightful perspectives on Israel and Bible Prophecy
11:32 ask for our free monthly newsletter, the "Levitt Letter.
11:36 At levitt.com you can read the newsletter,
11:39 watch the TV program,
11:41 or visit our online store.
11:44 Stay current with us on social media via Facebook and Twitter.
11:47 Come with us on a tour of Israel or Petra
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11:54 Please contact us for more information.
12:17 ♪ Am Echad , ♪
12:20 ♪ We are One People, One God! ♪
12:25 ♪ Am Echad ♪
12:28 ♪ We are One People ♪
12:33 ♪ God is with us ♪
12:34 ♪ In Him alone we trust for our peace ♪
12:38 ♪ His love is forever ♪
12:40 ♪ And His mercy never will cease ♪
12:44 ♪ He will set his resting place in our midst ♪
12:48 ♪ Extending His love and grace to all who are His ♪
12:53 ♪ Am Echad , ♪
12:56 ♪ We are One People, One God! ♪
13:01 ♪ Am Echad ♪
13:04 ♪ We are One People, One God! ♪
13:09 ♪ One People ♪
13:14 ♪ Am Echad ♪
13:18 ♪ There is but One God ♪
13:23 ♪ There is One God ♪
13:26 ♪ One God - Yeah ♪
13:33 ♪ One People ♪♪
13:38 That was our good friend Ted Pearce with " Am Echad ( One People ) "
13:41 What a great message.
13:43 I love his voice.
13:44 Yeah, and the music's such a great message
13:46 about Jews and Gentiles coming together in Messiah.
13:49 That is one of the main themes of our work here.
13:52 Why don't you go ahead and read one of our letters.
13:54 Oh, we love hearing from you.
13:56 So thank you for writing in to us.
13:57 This is from B.J.T. from South Carolina.
14:21 Absolutely!
14:23 Not only is it possible
14:24 But it's one of our favorite things to do.
14:26 With the way we've designed it
14:27 the people do it in different places.
14:29 Some people on the Sea of Galilee.
14:30 But we've found that because our tours, our pilgrimages
14:34 lead up to the conclusion at the Garden Tomb,
14:37 where we celebrate communion,
14:39 we celebrate the resurrection,
14:41 we found that that's really the perfect place to renew marriage vows.
14:45 Well a marriage vow is a covenant between God and man.
14:49 And what a better place to do it but in the Land of Israel
14:52 because God is reminding us that His covenants aren't broken.
14:57 So it's such a beautiful place to not only take communion
15:00 but then to re-establish that covenant with God and each other...it's beautiful!
15:05 It is
15:06 You know the pictures in the wedding ceremony,
15:09 so full of pictures of Messiah and the Bride,
15:12 Bridegroom of heaven and the Bride on earth;
15:14 the Church, the Congregation of Messiah
15:17 that when we do the marriage renewal in the Garden Tomb
15:21 there's this incredible connection
15:23 between the heavenly covenant and the earthly covenant with one another.
15:27 And it really does...
15:29 It brings people to tears really.
15:30 We've had some people just feel like it was
15:33 the highlight of their tour for one thing.
15:35 But also it reminds me of when we did seminars,
15:37 marriage seminars in Russia where people had been married
15:42 with a rubber stamp under communism.
15:43 Just allowing God back in
15:45 after we taught them about covenant love
15:47 and about God's plan for marriage.
15:50 He does has a plan for marriage.
15:52 That when we taught them that
15:54 they were weeping with gratitude
15:56 because they were being married afresh
15:59 to one another with God in the mix.
16:02 And that's what happens in the Garden Tomb.
16:04 In the Garden Tomb we take communion
16:06 and we remember all of the elements.
16:07 The Seder where the communion comes from.
16:10 And the reality of the blood and the bread.
16:13 And the coming together of the body.
16:15 And the sacrifice of Yeshua .
16:17 And how that is really a picture
16:19 of the redemption cup that a bridegroom gives to a bride, the silver cup.
16:25 The third cup of the Seder is a silver cup.
16:27 And a young man will come to a bride and put a silver cup before her.
16:30 And if she receives the cup they are betrothed.
16:34 And once they are betrothed they are as married;
16:37 they stay focused just one to another.
16:39 Well that's like our walk with the LORD.
16:41 He places the silver cup of redemption before us
16:44 and offers us that drink.
16:46 He says, will you drink of this cup with me?
16:48 And when you do then we are betrothed.
16:51 And now we're looking for the return of the bridegroom.
16:54 And back in the day in the Hebrew world
16:57 the bridegroom would actually go to his father's house and
17:00 prepare a place for his bride.
17:03 And then she didn't know when he was coming.
17:05 Right
17:05 She needed to be ready.
17:06 She needed to be ready.
17:08 She needed to keep her oil lamps trimmed and ready
17:10 because he would come at night when she did not expect him.
17:13 And then together they would go and celebrate their wedding together.
17:18 You know sometimes we do Messianic wedding services
17:22 and I will actually have the father of the groom stand up
17:25 and I'll ask him, is it time yet?
17:27 And the father will say, it's time.
17:29 Because Yeshua said no man knows the hour or the day,
17:33 not even the son, only the father.
17:35 And so we begin and then the bridegroom and the bride will meet in the center of the aisle
17:40 as if in the air, and then come down
17:42 and under the chuppah they'll get married.
17:45 So the answer is "yes".
17:46 You can renew your vows in Israel and it is a life changing experience.
17:51 We recommend it.
17:53 Myles, there's one other one that's kind of on a heavier note.
17:56 It's somebody who's written in about the holocaust.
18:00 Yeah, this is...
18:02 This requires more time than we have right now.
18:04 I'm going to hold...
18:06 I'm going to tease you with this.
18:07 "Israel's disobedience in the Old Testament resulted in captivity"
18:10 "several times where the Jews suffered"
18:12 "till they asked God for forgiveness."
18:14 "God allowed many nations to take them over because of their disobedience."
18:18 "And many were killed because they refused to follow him as God."
18:22 "The Jews are still looking for the Savior of the world."
18:24 "Was that the underlying reason for the holocaust,"
18:27 "them being the Chosen People and still not accepting Jesus Christ?"
18:31 WOW...that is a big question!
18:34 Let me restate that simply.
18:35 Did the holocaust happen
18:37 because the Jewish people as a nation
18:40 have not received Jesus?
18:42 We'll be back after this to answer it.
18:46 Hello, I'm Wayne Fournier and I've been a supporter
18:50 of Zola Levitt Ministries for many years.
18:53 If you see this outreach as worthy of your financial support
18:57 please...call us at 1-800-WONDERS
19:00 Visit us online at levitt.com
19:03 Or write to us at...
19:11 We depend on your financial sustenance.
19:14 Thank you.
19:19 ♪ background music"
19:34 Katharine - Israel is a land full of promises.
19:37 You'll never be the same
19:39 so we invite you to come.
19:41 It's a trip of a lifetime.
19:42 We'd love you to join us.
19:47 Well we haven't forgot that we had a hot topic
19:50 that we were talking about before.
19:52 We were reminding you that it's so good to travel to Israel.
19:56 Myles...
19:58 Well let me pick up where we...
20:00 I'll just paraphrase the last part of this letter because its so heavy in it's import.
20:05 Was the underlying reason for the holocaust
20:08 the fact of the Chosen People not nationally accepting Jesus Christ, Yeshua HaMashiach ?
20:14 Now, we know that the early first church was completely Jewish.
20:18 And it wasn't until Acts Chapter 10 that the Gospel even came to the Gentiles.
20:23 So the first issue in Acts 15 was
20:26 Do the Gentiles need to become Jewish to follow Jesus?
20:29 And the answer was "no".
20:31 Well if you book end the end of the age where we are now,
20:34 a question that people are asking is, does a Jew become a Gentile when we accept Jesus?
20:39 The answer is "no", again.
20:41 So along the line there have always been throughout the ages
20:46 Jewish people who follow Yeshua as Messiah.
20:49 But as a nation we did not accept him.
20:52 And that has been a blessing to the world.
20:55 There has been a blessing.
20:57 In fact, Romans 9-11 speaks about the blessing that has gone to the world
21:02 because of our rejection nationally of Yeshua .
21:05 In fact, the Gospel has gone out to the entire world.
21:08 But the holocaust was not God's punishment for them rejecting the Gospel by any means.
21:16 You know, it says in Romans 11:29 the gifts and callings of God are irrevocable.
21:22 He has not revoked his call on Israel or the people.
21:25 They have gone through a trial, a season,
21:29 a horrible, horrible testing.
21:32 And yet God is the God that regathers, that restores
21:36 and replants as it says in Ezekiel.
21:39 Yes, and not only so.
21:40 We have to remember that the history of the church,
21:43 the institutional church, vis a vis the Jewish people,
21:46 has not been a happy history.
21:49 It has been one of crusades, inquisition, pograms, holocaust.
21:55 Whether you know or not that those were not real Christians who did that,
21:58 they will forever be associated in historically and in the Jewish mind with Christianity.
22:04 So no wonder it's difficult for the Jewish people to understand Yeshua.
22:09 But remember that many of the people who suffered in the holocaust,
22:13 they never heard a credible witness,
22:15 they never heard about the Jewishness of the Gospel,
22:18 they never heard the connection of Isaiah 53 and Jeremiah 31 and the New Covenant
22:23 and the relationship of their own lives to Messiah.
22:26 So to say that they perished in the holocaust
22:28 because they rejected Jesus is very simplistic.
22:31 You can't make that quick of a jump.
22:34 And I know that it's hard for people to understand because
22:38 the two most significant events in Jewish history no doubt
22:42 are the Messiahship of Yeshua , whatever that might mean in general to people,
22:48 and the holocaust.
22:50 But one was not punishment for rejecting the other.
22:53 In fact, this story is not one of an Old Testament God and a New Testament God.
22:59 That's a very early first century heresy by Marcion
23:03 who tried to divide up and really set in motion
23:06 some of the Christian anti-Semitism through the centuries.
23:09 Because he set up this division;
23:11 Old Testament angry God, New Testament loving God.
23:15 Old Testament Scriptures full of judgment,
23:17 New Testament full of grace and love.
23:19 Old Testament, tough Jehovah.
23:21 New Testament, loving Jesus.
23:24 And Old Testament evil Jews,
23:26 New Testament loving Christians.
23:28 Well it has not been that true or simple folks.
23:30 The fact is it's one story.
23:33 It's a long story from Eden to heaven.
23:37 And the story is about redemption like you say.
23:40 It starts with a wedding, it ends with a wedding.
23:42 A wedding in the Garden becomes a heavenly wedding for those who believe,
23:46 for those who are called into Messiah
23:49 and those who walked by faith and lived according to the Light that they have received.
23:53 And so we really can't simply put it that way
23:57 that the holocaust was in fact in God's mind.
23:59 Now, because He's God Romans 8:28 comes to mind.
24:05 "All things work together for good for those love God
24:10 who are called according to His purpose.
24:12 And so in spite of the horrors of the holocaust
24:16 God promised that He would plant us in our land
24:19 and that he would bring us up out of the graves of Europe pictured in Ezekiel 36, 37
24:25 and bring us into the land and plant us there.
24:28 And we see this restoration that has become a blessing in all the earth.
24:34 Look at your cell phone.
24:35 Look at your computer.
24:36 Look at the technological, medical breakthroughs,
24:39 the breakthroughs in science and physics.
24:41 the breakthroughs in literature and art.
24:43 So many gifts have come through the Jewish people
24:46 Israel is a blessing in the earth because He promised that to Abraham.
24:50 I also think of Job as the people.
24:53 It wasn't God's will, his permissive will...
24:57 It happened.
24:58 And man in his corrupt mind and Satan in his fervor
25:04 to wipe out the Jews was really behind the holocaust.
25:08 You know I think of Israel as God's child.
25:12 And it's one thing for you to discipline your child
25:15 but it's another when man takes a hand against what God is doing
25:20 and that's what happened in the holocaust.
25:21 There might have been some chastening but man took it too far.
25:25 Yeah, you know that reminds me of Zechariah Chapter 1:14-15.
25:30 The angels speaking to me said, cry out saying thus says Adonai, the LORD of Hosts,
25:36 I am exceedingly zealous for Jerusalem and for Zion
25:40 and I am infuriated with the haughty nations.
25:43 I was a little angry with them but you furthered their calamity
25:48 You see, God wants to discipline His own children
25:51 just like you and I discipline our children.
25:54 And the nations have used the occasion of scattering,
25:58 the occasion of suffering to persecute, to exile and to murder the Jewish people.
26:04 And I tell you the nations are going to have to take that up with God
26:07 because He has a long memory full of grace and mercy.
26:10 WOW, what was that Scripture again?
26:11 I think we need to...
26:12 Zechariah 1:14-15
26:14 I'll read it again to you.
26:16 It's such a Scripture to this time.
26:18 The angels speaking to me said, cry out saying thus says Adonai, the LORD of Hosts,
26:23 I am exceedingly zealous for Jerusalem and for Zion
26:26 and I am infuriated with the haughty nations.
26:29 I was a little angry with them (with my people)
26:32 but you furthered their calamity.
26:35 In other words, you went too far.
26:37 And that's the story of the nations treatment of Israel and the Jewish people.
26:42 But here's the good news.
26:43 God wins.
26:45 We know the Book.
26:46 We know that we understand that this story is a long story
26:49 that leads to redemption.
26:51 And there has been a lot of Christians that have repented for the holocaust
26:54 and a reconciliation and understanding
26:57 that there has been a misrepresentation of Christianity.
27:02 Exactly so
27:03 Well, this is kind of fun to do.
27:06 We are so grateful that we get to answer some of your questions.
27:09 We get to interact with you around concerns that you have.
27:13 And it's our blessing, it's our pleasure to do this with you.
27:16 And we'd like to close every program by reminding you
27:19 Sha'lu Shalom Yerushalayim
27:21 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
27:26 Our monthly newsletter the "Levitt Letter is free
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27:31 from a Messianic perspective.
27:33 Visit levitt.com to find our newsletter
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