Identity Theft (26 page)

“And they may,” Ariel said with an authority that sent shivers down my spine. “And John the apostle was boiled in oil, John the prophet was beheaded, and Kefa was crucified
upside down
. Thousands of others have suffered an equal or worse fate for the Master, and every one of them has received their reward.

“I understand your concerns, David, but you wanted the truth. And tell me, David, was Yeshua not willing to suffer for you?”

A dagger in the gut! Ariel was right. I had witnessed exactly what He did for me. I saw how they tortured Him without mercy. Goodness, I carried His Cross after it collapsed upon His beaten body! He endured all that for me.

Ariel continued, “Recall the vision, David. When did the demons lose authority over the people?”

“When they finally responded to Yeshua,” I answered. “The moment they did angels soared down out of Heaven and set them free as demons were dislodged. The blood of the Lamb broke the power of Satan over them.”

“Yes, David, remember what you read earlier in the Torah—the life is in the blood.

“As I said, there is a battle waging for your soul right now. The Holy Spirit has people praying for you, people who don’t necessarily even know who you are. They are simply praying in obedience to His prompting. That is how we gained the upper hand over these demons today—through the intercession of His people. You can read later how Daniel the prophet prayed and fasted for three weeks, strengthening Michael and his forces so they could defeat the Prince of Persia and deliver a message to the prophet. In your case, their prayers have released an immense portion of prevenient grace
¹
in your life. Prevenient grace is what God uses to draw people to Himself. However, most do not receive what you have received, and one day you will give an account.

“But David, after all is said and done, the decision remains yours. It doesn’t matter how many people pray for you; if you harden your heart, as you started to do moments ago, you will cut yourself off from this prevenient grace and the convicting presence of the Holy Spirit. As powerful as the blood of Yeshua, the Passover Lamb, is, it is only effective to those who believe—who surrender to God.

“You must decide, young man. Do you want truth, freedom, and eternal life, or the respect of friends, most of whom, by the way, already gossip about you behind your back? Would any of them even come close to doing what Yeshua did for you? Would any of them be prepared to die for you? Would they allow themselves to be beaten or flogged until their backs had been ripped open? Would any of them allow themselves to be tortured to death for you, as Yeshua was?”

The question was rhetorical.
Of course not; no one would ever do for me what He did,
I thought.

“David, you have a window of opportunity. God is drawing you to Yeshua. But if you choose not to respond, then there is no guarantee He will ever draw you again. You may live the rest of your life and never give it a second thought. This demon right here will seek to make sure of that.” At which the demon began to struggle again to get free, but could not.

“He and his friends will feed you every lie you want to hear to keep you blinded. Yes, they will promise you the world, even the coveted Pulitzer.”

Oh, how foolish I felt! I’d been ready to trade eternal life for temporary fame and the praise of men. Oh, my deceitful pride.

“Yes, David, they will do whatever it takes to keep you lost and blinded to the truth.”

“Blinded!” I exclaimed, “That is exactly what I’d been as I drifted out of here before, escorted by, um…him,” I pointed to the demon. “Like I was being lulled into a beautiful lie, one that made sense but would keep me from the truth.” I turned toward the demon. I was angry, as I understood how he’d sought to deceive me. He hissed at me in frustration, but unlike before, he was now powerless.

“David, once you give your life to Yeshua, you will not have to worry about these demons. Yeshua will give you authority over them. They’ll still be around and they’ll never give up trying, but you’ll trample them under your feet. Most people are terrified of them, but the truth is, this pathetic being is absolutely terrified that you will receive Yeshua, and then use your authority against him.”

The defeated demon writhed, furious that his cover was being exposed. Just a few minutes earlier he had been so strong, so confident and convincing. Now he was weak and wretched, even pitiful, in Ariel’s tight grip.

“David, it really is time to go home now. Just like in the vision, you have the option—to choose freedom, to choose Yeshua, or you can remain friends with this guy,” nodding in the direction of the demon. “Remember, you initiated this when you began your search for the truth. Instinctively, you knew that there must be more. And now that you’ve found it, you must decide. That part, no one else can do for you. But the moment you choose Yeshua—the moment you confess that you believe, you will know that you are free—just like the Jews in Jerusalem you saw on the day of Shavuot; just like the ones you witnessed in Africa. You will be free…
and you will know it!
”

Almost as if on cue, I felt myself again being sucked back, this time into a tunnel which reverberated with the words: “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed…if the Son sets you free, you will be free…if the Son sets you free, you will be…free…free…free…” (John 8:36).

Note

1
.   Prevenient grace, “is divine grace that precedes human decision. It exists prior to and without reference to anything humans may have done. As humans are corrupted by the effects of sin, prevenient grace allows persons to engage their God-given free will to choose the salvation offered by God in [Yeshua the Messiah] or to reject that salvific offer.”
Wikipedia.com
, s.v. “prevenient grace,”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prevenient_grace
(accessed August 11, 2012).

I opened my eyes and again I was back in Starbucks. Drool from my half-opened mouth was seeping onto the newspaper I’d been reading, the other half of which lay on the floor. I checked the clock. It was 9:30 am. Only half an hour had passed. The tattooed hipster was gone, the same young lady was working behind the counter, the student was still pecking away at his keyboard, and the couple by the window discussing business was still discussing business. Nothing had changed apart from the fact that a few more people had entered, and no one, seemingly, had noticed the drooling dude, asleep in the corner.

I stood up…and then quickly thought better of it and sat back down, wondering if this journey was truly over or whether I might not find myself at any moment flying or spinning through time again. Like an accident victim slowly beginning to move his hurting limbs to see if anything is broken, I mentally checked myself. What had just happened? Was it real, or just a dream? Dreams do feel real while you are dreaming, but once you are awake, you realize that it was just a dream. Well, I was now awake. So why did my dream still feel entirely authentic?

Did I just watch Yeshua die? Was I really in Jerusalem? And did I just witness an angelic battle over my soul? Was that even possible? Furthermore, did I just spend what seemed like days—though actually, only thirty minutes—with an angel? Or did I imagine it? Did I just doze off and have an incredibly bizarre dream or did I really meet biblical characters? I smiled as I remembered how they’d interacted with me. Am I Dorothy, finally back in Kansas—or in my case, downtown Philly?

Or did God just answer my prayer—my yearning to know the truth?

Well, there was one sure way to find out. I could simply do a little research on the Internet to see if what the angel told me was true. Was Peter really Kefa, was John the Baptist actually Jewish and was he beheaded, and was James actually Jacob? The subjects I could check on were endless. Was the Last Supper actually a Passover Seder? Were there really immersion pools in the Old City of Jerusalem? Were there really tens of thousands of Jewish believers in Jesus in the first century? And how about all that Caesar worship stuff that John talked about? Google and I would clear this up in five minutes.

I bent down and pulled my laptop from my backpack and opened it up, excited to see if any of this was true. As I clicked on my web browser, I heard a
ding
, signifying that I had new email. I immediately thought of the chime that my heavenly tablet made each time a new passage would appear and I smiled, more convinced than ever that this was all some crazy dream. My research could wait a minute, I reasoned as I opened my mail program to see what email had arrived. My heart skipped a beat.

The new email sender’s name was
Ariel!

I nearly fainted. I stared at the screen of my MacBook Air, mouth wide open in stunned disbelief.
Oh…my…God!
I waited a few seconds, just to give my heart a chance to slow down and organize my racing thoughts. Then I clicked on it.

Shalom D’vid,

I thought you might need this. See attached. We’ll be in touch.

Your celestial mentor,

Ariel :-)

Unreal
, I thought.
Can’t be!
I just sat there frozen; unable to move for about ten minutes.
So, it was real! It was completely and entirely real! And if he was real, then everything he taught me is true. And…that means…Yeshua is real!

As I emerged from my state of shock, I began to feel that same feeling that I’d sensed earlier with Ariel. It was an amazing feeling, but so hard to put in human terms. Joy like I’ve never known. Peace that was beyond description. And with it, revelation and understanding!

Yes, I understood why He came, who He was, and why He had to die. I watched Him exhale His last breath. I carried His Cross! And I witnessed Him ask God to forgive the very ones who were killing Him. And right there in the café, tears began to flow as I thought of my sin, just as they did when He fixed His gaze upon me. But now I knew He would forgive me. I just needed to ask.

Realizing people were beginning to notice my now uncontrollable display of emotion, I grabbed all my stuff and moved to a more private area where I could further digest what had happened and what was happening to me.

As I sat down again, I realized,
Yes, I believe and nothing will ever be the same.
“I believe,” I said out loud, and as I did I felt something—
tangible joy
—leapt inside of me. A weight lifted off of me, and I knew I was different.

I remembered what Ariel had said to me just before I left the classroom this last time: “But now, you must decide. The moment you confess that you believe, you will know that you are free—just like the Jews in Jerusalem that you saw on the day of Shavuot; just like the ones you witnessed in Africa. You will be free…
and you will know it!
”

I was, and I did!

I had found what I was looking for—it was Him, Yeshua, the Messiah, the Jew from Galilee. He loved me! He loved me so much that, in all my confusion, He’d sent
an angel
to open my eyes. Love for Him flooded my consciousness. Tears began to well up again. I craved Him; I wanted more. I wanted to see Him again. I wanted to express to Him what I was feeling. And then, suddenly I remembered the attachment with the email. I turned back to my computer and clicked on it. It opened up into some kind of multimedia encyclopedia program. And everything was there—all I’d learned—everything that had been downloaded to my heavenly desktop was now on my earthly one.
Too much!

Suddenly, I missed Ariel. He rescued me from that slithering, lying demon. Would I ever see him again? I looked down at the email and reread the words, “We’ll be in touch.” Yes, I would see him again.
I can’t wait!
I thought.

I felt so full of love at that moment, I feared I would burst out sobbing right there in the Starbucks. I jumped up, put my laptop away, left the newspaper, and walked quickly to my car. As I got into my Camry, I was again overwhelmed with emotion—feelings I had never known before. I finally did burst into tears. I cried more that day than I think I had in the past ten years. Not since my grandfather’s funeral had I been so overcome with emotion. But that was grief; this was something else. I had never been so happy in my life. My name was written in Heaven and I had become a son of God.

After fifteen minutes or so, I finally turned on the ignition and began my drive home, having no idea what the future would bring. I thought of my wife, my girls and, my goodness, my father, the son of Holocaust survivors. How would they react? I would have to keep this quiet for a while—
but how could I?
They will surely notice the change. Either way, eventually I’ll have to tell them. But they hadn’t had the advantage of time traveling with an angel. They still viewed Yeshua as we had been taught—a Jew, yes, but one who’d started a new religion, a religion that had persecuted our people in the cruelest of ways for centuries. Fortunately, Ariel had equipped me to answer every question.