There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek but glory and honour and peace for every one who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek for God shows no partiality. Romans ch:2. vs:9-11.

Almost nothing gives me more joy than to read about a Jewish person who has discovered Jesus Christ as the true Messiah. I was reading the story of sixties pop queen singer Helen Shapiro [pictured above] her long search for inner satisfaction ended in 1987 when she recieved Jesus as her personal Saviour.

My neighbour next door was a jewish lady, a really lovely person. When I got saved I made such a racket jumping up and down, running across my room jumping and clapping and shouting "hooray, hooray Jesus." well my neighbour came running to the door knocking, she was afraid something was happening "are you ok?" she shouted through the door "what's going on in there?" When I opened up she was staggered by the radiance of my face [a radiance I had no control over for several weeks, everywhere I went, this radiance, I tried pressing my cheeks down cos in a way it was embarassing but the next second my face was lit up again in a smile] and all I could say to her "it's true Jesus is truly the Son of God, I just asked Him into my heart." she was amazed and over the weeks ahead I had the joy of sharing with her what was going on with me as it happened, and plenty was happening.

One of the things that surprises Jewish people, and Helen Shapiro shares this in her story, is that Jesus is everywhere pictured in their bible, our old testament, it's not only the psalms and prophets that tell of Him. God promised in the Garden of Eden that He would send a Saviour and He showed what He would be like "the seed of the woman, One who would crush the serpent's head" but at personal cost to Himself for the serpent "would bruise His heel."

It was based upon this prophecy that the blood sacrifice was established the lamb of God which was made the dying substitute for our sins. Abel offered the right sacrifice but Cain offered the works of the flesh.

Jesus is pictured in the story of Isaac and Abraham, even carrying his own woodpile to the sacrifice, Abraham was demonstrating his faith in God's ability to raise the dead for God had made many promises regarding Isaac which neccessitated Isaac being alive.

Then of course there is Joseph, what a picture of Christ he is, God showed him in a dream how that all Isreal would bow to him as Lord but this made his brothers hate him the more and they could not speak peaceably to him and when the opportunity arose they rose up against Joseph and had it not been for Reuben would have slain him. As it was they cast Joseph into a pit and brought his robe dipped in goats blood to Jacob their father and so far as Isreal was concerned at least Joseph was no more.

Three days Joseph was in the pit when a band of merchants found him and brought him into Egypt. But Joseph became Lord in Egypt and by the introduction of the tithe he became saviour of the whole world in a time of famine.

A great cheer went around the world in 1917 among bible believing christians at the Balfour declaration and once again in 1948 when Isreal declared itself a nation once more. We all recognise or should recognise that these events were the fulfilment of ancient prophecies regarding Isreal and herald the hoving into view of the end-times, God has by no means finished His dealings with His ancient people.

There yet will come a time when in a time of acute tribulation "they will look upon Him who they have pierced and mourn for Him as for a firstborn son." Zechariah. ch:12. v. 10.

"Who killed Jesus Christ? was it the Jews? or was it the Romans?" this was one of the many question my dear Jewish neighbour asked me. I did not know what a touchy deal this was. The answer is that neither Jew or Roman was responsible for Christ's death but God only as Peter says in Acts ch:2 v. 23. Jesus was delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God. I don't care who the catholics blamed or who Luther blamed, it has always been so in the bible that the cross was God's plan for when Jesus died on the cross He was bearing away our sins, The Lamb of God Who taketh away the sin of the world. Apart from the Jewish nation there would have been no salvation, no redemption.

This is the debt of gratitude the nations of the world owe to Isreal.

May YOU recieve Him today as your Lord and be blessed.    

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Helen's story. http://www.mannamusic.co.uk/walkingback/walkingback.htm