374 Gate of Heaven | nazareneisrael2house

Gate of heaven.

After Isaac blessed Jacob, who by deception received his father’s blessing which rightfully belonged to his first-born son Esau, he was sent to the city of Haran where his mother’s family lived, because he feared for his life. Haran was the city from which Abraham came many years before, in obedience to YHVH, as may be read from Genesis 12: 4. Other than his brother Esau who was an outdoor person, Jacob was a homely type who has up to that time remained very much in and around his parent’s tent. Jacob was a small country boy and his journey to a city like Haran was a major adventure in his life.

The people who lived beyond the Euphrates River, all served pagan gods as may be read from Joshua 24: 2, in this way: ‘And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says YHVH, the Elohim of Israel, ‘From ancient times your fathers lived beyond the River, namely, Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, and they served other gods.’” It is clear here, that Elohim’s calling of Abraham out to Himself was a call out of idolatry, similar to the way that He called us out of society today. We see further from Genesis 31: 30 - 34 that Laban, Rebekah’s father was also an idol worshipper, as follows: “And now you have indeed gone away because you longed greatly for your father’s house; but why did you steal my gods? (31) Then Jacob answered and said to Laban, “Because I was afraid, for I said, ‘Lest you would take your daughters from me by force.’ (32) The one with whom you find your gods shall not live; in the presence of our kinsmen point out what is yours among my belongings and take it for yourself.” For Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them. (33) So Laban went into Jacob’s tent, and into Leah’s tent, and into the tent of the two maids, but he did not find them. Then he went out of Leah’s tent and entered Rachel’s tent. (34) Now Rachel had taken the household idols and put them in the camel’s saddle, and she sat on them. And Laban felt through all the tent, but did not find them.’”

The city of Haran was a major trade Centre in Mesopotamia between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. These rivers flowed past the great cities of the ancient civilization, including Babylon and Ur, from where Abraham journeyed out. Most of these ancient cities had pagan temples and huge towers, known as ziggurats similar to the tower of Babel mentioned in Genesis 11: 4 & 5. Like with the tower of Babel, these towers served as stairways or ‘gates to heaven’. The custom of erecting towers or steeples next to or as part of the churches Christians build as places of worship, is still in use today as may be seen in most cities and towns in Christian countries. Because Jacob was about to be immersed into an entirely pagan society, YHVH did not want him to be totally unprepared, so He planned a meeting with Jacob on his way to Haran. At the end of the second day of his long journey to Haran, Jacob arrived at a certain place and decided to spend the night there. He took one of the stones of the place and put it under his head and went to sleep. We read further from Genesis 28: 12 – 15, ‘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 Elohim were ascending and descending on it. (13) And behold, YHVH stood above it and said, “I am YHVH the Elohim of your father Abraham and the Elohim of Isaac; the land on which you lie, I will give it to you and to your descendants. (14) Your descendants shall also be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and in you and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed. (Note that the word blessed here comes from the Hebrew word ‘Nivrachu’ which has the meaning of blessed, but can also mean mixed.) (15) And behold, I am with you, and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to the land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”’ Here YHVH repeats to Jacob, the same promise that He made to Isaac his father and Abraham his grandfather, before.

The question at this time is: who or what did Jacob see here, even if it was only in a dream? We know from verses like Exodus 33: 20[1] and first Timothy 6: 16[2] that no man has ever seen Elohim, yet Jacob saw someone referred to in the Scriptures as YHVH, the Elohim of Abraham and Isaac. In Rabbinic Literature they refer to the Being that spoke to Jacob as ‘Metatron’. The word Metatron is another term for the word ‘Memra’, which is the Hebrew equivalent of the Greek ‘logos’, or the Word of Elohim in English. For example, according to the Tanach the speaker in Exodus 20: 1 is YHVH, but according to the Jerusalem Targum, the Word of YHVH was the giver of the Mosaic Covenant. This is the YHVH that Rabbi Idith identifies in the Talmud as ‘Metatron.’ Therefore ‘Metatron’ is also the Word of YHVH. Even so, according to the Zohar (Amsterdam Ed. Vol 2 Ex. P.51), the primary text of Rabbinic Kabbalah, the term ’Metatron’, points to the keeper of Israel from Psalm 121: 4 & 5 “Behold, He who keeps Israel Will neither slumber nor sleep. (5) YHVH is your keeper; YHVH is your shade on your right hand.” In other words, ‘Metatron’, the keeper of Israel is YHVH. The Being whom Jacob saw in his dream in Genesis 28: 13 and more specifically wrestled with in Genesis 32: 22 – 30, was the Word of Elohim, as follows: ‘Now he arose that same night and took his two wives and his two maids and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of Jabbok. (23) And he took them and sent them across the stream. And he sent across whatever he had. (24) Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. (25) And when he saw that he had not prevailed against him, he touched the socket of his thigh; so the socket of Jacob’s thigh was dislocated while he wrestled with him. (26) Then he said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking.” But he said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” (27) So he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” (28) And he said, “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with Elohim and with men and have prevailed.” (29) Then Jacob asked him and said, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “What is it that you ask my name?” And he blessed him there. (30) So Jacob named the place Peniel, for he said, “I have seen Elohim face to face, yet my life has been preserved.”’ We are given more details regarding this account in Hosea 12: 3 – 5, in this way: ‘In the womb he took his brother by the heel, And in his maturity he contended with Elohim. (4) Yes, he wrestled with the angel and prevailed; He wept and sought His favor. He found Him at Bethel, and there He spoke with us, (5) Even YHVH, the Elohim of hosts; YHVH is His name.’ Yes, Jacob actually wrestled with the Word of Elohim who later came in the flesh and dwelt among us, namely Yahshua (as witnessed in John 1: 1 – 3 & 14.) It is as Yahshua the Messiah said to Philip in John 14: 9: “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how do you say, ‘Show us the Father?’”

Yahshua the Messiah referred to His appearance to Jacob in Genesis 28 and in John 1: 50 & 51, where He spoke to Nathanael for the first time, saying: “Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You shall see greater things than these.” (51) And He said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you shall see the heavens opened, and the angels of Elohim ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” Yahshua was telling Nathanael that he will also see what Jacob saw; in fact He was telling him about a time in the future when all true believers will see Him coming out of heaven, at His return, as we read from Matthew 24: 29 - 31, in this way: “But immediately after the tribulation of those days THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED, AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT, AND THE STARS WILL FALL from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken, (30) and then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY with power and great glory. (31) And He will send forth His angels with A GREAT TRUMPET and THEY WILL GATHER TOGETHER His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.” A second witness of the account is given in Revelation 19: 11 – 16, as follows: ‘And I saw heaven opened; and behold, a white horse, and He who sat upon it is called Faithful and True; and in righteousness He judges and wages war. (12) And His eyes are a flame of fire, and upon His head are many diadems; and He has a name written upon Him which no one knows except Himself. (13) And He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood; and His name is called The Word of Elohim. (14) And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. (15) And from His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may smite the nations; and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of Elohim, the Almighty. (16) And on His robe and on His thigh (or more correctly His banner) He has a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND MASTER OF MASTERS.”’ The titles mentioned here identifies Yahshua as Elohim; especially if we compare this Scripture with first Timothy 6: 15 and verse 16 (quoted before), where it refers to Elohim as ‘the King of kings and Master of masters; who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light; whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amein.’ Jacob’s dream was a prophecy about Yahshua’s eventual return from heaven to rule the world from Jerusalem. In fact the promise YHVH made to Jacob (and his father and grandfather) about the land of Israel, substantiates what He told Nathanael. But the question is: Did Abraham, Isaac and Jacob ever receive the Promised Land in their lifetimes? We read from Hebrews 11: 8 – 10 & 39, ‘By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going. (9) By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise; (10) for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is Elohim. (39) And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised.’ But, when will they receive what was promised? Yes, you’ve guessed correctly; Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, as well as all the other faithful believers, including those of us who will make it into the Kingdom of Elohim, will only receive this promise when Yahshua returns, as we read from verse 40 of Hebrews 11, in this way: ‘Because Elohim had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they (our fathers in the faith) should not be made perfect.’

The universal application of Jacob’s dream as promised in Genesis 28: 14, i.e. ‘and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed’, is a repetition of the promises to Abraham and Isaac. But, it must be understood that YHVH made a twofold promise to Abram in Genesis 12: 2 & 3, saying: ‘And I will make you a great nation (a promise of race), and I will bless you, and make your name great; and so you shall be a blessing; (3) and I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed (a promise of grace or unmerited pardon).’ This promise was repeated in Genesis 22: 18, as follows: “And in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you obeyed My voice.” It is at this juncture where Christianity becomes spiritually blind. Even though they understand the promise of spiritual salvation through Messiah (the one they call J*e*s*u*s*), they do not understand that even though YHVH promised Abraham spiritual salvation, He also promised that his descendants will become a multitude of nations. As a result they incorrectly assumed that faithful believers are promised eternal life in heaven after death. However, the promise of ‘a great nation’ refers to race and not only to the one ‘seed’ spoken about in Galatians 3: 16, in this way: ‘Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as referring to many, but rather to one, “And to your seed,” that is Messiah.’ Yes, Yahshua the ‘Son’ of Elohim, but He was also a descendant of Abraham. He became our Passover lamb, but will also come and rule the world from Jerusalem for a thousand years.

If we truly understand the promises given to Abraham in Genesis 17: 1 – 5, we will understand that Elohim intended for Israel to become a multitude of nations, as follows: ‘Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, YHVH appeared to Abram and said to Him, “I am Elohim Almighty; walk before Me, and be blameless. (2) And I will establish My covenant between Me and you, and I will multiply you exceedingly.” (3) And Abram fell on his face, and Elohim talked to him, saying, (4) “As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. (5) No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I will make you the father of a multitude of nations.” But, we need to understand that this promise was conditional upon Abraham’s obedience and blameless living. At this point the ‘great nation’ mentioned before, becomes a ‘multitude of nations’ and can definitely not refer to a single seed, namely Messiah only. We read accordingly from verse 6 of Genesis 17, “And I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come forth from you.” Abraham’s offspring was to become many nations with a number of kings ruling over them. Continuing in verses 7 and 8 of Genesis 17, YHVH said: “And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be an Elohim to you and to your descendants after you. (8) And I will give to you and to your descendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their Elohim.” It is important to notice that the land is promised to numerous descendants of whom YHVH is ‘their’ and not ‘his’ Elohim. The future of all the important nations of the world depended on the promises that Elohim made to Abraham. But, the hope of life after death for anyone, regardless of their race, depends upon the spiritual promise made to Abraham; the promise of mercy and favor through Messiah, the ‘one seed’ of Abraham. Today, the children of Abraham have truly become a multitude of nations, but most of them have lost their identity because they started following the pagan ways of the nations amongst whom they were scattered. They forgot the commandments of Elohim and He no longer considers them, to be His people. They have also forgotten the name of Elohim and even though some know that the Messiah died for their sins, they have also forgotten His real name. In addition, they do not know that they are Israelites any longer, who are supposed to keep the Torah commands of Elohim as an example to the nations in the world. They have exchanged the Sabbath for Sunday and keep pagan feast days, such as Xmas and Easter instead of Elohim’s Feast Days, and have consequently forgotten Elohim’s plan of salvation for all mankind. It is through such deception that Satan keeps these Israelites from knowing their ultimate potential of becoming sons of Elohim in His everlasting Kingdom on earth. After King Solomon died, the original nation of Israel ruled by King David was split in two forming two nations known as Judah and Israel, because of their idolatrous ways. Later the nation of Israel (consisting of ten tribes) were invaded by the Assyrians and taken into exile. Over many years they migrated northwest into Europe and eventually lost their identity, culture and language. People throughout the world, but mainly those in the Western world would be amazed if they knew that they are part of the lost ten tribes of the Scriptural nation of Israel. Only a few today are aware of this important fact and because many believe that they are nothing but Gentiles, they are blinded to a great deal of what is written in the Scriptures about specifically the nations of Israel and Judah.

Returning to Genesis 28: 15, we understand the reason why Jacob was given the vision of the stairway to heaven in his dream, in this way: ‘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.” We see from verses 16 & 17 how Jacob reacted to what happened to Him, as follows; ‘Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely YHVH is in this place, and I did not know it.” (17) And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of Elohim, and this is the gate of heaven.” Jacob understood the point of Elohim’s visitation to be, that the gate of heaven was right there where he was, and not in the ziggurats of Mesopotamia where he was traveling to. So when Jacob arose the next morning, he took the stone upon which he rested his head that night and turned it upright, anointing it with oil. This was in accordance with an ancient custom of the desert people, to set up standing stones for worship. But why did Jacob do this? Abraham and Isaac never did so after Elohim visited them. But Jacob had an extraordinary experience and like the nations around him, he marked the place with a memorial stone. But, as we know, memorials are for dead things and not for things that are alive. The reason being; that he did not yet experience a living relationship with Elohim; and despite the positive aspects about the stone upon which Jacob slept that night and anointed the next morning, (which I) mentioned previously in Torah portion Vayetze[3] (Genesis 28: 10 – 32: 4), there are also negative connotations to this stone.

However, at this point Jacob was willing to negotiate with Elohim, as we read from verses 20 – 22 of Genesis 28, in this way: “If Elohim will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I take, and will give me food to eat and garments to wear, (21) and I return to my father’s house in safety, then YHVH will be my Elohim. (22) And this stone, which I have set up as a pillar, will be Elohim’s house; and of all that Thou dost give me I will surely give a tenth to Thee.” Over many years during Jacob’s life Elohim kept His promises to him. When Jacob ultimately returned to the land after his adventures in Haran, Elohim again reminded him of His promise in Genesis 35: 1, as follows: ‘Then Elohim said to Jacob, “Arise go up to Bethel, and live there; and make an altar there to Elohim, who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.” Notice that Elohim did not say anything about a standing stone instead he wanted an altar – meaning an ongoing relationship (of worship) with Jacob. We also notice from Jacob’s response that he kept his part of the negotiation he made with YHVH earlier; first he took all the foreign gods of those with him and his family and buried them in the ground as recorded in verses 2 & 4 of Genesis 35. Then in verse 7, he went to Bethel and built an altar to Elohim, after which Elohim appeared to him and blessed him, as we read from verses 10 – 12, in this way: ‘And Elohim said to him, “Your name is Jacob; You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name.” Thus He called him Israel. (11) Elohim also said to him, “I am Elohim Almighty; be fruitful and multiply; a nation (Judah) and a company of nations (Israel) shall come from you, and kings shall come from you. (12) And the land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I will give to you, and I will give the land to your descendants after you.” Even though Jacob became a believer in Elohim, he was still expressing his believe in Elohim in pagan ways and again set up a standing stone and anointed it with oil as we see from verse 14. This was not only a problem in ancient times, as most of us who come from other religions, initially also came to Elohim with pagan ideas of how to worship Him in our minds. But YHVH is dealing with each one of us on a personal basis.

We read from verse 15 of Genesis 35, that Jacob called the place where Elohim had spoken to him, Bethel, meaning ‘the house of Elohim’. However, we are basically told by YHVH in Isaiah 66: 1 & 2 that we need not build a house for Him, as follows: ‘Thus says YHVH, “Heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool, where then is a house you could build for Me? And where is a place that I may rest? (2) For My hand made all these things, thus all these things came into being,” declares YHVH. “But to this one will I look, to him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word.” In addition we know that the place where Jacob set up this stone later became one of the two pagan centers of worship set up by Jeroboam the King who ruled the house of Israel, after Solomon’s death. Bethel is where Jeroboam set up a golden calf with a second in Dan. He also changed Israel’s Feast of Tabernacles to a month later than that of Elohim, kept by the house of Judah in the seventh month. Fortunately Jacob eventually got the point and in his old age before leaving the Promised Land to go to Egypt, he stopped at Bethel, but did not set up a standing stone again – since at that time His relationship with Elohim was alive, as was also testified by Yahshua in Matthew 22: 31 & 32, as follows: “But regarding the resurrection of the dead, have you not read that which was spoken to you by Elohim, saying, (32) ‘I AM THE ELOHIM OF ABRAHAM, AND THE ELOHIM OF ISAAC, AND THE ELOHIM OF JACOB’? He is not the Elohim of the dead but the living.” Our Fathers in the faith are as good as being alive, as they will definitely be in the first resurrection. In Egypt before Jacob died he blessed his children, and in his blessing he spoke a three-fold blessing reflecting the depth of his experience and faith in Elohim, as we read from Genesis 48: 15 & 16, in this way: ‘And he blessed Joseph, and said, “The Elohim before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the Elohim who has been my shepherd all my life to this day, (16) the angel who has redeemed me from all evil (meaning Yahshua),bless the lads; and may my name (Israel) live on in them, and the names of my father Abraham and Isaac; and may they grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.”

By now we need to realize that we do not have to work out how to worship YHVH our Elohim, since He has told us how to worship Him in His word, also known as the Scriptures. We need only study the Scriptures to determine what He requires of us; He especially gave us a living example to follow namely Yahshua our Messiah. We need not be concerned with the gate to heaven, as Yahshua is the only one who went to heaven and will one day return from there to come and rule us right here on earth, as He also said in John 3: 13, as follows: “And no one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven, even the Son of Man.”. If we diligently follow Yahshua’s perfect example, we will one day be resurrected or changed into the first-born spiritual children of Elohim. Think about it!

[1] Exodus 33: 20, ‘But He (YHVH) said, “You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!”’

[2] 1 Timothy 6: 16, ‘Who (talking about Elohim) alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light; whom no man has seen or can see, To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amein.’

[3] That according to Irish History a strong colony of the tribe of Dan arrived by ship in Ireland before 700 B.C.E. Later in the days of King David, a colony of the line of Zarah arrived in Ireland from the East and during the year 569 B.C.E, an elderly, patriarch referred to by the Irish as a ‘saint’ came to Ireland; it is believed that this was none other than Jeremiah. With him came the princess daughter of an eastern king, with a Hebrew name Tea-Tephi as well as a scribe named Shimon Baruch. This royal party included the king of Ireland who was in Jerusalem at the time of the siege. He got to know Tea-Tephi and married her shortly after the fall of Jerusalem in 585 B.C.E. Jeremiah brought an ark, a harp and this stone called ‘Lia-fail’ or the ‘stone of destiny’, with him to Ireland. A strange coincidence is that many kings in the history of Ireland, Scotland and England have been crowned sitting over this stone, including Queen Elizabeth II. This very stone used to be kept in Westminster Abbey in London, and the coronation chair built over it has the inscription ‘Jacob’s Pillar Stone’ (Genesis 28: 18) on it. The stone was moved to Edinburgh Castle on 30 November 1996, the 700th Anniversary of its removal from Scotland. The stone came to Ireland with Jeremiah, where after it was taken to Scotland. In 1296 it was taken to England as the coronation stone for England.