HOLY LAND STUDIES

HIS LAND IS A DREAM (a little Narnia!)

The dream of every Jew is to “go up” or make aliya to Israel, the land of their forefathers, the land of their God. The psalmist wrote, “when YHWH brought back those who returned to Zion, we were like those who dream” (126:1). It was once my dream to visit the land of the Bible, and I have returned a dozen times.

Israel is God’s Home. According to Holy Writ Israel is the Holy Land (Zec.2:12). The Lord of all the earth calls this plot of real estate “MY land” (Joel 1:6; Jer. 2:7 cf.Lev. 25:23; Ezekiel 38:16); it is “His land” (Joel 2:18; Ezekiel 36:20); He is the land’s Lord. God’s house, Beit’el is here. God’s camp, Mahanaaim, God’s throne, Tzion, God’s face, Pani’el, God field, Meggido, God’s peace, Yerushalayim, God’s house of bread, Beit-lehem and myriad other “holy” sites proclaim God’s story –in concert with His Holy Scriptures! In Israel you walk on history, stand on prophecy, and you see, hear, smell, taste, and touch the presence of God. A pilgrimage to God’s land is called the fifth Gospel! His land proclaims Him just as His Word.

Israel is Our Home. Israel is also home to the believer. You will see! Israel is the navel or center of the earth according to Ezekiel (38:12); life began here. This Promised Land of milk and honey is a nexus in Holy Scripture to the Garden of Eden, “and it [Israel] shall be like the Garden of Eden…the garden of the Lord.” According to Yochanon the “tree of life” will again be Yerushalayim the new garden of God where we will dwell for eternity with our Lord and Master (Rev.22:1-5). Yochanon’s reference is to the New Jerusalem which the present Jerusalem types. Wow! What can compare to the experience of leaving the galut or land outside Israel to return home, God’s home, Yeshua’s home, your home? The land is for Avraham and his seed, His descendants, and believers in the Jewish Messiah, Yeshua share in this inheritance. This is the very land –with some colossal changes of course- that will host our Lord for one-thousand years.

Israel is the Fifth Gospel. Israel is Beit hamidrash or “the home of study;” Israel is Beit ha-tefilah or “the home of prayer;” Israel is Beit ha-knesset or “the home of church;” Israel is Beit ha-kodesh or “the home of holiness!” You are home! Jewish sages believed that when one “went up” or made aliya to Israel he/she was drawing near to holiness. The Hebrew word aliya comes from the Hebrew phrase, ma’alin B’kodesh meaning literally “to ascend to holiness.” Judah Halevi of Spain once wrote, “My heart is in the east while I am in the West.” Judah eventually made the travel to Israel and bent over to kiss the earth he had longed for. In Israel you will sail the Galilee, float the Dead Sea, and swim the Mediterranean Sea. You will weep at the western or “wailing” wall, pray over Jerusalem, and rejoice at the garden tomb. You will ride to the heights of Masada, sojourn to the lowest place on earth, and visit the desert of Yeshua’s exoneration. You are to experience the land where God Almighty was conceived, birthed, lived, worked, ministered, died, resurrected, and ascended back to heaven. He is soon coming back as Davidic King to make this land the seat of His government over all the earth.

Israel is Reading the Bible in Color. If you love the Bible you will love Israel. It is the holy land (Zechariah 2:12); the center of the earth (Ezekiel 16:4); Beulah-land (Isaiah 62:4); the land of Canaan (Genesis 12:5); the land of Moriah (“to see God,” Genesis 22:2); the land of the Hebrews (Genesis 40:15); the Promised Land (Numbers 14:6); the land of Judah (Ruth 1:7); the land of Israel (Joshua 11:22); the beautiful land (Daniel 8:9); the land of Galilee (1Kings 9:11); the land of the living (Psalm 142:5); and as referred to by Yeshua as "the Father's Vineyard."

Israel is a Pilgrimage. You are a pilgrim on a pilgrimage and every journey needs preparation. You will need to prepare for travel, accommodations, what to wear, what to bring, and what to anticipate. The most important preparation is your spiritual prep. This is a trip you will NEVER forget and you will never make this trip again, for your first trip is your first experience. You will visit sites not only of biblical importance, but of prophetic significance. You will study history, geography, archaeology and prophesy as you ride, walk, sit, stand, and pray in the land. The first pilgrims to visit God’s Holy Land were Adam and Eve; they were created then placed in God’s garden to farm and care for it. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were called outside to the land. Later came the twelve tribes. The Jews became its tenants; the Israel of God became the land of Israel’s heirs. The Landlord’s son, Yeshua came; and He is to soon return again to govern the globe from this land.

Are you beginning to see the importance of this trip? It is not only for sight seeing -though you will have plenty of that- Israel, the Holy Land IS THE BIBLE.

Arrival. When you arrive at the center of the earth, the Holy Land gather with your group at Baggage Claim after going through Passport Control which may be expedient or lengthy. Relax though you are home and the security is comforting. There are places to do currency exchange, and here in the airport you may also rent a cell phone.

Missions We are in the land on a mission, but we want to be jovial and pleasant as we enter the country and not conspicuous of some religious motive. Ours is the high calling to LOVE! We want to be befriending not obtuse, winsome not offensive, and natural not religious. We do have a biblical mandate of bringing the Gospel to Israel (Romans 1:16a) and we must earn the right to be heard. We must be as Yeshua who went about doing the Father’s will naturally -never artificial.

Blessings Upon You It is my privilege to confer to you Brachot L’cha or “Blessings for you.” Yeshua is going with you to the land. He has made a way for you to journey to His land. Relax in Him. Walk with Him. Talk to Him. Be sure to journal this adventure and then make copies for those who helped make this trip possible. Enjoy your trip to Israel; this is the trip of a lifetime. You will return home loving Israel, both the land and its people.

HOW HOLYLAND STUDIES WORKS

In the menu section click on HolyLand Studies, then click on the biblical site you wish to discover. You will see recent pictures of that site (all pictures are the property of MMI Director, Reggie Lisemby and are copyrighted), and below the pics a brief of that biblical site. Enjoy and if you have not yet been - GO TO THE HOLYLAND!

HIS LAND PROCLAIMS HIS STORY

The promise of YHVH to Ysrael was that they would lack nothing in the land (Deut.8:7-9) of milk and honey. The land hosts paradise: every climate is here as one may see snow on Hermon in the morning yet get a sun burn in the evening at the lowest place on the earth the Dead Sea; luscious fruits of every variety; every kind of tree; every grain; rare spices; perfumes even from the dead zone of the Dead Sea; birds of gorgeous plumage; upland valleys; wide plains; deserts; park-like forests; and pasture lands with roaming cattle on a thousand hills. And, this land bordered by a sea with two inland seas.

One rabbi stated that the Shechinah of Elohim manifested Himself only in the land that hosts the earth’s capital, Yerushalayim, the city of earth’s God. Only in this land were the people Ysrael, the people of God. Outside the land they were only Jews. Some rabbis go as far to say only in Israel is one wise; only in Israel is one a tzedek or righteous with God; to live in Israel is to have an abode in Paradise; to dwell in Israel is to be without sin; if one is buried in Israel he is buried under the altar; those buried in Israel will be raised first and enjoy Messiah first. There thoughts are unsound but built upon passages like Ezekiel 37 where the prophet speaks of dry bones resurrected to the land, regathered to recognize Messiah, and to rebuild His Temple. Someone wrote, “if we only knew it, every footstep might be consecrated, and rocks and caves, and mountain-tops be devoted to the holiest remembrances.”

If you ask, are we seeing the same land, the same places, the same “holy” sites? Perhaps the Lord meant to do to the land what Hezekiah did to the bronze serpent, the relic of Moses which he stamped to pieces lest its sacred memory be an occasion to idolatry. We don’t come to the land to worship it; we worship its Landlord Who was born here, lived here, did ministry here, was crucified here, died here, was buried here, was resurrected here, returned to His Father from here, after His 40 day bible study ascended to heaven from here, and is yet to return to rule the world from here. A pilgrimage to the land does not hold the land as fetishism, or a holy artifact with powers, but does indeed hold to the land as HIS!

There are Many Names in Holy Scripture of His land

Land of Canaan meaning “to be humble” (Genesis 12:5; 13:12; 17:8; Num13:16)
Land of Moriah meaning “to see God” (Genesis 22:2)
Land of the Hebrews meaning “from the other side” (Genesis 40:15)
Land of Your Fathers (Genesis 48:21)
A Good and Spacious Land (Exodus 3:8; Deuteronomy 8:10)
An Exceeding Good Land (Numbers 14:7)
The Promised Land (Numbers 14:6)
Your Land (Exodus 23:26, 33; Leviticus 22:24; 23:32; 25:7,9; Psalm 85:1)
Your Own Land (Ezekiel 37:14, 21)
Land of Milk and Honey (Exodus 3:8; 33:3; Leviticus 20:24; Numbers 16:13,14)
A Land of Grain and New Wine (Deuteronomy 33:28)
Land of Ephraim and Manasseh (Deuteronomy 34:2)
Land of Judah meaning “praise YHWH” (Deut 34:2; Ruth 1:7; 1 Sam 22:5; 30:16)
Land of Israel (1 Samuel 13:19; 2 Kings 5:4; 6:23; Ezek 7:2; 38:19)
The Beautiful Land (Daniel 8:9; 11:16, 41)
Land of the Sons of Israel (Joshua 11:22)
Land of Galilee (1 Kings 9:11)
Land of Benjamin (Jeremiah 32:8, 44; 33:13)
Land of Ephraim (Deuteronomy 34:2; Judges 12:15)
Land of Naphtali (Isaiah 9:1)
Land of Zebulun (Isaiah 9:1)
MY Land (Joel 1:6; Jeremiah 2:7 cf. Leviticus 25:23; 25:23; Ezek 38:16)
His Land (Joel 2:18; Ezekiel 36:20)
A Desolate land (Ezekiel 36:34, 35)
Beulah or “Married” Land (Isaiah 62:4)
Land of the Living (Psalm 142:5)
A Land of Brooks of Water (Deuteronomy 8:7)
A Land of Wheat and Barley, of Vines and Fig Trees and Pomegranates, a Land of Olive Oil and Honey (Deuteronomy :8)
THE Land (Genesis 12:1)
Land of the Ammorites (Joshua 10:5 cf. Genesis 15:16)
Land of the Perizzites (Joshua 17:15)
Palestine (Historical but not Biblical)
Eretz Israel (Modern Hebrew)

MY PILGRIM'S PRAYER

Dear Lord Yeshua, You made the earth and placed Adam and Eve in Your Holy Land. You positioned a flaming cherub to guard the way and then called Avraham to Your land. You promised this estate to Isaac, You wrestled with Yacov before he entered this land where he saw the ladder of descent from and ascent to Your presence, and here, Yacov became Ysrael. Yehoshua encountered You as Captain of YHWH’s host on the brim of the land before entering. The Temple, the seat of Your presence, lodged here on Mt. Zion, the city of David.

Dear Lord Yeshua, You were a pilgrim in the Holy Land. On the earth You were born here. You lived, walked, worked, loved, and taught here. You were crucified, You died, and You resurrected in this land. Lord, You are soon to return to Yerushalayim to make this Holy Land the seat of Your Kingdom forever.

Dear Lord Yeshua, lead and guide us on this pilgrimage to Your land that we may walk where You walked, see, hear, smell, taste, touch and experience Your beautiful land. We anticipate Your providential interception of us as we enter Your real estate. Our desire is that we not miss You while we visit Your land. May we see You and Your magnificent messianic plan in the ancient stones, the notable cities, the barren deserts, the picturesque seas, and in the messianic communities of Israel. May Your Gospel be a fire burning within us as we approach and camp in Your land. May we enter Your wonderland like unto Narnia in awe. May we tour Your land praying and singing. May we be a fragrance in Your vineyard as we perfume Israel with our witness of You. Then, may we return to our family and friends as holy men and women who have experienced our bridegroom in His Beulah (“marriage”) Land.

Dear Lord, Yeshua, thank you for the privilege of "going up" to Israel, to Jerusalem, to your land, and to your people.We shall return again!