King's Business - 1920-02

T HE K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S

167

among the Jews is prospering and bear­ ing much fruit. Two Jewish and one Gentile conver­ sion have been reported during the last month but instead of telling the story of these interesting conversions, we will give the following incident which shows the wonderful working of the Spirit of God. Long ago, in the early days of the Bible Institute, one of our Hebrew Christian workers' (Mrs. J. A. Vaus) met an old Jewish Rabbi and his wife. He was a typical, orthodox, Talmudical Jew, with handsome features and long white hair and beard. He looked as if he had just stepped out of the Old Testament. Some kindness had been shown the old Rabbi and his wife for which they felt profoundly grateful. This opened the way for cultivating their acquaint­ ance. Now the “ Talmud” teaches that it is entirely out of place for a woman to teach a man and especially would this be so when the woman was young and the man an old Rabbi, as was the case here. This difficulty was evaded by the worker getting the Rabbi to trans­ late certain portions of the prophetic Scriptures from the Hebrew into Eng­ lish and then asking questions concern­ ing the passages. Many passages were discussed in this way and one day, much to the amuse­ ment of the worker, the old Rabbi said, “ Your questions are very deep and re­ quire much thought and are hard to answer.” That, of course, was the rea­ son those questions were asked— to get the old man to think along new lines. Some time later the old gentleman was taken ill and sent his wife to call the worker saying he had an acknowledg­ ment he wished to make to her. When the worker arrived the old man said, “ In discussing the Second Psalm with you the other day, I insisted that the translation of Verse 12 in your Eng­ lish Bible which reads, ‘Kiss the Son’ was incorrect, saying it should be trans­ lated, ‘Arm yourself with purity’, for so my teachers taught me and we are expected to take their word as final and not question it; but in reality I have never been satisfied with this teaching and I have for some time had a secret feeling that the word ‘bar’ meant ‘Son’ instead of ‘purity’. After our last con­ versation together I gave the passage much careful thought and study com­ paring many translations and was sur­ prised to find that many of our Rabbis

translate that word ‘Son’ and so I want to tell you that you are right.” Taking advantage of this admission the worker said, “ If you will pardon me for seeming to be disrespectful, I will say some of the things that are on my heart. Knowing you to be a clear thinker, a good Hebrew scholar, famil­ iar not only with the Old Testament prophecies but also with the New Testa­ ment and judging by this and other acknowledgments you have made to me, I believe that1down in your heart yon know that Jesus-is the Christ, (i. e. the Messiah) but are too much of a coward tp confess it.” The old Rabbi hung his head and then looking up said, “ I AM NOT THE ONLY JEW" IN THAT PLACE.” His wife also confessed that she too be­ lieved, and later her married daughter was dealt with and her family prayed for. These things occurred some eight years ago and recently a son of this married daughter, a grandson of the old Rabbi, was converted and afterwards baptized in the “ Church of the Open Door.” A short time ago another worker was asked to call on an old Jewish man whom the friend thought must be a Hebrew Christian and who proved to be the long lost Jewish Rabbi. Imagine the joy of the grandson who learned for the first time what was the Secret attitude of his grandparents toward Jesus Christ and also that his own mother had been dealt with years ago. He was urgent in asking the worker to call again soon on both his mother and grandparents saying that he was claiming them all by faith, for the promise is to “ thee and thy house.” — James A. Vaus, Supt. Gospel Results W ith Rough Men It has been our privilege to sow the seed “ beside all waters” and we have daily a heavier burden for the ’’regions beyond,” i. e., other unoccupied harbors. The sailor, a stranger on HARBOR foreign shores, has tre- WORK mendous temptations to meet. Home ties are sel­ dom known, there are no restraining influences, sin and vice’s allurements beckon and without spiritual help in many of the Seamen’s Missions (so- called), he is an easy prey to Satan’s power. Having his “ floating hotel”, to

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