שְׁלַח-לְךָ
Shelach Lekha / Send For Yourself
Numbers 13:1-15:41
HafTorah Portion Joshua 2:1-2:24
Brit Chadasha Hebrews 3:7-4:1

     Shelach Lekha begins with God instructing Moshe in Numbers 13:1-2 “Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel; from each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, everyone a leader among them.”  
     Later in Deuteronomy 1:19-22 the truth of the ‘why’ is revealed; “So we departed from Horeb, and went through all that great and terrible wilderness which you saw on the way to the mountains of the Amorites, as the Lord our God had commanded us. Then we came to Kadesh Barnea. 20 And I said to you, ‘You have come to the mountains of the Amorites, which the Lord our God is giving us. 21 Look, the Lord your God has set the land before you; go up and possess it, as the Lord God of your fathers has spoken to you; do not fear or be discouraged. 22 And every one of you came near to me and said, ‘Let us send men before us, and let them search out the land for us, and bring back word to us of the way by which we should go up, and of the cities into which we shall come.’
     The fear and doubt was with the people, not with God. The land was a gift from God, His possession to give to the people.  Yet, they were fearful and full of doubt.  The spies went out and then returned with a mixed report.  They brought back the cluster of grapes, figs and pomegranates, and told the people that the land ‘is truly flowing with milk and honey’, and yet ten continued speaking with negativity, doubt and fear.
     Numbers 13:28-33 ‘Nevertheless the people who dwell in the land are strong; the cities are fortified and very large; more over we saw the descendants of Anak there. 29 The Amalekites dwell in the land of the South; the Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the mountains; and the Canaanites dwell by the sea and along the banks of the Jordan.” 30 Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, “Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.” 31 But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.” 32 And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. 33 There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”
      This was a bad report regarding a true gift from God.  It wasn’t just a report full of doubt and fear regarding a nonspecific incident, but rather against the very gift that God was bestowing on them.  The ten spies also dismissed themselves and the people of Israel by stating that they were’ like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.’  Thinking of themselves first and foremost, then transposing that onto what they would ‘assume’ the people of the land would also think of them.  
     Not only was this diminishing Elohim, for it diminished the people, it was also a powerful way to sway the people into thinking their way.  This report was full of fear and caused the people to doubt the very God that rescued them from Egypt.
   This type of doubt and controversy began in the garden. When HaSatan manipulated Eve by spreading doubt, in Genesis 3:1 as the serpent spoke: ‘did God really say that…’
Psalm 78:22 ‘Because they did not believe in God and did not trust in His salvation.’
2 Kings 17:14 ‘However, they did not listen, but stiffened their neck like their fathers, who did not believe in the Lord their God.’
Psalm 106:24 ‘Then they despised the pleasant land; They did not believe in His word…’
Psalm 78:32 ‘In spite of all this they still sinned and did not believe in His wonderful works.’
Isaiah 31:1 ‘Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help and rely on horses, and trust in chariots because they are many and in horsemen because they are very strong, but they do not look to the Holy One of Israel, nor seek the Lord!’
1 John 5:10 ‘The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself; the one who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning His Son.’
James 1:6 ‘But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.’
     This venture was more a test of faith than a military venture as God knew the outcome; it was man who did not. Even after all twelve men returned unharmed, with fruit of grandness, ten of the men caved in faithlessness and fear.
   It is one thing for us to convince ourselves of doubt, causing ourselves to fear and doubt, but to spread that negativity to another person regarding God, His provisions, word and truth is damaging. This only spreads a sinful nature, which continues in Korach.

שְׁלַח-לְךָ
Sh’lach L’cha / Send For Yourself
Numbers 13:1-15:41
HafTorah Portion Joshua 2:1-2:24
Brit Chadasha Hebrews 3:7-4:1
          Sh’lach L’cha begins with God instructing Moshe in Numbers 13:1-2 “Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel; from each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a leader among them.”  Later in Deuteronomy 1:21-22, we learn the truth.  It was not God who needed to send out spies, but rather the people. ‘Look, the Lord your God has set the land before you; go up and possess it, as the Lord God of your fathers has spoken to you; do not fear or be discouraged. 22 And every one of you came near to me and said, ‘Let us send men before us, and let them search out the land for us, and bring back word to us of the way by which we should go up, and of the cities into which we shall come.’
      The fear and doubt were among the people, not with God. The land, a gift from God was His possession to give to the people.  Yet, they were fearful and full of doubt.  The spies went out and then returned with a mixed report.  Returning home with clusters of grapes, figs, and pomegranates, they told the people that the land was truly flowing with milk and honey, however, it was only Caleb and Joshua who did not spread the bad report and fearful speech.
    The Spirit of Amalek is the oldest enemy of Israel. The Amalekites were the first people to attack Israel when they left Egypt for the Promised Land. Amalek’s hatred for the people of Israel was marked in his DNA by the generational curse of hate of his grandfather, Esau.  Since we know that the Amalekites dwelled in the South, Numbers 13:28-33, that hate was manifested toward God’s people and was vicious. It created a false fear and doubt in some of the spies. 
Some of the characteristics of the Amalek spirit are:
Twisting people's thinking
Delighting in hatred, despair, lies, theft, destruction, and war
Hatred for the truth of the Bible, righteous people, and peacemakers
Representing intentional rebellion against God
     This is exactly what happened to the people in this Torah portion. When Caleb and Joshua stood up for the land, God, and the plan, the Israelites raised stones to kill them, Numbers 14:10.  First they wanted to die themselves, but now they are willing to kill these two men.  Moses intercedes on behalf of the people after God declares that He has had enough and is willing to smite them all.
     Numbers 14 continues with a death sentence for the rebellious ones, 14:26-36, and a futile presumptuous invasion attempt in Numbers 14:37-45 which results in the Israelites being driven back.
    All of this could have been avoided, if not for fear and doubt and rebellion that attached to the people of God.