Apples of Gold Nov/Dec 2025
There are many stiff-necked people in Israel (Isa. 6:9–10). But the Lord calls us who follow Jesus to go to them so they may hear with their own ears and see with their own eyes the full truth about Him. But because of their stubbornness, they are afraid even to say Jesus’ name, Yeshua. Instead, they call Him “This Man.”
We tell them that Jesus “was wounded for our transgressions. . . . And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (53:5–6). These people don’t know the truth, so we go to them and show them the way to salvation.
When I approached some people recently to speak about the Lord, they looked at me like I had come from another planet.
“How can it be that you come to us and try to speak about faith?” one asked. “We are not surprised when a rabbi comes to speak about faith with us. But when people like you—without the Orthodox clothing, even without a beard—approach us, how can we believe what you say?”
“You don’t need to believe my words, but only what is written in the Holy Bible,” I replied. “I am not against you. I have come to show you what is written about the Lord in the Bible. I do not come like those men who grow long beards and wear special clothes as a diversionary tactic. For there is nothing written in the Bible that teaches that you must come before God with a beard and Orthodox clothes. He only wants our hearts. He doesn’t want us to camouflage ourselves, carrying a big stack of rabbinical literary traditions.”
The men began to ask me questions. “How did you come to know the Lord?” one asked.
“Believe me, it was not because of fictitious stories!” I said. “I came to know the Lord because I read the Holy Bible and believed what is written in it. Therefore, I pray that your eyes also will be opened so you can see the full truth about the Lord, which is not found in rabbinic traditions.”
When I speak about faith with people, many others come either to show how smart they think they are or to cause trouble. I live among these people, so I know their mentality. When I spoke with them, they wanted me to show them where everything I taught was written in Scripture.
After a heated debate, they began to speak more nicely with me. I had been patiently waiting for this moment, as you cannot walk up to a person in Israel and say, “You have to believe in Jesus!” You must spend hours speaking with them about Scripture until they realize that it refers to Jesus. When they discover this fact, then we are free to speak about the Lord with them. But you must only teach what is in the Bible so they cannot claim you are not speaking the truth.
Some continued to oppose me. When they could not answer, they brought their teachers to fight against me. The teachers brought their commentaries with them, so I asked their students, “What is more important? The Bible, or the thousands of books written by people who call themselves holy?”
The students were afraid to say even half a word because they knew their teachers would not be happy if they did. They asked me to which group of rabbis I belonged; so I said, “I belong to the almighty God of heaven who gave me the courage to bring you His salvation. You have heard and now know about whom we spoke. Please think about the things we have discussed.”
Before I finished, I read to them passages from Ezekiel: “I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes. . . . You shall be My people, and I will be your God” (36:27–28), and “Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?” (33:11).
Then they read the passages a few times and asked me, “How did you find these things?”
“Because I read and believed the Word of God,” I said.
Please pray that God would transform their hearts for His glory.
From The Friends of Israel archives
