To My Dearly Beloved Israeli-Jewish Friend… :: By Mark A. Becker

This love letter to reach out to our Israeli-Jewish friends, acquaintances, and those we meet throughout our walk with the Lord is adapted from our article Giving the Gospel to Israel, along with some citations from The Trinity: Examining the Triune God, and some new material.

The letter itself is between the dotted lines in this article, where you can copy and paste the letter into any document or the body of an email and edit it in any way you would like, adding your own personal touch.

Other options for the reader to access and share this letter are the following:

If you do not know how to copy and paste the letter into a document or into an email for printing, please contact me at mab10666@yahoo.com , and I will send you an email with the letter in the body of the email or in a Word document, and you can print it out from there. I have the letter in smaller print that is on 10 pages or can be put on five pages double-sided. Just let me know what you would like, and I will send it to you.

If you do not have a printer and would like to have the letter on hand, please email me at mab10666@yahoo.com , and I will send you a few copies of the letter by the United States Postal Service (USPS). I will just need the reader’s physical mailing address.

What I do, and what I highly recommend to the reader, is to put the letters into an envelope, titling the envelope “To my dearly beloved Israeli-Jewish friend…” and hand them out and/or send them to as many beloved Israeli-Jewish friends, acquaintances, and those we meet throughout our walk with the Lord in our daily activities.

As far as sharing the gospel, when I am giving tractsbooklets, and books from Mark Cahill Ministries out to people in my daily activities, I will also have these envelopes that contain this letter on hand as well, and I will try to ask each person I encounter, “Are you Jewish, by chance?” Of course, if they are not, they get a tract, a booklet, or a book. If they are Jewish, they get an envelope with the letter. In both cases, when we are carrying out The Great Commission, we should always try to strike up a conversation, if time permits.

I also will follow up with, “If you have any questions or would like to talk, my email address is on the tractbookletbook, or letter,” as I always have my contact information taped to each tractbookletbook, or letter I hand out so they can contact me, if they are so inclined.

Here is the letter I have put together to give out to our Israeli-Jewish friends, acquaintances, and those we meet throughout our walk with the Lord in our daily activities. I pray it is a fruitful letter for our Lord’s gospel. Happy witnessing!

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To My Dearly Beloved Israeli-Jewish Friend,

First, I would like to sincerely apologize for all those who have claimed to be “Christians” throughout history that have persecuted and killed the countless Israeli-Jewish people in the name of Jesus Christ. It is no wonder that Israeli-Jewish people carry a disdain for those who have tormented their ancestors and sadly continue to do the same today. Antisemitism is a scourge on humanity that I and so many countless others like me are repulsed by. These horrible people and institutions do not represent true Christians who love and adore the Israeli-Jewish people whom we call our brothers and sisters because our faith emanates from the Hebrew Scriptures (the Tanakh) and the Messiah of Israel.

I wanted you to know that, personally, I love you, Israel, and the Israeli-Jewish people that God has chosen to be His special people. Even more so, the Lord God of Israel loves you even more, as you are the apple of His eye and He has wonderful plans for you and your people and the Promised Land of Israel that He promised to Avraham, Yitzhak, and Yaakov and their descendants forever!

My sincerest desire is that you please consider the information provided for you in this letter, and please read until the end. If I did not think it was essential that I get this letter in your hands, I would not have taken the time to give it to you in true love and humility, with a deep caring desire for your soul.

In this letter, there will be some citations from the Brit Chadashah (New Testament) and many passages from the Tanakh, the Hebrew Scriptures. As I do not know you intimately and your current beliefs, or even if you have a belief system, you may or may not have heard some of what I am presenting to you in this letter – and some of it may even be shocking to you and/or opposed to what you have learned and heard – but please keep reading.

In the Hebrew Scriptures (the Tanakh), when Judah and Jerusalem were destroyed and God’s people were dispersed in the Babylonian conquest, God had a message for His exiles:

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

“Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. And I will be found of you, saith the Lord…” – Jeremiah 29:11-14

According to the Brit Chadashah, when one seeks to know God, one must first believe there is a God.

“But without faith it is impossible to please him [God]: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” – Hebrews 11:6

God, as omnipotent Creator, created all there is and eagerly desires men and women to know who He is. Therefore, I would like to talk to you about God and how the Hebrew Scriptures present Him.

In the book of Genesis – the first book of the Tanakh – God is revealed in very significant ways, beginning in the very first verse.

“In the beginning God [“Elohim”] created the heaven[s] and the earth.” – Genesis 1:1

The Hebrew word for “God” is אֱלֹהִים “‘ĕlōhîm.” “El” is the singular for God, yet “Elohim” is in plural form, and is the word most used for “God” in the Scriptures. Does this mean there is more than one Creator God? Absolutely not! For God, through Moshe, declared…

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord” – Deuteronomy 6:4

Interestingly, God is mentioned three times using two different words for the one true God of Israel and Creation in this one declaration of God: Lord, our GodLord, which in Hebrew is “Yᵊhvâ,” “‘ĕlōhênû,” “Yᵊhvâ.”

The Hebrew word for “Lord” is יְהוָה “Yᵊhvâ,” which is actually three Hebrew letters, Yod, Hey, Wod, Hey, – or, YHWH – thought to be pronounced as “Yᵊhvâ,” “Jehovah,” or “Yahweh.”

Truly, if God was a singular God – “El” – God would have inspired Moshe to write, “Hear, O Israel: Our God is one.” But He did not. Why? That is what we are trying to answer.

Further, we see God’s plurality in His creation of man.

“And God [“Elohim”] said, Let us make man in our imageafter our likeness…” – Genesis 1:26

Who was God – “Elohim” – speaking to? Surely it was not the angels, as they are created beings themselves and have no relation to humans. This is obviously a conversation that took place within God Himself, what can only be described as “the Godhead.” A conversation within “Elohim” Himself.

God, as is stressed in this verse, desired to create man “after our likeness.”

“So God [“Elohim”] created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him…” – Genesis 1:27

Therefore, the image of God – “Elohim” – is a plurality, and God made man in that same image, as man is physical (body), has a soul (who we are, our essence, “the ghost in the machine”), and has a spirit (that can commune with God, but that part of our image has been severely marred by the consequences of the fall of Adam and Eve and our inherent sin-natures ever since).

The one true God revealed in the Hebrew Scriptures is a God of plurality, yet His is also one God. In the Scriptures, both the Hebrew Scriptures of the Tanakh and the Brit Chadashah, God is revealed as three in one, but not three separate Gods. The plurality of the Godhead, as revealed in the holy Scriptures, is triune in nature.

So, how can this be? Within the Godhead exists three Persons – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. All three are spoken of in the Hebrew Scriptures (which we will look at momentarily) and enhanced in the Brit Chadashah.

God, in anticipation of man’s questions regarding His eternal triune essence, has created His universe with triune aspects that shout out His eternal triunity. In Mark A. Becker’s article, The Trinity: Examining the Triune God (www.faithwriters.com/article-details.php?id=213184), Mark cited Dave Hunt from The Berean Call (www.thebereancall.org/) with the following words concerning the triune nature of the one true God, as well as the triunity expressed within God’s creation:

The Triune God is a Family

Since God created the family unit as a pattern for humanity to prosper in this life, is it any wonder that the “First Family” of all would be found in the Godhead? It surely shouldn’t be. For it is because of the family structure within the triune God that He is able to know and experience love.

We should also expect to see some family qualities within the triune God – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit – with many aspects similar to a godly father, mother, and child in the human family unit.

My earthy mentor, Dave Hunt, in his wonderful book, In Defense of the Faith, did a magnificent job in relating how God’s “unity and diversity” is the foundation for agape love, as described in the Scriptures.

In the book, Dave says the following:

Although the actual word “Trinity” does not occur in the Bible, the concept is clearly expressed there. The Bible presents a God who did not need to create any beings to experience love, communion, and fellowship. This God is complete in Himself, existing eternally in three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, individually distinct from each other yet at the same time eternally one. These three loved, communed, fellowshipped, and took counsel together before the universe, angels, or man were brought into existence.

The Triune God and Creation

Many godly men have recognized the pervasiveness of allusions to our triune God within His created triune universe, and how these facts of science profoundly reveal the truth of its triune Creator.

I’d like to quote Dave once more from his free e-book (www.davehunt.org/collections/all-ebooks/products/in-defense-of-the-faith-volume-one), In Defense of the Faith, in regard to the essence of God’s triunity found within His creation:

We can, however, see analogies to the Trinity everywhere. The universe comprises three elements: space, time, and matter. The first two are invisible, but matter is visible. Each of these is itself divided into three: length, breadth, and height; past, present, and future; energy, motion, and phenomena. Length, breadth, and height are each separate and distinct from each other, yet they are one because each is the whole. The length takes in all of space, as do the width and height. So it is with time: past, present, and future are each distinct from one another, and yet each is the whole. And here again, two (past and future) are invisible while the present is visible.

Man himself, who is made “in the image of God” (Genesis 1:27; 9:6, etc.), is composed of three elements: body, soul, and spirit, of which again two (soul and spirit) are invisible and one, the body, is visible. The way man functions as a being also reflects the same analogy to the Trinity. We conceive something in our minds (invisible), perhaps a poem or a symphony; we express it in speech or writing or in music, and it enters the present, visible world; it is then appreciated in the emotions, once again invisible.

I am hopeful, my Israeli-Jewish friend, that you have heard that the Holy Spirit (the third member of the One true God) is spoken of in the Tanakh. Just a few examples include the following in the life of King David.

When David was anointed as King of Israel…

“Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. – 1 Samuel 16:13

When King David offered up his prayer to God regarding his immense guilt in the affair of Bathsheba and in having her husband, Uriah, murdered, David said the following:

“Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.” – Psalm 51:11

King David also revealed that it was the Holy Spirit that inspired Him to write his Psalms.

“Now these be the last words of David. David the son of Jesse said, and the man who was raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel, said, The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and his word was in my tongue.

“The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God.” – 2 Samuel 23:1-3

The Tankah also speaks of God the Father as having a Son, something rarely if ever read or talked about in Israeli-Jewish synagogues or orthodox circles, for obvious reasons. Here are some Hebrew Scriptures that confirm this truth:

“Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.” – Psalm 2:11-12

“Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? who hath gathered the wind in his fists? who hath bound the waters in a garment? who hath established all the ends of the earth? what is his nameand what is his Son’s name, if thou canst tell?” – Proverbs 30:4

“The Lord [the Father] said unto my Lord [the Son], Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.” – Psalm 110:1

Psalm 110:1 is another passage, as Genesis 1:26, that has a conversation within the one true God, between two members of the Godhead. Other passages that speak to conversations within the Godhead, in addition to Genesis 1 and Psalm 110, include the following.

When the post-flood people decided to rebel against God’s command to fill the earth, we read…

“And the Lord said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.” – Genesis 11:6-7

At the calling of the prophet Isaiah, we read…

“Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” – Isaiah 6:8

When it comes to all three members of the triune Godhead having counsel together, Psalm 2 is a wonderful example.

“Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord [the Father], and against his anointed [the Son, the Messiah], saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.

“He [the Father] that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. Yet have I [the Father] set my king [the Son] upon my holy hill of Zion.

“I will declare the decree: the Lord [the Father] hath said unto me [the eternal Son, the Messiah], Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee [when the eternal Son became a man, the Messiah, and also His resurrection when the eternal Son went back to heaven]. Ask of me [the Father], and I shall give thee [the Son] the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.

The Holy Spirit Calls to All to Follow the Son

“Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.” – Psalm 2:1-12

When one studies the Hebrew Scriptures, the Tanakh reveals Messiah in virtually every book. Some of these include the following regarding the Messiah’s work of salvation and redemption on behalf of mankind at His First Advent.

“Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high. As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men: So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider.” – Isaiah 52:13-15

“Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

“Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

“He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.

“Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.

“Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.” – Isaiah 53:1-12

Messiah, the eternal Son of God as perfect man, came to “make his soul an offering for sin” on the cross as “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities,” that whosoever would believe in Him would have everlasting life. As Messiah Yeshua said of Himself…

“… as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man [Messiah Yeshua] be lifted up [on the cross to offer Himself as a perfect substitutionary sacrifice for the sins of mankind to the Father]: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

“For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” – John 3:14-18

Mankind’s Savior and Redeemer must be God, and He must also be man; the perfect God/man, Messiah Yeshua, as spoken by the prophets of God in the Hebrew Scriptures.

Tanakh Prophecies of Messiah Fulfilled in the Brit Chadashah

These are some of the prophetic passages found in the Tanakh that have their fulfillments in the Brit Chadashah concerning the Messiah of Israel. Notice how these passages all align and speak to the same aspects and mission of the Messiah and how they were fulfilled at His First Advent.

The Messiah Would Be Born of a Virgin and Would Be ‘God with Us’

“And I will put enmity between thee [Satan] and the woman [Eve and her descendants], and between thy seed [unbelievers] and her seed [Messiah]; it [literally “He,” the Messiah] shall bruise thy [Satan’s] head, and thou shalt bruise his heel [the Messiah on the cross].” – Genesis 3:15

“Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel [“God with us”].” – Isaiah 7:14

Fulfilled:

“And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.

“And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.” – Luke 1:26-33

The Messiah – The Son of God – Would Be Born unto Us and Is Eternal God in the Flesh

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called WonderfulCounsellorThe mighty GodThe everlasting FatherThe Prince of Peace [notice that God the Son, because He is a part of the triune Godhead, the one true God, is expressed as “The mighty God, The everlasting Father” as all three – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit – are all one].

“Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.” – Isaiah 9:6-7

Fulfilled:

“And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

“And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ [Messiah] the Lord.

“And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” – Luke 2:8-14

“And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.” – 1 Timothy 3:16

Messiah Would Be Born in Bethlehem, the City of David

“But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of oldfrom everlasting [the eternal Son of God, the Messiah].” – Micah 5:2

Fulfilled:

“And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.” – Luke 2:4-7

Messiah Would Be Crucified

“I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels. My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.” – Psalm 22:14-15

“And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced [the Messiah, the Son of God, was nailed to a cross], and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.” – Zechariah 12:10

Fulfilled:

“And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King! But they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar. Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him away.

“And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha: Where they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst. And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was Jesus Of Nazareth The King Of The Jews.” – John 19:14-19

“After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst. Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a spunge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth. When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.” – John 19:28-30

Messiah Would Pay for the Sins of Mankind

“Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” – Isaiah 53:4-5

“Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities [Messiah, the Son of God, bore the iniquities of man upon Himself on the cross].” – Isaiah 53:10-11

Fulfilled:

“And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.

“For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” – 2 Corinthians 5:18-21

“Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree” – Galatians 3:13

“For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.

“For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.” – 1 Peter 2:21-25

Messiah Would Rise from the Dead

“For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.” – Psalm 16:10

Fulfilled:

“In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow: And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men.

“And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you.” – Matthew 28:1-7

“The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen: To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.” – Acts 1:1-3

Daniel’s 70 7’s Prophecy of the Messiah’s First Advent

“Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.

“Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.

“And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself.” – Daniel 9:24-26a

This prophecy was fulfilled as recorded for us in history, but the promise to “bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy” for Israel awaits further fulfillment at Messiah’s Second Advent.

As we have seen, my dearly beloved Israeli-Jewish friend, the Tanakh reveals the Messiah as the eternally existing Son of God that took on human flesh as a perfect man to save the world from their sins (those who, of course, would believe in Him and what He did for them on the cross, His death, burial, and resurrection) and reconcile and redeem them back to God, just as the Scriptures proclaimed. God is the only Savior, and only a perfect man who never sinned could pay the price for sinful mankind.

Therefore, as mankind’s Savior, God had to become a man. Only God in the fashion of perfect man could save men and women from their sins on their behalf – but they must believe to receive the Lord’s loving free-gift offer of salvation. A gift is of no worth unless it is freely received. That God-man was the Son of God, Messiah Yeshua, Jesus Christ.

The Brit Chadashah enhances the Tanakh’s promises concerning the Messiah: His First Advent when He freely and lovingly offered Himself as a sacrifice for the sins of humanity to the Father, and His Second Advent when He will come again to destroy His enemies, save the Israeli people and those Gentiles who come to faith from their collective enemies, and fulfill the numerous prophetic promises to Israel that abound in the Tanakh in His subsequent Messianic Millennial Kingdom.

Messiah Yeshua, the night before His crucifixion, prayed, in part, the following…

“These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

“I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. And now, O Fatherglorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.” – John 17:1-5

A few hours later, Messiah Yeshua would finish the work of saving and redeeming men and women on the cross as a substitutionary payment for their sins by shedding His perfect blood and dying, only to be resurrected three days later, showing the world that the Father accepted His sacrificial offering for the salvation of men and women who would come to Him by His grace through faith. And those that do will also be resurrected to eternal life in their proper order.

“But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept [died].

“For since by man [Adam] came death, by man [Messiah Yeshua] came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.

“Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.

“The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.” – 1 Corinthians 15:20-26

My dearly beloved Israeli-Jewish friend, there are many other prophecies that speak of Messiah Yeshua and, truly, every book of the Hebrew Scriptures points to the Messiah in so many varied ways that it is beyond amazing. The Brit Chadashah completes the holy Scriptures in revealing the life, ministry, and sacrificial love of the Jewish Messiah at His First Advent, and what a true follower of the Son of God entails with the promises for those who truly come to faith. However, one must have eyes to see and a heart to believe in Messiah Yeshua, as, praise the Lord, many precious Israeli-Jewish men and women have done in recent times.

I highly encourage and beseech you to visit ‘One For Israel’ and watch videos of Israeli-Jewish believers giving their testimonies of how they came to faith in Messiah Yeshua – often at great expense to their own lives. Their stories are remarkable, inspirational, and awe-inspiring, demonstrating to other precious Israeli-Jewish people what the God of Israel, through His Son, Messiah Yeshua, can do for those who eagerly seek to know Him. You can visit “One For Israel” at the following links below.

Bless Israel With Yeshua – ONE FOR ISRAEL Ministry (www.oneforisrael.org)

I Met Messiah – Jewish Testimonies

I MET MESSIAH (Jewish Testimonies) – ONE FOR ISRAEL Ministry (www.oneforisrael.org/met-messiah-jewish-testimonies/)

Israeli Testimonies

Israeli Testimonies – ONE FOR ISRAEL Ministry (www.oneforisrael.org/israeli-testimonies/)

Dearly beloved friend, thank you from the bottom of my heart for taking the time to read this letter. My fervent prayer for you is that you fully understand what has been presented to you in this letter and that you would obviously come to saving faith in Messiah Yeshua, for He is the Jewish Messiah promised to the world through the Hebrew Scriptures. Truly, the salvation Messiah Yeshua offers to all of mankind is only based on our belief in who He is, what He has done on the cross for our sins, and that He died, was buried, and rose back to life in a glorified eternal body three days later.

“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesusand shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the deadthou shalt be savedFor with the heart man believeth unto righteousnessand with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” – Romans 10:9-13

There is absolutely nothing any of us can do for our own salvation, reconciliation, and redemption to God but to believe, as Messiah Yeshua, the beloved Son of God, has done it all. Only God as a man, in the Person of the eternal Son of God, the Messiah, could ever save mankind – if only we are but willing by the “many infallible proofs” (Acts 1:3) to believe and put our trust in Him and Him alone.

Again, He has done it all – there is nothing we can add to our salvation other than our sincere faith in Him and what He has done for us. When a person believes, they will be indwelt with the Holy Spirit – the third Person of the triune God – that will indwell them for life, sealing them for eternity.

I pray, my dearly beloved Israeli-Jewish friend, that you become one of those who are saved by our loving Lord and Savior and receive His indwelling Holy Spirit. Messiah Yeshua changes lives, and I pray that you are one of them whose eternal destiny is sealed with the Holy Spirit as you come to salvation through the Messiah of Israel and world, Messiah Yeshua.

“Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

In whom ye also trustedafter that ye heard the word of truththe gospel of your salvationin whom also after that ye believedye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promiseWhich is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.” – Ephesians 1:9-14

If you have any questions, my dear Israeli-Jewish friend, or want to talk about Messiah Yeshua, or just want to talk, please contact Mark A. Becker at mab10666@yahoo.com as he would love to speak with you!

——————————————————————————————-

At the end of the letter to our beloved Israeli-Jewish friends, you can write your own contact information, if you are so inclined, and/or add a final personal touch with your own thoughts and/or prayers for them. And please do not forget to continually pray for them and their salvation and see what the Lord may do!

If your Israeli-Jewish friend responds to you, and they have questions regarding creation and the age of the heavens and Earth, please point them to the following resources below and any others that are true to the Biblical narrative that you may be familiar with. Here are three excellent creation science ministries, of the many that are available, that they can use to examine creation science through a thoroughly Biblical lens beginning with Genesis:

The Institute for Creation Research | The Institute for Creation Research (www.icr.org)

Answers in Genesis (www.answersingenesis.org)

Home – creation.com (www.creation.com/en-US)

Remind your friend that these are PhD scientists, trained in secular universities – most of whom began their studies as atheists/Darwinian evolutionists – who have investigated the evidences for themselves and found Darwinian evolution extremely lacking, to say the least. The evidence clearly points to a recent creation by an omnipotent God, just as the Tanakh says through its chronology beginning in Genesis. God was the only one there when He created, and He cannot lie!

“God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent…” – Numbers 23:19

For great material to give out to all people, please visit Mark Cahill Ministries for his wonderful tractsbooklets, and books.

Keep planting and watering seeds, my precious and beloved brothers and sisters in Messiah Yeshua, and allow the Spirit of God to provide the increase.

“So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.” – 1 Corinthians 3:7-8

I would like to invite my brothers and sisters to my brother and friend, Bronson Goss’ The Prophetic Times Podcast, at Prophetic Times | Bronson Goss. I pray you will be as blessed as I have been!

May we all keep Answering the Call of The Great Commission, and giving an answer to every man and woman who so desperately needs Jesus and asks us, “Why Am I Here and What Is It All About?

Love, grace, mercy, and shalom in Messiah Yeshua, and Maranatha!

***

➢    Email: mab10666@yahoo.com – I would love to hear from you!

➢    If you have not given your life to Jesus Christ and are seeking answers about God, Jesus Christ, the gospel, and salvation, please email me at mab10666@yahoo.com for information.

➢    I am still taking questions for the Questions from the Body of Christ series. If you or someone you know has a question pertaining to the Word of God – theology, difficult passages, eschatology, etc. – I would really like to hear from you.

➢    To view my entire catalogue of articles, please visit Mark A. Becker’s Topical Article Catalog or my Home Page on FaithWriters.com.

➢    To be added to our Prophetic Update, please email to mab10666@yahoo.com and ask to be added to our mailing list.

 

 

Last-Day Oppressors Pt 1: …Elites, Indebted World Order :: By Wilfred Hahn

Honored Elites and an Indebted World Order

The results continue to roll in … and they are shocking. Though some may think that the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) and the Covid pandemic already belong to the history books, in reality, these types of financial fallout are epochal for the world … their development a chapter in the processes leading to the “end of days.” Readers might think this a sensationalist statement. However, by the end of this article, you may want to reconsider.

Global financial crises, such as mentioned, have an enormous impact. At some point, there will be another great financial crisis. Its harbingers are already well in view. But let’s consider the scope of the impact of the last global financial crisis. According to a study by two well-known international economists, Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff, the impact of the GFC upon global debt levels was catastrophic. In their research report,[i] they document that government debt levels around the world rose 75% over two years for the top 5 crisis countries during that time (the US, UK, Ireland, Iceland and Spain).

Stop to consider this statistic for a moment. Astoundingly, in a short timespan of only two years, government debt levels for these Western nations rose by more than two-thirds. These statistics were not those of a “banana republic” nation; rather, they applied to some leading nations.

While anyone following global financial affairs before that time will not have been surprised by this development, it nonetheless was alarming. Many secular observers would agree. However, we here wish to focus upon the prophetic timeline and an entirely different set of questions. Just how do these financial crises correlate with the Bible? Does government debt have an endtime role? … as well as other questions.

Taken together with several other trends and a literal Scriptural perspective, in our view, it leads to an irrefutable diagnosis. These developments do align with endtime Bible prophecy. Though, of course, we cannot draw any near-term, specific predictions, we would be negligent not to conclude that the world is indeed on the fast track to great troubles “such as never was” (Daniel 12:1).

Recent Reprobations of Greedy Bankers

The news media is full of reports of various committees and hearings in high places, examining the causes of financial crisis. Of course, after the fact, everyone has perfect hindsight. Wall Street bankers and monetary officials are summoned before special tribunals, which are investigating the cause of the massive losses and financial instabilities wreaked upon America and the world. Why did it happen? Who can be blamed?

One Wall Street banker, Lloyd Blankfein, former CEO of Goldman Sachs, appeared before the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission and claimed that the GFC was “an act of God.” Only weeks earlier, when being interviewed in London, he commented that he was only a banker “doing God’s work.” Other senior financial executives also expressed favorable opinions on the morality of their work and their “bulge bracket” companies and incomes.

They accept no extraordinary blame for financial misadventure. It is a characteristic trait of some parts of this industry already long documented. The respected John Kenneth Galbraith, in his book The Great Crash: 1929, writes of this industry’s leaders: “They remained very quiet. The sense of responsibility in the financial community for the community as a whole is not small. It is nearly nil. To speak out against madness may be to ruin those who have succumbed to it. So, the wise on Wall Street are nearly always silent. The foolish have the field to themselves, and none rebukes them.”[ii]

Observing the intransigent attitudes on Wall Street, it is actually much worse than Galbraith suggests. Said Daniel Fass at that time (organizer for an Obama fundraising dinner from Wall Street at the Mandarin Hotel): “The investment community feels very put-upon. They feel there is no reason why they shouldn’t earn $1 million to $200 million a year, and they don’t want to be held responsible for the global financial meltdown.”

And so, only a year after many of these financial firms were saved from certain collapse through government-funded bailouts—actually, by future generations of our children—they are again paying themselves multi-billions in bonuses. To recall, these bailouts were one of the contributing causes to soaring government debt levels.

How does such graft and corruption continue unprotested? Past instabilities and mismanagement aside, bankers well understand that they remain in the driver’s seat. How so? This industry sits squarely upon the edifice of “money.” Bankers (meaning any and all who work in financial institutions and are plugged into global financial markets) know well that they will not soon be thrown out of mankind’s secular temple of this present Age of Capital.

We live in an era of a global convergence in values. The world has agreed to endorse humanist materialism. Fractional reserve banking, wealth in the form of debt, and the notion that human progress is defined by growth in gross domestic product (GDP) make up the unholy trinity of toppling idols that must be propped up and nailed down at all costs. “They adorn it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so it will not totter” (Jeremiah 10:4).

The key argument bankers used to bludgeon governments into bailing them out was the cry that “economies cannot recover if you do not first allow us to recover.” We see that the world has been held hostage by the financial industry. How did this late state of affairs happen? In recent decades, the financial industry became inordinately large—not just in America but worldwide. The affairs of money grew to the point that this industry sector accounted for more than a third of all corporate profits.

How is it that an industry that contributes so little productivity should become so profitable and employ so many people? We have documented these epochal developments in previous articles.

Franklin D. Roosevelt was to have said, “The moneychangers have fled from their high seats in the temple of our civilization. We may now restore that temple to the ancient truths.” He made this rather optimistic statement during his First Inaugural Address in 1933. At that time, America was in the depths of the Great Depression. Wall Street had been chastened, and thousands of banks were closing their doors. Unfortunately, Roosevelt was wrong. He probably did not imagine that the business of money would become many, many times larger relative to human life than during his day. It surely did, and it likely will remain so.

The “love of money” reigns rampant today in its advanced state, there being few and fewer restrainers in the world against this force. Corruption runs deep in high places, the world having committed to a materialist “heaven on earth” (denying God). And, much of religion has found a comfortable coexistence with this state of affairs. That this is the road to an eventual holocaust for mankind is supported by Christ’s statement, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). This statement in itself essentially condemns the modern world’s slavish fixation with every nuance and statistic of the fabricated notion of GDP.

Wrangling Economists

Debates continue to rage in the academic world of economics as to the causes of the GFC, and just what should be done in the future to avoid similar disasters. While we certainly respect the contributions of some of these intellectuals, frankly, the debates border on the comical in some respects. To begin, it is crucial to understand that economics is not a science. It belongs to the arts. It is a philosophy … really, a religion. Seen overall, this economics fraternity proved themselves to be false prophets in the king’s court. In direct contrast to their continuing prophecies of “prosperity as far as the eye could see,” they were proven wrong. Yet, despite their culpability, they remain in their advisory posts at the king’s table.

In spirit, it is today the same as it was in the time of Ahab, the wicked king of Israel. He was the infamous founder of the 120-year legacy of the “practices of Ahab’s house” (Micah 6:16), for which God destroyed Israel. To a man, all of his establishment prophets (some four hundred) prophesied victory, as he was pondering whether to go to war against Ramoth Gilead. Only one prophet who received his inspiration from God, Micaiah, told the grim truth. For this bravery, he was rewarded with a slap in the face (1 Kings 22:24). Ahab then ordered to “Put this fellow in prison and give him nothing but bread and water…” (verse 27).

As then, in many vocations today, there is a significant price to be paid for speaking the truth. This can also certainly be true in any public role in economics and finance. For one, any admission of a faith in Jesus Christ virtually guarantees career suicide. Secondly, it hurts the pocketbook.

The famous quip by Upton Sinclair is apropos here: “It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.” The point he makes is that anyone—whether a tenured academic … perhaps a scientist contesting the “global warming” theory, etc.—is censured also economically. They may lose their jobs or have the funding pulled on their research projects, etc., if they do not align with the humanist and globalist agenda. As such, “understanding” can be heavily influenced by money.

Despite the fact that the “economics priesthood” has been entirely defrocked as frauds, they are still consulted for solutions to get the world out of the current mess, or to identify new profit opportunities. Of literally hundreds of opinions written by so-called economists on the causes and remedies to the current economic troubles that this writer has read, not one can be recalled that in any way alluded to the unbridled basic nature of man as being the problem. This is the “human condition” of a fallen world.

While the God-appointed facility of civil government during this dispensation is surely charged to pursue beneficial and wise policies (Genesis 9:6), temporal solutions must not ignore what is right in the eyes of God in favor of what is right in their own eyes (Isaiah 5:21).

The Bible says it is the heart of man that is at issue. “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9).

Mankind is innately sinful. How then can future financial crises be entirely avoided? Not until the vices of greed and the love of money are eradicated or better controlled. Until then, “They plot injustice and say, ‘We have devised a perfect plan!’ Surely the mind and heart of man are cunning” (Psalm 64:6).

How Three Endtime Conditions Interconnect

We now return to the topic of government debt. Just how does it figure into endtime developments? Shouldn’t it be strange that government indebtedness plays a role? Isn’t it indebted and trapped individuals who come under the “economic” influence of the False Prophet and the Antichrist? If it is true, as the Proverbs writer says, that “The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender” (22:7, KJV), just how can indebted governments collaborate to rule the world?

Actually, with respect to the “money” aspects of last-day events, conditions are rather more complex, according to the Bible. At least three major impulses can be identified from Bible prophecy, including that of an indebted world rulership. To explain how these conditions interweave, we will describe each of the three roles.

  1. A protracted wealth skew. What is meant by a wealth skew? It is the extreme between the wealthy and the poor—the outcome of the wealthy becoming richer and fewer, the relatively poor more so. Wealth has become concentrated in the hands of the few. But is such a condition prophesied? Yes, James specifically prophesies that an amassing of riches plays a role in the end times. He says, “Now listen, you rich people […] You have hoarded wealth in the last days” (James 5:1, 3). The King James, in this writer’s opinion, translates this condition of amassing wealth more accurately, stating, “Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days” (verse 3).

Here, we understand that not only may wealth have increased overall, but also it is “heaped” or “amassed,” as implied by the Greek word thesaurizo. This is an important distinction, as it gives evidence of a wealth skew. Wealth cannot be heaped and concentrated without there being a deprivation of someone else’s wealth.

However, is it reasonable to deduce this endtime condition of an extreme wealth skew from only one single verse? Not only would it be plausible to argue that this verse is clear, but also many other Bible references foreshadow conditions that are in alignment with this condition. From the Old Testament (OT) to the New Testament (NT) prophets, times of extreme commercialism and financial oppression in the last days are outlined. Isaiah and Zechariah point to extreme commercialism, among other OT prophets.

In the New Testament, the Apostle Peter warns of “difficult times” that are evidenced by “lovers of money” (2 Timothy 3:1-2). John prophesies in Revelation to the Laodicean church, saying, “I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing” (Revelation 3:17). This seventh and last church that is admonished is commonly believed to represent the last-day church.

May we increase in knowing and understanding during these very last days.

(In Part 2, we review the other two major players, and conclude with the prophetic implications for the world.)

***

Wilfred J. Hahn is a global economist/strategist. Formerly a top-ranked global analyst, research director for a major Wall Street investment bank, and head of Canada’s largest global investment operation, his writings focus on the endtime roles of money, economics and globalization. He has been quoted around the world and his writings reproduced in numerous other publications and languages. His 2002 book The Endtime Money Snare: How to live free accurately anticipated and prepared its readers for the Global Financial Crisis. A following book, Global Financial Apocalypse Prophesied: Preserving true riches in an age of deception and trouble, looks further into the prophetic future.

Do you have questions or other perspectives? You can contact Wilfred at: staff@eternalvalue.com.

[i] Carmen Reinhart (University of Maryland), Kenneth Rogoff (Harvard University and NBR), “Growth in the Time of Debt,” December 31, 2009.

[ii] John Kenneth Galbraith, The Great Crash: 1929, 1954, Houghton Mifflin Company, New York.