to
by
F. C. Gilbert
(A Hebrew Christian)
An autobiography
Some paragraphs have been split for emphasis
1. The difficulties in leading the Jew to the blessed Saviour are many and various, but the real problem begins when he has accepted Jesus. When a son of Abraham turns from his sins and inclines his heart towards the Lord Jesus, he has a hard and serious problem awaiting him. His people are not only displeased with him, but according to the rabbinical and traditional law, they are forbidden to have anything whatever to do with him. In fact, it is expected that they will do all in their power to persecute him, and, if it is thought necessary, his life may be taken from him. There are various reasons for this which we will mention a little later; but that you may know something of the feelings of the relatives of a Jew who accepts the dear Lord Jesus, I here recite an experience or two of those who have taken their stand. These experiences are by no means stray ones. They are the lot of every orthodox Jew who turns to the Lord.
2. Some years ago a physician in the United States Army was converted, a prominent doctor, and soon after he gave his heart to the Lord, he wrote to his mother in Germany. This was the reply he received, after waiting five long months:
“Max: You are no longer my son; we have buried you in effigy; we mourn you as one dead. And now may the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob strike you blind, deaf, and dumb, and damn your soul forever. (p283) You have left your father’s religion and the synagogue for that of Jesus, the ‘Imposter,’ and now take your mother’s curse. — Clara.”
3. This same man told his wife the night he found Christ of his experience, saying,
“Wife, I have found the Messiah.”
“Found whom?” she asked.
“Jesus Christ, my Messiah and Saviour,”
was the man’s answer. Let him tell his own story of what immediately followed:
“She spake not another word, but in less than five minutes was dressed, and had left the house, although it was then two in the morning and bitterly cold, and went across the street to the house of her parents, who lived immediately opposite. . . .
4. “On the following morning my poor wife was told by her parents that if she ever called me husband again, she would be disinherited, excommunicated from the synagogue, and accursed. At the same time my two children were sent for by their grandparents, and were told they must never call me father again; that I in praying to Jesus, the ‘Imposter,’ was fully as bad and as mean as he was.”
5. The persecutions which the Jew who believes in the Saviour has to endure are bitter and relentless; and should any of the Jews, whether strangers or relatives, know that one drop of water would save the life of this apostate from the faith of Judaism, it would be refused him. The writer well remembers the experience he had when first writing to his dear mother and telling her of his faith in Christ and of his following the Lord in baptism. For years he was apparently dead to her and to all the family, and not a word could be received from relatives both near and distant.
(p284) 6. There are at least three reasons why the Jew feels this way towards the one who accepts Christ:
First, The erroneous teachings the rabbis have inculcated in the Jewish mind concerning the religion of Christ;
second, The bitter and terrible persecutions which have been carried on against the Jews in the name of Christ and in the interests of the Christian religion;
third, The opinion, that the only reason a Jew accepts the Christian religion is because of base and mercenary motives; hence he sells his birthright, like Esau, for a mess of pottage, and for this reason should not be allowed to live.
7. First, The Jews have succeeded well in keeping the New Testament away from the masses of their coreligionists. There are very few of the literal seed of Abraham who know anything of the existence of such a book, despite the fact that it was the Jews who wrote the New Testament, and for the first century of the Christian era it was handled largely by the Jewish disciples. This being true, the rank and file of the people know nothing themselves of what the religion of Jesus teaches. Nearly all the miracles of the Saviour are either falsified or distorted, and the rabbis claim that Jesus practiced the art of magic, and it was by his magical learning that he performed great wonders, and these really were superseded by other and more learned rabbis than He was.
8. The rabbis also teach that the Christian religion is bitterly opposed to the Jewish religion, and this is proved by the teaching of the Christian people. (p285) The Old Testament many Christian believers know little about, and their practices are so different from the teachings of the word of God, that wherever Christian people come in contact with the Jews, the latter see the religion of Jesus in a false light. This is best illustrated by a letter the writer received from a Jew, in response to a tract which this son of Abraham received concerning the Christian religion:
“Mr. F. C. Gilbert,
“DEAR sir:—
“After reading one of your tracts and noting the arguments set forth therein, I am convinced of one thing: that you are sincere, and really believe in what you preach; although I do not write this with a view of converting you, not being well versed in the Talmud myself, not anywhere near so well as you are. But you speak so sincerely and sympathetically, a method so totally different from that of most Christians in their efforts to convert Jews since the day God’s Messenger (?) came on this earth, that I cannot refrain from writing to you for these reasons: First, to thank you for your sympathy; second, to show you that it is not the Jews that need the sympathy; i.e., the kind of which you speak. If we need sympathy it is because we suffer from those people, or from some of them, at least, who follow the teachings (or they say they do) of Christ.
“Now of course you will say we suffer because we did not accept Jesus; that is a very poor argument for Christians who persecute us. . . But I intend to show you why we did not accept Jesus, and why we do not believe in Him as our Saviour, . . . A messenger from God would agree with God’s teachings given to Moses on Mt Sinai. (p286) Do the Christians practice everything that God commands in the Bible? You cannot say, yes, for you violate the Sabbath, and eat food which the Bible says is forbidden [The gentleman was informed on these points very soon after his letter was received.] If he was God’s messenger he would not violate those laws. God’s laws are unchangeable, as you yourself say.
9. “Some Christians say that they observe Sunday because Jesus died or was born on Sunday, I am not sure which. Now there is just as much sense in that as to say that we should observe Monday or Tuesday because some man who claims to be Messiah was born or died on that day. ... If you were to send a man on an errand for you, you would select a man who would carry out your instruction, . . . and not his own, or anybody else’s. If God sent Jesus as His messenger, He would carry out His instructions, and abide by His laws.
“... We do not ask you to believe our religion. You ask us, or rather Christ asked us, to believe in Him; therefore you should be able to answer all questions satisfactorily. As long as you quote the Bible, etc., you must believe in it yourself. ...”
10. It is therefore clear that one of the great needs of the hour is so to live the word of God that the Jew will see what the Christian religion really is. He must see that the religion of Jesus is not opposed to the religion of the Old Testament. He must learn that the same God who made the Old Testament told Israel that with them He would make a New Testament. (p287) The New Testament is but the fruit of the Old. When the Jew sees this, then He will cease to a large extent to bitterly oppose one of his brethren who believes in the very Bible and in the religion of his forefathers.
11. One other illustration will be given to impress this point upon the reader’s mind. A young man accepted Christ, and wrote to his mother. Shortly after he received a letter from his mother, from which I quote the following:
“But perhaps you will say that you have joined the missionaries out of conviction in their creed; then I say that I don’t believe it. To leave the grand, pure, simple faith of Judaism, those pure truths which were handed by God to Moses at Sinai, and which are destined to be the guiding principles of humanity till the end of time, to think that you have abandoned that creed for any other through conviction, is in truth beyond the comprehension of any sane and reasonable being. No, my child, you have been misguided, you have been tempted, and proved yourself weak. You have turned from the ‘fountain of living water to hew out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.’ Ah, my dear ———, in what language shall I appeal to you to retract the awful step you have taken? Shall it be the tender language of a mother’s love? Shall it be the forcible weapon of the truth of Judaism which will last forever? I combine the two. My heart is broken. The sad news will shorten my brief days on earth. I shall pass away with a mental agony which can never be equalled, even by the most terrible bodily pain.
“Oh let me hear just once more that you have retraced your step, that I may know that I have my own dear child back again. (p288) But above all I come to you with the language of truth, God’s truth, that the faith in which you have been nurtured is the Heaven-born religion, the faith which I yet hope and trust and pray will be the one to which you will once more come back. ...”
12. Second, For nearly eighteen centuries the Christian religion to the Jew has meant bitter and horrible persecution. In the next chapter we will deal with this matter more in full, so we will not take the time here. Hence the Jew feels that if a person has been brought up in the Jewish religion and knows the history of Judaism, which has largely been written in the blood of his ancestors and in the agonies of his forefathers, he ought to be persecuted and bitterly treated if he adopts a religion of that character. (a)
13. Third, In view of what the Jew is taught concerning the treatment of the Jews by the Christian people, in view of what the Jew thinks the Christian religion is, there can be to his mind but one reason why a fellow-Jew should turn away from his religion and adopt the religion of the Christian — it is base and sinister motives. So every Jewish child from infancy is taught that the Jews are bought to become Christians. That missionaries are people who get large sums of money. To accept this Christian religion they sell their souls, they throw away their birthright, they barter their present and their future happiness. They therefore are not fit to live.[1] They are to be excommunicated. They should be anathematized. (p289) They ought to be cast out. Thus, reasons the Jew, should be done with all who claim to be followers of this Jesus.
14. Many has been the time when the Jews would come to the writer, and ask him how large sums he secured for preaching this religion. Jews have come to the writer and told him they would like to engage in this missionary business, if they could only get as large sums as the missionaries do. The Jews believe if a Jew gets his head turned (this is what they call conversion), the missionary who succeeds in accomplishing this task, is made wealthy; and if the missionary ever accomplishes the feat of baptizing him, then the worker is given a present of a large sum of money. This is inbred in every grain of the Jew. I will illustrate this by a quotation from the letter of a mother to her son from which I last quoted:
“For what reasons have you done such a thing? Is it because you have been unsuccessful in your business and these missionaries have tempted you into their fold by promises of help? Then I entreat you to be man enough to resist that temptation. You should prefer honorable poverty to inglorious riches. Toil on honestly, and our good Father in heaven will surely reward you, and send you success even on this earth. But oh! be not so blind, so weak as to act the renegade, the deserter, and cast not away your soul, your life, your eternity, for temporary and material gain.”
15. In contrast to this idea of the Jews, I am sure the reader will be glad to learn what was once promised a Jew when he was urged to accept Christ. The Jew told me he must have peace. (p290) He said that if he did not have peace, he should lose his mind. I said to him:
“You can have peace. God will give it to you, but you must be willing to pay the price.”
“What is the price of peace that God asks?” he inquired.
I said to him,
“You must never expect to have any clothes to put on your back. You must never expect to get bread to eat. You must never expect any one to befriend you on earth. You must never expect to have a shelter in this world. You must expect to leave all. You must expect publicly to confess Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God, and you must tell people everywhere you go what Jesus has done for you. If you do this, you will get peace. This is God’s price of peace. You must forsake all and follow Him.”[2]
16. We knelt together and had a season of prayer. A few days after this, the young man walked eight miles, entered into a church while service was being held, and at the close of the service asked the privilege of making a statement. He then and there took a public stand for Christ. After the service, in the evening, he went to the house where he was staying, and immediately began to tell the people what he had done. It was the Sabbath between the “New Year” and the “Day of Atonement,” an extremely holy Sabbath to the Jews, known as the “Sabbath of Repentance.” For a time the folks thought he was jesting. They finally became convinced that he was in earnest, and immediately began to persecute him. (p291) He had to flee from the house to save his life. It being the Sabbath day, he had no money in his pocket, as it is not lawful for the Jews to carry any money on the Sabbath. The result was that he walked the streets of New York City all night, and this was his first experience along this line. This is what we generally tell the Jews when they ask what they must do to be a Christian — a great contrast to the Jewish view.
17. It is apparent, however, that the condition is such that it is an awful step to take. Deprivation, hunger, persecution, starvation, and death stare at the Jew when he takes his stand to obey the gospel of Christ. This was one of the hard things I had to encounter as the work progressed, and it was a very perplexing thing to solve. What could we do with these Jews? We did not always know whether they were in earnest or not, and at the same time, when they said they believed, and were willing to suffer for Christ, what could we do for them and with them?
18. The ways and customs of the orthodox Jew are so different from the civilized Gentile, that it is difficult for him to accommodate himself to the manners of the Christian people; but something must be done. We had one experience which brought this truth home to the heart with a terrible conviction. A young man who had attended the mission for some time, finally took his stand for Christ. He was about twenty-two years old. He seemed like a nice young person, and had a strong desire to do right. He wanted to obey the Lord fully, and lost his position. He had about fifty dollars in money which he had saved, and was willing to walk in the light and follow in Christ’s steps. He continually attended the mission and the meetings, and seemed anxious to learn. But he needed work. He needed something to do. He understood very little English, and had no kind of occupation at which he could work among Gentiles generally.
19. Whenever he came to the mission, we would ask him to partake with us of food, but for some time he refused. He said he had some money, and hoped that the Lord would open the way for him so that he could do some business of his own. Things went this way for a time, till his money was spent. He would continually ask, if we could not get him some work. There were few people who cared much for the Jew, even though he was a Christian, and what work he might have had, he was unable to do, especially because he did not know the English language.
20. His health began to fail, and he at length attended the Massachusetts Hospital. Here he was told that he had tuberculosis. I felt, however, that a lack of nourishing food was as much the trouble as any other cause. Shortly after he was stricken down with terrible suffering, and the doctor said the cause was lack of nourishment, worry, and loss of sleep.
21. For ten days the young man suffered intensely, but he seemed patient through it all. He hoped the Lord would help him, so that when he was better he could secure employment. About that time my health failed, and I was obliged to leave the country for a while. After my departure he went out to sell papers for a while, but with little success. (p293) He was gone three days, and I was informed that when he returned to our house, he was so hungry that it seemed as though he could not secure sufficient food to satisfy the gnawings of the stomach. There were several reasons for this lack of success, he could not speak the language. Many people slighted him, and others took no stock in the idea of his being a Christian. The poor fellow became discouraged, and finally went away. Although several years are now passed since this incident took place, the young man has never been heard from. His parents wrote him a number of letters, and sent him money for his needs. Many of his friends have scoured the country for him, but he cannot be found. It has been concluded that the poor fellow must have died.
22. Now is this not sad? To think that a young man, because he could not speak the language, and was an outcast from his people on account of his religion, should be obliged to thus suffer? It stirred my heart, and I resolved, then and there, with the help of God, that something should be done. But what could be done? What could we do for these poor outcasts of Israel? I had prayed much and earnestly, and had sought the Lord for light. I felt that in a time like this He would not leave the soul who called upon Him.
23. One day while alone in meditation, and thinking about the situation, the call came as distinctly as though the voice were audible, “Why not get a city of refuge for these poor outcasts of Israel?” Sure enough! The impression was made, and it seemed as though the call was a heavenly one. I began to think of the idea, and prayed over the matter. The more I thought and the more I prayed, the more impressed I became that it was the thing to do. (p294) In fact, was not the Bible the guide in this direction? Did not the Lord anciently have a city of refuge for His people Israel, so that in time of need they might have a place of shelter and protection?[3] The more I mused the more the fire burned, and it seemed to burn deeply into the soul.
24. But where was the place? Where was the money for such a project? Who could be interested in such an undertaking? It meant time, money, energy, perseverance, and various other things to start a project of that character. But I felt that the Lord had spoken; and He who had guided the work thus far surely would not leave it in this crucial hour.
25. I laid the matter before Christian brethren for counsel and for prayer, and for suggestions of ways and means. We sought wisdom of the Lord, and decided that the place ought to be in the vicinity of Boston, the mission field, and at the same time near to the location where we had our printing and literature work carried on. A search was begun. Days, weeks, and months passed before a place could be found, and finally the Lord led us, we believe, to the very spot we should secure. It was just twenty miles from Boston, and the same distance to the place where we had our tract and literature work carried on. Surely the pillar of cloud rested on the right spot, and the farm, an eighty-acre tract, looked as though it had great possibilities that might be developed. (p296) The house contained twenty-one finished rooms, there were two large barns, a carriage house, more than two hundred fruit-trees, and other things which could be used for the work to good advantage.
26. We found that to undertake this enterprise we should need ten thousand dollars. We laid the matter before the Lord and before some friends. We told them we needed ten thousand dollars for a home for poor Jews who wished to learn more about Christ, and who would need a place of refuge if they were cast out for their faith in Jesus. The brethren were very kind and sympathetic, but it meant ten thousand dollars. TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS, they said, was a lot of money; how did we expect to raise ten thousand dollars! We told them the Lord had plenty of money; the only thing was to know whether it was the thing to do. All agreed that such a place might accomplish much good, but where was the money coming from?
27. The first thing we did was to organize a board, and to negotiate for the purchase of the property. The Lord opened the way so that we had interested a few friends in this project, but hardly a beginning had been made. It was finally settled that the property should be secured, and that in five months from the time the deal was made the money should be raised to pay for the place. The first sum needed was nearly six thousand dollars, and this had to be secured in five months.
28. Some of the dear friends said: “Brother Gilbert, you cannot raise this money this winter. It is a panic year; there are hard times on in the land, and money is scarce. Even the banks are giving out little money, and it does not seem possible that you can raise the money in that time.” (p297) I believed in my soul that the same Jesus who secured money from the fish’s mouth when He needed, was still alive to do great things for the children of men who put their trust in Him.[4] I answered: “If there were plenty of money in the land, and every one felt that they could give liberally, the Lord would not receive so much credit when the thing was done, as He would get when He sent us the money in times of financial panic.”
29. Our faith in the blessed Christ was strong. We believed that He who had led us to secure this place, would in His own way give us the money to purchase it; and we had decided that the place when it was purchased must be free from debt. There must be no mortgage on the place, as the Lord would have places of that kind free from the embarrassment of debt. We were happy in the faith that God would do as we believed He agreed; and in His own divine way He worked marvelously for us. When the first week in April came, the money was on hand, and the place was free from debt.
30. One incident might be related which shows how the Lord works if we but trust Him. Mrs. Gilbert accompanied me to a certain church where I was to speak. A lady in the church who was a stranger to us both, although we had had some correspondence in days gone by, came to Mrs. Gilbert to inquire about that home. She seemed much troubled concerning it, and felt a burden to see that something was done. She told Mrs. Gilbert that when all the money was raised but the last thousand dollars, she would see that that amount was forthcoming. (p298) A few days later she decided that such a proposition was not the thing, but told us that she would give a thousand dollars towards the purchase of the place. Thus, when the Lord had sent us all that we needed till that point, the thousand dollars came all right, and we were able to secure a clear title to the property. Our hearts went up to God for His goodness and His kindness, and again we saw clearly that the Holy Spirit was leading in the work.
31. As soon as the place was secured, there were one or two Jews who were ready to go there, and whose hearts were glad and thankful for just such a place. The following summer the place was dedicated to the Lord and to the work, and a large number of the residents of old historic Concord, as well as friends from other towns, came to welcome us, and to bid us Godspeed in the work. Indeed it has been a blessed refuge to the Jews, and a convenient place for the work. We have had a number of Jews come here who realize that it has been indeed a shelter, a home, a protection, and a refuge to them. Several times we have had whole families here, especially when the husband would bitterly persecute the wife for accepting the Christian religion. While it is true that not all who have been here have turned out as they should, we are glad and thankful to God for what has been done. We are indeed glad that God has given us a few souls who, we believe, are loyal and true to Jesus and to His most blessed truth, and the “Good Tidings Home” has indeed been a blessing to such.
32. We have at different times conducted a church school here for children. We have conducted a Bible school here for adults. (p300) We have different enterprises which have been conducted in connection with the Home, such as printing, farming, sewing, and the place is conducted on a home basis. The Lord has given us valuable helpers at different times, and we have seen His power at work in a marked manner.
33. Of course there were many things which needed attention. Supplies had to be purchased for the Home and for the farm, and many things had to be done in order to carry on the work. But we were sure that the dear Lord who had opened the way for the work to begin would not leave it, if we continued faithful and true to Him. Everything was carried on from a philanthropic standpoint. It would take time to develop the land, since the farm was in a run-down state when we secured it. There were repairs needed on the Home, and improvements and additions had to be made. The only thing we could do was to pray, and to ask the Lord to supply the needs.
34. The Good Tidings Home was in operation for more than eight years. During that period we had many evidences of the leading of God’s kindly hand in this work. How precious it is to know that God leads His children. There were several young men and women who were with us continuously for a number of years, and these were anxious to secure further training for the work of God. They had a real burden to receive a preparation to work among their own brethren. It was finally thought advisable by the Board of Trustees and many of the friends that these young people should be given the opportunity to go to a more advanced training school where they could secure advantages which would give them a better fitting up for the work of God. (p302) Accordingly a house was secured and equipped, and a number of these Jewish young people went to the Academy in South Lancaster, Massachusetts, where the author received his training for God’s cause many years before.
35. It is with feelings of gratitude that we see a number of these young people engaged in God’s work at the present time. One is an assistant editor for the Yiddish literature, another a nurse ministering to the sick, still others are engaged in colporteur work placing the godly literature in the hands of hundreds and thousands of people with God’s message for today; yet others are leading souls through the ministry of the word, to the Lord Jesus and to His truth, while still others are preparing for greater usefulness in God’s cause.
36. We have every reason to believe that God greatly blessed and prospered the work of the Good Tidings Home during its years of usefulness. We feel sure that there are a number of Jews, and others who are not Jews in the flesh, who are enjoying the riches of God’s grace and His precious truth. These might never have known of the great salvation were it not for the city of refuge which God in His providence had provided for these people in the town of Concord, Massachusetts. While the institution is not directly benefiting the Jews at the present time, we trust that its influence may long be cherished by those who have been helped and blessed by it, and may still others be led to the Lord Jesus through the godly lives of those who shared its blessings and reaped its benefits.
(p303) EXPLANATORY NOTES
paragraph 12 (a). — In these days there are many Jews who are considered great philanthropists, and apparently are free from prejudice and narrow-mindedness. They even extend their philanthropy to Christian people and Christian institutions; and to the ordinary Christian person it seems that such Jews are entirely free from such erroneous feelings towards their relatives.
Among this class of people can be counted the late Sir Moses Montefiore, one of England’s greatest philanthropists, and one of the most remarkable Jews of the last century. Nevertheless his prejudice against Christianity as related to the Jews never left him. This man had an aged aunt who accepted the Christian religion. She was eighty-five years old at the time she gave her heart to Jesus, while she was living in Marseilles. She lost her fortune through a mercantile firm in England with whom she had deposited her money, and during the latter years of her life she was dependent for her maintenance upon her nephew, who remitted to her twice a year. Shortly before her death, he visited his aunt, and then she confessed to him her faith in Christ. We give a portion of a narrative touching this point, by a Christian Jew who was the means of leading her into the light of Christ:
“In March of the same year [1857] she received a visit from Sir Moses on his way to the East, but he remained with her only a few minutes. On entering her chamber he inquired how she was, and expressed his regret at finding her so poorly. In reply to which she said: ‘I am very ill, and I am waiting for the Lord Jesus to come to take me home.’ When Sir Moses heard that name, so sweet to a believer’s ear, but to the Jews a stumbling-block, he snatched up his hat, and rushed out of the room. From that hour till her death, he never held intercourse with her by word or by deed. She felt this more than she could express, at the same time she thanked God for having enabled her to witness for the Lord Jesus before her unbelieving nephew.” Back