["Wedding March"] 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 Levitam. Shabbat Shalom everyone. Let us please open our Bibles to the Gospel of Mark, Chapter 2, verses 18 to the end of the chapter to verse 28. Not too many verses for this ministry meeting. but plenty of information and plenty of things that we can learn from the ways in which Yeshua, our Messiah, our Lord, have conducted himself here when he came at his first coming as the servant of the Lord. And so we read, please follow me, Mark chapter 2 verse 18, and the disciples of John and of the Pharisees used to fast. And they come and say unto him, Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but thy disciples fast not? And Yeshua said unto them, Can the children of the bride chamber fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. But the days will come when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days. No man also soweth a piece of new cloth on an old garment, else the new piece that filled it up taketh away from the old, and the rent is made worse. And no man putteth new wine into old bottles, else the new wine does burst the bottles, and the wine is spilled, and the bottles will be marred, but new wine must be put into new bottles. And it came to pass, that he went through the corn fields on the Shabbat day. And his disciples began as they went to pluck the ears of corn. And the Pharisees said unto him, Behold, why do they on a Shabbat day that which is not lawful? And he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did when he had need, and was hungered? He and they that were with him, how he went into the house of God, in the days of Eviatar the high priest, and did eat the showbread, which is not lawful to eat, but for the priests, and gave also to them which were with him. And he said unto them, The Shabbat was made for men, and not men for the Shabbat. Therefore, the Son of Man is Lord also of the Shabbat. And I'm stopping here with the reading of Mark chapter 2, verses 18 to verse 28. And so in our study, beloved brothers and sisters, of the Gospel of Mark, we always have to bear in mind that God presents Yeshua here on earth as the servant of Jehovah, the servant of the Lord. In Hebrew, we say, Eved Adonai, or Eved Yehovah. He is the servant that came from heaven. He is the Son of God of whom we read earlier in chapter 1 that it says right at the beginning of chapter 1, the beginning of the Gospel of Yeshua the Messiah, the Son of God. He is as we say in Hebrew, Ben Elohim, the Son of God, God the Son who came from heaven for the express purpose that He might become the promised one, the sacrifice for sin in order that you and I, mankind, will have the privilege and the possibility to be saved and forgiven and to have a hope beyond these time that the Lord has allowed us to live here on the face of this earth. Now, in this second chapter of the Gospel of Mark, you might say that there were three questions that were asked of the Lord. In fact, you remember in our previous ministry meeting, we talked about a man by the name of Levi. In chapter 2 and verse 14, as he passed by, he saw Levi, He was the one that the son of Alphaeus, sitting at the receptor of the custom, and he said unto him, Follow me. And he arose, and he followed him. That man by the name of Levi, his name is also called Matai, Or Matityahu in Matthew chapter 9 and verse 9. His name is Matityahu Levi. Matityahu Levi have invited Yeshua to come into his house, if you remember in our previous meeting together. And then He's invited all the publicans and the sinners in those days in Galilee, and they all were sitting together, and Yeshua was right in the midst, enjoying His time together, reaching out to them, seeking to bring them to know that He was indeed the Son of God, the Messiah of Israel and the Savior of this world. And you remember the first question that they asked Him right at the house of Levi, Matityahu Levi, they asked Him, if you remember, in verse 16, how is it that He, this is the Messiah Yeshua, eat and drink with the publicans and sinners? How is it that he's doing that? How is it possible? You see, because the Prushim, that is the Pharisees, have separated themselves from the rest of the nation because they were the religious community. They were not living, you might say, like the ordinary Israeli. They were the spiritual leaders of Israel. and they had a certain rules, regulations that went beyond what God had given to Israel in the Torah. They've gone beyond it and they were separating themselves from the nation and they said, how come this man by the name of Yeshua is eating and drinking with the publican and sinners? Then Yeshua gave them an answer, which we covered in our previous meeting. He says, really, I came not to call righteous, but sinners to repentance. Meaning, I did not come from heaven in order to call those who claim to be righteous, but I came to call sinners to repentance. And you and I can put ourselves right here. We were those and we are those by nature that is sinners born in sin, but He is the one that came to redeem us. He called us just like He called many years ago to the nation of Israel, to many among our nation of Israel, come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you That was the first question that we see here in the home of Matityahu Levi, in his house, where the question was, how is it that you, Yeshua, is eating and drinking with publicans and with sinners? But it didn't stop there. Because immediately in the text that we have for our ministry now, from verses 18 on, we have an additional few questions. The second question is happening in the house here, which is in verse 18. Notice that, and I'm reading this verse. And the disciples of John and of the Pharisees used to fast. And they come and said unto him, here's the second question, Why do the disciples of Yohanan and of the Prushim, the Pharisees, fast, but your disciples do not? fast now we're gonna talk about it in a moment but I want to immediately to go to the third question that happened a little bit later on when he was walking on Shabbat day by the fields there notice the third question it is found in verse 24 and the Pharisees said unto him why do they on a Shabbat day that which is not lawful So, can you imagine, beloved brothers and sisters, the conflict that Yeshua had constantly with the religious leaders of Israel? Number one, while you are sitting with publicans and sinners? Number two, why you are not fasting? And number three, as we read here, why is it that your disciples doing things on the Shabbat day, things which were not lawful? Imagine, I want you just to realize that by the time Yeshua came, he was born and lived among our own people at about, you might say, between 3 BC all the way to 30 AD where he died. For the last three and a half years of his life, he has constant conflict with the religious leaders of our people of old Israel. Now we have to remember, here we don't see the church at all. There is no such thing as an assembly or church. Here we see, you might say, a family situation. Here is among the people of Israel, you see the Messiah has conflict with his very own people to whom he was sent in order to bring them to himself. So you see the setting is in the land of Israel, the Messiah in the midst of his people, the church age did not have a beginning, he didn't die as yet, he's still alive and he's dealing with the people of Israel to whom he came to reach and to bring them to himself. Now, I want you to notice that in verses 18, 19 and 20, the first segment that we are learning today, here they ask him about the need to fast. You know, I want you just right from the beginning to understand that Yeshua did not have anything against fasting. In fact, if you remember, when he was 40 days and 40 nights in the wilderness, he himself fasted 40 days and 40 nights, as we read it in the Gospel of Matthew. He himself was the one that fasted before Satan came to tempt him in order to cause him to fall. Yeshua doesn't have anything against fasting. The opposite fasting is that which represents something, a teaching the people of God something to relate to God, to recognize that it comes along with repentance and a brokenness of the heart in order that the people will be restored unto the Lord. He doesn't have anything against fasting whatsoever. In fact, secondly, if you just turn with me to Matthew for a moment, I want you to notice that in Matthew, he already taught in chapter 6 about fasting. You remember what he said in verse 16, and I'm going to read this verse, moreover when ye fast, Be not as the hypocrites of a sad countenance, for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men too fast. But you, or thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, wash thy face, that thou appear not unto men too fast. But unto thy father which is in secret, and thy father which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly. In other words, Yeshua never at all whatsoever has something against fasting. In fact, He was practicing Himself when He was in the testing time that God had given to Him. He taught it at the Sermon on the Mount, of the Mount. And he also noted from previous history of the nation of Israel, how God have instructed the people of Israel that fasting will bring about the condition of the soul, repentance and brokenness of heart. Now, of course, there is no Old Testament verse, as far as I know, one command even, as far as I understand, for anyone among the people of Israel, a binding command to fast. Now, immediately you're going to say, hey, brother Gideon, don't you remember what it says in Leviticus chapter 16, about the Day of Atonement, that all our Jewish people are to fast for one day? Well, if you read carefully the text, It does not say there the affliction of the body, but it says the affliction of the souls. Now mind you, the spiritual leaders of Israel took that and connected this with the necessity also to afflict their bodies and to fast. But the text itself from Leviticus chapter 16 does not speak about the affliction of the bodies but the affliction of the soul. And that's why if you read carefully in this passage you will know that it was the affliction of the soul that the people of all the people of Israel were called to do when they were instructed to afflict their soul. But here you notice the question about fasting. First of all, in verse 18, the disciples of John and the Pharisees used to fast. Now, just pause here for a moment. You see, John was John the Baptizer, Yohanan HaMadbil. Even though John the Baptizer had been introducing the Messiah to the people of Israel, Being Jewish, among his Jewish people, some of the influence of the Pharisees somehow still was part of the life of everyone around. So John's disciples fasted. The Pharisees' disciples fasted. Because the Pharisees always taught the necessity of fasting. In fact, they were teaching that they would be fasting twice in a week. Usually it was Mondays, if I'm correct, and Thursdays. Twice a week they were instructing the people of Israel to fast. Now, how do I know that? Well, go to the Gospel of Luke with me for a moment. In Luke chapter 18, look at this, you remember the story there in Luke chapter 18, especially these verses that speaks about the Pharisee that went before the Lord. You remember what in Luke 18 we find out in verse 9. He spake a parable unto a certain which trusted in themselves, that they were righteous, and they despised others. 10. And two men went up to the temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and another was a publican. Verse 11 of Luke 18, the Pharisee stood and prayed this way. He says, God, I thank you that I am not as other men. I'm not extortioner, I'm not unjust, I'm not an adulteress or even as despublican and then he said in verse 12 I fast twice in a week and I give tithe of all that I possess in other words here we can learn from this passage that at least this Pharisee Luke 18 was fasting twice in a week And beloved brothers and sisters, fasting became, and that's why we have to be so careful about it, fasting became a religious activity that has been done without truly was that which it is intended for. Fasting, denying the necessities for the body, should never be done in order to fulfill some kind of obligation, it should be something that flows out of the heart of an individual. Because of the concern for one thing or another. It's not something that we religiously ought to do twice a week just because one thing or another some religious group have taught us to do so. That's where it's become merely a religious system of man rather than something that come out of the heart. You see, in biblical days, looking back to the time of Daniel, looking the time of Esther it was something that was meaningful when Daniel fasted in Daniel chapter 9 he was concerned for the nation of Israel for the restoration of the nation of Israel when Esther fasted in Esther chapter 4 and she asked the rest of the Jewish community to fast it was because it was a real burden for the restoration of her people lest Haman, the wicked man, will destroy the nation. And when you look in other areas in the history of our people Israel fasting was something that had to be done out of a brokenness of a heart of repentance because of sin and a desire to be restored unto the Lord. I got to give you another verse from the prophet Joel. Turn with me to Joel chapter 2 in the Old Testament in the Tanakh. I want to read that verse there in Joel in Joel chapter 2. Look how God have expected from our people Israel to use fasting in the manner He wants them to use fasting. Look at Joel chapter 2 and I want to read just a couple of verses, verse 11 and 12 and 13. And the Lord shall utter His voice before His army, for His camp is very great, For he is strong that execute his word. For the day of the Lord is great and very terrible, and who can abide it? He is speaking about the tribulation. The terrible days are coming. Yoel is speaking about the future day of the tribulation. It is terrible, the day of the Lord, Yom Adonai, Yom LeAdonai. Then in verse 12 he says, Therefore also now saith the Lord, Turn ye even to me with your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning. and rend your hat and not your garment, and turn unto the Lord your God. For He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of a great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil." Israel, he's saying? You have to turn your heart to the Lord. He says, really, your heart is that which God is intending to speak to. In other words, He doesn't want you merely to rend your clothes, but rend your heart. And fasting is linked with weeping, and mourning, and repentance, and turning around to the Lord. But how sad it is when some, in those days, using fasting twice a week and it become a routine, very religious, you know, oh, I fast twice a week, you see, and I have done this. You see what happened, beloved brothers and sisters, it become mundane it lose its value, it doesn't have any more effect on one's life and that was the problem that existed right there and then when Yeshua came at his first coming and that's why, you notice that, they come to him in verse 18 and I'm back to Mark chapter 2 and verse 18 and they said to him, look, why are your disciples not doing what John's disciples and the Pharisees are doing? Why do they not fast? So now notice that the beautiful answer that the Lord gave them in verses 19 and 20. Yeshua referred to himself as a bridegroom. And Yeshua said unto them, Can the children of the bride chamber fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. You see, he representing himself now as a bridegroom, that is ready about to have a celebration in a wedding and in a wedding usually there is joy, there is a celebration and anyone in the land of Israel knows it very well that when there is a time of a wedding, of a marriage everyone is rejoicing and eating and enjoying celebrating because the bridegroom and the bride are ready to get married And so he's making this illustration and he's saying to them, is it you think that my disciples, because I'm in the midst of them right now, I'm with them, do you think that the children of the bride chamber confess now when the bridegroom is with them? Not at all! They could enjoy the time that they are with the Lord, they cannot fast, even though the Pharisees introduced this thought of fasting twice a week. That was something that was introduced by the spiritual leaders of Israel. Now let me put a thought here for us that we need to remember. There are many things that will happen said in the history of our people Israel. All of us know, those of us that are Jewish, coming from a Jewish home and a Jewish background, know that the day called Tisha B'Av, the ninth of the month of Av in the Jewish calendar, is rather a day in which many would fast. Why? Because the temples, both, The 586 temple that belonged to Solomon and the 70 AD temple that the Romans destroyed, those two temples were destroyed on the 9th of Av in the Jewish calendar, in the Hebrew calendar. And that's why historically we have been taught always on the 9th of Av, Tisha B'Av, we are to mourn, we are to fast, we are to be sad, and there's a reason for that, because the temple was destroyed. The Salmonic Temple was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar. The one that Zerubbabel, the temple that Zerubbabel had built was destroyed by the Romans. And that brought about the sadness, the brokenness of the people of Israel who were taken captive by the Babylonians and scattered by the Romans in 70 AD. And it became, the 9th of Av became a time for fasting and mourning. That was the reason and this is actually is a proper reason for fasting because you look back and you remember the days that you were at the temple enjoying the God of our fathers and here we are right now by the rivers of Babylon weeping because we are away from our land and away from our temple. but to have this religiosity of weekly fasting mundane without any reason just to show that you are a religious individual and a spiritual individual that did not move the heart of God that's why sometimes we also as believers have to be extremely careful when we introduce things without purpose in the heart in the soul about fasting and prayer. We have to have a real reason, a brokenness of heart in order for us to do those things with the right motive as before the Lord. And so he said, can the children of the bride chamber fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. that's what he was saying to those who came to him to challenge him why your disciples are not doing what the Pharisees do and what John's disciples are doing why you have to be different than us all so the Lord Yeshua told them immediately and here is verse 20 Yeshua pointed to the days that he will be taken away and you see he knew something that perhaps not all of them knew The disciples thought, oh, here's our Mashiach. He's here, he's in our midst, he's gonna now establish the kingdom to Israel. They probably were looking forward for the coming of the promised kingdom to Israel, but they failed to understand that he must be, first of all, paying for the price of sin, paying for the penalty of sin before he can establish the Messianic kingdom. And that's why notice what he said to them. In verse 20, He said to them, But the days will come when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days. And you see, He gave them a hint. One day I'm going to be taken away. Notice He used this expression, taken away. That reminds us that when the people came to take him from the garden of Gethsemane, Gatshmanim, and they took him, he said to them, Whom seek ye? John 18. They said, Yeshua from Nazareth. And he says, I am he. If you seek me, let these go their way. He says, I am the one that you seek. Come and take me. And he allowed them to take him. and he was taken away and if you remember as we read the Gospels he was taken first of all to the high priest and then to Pilate and then Pilate handed him to the soldiers and eventually he was placed on a Roman cross and he died for the sin of this world. He is really saying to everyone here, as they were asking him those questions, he says, listen, there will be a time when those disciples are going to fast and mourn. Why? Because I'm going to be taken away by others. And I'm going to ultimately die on that shameful cross, shameful tree, in order to pay for the penalty of sins. I mean, you think about the many verses that come into my mind as we speak about it. The prophet Isaiah said in Isaiah 53, Who had believed a report? And to whom is the arm of the Lord had been revealed? And Isaiah described before us how the Lord was taken away. He was despised and rejected of men, and men of sorrow that had been acquainted with grief. All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to our own way, but the Lord laid upon Him the iniquities of us all. That was already predicted years before Yeshua was on the face of this earth. He knew that He is going to be taken away. But in the meantime, He was with them. They rejoiced to have Him, the Bridegroom, with them in the midst of them. They could not fast at those days. They were rejoicing. They didn't go through the motion that the Pharisees thought and they say, I fast twice in a week. and justifying themselves as he's fasting is that which will justify them before God. No! Yeshua have been teaching his own disciples that he came from heaven in order to redeem them and to purchase redemption for these disciples. They cannot fast when the bridegroom is with them, but when he will be taken away. Then they will fast in those days. Another verse that comes to mind, where we read in Psalm 22, My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me? How David prophetically mentioned about the Mashiach Yeshua, that in the fullness of time will cry, Eli, Eli, lama azavtani? Which was fulfilled in Matthew chapter 27, when he cried, My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me? the judgment that fell upon him because of the sin of this world. He knew that he will be taken away from the midst of the saints. And if you remember, and I'll mention that just as I'm going to read in John chapter 16 and verses 5, And 6th Yeshua already in the upper room said to the disciples, But now I go my way to him that sent me, and none of you ask me whither goest thou, but because I have said these things unto you, sorrow had filled your heart. You see, He knows that they will experience sadness and sorrow when He was going to depart away from them. And so he's preparing them for that, and he's instructing all around him. Now I'm here, they need not to fast. Once I'm gone, they will be sad for a while, they will recognize that I'm gone, and then they will fast, and they will do so in a later time. In those days they shall fast. And look at the beautiful answer. Brothers and sisters, this is really challenging for us because in the days also in which we live in, in the body of Christ, the body of Messiah, there are all sort of things. If you just search around a little bit, you find out that so many things have been introduced to the things of the Lord that are not found in the scripture, including all kind of man-made Traditions that are not found in the Scriptures, like in the days when the Pharisees of old were adding things that were not found in the Word of God. So here He gives them the answer in verses 19 and 20. So, Yeshua is questioned about fasting? Yeshua gave them an answer. There is no need for them to fast now, because the Bridegroom is with them. I'm right here. They will fast later on once I'm gone and I will be taken away from them, then they will fast. Now secondly, notice that we are moving along here. In verse 21 and 22, Yeshua now, within the same conversation, is explaining why He does things different than the Pharisees. I want to remind you that the Pharisees, the Purushim we call them in Hebrew, initially they were very devoted to preserve the law of God. In fact, the first one who was called, you might say, a Sofer or Purush, was actually Ezra the scribe. If you remember when Israel was in Babel, then God restored the people of Israel back to the land. Ezra came back to the land and he was already a scribe and he wanted to preserve the people of Israel. Because the people of Israel became very, you might say, liberal. They've gone astray from the law. They've adapted the ways of the nations of the world. And God wanted to preserve his people for himself. And this is right. The Pharisees had a great beginning. Just the same like you and I might say among the people of God, those conservative believers, they began very well, they stood on the Word of God, they wanted to maintain the body of Messiah sound and not scattered and not liberal, not scattered away from the Word of God. So there was always a good beginning. But as time passes by, You know how it is, just like the Pharisees, we have this danger. We started to add all kind of things into what God initially gave for his people. And so over the generation, over those generations, the Rushim and the Tzdukim, the Pharisees and the Sadducees, have added things in order to preserve the people of God close to the Lord. For example, if they saw a certain verse in the scripture that God commanded the people of Israel to obey it and if they wanted to know, well how do we interpret this verse? So what they were doing, well we gotta figure out how to make sure that they obey this command, this law. So we will add a certain thing or certain requirement to preserve them in acting upon this certain requirement of law from the Lord. It's like almost like plugging every hole in a fence in order that nothing, no one will go out of this fence to protect the nation of Israel. Well, in order to do so, There is always the danger that you add things that are really not found in the word of God. And so there is a continuous things that have been added to what God initially intended for his people. And so in the next verses, Yeshua is really showing to us that He came to fulfill what God have intended in the law, in His word. But what happened is that all the, you might say, the traditions of men have been added to the law, to the word of God. And it's really become merely man-made religion. we don't have to look at the Pharisees only in Israel history you can look at that in Christendom today just look around and you look at all the names that are existing in the professing church today it is unbelievable if you just search a little bit and find out all sort of man-made tradition how to go here and how to walk there what to dress and what not to dress how to behave and what to say and what not to say these all sort of routines that men have been adding to the things of the Lord. The Pharisees, long time ago, said, Why do the disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they wash not their hands when they eat bread, and so on. And Yeshua answered, and He said, Why do ye also transgress the commandments of God by your tradition? Matthew chapter 15 and verses 2 and 3. Tradition! You know, you probably watched a movie, Fiddler on the Roof. Tradition! It is tradition! We have to do it because it is tradition. And I know that from experience for my own family, my grandfather used to, and I mentioned it to you, wash my hands seven times underneath the water, running water. So the water was running, one hand once, the next hand. We grew up washing our hands seven times. Just put them underneath the sink seven times. Why? Because we have been taught That's the right way in order to do anything before you eat or before you are doing anything that has to do with the things of God. You keep yourself ceremonially clean and therefore this is pleasing to the Lord. So traditions have been evolved and have been added up and it become, beloved brothers and sisters, as we have it in the next verses, it becomes, you might say, like an old garment or like an old skin, bottle of wine that is stretched and is stretched and is stretched and become faded and no longer have any more reality in it. That's what the Lord is going against here as He is confronting the spiritual leaders of Israel. You see, He never denied the law that He Himself, that God Himself gave to Israel. But he denied what man does with stretching things to the extent that it's no longer the Word of God. And we know and I know it in my own life that I am and you are in a danger of doing it in our very own day-by-day living. And so in verses 21 and 22, he is explaining now, he's continuing why he does things different than the Pharisees. Why your disciples do not fast like the Pharisees fast? Here is the reason. The Pharisees were fasting because it become a man-made effort to please God. It was not something that was really coming out of a broken heart. Then he says in verse 21 and 22, notice what he's explaining now. He says, no man No man also sew a piece of new cloth on an old garment, otherwise, he says, the new piece that is filled up taketh away from the old, and the rent is made worse. He's using first of all the illustration of taking a material, a new piece of material, and sewing it on an old piece of material. Now just imagine you had a hole in a pants or whatever garment you have, you put a new piece of material on it, this is already old, when you wash this material, the new material is shrinking and what does it do when it shrinks? It pulls off the rest of the pants or the garment What happened? He said, you don't put new thing or something that I brought to fulfill, the new covenant that he was coming to fulfill, you don't put it on the old garment, because what's going to happen, it's going to end up tearing and it doesn't have any value. See, he's using the word, notice how many times he used the word new here. In verse 22, he says, No man putteth a new wine into an old bottle, else the new wine doth burst the bottles, and the wine is spilled. Now again, think about it. The bottles of wine were not made out of glass like we have it today. It was made out of an animal skin. and animal skins over the years would become dry and getting some cracks in it and so on. Now imagine if you're going to put a new wine into it that is really unfermented and then all of a sudden it is getting fermentation, it stretches the whole bottle causing additional of cracks and the wine is ultimately going to fall out. He's really giving them an illustration about the purpose and the reason that he came to this world. You see, Yeshua came to fulfill the law which no one could ever fulfill. All of us have failed in fulfilling God's holy requirement. He was the only one who fulfilled it to the end. But what he also came, beloved brothers and sisters, is to establish the new covenant which he promised to the people of Israel. So when he's coming to establish the new covenant, he's no longer anymore trying to patch and to add all kind of things that you Pharisees have been adding over the generation. No, I came to establish the new covenant and this new covenant is explaining no new cloth need to be put on an old garment. No new wine need to be put inside an old bottle that is dry and maybe stretched and there's leaks that can come out of this bottle. Now let me just elaborate about that. I will not neglect to do so. If you turn to Jeremiah with me for a moment, Jeremiah chapter 31. I want you just to see. That the Lord was emphasizing the fact that He came to this world. You see, all the reason that Yeshua came to this world is to die on the tree, to accomplish redemption, and to make it possible now for us, for believers, to be forgiven on a basis of the blood that He would shed. So in Jeremiah chapter 31, just read with me these verses for a moment. Verses 31 to 34. Notice what he says, Behold the day come, says the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. And he continues, notice what he says, Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers. In the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, which my covenant they break, Although I was a husband unto Israel, unto them, saith the Lord, but this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days. Saith the Lord, I will put my law, listen to that, in their inward parts, and I will write it in their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for they shall all know me from the least of them, even unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord. See, Jeremiah, when Israel was being taken captive away from the land, when he was writing there just after Israel were taken by the Babylonians, he promised What did he promise? That one time the Messiah will come and God will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. And why did he need to make a new covenant? Do you think he need to make a new covenant if the old covenant was sufficient? Do you think he needed to make a new covenant if Israel were able to fulfill that which the earlier covenant that he made with them on Mount Sinai? They couldn't. That's why He said to them in verse 32, He says, Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. Listen, verse 32b, which my covenant they break. They broke it, you and I would have break it and any man upon the face of this earth would break it because God's demand is perfection. when God said be ye holy for I am holy God meant it because he wanted the people of God to be separated unto him he wanted the people of Israel to be perfectly in a right relationship with him but they didn't they couldn't that's why he's introduced the sacrificial system that's why the blood had to be shed but the blood of an animal that was shed is not sufficient It was only a temporary sacrificial system which only atone temporarily for the sins of the nation of Israel, but it never removed them away. And therefore, he said in Jeremiah chapter 31, he says, the days coming that I will make a new covenant. In Hebrew we say, Brit Hadashah. The Brit Hadashah is the new covenant was made through the blood shed, not of an animal anymore, but through the bloodshed of Yeshua, the Messiah. And so here in Mark, he's in the house of Matthew Levy, the Pharisees send people to ask him all these questions. Number one, why you are sitting with those sinners? Well, I came in order to bring these sinners to repentance so they will receive forgiveness. Okay, why you're not fasting and your disciples do not fasting? Well, the reason it is because I am the bridegroom, I'm here with them, I'm going to be taken away from them, but I want you to understand I'm going to be taken away because I'm going to pay for the price of sin. I'm going to die on the tree. I'm going to finish the work of redemption. And I'm going to establish the new covenant. The new covenant is really described for us. You know, new clothes cannot be put on an old garment. New wine can never be put in an old bottle. It will not work. That's why the whole Brit HaChadashah teaches us, by grace are you saved through faith. And this is not of yourself, not of works less any man should boast. That's why 2 Corinthians 5.17, for those that are in the Messiah Yeshua are new creation. All things are passed away, all become new. That's why Ephesians chapter 2 teaches us that He made one new man. How many times the Apostle Paul takes this expression, new, new creation, new man, new covenant. He came to establish something new, yet promised in the Tanakh to the people of Israel. Now, put your fingers still in Mark and please go with me to Hebrews chapter 1. I want to link that with the book of Hebrews as well. The apostle who wrote to the early Hebrew believers had to instruct them also, to help them. Like we need a lot of help these days in order to understand what the Lord have meant. And so in chapter 1, listen to this. God with sundry time, verse 1, and in diverse manner spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets. hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, by the Mashiach, the Son of God, whom He has appointed and heir of all things, by whom He made the world, who has been the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person, upholding all things by the word of His power, when He hath by Himself purged our sins. He sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high. He came, beloved brothers and sisters, not to fix all these old things that men had failed to accomplish. Not to adhere to the Pharisaic views in adding all kind of traditions of men to what God originally gave. He came to fulfill what God had already promised. through the prophets of Israel that in the fullness of time God will send the Mashiach to this world not to fix the old things or to improve man-made religions and traditions but to introduce the new covenant and therefore he was sent in order to die for us on the tree, beloved brothers and sisters. In Hebrews chapter 8, just jump a little bit to verse 6 of Hebrews chapter 8 There he says, but now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry by how much also he is a mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises. Verse 7, for if the first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for a second. Then he says in verse 8, but finding fault with them, not with the Old Covenant, because the Old Covenant was perfect and holy, the problem with humanity. The problem was with men, with us, with Israel and you and I, all humanity. Finding fault with them, he says, behold the day come. says the Lord when I will make a new covenant. with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand out from the land of Egypt, because they continue not in my covenant, and I regard them not, saith the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord. I will put my laws into their mind, and I will write them in their hearts, And I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people." Beloved, listen. You see, this is always was a problem that the Pharisees and the religious leaders of today have the very same problem. Why do we need Yeshua the Messiah? Why do you claim that He is the Messiah? We can seek to please God. We have all kind of things that we can do. We can keep this and we can do that. And we have introduced so many ways whereby we can please God. And they continue with that from generation to generation and still did not recognize that Yeshua came to establish a new covenant, a better covenant, a covenant that could never improve, you might say, could never be patched upon an old thing, but this is a new covenant that the Lord has made. One more verse in Hebrews chapter 10. Verse 19, we read here, "...having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest..." Listen, "...by the blood of Yeshua, by a new..." Here's the word new again, "...by a new and living way, which He consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say, His flesh, and having a high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. And so, beloved brothers and sisters, He is not going to come and put a new cloth on an old garment or put a new wine in an old bottle. because it just doesn't work. Now, when he says that, he doesn't deny the law that God had given to the people of Israel. The law was fulfilled by him because he came to fulfill the law. But what he says, all what the traditions of men that have been added over and above was really man-made and it never avail. Therefore, he came to bring this new covenant, the Brit HaChadashah, as it is mentioned here in these verses. And thank God for that, brothers and sisters. Can you imagine if you and I would continue to try to please God on a basis of man-made rules? You know that today, even in Israel today, we just came from Israel a month and a half ago, even today you see the certain rules that are still the leaders of Israel place upon the rest of the nation. They mean perhaps well, they try to protect the rest of the nation from being secular and liberal, But many of these rules are man-made rules and not that it come out of the Word of God. It's just to plug another hole in the fence so no one will be able to go there and there's another hole in another part of the fence and to plug another hole and it really is man-made and it's no longer that which has value. in the presence of the Lord. And that's what Yeshua was confronting every day of his life when he was here on the face of this earth. Now back to Mark. In chapter 2, the last verses there, here is the issue that we all struggle with, the Shabbat day. Oh, the Shabbat day, we are struggling. I mean, I'm 40 years or so a believer, a little bit more than 40 years. Grew up of course in Yerushalayim, in a home in my grandparents, very conservative, you would never dare to do anything in a home on a Shabbat day. My dad and I and my mom and so we had to walk to my grandfather's home if we are going to be there for the Shabbat day, lest my grandfather, he never wanted us to drive on a Shabbat day because turning the car on is lighting fire. You can't open the fridge because opening the fridge is lighting light. You cannot go up on an elevator because pressing the button will be work on the Shabbat day. In fact, the Israeli airline El Al cannot fly out of Israel or into Israel during the Shabbat day. And just recently, when there was work to be done in Tel Aviv, underground, they're doing underground cars and so on. They need it because there is so much traffic. In order to do it, they needed to work on a Shabbat day. The government almost fell, the coalition almost fell, because the religious circle do not want anybody working on a Shabbat day. In the city of Ashdod, they want to close any shops, any stores that are working or opening their store on the Shabbat day. And they mean well, I have no doubt about it. Because they want the Shabbat day to be kept as God have intended it to be. No manner of work to be done on the Shabbat day. So here, look at this. Here is the introduction to the Shabbat issue. And that's here how Yeshua is dealing with the Shabbat issue. How do we handle? The Shabbat, first of all, God Himself, according to Genesis 2, He rested on a Shabbat day, on the seventh day. Then later on, and I don't want to read all the verses right now, in Exodus chapter 16, He told our people of old never to go out of their tent to pick up the manna on a Shabbat day. Already on Friday, they had to pick up two portions for the Friday and for the Shabbat. Then later on in Exodus chapter 20 he inaugurated it into the law and he said the seventh day, the Shabbat day, you will keep it holy. God meant business with Israel when he said to them that they will keep the Shabbat day holy. He wanted his people to rest on that Shabbat day. He meant it for good and he intended this for good but you see what happened, like everywhere. Things have been coming in, man-made, man-made tradition have been added to that. What God meant for the benefit of his people became already like labor, became so heavy for the people to take that they could not take it anymore. In chapter 31 of the book of Exodus, God reminded our people of old Israel that the Shabbat was a sign between Israel the nation and God himself. Just like the circumcision was a sign between Abraham and God and his descendants, the Shabbat became a sign between God and our people, the people of Israel. But here comes Yeshua. And He is the very same God who had actually given the Shabbat day to the nation of Israel. He is the Lord of the Shabbat. So here He is coming and notice that He is again. In verse 23 we read of Mark 2. It came to pass that He went through the corn fields on the Shabbat day. And His disciples began as they went to pluck the ears of corn. So can you just imagine here is the Lord Yeshua with his disciples in the fields in Galilee they are walking through the field and they were hungry and they were going through the field they saw the corn they plucked the corn and they began to kind of crush them and to eat it as they are walking through the field now you see beloved brothers and sisters as far as the Pharisees were concerned it was not lawful You can't work on a Shabbat by actually taking the corn and crushing it and eating it. That's considered to be work. Just the same like you can't press the button in an elevator on a Shabbat day. That's considered to be work. And so as they are walking by on a Shabbat day, they are going and they are plucking the ears of the corn and they were eating it. And so you notice in verse 24, the Pharisee said unto him, here's the third question, why is it that on Shabbat day they do that which is not lawful? Now you see, they've gone beyond what God had intended for the Shabbat day to be. The Shabbat day was given for rest, The Shabbat day was given for time of reflection. Even the meaning of the word Shabbat in Hebrew comes from the word Lashvet, to sit. Or Lishbot, to strike from work. To do nothing and rest in the things of the Lord and enjoy the things of God. But you see, if you walk from one place to another, and you happen to see, as we see here, ears of corn, and you're hungry, you taking it, plucking it, and crushing it, and eating it, become work. You see how far it went from what God intended it to be? And by the way, lest anyone of us will think for a moment that they were doing wrong in eating it, they were not stealing. The book of Deuteronomy have allowed this for the people of Israel to be able to walk through someone else's field and to be able to eat not to take everything home and to glean everything but for themselves they could pluck some ears of corn and enjoy it Deuteronomy chapter 23 verse 24 and 25 allowed for that But you see, we find out that the Pharisees said unto him, why? Here's the third question. Why do they on a Shabbat day that which is not lawful? They couldn't do that according to the Pharisees and the leaders of Israel. And that's brought about the response of the Lord that was very, very strong. You see, that's the problem. Sometimes we want to tell God what He have instructed us to do. We want to tell Him how to do what He have given us an instruction. Whether it is for the Israel or whether it is for the church, we tell God what He say to us. Instead of submitting to what He teaches us. And so He said to them in verse 25 and I'm gonna moving along. He's immediately going back to history. And then he is reminding them of what David have done in a time of need. When there is a need, even on a Shabbat day, that need should be met. Because God is not intending for man's need to be set aside just in order to say that one kept the Shabbat day. And he is reminding himself, have you not read? He's taking them to 1st Samuel chapter 21. Have you not read what David did? Verse 25. When he had a need. Notice that word, a need. A need. When there was a need, he was hungry. he and they that were with him how he went into the house of God this is the tabernacle that was in Shiloh in those days in the days of Eviatar the high priest and did eat of the showbread, which is not lawful to eat, but for the priests. And he gave also to them that were with him." Now, I'm not going to go to 1 Samuel chapter 21 together with you, but I want you to see, brothers and sisters, he goes back to biblical days, and how David, you remember, he fled he was running away because Saul sought to kill him and he coming to the place where the tabernacle was and the high priest it was not Eviatar it's not that the Lord didn't know that but he reminding that Eviatar was also in those days a priest in Israel and then he said look he went and he asked the high priest for the showbread The show bread was those 12 loaves that were placed every Shabbat day in the holy place upon the table. 12 loaves of bread represented 12 tribes of the people of Israel. And then every Shabbat they were replaced and only the priests could eat it. But here's David coming. He brings with him many men who were fleeing with him and then he's asking for the bread to be eaten. and of course the high priest gave him the bread to eat and David ate the show bread in Hebrew it's called lechem or bread that was in the face lechem hapanim it was there presented only for the priest and David took from it and he ate from it it was forbidden it was not allowed to do so but there was a need when need arises Even though God gave an instruction, God himself can provide for the needs of people, like especially in connection with the Shabbat day. Man is adding all sort of traditions, the Pharisees have added all sort of things and the Lord is telling them, know this, David have eaten from the showbread which was only allowed for the priest of Israel to eat. And he concludes here, with those words. He says the Shabbat, was made for men and not men for the Shabbat God have given to Israel the seventh day of the week for them to enjoy a rest for Him. He made the Shabbat for Israel, for men, not making men for the Shabbat. That's what He is seeking to teach us. And then He is telling them, listen, not only this, verse 28, and with this we will close the chapter, He says, the Son of Man, meaning I, the Messiah, I am Lord. I am Lord over the Shabbat. The word for Lord means I'm the one who is instructing, I'm guiding, I'm master of the Shabbat. Because I'm the one who gave the Shabbat for the people of Israel. The Son of Man is Lord over the Shabbat. Adon ben Adam gam la Shabbat. The Son of Man is Lord and Master even over the Shabbat. And He can allow His disciples to crush the corn and eat the corn as they walk through the field and enjoy it while they're passing by, even if it happened on the Shabbat day while the Pharisees called it an unlawful thing to do. Amazing, beloved brothers and sisters, as we studied the Gospel of Mark, the new covenant was going to be introduced. The Messiah was going to die. the penalty for sin is going to be paid and all that which is old, man-made will never be availing to please the Lord. He will never need to put an old cloth and an old garment, never need to put a new wine in an old bottles. It's a new covenant, Brit Hadashah, that He is going to establish based upon the grace that's going to be provided by the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah, as He finished the work through His death. burial and resurrection. And we thank the Lord that we are today part of this age of the Brit HaChadashah. Can we say amen to that? You have been listening to the Holy Scriptures and Israel with Gideon Levitam. 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 a.m. and 7 p.m. and Saturdays at 1 p.m. 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.