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This week our parasha is Shelach Lecha which means “Send For Yourself”. Parasha Shelach Lecha covers Numbers 13:1-15:41. In this parasha we see both the mercy and justice of the Lord. We also see the consequences for constant rebellion.
Numbers 13 begins with our people having arrived at the border of the Promised Land. Adonai then commands Moses to send out 12 scouts, one leader from each tribe, to scout out the land. The scouts then departed and returned 40 days later with their report and a sample of the crops. They brought back an enormous bushel of grapes and tell everyone the Land is as amazing as the Lord had promised. But most of the spies’ also report that the land is filled with men in fortified cities. These men are described as giants we cannot hope to defeat.
As the majority gave this negative report one of the spies interrupted. Caleb spoke up and said that with the Lord, the Land could be conquered. He reminded everyone to trust in the promises of the Lord and to not give in to fear. Ten of the spies then argued again that there was no way we could overcome the Canaanites.
After they gave their report, these ten spies went through the camps and shared their negative report with everyone they could. The spies shared that this was a land that would devour us, and we would be killed by the giants who lives there. The Canaanites and others were described as powerful Nephilim who are half-human half-fallen angel. If we went to war against them the spies promised our children would be taken away.
The 10 spies succeeded in deeply scaring our people. Due to fear rebellion against Moses began once again. Our people went to Moses and Aaron and wished that they had just died in Egypt or the wilderness. Why had the Lord allowed them to come to this land only to die and have their children taken? So, they demanded a new leader who would lead them back to Egypt.
In their fear they had forgotten what the Lord had done and what the Egyptians had done. Everyone was worried about their children but wanted to go back to Egypt where so many babies had been murdered.
As the crowd demanded new leaders Moses and Aaron fell on their faces to try and persuade our people to stop. Caleb and Joshua, two of the spies, stepped in front of the vast crowd, tore their clothes, and bravely pleaded with our people to trust in the Lord. Imagine stepping in front of hundreds of thousands of people ready to kill! They encouraged everyone to trust in the Lord’s promises of victory and not give in to fear.
Sadly, our people were not persuaded and began to talk about stoning them all. At this point the Lord made His presence dramatically known. The glorious light of God shone in the Tent of Meeting to all our people. Adonai spoke to Moses and stated once again that He was willing to make a new people from him. However, Moses again interceded for us and asked the Lord to forgive.
Mercifully, the Lord relented, but His Justice would also be shown. He swore that the entire generation who had grumbled against Him so many times would not enter the Promised Land. Only Caleb and Joshua who had spoken rightly would be allowed to enter.
The Lord promised our children would be allowed to enter but only after this generation had died off. We were told to turn back into the wilderness and stay there for 40 years, one year for each day we spied out the land.
By rebelling against the Lord once again that entire generation had sealed their fates. The Lord is slow to anger but they had reached the end of that slowness. The 10 spies who had caused all this were killed by plague the next day. This is a pattern we see repeated throughout God’s Word where the majority follow their own way and not the Lord’s to disastrous results.
Now when our people heard this report, they decided in their fear that they would go into the Land and conquer it. Moses pleaded that they turn back and accept the judgement of the Lord, but once again no one listened. Without Moses and the Ark, they went out to battle and were driven back into the wilderness.
The final chapter of this parasha, Numbers 15, serves as a break between this rebellion and the next and emphasizes following the commandments of Adonai. It includes rules for offerings and that we should treat foreigners fairly and with respect.
Our parasha today is a sobering reminder that fear and prideful trust in our own understanding leads to destruction. Psalm 95 reminds us that we need to learn from this rebellion and that, Today, while we have a today, to not harden our hearts against the Lord. That generation died in the wilderness because they could not trust in the Lord. They let their fear and pride overwhelm them and walked away from all the blessings the Lord had in store for them.
Today, despite the faithlessness of most people, we need to have faith in God’s promises. We must trust that He will be with us as we remain faithful until the end. Caleb and Joshua were rewarded for their bold faith with the ability to enter the land of Israel. Through Messiah Yeshua we have the promise of eternal life, much greater than physical land.
It is bad to wander for 40 years and die, it is even worse to rebel against God’s promise of eternal life through His Son.
It can be hard to remain faithful when we see so much darkness around us. But we must remember that the Lord is at work around us and that while through man much is impossible, through the power of God all things are possible.
May each of us be able to confront the fear and darkness in this world through a real and lasting trust in the Lord. May the Lord make each of our hearts tender towards Him. May the Lord enable each of us to run the race set before us faithfully to the end.