One of the speakers at the recent four-city Africa Leadership Summit in Calabar, Ile-Ife, Abuja and Lagos was Rev. Reuven Berger of the The Messianic Congregation of the Lamb on Mt. Zion in Israel. Organised by Plummet Publishing and Mission to herald the biennial event next year in Israel, among other things, the event connected Africa to the Abrahamic mantle. Berger, who spoke to Assistant Life Editor, TERH AGBEDEH, in this interview after the conference, talks about his jealousy for the Nigerian Christian, the Abrahamic mantle, his congregation and a host of other issues.
You said something about denominations at the Lagos leg of the conference, where you sounded as if it wasn’t a very good thing.
Well, I am not saying there isn’t anything positive. I mean, I am a person who is a great supporter of denominations. But I am sure it has to do with the history of Christianity in this nation, how Christianity came to this nation, how Christianity is in this nation. But very often, first of all, denominations keep to themselves; they stick to their denominations. There is not always that much interaction. There is not always a greater vision for the larger church in the city. And as we have heard, to deal with the issue that were addressed at this conference. No denomination can deal with these issues; it has to be the church of the city. You find out that very often each denomination has a specific doctrine, which it emphasises. I don’t know what it is like in Nigeria, but it probably is that way. So people are limited to a certain Christian perspective that they have been taught and that becomes their Christian world. If you look at the New Testament and the understanding of the church, it is something wider and broader.
That is not to say that we should just end all of these denominations. But it is to say that perhaps in our time, God is after something much more, and that will fulfil his purpose to this nation. I believe that somehow the calling of Israel connects the body of Christ in each location. So as I spoke yesterday about Jerusalem being the unifying point in the church and to the nations, it helps people get beyond their denominations to the greater vision of God.
I am not here to destroy denominations. I don’t even have a clue to what these denominations are. It is just that we drive on the road for one kilometre and there is, one after another, every few metres, another one. It is a little overwhelming. The positive side to the story is, thank God there are so many Christians in Nigeria.
Your congregation in Israel operated from one place and then there are different locations?
We have different Messianic congregations in Jerusalem. We know each other. We meet as part of the leadership of the different congregations. We gather monthly, fellowship together and sometimes we have larger prayer meetings together that include several congregations, especially when there are specific issues that we need to pray about. Again, we meet in a denominational building, but we are not at all a denomination. The church that we meet in has a very special history because it is Christ Church, officially an Anglican Church. It was built in the 19th century with a vision for the restoration of the Jews, both to the land of Israel and to Jesus before his return. It is a fascinating church because no Christian church could be built in Jerusalem under the Turkish rule, the Ottoman empire. But in a very amazing way, the church came to be. But it was the vision of the restoration of Israel that they felt very connected to. So for us, that was very significant because it is in the heart of the heart of Jerusalem.
How different are your congregations from denominations?
They are not denominations. The difference is that we are not associated with any denomination; no denomination funds us, no denomination supports us, we don’t get money from any denomination and we have no denominational indoctrination, no denominational loyalty. Our loyalty is to the Lord and the different congregations all see themselves as the one church of Jerusalem that the Lord is raising up in the city. So, we are one family in different places. There is a big difference.
You and your brother, Benjamin, look alike; are you a twin?
No, we look more and more alike as we get older. A lot of people think we are twins. He is three years and several months older than me. But we have been together for so long that we are beginning to look alike. It is like many husbands and wives who have lived together for so long that they are beginning to look alike.
You said there are things you are jealous about; what are those things that make you jealous about Nigeria?
First of all, because our community is not accepted in Israel because, officially, the state of Israel does not recognise Messianic Jews per se. And because of all the associations that Jewish people have towards Jesus, we don’t have an open door to our society. Talk about government, education, economics; the only way we can function on that level is not to make our face known. So, we are deeply connected to the nation because we are priests to our people. But as it was in the early church in the book of Acts, in a certain way, we are cut off from our people, in that we cannot function in the society as other Jewish people can in a sense of not being able to have an open testimony of our faith. Now there are places we can do that; there are secular Jews that will respect you for who you are.
Another thing that I have seen here, I think it was in Abuja, is people who have reached a certain status in Christ in the way they function in the society as the leaders. That pushed me to jealousy when I went to the Christian school and I see these children and the woman said to me, ‘we are nurturing children, these future priests, prophets, kings’. I knew it is true when I looked at the children with my own eyes. So, I can see certain models here in the way people are focused. In Abuja, we were more or less in a wealthy home; but I see that people honour each other. I don’t know Nigeria; I only know what I have seen and it gladdens my heart. When I see the connections we have made with Jerusalem, the way people have responded to that with their whole heart, I see tremendous potential here. The Lord wants to provoke us to positive jealousy.
One suspects that what you met on the ground must be very different from the impression you had before you set out; is that correct?
I had no pressure before that. The only Nigerians I knew were [Pastor] Segun Olanipekun (convener of the Africa Leadership Summit) and his wife, Pastor John and his Plummet Ministries; some Nigerian leaders that I met years ago that I was not very impressed with. They were very spiritual, extremely powerful, but they were like bulldozers and I just felt they were so overwhelming and I should keep a distance. But I have seen something else here in my experience and I see very committed Christians. So, I see that there is quite a difference from one African nation to another. Kenya is not Nigeria and Ethiopia is another world. I didn’t know what to expect when I came here, except that I knew there was some very real Christian presence here, something that I could actually learn from. And it is good for me to learn.
So no one said you should not come to Nigeria?
Not one word. The only person who made a comment was the pastor of the Anglican Church where I was. But it wasn’t close to people. He said it could be extremely hot, and the food. I don’t remember what he said, but it wasn’t “beware of the Nigerian people”. It wasn’t that kind of negative report.
Your congregation may not be having it as easy as one expects considering that the Israeli government is not favourably disposed to Messianic Jews.
Well, basically, we don’t have any dealings with the government, so we are not having any problems with the government. It is just that we are registered as a non-profit organisation, so we have to report our finances which have to be perfect. Of course, they would be anyway. We are not being persecuted. I have gone through some difficult seasons in Israel, but it wasn’t the government; it was more religious people that found it difficult to accept us trying to discourage any testimony coming forth from our faith. Though I could well be on the blacklist in the government; they have not done anything to me. The problem with the government is when Jews who believe in the Lord want to come back to Israel according to the Law of Return, that is where the difficulties are because of certain court rulings that have taken place. Certain Messianic Jews that returned to the land were denied citizenship, so they have taken the Ministry of Interior to the High Court, which ruled that Messianic Jews, even if they are born of a Jewish father, Jewish mother, are not considered Jews anymore because they have adopted the Christian faith. So they are not entitled to come back to the land according to the Law of Return. So that is the confrontation with the government. But once you are in the land and you are a citizen, you basically don’t have confrontations with the government.
From what you said at the conference in Lagos, it would seem more Jews are believing in Jesus Christ?
There are many more. There are thousands in Israel, and just in Jerusalem we have 25 congregations. We have the younger generation in other cities. The churches are not large; an average church is a hundred and something people.
You returned to Israel 46 years ago; why did you stay?
Because God called me in the first place. I heard the Lord speak to me in a very clear way. The Lord called me to go to Israel and it was so clear that I ordered my ticket the same day and I left maybe two or three weeks later. The last time I was in New York, where I came from, was 1979. And my family moved to Israel. My brother came from Europe; he was living in Europe. When the Lord called me to Israel, it was like Abraham, leave everything behind and follow me to the land of your fathers.
Now that Lagos and some other cities have been joined to the Abrahamic mantle, what next?
The people here have to help the people to nurture what has begun. This is the first step, and when people are part of the Abrahamic covenant, it means they believe in Jesus [Christ]. So a connection has been made to honour the word of God, to honour the pattern that God has given us. Immediately you become a believer, you enter into the Abrahamic covenant.
The Jews must have forgiven the Germans for the Holocaust, but have they forgotten?
Not all the Jews have forgiven them. A large part of the mentality of Israel is that we will not allow this to happen again. Because there is a sense in Israel and it is a true sense that if the situation continues as it is, the nations will offer us up again, and the anti-Semitism is increasing rapidly. Of course, the Muslim sect is helping that and, of course, the threat of Iran, which openly says it wants to destroy Israel. Though they say the Holocaust is a lie, they are ready to do the next one. So, it is only the hand of God that will prevent us from going through something similar. The Scripture shows clearly that many nations will come up against Jerusalem to destroy Israel. Almost no nation has put its embassy in Israel because they don’t accept it, even the United States of America (U.S.A.), the so-called best ally of Israel. If you are born in Jerusalem and you want an American passport, even if you are born to American parents, they don’t even accept that Jerusalem is Israel. So the impending reality of another Holocaust is very real; it is not imaginary. And the memory of the Holocaust and the Roman wars are part of the psyche of Israel and we will not allow it to happen again. Benjamin Netanyahu is always saying that. So we haven’t forgotten. The Holocaust is part of the internal memory of the Jewish people.
Have you an idea what the percentage of Jewish Christians is in Israel?
Very small; we are a tiny minority, but a very significant one.
As a Jew who has lived in Israel, what in your opinion can fix the Jewish problem?
Nothing. Nothing because the Middle East is more. You just have to look at what has happened in the last three years; a large part of the Christian population has been eliminated. If that is what they are doing to their own so-called Arab citizens who are Christians, how much more to the Jews and the Jewish state. And as the Middle East is being Islamised more and more in the last couple of years through the invasion of the Middle East, the hate is for Israel. I mean, the Quran itself prophesied the ultimate destruction of Israel. That is the Quran itself. So you have a radical Islamic group; they are just being faithful to their religion. That is what we are facing in the Gaza Strip. That is the reality and it is not only the Christian Arabs in Israel that have the fear of what this could mean because there is no solution. People of the West do not want to understand that and they think they are going to solve this problem, but they can’t. If we have had more of the leftist government that we have had in the past like [Ehud] Barak who gave a large portion of Israel to [Yasser] Arafat, but we prayed that the Lord would harden Arafat’s heart so much that he would just say no.
That is Egypt all over again.
Yeah, exactly. We said, ‘harden the heart of Pharaoh’ and the Lord did. If he had taken what he was given, large parts of Israel today, including a large part of Jerusalem beyond the Arab wall, [would have gone]. But he said no. Thank God for that. But if we had more of a leftist government, the Labour government, they would have given large portions of Israel because that is humanistic thinking. The present Prime Minister knows what we are up against and he is a prophetic voice to the world. When he speaks to the United Nations (UN), everyone listens to what he says.
