Sid: My guest is red hot for the Messiah how could he help it. The last 10 years this American Jew that is red hot for Jesus made aliyah, immigrated to Tel Aviv, Israel. I’m speaking to him by way of telephone right now. Ron Cantor we’re talking about your new book “Identity Theft.” It’s written as a novel and the premise is so amazing a Jewish reporter does his investigation about who Jesus is but does it an amazing fashion. He has an encounter with an angel; and then in a time machine he goes back throughout history to see how something so Jewish has their identity stolen from the church. As a matter of fact I understand that as people read your book first of all they can’t put it down, second of all they’re getting information that nowhere else on the planet are they going to get. Because very few pastors understand the Jewishness of the New Testament, therefore how could they teach it. And then you understand why so much confusion in the Jewish Community about who Jesus is. A lot of Christians say “I don’t understand why Jewish people don’t believe in Jesus.” But people are saying their intimacy goes off the top when they read the book, explain.
Ron: Well, the main character David as he begins the search he’s learning all of these new things but as he get deeper into this search I don’t want to give away the whole book but in chapter 24 and 25, people write me all the time. Ron, I got to chapter 24 and it wrecked me; it crushed me I was in tears. What they don’t know is that when I wrote those chapters I was weeping. Sid I have never written a novel in my life and it was the most amazing experience because it was like the characters were directing me. And I didn’t… I’ve heard from other writers that it’s often how it happens but it was such a unique experience for me and when I got to chapter 24 and 25, which I didn’t know they were 24 and 25 at the time. He meets the Messiah he meets the Messiah in Jerusalem, in the year 30 just before his crucifixion that’s all I’m going to say. All I can tell you is that he has an encounter with Yeshua that is…it broke me I literally was writings these chapters and crying because I was so Identifying with the character. I have people write me all the time and just talk about how they know; they now know Yeshua Jesus in a whole new way.
Sid: Okay, explain to me why in the Old Testament there’s a sister of Moses and her name is Miriam and then in the New Testament there’s the mother of Jesus and they call her, not by her name which is Miriam but they call her Mary. And that’s true for a lot of the Jewish people in the New Testament; why was that high jacked?
Ron: Well, it could have been innocent simply because if you take the name Miriam and translate it to English it becomes Mary or Maria. But it’s interesting that in the Old Covenant which is my Old Covenant that I read in English; they didn’t change the name of Miriam the sister of Moses to Mary when the…. probably because when they went straight from Hebrew to English, whereas in the New Covenant they went from Hebrew to Greek to English. And it’s the same thing with the name Joshua; a lot of people don’t know it but the name Y’hoshua is the long form; that’s the name Joshua in Hebrew but it’s the long form of Yeshua a shortened form. Yeshua and Joshua is basically the same name; when I tell people here about Yeshua the Messiah they often think that I’m talking about the Old Testament to your Joshua. And I have to explain to them and say “No, this is the Son of God the Messiah.” And we see that with Peter. If I told you a story about Peter, James and Mary or Peter, Paul and Mary as the old band you would say this not a Jewish story. But if I told you a story about Shaul which was what Paul’s name was. By the way he never changed his name. The Bible never said he changed his name.
Sid: But wait a second many Christians say his name was Saul but then his new name was Paul; what would you say?
Ron: I would say that ridiculous because Paul at the time wasn’t a Christian name it was a typical Roman Latin name. There was nothing spiritual about it; the truth of the matter is that most Jewish people; you probably have two Jewish names Sid.
Sid: I do, it’s whatever nations were in like my name if Sidney in the United States but in Israel it’s Yisrael.
Ron: Right so your parents gave you two names a Jewish name and then an American name. My parents named me Ron but I also have a Jewish name Chaim and it’s very normal. So Paul when in a Roman speaking world he was Paul; when he was in Israel amongst Jews he was Shaul or Saul, he had two names. The Bible doesn’t say that he had an epiphany and suddenly took on a Roman name to replace his Jewish name that would be ridiculous. Then we have Peter the word peter is not actually a name but it’s become a name. It means rock; it comes from the Aramaic word Kepha, which is what Yeshua called Peter when he said “Your name is no longer Peter, rather no longer called Simon you’re going to be called Kepha you’re going to be called rock. It was a very cool name but again, when you refer to people as Peter, as Paul as Mary you don’t think Jewish. You don’t think a Jewish story; I want to tell how about Yakov the bother of Jesus name was Jacob. Yet in every English Bible in the world just about it says that his name is James. Nobody ever… James is a great name if you’re a butler, if you’re a….
Sid: (Laughing)
Ron: But it’s not a Hebrew name; a Hebrew name is Jacob. The Book of James is actually the book of Jacob.
Sid: How about something like communion and last supper and the Passover Seder. You don’t even get the connection that the last supper was a Passover Seder.
Ron: Right. Well, David has that revelation in the book when he gets to view the last supper and he realized that it’s a Passover Seder that the imagery is amazing because Yeshua becomes the Passover Lamb who spills His blood for us. The blood that in the Exodus would to on the doorpost of your house; it’s now the blood of the perfect Lamb of God Yeshua and it goes on the doorposts of our hearts. And so when John His cousin, John the Baptist, saw Him a few years earlier he had a revelation. I believe personally that it was a first time that he understood that Yeshua was the Messiah and then He said “Behold the Lamb of God the Passover Lamb who takes away the sins of the world.” But when Yeshua took that cup and he took the bread; the Matzah and He said “This is My body and this is My blood” this was in the middle of a Jewish Passover Seder.
Sid: So if we denude all of the Biblical feasts from Christianity we miss a whole lot of the New Testament.
Ron: Absolutely, and the second coming. The Bible says very clearly that when Yeshua returns Zachariah 14 He’s coming back to Jerusalem to fight for Israel. His feet will land on the Mount of Olives and He will set up His Messianic Kingdom in the great city. Then the world of the Lord will go forth from Zion to the nations of the world. And then He says “Any nation that will not come up to Jerusalem to celebrate the feast of Tabernacles is going to be in big trouble.”
Sid: What would you say to believers that have turned against the Jew in Israel?
Ron: I would say “Be very careful because the great hope of the Body of Believers is the return of the Messiah,” that’s what we long for. That’s the longing of Paul as he writes the epistles we’re looking for His return. And when He does return Sid He cannot and will not return to an anti-Semitic bride. I cannot that He as a Jew is going to return to a bride that hates Him, that is against Him or that believes that His people have been rejected by God. As someone said to me recently, “Jesus is not going to marry anyone that doesn’t like his mother and his mother, Miriam, is a Jew.
Sid: Well as far as I’m concerned that’s settles the argument. But Ron you wrote the book with humor and it’s so poignant. And because it’s a novel but all the facts are historical facts people are… Are people reporting to you they can’t put it down?
Ron: Yes, in fact… Evan Horton the Senior Pastor of Brownsville Assembly of God when there was the great revival in the 90’s he wrote me and said Ron as soon as I started reading I couldn’t put it down. Don Finto from Tennessee a very well know pastor and author he said “From the introduction he was glued, never put it down.” Then I’ve gotten emails just from around the world who have said “Ron…
Sid: Oh, it’s going to change your paradigm of understanding who Jesus is and it is going to literally increase your intimacy with the Lord like you’ve never had it before.
