Day 3 (part 2)

Of all the experiences I've had in Haifa thus far, nothing compares with the experience of worshiping God with other believers here in Israel. I joined my new friend Daniel (reference Day 1) and two other students (reference Kelsey Day 3, part 1, and also another guy from Denmark named Simon) for a service about an hour and a half away in one of the suburbs outside of Haifa.
This was my first time actually going out into the city, and I was immediately enthralled. Haifa is so beautiful and lively, people of all different shapes and sizes, and surprisingly, everyone is extraordinarily relaxed and seemingly never in a hurry to get anywhere. On Shabbat most all of the public transportation is running only about once an hour, so there are just people patiently standing all over the place waiting. I must admit, I'm really enjoying the laid back Israeli attitude after having lived in D.C. for the past three years. Everything here is, as you will hear 20 times in any conversation with the locals, "Saybaba" (roughly meaning something like "chill" or "cool").
The congregation that we joined was nestled on the fourth floor of what seemed to be some sort of converted warehouse tucked away in a poorer neighborhood near the sea. I had to laugh when Kelsey asked me if I was "sketched out yet" as we approached the church, since I had been thinking how calm and peaceful the whole scene was. We were late in arriving, so we joined the congregation after they had already been worshiping some 20 or 30 minutes. There were about 300 people there, and the service was all in Hebrew, with translation to English, Russian, and Korean on that Shabbat, as a Korean congregation had joined them for the service that day.
I cannot possibly describe to you how thick the presence of God was in that place. I have been in church, probably nearly from birth, and have participated in countless services with other spirit filled believers, but never have I experienced a closeness of God quite like this.The service was full of all of the beauty and reverence of Jewish tradition, and also with the great joy, freedom, and victory that comes from knowing our risen Savior. They worshiped in great reverence and humility, but also with the sweetest intimacy. Everyone was so FREE, and WHOLE...His presence was so strong, even physically, that I literally felt as though I might have a heart attack. Worshiping in Hebrew with so many other believers from all over the world made me almost sick with longing to be in the throne room of heaven. I was in tears throughout the entirety of the worship, the reading of the Torah, and a fair portion of the message as well. Even though there were many things I did not, or could not understand linguistically and culturally, and although I barely new a person in the room, I felt perfectly at home.
I was struck by the URGENCY and FERVOR of their prayer, and specifically about one of their prayers in particular, which was repeated several times throughout the service. As I'm sure all of you who are familiar with Christian services in the West know, we in North American are always asking God to send "the rain" upon us as a church, but here in Israel, our Messianic brothers and sisters are begging God to send the FINAL rain. I have been rolling this over and over again in my mind ever since last Shabbat. I'm not sure if you catch the difference, but to me, the more I ponder it, the more profound it becomes. The difference to me is that the final rain is not just a rain of revival or of blessing, but it is a rain of justice, and of judgment, the sort of rain that will bring all of us to our knees before the Holy God. The difference is also of timing and perspective. As I am discovering how God is at work here in Israel, and throughout the world, I am growing more certain every day that the days in which we live are of the last. We can no longer live as though God will simply send us another "rain" any time we ask. I feel in my soul that God's people in Israel are right to live in the urgency and sincerity that comes from knowing that there may only be time for one last final rain to fall upon mankind...