Discourse 1016 – The Foundation of the State of Israel in 1948 prophesied in the Old Testament!




The story of Joseph. / Jacob Damkani -Trumpet Of Salvation to Israel.

The two journeys of the brothers of Joseph to Egypt.

Statement by Moishe Arye Friedmann / Chief Rabbi of the Orthodox Jewish congregation, Vienna, Austria, 13.7.2002

Christianity from the Jewish point of view / Jacob Damkani: "Joseph and Yeshua" – Why Me? 1997

The "Israel movement" in the Christian congregations. /    Christian Evangelical Zionism -  Discourse 101

The "Mitternachtsruf" ["Call at Midnight"] – a call in the wrong direction? /    Continuation Part 1, Discourse 1011

Looking up the biblical quotations of the "Friends of Israel" in the Bible /   Continuation Part 2, Discourse 1012

Report from the camp of the "Israel movement". /   Continuation Part 3, Discourse 1013

The Jewish Anti-Defamation League rewrites the New Testament. /   Continuation Part 4, Discourse 1014

Shema Yisrael ‒ Hear, O ISRAEL - the judgment of God on his people. /   Continuation Part 5, Discourse 1015


The following juxtaposition of the story of Joseph from Gen 37-48 with the events from the life of our Lord Jesus Christ is a quite excellent interpretation, to be found on the "Trumpet of Salvation to Israel" website. This website is the internet platform of Jacob Damkani and his mission service to Israel.

Jacob Damkani grew up in Israel. His parents were Jews who emigrated to Persia. As young man he found his way to Jesus. Today he is a confessing Messianic Jew, and maintains a service in Israel under the name "Trumpet of Salvation to Israel". This service is aimed at the goal of making the Jews acquainted with their Jewish Messiah Yeshua. (Trumpet of Salvation to Israel)


(Texts in a black frame are quotations from visitors to this site or from other authors.)

(The Story of Joseph. / Jacob Damkani – Trumpet of Salvation for Israel)


THE  STORY OF JOSEPH.

J O S E P H J E S U S


Joseph was the beloved son of Jacob and his favorite wife Rachel. He was born when Jacob was already quite old. Jacob preferred this son above all his other sons, and made him a varicolored tunic. In other words, he thought this younger son was more important than all his elder brothers, who naturally were aware of this preferential treatment and hated their brother for this reason. (Gen 37:2-4)

Joseph was also known as "the Dreamer". He had prophetic dreams which prophesied the future to the Jews (his brothers) and to non-Jews (Pharaoh and his servants). (Gen 37:5-7)

Jacob, Joseph’s father, sent him to his brothers to wish them peace. Although Joseph was conscious of their hostility, he obeyed his father and followed his commands. (Gen 37:13)




Joseph’s brothers seized their chance, and resolved to kill him. But then they changed their mind and instead sold him for twenty shekels of silver to the non-Jewish Midianites (Gen 37:28).

Joseph’s brothers stripped him of his status symbol, the varicolored tunic, and threw him into a pit. (Gen 37:23-24)

Soon after his arrival in Egypt Joseph was exposed to a number of powerful temptations, but he withstood them. (Gen 39:7)


Potiphar’s wife was so indignant at Joseph’s rejecting her attempted approaches that she accused him unjustly. (Gen 39:11-14)

Joseph then remained for two years in prison, before Pharaoh made him the second man in the entire kingdom. (Gen 39:19-20)

Joseph was the second man in Egypt after the Pharaoh. (Gen 41:39-40)




Joseph not only provided the Egyptians with corn, he supplied the entire world, which was suffering from famine. (Gen 41:56-57)

In view of the severe famine in Canaan, Joseph’s brothers journeyed to Egypt to buy corn. There they were brought before Joseph. (Gen 42:1-6)


Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him. (Gen 42:7-8)


Joseph’s brothers thought he was an Egyptian and conversed with him through an interpreter.



Joseph treated his brothers roughly until he was fully convinced that they were sincerely repentant. (Gen 42:12-17)

Joseph revealed himself to his brothers, and said to them, "I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt." (Gen 45:4)




Joseph said to his brothers they should not be sad for what they had done or be vexed having sold him, as God had sent him before them to preserve their life. (Gen 45:5).

He said to them: "You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive." (Gen 50:20)

Because of the famine, Joseph invited his brothers to live in the land of Goshen. (Gen 45:9-10)






Yeshua was also called "My beloved Son" (Mt 3:17).




He was hated by his Jewish brethren – and nothing has changed there to this day.1) (Jn 15:23)


Yeshua was also a prophet, who foretold to his generation what was going to happen. (Mt 24:1-36)



The New Covenant explains to us that God the Father sent his beloved Son Yeshua into the world to save his brethren, the Jews. Yeshua knew the consequences of his visit in advance: he would be handed over to the non-Jews to be crucified. But he was obedient to his heavenly Father nonetheless, voluntarily and out of love. (Mt 22:39)

The Jewish leaders also wanted to kill Yeshua, and when one of his disciples finally betrayed him for thirty pieces of silver, they handed him over to the Romans. (Mt 26:59-66)

Yeshua too was stripped of his garments before he was crucified, and later he was laid in a grave. (Mt 27:27-28)

The Holy Scriptures tell us that at the beginning of his mission Jesus was tempted several times by Satan, but withstood all temptations without sinning. (Lk 4:5-8)


Yeshua too was punished unjustly for our sins, although he had not committed a single sin himself. (Jn 8:45-47)

Yeshua remained two days in the grave, before being awakened on the third day by God in power and great glory. (Mt 28:5-7)

Yeshua was crowned king of the nations and now sits at the right hand of God on the heavenly throne, as it is written: "The LORD says to my Lord: ‘Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.’" (Ps 110:1)

Yeshua, "the Bread of Life" (Jn 6:48), nourishes the entire world with his grace and merciful love.


Today the children of Israel are suffering from a spiritual famine. But all those who come to Yeshua will receive the bread of life from him. (Jn 6:51),


Yeshua knows his Jewish brethren well, even if they are still blind and do not recognize him. (Jn 8:47)


The Jews still treat Yeshua as if he were a non-Jew. They do not want to call him by his Jewish name and acknowledge him as their brother. (Jn 8:43-44)


Yeshua is still waiting for his brethren to admit their sin against him and stop making him responsible for their unfortunate position. (Jn 8:24)

Yeshua too will soon reveal his true identity to his brethren, after he has poured out the Spirit of grace and supplication on them. Then they will see him "whom they have pierced" (Zech 12:10) and acknowledge that they sold their brother, their own flesh and blood, to the non-Jews.

Likewise the children of Israel were not conscious of what they were doing when they handed Yeshua over to the Romans to be executed. But on the cross Yeshua cried out, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." (Lk 23:34)
God turned it to a blessing, and used the rejection of Yeshua by the Jews in order to bring salvation also to the non-Jews. (Rom 11:11)

In the same way Yeshua is preparing a place in his kingdom for his brethren, the Jewish people. (Lk 22:28-30)

From: Jacob Damkani, Why Me? (PDF),
"Joseph and Jeschua" (PDF/WORD)



This is indeed a quite excellent interpretation of the story of Joseph – and not just for the Jews, for whom it was actually meant, but for Christians as well. The story of Joseph is one of the Old Testament prophecies of the Messiah, which the Jews – like the Sanhedrin of Jesus’ own day – were understandably unable to interpret, seeing that many of these events had only been realized in their own times.

It was a different situation with the story of the plague of serpents which God sent the Israelites in the wilderness. This account is also to be found in the Pentateuch, and would undoubtedly have been read repeatedly by the scribes of Israel in the lifetime of the Lord.

If a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived.

Lev 21,4 Then they set out from Mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the people became impatient because of the journey. 21,5 The people spoke against God and Moses, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this miserable food." 21,6 The LORD sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. 21,7 So the people came to Moses and said, "We have sinned, because we have spoken against the LORD and you; intercede with the LORD, that He may remove the serpents from us." And Moses interceded for the people. 21,8 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a standard; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, he will live." 21,9 And Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on the standard; and it came about, that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived. Lev 21, 4- 9;


That is one of the very first prophecies of the expiatory death of the Son of God on the cross. – And here it is, in the Jewish Torah (Tanach)!! Just as back then the bronze serpent was raised up, and those Jews who looked at it had their sins of unbelief forgiven and were saved from certain death, so too was the Son of Man raised on the cross. And whoever believes in this vicarious sacrifice, they too will have their sins forgiven and they will be saved and will have eternal life. This has also been confirmed for them by our Lord Jesus Christ:

As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.

Jn 3,14 "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; 3,15 so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life. 3,16 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. 3,17 "For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. 3,18 "He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. Jn 3,14-18;


Even if admittedly the above reference to the crucifixion in Num 21,4-9 would have naturally been much easier to interpret in retrospect – after the crucifixion of Jesus – nonetheless the scribes of the Sanhedrin in the lifetime of the Lord (and still more the generations of Israel thereafter and through to the present day!) must undoubtedly have been aware of the prophecy of the Servant of God from Isaiah 53,1-12 which follows, as the Israelites had always referred this prophecy (especially the introduction in Isa 52:13-15) to their Messiah.

By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, as He will bear their iniquities.

Isa 53,1 Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? 53,2 For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. 53,3 He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

53,4 Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. 53,5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. 53,6 All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him. 

53,7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth. 53,8 By oppression and judgment He was taken away; And as for His generation, who considered That He was cut off out of the land of the living For the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due? 53,9 His grave was assigned with wicked men, Yet He was with a rich man (Joseph of Arimathia) in His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was there any deceit in His mouth. 

53,10 But the LORD was pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand. 53,11 As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities. 53,12 Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great, And He will divide the booty with the strong; Because He poured out Himself to death, And was numbered with the transgressors; Yet He Himself bore the sin of many, And interceded for the transgressors. Isa 53, 1-12;


These two scriptural passages from the Tanakh (Old Testament), Num 21,4-9 and Isa 53,1-12, contain the entire truth about the life, mission and death of the Son of God in this world. And even if the scribes of the Sanhedrin of that day should have been unfamiliar with these texts, which is hardly probable, have the rabbis of the past two thousand years, who know the Jewish scriptures (or ought to know them) better than anyone, never read this prophecy of the "Servant of God" in the prophet Isaiah? Here is the entire life of Jesus of Nazareth described!

So the suspicion makes itself felt that they were indeed well acquainted with these statements and in fact interpreted them correctly, but the stubbornness and unwillingness of Israel to convert were more powerful than their understanding.

But Israel does not know, My people do not understand.

Isa 1,2 Listen, O heavens, and hear, O earth; For the LORD speaks, "Sons I have reared and brought up, But they have revolted against Me. 1,3 "An ox knows its owner, And a donkey its master’s manger, But Israel does not know, My people do not understand." 1,4 Alas, sinful nation, People weighed down with iniquity, Offspring of evildoers, Sons who act corruptly! They have abandoned the LORD, They have despised the Holy One of Israel, They have turned away from Him. 1,5 Where will you be stricken again, As you continue in your rebellion? The whole head is sick And the whole heart is faint. Isa 1,2-5;

GOD has smitten them, but they did not weaken; He has consumed them, but they refused to take correction.

Jer 5,3 O LORD, do not Your eyes look for truth? You have smitten them, But they did not weaken; You have consumed them, But they refused to take correction. They have made their faces harder than rock; They have refused to repent. 5,4 Then I said, "They are only the poor, They are foolish; For they do not know the way of the LORD Or the ordinance of their God. 5,5 "I will go to the great And will speak to them, For they know the way of the LORD And the ordinance of their God." But they too, with one accord, have broken the yoke And burst the bonds. Jer 5,3-5;


And for this very reason it is an extremely important matter that in our own time a Jew among Jews – like Jacob Damkani – preaches the gospel of Jesus Christ in Israel. Although he too has problems with the stubbornness of the Israelis, as we learn from his reports, still he has more chance, in all probability, of getting a hearing in Israel than a non-Jew, wherever the non-Jew may come from.

(See also Discourse 102: "Evangelization tourism to Israel.")


The two journeys of the brothers of Joseph to Egypt.

So the juxtaposition of the story of Joseph with the life of Jesus Christ quoted at the start of this Discourse is an important basis for argument, above all for evangelization and discussion with the Jews. And as it appears this interpretation has not yet included all the parallels that come to mind. In particular, there is the curious fact that when Joseph’s brothers came to Egypt to buy corn for the first time, and did not recognize him on that occasion, he let them go back home again in order to fetch his younger brother Benjamin, the son of Joseph’s own mother Rachel, to Egypt in a second journey (Gen 42:19-20). All this gives the experienced biblical commentator food for thought.

If we try, following Damkani’s approach, to find a parallel here with the life of Jesus, the next verse in this passage, Gen 42,21, gives us a pointer. Here, on their first journey to Egypt, the brothers of Joseph admit to themselves their guilt because of their brother, because they had sold him. So they saw Joseph’s harassment of them (Gen 42:16-17) as the punishment of God, even though they had not yet recognized Joseph himself.

We are guilty concerning our brother, because we saw the distress of his soul.

Gen 42,21 ¶ Then they said to one another, "Truly we are guilty concerning our brother, because we saw the distress of his soul when he pleaded with us, yet we would not listen; therefore this distress has come upon us." Gen 42,21;


So if the story of Joseph is a prophecy of Jesus and his life in the people of Israel – as it evidently is – then with this verse we find ourselves in the time after Jesus (Joseph) has been handed over by the Jews (his brothers) to the Romans (Midianites). And the other end of the time sequence of this prophecy, where Joseph reveals himself and fetches all his brothers to Egypt with their families, would then be the promised Gathering of the people of Israel under the dominion of the Messiah, whose name will be "the LORD our righteousness".

You shall live in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children’s children.

Gen 45,8 "Now, therefore, it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh and lord of all his household and ruler over all the land of Egypt. 45,9 "Hurry and go up to my father, and say to him, ‘Thus says your son Joseph, "God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me, do not delay. 45,10 "You shall live in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children’s children and your flocks and your herds and all that you have. 45,11 "There I will also provide for you, for there are still five years of famine to come, and you and your household and all that you have would be impoverished."‘ Gen 45, 8-11;

In the days when David’s righteous Branch will reign Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely.

Jer 23,5 "Behold, the days are coming," declares the LORD, "When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; And He will reign as king and act wisely And do justice and righteousness in the land. 23,6 "In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell securely; And this is His name by which He will be called, ‘The LORD our righteousness.’ 23,7 "Therefore behold, the days are coming," declares the LORD, "when they will no longer say, ‘As the LORD lives, who brought up the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt,’ 23,8 but, ‘As the LORD lives, who brought up and led back the descendants of the household of Israel from the north land and from all the countries where I had driven them.’ Then they will live on their own soil." Jer 23,5-8;


But in the intervening time we have this first journey by the brothers to Egypt, where they will later live with their father and their families. Here too we can recognize an important parallel: the brothers (the people of Israel) have come to a place, namely Egypt, where they will one day later live (in the Millennium – the land of Israel) in peace and security with their families.

At the time of this first journey, however, the brothers (the people of Israel) had not yet recognized Joseph (Jesus). As it appears, that relates precisely to our own time. The people of Israel has come to its country, certainly, but they have not yet recognized Jesus Christ as the Son of God and their Messiah. And in that we can see the oldest prophecy in the Bible of the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948.

And even the fact that the youngest of Joseph’s brothers, Benjamin, did not accompany his brothers on this journey to Egypt finds a parallel in the present day. When the state of Israel was founded by Theodor Herzl’s Zionists in 1948, the Jews (brothers) came out of the Diaspora to Israel (Egypt) – with the exception, however, of a quite specific group, namely the Orthodox Jews true to their faith (Benjamin). They refused to go to Israel, because they had studied the scriptures and were convinced that Israel can only return to its country in accordance with the will of God when the Messiah comes to earth. So we find this confession of faith from Chief Rabbi M. A. Friedmann of Vienna:


(Texts in a black frame are quotations from visitors to this site or from other authors.)

(Statement by Moishe Arye Friedmann, Chief Rabbi of the Orthodox Jewish congregation, Vienna, Austria, 13.7.2002).

(…) As Jews true to our faith we accept the fate of the Diaspora which God has laid upon us. But the founding of the state of Israel has not just damaged the Jews on this religious plane; the means and the methods used by Israel to secure its existence against the Palestinians damage all Jews world-wide, and encourage the rebirth of anti-Semitism. For Jews true to their faith it is clear, however, that the Diaspora is the fate laid upon us by God until the coming of the Messiah.. (…)

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(See also Discourse 46; "Statement by Chief Rabbi M. A. Friedmann, Vienna.")


Just as Benjamin did not accompany his brothers to Egypt, so too these Orthodox Jews true to their faith did not come to Israel with their brethren, but continue to remain in the Diaspora.

As we can easily see, though, the fact that Joseph sent his brothers back again has – in terms of this interpretation of the story of Joseph as referring to the land and people of Israel – a fatal consequence. This is because it means that the Israel of today has been gathered together at the wrong time. In 1948 it was not the will of God and it was not a Gathering by God, it was the will of Theodor Herzl’s Zionists to set up a state on their own initiative. And just as Joseph’s brothers, on their first journey, had to leave Egypt again, so, if we interpret this prophecy as referring to the present time, will the people of Israel too have to relinquish the land of Israel once more.

But it is this very "first journey" of Joseph’s brothers that the Zionists, in the reality of today, conceal from the people of Israel and from the whole world. They assert quite simply that Israel has already been gathered by its God in 1948, and so is already on the "second journey". They claim they have already recognized "Joseph", the Messiah that is, and will now be able to remain permanently in "Egypt" (the land of Israel).

This deceitful interpretation also prepares the ground for the next step, where a so-called "Messiah", a false Christ – in other words, the Antichrist – will be allowed to come to power in Israel. And just as the Israel of the day treated its true Messiah with contempt, rejected him and handed him over to be executed, now the false Messiah will be welcomed with joy – both in Israel and all over the world, in the Christian denominations – and received as the long awaited "Savior of the world".

I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, you will receive him.

Jn 5,43 "I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, you will receive him. Jn 5,43;

This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son.

1Jn 2,22 Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. 1Jn 2,22;

(See also Discourse 86: "The first and the second Antichrist.")


Seeing that the Jews reject the New Testament and have never read it, of course they know nothing either about the prophecies of Jesus in this connection or about the Antichrist.

So you can tell them anything you like about the Messiah, the only important thing in their eyes is that this "Messiah", as prophesied in the Tanach (the Old Testament), will be a world ruler and will lead Israel to a position of global power.

But not in the same way as the real Messiah, our Lord Jesus Christ, will bring it about in the Millennium – by peaceful means, through the worldwide effects of the Holy Spirit. Under the false Messiah the Zionists, with their global predominance in the banking system and their influence on politics and the economy (especially in the USA and in Israel, but historically in Germany and other countries of the EU as well), will make it happen through coercion and violence (Rev 6:2).

(See also Discourse 112: "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion – the Analysis.")


But this interpretation of the story of Joseph as referring to the present naturally has the logical consequence that the people of Israel – just as the brothers of Joseph had to go to Egypt a second time – will have to be gathered to the land of Israel once again, this time in accordance with the scriptures and the will of God. This is actually confirmed by many prophecies in the Old Testament, which however associate this true Gathering of Israel with quite different conditions and consequences. In the return of God’s people to the land of Israel that God has promised, the Israelites will be "carried on the shoulders" of the heathen.

And they will bring your sons in their bosom, And your daughters will be carried on their shoulders.

Isa 49,22 Thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I will lift up My hand to the nations And set up My standard to the peoples; And they will bring your sons in their bosom, And your daughters will be carried on their shoulders. Isa 49,22;


This means that the heathen themselves will bring back the Israelites out of the Diaspora to their own country. In the repatriation that occurred in the 1940s, the Jews were obliged to hire ships for a lot of money. These ships were then bombarded and rammed off the Haifa coast by the British, who ruled in Palestine at that time, to prevent their reaching the country.

As we learn from the following scriptural passages, however, the Israelites at that time were far from satisfying the biblical conditions for the Gathering to the land of Israel that God had intended.

You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart

Jer 29,13 ‘You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. 29,14 ‘I will be found by you,’ declares the LORD, ‘and I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,’ declares the LORD, ‘and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.’ Jer 29,13-14;

The sons of Israel will come and the sons of Judah as well; and it will be the LORD their God they will seek

Jer 50,4 "In those days and at that time," declares the LORD, "the sons of Israel will come, both they and the sons of Judah as well; they will go along weeping as they go, and it will be the LORD their God they will seek. 50,5 "They will ask for the way to Zion, turning their faces in its direction; they will come that they may join themselves to the LORD in an everlasting covenant that will not be forgotten. Jer 50,4-5;

I will bring them again to this land; and I will build them up and not overthrow them.

Jer 24,6 ‘For I will set My eyes on them for good, and I will bring them again to this land; and I will build them up and not overthrow them, and I will plant them and not pluck them up. 24,7 ‘I will give them a heart to know Me, for I am the LORD; and they will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with their whole heart. Jer 24,6-7;

I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands

Ezk 36,24 For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land. 36,25 Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. 36,26 Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 36,27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances. 36,28 You will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers; so you will be My people, and I will be your God. Eze 36,24-28;

In the days when David’s righteous Branch (the Messiah) will reign Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely.

Jer 23,5 "Behold, the days are coming," declares the LORD, "When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; And He will reign as king and act wisely And do justice and righteousness in the land.
23,6 "In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell securely; And this is His name by which He will be called, ‘The LORD our righteousness.’ Jer 23,5-6;


These, then, are a few of the conditions and consequences of the Gathering and repatriation of the people of Israel to its country that has been promised by God:

The conditions:

–  They will search for the Lord with all their heart.

–  They will come weeping and seek for their God.

The consequences:

–  The Lord will give them a heart to know him, so that they will return to him.

–  They are to be cleansed from all their filthiness.

–  David’s righteous Branch (Jesus Christ) will be king and His name will be: ‘The LORD our righteousness.’ .

(See also Chapter 09: "The return home of the redeemed.")


Now you can say many things about the people of Israel today, but surely not that they have sought for the Lord their God weeping. And it hardly looks as if they have been cleansed from all their filthiness. And it most definitely is not the case that David’s righteous Branch (Jesus Christ) is their king.

This is why the Bible actually mentions this Return as occurring only after the arrival of the Messiah (Jer 23:5-6) – a view which, as mentioned above, is shared by the Orthodox Jews true to their faith who have remained in the Diaspora. For us Christians, then, this means after the return of the Lord Jesus Christ to take up his reign in the Millennium (not the Second Coming for the Rapture!).

The people of Israel today, as Rom 11:25 tells us, is hardened. And will remain so, "until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in". So long, that is to say, as God’s plan of salvation for the non-Jewish peoples has not come to an end, the people of Israel will refuse to convert and so it will not be possible for the repatriation of the Jews to their country promised by God to take place.

What has been happening in Israel since the establishment of the Israeli state has been a collective migration driven and sustained by human will and human effort. The people of Israel today is no way different from the heathen nations. It was and is not the Lord, their and our God, leading them (Jer 16:15.31:8 etc.). The Almighty has no influence or standing in Israel, either for politics or for the economy – and in some fields, not even in relation to the religion.

Many of the Jews living in Israel today may be Jewish by origin, but they are not Jews in accordance with the promise. What is more, a large part of the population of Israel is practically speaking irreligious. So those Old Testament passages likewise apply which picture people living in the land of Israel in the Last Days, but at the same time complain of the people in Jerusalem that they do not want to acknowledge the Lord their God, and instead worship idols (politics, economics, finance etc.): "Jerusalem will be trampled under foot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled" (Lk 21,24).

(See also Discourse 111: "The pseudo-Christian betrayal of the Israelites.")


So we can draw the fairly unambiguous conclusion that the Gathering and repatriation of the people of Israel to its country, as promised by Scripture, will only begin when the hearts of the heathen have come to be hardened to such a degree that there is no chance left that any more of them will convert. Then the true Messiah, our Lord Jesus Christ, will return, and the Israelites in the Diaspora will convert to their God and seek him with trembling and weeping. This is something not even the Israelis in Israel do today.

The most evident indication that this repatriation of the Jews that has been going on since 1948 is not the Gathering promised by God is the fact that right from the beginning Israel has had to fight for this country against the Palestinians, and thousands of people have been killed on both sides, in a war that has now been going on for more than sixty years! That cannot be the will of God, and indeed it is not the will of God, as we are told by the Old Testament prophecy to this effect:

But I will not deliver them by bow, sword, battle, horses or horsemen

Hos 1,7 "But I will have compassion on the house of Judah and deliver them by the LORD their God, and will not deliver them by bow, sword, battle, horses or horsemen." Hos 1, 7;


The Gathering of the Jews which God has promised to them (Eze 20:33-38) will not take place as a result of struggle and war with other nations – on the contrary, God will himself enter into judgment with them on account of their godlessness and their sinful behavior for the last two millennia. And that, above all, is not going take up a period of sixty years.

Seeing, then, that in view of the above scriptural statements the time of these promises has still not yet arrived, but the Israelites have returned to their country all the same – as a result of their own political efforts, not in accordance with God’s promise – while on the other hand the biblical prophecies of the Gathering of the Israelites from all over the world must find fulfillment notwithstanding, it follows that Israel – if we take these prophecies seriously – will yet again, for a last time, be obliged to suffer the terror and torment of deportation and dispersal.

(See also Chapter 02: "The conquest and dispersion of Jerusalem.")


If Jacob Damkani has not referred to this aspect of things in his interpretation of the story of Joseph in relation to "Yeshua" and the people of Israel, this may be because these parallels have escaped him. But if we take into account the accuracy and conformity with Scripture of his other statements in this study of parallelism, there could well be other reasons – especially in the country of Israel – why he leaves this part of the prophecy unmentioned.

It cannot be that easy, either, for Damkani to convince his fellow countrymen of Jesus Christ – as is shown by a short passage from the same narrative in which he includes the interpretation of the story of Joseph quoted above. Here he is engaged in discussion with one Jossi – an Israeli who clearly (like all the media and the entire secular world, incidentally) confuses Christianity with the Catholic church.


(Texts in a black frame are quotations from visitors to this site or from other authors.)

(Christianity from the Jewish point of view / Jacob Damkani: "Joseph and Yeshua" – Why Me? 1997)

Jossi’s picture of Christianity was clearly influenced by the things he had seen and heard: talars [sic], crosses and organ music. He knew nothing either of Yeshua or of the New Covenant, by which alone Jews and non-Jews can be saved.

"Pull the other one," was his reply. "You surely can’t be trying to make me believe that these Christians who worship idols in their pompous cathedrals to the sound of the organ are in reality practicing Jews! If that is what you are trying to claim, I will have to assume that you haven’t the faintest idea either of Judaism or of Christianity. These two religions are so far apart that no bridge could be long enough to span the abyss between them!"

"Here again I have to agree with you, Jossi. These two religions are not only completely different, they also hate each other passionately. They fight each other to the death. Of course every religion is hostile to its opponents, because each supposes itself to be the sole guardian of divine revelation. But I am not talking about Judaism or Christianity. Yeshua, after all, did not come all this way from heaven to earth and take everything upon himself, even the cross, just in order to found a new religion, which would end by turning against its own mother! Yeshua condemned both Jewish and also non-Jewish religious rituals, when they are lacking inner meaning. Instead he taught us that God is Spirit, and they who worship him must worship him in Spirit and in truth." (Jn 4,23-24)


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Jacob Damkani: "Josef und Jeschua" (PDF/German)



And indeed that is the case: "talars" and "pompous cathedrals" are attributes of the Catholic church. There too we find the three properties of false religious leaders represented: vanity (lavish vestments, cathedrals), addiction to one’s own importance ("your Holiness", "Eminence" etc.) and avarice (just look at the compulsory levy of church taxes, and the assets running to millions which the Vatican bank (!) is constantly adding to). And when this Jossi speaks of the idols worshipped in this church, from the point of view of a biblical Christian he is completely right. This is where the unbiblical Catholic idol "Mary" is worshipped, while the deceased "saints" of the Catholic church form the basis of a cult of the dead which is an abomination to God.

But this is not biblical Christianity. It is Catholicism. And the difference between biblical Christianity and Catholicism is comparable to the difference between Mosaic Judaism and Zionism. Chief Rabbi Friedmann of Vienna, referred to earlier, would not be very pleased if Zionists were to don a kippah and then put on a hypocritical show for the world of being Jews of an orthodox persuasion.

Over the course of the millennia the Catholic church has "catholicized" the nature religions of Asia, Africa and America – in some cases forcibly – and in the process practically declared their idols and spirits sanctified Catholic "saints". And now this church boasts of having more than a billion members. In the eyes of the secular world, the quantity is naturally the crucial factor – no questions are asked about essential qualities, like the foundation of people’s faith or their understanding of the Bible.

But let us get back to Jacob Damkani and his discussion partner Jossi. In the introduction to the argument with Jossi quoted above, Damkani makes a remarkable statement. He says, referring to Jossi: "He knew nothing either of Yeshua or of the New Covenant, by which alone Jews and non-Jews can be saved." And that is completely right! You could hardly find a better and more succinct way of putting it.

The consequence which results from this assertion is that the Old Covenant is dissolved. Because otherwise, of course, there could not be a New Covenant. So if Damkani really sees it that way, he is absolutely on target. When, two thousand years ago, the Jewish Sanhedrin delivered the Son of God to the Romans to be crucified, they broke their covenant with God in so doing, and God dissolved the covenant with Israel.

Then the high priest tore his robes and said, "He has blasphemed, He deserves death!"

Mt 26,63 But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest said to Him, "I adjure You by the living God, that You tell us whether You are the Christ (Messiah), the Son of God." 26,64 Jesus said to him, "You have said it yourself; nevertheless I tell you, hereafter you will see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of the power, and coming on the clouds of heaven." 26,65 Then the high priest tore his robes and said, "He has blasphemed! What further need do we have of witnesses? Behold, you have now heard the blasphemy; 26,66 what do you think?" They answered, "He deserves death!" Mt 26,63-66;


This is confirmed not just by the circumstance that on the death of the Lord the veil of the Temple was torn in two from top to bottom (Mt 27:50-51), so confirming the separation of Israel from its God, but also and above all by the destruction of Jerusalem, the Temple and the sacrificial altar by the Roman troops of Titus in the year 70 AD, 40 years later. The expulsion of the people of Israel from its country, which followed 65 years after this, was the conclusion of Israel’s being separated from its God.

(See also Discourse 111: "The destruction of the Temple.")


The greatest loss, however, was that of the sacrificial altar in the Temple. This was the sacrificial altar on which the priests sacrificed a lamb every morning and a lamb every evening for the sins of the people. As a result of this sacrifice, known as the tamid, every Jew following the faith of Moses had his daily pardonable sins forgiven by God. Seeing that this sacrifice could only be made on the sacrificial altar in the Temple in Jerusalem and nowhere else (Deut 12:13-14), from this time on the people of Israel had no way of having its sins forgiven. And this is what our Lord Jesus Christ actually told them, when they would not believe that he was the Son of God:

Unless you believe that I am He (the Messiah), you will die in your sins.

Jn 8,21 Then He said again to them, "I go away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin; where I am going, you cannot come." 8,22 So the Jews were saying, "Surely He will not kill Himself, will He, since He says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?" 8,23 And He was saying to them, "You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world. 8,24 "Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He (the Messiah), you will die in your sins." Jn 8,21-24;


So from this point in time the Jews could no longer obtain forgiveness of their sins in accordance with the Mosaic ritual. But this means that for two thousand years the people of Israel have not only been without God – in other words, god-less – but they are all (provided they have not come to have faith in Jesus Christ / Yeshua) headed for eternal damnation along with all the other godless people of this world. In the New Covenant the sins of human beings can now only be forgiven through the acceptance of the vicarious sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ – the Lamb of God – on the cross.

(See also Discourse 96: "Why believe?")


That is the real message, the crucial – even lifesaving – message, which we must proclaim to the Jews, to enable them to grasp that they no longer have any other choice. In godlessness they have no salvation in any case, but neither do they have any chance with the Old Covenant, because this has been dissolved by God for the last two thousand years. Whether this is the state of affairs that Jacob Damkani actually proclaims is a question worth asking. For in the discussion with Jossi, from which we quoted above, we find him making the following statement:

"Every non-Jew who wants to be saved must accept this Jewish book [the Old Testament FH] and the Jewish Messiah whom it prophesies. Did I not say to you that I have not turned away from Judaism, nor do I have any thought of doing so? I have always taken the view that there is nothing more laughable than the idea that a Jew must go over to Christianity in order to be able to believe in the Jewish Messiah of Israel. No – the non-Jews who decide to follow Yeshua and the New Covenant, take on along with it a Torah which is wholly and completely Jewish."


Undoubtedly we have to agree with him here that the Torah – the Old Testament – is wholly and completely Jewish. No doubt about that. And it is equally correct that the New Covenant is founded on the Old Testament. Whether, on the other hand, "There is nothing more laughable than the idea that a Jew must go over to Christianity in order to be able to believe in the Jewish Messiah of Israel" will depend on what we understand by "Christianity" in this connection.

As a biblical Christian, one would have to give one’s assent to this proposition if it were taken – as the secularized and superficial world would take it – as referring to Catholicism. But if we understand Christianity in the literal sense as meaning the "religion of Christ", and when we take into account the fact that "Christus" is just the Latin derivation of the Greek word "Christos", which in turn is the translation in the Septuagint (= LXX, the Greek translation of the Old Testament) of the Hebrew term "Messiah" (maschiach in the original Hebrew, or Aramaic meschicha, meaning "the anointed one"), then Damkani is actually making a laughing stock of himself. As a "Messianic Jew", after all, he himself has gone over to Christianity and is a part of Christianity. Even if perhaps he would call it "Messianity" for preference.

But whatever you may want to call it, as Damkani rightly says, it is not a matter here of any kind of religious rituals. Nor is it a matter of names or titles. The thing is this, that for two thousand years all human beings have had a means of access to God – namely the one and only access possible, in his Son Jesus Christ and in the redeeming sacrifice of Jesus Christ for our sins on the cross. This is the new tamid. God wishes all human beings, including the Jews, to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth. And our Lord Jesus Christ is this truth.

GOD desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

1Tim 2,3 This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 2,4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 2,5 For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 2,6 who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time. 1Tim 2,3-6;

I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

Jn 14,6 Jesus *said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. 14,7 "If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him." Jn 14,6-7;


The Lord’s indication in this passage – "No one comes to the Father but through me" – is quite specially addressed to the Jews. They have still not realized, up to the present day, that the Old Covenant was dissolved by God all of two thousand years ago. As explained above, there are historically documented and glaring proofs of this. But the Jews have never been willing to admit the truth, nor are they now.

(See also Discourse 103: "God’s covenant with all human beings.")


And today they claim that they have actually ceased to be a "people of the Temple" to become a "people of Scripture (of the book)", and think that in this way they can pull the wool over God’s eyes. But they are mistaken. God is not deceived. Above all in view of their claim to be a "people of Scripture", this same Scripture – as shown earlier – gives documentary evidence which proves that the Messiah has already come to them, two thousand years ago, but they rejected him.

I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me.

Jn 5,39 "You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; 5,40 and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life. 5,41 "I do not receive glory from men; 5,42 but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves. 5,43 "I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, you will receive him. Jn 5,39-43;


It remains a biblical fact, right up to the present – anyone who denies the Son does not have the Father. And seeing that the great majority of the people of Israel (both the godless Jews and those who follow the faith of Moses) still deny the Son of God today, and follow the example of the high priest Caiaphas in labeling him an impostor and blasphemer, they deny the Son and so do not have the Father either. If any were still needed, this is the final scriptural proof that Israel is God-less.

Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father;.

1Jn 2,23 Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also. 1Jn 2,23;


Now although the scriptures – both of the Old and of the New Testament – leave no doubt about the fact that the people of Israel as a whole will only be converted to their God again on the Second Coming of their Messiah, our Lord Jesus Christ, these same scriptures also tell us that God desires that all human beings, including Jews, shall come to believe in his Son and so be saved (Jn 3:14-15; Num 21:8-9).

So based on Scripture and according to the will of God, it is possible for every Jew to accept the redeeming sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ for his sins too in a quite personal way, and so be saved for eternity. God has given all authority to his Son (Mt 28:18), and in his great love of him has decreed that everyone who believes in the Son also has the Father. But whoever denies the Son automatically denies the Father as well (1Jn 2:23), and is lost for eternity.

So for me there is nothing more inconceivable than the idea that a human being, whether Jew or non-Jew, should be so limited in his mental horizons that he prefers to spend the eternal life given him by God in damnation, rather than to accept the offer of God in his Son Jesus Christ as the Savior of all humanity also for himself personally.


Israel in the light of the Bible.


Based on the Old Testament

God has completely taken away his compassion from the house of Israel (Hos 1:6). They are no longer his people (Hos 1:9). Only the house of Judah will be saved by the Lord. Not by war, however, but by his Spirit (Hos 1:7). And only in the Millennium, when the Son of God has entered on his thousand years rule on earth (Hos 1:10; 2,18 Eze 34:25; Isa 2:4), will the Lord once more accept Israel as his people (Hos 2:23; Jer 31:27-28).


Based on the New Testament

It is God’s will that we should listen to his Son (Mt 17:5). This same Son of God has told us that anyone who rejects him rejects God as well (1Jn 2:23; Lk 10:16; Jn 5:22-23. 15:23). The people of Israel today deny the Son of God and abuse him as an impostor and blasphemer. As a result of this denial of the Son, Israel has also rejected the Father and so is a God-less people. (Jn 8:24)


The "Friends of Israel" in the Christian congregations are thus selling their birthright as Disciples of Christ for the lentil stew of a vicarious agent of godless impostors. – For Israel there is no spiritual conversion to their God, and no return to their homeland willed by God, unless they convert to Jesus Christ!! (Mt 23:38-39; Gal 5:4)

(See also Discourse 111: "The pseudo-Christian betrayal of the Israelites.")








1) Take for example the well known Jewish actress and comedian Sarah Silverman from the USA, who in a recent stage appearance proclaimed that she was happy that Jesus Christ was crucified, and she would do it again immediately if she had the chance. (Real Jew News) [If that was a joke by a Jewish comedian, it was in the worst possible taste. – FH]


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"How the Jews mock Jesus Christ".
(Real Jew News)