Barry & Batya Segal

Sid: My guest by way of telephone is my friend Batya Segal speaking to her by way of her home in Jerusalem, Israel. On yesterday’s broadcast we found out that this Yemenite Jewess had a job; I mean here traditional Judaism is her life, her family but she’s got a big mess at home. She’s just 20 years old pregnant, married, her husband’s in a horrible auto accident and so she goes out to get a job she’s working with a typesetting machine on a computer in a printing business. Her first assignment the New Testament in Hebrew; Batya tell me what went through your mind when you started to realize you had to read the New Testament; you had never read it before had you?

Batya: No, I never read the New Testament before, never and it was handed to me and as you said “I had the choice to quit my work or to do it and I chose to do it. And the amazing this is I found out from the very very first verse in chapter 1 of the book of Matthew I just learned immediately that Yeshua haMashiach was the Son of David the son of Abraham. It went on to tell us about the genealogy of Yeshua and I was just amazed to see how Jewish was Yeshua; I didn’t realize that if you can believe it or not even though in the back of my mind I probably heard that Yeshua was a Jew; it never was real to me I never even thought about Him because for me He was the God of the Christians or the Messiah of the Christians.

Sid: Would you for less than a minute read a little of the genealogies in Hebrew from the Gospel of Matthew.

Batya: Yeah, I will read. (Genealogies of Yeshua in Matthew in Hebrew)…. that was just amazing to read all of the scriptures and to learn about all of the forefathers of Yeshua.

Sid: Now you told me that when you read that your mind began to believe but your heart had problems why?

Batya: Because you know first of all as I described it in my head of course it made sense that Yeshua was the Messiah, but in my heart I guess my heart had to accept Him because there was so many generations and so many things that we were told as children about all the history of the Jewish people. Things that had been going through under the persecutions of Christianity and that I think was really the problem for me to understand how people that believe in a Jewish Messiah can persecute the Jews. So that was something that I had to learn through the scriptures; what are the scriptures telling us about Yeshua.

Sid: And tell me about 9 months later you prayed a simple prayer to God what was it?

Batya: For 9 months I was struggling and one night I went to bed and right before I fell asleep I cried out to God and I said “God show me if Yeshua was truly the Messiah and if He is I would like to follow Him; but show me without a doubt that He is the true Messiah of Israel and He is my personal savior.” And as I said this prayer I saw a vision of the angel of the Lord and it was very real; I saw a real picture of an angel. And the next day as I finished my work I was waiting in the afternoon at the bus stop in Jerusalem and waiting for the bus to come and take me home and as I was looking to the direction of the bus the same angel that appeared to me in the vision appeared to me in life. And I knew that without a doubt at that moment, without a shadow of a doubt, that God is speaking to me and telling me that I have found the Messiah and I accepted Him in my heart. And for the first time after months and months of struggle I had peace between my head and my heart and I knew that without any doubt that I had found joy and happiness.

Sid: But when you went home to your husband and he understood what you believe he forbid you to read the New Testament and have any interaction with believers.

Batya: Yeah, that’s very correct he approved to what I shared with him in my simplicity I basically went to him and shared my joy. And of course there… I shouldn’t be saying of course but I mean unfortunately his reaction was not very pleasing and he objected to what I believed and he really I would say almost attacked me spiritually and didn’t allow me to have any relationship with any believers.

Sid: So why didn’t you just stop believing?

Batya: Oh, you can’t stop believing it’s part or your being, it’s part of your heart…

Sid: Of course.

Batya: It’s like it’s taking your heart away.

Sid: But I mean he wanted to take part of your heart away; he wanted to take you had a daughter by that time and he wanted to take your daughter away.

Batya: Yes, he wanted to take my daughter away at that time and of course that was something that was very difficult for me because we ended up in a court case.

Sid: Not just a court case it went over to the Israeli Supreme Court and the Rabbinical Court. But I don’t understand how you were able to keep your daughter; I don’t understand how you won that case.

Batya: It was a miracle, a miracle of its own. All of my life is full of miracles but this one is a real true miracle; because at that time I had an Orthodox lawyer that was representing me and basically he was able. They took her away from me and the Rabbinical Court that came up with the conclusion and with a verdict that I will no longer see her and that I will have to change my life now and my beliefs if I want to see her. They basically took her away from me. And that was a Thursday afternoon and I knew that without a doubt that God is with me and He made me a promise that He would never take her away from me. It was a great miracle I’ve received my daughter after 3 days even though the court case took 8 years but thank God God has given me back my daughter.

Sid: Okay but what I want to know is 8 years later after this battle in the courts how could you win in Israel where you believe as the traditional Jewish would say in another religion?

Batya: First of all I made it very clear that I did not change my religion I’m still a Jew and I believe in the Jewish Messiah. And I presented it to them also for them to understand that I did not convert to another religion I have become more of a fulfilled Jew by believing in Yeshua. And I still preserve the Jewish holidays and so on, and not just that I think the main thing was that God was with me and He made it possible and gave me the possibility of raising up my daughter without any problems.    

Sid: God is good; Mishpochah I want you to have some of this anointed Israeli music the CD is called “God Through the Gates” by Barry and Batya Segal. Tell me about this particular song we’re going to hear “On the Walls.”

Batya: On your walls oh Jerusalem I have set watchmen. And this has been my prayer as we face so many tribulations at this time and this city that is so dear to me. In Jerusalem God’s city; it’s the city of the great King. And as I was preparing; we were preparing for a conference God has just laid on my heart and gave me the music and the melody for these scriptures. “On your walls Oh Jerusalem I have set watchmen day or night.” This is my prayer for all of the people that loving Israel and loving the Messiah to keep Jerusalem in their prayers and to pray for Jerusalem because when we pray for the peace of Jerusalem they’re asking Yeshua come back quickly.

Go Through the Gates excerpt

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