Carl Gallups recently wrote a book titled "The Rabbi Who Found Messiah: The Story of Yitzhak Kaduri and His Prophecies of the Endtime" (1). It is about a prophecy made by the venerated Jewish rabbi Yitzhak Kaduri who died in 2006 at the age of 108.

 

   Rabbi Kaduri and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

 

 

Rabbi Kaduri lived during three centuries.   Born in the late 1800s (the exact year is debated, but most agree that it was around 1898), he lived in the land of "Palestine" (as it was called then) before the modern state of Israel was established in 1948. He was a part of the early years of the Zionist movement as the first Jewish settlers returned to the land of their forefathers and fought to reclaim the land that had been so abused and neglected for centuries. He was there when David Ben-Gurion read Israel's Declaration of Independence to the whole world in 1948, making Israel's stand as a sovereign nation. He lived through every war launched against the tiny Jewish nation in the twentieth century, including the Six Day War of 1967 and Yom Kippur War of 1973. So, in one lifetime, this man witnessed the regathering of the Jewish people, their establishment as a nation, and their victories over those neighboring Arab nations who tried so hard to annihilate them in the first four decades of their existence. Having lived in Palestine/Israel from 1923 to the end of the century, Rabbi Kaduri lived through the entire process of the establishment of today's Jewish state.

 

Throughout his many years of ministry in Israel, he became known as a humble man who lived a simple lifestyle lending help to those who were in need. His genuine compassion earned him great respect among his Jewish brethren and the adoration of millions. Perhaps because of his great age, his words were thought to be a true source of God-given wisdom and revelation. To say that Rabbi Kaduri was honored and respected by the Jewish people would be an understatement. In their eyes, he was elevated to the highest pinnacle of Jewish faith and practice and with that came the highest esteem of his people. An estimated quarter of a million people attended his funeral, requiring half of Jerusalem to be blocked off for the procession to the cemetery.

 

                            Funeral procession for Rabbi Kaduri

 

 

For most of Kaduri's life, he practiced the mystic Jewish system of belief known as Kabbalah. The word means "to receive" and it is a reference to someone who claims to have received a special revelation from God. Kabbalists generally hold to the idea that secret messages are hidden in the Biblical text that can be discovered by using various methods of Hebrew word and letter associations. And, quite often, the leaders of Kabbalah are known to make prophecies that they claim to have come from some special revelation of God.

 

Gallups writes, "Kaduri was indubitably most renowned for his prophecies, especially those having to do with the endtimes and the coming of the longed-for Jewish Messiah. In the final years of his life, the elderly rabbi's thoughts were almost wholly centered on this Messiah's coming." (2)

 

On Oct.13, 2005, the followers of the centenarian rabbi waited anxiously to hear a much publicized "holy revelation" from their leader. It was Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), the holiest day of the Jewish year. After being in a 45 minute, silent, trance-like state, the elderly holy man looked up and said, "I have met the Messiah." To say the least, the crowd was shocked!

 

The Rabbi went on to claim that his meeting of the Messiah was in a vision and that he knew Messiah's name! Then, he said he would reveal the name in a note, but that the note could not be read until one year after he died.

 

After a short illness, Rabbi Kaduri died on Jan. 28, 2006. One year later, millions of Jews were on pins and needles as they waited anxiously for the Kaduri note to be read, revealing the name of the Messiah. In typical Kabbalist style, the hand written note of Rabbi Kaduri said (translated to English):

 

     "Concerning the letter abbreviation [or secret coding] of the Messiah's name, He will lift the people and prove that his word and law are valid.

   This I have signed in the month of mercy,

 

         Yitzhak Kaduri"

 

The key to understanding the message was easily recognized by the phrase "Concerning the letter abbreviation of the Messiah's name". It meant that they were to take the first letter of each word in the following part of the note to decipher the Messiah's name.

 

They were completely astounded and shocked beyond words as they realized the letters spelled Yehoshua, or Yeshua. It is the name that is translated into English as JESUS!

 

Immediately, many began to deny that their beloved rabbi would write such a thing. Some said the note was a forgery, while others even went so far as to say that the elderly Kaduri had obviously lost his mind. To name Jesus as the true Messiah was (in their mind) a trick of the devil! It was blasphemy to even think such a thing! To say that perhaps the most celebrated rabbi in Israel would make such a declaration was unthinkable!

 

Every effort would be made to squash this story. But before it could be hidden, Israel Today printed the story ( http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/23877/Default.aspx?hp=readmore ) with a picture of the rabbi's hand written note.

 

This "revelation" was like an earthquake in Judaism... dividing the people over the Messianic note of Rabbi Kaduri and bringing destruction to the names and careers of some who were devoted to him. But there was MORE to the rabbi's claim of the God-sent revelation.

 

On the Yom Kippur that Kaduri announced that he had met the Messiah, he also said, "I must tell you something disturbing," he somberly continued. "I have no specific information to give you on the following matter other than what I am about to share with you now ... The Messiah has revealed to me that He will not present Himself until after the death of our prime minister, Ariel Sharon." (3)

 

                                            Ariel Sharon

 

 

Ariel Sharon was Israel's eleventh Prime Minister. He is considered by most Israelis as a hero of Israel, having fought in Israel's War of Independence in 1948, the Suez Crisis in 1956, the Six Day War of 1967, the War of Attrition in 1969-70, and the Yom Kippur War of 1973. He was Israel's Minister of Defense during the 1982 Lebanon War and Prime Minister from 2001-2006. Many Israelis claim that he was the greatest field commander in Israel's history. After his amazing victories in the Six Day War and the War of Yom Kippur, many Israelis nicknamed him "The Lion of God" ("Ariel" comes from two Hebrew words meaning "Lion" and "God").

 

However, under Prime Minister Sharon's administration, Israel made a unilateral withdrawal from Gaza in 2005, turning it over to the Palestinians. Many Israelis were outraged and called for Sharon's removal from office.

 

  Israeli soldiers dragging Jewish settlers out of Gaza in 2005

 

Just a few months later, on Jan. 4, 2006, Ariel Sharon suffered a debilitating stroke that left him in a vegetative state. He was in a coma for about eight years. As a prominent leader of the Jewish people, we know that he was given that leadership position as a part of God's plan (Dan. 4:17, Rom. 13:1-7). But what part his death will play is something that only God knows.

 

Let me make one point perfectly clear:

I absolutely DO NOT believe in the validity of the mystic rituals and prophecies of Kaballah! I believe in The Bible, God's written Word, as His clear revelation for us today.

 

However, there are some puzzling questions about this whole story (and a few things I would say in response):

 

1.   Why would such a distinguished and revered Jewish rabbi name Jesus as the Messiah, knowing full well that it would ruin his name and legacy and the social status of his whole family? It seems that the only answer is that no one can deny the resurrected Christ if they meet him face to face... even if it goes against his own lifelong held belief system.

 

2.      But why would the rabbi wait until after his death to reveal the name of Jesus as the Messiah? I can only think of two reasonable possibilities... 1 He didn't want to face the persecution of making such a declaration while he was still alive, or 2 The Lord told him to do it that way.

 

3.      Could it be that God would reveal the name of the true Messiah (Jesus) to a Jewish Rabbi just as He did to another Jewish rabbi many, many years ago on the road to Damascus (the Apostle Paul, Acts 9:5)? Some would point out that Rabbi Kaduri's Kabbalistic beliefs and his associated practices are totally unbiblical and that God would not reveal Himself to such a man. My answer is that Paul was so UNchristian that he persecuted the Church. And yet, the Lord spoke directly to him, saved him, and called him to be a minister of the Gospel. So, why couldn't God speak directly to Rabbi Kaduri?

 

One thing is for sure... Kaduri got the name of the Messiah right! It is Yeshua!

 

As far as the idea that Messiah will return after the death of Ariel Sharon, there's no way that we can know that. But... IF one accepts the idea that Rabbi Kaduri did actually see Jesus in a vision, and since only the Lord knows the significance of Sharon's death and the timing of Messiah's coming, then it is logical that the Lord could have told the rabbi something about it.

 

One last thing to note... Ariel Sharon, the "Lion of God"... the one whom many called "The King of Israel"... the one whom many are now calling the " last of the great fathers of modern Israel"... passed away on January 11.

 

 

 

1. Carl Gallups, The Rabbi Who Found Messiah, The Story of Yitzhak Kaduri And His Prophecies of the Endtime (Washington, DC: WND Books, Inc., 2013)

2. Ibid., page 33

3. Ibid., pages 13-14