Zvi Aug/Sep 1996
In Isaiah 2:5 it is clearly written, “O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lᴏʀᴅ.” The problem is that people with their eyes wide open are walking into the darkness rather than into “the light of the Lᴏʀᴅ.” And why is this? Because they obey the law of man rather than the law of God. Psalm 27:1 says, “The Lᴏʀᴅ is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?” Unfortunately, people do not know this.
There are many such blind people here in Israel— just as there are all around the world—who think that through their own efforts they can bring people to repentance. They think that if they show people the way to heaven (something that they themselves do not know), then heaven will be open to them as well. They do not realize that their good works will not get them to heaven, not to mention the people they are leading astray. But this is what their teachers have told them, and this is what they believe.
I recently met a few of these people in my neighborhood as they were distributing booklets written by their rabbi. They wanted to give me one, but I refused it. One of them asked, “Do you know what is written here?” “Yes, I know,” I replied. “Ecclesiastes 1:2 calls it ‘Vanity of vanities…all is vanity.’” They were very unhappy to hear this and said, “You are an atheist!” I responded, “Look at the facts, and then tell me who is the atheist— me or you. You see, I believe in the living God. Your booklets are of no value to me because I obey only the Holy Bible. You call me an atheist and think you are so holy, but you are openly distributing lies to unsuspecting people, thinking that heaven will thereby be open to you.”
They say that bad news travels fast, and soon a large crowd had gathered around us because they realized we were speaking about spiritual matters. Most of the people in the crowd I had never seen before, so I asked them to be impartial judges: “Where do you think the truth is found—in these poor booklets or in the Holy Bible that you see in my hands?” With one voice they all said, “In the Bible!” I then said, “Since we have come this far, let’s take a further look at what is written in the Bible. Psalm 56:11 says, ‘In God have I put my trust; I will not be afraid what man can do unto me.’” I then turned to the original group and asked, “Are you so faithful to your false teachers that you are not afraid? You should be afraid because you are living in deep darkness—so deep that you cannot see the light of the living God. Oh, I know that you read the Psalms and pray three times a day, usually in the synagogue. But you do not really know what the Psalms say. As I just read for you, you must put your trust in the Lord. His Word says that all those who believe in Him will have heaven opened to them. I can tell you, however, that it will not be opened to those who go about like yourselves, spreading false teachings.”
I then turned to the ever-growing crowd around us and said, “Because I am not like you—I do not have a beard, wear black clothes, or cover my head—you think I am an atheist.” I could tell that some of the newcomers were becoming suspicious of me, and one of them asked, “Who are you? Do you belong to some special sect?” I answered, “You should be asking yourself those questions. I believe in the living God; therefore, I have nothing to fear. As it is written in Isaiah 41:10, ‘Fear thou not; for I am with thee.’ I know the one in whom I have believed. I do not come to people with meaningless booklets that are far away from the faith. Rather, because my faith is in the Lord alone, I come to them with nothing but His Holy Word.”
One of the people then asked, “Who is your rabbi? Which synagogue do you attend?” I replied, “I go to the house of prayer, and every day, from the depths of my heart, I pray to the Lord. I am sure that He hears my prayers and answers them according to His will.” I then told them, “I do not want to be one of you, but I would like to see you open your eyes, come out of the darkness, and stop following false teachers who know nothing about the true God. Be careful of their false instruction, or one day you too will be punished for believing their stories, which have nothing to do with God.”
Then they asked, “Do you believe in the Messiah?” “Yes,” I answered. “I believe that He will come again one day very soon. You can read about Him in Isaiah 53 and Micah 5:2.” I then read those Scripture passages and many others and talked to them about Israel’s Messiah, realizing how hungry they were to know the truth about our Savior, Jesus Christ. For them, it was the right time and the right place to hear about Him, and they themselves brought up the subject.
After a long discussion, one of the inquisitors, pointing at the original group of people the ones distributing the booklets—said to me, “You are right in what you say. Tell them! Make them believe!” I had never seen this man before, but he gave me courage. Soon other people openly expressed interest in the Lord Jesus Christ. Naturally, I was glad to tell them about Him, and I read John 3:16, which is the heart of our faith. I explained to them that Jesus is the way God has provided for us to be saved. True salvation cannot be found in any of the old books of commentary, but by the Spirit of God Himself, through the blood of Jesus His Son.
I thank the Lord that I was not alone that day. He sent one man, perhaps a secret believer, to encourage me, and thereby some people received a great blessing by hearing about the Lord Jesus Christ and the salvation He provides. Now we must pray for the others, especially the ones passing out the false information, that they will come out of the darkness and find the light of life in Jesus, their Messiah.
