אָמַר רַבִּי יִצְחָק הַכֹּל בִּזְכוּת הִשְׁתַּחֲוָיָה, וְאַבְרָהָם לֹא חָזַר מֵהַר הַמּוֹרִיָּה בְּשָׁלוֹם אֶלָּא בִּזְכוּת הִשְׁתַּחֲוָיָה, וְנִשְׁתַּחֲוֶה וְנָשׁוּבָה אֲלֵיכֶם. יִשְׂרָאֵל לֹא נִגְאֲלוּ אֶלָּא בִּזְכוּת הִשְׁתַּחֲוָיָה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (שמות ד, לא): וַיַּאֲמֵן הָעָם וגו' וַיִקְדּוּ וַיִּשְׁתַּחֲווּ. הַתּוֹרָה לֹא נִתְּנָה אֶלָּא בִּזְכוּת הִשְׁתַּחֲוָיָה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (שמות כד, א): וְהִשְׁתַּחֲוִיתֶם מֵרָחֹק. חַנָּה לֹא נִפְקְדָה אֶלָּא בִּזְכוּת הִשְׁתַּחֲוָיָה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (שמואל א א, כח): וַיִּשְׁתַּחוּ שָׁם לַה': הַגָּלֻיּוֹת אֵינָן מִתְכַּנְסוֹת אֶלָּא בִּזְכוּת הִשְׁתַּחֲוָיָה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (ישעיה כז, יג): וְהָיָה בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא יִתָּקַע בְּשׁוֹפָר גָּדוֹל וגו' וְהִשְׁתַּחֲווּ לַה' בְּהַר הַקֹּדֶשׁ בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם. בֵּית הַמִּקְדָּשׁ לֹא נִבְנָה אֶלָּא בִּזְכוּת הִשְׁתַּחֲוָיָה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (תהלים צט, ט): רוֹמְמוּ ה' אֱלֹהֵינוּ וְהִשְׁתַּחֲווּ לְהַר קָדְשׁוֹ. הַמֵּתִים אֵינָן חַיִּין אֶלָּא בִּזְכוּת הִשְׁתַּחֲוָיָה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (תהלים צה, ו): בֹּאוּ נִשְׁתַּחֲוֶה וְנִכְרָעָה נִבְרְכָה לִפְנֵי ה' עֹשֵׂנוּ.
Rabbi Itzchak said: Everything happened as a reward for prostrating.
Abraham returned in peace from Mount Moriah only as a reward for prostrating. “And we will prostrate, and we will come back to you.” Israel were redeemed only as a reward for prostrating: “And the people believed...then they bowed their heads and prostrated” (Ex. 4:31). The Torah was given only as a reward for prostrating: “And prostrate y’all afar off” (Ex. 24:1). Hannah was remembered only as a reward for prostrating: “And they prostrated before God” (I Sam. 1:19). The exiles will be reassembled only as a reward for prostrating: “And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great horn shall be blown; and they shall come that were lost..and that were dispersed.. and they shall prostrate to God in the holy mountain at Jerusalem” (Isa. 27:13). The Temple was built only as a reward for prostrating: “Exalt y’all Ad-nai our God, and prostrate at God's holy mountain” (Ps. 99:9). The dead will come to life again only as a reward for prostrating: “O come, let us worship and bend the knee; let us kneel before Ad-nai our Maker (Ps 95:6).
וַיְהִ֣י אַבְרָ֔ם בֶּן־תִּשְׁעִ֥ים שָׁנָ֖ה וְתֵ֣שַׁע שָׁנִ֑ים וַיֵּרָ֨א יְהוָ֜ה אֶל־אַבְרָ֗ם וַיֹּ֤אמֶר אֵלָיו֙ אֲנִי־אֵ֣ל שַׁדַּ֔י הִתְהַלֵּ֥ךְ לְפָנַ֖י וֶהְיֵ֥ה תָמִֽים׃ וְאֶתְּנָ֥ה בְרִיתִ֖י בֵּינִ֣י וּבֵינֶ֑ךָ וְאַרְבֶּ֥ה אוֹתְךָ֖ בִּמְאֹ֥ד מְאֹֽד׃ וַיִּפֹּ֥ל אַבְרָ֖ם עַל־פָּנָ֑יו וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר אִתּ֛וֹ אֱלֹהִ֖ים לֵאמֹֽר׃
When Abram was ninety-nine years old, God appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am El Shaddai. Walk in My ways and be whole. I will establish My covenant between Me and you, and I will make you exceedingly numerous.” Abram threw himself on his face; and God spoke to him further
וטעם ויפול אברם על פניו לכוין דעתו לנבואה
"Abram threw himself on his face" in order for him to direct his mind to receiving prophecy.
"Abram threw himself on his face" to receive and show gratitude to God for entering into the covenant with him.
"Abram threw himself on his face" from joy over this welcome message.
"Abram threw himself on his face" he prostrated himself and thanked God Who had told him that God would make this covenant with him, something he interpreted as a sign of God's love for him.
God came down in a cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name YHWH. God passed before him and proclaimed: “The YHWH! the YHWH! a God compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in kindness and faithfulness, extending kindness to the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin; yet God does not remit all punishment, but visits the iniquity of parents upon children and children’s children, upon the third and fourth generations.” Moses hastened to bow low to the ground in homage, and said, “If I have gained Your favor, O God, pray, let God go in our midst, even though this is a stiffnecked people. Pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for Your own!” God said: I hereby make a covenant. Before all your people I will work such wonders as have not been wrought on all the earth or in any nation; and all the people who are with you shall see how awesome are YHWH’s deeds which I will perform for you.
“Rabbi Yitzchok in Bereshit Rabbah 56:2 comments on this as follows: the only reason that Avraham was able to keep his promise to the lads that he would return from Mount Moriah (alive), is that he prostrated himself there before God, This is why hundreds of years later his descendants were redeemed from Egypt, as God explained to Moses in Exodus 3:12 and as the Israelites did in Exodus 4:31. This prostration before God symbolized that the person doing so abandoned any claim that they might have had to the material benefits that life on earth offers. This is also what enables God to sweeten i.e. remove the sting, of any judgments man is subjected to by the attribute of Justice. Avraham™s example of reducing himself to "nothingness" paved the way for his descendants to emulate him and to be redeemed from the yoke of the Egyptians who had effectively reduced them to a similar state of having to negate the attractions this world offered to others.
The Torah itself was only given to the Jewish people because they voluntarily repeated prostrations before God as we know from Exodus 24:1 where all the elite of the Jewish people are reported as having prostrated themselves some distance away from Mount Sinai. The elite negating their claims on the material benefits this world has to offer, made it possible for coming so close to God during the revelation that God addressed them as if God were speaking to an equal. In Psalms 99:9 when Moses says: Exalt YHWH our God and prostrate yourselves at the Mountain of God's holiness; similar verses are found in Isaiah 27:13, and Samuel I 1:19 where the wording is almost identical. Rabbi Yitzchok concludes by saying that the resurrection when it will occur, does so only in recognition of these voluntary prostrations of the Jewish people on various occasions when they demonstrated their absolute submission to God and God's will. If we needed proof of this we find in in Isaiah 27:13 “it will be on that Day, when a great rams horn will be sounded, and the strayed who are in the land of Assyria, and the expelled who are in the land of Egypt, shall come and prostrate themselves on the Holy Mountain in Jerusalem.””