SAM THE ROCK THROWER
by Avram Yehoshua
On Wednesday, April 2nd, 1997, at about 11:00 AM, I walked to a town grocery store in Mevaseret Zion (on the outskirts of Jerusalem), to pick up some bananas, avocados, oranges, etc. It's about a 10 to 15 minute walk. On my way back I saw the man who, on March 10th, had gotten out of his car to see what his friends were doing. He had been passing by. I had been talking with about eight Jewish men about Yeshua being the Messiah. When he found that out he came forward and spit on the ground toward me, cursed Yeshua, got into his car and took off.
As I passed him in his driveway that morning, he was working on his car. I said, 'Shalom yedidi' (Shalom my friend). He came out to me cursing Yeshua and me and telling me to get out of there. I just looked at him in love and and told him that Yeshua was the Messiah. He was about two feet in front of me now. I'd say he was about five years older than me, about 50 years old and a little taller.
He said that Yeshua was an illegitimate child, born out of wedlock and I said that that story was not true. He spit in my face.
I said that I loved him and that Yeshua wanted to give him a new heart. He came to me and ripped the tzit-ziot (tassels), from the left side of my pants. He threw them in the road. I just stood there, looked at him and told him that Yeshua loved him.
He went back to the curb, to his house steps and picked up a rock. It was about eight inches through the center and I would guess weighed 8 pounds. He picked it up and threw it at me with all his might from a distance of about ten feet. It hit me toward the inside of my left forearm, between the wrist and elbow. I could have dodged it, but I wasn't in Jerusalem to dodge rocks. I was here to lift up the Name of Yeshua the Messiah.
I saw it coming and when it hit, I found my left knee giving way to it, and stumbled backward a few feet. I told him that I loved him. He went to where the rock had fallen, picked it up and went back to his throwing position, cursing some more and shouting at me that I was crazy.
He threw the rock again. This time his aim was better and it hit me in the upper left shoulder. Going with the flow so to speak, I staggered backward again. I told him that I loved him and that Yeshua loved him. And that He was the Messiah of Israel. He went to the rock and picked it up again.
People were gathering and encouraging him. There were two women in front of me to the right, and two other men to my left and my right, along with some people looking on from a distance. I was in the road all this time.
With the rock in his hand, he came a few steps toward me. In that moment, I knew that he wanted to walk over to me and bash my skull in. And he knew that I would not move to try and avoid him. I half closed my eyes, not relishing what looked like a new experience in the Lord for me, and he stopped. Then he threw the rock again. I watched it as it sailed past my head on the left, by about two inches. I looked at him and told him of Yeshua's and my love for him.
I turned to the one man on my right side, and told him that Yeshua really was the Messiah. He came over to me and grabbed hold of my beard and yanked me down the road a few feet, telling me to get out of there. Not because I was in danger, but because he didn't like the message either. He let go of my beard and I stopped. I turned to him and said that Yeshua wanted to give him a new heart also (Ezk. 36:22f).
Well, by this time, the man who had thrown the rock picked up a small iron pipe, maybe about 12 inches long and an inch straight through the center. He motioned like he was going to come and beat my head in. Immediately, the Ruah haKodesh (the Spirit of the Holy One), raised my arms, with my palms up, at '10 and 2:00 o'clock,' as if to say, 'Come! I'm ready. I will not run from you and I will not fight you.' Again he saw that I was ready to die, and he didn't approach. I lowered my arms. He threw the pipe to the ground and both he and his wife approached me, saying that I was crazy and that my parents were dogs, etc.
I stood there and by the Grace of Yeshua, looked into his eyes all the time, and loved him. As they left to go to their house, I quoted Isaiah 53:5 to him, that Yeshua was, 'pierced for our open rebellion; He was crushed for our perverse heart; on Him lies the punishment that gives us shalom (peace), and by His stripes, we are healed.' And then I told him to read the Prophet Isaiah, chapter 53.
As I watched him and his wife leave, I asked Yeshua if there was anything else that He would have me to do there. I looked around and I sensed that that was all that Yeshua would have me to do. I saw my tzit-ziot on the ground and picked it up, put them in my pocket and began walking back home. The small cart with my food in it had not been touched.
I got home and put the oranges, etc. away. Ruti was fixing lunch and didn't 'notice me.' I went to the bathroom to wash the spit out of my beard, face and glasses. You won't believe the tune that came into my head. The one from Candid Camera:
'When you least expect it, you're elected,
it's your lucky day... Smile!, you're on Candid Camera.'
I thought to myself, 'Am I crazy altogether?! What am I doing humming that tune?!' And then I realized how appropriate it was. The whole Jewish community will hear about what transpired on Palmach Street. How one Jewish man hated another Jewish man with everything inside him. He spit on him, he cursed him, he threw rocks at him and threatened to murder him. And all that the other Jewish man did was love him. And oh yes, that other Jewish man said that Yeshua was the Messiah.
I went to sit on the bed and pray for him and the other people there. I asked the Lord to save his soul and to use the incident to win him and the other people over. He lived about 150 yards away from us and he was right on the way to the grocery store.
In prayer I also saw that I had offered him no resistance. I thanked the Lord Yeshua for that. I began to weep a little. Not because I was hurt physically, because I was only sore. Not because I was hurt emotionally, because I was very much intact in my soul. But because the Lord had brought me to the point of offering him no resistance and only giving him His Love. I was so thankful that He could be seen through me.
Ruti came over and asked if I was alright. I said I was. I shared with her what had happened and she wept. She was not angry with the man but she could see that it had taken a toll on me. She doesn't like to see me get hurt. I was grateful that she wasn't with me.
I felt physically drained. It was as though I had been in a battle. I thought of Stephen. How he was actually stoned to death and how awful that must have been. And of Paul being stoned many times. And then of Yeshua. How He had been mocked, His Back lashed open, the crown of thorns put on His Head and then pierced to the tree. How horrible that must have been for Him. He really loves us.
I also realized that it was only the Lord, that he didn't crush my head in with the rock, and that the rock had missed my head, and that he did not come over with the pipe and bash my skull in.
The bruise on my forearm had broken the surface of the skin, but there was no blood. Only tenderness to the touch, soreness and puffiness. I was wearing a short sleeve shirt. The bruise on my left upper arm by the shoulder was not noticeable, except for some puffiness because the shirt had taken the edge off the rock. It was sore and tender too. Both spots became 'black and blue' as they say, and yellow and green. The bruises would take five weeks to heal.
I thanked the Lord that I didn't have bitterness in my heart toward him. I don't hate or despise him or hold him in contempt. Although I did struggle, for a day, with seeing him again. In confronting the anticipated fear of another episode with the rock thrower, one that might be worse physically for me, I began singing to the Lord.
As I sang, the Lord caused me to remember that those who have given their lives for Him will be the first to rise from the dead (see note at end). This made me glad and my fear began to subside. As I continued to sing and lift Him up, I realized that Yeshua would take care of the man. Yeshua would either allow him to throw more rocks or not. My fear was coming from a scenario that he would do it again and that the physical pain would be much worse for me. And I was still tender and sore from the day before. That pain was still with me. But then I felt from Him that I could say, 'I am not afraid of the (possible) pain to come.' Yeshua was comforting me; strengthening me and I could feel what I had just said. Now I believed I was ready for my next confrontation; with Shmuel or anyone else. What a Mighty God we serve!
I see that out of all the people that we have shared the Lord here with, the rock thrower, whom I have named Shmuel (Samuel), is the one that the Holy Spirit can work on the most, because of what happened. Shmuel saw a Jewish man that says that he knows the Messiah of Israel. Shmuel hated me with everything that he had inside him. And what he got back was love, the Love of Yeshua.
On Friday, April 4th, Yeshua again strengthened me and gave me a great peace about a lingering fear that I had: being stoned in the face. I wasn't afraid now. And I felt a little later after that, that I was ready to meet Shmuel again, almost eager. I pray that Shmuel and many others will be convicted by the Holy Spirit and drawn to Yeshua. We covet your prayers for the Salvation of the Jewish People. Thanks.
And by the way, Mevaseret Zion means:
Proclaiming Good News to Zion.
Avram & Ruti Yehoshua
Note:
Rev. 20:4-6: 'Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Yeshua and because of the Word of God, and those who had not worshipped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with the Messiah for a thousand years.
The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, and they will be priests of God and of the Messiah and will reign with Him for a thousand years.'
Email Avram — avramyeh@gmail.com