Our Guest Akef Tayem

Sid: We want everyone everywhere to be so excited about the Messiah, not this 21^st Century American version of Christianity. I’m talking about Bible belief; I’m talking about intimacy with God.  I’m talking about greater intimacy with God then what people have with their churches.  As a matter of fact that’s about what their intimacy with God is; is their intimacy with their church. But there’s something so much better; don’t limit God. You can have the same intimacy with God that everyone that you read about in the Bible has.  It’s available right now, it’s being poured out right now; do not settle for mediocrity; do not settle for tradition. There is reality and my heart’s desire is for you to have the same encounter with God that I have had. To have the same encounter with God that Akef Tayem had. Akef is a Palestinian Arab born Palestinian in Haifa, Israel. But when Israel became a nation in 1948 his family who is a wealthy family, prosperous family there moved to the Island of Cypress. He and all of his brothers got scholarships to U.S. Universities. He went to University; a Christian woman started witnessing to him.  Talked about miracles, as a Muslim he never thought this was possible.  He wanted to prove that this guy was a fake, a charlatan. So he went to a tent evangelist meeting and he saw a miracle he couldn’t deny. Then he accepted the Lord; disowned by his family, and he was going through hard times because of… it was very tough he was struggling with a lot of things. He believed in Jesus; he could not deny it but he was just plain struggling and he found himself at a little country church. What happened Akef?

Akef:  Well, this is really a little embarrassing to me and I didn’t share this with hardly anyone but my close family because it made absolutely no sense for me to do what I did.  I’m usually… I mean I have my senses together, I’m logical but I did end up in a small church in the woods in Birmingham, Alabama.  I wanted to be by myself; I wanted to understand what happened to me.  I accepted Jesus because of a miracle I’d seen my family disowned me. They wanted nothing to do with me. After a few attempts my brother said “I just give up, and he’s very nice; he really tried but I just could not go back on that.  So the minister told me I’m welcome to stay there. There was like I said “It’s in the middle of the woods and I started taking straws because I had nothing else to do into the woods and I had the Bible and the Koran; I was trying to see what’s going on. I quit my job of course; and I was without any money, without any resources whatsoever but somehow that did not matter to me. The other things, my relationship with God. What happened is I had absolutely no desire for food, I mean I did not go on a fast.  I mean I did not plan a fast; I just was not hungry for some reason.  And I didn’t eat for quite some time; and I remember a gentleman that I found out later his name would leave me two gallons.  Because there was no running water there.  They had a well, but the well didn’t… the water in the well was not  really drinkable. And so someone would leave me 2 gallons of water by the door of the church. They would leave it on Wednesday night and Sunday; when they had meetings. And after quite some time I don’t know exactly how many days; I figured later it to be 38, 40, 42 I…

Sid: Weren’t they a little worried about here this guy is camping out on their grounds.

Akef:  Well, what happened is after maybe 2 weeks; 2 ½ weeks, or so, I started being too weak to come up to the church.  The Pastor told me that there is a river and they gave me directions in the forest where there’s running spring water in it. Which I never found but they told me it is there. So I guess they assumed I did have water and I asked them to just leave me alone and they respected that.

Sid: So what happened next?

Akef:  Well,

Sid: I mean you’re fasting; I mean you must have been pretty weak. You weren’t eating anything for about how long?

Akef:  Well, I went I figured it to be like I said between 37 to 38 to 40, 42 days.  I was so weak at the end that I was. Matter of fact I found an interesting thing, I wish I could draw that but it was a white rock in the middle of the… it was a rocky area and this rock looked like a chair or a day bed and that’s where I ended up most of the time.  I became so weak I could hardly walk.

Sid: You must have been in really turmoil not to be able to eat. You weren’t fasting you just had no desire for food.

Akef:  No. I had no desire for food and I use to read; when I would read the Bible I would read it loud.  It was so quiet there that I wanted to hear my voice so I would read it loud.  And then after some time when I opened my mouth to speak it it would tear my skin.

Sid: Because you were so dehydrated.

Akef:  So dehydrated I would feel the blood start coming down so. I stopped doing that.  And then my hands between my fingers, if I opened by fingers the skin would crack like parchment. So and when I started seeing this I realized there’s something wrong.  I said “This is ridiculous; now I got to get out of here; I have to get out of here or I won’t make it.”  Then I was too weak too weak to walk. And I remember it was… I remember praying to God because I was losing my sight.  Now I’m not going blind but things would get dark for a little bit and then I’d see the sun and pray.  It looked like I was trying to pass out or something so.  But I wanted water; I wanted water so bad and I remember asking God and praying.  I said “Lord, water I need water.” And I looked and my only hope of course was rain.  And I looked up in the sky and there’s not a cloud in the sky; there was just nothing there.  Next thing I know is that I’m about 8 – 10 feet in the air.  And I’m looking down and I see this individual who is laying on a rock.

Sid: Wait a second; you’re telling me that you’re spirit left your body?

Akef:  Now I know then I didn’t.

Sid: So okay you were about 8 or 10 feet in the air… I’m just trying to catch this and what did you see?

Akef:  I looked down and I see this young man laying a rock. There’s a Bible next to him; I see that the Bible is open. There’s a book next to him and I don’t recognize him.  I don’t know that it was me; I don’t self in so long.  I remember that he was so weak

Sid: Hm.

Akef:  He was so weak, he was so skinny and there was blood; there was blood around his lips; brown.  Blood around his hands and I remember feeling sorry, and asking “What is this?”  I didn’t know what was going on.

Sid: Did you realize that it was yourself that you were looking at?

Akef:  No.

Sid: Okay.

Akef:  The next thing I know is I’m going up into towards the sky. And I remember it was dark. And I’m going up and as I’m going up there was one issue that puzzled me more than anything and I still don’t understand the relevance or what. But I remember trying to touch my hand and my hand, my fingers would go through me.  And I couldn’t understand that, I kept going on and I’m saying “Why am I so light, why am I so light?”  There was no substance, and it fascinated me later on of all the things I could be worried about you know of what I left behind, my family this was what was really… but anyway I kept on going through this space dark space. And then I recall coming through a lit area.  There was bright light but I didn’t stop for some reason; I went through it.  And then there was darkness again.  Then there was light, darkness, and then the third light and I didn’t know at the time anything.  About pulse, you know. But I know that the third light… lit area I stopped.

Sid: So that’s what Paul was calling the third heaven I believe.

Akef:    Yes, but…

Sid: But you didn’t know it from borscht.  Okay go ahead.

Akef:  No, that’s right and then I stopped; the third lit area.  And there was nothing there there was just myself and I was standing on what seemed to be like wool.  It had no substance; and I realized that I was standing on it because of course I had no substance either. Otherwise I would fall through it or something to that effect.  And then I’d seen a form of someone; a figure of someone began to take shape.  Maybe like 10 feet away from me or so. And it’s amazing but somehow without anyone telling me I felt it was Jesus.  And this form began to approach me and He came about arm length from me. I remember Him saying “Touch Me.”  Now what’s important is I didn’t see the color of His eyes, I don’t know the color of His skin, it was like a silhouette. And He said “Touch Me.” And I reach my right hand towards His side; it was His left side. And I remember my fingers went inside Him like a ¼ of an inch or so because He was hollow too. And the minute my hand touch Him was back on the rock again and it was pouring rain.

Sid: (Laughing) You had been praying for rain.

Akef:  It was pouring rain.

Sid: Akef, we’re out of time; pick up right here.  Mishpochah you…it’s almost unbelievable what happened to him next.

Tags: its supernatural, Sid Roth