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. Today we are going to begin with the sixth chapter of the Gospel of Mark. And I would like to read the first 29 verses of these six chapter very interesting passage for us and let's see what the Lord has for us in these verses so Mark chapter 6 and I'm reading from verse 1 to verse 29 so we read and he went out from thence and came into his own country And his disciples followed him, and when the Shabbat day was come, he began to teach in the synagogue, in Beit HaKnesset. And many hearing him were astonished, saying, From whence Has this man these things? And what wisdom is this which is given unto him, that even such mighty works are wrought by his hands? Is not this the carpenter, the son of Miriam? the brothers of Yaakov, and Yosef, and Yehuda, and Shimon, and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him. But Yeshua said unto them, A prophet is not without honor, but in his own country. and among his own kin, and in his own house. And he could there do no mighty works, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folks and healed them. And he marveled because of their unbelief. And he went round about the villages teaching. And he called unto him the twelve, and he began to send them forth by two and two, and gave them power over unclean spirits, and commanded them that they should take nothing for their journey, save a staff only, no scrip, no bread, no money in their purse, but be shod with sandals, and not put on two coats. And he said unto them, In what place soever ye enter into an house, thereby till ye depart from that place. And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you, when ye depart, thence shake off the dust under your feet. for a testimony against them. Verily I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city. And they went out and preached that men should repent. And they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many that were sick and healed them. And King Herod heard of him, for his name was spread abroad, and he said that John the Baptist, or Yohanan Hamadbil, was risen from the dead. And therefore mighty works do show forth themselves by him. Others said that it is Eliyahu. And others said that it is a prophet, or as one of the prophets. But when Herod heard thereof, he said, it is Yohanan whom I beheaded. He is risen from the dead. For Herod himself had sent forth and laid hold upon John, and bound him in prison, for Herodias' sake his brother Philip's wife, for he had married her. For John, Yohanan, had said unto Herod, It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife. Therefore Herodias had a quarrel against him, and would have killed him, but she could not. For Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just man, and holy, and observed him. And when he heard him, he did many things, and heard him gladly. And when a convenient day was come, that Herod on his birthday made a supper to his lord, high captains and chief estates of Galilee. And when the daughter of the said Herodias came in and danced and pleased Herod, and them that sat with him, the king said unto the damsel, ask of me whatsoever thou wilt and I will give it thee. And he swore unto her, Whatsoever thou shall ask of me, I will give it to thee unto the half of my kingdom. And she went forth and said unto her mother, What shall I ask? And she said, The head of John the baptizer. And she came in straightway with haste unto the king, and asked, saying, I will that thou give me by and by in a charger the head of John the baptizer. And the king was exceeding sorry. Yet for his oath's sake, and for the sake which sat with him, he would not reject her. And immediately the king sent an executioner, and commanded his head to be brought, and he went, and beheaded him in the prison, and brought his head in a charger, and gave it to the damsel. and the damsel gave it to her mother and when his disciples heard of it they came and took up his corpse and laid it in a tomb I'm going to stop here with verse 29 Very sad to read this last portion of the murdering of Yohanan Hamadbil, John the baptizer. Very sad to hear that event, that story that we read here in Mark chapter 6. We're going to get to it just at the end. But beloved brothers and sisters, Mark chapter 6 is a very interesting chapter for a very simple reason. The reason is this. Because in chapter five, we learn of two individuals that have faith in the Lord Yeshua the Messiah. While in the sixth chapter, we learn actually of three You might say companies who did not believe in Yeshua the Messiah. In fact, you notice that I just read in Mark chapter 6 and verse 6, and he marveled because of their unbelief. Now let me tell you something, beloved brothers and sisters. God demands for man to believe on himself. God who is righteous and holy, the creator of all, the creator of the universe, the creator of mankind demands that His creatures will simply believe on Him and on the Son of His love whom He had sent to this world. In fact, it is mentioned plenty of times in the Word of God that without faith in God and faith in the Messiah, it is impossible to please God. I mentioned that earlier and I'm mentioning again that we read in Hebrews 11 and verse 6 without faith it is impossible to please Him that is God and he that comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. Believing God Believing Yeshua the Messiah in his person and in his work is necessary for one to be saved, to be forgiven. And therefore without faith it is impossible to please God. Faith, in Hebrew, emunah, leha'amin, is essential. And while people live here in this world that God created for us all, And we carry on in our own ways, in our own dealings and neglect believing the God who created all things for mankind. This is only going to lead one to eventual judgment and condemnation. Because one day we're going to stand before God, and God is going to ask one simple question, like He asked the leaders of our people of old, many years ago, Yeshua the Messiah, What think ye of Christ, of the Messiah? What do you think about Him? He asked it of our people of Israel many years ago when he was here on earth. And he's asking people today, young people, older people, male and female, Jewish and Gentiles, all the poor and rich. One thing is essential is faith in the person of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah. Without faith it is impossible to please God, for he that comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. There is a verse that is found in John chapter 20, where at the end John said, when he wrote, he says, verse 30, Many other signs truly did Yeshua in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book, this is the Gospel of John, the Gospel of Yohanan, but these are written that ye might believe that Yeshua is the Mashiach, the Son of God, and that believing ye might have life through his name. In other words, if you don't believe, men will see one day we have to stand before the same man that came as a lamb in his first coming and he is going to be the very same one who is going to sit as a judge at the Great White Throne Judgment, Revelation Chapter 20 where all the unregenerated unbelievers will stand one day before him and sadly to say he will have to send them to the lake of fire God loves mankind, God loves humanity, but God does not want to judge mankind. And man must eventually come to believe in Him if He eventually, if this person is going to find salvation and forgiveness. And praise God for us who are believers here in this room. It is the grace of God that opens our eyes and opens our hearts to believe that Yeshua is the Messiah who paid the price for our sin. So chapter 6 of the Gospel of Mark is in direct contradiction to chapter 5. Why? Because in chapter 5 you had two individuals Yair, Jairus who believed in Yeshua the Messiah and asked him to come to his home because his daughter was sick she was 12 years of age and he believed that he is able to heal her and even if she will die he will be able to raise her and sure enough when he arrived to his house this girl died and he said to her Talitha little lamb rise up and sure enough she rose up and he brought her to her parents But there was another woman who had been 12 years with an issue of blood. She was not wealthy and known woman as Yair, as Jairus. Her name is not even mentioned in chapter 5. But she had 12 years of a discharge of blood. And she was excommunicated. She was considered to be defiled. But she believed in Yeshua. And while the multitude were following after him, she ran through and reached him and touched his tzitzit, the hem of his garment. And immediately she was healed. And Yeshua just said, who touched me? Knowing, of course, that she touched him. Only to reveal her before everybody else. And she confessed that she believed, if I only touch the hem of your garment, I knew that I will be healed. She believed God and she was healed. And not only that she was healed physically, but she was healed spiritually. She became a child of God. and the beautiful contrast you can see between chapter 5 and now we enter into chapter 6 of the Gospel of Mark and lo and behold we see actually in this sixth chapter three companies who simply rejected Yeshua the Messiah and did not believe that he was indeed the Son of God of course the first company who did not believe are his own relative and family and country fellows, you might say. Those who knew him very well, they did not believe on him at first. Secondly, we see the unbelief of all those who oppose the person of Yeshua the Messiah. And thirdly, in our next ministry meeting, we will hear of the unbelief even of His own disciples, who have already believed that He was the Messiah, yet lack of belief like you and I have as disciples, as followers of Yeshua the Messiah, we many times simply don't Trust the Lord, and how this man of old says, Lord, I believe, but help my unbelief. And so you notice that, beloved brothers and sisters, in the first six verses of this sixth chapter of the book of Mark, we see the unbelief of Yeshua's countrymen and Yeshua's relatives and Yeshua's friends and people that knew him very well in the city of Nazareth. And so we read in verse 1 of chapter 6, it says, And he went out from thence, this is from the house of Jairus, or Yair, after he healed his daughter Tali, or Talitha, after he raised her from the dead. Then he left, and he went to his own country. You notice that? He went out from thence, and he came into his own country, and his disciples followed him. and now we continue and we see that when the Shabbat day was come he began to teach in the synagogue in Beit HaKnesset and many hearing him were astonished saying from whence has this man these things and what wisdom is this which is given unto him that even such mighty works are wrought by his Now I want to pause here for a moment because it is extremely interesting. Let me remind you that according to the Bible it was the angel who came in chapter 1 of the Gospel of Luke to a woman by the name of Miriam and he said to her that she will give birth to the Messiah and that she will be the one that will be the mother of the Messiah of Israel and the Savior of this world. And in six months the angel Gabriel was sent from God into a city in Galilee and the name of the city was Nazareth. That's where the initial promise was given to Miriam, his mother. You remember later on, we read about it in the Gospel of Matthew, When the Magi, the wise men came and they say where is he that was born the king of the Jews, Melech HaYehudim and you remember how Herod was so unhappy with this he wanted to know where this king of the Jews was born and if you remember in the Gospel of Matthew he killed all the Jewish boys from two years and under and his Herons, this is Miriam and Yosef, had to flee from Bethlehem, somewhere perhaps up to when he was two years old, and they went to Egypt. They lived in Egypt for a while until King Herod died, and they returned to the very city from which they originally came. According to Matthew chapter 2, we read, and I just want to read this verse 23, And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, He shall be called Nozri. A person that came to be to live in the city of Nazareth. So it is evident that the Messiah actually lived in the city of Nazareth. Yeshua for many years lived in the city of Nazareth. Now imagine he lived among his own family. He lived around the citizens of this town by the name of Nazareth, a small town. Everyone knew Yeshua. Everyone very well knew who he was. And he was there many times, ministering there. And he began actually, you might say, his ministry in the city of Nazareth. We read it in other passages in Luke chapter 4 that he was already in that synagogue earlier. Now time passes by and he returned to the very same Beit HaKnesset where he already ministered the word in the past. You remember again to remind you that in Luke chapter 4 when he was preaching there in the synagogue a wonderful passage he applied this to himself and he said the Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach the gospel unto the poor he has sent me to heal the brokenhearted to preach deliverance to the captive and to recovering the sight of the blind and to set at liberty them that are bruised to preach the acceptable year of the Lord and he closed the book there in that synagogue and he gave it unto the minister and he sat down and the eyes of all of them were fastened upon him and he began to say to them this day this scripture is fulfilled in your sight He quoted Isaiah, where Isaiah predicted the Messiah will come and he will be the one that will minister to the nation of Israel. But you know what they wanted to do to him? According to Luke chapter 4, they actually were so unhappy with Yeshua, that it says here, they were wrath, they were angry with him, Luke 4 and verse 28. And they rose up and they thrust him out of the city of Nazareth, led him unto the brough of a hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong. Now imagine, beloved brothers and sisters, the people of Nazareth were not happy at all that he claimed to be the Mashiach. And that's why they wanted already to throw him off the hill, because he was claiming that Isaiah the prophet, what he said was applying to him. Now you can understand how difficult it was for them to accept that he was the Messiah and that's why now he's coming again to the Senegal. He's returning back to the city of Nazareth and he's there among his very own countrymen ministering to them on a Shabbat day like you and I meeting today on a Shabbat day he stood up and he ministered there and everyone was astonished saying from where does this man have these things? how is it possible? they said notice Mark chapter 6 verse 2 where does he have this wisdom? and how come he does all these miracles? well obviously something was unique with this man Nicodemus said and I mentioned that before in John chapter 3 we know that you are a man that come from God because no one can do those miracles that you are doing and indeed beloved brothers and sisters he came from heaven he is the promised Mashiach he is God the Son who became a man who became a servant he came in order to fulfill the requirements that God had given to him to pay for the sin of this world. So in verses 1 and 2 the people in the synagogue were marveled and you can just imagine who was there in the synagogue probably his family also relatives from another areas and so on in the city of Nazareth and all the neighbors were there and here is this man by the name of Yeshua standing there in the midst ministering to them and have wisdom that supersede the Rabbi, supersede the elders, supersede the neighbors. His wisdom was beyond compare. And not only that, he makes miracles. The blind can see, the lame can walk, demon possessed, the demons have been removed from them. Everybody was astonished. and brothers and sisters listen if you and I were there we were just the same astonished never a man done what this man have done and so we read in verse 3 of Mark chapter 6 they said to one another is not this THE carpenter? haim hu lo han nagar? this carpenter? Oh yes, he was just a carpenter. We know him very well. He was working at the shop of his father Yosef as a carpenter. He was cutting the wood. He was chiseling the wood. He was making tables. He was making chairs. He was making all those things. He may have made for me something in my house, one might say. How can he claim? How can he claim that he already claimed before that the verses of Isaiah 61 apply to him? How can he have this wisdom that supersedes the Rabbi, the leaders? How can he have those miracles that we see? Is not this the carpenter? And then they continue and he says, he is the son of Miriam? The brother of Jacob and Joseph and Judah and Shimon and even his sisters are all here. What makes him so much different than the rest of his family? Amazing, beloved brothers and sisters. It must have been amazing to have Yeshua walking in the midst of his relatives, in the midst of his countrymen, in the midst of his family and doing these wonderful things that were abnormal. and so we read notice that it says in verse 3 at the end they were offended of him they were offended notice verse 3 it says here that the peoples were offended because of him beloved brothers and sisters they simply were stumbled they were stumbled and you know it's not coincident that they were stumbled at him because the Bible does teach us Isaiah said it that he is that stumbling stone he is a rock of offense he is the one that people will stumble over like today you know when we minister to our own family and tell them that Yeshua is the Messiah and people are stumbling our very own family they are stumbling over him because they say it is not possible It is not possible because we do not believe that He is the Messiah. It's not possible. The Mashiach hasn't come as yet. And they will stumble over the fact that He claimed to be the Messiah. There is a verse in Isaiah 8 and verse 14 that Isaiah predicted the Messiah's coming. And we read in verse 14, He shall be for a century but for a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense to both houses of Israel, for a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Yerushalayim. You see, it's not coincidence because Isaiah already predicted about 700 years before the Messiah came, that when he will come at his first coming, his own nation, our own nation, will stumble over him. In fact, the Apostle Paul said this in Romans chapter 9, and I would like to read these verses, verse 32 and verse 33. Look what Paul, Shaul Paul said to the Romans believers. He said these words. He says, Wherefore, because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law, for they stumbled at the stumbling stone. As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumbling stone and a rock of offense, and whosoever shall believe on him shall not be ashamed. You see, they got stumbled. Like you and I can see it today by many who get stumbled over him. Oh, he's only a man. Oh no, he's not the son of God. He's not the Mashiach, the promised Messiah. We hear it every time from our very own family. And maybe some of you who are not coming from a Jewish background hearing it from your friends, from your neighbors, from your family says, no, no, no, don't give me Jesus. I don't believe that he can save me. Some even don't even believe the Bible. Don't believe that the Word of God is indeed the Word of God. I was speaking recently to a servant of the Lord who told me that in many other groups people do not believe the book of Genesis. God did not create the world. Adam was not created by God. Eve was not created from the side of Adam's rib. The flood did not happen. There's no such a man as Noah. There's no such a thing as the Tower of Babel, Migdal Babel. Nimrod didn't build it. No, no, no. These are only stories, you see. You see, beloved brothers and sisters, if we don't believe the Word of God, What is left for us? And you see, even though in Mark chapter 6, in the city of Nazareth, Yeshua was there, but our own people had the scripture. That's why when he went to the Beit HaKnesses, to the synagogue, he didn't read some commentary of someone else. He quoted the promises that were given to our forefathers in the Hebrew scriptures. And yet they didn't believe. didn't believe and so we read look at that is not this the carpenter or is only this man that was a carpenter his mother is Miriam his brothers are here with us Yaakov, Yosef, Judah and Shimon his sisters are here but they were offended how sad it is you know People are offended at the person of Yeshua the Messiah. Or they worship other things. They rather worship idols, they rather believe in other things, and yet they decline faith in the person of Yeshua the Messiah. In fact, God said to our people of old Israel many years ago, Today if you hear His voice, harden not your hearts. Don't be fooled in hardening your heart, because I tell you, hardening of the heart only will lead someone to a day when he or she will have to stand before the Living God. And the very same Yeshua who came to die for our sins once is going to be the very same judge who is going to have to say, Depart from me ye workers of iniquity. And so notice what Yeshua said in verse 4. He knew that. And He says, listen, Yeshua, verse 4, we read His statement, look at the declaration He says in verse 4, He said unto them, A prophet is not without honor, but in his own, know the three things, in his own country, and among his own relatives, and in his own house. Look at this amazing statement, you know sometimes when you feel discouraged, when your families don't believe in what you believe, and don't believe the Bible, don't believe the word of God, the Torah, the Nevi'im, the Ketuvim, the Brit HaChadashah, the whole scripture, you will see that what Yeshua is saying here is so true. A prophet has honor! But you know where he doesn't have honor? Not in his own country, not with his own relative, and not in his own house. That's why many of us go home and we have maybe a husband, or maybe a wife, or maybe a son, or maybe a daughter, or maybe a parent that says, you've gone mad. You do not know what you believe. Look at me, I will tell you what you need to believe. And you ask them, what do you believe in? And they have nothing to show. It's either merely religion or a system of man without any foundation. And how wonderful it is to know that we are standing on a solid ground because the scripture teaches us that a Messiah has to come and that Yeshua is the Messiah who will die for our sin and deliver us from the judgment that we deserve. And so a prophet is not without honor, but only in his own country, this is Nazareth, his own kin, this is his relative, and his own house, this is his very own family. And if you remember, beloved brothers and sisters, in our previous ministry meeting, we read from John chapter 7 and verse 5, where we read that neither did his brethren believed on him. John 7 and verse 5, even his own brethren, even his own brethren, Yaakov and Yosef and Yehuda and Shimon, initially did not believe on him. Later on, by the grace of God, they became believers and some of them like Yaakov and Judah became writers of the Brit HaChadashah, who gave us the book of Yaakov, James, and the book of Judah, Jude. But they didn't believe initially, like many of our own family. And so we read in verses 5 and 6 of Mark chapter 6, Yeshua could not do mighty works there in Nazareth. Why? Because of their unbelief. We read here in verse 5, And he could there do no mighty works, save that he laid hands upon few sick folk, and healed them. But notice verse 6, And he marveled because of their unbelief, and they went around about the villages teaching. Now when we read of the word marvel, That does not mean that Yeshua was surprised. This is twice in the scripture it speaks of the Lord that He marveled. Here it speaks of the marvel of those who did not believe on Him from His own countrymen, His own family, His own household. While in Luke 7 and verse 9 we read that He marveled, notice there, when Yeshua heard these things He marveled at Him. This is the person that came by believing that he was the Messiah from Kfar Nahum, the centurion that came. And he believed that Yeshua was the one who is able to help him. Yeshua marveled at his faith in him, while here he marveled at their unbelief. How is it possible that a person will live in a Christian home, or in a home of believers, where the Bible will be read, where the family will seek to minister the Word of God, when they will be seeking to share the message of the Word of God and there is a constant rejection of the person of the Lord. How is it possible you might say? But it is possible. Because a man by nature needs awakening by the Lord. That's why, beloved brothers and sisters, we should not be discouraged when we go to our various homes and various friends and family do not believe in the Messiah. All what we need to do is to pray that the Lord will open their eyes and open their hearts. Yeshua marveled because of their unbelief. And you know what He did? He continued on. And he went elsewhere where people will believe the message that he has to share with them. And that's the ones that he's looking for, those that will believe and accept him and trust in him for their eternal salvation. And you know, brothers and sisters, today in the world we have two groups. Not three, there are two. The one group are those who are saved. The other group are those who are lost. The one group are those who believe God and believe His Word. The other group are those who do not believe God, who reject the Word of God. Those are the two groups that exist today and thank God the Lord opened our hearts to believe on Him today. So, the first group that have an unbelief are simply, as we have here in these first six verses, we have His countrymen, his relative and his family did not believe on him even though he was there in their midst he grew up in the city of Nazareth but let's move along here because in verses 7 all the way to verse 29 it's a long session which has some recollection of what happened to John the baptizer in verses 7 to 29 of Mark chapter 6 we learn three things Number 1, verses 7 to 13, Yeshua called his 12 disciples and he sent them away to preach the gospel of the kingdom. Then in verse 14 to 16, Herod, Antipas, hear of the name of Yeshua and assume that he was John Yochanan Hamadbil, John the baptizer, who rose, apparently, according to him, from the dead. And thirdly, in verse 17 to 29, Mark looks back at Herod's evil doing when he killed this servant of the Lord by the name of Yohanan. Those three points I would like to touch now in the next a little while. Well first of all notice verses 7 to 13, Yeshua called his 12 disciples and he sent them to preach the message of the gospel of the kingdom. We read in verse 7, the sending of the 12 two by two. We read in verse 7, and he called unto him the 12 and he began to send them forth by two and two and he gave them power over unclean spirits. The word for send come from the Greek that it says Apostello. Apostello where you get the word Apostle. In Hebrew we call it Shaliyach. Even though they were disciples, now they are disciples under training that they are being sent by the Lord to give a message to all who are willing to hear Him. How wonderful we have their names earlier in chapter 3 from verse 14 to verse 19 but it is interesting that including in these 12 apostles or disciples who were sent we have Judas, the one who betrayed him And you know what we really learn and we see here that Judas had all the opportunities like the other disciples. He was sent, 2 by 2 were sent, 12, 6 groups were gone all over in the Galil, in Galilee. and they were ministering the word of God and it is included this man by the name of Yehuda, Judas who sold Yeshua the Messiah for 30 pieces of silver. He had a great opportunity as he was going with the other disciples to minister the word to others but we know very well that he was the one who sold the Lord, denied the Lord, kissed the Lord and eventually He hung himself. He was the one that was not really a true child of God. He was not. He was chosen to be one of the apostles, but he was the one that we read in scripture, my own familiar friend with whom I went to the house of the Lord. He eventually denied me and have gone against me. So he called them and he sent them two by two. Beautiful to see. Why two by two? Well, the scripture teaches us, if you remember King Shlomo said many years ago, two are better than one. Why? Because if one falls, the other one can help him. If one stumbles, the other one can help him. If one needs help, they can help each other. That's why the number two are very, very important in scripture. In fact, if you remember in the book of Deuteronomy, God gave the law to our forefathers and he said to them, upon two or three witnesses, everything will be established. Two, walking together to minister the gospel, together are helping each other, learning from each other, ministering to each other. So he sent them two by two. And as he sent them, notice that, how beautiful here, we learn that he gave them authority even over unclean spirits. Imagine those disciples who became the apostles, the shlichim, had an apostolic authority. We don't have that authority today that the apostles had, but they had an apostolic authority. The apostle Paul said elsewhere, he said, the gift of an apostle were right in the midst of you. You had such a privilege when I was in the midst of you, he said to whom he wrote, and yet they failed him. And so we read here in verse 7 that He sent them two by two. He gave them authority over unclean spirits. And you notice what He tells them. He wanted them not to trust in themselves. You know, sometimes we trust ourselves, we are trusting our abilities, our gifts, our money, our authority, our wisdom. He is sending them notice, He tells them here in verse 8, He commanded them that they should take Nothing for the journey, except a staff in their hand, and by the end of verse, nine sandals on their feet. But then he tells them, don't take scrip. Don't take bread, don't take money in your purse, and don't take two coats upon you. In other words, don't take double clothes upon you. Just go as you are, trusting God. Trusting the Lord that He will be able to meet your need. No script. No bread, no money, no two coats, only take stuff in your hand and sandals upon your shoes, and go to preach the message of the gospel in all the villages. Minister to them the gospel of the kingdom. of God. The Messiah is here. The kingdom can be established if the nation will only receive Yeshua the Messiah. So you notice what we read here in verse 10 and verse 11 that He gives them instruction what to do when they arrive to the homes and the villages how they're going to handle the situation when they arrive there. There may be an opposition. There are those who will believe But there are those who will not believe. Like today, there are those who believe, and there are those who reject the message of the Gospel. So He said unto them in verses 10 and 11, look at the instruction that He gives to them, here in Mark chapter 6, He said to them, In what place soever ye enter into a house, there abide, until ye depart from that place. And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you, when you depart, shake off the dust under your feet, for a testimony against them. Verily I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in that day, or the day of judgment, than for that city. Amazing what he is saying. Some will receive you when you go to their home and they embrace you, they receive your message, the message of the Gospel of the Kingdom. You stay there and teach there. And don't depart from that place for a while until you minister to them the Word of God. Not only leading them to the Messiah, but instructing them from the Word of God. Stay there until you leave. And what you do when you stay there? You share with them, you teach them and you instruct them. But he said, you know, wheresoever shall not receive you. These are people who will reject the message of those messengers. They will not hear you. You see in verse 11. When you depart, notice that, shake the dust under your feet. Shake it like that. Now shaking the dust under your feet like this is only a symbol. It's not doing it in arrogance, not doing it in hatred. In fact they must have a burden on their heart. Why will they not receive the message of the Gospel of the Kingdom? The Messiah is in our midst. So the shaking of the dust from the feet really represent in a sense to wash their hands. In other words to say I'm not really responsible, I shared with you the message. I told you about the Mashiach I instructed to you that he had come and the reason that he had come but you rejected the message so it is in a sense symbolic act by shaking the sandals or the feet saying that's it I'm not responsible I shared with you the message you have to answer the Lord in your time and in your way because you are now really responsible Now again, beloved brothers and sisters, it was not in arrogance and in pride. There was no hatred or anything. In fact, there was a pain in their hearts, knowing that their own people did not accept the message that the Messiah has come. They did not want to hear the message of the Gospel. And how sad it is. Any one of us can say, indeed, how we feel so sad in our hearts. When people we love, when friends we care for, when relatives we cherish, yet they don't want to hear the message of the Gospel. Now, we are not angry at them, we are not wishing them ill, we actually pray for them. We go on our knees and we ask the Lord, have mercy upon our own family, bring them to the knowledge of Yeshua the Messiah. And so this act is simply a symbolic act to say, I wash my hands. I'm not responsible for your decision making. You have to make a decision. You know, young people, those of us that are here are young people. Your parents are responsible for your soul when you are underage and under responsibility. But it's come a time that you have to make your own decision. We long that we could make a decision for our family, if we could. If we could, we'll draw them to Yeshua, the Messiah. We'll pull them out of the fire of God's judgment. But we can't. And a person becomes responsible. Now in Jewish tradition, when a boy becomes of an age of 13, having his bar mitzvah, bar means son, mitzvah means commandment, he becomes responsible at a certain age of 13. Now of course, it's an age that somehow traditionally has been chosen for our Jewish boys. For the Jewish girls, when they become 12, we have what is called to be bat mitzvah, the daughter of the commandment, the responsibility that she might have. But you see, God knows the hearts. It's not an issue of a certain age, but it is a time where you become responsible. And you have to make the decision before the Lord. Your parents can no longer anymore try to do anything for you in order to bring you to Yeshua the Messiah. You become responsible. And you will have to stand before the Lord. All of us, brothers and sisters, on our own. Not my brother, not my sister, not my mother, not my father, not my son, not my daughter, not my uncle, not my aunt, not my grandparents. No, no. Every one of us have to make individual decisions before the Lord. And that symbolical act here, by shaking off the dust under the food, it is a testimony, as it says here, against them because of their unbelief in Yeshua, Jesus, the Messiah. And now notice what the Lord is still saying. In verse 11b He says, I'm telling you, verily I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah, Sodom and Gomorrah, in the day of judgment than for that city. In other words, He is really saying, do you know there is a day of judgment that is coming? Revelation 20 verse 11, the great white throne judgment. You know that one day one have to stand before the Lord and you know what he said? It will be a lesser judgment on Sodom and Amorah than on those cities to which the Messiah came and his disciples were sent to share the message of the gospel. Now you and I think of Sodom and Amorah, we know very well this was cities that were behaving in a very evil way. There was activity there that God could not condone. They even wanted to take the angels who appear as men and to have sexual immorality with these angels who took the form of a man. Can you imagine and what he's saying? In other words, there will be a greater judgment for those who heard the message of the Gospel from the disciples and the Messiah there will be a greater judgment that even for these two evil cities of Sodom and Amorah who were judged by God when the fire came from heaven and destroyed the whole city there is a day of judgment coming there is a day of judgment for all the unbelieving world there is even a day of judgment for us who are believers 2 Corinthians 5.10, for we must all appear before the judgment seat of the Mashiach. Even us who are saved and forgiven, God will evaluate how did we live our life. And when you think about it, how many a time we have failed the Lord. As believers, we will never go to hell. We will always going to be with the Lord. But the Lord had to remove all the dross from us. everything gonna have to be burned because of the evil activity that rises up at time in the life of the believer but here he is speaking about the unbelieving world who one day will stand before the very same judge at the great white throne judgment and these cities will have a greater condemnation than even Sdom and Amorah will receive in the day of judgment what a serious business what a serious statement we have here and so we read in verse 12 and verse 13 now about the faithful ministry of the apostles they went out they preached that men should repent turn to God repent they said to them And they cast out many demons and they anointed with oil many that were sick and healed them. They went and they preached faithfully. And you notice the word repent. What does repentance mean? In Hebrew the word is shuvu, turn around. Don't continue in your own evil way, just turn around and direct your heart toward God, because God has turned around himself towards you. He is sending the Mashiach to die for your sins. Turn around, stop going in the wrong way. You see there was a man by the name of Cain in Genesis chapter 4. who went out of the presence of the Lord and we never read ever in scripture that he went back to the presence of the Lord. What a sad condition! And God says, Shuvu! Repent and turn around. Confess your sins before the Lord, turn to Him, recognize that you are in a need and He will save you. He will embrace you, He will forgive your sins, and He will make him His child, the son or daughter of the Father. So the evangelists, you might say, the disciples, when they preach, notice the word preaching, and we find so many times the thought of preaching, Yeshua Himself, we find on Him in verse 14 and 15 of chapter 1, saying the time is fulfilled, the Kingdom of God is at hand, repent, and believe the gospel. And the word gospel is besorah, it's good news. They preach the gospel in view of the coming kingdom, we preach the gospel of the grace of God today, the same message. One in view of the coming kingdom which had been postponed for us is in view of the coming of the Messiah to take his heavenly company to be with him and the future 144,000 Hebrews will preach the gospel of the kingdom once again after the church had been taken to heaven and they will preach the message of the gospel of the kingdom in a future day during the tribulation. Turn around, the same message. God loves you, men turn to God because the Messiah paid the price for your sin and you will become a child of God. Well, beautiful passage to read here in verses 7 to 13. but now we move along in this Mark chapter 6 passage and from this next verses here verses 14 15 and 16 Herod Antipas heard of the name of Yeshua and the miracles that he was doing through the disciples and he himself he hear of this and notice what he says in verse 14 Herod heard of him, for his name was spread about, and he said, no, no, no, you see this is Yohanan Hamadbil, John the Baptizer, he was risen from the dead, and therefore mighty works do show forth themselves in him. In other words, he did not except the fact that Yeshua was the Messiah, this wicked man by the name of Herod. He was Herod Antipas. He was the son of Herod the Great. Herod the Great was such a wicked man that, you know, he had quite a few sons, he had many wives. And then when he died, the Romans took and they divided his kingdom among his sons. And some of them receive a certain corner of the area of Israel. Antipas was responsible. He was actually a Tatrach, a governor. He was not really a king, but he was the one that was responsible over Galilee in the area there in the land of Israel. And when he heard of the name of Yeshua and what he have done, he says, oh, this is John, the baptizer that rose from among the dead. In fact, in verse 15, others have said, no, no, no, this is Eliyahu, notice that verse 15, others said this is Eliyahu, and then others said he is a prophet, Navi, and yet others said he is one of the prophets. And you know why some said it is Eliyahu? Because the last two verses. of the Old Testament, the book of Malachi, this is the Old Testament, the prophets of the Old Testament say that Eliyahu will come again and he will restore the heart of the fathers to the children and you know why the others say that he is the prophet? because Moses, Moshe said many many years ago in Deuteronomy chapter 18 a prophet like unto me God will raise from among you believe on him But Herod says, no, no, it's Yohanan, John the baptizer. In fact, he emphasized that again in verse 16, and there we have an addition, and when Herod heard thereof, he said, it is John, no, no, no, it's not one of the prophets, it's not Eliyahu, it's not that prophet, no, no, but it is John, Yohanan, John, whom I beheaded, he is risen from the dead. Now again, beloved brothers and sisters, Herod has his own opinion. And you see, Herod's conscience was really bothering him. Why did he go back to John, Yohanan, Hamadbil, John the Baptizer? You know why? Because Herod did an evil thing to an innocent man. Herod the Tetrarch was a wicked man who have done an evil thing to these men by the name of Yohanan the baptizer who gathered the people of Israel and says repent for the kingdom of God is at hand the Messiah is coming and you see from now on from here on from verses 17 to verse 29 we learn about the murder that Herod the Tetrarch committed of John the Baptizer because of the fact that John stood for the Word of God. And so let me just quickly run this by you beloved brothers and sisters verses 17 to verse 29 we see the event that brought about the murder of John the Baptizer. And so we read in verses 17 first of all It says here, for Herod himself had sent forth and laid hold upon John and bound him in prison. Why? For Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife, for he had married her. Apparently, what happened with this wicked man by the name of Herod, He took Yohanan, he put him in prison and then took him out and eventually murdered him, cut his head because of a woman by the name of Herodias. That doesn't it remind you a little bit about Old Testament story about Jezebel and her husband Ahab and how wicked this king was. and how even greater wicked this woman was by the name of Isabella very much similar, one of them is in the past history of Israel and at the time it was also in the time of the coming of the Messiah very much similar, shows the reality of the evilness of the heart and so we read in verses 18 and 19 because John one day, Yohanan rebuked Herod because of the fact notice and I'm reading for John verse 18 said unto Herod it is not lawful for thee to have your brother's wife therefore Herodias had a quarrel against him and would have killed him but she could not you see Herodia was the wife of Philip, which was a brother of Herod the Tartar. Both of them were sons of Herod the Great. So what happened? John one time saw Hel with this Herod the Tartar, and he said to him, you know, it's not right for you to take your brother's wife. And Herodia was very unhappy. She wanted to continue on in her own pathway. So what does she do? She had a quarrel against Yohanan, and she would have loved to kill him, to put him aside. Because Yohanan was preaching the Word of God. He was a man that was a godly man. He was a preacher that was preaching the message of the Gospel. He was convicting men, people, including Herod, that what he is doing is not right. So Herodias, she had planned to kill John the baptizer and she found an occasion to be successful in doing so. Again, if you remember Isabella, how the prophets of Israel were so afraid of her. Even Elijah fled from Isabella. And God had to ask him, Eliahu, what are you doing here? He was afraid because she was seeking to destroy him. Imagine the influence that a woman such as this had, Isabella. And a woman such as this person, Herodias, had. She's in a position that she can influence to a right way, to a wrong way. And here we can see her influencing, like Isabella, her husband to do the wrong thing. Here she's really tricking him. So the birthday, now notice that verse 21 and to 23, Herod had a birthday. First of all, verse 20, just to make a point here, before I forget. Herod feared John, he knew that he was a just man, and he was a holy man, and he observed him. And when he heard him, he did many things, and he heard him gladly. In other words, Herod was happy to hear what John at time had to say, because John was a godly man, he was a just man, and when John did certain things, Herod was willing to hear it, but Not Herodias. And so we read in verse 21, 22 and 23 that when Herod had his birthday, his wife probably arranged for him a very, very nice birthday. Let's invite everyone. We'll gather all the leaders from Galilee as it says here in verse 21, the captains, the chief states of Galilee. Let's invite everyone. And you know what? Even more. I'm going to let my daughter to dance around everybody and before Herod, the Tatrach. And of course, she had this plan in her mind. Well, here's how I'm going to get him in a time when he's weak. I'm going to get him somehow. And so we find out that she danced before him. And apparently, according to verse 22, it says, she came to dance, notice, and when the daughter of the said Herodias came in, and she danced, and she pleased Herod, not only Herod, but them that sat with him, the king said unto the damned, he said, Ask of me whatsoever you will, and I will give it unto thee. And he said, and he swore unto her, whatsoever you will ask, I will give it to thee, even unto the half of my kingdom. Ad chatzi malchuti, it says in Hebrew. I'm going to give you everything you want, you so pleased me with your dance, that I'm going to give you everything you want, even half, up to half of my kingdom. You know, of course, it reminds us immediately of Queen Esther. She was a totally different lady. A godly lady. A lady that honored the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. A woman that even though she was there in a sad situation in Babylon there, she wanted the welfare of God's people, the Jewish people, because the king was ready to destroy all the Jewish people because of the influence of Haman HaRashad, this evil man by the name of Haman. So she came to the king. But Esther did not come to the king the way the Demzel, the daughter of Herodias came to the king. Esther came in humility to the king and he handed to her his scepter he says what do you wish and I will give you up to the half of the kingdom while this damsel approached Herod and you might say in the way of her dance that was pleasing to him and caused him to come with such a statement I will give unto thee half of my kingdom and so her mother brought her into this situation so she went forth and she said it unto her mother verse 24 what shall I ask? what shall I ask? and she said unto her ask for the head of John, Yohanan the baptizer what an evil heart when God sent his servant to share the message and speaking the truth in love, how evil one can be to send her daughter to seduce her husband in order that she will kill the servant of the Lord. How? I mean, this only shows us the depravity of the human race. Sin is a disease that we all have. and because of our sin nature God had to judge the Messiah Yeshua on a shameful cross because there's no solution to deal with our sin problem there's only one solution and that's God had to punish it and he punished it in the person of his son so notice and I'm going to conclude with that sad as it is it says here in verse At 25, she came back straight away with haste, and she asked from the king, she said to him, I will that you will give me by and by in a charter, in a plate you might say, the head of Yohanan Hamadbil, John the baptized. Amazing, to even think like that. Just give me the head, that's what I want. I dance before you, I please you now, I don't want half of your kingdom, I only want the head of this man by the name of John. My mother hates him so much that that's what she asked me to say. And so the conclusion, beloved brothers and sisters, indeed he couldn't do anything because everybody watched him. He made a promise. And so we read that the king was so sorry yet for his oath, for his promise sake and for the sake which were setting with him he would not reject her and immediately the king sent an executioner and he commanded John's head to be brought and he went and beheaded Yohanan John him in prison and he brought his head in a charger and he gave it unto the damsel and the damsel noticed the root damsel gave it unto her mother. What an influence a mother has for good or for evil, for bad or for that which is good. Imagine, beloved brothers and sisters, John the baptizer, a man of God that served God because of a dunce of a girl, so because of the foolishness of a man lost his head and died. Of course it is the providence of God, God knows all things and yet God took John and he brought him to his presence and we read here in the last verse and when his disciples heard it they came, they took up his corpse, his body and they laid it in a tomb Yohanan Hamadbil had followers who loved God. They went and they loved John, they took John, they gave him a burial ceremony, they put him in a grave, in a tomb, and from then on, We see how evil the human heart is and how sad those who oppose, the unbelief of those who oppose the person of Yeshua the Messiah is clearly seen here in the sixth chapter in verses 1 to 29. Unbelief of Yeshua's countrymen, unbelief of Yeshua's opponents. In the will of the Lord, next ministry meeting we're going to talk a little bit of the unbelief of his own disciple. May the Lord help us to trust in Him, to believe on Him, to repent when we sin, because He is gracious towards all who simply trust in Him. Can we say Amen to that? so 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. StSq2 2.60