Sunday January 13: 7 Shevat

It was on this day in 1930 that the fifth aliyah to the Holy Land began. Perhaps some of you are not familiar with this term, aliyah. It is the Hebrew word that defines immigration to Israel; if someone is going to move to Israel, it is said that they make “aliyah.” The root word, alah, means “to rise up,” or “to develop.” Consequently, the words derived from the root word are always going to carry this concept within their meaning. For instance, the Hebrew word for a mountain-climbing goat is yael. The connection between yael, and the root word is a mountain-climbing goat goes up – it ascends. So, it is with the word aliyah; when someone makes aliyah, they are going up to Jerusalem. More specifically, they are going up to the mountain of God and thus, Isaiah said:

“Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it. Many people shall come and say, ‘Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths.’” (Isaiah 2:2-3)

There are two important points to make here. First, a person or a people always go up to or are called to come up to commune with the Lord because He is “high and lifted up.” In order to meet with Him, we must ascend to Him. The Psalmist asked the question, “Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord, and who shall stand in His holy place?”

The second thing is that, in the future, all nations will flow to the mountain, and to the Lord’s house. One day, many who are not recognized by politicians and religious sects as being worthy of making aliyah, will make aliyah because the Lord has declared it. Hosea spoke of God’s people as being seed scattered among the nations. Yet, the scattered seed is also considered to be seed that has been sown among the nations. At the set time, the seed will begin to develop and put forth fruit. Thus Hosea 1:11 says:

“Then the children of Judah and the children of Israel shall be gathered together and appoint for themselves one head; and they shall come up out of the land, for great will be the day of Jezreel!”

The Hebrew phrase translated as “come up out of the land,” comes from the same root word as the word aliyah. In other words, the prophecy says that one day all of God’s people, in whatever nation they reside, will rise up and make aliyah. That is the day that they appoint for themselves “one head” or one king. In other words, this speaks of the time when King Messiah will rule and reign from Jerusalem.

In the meantime, we need to develop and produce fruit in the place where He has planted us so that His purpose might be fulfilled. Our primary purpose in this life is to lift up the name of the Messiah, the appointed “one head” Hosea referred to. In the end, Yeshua will reign from Zion and will call unto the nations, summoning all who are His to come up to the “house of the God of Jacob.”