Shalach Lecha – Send out, by Raphael ben Levi
Num.13:1–15:41; “Then the Lord spoke to Moses saying, ‘Send out for yourself men so that they may spy out the land of Canaan which I am going to give to the sons of Israel; you shall send a man from each of their fathers’ tribes, every one a leader among them.’” Num.13:1–2 Josh 2:1–24; (conquering Jericho. The 12 spies sent out) Heb 3:1-19; (taking hold of God’s promises – entering His rest)
Setting the scene> Things are not going smoothly in the Israelite camp with dissension spreading all over as some of the leaders including Aaron and Miriam speak against Moses and Miriam is punished with tzar’arat but not Aaron. And few people question why? It seems to be that Miriam was held more responsible because she instigated the challenge in the first place and then enlisted Aaron to support her. There are two things in the text that show us this:
Miriam is named before Aaron at the start of the account. In every other place in the Bible where they are named together, including later in the same account, Aaron is mentioned first (conventionally, as the eldest brother in the family).
The verb “speak against” is actually in the feminine singular in Hebrew: “She spoke, Miriam, and Aaron, against Moses . . .”
Both of these things suggest, that Miriam originated the challenge and enlisted Aaron to support her, so she is held more responsible and given a greater punishment. This shows us the fairness of divine justice.
One additional possibility is that God spared Aaron specifically so that he could intercede as Israel’s high priest to ask forgiveness for Miriam’s sin and for his own: “Please, my lord, I ask you not to hold against us the sin we have so foolishly committed.” If Aaron had been struck with leprosy, he would not have been able to function as a priest according to the laws in Leviticus. So God may have spared him in mercy specifically so that he could intercede for sin in this way as a priest even though it’s Moses who actually prays for Miriam’s healing. We see that God’s judgments are always merciful even though it may sometimes seem to be unfair.
Barely two years out of Egypt, the Israelites are standing at the door of the promised land and yet instead of excitement many are considering returning to Egypt because surely life there was much better there than what it is now? The Israelites are right at the edge of entering their great reward – their full inheritance, but first their leaders are commissioned by Moses to bring back a report because God’s promise passed down through the patriarchs over several hundreds of years wasn’t good enough. Within that period, they had received the Torah, built the Tabernacle and dedicated it, and survived all the terrible mistakes they had made along the way. As they stood poised to enter Canaan it was a defining moment holding enormous repercussions. The selected leaders from the 12 tribes would return with 4 pieces of information:
- What kind of people occupied this territory?
- Were they strong or weak, few or many in number?
- How fertile was the country?
- Did the people live in fortified cities?
Moses also instructed them to return with some fruit of the land. God wanted to test their level of trust because unless they are willing to ‘possess the land’, (to contend for it) God’s promises would always remain in the realm of speculation. The test would provide the Israelites with an opportunity to grow in relationship with God through taking Him at His promises.
Here is an important point: the Israelites did not need spies. As Moses said many years later: “You did not trust in the Lord your God, who went ahead of you on your journey, in fire by night and in a cloud by day, to search out places for you to camp and to show you the way you should go” Deut.1:32-33. Now in this new land He would go ahead of them and things would be no different for them whilst they placed their trust in Him. In Hebrew there are two verbs that mean, “to spy:” “lachpor” and “le’ragel” (from which we get the word meraglim, “spies”). But, these words don’t appear in this parsha but instead the word “latur” is used exclusively 12 times from which we get the word “Tayar” meaning a tourist. There is a huge difference between the function of a tourist and a spy.
The dictionary definition for a tourist is, “someone who makes a tour for pleasure or culture within a location.” Lachpor and le’ragel is defined as, “a person who secretly collects and reports information on the activities, movements, and plans of an enemy or competitor, seeking out the weaknesses and vulnerabilities of a place or location.” So it’s clear that the 12 men were not sent to spy.
The reason why 10 out of the 12 leaders returned with a negative report was because they chose to ignore their instructions and it was this that led to devastating consequences.
The Lord tested those who were considered to be the best of the Israelites, representatives of the 12 tribes, and the people chose to believe their testimony over the promises of God. “The Canaanites are stronger than we are. They are giants. We are grasshoppers.”
As a result they failed to trust in the One who promises to guide our way, who is the Way the Truth and the Life, creator of all things, who stands behind us to protect us against our enemies no matter how big or impossible the odds are even as He had done on every previous occasion for the Israelites.
And so the terrible event happened. The people believed the lie and lost heart. “If only,” they said, “we had died in Egypt.”
SATAN ALWAYS APPEARS BIGGER THAN HE REALLY IS. The Nephalim (fallen ones) encountered by the 12 leaders were a hybrid people Gen.6. God sometimes allows “giants” to test us so we can declare our trust in Him: “Though He slay me yet will I trust Him.” Job 13:15
There are many people who fall short of their calling in Yeshua because they bow down to the fear of man instead of the fear of God and as a result shipwreck their faith. The fear of man not only cripples a person but can lead to compromise or even rebellion and is one of Satan’s most effective weapons used against believers.
Heb.4 refers to the weapons of our warfare as in 2Cor10, and urges us to apply it in our lives as we seek to enter what it terms our “sabbath rest,” a prophetic description of the ultimate glory reserved for every faithful believer in eternity that we can taste in the here-and-now – peace that passes understanding no matter what is going on around us – shalom that will destroy the power that binds us to chaos – our sabbath rest that provides us with a taste of eternity. Instead of bowing down to the fear man we overflow with the love of God, for in His presence is fullness of joy and life everlasting flowing into immortality where we will experience the full measure of his glory!
Proverbs tell us that the fear of the Lord is to hate evil, against everything that manifests in lies, deceptions and distortions. It means that we choose to believe God’s promises and walk in obedience to His instructions trampling underfoot the lies of Satan.
The fear of man is a snare and opposite to the fear of the Lord. Yeshua warns us that in the last days, people’s hearts would fail them due to fear (of man): “There will be distress and anguish among nations… people fainting from fear and expectation of the [dreadful] things coming on the world; for the [very] powers of the heavens will be shaken.” Luke 21:25-26
Our parsha finds many parallels to the end times we are living in today where Yeshua warns that the love of many will grow cold. The storm clouds of demonic activity are overshadowing us and the paralysis of fear is impaling those who have become its prisoners even among God’s very elect.
This is not the time for us to be hiding in the shadows but to stand up for truth and righteousness, humbling ourselves under the mighty hand of God knowing that we will always be the minority facing off against the majority. What will keep us from becoming cynical or discouraged? By nurturing our relationship with God and deepening our love for Him; by keeping our eyes fixed upon Him rather than upon the imperfections of others; to stand up for righteousness for His name’s sake, not our own, in a spirit of right judgment rather than with a judgmental spirit. Even as we abide under the shadow of the Almighty, our perspective in all these things will become transformed not downgraded.
The saddest words in this parsha was God’s reaction to the Israelites unbelief in face of the negative report they received: “How long will these people treat Me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in Me, in spite of all the signs I have performed among them?” Num14:11
God is seeking out a people who trust Him unreservedly and unconditionally irrespective of the circumstances of the giants that seek to overwhelm. Many believers are presented today from the pulpits with a candy-floss gospel that promotes a hedonistic view of life where the cost of discipleship is blotted out. An entire generation (ages 20 and up) who had just been counted in the census would not enter Canaan but die in the wilderness.
We will shortly be approaching the 4th month of Tammuz in the Hebrew calendar, and recall how we have all transgressed and fallen short of the glory of God no different from the people of Israel.
But as we reflect upon this parsha, we see the unfathomable love of God unveiled in the midst of complete betrayal. Unbelief leading to rebellion against God is the context in this passage of Scripture. Yet, despite our human frailties and weaknesses, our failures and disappointments, the truth is that His eternal purposes will always remain unchanged. God never gives up on us even when at times we give up on ourselves when we enter unchartered waters. As one commentator wrote, “the power of sin and death has been eclipsed by the power of the Spirit. The Spirit breathes life into our mortal, sin-infested bodies—thanks to what Yeshua has done for us. By sending His Son in “the likeness of sinful flesh,” God judges sin finally and completely. The sins of the world are concentrated and condemned in the flesh of Yeshua as He hangs on the cross.” And he continues, “Before we receive the gift of God’s grace, we are homeless orphans searching for some place to belong (even as did the Israelites ). But now all that has changed. The Father reaches out through His Son to all those orphaned by sin and death, and He brings them into His family. We are adopted into His forever family and fully enfranchised as His heirs.” (The VOICE) This is beautifully summed up in Rom. 8: where we read “If God is on our side, then tell me: whom should we fear? 32 If He did not spare His own Son, but handed Him over on our account, then don’t you think that He will graciously give us all things with Him? 33 Can anyone be so bold as to level a charge against God’s chosen? Especially since God’s “not guilty” verdict is already declared. 34 Who has the authority to condemn? Jesus the Anointed who died, but more importantly, conquered death when He was raised to sit at the right hand of God where He pleads on our behalf. 35 So who can separate us? What can come between us and the love of God’s Anointed? Can troubles, hardships, persecution, hunger, poverty, danger, or even death? The answer is, absolutely nothing. 36 As the psalm says,
On Your behalf, our lives are endangered constantly;
we are like sheep awaiting slaughter. [Ps.44:22]
37 But no matter what comes, we will always taste victory through Him who loved us. 38 For I have every confidence that nothing—not death, life, heavenly messengers, dark spirits, the present, the future, spiritual powers, 39 height, depth, nor any created thing—can come between us and the love of God revealed in the Anointed, Jesus our Lord.”
Addendum
Another interesting thing included in this week’s parsha concerns the tassels or tzit-tzit that adorned the fringes of the outer garments worn by Jewish people. In biblical times, tassels worn on the hem of a garment symbolised authority. When David spared Saul’s life in the cave at En Gedi, he cut off the comer of Saul’s robe to symbolically demonstrate that the king’s authority would be cut off. (1 Sam 24:20)
The tassels added to the hem were not worn by commoners, but only nobility and royalty. In Yeshua’s time they were commonly worn by the religious hierarchy and rabbis including Yeshua. Each tassel has 7 white strands, the number of perfection. It also contains a blue cord (called the tekhelet) as a reminder of God’s commands that should always be kept in our minds and hearts (Num 15:38-40). The numerical value (Gematria) of the word tzitzit (fringes) is 600. Each of the fringes contains 8 threads and 5 knots, making a total of 613. This number corresponds to the 613 commandments contained in the Torah.
Although God is interested in the condition of our hearts rather than externals, it does not render externals redundant, but rather it exists as an outward expression of an inward reality. In Jer 31 we read of a future time when God “…will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— not according to the covenant that He made with their fathers in the day where He took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, His covenant which they broke, though He was a husband to them. But this is the covenant that He will make with the house of Israel after those days: He will put His law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and He will be their God, and they shall be His people.” vs’ 31-33; cf Heb. 10:11-16
In Mark 6 is the well-known story of a woman suffering from chronic bleeding who was healed when she touched the hem of Yeshua’s garment which held his tzit-zit: “Wherever he went, in towns, cities or country, they laid the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the tzit-zit on his robe, and all who touched it were healed.” (vs 25-34)
The tzitzit is beautifully revealed in the Book of Malachi 4:2: “But for you who revere My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings.”
The word in Hebrew for ‘wings’ is ‘kn’aphim’ also meaning ‘fringes’ referring to the tzitzit. Although the context of this verse refers to life in the Millennium age, there are also parallel’s to Yeshua as the “sun of righteousness.” In Him is healing and deliverance and wholeness, body, soul and spirit.
The idea of coming under the garment of salvation and the idea of coming under the shadow of God’s wings are both represented in the tzitzit. This is what drew the woman suffering from chronic bleeding to touch the tzitzit of Yeshua’s garment. There was nothing magical in the tzitzit, but there was power in the person who wore it.
Taking hold of the “kanaph” of the Jew is symbolic of several things: of the trusting willingness to come under the shadow of the Almighty: “How excellent [is] thy lovingkindness, O GOD! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings.” Ps.l36:7.
This represents the person who places themselves under His protection: Ps. 17:8: “Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings,”
In the millennium Zechariah prophecies: “Thus saith YHWH of hosts; In those days [it shall come to pass], that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the kanaph, (wing, corner) of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard [that] Elohim [is] with you.” Zech 8:23.
In Acts 19:11-12 we read that: “God did extraordinary miracles through Sha’ul. For instance, handkerchiefs and aprons (Tallit) that had touched him were brought to sick people; they would recover from their ailments; and the evil spirits would leave them.”
How do we know that this was a reference to the tallit? In John 11:44 we learn of a Hebrew custom to wrap the face of the deceased with his prayer shawl, his tallit, with its fringes in its wings, corners: “The man (Lazarus) who had been dead came out, his hands and feet wrapped in strips of linen and his face covered with a cloth (tallit). Yeshua said to them, “Unwrap him, and let him go!”
This practice was also observed in the same way with the burial wrapping of Yeshua (John 20:3-7). The reason why the Israelites wrapped their heads in their prayer shawls was because of their belief in the resurrection. And to be wrapped in one’s prayer shawl, tallit, was to show that even in death, the believer is “hiding under the shadow of the Almighty’s wings.” (Ps 91:1).
We need to stay at all times under the covering protection of God. The Israelites learnt this the hard way and we have the opportunity in these very last moments before His return to walk in faith and in the promises of God that The Day will not overtake us unawares.
