Jonathan Bernis - A Rabbi Looks at the Supernatural: A Revealing Look at Angels, Demons, Miracles, Heaven and Hell

2016 by Jonathan Bernis

Published by Chosen Books

11400 Hampshire Avenue South

Bloomington, Minnesota 55438

www.chosenbooks.com

Chosen Books is a division of

Baker Publishing Group, Grand Rapids, Michigan

www.bakerpublishinggroup.com

Ebook edition created 2016

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meansfor example, electronic, photocopy, recordingwithout the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016942347

ISBN 978-1-4412-3027-0

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations taken from the Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society. Used by permission of the Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.

Scripture quotations identified NIV are from the Holy Bible, New International Version. NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com

Scripture quotations identified KJV are from the King James Version of the Bible.

Cover design by Rob Williams, InsideOutCreativeArts

This book is dedicated to my beloved mother, who is not yet a believer in Yeshua.
May you discover the supernatural power of the living God in the twilight of your life.

I have been praying for you for more than 35 years. Lord, please answer my prayer.

Contents

Is this world all there isdust in the wind that will be gone tomorrow? Or can we find our true purpose in an eternal supernatural realm that is much greater than anything we experience on earth?

Is there evidence for believing that a divine being created the universe, or are we simply the consequence of the big bang and natural evolution?

Are angels, demons and other supernatural creatures real? What can we know about them?

What does the Bible have to say about spirits? Can we really communicate with the dead, or is someone trying to deceive us?

Do we really need forgiveness for our sins? If so, are there not many different roads to peace with God?

Does God exist? If He does and He is a good God, why do bad things happen to good people?

Why does God allow sickness? Does He heal? And if He does, why does He not heal everyone? How do you receive divine healing?

Do miracles really happen, or are they nothing more than tricks of the mind?

Are heaven and hell real places? If they are, what are they like, and who will go there?

What is the meaning of life, and how do we find it?

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Dave Wimbish, my faithful and talented writer and researcher for more than a decade. Dave, you are amazing!

I also want to acknowledge Catherine Cooker for her excellent work on the manuscript. Catherine, you are one of the most thorough and professional editors I have ever worked with.

To Jane Campbell and the excellent team at Chosen: This is the fourth book I have done with you, and I am still happy as a clam working with you. Well, maybe not a clam since I try to keep kosher... but, seriously, you all have been great to work with.

Finally, I want to thank my dedicated and hard-working team at Jewish Voice. It is a joy and honor to work with people so committed to saving and transforming livesto the Jew first and also to the Nations.

Dust in the Wind?

Why is there something, anything, rather than nothing? In our fascination with lifes origin and evolution, we bypass this most basic of conundrums. The very fact and nature of existence... force upon us the unsettling reality that at some level there is the metaphysical.

Gerald L. Schroeder

W hy are we here?

Are we simply a random collection of atoms that have come together for a brief timeatoms that will soon disappear like a puff of smoke, leaving nothing at all behind? Are we, as the seventies rock band Kansas declared, merely dust in the wind? Sound and fury signifying nothing?

Or is there more to our existence? A purpose and a plan behind our very brief appearance in history?

And how about thisis there more to this world than we can comprehend with our physical senses? Is anything out there beyond what we can see, hear, taste, touch and smell?

In other words, is there a supernatural realm of angels, demons, seers, prophets, spirits and the like? Or is the supernatural merely an invention of charlatans like palm readers and spirit mediums to take advantage of the gullible?

People have been asking such questions since the first people stared in amazement and awe at the brilliance of the nighttime sky. They have been debated by philosophers, scientists, members of the clergy, educators and ordinary people from all walks of life. Some have invested years of wisdom, energy and hard work into proving that life is merely a matter of chance. Others have worked just as hard and long proving the existence of what might be called a divine purpose.

Obviously, these are not questions that I will resolve to everyones satisfaction in the few pages of this book. But I will come as close as I can. My intention is to investigate the matter as thoroughly and fairly as possible and present my honest conclusionsconclusions based on more than three decades of study and experience as a Messianic rabbi.

We will start off with a close-up look at the universe we live in. Can it be explained as a random act of nature, or is something more behind it all? Is the Bible true when it says, In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth? Or is that merely a parable to explain scientific concepts that ancient human beings could never hope to comprehend?

Once we have taken a look at the physical universe, we will move on to the invisible, spiritual side of creation. We will talk about the existence of God and the problem of evilif a good God exists, why does He allow bad things to happen to good people? We will also discuss topics like these:

The nature and reality of sin

Miracles

The existence of heaven and hell

The meaning of life

As you can see, it will get pretty deep before we are through.

About the Author

Now, you may be wondering what it means when I call myself a Messianic rabbi. It means, first of all, that I believe that Jesus (I like to call Him by His Hebrew given name, Yeshua) is the Messiah. I also believe, like the early followers of Yeshua, that I am still very much Jewish.

Most Jews of my generation will not refer to me as a rabbi, because rabbi , in the Jewish world, means someone who has studied at a recognized Jewish institution and has been ordained by a mainstream, recognized Jewish body. Though I do not meet these criteria, I am ordained and have served in full-time ministry for more than thirty years.

One other very important thing that qualifies me to write this book is that I am a naturally curious person. I am not content with pat answers to tough questions. I want to find the right answers for myself, and I am willing to work hard to find them. If I do not know enough about a subject to answer it on my own, I find experts who know the subject well and see what they have to say about it.

Not long ago at a dinner, I found myself seated next to a distinguished-looking, well-spoken gentleman. I could tell that he had a good grasp on current events and seemed to know what was going on in the world.

During the course of our conversation, he asked if I knew that the pyramids were built by ancient aliens. I have no idea how he steered the conversation to that subject, but he did. He did not look like he was joking, but I kept expecting a punch line. Instead, he started telling me how aliens from outer space were responsible for all sorts of accomplishments in the ancient world. He was convinced this was true; after all, he had learned about it on the History Channel.