My year’s journey with the Teacher and the wilderness traveler I met in The Book of Mysteries as told by Rabbi Jonathan Cahn

How I received the Book

My Facebook friend Sister Gwendolyn Wehage from Oregon shared Rabbi Jonathan Cahn’s powerful warning to America speech given at the Capitol Hill on April 29th,2015.I'd  seen him in YouTube in the related videos list before but the Moed (appointed time) came to follow him by watching this video posted on a Nigerian Christian media organization’s fan page.

The viral video had more than 3 Million views in a week and when I checked it in the end of 2016,the views count stood at 11.7!

Since then,I’ve been following him, watching his messages and finally sent a request to join the group of his followers in Facebook.Having been accepted into the group, I’d been reading with interest all the posts,videos and Christian news shared by fellow brethren (few shared by me too).In September 2016,when his third New York Times bestselling book,The Book of Mysteries came out,I was excited to read many positive reviews in the group.In one such post with the image of the book,I just left a comment quote 'Could  any brethren kindly buy me a copy and ship it to Sri Lanka in Asia?'.

Lo & behold,I received a reply instantly from beloved Sister Eileen Anderson in NJ quote 'Just give me your postal address,I’ll buy you a copy & ship it to your country'.I  also requested her to kindly buy his testimony documentary 'The Harbinger Man'. She let me  know,she doesn't usually read comments but on that day she was urged by the Spirit of God to just have a glance over.I thanked her with a grateful heart for her kindness.

She posted the box on Saturday,October 15th with the book,testimony DVD, two more documentary DVDs on his previous bestselling books,The Harbinger and The Mystery of the Shemitah which makes the gift of the kindhearted lady complete & perfect!

Sister Eileen also wrote me a tiny card and enclosed a tract titled ‘Father’s Love Letter - An Intimate Message from God to you’ written by Brother Barry Adams with two more CD’s with the love letter in narrated audio & with images and printed confession and a CD message on healing, ‘Healing Scriptures’ by Pastor John Hagee. She was so diligent to enclose three Bible marks for my mother,brother Frank & for me.

My father had passed away to be with the Lord on August 29th so she knew I was in moaning for our father's sudden passing away of cardiac arrest.I couldn’t have received the box from America at a better time - I received it the next Saturday on October 22nd - on the day we had my father’s memorial service at our home.

I’d previously bought things from online stores in America, but never did any of those parcels / boxes arrive so fast.I am convinced beyond any doubt,it was God’s divine will to connect me with our fellow Messianic brethren,this being the second instance to be taught of the Jewish roots of our precious faith in detail,to be greatly blessed and in turn become a blessing to many of my countrymen.

How my life’s unfolded events were confirmed by a day’s teaching

Before I started reading the book on Thursday,December 1st, I was checking out the Contents. Day 147  - The Mystery of the Yehudim caught my eyes on Monday,October 24th,so I  flipped to the page and read that day’s teaching.When I’d finished reading,my enthusiasm to read through the year’s devotional - one teaching per day - received a definite spiritual boost.I was also assured by God of our shared inheritance with His chosen people and how we’ve been grafted into the olive tree of Israel.

"For if He who is King of the Yehudim is your King, then you too must, in some way, be of the Yehudim."

"Jewish?"

"One whose  very existence is a praise to God."

Most importantly,with this teaching, I got the confidence, when I am done with the book, I’d be well-equipped with a deeper understanding to share the gospel with the Jewish people whom I’ll be meeting to introduce their Messiah and our Lord Jesus without any difficulty,whereas in year 2000 during my brief stay in Singapore,I couldn’t answer the simple query from a rabbi to elaborate on,in response to my statement I left in the Virtual Jerusalem forum quote ‘We Christians are too heavenly Jews’ which was only based on my shallow understanding of our connection from Galatians 4:8 ‘Now, we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise’.

And,on Wednesday,October 26th, I was just flipping through the pages,the Spirit of God exactly took me to Day 105  - The Man Born to Pause and Ask

"IN THE ANCIENT world,” said the teacher, “there was born a Jewish child to an affluent family.His parents gave him two names.The one name could be translated as ‘small’ but which came from a root word meaning to pause,to desist,or to inquire.The child grew up and rarely paused or desisted from anything.Nor was he one to question his course.He was headstrong. But one day all that would change. He finally paused…in the form of a blinding light that caused him to fall to the ground."

"The apostle Paul?" 

I am known by by two names as was St.Paul.In my neighborhood,in my family circle and at the Matale Faith Home,I am known as ‘Rishan’. And,of course,I am called ‘Paul’ by my classmates and friends from the three schools I went to.In addition,all my colleagues from my work places,community leaders & beneficiaries and my former pupils know me as 'Paul'.Hence,the teacher’s description of St.Paul exactly fitted that of mine too!

When I finished reading that day’s teaching too,I decided to pause from all my routines and wait upon the Lord in prayer but not in fasting as I’d fasted for twenty-seven hours in the beginning of the month for Yom Kippur.So,I obeyed to the definite voice of the Spirit of God and did so for three days.The answer to the pausing and asking His will came to me not in the end of 2016 but in the end of last year soon after the forty years of my wilderness journey finally came to a close on October 18th,2017!

I traveled to Batticaloa (in the Eastern Province) in the last week of July 2016 and was lodging at the FH at Olive Lane.On the other side of the main road is located the Koddaimunai Methodist church.Soon as I settled into the believers’ room,my eyes caught the invitation card lying on the lower shelf of a plastic teepoe from the YMCA on their 45th anniversary  & thanksgiving service to be held at the church at 7.30 a.m. onward on Sunday,July 31st. I knew for sure,the Pastor will not be present for the service so I decided to honor the invitation and represent the church.

When I made it on time that Sunday morning,I was one of the few attendees as congregants were arriving one by one.I sat at the right of the church near the end of a pew on a chair in the center of the church.The service was indeed a blessing to me at a Protestant church for the first time in my life!

Soon after the starting prayer, a PowerPoint presentation was shown from a projector of all the achievements of the Association in the recent past especially the community restoration and development work which have been implemented with tangible benefits in a post-war reconstruction period,notably the services rendered by the school for differently abled children in the district.

I was emotionally touched by this memorable anniversary event and rekindled my long-held desire to learn the sign language after seeing the children’s presentations with their sign language and the teacher in charge turning those expressions to words.Before the closing song by all the children,a young adult girl in her early twenties who has speech and hearing impairment shared her testimony on how after being enrolled to this school,was greatly blessed by the knowledge she gained by studying the regular subjects and successful in entering the Eastern University and now serves as a Lecturer.

Now let me tell you how this event touched my heart and left a lasting impression on the children’s faith and how the Spirit of God wonderfully leads his sons & daughters; during the collection of offerings, ' Enakkoththasai Varum Parvatham'   hymn was sung by the choir and along with the whole congregation brought me to tears!

I didn’t have a clue that this is an old CPM (known as the New Testament Church in America) hymn and quite couldn’t remember when I heard it last. But contrary to tradition, wanted it to be sung as the last hymn at the cemetery and included it in the memorial service hymn sheet too.

Lo & behold,only when I finished reading Day 19  - Aliyah did I realize the uplifting hymn which is now an household favorite loved by all the Christian churches,from around the world was written by divine inspiration from Psalms 121 by one of our pioneering servants of God during times of much difficulties,sans any physical comfort and hunger & thirst!

In the beginning of 2016, as a New Year’s resolution,I decided to do an intensive study of spoken Hebrew.As the first step to aid me in the endeavor,I started searching for a cheap Kindle book to pay for with my last $5.00 in my PayPal account and yet again by divine guidance, I was so pleased to come across the book in Smashwords self-publishing platform.One of the first books written by Linguist Yatir Nitzany in the  Quick & Easy series - Conversational Hebrew for $4.99 on Sunday April 17th,2016.I paid for the book the next moment and downloaded it to my reader.

I was so thankful to God for the provision to buy the book and started to read the introductory to the program pages under sub title The Hebrew Language on Monday.

Lo & behold, when I flipped to the page Day 27  - The Ivrim - and started reading with much excitement the day’s teaching as I’d read a briefing on the term and now being taught the real spiritual meaning of :

"The one, who is born again.That is the Ivri,the Hebrew,the one who has crossed over,who has left an old life and entered the new,who has passed through the barrier,through Messiah,from darkness to light’.As it is written,‘Unless a man be born again,he cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.'"

As I was progressing in my study of the Lord’s tongue, I took some notes on December 5th on basic grammar.

Lo & behold,when I arrived at Day 162 - The Gift of the Lahmed just before I reached the half of an year’s teachings,I was fascinated to read the gift of the twelfth letter in the Hebrew alphabet - ל

I received the first revelation of this just ended four decades of continued protracted wilderness journey after hearing a message by a servant of God in April 1996 at the Kandy FH and was verified by the same message given by him during the Vavuniya (Northern Province) convention in the same month.As I was one of the few believers who dared to travel to Vavuniya during the height of the war,which enabled me to to listen to the same message from Hosea 2:14-16 twice.The Spirit of God actually took me and sealed the revelation with a promise that the wilderness journey would continue for another twenty two years with many falling downs,setbacks and let downs by relatives,friends,neighbors,academics,professionals,even our Workers and believers,etc.

Lo & behold, this was the reminder the Spirit of God gave me as I read Day 179 - The Baalim. The day is fast approaching when I will call Him Ishi; (my husband) and no more Baali having crossed into the Promised Land!

Now to go back to my name - this time my surname - as a child I grew up with my mother's family,I would enquire her as to why Frank & I didn't get the Godly family name,'Devapiriam' meaning 'Lover of God'?...Her answer was as our father's surname was 'Arulappapillai' literally 'Child of John' our births were registered with a shortened name 'Pillai'.In my late teens,I was more displeased with my first name 'Paul' than my surname so in 1997,I altered it to legally add 'Rishan' to my name and push back 'Paul' to the third place.

And,in my early 30s,I discovered our dear late Pastor Wilson,discontinued using his 'Pillai' surname soon after being ordained as the Chief Pastor and especially relocating to India in 2006.For those of you CPM believers who don't know which I got to know during my stay in Singapore,our dear late Chief Pastor Jacob Ratnasigham actually changed his surname from Ramalingham.In the footsteps of two of our consecrated servants of God,I too started the process to alter my full name in the end of 2014 removing 'Rishan' and adding 'Piriam' to 'Pillai'.Thus,my name Paul C. Piriampillai meaning 'Dearly -beloved-child' of God  from Ephesians 5:1 'Be ye therefore followers of God,as dear children'.

Lo & behold,in my fascinating mysteries-discovering yearly journey,when I came to Day 258 - The Power of As, I was overjoyed beyond measure,our heavenly Father had accepted my repented decision when it came to my altering names with the one I am known now by which I will be known in these final few years before the close of the church age to fulfill His purposes in my life,such a revelation hit me with a lasting impact only after being truly blessed to be holding a copy of the The Book of Mysteries.Hallelujah! 

As I turn back and put into perspective the many falling downs all those years,I am with awe of the unfailing grace of our Lord which only gave me the courage to get up again,brush off the dust and press forward until I cross the finish line!

Lo & behold,this was exactly the feeling & assurance I received when I was done with Day 344 - The Runner’s Riddle.

Few days before the yearly journey with the Teacher and the traveler came to a close on December 1st,2017,our heavenly Father had set the appointed time for me to read and be rest assured,He has not forgotten the very first promise He gave me soon after obeying to waters of baptism on December 31st,1995 from Joshua 1:5 - when I'd not read any book in complete from the Hebrew Bible and when I was facing trial after trial.

Lo & behold,I leave it up to you to read for yourself and realize how much relief I'd have felt to read the lively assurance He gave me from Day 360 - The Land of Beyond (The Mystery of the Eighth Day) that He's faithful to the promise He gave me on January 19th,1996 to this very moment when I pause to remember His faithfulness during many pressing circumstances I found myself in during three decades out of four and anxiously waiting for the day when as Joshua son of Nun led the ancient Israelites across the Jordan river into the Promised Land,our Lord's grace will enable me along with my mother,younger brother Frank,my to be wife Tharani who's the Proverbs 31 woman I'd been searching for until March 1st this year to cross the General Allenby bridge to the אֶרֶץ יִשְׂרָאֵל‬ before the close of 2019!

Before I conclude this story,let me finally share with you how God gave me an introduction to Messianic Judaism in the turn of the 21st century and led me to taste what a 'daily devotional' really is when I started to receive the Our Daily Bread booklets published by Our Daily Bread Ministries (formerly RBC Ministries) in Grand Rapids,MI.In late 2003,when I received the Discovery Series booklets The Holy Days of God written by RBC staff writer Brother Kevin Williams and instantly knew the value of them.I can still remember reading out loud from one of the booklets to my family when we were living in Colombo.Somewhere in early 2011,when a junior Pastor visited our home during their routine day of visiting,I did show him to have a glance over but wouldn't lend the booklets as of how precious I found Jewish Feasts' celebrations and practices' mysteries exactly were fulfilled in the Messiah our Lord were found in those booklets.

My beloved sisters & brothers from around the world; Brother Williams had just scratched the surface as he only touched on the Spring & Fall feasts but Rabbi Cahn has immersed us in full teachings of 365 mysteries revealed of our Christian faith's Jewish roots in The Book of Mysteries and how each and every promise,prophesy and mystery from the Hebrew Bible was precisely fulfilled in our Lord & Savior Christ Jesus!

Be informed,bless our fellow brethren and ready yourselves to meet your heavenly Bridegroom in midair very soon!

'Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made herself ready' Revelation 19:7

'And, I John saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband' Revelation 21:2

I've launched this my first crowdfunding campaign by quoting the random verse for the day I read this January from Brother Rick Meyers e-Sword Bible:           

'O God, thou hast taught me from my youth: and hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works'. Psalms 71:17 

Amen,Amen & Amen!

About the Author

Rabbi Jonathan Cahn,who is from the priestly linage of the house of Aaron the Priest is known throughout the world as a prophetic voice for this generation and for the opening up of the deep mysteries and treasures of God.He caused a national and international stir with the New York Times best sellers The Harbinger and The Mystery of the Shemitah. Jonathan Cahn, along with Billy Graham and Keith Green, was named by Charisma magazine as one of the top forty people of the last forty years “who radically changed our world.” Jonathan Cahn has spoken on Capitol Hill, at the United Nations, and to millions of people around the world. He leads Hope of the World Ministries, an outreach of the Word to the nations and compassion to the world’s most needy. He is the leader of the Jerusalem Center/Beth Israel in Wayne,New Jersey, a worship center made up of Jew and Gentile,people of all nations.