The speaker, a Sephardic Jewish man, shares his personal journey of discovering Jesus as the Messiah. Born into a Jewish family, he was exposed only to the Old Testament in school, not as the word of God, but as a history of people and a source of wisdom literature. After serving in the military, he traveled the world, including Southeast Asia and Holland, where he met enthusiastic young believers in Jesus.
He was shocked to learn that they referred to the entire Bible as one book, and that they were familiar with passages in the Hebrew scriptures that he hadn't encountered before. He decided to read the Hebrew scriptures and discovered that they were the same as the ones he had at home, containing prophecies about the Messiah.
After reading the New Testament, he became convinced that Yeshua is the Messiah. He felt a strong urgency to share this discovery with his family, friends, and neighbors. However, they viewed his belief as strange, and he was even declared sane by a psychiatrist. He eventually found other believers in his community, and he decided to dedicate his life to providing an opportunity for Israeli believers to study the Bible in Hebrew.
1. The speaker is born into a Sephardic Jewish family, with Babylonian Jews on their mother's side and Sephardic Jews from Spain on their father's side.
2. The speaker's mother tries to expose their children to religious practices, including attending synagogue.
3. The Old Testament is studied from 1st grade to 12th grade as part of the curriculum.
4. The speaker initially believes that the Old Testament is studied as the history of people and wisdom literature, but not as the word of God.
5. After military service, the speaker decides to travel the world, initially in Southeast Asia.
6. The speaker is exposed to Hindu and some Buddhist literature during their travels.
7. The speaker ends up in Amsterdam, Holland, where they meet a group of enthusiastic young believers in Jesus.
8. The speaker is surprised to learn that Jesus is considered Jewish.
9. The speaker is introduced to the concept of a "Personal relationship with God", which is unfamiliar to them.
10. The speaker discovers that some of the believers they meet are familiar with passages in the Hebrew scriptures that they were not very well familiar with.
11. The speaker learns that the Hebrew Scriptures are part of the whole Bible, and that they have a Bible at home that they have never seen the New Testament in.
12. The speaker decides to check out the Hebrew scriptures and is surprised to find that they are the same as the ones they have at home.
13. The speaker becomes curious about the New Testament and decides to read it.
14. The speaker is surprised