I am a member of a fairly religious orthodox Sephardi Jewish family who keep to some degree the Kosher food rules, and light the candles on Friday nights, and go fairly frequently to Synagogue on Friday nights, etc. The male members of the family, including myself, wear the Tephillin daily, as this is usual according to Jewish custom.
My father is very religious and ultra-orthodox, praying out of his Hebrew prayer-book every day. He had studied to become a Rabbi, and needed only one more year’s training, when his father became ill, so that he was not able to complete his studies. A number of my ancestors were Rabbis.
As a child, my father told me stories out of the Jewish Old Testament. He also told me not to believe anything that was said about “Yeshua” (Jesus) by the “Christians”. My father told me He (Yeshua) was a renegade, a rebel, some sort of imposter, a madman, and a blasphemer.
My father also added that Yeshua was a great learned Rabbi who could perform miracles, before he became maddened with pride, and blasphemed, for which he was killed. Not knowing anything else, as I was only an innocent child, I accepted this story as being the truth, and consequently shunned everything to do with “Yeshua” throughout my life.
At this stage I had a lot of faith and trust in God, saying my “Shema” (Israel’s great confession of faith as described in Deuteronomy Chapter 6, verse 4 onwards) every night. Contrary to what many Christians may believe, most of my prayers were answered; however, “Salvation”, I know now, can only come through the Messiah, “Yeshua”.
Incidentally, I noticed that Christians, who witness to Jewish folk, do not emphasize the MESSIAHSHIP OF Yeshua, with the Jewish Old Testament prophecies pointing to Him, not realising that the Messiah is precious to Jewish people, and is the dream of Israel over the centuries. Instead, these Christians stress the deity of this Anointed One, much too quickly, saying He is the Almighty SON OF GOD, which immediately sets up a barrier in the Jewish monotheistic mind, just like it did in myself.
In my search for truth and understanding of reality, I got involved in many things, including Eastern Philosophies and the occult, not fully understanding that this was forbidden by God according, for example, to Deuteronomy Chapter 18, verses 9 to 13: “When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations (that is, very bad, detestable sins) of those nations. There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire (that is, human sacrifice by fire), or that useth divination (that is, fortune or future telling, clairvoyance, clair-audience, tarot cards, astrology, horoscopes, tea-cup reading, ESP, water-divining, swinging pendulum, etc.), or an observer of times (that is, astrology, horoscopes, diviner, foreteller, soothsayer), or an enchanter (that is, magician, one who uses mantras, Hare Krishna chanting, transcendental and other forms of meditation using mantras, people casting spells to bewitch others, invoking demons, voodoo, use of voodoo dolls, “pointing the bone”, etc.), or a sorcerer (wizards, witches and others who practise witchcraft, black magic, voodoo, “white” magic, and other magical arts), or a charmer (hypnotist), or a consulter with familiar spirits (that is, mediums consulting invisible or semi-transparent spiritual “guides” or “masters”, including yogis, gurus, clairvoyants, clair-audients, trance mediums, etc.), or a wizard (that is, magician), or a necromancer (medium who consults spirits of the dead-séances).
For all that do these things are an abomination (that is, very detestable, as the power behind all these occult practices, is the kingdom of darkness ruled by the devil and his fallen angels, demons, spirits of darkness) unto the Lord: and because of these abominations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee. Thou shalt be perfect (that is, blameless, wholehearted) with the Lord thy God.”
Now King Saul was rejected as ruler of Israel, and put to death by Divine decree, because he attended a séance and sought help from a spiritualist medium (see 1 Chronicles 10: 13-14, and 1 Samuel 28).
Later, after I became a born-again believer in Yeshua as the Jewish Messiah, I renounced all my past involvement with the occult, Eastern philosophies and other sinful religious philosophies and psychologies. I burnt all their books and articles, which had cost me a substantial amount of money. This was similar to what happened in The Book of Acts, 19: 18-19. The Lord forgave me of these sins and all other sins, cleansing me with the holy and powerful blood of Messiah Yeshua, which was shed on the Cross at Calvary — Golgotha, outside Jerusalem.
Strange as it may seem, the very first time I heard that Jesus claimed to be the prophesied Jewish Messiah, was quite recently and from a member of an ill-reputed sect. This stopped me “dead in my tracks”, and sent a shock wave through me. This proves God uses all people, even though some may have wrong doctrines. Henceforth I decided to investigate for myself the truth of His claim, as I considered it a matter of the utmost importance to any Jew.
The Lord, by His grace (favour), took me further along the road of understanding, when I was transferred to a Technical College up North, in my work as a teacher of Electronic Engineering in New South Wales, Australia. There I met two Christian colleagues who discussed religion with me. Finally, I asked them to prove to me logically and objectively, without using any emotionalism, and using only the Jewish Old Testament, that Jesus-Yeshua is the Jewish Messiah as foretold by the Jewish prophets. I inwardly thought, with an attitude of arrogance and scepticism, that I had given them an impossible task to perform. They calmly took up my challenge and the first passage of Scripture they showed me was Isaiah Chapter 53, which gave me a sudden, profound shock, penetrating my arrogant scepticism. I had deeply respected the Old Testament and the great Jewish prophets, as this had been impressed upon me by my learned father; and now here before my very eyes, was a message by one of these same great servants of God, the prophet Isaiah, pointing to the death of Yeshua, as a human sacrifice for the atonement of the sins of others. The passage even gave graphic details, such as: “He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter . . . so he opened not his mouth”. Also “for the transgression of my people was he stricken”, and “when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin . . . shall My righteous servant justify many; for He shall bear their iniquities . . . because he hath poured out his soul unto death; and he was numbered with the transgressors; and He bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors”. Remember that Jesus said, while on the Cross, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do”, — this is the meaning of the phrase “made intercession for the transgressors”.
This portion of Scripture pointed to a meek, suffering Messiah, not a glorious one, as I had been indoctrinated to expect. Other Old Testament passages pointing to Yeshua were shown to me. The main ones were:
- Daniel 9:26, about the Messiah coming about 483 years after the generation of Daniel (coinciding with the time of Jesus) and that he would be killed. Then soon after, the second Temple and the city of Jerusalem would be destroyed, with great desolation (this happened in 70 A.D. soon after the crucifixion of Jesus.
- Isaiah 7:14, about the Virgin Birth.
- Isaiah 9:6, about the Messiah being the Mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. This startling passage indicates the Messiah to be an immortal divine being — to be God himself.
- Micah 5:2, about the Messiah being born in Bethlehem, and His pre-existence. This passage also indicates the divinity and immortality of the Messiah.
- Zechariah 9:9, about the Messiah coming to Jerusalem on a donkey (which is what Jesus did); even though this passage seemed insignificant, it had a profound effect on me, as it was another piece of the jigsaw puzzle falling into place.
- Zechariah 12:10 and also 13:6. This prophecy concerns the Second Coming of the Messiah to Israel, when he will show His pierced hands to His own Jewish people.
- Psalm 22. King David’s description of the crucifixion of the Messiah. The very first words of this Psalm, are “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me”, which were the words Jesus spoke while on the cross. King David prophesied all this 1000 years before the time of Jesus.
- Psalm 110 – King David indicating there being two Lords or Gods, this pointing to the Christian concept of the Holy Trinity. This startled me due to my monotheistic Jewish background.
- Genesis 1:26; Indication of the plurality of God ELOHIM, pointing to the concept of the Holy Trinity. The words are: “And God (ELOHIM) said, Let US make man in OUR image, after OUR likeness”. The Hebrew word for God is “EL” or “ELOH”, and its plural form is “ELOHIM” as, for example, is used in the First Commandment of the Decalogue (10 Commandments), “Thou shall have no other Gods (Elohim) before me”. Note also that plural verbs are used with JEHOVAH ELOHIM, as in Genesis 20:13 and Genesis 35:7.
The above Scriptures, as with all other Scriptures (Old Testament) in this testimony, were later checked with the Jewish, orthodox, Masoretic text of the Old Testament, which is very highly reputed amongst the Jews. To my surprise, all the Scriptures were found to be astonishingly accurate, thus confirming the Messiahship and Divinity of Yeshua.
The enlightenment I received from these Old Testament prophecies created in me a burning desire to search for the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth about Messiah Yeshua. I have always respected and obeyed the truth of any matter, regardless of what it was. My hunger and desire to know the truth was my only inherent motivation, leading me on until I found it, because I valued it even above human reputation, pride, vanity, etc. At this time I read the book “From Prison to Praise” by Merlin Carothers, which greatly interested me, whereas previously I, as a Jew, would not have tolerated in my presence any literature on Jesus. Then I read the New Testament with great interest. I soon became aware that this was not a dead book of symbols, but alive and powerful, with a ring of truth and sincerity. The words appeared to come alive and penetrate into me with a supernatural power. I was amazed that while I was reading it, I literally felt an invisible spiritual sword (which I understood later to be the Sword of the Holy Spirit, the Word of God), cut through my remaining mental and spiritual walls of scepticism and unbelief. It was like a laser beam cutting through a brick wall. Some of the words of Messiah Yeshua which I found in the New Testament, were: “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life; no man cometh unto the Father, but by ME.”
To my amazement, I soon believed with a heartfelt faith, that Jesus Yeshua is the foretold Messiah, and that the New Testament is the Word of Truth — the most powerful, dynamic and penetrating book I have ever read. I had become “born-again” in my spirit. Then I wondered why so many of our Jewish leaders, intellectuals, and Rabbis do not realise this simple fact. It is just a matter of looking into the Old Testament with an open mind, seeking the prophecies pointing to the Messiah, there being over 300 of them. By statistical mathematics, the chances of Yeshua being the foretold Messiah by fulfilling every one of these prophecies, is over 1000 Billion to one! Later I learned why the majority of Jews did not realise this simple fact, from Isaiah 6: 9-10, and Isaiah 29:10-12 in the Old Testament, and Romans 11:8-11 in the New Testament, which state that God had put a temporary “veil” over the eyes of the Jews, until the “fullness of the Gentiles” had come.
As I love and respect truth, above all other values, I have publicly confessed Yeshua (Jesus) as my Lord and Saviour, and will always do so. Soon after I had accepted Him as my Saviour and Messiah, the Lord led me to fast, by creating an inner urge in my spirit to do so, including taking away my desire for food and confirming it by coincidences of external circumstances. After two weeks of fasting (taking only water), a Christ-committed lady who was helping me with the teething problems of being a new “born-again” Christian, prayerfully consulted God through the Bible about when I should stop fasting; when the Bible was opened, the answer was “FEED THE HUNGRY”. I was surprised, the busy God would take time to talk to little unimportant me, in such clear direct terms. God thus indicated to me to continue to fast until I felt hungry. The astonishing thing was that I did not feel hungry for thirty-two days, during which time the Lord delivered me, layer by layer, from the forces of darkness, which were attached to me like spiritual leeches, through my past occult involvement. The most remarkable fact about being ensnared in the clutches of the forces of hell, is the total unawareness of it all. Consequently I realised the depth of the love of God and His mercy and grace, to rescue me from the clutches of damnation in spite of my past transgressions and sinfulness. However, because of my strong sense of identity with my people — the Jews, and with Israel, in addition to my inherent deep-seated sense of loyalty to them, I felt I had betrayed them by believing in the founder of Christianity, as Christianity was considered to be (even though incorrectly) diametrically opposite to Judaism. Also many Jews declare that a Jew cannot be a Christian, and still remain a Jew. “How is that possible?” — they would say, due to their traditional upbringing and indoctrination. But according to the Bible, the inspired Word of God, which is the only TRUTH, and is the supreme authority, Christianity is the fulfilment of Judaism, being the New Covenant as declared in the Old Testament in Jeremiah 31:31-34:
“The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them, declares the Lord. This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts . . .”.
Jesus, the mediator of this New Covenant, is the Jewish Messiah as prophesied by the Jewish prophets in the Tenach, Jewish Old Testament, there being over 300 prophecies to confirm this. Even the prophet Moses declared this with a warning not to disobey this prophet in Deuteronomy 18:15-19, “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers.
You must listen to him . . .”
“I (God) will raise up for them a prophet like you (Moses) from among their brothers; I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him. If anyone does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name, I myself (God) will call him to account.”
Moses also foreshadowed the New Covenant of Messiah Yeshua in Deuteronomy 29:1 and 30:1-6), where the second Covenant of God with Moses was declared, dealing with the “circumcision of the heart” (spiritual rebirth as indicated in Ezekiel 36:24-27), and also in the New Covenant of Messiah Yeshua).
God also foreshadowed the New Covenant of Messiah Yeshua, through Abraham in Genesis 22:18, “and through your offspring (Messiah Yeshua) all nations on earth (that is, including all Gentile nations) will be blessed . . .”.
The New Covenant was foreshadowed also to Jacob in Genesis 28:14, “All peoples on earth (including Gentiles) will be blessed through you and your offspring (Messiah Yeshua).”
There are many other scriptures in the Tenach, Jewish Old Testament, indicating the New Covenant of Messiah Yeshua would bless all the nations of the world, including the Gentiles. For example,
Isaiah 42:6-7, “I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.” Also Isaiah 49:6 indicates this: “I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.”
It is amazing, and a gross paradox, that a Jew can believe in Buddha, Gurus, Yogis, Swamis, etc., and still remain a Jew, but when he believes in Jesus (who is the TRUTH), he is no longer considered to be a Jew by many orthodox Jews, even though this view is irrational, unreasonable, and biblically incorrect by the Tenach. We should all bear in mind that on the Day of Judgement of the God of Israel, all of us will have to give an account of ourselves and our actions, based on the TRUTH of the Bible — the inspired Word of God; human traditions and philosophies will burn like chaff here.
This view of Yeshua being the Jewish Messiah is shared by over two hundred thousand “Messianic fulfilled Jews” or “Hebrew Christians” in America today. In addition, there are over ten thousand Israeli Messianic Jews in the Land of Israel, where Christianity started. Also scores of Orthodox and ultra-orthodox rabbis have in the past believed in Yeshua as being the foretold Jewish Messiah as proclaimed by the Jewish prophets in the Tenach. One such rabbi was Rabbi Michael Solomon Alexander, who later became the first Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem. You can read about his powerful and interesting testimony in the book “From Rabbi to Bishop”, by M. W. Corey — the Olive Press, London.
Some other Rabbis who believe in Yeshua (Jesus) as the Messiah—
- Rabbi Max Wertheimer, D. D.
- Rabbi Philipp Philips
- Rabbi Rudolf Hermann Gurland
- Rabbi Asher Levy
- Rabbi Leopold Cohn, D. D.
- Rabbi Berg
- Rabbi Charles Freshman
- Rabbi Chil Slostowski
- Rabbi Isaac Lichtenstein
- Rabbi George Benedict
- Rabbi Jacobs
- Rabbi Ephraim Ben Joseph Eliakim
- Rabbi Dr. T. Tirschtiegel
- Rabbi Henry Bregman
- Rabbi Sam Stern
You can read their exciting and enlightening testimonies in the book “Rabbis who found the Messiah”, published by Jewish Voice Broadcasts, Inc., P O Box 6, Phoenix, Arizona, 85001.
You can also get the book “Rabbis who found the Messiah” from Messianic Good News at www.messianicgoodnews.org.
Flavius Josephus, a famous and respected Jewish army general and historian, born AD 37 and died after AD 100 AD, reportedly said the following about Yeshua in his book Jewish Antiquities”, chapter XVIII, pp. 63-64:
“About this time there lived Jesus, a wise man, if indeed one ought to call him a man, for he was a doer of wonderful works, — a teacher of such people as accept the truth gladly. He won over many Jews and many of the Greeks. He was the Messiah . . . When Pilate upon hearing him accused by men of the highest standing amongst us, had condemned him to be crucified, those who had in the first place come to love him did not give up their affection for him. On the third clay he appeared to them restored to life, for the prophets of God had prophesied these and countless other marvellous things about him.”
In addition to the above, many learned Jewish doctors believe in Yeshua as the Messiah. Some of them are –
- Dr. Adolf Althausen
- Dr. A. Kurt Weiss
- Dr. Cahn
- Dr. Bernard Jean Bettelheim
- Dr. M. L. Rossvally
- Dr. Capadose
- Dr. Herbert H. Robinson
- Dr. Steinitz
- Dr. Merrill Cohen
- Dr. Arthur W. Kac
- Dr. R. E. Blumenfeld
- Dr. Ivan Schewitz
- Dr. J. Vera Schlamm
- Dr. Robert B. Greenberg
- Dr. Rolph J. Ruben
- Dr. Jeffrey Leigh
- Dr. Peter Salzberg
You can read their fascinating testimonies in the book “Special Medical Edition”, published by Messianic Good News in South Africa (www.messianicgoodnews.org).
It is a fact that some Jews have the opinion that when one of their brothers believes in Yeshua as being the Jewish Messiah, then that Jew must be “mad”, or “stupid”, or “deceived”. The truth of the matter is that the Jews who don’t believe, have a veil over their eyes, according to Isaiah 6:9-10; 29:10-12. The powers of darkness have put clouds of spiritual and mental unbelief and blindness over them to hinder them from believing with a heartfelt faith. All these barriers will hinder them from knowing the TRUTH, unless they sincerely love God with all their heart and soul, and love the truth above the opinions of man and human reputation, and wholeheartedly seek God. This is indicated in the following scriptures:
- Deuteronomy 4:29
“But if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find Him, if thou seek Him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.”
- 2 Chronicles 15:2
“The Lord is with you, while ye be with Him; and if ye seek Him, He will be found of you; but if ye forsake Him, He will forsake you.”
- Psalm 119:2
“Blessed are they that keep His testimonies, and that seek Him with the whole heart.”
- Jeremiah 29:13
“And ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all your heart.”
- 2 Chronicles 7:14
“If My people, which are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”
Now I would like to mention the miracles performed in the Name of the Messiah Yeshua, which I personally witnessed. These miracles greatly strengthened and confirmed my faith in Yeshua, the foretold Messiah, Who is still ALIVE now, and is Lord and omnipresent by His Spirit. I saw verification of the New Testament Scripture, Mark 16: (17-18), spoken by Yeshua, which states: “And these signs shall follow them that believe: In my name shall they cast out demons . . . they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.”
I saw legs and arms lengthened, aches and pains healed, instant and complete healing of injured backs, psychological traumas cured, partial deafness healed, blindness and catatonics healed, drug addiction cured, cancer healed, varieties of incurable sicknesses healed, etc., all in the Name of Jesus Christ, which greatly impressed me and deepened my faith in Him.
Also I witnessed screaming powerful demons, which are evil spirits of Satan, cast out of oppressed people, the demons being completely subjected to the Name of Jesus, just like in the New Testament.
I, myself, ministered some miracles of healing and deliverance from demons in the Name of Messiah Yeshua, which greatly moved me when I saw the miraculous results. However, not everyone who desires this healing obtains it, for God grants or withholds it according to His wisdom and purpose. The scriptures indicate that God’s will is to heal everybody (but there is a more important healing than that of the body). Incidentally, unforgiveness, bitterness, resentment, unconfessed sins, non-repentance, unbelief, etc., tend to block or hinder God’s healing power.
My spiritual growth by prayer, fasting, and continuous searching of the Scriptures, together with the study of other books concerning the Anointed One, has led me to discover many more pointers to Him and His Divinity, confirming the truth in my heart, that indeed He, Yeshua ha Mashiach, is the Messiah and the Saviour of the World. He said, “Seek and you shall find”. Nowhere is this more true than in searching the Old Testament. Anyone can simply ask God in prayer to help him find the Messiah, and God will answer him without fail, especially the Jews, the “chosen race”, because He loves the Jews, the “apple of his eye” (Deut. 32:10, Zechariah 2:8), and wants everyone of His covenanted people to find His Son. Especially now, as we are living in the “last generation”, close to the Second Coming of the Messiah.
Prayer for Salvation
If after reading this testimony, you believe in Yeshua Hamashiach, the Almighty Son of God, and would like to receive Him as your Lord and Saviour, and thus appropriate the blessings of God; all your sins forgiven, your conscience cleansed, peace with God and the attainment of eternal life in Heaven, and all the other promises of God mentioned in the Bible, then say the following prayer:
“Dear Lord Yeshua ha Mashiach, the Almighty Son of God, I believe you died on the cross near Jerusalem for the atonement of my sins, and that you rose from the dead, on the third day. I accept and receive you, by your Spirit, into my heart and life as my Lord and my Saviour. Please forgive all my sins and transgressions with the atoning power of your shed BLOOD on the cross. I repent of, and turn away from all my sins and wrongful attitudes. I now turn to you to create in me, through the power of your Holy Spirit, a life of obedience, love and holiness. I forgive everyone who has ever done me wrong, including those who provoked me to anger and resentment. I renounce all powers of darkness. I thank you now, Lord Yeshua, for cleansing me with the power of your BLOOD of atonement, and giving me new life, according to your word in the Bible. From now on, I shall pattern my life, with your help and guidance, on your teachings of “love my neighbour as myself and “forgive those who do me wrong” and other words of wisdom as expressed in the Bible. Please help me to love and serve God and obey His will with my whole heart, mind and body.
In your name, Lord Yeshua ha Mashiach, Amen.”
A printed version of this testimony and further information may be obtained from:
Moshe Elijah
Fulfilled Messianic Jew
Rock of Truth Ministry
P.O. BOX 7119, Bondi Beach, NSW 2026
Australia
www.rockoftruthministry.com
SHALOM AND GOD BLESS YOU IN THE NAME OF MESSIAH YESHUA