April 2007

Israel Prayer Update -
April 11, 2007

And the desert shall rejoice
and blossom as the rose; it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice,
even with joy and singing. (Is. 35:1-2)

Thank you for praying for the youth gathering in the desert as
mentioned in our last update. Indeed the desert blossomed and
rejoiced as 120 youth gathered there to have time together and with
the Lord.

There was rain forecast, but it came before and after, not during
the retreat. You may remember that last year we took the youth on a
hike in which we discovered a deep pool of water in the midst of the
desert, left from recent rains—soon they were “doing exploits” as
they were released to hurtle from the high boulders into the tiny
pool. If last year’s was related to finding springs in the desert,
this year the hike could have been labeled “Courage to Maneuver the
Heights and Depths”. It was a grueling trek, which took the kids
through tiny rifts in the rocks clinging to a knotted rope, and down
sheer stone walls with just a tiny ladder and the Dead Sea shining
far below. Many were terrified, but there was no turning back—they
encouraged each other, and assisted each other. In the end, many
expressed their gladness that old fears had been broken (While adult
overseers on the sidelines expressed gratefulness for the obvious
presence of many BIG angels!!).

During the meetings there were great outbreaks of joy and healing.
The second evening a spirit of worship hit the youth, released
especially in a song of Caleb calling to “Go Up and Take the
Land”—and they entered into a surge of praise in the tent which went
long into the night. Young men as well as women were released in an
expression of dance as a weapon against the enemy. Near the end of
the conference a time of real heart-cry intercession for the
salvation of Israel broke forth loose.

One unforgettable picture rises in our minds. A number of years ago
a young girl began to come to our conferences. She sat in the back
with her head down. She didn’t interact with others, never smiled,
and never opened her mouth to sing. Hers was a story of much, much
abuse; in fact, a family member was placed in prison for beating her
and her mother. She has continued to come to these conferences and
summer camps. This time, in the middle of worship when there had
been a dance about ‘freedom’ and cries of “Freedom!” from the youth,
she came forward and took a microphone. She then proceeded to give a
short powerful testimony of how the Lord had physically healed her
that day and how He was worthy to be praised—this girl who used to
sit curled up in a ball and terrified to speak with anyone! After
that, she stood on the front row after and danced and sang and
worshipped with all her heart for the remainder of the evening. A
number of the youth who knew her and knew her history were weeping
for joy as they watched this miracle! She is indeed a victorious
Daughter of Zion—one of those whom the God of her Fathers is forming
into an “Eshet-Hael” (Woman of Valour—Proverbs 31) for the end-time
army of His people Israel.

PLEASE PRAY

*Thanksgiving with us for the victorious beautiful work which God
accomplished during this retreat.

*That the seeds of courage and love and faith and challenge which
were sown into these teens and young adults would be protected and
germinate—bringing forth these virtues in their characters at work,
at school and in the military.

“KI-YELED YULAD-LANU . . .”

“FOR UNTO US A CHILD IS BORN . . .”

FOR THE FIRST TIME, HANDEL’S ‘MESSIAH’ IS PERFORMED IN JERUSALEM—IN
HEBREW!

On the fourth of April, the second day of the Passover “Feast of
Unleavened Bread” there occurred a “Miracle Night” in Jerusalem. For
the first time since it was written in 1741 the mighty oratorio
“Messiah” by George Fredrich Handel was performed in Jerusalem in
the language in which the texts were originally written—Hebrew! For
two evenings a choir and chamber orchestra made up of Messianic
Jewish and Christian believers released those ancient Hebrew texts
of Salvation set to glorious music into the heavenlies over
Jerusalem. The two performances took place in the “Pavilion”—a
wonderful auditorium built and used by Believers in the center of
the city.

It was a strange and wonderful experience, for those of us who are
familiar with the Oratorio in English and who have become familiar
with the same texts in our Hebrew Bibles to hear the familiar music,
to hear the ancient texts, and to see in “super-titles” the actual
Hebrew words being projected with their references on a screen above
the stage—Here, in Jerusalem where most of the events took
place—Here, the day after Passover when it took place—in the idiom
in which it was prophesied to take place. This had been the dream of
a lady named Irene Levy—a faithful believer in her 90’s, long in the
land, who has for years assisted believers who are new in the land
to learn Biblical Hebrew. Irene saw her dream realized—and actually
took part in the choir! The texts of the Old Testament were adapted
to the music by Arie Bar David, who also conducted (Another brother
in the Land adapted Hebrew translations of the New Testament
portions to the music). Arie has long been respected in the
Messianic community as a gifted musician with a heart to see music
released in integrity and beauty to the Glory of God in Israel. Some
years ago this heroic man spoke during one of our youth retreats to
the young people all of whom face military service at an early age—Arie
distinguished himself in his own unit the Golan Heights during the
Yom Kippur War.

Visiting non-believing Israelis were stunned by the power of the
Biblical texts and the music—and the “Spirit” which they felt in the
air. Many had never realized how married the prophetic texts were to
those of the New Covenant. Also…many portions of Isaiah 53 are in
the Oratorio. Tellingly, this incredible prophecy of the suffering
and ultimate victory of Messiah is unknown to most Jews—the portions
taken from the Prophets read in Synagogues around the world each
weekend, hit Isaiah 52, and 54—but leave out all of Isaiah 53.

Hopefully, these two performances were only the beginning of a new
annual presentation of this wonderful vehicle of the Good News, not
only in Jerusalem but throughout Israel!

PLEASE PRAY

*Praise and Thanksgiving that the Spirit Who breathed all of these
wonderful words of Scripture – and Who inspired one of His servants
to use His gift in setting it to music – has chosen to release it in
this way to His ancient people in the Land of Israel during these
days.

*Protection for all who took part in preparation for the performance
in Jerusalem, from any backlash from the enemy.

*Wisdom and guidance for Arie Bar David regarding “where to go from
here”—regarding future performances, publication, recordings of this
special “new” work.

*That the Holy Spirit will brood over those Israelis who attended
the performances, not knowing their Messiah—that they would respond
to the Spirit which was so strong there—and which is still Drawing
them with Everlasting Love. That their Mashiach would be revealed to
them--as their Saviour … the Passover Lamb … Yeshua, the One who
carries away their sins and brings them clean before their Father in
Heaven