On loss of faith, frightened mobs, and misplaced fear - Shlach (Numbers 13:1 - 15:41).
Ever get scared, feel 'this' (whatever) is too big for you? Want to call the whole thing off and 'go home'? This story may be for you.
This week’s reading, Shlach (Numbers 13:1 - 15:41) deals mainly with the sin of the spies: Having quick-marched to the borders of the Promised Land, God commands Moses to send men to scout out the land, its inhabitants, and its defenses. The wording is a bit odd: “Send men for yourself and they will scout…” (13:2). It sounds like God is distancing Himself from the whole affair. Maybe it wasn’t His idea – and why would God need Moses to send spies anyway? Recounting this episode in Deuteronomy, Moses accuses the Israelites of having demanded the spies. Maybe he’s misremembering… or maybe it’s Moses himself shifting blame for what was actually his idea… Whatever the case, the sense is that God isn’t enthused with the concept. A desire for spies would signal a suboptimal level of trust in God’s plan among the Israelites, who are not taking the “this I where God says to go, so let’s go” approach – the want to be reassured. “On your head be it”, God seems to say – “But I notice that right at the start, your faith is weak…”.
As it turns out, God has good reason for skepticism.
The spies return, and report that the land is everything they were told (13:27-29): abundant (and gigantic) fruits, milk and honey, the works. But, there’s a catch: the inhabitants are also abundant and gigantic. “They’re too big, too strong for us”, say the spies, “and the towns are too well fortified”. “There’s even Amalekites there, and those gave us bad trouble before”. Only two of the twelve spies, Joshua and Caleb, express a minority opinion (13:30): “Not so – we can do this!” But the majority won’t hear it: “No way, they’re too strong for us; we’re mere grasshoppers in comparison; it would have been better for us to have died in Egypt… instead of this desert, where we’ll get killed and our wives and children will be taken – in fact, let’s appoint a [new] leader and go back to Egypt!” (14:1-4).
Joshua and Caleb try again – “If the Lord desires us, He will bring us to this land and give it to us, a land flowing with milk and honey. But do not rebel against the Lord, and do not fear the people of that land for they are our bread. Their protection is removed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them!” (14:8-9) But in response, the people propose stoning them. (Beware of an angry mob, and beware even more of an angry majority.)
That’s when God’s had enough, saying to Moses, “How come this bunch still won’t believe in Me? I’ll wipe them out, and we’ll start over from you then.” (14:11-12). Moses prays hard, pointing out this won’t help God’s reputation with the surrounding peoples (what will Egypt say?) and calling on God’s mercy (14:15-19). God relents, and forgives –but, there will be consequences. The pattern is the exact same as with the sin of the golden calf, suggesting a very close parallel between the two. Loss of faith; a desire to return to the familiar (Egypt), however oppressive, and replace Moses (and God); pleading, then forgiveness – but not the erasure of all consequences. Like the golden calf, the Affair of the Spies if a major setback for Israel: this entire generation, which refused to enter the Land and fight for it, is done. It will now perish in the desert (14:28-35). This, friends, is how you turn a two-week trek through the desert into 40 years of being lost.
At heart, what was the real sin of the spies? What broke the deal, and made them willing to give up on the whole enterprise, on liberty and God’s Covenant, and return to Egypt – presumably to be either re-enslaved or simply slaughtered?
The sin is twofold – a loss of trust in God, and fear. Specifically, fear of the wrong thing: not fear of the Lord or fear of sin, but fear of man – in this case, a paralyzing fear of the Canaanites, in whose shadow the spies saw themselves as mere insects.
The Exodus generation cannot rise to what is needed to turn the Promised Land into the Land of Israel: hard work, independence, risk, and yes, personal danger – not to mention unshakable faith and trust in the God who, after all, just freed them from Egypt. They are not made of the right stuff. For all they’ve been through, they are still escaped slaves – easily frightened, easily made to imagine they had it better ‘back in the Old Country’. Just goes to show, as if it needed showing, that the Chosen People are not Chosen because of any inherent, inheritable, superior characteristic. A complete generational turn of de-Egyptification in the desert will be needed. 40 years ought to do it, until a new generation can arise – one born free, not carrying the slave mentality of their fathers. Not even Moses and Aaron are exempt. The only exceptions will be Caleb and Joshua, who have just shown they have what it takes (and are still young enough) – and the young (under 20), who retain enough flexibility that they can be re-trained for freedom. As usual, the children will still pay a price for the sins of their fathers: 40 years in the desert. But they do get there in the end.
As a postscript, as if seeking prophetic self-fulfillment, the distressed Israelites try to claw it all back, and run to attack – but God is no longer with them, and they get crushed by the Amalekites and Canaanites. Because there is such a thing as a point of no return, and eventually it’s just too little too late; some things cannot be undone or taken back, however we’d like to think otherwise.
Does the story sound familiar? This is an archetypal story, or it should be, for much of what ails us in our private lives, and also as societies.
Having come out of whatever slavery, literal or metaphorical, we congratulate ourselves on making it halfway through the desert. We’ve been at Sinai, and we think we have our bearings now. We know where we’re headed. Only then, it turns out that trekking through the desert, while God sees to guidance, food, water, and protection – that maybe wasn’t the hard part, or not all of it. The hard part may come when you’ve almost reached what you’re heading for – but you find you have to fight for it. To work hard, take risks, and possibly get hurt. And this, is when your newfound faith – in yourself, in your mission, and in God – is tested. Suddenly, you feel fear again – and suddenly, whatever your Egypt was, it doesn’t seem like such a bad idea anymore.
Whether we are making for sobriety, marriage, family, a new job, a new land, or even literal liberation, this test awaits all of us who leave any Egypt for any Promised Land. And how many times have we as a society been willing to give up our freedom, our values, our very morality, just to be kept safe from whatever the latest scary-giant-Amalekite might have been?
The Exodus generation failed. So have we all, repeatedly. Sometimes we had to wait for a new generation to come, one capable of breaking the cycle. But the story of the spies says that it need not be so. Whether we are the first, second, or tenth generation – we can walk in, eyes firmly fixed on the loftiest imaginable goal, and turn the Land of Promise into the Holy Land. What it takes, is willingness to risk for something greater; a deep and grounded faith in the God Who leads us, through thick and thin; and a clear sense that while many things in life are scary, fear is actually a terrible counselor and an abject master – not one to be obeyed, but rather one to be conquered in the pursuit of our mission.
Fear not. Believe. And reach.
God help us all.
(Painting: Giovanni Lanfranco)