I recently went on my second pilgrimage to the Promised Land. My first pilgrimage was about 10 years ago.

I urge everyone to make this pilgrimage at least once in their life.

The words that come to my mind are “Come and see.”

These words appear again and again in Scriptures.

For example, Psalm 66 tells us:

Come and see what God has done,

     his awesome deeds for all [Humanity]!

He turned the sea into dry land,

     they passed through the waters on foot. . . .

[Y]ou brought us to a place of abundance. . . .

God has surely listened

     and has heard my prayer.

Praise be to God,

     who has not rejected my prayer

     or withheld his love from me.

(Psalm 66:5-6,12,19-20)

As we traveled throughout the Promised Land, we saw that it truly was—and is—a place of abundance.

At the northernmost tip of the Promised Land, we marveled at the majestic beauty of snow-capped Mount Hermon, towering above us at 9,000 feet.

Driving south across the Golan Heights for a few hours, we saw abundant crops and fruit trees.

West of the Golan Heights, we enjoyed the beauty and abundance of the Sea of Galilee—still sustaining people with its fish as in the days of the fishermen who became the first followers of Jesus: the brothers Peter and Andrew, and the brothers John and James (Matthew 4:18-22).

Less than a day’s drive further south, we reached the Dead Sea. It is 1,400 feet below sea level. The lowest point on Earth. Nothing lives in it.

Nevertheless, it is a place of abundance.

Abundant sunshine warms the body and tans the skin. Abundant minerals (deposited as the Dead Sea evaporates) beautify the skin and sustain the economy.

Far more important than these abundant material blessings are the abundant spiritual blessings of the Promised Land.

What Promised Land?

A boundless, unending Promised Land where Abraham sojourned because God promised him that he would become a blessing for all peoples. (Genesis 12:3).

A boundless, unending Promised Land that peoples reach through God’s Amazing Grace: turning “seas” into “dry land”; and empowering all peoples to pass through “chaotic waters” by walking on “dry land” to a Promised Land that is good—that is very good! (Genesis 1:1-31; Psalms 113-118,136).

We remembered God’s Unending Promise to Abraham as we came and saw ruins of an ancient gateway to a Canaanite city where Abraham visited more than 3,500 years ago.

We remembered God’s Unending Promise to Abraham as we came and saw the ruins of Beersheba, including a well where Abraham and his sons may have watered their camels and goats. (Genesis 21:15,31-34; 26:33; 28:10).

We remembered God’s Unending Promise to Abraham to bless all peoples:

—as we came and saw a boundless, unending Promised Land where peoples are blessed because God listens and hears their prayers (Psalm 66:19-20);

—as we came and saw a boundless, unending Promised Land where peoples are blessed because God does not reject their prayers and does not withhold his love from them (Psalm 66:21):

—as we came and saw a boundless, unending Promised Land where peoples are blessed because the faithfulness of the LORD extends to all generations. (Psalm 119:90,96); and

—as we came and saw a boundless, unending Promised Land where peoples are blessed by remembering that the LORD is good (Psalm 136).

And how can peoples know that the LORD is good?

Because his abundant love endures to peoples of all generations (Psalm 136)—from Abraham watering his camels at Beersheba 3,500 years ago to all peoples praying for the Peace of Jerusalem today.

QUESTIONS TO THINK ABOUT

What awesome deeds of God bring you and Humanity to a Promised Land where all peoples are blessed?

When has God turned “seas” into “dry land” so that you and Humanity can reach a Promised Land that is good—that is very good?

When has God brought you and Humanity to places of material and spiritual abundance?

When has God listened to the prayers of you and Humanity rather than rejecting them?

How has the abundant love of the LORD been expressed to peoples of all generations?

How can we believe in the material and spiritual abundance of the Promised Land when so much of the land is barren because it is too dry and when so many lives became barren due to catastrophes such as the destruction of most of Ancient Israel by the Assyrians, the destruction of the First Temple by the Babylonians, the destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans, and the destruction of millions of innocent Jews in the Holocaust?

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For other blogs arising from my pilgrimage to the Promised Land, please read my blogs “The Immense, Towering Rock Overcomes the ‘Gates of Hell’” and “Come and See the Promised Land: Desolations”.

For my ideas about a boundless, unending Promised Land, please read my blog “Getting Out of Your ‘Tent’” and my book The Promised Land, especially the chapter “Abraham Believes God’s Promises”, at pages 30-34.

The Hebrew word hesed expresses the abundant love and faithfulness of the LORD our God.  To learn more about hesed, please read my blogs “The Hesed of the LORD Endures Forever”, “Hesed Saves and Nurtures Baby Moses”, “Hesed Saves Israel—Passover”, “Hesed Nurtures Israel—From the Red Sea to Mount Sinai”, “Hesed Nurtures Israel—Mount Sinai”, “Hesed Establishes the Work of Moses’s Hands—Mount Nebo”, “Hesed Blesses Forever—David”, “Walking Humbly With Hesed—Micah”, “Hoping in Hesed—Jeremiah”, “Hesed Returns Israel to Jerusalem”, “Jesus Embodies Hesed—The Vision of Isaiah”, “Jesus Embodies Hesed—Fulfilling the Law of Moses and the Prophets”, and “Jesus Embodies Hesed—Saving Sheep, Saving Coins, and Saving Sons”.