Yeshua Son of David

Rediscovering Christianity’s FoundationAuthors: Jonathan Bernis

Dr. John D. GarrSandra Teplinsky

Shalom!F r o m t h e e x e c u t i v e D i r e c to r

Dear JVMI Partners and Friends,

I have so much to share that I don’t even know where to begin. This has been an intense season of outreach and travel. I have just returned from four amazing ministry trips—two to India, followed by Ethiopia for almost three weeks and immediately following, a week in Hong Kong. I will start with Ethiopia because it is fresh on my mind and heart.

The remaining Jewish Communities in Ethiopia have become a major focus for Jewish Voice, and for me personally. Since my first trip to Ethiopia, these dear, impoverished Jews captured my heart. What started ten years ago as a small, week long medical clinic in Gondar, has now blossomed into an annual medical outreach that ministers to thousands and a permanent clinic in the Kechene Community of Addis Ababa. This year, nearly 100 doctors, dentists, ophthalmologists, optometrists, opticians, prayer warriors and evangelists from the U.S., Canada and Europe joined over 120 Ethiopian workers to form the largest medical outreach ever conducted in Ethiopia.

Over a two-week period (one week in Addis Ababa and one week in Gondar), our team treated 12,000 people with medical care, medicines, eyeglasses, dental care and even eye surgeries. After experiencing the love of God in very practical terms, our prayer counselors ministered hope in Yeshua to each precious soul that came through the clinics. As a result, over 1000 salvations were recorded, all receiving either a Bible or Megavoice Audio Bible if illiterate or blind. Many supernatural healings and deliverances also took place. It was one of the most effective and rewarding experiences I have ever had the privilege to be part of. Both Jewish Communities, the Beta Israel and the Beta Avraham, were deeply touched and showed great appreciation.

A highlight for me was the opportunity to share Yeshua with over 200 Jews at their Shabbat service. This invitation came after one of their elders had a dream the night before where he saw Yeshua reaching out to him, surrounded by light. “I am your Messiah and these people were sent by me…read the New Testament,” he was told. The next morning he came to into the clinic prayer room and prayed to receive the Lord. He then told the head of our prayer ministry “Please tell Jonathan we want him to come to our service and share about Messianic prophecy.” Needless to say, I jumped at the opportunity! We will have a full report with some amazing pictures for you next month.

Although exhausted from almost three weeks of ministry, I left again after only three days back home to fulfill a commitment I made a year ago to conduct a Passover Seder and teach for a week in Hong Kong. At first, to be honest, I really wanted to get out of it. But the grace of God re-energized me and I am so glad I went! The Lord is doing a unique thing in China and in Hong Kong. This nation is quickly becoming the largest Church body in the world. Thousands each day are coming to know the Lord and many are catching a vision for Israel. In what has come to be called the “Back To Jerusalem” movement, Chinese Christians are rediscovering their historic ties to Israel.

At one time, a significant trade relationship existed between the two nations. Merchants traveled along a trade route known as the “Silk Route.” This relationship eventually led to the establishment of a fairly sizable Jewish Community in China in a city called Kai Fung. Today, only a handful of these Chinese Jews remain, but a new interest in Israel has emerged. This was evidenced clearly by almost 1,200 coming out to the Passover Seder. It was truly an amazing experience to lead this huge Messianic Seder in the center of Hong Kong, chopsticks and all!

I want to let you know that after two exploratory trips to Manipur and Mizoram, India, it has become clear that we are to start in Mizoram. A famine has left over 70% of the population without

sufficient food. We will be bringing a medical and humanitarian outreach team there in October. Please consider joining us…we need workers.

Finally, I want to invite you to join me and my family as we celebrate Israel’s historic 60th birthday as a reborn Nation. We will be hosting a teaching/prayer tour in November with

an optional extension to the amazing refuge of Petra. Don’t miss this opportunity of a lifetime. You can call, write or log onto our website for more details or to get a full-

color brochure.

Your co-worker for the salvation of Israel,

Jonathan Bernis, President

Where in the World is

Jonathan Bernis?

Please remember to pray for Jonathan

as he travels around the world.

May 1 – 3Kiryat Yearim, IsraelNotre Dame Retreat

May 6 – 11Los Angeles, CaliforniaKing’s Seminary Course

May 15 – 18 Miami, Florida

MJBI Donor Event

May 19 – 23Van Nuys, California

Hayford Leadership Seminar

May 26 –31 Lancaster, Pennsylvania

JVMI/Tikkun Retreat

June 9 – 13 Euless, Texas

MJBI Board Meeting

2 | Jewish Voice Today maY/JuNe 2008 www.JewishVoiceToday.org

2 S h a lo m ! From Jonathan Bernis

4 a B o u t t h i S i S S u eBy Sarah Weiner

5 u p F r o N tthe messianic movementBy Jonathan Bernis

7 B r oa D c a S t co v e r aG e

8 G u e S t au t h o rWho Do You Say i am?By Deborah Galiley

10 S p e c i a l i N t e r e S trecovering the irrevocable callingBy Sarah Weiner

12 G u e S t au t h o rthe Jewish messiahchristianity’s only FoundationBy John D. Garr, Ph.D., Th.D.

15 N e W S F r o m i S r a e lJvt intelligence report

16 h e B r e W l e S S o Nrediscovering the Name of the lordBy Kevin Geoffrey

17 p r o p h e c Y a N D t r u t h B e h i N D t h e h e a D l i N e SDid Jesus live in occupied territory?By Jan Markell

18 G u e S t au t h o risrael’s Sabbath restBy Sandra Teplinsky

21 B i l l’S S t e Wa r D S h i p co r N e rBy Bill Mustard

22 h e a D q ua r t e r S r e p o r tSpecial report | phoenix mystery of israel & the church conference By Jennifer Carrell

23 r e S o u r c e S

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Jewish Voice Todaywww.JewishVoiceToday.org

volume 42 | Number 3 may/June 2008

Nisan/iyar/Sivan 5768

puBliSherJonathan Bernis

SeNior maNaGiNG eDitor

Sarah Weiner

proJect coorDiNator/ DeSiGNer

lavinia matesan

DeSiGNerJennifer carrell

uSaP.O. Box 81439

Phoenix, AZ 85069-1439 USA 602-97l-850l

www.jewishvoice.org

caNaDa P.O. Box 8l750

Toronto, ON M2R 3X1 Canada 0ll-602-97l-850l

uK P.O. Box 628

Borehamwood, UK WD6 9AT 00-l-602-97l-850l

aDDreSS chaNGeS & other correSpoNDeNce:

P.O. Box 31998 Phoenix, AZ 85046-1998

JeWiSh voice miNiStrieS iNterNatioNal

BoarD oF DirectorSRabbi Jonathan Bernis

Dr. Larry BatesElliot Klayman, Esq.

Mrs. Madelaine LindvallMr. James Mueller

Mr. Roger WestDr. Michael Maiden

Dorothy (Dotti) Naomi Solomon

Jewish Voice Ministries Canada

Jewish Voice Ministries United Kingdom

Proclaiming Messiah to the World Contents

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MAY/JUNE 2008 Jewish Voice Today | 3www.JewishVoiceToday.org

Our Jewish Messiah?The Jewish identity of

our Redeemer is often all but unperceivable. Certainly to His own brethren, the Jewish People, He, and particularly “His religion” are per-ceived as antithetical to Judaism. Yesh-ua (Jesus) and Christianity are seen by Jewish People as exclusively for the Gentiles.

If you know your Bible, you may rankle at this and say this is unfound-

ed — the New Testament is clear that Jesus was born a Jew, was circum-cised on the eighth day, went to the Temple for the Feasts, and even seemed reluctant to open Himself to non-Jews.

Yet yours would be a very rare understanding. Indeed, Church his-tory is replete with great names of prominent theologians and writers who unequivocally divorce Yeshua from His roots. The Redeemer of Israel has spent the past two-thousand years revealed and revered as everything but — disguised in His richly-adorned Byzantine robes, with fair, European complexion, hair flowing over the shoulders most uncharacteristically, eating fluffy, leavened bread from the Passover table...

Through the centuries perhaps the grossest distortion of Yeshua’s identity has been His characterization as one who is anti-Torah, having overthrown the authority of the God of Abraham, and founding a new religion triumphant over the Jews and “their” laws. Within this frame, an obfuscated picture of Yeshua has also emerged of an anti-Semite leading his vast followers to reject, revile and even annihilate the Jewish People in the Name of Jesus Christ for the glory of God.

Again, if you know the Scriptures and you know Yeshua, you also know that nothing could be further from New Testament teaching. Still, until this generation, these false images have served to effectively and tragically camouflage Israel’s Messiah from the Jewish People.

Not without precedent, the story of Joseph is an apt archetype. To all the world Joseph appeared to be an Egyptian — his own brothers didn’t even recognize him, yet he was to be their provision, their savior. Initially, his brothers were not too happy to find out his identity either!

As God’s prophetic time clock advanced profoundly in 1967 with the reunification of Jerusalem, Jesus began to shed His Egyptian/Gen-tile costume. Truly quite suddenly with what was called the “Jesus Movement,” Jewish People began coming to faith in Jesus as the Jewish Messiah in numbers not seen from the days of the Book of Acts!

Jewish People had come to faith over the centuries in trickles. Those had been assimilated into the Church, but not this generation. Many, if not most, felt very clearly impressed by the Divine that their Jewish identity was not to be purged — that its witness was an impor-tant part of God’s redemptive plan. As this generation of Jewish Believ-ers embraced the Scriptures anew — without preconditioning or preju-dice against the “Hebrew” Scriptures — the historical, first century Yeshua, Messiah of Israel began to emerge.

Over the past 40 years, the restorative Hebrew Roots movement has returned riches long lost to Christianity while returning to Israel a Messiah she can recognize and be jealous for.

Sarah, Editor

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4 | Jewish Voice Today MAY/ JUNE 2008

A YeAr Through The

TorAhA week-by-week journey

for ChristiansCenturies before Jesus walked the earth, Ezra the Scribe and the 120 Elders of the Great Assembly divided the first five books of the Bible—the Torah—into 54 portions so that in the course of a year, the entire scroll would be recited during services. This practice is still observed in synagogues today with added readings from the Old Testament.

Jesus said that these Scriptures plainly testify of Him. (John 5:39) Now you can better understand how the Jewish Scriptures bear witness that Jesus is the promised Messiah of Israel.

This life-transforming study provides you with a complete guide to the weekly Torah readings, with a wealth of insights and resources, including selections of the Torah text (with English transliterations). Careful attention is given to reveal Jesus as Messiah through the Hebrew Scriptures and the carefully chosen New Testament texts paired with the weekly readings.

Large format, fully illustrated, 316 page, soft cover book with

accompanying audio CD

316 Page Book plus CD #9028Magazine offer for your gift of $50.00

1-888-921-4582www.jewishvoicetoday.org

New!

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u p F r o N t

What incredible days we are living in! Even some 40 years ago, when God was gathering arm loads of Jewish People

into His Kingdom through the Jesus Movement of the late 1960s, few could imagine they would see a day when there would be Messianic Congrega-tions throughout the world, and Christian colleg-es offering full degrees in Messianic Studies!

Many of the young Messianic Jewish men and women from the late ‘60s and early ‘70s have risen to lead what is clearly the most proliferating sea-son for Messianic Judaism since the First Century. Not only do Messianic Congregations exist in nearly every city in the United States, but every day, more are springing up in key cities around the globe.

Not since the Book of Acts have we witnessed such growth—and in numbers none of us could have imagined.

What is Messianic Judaism? Why has God restored this First Century expression? Why now?

Simply stated, Messianic Judaism is a world-wide movement of Jews who have found Yeshua (Jesus) as their Messiah. Today, most understand Judaism and Christianity to be two distinct and very different religions. But according to the New Testament, Jesus and all of His first followers were Jewish. They did not convert to another religion, but discovered the one whom the Prophets of the Old Testament promised would come to bring them redemption. In fact, there are over 300 prophecies in the Old Testament that reveal the identity, purpose and mission of this promised Messiah. Nearly all are clearly fulfilled in the per-son of Yeshua of Nazareth.

To me, Messianic Judaism isn't simply an alternative among a number of forms of Judaism. Messianic Judaism is true, biblical Judaism! When we share our faith in the Messiah, we are not say-ing, "Here, try this." We are saying, “You know the promised Messiah of the Scriptures? Good News— He has come and His Name is Yeshua!"

There are more Jews who have accepted Jesus as the Messiah of Israel and Savior for the world than anytime since the time of Jesus Himself. In fact, more Jews have experienced this dramatic realization in the last 41 years than in the previ-ous 19 centuries added together. This is a momen-tous move of God!

God is surely restoring the Believers of the House of Israel to be a royal priesthood to declare His Good News throughout the earth. We must not be lax. Harvest time is at hand and God has commissioned us in the Messianic Movement to work the works of Him who called us while it is day, for soon the night will come when no man

With the watershed event of the reunification of Jerusalem in 1967 came an outpouring of the Holy Spirit in a unique and unexpected way. It has been said that the Church is never ready for revival, but this revival really pushed the limits.

Not only did this unconventional wave of the Spirit bring hordes of unkempt, long-haired, unshaven hippies into the Church... if they weren’t peculiar enough, the Father began to bring JEWS! Not one or two, but many!

The Jesus Movement, as it came to be known, would be the first and only revival (since the First Century Church) to see Jewish People - in great numbers - coming to faith in Jesus! Initially it was a cause for celebration, but soon, friction would arise as these new Jewish Believers bristled at the concept of rejecting the Jewishness of their Messiah...

By Jonathan Bernis

The Messianic Movement

Prophetic & Timely

MAY/JUNE 2008 Jewish Voice Today | 5www.JewishVoiceToday.org

can work! (John 9:4)

Messianic Judaism is a Prophetic Sign

Israel’s existence is a prophetic state-ment to the world!

In 1948, Israel was restored as a Nation with a homeland after nearly 2,000 years. Since that day, it has been at the center of world attention, and world controversy. The extent to which the eyes of the world and the politics of nations being rivited upon this relatively miniscule state with no natural resources goes far beyond natural reasoning. Israel is merely a sliver of land in the massive Middle East, and barely a dot on the world map. Why then all the

attention?Once again, in 1967, when Jerusalem

was restored to the Jewish People, God was fulfilling promises made to Israel thou-sands of years ago— restoration of His Peo-ple and their Land— at an appointed time.

The physical presence of a Land named "Israel" is a bold declaration made by God which cannot be ignored. It is an ensign proving for all to see that the biblical prom-ises are being fulfilled! God is real... the Bible is true!

In the same way, the Messianic Move-ment is a sign, visible through Messianic Congregations, that God is restoring His People to Himself, and a visible testament to our covenant-keeping God.

Years ago, a woman was walking in New York City when she was handed a tract. She wasn't a Believer, but had been raised in church. When she glanced at the tract and read "Jews for Jesus," she hopped right there on the street and exclaimed, "Jesus, you're coming soon!" She became a Believer as a result of the witness that prophecy is being fulfilled— the eyes of Jewish People are being opened!

Messianic Judaism is a Revival Movement

"This is what the Lord Almighty says: 'In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, and the sea and the dry land. And I will shake all nations, and the desired of all nations will come. And I will fill this house with glory,' says the Lord God Almighty... 'The-glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,' says the Lord Almighty." Haggai 2:6-9

I fully believe that the Messianic Move-

ment has been raised up to be a vehicle for revival, for the Jewish People and all the nations of the world. In this portion of Haggai, as well as other Old and New Tes-tament texts, God speaks of a latter day outpouring upon the Jewish People and ultimately the nations that will be greater than anything recorded in history.

We are living in those days!Messianic Judaism is not man's good

idea— it is the first fruits of the latter day rain upon Israel, the Church, and ulti-mately the world.

God Has declared it in His Word, and nothing will stand in the way of Him bringing revival to the nations. What we have witnessed over the past 41 years is marvelous, but I believe it just the begin-ning. The "latter house"— the assembly of all Believers, Jew and Gentile— is going to be greater in size, scope and in depth of understanding and relationship with the Father!

The Messianic Movement is charged with a great purpose: to bring this revival, which the Gospel boldly proclaims, to the entire earth. We must be willing to invest all in the revival of the Lost Sheep of the House of Israel. There is no wiser invest-ment we can make, and we are called to invest nothing less.

Life from the Dead!In Romans 11:11-12 & 15, Paul writes:

"Again I ask: Did they [the Jews] stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious. But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their fullness bring... For if their rejection is the reconcilia-tion of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?"

What is this life from the dead? Ulti-mately it is the return of Yeshua (Jesus) to the earth when the Jewish People are restored to God!

There is an inseparable connection between the salvation of the Jewish People and the restoration of the nations. The Jews are not just another people group — they are the gauge of God's prophetic timeclock! If you want to see the return of the Messiah, get involved with Jewish ministry.

Mark Twain gave as his reason for believing in God, "The Jew, my friend, the Jew!" How do we know we're in the final days and that God is restoring all things? "The Messianic Jew, my friend, the Messi-anic Jew!"

“There are more Jews who have accepted Jesus as

the Messiah of Israel and Savior for the World than anytime since the time of

Jesus himself. In fact, more Jews have experienced this dramatic realization in the

last 41 years than in the previous 19 centuries

added together.”

6 | Jewish Voice Today MAY/JUNE 2008 www.JewishVoiceToday.org

I'm coming to your

home soon!

We are excited to announce that our half-hour weekly program, Jewish Voice with Jonathan Bernis is expanding in your area!

If Jewish Voice was previously not available in your area, or had limited cover-age, please check our list, our website, or your carrier for updated availability. Check back often as we are rapidly expanding!

Jewish Voice with Jonathan Bernis is tak-ing the Good News of the Messiah around the world including Israel. Taped before a live audience, and produced in high-def on state-of-the-art equipment, Jewish Voice with Jonathan Bernis features special reports from Washington D.C. and Jerusalem, and guests with unique insights to biblical prophecy and today’s world.

•Why is the entire world focused on the tiny State of Israel?

•Why are the Chosen People persecuted in every generation?

Find out - tune in to Jewish Voice with Jonathan Bernis now in your area!

Broadcast CoverageIn the Phoenix area:KAZ-TV Wednesdays, 12:00pmCable One, Ch. 7CableVision, Ch. 7, 20, 30, 37, 49 Cox Cable, Ch. 7, 13, 43,Eagle West Communications, Ch. 7, 15, 29, 37, 43, 47London Bridge CableVision, Ch. 17, 37Quest, Ch. 13EchoStar Dish Network, Ch. 27Direct TV, Ch. 7

You can also find us on:Church Channel- Mondays, 7:30amPT, Wednesdays, 4:30am & Thursdays, 8:30am;Daystar- Tuesdays, 10:00am;Angel One- Tuesdays, 5:30pm, Sundays, 10:00am, & 8:30pm;KPAZ- (TBN) - Thursdays, 9:30am;WHT- Sundays, 3:30pm EST;Inspiration- Fridays, 11:00am;

In the Philadelphia area:Sundays, 10:30am on WFMZ - TV 69 and also on: RCN 7 Allentown Comcast 9 Redding Comcast 55 NE PhiladelphiaComcast 99 Audobon/GSC

In the Chicagoland area:Thursdays at 8:30pm and Fridays at 7:30am on WJYS - TV 62, and also, Mondays at 8:00pm on WEDE - TV 34.

In the Los Angeles area: Wednesdays at 8:00am, Sundays at 5:00 & 10:30am and also on KDOC - TV 56: Time Warner 19 Adelphia 6 & 29Cox 12Check for additional channels with your service provider.

ExpandingNew or expanded air times of our half-hour program in your area:

MAY/JUNE 2008 Jewish Voice Today | 7www.JewishVoiceToday.org

Who Do You Say I Am?

And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him.Genesis 42:8

Trembling, the ten men entered the magnificent, spacious palace of the Prime Minister. Exhausted and hot

from the arduous journey, weakened from the effects of the famine which ravaged their land, they were nevertheless alert enough to be sufficiently dazzled by the opulence which met their eyes. They stood for hours, filled with both hope and dread, waiting for their turn to buy grain. When they were finally called before Zaphenath-Paneah, the great man himself, they immediately bowed down to him with their faces to the ground.

Scripture tells us that when the ten sons of Jacob came face-to-face with the brother they had sold into slavery twenty years before, “they did not recog-nize him.” (Gen 42:8) Why? What was it about Joseph that had changed so radi-cally that he literally became unrecogniz-able? And, similarly, what is it about Yesh-ua which makes him unknown to his brothers - the Jews?

His Foreign Appearance

It may have been difficult for Joseph’s brothers to recognize

him because he looked like an Egyptian. When they had last seen him, he wore his richly ornamented robe (that is, before he was led off in shackles by the Midianite merchants), most likely had the begin-nings of a beard, and was very young. Now he used the perfumes and lotions com-mon to Egyptian nobility, quite possibly had his head shaved, was definitely clean-shaven, wore the attire of a high-ranking Egyptian, and exuded the authoritative air of one used to great power. He also pre-tended not to understand Hebrew and spoke a foreign language. And, not to be

By Deborah Galiley

G u e S t au t h o r

8 | Jewish Voice Today MAY/JUNE 2008 www.JewishVoiceToday.org

ish people, he has been used as a weapon against them. The Jews killed Jesus! has been the rallying cry of anti-semites for millennia. Most importantly, the Jewish people believe Yeshua has been dead for close to 2,000 years when in fact he is alive!

A New Religion

Joseph did not look to his brothers like one who fol-

lowed the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. On the contrary, he was married to a daughter of one of Egypt’s priests. Also, the second time the brothers came to Egypt for food, Joseph instructed his stew-ard to hide his silver cup in Benjamin’s sack of grain. After the brothers left, Joseph had his steward chase after them and “dis-cover” the missing silver cup. He told the steward to say: “Why have you repaid good with evil? Isn’t this the cup my master drinks from and also uses for divination?” (Gen 44:4-5) To use a cup for divination would have appeared to the brothers as yet another element of a pagan and unfa-miliar religion. Yeshua is seen by Jewish people as a confused rabbi who didn’t really understand Judaism so he made up a new religion. He is presented as someone who came against Torah and sought to abolish the laws handed down from God to Moses. Nothing could be further from the truth! He himself says, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law (Torah) or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” (Matthew 5:17) He is the one who protects the proper under-standing of God’s word from the corrupt-ing influence of man-made traditions. (Mark 7:7-16)

Revelation and Restoration

Joseph did not reveal himself to his brothers until he had tested

their hearts. When they made intercession for Benjamin, protecting him from a life of slavery, he knew they had truly repent-ed. However, when he initially made him-self known to his brothers, “they were ter-rified at his presence.” (Gen 45:3) After they became convinced that he was indeed Joseph, and that he meant them no harm, there was reconciliation. Joseph blessed them mightily, giving them the best of all Egypt.

overlooked, he was alive and the brothers were convinced that Joseph had long since died.

Jewish people tend to think of Yeshua as the “gentile god.” The images from medieval paintings reflect an ascetic, blondish, Northern European type with a wisp of a beard, generally having some sort of halo hovering in the air just above his head. He looks anything but Jewish. His name, like Joseph’s, has been changed to reflect a non-Hebrew culture. His eating habits appear to be not even remotely kosher. Instead of “belonging” to the Jew-

The account of Joseph and his brothers is one of estrangement and then restoration, leading to abundant blessing for the people of God. This foreshadows Yeshua’s restoration to his brothers, the Jewish people. With the proclamation of the Good News around the world, Jewish people are coming to faith in Messiah and

raising a corporate witness through the Messianic Jewish movement. Yeshua’s true identity is starting to be revealed in our time. As the prophet Zechariah said, “They will look to me, whom they pierced, and...mourn for him as one mourns for an only child....” (Zech 12:10) When the Jewish people recog-nize Yeshua as their Messiah, the blessing will be “life from the dead!” (Romans 11:15)

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MAY/JUNE 2008 Jewish Voice Today | 9www.JewishVoiceToday.org

S p e c i a l i N t e r e S t

Time Magazine’s May 1st issue rated “The Re-Judaizing of Jesus” number ten of “Ten Ideas that are Changing the World.” For those of us in the Jewish Roots move-ment, this may not seem startling at first glance, as it consumes our lives. But if you step back for a moment and consider the enormity of world issues, the rapid pace of amazing technologies, R & D leaps and bounds forward—biological cloning, artifi-cial intelligence, and emerging markets that didn’t exist a decade ago, and then consider

the complexity of religions—if religion were to even make the top ten—the vast matrix of fast-growing religions affecting the world, positively and negatively, how could this unique and contemporary move-ment even make a blip on the radar?

In order to understand the need to re-Judaize Jesus, and appreciate the restorative Hand of the Divine in what is known today as the Hebrew Roots or Messianic Move-ment, we must revisit the early centuries of Israel and the Church, and though painful,

open history’s window on a sad legacy of hatred and alienation.

Putting the Axe to the rootThe First Church was a sect of First

Century Judaism, utilizing the Hebrew Scriptures (The Old Testament), celebrat-ing and observing the biblical Feasts, and going up to Jerusalem for the Pilgrim Festi-vals—all the more joyous as they celebrated the fulfilled promises of the Messiah in Yeshua. Acts 21:20 records the elders of the

recovering the Irrevocable Calling

By Sarah Weiner

I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin… Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation [is come] unto the Gentiles, for to pro-voke them to jealousy... Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fullness? …For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches. ...do not boast against the branches …remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you. For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery … that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The Deliverer will come out of Zion, And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; For this is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins. “Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. Romans 11

All roads lead to Rome...

In 325 AD, a defining event for Christianity took place in Nicaea that would forever change the face of Jesus, divorcing Him from His family, and His faith from its moorings. Decisions that were made rocked the Christian and pagan world and established a new religion, friendly to the masses but hos-tile to Jesus’ own brethren.

10 | Jewish Voice Today MAY/JUNE 2008 www.JewishVoiceToday.org

This Council drew a line in the sand. From here forward Church policy became increasingly hostile to the Jewish People. All vestiges of Old Testament observances were outlawed, first for Christians, and then for Jews in strongly Catholic-dominated regions.

The writings of the early Church Fathers often reflected virulent hatred (and serious biblical error) with regards to the Jews. Even Martin Luther, who was enlightened in so many ways, called for Jews to be burned alive in their synagogues.

How could this be? If anyone reads Romans 9, 10, and 11, it is clear that God was not through with the Jewish People. And Yeshua Himself said that Believers would be judged according to how they treat His Jewish brethren. (Matt. 25:40)

Until recent centuries, laymen weren’t allowed to even read the Scriptures, so error and deception proliferated. After the Refor-mation, when Bibles became available to literate men, sadly, insidious supersession-ist theologies still managed to take hold, such as replacement theology.

“Christian” anti-Semitism and theo-logical error that rejects Israel and the Jews are born of the same basic error — the de-Judaizing of Yeshua and the Gospel. A Jesus who has divorced his people and over-thrown the old kingdom, triumphing over the Jews and the God of the Old Testament becomes a strange god.

Here, I must state that throughout his-tory, there have always been true Believers who had a heart after truth and followed the Lamb, avoiding erroneous teachings and/or corrupt leaders. God always has a remnant!

True restoration Brings lifeTruth is very powerful and restorative.

If the falsehoods have served to forge an unfathomable chasm between the Jewish People and their Messiah, how healing will the unmasking of Yeshua, the Jewish Mes-siah of Israel, be to His own—as their own? And perhaps Time Magazine is right, that this impact on the world has and will be ever more powerful than a multitude of worldly advances—even to the Second Coming as the growing numbers of Jewish People recognize Yeshua as their long-awaited Messiah. “For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?” Romans 11:15

Jerusalem Messianic Community telling Paul, “You see brother, how many tens of thousands of believers there are among the Judeans and they are all zealots for the Torah.” (CJBV) In fact the first theological crisis faced by the Believers was what to do about the Gentiles who wanted to be included in the fellowship of the Messiah!

As Rome destroyed the great Temple and sacked Jerusalem, murdering and scat-tering Israel, antipathy grew against Messi-anic Jews. If Jesus was the Messiah, why hadn’t he saved them from the Roman holocaust? With the Bar Kochba revolt of 132AD, the schism grew deeper as Jewish Believers naturally rejected Bar Kochba’s Messianic claim.

The First Church was also scattered. The numbers of Gentiles joining the faith soon outnumbered the Jews. A non-Hebra-ic expression grew, adopting new customs according to the region—and lack of foun-dational apostolic teachings. A great many aberrations of the original faith arose such as Gnosticism and Marcionism, which rejected the “Hebrew Bible” and the “God of the Old Testament” to name just two. One common thread was woven through the evolution and perversion of the faith - a growing anti-Hebraic sentiment.

The Council of Nicaea in 325 AD would unify the major Christian sects of Constantine’s empire, forever standardiz-ing anti-Hebraic and rabidly anti-Semitic aberrations into a newly amalgamated Christianity.

Emperor Constantine was the high priest in the cult of Sol Invictus (the Uncon-quered Sun), the dominant cult of his empire until Christianity began to prolifer-ate. Under the symbol of the sun, this cult was the worship of the sun god who ruled the universe.

A turning point for Constantine and the faith came as the result of a dream he had before his great victory at the bridge of Milvan. He saw a sign in the sky that he took to symbolize the growing religion of the Christians, after which he introduced the symbol of the cross and adopted the religion of Christianity as the official reli-gion of his empire. There is no record of any outward signs of his coming to a true saving faith in Jesus, yet he unified his vast empire under a new, standardized form of Christianity, which was ratified at a monu-mental event, forever known as the Council of Nicaea. The symbol of the sun with ver-

sions of a cross can be seen in early Catho-lic iconology and remains a common deco-rative element in historic cathedrals.

The chief victory of Nicaea was solving the problem of Easter. It was decided that it would no longer be tolerated to “keep Eas-ter at the Jewish Passover,” but “will hence-forth keep it at the same time as the Romans.”

The following excerpt clearly illustrates the rabid anti-Semitism present in the deci-sion-making process at Nicaea. The deci-sions had little if nothing to do with the Bible, but instead rejecting the biblically established calendar (and Passover) in order to reject the Jews.

“It was declared to be particularly unworthy for this, the holiest of all festi-vals, to follow the custom [the calculation] of the Jews, who had soiled their hands with the most fearful of crimes, and whose minds were blinded. In rejecting their cus-tom we may transmit to our descendants the legitimate mode of celebrating Easter, which we have observed from the time of the Saviour’s Passion to the present day [according to the day of the week]. We ought not, therefore, to have anything in common with the Jews, for the Saviour has shown us another way; our worship follows a more legitimate and more convenient course … we desire, dearest brethren, to separate ourselves from the detestable com-pany of the Jews, for it is truly shameful for us to hear them boast that without their direction we could not keep this feast. How can they be in the right, they who, after the death of the Saviour, have no longer been led by reason but by wild violence, as their delusion may urge them? They do not pos-sess the truth in this Easter question; for, in their blindness and repugnance to all improvements, they frequently celebrate two Passovers (sic) in the same year … But even if this were not so, it would still be your duty not to tarnish your soul by com-munications with such wicked people [the Jews] … As, on the one hand, it is our duty not to have anything in common with the murderers of our Lord; and as, on the other, the custom now followed by the Churches of the West, of the South, and of the North… You should consider not only that the number of churches in these provinces make a majority, but also that it is right to demand what our reason approves, and that we should have nothing in common with the Jews.”

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G u e S t au t h o r

The Jewish MessiahChristianity’s Only FoundationBy John D. Garr, Ph.D., Th.D.

hen Jesus, the itinerant rabbi from Nazareth, asked his disci-ples who they understood him to be, Peter’s effusive answer

encapsulated the most profound truth in all of Holy Scripture: “You are he, the Mes-siah, Son of the living God.” Realizing that the ultimate truth about his very nature had been revealed by the heavenly Father, Jesus replied, “. . .upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:16-18).

The reformed congregation that Jesus proposed to build would be established on the rock-solid foundation of a simple con-fession. While the congregation of Israel had rested for centuries on the Torah revealed at Sinai, this reformed congrega-tion within Israel would stand on a faith declaration attesting to the very nature of its Founder himself. A congregation built on this revelatory rock, Jesus observed, could not be destroyed even in the face of the very jaws of death itself, and the forces of hell could not prevent its expansion into the entire world.

It is a simple truth: Christianity, which evolved from the branch of Second Temple Judaism known as “The Way,” has but one foundation, the Yeshua HaMashiach, its Lord and Savior. Both Jesus himself and the band of Jewish Bible believers who sur-rounded and succeeded him understood

that the prophetic promises of the Hebrew Scriptures were being fully realized in his messiahship and in his unique relationship with the God of those scriptures as his only-begotten Son.

For twenty centuries sects that have succeeded this simple band of Jewish believers have sought to define the church and the Christian faith. A wide range of viewpoints has been advanced, creating a maze of confusion both about the church and about the nature of Jesus himself; how-ever, the fact remains: “. . . other founda-tion can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus the Messiah” (1 Corinthians 3:11).

A reFOrMeD MOVeMeNT IN JuDAISMAt its inception, the Christian church

was a reformed movement within Judaism headed by a Jewish reformer who came to be recognized by his followers as the long-awaited Messiah. Both Jesus and his Jewish disciples interpreted the Tanakh (Hebrew Scriptures)—the Torah, the Prophets, and the Writings—as being prophetic of his person and work as the promised Messiah. This was not unusual in Second Temple Judaism, for in this age of rabid messian-ism, scores of messianic pretenders advanced their claims to the divine office. What was unusual was the fact that these early leaders of the church were able to

marshal solid, incontrovertible evidence that Jesus was indeed Lord and Messiah.

Sure, there is the problem that though a virtual unending number of messianic prophecies, allegories, metaphors, and principles could be applied to Jesus from the Hebrew Bible, still there are numerous other messianic prophecies which he did not fulfill. If one’s dominant paradigm regarding the Messiah were that he would bring universal peace and restore the king-dom to Israel, it is more than probable that a recounting of the life of Jesus would find him a failed messiah at best and a false messiah at worst. This is what rabbinic Judaism has maintained for nearly two millennia.

Here, however, is the supreme irony, perhaps even poetic justice: On the one hand, triumphal, supersessionist Christi-anity, which for centuries has despised and disparaged the Jews, would have no reason to exist without a Jew as its foundation; on the other hand, all those who affirmed the messiahship and divinity of Jesus, includ-ing Jesus himself, during the first decade of the church were Jews.

Jewish leaders of subsequent centuries have sought to debunk claims of messiah-ship and divinity for Jesus, joining with those later church leaders who sought to Hellenize and Latinize the church by assert-ing that these concepts were the product of the mystery religions of the Gentiles. Many have joined with critics of the apostolic writings to avow that what we read are at best redactions from things taught by early Christian leaders or at worst fabrications created by Gentile thinkers that in no way reflected the ideas of Jesus or the apostles.

The problem with this line of reason-ing is that it was Jews, not Gentiles, who formulated the arguments—and did so from their Hebraic tradition—that Jesus was Lord and Messiah. It was Jews who, like their rabbinic counterparts, had enor-mous powers of memory so that they could transmit oral tradition from one genera-tion to another with verbatim quotes from original teachers. It was Jews, who like their rabbinic counterparts, were zealous, even passionate for truth as they understood it, who would give their lives rather than com-promise a sacred text or an oral tradition.

While the church for centuries since the apostolic times has wrestled with vari-ous theological and christological contro-

It is a simple truth: Christianity, which evolved from the branch of Second Temple Judaism known as “The Way,” has but one foundation, the Yeshua HaMashiach, its Lord and Savior.

W

12 | Jewish Voice Today MAY/JUNE 2008 www.JewishVoiceToday.org

versies, the truth is that the foundation on which those widely divergent concepts were built was the teaching of Jews—Jesus and his apostles. The messiahship and deity of Jesus are not Gentile accretions: their foun-dation is in the apostolic writings them-selves and are based upon their reading of the Tanakh.

HISTOrY OF THe MeSSIANIC IDeAThe messianic expectation is as old as

mankind. It first appears in the primeval promise to Eve in Genesis 3:15 that her son would bruise the head of the serpent who had deceived her. The message is clear: God will yet win the controversy for the loyalty of humanity. Over time this tradition builds, with authors in various times and milieus expanding further on this deliverer.

Ultimately, clearly superhuman quali-ties are ascribed to the Coming One. Balaam saw him as a star who would arise. Moses declared that one like him would marshal the attention and obedience of the people. David went much further when, caught up in the spirit of Messiah, he ascribed deity to the deliverer of Israel: “The Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee” (Psalm 2:7); “The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool” (Psalm 110:1).

In a further explanation of the Messi-ah, Isaiah declared that a Son would be

born who would be called Immanuel (God with us) and would be titled, “The mighty God, the everlasting Father, the prince of peace” (Isaiah 7:14; 9:6). Then he shock-ingly predicted that this divine character would suffer and die when the Father would lay upon him the sins of all (Isaiah 53:5-6). When Micah predicted the place where the Messiah would be born (5:2), he also noted that his existence was outside time: “. . . whose goings forth are . . . from everlasting,” a term which Psalm 90:2 defines as “before you formed the earth and the world. . . .”

Then, Daniel depicted a heavenly scene where the Son of Man (clearly the Messiah) received from the Ancient of Days the king-dom of God (Daniel 7:13-14). Jeremiah declared: “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righ-teous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper” (23:5). Then, startlingly he observed, “this is his name whereby he shall be called, The Lord our Righteous-ness” (23:6).

Finally, Zechariah termed this messi-anic figure “The Branch” (3:8) and predict-ed that he would rule in Jerusalem as king and priest (6:12-13), that he would stand on the Mount of Olives to fight for Israel as the Lord himself (14:1-4), and that he would be pierced and subsequently mourn-ed for as an only son (12:10) but would open a fountain to cleanse from sin the

inhabitants of Jerusalem (13:1).Because of conflicting messianic

prophecies that called for both a suffering messiah and a triumphant messiah, sages in the time of Second Temple Judaism had suggested that perhaps there would even be two messiahs, Messiah Ben Yosef, the suf-fering messiah, and Messiah Ben David, the king messiah. The apostles concluded that these were one and the same Messiah who had come in their time to suffer and atone for the sins of mankind and who would return in power and great glory to establish the kingdom of God on the earth.

MeSSIANIC INTerPreTerSNone of these—and scores of other—

messianic prophecies escaped the attention of either Jesus or his apostles. Though they were not skilled in the tradition of the sages of their day (they did not even know that Elijah was to appear before the day of the Lord), they, nevertheless, were instructed by the day’s greatest living Rabbi as they were covered with his dust while itinerating with him throughout Israel. This Jesus spoke with authority and without vacillation that characterized the rabbis of his day. The words that he gave them from the Hebrew Scriptures became Spirit and life to them. They were imbued not only with his words but also with the essence of his being.

MAY/JUNE 2008 Jewish Voice Today | 13www.JewishVoiceToday.org

The radical reformation and restora-tion that took place in the lives of the earli-est apostles as a result of their interaction with Jesus convinced them that he was not only the Messiah of God but also the incar-nation of the very essence of God himself. John, the disciple who seemed closest to Jesus described his Lord as being the Divine Logos, the eternal Word who created all things. Scholars of subsequent centuries have suggested that John drew from Helle-nistic traditions and mystery religions for this paradigm; however, the truth is that the Jewish apostle John drew from his own Hebrew heritage the idea that wisdom per-sonified was the agent whom God used in bringing forth the creation. This wisdom was none other than the Torah, the Word of God. Had John been addressing an entirely Jewish audience, he would likely have said, “In the beginning was the Torah, and the Torah was with God, and the Torah was God . . . and the Torah was made flesh and dwelt among us.”

This does violence, our Jewish friends declare, to the absolute monotheism that is the cornerstone of all teaching from the Hebrew Scriptures. On the contrary, it is no different from recognizing a localized mate-rial manifestation of God in the Shekhinah while at the same time God filled the expanses of the universe and beyond. It is no different from the multiple theophanies of the Hebrew Scriptures when Someone, called both the Angel of the Lord and the Lord himself, appeared to men, received their worship, and made divine promises to them—this despite the fact that we are assured that no one has seen or can see the Heavenly Father (John 1:18; 1 Timothy 6:16).

GeNTIle SYSTeMATIC THeOlOGYWhen the gospel was taken to the Gen-

tiles and for intents and purposes became a Gentile gospel, Herculean efforts were mounted by church leaders to establish sys-tematic theology, answering all the ques-tions about deity, and Christology, detail-ing the person and work of Jesus. These concepts came forth in a virtual vortex of swirling opinions, complex arguments, and even violence. Often issues were settled by political potentates, both civil and ecclesi-astical. It is open to speculation as to whether God had his way in the whirlwind of ante-Nicene, Nicene, and post-Nicene

johN D. GARR ph.D., th.D., Chancellor of Hebraic Heritage College has pioneered research, writing and teaching on the Hebrew Foundations of Christian Faith for more than thirty years. John and his wife, Pat, with the support of their sons, John, Timothy and Stephen, work to promote the Restoration Foundation and Hebrew Heritage Christian School of Theology (hebraiccenter.org).His book, Our Lost Legacy, is available in the Resources section on page 23.

debate, or whether in the final analysis the essence of God is incomprehensible and his ways are inscrutable.

It is really quite amazing that countless people have been excoriated, excommuni-cated, anathematized, and even killed because of their divergent views on theolo-gy and christology. This could never have happened had the church not suffered a Hellenization which forced rationalism and systemization upon its understanding of God and his dealings with man. Judaism had stood for centuries without a hint of systematic theology or a sacrosanct dogma. The sages knew that there are many things about the infinite God that can never be fully understood by finite man, regardless as to man’s self-inflated estimation of his intellect and perception. That is why they were (and are) able to hold various seem-ingly contradictory concepts in dynamic tension, underscoring the truths in each but leaving their final outworking to the provi-dence of an omniscient God. While men in their rational analyses may think that they have all the details of the nature of God and Christ completely figured out, it is highly likely that there is much more to be learned than is already understood and that in the final analysis Christian leaders of the past and present may find themselves as woe-fully misinformed as their Jewish counter-parts over whom Jesus lamented, “. . . you knew not the time of your visitation” (Luke 19:44).

THe MeSSIAH COMPleXIt is clear from their own testimony

that both Jesus and the apostles understood the Rabbi from Nazareth to be both Lord and Messiah. The apostles insist that this truth is the foundation of the reformed congregation that has come to be called the Christian church. Like their rabbinic coun-terparts, the apostles did not make a sys-tematic effort to establish a dogma concern-ing these truths. They simply believed them

and staked their lives on them.Paul and the other apostles even con-

fessed that the nature of Jesus and his rela-tionship with the heavenly Father were a great mystery: “And without controversy great is the mystery of the Piety [worship of God]: who was manifest in the flesh, justi-fied in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory” (1 Timothy 3:16, literal translation).

In order to escape this Messiah com-plex that after nineteen centuries still divides the community of faith, perhaps the church should maintain Peter’s confes-sion, the one which Jesus confirmed as foundational to Christian faith: “You are he, the Messiah, Son of the living God.” Without a Jewish Messiah, there is no church. Without the Son of God, there is no forgiveness of sins and promise of eter-nal life.

YeSHuA HAMASHIACH THe HOPe OF THe JuDeO-CHrISTIAN FAITHThe radical reformation is bringing res-

toration throughout the Christian commu-nity as believers by the millions are recover-ing the Hebraic foundations of their faith. Part of this restoration is the long-lost understanding of the inherent Jewishness of Jesus, the fact that he was born a Jew, lived as a Torah-observant Jew, died with a legal proclamation above his head “King of the Jews,” resurrected a Jew of the seed of David, ascended to heaven a Jew, is seated at the right hand of the majesty of God a Jew of the tribe of Judah, and will return to earth, the same Jewish Yeshua HaMashiach. This is the “blessed hope” of the Judaeo-Christian faith: the Messiah has come, the Messiah has died, the Messiah has risen, and the Messiah is coming again.

14 | Jewish Voice Today MAY/JUNE 2008 www.JewishVoiceToday.org

“...when these things begin to take place...lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” (Luke 21:28)

n Arab Gunman Murders eight Students in JerusalemJERUSALEM, 03/06/08– An

Arab gunman entered the prominent Mercaz Harav ye-shiva in Jerusalem on Thursday night, killing eight Jewish high school students and wounding ten others. The gunman, an Israeli Arab, killed two people at the entrance, then entered the library, shooting the stu-dents with an automatic rifle. A medical volunteer said, ‘We came to the library and saw two bodies at the entrance on the floor ...there were bodies and Jewish books all over the floor. They were shot one by one.” SoURcE: ISRAELNAtIoNALNEwS.coM

Gaza Arabs Celebrate KillingGaza’s streets filled with joyous crowds of thousands on the evening following the

terror attack in Jerusalem. Armed men fired in the air in celebration and others passed out sweets to passersby. Hamas issued a statement saying it “blesses the Jerusalem operation.” SoURcE: HAAREtz.coM

uN Does Not Condemn AttackThe UN Security Council abstained from condemning last Thursday’s Jerusalem

terror attack. US officials said Libya - currently chairing the Security Council - blocked the UN from denouncing the massacre and called for “balanced action.” The Anti-Defamation League said the fact the Security Council could not bring itself to publicly deplore the heinous murder of eight Israeli teenagers was “shocking.” SoURcE: HAAREtz.coM

JERUSALEM (REUtERS) - Israeli archaeologists have unearthed a wall beyond Jeru-salem’s old boundaries, showing the city built by biblical King David may have been much larger than previously thought.

The Israel Antiquities Authority said it believed the 5-metre (16 ft) high wall was part of a two-storey structure demolished in 70 AD when the Romans sacked Jerusa-lem and destroyed the second Jewish temple built by King Herod.

“According to our findings, ancient Jerusalem was much larger than previously thought,” Doron Ben-Ami of the authority told a news conference near the excavation site. REUTERS/AmmAR AwAd

31 MARcH 2008 – On her second trip to Israel this year, Secretary of State Con-doleezza Rice elicited a pledge from Israel to remove 50 security barriers, vowing to monitor Israel's compliance.

"Unfortunately, throughout the West Bank you have terror cells—whether Hamas, Islamic Jihad or renegade Fatah—and they present a real and present danger to the public," said Mark Regev, spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. "If we take down checkpoints carelessly, we may get a good headline one day but have a wave of suicide bombings the next."

The security barrier has been pro-foundly successful, dramatically reducing the number of terror attacks on Israel proper and catching would-be homicide bombers.

There has been no compliance, howev-er, within the Arab territories in dismantling the terrorist cells barraging Israeli commu-nities daily with rockets.

Yet, Rice assured Palestinian President Abbas: "As to settlement activity, we con-tinue to state America's position that settle-ment activity [on the part of the Israelis] should stop, that its expansion should stop, that it is indeed not consistent with Road-map obligations."

On the other hand, the Palestinian Au-thority has been given the green light to be-gin construction on 5 - 8,000 housing units in biblical Judea and Samaria.

SoURcE: www.StAtE.gov/ISRAELNAtIoNALNEwS.coM

n rats Cause Famine in Indian State of Mizoram

gAUHAtI, INdIA, ApR. 18, 2008– A food shortage has hit nearly 70 percent of a remote Indian state’s people after an army of rats began devouring rice crops and triggered a famine scare, officials said.

The northeastern state of Mizoram had a devastating famine in 1959 when a rare flourishing of bamboo flowers—a favorite food of the rodents—drove up their numbers.The phenomenon occurs about every 50 years and has hit the state again.

This year the food shortages have affect-ed about 630,000 people, nearly 70 percent of the 900,000 in Mizoram, said the state’s Food and Supplies Secretary T.B.C. Rozara.

No starvation deaths have been reported so far, he said.

“Rats multiply in abundance whenever the rare bamboo flowering occurs as they feed on these flowers and then go about feasting on standing crops and granaries,” said another state official, L.R. Sailo.

“The situation is grave and we are hav-ing sleepless nights. But we hope to deal with the problem,” Rozara said.

SoURcE: ISRAELNAtIoNALNEwS.coM

In anticipation of this crisis, JVMI is plan-ning a medical and humanitarian outreach in Fall 2008 to the B’nei Menashe of this region. Details to come.

n DIG reVeAlS KING DAVID’S CITY MuCH lArGer

n rice to Israel: remove Barriers; Stop Building

N e W S F r o m i S r a e l & a r o u N D t h e W o r l D

JVT Intelligence Report

LifeLess body of Jewish victim seen through buLLet-riddLed window, merkaz harav - gPo

arabs ceLebrate in the streets of gaza uPon hearing news of yeshiva sLaughter

MAY/JUNE 2008 Jewish Voice Today | 15www.JewishVoiceToday.org

h e B r e W l e S S o N

The name “Jesus” comes to us from the Latin, “Iesu,” which is from the Greek Ihsou/j, Iesous that we find in the original language of our New Testament Scriptures.

Around 250 BCE, a Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures (“Old Testament”) called the Septuagint was written by Greek-speaking Jewish scholars. In this version, we also find the name Ihsou/j, Iesous appearing almost 50 times as a translation of the Hebrew [;vuAhy>, Y’hoshua—or, as we would say in English, Joshua. Does this mean that Jesus’ name in Hebrew is actually “Joshua”? Not exactly.

The Greek Ihsou/j, Iesous also appears in the Septuagint many times throughout the books of Ezra, Nehemiah, and the Chroni-cles. It translates the name that appears in our English bibles as “Jeshua.” This name is none other than [;WvyE, Yeshua, which literally appears in the texts of our Hebrew Scrip-tures.

The Greek Ihsou/j, Iesous can be used to translate both [;vuAhy>, Y’hoshua and [;WvyE, Yeshua because they share a similar linguis-tic root and meaning. While [;vuAhy>, Y’hoshua means “The Lord (hy", Yah) is salvation,” the name [;WvyE, Yeshua, like the noun h['WvyE, y’shuah found in passages such as Psalm 118:14, simply means “salvation.” That “Yeshua” means “salvation” makes sense, considering the words the angel spoke to Joseph in Matthew 1:21, “She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Yeshua, for

Pronunciation Key: a = “ah”; e = “eh”; i = “ee”; o = “oh”; u = “oo”; ch = guttural sound in back of throat as in “bach” or “loch”, not “ch” as in “much” or “charity”

KEvIN GEoffREy is a Jewish believer in the Messiah Yeshua. He is the Founder and President of Perfect Word Ministries, a Messianic Jewish teaching mini-stry. Kevin resides in Phoenix, AZ with his wife, Esther, and their sons, Isaac, Josiah, and Hosea. Visit Perfect Word online at www.PerfectWordMinistries.com

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He will save His people from their sins.” The word “Messiah” can only be found

in two places in an English version of the New Testament, where it translates Messi,aj, Messias in John 1:41 and 4:25. This Greek word is a transliteration (a phonetic repre-sentation) of the Aramaic or Hebrew word x;yvim', Mashiach, which comes from the word xv;m', mashach, meaning “to anoint.” Unlike Ihsou/j, Iesous however, Messi,aj, Mes-sias does not appear in the Septuagint. Instead, it is the word Cristo,j, Christos, which we translate into English as “Christ,” that in fact translates x;yvim', Mashiach and its various forms many times in the Septua-gint.

Cristo,j, Christos, then, is the Greek equivalent of x;yvim', Mashiach and appears in many different contexts in the Septuagint, though it carries the same basic meaning each time. One who is x;yvim', Mashiach has been anointed—literally smeared with oil—to consecrate and call him for special service, such as that of the high priest, or a king of Israel.

According to Luke 4:17-21, Yeshua affirmed His calling and consecration as x;yvim', Mashiach in His reading and interpre-tation of Isaiah 61 during the synagogue ser-vice. The beginning of the first verse says, “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me (xv;m', mashach) to bring good news…” As our great high priest and King, [;WvyE, Yeshua has

indeed been anointed—called and conse-crated as x;yvim', Mashiach—to save us from our sins!

Since the invention of the printing press and the subsequent first edition of the Gutenberg Bible in 1455, the Scriptures started their journey toward widespread availability to the masses. The first translation of the Scriptures into English was in 1535, preceding the 1611 King James Bible by nearly eighty years. After almost 500 years of the Scriptures being printed in English, it’s easy to understand how quickly we forget that our English Bibles are mere translations, and that the words we read every day during our study and devotionals are often several times removed from the original, God-breathed language of the Bible.

For instance, you might be surprised to know that “Jesus” was a name our Master never heard nor spoke while He walked the earth. Likewise, “Christ” would have been foreign to His lips. Here is a brief explanation of how these two names evolved into English from their rich heritage in the original Hebrew.

ChristChristiCristo,jx;yvim'

MessiahJesusIesuVIhsou/j[;WvyE

Yeshua

rediscoveringNamethe

of theLord

16 | Jewish Voice Today MAY/JUNE 2008 www.JewishVoiceToday.org

The United Methodist Church (UMC) is at it again, although other denomina-tions have engaged in this abysmal behav-ior as well. Their 225-page report, “Israel-Palestine: A 2007-2008 Mission Study,” likens Jews to “monsters” and compares the actions of Israelis to Nazis. Strange, indeed, when Hamas TV is currently run-ning a kids’ special suggesting that they “eat Danes, not Danish pastries.” The UMC uses “terrorism” to describe Israeli actions while the actions of Palestinian Arabs are described as “activism.” The desire to strap explosives onto oneself has dropped to that level, I guess, in the eyes of the UMC.

The 11 million-member church is expected to take up the issue of divesting stock from companies that do business with Israel at its quadrennial national con-ference in April. And those behind the effort are asking for the following:

1) That Israel end its “occupation” and colonization of all Arab lands and disman-tle her security wall which has reduced homicide bombing by 95%. Here’s a note to the UMC: Israel didn’t “occupy” or “col-onize” anything. She has seized land since 1948 only to take territory that would defend her from further attack. She got her God-given land back very officially in 1948. But at the end of the 1800s and early 1900s, tens of thousands of Jews died in malarial swamplands in Israel so she could have a homeland of her own far away from Rus-sian pogroms (which my grandparents fled) and Nazi Holocausts.

2) The UMC asks for recognition of

p r o p h e c Y & t r u t h B e h i N D t h e h e a D l i N e S

the full equality and rights of the Arab-Pal-estinian citizens of Israel. They have it! Arab residents of Israel even serve in her parliament known as the Knesset! This serves as a springboard to launch legisla-tion against Israel but Israel treats her Arab citizens well. In a recent poll, 90% of Pales-tinians wanted to stay under Israeli rule and not the rule of Hamas or Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah.

So why this call to action? The UMC says, “For one, it works. Two, it’s moral (you’ve got to be kidding). Three, it’s non-violent. Four, churches actually have years of experience in morally responsible invest-ing/divesting.” They conclude, “For most of the 1990s under the Oslo so-called peace process, the world lived in naive hope that things were improving, and shifted senti-ment from the harsh realities of occupa-tion, oppression and brutal Israeli repres-sion of nonviolent Palestinian resistance during the intifadas.”

It wasn’t the Israelis who were brutal during the intifadas (Palestinian uprisings in Israel.) The Palestinians even purged all of their brethren who may have sided with Israel and continue to do so to this day. And it wasn’t a pretty sight. They bring new meaning to the word “brutality.” They even strap explosives to mentally retarded peo-ple, children, and willing women who aren’t even promised sensual glories in “paradise.”

Since Oslo I in 1993, Israel has offered to give away the candy—and the candy store! World leaders have been racing

towards a “two-state solution” ever since but it is the Palestinian side of the deal who continues to lob rockets into Israeli cities as this is being written and have threatened all-out war since Oslo began. Israel is restraining from a full attack against these rocket-launching terrorists, mainly in Gaza, for reasons unknown.

But the United Methodist Church and other denominations participating in such things, present or past, write, “As the apart-heid moved into the towns by the barrel of the gun, a number of people of faith sought a response that would be most appropri-ate.” The barrel of a gun is only needed when one side is under siege and Israel has been under siege by one Arab/Muslim group after another, even after Oslo I talks began years ago. But protecting herself and her citizens results in the comparison to Nazis and monsters.

One has to wonder how much stronger delusion can get in the region where Jesus walked, taught, and died. Did He live in occupied territory? I encourage the Meth-odist Church and others who think like they do to go after the REAL monsters. There are multitudes to choose from includ-ing the leaders in Sudan, North Korea, Chi-na, Kenya, Communist regimes, Muslim leaders, other African nations, and a num-ber of other barbarians who deserve the term “monster.” Divest in those nations, UMC, and not America’s ally, a democracy, and a nation created by God, inhabited by Jews with Western and humanitarian val-ues.

Did Jesus live in Occupied Territory?

jAN MARKEll is Founder/Director of Olive Tree Ministries, Inc. To learn more about her ministry or to request her free newsletter, write to Box 1452, Maple Grove, MN 55311 or visit Jan at www.olivetreeviews.org where you can also listen to her weekly program online.

s p e c i a l e d i t i o n w i t h p h o t o g r a p h s

Trapped in Hitler’s HellAnita Dittman with Jan Markell

a young Jewish girl discovers the messiah’s faithfulness in the midst of the holocaust. Order #9186 | $12.99 Plus $3.95 for shipping and handling 1-888-921-4582 or www.jewishvoicetoday.org

MAY/JUNE 2008 Jewish Voice Today | 17www.JewishVoiceToday.org

This year we celebrate Passover on April 19-27, corresponding to the Hebrew month of Nissan 14-22, the year 5768. One little known fact about Passover is that the feast ushers in the biblical New Year. Traditionally, Judaism marks its civil new year in the seventh month at the Feast of Trumpets (rosh Hashana). According to the Hebrew Scriptures, however, God states the first month of each year is the month of Passover, not Trumpets. (exodus 12:2) For that reason, the Jewish people have always linked the Passover to their religious, or spiritual new year. likewise, I always expect the heavenly realm to shift realities anew on earth at the spring season of Passover.

2008: a S a B B at h Y e a r i N i S r a e lPresently, Israel is observing what is

known as a Shmittah, a special year in which “the land is to have a Sabbath of rest, a Sab-bath to the Lord.” (Leviticus 25:4) Occurring every seven years, the Shmittah means that agricultural crops may be neither planted nor harvested. Only what the land yields on its own may be eaten. (Leviticus 25:4-6) The word Shmittah means “release.” It derives from a Hebrew root meaning to throw down, remit and let rest. The land Sabbath is one of several biblical mandates concerning the release of property every seventh year. In a tangibly prophetic sense, the Shmittah sab-batical could also be called the Year of Release. The Shmittah re-aligns us at the end of every seven year cycle with the reality the earth and all its fullness is the Lord’s. (Psalm 24:1) By honoring the Shmittah, we are pos-tured for blessing and the exercise of expand-ed dominion over the earth realm in the next seven year cycle.

For various and complex reasons, mod-ern Israel observes the Shmittah to only a minimal degree. (Keep in mind the nation is mostly secular.) Nevertheless, as Israeli land experiences at least a partial Sabbath this year, the Spirit is at the same time inviting

God’s people—you and me—to remember anew His ancient gift of the Sabbath. In the last quarter of the 20th century, much of the international body of Christ stopped observ-ing the Sabbath. Now, decades later, many are resonating to His call to re-engage with this portal to renewal, this unique date with Deity.

W h at e v e r h a p p e N e D to t h e c h r i S t i a N S a B B at h ?

For most of Church history, very high value was attached to the Sabbath. Believers’ widespread disregard of this appointed time did not take place with the inception of the New Covenant; it evolved only recently. As postmodern Western society got busier and busier, so too did many of us postmodern Western Christians. Today, the day of rest often means only a couple of hours at a wor-ship service, followed by lunch with friends, then hasty preparation for the next week’s round of activities. What is the result? For many, life has become its own hard-driving and relentless, multi-taskmaster. Each day offers a steady stream of mounting complex-ities, stresses and strains. Those of us in full-time ministry are far from exempt.

Amid all our activity, contending and striving, the Holy Spirit is renewing vision for the day of rest as an integral dimension of the Divine Romance. Old fears about legalism are being quelled. Instead, a fresh anointing is enduing the Sabbath to mediate the sense of shalom—genuine, deeply settled peace, and wholeness of rest in Jesus—essen-tial for us in the days and years ahead.

t h e r e S t o F c r e at i o NThe Sabbath postures us for blessing

because it attunes us to the rhythm of God’s creation in both earth and heavenly realms:

“By the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing; so on the sev-enth day He rested from all His work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy.” (Genesis 2:2)

The Hebrew for Sabbath “rest” in this

context means only the cessation of work; it does not imply weariness. No doubt God—who was not tired—spent the original Sab-bath day rejoicing resplendently in the work of His creative genius, the expression of His Personality. Hallowed from before human-kind’s fall to sin, this Sabbath was surely a spectacular event, a sanctified moment between Creator at rest with His creation. Every subsequent, biblically ordained day would relate in some respect to redemption from sin. But the Sabbath stands alone, set apart notwithstanding the rebellion of the created. It becomes the first thing in the world ever declared holy, or “set apart,” according to the Hebrew definition of the word. Day Seven—in Hebrew, Yom Shabbat, from which the English word “Sabbath” is derived—is holy because it is uniquely set apart to, and identified with, God. A memo-rial to creation, the day is meant to facilitate renewal of life in Him through the ages.

It stands to reason a seventh day of rest was incorporated into the DNA of all cre-ation when God established and blessed the Sabbath. The anointing He imparted to the day has not expired; it still emanates through the cosmos. Before the law was ever given to Israel, before sin ever infected our world, and under wholly ideal circumstances, a weekly day of rest became part of the divine rhythm of life on spiritual and natural levels. Between God and man made in His image, the Sabbath would thus provide a place in time for unmatched communion and fel-lowship.

a F t e r t h e Fa l lHumanity’s fall into sin, however, soon

changed everything. Not only did we lose ongoing, intimate connection with the Cre-ator, but the whole earth was cursed on our account. As a result of our rebellion, the soil would yield its substance, and we would sus-tain ourselves, by painful toil and the sweat of our brow. (Genesis 3:17-19) No longer would the Sabbath serve solely as a hallowed memorial to creation. It would become a

Israel’sSabbath restG u e S t au t h o r

18 | Jewish Voice Today MAY/JUNE 2008 www.JewishVoiceToday.org

day of much-needed rest to recover from fatigue associated with hard labor.

Many years later, and after God fash-ioned Israel a nation, He took His finger of fire and with it engraved His Word in stone. He included Sabbath sanctification as the fourth of ten holy commandments:

“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you … nor the alien with-in your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but He rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” (Exodus 20:8-11)

The gift of Sabbath rest was taken in the Decalogue to new dimensions. It now included all Gentiles who became part of the Israelite community (“aliens” in passage above). The lover of our souls wanted the seventh day holy and labor-free for them as well. Today, the Sabbath remains as impor-tant to all of God’s people as do the other nine commandments. Never intended as a day of somber restriction, the Sabbath is God’s gift designed to empower us to soar in the freedom of His Spirit.

So supreme is the Sabbath that its dese-cration incurs death: “Anyone who dese-crates it must be put to death...” (Exodus 31:14) To the extent we reject Sabbath rest, something in us dies. Without holy, weekly renewal in God, our minds, emotions and bodies prematurely wear out. Spiritually, we lose essential aspects of His shalom—the peace, wholeness and fullness of life for which Messiah died. I believe we will last longer in this life, and serve the Lord better over the long haul, if we regularly engage, in the right spirit, with His sanctified, seventh day rest.

m e S S i a h , o u r S a B B at h r e S tBy His crucifixion and resurrection,

Jesus did not abolish the Sabbath but instead fulfills it. (Matthew 5:17) In simple terms,

He fills the Sabbath full of Himself. He becomes our Sabbath rest. In Him, a realm of seventh day rest is opened to us in the other six. “There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God,” and we are encouraged to “make every effort to enter that rest.” (Hebrews 4:9, 11) We enter through faith, believing God will provide what we need to serve Him (from paying bills to fulfilling the Great Commission) in just six days out of seven.

Sometimes we forget the Lord and His disciples consistently remembered the Sab-bath and kept it holy. At no time did they ever desecrate the day according to the Scrip-tural commands. Neither the King Himself nor any of the New Covenant authors ever taught believers to abandon the seventh day. What they denounced pertaining to the Sab-bath were only those man-made traditions that undermined the spirit of intimate rest and renewal with the Creator—but not observation of the day itself.

In this increasingly turbulent age, stress-es and strains will escalate like labor pains as we approach the hour of Messiah’s return. But no matter what, even in coming days of trouble, you and I are afforded a protective and empowering shalom in Jesus. (Habba-kuk 3:16, KJV) We must learn to make His shalom our permanent abode. Over the past 15 years, many believers all over the globe have experienced powerful encounters with the Holy Spirit, resulting in a supernatural “resting in the Spirit.” One message of all this “carpet time,” or “falling down under the power,” was a call to return to the divine rhythm of Sabbath rest. Sabbath rest blesses God with our uninterrupted, intimate fel-lowship and worship. It prepares us for king-

dom battle and building ahead. It is a form of spiritual warfare and living intercession.

Most believers today who keep the Sab-bath do so on the first rather than seventh day of the week. This tradition is based on decisions by early Church authorities to dis-associate from Judaism. Tradition notwith-standing, the question is whether the Creator will meet you if you choose to lovingly dedi-cate Sunday (or any other day) to worship and intimately abide in His rest. I am certain He is gracious enough to do just that, abun-dantly lavishing you with His loving sha-lom.

In coming years, we will find the mani-fest reality of Shabbat ushers in a dimension of the kingdom of God with all the com-bined nuances of Day Seven—completion, wholeness, and total restoration. Sabbath rest in Messiah will mediate and extend His kingdom rule in the earth in a prophetic convergence with time. As we enter into Sab-bath’s rhythm, supernatural and natural realms will be transformed, the Spirit and the bride together saying, “Come!” With a New Year passing over us this month, why not give the Sabbath a try?

SANDRA tEplINSKy The above article is an excerpt adapted from Sandra Teplinsky's new book: Israel's Anointing (released September, 2008, published by Chosen Books). For her current book: Why Care about Israel? ©2004 Chosen Books, see page 23 for details or visit our webstore at jewishvoicetoday.org.

Sandra Teplinsky and her husband Kerry, both Messianic Jews, are Co-Founders/ Directors of Light of Zion, a ministry teaching the Church about Israel and her Jewish roots, with intercessory and evangelistic outreach to the Jewish People.

Never intended as a day of somber restriction, the Sabbath is God’s gift designed to empower us to soar in the freedom of His Spirit.

MAY/JUNE 2008 Jewish Voice Today | 19www.JewishVoiceToday.org

T h e K i n g ’ s C o l l e g e a n d s e m i n a r y

The King’s Messianic Jewish Studies Program3-year Master of Divinity 2-year Master of Messianic Jewish Studies

Bachelor’s Degree with a Messianic Jewish Studies ConcentrationO n l i n e C O u r s e s lO w A u d i t F e e F i n A n C i A l A i d

Sample of 2008 Courses Dr. Raymond GannonThe new program is directed byDr. Ray Gannon. (Ph.D. from Hebrew University in Jerusalem)Luke to Luther: Church History in Messianic Perspective

Dr. Michael L. BrownMessianic Prophecy and Messianic Apologetics

Dr. David RudolphPaul and the Rabbis: Romans & Galatians

Rabbi Jonathan BernisReaching All Israel with “Yeshua”

Dr. Daniel JusterThe Divine Perspective – God’s Revelation in Scripture

Contact: Dr. Raymond Gannon, Director of Messianic Jewish Studies

Office: 417.886.7622 Cell: 417.818.2484 E-Mail: RayGannon@allisrael2020.org

Or Admissions at The King’s: 818.779.8040 E-Mail: admissions@kingsseminary.edu*Call or Write for Full Course Schedule Today!

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Summer 2008 CoursesDr. GannonThe Shifting Charismatic Romance with IsraelJewish Cultural HistoryDr. BrownThe Oral Law – Rabbinical Guide for Survival

If you are a leader or elder in a Messianic Congregation or know someone who is, these seminars are for you! Register today. Space is limited! Email or call for more information: rcohen@jewishvoice.org or 602-971-8501.

Messianic Jewish Leadership seMinarsMlS 1: van Nuys, CA with Dr. jack hayford, May 19-23mlS 1 is the chance of a lifetime to glean from one of the world’s most prominent and prestigious pastors and leaders in the body of messiah. the week with Dr. hayford is sure to refresh and inspire you while furthering your calling as a messianic leader.

Cost: $595 per personincludes all training sessions, retreat materials and 2 meals daily MlS 2: Branson, Mo

with Dr. Ray Gannon, Sept. 8-12 mlS 2 is a time to be nourished and renewed by Dr. ray Gannon, an excellent

and established teacher of the Word and the head of Jvmi’s Jewish Studies program. it’s also a great opportunity to bring your entire family on a wonderful vacation.

evenings will be free to explore and enjoy the family friendly entertainment of Branson, mo.

Cost: $595 per personincludes all training sessions, retreat

materials and lunch daily

“My time at the leadership conference was more than time well spent. First of all, what can be said about the privilege of spending many hours each day sitting at the feet of someone like Pastor Jack Hayford? What a rare opportunity to be ‘up close and personal’ with a man of his character, influence and integrity. I applaud Jonathan for his foresight to create such an opportunity and his love to offer it to all of us!”- Paul Wilbur, Wilbur Ministries

Make it a family vacation with fun things to doin and around both Seminar locations!

20 | Jewish Voice Today MAY/JUNE 2008 www.JewishVoiceToday.org

B i l l’S S t e Wa r D S h i p co r N e r

As I sit down to write this month’s Stewardship Corner from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, I am overwhelmed. Overwhelmed with gratitude for the group of selfless doctors, nurses, dentists, opticians, opthalmologists, surgeons, physician assistants, prayer warriors, and other logistical support workers who have literally poured out their lives to serve the people of the Beit Avraham and Beit Israel communities here in Ethiopia. Many not only paid their own way, enduring a grueling 16 hour flight from Washington, Dulles airport, but they also brought medicine, clothing, and medical equipment of their own to help meet the desperate medical needs of the people of these two forgotten Jewish communities.

For the last week, I have seen them labor, sometimes under almost impossible conditions, to touch the lives of so many who have nowhere else to turn for help. One of our eye doctors even volunteered to examine the eyes of the staff at our hotel after returning from an exhausting day at the clinic. I have never experienced such a selfless caring group of individuals in my

life. And, I am humbled. I am overwhelmed by the generosity of

our Jewish Voice partners who have supplied hundreds of thousands of dollars for this medical/humanitarian outreach and the new permanent medical facility now being equipped to meet the medical needs of a desperately poor community. Each time we have announced another outreach, you have given, sometimes sacrificially, to put the needs of others above yours. And I am humbled.

And quite honestly, I am overwhelmed by the poverty and need I see all around me in a nation that is 169 out of 177 on the UN’s poverty scale. Everywhere I look in this proud country I see hopeless people just trying to survive another day. They come to our clinic with conditions that in many cases only require a simple anti-biotic or other basic medicine to cure; yet they are too poor to even pay a few pennies for treatment. Children dying from dysentery or other waterborne diseases, simply because there is no clean water. When was the last time you heard of someone dying from tooth decay in North

America? It happens here all the time. And then I think of all of the blessings God has given me, and I am humbled.

This last week has been a very difficult one for me, personally. As one who has written numerous times in this column about the excess stuff I have in my life, of the need to simplify, I realize that I still have a long way to go. Oh, I am not naive enough to think that I can cure the poverty I see here in Ethiopia. But I think I can try harder to live more simply, so that I can give more to those with so little. No, I know I can. Can you?

Overwhelming Stewardship

For information on annuities, wills, gifts of stock, etc., please contact Bill mustard at: 602-971-8501 or email: bmustard@jvmi.org.

By Bill Mustard

MAY/JUNE 2008 Jewish Voice Today | 21www.JewishVoiceToday.org

Join us as we reach out to the Lost Tribe of Menashe in Mizoram, India.

Doctors, Dentists, Opthalmologists and those with a heart for missions

work, join us for this life changing outreachfor the Jewish People of India!

For more information visit our website at: jewishvoicetoday.org

or call 602-971-8501 and ask for the Events Department.

India Medical OutreachOctober 2008

h e a D q ua r t e r S r e p o r t

As we anticipate the return of our Messiah, the interest in the State of Israel and the “End-Times” continue to increase. Questions regarding these themes are what brought people out

to the “Mystery of Israel and the Church” conference, held at Church for the Nations in Phoenix, Arizona on Saturday, March 8th. With many Jewish Voice volunteers working tirelessly, making sure things ran smoothly, the day began with a feeling of anticipation for what God would reveal about His plan for Israel and His plan for every believer.

Approximately 250 people from around the city of Phoenix attended; but despite the small numbers, the offering brought in over $21,500 for the Ethiopia Medical Outreach!

The day’s events began with a shofar call and then the worship team from Church for the Nations led the attendees in vibrant praise and worship.

Emcee for the day was JVMI’s very own Dennis Phillips, who has been with Jewish Voice since its beginning 41 years ago. “My job as emcee gives me the opportunity to warm everyone up and get them ready to receive from the outstanding speakers we always have each conference.”

Jonathan Bernis began the teaching sessions, giving his personal story and listing events that prove we are living in the last days.

The second speaker was Don Finto, a dynamic teacher on the Jewish Roots of Christianity. His knowledge of Jewish history and his love for the Jewish community were quite evident as he shared his personal testimonies and experiences with God’s Chosen People.

The Mysteryof Israel & the Church Conferencephoenix, arizona

After a lunch break, Dr. Michael Maiden, the senior pastor of Church for the Nations, spoke candidly about the current political state of Israel and he cautioned America not to touch “the apple of God’s eye.”

After Dr. Maiden finished his teaching, he sat down at the piano and was joined by a group of young musicians, with whom he sang a prophetic song he wrote as a teenager about the Lord’s protection of Israel. People danced and praised God, lifting up prayers and intercession for the nation of Israel and His Chosen Ones. Events Director, Ronna Cohen said, “As a musician myself I really enjoyed how Dr. Maiden incorporated worship music in his teaching — it was

very powerful and refreshing!”

The fourth speaker was John Dawson, founder/director of Youth With A Mission (YWAM). He spoke on World Missions and expounded on the Biblical truths of the

nature and character of Jesus.

Jonathan Bernis wrapped up the conference by continuing his teaching on the examples of last-days prophecies that are coming to pass right before our eyes.

The CFTN worship team came back to finalize the day with an

atmosphere of praise. Many people who wanted prayer were invited down to the front to pray with Jonathan Bernis, Dr. Michael Maiden or Ronna Cohen.

It was a day that won’t quickly be forgotten. The Spirit of the Lord was present to guide those who were hungry to learn more of Him and His plans for the Church during these critical times on the earth.

If you missed out on this conference, or to find out when our next Mystery Conference will be held, please contact: rcohen@jewishvoice.org or 602-971-8501.

p h oto S : J e N N i F e r c a r r e l l

The day began with a feeling of anticipation for what God would reveal about His plan for Israel and His plan for every believer... the Spirit of the Lord was present to guide those who were hungry to learn more of Him and His plans for the Church during these critical times on the earth.

Clockwise from top left: Speakers Jonathan Bernis and Don Finto teaching the Church, Dr. Michael Maiden and Church for the Nations Worship Team leading in song.

22 | Jewish Voice Today MAY/JUNE 2008 www.JewishVoiceToday.org

The Dangerous lieof replacement Theology CD Messianic Rabbi Jonathan Bernis exposes the diabolical lies of the doctrine called Replacement Theology. CD OrDer #8060CD | $5.00*

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the major objections brought against the Messiahship of Jesus, demonstrating from the Scriptures that He is the promised Redeemer of the Jewish people and the Savior of the world.This offer includes What Do Jewish People Think About Jesus book and Feasts of Israel CD by Jonathan Bernis As Seen On Jewish Voice with Jonathan BernisOrDer # 1977 | $250.00 | SHIPPING INCluDeD

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MAY/JUNE 2008 Jewish Voice Today | 23www.JewishVoiceToday.org

P RO P H E T I C C E L E B R AT I O N TO U RIsra l 2008

November 29 – December 10, 2008

$3,299.00 Includes: R/T airfare from JFK to Tel Aviv, Israel; 4-5 Star Hotel accommoda-tions; 2 meals/day; ground transporta-tion. (An additional $150 will be collect-ed for tips and tour guide costs.)

SITES WILL INCLUDE:Y Jaffa Y Tel AvivY Haifa Y Mt. CarmelY Caesarea Y JerusalemY Sea of Galilee & RegionY Jordan Valley & Region

FOR A FREE BROCHURE:Call: 602-971-8501

Write to: Jewish Voice Ministries International, ATTN: Events Dept.,P.O. Box 81439, Phoenix, AZ 85069-1439

Also, visit our website for information and email: www.jewishvoicetoday.org then click “events.”

Please join me and my wife, Elisangela, for the tour of a lifetime! Experience the Land

of Israel, the Land of our forefathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob — the Land of our Messiah! The sites, sounds, and the people of this unique Land forever transform all who visit. See where biblical history was made and all prophecy is yet to be fulfilled. Let the Bible come alive before your very eyes! Believe me, once you experience first-hand the Land of Israel, you will never be the same!

Jonathan BernisExecutive Director Jewish Voice Ministries International