Last week’s study dealt with Jacob’s travel to Haran and his time there working for his uncle Laban. I consider this to be the first dispersion. Jacob spent 20 years there. This week’s study deals with Jacob’s return to the land of promise. Indeed, the vessel of promise returned to the land of promise. This is in accordance with the promise God made to Jacob at Bethel.

“And behold, I am with you, and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” (Genesis 28:15)

Jacob’s life serves as a prophecy concerning the future of his descendants. We believe that the return of a remnant of Israel to the land of Israel in our days follows this same pattern. As we consider the Hebrew prophets, we recognize that God has promised this and much more to the people of Israel.

After 20 years of “discipline” at the hands of Laban, Jacob was prepared to trust God in faith rather than depending upon himself to accomplish his purpose. Jacob camped on the east side of the Jordan River. He was informed that his brother Esau was coming with 400 men. In Jacob’s last encounter with Esau, he threatened to kill Jacob. Obviously, Jacob feared that Esau and his accompanying militia were coming to fulfill that threat.

Jacob spent the night in prayer. Please note the difference in attitude exhibited by Jacob compared with that when he left the land. Here Jacob humbled himself, reminded God of the promise He had made and simply asked God to intervene to save him. Previously, Jacob had attempted to bargain with God.

Jacob said, “O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O Lord, who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your relatives, and I will prosper you,’ I am unworthy of all the lovingkindness and of all the faithfulness which You have shown to Your servant; for with my staff only I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two companies. Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, that he will come and attack me and the mothers with the children. For You said, ‘I will surely prosper you and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which is too great to be numbered.’” (Genesis 32:9-12)

Now Jacob is acting in faith. He is trusting God.

Jacob experienced a violent struggle that night.

“Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak.” (Genesis 32:24)

We can debate who this man was but whoever he was he had the authority to change Jacob’s name to Israel. I conclude that the possibilities include God Himself, a pre-incarnate manifestation of Jesus (like the captain of the host of the Lord who would later meet Joshua on the plains of Jericho), or a high ranking angel. I would like to propose that Jacob was hearing two voices speaking to him that night. One voice, that of Satan, would have been encouraging Jacob to rely on his ability to manipulate his brother and, thereby, escape his wrath. The other voice would have been telling Jacob to trust God. The latter voice prevailed as did Jacob. Jacob chose faith rather than self reliance and as a result prevailed and was given a new name. The ultimate test of that faith came the following morning when Israel met Esau, bowed before and exposed his neck to Esau’s sword. The miracle of God’s intervention in the soul of Esau is evident as he embraces Israel rather than attempting to kill him.

Israel finally accepted his election as God’s vessel of redemption. This had been his dream as a young man. He manipulated his brother and father to receive it only to be driven further from it. Finally, he received it in the only way that it can be received, that is, by faith. Paul would later declare to the Ephesians,

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God”. (Ephesians 2:8)

Do you strive to obtain and fulfill God’s calling in your life? There is only one way to prevail and Israel demonstrated that for you.

This week I want to depart somewhat from my typical comments on the section of the Bible under consideration. In this section, Jacob encountered the Lord at a site just north of Jerusalem along the ridge of mountains in central Israel. His revelation about this site is very important relative to the significance of this area in God’s redemptive plan. This area is the “crossover” point or intersection between heaven and earth. This, we believe, is the reason for the struggle for control of this area.

Jacob at Bethel

Jacob fled Beersheba running from his brother Esau who had vowed to kill him. Jacob had traded his brother out of his birthright and deceived his father, Isaac, into giving him the blessing that was reserved for the firstborn. Jacob was fleeing to his relative’s home in Mesopotamia. Along the way at nightfall he found himself at a location called Luz. As he slept he dreamed of a ladder extending from heaven to earth with God at the top and angels traversing the ladder.

“And he came to a certain place and spent the night there, because the sun had set; and he took one of the stones of the place and put it under his head, and lay down in that place. And he had a dream, and behold, a ladder was set on the earth with its top reaching to heaven; and behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.” (Genesis 28:11-12)

And,

Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” (Genesis 28:16-17)

The Hebrew term (שער השמים) is used here. Jacob recognized that this location possessed a unique quality as being the earthly opening into heaven. This is the cross-over point between heaven and earth. The tendency is to consider this term to be applicable to a very small area centered in Bethel. With all the incidents recorded in the Bible of movements between heaven and earth, we will see that the area we are speaking about is perhaps 90 miles long and 30 to 40 miles wide.
Later at this same site, the Bible declares that

“Then God went up from him in the place where He had spoken with him.” (Genesis 35:13)

God ascended, presumably into heaven.

Just south of this site at Mt. Moriah, Abraham encountered an angel of the Lord when he prepared to made Isaac an offering to the Lord. As a result of his experience there, Abraham gave the site a name.

“And Abraham called the name of that place The Lord Will Provide, as it is said to this day, “In the mount of the Lord it will be provided.” (Genesis 22:14)

The word that is translated “provide” is (ראה). This is a commonly used verb meaning “see”. The simple meaning is that in this place “God will see”. We believe this indicates the proximity of heaven to this site which would become the Temple Mount.

An Angel visits the Parents of Samson

During the period of the Judges, an angel of the Lord appeared to a man and his wife who were to become the parents of Samson. This occurred at a site called Zorah in the territory of Dan between Jerusalem and Joppa. Initially, the wife believed that an angel of the Lord had appeared to her. However, at a later appearance, they did not know that he was an angel. He must have appeared as an ordinary human. At any rate, they offered to prepare a meal for the stranger but he, instead, requested that they prepare a burnt offering to the Lord. When they did so, the angel ascended in a unique manner.

“So Manoah took the kid with the grain offering and offered it on the rock to the Lord, and He performed wonders while Manoah and his wife looked on. For it came about when the flame went up from the altar toward heaven, that the angel of the Lord ascended in the flame of the altar. When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell on the faces to the ground.” (Judges 13:19-20)

Elijah is Taken into Heaven

One of the most awesome events described in the Bible occurred to the prophet Elijah just east of this area across the Jordan River opposite of Jericho. Elijah’s time was drawing near and Elisha, sensing that something monumental was about to happen, clung to him. Elijah and Elisha crossed the Jordan and continued walking eastward. Elisha knew that Elijah would be taken away because several prophets had declared this to him earlier that day. However, he evidently didn’t know how or when it would happen. As they walked along Elijah was taken into heaven.

“Then it came about as they were going along and talking, that behold, there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire which separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind to heaven.” (II Kings 2:11)

We need to consider what Elisha witnessed on this occasion. The horse drawn war chariot was the fastest means of transport that Elisha knew in his day. Thus he used this description for the conveyance that took Elijah. In addition they were being propelled by fire which most likely described the means of propulsion for the conveyance. Finally, Elijah was taken up into heaven in a “whirlwind” (סערה). This expression is used also by the prophet Ezekiel.

“As I looked, behold, a storm wind (whirlwind) was coming from the north, a great cloud with fire flashing forth continually and a bright light around it, and in its midst something like glowing metal in the midst of the fire.” (Ezekiel 1:4)

Usually when we think of a “whirlwind”, we envision a rather small revolving wind column blowing up dust. I suspect that Elisha saw something much more profound, perhaps something like that seen by Ezekiel.

We should guard against thinking in terms of modern science fiction that an ET in a spaceship swooped down and picked up Elijah and carried him off to some other location in the space-time continuum. Elijah was taken into heaven. Later in the New Testament, Moses and Elijah appeared to Jesus on the so-called “Mount of Transfiguration” (Luke 9:30). Moses had died roughly 600 years earlier than when Elijah was taken into heaven. We have the testimony that both Moses and Elijah appeared together, so we can conclude that they both were taken to the same place, i.e., heaven.

Elisha and the Army of the Lord

The King of Aram was warring against Israel and became frustrated because Elisha the prophet was revealing his position to the King of Israel. The King of Aram decided to capture Elisha. He sent a detachment of war chariots to Dothan and encircled the city. The Bible reveals what happened.

“Now when the attendant of the man of God had risen early and gone out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was circling the city. And his servant said to him, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?” So he answered, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” Then Elisha prayed and said, “O, Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” And the Lord opened the servant’s eyes and he saw; and behold the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.” (2 Kings 6:15-17)

Dothan is just a few miles north of Shechem. Here, Elisha saw the “Army of the Lord” deployed on the mountain in the heart of Israel. Obviously this army had crossed over from Heaven and was being deployed on earth.

Messiah Jesus Ascended into Heaven

Our final example comes from the New Testament. After the resurrection of Jesus, he met with and taught His disciples. When the time came for Him to depart, they went to the Mount of Olives. After conveying His final direct instructions to His disciples, He ascended into heaven.

“And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was departing, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them; and they also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:9-11)

We conclude that there are many examples of God, Angels and humans crossing over from heaven to earth and from earth to heaven. The small area of central Israel is the locale where these crossover events occurred. This area is approximately 90 miles from north to south and 30 miles from east to west. Two sites within this area is of utmost significance; Bethel and Jerusalem. At Bethel, Jacob received the vision that this was the location of the “gate to Heaven”. The Temple Mount in Jerusalem was named by Abraham as the place where “God sees”. Later, God declared that He would establish His Name in this place forever.

Finally we maintain that because this area is crucial to God’s redemptive plan, there is a ferocious struggle to control this area. The forces of darkness demand to exercise dominion here. Today, in our generation, God has called back the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to this area. The people of Israel are God’s designated “gate-keepers”. Israel will prevail in this struggle. If necessary, the “Army of the Lord” will be deployed to insure the victory. (Please see my book “Israel, God’s Interdimensional Portal” available at Amazon)