Apples of Gold Mar/Apr 2024
Though we seek peace with our neighbors, we know it will not come easily. They call themselves righteous Jews while they tell me to keep quiet. Most Israelis do not believe in the Lord, so we who do believe stand out among them.
Some people who know I follow Jesus found my address and came to my home recently. This has happened often. They came uninvited; and one asked me, “Are you one of those traitors against our God?”
“Take a look in the mirror to find the real traitors,” I told them.
They were not happy with what I said.
“We will call the police!” one threatened. “What have we done wrong that you call us traitors?”
I replied, “In our War for Independence, we fought for our lives. We had no water, little food, and not enough weapons. Many of us died. We nearly surrendered to our enemies. You call yourselves faithful to Israel, but where were you when our enemies surrounded us? What have you done for our nation?”
“We read the Mishnah and the Gemara [rabbinical commentaries on the Hebrew Scriptures] in the synagogues,” one said. “That is why we win our wars. Where were you during this time?”
“I was not hiding like you,” I said. “I was fighting in the war.”
“But you have betrayed our God, and you have betrayed our land!” one shouted at me in reference to my faith.
I was outnumbered, but the Lord has said, “Fear not, for I am with you” (Isa. 41:10). “If you can prove that you fought for our land like I did, I will join you,” I told them.
“And if you can prove that you fought in the war, we will all give you money,” they replied.
“I do not want your money,” I said. “But I will show you the proof of my service.” I showed them a medal the army had awarded me, which was signed by the generals. “Now tell me, who are the real traitors?” I asked. “You say you believe in God, but you believe in false gods because of your studies.”
“You are the traitor, if you believe in Jesus!” one shouted.
These men believe the New Testament is not God’s Word, so they do not listen to its teachings. So I read to them from Deuteronomy 6, often considered the most important chapter in Judaism: “You shall fear the LORD your God and serve Him. . . . You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are all around you” (vv. 13–14).
These words upset them. “We want to see your prayer book,” one said.
So, I showed them my Bible. “My prayer book is in my heart,” I said. “But your heart is far from God. You do not truly follow God. Deuteronomy 6:14 says, ‘You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are all around you.’ Look around. Whom are you following? The one true God or false gods?”
They shouted at me again; and one yelled, “Do you believe our holy rabbis are not holy enough for you?”
“There is only One who is holy—the almighty God,” I said.
Finally, one man asked, “Can you show us where it is written in our Bible about the One in whom you believe?” I had been waiting more than two hours for someone to ask this question! They thought they had fooled me, but I opened my Bible to Isaiah 53. There, it is written,
He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all (vv. 5–6).
When they read this chapter, they were shocked and asked me why they had never read it before. “It is because your rabbis are afraid to share the truth of this Scripture with you, which clearly speaks about the One in whom I believe,” I said.
Please pray these men will come to know, as I do, the only One who can truly make them righteous through faith.
From The Friends of Israel archives
