GARY BERESFORD had no idea that Jesus was also the Jewish Messiah.

Gary Beresford was born in South Africa to a Jewish family. When he married to start his own family, he moved to Zimbabwe. An avid tennis player, one of the first things he and his wife did was join the local Jewish country club.

One day after a game, the club’s tennis pro invited Gary to come over for a meal. Other club members had previously warned Gary that this guy was a “Jesus freak.” Confident in his religious standpoint and on friendly terms with the man, Gary accepted the offer.

At dinner, Gary and his wife were led into a conversation about Jesus as the Messiah foretold by the Jewish prophets. But Gary couldn’t believe in Jesus, the Christian Savior. “I was Jewish! My social circles were all Jewish: the country club, the close-knit Orthodox community, and I was also a member of the Hebrew Order of David,” exclaimed Gary. His wife, too, was heavily involved in the Jewish community. It was unthinkable that they would even consider Yeshua (Jesus) as their personal Saviour.

But the impossible happened. After a couple of weeks of spending some time with this couple, his wife told him that she believed Yeshua was the Messiah. Gary could not accept this. “Was she not aware what had been done to the Jewish people in the name of this Christian messiah?” Gary asked himself.

Out of love for his wife, Gary agreed to do some research into the Jewish Messiah and the signs pointing to Him. “I was reading through Daniel, chapter 9, and came to the verse that said, ‘after 62 weeks the Messiah will be cut off…'” The context of the chapter shows that Daniel is speaking about a time before the destruction of the second temple. No one seems to have fit the bill at that time. Of course, this “Christian Saviour” was around at that time…

Relaxing in a bath one evening, Gary was listening to a cassette tape, an admonishment to Christians and their regard to the Jewish people. The speaker focused on Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) role as a rabbi, and the fact that He was Jewish.

Suddenly, it was obvious to Gary that Yeshua, was the Messiah the Jewish people had been waiting for. He came to faith lying in a bathtub. But his life still did not change. Despite his realization he was rather withdrawn about his new knowledge. “I didn’t understand why everyone was so excited, because Yeshua had been dead for two thousand years.”

After three months, Gary‘s knowledge had grown. “I now had a relationship with God I thought could never exist,” he exclaimed.

Since that time, the concept of the morality of the Torah and of Yeshua being a Torah teacher has changed Gary‘s life. “It has given us a better understanding of being Jewish.…My wife and I practice Judaism with our heart instead of just going through the motions.”

“Jewish people need an easy way to learn the truth about the Messiah, and that’s why I fully support The Messianic Prophecy Bible Project. I believe that one of the big problems today is lack of time. To wade through tons of books and materials is next to impossible.

With the Messianic Prophecy Bible, unsaved people will be able to easily find any and all references to the Messiah in the Tanakh (Old Testament), along with scholarly explanation and how it relates to the overall message of God’s covenant with His people. This Bible will be such a tremendous help for those who are searching for the truth,” said Gary.

Gary Beresford is the Messianic Rabbi of Ohr Yeshua Messianic Synagogue in Florida.

IRVING SALZMAN who went to a Lubavitch Yeshiva found Yeshua.

 Irving Salzman’s father had survived the Holocaust, and was committed to raising “good Jewish boys.” So Irving went to synagogue, attended Hebrew school, and was observant to kashrut (the “kosher” dietary laws) and went to a Lubavitch Yeshiva. He became very active in synagogue life, apprenticing with the local cantor and learned how to be a Torah reader, a position he held for fifteen years.

To meet new friends, Irving was on a chat line one evening, and talking with a born-again Believer. The two told each other about their respective faiths. Every week, this young man would share with Irving the Messianic prophecies from the Hebrew Scriptures.

Irving took all of this with a grain of salt as he trusted the wisdom of the rabbinical interpretations of these prophecies over this born-again Christian’s understanding.…He thought to himself, “Who is this Gentile Christian and what does he know about the Messianic Jewish prophecies?” Irving later found out that his friend spent hours and hours in the Jewish public library researching all the questions that came up in their weekly conversations.

For an entire year the two debated on the phone, but Irving‘s trust was solidly in the rabbinical authority. “Can I read to you from the New Testament?” Irving‘s young friend asked one day. Irving agreed, as he had never heard a word of the New Testament. He was then treated to the entire Sermon on the Mount, when Yeshua (Jesus) spoke the life of faith to the multitudes. “I had not seen anything like this in the rabbinic writing of my youth.

I was overwhelmed by the authority, wisdom, and compassion of Yeshua in the Sermon on the Mount,” said Irving. “Could we have all been wrong?” This was a hard pill to swallow. It would mean that the Jewish people had seen their Messiah and denied Him and for 2,000 years we have all been telling our people a lie [that Jesus is not the Jewish Messiah]. And so Irving began his own study of the Messianic prophecies.

“I vowed I would not allow the rabbinic interpretations to influence, but let the text show me who He was. After a couple of months I knew that Jesus of Nazareth was the only candidate who fulfilled the prophecies. It was a matter of fact, so I accepted Him as my Savior.” Irving Salzman is now a Messianic Rabbi in New Jersey. He has been an outreach worker with Chosen People Ministries, reaching hundreds, maybe thousands of people with the truth of Yeshua, giving them the opportunity – much like he had – to find their Savior.

BRENDA FRIED was shocked to find “Jesus” in the Tanakh (Old Testament).

Brenda Fried went to synagogue on the High Holidays, graduated from Hebrew school, and basically believed what was taught by the rabbis, but didn’t put much of her time or energy into her Jewish religion.

However, she had a Christian friend who spoke to her about the Jewish perspective of the Old Testament versus the New Testament. Their discussions got to a point where Brenda’s friend started going through the Messianic prophecies.

Brenda would be shown a prophecy and then left alone to draw her own conclusions. In light of this, Brenda’s friend even gave her papers written by statisticians that showed it was impossible for Yeshua to simply have fulfilled all of the Old Testament prophecies, since much of it was out of His control.

Brenda was very excited about all of the Messianic prophecies. “I was shocked to find Jesus in the Old Testament,” Brenda exclaimed. “Why did no one tell me this?” But her realization brought some strife to her life. “I was angry at my Hebrew school up-bringing, because I couldn’t understand how the rabbis couldn’t see this.” Her anger was short-lived when she saw it in light of Scripture. “I read Romans, about how the Jews were blinded and some would be saved.” With particular joy she added, “I’m one of those.”

Just under two years of being saved, Brenda entered into full-time ministry, organizing Messianic outreaches in the former Soviet Union for Hear O Israel Ministries. Through these festivals, tens of thousands of Jewish people heard the Good News of Yeshua. The world’s largest Messianic congregation was planted as a part of her work.

ROSEMARY CHANIN’s mother prohibited her from reading the prophecies.

Rosemary Chanin, a professional artist who says she receives the inspiration for her work from the wondrous splendour of God’s glory,…has not always been aware of His presence.

Rosemary was raised in a nominally religious Jewish home. They were Jewish, certainly, but did not take synagogue or the holidays very seriously. Something Rosemary’s mother took very seriously, however, was Christianity. “Don’t read those booklets!” she said to Rosemary when she was given some Christian literature. Of course, as with most children, Rosemary did just the opposite!

Her search for more answers began with her affection of the Tanakh (Old Testament).…Even as a young child, Rosemary read it. But she was confused by recurring referrals to…the “Anointed One.” Who was he? The rabbi she questioned brushed it off saying, “It’s…King David. It’s always David.” But Rosemary knew it wasn’t David, and wanted to find…this Anointed One.

In a library of all places, Rosemary got her hands on a complete Bible (Old and New Testaments). After pouring over the Old Testament and its references to the Anointed One, she finally found Him a few hundred pages further along… in one of the books her mother had forbidden her to read. Yeshua was this Anointed One, and instantly Rosemary realized this Truth. She accepted her Messiah in the halls of the library.

Rosemary knows that The Messianic Prophecy Bible will be a great tool, and it will be very useful among those Jewish people who are always told what not to do. “My mother told me never to read Christian books and never ever to read Isaiah 53!” With a smile she added, “Of course people do what they’re told not to!”

“Rabbis and family members might tell Jewish people not to read The Messianic Prophecy Bible, but they will – and they will find out that Yeshua is the Messiah!” said Rosemary.