By Morgan Miles –
Jews and Muslims are coming to Christ now more than in any other time in history, observes a Messianic Jew and author.
“This is truly the greatest untold story in the history of the Middle East,” says Joel Rosenberg, of the Joshua Fund, a Christian Zionist organization. “After almost 2,000 years of people in the Middle East not coming to faith in Jesus Christ, being so deeply hostile and resistant, whether they’re Muslims for the last 1400 years, or whether they’re Jews for the last 2000 years, we just have not seen almost any Jews or any Muslims come to faith in all of this period.
“And it it got discouraging,” he adds.
In fact, Martin Luther got discouraged. After years of fruitlessly witnessing to Jews, towards the end of his life, when he was sick and declining, he wrote a bitter antisemitic pamphlet. His thinking was impaired, compounded by his discouragement, Rosenberg says.
BUT now the promising God made to bring the Jews into the fullness of his message is coming to pass now in our lifetime, he says.
At present, an estimated 1M Jewish believers exist around the world, and millions of former Muslims have abandoned their anti-Christian hostility and have come to Christ, he says.
Isaiah 9:2 It will come to pass that the people who walk in darkness will see a great light, those who live in a dark land, the light will shine on them.
A new Lifeway Research survey in America found 871,000 people of Jewish parentage now embrace the Messiah Jesus. From 1900, there were virtually no Messianic Jews. Some 20-30,000 Israeli Jews believe Jesus, according to another study.
“We were shocked and astonished by what we found,” Rosenberg says. “We’re living in a generation where the scales are coming off the eyes of people (a reference to Paul in the Bible). The deeper we get into End Times, we should expect more Jews to come to faith in Jesus.”
In regards to Muslims turning to Christ, Iran is an example. More than 50,000 mosques have closed due to lack of attendance, Rosenberg says.
Hormoz Shariat, the “Iranian Billy Graham,” beams the Gospel into Iran via satellite “right over the heads of the mullahs,” Rosenberg says. “He believes the number of Iranian Christians is north of 4 million,” he adds.
“Despite the greatest persecution of Christian in human history, we are seeing the greatest harvest of human souls in the Muslim world,” Rosenberg says. “As sheer savagery has been unleashed in the Middle East, the Spirit of the Living God is moving in power and great glory. Satan is on the offensive, to be sure, but so is Christ.
“Darkness is falling, but the light of the Gospel is shining brightly in the darkness,” he adds.
An estimated 10M former Muslims have not embraced Christ as they’re Savior.
“What we’re finding among Jews and Muslims is a tremendous dynamic,” Rosenberg says. “The Spirit of God is on the move.”
