David Baron was born in 1855 to strict, orthodox Jewish Russian parents. A near-death experience during childhood on the farm caused him to give much thought to life after death and how to get right with God. After having learned Hebrew and Talmud in Yeshiva, he immigrated to Hull, England, where he received a New-Testament. Praying on his knees he accepted the One he had been taught to rejectJesus, the Messiah. After having worked with missions to Jews, he founded the "Hebrew Christian Testimony to Israel" in 1893, together with Adolph Saphir's brother-in-law - Mr. Schoenberger. He was personally acquainted with many | ||||||
known Jews, such as the Rabbi Lichtenstein of Hungary (who was also a disciple of Jesus) and even Theodor Herzl, ("The Visionary of the State of Israel"). Amongst the books he wrote are "The Ancient Scriptures for the Modern Jew", "The Visions and Prophecies of Zechariah", and "Types Psalms and Prophecies". Baron published premillennial books such as The Servant of Jehovah and Types, Christ, and Israel. His classic Commentary on Zechariah is considered a giant among expositions of this Old Testament book. In this work, Baron alerts readers where many in the Gentile church have spiritualized Scripture when it refers to Jerusalem or Israel. In his preface, Baron writes, “Almost all the existing works on this prophetic book are in one way or another defective, and some of them misleading. The older commentaries are commendable for their reverent spiritual tone … but they more or less are vitiated by the allegorizing principle of interpretation, by which all references to a concrete kingdom of God on earth, a literal, national restoration of Israel, and the visible appearing and reign of Messiah, are explained away.” Baron further explains he set out to work only in the Hebrew text and to explain as much as possible the great messianic prophecies. Also, he attempted “to unfold … prophetic events which center around the land and the people of Israel events the rapid fulfillment of which men may now begin to see with their own eyes.” David Baron died of Pneumonia in 1926. |
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