WASHINGTON – An unexpected Christian revival is taking place in Israel, with a Messianic Jewish leader using a Baptist preacher’s book to lead Jews to faith in Jesus as Savior
And now the story that sparked the revival, the story of Rabbi Yitzhak Kaduri and the stunning message he left behind to be opened after his death, is available on iTunes.
The book, “The Rabbi Who Found Messiah: The Story of Yitzhak Kaduri and His Prophecies of The Endtime,” was released in November 2013 by WND Books. A movie was released at the same time.
Shortly after that, Zev Porat, the founder of Messiah of Israel Ministries, was captivated by the story of Kaduri told by Florida Baptist pastor Carl Gallups.
Porat said he then received a revelation from the Holy Spirit that he was to minister to non-Christians and help lead them to faith in Jesus Christ.
Gallups’ book tells the story of one of Israel’s most venerated spiritual leaders, Kaduri, who died at the age of 108 in 2006 and left behind a letter with instructions to open it one year after his death.
In 2007, two Israeli news publications, Israel Today and News First Class, reported Kaduri’s cryptic death note revealed the name of the long-awaited Messiah.
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 the contents were placed on Kaduri’s own website.
The purported Kaduri message proclaimed Messiah’s name was Yehoshua, or Jesus.
It shocked the religious world. Shortly thereafter the furor began. The note disappeared from Kaduri’s website. The media refused to report further on the matter. And the Kaduri family, and several others close to the Kaduri ministry, began to claim that the note was a forgery – a cruel joke.
But to Porat, and all those he has worked to bring to Jesus in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and throughout Israel, the book is a revelation.
“This amazing book is leading people to the written word of God. The Holy Spirit is opening their eyes to the truth of salvation available only through Messiah Yeshua (Jesus),” he said.
“The Rabbi Who Found Messiah” is now available on iTunes.
Porat told WND of a recent opportunity to evangelize using the book’s message.
The book, “The Rabbi Who Found Messiah,” is an amazing endtime evangelistic tool, said Porat.
“I have been preaching the Good News of Messiah Yeshua for many years and have never seen so many people drawn to the Word of God without rabbinic interpretations since this book about Rabbi Kaduri has hit the streets,” he said.
“Just a few days ago, we were in Ashdod, south of Israel, sharing the love of Yeshua and handing out the books and DVDs to the people who asked for them. We ran out the books and DVDs and still people were asking for more. Honestly, we did not expect this to happen! We give all the glory to the King of kings and Lord of lords Yeshua the Messiah. We are small people who serve a big God!
“A Jew named Uzi came up to me and said: ‘I heard you speaking to people about the New Covenant. That is blasphemy. As a Jew, how can you do this?’ I told Uzi, ‘The promise of a New Covenant is in the Jewish Bible! Let’s read together.’ Uzi was still upset and kept saying ‘It’s blasphemy – I won’t read it!’ It was at that moment I felt led by the Holy Spirit to take out the book, ‘The Rabbi Who Found Messiah.’ When Uzi saw the picture of Rabbi Kaduri on the cover, he immediately recognized Kaduri and was drawn like a magnet to the book. This is the same reaction that so many in Israel have to the book. Uzi asked me: ‘What is the book about?’ I said to him, ‘So you know Rabbi Kaduri?’ Uzi replied, ‘He was the greatest rabbi ever. Some say since the time of Moses no one has been greater.’ I then told Uzi, ‘The book is about Rabbi Kaduri’s life and how he met the Messiah of Israel.'”
Porat told WND: “It was amazing that Uzi was so upset at the beginning and refused to read anything in the Bible about the New Covenant, but he was now totally captivated by the book about Rabbi Kaduri. He then wanted to see in the Bible where it talked about a New Covenant. I took him to Jeremiah 31: 31-34.”
Porat said he read the passage to him in Hebrew, which says:
31 “Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord. 33 “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the Lord, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34 They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the Lord, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”
Porat wasn’t done: “I then took Uzi to Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22, again we read the passages in Hebrew. Uzi was overwhelmed. He became speechless. I could see the Holy Spirit of God moving in Uzi’s life. It was a supernatural experience! He went from yelling at me and accusing me of blasphemy and declaring that the concept of the New Covenant was not Jewish – to reading the scriptures and thinking about the reality of the New Covenant and Yeshua as Messiah – and then studying the Word of God with me for hours! Over and over, this is how the Lord is using the book ‘The Rabbi Who Found Messiah’ to lead Jews to the scriptures and then to the gospel – and often to Jesus Christ as Messiah and Lord!”
He continued: “I told Uzi, ‘Rabbi Kaduri believed that Yeshua is the Messiah. If you want to be a completed Jew, this is the only way – through Jesus Christ.’ Uzi replied, ‘This is so much to grasp but why is it that no one knows about it? Tell me.’ I answered, ‘The rabbis don’t want you to see this so they suppress the truth.’ It is amazing how many times this question is asked of me, and how often I have to give this answer. The Jewish people of Israel are astounded, and some of them quite upset, when they learn that the rabbis have kept this amazing information from them.”
Noting the dangers of evangelizing in Israel, Porat said: “We are often threatened, by the people and the rabbis, for taking the gospel of Jesus into the streets of Israel – but also especially for revealing Rabbi Kaduri’s note about Yeshua to the people. If it were not for the book written by Carl Gallups and the movie produced by WND Films, we could not get this message out so powerfully. Now, the people are seeing the truth of this story with their own eyes.”
He continued, detailing the levels of censorship surrounding the revelations of Kaduri in Israel.
“I knew about the story when it actually happened. Rabbinical members of my family knew Rabbi Kaduri personally,” he told WND. “I had been telling people about Kaduri’s revelation – but the rabbis and the press had stopped the story from being public. Now the book and the movie have opened the door to the truth!”
Gallups told WND he continues to be astounded by Porat’s tenacity in using his book as a tool of evangelism in Israel.
“I believe Zev has an amazing anointing upon him. He also has a boldness that is absolutely biblical in nature. He fearlessly takes the good news that Yeshua is savior, Lord, and Messiah into the public market places and streets of Israel. For this, he is subjected to much persecution and reviling. But, he continues on,” said Gallups.
Gallups contined: “But you see, Zev is like the early New Testament Christians! He was an orthodox Jew. His family and lineage comes entirely from orthodox and rabbinical Judaism. Zev was studying to be a rabbi. All of his grandfathers and great-grandfathers were rabbis. They even had connections with Rabbi Kaduri himself. This is why his conversion and preaching is so much more powerful! He is like Peter and John standing before the Sanhedrin in Acts chapter 4 declaring, ‘We can’t help but to speak out in the name of Jesus! We are only declaring what we have seen and heard!'”
As a companion to “The Rabbi Who Found Messiah,” WND Films has released a documentary 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.
