Y'shua | יֵשׁוּעַ

... a light for the revelation of the Gentiles.

                                   And a glory to your people Israel.

                                Isaiah 49:6 CJB| Luke 2:32 AENT

 

SHIM'ON שִׁמְעוֹן SIMEON

 

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"Prepare Nothing!"

Meeting with the Rabbi (22 December 2011)

 

     …and remember, I wrote a paper about Isaiah 53 proving that Jesus is not the messiah! With that challenge on Tuesday night the Rabbi and I agreed to meet in public Thursday morning for one hour at the coffee shop on Main Street. The next morning, Wednesday, 5:00 am prayer went on and on …and on(!) as I prayed asking for direction and what to do. By noon I still had no idea, and then somewhere around 1:00 pm I heard

–The-VOICE-

 

“Prepare Nothing!”

 

What!? Nothing!? Prepare ---nothing? I was in shock. The Rabbi has issued a direct challenge and I am to prepare nothing? Are you serious!? In 38 years as a financial planner this is just totally counter to my training! Routinely I used to spend two, three or four hours creating one financial plan. Never! Never would I consider appearing totally unprepared for an appointment of this magnitude. Surely there is something I can do to prepare for an Isaiah 53 “showdown”. Yet, in the end that is what I did. Nothing!

 

     Thursday morning arrived far too quickly. Prayer and then off we go. Nine am, coffee in hand we settled into the soft chairs and forget Isaiah 53, the Rabbi immediately lit into me personally. He was immediately into a blistering attack on five fronts: 1. Messianic Judaism is not Judaism. It is nothing. 2. Since I am Jewish through my Father I am "just" a "Jewish Cousin" and not really Jewish. 3."Jesus" is not the Messiah. 4. He refuses to use the word "Y’shua". 5."Have you considered Judaism without Jesus?" In other words convert to Orthodox.

 

     For an entire 45 minutes the Rabbi went on and on hammering his points while an audience of about 20 people gathered in a circle listening. Meanwhile I am completely blank, (blank!) praying for direction to know what to say …and not quite panicked but close! On top of that, I’m only going to get 15 minutes; not quite fair, but since I had not figured out what to say…

 

     With fifteen minutes left, I felt a rush and my brain just filled with information. It was as if I was looking at the blue prints for a brand new house. I could see all the parts and pieces in the drawing and how they fit together. Also at that very second I remembered the face of the Orthodox Jew who told me, in the Orthodox Shul, that he also was a Christian. Why would he tell me that? Other people came in the room and I never had the chance to talk to him again and never saw him again. Confidence surged through me as I realized that all I was to say lay right there in the “blue prints” in my head! I was to go in a completely different direction and not enter a debate. Shalom flowed through me!

 

     As the crowd pushed in to hear, I asked the Rabbi a very lame sounding question: “Do you remember the story of Joseph?” He responded with an incredulous “Of course!” Then the words just came out, pronounced as if speaking a statement from the bench:

 

1. Just like Pharaoh’s heart was hardened so that we escaped Egypt. B’nai Ya’akov’s heart was hardened so that the salvation of Jewish Yeshua could go also to Gentiles.

 

2.  G-d is removing the blinders and hardness from B’nai Ya’akov’s heart.

 

3.  Joseph was not recognized by his Brothers because of all the Egyptian “face paint”. Just so Y’shua has not been recognized by His brothers, B’nai Ya’akov, because of all the "face paint" that "The Church" has placed on Y’shua, creating “Jesus”.

 

4.  The Messianic Jewish Movement (Which IS Jewish) is taking the face paint off “Jesus” so that His Brothers, B’nai Ya’akov and all peoples, can recognize their Mashiyach Y’shua.

 

5.  Remembering the “Christian” in his Orthodox Shul; I looked straight at the Rabbi and said boldly:

 

6.  RABBI, THE BLINDERS ARE COMING OFF OF, EVEN MEMBERS OF YOUR OWN CONGREGATION.

 

7.  With raised voice I boldly said: “RABBI, THE TIME IS NOW!”

 

 

      Because of the “blue prints” in my head, all of the above took less than two minutes to say. The Rabbi looked at me with a completely astonished set of eyes. It’s as if he could find nothing to say. After 45 minutes of non-stop haranguing, he sat there silent for about one minute. Abruptly, his only response was: “I have to go!” With ten minutes left and my turn to talk; ---he quickly walked out the door. The crowd evaporated as I watched the Rabbi walk to his car and drive away. I too was still in shock at the words that had come out of my mouth.

 

     Even into the next week I was praying to fully understand what had happened. A full week later on my walk-n-pray, walking North on Cleveland Avenue I stopped cold watching the traffic and realized what had happened. When I got back to my room, I pulled out my Bible and was comforted with Shalom beyond understanding as I read the words:

12. But before these things, they will lay hands on you and persecute you. And they will deliver you to the assemblies and the prisons. And they will bring you before kings and governors because of my name.

13. But it will be to you for a testimony.

14. But place it in your hearts that you should NOT try to learn how to answer.

15. For I will give you a mouth and wisdom so that all your enemies will not be able to stand against it.

 

© 2014 - 2018 Edward Karl Schenk.  All rights reserved.

Shim’on | שִׁמְעוֹן | Simeon

 

In all things..bad or good----Praise YAH!

Netzari Jewish, Walking "The Way" of Y’shua (יֵשׁוּעַ)

Isaiah 11; Acts 24:5,14-15; John 14:6

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