7.16.26 – A Balance Sheet, Part 3

Let us conclude our investment into the Land of our inheritance, connecting some very familiar stories 😊.

As burying Sarah at great cost tested Abraham's faith in the resurrection, so burying a part of yourself tests your own. Sarah and Abraham were one flesh, and Hebron was said to be the gateway back to the Garden of Eden. Abraham believed so firmly in the resurrection that he paid a premium for prime real estate—staking his hope on that future event.

"When He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him. And behold, a great storm arose on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but Jesus was asleep. And they went and woke Him, saying, 'Save us, Lord; we are perishing!' And He said to them, 'Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?' Then He rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. And the men marveled, saying, 'What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey Him?'"
(Matthew 8:23–27)

Yeshua is "asleep"—a symbol of death. When the disciples cry out for salvation, He "awakes." Even the wind (ruach) and the sea (the nations) obey Him.

Do you begin to see how this pairs the spiritual with the natural—the balance sheet of Heshbon—and how Israel may return? First, they must "come to Heshbon," or cry out to the Lord when they fear wind, sea, giants, or Amorites. Yeshua awoke from the dead precisely for such cries for salvation.

When we say "we" cannot do it, or "I" can or cannot do it, our balance sheet is out of balance. When doors open or close divinely, we must remember that it was the Ark of the Covenant and the Pillar of Cloud that led Israel, not their own efforts. Regarding the Land of Israel, a door into the Land is divinely open for God's people.

As with the Israelites, the divine door is open—but we have to move our feet and invest our energy in getting there. That also means a personal divine door must open. The Lord may open doors of finances, childcare, vacation days, and many other miracles, but He expects us to walk through them when they open—not wait for the resurrection! The leadership is divine, but the Israelite must follow and not squander opportunities.

You must purchase a plot for the dead to make way for life. Sometimes the giants leave you alone; sometimes they take up arms against you. Be prepared for peace; be prepared for war. Be prepared to draw closer to the Father than ever before:

"For the land that you are entering to possess is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you sowed your seed and watered it with your foot, like a garden of vegetables. But the land that you are going over to possess is a land of hills and valleys, which drinks water by the rain from heaven, a land that the LORD your God cares for. The eyes of the LORD your God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year."
(Deuteronomy 11:10–12)

The hallmark of Egypt and the world is that food is easy to predict and obtain. Its river irrigates the land, and crops do not depend entirely on the inhabitants' obedience to the Holy One. It is easy to maintain only a distant relationship with the Lord because one can prosper without it.

Israel, by contrast, does depend on the inhabitants' obedience to the commandments. It is a land of hills and valleys, making it impossible to control the water supply as in the flat deltas of Egypt. Because one's natural existence depends so heavily on one's spiritual relationship with the Lord, one draws closer to Him—obeying Him, seeking Him, especially on Sabbaths and at feasts. Israel is for those who seek that dependency, even when the costs are financial and security-related uncertainties.

The Hebrew word for "spy" means "to explore." The ten explorer-spies—whom I call "chamber of commerce presidents"—gave a perfectly accurate report about the Land of Israel. They were right on track—until they added their judgment of whether the Israelites were capable of taking it.

Moses wanted them to see that it was too much for them in the natural realm—to remind them of the impossibilities they had grown accustomed to daily. Perhaps that is why Moses recounts all the details in Devarim (Deuteronomy). Once again, the Israelites have an open door, but they cannot take for granted the miracles that brought them to the Land again. Come to Heshbon. Consider how you arrived where you are with Yeshua, and how you are sustained each day—before you declare (emor) that the Land is impossible to inhabit, or even to explore.

The miracles of past generations are ours to remember, but the miracle of where we are now is ours to tell. That we will return to the Land is ours to believe. The giants in the Land were harmless to Abraham. If we feel small next to the problems in the Land, perhaps it is because we are personally too large to feel small. Part of yourself must be buried to gain anything in Eretz Yisrael—money, ego, family, friends, comfort, safety...

What are you waiting for? The resurrection? Check your balance sheet. Come to Heshbon. Explore.

For those among the nations who have repented and returned to the Torah, they are beginning to realize that the ultimate destination is Israel and Jerusalem. Everything they read in the Word hinges on reckoning that destination when the door is divinely open.

Like the scribe, they have no place to go once they have followed Yeshua and the Word. They do not fit in a stagnant church; they do not fit in a synagogue. There is no place to lay their heads. That is okay. We are burying our own dead, sacrificing for this unique calling. The road of sacrifice eventually leads to Heshbon, Hebron, and Jerusalem. Put it on your bucket list. Pin it.

If you do not make it until the resurrection, rest assured that your sincere faith in desiring it will be reckoned to you as righteousness at Heshbon. Pin it.

Yeshua's disciples did their job. We have heard the Word. The divine door is cracking open, just as the Torah prophecies foretold.

Where else would we rather go?

Shalom,
Alan