Good Morning Yamon Ki Yesepar and Nevim Arith Hayomin:
Isaiah 35:8: “And a highway shall be there, and a way and it shall be called The Way of holiness: the unclean shall not pass over it, but it shall be for those; the wayfaring men, though fools shall not err therein.”
What did Isaiah really see in his prophecy or vision? Obviously, he had a message for the people of Israel that they would one day return from captivity over a road. Armies in those day had their Corp of Engineers who constructed roads that were free of debris, rocks and other obstacles so an army could move swiftly. These roads were raised above ground level, or lifted up. Apparently, on one level Isaiah was saying that the people of Israel would return to their homeland out of captivity on the very road that the conquering armies took to take them into captivity.
Yet, what is this about being a way of holiness and the unclean shall not pass over it? The road to Israel today does not necessarily lead to holiness nor do only the pure in heart travel that road. There seems to be another level of understanding about this “highway” or “salal” as it is know in Hebrew. A “salal” is literally a raised placed that connects to between two points. Sounds like a highway to me. But it can also be something else.
The word “salal” spelled “samek, lamed, lamed.” The samek according to the ancient sages is a circle within a circle. This is like Ezekiel’s vision of a wheel within a wheel or circles within circles within circles. Sounds a little like a whirlwind. Now where did we read that before? The samek is followed by two lameds. The sages teach that the lamed represents teaching and learning. It is the lamed that prods each one of us to discover our inner passion. The first lamed teaches us what our inner most desires or passions are and the second lamed teaches us the way to reach our passions. Sounds like a highway to me, a highway to our most passionate desires. This highway, however, is not just a road under our feet, it is circular like a tube or tunnel. Ah ha, I knew it, a portal! I’m thinking of many who have had an out of the body experience and say they saw long tunnel and a light at the end of the tunnel, but they could not enter that tunnel. Of course not they were not pure in heart. True or not, it is a good picture of the esoteric definition of a salal (highway).
Suppose these out of the body experiences were real. Why could they not travel through this tunnel? The Bible says (I sound just like Billy Graham don’t I), in Isaiah 35:8 that the impure can not travel through this tunnel, only the “pure in heart.” Remember the pure in heart are those who do not have adulterated motives or selfish motives. This tunnel, highway, or salal leads to God. If you have selfish motives for seeking God then this tunnel does not lead to the lamed or your most passionate desires. But if you most passionate desire is just to see Jesus, you can pass through.
This tunnel is the way of holiness. Holiness is a separation of your fleshly desires and your desires for God. If you desire or long for such separation you may pass through this portal for this job of making us holiness is not our task, it is the task of the one who is the Way. But soft, did not Jesus say; “I am the way, the truth and the life, no man comes to the Father but by me.” (John 14:6). Who greeted Elijah with open arms when his portal opened? Who greeted Enoch, and Moses when their portals opened? It was the one known as The Way. That is revealed to be Jesus the Messiah.
As Tommy Dorsey once wrote: “It’s a highway to heaven, none can pass that way, but the pure in heart.” Well, I really don’t have a pure heart, my motives still are wrapped in selfishness. Yet, so they were with Elisha, but one glimpse through that portal and seeing the Messiah with open arms to receive Elijah, Elisha’s motives focused on only one thing, to see Jesus again. That is why Joash said when Elisha died and he most likely saw the open portal. “My father, my father, the chariots (Messiah) of Israel and his horsemen (open arms). The alternative rending would be “My father my father, the messiah is receiving you with open arms.” D.L. Moody’s last words were: “If this is heaven, it is glorious.” Guess who he saw when his portal opened?
When the time comes Jesus will stand at the entrance of that tunnel or portal and He will personally lead the way to heaven. If your greatest passion is to see Jesus or you desire your greatest passion is to see Him, He will be the first face you will see when that portal opens. One look at Him and you will have a “pure heart” and you can walk that highway to heaven.
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