Samuel Srolovic Jacobson was born in Lithuania in a loving Orthodox Jewish home. He received religious instruction throughout his childhood and was observant in all the biblical commandments and Jewish traditions. Sam and his family attended services at their synagogue every week. Eventually the entire family moved to the Holy Land where Sam lived for four years before moving to Zimbabwe for a higher paying job. Now as an adult Sam began to read the Bible for himself for the first time in his life.
He was very familiar with the commandments of what to do and what not to do as well as all the rabbinical traditions and writings, but he did not know the Holy Scriptures. Many Bible texts concerning the Messiah jumped out at him over the months that he read, prayed, and searched. Sam strongly resisted the idea that the Messiah had already come and that it was Y'shua. But the more he read and studied the harder it became to deny it. Among the many texts that stood out in his mind included Daniel 9 (which will be covered in detail later in this book), Haggai 2:9, and Genesis 49:10; all of which indicate that the Messiah would come before the second temple would be destroyed and the last king of Judah would reign.
Many fears assailed Sam as he contemplated accepting Y'shua as his Messiah. Would his family reject him? Was he rejecting them? Will they be angry? Could the rabbi's be wrong? Will I still be Jewish? Will I be a traitor? As strong as those fears were Sam decided to accept what the Bible said regardless of the consequences. When Sam finally accepted Y'shua a peace filled his heart. Several people tried to persuade Sam to reject his faith in the Y'shua as the Messiah. One man even offered Sam free rent for three years if he would give up his faith. But Sam's faith had become very real and precious to him and nothing was worth giving that up for.
When Sam accepted Y'shua he thought he was the only Jewish person in the world who believed like he did until someone put him in contact with Frederick C. Gilbert. Gilbert wrote to Sam saying, "I was born and reared an Orthodox Jew. But how grateful I am to God that He showed me the light of the Messiah, and all through these years what a joy it has been to know that through this Messiah it is our privilege to have assurance that our sins are forgiven." Samuel's life story is recorded in the book "The Quest of a Jew."
Originally from: Jewish Discoveries by Jeff Zaremsky, pages 72-73, which contains a total of 22 fascinating chapters of biblical history and lessons plus 25 rich Jewish tradition sections, and 27 powerful testimonies, with over 40 beautifully rendered professional works of art all on over 300 jam packed pages. You can own this treasure by visiting www.Jewishheritage.net
Picture originally from here
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