June 2021 Newsletter

3 Jews, 3 Muslims, 2 Blessed Encounters:

An Anticipated Visit

My missionary team and I had decided to evangelize at a place I had not been to for a while. This place was called “the Samaritan Village.”

The name of this village is actually Kiryat Luza, the last wholly Samaritan village. Kiryat Luza is on Mount Gerizim near Nablus in the West Bank, and is under joint Israeli and Palestinian control.

Biblically, this area is rich in history. For instance, Jacob’s well is in this region, as well as the city of Shechem, where Abram received a crucial promise from God (Genesis 12:6-7). And Mount Gerizim, of course – along with Mount Ebal – are the two mountains of blessings and cursings, respectively (Deuteronomy 11:29).

As we headed there by car from our base in Jerusalem, we were filled with anticipation at the prospect of the Lord doing great things through our outreach. We were looking not only to share Christ with the Samaritans, but with visitors to the city.

The First Meeting

When we arrived, we looked around for a while before encountering three ultra-religious Jewish men.

We were delighted to discover they were open to speaking with us. However, though open, they were determined to stick to their own views while at the same time regarding our views as pagan. Thankfully, despite their unyielding attitude, they were engaged in the conversation.

I wanted to discuss the Talmud with them. The Talmud is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law. It consists of two books, the Mishnah and the Gemorah. The Mishnah is the written collection of the oral tradition of the Torah (the first 5 books of the Old Testament). The Gemorah is the rabbinical analysis and commentary of the Mishnah.

I specifically wanted to discuss with them the portion of the Mishna which says, “All things are written for the day of Messiah.” I also wanted to discuss the Jewish notion of not one, but two, Messiahs.

The “first” Messiah, according to Jewish thought, is called “Messiah ben (son of) Joseph.” This is the suffering Messiah of Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53. The “second” Messiah is “Messiah ben Judah” – the conquering Messiah who will come and set all things right.

Of course Christians know the Messiah as Jesus, and that He came at two different times of history for two different purposes.

However, as I was trying to get into this discussion, they objected. They said, in essence, “Don’t use our Talmud because you don’t believe in our Talmud.” I replied, “Why not. You believe in this book. Why should I not read it to see what you believe, and use it to show you that we [Christians] believe in some of the same things?”

They replied, “No, you cannot do that.” I told them that their arguments were faulty.

After that, we talked a little more, and the discussion ended pleasantly. However, they would not be convinced by any of my arguments, and they still held to the belief I am a pagan for believing in Yeshua Hamashiach (Hebrew for Jesus Christ), and that they were in the right because they had the oral law which they believe guides them through this dark world.

The Second Meeting

Though the team and I were encouraged that we had the opportunity to speak with these three Jewish men, we were discouraged because we did not have the same opportunity to speak with any Muslims.

As we neared the time when we were going to leave, it didn’t look like as though any such opportunity would arise. However, suddenly, there occurred an outburst of people. A number of Muslims had come from Nablus to purchase alcohol at the various non-Muslim shops in the Samaritan Village.

As they came, we began handing out Bibles saying, “Here, please take this. This is the Holy Scriptures.” We ended distributing about 60 Bibles that day.

And then, the opportunity we were hoping for arose, this time with three young Muslim men – one an atheist, one an agnostic, and one a practicing Muslim. We had an excellent 40-minute conversation as the three were very nice. Despite their beliefs, because they were from a Muslim background, they understood what I was talking about.

We spoke on different topics – God, the Koran, the authority of the Holy Scriptures, and why we need a Messiah. We spoke about the need for someone to mediate between God and man, and how this mediator needed to be eternal. Someone who is not eternal cannot represent us because He is sinful – a mere man just like us.

I explained how our Messiah is not like us; He is not sinful and frail. According to the New Testament, Jesus is the only one who fulfills the prophecies and shows how desperately we needed a mediator between our sinful selves and a Holy God. I also talked about the origin and text of the Koran, and they listened to everything I said.

I left them with a challenge: I said, “I want you to read Koran. Notice how that it consists of two different texts – one used in North Africa, and the other in the rest of the Muslim world. Look at the differences between them. Note how they say different things.”

I then pointed out that because of this, the Koran could not have come from Heaven. By contrast, I explained, our Bible was written by many people from different generations, yet the Bible is united by a central theme. Our Bible was inspired by God. Therefore, though we don’t have the original manuscripts, because the Scriptures are God’s inspired Word, we know we can trust and believe in them.

“This,” I told them, “is how we can trust and believe that Christ Jesus is the Messiah.”

We ended the conversation with me giving them my contact information and asking them to contact me if they wanted to continue the conversation.

Blessed Encounters

We left that day know that the Lord had given us two blessed conversations with two groups of men from completely different backgrounds and belief systems.

Please pray for these six men, that the Lord will open their hearts to see the truth that Jesus Christ is indeed the promised Messiah of the world for not only Jews, and Muslims, but for anyone who would confess Him as Lord and Savior. Pray also for those who accepted the free Bibles we gave them.

Pray, too, that the Lord will give our team many more such blessed encounters, that we may share the truth of a living Savior with a lost and dying world.

Josh Simon

Voice in the wilderness

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