These guys were facing the gas station, and appeared to be shouting their message at the people who were getting gasoline. As I walked up to one of them, I smiled and stuck out my hand to greet him. He did not hesitate to shake my hand, so I took this as a friendly gesture and asked him if he would answer a few questions for me. He nodded and asked what I wanted to know.
While I thought my first question for him was a very simple and straight forward one, it was apparently something that he was not interested in answering. I asked him if they kept the Torah. I assumed they probably did because they were claiming to be Israelites, but he refused to give me a straight answer. He said my question was "silly" and said he didn't think it was worth answering. I asked why it was a silly question, saying, "If you are Israelites, then you should be keeping the Torah." He asked me what I thought the Torah was, and I explained that it is the commandments of God that are found in the first 5 books of the Bible. Then I asked him again if they kept the Torah, and he pointed at a man holding a Bible and asked me, "what is the book he is holding?" I said, "It looks like a Bible from here." He said, "we believe everything written in the Bible." So, I asked him again, "does that mean you keep the Torah?" He said, "If its in the Bible, then we do." I started to chuckle because I could not understand why he was refusing to give me a straight answer. I explained to him that I also keep the Torah.
I proceeded to ask him my second question. Once again, I thought this would be an easy one to answer, but once again he showed me that even a simple question can be made difficult in how it is answered. I asked him, "Do you believe in Yeshua?" He got an angry look on his face, and he said, "No, we believe in Jesus!" Once again, I began to chuckle a bit, and asked, "Aren't they the same person? Yeshua is just his Hebrew name." To which he replied, "That is NOT Hebrew!" I literally laughed out loud this time, as I asked him how to correctly pronounce it in his version of Hebrew. He would not give me a response, so I asked him if it is "Yahusha, or Yahshua, or Yahoshua, or Yahosha", but again he refused to even acknowledge my question, so I moved on to my next question.
I explained that I have heard about similar groups, and did not know if his particular group was connected to the others, and I was simply asking questions to find out what they believe. I said, "I have heard of other groups like you who believe that if you are not one of the 12 tribes listed on the sign that you cannot be saved." Then I asked him if this is what they believe, thinking that I would get the run around again on this one. I thought that if he could not give me a straight answer about the Torah or Yeshua, then surely he would not give me an answer to a question like this, but once again he proved me wrong. His answer was abrupt and brief when he said, "Yes! If you are not one of these 12 tribes, then you cannot be saved." I was actually caught off guard a bit by his frankness on this issue. So, I tried asking in a different way, saying, "So, is there any Good News for someone who is not on your list? Do you have a Gospel message for someone like me?" His response was once again very short and stern, "No. We have nothing to say to someone like you." So, I asked, "What is your purpose then for standing here and preaching to the cars?" He explained that they are simply trying to tell the true Israelites who they are.
I was more than a little agitated with his "Gospel", because I knew what they were preaching is NOT what the Bible says. So, I said, "I thought you believed the whole Bible?" He assured me that he did, so I asked him a series of questions about "grafting in", "all the nations", and "salvation by faith", and he refused to answer any of my questions on those subjects.
Some of the questions I asked were:
- "What about Romans 11, when Paul talks about the wild branches being grafted in among the natural branches of the cultivated olive tree?"
- "What about the mixed multitude that came out of Egypt with the Israelites?"
- "What about Ruth, the Moabite? She was grafted into Israel by her Kinsmen redeemer, Boaz. Ruth was also listed in the genealogy of Yeshua in Matthew."
- "What about the prostitute Rahab? She helped the Israelites spy on Jericho by protecting the Israelites in her home. She was listed in Hebrews 11 as a woman having faith."
- "What about Elijah the Tishbite? He was not one of the 12 tribes by birth, but he was considered one of the greatest prophets of Israel. Are you telling me that Elijah cannot be saved since he was not one of the 12 tribes?"
- "Do you not believe that we are all descendants of Adam and Eve? Do you not believe that we are all descendants of Noah and his family, since everyone else on the planet was killed in the flood? Doesn't that mean we are all from the same family anyway? We are all part of the same race, the human race!"
- "Why did Messiah say to make disciples of ALL nations if only the 12 tribes matter?"
As I said, he refused to answer any of those questions, and just kept telling me to leave them alone. As I was trying to get him to respond to any of those questions, another guy walked over with a Bible and said he wanted to show me something in the Bible. I agreed, and he turned his Bible to Revelation 13:10, which says, "He who leads into captivity shall go into captivity; he who kills with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints." Next he explained that the Black people were taken captive by the white people, but when Jesus returns, the white man will be slaves to the Black Jews (he said this while pointing his finger at my chest, but I could not figure out why he was pointing at me, because I have never owned a slave in my life).
I responded by saying that Revelation 12 and 14 describe the saints as those who keep the commandments and have faith in Yeshua, and said that is why I asked if they kept the Torah and believed in Yeshua. It has nothing to do with skin color, it is about our faith and obedience. I said that the Bible says we are saved by faith, not by genealogy, so why does it matter what color our skin is? I explained to him that skin color can easily change over a few generations. I told him that if he married a white girl, and his son married a white girl, and his grandson married a white girl, then his great great grandson would be a white boy. I could tell by the expression on his face that he did not like what I just said. Again, he refused to answer or respond, except to tell me to go away.
His friend with the Bible started to show me the verse in Jeremiah 31 that speaks about the "New Covenant", but I quoted it to him before he could even turn to the verse. One of them looked at me with a puzzled look on his face and asked, "who told you about that verse?" I laughed out loud again, and explained that I read the Bible daily, and I am very familiar with Jeremiah 31.
Suddenly, all of the guys lined up in single file, and started to march off. They didn't even bother to end the conversation. They just turned an about face and marched away like soldiers. So, since they hadn't ended the conversation, I continued to walk beside them and ask about Elijah once again. I explained that Elijah will come again before Messiah returns, and asked how Elijah could be a prophet to Israel if only the 12 tribes mattered. I asked again if Elijah will be saved, since he is not one of the 12 tribes of Israel. They refused to answer, so I turned back toward my vehicle.
I still cannot believe that people can be so blinded by racial hate that they refuse to acknowledge the truth. I only hope that some of the things that I said might stick like a splinter under their skin, irritating them and causing them to dig deeper into the Bible to find answers about Elijah, Ruth, and Rahab.
I wish I would have had more time to talk with them, because I would have also asked them about the "great multitude... from every nation, tribe, people and language" (Revelation 7:9), and about the "eternal gospel" proclaimed "to every nation, tribe, language and people" (Revelation 14:6) I would also love to ask them about Peter's speech when he said, "God shows no partiality. But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him." (Acts 10:34-35) If God shows no favoritism and accepts anyone who works righteousness, no matter what nation he is from, then why do these "Black Israelites" show favoritism and discriminate against those who do not have the right skin color? Perhaps they are not following the same God that Peter was preaching about?
Anyone who claims you must have a certain skin color to be saved is a racist and a liar. Do not fall for such deceptions. We are saved by faith, not skin pigment. Read your Bible.