Follow Fear or Follow Faith?

Parashat Shelach L’kha: Numbers 13:1–15:41; Haftarah: Joshua 2:1–24

Rachel Wolf, Congregation Beth Messiah, Cincinnati

In last week’s portion, Beha’alotkha, the people of Israel, following the cloud of the Lord, moved for the first time, after more than a year, from the Wilderness of Sinai. There they had heard the voice of God from the Mountain and, as one people, had sincerely proclaimed fidelity to God’s covenant. However, Fear quickly led them to desperately seek solace in other (more manageable) gods, like the calf of gold. After the glorious descriptions in Beha’alotkha of the tribes and the Mishkan departing the camp at Sinai in beautiful order, there is almost immediate complaining and weeping. Fear has struck again, causing all manner of discontent and accusations.

In this week’s portion Israel has moved on to the Wilderness of Paran. The location of Paran is not certain but seems to be on the west side of the Gulf of Aqaba, southwest of Eilat. Here we are at a crossroads. Moses is making preparations, per God’s instructions, to enter and conquer the Land of Israel’s inheritance.

The Twelve

In chapter 13, Moses sends out twelve men, a man from every tribe, “every one a leader among them,” to spy out the land. This action reveals the partnership between God and his people that marks all of our godly activities here on earth: We follow God’s word to do his work, yet we also have to prepare by developing intelligent plans. Herein lies our dilemma. Because we are charged with practical and creative responsibility, it is often hard to know how, or where, faith comes into the picture. It is easy to take on the responsibility, not only for planning and doing, but for the outcome.

When the twelve return, they all agree it is a good land. But, having seen the inhabitants of the land, ten of them allow themselves to retreat into Fear. They fear the unknown; they assess their inadequacy to do the job; and they blubber that this whole “leaving Egypt” idea was a big mistake.

But it’s worse than that!

Remember: every one of these men are the chosen, respected “leaders among [the tribes].” Not only do they quickly retreat into Fear, they exaggerate the dangers and by their report bring “all the congregation” into such a fearful state that the people weep all night and decide to choose a leader who will take them back to Egypt! (14:1–4).

I want to say something here about the importance of young leadership. At this point, Moses and Aaron simply fall on their faces (14:5), presumably praying. But I suspect they are also totally exhausted by the continuous complaining and inability of the people to believe God and bear with some difficulties.

This is when Caleb and Joshua step up, take the helm, and speak up. They tear their clothes in the traditional act of mourning and repentance, and then speak forcefully to the people not to fear (14:6–10). Unfortunately, they could not unearth the quickly sprouting seeds of fear that had been recklessly sown by the ten. God had to step in. But these courageous young leaders continued to serve Moses and the people of Israel until they entered the Land.

The fateful consequence of following Fear is that none of the “fear generation” enter the land of promise. In addition, they sentence their children and grandchildren to 40 years of wandering in the wilderness.

Now, let’s look at the Second Round of Spies, in our Haftarah portion, Joshua 2.

Forty years later, poised to enter the Land, Joshua, now in top leadership, sends, this time, two spies (it seems Joshua learned something from his previous intelligence gathering experience) to check out the situation at Jericho. The spies meet Rahab, a woman who lives right at the wall of the city and seems to be somewhat of a busybody—up on all of the news! She tells these two Israelites that the “terror of the Israelites and their God has fallen on the people of the land” and they are all faint-hearted. She hides the two spies, shows them kindness, and works out a deal with them to preserve her family when they come back to destroy the city. The ten spies in Shelach L’kha let Fear control them when they saw the sheer size of the giant Anakites. With hindsight we can now see that the fear of the Lord had fallen on the inhabitants of the land, giving the Israelites a significant advantage.

Rahab feared, but her fear led her to faith in the God of Israel.

Had the ten leader-spies forty years earlier controlled their natural human emotion of fear, and allowed themselves to be encouraged by the faith of Joshua and Caleb (surely the twelve conferred together as they trudged back to Paran), the outcome would have been quite different. They would have had to fight, but God knew that fear would become their ally instead of their mortal enemy. He, himself, would cause the hearts of the people dwelling in the land to “melt with fear,” as the story of the exodus spread abroad.

As we focus on God’s Word, and allow ourselves to be encouraged by those blessed with positive faith, we can turn our fears into faith in God’s goodness and into positive action. Fear is a malicious and miserly taskmaster. To give in to fear is to retreat into helplessness, to use our God-given imagination against ourselves. God desires that we partner with him with faith in his faithfulness. This will, at times, entail enduring suffering, but it is the only way to achieve his best in and for us.

In my experience this is easy to understand but quite a bit harder to actually accomplish, especially as the world grows dark around us. We are creatures who naturally seek safety for ourselves and for our loved ones. There are no pat answers. Yeshua, in Luke 21, exhorts us to stay alert and aware, yet to realize that “when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” And as we approach the period of the haftarot of rebuke and consolation, we can join together, with our ancestors, and feed our imaginations with the sublime words of Isaiah:

Arise, shine, for your light has come,

and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.

For behold, darkness shall cover the earth,

and thick darkness the peoples;

but the Lord will arise upon you,

and his glory will be seen upon you. (Isa 60:1–2)