Jewish leaders increasingly are showing interest in Jesus, according to legendary singer, actor and Christian personality Pat Boone.
He hosted a recent edition of TBN's "Praise the Lord" program, interviewing an American pastor whose recent book on a revered Israeli rabbi has led to what has been dubbed "the Kaduri Revival."
"We do know there are a lot of Christians in Israel," Boone said. "We do know that there's an open examination on the part of Jewish scholars. In fact, there's no question for most Jewish scholars there was a historic Jesus. There was a person who lived in Israel. … There was a real Jesus, and they say he epitomized Judaism.
"Yet, he said, 'I am the Messiah,'" Boone noted.
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Boone's guest on TBN was Florida pastor Carl Gallups, author of "The Rabbi Who Found Messiah: The Story of Yitzhak Kaduri and His Prophecies of The Endtime."
Gallups recounted the remarkable series of events that began when a mysterious note was decrypted.
It was in 2007 when two Israeli news publications, Israel Today and News First Class, reported the most famous rabbi in Israel's modern history, Rabbi Yitzhak Kaduri, had left a cryptic note revealing the name of the long-awaited Messiah before he died at the age of 108.
A year after the rabbi's death, the note was reported to have been verified as authentic by some of Kaduri's closest followers and then placed on Kaduri's website.
The message said, in code, that Messiah's name was Yehoshua, or Jesus.
It shocked the religious world. Shortly thereafter the furor began. The note immediately disappeared from Kaduri's website. The media refused to report further on the matter. The Kaduri family, and several others close to the Kaduri ministry, began to claim that the note was a fabrication.
But Boone said, "Christians and Jews need to get this book."
See what others have found so compelling, in "The Rabbi Who Found Messiah" by Carl Gallups.
Boone, a descendant of the legendary pioneer Daniel Boone, has been a top-selling recording artist, the star of his own hit TV series, a movie star, a Broadway headliner and a best-selling author in a career that has spanned more than half a century. During the classic rock and roll era of the 1950s, he sold more records than any artist except Elvis Presley.
Gallups said: "We're living in prophetic times, and I believe this is great evidence of it. [Kaduri] was 108 when he died, with 300,000 people coming to his funeral, flooding the streets of Jerusalem. He was the most venerated rabbi in modern Israel's history.
"Kaduri was there before Israel became a nation, lived through both world wars and the founding of Israel. He's the equivalent of Billy Graham to the Jews in Israel," said Gallups.
"He was almost the pope to the Jews," added Boone.
Gallups told Boone and the "Praise the Lord" audience: "Before he passed away ... on the evening of Yom Kippur, he said two shocking things: first of all, I have met the Messiah and I know who he is; I will leave his name in a letter to be opened one year after my death.
"The second shocking thing is that the Messiah will come after Ariel Sharon passes away. Just a few weeks after he spoke those words, Sharon had a massive stroke in January of 2006 and went into a coma," said Gallups.
The note was posted a year after Kaduri's death.
"Israel Today ran a story on it, and the note, written in Hebrew, was encrypted – Kaduri was famous for this – and it said, 'He shall lead his people and prove that the word and the law are valid, concerning the letters of his name.'
"When the note was decrypted, it spelled out the Hebrew word for Jesus. Now, when they saw [this] his organization took this note down, because the Orthodox Jewish message is that Jesus is not the Messiah. They destroyed the note, but it still exists due to the screenshot being made."
A book and documentary film were produced by WND, "The Rabbi Who Found Messiah: The Story of Yitzhak Kaduri and His Prophecies of The Endtime," and both have made their way to Israel.
"That's what I want to hear about," said Boone.
Gallups said 11 of Kaduri's students are "born-again Christians" because of the letter and the book and documentary.
Also, Gallups told Boone, an Israel-born Jew – who was once in training to become a rabbi – has used "The Rabbi Who Found Messiah" an evangelistic tool to reach Jews and Muslims in the Holy Land.
Gallups told the TBN audience how Zev Porat, the founder of Messiah of Israel Ministries, was captivated by Gallups' story of Kaduri. Porat said he then received a revelation from the Holy Spirit that he was to minister to non-Christians and help lead them to salvation.
Porat told WND over the summer of 2014: "At the core of Jewish objections is that Yeshua is not for the Jews. Our religion is Judaism, not Christianity. No true Jew would ever believe in Yeshua. The root of this lie originates from Satan and is implanted in the rabbinic laws that even the secular Jews are locked into. To a great extent answering these objections is a matter of correcting misconceptions, as well as getting people to stop and think about the emotional and sometimes irrational nature of what they are saying."
Using "The Rabbi Who Found Messiah" to start conversations on Kaduri and his revelation about the Messiah, Porat said, "It is extremely dangerous in this ultra-Orthodox Jewish community to talk about the Messiah Yeshua."
TBN is the world's largest religious network and America's most watched faith channel. TBN offers 24 hours of commercial-free inspirational programming that appeal to people in a wide variety of Protestant, Catholic and Messianic Jewish denominations.
WND Books released "The Rabbi Who Found Messiah" nationwide last November. On the same day, WND Films released the companion documentary, also featuring Gallups.
Gallups, an author, senior pastor, radio talk show host and former law enforcement officer, used his biblical knowledge and journalistic and investigative skills to explore the matter inside and out. His thorough reporting of the facts of the case leaves people astounded.
"The feedback from people who have read the book and/or seen the movie has been overwhelmingly positive," Gallups said.
"The only negative feedback is from people who falsely assume the conclusions they believe the book may draw," he said. "But, they haven't read it yet. I think most people will be pleasantly and greatly surprised when they read through the book. There are some, however, who would prefer this story not get out to the world."
Chuck Missler, founder of the Christian ministry Koinonia House, says Gallups' book "explodes one of the biggest bombshells of our lifetime."
"The implications of these astonishing declarations from the most venerated ultra-orthodox rabbi in Israel impacts every one of us – not just those of the traditional Jewish faith. This is a must-read for anyone who takes God seriously," he said.
Media interested in interviews with Pastor Carl Gallups should email [email protected].