On Wednesday, Sept. 29th, 2004, Ruti and I went into the city to run some errands. After them we went to Oren's pizza place to have a few slices. The timing was perfect as I was allowed to speak of Messiah to him for about an hour.

At first he didn't want to talk about it, saying that he was confused. He was very adamant, saying that he didn't care at all. He did good things and he also sinned so why didn't God just come and take him and destroy him?!

He said that his friends and the Rabbis tell him one thing and I tell him another. I had asked him if he had read any of the literature and New Testament that I had given to him. He hadn't.

We've known Oren and spoken of Messiah for over two years now. I told him that God wanted to give him Life, through Messiah Yeshua. I said that the Rabbis could only give him what they knew, and they didn't know Messiah. He asked if they were all wrong and I told him that there were Rabbis that believed in Messiah now and before. But just because he hadn't heard of them, he didn't know that. And then I said that the Rabbis that refused to hear anything about Yeshua were all wrong. I could understand their position, but they were still wrong. I told him that I knew that Yeshua was our Messiah.

Then I told him to go to his rabbi and ask him about the New Covenant in Jer. 31:31 and the Messiah dying for our sins in Isaiah 53. I went back to the Passover with the blood of the lamb saving us from death, and also the Day of Atonement where the life of an animal was given so that Israel could be clean before God. Strange ceremonies I said but they all pictured Messiah dying for us, not only to forgive our sins but so that we could live with God.

I asked him what Heaven was. He responded by saying that it's a place we'll go to if our good deeds outweigh our bad ones. I told him that Heaven is where God lives and that if we want to be with Him for eternity, we have to be like Him. He's Living Fire so how can we dwell with Him? We have to be changed and that doesn't come from doing good deeds but by believing that He sent His Son, Messiah Yeshua, to die for us, to not only forgive our sins but to transform us into Him Image.

He was listening now. I told him that I thought that he was one of God's people. And that eventually, he would come to Messiah Yeshua as he sought out the answer to the question: Is Yeshua the Messiah. I gave him my card with the Scriptures from the Tanach (Old Testament), on them and said for him to go over it with the rabbi. He said that he would.

He told us of some dreams that he had that I think were not from God. They had to do with light and his dead grandfather. I didn't tell him what I thought but it will help me to pray for him. Many of God's lambs are being 'baited' by the enemy, even before they come to Him.

On Tuesday, Sept. 28th, I went into the city to check our mailbox and stopped in to a stationery store to buy a pen. Three hours and much witnessing later, I left. I met the owners, Gadi and Li'own (his wife) and it was Li'own that was really hungry and full of questions. Where do we go after this life? Do we come back again? Should we study Kabbalah?

Gadi had grown up religious, as well as Li'own, but neither was practicing any of that now. How did we start? They asked me what I did for a living. I told them that I teach people about God and His Word and the Messiah. I looked at Gadi and I could see that wasn't the hottest topic on his list. I asked them, 'What do you know about Messiah?' They said that he will come riding on a white donkey. I told them that half of that was true, and the other half was made up by the Rabbis. I asked them, 'Why a donkey?' And Gadi said jokingly, 'Maybe he can't afford a horse?' We smiled.

I told them that Zechariah 9:9 tells us that Messiah will come on a donkey. It doesn't mention the color. That's the Rabbis adding their two cents. I told them that because they didn't know the Tanach, the Rabbis and others could tell them things about God and they'd believe it because they weren't aware of what God has said.

I took out a ten shekel coin and I said that there are a lot of counterfeits running around Israel and if you're not careful, you'll get one and it's worthless. Gadi said that there were 100 shekel and 200 shekel notes too that weren't any good. I said that if we took them and went to the bank, and tried to get change, the clerk would immediately tell you that it's no good. Why? Because they handle the real money all day long and when phoney money comes, they can literally feel the difference. We, not handling money like that all day long, don't realize the difference till it's brought to our attention. I told them that it's the same way with the things of God, and that's why Kabbalah, and past lives and other lives after this one where we supposedly right the wrongs we've committed, etc., are straight from the Pit of Hell.

Satan is the master counterfeiter. He's not going to give you something spiritual that is so far from God's Truth that you'll know it immediately. He gives people things that look like God's things. Only by studying the Word and walking with God can we know the difference.

I would use the same illustration with Sarah Greenblatt later that night, speaking with her over the phone.

The donkey, I told Gadi and Li'own, has two biblical references. One is in Zechariah and the other had to do with King David making his son Solomon, king. I went into the details of the usurption of the kingship by another son of David's, Adonijah. And that when David found out he immediately commanded his prophet Nathan and the High Priest Zadok to take Solomon on his (David's) donkey, and pour the oil of anointing over him and proclaim him king!

David couldn't build God a Temple, even though it was in his heart to do so. God told him that because he was a man of war (he had blood on his hands), that God didn't want him to. But, his son Solomon would. Solomon, whose name means 'peace', was a man of peace with great wisdom, ruling for the most part, the people of Israel in righteousness. He pictures the Messiah, another man of wisdom and peace and righteousness and that's why God said David couldn't, Solomon could. Messiah will build the Temple of God also, and there'll be much peace in his thousand year reign (Zech. 6:12-13).

The donkey symbolizes peace. The horse, war. Ahh .... Gadi said. You don't go to war on a donkey, unless you want to be killed. We laughed.

We went all over the place, speaking of Messiah and our need to be forgiven of our sins and made like Him so that we could feel good on Judgment Day. Li'own was especially concerned about that. She was afraid of some things that the Rabbis had said concerning it; the fire, etc. I told her that this was her day for matching numbers. Job 28:28 tells us that to fear God is the beginning of wisdom and that understanding means that we put away evil.

I said that when we were in Egypt, God told us to sacrifice a lamb for our deliverance. And that He would go through that land and strike down those that didn't have the blood of the lamb on their doorposts. He would even judge the gods of the Egyptians. Again, a good number, Ex. 12:12.

The blood of an animal for our life. And so it was with the Day of Atonement. I spoke of Aaron going into where God literally dwelled on Earth, but only one day a year. Not just with prayer, but with blood. It was the blood that God saw and said that Israel was forgiven for all her sins for the past year. And this was where Messiah came in.

In Isaiah 53 it speaks of Messiah dying for us, so that we can be forgiven of our sins. I spoke of the two Messiahs of the Rabbis; Messiah the Son of David and Messiah the Son of Joseph. And said that didn't understand that there'd only be one, coming at two different times. The dead one being raised by God to come again to rule on the Throne of David for a thousand years (Rev. 20:4-6).

As yet, I had not mentioned the Name of Yeshua and I wouldn't. We spoke more and it was so good for Li'own that as I left, she said that she had learned so much and it was all so very interesting. I had given them both cards with a number of Scriptures on them that present a picture of the Messiah from the Tanach and told them to look them up and that they'd know who the Messiah was.

As I left I told Li'own that it was interesting and also, as she came to the Messiah, He would give her life today, and assurance that on Judgment Day, she would not have to be afraid. She liked that. Gadi is in another world.

As I spoke with Sarah Greenblatt, Divera's mother, I asked her if she had ever read the New Testament. WE had been speaking about movies and books. She asked if I had ever read the DiVinci Codes. It's a popular book out that basically calls into question the history of Yeshua, if He was real or not. That's when I told Sarah about the counterfeit coin. She thought that they way the clerk would know that any bill was phoney was because they know phone bills. I told her that it was just the opposite. Because they handle the real bills all day, they know the phoney when it comes. I related that to knowledge of God from His Word.

Sarah, a Jewish from South Africa, her father fleeing the Holocaust in Europe, grew up in a public school system that made them read the Bible. She said she had a Bible with gold edging on it from those school days, more than 50 years ago. She had mentioned that she likes reading things that will stimulate her thinking. And that's when I asked her if she had ever read the New Testament.

I spoke of it's presentation of Messiah Yeshua in the four Accounts and then the history of the Apostles who followed them, after His Death and Resurrection. And then of the letters and how they explained what His Death meant, in more detail. I told her that if she would read it, she'd have many things to think about. She said that she would and I said the next time we speak, we can bring up those things.

If you were here with us you'd have also seen our witness to Kobi and Zoli and his wife Divera (Sarah G's daughter), and Rahel and Amiram. All people in need of prayer, much prayer. Please remember Oren and Li'own and Sarah and Zoli especially.

Planting the Seed of Messiah
in the hearts and lives of Israelis