Joel of Jerusalem Aug/Sep 1978
Recently I have been working near the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and sometimes I have contact with the students there. They try to act very intelligent, because they are studying at such a fine school. One day I told them, “You think you know everything, but you still have much to learn.” They told me, “We know about great people such as Shakespeare, Tolstoi, Einstein, Mozart, Brezniev, Kennedy and others like them.” I replied, “To you, these people may have been very great, but not to God and not to me either. They were simply gifted men. If you were in a very desperate situation in life, perhaps close to death, would you call on Shakespeare and say, ‘Shakespeare, save me’ or would you say, ‘Mozart, help me’? No! In times of trouble, people call on God. He is the One who gave Himself for us, and anyone who comes to Him with simple faith will be saved. He alone can give you everything you need in this life, and He alone can save your eternal soul.”
“If this is so, and God has given you so much, what can He give to us?” they asked. I replied, “God will give you peace in your heart, happiness, hope, and most important of all, He will give you everlasting forgiveness of your sins.” “How do you know all of this?” they questioned. “Have you graduated from a school of theology?” “No,” I answered, “but I know in my heart that the Lord has done these things for me, and He has given me the Holy Spirit to keep me and give me power to talk to you in this manner.”
Then they said, “Of course, you must have read some books on this subject.” “Oh yes,” I replied, “I have read a great deal, but mostly one Book. This Book is more important than the thousands of books you can read in your school. It is the Holy Bible, and it is greater than any of the books you have read by your great men because it was written by men who were inspired by the Holy Spirit.”
They wanted to know why I was telling them all of this, and I said, “Because I want you to feel as I do, free from your sins. Then you won’t think only of the things of this life, things which are without hope and which can cause you to hate your family, your friends, even yourself, and things which cause you to make many mistakes.” “Don’t you ever make mistakes?” they asked. “Yes, I do,” I replied, “because I am no more perfect than you are. But when I make mistakes, I go to my heavenly Father and pray for His forgiveness, and I go on from there and try to do the best I can. Because I fear God, he protects me and keeps me from ways that are not pleasing to Him. Because I have the Holy Spirit within me, I am kept from deep sin, but you are not, even though you are students at the great Hebrew University.”
They told me I would make a good lecturer and that I had given them much food for thought. Then they wanted to know how I had come to know so much about God. I told them, “There is only one way to know about God and His Son, Jesus, and that is through the Bible.” At this, one of them said, “I have read the Bible several times. Why don’t I believe as you do?” “Because you have read it as a natural man,” I said. “If you all will read the Bible, asking God to speak to your heart, you will receive what I now have, peace from Him and with Him.”
Please pray with me that these young people will have their eyes and hearts opened to God through the truths of His Word.
