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3.5 million tourists visited the land of Israel in 2014
15,000 believers in the Land of Israel are Messianic Jews
80% of believers in Israel are Arab
ISRAEL WHAT YOU WON’T HEAR ON THE NEWS by NIC LESMEISTER 04 | Jewish Contributions to America 08 | Two Millennia of Messianic Pretenders VS King Yeshua 10 | SMT: A True Pioneer
for zion’s sake Dr. Wayne Wilks Jr.
“The stories and testimonies featured here would not be possible without you!”
Wayne & Nic in Ethiopia
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ummer brings a fresh and newsy issue of Zealous, and I am eager to share it with you. Our feature article is by Nic Lesmeister called “Israel: What You Won’t Hear on the News.” It is a look at Messianic believers in modern Israel. Nic now bears the title of Executive Vice President of the Messianic Jewish Bible Institute. He and his wife, Tabatha, and daughter, Naomi, have been living in Israel the past nine months as Nic has been attending school at the Hebrew University. We welcome them home in August. In September, Nic will join us full-time in our stateside office in Texas. Please keep them in prayer as they return and adjust. You will also find an interesting article by Dr. Gannon on messianic pretenders over the centuries. My wife Bonnie has a special piece in honor of America’s Independence Day on July 4th titled “Jewish Contribution to America” that you will enjoy. We are also featuring a short biography about Dr. Gerald Gotzen. He has a special love in his heart for Ethiopia
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and has had the opportunity during 48 years of service to influence both royal and political leadership. Recently our MJBI media team filmed his teaching called “The Rising Star of David in Africa” for our online School of Messianic Theology (SMT), for which you may be interested in registering. You will find all the information there. And lastly, don’t forget about our Israel tour scheduled for this fall. Registeration information is on the back page.
ZEALOUS Magazine
Dr. Wayne Wilks Jr. Editor-in-Chief
EDITORIAL Bonnie Saul Wilks Senior Editor
Carol Adams Editor
ART & DESIGN Giuseppe Rispoli
I want to thank you deeply for supporting the MJBI with your generous gifts. The stories and testimonies featured here would not be possible without you! Your partnership is so important in the daily flow of our outreaches and ministries. Zealous Magazine is an occasional glimpse into the nuts and bolts, field work, and testimonies of our students, donors, and workings. Please take a minute to send a gift to us this month with the attached envelope. It will be used prudently and prayerfully as we continue our mandate to reach the lost sheep of the House of Israel.
For Zion’s sake,
Creative Director
Jacob Wallace
Graphics & Layout
PROJECT MANAGEMENT Tara Kieschnick
Managing Editor
COVER “ISRAEL” Designed by:
Jacob Wallace SOCIAL MEDIA
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CONTACT INFORMATION P.O. Box 610105 Dallas, TX 75261
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ISRAEL: Nic Lesmeister
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Jewish Contributions to America B ON N IE SAU L W I LKS
Senior Writer
Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!
Jewish Influence in the New World Jewish people have been involved as early as the discovery of America. As many as seven Jewish men sailed with Columbus; and one important sailor, Rodrigo accompanied LaSalle as he explored Iowa and surveyed
hese words still send shivers down my spine. I became doubly blessed when I discovered that Emma Lazarus, an American Jewish woman, wrote them. As an adult, Emma became concerned about the plight of immigrants to America and dedicated herself to penning essays against the anti-Semites of the day. In her famous sonnet “The New Colossus,” she eloquently expressed a belief in the United States as a haven for the world’s masses. Written in 1883, her poetry was engraved on a
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Many Jewish immigrants have found respite and healing on the shores of The New World as they have entered through Emma Lazarus’ “golden door” of liberty. The Jewish population is more than 6 million, which barely comprises three percent of the populace; yet many have made enormous contributions to American society.
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families arrived at New Amsterdam (New York City) stripped of most of their belongings and unable to pay for their passage to the New World. Thirty years later they Shearith Israel. Jews learned how to make a home in the New World, and they learned the art of trading with the Indians and growing crops. Later they opened businesses that led to great commerce. Both Jewish business men and soldiers in the colonies supported the patriot cause during the American Revolution. One Jewish patriot, Chaim Salomon, gave his wealth to the cause of independence by offering Jefferson and James Madison. His generosity earned him the title “Financier of the Revolution.”
ZealousMag.org
Jewish Influence in Broad and Narrow Places
The Ultimate Jewish Influence
“ T H E ACHIEVEMENTS OF JEWS WHO CAME TO THESE ‘ T EE M I NG S HORE S ’ S HOU LD NE VE R BE F ORG OTTEN.”
Jewish Influence in Film and Acting
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ISRAEL WHAT YOU WON’T HEAR ON THE NEWS by Nic Lesmiester
Executive Vice President
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pproximately 3.5 million tourists visited the land of Israel in 2014. Of these, 53%—or 1.85 million—were Christian tourists according to Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics. What an amazing show of support for Israel from some of its biggest backers–-believers in Jesus! Sadly most of these tourists only visited the ancient stones of the land during their tours, and were never connected to the living stones of modern-day Israel: the Israeli believers in Yeshua. It is estimated that around 160,000 Christians are citizens of Israel, a well-publicized fact since radical Islamists have been pillaging Christians recently in the Middle East. It is also a fact that the safest place for Christians in the Middle East is in the land of Israel. The vast majorities of believers in Israel are Arab (approximately 80%). Somewhere around 15,000 believers in the Land of Israel are Messianic Jews, who worship at over 150 different Messianic congregations. This number is growing, despite challenges in many different aspects of life for Messianic believers here. There are Messianic outreach centers in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Ashdod and Haifa that are actively reaching Jewish Israelis with the good news of Yeshua.
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“…the safest place for Christians in the Middle East is in the land of Israel.” However, this fruitful and important ministry does not come without setbacks and occasional persecution. Many Messianic believers and ministries endure challenges from the UltraOrthodox “anti-missionary” organization Yad L’Achim which attempts to defraud Messianic Jews as not truly Jewish because of their faith in Yeshua as the Jewish Messiah. Despite the challenges, Messianic believers continue to gain prominence inside of Israel, especially in the younger generation. Just this past December, a young and talented Messianic musician gained national attention when she announced, “We believe in Yeshua!” during her televised audition for the wildly popular “American Idol” of Israel talent show HaKochav Haba (“The Next Star”). The spiritual connection between Jew and Gentile also continues to grow and mature in Israel. This past February in Nazareth, the hometown of Jesus, MJBI board member Dr. Dan Juster signed a historic document with Apostle between Jewish and Gentile believers in Jesus. The ancient wounds between Jews and Gentile Christians continue to be healed through humility and forgiveness in the land of Israel. Many new ministries continue to be founded
in Israel to see the unity and advancement of local Messianic believers as well. Israel First Fruits exists to empower the Body of Messiah in Israel, Jew and Arab, economically through business education and entrepreneurship training, to see a new wave of business owners who profess unwavering faith in Yeshua. FIRM (Fellowship of Israel Related Ministries) also recently launched as a new organization that seeks to connect spirit-empowered believers, ministries and organizations to bless and reach the Jewish people with the Gospel of Yeshua, both in Israel and in the diaspora. These statistics and facts really come to life when you live in Israel as my family and I are doing this year. Making lasting connections with local Messianic believers and seeing how the Lord is using them to share the love of Yeshua with their neighbors and friends has been rewarding to watch. I hear their personal stories of how they share the Gospel of Yeshua with their bosses, their colleagues, or other business contacts. For many local Israelis, all they know of Christianity is from what they see from tourists. The powerful testimony of a local Jewish person who has professed faith in Yeshua as Messiah has a lasting effect on other Jews in the land. These are the ancient words of Yeshua coming to life in our modern times: “and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8) The message of forgiveness and hope is restoring Israel to the Father, and the uniting and powerful salvation of Yeshua is bringing true peace to the Land! It is the only “peace agreement” that will work, and it is the one we should all pray most earnestly for: “Pray for the PEACE of Jerusalem” (Psalm 122:6). Z
L-R: Nic, Naomi and Tabitha Lesmiester; Congregation in Israel; Naomi holding map on the shore of Galilee.
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ince Yeshua’s resurrection and ascension in Jerusalem two millennia ago, there have been Jewish messianic pretenders, e.g., false messiahs. The Hebrew Bible offers overt and covert testimony to substantiate Yeshua’s Messiahship. Failure to respond in faith to God’s radiant revelation in Yeshua has led to Jewish vulnerabilities to repeated messianic imposters over the centuries which led to multiplied catastrophes. the Messiah is of critical importance in the Torah. Moses posts a messianic prophecy establishing the absolutely essential nature of Israel following the Godappointed Anointed Leader of Israel, “Adonai your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your midst—from your brothers. To him you must listen,” (Dt. 18:15, TLV). The public anointings of kings, high priests, and even occasional prophets aided national recognition of God’s own selected person to lead Israel into the full
This public anointing occurred for Yeshua at his mikveh (water immersion) when the anointing of God’s Spirit rested upon him and God spoke for all to hear, “You are My Son, whom I love —- with You I am well pleased!”(Luke
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Missing the Brightest Light that ever shined, later rabbinic luminaries could not prevent Jewish masses from following messianic pretenders when political circumstances, periods of anti-Semitism, or natural causes plagued the Jewish world. Invariably, these false messiahs generated widespread but false hopes for an immediate worldwide Jewish return to Zion and the establishment of the Messianic reign in
TWO MILLENNIA of JEWISH PRETENDERS vs KING YESHUA
The outpoured anointing oil upon the chosen head registered to the Jewish masses this very one was God’s deliberately selected agent of blessing for leadership, priestly service, or prophetic word. Group rejection of God’s sole agent for messianic blessing would prevent Israel from enjoying the fullness of blessing God longed to bestow upon His people.
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3:22, TLV). Directly after demonstrating His messianic character in the wilderness, Yeshua openly announced His appointment as the Anointed One in the synagogue in Nazareth (Luke 4). That Messianic Anointing rested heavily upon Him and later was shared with the Messianic (Spirit-anointed) Jewish community (Acts 2).
are documented, we can here offer a brief record of a few. As early as the second century, when Roman
pledged to rebuild the Jerusalem Temple and then reneged, the chemistry was right for an angry Jewish reaction and the rise of Bar Kochba (132-135 AD), who was heralded by Rabbi Akiva as the awaited messiah. Bar Kochba’s highly successful military campaigns against the humiliated Romans ultimately resulted in hundreds of thousands of lost Jewish lives, the loss of Jerusalem to pagan authorities, and the temporary abandonment of messianic aspirations or rabbinic thought for a revived Jewish state. In fact, the Mishnah, the compilation of Oral Law about 200 AD, includes no mention of either messiah or statehood.
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cation of the Messiah is of critical importance in the Torah.
“The day is still coming when “All Israel” shall say, ‘Blessed is He that comes in the Name of the LORD’ to welcome Yeshua to His God-intended Messianic throne in Zion.”
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SCHOOL OF MESSIANIC THEOLOGY SMTEnglish.org
SMT
A True
ioneer P Dr. Gerald Gotzen and his work with SMT
by BONNIE SAUL WILKS / Senior Writer
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r. Gerald Gotzen calls himself a roving missionary, and indeed, he has traveled throughout the Middle East and Africa for the past 48 years bringing the Good News of salvation through Jesus. He is also known for his exceeding love for Israel and the Jewish people.
This British missionary, who is a true pioneer, will tell you that it has been the amazing grace of God that of a prison! Obedience to God has brought him to many places, adventures, and peoples, but it has been Ethiopia that captured his heart.
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“The hungry go to food, the thirsty go to water, but I will go to Jerusalem.” especially during the two famous airlifts called “Moses” and “Solomon” in 1984 and 1991 respectively. It is among on-sight Messianic Bible schools and online courses. to go to Israel. Dr. Gotzen relays this saying among them, “The hungry go to food, the thirsty go to water, but I will go to Jerusalem.”
In the 1960’s, Dr. Gotzen and his wife were invited by the granddaughter of Haile Selassie to run a hotel in Lalibela. This experience opened the doors for them to befriend and religious, for decades.
on-line School of Messianic Theology, The Rising Star of David in Africa. The SMT Amharic is an exciting project, and it has enormous potential in reaching thousands from the Jewish Lost Tribes. The MJBI is committed to providing training and teaching for the advancement of the kingdom.
During the times of Communism, Dr. Gotzen established the Beit Shalom ministry which still meets the practical
To facilitate the SMT Amharic, many things must fall
have a 3,000 year ancient history dating back to King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. Many of them are true believers in Yeshua, and some have immigrated to Israel—
support—we are dependent upon you who love the Jews of Africa to help meet the needs. Thank you for your kind commitment to the MJBI. Z
KI N G’S UN I VER SITY
Messianic Jewish Studies Fall 2015 Course Schedule
UNDERGRADUATE COURSES
Van Nuys Campus
Online Session I—“Israel’s Divine Healer” – Bill Bjoraker
“Introduction to Judaism” Lonnie Bradshaw October 7-10, 2015
Session II—“Sacred Days of the Hebrew Calendar” – Bruce Tucker
Online Session I August 24-October 11
Southlake Campus
Online Session II October 26-December 13
“To the Jew First” Ray Gannon October 7-10, 2015
Visit SMTEnglish.org to begin an online course today!
GRADUATE COURSES Online Only Session I—“Jewish State with a Messianic Jewish Focus” – Stephen Galiley Session II—“Avodah” – Shawn Moir
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