Shabbath Shalom
We read this week about the 12 spies who entered the land of Canaan to see the land of Israel. Ten of the spies reported back about the giants living there who were undefeatable and the exceptionally large fruits that feed these strong giants. Two of the spies disagreed with the ten and told the desert dwellers that although the enemy appeared to be large and strong, the giants did not have Hashem behind them and surely the children of Israel could win easily if this is what Hashem wanted them to have. All of these people witnessed the successful war with Amelek within the same year, yet they were ready to stone the two spies to death for saying that Hashem could help them win.
Hashem then decides to forbid every living person in the camp that didn’t believe that they could be successful against the resident of Canaan to live for 40 years in the desert, one year for each day the land was surveilled. This is the reason for the 40 years in the desert, lack of trust in Moshe the leader, and lack of trust in Hashem’s power. Hashem did forgive the people, but the consequence is that they did not merit to enter the land of Israel in their lifetimes.
Unable to accept the consequence, some of the men went into the land to fight the giants, despite Moshe telling them that Hashem would not help them and they would surely die. The consequence of this was that they swiftly were cut down by the Canaanites and Amelekites.
The lesson I take from this is that one’s peace in life is determined by the amount of uncertainty one can tolerate. There was unlimited uncertainty in scouting the land of Israel, and that led to irrational fear. Then not being able to go into the land of Canaan and having to live nomadic lives in the desert wilderness is another uncertainty that led them to an unsuccessful war.
Uncertainty is the fear that what we don’t know about the future hurts us now. However, the fear that uncertainty causes is also irrational for a believer. For a believer knows that Hashem does everything and it is for our ultimate benefit, thus fearing the future is irrational for one with this belief. Thus, “He who fears One fears none.”
-Asher
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