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Spy Novel
Shlach
"Send"
Numbers 13:1-15:41
Joshua 2:1-2:24
Psalm 64
Luke 1:1-4; Acts 1:1-8
The two colors of the
tzitziyot
:
Blue
and
W
hite
.
Heaven
and
Earth
Spiritual
and
Natural
Supernatural
and
Logical
What the eye spies in those fringes determines the stories we tell of the land of I
srael
and of the Kingdom.
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Torah Portion Shelach Lekha: Spy Novel
Remember this principle from last week's Torah portion?
Where you refuse to change is
where choose you to die.
The refusal to change in reference to the manna and meat in last week's portion leads to worse in this week's portion. The evil report of the ten spies set the journey back by thirty-nine years! Last week's mysterious prophecy of Eldad and Medad, as two of the seventy prophesying elders, might shed some light on
Shlach's spy failure. Although we do not have a transcript of their prophecies, we know that Yehoshua (Joshua) was greatly upset about them, and he even urged Moses to tell them to shut up (in Hebrew, of course).
The previous portion
Behaalotkha
describes the time when Moses was in despair, but Adonai gave a new sign to encourage both him and the Israelites. Moses selected prominent leaders, seventy, to prophesy:
But
two men had remained in the camp
; the name of one was
Eldad
and the name of the
other
Medad
.
And the Spirit rested upon them
(now they were among those who had been registered, but had not gone out to the tent), and they prophesied in the camp
.
So
a young man
ran and told Moses and said, "
Eldad
and
Medad
are prophesying in the camp
." Then Joshua the son of Nun, the attendant of Moses from his youth, said, "Moses, my lord, restrain them." (Nu 11:26-27)
Jewish tradition hands down insight into those paired prophecies. We could just dismiss the tradition, but what if Yeshua teaches this exact prophetic principle to his own seventy disciples? In fact, what if he, too, sends out his seventy disciples in pairs to echo the prophesying pair Eldad and Medad?
The two camp prophets' names share a root,
yadad, which means "loved, beloved." Here is where it gets curiouser and curiouser... Strong's gives the Greek equivalent to Eldad ("God loved") as Theophilus. As it turns out, both the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts are dedicated to "most excellent Theophilus," a prominent disciple of Yeshua, just as the seventy elders were also men of excellence. Luke writes this pair of good reports to Theophilus to record all the wonderful deeds of Yeshua. The Father so loved the world that He sent His only Son, and Luke tells the story of this healing, resurrecting love.
"Inasmuch
as many have undertaken to compile an account of the things
accomplished among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word
,
it seemed fitting for me as well, having
investigated
everything carefully from the beginning, to write it out for you in consecutive order, most excellent
Theophilus
;
so that you may know the exact truth about the things you have been
taught." (Luke 1:1-4)
Unlike the ten spies' eyewitness report to Moses, which was spun to slander the most excellent Land of Israel, and the Land represents resurrection, Luke gives a "Yehoshua and Calev" report, the report of a true servant of the Word. Their "paired" forty-day report was that the Israelites could indeed cross over and inherit the Land, a physical representation of the Garden of the 3rd Heaven hovering just above it. They were true students of Moses and the Word.
Luke also tells of a transition from Yeshua to the apostles in his record of their Acts:
The
first account I
composed
,
Theophilus
,
about all that Jesus began to do and teach,
until
the day when He was taken up to heaven, after He had
by the Holy Spirit given orders to the apostles whom He had chosen
.
To these
He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning
the kingdom of God
.
Gathering
them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for
what
the Father had promised, "Which," He said, "you heard of from Me;
for John baptized with water, but
you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now
." So
when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, "Lord,
is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel
?"
He
said to them, "It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority;
but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth
." (Ac 1:1-8)
Before we look at the specific parallels between Moses' seventy elders and Yeshua's, let's consider the tradition concerning the content of Eldad and Medad's prophecies that so upset Yehoshua.
At first glance, it may seem that
Yehoshua
is upset because the two elders did not report to the tent. There are lots of reasons, however, that a man would not enter the precincts around the
Mishkan
. If they were
tamei (ritually impure)
for any reason, they would not.
Whatever they are prophesying, it is upsetting to
Yehoshua
...yet Moshe does not object. The "double-love" of El is in the prophecy.
The sages say that Eldad and Medad prophesied that Moshe would not enter the Promised Land (via the Jordan). The Israelites heard it, and it horrified Yehoshua, Moses' beloved protege: "What did they prophesy? They said, 'Moshe dies, and
Yehoshua
leads to the Land.'" (Sanhedrin 17a)
Like so many prophecies which human beings believe are imminent, this prophecy was not fulfilled immediately, but thirty-nine years later. It must have been terrifying to the Israelites and heart-breaking to Yehoshua who would not have wished Moshe's death, nor would he have desired Moshe to die to become a leader in his own right. Perhaps even the spies' evil report was because they remembered that Moshe would die before they took possession of the Promised Land. Who would want to attempt such a thing without Moshe? Why not take a few more turns around the wilderness and learn a little more Torah while we sort this thing out? Death or disappearance of a leader brings a change, a huge transition of responsibility. It creates a new, or novel situation.
With the possible explanation of the "beloved" prophets, consider some parallels between
Behaalotkha and
Shlach:
*
Some of Moses' spirit was placed upon the seventy he chose.
Theophilus
' first "story" in Acts is of how
Yeshua
promised the disciples the power of the Holy Spirit to deliver his message as witnesses, having first-hand experience with the miracles, signs, and wonders he performed, which is also mentioned in the first
Theophilus
reference. Yeshua also sends out seventy disciples in Luke 10:1-9, telling them not to take extra food, reminding them that the Israelites had to believe in manna each day for their portion.
*
Yeshua
goes on to "disappear" into the Kingdom. Likewise, Eldad and Medad
prophesy that Moshe will disappear and pass on his message and mission to
Yehoshua and the Israelites
.
*
The Acts reference makes careful mention of
Yeshua's
resurrection and appearance over forty days between Pesach and Shavuot. There is no
Theophilus
report without the resurrection.
The death of Moshe had to precede Yehoshua's leading the Israelites into their inheritance. The death and resurrection of Yeshua had to precede the apostles' leading the righteous among the nations into their inheritance. The prophecy is of change, transformation, and taking new steps into the Kingdom, walking on the foundations of those who have gone before. This is the content of Theophilus' written records submitted by Luke.
We know that the Israelites rejected both Moshe and the seventy elders' prophecies. What followed was their greed-burial because of the quail when they gathered at least ten times what they should.
Shlach follows with the story of a Sabbath-breaker and the need for the men to wear
tzitzit
(
tzitziyot
) on the four corners of their garments. It was a new commandment, novel, but a reminder of an ancient problem: how does man manage his dual nature, spiritual and natural so that he may enter the Kingdom of the Garden?
If he tends toward the "blue," he might neglect the literal fulfillment of commandments, just "spiritualizing" them. He will forego entering into the physical Land of Israel itself, thinking a spiritual connection is enough.
If he tends toward the natural woolen "white," he will subject those spiritual commandments to natural logic and reason, twisting them until they make sense or fulfill his animal desires. The Kingdom is more than food and drink. It's a little higher.
Jesus
said
to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work.
Do
you not say, 'There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest'? Behold, I say to you,
lift up your eyes
and look on the fields, that they are
white for harvest
.
Already
he who reaps is receiving wages and is gathering fruit for
life eternal
; so that he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together
." (
Jn
4:34-36)
We have to look up to the blue of Heaven even while our feet are on this natural (white) earth.
Yeshua
empowered his forty-day disciples to proclaim the kingdom with the Holy Spirit to the "white" harvest after Shavuot. A pair of "men
" in white
reminded them to quit gazing into heaven and infuse the nations on earth with the message.
Likewise,
Yeshua
commanded the seventy not to be earth-bound with food, money, or even extra shoes, but instead to focus Israel's eyes on the Kingdom of Heaven. Something new, something novel, was happening, but it was not disconnected from the foundation. It would require the disciples to change from followers to leaders. To move without knowing where tomorrow's bread would come from. To be happy with whatever manna or food was set before them each day (Lk 10:1-9).
The 613 knots and wraps of the blue and white
tzitziyot
remind us
the commandments must be infused with the power of the Heavenly
Ruach HaKodesh
to cut our false nostalgia for Egypt, the death from which we were enslaved and imprisoned. We must live with a foot in the Heavenly Garden above and a foot inclined toward Israel and Jerusalem in this natural world along with the white harvest.
Without the Ruach, we will not give the world balanced report of what we have seen and heard. Without the Ruach, we cannot be faithful witnesses to the resurrection of Yeshua and the commandments of Adonai: the double-love of the Father.
What are you writing in your spy novel?
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We still plan to meet for
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We disbursed the 3rd Quarter support funds yesterday, adding extra funds necessary to counter rising food prices. We were also able to assist Hadassah Orphanage in India with their hospitable bills.
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