Finding Jesus in Numbers: The Call Home

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Finding Jesus in Numbers: The Call Home
By Nathan Jones

In the first segment of this series, we began to see if Jesus Christ can be found in the book of Numbers by focusing on God’s holy priesthood and various symbolic imagery. We were joined by our Christ in Prophecy television program guest, Avi Mizrachi, who is the pastor of Adonai Roi in Tel Aviv and the founder of Dugit Outreach Ministries. In this segment, Avi will share his testimony about how a Jew found Jesus as his Messiah.

Avi’s Testimony​


Tim Moore: Avi, please share with us how you were called by God to serve in essence as a priest, meaning a minister to believers in Yeshua (Jesus) there in Israel. Begin with how you came to know Jesus Christ as your great God and Savior and then get into how you come to understand the calling He had placed on your life to serve in such a role.

Avi Mizrachi: Well, it is only by the grace of God. To make a long story short, I was born and raised in a Jewish family in Tel Aviv, Israel. My parents had survived the Holocaust and left Europe in 1948. Once I finished high school I joined the Army and served in the Israeli Air Force for four years. After I had finished my duty to my country, I then lost myself to sin and the world.

I decided 35 years ago to come and explore America. I wanted to go to Las Vegas and gamble and become rich and all of that nonsense. Maybe I wasn’t a professional gambler, but I was definitely a gambler.

On my way to Las Vegas I stopped by to visit my married sister in Florida. I didn’t know she was a believer. She invited me to go to church. Well, my first reaction was, “Wait a minute! We are Jews. What’s wrong with you? Jews don’t go to church. Don’t you know that? What is going on here?” She challenged me to go in a very loving way, saying I would enjoy the music and getting to know all of the single people.” So, I acquiesced saying, “I’ll go check it out.”

When I finally got to church I remember being shocked because as a Jew when you talk about going to a church I’m thinking of a monastery. It’s going to be dark. There’s going to be monks and nuns and a statue of the Virgin Mary and statues of all of the saints which I will have to bow down to. As a Jew, I thought that is what Christians do, they bow down and worship idols. So, I was in shock to come to an Evangelical church and see their style of worship.

Watching those Evangelical Christians worshiping the Lord provoked me to jealousy. Something happened in my heart, and I wanted to cry. I know now it was the conviction by the power of the Holy Spirit.

When I at last repented and accepted Jesus into my heart, I realized that He was my Messiah. Yeshua is not somebody who came from Rome; He is Jewish! He was born in our country and was raised in Galilee in Nazareth. He was a great prophet, a great teacher, and as a miraculous healer, He had even raised Lazarus from the dead. Jesus is the anointed One — the Messiah.

Jesus changed my life and turned me around. That became my message once I returned to Israel and talked to other Israelis. I tell them, “Wait a minute! How did we miss this? Yeshua is our Messiah.” Israelis respond automatically like, “Wait a minute! We thought that Jesus started a new religion in Rome.” So, that is why it is so important for us to explain and share the Jewishness of the Messiah to reach the Jews, for He is one of us.

The Call Home​


Nathan Jones: Back when I lived in Philadelphia, it seemed like every third person I met was Jewish. So, I had a lot of Jewish friends. Speaking of the book of Numbers, how interesting that today there are about 14 million Jews spread out across the world. Half of them now live in Israel, right? (I think the other half live in Philadelphia.) The number of Jews making aliyah to Israel continues to grow?

Avi Mizrachi: Yes, indeed.

Nathan Jones: I also remember when Lamb & Lion Ministries came out to visit you in Tel Aviv maybe ten years ago, our founder, Dr. David Reagan, asked you, “Where do you see Israel in the next 20 years? Will it survive?” Now that it is ten years later, how would you answer that question? What are some of the major challenges that Israel is facing? And, what are some of the blessings that you see Israel is receiving?

Avi Mizrachi: Let’s share some statistics. When Israel declared independence in 1948, there were about 600,000 Jews, say about half a million Jews, living in the land. When Israel declared independence, all of our neighbors declared war. Millions of hostile Arabs cried out, “We are going to kill the Jews and throw them into the sea.” But, they forgot something very important — they forgot God. My Bible says, “He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.”

After the war was over, Jewish refugees poured in from all over the world. They came from Europe and out of many other countries so that within a couple of years the population of Israel had doubled. Can you imagine the problems this would cause if the same thing happened here in America? And, every year, Jews are still coming back home. In fact, right now, even during the coronavirus pandemic that has been going on for the last year and a half or so, Israel has had an increase of 30% more Jews coming back home. In other words, more and more Jews have made aliyah in the last year — from America, Russia, France, South Africa, and Latin America. Even during a time of crisis, more and more Jews are still making aliyah to Israel.

Nathan Jones: That is all in fulfillment of Ezekiel 36 and 37, right?

Avi Mizrachi: Exactly! We are seeing the Scriptures being fulfilled in our days. Now there are more Jews living in Israel today than in the rest of the world.

Nathan Jones: That would make for a tremendous challenge then to try to integrate all of those people into housing, jobs, schools, and needs like that?

Avi Mizrachi: And, coming from different countries, so there are different languages to contend with. Many of the immigrants have to learn Hebrew. So, there are many challenges that Israel is facing.

Tim Moore: Increasingly today, Jews are streaming into Israel, and many of them cannot even explain their motivation. God is calling His Jewish children home. So, there is also great blessings!

In the fourth and final segment of this series on finding Jesus Christ in the book of Numbers, Avi will explain what application the book has for us today.

https://www.raptureforums.com/bible-study/finding-jesus-in-numbers-the-call-home/
 
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