Sid Roth: The Harvest is Ripe in Israel
Why are Christians not leading Jewish people to Jesus?
Many believers have been misled by a spirit of deception. They have been told that a Jew who follows the old covenant is accepted by God without Jesus—so why witness to them?
Paul gives the definitive answer in Acts 4:12, “There is no salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
Most Jewish people have been deceived as well. From childhood we are told or it is implied that we cannot believe in Jesus and remain Jewish. We are told this by the Jewish community as well as the church.
Even a Jewish atheist has a desire to remain Jewish. Why? When we Jewish people were scattered to the four corners of the earth and eventually persecuted by our chosen nation of refuge as the Bible predicted in Deuteronomy 28, God had to devise a plan for those who survived.
God put His entire reputation on the line when He guaranteed that as long as there were waves, sun, moon and stars, there would be Jewish people on the earth (Jer. 31:35-36). The Jewish people lost their country, their temple and were murdered or had to flee for their lives for nearly 2,000 years. Any Jews who survived all of this should have assimilated into other religions long ago.
What is the secret of how God kept us as a distinct people? He put an instinct within us that says, “I was born a Jew and I will die a Jew.” The majority of Jews—even a secular Jew who never sets foot in a synagogue—still identify as being a Jew.
So when a well-meaning Christian says, “You must convert to Christianity,” what a Jew hears is: “You must stop being Jewish.” This goes against our God-given instinct for Jewish survival.
The word “Christian” means “one of the Messiah’s.” By that definition, I am a Christian. But by Christian and Jewish usage it has come to mean “no longer Jewish.” I cannot go against my God-given instinct. Instead, I refer to myself as a Jewish believer in Jesus as Messiah.
Why was it so important to God that the Jews remain a distinct people? We know the Jewish people were chosen to evangelize the Gentiles and did a great job at the first coming of Jesus. But the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. And God has chosen the Jewish people to evangelize the Gentiles just before Messiah’s return.
When will this happen? At the “fullness of the Gentiles.”
The ‘Fullness of the Gentiles’
Every Gentile believer must understand the term, “the fullness of the Gentiles.” As a new believer in Jesus, I was taught this referred to the time when all the Gentiles who were going to be saved had been saved and then God would bring about the salvation of Israel. But that never made sense to me because, even during the Tribulation, both Jews and Gentiles will be saved.
Then God showed me clearly the meaning of “the fullness of the Gentiles.” As I studied the Bible, I found clues to know when this would take place. Luke 21:24 says, “They (the Jewish people) will fall by the edge of the sword and will be led away captive to all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.” On June 7, 1967, Jerusalem was once again in Jewish possession! But God said we must look for one more thing.
In Romans 11:25-26, Paul writes, “For a partial hardening has come upon Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved … .” The key to this mystery is found in two places in these verses. First, Israel would be judicially blinded to the gospel in part. In other words, a remnant of Israel would be saved, but most would be blinded until this judgment was over.
How can we know when the judgment of blindness is over? The obvious answer is when we see large numbers of Jewish people turning to Jesus. We see this happen in our recent outreaches in Israel! But why now and not in 1967?
The second part of the answer is found in the meaning of the Greek word for “fullness.” It can be translated “maturity.” In other words, when the Gentile believers are mature in their biblical understanding of the Jew, Israel and the supernatural, Jews will be saved in larger numbers until “all Israel will be saved” (Rom. 11:26). The call of the Gentile is to evangelize the Jew. Paul states in Romans 11:11, “I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid! But through their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles—to make them jealous.”
I feel like a type of John the Baptist crying in the wilderness that the judicial judgment for the sin of spiritual blindness is over, and it’s time for the Jew to come home—home to Israel and home to God.
Isaiah 40:2 says, “Speak kindly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare has ended, that her iniquity has been pardoned, that she has received of the hand of the Lord double for all her sins.”
No Longer Future but Now!
The spiritual blindness judgment is over! We Jewish people are now open to the gospel for the first time in almost 2,000 years. But Paul nails the problem in Romans 10:14, when he says: “How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?”
Until the spiritual judgment ended, the best a Christian could do was have “Bless Israel” meetings without evangelism, give toward the return of Jews to Israel or supply humanitarian aid. And God knows we still need all of these.
But I want to shout it from the rooftops—the spiritual scales are off, the curse is over, and Jewish people are now open to the gospel! But even though we are ready to receive the Lord, our minds are still programmed with the lie that says, “You can’t be Jewish and believe in Jesus.” The only way to do a “mind bypass” around our intellectual arguments is through a demonstration of signs and wonders. As Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 1:22, “For Jews request a sign.”
Last year, I led an evangelistic meeting in Jerusalem I called a “Lecture on the Supernatural.” I promised that many who attended would be healed in their seats. The auditorium was jam-packed with 550 unsaved Jews. Many were instantly healed, and the majority stood up and prayed a prayer of salvation. This year I went back and held another outreach with 650 unsaved Jews in attendance. A total of 98 percent boldly stood up and prayed with me to receive Jesus as Messiah!
I have done these lectures all over the world, including Brazil, Germany, the United States and the former Soviet Union, with similar results. Why? Because I approach the Jew the biblical way, not with wisdom and clever words of men, but like Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2:4-5, “And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.”
Just like Paul, when I demonstrate God’s kingdom through signs and wonders, I earn the right to present the King! When people are instantly healed, it is as if the spiritual scales come off and they are open to the gospel.
The Law of Evangelism
As we reach out to the Jewish people with the Good News, we activate what I call the “Law of Evangelism.” When God called the first Jew, Abraham, it was with a heart to reach the rest of the world—the Gentiles. When Jesus wanted to reach the whole world, He said He went only (or went first) to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
Again, this was a spiritual seed to reach the whole world. When Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, wanted to reach his prize, he went to the Jew first (Rom. 1:16). “To the Jew first” is not just God’s historical order for evangelism. It is His spiritual order, and it produces supernatural results.
My desire is to evangelize all people. When I go to the Jew first, I supernaturally reach more Gentiles than if I go to the Gentile first. One example is my evangelistic outreach in Kaifeng, China. I learned that Jewish silk traders had settled in Kaifeng centuries ago. Before leading an outreach, I went to Kaifeng to “spy out the land.” I found the remnants of an ancient synagogue as well as a number of Chinese-Jewish descendants and a Jewish museum.
The director of the museum asked me why I wanted to bring a tour group and hold a meeting there. I asked him to open his Jewish Bible to Isaiah 49:12. It read in his Chinese language: “Surely these shall come from afar; Look! Those from the north and the west, and these from the land of Sinim.” But in his Bible it did not say “Sinim.” It said the real meaning of the word: “China.”
Isaiah was saying that in the last days, Jews from China would return to Israel! How did Isaiah know there would be a nation of Israel in the last days? And even more amazing, how did he know there would be such a thing as Chinese Jews? The answer is simple. God dictated the prophecy, and Isaiah was being a good Jewish secretary!
I returned to Kaifeng with a group of believers, and we evangelized the Chinese Jews. I later learned that one of the Kaifeng Jews I led to the Lord immigrated to Israel just as Isaiah prophesied. My visit also triggered the Law of Evangelism. When I went to the Jew first in China, God spread my message about Jesus to that entire city. People actually recognized me on the streets from seeing me on local television. This would never have happened unless I went to the Jew first.
The Law of Evangelism is very important to God. Paul tells us in Romans 11:12, “Now if their (the Jewish people) transgression means riches for the world, and their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fullness mean?” The fullness, or maturity, of the Jews will culminate one day. According to Romans 11:15, “For if their (the Jewish people’s) being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?” As the Jewish people are restored to the body of Messiah, they will restore literal resurrection-from-the-dead power to the church. Get ready to witness the release of creative miracles in large numbers not seen since Bible days!
Better yet, the salvation of the Jewish people will usher in the return of Jesus. In Matthew 23:39, Jesus said to the Jewish people, “For I tell you, you shall not see Me again until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.'”
The restoration of the Jewish people to the body of Messiah will be the catalyst to release the greatest Gentile revival in history. The prophet Amos predicted this. He said that when the tabernacle of David is restored, it would usher in such a great Gentile revival that there would be more fruit than we had laborers to harvest it. What is the tabernacle of David? The word for “tabernacle” in Hebrew means “house” or “family.”
Who is the family of David? The Jewish people! When the Jewish people are restored to God, this is what will happen according to Amos 9:13: “Indeed, the days are coming, says the Lord, when the plowman will overtake the one who is reaping, and the treader of grapes the ones who is sowing the seed … .” And what will be the result of the initial Jewish harvest? God promises in Isaiah 27:6, “Israel shall blossom and bud and shall fill the whole world with fruit.”
It is past time for the “fullness of the Gentiles.” It is the Gentile Christians’ finest hour. I appeal to you as Mordecai appealed to Esther: “For if you remain silent at this time, protection and deliverance for the Jews will be ordained from some other place, but you and your father’s house shall be destroyed. And who knows if you may have attained royal position for such a time as this?” (Esth. 4:14).
The Jewish Express
A friend of mine, Penny Lea, was speaking at a pro-life meeting when she was approached by an elderly German man. He told her about an event that happened when he was a youth in Germany that continued to haunt him. As a child, he would attend church with his family every Sunday. During worship, a train would pass by on the tracks next to the church. As the church members sang, they could hear people on the trains shouting, crying and wailing. These were Jewish people jammed into cattle cars being taken to the gas chambers to be murdered. When the cries became too objectionable and loud, the pastor said, “Sing a little louder!” The young boy was now an elderly man, but the screams were with him every night.
Now I want to tell you about another train. It is called the “Jewish Express.” It will stop in cities all over the world. Why? Because the Jewish people were scattered to the four corners of the earth. Jews are lining up at the “train stations.” They board the train by receiving Jesus as Messiah. The Jewish people waiting to board are increasing, but few are telling them about Jesus. The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.
The Jewish person God has placed in your life is not an accident. You are the one who has that Jewish friend or former classmate. You are the one who knows a Jewish doctor, lawyer, dentist or merchant. You are the one chosen by God to evangelize them.
You may feel like you are not equipped to witness to a Jew. This is why I wrote a booklet I want to give you as a gift on how to reach the Jewish people. I draw on my more than 40 years of experience in Jewish evangelism, and now I want to pour it into you. Please visit sidroth.org/free to get your free copy of The Mystery Law of Evangelism Revealed.
Israel Ablaze for Jesus
I have a vision. I see Israel ablaze for Jesus! I see people going to Israel not just for tours, but to get under the 24/7 cloud of glory. I see many new Jewish believers boarding the Jewish Express train as modern-day Paul the apostles. I see Orthodox rabbis boarding who will be the greatest Bible teachers since Jesus. I see Jewish businessmen boarding the train who will make Christianity the head and not the tail. I see Jewish Hollywood movie stars, producers and directors who will use the entertainment industry to evangelize the world. Can’t you hear the whistle blowing?
The devil knows his time is short. The world is quickly turning anti-Jewish and anti-Israel. Will you “sing a little louder?” Or will you be like Queen Esther and boldly stand up for the Jewish people?
You have been called to the kingdom for such a time as this. Esther (the church), as you rise up to evangelize the Jew, no matter how dark the world gets, the glory of God and the blessings of Abraham will overtake you. Those who give to Jewish humanitarian causes and participate in “Bless Israel” meetings have found this to be true. But if God will bless you for this according to Genesis 12:3, how much more will He bless you for Jewish evangelism at the fullness of the Gentiles?
The only thing we take to heaven is souls! It’s time to be “mature” and enter the great Jewish harvest that will catapult us into the greatest Gentile harvest in history!
“Arise, shine; for your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people; but the Lord will arise over you, and His glory will be seen upon you” (Is. 60:1-2).
Sid Roth has a passion for people to experience the power of God for the purpose of having intimacy with Him. Roth is a pioneer in the convergence of Jews and Gentiles in Messiah Jesus that brings about an explosion of God’s power. His television program, It’s Supernatural!, documents miracles and is viewed internationally.
Sid Roth shows the power of “first to the Jew, then to the Gentile” on The 700 Club at jewfirst.charismamag.com.
