Zvi Mar/Apr 2003
Despite all that is happening, people still come to Israel. Why? Because Israel is like an electromagnet, drawing people from all over. As it is written in Isaiah 2:3, “For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.” We see small groups coming from many countries. They come not only to see the land but also to walk in the steps of our Lord.
While walking recently in Jerusalem, I began listening to a tour guide speaking to a group from Sweden. He told the tourists of Israel’s attractions; but he did not tell them that no land on Earth is like Israel, a country about which so much is written in the Bible. So I moved closer to the group. Finally the guide turned to me as if to ask, “What planet did you fall from?”
So I answered him: “I have lived in Jerusalem for fifty-five years. And I also read the Bible. And it is written that the Jewish people are His servants [Isa. 49:3] and that it is our obligation to tell of His salvation. Houses these people can see in their own country. But they come here because of what is written in the Bible.”
The guide looked at me curiously. Then he asked, “How do you even know what we are talking about? We are speaking Swedish.”
The Lord has blessed me with the ability to speak many languages, including Swedish. So I began to speak to them in their own language. They were extremely surprised. I read to them from Isaiah 34:1: “Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye peoples: let the earth hear, and all that is therein; the world, and all things that come forth from it.”
Soon they began to understand that I believe in Christ. Some of them were practically jumping for joy. The guide became quiet. People started to ask me questions, wanting to know how an Israeli could come to believe in Yeshua Hamashiach.
I told them that I believe, not because of Christian books, but because of the Bible. Now even more people were surprised because many of them did not know the Lord personally.
“How can this be,” one asked, “that in the Jewish Bible you can read about Christ?” Many of them never read the Bible. They only read their commentaries and catechism.
“You are like the ultra-Orthodox,” I said with a smile. “They also ask the same question. And I will tell you. The complete Bible is the best document about Christ. I read to them Isaiah 7:14; Micah 5:2; and Isaiah 53.
The believers among them were overjoyed. “Our whole trip was worth it just to hear this,” they said. Several of them who did not know the Lord, however, continued to ask questions. They wanted to know how I came to believe in Jesus.
So I asked the tour guide for his permission to continue. He was Jewish; but he, too, was interested. He was from Ha1fa, and it was the first time he had heard that even the Hebrew Scriptures speak of Jesus.
So I gave the group my testimony. The people were so happy to hear it. I read to them from Isaiah 40 and told them that only from the complete Bible-Old and New Testaments-can they truly know the Lord.
Before I left, I read them Revelation 2:7:
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches: To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.
I also asked them to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Every day here parents bury their sons and daughters because of terror attacks. Every day we are being killed by people who want only to destroy us. I also asked them to pray for our sons serving in the military. But most of all, I asked them to pray that our people will put their trust in the Lord, because in Him alone can we find comfort and encouragement:
He giveth power to the faint; and to those who have no might he increaseth strength . … They that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint (Isa. 40:29, 31).
