One of the first Jewish followers of Jesus in the modern State of Israel reveals miracles he experienced as a Messianic commander during Yom Kippur War

When the Jewish state was established in 1948, only 23 Jewish followers of Jesus lived in the country. Aryeh Bar David and seven of his family members were among them.

He recently sat down with ALL ISRAEL NEWS Editor-in-Chief Joel Rosenberg for a series of interviews airing on the weekly program THE ROSENBERG REPORT on TBN.

Bar David fought five different wars in the ranks of the Israeli military. The Yom Kippur War of 1973 is one that he said he will never forget. Not only because of the existential threat Israel was facing when it was surprised by Egyptian and Syrian forces crossing the ceasefire lines, but also thanks to the miracles he experienced in the Sinai Desert as a Messianic commander leading Jewish troops into battle.

It was just hours before sirens blared and it was time for Bar David's unit to be flown to the front lines in the Sinai Peninsula to face the Egyptian 2nd Army. He attempted to boost the morale of his soldiers who belonged to the Paratroopers’ Brigade, under the command of then-Israeli general and prime minister, the late Ariel Sharon.

“Suddenly, a soldier arrived from another group,” he told Rosenberg. “And with very high voice, he cried, ‘Is Aryeh there?’ And I said, ‘Yes, I'm here. What's the point?’”

The soldier then said, “Look, we have some soldiers of our unit that came from United States, and they met the group "Jews for Jesus…" We know that you are part of them… So, we really ask you if you can come to our unit and tell us more.”

To his astonishment, more and more groups of Israeli soldiers began to gather around Bar David in the total darkness of the night before the battle.

“I shared with them about the Lord, and I don't know, maybe 40, 45 minutes… I lost [track]. And no one stopped me. You have to understand that at least one-third of them are religious [Orthodox Jews]. They have yarmulkes. But no one stopped me, and I shared,” he said.

“I made all the mistakes that somebody could do. I shared about the blood of Jesus. I shared about forgiveness that He can give, even like... that He forgave the man that was crucified, even the thief. He told them, ‘Today you are with me in Paradise.’ You know, I couldn’t believe that nobody stopped me.”

At some point, Bar David said he was interrupted by one religious soldier, who also happened to be a rabbi. However, immediately, two soldiers who were next to him pushed him down saying: ‘Shut up! At least he is encouraging us!’.

The next morning, some of the soldiers approached Bar David to thank him for the encouragement and shook his hand. They managed to recognize him even though everyone had camouflage paint on their faces. 

“They couldn’t leave my hand [because they were so grateful for] what happened the night before,” he said.  

Yet, Bar David had no illusions. He knew that not all of his soldiers were happy with the fact he shared with them his belief in Jesus Christ.

“If Yeshua is not the Son of God, all what I shared is heresy [and therefore] I want to be the first one to be killed of our unit,” he told them in the Sinai. 

“Touch wood. Touch Wood. Don’t talk like this,” they said.

“No ‘touch wood,’” he replied. “I really mean it. I want to be killed. But if not, you will see with your eyes.”

Then, the Egyptians began opening fire at Bar David’s unit. They were ambushed. Soldiers around him, including a commander, were shot.

“I had hundreds of bullets around me. I know what I say. I’m a musician. I can hear very well…. And no one could touch me. I felt it.”

Bar David survived.

He told Rosenberg: “This was the first time in my life that I understood that says that I can grow up [believing that] thousands [will fall] at your right side and 10,000 on your left side, [but harm] will not come even touch you.”

Find more about the miracles Aryeh Bar David witnessed in the Sinai Desert during the war and his unique family story in Part One and Part Two of his interview with Joel Rosenberg on the TBN website.

THE ROSENBERG REPORT airs Thursday nights at 9 p.m. EST and Saturday nights at 9:30 p.m. EST – on the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), the most-watched Christian television network in the United States.