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Bible passages referenced in this study:
- Genesis 15:6 (Abraham’s faith credited as righteousness)
- Ezekiel 36 (God’s restoration of Israel)
- Deuteronomy 6 (Shema Israel)
- Exodus 31:13 (Shabbat: God’s sign that He is the One Who sanctifies Israel)
- Psalm 95:7-11 (Meribah and Massah, patterns for rejection of God’s leadership throughout time)
- Jeremiah 31:31-34 (New Covenant prophecy)
- Hebrews 3-4 (the “sabbath rest” for believers)
- Matthew 5-7 (Sermon on the Mount)
- Romans 6-8 (important interplay between the Spirit and the Law)
- Isaiah 45:18-19 (God’s creation of Israel)
Importance of Trust in God’s Promises
The Torah portion Parashat Shelach, emphasizes the importance of trust in God’s promises and commands, particularly in the context of the Israelites’ journey to the Promised Land. No one who is called by God can escape the requirement to walk in faith with Him.
Abraham’s Example and Obedience
As Abraham showed us, faith is a daily walk, not in a straight line or on a perfectly paved path. It’s a growth trajectory, with setbacks and stumbles, as well as progress and victories along the way, but ultimately a walk in faith leads to a solidified trust in God.
Abraham believed the Lord, and it was credited to him as righteousness, but Abraham didn’t abstractly believe in God, He actively obeyed Him.
Role of the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit’s role in Israel’s redemption can’t be overstated as He is the deposit of righteousness given by God ahead of time. The children of Israel needed and we in the 21st century need the Spirit’s presence to overcome guilt and intrusive thoughts.
Parallels Between the Spies and Apostles
For those of us who believe in Yeshua, there are fascinating parallels between the sending of the 12 spies into the land and the 12 apostles Yeshua sent out to represent Him. Then Yeshua later sends out 70 apostles to represent Him throughout Israel and even into the Decapolis and Samaria.
Rahab’s Trust and Treason
For Joshua and the spies, when they entered the land to scope it out, they had no idea they would meet Rahab in the walls of Jericho. She took a big risk in trusting the words of spies representing the foreign power of Israel and their deity over her own rulers and the deities she grew up worshipping.
What she did, we would call treason. She committed treason, not only against the city but also by extension, the entire people group that she’s in, because she was hiding these spies from a large possee who were trying to find these Israelite scouts.
Not only did the spies return with an unbelievable story about a harlot living in the walls of Jericho who helped them escape with their lives from Jericho, the spies also brought back a cluster of grapes that was so large, it had to be carried between two people. This find holds significance in the context of the Israelites’ entry into the Promised Land.
The Misuse of Authority and Tradition
The 12 spies who were sent into the Promised Land the first time were not just random young men. They were “nasi” or princes among the tribes of Israel. This is why their “evil report” spread like wildfire among all of Israel. Since they were leaders in Israel, their report carried an air of authority.
However, no matter how much authority one has among God’s people, this authority and the traditions used to uphold that authority can never be abused in such a way to change the meaning or the practice of the Torah.
Just as in US Constitutional Law, the original intent and meaning expressed by the author must be honored.
When Yeshua prefaces the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:17-19, He says,
““Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. “For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. “Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:17–19 NAS95)
The 12 Apostles and later the 70 Apostles were students of Yeshua, they represented Him but they were not greater than Him. Yeshua was the teacher and it was their duty to faithfully put His teachings into practice and to teach others to do the same. A faithful student of a faithful teacher should always magnify the law, not challenge it. They should practice the law, not ignore it.
God’s Disappointment in the Wilderness
When we read Ps. 95 as well as Hebrews 3-4, we learn how deeply the first generation disappointed God.
“For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand. Today, if you would hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, As in the day of Massah in the wilderness, “When your fathers tested Me, They tried Me, though they had seen My work. “For forty years I loathed that generation, And said they are a people who err in their heart, And they do not know My ways. “Therefore I swore in My anger, Truly they shall not enter into My rest.”” (Psalm 95:7–11 NAS95)
The author of the Book of Hebrews picks up on this refrain about entering God’s rest, about how one can enter this rest and how one can be disqualified from entering God’s rest.
The grumbling and complaining by the Israel in the wilderness at Massah and Meribah was loathsome to God. They made themselves loathsome to God by rejecting His provisions for them, from the manna in the wilderness, the water and their rejection of the Promised Land itself.
Although the second lesson were more gratful for God’s provision of the land, that humility and gratitude did not pass on through all their generations. We see that, as the history of Israel born out, that their lack of trust in God would grow and grow, as they carried on with foreign deities, until right up at the time of the Assyrian and Babylonians exiles, the spiritual condition of the people from the kings and priests to the common people was rotten. Start reading the prophets, Jeremiah and Isaiah, and you start seeing the rot that had started happening within the heart of the people.
Trials and Maturity
James 1 tells us that it’s not doubting God to ask Him why things are happening to us, in fact, we are told to ask God for wisdom to understand what is happening around us because as we seek wisdom and trust in God during our trials, we develop spiritual maturity and complete faith. We will not be the same people at the end of our walk as we were when we started our walk.
Because all of us face things that are just daunting. We all have our ba’als, our giants, that we think there is no way that we can possibly get around them. But when we see our situation with spiritual vision, this gives us the ability to go beyond what we think is possible.
“For thus says the LORD, who created the heavens (He is the God who formed the earth and made it, He established it and did not create it a waste place, but formed it to be inhabited), “I am the LORD, and there is none else. “I have not spoken in secret, In some dark land; I did not say to the offspring of Jacob, ‘Seek Me in a waste place’; I, the LORD, speak righteousness, Declaring things that are upright.” (Isaiah 45:18–19 NAS95)
Divine Purpose of Israel: From Creation to Today
When God created the nation of Israel, He created it with a divine purpose, which is to fill the earth with righteousness. We live in a time that is flipping the definitions of good and evil on their head to the point that on the day of the Lord, there will be so much confusion because of those who say bad things are good and that good thing are bad.
Israel’s role in the world is to spread God’s righteousness through faith in God, not by its own merit. The people of Israel, both Jew and Gentile are to fill the earth with righteousness through family, loving neighbors, and reflecting God’s presence.
Rebellion Against Leadership: No Rest for the Wicked
The Messiah by redeeming and sanctifying Israel, by resting on the Sabbath, even in the tomb, highlights the significance of Shabbat as a memorial of this calling.
The first generation had rebelled against Moses’ leadership and in our generation, many rebel against the Messiah’s leadership. The key reason most of Israel didn’t enter the Promised Land is because they rebelled against God’s leadership. The key reason that most will not enter the Messianic Kingdom is because they have rebelled against the Messiah’s leadership.
Summary: Tammy