The late Rev. Moshe Radcliff was born in Vienna, Austria in 1930. Although his parents were not observant Jews, his father occasionally took him and his brothers to the synagogue. In the winter of 1938, sensing the Nazi persecution of Jews, his parents resolutely moved to Sydney, Australia. His father continued to take the brothers to the synagogue for the sake of tradition. However, God had a different plan for Moshe. From a young age, he was often gripped by big questions like “Who is the God we worship?” and “Why are we, as God’s chosen people, persecuted?” He never truly read the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) but always believed that the Bible and God were real, a belief that caused deep conflict with his secular family.
In his reckless youth, he enjoyed the pleasures of sin. To avoid bullying at school, he accepted Christians’ invitations to attend meetings regularly. His rabbi rarely taught him God’s word from the Hebrew Scriptures but instilled in him a contempt for Jesus Christ! On Yom Kippur in 1950, he fasted as usual but knew deep down that God was too holy and his sins could not possibly be forgiven. This troubled him greatly, even causing insomnia. Once, he accidentally entered a building and was greeted by a Chinese officer from The Salvation Army, who grabbed Moshe’s shoulders and said, “Young man, you’re looking for Jesus!” He invited Moshe to read the Bible together, telling him there’s no forgiveness of sins without Christ. Thank God, at the end of February the following year, during fervent prayer, Christ illuminated Moshe. He no longer resisted the Holy Spirit’s prompting, his heart completely melted by the Lord’s love, and he knelt in submission, calling Jesus Lord and Savior!
PRAYER
Dear Heavenly Father, we pray for the nearly 50% of Jewish atheists and agnostics. Whether they have family members who died in Holocaust concentration camps or have experienced concentration camps themselves, causing them to shut God out of their hearts, we ask that You make the Jews remember the God who was with them in tribulation and look up to seek You! We pray that You reveal Yourself to them, whether through the Bible or through others sharing the gospel, so that they will not quench or resist the prompting of the Holy Spirit, but be willing to submit to the God who made a covenant with them, resolving to build a personal relationship with You and faithfully follow the Messiah Savior. We pray in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen!