Parashat Shelach (שְׁלַח
Send ); Numbers 13:1-15:41 by Jon Eaton
I will focus on the 2nd Aliya and more
specifically Numbers 14:4, “They said to each other,
"Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt!"”
The Israelites had heard from 8 of
the 10 spies that there were giants in the Land of Promise and had spent the
night wailing and crying. They were
concerned about their wives and children and fearful of dying but to add to
their sins they decided to find a new “leader” that would take them to a safe
place – albeit Egypt.
In Judaic tradition, the Sin of the
Spies has far and long reaching consequences.
Their lack of faith and the aptitude to generate fear through the people
of Israel, caused an entire generation to miss out on the Promise Land that
they had sought so eagerly for. But was
their punishment simply from a lack of faith?
A simple “google” search for ‘Sin of
the Spies’ will have your browser blocked up for decades but I think that most
material has neglected a very serious event – the search for a new Mashiach. The disgruntled Hebrews wanted a ‘replacement
Mashiach’.
The wailing and the crying continued
all night but it was only when the Israelites decided to find a replacement
leader that Moses freaked out and the Lord suggested that a new nation be
birthed through Moses. Moses has always
been a prefigure of Israel’s true Mashiach, Yeshua, and thus the rejection of Moses as
leader was enough to bring huge judgement and consequences upon the Hebrews. Think about it. The Israelites complained MANY times, lacked
faith MANY times, but only when they rejected their Moses messiah did they forfeit
the right to enter the Land. Considering
that Egypt was the ‘anti-Promised Land’/ ‘replacement Promise Land’, it could
be assumed that the Hebrews were now looking for an anti-messiah.
Despite seeing the 10 plagues in
Egypt, the Reed Sea opening, water from a rock etc etc etc, the Hebrews not
only lacked faith in the Lord Almighty, but they also lacked faith in their
leader. The Moses messiah had not
lived up to their expectations of what they thought he would do for them. 1300 years or more later, the true Mashiach
would arrive and not live up to their expectations again.
Both generations of Hebrews, separated
by more than a 1000 years, rejected their leader messiah because he did not
live up to what the people had expected.
The Moses generation Hebrews were expecting an
easy path into the Promise Land (without the need for faith) and the Yeshua
generation Hebrews were expecting an overthrow of the Romans (again no need for faith).
Israel today is looking for a “messiah” to take them to the
peaceful places. Modern Israeli
newspapers are filled with articles about peace and “who” is able to give them
peace. They are not looking for a
Messiah who will take them into battle against Giants. They want to return to Egypt in a sense
because some have forgotten that the Land of Israel IS theirs – anti-Zionist
Jews / anti-Zionist Christians?? The whole 'land for peace' swap with the so called 'Palestinians' is a great example of Israel giving up on the Promise Land for an easy existence.
Even Christians who believe Replacement Theology have ceased
to see the need for Israel to find their true Mashiach and take the Promise Land. The deception in the Garden is as alive today
as it was 6000 years ago. "has God
really said...?" (Gen. 3:1). Did
God really say that Israel would be saved?
Did He really say that he would return His people to the Land?
We should all be very keen for Israel to find their true
Messiah as Rav Shaul stated, “Now if their fall is riches for the world, and
their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness!” Romans 11:12.
And then let us not forget to continue in obedience and
faith also, "Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of
entering into His rest, any of you should seem to come short of it" (Heb.
3:7-4:2).
The discipline of the Lord is loving and gracious.
Jon Eaton
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