Free to Choose
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; . . .” Numbers 13:1-2 NASB
For yourself – Shelah-lekha says the Hebrew text. The NASB properly translates this as “send for yourself,” the same idiom found in Genesis 12:1. Unfortunately, the ESV and NIV ignore this idiom, removing the prepositional phrase “for yourself.” Why does this matter? The issue stems from the other account of sending the spies. In Deuteronomy 1:22-23, it is not God who sends the spies but rather the clamor of the people and the acquiescence of Moses to their demands. After all, why would it be necessary for God to send spies? He already knew what the land was like and He already promised that the land would be given to Israel. When the ESV and NIV remove the idiomatic expression, their translations appear to make God the author of this directive. But a study of the two reports leads to another conclusion.
God told Moses that He was giving this land to His people long before they arrived at the border. There was never any doubt that God would change His mind or that He would not insure that His people would successfully occupy the land. But the people faltered. In spite of the evidence that the land did fit the description God foretold, the people feared those who presently resided in the land. They refused to trust the Lord. We know the results – catastrophe for all. But notice how Moses responds to the request to spy out the land before entering. Did Moses know that God promised success? Certainly! Did Moses have the authority to lead the people into the land? Of course! Did Moses need the information provided by spies? No! He had God’s assurances. Nothing more was required. Nevertheless, Moses succumbs to the disbelief of the people. He doesn’t make a unilateral decision. He takes the problem to God. What does God tell him? “Moses, you decide! If you determine to send spies into the land, mazel tov. If you determine not to send spies, ashrehem (“Blessed are you”). In other words, God does not prevent Moses from making the wrong decision. He only gives Moses the opportunity to make the decision. Neither does God prevent the consequences of this decision. Moses decides based on the fear of men (Proverbs 29:25) rather than on the trust in God’s word. The consequences don’t turn out well, but God is not responsible for those consequences. They are the direct result of a lack of trust on the part of the leader!
Yes, that’s right. The people demonstrated lack of trust. They consistently refused to rely on God’s word. But Moses should have known better. He should have listened to God in spite of the fear of the people. God chose him to lead, not to follow. In this case, Moses allows the unfaithfulness of the people to sway his judgment. Years later Moses acknowledges that he is refused entry into the Promised Land because of the disobedience of those under his authority. The failure of the people is the failure of the leader, and he is judged for it. Makes you wonder why anyone would want the job, right?
Topical Index: leadership, for yourself, selah-lekha, accountability, Numbers 13:1-2, Proverbs 29:25
The moral of the story? (lol!) Listen to God! “Shema” the Savior!! ~ Whatever He says unto you- do it..~
And we have uncovered a pattern throughout the scriptures.. when it comes to sin (and unbelief is a grievous sin) “God don’t play!” Obedience = blessing. (God never lies) Disobedience is sin.. (and the resulting consequences which surely follow.., defeat, dispair, doubt, disease, death.. ( a long, long list of trouble..) and we don’t have to look very far to see this is true, either!
Every time I read/hear the Moses was not allowed to enter the land because of the disobedience of the people, I have to wonder. I thought it was clearly because of his own disobedience, ie, striking the rock the second time instead of speaking to it as God directed. How do these two go together? They seem contradictory to me, as if Moses is trying to blame someone else for his misfortune, a trick as old as Adam and Eve.
Hi Lori, just some thoughts that may relate to us in regards to this narrative.
In the Kingdom that we now live (abide) in, strength comes, rather is given, in the “doing” of what we’re told. The fuller part of that is explained by Yeshua when He says that whoever has (and does well with it) will be given more, but the one who doesn’t do well, even what he has will be taken away. Keep in mind that they things were written for us as examples.
Here are some things that may be in relationship. In the mouth of two or three witnesses, a thing is established. Samson lost his strength, only after the third offence. The nazarite vow involved, the absence of wine, touching of dead things and the cutting of the hair. Moses also was, perhaps, negligent in three areas. listening to his father in law, sending in spies and striking the rock when told to speak to it. It’s interesting to note how Abrahams story is contrasted to these, in that he was able to repent (in a sense of rectifying of) of his failures, ie; the seperation of Lot and the removing of Hagar and Ishmael and was strenghtened to do the final act of offering Issac. Perhaps, had Moses and Samson repented (turned back the other way) of their initial acts, they would have been strenghtened to go forward and accomplish the full calling on their lives.
One of the things I get from this is that repentance (reversing the damage) strenghens us, whereas leaving something “undone” weakens us. The last few days, Skip has spoke on leadership and the responsibilities that are inherent in those roles. I’m “speaking to the choir” when I say these things, for I also find myself sorely lacking in the role of father to my children. I’m praying for the wisdom to see opportunities to “undo” the damage I’ve done, and the strength to do them as well. All things as God determines, in it’s right time. It’s ALL by Him and for His glory. Hear O Israel, YHWH Elohim, YHWH is ONE (echad).
YHWH bless you and keep you…..
I hadn’t heard that before about the two or three witnesses, but it makes sense since our behavior is a witness for or against us.
I also hope I can undo some of the damage I’ve done in my family — may God open both of our eyes to those opportunities and heal our lame legs that we can walk to do it.
They seem contradictory to me, as if Moses is trying to blame someone else for his misfortune,
I don’t feel that he was blaming someone else, but I see that his focus was swayed both times by the people. He was suppose to lead them by showing them that his own trust was completely in God’s Word. I wonder how often as parents we do the same thing as Moses did?
Hi Lori That was always my understanding too.
“Makes you wonder why anyone would want the job, right?”
As my mother used to say, you’re
Damned if you do
And damned if you don’t 🙂
Robert, Hi I see where Skip is going with this but I have to admit I never thought of it this way, maybe because of the translation. I can now see that Moses waffled on the issue and takes some of the blame, but listening to his father in law was also wrong? I never heard that before. Maybe it never occurred to the ministry that were pouring their great wisdom into the funnel in my ear but I was always of the opinion that Jethro though a Middianite was a priest of the one true God and that he gave Moses sound advice. Is this wrong?
Hi Antoneea, I won’t take a hard line with this issue by any means. To say that what Moses did was right or wrong isn’t as important as seeing what the text says (and doesn’t say). Just a consideration, Moses spoke with God as a man speaks to a man (I think that is the way it was stated). The text says that Moses “listened” to his father in law, what it doesn’t say is that He brought the issue up with God, or sought His solution to the problem (if there was indeed a problem at all). The reason I brought this up at all is because it would seem that this is where we often “begin” to spiral down. Another instance of this in action is the failure to inquire in regards to the people who claimed they had come from a far land, when in reality they were residents of the land of Canann. The interesting thing about that passage is that, even though they were lied to, they were still responsible to the vow they made in regards to these people. It becomes a compounded issue that simply could have been resolved quite easily had they only inquired first.
Anyhoo……I find it telling that Moses took his father in laws advice (because it was going to wear him and the people out?, sez who?) without getting God’s opinion on it.
We are blessed in that we get these things shown to us as examples, rather than becoming examples.
YHWH bless you and keep you….
I see your point Robert and it does make sense that God should be our first source for advice God didn’t seem to take umbrage at Moses for it though, so it might be a bit strong to say he was denied entry into the land because of it. Perhaps that form of government planted seeds that caused problems later in the Judges era of Israels history. Who knows?
Thanks and Blessings to you.
Morning Michael He didn’t want the job though, did he? Just goes to show that we all have feet of clay, and to quote another old saw ” we have to sleep in the bed we’ve made.” God it not going to save us from the all of the consequences of the bad choices we make. A sobering thought that.
The Scouts
God told Moses to send one chieftain from each of the 12 tribes of Israel to scout the land of Canaan
Moses sent them out from the wilderness of Paran. (Numbers 13:1–2.)
Among the scouts were Caleb son of Jephunneh from the Tribe of Judah And Hosea son of Nun from the Tribe of Ephraim. (Numbers 13:6–8.)
Moses changed Hosea’s name to Joshua. (Numbers 13:16.) They scouted the land as far as Hebron. (Numbers 13:21–22.)
At the end of 40 days, they returned and reported to Moses, Aaron, and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh saying that the land did indeed flow with milk and honey
But that the people who inhabited it were powerful, the cities were fortified and very large, and that they saw the Anakites there. (Numbers 13:25–28.)
Caleb hushed the people and urged the people to go up and take the land. (Numbers 13:30.)
But the other scouts spread calumnies about the land, calling it “one that devours its settlers.”
(Numbers 13:32.)
They reported that the land’s people were giants and stronger than the Israelites. (Numbers 13:31–32.)
The whole community broke into crying, railed against Moses and Aaron, and shouted: “If only we might die in this wilderness!” (Numbers 14:1–2.)
Moses and Aaron fell on their faces, and Joshua and Caleb rent their clothes and exhorted the Israelites not to fear, and not to rebel against God. (Numbers 14:5–9.)
Just as the community threatened to pelt them with stones, God’s Presence appeared in the Tabernacle. (Numbers 14:10.)
God complained to Moses: “How long will this people spurn Me,” and threatened to strike them with pestilence and make of Moses a nation more numerous than they. (Numbers 14:11–12.)
But Moses told God to think of what the Egyptians would think when they heard the news, and how they would think God powerless to bring the Israelites to the Promised Land. (Numbers 14:13–16.)
Moses asked God to forbear, quoting God’s self-description as “slow to anger and abounding in kindness, forgiving iniquity and transgression.” (Numbers 14:17–18.)
In response, God pardoned, but also swore that none of the men who had seen God’s signs would see the Promised Land, except Caleb and Joshua, and that all the rest 20 years old and up would die in the wilderness. (Numbers 14:20–30.)
God said that the Israelites’ children would enter the Promised Land after roaming the wilderness, suffering for the faithlessness of the present generation, for 40 years, corresponding to the number of days that the scouts scouted the land. (Numbers 14:32–34.)
The scouts other than Caleb and Joshua died of plague. (Numbers 14:36–38.)
Early the next morning, the Israelites set out to the Promised Land, but Moses told them that they would not succeed without God in their midst. (Numbers 14:40–42.)
But they marched forward anyway, and the Amalekites and the Canaanites dealt them a shattering blow at Hormah. (Numbers 14:44–45.)
Hmmm
I’m not sure if we are all talking about the same text, but in the text above
Moses is “mediating” between God and his people IMO
In a sense, Moses is serving two masters; serving his people who are free men
And serving Yahweh God
Like Paul who was trying to bridge the Gap between the Jews and Gentiles
Moses was trying to “bridge the Gap” between his people and God
The model of leadership IMO
“The Eye of the Storm”
From The Great Santini
Marine officer and training commander Lt. Col. Wilbur “Bull” Meechum (aka The Great Santini) (Robert Duvall) welcoming a classroom of new trainees in the Marine Corps Pilot program:
Good Morning. You men now have the privilege of serving under the meanest, toughest, screamingest squadron commander in the Marine Corps. ME!
Now, I don’t want you to consider me as just your commanding officer. I want you to look on me like I was, well – God. If I say something, you pretend it’s coming from the burning bush.
Now, we’re members of the proudest, most elite group of fighting men in the history of the world. We are Marines! Marines Corps fighter pilots! We have no other function. That is our mission and you are either gonna hack it or pack it. Do you read me?
Within thirty days, I am gonna lead the toughest, flyingest sons-of-bitches in the world.
The 312 Werewolf Squadron will make history, or it will die trying.
Now, you’re flyin’ with Bull Meecham now, and I kid you not, this is the eye of the storm.
Welcome aboard.
Hi, it seems that there are two Michaels or maybe three. Either that or Michael is responding to himself. It is very confusing. If this is the case could initials be used for clarification for those of us who are not so familiar with all of the regulars? Peace, don’t mean to offend.
I could be wrong, but I believe that Michael just adds a few thoughts to his prior posts – instead of putting it all in one. Cheers!
Hi Gabe,
I was getting confused trying to compare the points in the passages in Num and Deut
So I put the main points of Num on one page and the main points of Deut on a another page
And then put my comments under the main points
So the main points above help me formulate my argument as document it
And hopefully provide the reader with some “textual evidence” for my argument
I getcha, thanks.
” In Deuteronomy 1:22-23, it is not God who sends the spies but rather the clamor of the people and the acquiescence of Moses to their demands.”
Hmmm
Deu 1:21 “I said to you,’You have come to the hill country of the Amorites which the LORD our God is about to give us.
Deu 1:21 ‘See, the LORD your God has placed the land before you; go up, take possession, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has spoken to you. Do not fear or be dismayed.’
Deu 1:22 “Then all of you approached me and said, ‘Let us send men before us, that they may search out the land for us, and bring back to us word of the way by which we should go up and the cities which we shall enter.’
Deu 1:23 “The thing pleased me and I took twelve of your men, one man for each tribe.
Deu 1:24 “They turned and went up into the hill country, and came to the valley of Eshcol and spied it out.
Deu 1:25 “Then they took some of the fruit of the land in their hands and brought it down to us; and they brought us back a report and said, ‘It is a good land which the LORD our God is about to give us.’
Deu 1:26 “Yet you were not willing to go up, but rebelled against the command of the LORD your God;
Deu 1:27 and you grumbled in your tents and said, ‘Because the LORD hates us, He has brought us out of the land of Egypt to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites to destroy us.
“Deut 1:23 “The thing pleased me and I took twelve of your men, one man for each tribe.”
Seems to me we have two conflicting stories “on the surface” (Nums and Deut)
In Deut 1:23 we have another layer of complexity, which shows how the decision of Moses
Was influenced by his people, by two conflicting philosophies
– He who hesitates is lost (Bruce Lee – Enter the Dragon)
– Better safe than sorry (Most mothers)
Use your intelligence whenever possible and think before you act makes some sense
So just for fun I would argue that Moses made the right decision in consulting his leaders
But his leaders turned against Yahweh God, and paid the price for it