Sid Roth - A Holy Spirit Encounter On a Submarine
Sid Roth: Do you know what a seer is? A seer, you can actually understand by hearing that word, a seer is someone that sees thing, sees things that no one else sees, sees things that are going to happen in the future. Well there was a seer by the name of Hudson Taylor and he did the most amazing things, but he lived in the 1800s. He clearly described word war i. He clearly saw World War II. Now the judge of a seer is what he sees, does it come to pass? This man passed his test. World War I came to pass. World War II came to pass. But this is what he said for the last days of planet earth, that in the center of the former Soviet Union, or Russia, in the exact center there will be an explosion of power and this will not be power of a nuclear bomb, this will be power of the presence of God, a tangible power that will start in the center of Russia and then spread to the four corners of the earth. I tell you I was in the center of Russia. It's a city by the name of Krasnoyarsk, Siberia and I saw this happen. We'll get to it in a moment. But my guest is rabbi Eric Carlson. Eric is from Newport News, Virginia. He is a Messianic rabbi. The last thing in the world he ever thought he would ever be, because he spent 22 years in the U.S. navy as a submarine officer. Eric, how tall are you?
Eric Carlson: Six-five and a half.
Sid Roth: How in the world does our government, the U.S. Navy, get someone as tall as you in a submarine?
Eric Carlson: Well they found the bunks were exactly seven feet long, so I just fit inside perfectly.
Sid Roth: But you know, what happened to Eric is actually it's kind of funny. But I have an idea it wasn't funny to him when it happened, because the same thing I described that happened in Krasnoyarsk is about ready to touch all of planet earth, happened to him. A presence came on him to the point where there were a group of Jewish people at a biblical festival called Shavuot, otherwise known as Pentecost that they were accused of being drunk. Do you understand what those, what happened to those people from firsthand experience?
Eric Carlson: I know exactly what happened to those people because it happened to me.
Sid Roth: Tell me about it.
Eric Carlson: I was on the submarine in the middle of the Atlantic ocean submerged underneath the water and the Holy Spirit came upon me for three days. I was able to function physically and do what I had to do, but yet spiritually I was detached and not part of this. And for three days the Ruach, the Holy Spirit was upon me and it was the most intense, most pressure, most divine power I've ever felt in my life. A matter of fact, it's my driving motivation for all that I do. Because at the time as I'm experiencing this, I don't fully understand what it is, but now I know what it is and my whole life is driven to have another taste of that three days that I spent at sea on that submarine.
Sid Roth: So what happened to you?
Eric Carlson: I was in a period of my life where there was unsatisfaction. I just had to know that there was something else in the Kingdom of God rather than just going to services, volunteering here and there, my family, my wife, my career, there's got to be something more to this. So my wife and I had actually been in a time of prayer and seeking God with all of our hearts, and as I went to, careful for what you pray for, because we're praying for this and it happened to me at sea where the Holy Spirit visited me and began telling me things about my life that I didn't know. Now my name obviously, Carlson, people look at me and say, well you must be of Nordic descent, and that's what we thought.
Sid Roth: Sure.
Eric Carlson: But that's not the case and this is why the Holy Spirit came and the initial revelation was that the Ruach said, "Hey, you're Jewish". This was shocking. It's like a cold shower, shocking and unwanted, and I just couldn't believe this. It didn't make sense to me. And as this was going on, I'm in the spirit and I keep feeling this heaviness and this divine presence and over and over again there's this repetition, you're Jewish, you're Jewish. So then I asked the obvious question, so what, what difference does this make.
Sid Roth: Sure.
Eric Carlson: And the Holy Spirit then came back and said, "Because I'm coming. I'm coming". And the reference wasn't to the Holy Spirit, but it was to Jesus, to Yeshua, and it was again and again. A matter of fact, it was so repetitious, it went on so much I thought I was going to go crazy. For three days there would be periods of information and then the gaps would be filled in with, "I'm coming, I'm coming, I'm coming, I'm coming".
Sid Roth: This would have an impact on anyone. What else were you told?
Eric Carlson: It was incredible. And not only that I was Jewish, but there was a curse on my family.
Sid Roth: Why?
Eric Carlson: Because we had denied our roots and denied who we were. And there were specific things the Holy Spirit had given me to do and I began writing them down. I still have the tablet and some of it is in English, and some of it is in Hebrew. And I had never studied Hebrew in my life. I had no idea what the language even looked like. It could have been Arabic to me. I didn't know what it was. I'm just, you know, I'm in a bunk on the submarine halfway to the ocean floor. The lights are off and I'm writing with the lights off with this tablet and this pencil, and the Holy Spirit...
Sid Roth: In a language you don't even speak.
Eric Carlson: In a language I don't even speak or understand. It took me weeks to decipher and go back and learn what it was.
Sid Roth: I'm glad you didn't go to the ship psychiatrist or I wouldn't be talking to you right now.
Eric Carlson: I'd still be locked up. I thought I was crazy at first and the presence was just overwhelming. And as I'm writing this stuff down the Holy Spirit begins revealing some things and he says, "First of all, you're Jewish and you have to break this curse, and I want you to do a mikvah". And I didn't know what a mikvah was at the time. But a mikvah is Hebrew for emersion or baptism and that you're to publically...
Sid Roth: You had never heard that word before?
Eric Carlson: I never heard of a mikvah before. It's not a Christian term. I had been going to church, but we never heard terms like this. I didn't know what that was. The Holy Spirit said, "Listen, I want you to mikvah you and your entire family, make a fresh profession of faith and come clean with this before a crowd of witnesses that you've denied who you are, and best of all, I want you to get a tallit and a kippah, but I don't want you to wear it or put it on until after you go through this mikvah. It's a cleansing period".
Sid Roth: Now had you ever seen a tallit, which is a prayer shawl or a kippah, which is a yarmulke or a head cover?
Eric Carlson: No. I didn't know what that was either.
Sid Roth: You didn't know?
Eric Carlson: I didn't know what it was.
Sid Roth: All right. I got to ask you this. It's nice that you heard a voice that said you were Jewish.
Eric Carlson: I confronted my parents. My mother was still alive at the time. She's passed away now. But I spoke with her and I spoke with my father and it's true. Not only are we Jewish, both sides of my family, my mother and my father, both Jewish. Carlson is not the name. My grandfather immigrated here in 1896 and changed the name from Lennberg, L-E-N-N-B-E-R-G to Carlson.
Sid Roth: How did he know this? God spoke to him. I know God spoke in the Bible days, but God spoke to day. God is speaking to people. It's not an accident that you're watching right now. It is bashert. It is destiny. It is meant to be. We'll be right back after this word.
Sid Roth: It's utterly outrageous. I mean, the U.S. Navy, on a submarine, an officer, a career officer is struck with an unbelievable presence of God. He is literally almost in a drunken state for three days and God begins speaking to him just like the people in the Bible. He takes a pad, he starts writing down. Some is in Hebrew. Now he is from a non-Jewish background, so he doesn't even know what he is writing. And God says to him, "You are Jewish". He sees himself with a yarmulke, a head covering, a tallit. God says because of the curse on your life you have to go through a mikvah. He had to go to the library to find out what the word "Mikvah" meant, and it actually is the Jewish form of what Christians call baptism. That was the roots of baptism. And God says he has to go to this mikvah. And he checks with his parents, and he finds out that his last name is not Carlson, but his last name is Lennberg, and in fact, why was the name changed, Eric?
Eric Carlson: Well my grandfather was trying to escape the anti-semitism that was prevalent in Europe at the time. So he was trying, he specifically had held this back from his children, which was of course one of them was my father, so that anti-semitism wouldn't be a factor in their daily lives.
Sid Roth: And so why was this a curse that he hid the fact?
Eric Carlson: Well this was a curse because as Paul says in Romans 11 that we have a calling that's irrevocable that cannot be taken way. And by denying that, I was denying God's promise for my life. So the mikvah was to break this curse. My entire family did this mikvah and supernatural things began to happen as soon as we completed that mikvah.
Sid Roth: Well look, if a curse is broken something good has to happen because a curse means something bad. So what good happened?
Eric Carlson: Well the good was there's medical conditions all throughout my family. My siblings, my brothers, my sisters all have medical conditions. My mother died from congestive heart failure, high blood pressure, kidney disease, diabetes. To this day right now, and look at me, I'm huge. I mean, I'm six-foot-five and a half. People think I'm a football player. I did play football for a while. But all those things that everyone else in my family has problems with, I have none. I just had a physical, Sid, six months ago. My blood pressure, perfect, my cholesterol, perfect, no diabetes, glucose, perfect. I'm in perfect physical health. No high blood pressure, none of those things on me or my family.
Sid Roth: Now I have a question. Your wife barb, she does these Jewish dances.
Eric Carlson: Yes.
Sid Roth: Did she start after she found this out?
Eric Carlson: No. This was all going on at the same time. She started having this intense desire to learn Israeli Hebrew dance. And at the same, Sid, I thought I was crazy, why would she want to learn Israeli dance? But you know, Lord bless her, and she began on this journey on this path at the same time that all these other things are going on.
Sid Roth: Now one day I was speaking and Eric and his entire family showed up where I was speaking, good looking family. They took a whole row. What impact did this have on you, because I was talking about the subject of this book, "The one new man". What impact did this have you, Eric?
Eric Carlson: Well to me, this was a key in the puzzle because part of this voice that I heard from the Holy Spirit saying that, "I'm coming, I'm coming, I'm coming" directed me that after these occur that I'm to do and have this mikvah, and break this curse in my family, I'm to then go and tell them he's coming back. And he said, "Do this to our people first. Go to the Jewish people first and tell them I'm coming". So in my mind I'm like, well how in the world is this going to happen? I don't know anything. I mean, I'm not a seminary student. This is all just, you know, pardon the pun, is Greek to me. So then I find out you're in the area and we come and hear you speak, and that was the key to the puzzle, the one new man. Now things began taking shape in my own mind as to what exactly God had purpose for in our lives. It was move from then we began shabbat services and it was the seed for the congregation.
Sid Roth: Explain as I explain in this book what your understanding the one new man is.
Eric Carlson: Well and this just comes back to the opening we started with the show. It's a time of reconciliation in that Yeshua, Jesus came to tear down this wall of enmity that had arisen between Jews and gentiles because the Jewish people had God 2000 years ago, and the gentiles did not. There was no way for them to be reconciled until God. So he came and through his sacrifice, his was shed on the cross for you and i, he not only brought us salvation, but tore down this wall of separation, thus making one new man, which means it's like the bride, which is talking about the wedding feast, that the bride is being prepared. It is Jew, gentile, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, all these people will come together. They'll retain their individualities as to who they are, first nations, American Indians, you know, but you're still grafted into the Kingdom of God. That's what's so beautiful.
Sid Roth: You know what I want them to see? I have been to Eric's congregation. He's a rabbi of a one new man congregation. There is no wall of separation with black and white, and male and female, and Jew and gentle, Hispanic and Asian, and it's exactly what God wanted. But there is something so special. People are getting healed. In fact, I believe some of you will get healed as you watch this dance. And Eric, what are you doing with that twirler that you're holding in your hands?
Eric Carlson: We're actually, that's the replica or a photo of the Messiah. We're dancing with Jesus. We're worshiping and praising God.
Sid Roth: It's time, you can dance a little bit. Let's take a look.
Sid Roth: I don't know about you, but I had difficulty just standing still, sitting still because that music, Eric, it's so infectious. Tell me about the congregation that you have, Zion's hope. What makes it a one new man congregation? What is this book here, "The race to save the world" play into it?
Eric Carlson: Amen. Well there's a missing component in the body of believers today and Paul talks about it in Romans it's the one new man, and it's the Jew and gentile coming together, reconciling and mystery that goes to the Jew first. And we just saw that in the video clip with the music and the dancing that God is present in this. And when there's that reconciliation when we come together as one, the presence of the Lord is so heavy and so prevalent that then you don't have to minister. We don't have to do things. We don't have to put out flyers. People come because God is there and the word gets out quickly that the supernatural is happening because there's something with this reconciliation with the one new man, Jew and gentile. And we take this and we exported this. The Lord spoke to me several years ago and said, "Go to Siberia".
Sid Roth: Siberia?
Eric Carlson: Siberia.
Sid Roth: I mean, that's a joke.
Eric Carlson: From Virginia. This is incredible, 25 below, it's cold. But we feared the Lord more than man or weather. And we went to Siberia with our dance team, and it's a replica of what we saw in the video clip. It's Jew, it's gentiles, it's black, it's white, it's all these people, groups that come together as one and worship the living God of Israel. And we're in Siberia and we're ministering, and the dance team is dancing, and there's a rabbi in the congregation.
Sid Roth: A traditional Jewish rabbi.
Eric Carlson: A traditional Jewish rabbi. And I had seen him coming in. He had his kippah. He walked in front of us, and I thought, well this is going to be interesting. And as the team begins ministering, you know, initially he sat with his arms folded and he was very closed, but as they began dancing to this music that we've heard and the beat starts going, and the team starts ministering, and they're dancing, I look down at him and he's starting to clap his hands a little bit. And as the music goes he's clapping vigorously. And then I looked down, and as the music is ending he's on his feet and he's clapping, he's, oh yeah! He's really worshiping. And what's so powerful with this is that when the ministering stopped, I didn't have to find him, he came and found me. And this is when something supernatural then started.
Sid Roth: You know what's so exciting to me is the pastor that sponsored Eric and his one new man dance team there had such a Jewish heart. He didn't even understand anything about Jewish people, but God spoke to him one day and said, "I want you to feed the Jewish people". And he has like a soup kitchen for them. And the Jewish people love this particular Christian and this particular Christian loves the Jewish people. So when Eric came and then we explained how to start a one new man congregation from this book, the race to save the world, when this was explained to him, he started a one new man congregation. What's going on in this congregation today?
Eric Carlson: This is absolutely incredible because they caught the vision. They understood about the one new man. Now they have a shabbat service in this city and there's four to 500 Jewish people every shabbat service worshiping and ministering them to the Lord, and all love and have accepted Yeshua, Jesus as their Messiah.
Sid Roth: But it even gets better than that. Remember at the top of the telecast I said to you about a seer that saw what would happen in the last days? He had been successful in predicting World War I and World War II. Well he said in the center of Russia there would be an explosion, literally of God's spirit that would cause so many Russians to believe in Jesus and then take this wonderful presence of God to the four corners of the earth. Well we went to this city called Krasnoyarsk, Siberia and I want you to see. We had a one new man celebration and the auditorium was jammed with Jewish people. And the Bible says, a Jew requires a sign, a miracle. Let's take a look at some of the miracles that took place there.
Sid Roth: Did you see those people, some of them that were so bewildered they didn't even know what happened. They had never seen miracles before. But the Bible says the Jew requires a sign and when these miracles broke out the greater the miracle happened, a human being, being able to have intimacy with the Creator of the universe. Take a look.
Sid Roth: There must be something more. That was a song I wrote many years ago. But did you see all of those people, predominantly Jewish, standing up and worshiping the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the name of the Messiah of Israel, Hebrew, Yeshua, English, Jesus. Eric, you talked to some people there afterwards. Tell me about what happened.
Eric Carlson: It was absolutely amazing. It was like Pentecost, so many Jewish people coming to Messiah. There was a 93-year-old KGB agent who was alive when Stalin was in power, who was alive when Lenin initially did the revolution. He had been in jail numerous times for being Jewish, yet he faithfully served the government, faithfully served communism and at 93 years old, sharp as a tack, eyes crystal clear, stood up that day and received his Jewish Messiah. He was reconciled back to God. Another one up in, later on up in the balcony, we were actually walking in the balcony and I had come across another gentleman, probably about his mid-40s, and he interrupted me. He said, "I want to pray. I missed this part of the service". And he's like, "I'm a Jewish man, but I'm a Russian mafia boss in this city". He said, "I'm involved in crime. I'm involved in prostitution. I'm involved in money laundering". And he says, "I've seen, today I've seen the power of God and right now I want to give it all up. What do I do"? And we were just, it's incredible, we prayed with him immediately on the spot and he received his Jewish Messiah.
Sid Roth: And do you remember the dialogue I was having with the local rabbi who was passing out pieces of paper saying, "Don't go to these meetings because these people aren't real Jews". Well let me tell you something. The word "Jew" comes from the Hebrew word "Yehuda", worshiper of God. When did you see a miracle in your synagogue? Let me tell you something. God wants you to experience the same thing that 93-year-old former KGB officer experienced. God wants you to experience the same thing that that mafia man experienced. The whole city opened up, the entire city of Krasnoyarsk. That is the center of Russia. That is where revival will break out to affect the entire earth, according to that seer that has been proven time and again that he heard from God. So the question is you're sitting there, you're comfortable, you're watching us and you're thinking that's good for them, but there has been a disservice done to many of you. The disservice that has occurred is that you have settled for tradition and religion, be it Judaism or be it Christianity, yes, Christianity and instead of having your own intimacy with God religion was not meant to be spectator sport, going to the best show in town, paying top ticket price called your tithe. No, there's more. You see, I prayed as a young man to know the Messiah, totally revolutionized my life. Before that I had a song, "There must be something more". If that's the song going on in your heart there is, and what God did for me, what God did for Rabbi Eric, what God did for the 93-year-old KGB officer, what God did for that mafia chief, he wants to do for you right now. You don't need a formal prayer. You just need to open your heart and say, Jesus, I believe you died for my sins. I am so sorry. I am a sinner. I mean, you just tell him, make your peace with God. I want to know you more than anything. I make you my Lord. Come and live inside of me. Those aren't just words. But from a sincere heart it doesn't even matter whether you have the right words. You need to right God. You need to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and you need the only name in which we can know that God because of our unrighteousness. When we go to God because of what Jesus did for us, when we go through him then God says, I remember your sins no more and he says, in the Jewish scriptures, you will know me. No, I'm not just a special person. Eric is not a special person. It's a special God who loves you as much as he loves us, and that is good news. Anything short of that would be bad news. But the good news is God loves you and that is such good news. It's not trite. You've heard it so many times here in this country. But I tell you it's time. This is your moment. Choose this day whom you're going to serve. Listen, you have nothing to lose, everything to gain. I know you don't understand totally what I'm saying, but take a step, a baby step and God will run and put his arm around you. You need the love of God. That's what your heart is crying for. That's what you're starved for and that's what you've got in Jesus' name.