The south of the land of Canaan is dry and desolate. The entire region of the south is called “Arava” “wilderness”.
Just as the Torah was given in the wilderness, so too Avraham sought the wilderness. Just as the Torah was given to a stiff necked people, not easily inclined to change. This highlights the fact that the creation and birth of the nation and the power of the Torah to influence the world is not dependent on physical conditions.
Later, when the Jewish nation entered Israel, the altar was built of Mount Eival, the mountain that was barren, to bring out the same point.
The command of Lech Lecha is what drew Avraham to the inhospitable south.
Beraishis 12:9
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