Arise!
What Abraham Saw in the Promised Land
Lekh Lekha "Go to yourself"
Genesis 12:1-17:27
Isaiah 40:27-41:16
Psalm 110
Revelation 21:1-4
Abraham had to go to the Land of Promise in order to seek out the knowledge of righteousness. Lekh lekha was his first recorded commandment. Avram did righteousness in Ur and Charan, but it was to Shalem that he needed to go; and again, to Mount Moriah with Isaac, a “teaching” mountain of Shalem. After separating from Lot, Avram is told to “Arise.” Kum.
-
LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “Now lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward; for all the land which you see, I will give it to you and to your descendants forever. I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth, so that if anyone can number the dust of the earth, then your descendants can also be numbered. Arise, walk about the land through its length and breadth; for I will give it to you.” Then Abram moved his tent and came and dwelt by the oaks of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and there he built an altar to the LORD. (Ge 13:14-18)
Avraham built altars in key locations, such as between Beth-El and Ai (likely also Jacob’s “gateway” to Heaven), Hebron, Mount Moriah, etc.
Each of these locations represent an aspect of holiness, a doorway to the upper realm, the Lower Garden. It requires an eye of prophecy to see what is there, for it will not be the natural beauty of the location.
Avram was not asked to walk the physical land. He was already IN the physical land. Once he separated from Lot, who saw that the area of Sodom and Gomorrah was LIKE the Garden of Eden, Avram could lift his eyes and see what hovered over the Promised Land, the true Land of Promise in Eden. When he lifted his eyes, a Biblical way of seeing prophetically and into the spiritual realm, only THEN could Avram see what he was promised. Only THEN could he see what it meant to "Arise and go to yourself."
Avram had to see more than what was physically there, to “lift” nasa his eyes. One “lifts” a prophecy (Nu 23:7, etc) and sees the future as what is. When one lifts his eyes, he sees the "miracle," or nes, of resurrection and restoration to the Garden. There is only one place where a human being reaches absolute perfection, Jerusalem, the center of the Garden where the King of Shalem (perfection, completeness) reigns. He is Malkhi-Tzedek, the King of Righteousness. After Adam and Eve sinned, the spiritual realm of the Garden withdrew. It was thought that Adam and Eve were buried at Hebron, an entrance to the Garden. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the matriarchs were also buried there, a shout out to their offspring of their belief in the resurrection.
Avram had to walk the Land for the sake of his children. Walking (in Hebrew, holekh) is what the Chidekkel (Tigris) River did in the Garden of Eden. Avram was promised that his offspring would re-populate the Garden of Eden. This was the first commandment, to be fruitful and MULTIPLY. Through the resurrection of the King of Righteousness, Yeshua, Avram's offspring would do more than just reproduce, they would do so in great numbers.
The children are gathering in Abraham's bosom as centuries pass. The "bosom" in Hebrew is the cheik, or the area surrounding the bottom of altar. Is it any wonder the souls are crying out from under the altar in Revelation? They want their bodies to be resurrected so that the full perfection of multiplied, righteous fruits can ornament the Garden.
Avram built altars and tithed from the fruit of the Land in Shalem, the site of Jerusalem. He elevated the natural Land of Promise to reflect its "mate" above, the spiritual Garden. Zion and Jerusalem are often paired in prophecy, equivalent expressions. To Zion it is prophesied:
-
“Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; your walls are continually before Me. Your builders hurry; your destroyers and devastators will leave you. Raise your eyes and look around; all of them gather together, they come to you. “As I live,” declares the LORD, “You will certainly put them all on as jewelry and bind them on as a bride. For your ruins and deserted places and your destroyed land—now you will certainly be too cramped for the inhabitants, and those who swallowed you will be far away. The children you lost will yet say in your ears, ‘The place is too cramped for me; make room for me that I may live here.’” (Is 49: 16-20)
As the children arise and are gathered to Jerusalem, they ornament the Land of Israel, Zion, like a bride puts on jewelry and ornaments. This is reflected in the precious stones of Jerusalem in Revelation. It reinforces the old adage that the Land, the Covenant, and the People are part of one promise. Abraham had to lift his eyes to see that Land.
The resurrection of “Arise” will be followed by ornamentation of the Holy City. Revelation describes the later descent of this Holy City, once again "marrying" the spiritual and physical Garden:
-
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among the people, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” (Re 21:1-4)
In essence, the call of Israel to return to her promised Land is to re-populate the Garden. They are to return and obey the first commandment. Before they could obey it, Adam and Eve sinned and failed to populate the Garden with fruits of righteousness.
Elohim never gave up on adam, humankind. His voice is still calling to them from the Garden. In order to make the journey to the Land of Israel from the Land of Israel...in order for Israel to go to Israel, Israel must go to themselves, Israel. The appointed times of Israel's feasts are for the people of Israel to assemble as Israel and lift their eyes to the Holy City. It is their time to be fruitful and multiply so that at the resurrection, the great prophecy of Avram's descendants is fulfilled. Multiplied.
“Now you shall eat it in this way: with your garment belted around your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in a hurry—it is the LORD’S Passover.” (Ex 12:11)
"He who testifies to these things says,
'Yes, I am coming quickly.'
Amen.
Come, Lord Jesus." (Re 22:20)
Arise, my Love. Pick up your beds and walk.
SHABBAT SHALOM!
