A View Of Heaven And Hell From Hebron

Hebron is located south of Jerusalem and Bethlehem on the main road to Beersheba. Although in a shallow valley, it's actually over 900 meters (about 3,000 feet) above sea level, and over 1,300 meters (about 4,300 feet) above the nearby Dead Sea. Abraham was given by the LORD (i.e. Jesus Christ; see 'Before Abraham Was, I AM') to make his home (his tent; listen to our Sermon The Feast Of Tabernacles: Our Tent In Heaven) in Hebron, a place where he would witness not only the natural geographic heights and depths of the area around Hebron, but also the prophetic heights and depths of the heaven and hell of Prophecy.

"^13:12 Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom. ^13:13 But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly [see Sodomites].

^13:14 And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: ^13:15 For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever. ^13:16 And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. ^13:17 Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee.

^13:18 Then Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the LORD." (Genesis 13:12-18 KJV)

"Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron"

It was at Hebron that the LORD told righteous Abraham that all his "children" would become a great multitude, as numerous as the stars of heaven.

"^15:1 After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.

^15:2 And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus? ^15:3 And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.

^15:4 And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. ^15:5 And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be." (Genesis 15:1-5 KJV)

The children that the LORD spoke of were not only Abraham's physical descendants who would inherit the Kingdom of God; they would be anyone, anywhere, who chooses to be righteous, as Abraham was.

"^3:8 Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: ^3:9 And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. ^3:10 And now also the ax is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire." (Matthew 3:8-10 KJV)

Abraham himself understood that it was a prophecy of the future Kingdom of God on earth (see The Gospel of The Kingdom of God). In the meantime, he was "dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise."

"^11:8 By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. ^11:9 By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: ^11:10 For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God." (Hebrews 11:8-10 KJV)

The "coming out of the world" was foreshadowed (see the Fact Finder question) by the Exodus - that Abraham was given to know about centuries before it happened (see The Exodus Prophecy).

"^15:13 And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; ^15:14 And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance." (Genesis 15:13-14 KJV)

It was also at Hebron that Abraham was visited by the LORD and two angels.

"^18:1 And the LORD appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day; ^18:2 And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground,

^18:3 And said, My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant: ^18:4 Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree: ^18:5 And I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your hearts; after that ye shall pass on: for therefore are ye come to your servant. And they said, So do, as thou hast said." (Genesis 18:1-5 KJV)

While the LORD remained with Abraham, the two angels went to Sodom where they were attacked by the men of perversion there. The LORD then rained hell fire upon the city and its inhabitants (see The Day That Christ Incinerated Sodom).

"^19:23 The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar [see Who Saved Zoar?]. ^19:24 Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven; ^19:25 And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground." (Genesis 19:23-25 KJV)

The next morning, Abraham, from Hebron, witnessed the "hell" at Sodom: "the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace."

"^19:27 And Abraham gat up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the LORD: ^19:28 And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace. ^19:29 And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in the which Lot dwelt." (Genesis 19:27-29 KJV)

The destruction of Sodom was itself a prophecy of the hell to come for those who refuse to repent.

"^2:4 For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; ^2:5 And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly; ^2:6 And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly; ^2:7 And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked: ^2:8 For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds; ^2:9 The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished." (2 Peter 2:4-9 KJV)

Fact Finder: How does prophecy use "focus" and "shadows" to project events to come?
See Parabolic Prophecies and Shadows Of Prophecy

This Day In History, September 27

1290: An earthquake in China killed 100,000 people.

1396: Thousands of Crusaders (see The Crusades) who had been taken prisoner by Ottoman (i.e. Turkish; listen to our Sermon The Ottoman Empire) forces under Sultan Bayazid at the Battle of Nicopolis the day before were beheaded for refusing to refute their Church of Rome "Christian" faith. Among those executed were members of the royal families of France, Germany and Burgundy.

1540: Pope Paul III gave approval to Ignatius Loyola for the founding of the Society of Jesus, known as the Jesuits.

1669: The island of Crete in The Mediterranean Sea fell to the Ottomans after a 21-year siege.

1785: The "Episcopal Church" in the United States was founded when U.S. Anglicans met in Philadelphia to create a denomination independent of the Church of England. The Episcopalians left (but continued the erroneous doctrines of) the Church of England, that left (but continued the erroneous doctrines of) the Church of Rome. All 3 were and are "state religions" (i.e. the Church of Rome, the Church of England, the Episcopal Church" of the United States) that deny the Biblical Truth of the Church of God - which knows and recognizes no man-made political boundaries (see also What Is The Church?).

1791: Jews in France were granted French citizenship.

1821: Mexico declared its independence from Spain.

1825: In England, the first locomotive to haul a passenger train was operated by George Stephenson.

1854: The first great disaster involving an Atlantic Ocean liner occurred when the steamship Arctic sank with 300 people aboard.

1918: During the First World War, Canadian commandos stormed the Canal du Nord, a section of the German Hindenburg Line, capturing over 7,000 prisoners and 205 artillery guns.

1923: Martial law was declared in Germany.

1939: Warsaw, Poland capitulated to the invading German forces (listen to our Sermon The European World Wars).

1959: A typhoon battered the Japanese island of Honshu, killing almost 5,000 people.

1964: The Warren Commission released the official report of its investigation of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy with the conclusion that Lee Harvey Oswald was the shooter and that he acted alone. "Conspiracy theorists" continue to disagree with the findings with various counter-claims e.g. Oswald could not have fired shots from 2 different directions at the same time, FBI marksmen found it nearly impossible to repeat the rate of fire and accuracy using Oswald's cheap, bolt-action rifle that, as well, was later found to have a bent sight that would have caused Oswald to fire nearly a foot above, and to the left, of Kennedy's head at that range.

1970: King Hussein of Jordan and Al Fatah guerrilla leader Yasser Arafat met in Cairo with 10 Arab chiefs of state and signed an agreement ending civil war in Jordan.

1996: In Afghanistan, Taliban forces seized control of Kabul and hanged former President Najibullah.