But you shall seek the place where the Lord your God chooses, out of all your tribes, to put His name for His dwelling place; and there you shall go. There you shall take your burnt offerings … and there you shall eat before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice … you and your households, in which the Lord your God has blessed you. (Deuteronomy 12:5-7)
There is one last thing to share about the “Place” before we move on to other topics and, again, it is related to Abraham’s journey to Moriah when he was to present Isaac as an offering. On the third day of his journey, “Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off” (Genesis 22:4). If you recall, I mentioned that the Hebrew term, ha’makom (the place), is also a title ascribed to God. Because He is everywhere all at once, He is The Place. Today, though, I want to highlight the Hebrew word translated as “afar off”
The word מרחק merachok suggests that when Abraham was still a good distance away, he came to a point where he could see the place to which he was going. I have stood in the area where it is believed Abraham “lifted his eyes” to see Moriah in the distance. If where I stood was that point, Moriah is still a long walk away thoiugh it can be clearly seen. There is something else going on here, however, because this Hebrew word means “afar off,” not only in distance, but in time. In other words, not only did he see the geographical location he was headed to but he saw something — or someone — in the distance of time. In short, I believe that he saw into the future, on the Third Day, and saw the One who serve as the substitute sacrifice for us all, the resurrected LORD.
Later, Messiah would say, “Abraham saw my day and rejoiced” which makes me wonder when did Abraham see His day? Was it when he lifted up his eyes and saw ha’makom in the distance of time, prompting him to tell Isaac that “God would provide Himself a lamb”? And let’s not forget that he called the name of the place, YHWH YIREH which literally means, “Yahweh will be seen” and/or “Yahweh will see to it.” That brings me to our concluding point: whatever or whoever Abraham saw gave him the confidence to follow through with what God had told him to do.
So allow me to suggest that, whenever we find ourselves in a difficult situation and fear tries to grip our hearts, lift up your eyes and get a vision of the resurrected Messiah who has overcome this world and has given us the power to do likewise. If we press on, Yahweh will see to it in our lives.
Blessings and Shalom,
Bill
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