A pastor let this slip from his mouth when we were speaking, “Don’t you know all Jews are rich?”  Unfortunately, I have heard similar remarks in both religious and non-believing circles, with no one apologizing.

Those making that claim ignore the fact that almost 50% live impoverished lives in Israel.   Russian Jews have faced abject poverty for centuries; elderly Jews in the western world struggle greatly.  Someone even told me that there were 154 ways in Yiddish to say “poverty” — and only two ways to say “wealth”!

But I’m not talking about Jews and money.

I am letting you know that the Scriptures confirm that all Jews are rich.  The “wealth” is just not measured in greenbacks!

Here’s what the Bible says…and this is found in the New Testament!  The Apostle Paul, known as St. Paul, is speaking:

“Then what advantage has the Jew? … Great in every respect. First of all, that they were entrusted with the oracles of God.” (Romans 3:1a, 2)  Paul is stating the fact that the words of Scripture, God’s word, came through and were preserved through the Jewish people.  That’s rich!

Here are the other ways Paul says his “kinsmen according to the flesh”, the Israelites, are rich:

In Romans chapter nine verses four and five, he writes,

“To whom belong:

1. The adoption as sons
2. The glory
3. The covenants:   (Abrahamic (Genesis 12:1-30; Mosaic (Exodus 19, 20), Davidic ( 2 Samuel 7:8-16),  Palestinian (Deuteronomy 30:1-10); New (Jeremiah 31:31-34))
4. The giving of the Law (Torah, which means “instruction”, teaches the requirements and means to living holy lives  in relation to God, one’s fellow man, and one’s body (health laws))
5. The Temple Service (there has been no Temple since 70 CE/AD)
6. The promises (of Scripture!)
7. The Fathers:  Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  ( remember God called Abraham his friend; He doesn’t mind being addressed as “The God of Abraham” when we pray!)
8. From whom is Messiah according to the flesh.” (Yeshua (Jesus) was a Jew!)

So, it’s true.  All Jews are rich!  They have an enormous spiritual wealth and heritage.

Why were the Jews made rich? To make you and the world rich–rich with the knowledge of God, rich with the wisdom that was written through them in the Scriptures, rich with law that helps men govern themselves.  Even the Founding Fathers of America consulted the Torah to create a framework in which liberty and justice for all might prevail.

The Jews were the lineage God used to bring forth Messiah Yeshua (Jesus).

The greatest and richest Jewish man that ever lived, Yeshua (Jesus) of Nazareth, had this written about Him:  “For you know the grace of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.”  (2 Corinthians 8:9)  He left the splendor of heaven; was born as a little Jewish baby into poverty; lived a holy, Torah observant life; bore our sins in His body, on the tree, to make atonement for all; and was resurrected.

He alone enables us all to share in “Jewish wealth”, not by plunder, as the societies in which the Jewish people lived, did over the past two thousand years; but as those who are “far off” (from covenant with the God of Israel) come near to the “Commonwealth of Israel” (Ephesians 2:11-14), by participating in a Jewish covenant, the New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-34; Hebrews 8:8-12).

The wealth to be received is new life, hope, peace, joy and eternal life in Messiah; as well as, the wisdom and instruction of the Holy Scriptures, which exist today because of the faithfulness of the Jewish people to preserve them.

If you have harbored bitterness against the Jewish people because they are a blessed people, stop sinning in this way.  It invites cursing – not blessing, as the Scripture says:

“How fair are your tents, O Jacob,  Your dwellings, O Israel! … Blessed is everyone who blesses you, And cursed is everyone who curses you.” (Numbers 24:5,9b)

The God of the Jews is also the God of the Gentiles (Romans 3:29) and He richly blesses ALL, and ANY ONE, who calls upon Him, as it written,

“For the Scripture (Hebrew Bible) says, “WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.”
For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek (Gentile); for the same Lord is Lord of all,
abounding in riches for all who call on Him; for “WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.”  (Romans 10:11-13, taken from Joel 2:32)

The Apostle Paul, a zealous Jewish scholar and “Hebrew of Hebrews” (Phil. 3:5), wrote, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” (Gentile)”  (Romans 1:16 ASV)

Why would Paul mention shame in relation to the Gospel?  Why does he say he is not ashamed?  How does his declaration affect you?

Before we consider these questions,  let’s look at Paul’s understanding of the Gospel:  He believed that man’s righteousness, no matter how great, is insufficient in God’s sight. “For not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. For Messiah is the end (fulfillment) of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.”  (Rom. 10:3,4)

Paul makes clear that Messiah’s atonement, alone, provided the righteousness that God requires us to have in order to have access to Him and eternal life.

Then Paul clarified WHAT we must believe to be saved:

…Messiah* died for our sins according to the (Hebrew) Scriptures,
and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the (Hebrew) Scriptures,
and that He appeared to Cephas (Peter), then to the twelve (apostles).
After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time…to James, then to all the apostles;
and last of all…He appeared to me (Paul) also.” (1 Cor. 15:3b-8)

Paul taught us HOW TO RECEIVE this gift of salvation:

“…that if you confess with your mouth Yeshua as Lord,
and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;
for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness,
and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.
For the Scripture says, “WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.”
For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all,
abounding in riches for all who call on Him;
for “WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.” (Rom. 10:9-13)

(Please note the verses capitalized are quotes from the Hebrew Scriptures:  Isaiah 28:16 and Joel 2:32)

Paul knew that to believe that righteousness is imputed to our personal “account”, by faith rather than works, would certainly challenge Pharisaic Judaism–the predominant religious Jewish thinking of his day.

He knew that the Gospel, and how to obtain right standing before God, also challenges the heart of every human being today.

Over the past thirty five years that I have known Messiah and studied the Holy Scriptures, I have talked to at least a thousand people, one on one, about the Gospel.

I was not “experimenting”, but I have had a large enough “sample size” to draw some relevant conclusions.

In dialoging with the highly sophisticated and intellectual, famous people and the wealthy, the poor and uneducated, Jews and non-Jews, atheists, agnostics, Hindus, Buddhists, New Age, and those with eclectic beliefs, Americans and those from other lands …after a while I saw that people’s objections to the Gospel fit into basically two categories.

People from all walks of life either stated they have not sinned, and therefore have no need for a “savior”; or, they feel their lives and deeds are sufficient to merit favor with “God”, or a “god of their own choosing”.  Therefore they also have no need for a “savior”.  They had their own “righteousness” and did not need God’s!

It did not matter if they acknowledged God, or the Bible as God’s authoritative word, or were atheists.  Their self evaluations fell into those two categories. They were OK.

Of course, sometimes there was a humble person who knew they had no reason to boast in their own self-sufficiency or righteousness.  By the way, there were rich people who were humble, and poor that were prideful.  Sin does not fit easy categories.

Sometimes, in conversation, people put God on the witness stand for “His record” in dealing in human history, and deflecting the scrutiny away from their own lives and consciences.

In one instance I remember speaking with a man who told me he owned four homes.  He shared how his heart and life emphasized philanthropy.  Here was a good guy.  He was Catholic.  When I explained that even his Bible teaches that righteousness is through faith, and not works, and that his eternal destiny depended on faith in what the Word of God said, versus what his friend the priest said, he replied:  “I’m choosing what my priest says.”

The human spirit is rife with pride.  The Gospel of salvation, by faith in the finished work of Messiah Yeshua, cuts into that pride.  It’s humbling to say, “Your way, LORD, not mine.”  He declared that Way was Yeshua. (John 14:6)  He does not invite us to debate on this.

Many think the Gospel is simply foolish, naive thinking.

Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 1 dovetail here:

“For the word of the cross (the Gospel) is foolishness to those who are perishing,
but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
For it is written,
“I WILL DESTROY THE WISDOM OF THE WISE,
AND THE CLEVERNESS OF THE CLEVER I WILL SET ASIDE.”
(He quoted Job 12:17 & Isaiah 19:11; 33:18)

Where is the wise man?  Where is the scribe?  Where is the debater of this age?  Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?

For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God,
God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.
For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks (Gentiles) search for wisdom;
but we preach Messiah crucified (the atonement for our sins),
to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness,
but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Messiah the power of God and the wisdom of God.
Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”

He goes on, “but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise,
and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong,
and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen,
the things that are not,
so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God.” (1 Cor. 1:18-25, 27-29)

So why does Paul say he is not ashamed of the Gospel?

Because the message of the Gospel is foolishness to the non-believer. It is so “unsophisticated”, so non-demanding in terms of works, and so exhortative, and in fact, narrow– that those who believe, and want to communicate the truth, could feel ashamed at the simplicity, apparent foolishness, and yet boldness of the message.

Though the Gospel is simple, it was no small thing for Messiah Yeshua to “bear our sins in His body on the tree.”

Let us also not forget that, statistically speaking, the fulfillment of the prophecies by Yeshua of Nazareth–prophecies about the birth, life, death and resurrection of Messiah, were interwoven in the Hebrew Scriptures by many men from different stations in life, over a period of more than a thousand years.

This was no simple matter.  It involved kings, and nations, and simple maidens; the dispersion of the Jewish people in 586 BC; the preservation of the Jewish people in Persia; the return to the Land of Israel after 70 years; different Gentile nations coming into power; and, the Romans ordering a census that brought the Jewish maiden, Miriam, (Mary) back to Bethlehem in fulfillment of Micah chapter 5 verse 2. (Messiah Yeshua was born in Bethlehem.)

Remember this simple message of the Gospel turned the world upside down in the first century and influenced Western culture for almost two thousand years.

When I believed this simple message in 1973, it brought to me light, hope and peace, as it has to countless millions all over the world.  It has changed the lives of addicts, social climbers, Holocaust survivors, the broken, the successful, the atheist, and the religious.  There is not a person in this world of whatever ethnic, religious, socioeconomic, or emotional state that cannot be transformed by the power of the Gospel.

Two emotional states have been mentioned in this post:  Shame and Pride (boasting).

There will be no human boasting at the Great White Throne Judgment (Revelation 20:11-15) when those who have not received the free gift of God (i.e., the righteousness of God and eternal life by faith) will have their “works” evaluated– literally judged by Him who sits on the throne.  Unfortunately, it will be a devastating experience for those who have trusted in themselves, or someone, or something other than the finished work of Messiah Yeshua; for as Paul forewarned:

“Now we know that whatever the Law says,
it speaks to those who are under the Law,
so that EVERY MOUTH MAY BE CLOSED
AND ALL THE WORLD MAY BECOME ACCOUNTABLE TO GOD;
because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight;
for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.

But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested,
being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets,
even the righteousness of God through faith in Yeshua the Messiah for all those who believe;
for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…” (Rom. 3:19-23)

Pride and boasting of self-righteousness will be out of the question.  Every mouth will be shut.  Only faith in the finished work of Messiah Yeshua, His substitutionary death on the tree, will rescue, free, pardon, save and absolve us from the penalty of our own sin.

That same Paul, a scholar with impressive lineage, said, “If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more: circumcised the eighth day (Jewish), of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church (he persecuted Jews who believed Yeshua was the Messiah); as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless.  But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Messiah.  More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Messiah Yeshua* my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Messiah*, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Messiah, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith…” (Phil. 3:4-9)

It couldn’t be more clear. Righteousness is by faith.

Paul, a sophisticated Jewish thinker, communicating, at times, to sophisticated audiences in the Greek world of philosophical thinking, was not ashamed to tell men and women that what would free their souls from sin, their minds from oppression, and give them a place in the Kingdom to come, was a simple, unsophisticated matter of humble faith.

Believer, are you afraid of appearing foolish before non-believers who are, or appear, more sophisticated in knowledge, speech, education, dress and/or lifestyle than yourself?  Or are you walking “in the fear (reverence) of the Lord” and worrying what He thinks about, and knows to be, the other person’s eternal destiny?

Seeker, why would a God who knows and loves you want to make it difficult to find your way Home?

Our Heavenly Father wants you in His house, as it is written,

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son (The Messiah), that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world (and its false sophistication); but that the world through him might be saved.” (John 3:16,17 KJV)

I am not ashamed of the Gospel for it is the power of God unto salvation, to everyone who believes, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile.

*  I have taken the liberty to use the Hebrew name of Yeshua the Messiah wherever the Anglicized Jesus Christ appears throughout this post. Also, as usual, all Scripture references are from the New American Standard Bible except where otherwise indicated.

The return of the Jewish people back to the Land of Israel from the four corners of the earth, in the last century, was not a fluke, nor simply a random political event.

This virtual human impossibility was prophesied in the Scriptures 3,500 to 2,600 years ago by Moses, the Psalmist, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel.

Remember, it was not just that the Jewish people were scattered to the ends of the earth.  They were persecuted by a majority of their host nations, suffering expulsion after having been established, having laws passed against them, enduring torture, and even experiencing organized murder.  Spain, Germany, Russia, the Arab lands, Poland, Lithuania, Hungary, France and England all participated in this sin of anti-Semitism.

That the Jewish People still exist is a miracle.  Clearly the reason why is the faithfulness of the God of Israel in keeping the covenants He made with them.

He declared a “thus saith the LORD” when He said that the sun, moon and stars would have to be destroyed in order for Israel to cease from being a nation.  (Jeremiah31:35,36)

“The Prophetic Regathering of Israel” lithograph was created to artistically document this modern day miracle. There are scores of prophetic passages on this regathering; I was limited by space and, unfortunately, could not include them all.

Below are the passages that appear “in the map” on the artwork:

Thus saith the LORD who gives the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night; Who stirs up the sea, that the waves roar, the LORD of Hosts is His name:  If these ordinances depart from before Me, saith the LORD, then the descendants of Israel shall also cease from being a nation before Me forever.  (Jeremiah 31:35,36)

No weapon formed against you shall prosper and every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn.  (Isaiah 54:17)

Behold, He that keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.  (Psalm 121:4)

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.  (Psalm 122:6)

And He shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.  (Isaiah 11:12)

The LORD will go before you and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.  (Isaiah 52:12)

Fear not for I am with thee.  I will bring thy seed from the east and gather thee from the west. I will say to the north, Give up, and to the south, keep not back; bring My sons from far and My daughters from the ends of the earth, even everyone who is called by My name, for I have created him for My glory.  (Isaiah 43:5-7)

Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love, therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee. (Jeremiah 31:3)

He hath remembered His covenant forever, the word which He commanded for a thousand generations which covenant He made with Abraham, and his oath to Isaac, and confirmed to Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant, saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance.  (Psalm 105:8-11)

He who scattered Israel will gather him and keep him as a shepherd doth his flock.  (Jeremiah 31:10)

If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts…from there will the LORD thy God gather thee. (Deuteronomy 30:4)

And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries to which I have driven them and will bring them again to their own folds and they shall be fruitful and increase. Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that they shall no more say, The LORD lives, who brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt, but the LORD lives, who brought up and who led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country and from all countries to which I had driven them, and they shall dwell in their own land.  (Jeremiah 23:3,7-8)

Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh, is anything too hard for me?  (Jeremiah 32:27)

In thinking about the uncertainty of these times, I recalled something from college physics:  “The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle”.   It states that it is impossible to know both the exact position and the exact velocity of an object at the same time.  The effect is minute and only noticeable on a subatomic level.

You many be thinking, “Who cares?”

But wise King Solomon offered an “uncertainty principle” that everyone of us in 2009 can relate to. He wrote in Ecclesiastes chapter eight verse seven, “If no one knows what will happen, who can tell him when it will happen?”

Talk about uncertainty!  Not even the wisest man knew what lay ahead.

We do know that uncertainty is certain!

So how does one prepare for a bad eventuality if one does not know the what or the when of that eventuality?

The answer for the very real anxiety surrounding the uncertainties of life is to have faith in The Master of the Universe, Who is not uncertain and never will be uncertain of His knowledge of events, people or places.

He knows where everyone and everything is, and knows the when of life.  His awesome power, divine purposes, and overarching love for mankind, as demonstrated in His giving the Messiah, His Son, for us, is the “what” we each must count on in this time of brewing storms.

When Yeshua of Nazareth (Jesus) was speaking to a crowd of people, He said:  “The Queen of the South (The Queen of Sheba)…came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.” (Matt. 12:42; Luke 11:31)

Yeshua affirmed His ability to have things under control by saying:  “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33b KJV)

He also affirmed this, when speaking of His life and impending crucifixion, by saying:  “No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again…” (John 10:18 KJV)  He was in full control.

Talk is cheap.  Yeshua said He overcame the world.  How did He prove it?

Through His resurrection, a verified historical fact, He proved His Messiahship and power over our greatest enemy — death.

Yes, uncertainty is certain.

But, God’s love for you, and His power to sustain each of us, is more certain.

Run to Him for true security.  As the Scripture says, “The name of the LORD (YHVH) is a strong tower; The righteous runs into it and is safe.” (Prov. 18:10)

But, what if you are not certain that the Scriptures are the word of God?

What if you aren’t even certain that God exists, let alone loves you?

Here are some critical certainties to consider:

1. Millions of lives, and Western societies, have been positively transformed by the Bible. (Do note that when those societies discounted the authority and wisdom of the Scriptures they “decayed”.)
2. Hundreds of prophecies have been specifically fulfilled regarding the birth, life, death, resurrection and purpose of the Messiah. (See Micah 5:2, Psalm 22, Isaiah 53, for example.)  It is a mathematical impossibility that all these prophecies could have been “fulfilled” by chance.
3. Scores of biblical prophecies about the scattering and regathering of the Jewish people back to the Land of Israel, after two thousand years, have been authenticated and borne out by history.  Think May 1948.

So, take a chance.  Tell the Master of the Universe, the God of the Bible, that you want to know Him and the certainty of His love, and the plan and promise of eternal life.  He promised to draw near to those who draw near to Him.  All you have to lose is your uncertainty.

P.S.  Please see some earlier Prophetic Prints posts to learn the “details” on how to freely receive the LORD’s gift of eternal life, grace, mercy, love, etc.

Recently, on a beautiful sunny, breezy day, I was walking into a building and noticed the name tag of the security guard.  The first and middle names were strong German ones.  The last one was my maiden name! (My paternal grandfather was a German Jew).

I asked where he was from.

“East Germany.”

“When did you come here?”

I can’t remember the exact year that he told me, but it was decades ago.

“How did you get out of East Germany, since there was a wall?”, I inquired.

“I escaped before they built the wall.  I was lucky.”

“Well, it really wasn’t luck.  Someone was watching over you.”

I asked him, “How old were you during the Holocaust?”

He then proceeded to tell me that he was eleven when Kristallnacht happened.  For those of you unfamiliar with Kristallnacht, it means “The Night of Glass,” when the Nazis smashed the glass windows of Jewish homes and businesses, and went on a murderous rampage.  It happened November 9-10, 1938.

With a painful look in his eyes, he said, “It was terrible.”

Since we shared a generally Jewish surname, I asked if he was Jewish.

“No.”

Then I asked if he had been a member of Hitler Youth.

“Yes, we had to be.  I was sixteen.  They would have hurt us if we didn’t join.”

Then, in a distinctly broken voice, he shared how he had been in Dresden:  “They bombed us three months before the war ended.”  You may recall from the history of World War II that Dresden was decimated.

“How did you survive?”

“I hid underground for months.  I was lucky.”

Again with “lucky.”  “No, Otto, Someone was watching over you,” I countered.

I then asked if he was Lutheran, which many Germans are.

He replied that he had no faith.  This is not unusual for those who lived through the hell of World War II.

I began to share the Good News with him.  Unlike the nonsense propagated in the 1960’s, that everyone was good and there really wasn’t a thing called ’sin’, it wasn’t hard to introduce into the conversation the idea of evil, because he had seen it firsthand.

I explained that a Holy God must punish sin–there is a cost to sin, a price to be paid.  It just doesn’t go away.

“You know, the Living God, the God of Abraham, was watching over you all these years.”

I could have used the generic, “Lord” or “God”, but I wanted to relate to him that the Almighty, who is in covenant with the Jewish people, had also seen every painful event in the Holocaust.  I wanted Otto to know this merciful God of Abraham had protected him as a young man, even though he had participated in evil against His people.

I didn’t know if he understood the power of the message of the Good News of Messiah…that Messiah paid the price for all of our sins.

“Otto, are you familiar with the Jewish holiday, Passover…it was just celebrated?”

“Yes.”  I was a bit surprised.

I then briefly reviewed the story.  The Israelites had been enslaved in Egypt for 430 years.  God had sent nine plagues into Egypt as judgment.  The final plague, the tenth plague, was the slaying of the first born of the Egyptians.   The Israelites were told through Moses to take a one year old, unblemished male lamb, examine it, slaughter it and place some of the blood on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they ate it.

For God would send the Angel of Death through the land of Egypt on that night, to strike down all the firstborn there, “both man and beasts.”  Everyone who was in a house with doorposts covered with the blood would be spared, for the LORD said, “When I see the blood I will pass over you.” (Ex. 12:3-7,12-13)

I then explained that in the New Testament Yeshua (Jesus) is called “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world,” and “Messiah our Passover!”

So here I was, a Jewish believer who had lost relatives in the Holocaust, speaking to a man who had the identical last name as my maiden name…and he had been in Hitler Youth.  How do I communicate?

I knew the love of God was in the whole situation, for who else could set up this type of unexpected encounter?

I asked if he wanted to receive forgiveness for his sins by believing in the Messiah’s finished work on his behalf; the Messiah, I assured him, who even bore all the sins of the Nazis, in His body on the tree.

“No.”  But it was said with gentleness.

Well, I went into my appointment and came out about one hour later.  I saw Otto again.

My husband said to me, “You really need to share this verse of Scripture with him, ‘For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved.’” (John 3:17 KJV)

I told him those words and gave him some literature which he received with thankfulness.  We said goodbye.  I did not sense a shred of hostility from him, only a broken gratefulness.

Do you need His mercy today?  We all do.  The fact that the LORD reaches out to people we would deem ‘unworthy’ proves how gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness…” (Joel 2:13 KJV) He is.  That’s a “whole ‘nother discussion” about the redemption of deeply evil people.

We must remember that there is no sin which Yeshua did not bear in His Body on the tree when He provided atonement for us all 2,000 years ago.

None of us really knows the depth of evil in our own hearts.  We are all capable of evil acts. Of course, many evil people already have a seared conscience and are unable to respond to the Gospel.

But the Scripture says, For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon Thee. (Ps. 86:5 KJV)  “And it will come about that whoever calls on the name of the LORD Will be delivered.” (Joel 2:32 NASB)

Even a former Hitler Youth!

When I was a college student, the Messiah of Israel found me, though most believers like to say we found Him.  I really was “minding my own business” when He began to draw me into His magnificent kingdom, the Kingdom of God, on the same day the Yom Kippur War began in 1973.  Five weeks later I received Him–I was alone when the Ruach HaKodesh, the Spirit of God, revealed the truth and love of Messiah, my need for forgiveness, and His provision of atonement.  After I prayed, I literally felt unseen chains break off.  I was free.

I learned there were 400 believers on our campus of 15,000.  There I met a fellow believer named Mike B.

Fast forward thirty years. My husband and I moved to another state.  A neighbor across the street invited us to his fellowship.

While looking at the announcements in the bulletin I noticed that the speaker for the evening was a man named Mike B.  Same name.  Could it be the same person? I didn’t remember Mike as being the “type” to be serving in some far off place.

We returned early that evening to see if it was Mike.  Sure enough, twenty eight years after having last seen him, there he was.  He had served the LORD in Africa and was now in Eastern Europe.

Mike had a hard time recognizing me in my salt and pepper hair!  But we hugged and rejoiced at the miracle that had just taken place.  Neither of us had ever been in that fellowship before, as I had moved to that state the week before, and he had been living in Africa and then Eastern Europe over the past twenty five years.  He had just gotten back to the States  a week or so before, and this was a speaking engagement that had been arranged for him.

We marveled at the encouragement the LORD us–that He has directed every step of our lives, and knows the times and the seasons of our lives.

I met his dynamic wife, Kathy, and asked her to tell me about the transition to Eastern Europe…to the same country and city where my grandmother was from!

“The ground is really hard there.  It’s a predominantly Catholic country.”

She spoke of the profound hardness of heart that she and Mike encountered there to spiritual things.  This is not difficult to understand.  World War II ravaged the entire continent.  The suffering was unspeakable. Volumes have been written on the subject.

I had a thought…should I tell Kathy why there might possibly be hard hearts or resistance to spiritual things?  Or, would it be interpreted as self serving?

I knew I had to speak.  “You know, Kathy, during the war, a large majority of the people of that country strongly participated in helping the Nazis destroy its Jewish population.  There is a covenant in Scripture, the Abrahamic Covenant. (Genesis 12:1-3; Genesis 17)  Here, the LORD promised the Patriarch Abraham three things:  Land, seed, and blessing.  He also stated that “I will bless those who bless you, but I will curse anyone who curses you.”  This covenant and promise was reaffirmed to Isaac in Genesis 26; to Jacob in Genesis chapter 28:13-15; 35:9-12; 48:3-4.  Numbers chapter 24:1-9 is very clear:  “Blessed is everyone who blesses you (Israel), and cursed is everyone who curses you (Israel).”

“I am wondering, Kathy, if the way to have softened ground in the country where you are laboring is to join the other believers in confessing the very serious sin of anti-Semitism that led to hundreds of thousands of Jewish deaths.  Innocent blood has been shed in that land…the innocent blood of God’s covenant people is on the soil and on the hands of their ancestors.  Perhaps there is a curse on the land spoken of in Genesis 12.  In addition, the sin of hatred that generations of people in that country have participated in has opened a big door to the enemy of their souls:  Satan.  The people are indeed in bondage.

Kathy listened.  Kathy agreed.  She left to join her husband.

Then it was time for Mike to give the message.  I was amazed.  He had changed the talk he had planned to give, to one that would address what I had shared with Kathy.  He requested prayer for the nation where he was serving…for a spirit of repentance to be granted for the sins that nation committed against the Jews during WWII.

Reader, does it sound strange that the sins of ancestors can have such an impact a generation or two later?

It is not strange, for the Scripture speaks of the principle of curses going to the third and fourth generation (Deuteronomy 5:9), and the blessing of lovingkindness going to a thousand generations (Deuteronomy 5:10) to those who love Yahweh (The LORD) and keep His commandments.

One of His commandments is to bless, and not curse Israel!

So, what can we get from this true encounter?

1. The Living God, the God of Israel, is in the business of doing wondrous things.  He literally directs steps/paths of those who seek Him.  It is thrilling to be led by the LORD.
2. When hearts are closed to spiritual things we can’t prejudge and just say, “Oh, they’re not open to Biblical truth.” Such people need us to be the intercessors to help “break up fallow ground” (Hosea 10:12), confessing the sins of a nation or city or people group, so other prayers can be heard on high.  Please note that Daniel, Nehemiah, Ezra, Isaiah all cried unto God, saying, “I have sinned, and my fathers/people have sinned.”  No one exists alone spiritually.  Sin in our lives affects others, including a nation’s destiny.
3. Anti-Semitism is not just a current topic with political implications.  The spiritual ramifications for hating the Jewish people are borne out in history–in nations, as well as, in individual lives.

Dare I ask if you come from a heritage of hate, a heritage of specifically hating the Jewish people?  If so, confess the sins of your ancestors and any residual anti-Semitism that may exist in your heart.  This may be a key to possible breakthrough in your own life.

Shalom!

It was an hour before sundown when Passover would begin this year.  I still needed a few items for our Seder.  For those of you who are unfamiliar with a Seder, “seder” is Hebrew for “order”.  Passover has been observed continuously by the Jewish people throughout the world for approximately the past 3500 years.  The modern seder involves the recounting of the Exodus story, including the essential elements of bitter herbs representing the bitterness of slavery, unleavened bread (matzah), (the bread was unable to rise because the Israelites had to leave Egypt in haste), and the shank bone of the lamb, symbolizing the slain Passover lamb, described below.

The Feast of Passover is an eight day long feast that the Jewish people were commanded to observe throughout their generations (Exodus 12:7).  We learn of the history of the Israelites’ enslavement, leading up to their deliverance,  in Exodus chapters 1-11.  Please note that the command to observe this as a perpetual statute was given before the giving of the Law (also known as “The Torah” or “instruction”) found in Exodus chapters 19 and 20, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.

Back to my true story.

I went to the dairy aisle to get cheese, as I thought I could make “Matzah pizza” (only unleavened bread is to be eaten during the eight days of Passover).  There was a woman pushing a cart loaded to the brim with frozen pizzas.  I thought, “Well, I know she’s not Jewish and certainly not observing Passover.”

Then I heard her literally crying to someone on her cellphone.  “This is the first time in all my years that I haven’t had a Seder.”  The woman was about seventy years old.

I waited until she completed her call and said, “I’m sorry, but I overheard what you said about not having a Seder.”

She explained that she was visiting from another country.  She had just had the flu.  Her husband, a Holocaust survivor, was a doctor who was back home with his medical practice.  There was really no one to join her here.

We started to chat.  I empathized with her plight of loneliness, particularly during a significant holy day.  I thought about having her to my home, but she was still a bit sick, and I was a bit hesitant to expose my husband and me to her illness.

“You know, I have been in the same situation, Sylvia.”

I tried to comfort her that the same One who delivered our people from bondage is near to her broken heart. (Psalm 34:18)  She continued weeping and wiping her tears.

I then began to talk to her about the primary significance of Passover.

“You know, Sylvia, it’s not just about the Seder.  It’s about the fact that the deliverance of our people was real. Consider what the God of Israel required for such deliverance and for the sparing of the firstborn son of each family…blood upon the door!  He said, “‘For I will go through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments–I am the LORD.  ‘The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live; and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.” (Ex. 12:12-13)

We decided to exchange phone numbers.  I happened to have some literature in my purse entitled, “How would you recognize the Messiah?”  The graphics on it showed a large fingerprint, for indeed there are many clues in the Hebrew Scriptures describing the Messiah’s birth, life, purpose, death, burial, resurrection.

Sylvia then said two things that startled me.  She asked, “Have you ever read the Zion Chronicles?”

I replied, “Oh, the historical novel series by Bodie Thoene?  No, but I bought one of those books as a gift for someone.  I know they cover the period from WWII to the establishment of the modern State of Israel.”

Sylvia, amazed that I had heard of the series, said these words:  “Well, I read all of them.  Afterward, I was thinking of converting.”  Those were her words!  Implied in the word “converting” was her impression that she had to leave her Jewish heritage and adopt a new one.  The Biblical usage of the term, “to convert” really means “repent” ( “t’shuvah (Biblical Hebrew–’to literally turn around’).  It applies to both Jewish people and Gentiles, for all people need to have a change of heart with respect to who the Messiah is;  and how they can become rightly related to a Holy God.  As God Himself has said through the Prophet Isaiah:

“Let the wicked forsake his way
And the unrighteous man his thoughts;
And let him return to the LORD,
And He will have compassion on him,
And to our God,
For He will abundantly pardon.” (Isaiah 55:7)

So, though Sylvia obviously thought she would have to switch “religions”, actually she needed to discover that the “converting” she considered is actually the universal need for rebellious mankind to “turn” from their wicked, sinful ways, and “return” to a Holy, sinless God, and receive salvation through the precious, sacrificial blood of the pure and spotless Lamb of God — the Messiah of both Israel and the whole world.

To my surprise, she then added, “And who is this pastor…?”  She couldn’t remember his name.
I suggested she might be speaking of the very pro-Israel Pastor John Hagee.

“Yes, that’s him!”, she exclaimed.  “My husband and I watch him every week!”

Well, the ground of her heart was prepared.  I told her, “You weren’t able to have a seder tonight, but God sent a Jewish believer in Messiah to tell you about The Passover Lamb.  Do you know that Yeshua of Nazareth was called the Lamb of God (John 1:29) and The Passover Lamb in the New Testament ( 1 Corinthians 5: 7)?

She did not.  I explained the prophetic significance, how the blood on the door of the Israelites’ homes protecting their firstborn sons relates prophetically to the blood of Messiah protecting us from the consequence of our sin — eternal separation from the Holy One of Israel.

She understood.  She was smiling.

She remarked, “This is amazing.  I was crying before, but now I am not sad anymore.  Thank you.”

I told her, “Don’t thank me, thank the One who arranged this meeting, knowing your loneliness, sadness and frustration…He’s the same one that planned the deliverance of the Israelites, and whose eye has been upon you, and who has sought to comfort and encourage you with His personal love.”

We planned to get together before she returned to her country.  I thought I would simply give her some of my Prophetic Prints and that we would chat for ten minutes.

We met the next weekend.  I brought an Isaiah chapter 53 print, matted in her favorite color – blue, and these other prints:  “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those crushed in spirit.“  (Psalm 34:18), “A Father of the fatherless is God in His holy habitation.” (Psalm 68:5).  The latter print was particularly appropriate for her husband, about whom she had previously spoken.

“My husband lost his dad during the Holocaust.  His father was killed by the Nazis.  When my husband was thirteen, he was forced to board a cattle car to Auschwicz.  Someone told him and his family to move to the last car.  When the train pulled out, the last car remained; someone had detached it from the rest of the train!!

Then Sylvia continued, “I was three when my father died.  My mom was left to raise many children alone.”

So the print was obviously appropriate.

The ten minute conversation turned into two and a half hours, as we sat on the bench outside the grocery store where we had originally met.  She shared her amazing history.  She grew up in a place where I did not even think any Jewish people lived.  Her family was part of a small, thriving Jewish community there.  I also learned that her mother and my grandmother were from the same city in Eastern Europe.  Her history was richly woven, with much pain and much blessing.  There was interaction between her family and the non-Jewish neighbors.  After her mother had been orphaned, a little non-Jewish girl had compassion on her; upon seeing her difficult situation, she loaned Sylvia’s mom her school books overnight.  The two remained friends into their eighties.  The woman’s son later became famous in that country.

I also learned that Sylvia had been a scientist. A searching one at that!

Finally, she wanted to know how I prayed.  I found this interesting.

“Do you just pray the Shema?”  (“Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one!” – Deut. 6:4), she inquired.

I explained the life of prayer. I don’t pray rote prayers.  I talk with Abba, the Heavenly Father.  I pour out my heart to Him about everything and anything…at any time, in any place!

Then we got back to the Passover.

“Sylvia, remember we spoke about the Passover lamb’s blood protecting the Israelite firstborn son?  Eternal life depends on believing what THE Passover Lamb did for you two thousand years ago on the tree (1 Peter 1:17-20; 2:24).  Even as it says in Exodus 13:8, “You shall tell your son on that day, saying, ‘It is because of what the LORD did for me when I came out of Egypt‘.”

“Would you like to receive Him now?”

“I’m not ready.”

“I respect that.”

It turns out she just thought of sin as the biggies:  Murder, adultery, theft–which she had not committed.  She did not understand that we are accountable for sins of the spirit:  Hatred, coveting, bitterness, etc.  If we don’t see that we have the sickness of sin, we certainly won’t seek to have the Great Physician’s remedy for this sickness.  In other words, why seek a savior if we don’t think we need to be delivered from anything?

Once that was explained, it seemed like a light went on.

Sylvia, our hearts lie open before Him to whom we will have to give an account (Acts 17:30-31).

“Ooooh, now I understand.”

But she was not yet ready to pray.  That’s OK, because no one can make this life changing decision for another.  We must individually understand, and be convicted of the awfulness of sin, and the awfulness of eternal separation from a Holy God.  A parent can’t do this transaction for a child, a husband can’t do this for a wife, and a friend can’t do this for a friend.

That is uniquely the role of the Ruach HaKodesh (The Holy Spirit) — to “convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.”  (John 16:8)

She still wanted to ponder the truths I had shared.  She mentioned her interest in the Book of Revelation, which addresses events in the last days.  I ”just so happened” to have a copy of the Book of Revelation on CD in my purse and gave it to her.  She was amazed!

We parted as friends.  Sylvia will be back here in a few months.  She volunteered her home address and phone number, and asked that we keep in touch.

I just love watching the LORD at work, drawing people to Himself…designing appointments that are so personal to the one is ordained to hear the Good News.  That’s the business He’s in!  And, the Messiah told us to pray and ask that more laborers be sent into fields (of people) to gather in the harvest.  The hour is very late.

*Image courtesy of datafox from Wikipedia Commons. Image was resized to 250×300 pixels.