Turk

by Avram Yehoshua
www.SeedofAbraham.net

On Tuesday 5 January 2010, Ruti and I invited a man and his wife, whom we’d never corresponded with before, to eat lunch with us at Turk Lach’ma’june. It’s in southern Tel Aviv, about a half hour’s bus ride from us, but one of the few Israeli places that has lamb shwarma as well as turkey shwarma and chicken shwarma. The couple had been visiting Israel for two weeks and would return to the Chicago area where they live with their three children on the next day, Wednesday. Kent, who had been reading my website for awhile, had emailed me a few days earlier and asked if he could get together with me to discuss Torah and Messiah Yeshua. ‘Of course,’ I told him, and invited him and his wife Abayomi to eat with Ruti and me. They’re about 40 years old.

We got to the restaurant at 12:10 pm and waited outside for them, and then, when they came half an hour later, we all waited outside for a table to sit at. It’s a small place and so we stood by the door and got to know them. When we sat down I got the lamb shwarma and some French fries on a plate and Ruti got the chicken shwarma wrapped in lafa bread, which is a very big, round, flat bread. I also ordered two plates of humus with tehina so they could share their own and we could all have it with the lafa bread that came with our meals. At the table we found out that Kent and Abayomi were vegetarians : (  so they didn’t have any of the meat, but instead, got some couscous, salad and beans, etc. and for the next three hours I spoke of Messiah Yeshua to them from the Hebraic perspective. They were already walking in some of it and really appreciated my insights into the Word. After we got done with the restaurants’ complimentary tea, we went outside and stood on the sidewalk for another hour or more and I taught them more about their Messiah. They were taking notes after the first twenty minutes : )

It was during this time on the sidewalk that an Israeli began to get on his scooter that was parked on the sidewalk near us. He looked at me in my biblical clothes and said, ‘Are you Moses?!’ And I said, ‘No. I’m the prophet Elijah!’ I quickly smiled and told him that I was only kidding, so he wouldn’t think that I was totally crazy : )

I told him that Yeshua was our Messiah, and he made a sour face, but I told him that truly, Yeshua is our Messiah. Then he asked me to bless him, which I didn’t expect from his reaction to Yeshua. Asking for a blessing is something that’s done among the Jewish people. A Jewish man, seeing someone who seems very spiritual (usually a well known rabbi), will ask the rabbi ‘to bless’ him, putting his hands on the head of the man and saying a traditional Jewish blessing. So, I placed my hands on his head and asked Yeshua to open his eyes, that he might see his Messiah! As I prayed I felt the Holy Spirit moving through me to him. After I was done he thanked me and I gave him the handout of Acts 2–4 in Hebrew. Then I returned to my place, with Ruti, Kent and Abayomi, who had been standing a few feet away, and Ruti told me that she had been praying for the man while I was with him. Ruti is truly a gift from Heaven : )

The four of us continued talking for another 20 minutes or so and then they needed to leave. It was after 4:30 and the sun was setting when we parted. It was getting a little cool, so I hailed a cab and Ruti and I were on our way back home.

The cabbie was Victor, a 38 year old Israeli from France. He’s divorced with four children and asked me to find him a good wife : )  I spoke of Yeshua being the Messiah and that He wanted to take out Victor’s heart of stone and give him a heart of flesh, to sprinkle him with clean water to take away his uncleanness and to give him God’s Spirit (Ezk. 36:24-27).

Of course, he thought that I was crazy because ‘Jews don't believe in Jesus,’ but I told him that in the book of Daniel, chapter 9 verses 24-26, the angel Gabriel tells Daniel that the Temple would be rebuilt. (Daniel is in Babylon around 520 BC at that time, having been taken there about 600 BC by the King of Babylon, who destroyed both the city of Jerusalem and the Temple of Solomon in 586 BC, which Temple had stood for almost 400 years, and that the Messiah would come when the new Temple would be built.) Messiah would make an come into that Temple, make an ‘end’ of sin, make atonement for eternal righteousness, but He would also die, and another would come and again destroy Jerusalem and the Temple (the Temple of Zerubabel, Ezra and Nehemiah that was yet to be built when Gabriel spoke to Daniel).

I asked him, ‘Where is the Messiah?! The Temple was destroyed almost 2,000 years ago and Gabriel said that the Messiah would come before that happened. The Messiah is Yeshua,’ I told Victor, ‘and in Him I have found forgiveness of sins, shalom from Heaven and eternal life.’ I went on to share some more things. He liked it. As Ruti and I left him, I gave him the Hebrew single sheet handout of Acts 2–4 and told him that if he had any questions to give me a call.

Thank you for your prayers for Victor and Nir (the man with the scooter whose name means ‘light’) and our Work here in Israel. We desire to lead all Israel to her Messiah. Whenever you’re bored with life, feel free to come on over and help us for awhile : )

Yeshua is truly everything that I always wanted, but could never put my finger on until I gave my heart to Him that day in October 1975 and asked Him to forgive me of my sins. He came into my life and I’ve never been the same! Praise God!!!