Profile: Benjamin Keys

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Recently I reconnected with a guy who is passionately in love with the Lord, Benjamin Keys. I have met this young man only a few times. The first time was in 2001 when I was invited to preach at a young adults’ meeting (Floodgates) in Manassas, Virginia. At the beginning of the meeting I had this recurring prophetic sense concerning the young man to my immediate left. The thrust of this stirring was that his calling was intricately tied to a priestly function. At some point during the message I turned to this guy and started prophesying to him. I recall declaring I Peter 2:9 over him – But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into this wonderful light. At the conclusion of the message he came up to me to share his story. Benjamin had recently come to the Lord. The whole priesthood thing struck a chord in his heart because his mother came from a Jewish family in Hungary. His great-grandparents were captives in the Auschwitz concentration camp during the Second World War.

Since that time I had only seen Benjamin Keys several times from a distance. Another interesting twist in this story occurred in 2003 when Aneta and I were staying with my parents as we transitioned to Fredericksburg, Virginia. One day while at the grocery store to pick up a few things, I noticed a lady and my prophetic radar kicked in. There was something about destiny written on this woman. I walked to another part of the store and I told the Lord that I would approach her if she was leaving the store the same time I did. Well, sure enough, this lady was going out the door the exact same time I was. I proceeded to strike a conversation with her, saying something to the effect that I sense that the Lord has a special purpose/plan for her life. Long story short, I found out that this lady was Benjamin Key’s mother! I couldn’t believe it, I was stunned! Now it made sense why the Lord was speaking to my heart when I saw this woman.

Recently his grandmother passed away in Hungary. Since that time he has received the diary of his great-grandmother, which was written during her atrocious ordeal in the Auschwitz concentration camp. The diary is written in Hungarian. As I shared earlier, my prophetic word over him concerned his calling as a priest unto the Lord. Before his grandmother passed away Ben learned that roughly five generations back, his family had the name Cohen. This word in the Hebrew is the literal rendering of priest. When reading the Torah, the word priest is the word Kohen. Let’s look at a passage in Exodus 28:

Have Aaron your brother brought to you from among the Israelites, along with his sons Nadab and Abihu, Eleaszer and Ithamar, so they may serve me as priests. (Kohen) Make sacred garments for your brother Aaron, to give him dignity and honor. Tell all the skilled men to whom I have given wisdom in such matters that they are to make garments for Aaron, for his consecration, so he may serve me as priest. (Kohen) – Exodus 28:1-3

Now Benjamin is in Wrightsville, North Carolina. This young man is an extremely gifted artist who spent time at prestigious art schools in Chicago and Italy. Currently he earns his living as a full-time artist. His beautiful paintings on his website reveal the gift that he has been given. He firmly believes that he is called to minister through his paintbrush. Many have tried to sway him to seek out traditional forms of leadership within the Body of Christ, but he has remained steadfast in his commitment to minister unto the Lord through his painting. Priests are those who understand the value of ministering unto the Lord. Truly it delights the Father’s heart when he creates something that reflects the beauty and grandeur of our amazing and holy God.

In the past year Benjamin has endured the dark night of the soul. He was diagnosed with cancer last fall and proceeded to have the tumor removed. He also went through several weeks of radiation treatment right before Christmas. The doctors have given him a positive report regarding his health – however, it can still be a lingering concern. I would like to ask those in the Body of Christ to contact him during this tough season for him. Possibly the Lord would have you give him a prophetic word for him; or, possibly you have a story about your own dark night of the soul that you came through. Also, we are trying to locate someone who could possibly translate the diary of his great-grandmother from Hungarian to English. Please consider contacting him if you know of anyone trustworthy:

ben@benkeys.com
(910) 431-3856
233 Beech St. Wilmington NC 28405

May his story encourage you to minister unto the Lord in all that you do!

For His Cause,

Brian Francis Hume