Glorified

       A song begins with the question: "Whose report will you believe?" The response in the song is, "We will believe the report of the Lord!"

     This week's Sabbath reading portion is titled Sh'lach L'cha, meaning "Send for yourself." The title comes from Numbers Ch. 13: "And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 'Send men to spy out the (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) 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 (nasi/nasa - one lifted up, prince, captain, leader, rising mist, clouds, exalted one, chief man/bear up, lift up, carry, forgive, exalt, rise up, support, sustain, endure) among them." (v. 1-2).

     The LORD stated His plan for the land of Canaan: "...which I am giving (natan - deliver, grant, yield, bring, appoint, recompense, bestow, permit, devote, consecrate, dedicate, be provided) to the children of Israel." There is no guesswork involved here, no grey area of possible misunderstanding. Why is this specific piece of land to be entrusted, as promised from the days of Abraham, into the hands of the children of Israel? We see the designation of the *aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega attached to this land which connects the land to the prophesied Messiah/Christ to come, including His birth, death, resurrection, His return and coming kingdom rule. (see Micah 5:2-5, Ps. 22:1-21, Lk. 24:46-48, Zech. 12:10, Zech. 13:1, Ps. 2:6-12, Isa. 2:1-5, Zech. 9:9-10, Jer. 3:17). The plan of salvation of our God for the whole earth has gone forth and will continue to go forth, and the physical land given to the children of Israel had and will have everything to do with it.

     The spy mission was not just for anyone to carry out, according to the LORD's command. The Hebrew word nasi/nasa  (see above meaning) is used to describe the men to be sent. Only the leaders of each tribe were to go on this mission. This leadership position was elevated both physically and spiritually according to the meaning of the word. These men were walking in a Messianic and resurrection revelation, calling and anointing. Their words carried weight in the eyes of God and of the people. And because of the report that most of these spiritually elevated men brought back, the children of Israel were doomed to wander forty years in the wilderness until the generation who believed the fearful report of the spies would die. The LORD said: "The carcasses of you who have complained against Me shall fall in this wilderness, all of you who were numbered, according to your entire number, from twenty years old and above. Except for Caleb...and Joshua....you shall by no means enter the land which I swore I would make you dwell in. But your little ones, whom you said would be victims, I will bring in, and they shall know the land which you have despised...According to the number of the days in which you spied out the (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) land, forty days, for each day you shall bear your (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) guilt one year, namely forty years, and you shall know (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) My rejection." (Num. 14:29-34, excerpt).

     Not only would Caleb and Joshua still be allowed to enter the land with the younger generation, but scripture tells us that Joshua discerned the reason that the Israelites would have been able to take the land regardless of how strong the dwellers in the land appeared to be. Of the dwellers in the (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) land, Joshua told the people: "The land we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. If the LORD delights (hapes - be pleased with [see Mt. 3:17], delight, please, favor, desire) in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land which flows with milk and honey. Only do not rebel against the LORD, nor fear the (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) people of the land, for they are our bread; their protection (sel/salal/selem - shadow, shade/the idea of hovering over/image likeness, resemblance, empty image, idol) has departed (sur - depart, remove, turn, turn aside, come to an end, retract, reject, abolish, pluck away, withdraw) from them, and the LORD is with us. Do not fear them.' And all the congregation said to stone them with stones..." (Num. 14:7-10, excerpt).

     The people of the land were identified above in written Hebrew as being *aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega people. Perhaps we can gather from the meaning of the Hebrew word for "protection", sel, that they exchanged the prophetic image of the Messiah/Christ for an empty image of an idol, and the *aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega presence turned away from them. These people of the land were descendants of Adam, and then Noah, and would have had knowledge not only of the LORD God of their ancestors, but of the promised Son, the Messiah/Christ. The promise of the Son was made to the serpent back in Genesis in the presence of Adam and Eve, and therefore also to those who would come from them in future generations. (see Gen. 3:14-15). Jesus gave us an example of the *aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega turning away from those who do not retain their knowledge of Him: "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness." (Mt. 7:21-23).

     Joshua, truly walking in the nasi/nasa (see above) calling as an appointed leader of God's people, discerned that the people of the land no longer had the spiritual protection to defend themselves against the Israelites, who were called to walk in the "delight" (see hapes, above) of the LORD. The word of Joshua and Caleb would only be a confirmation in the ears of the people of the plan that the LORD had already disclosed to Moses before the spies were sent out: "...the (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel..." (Num. 13:2)

     This is how important this moment was in the future of the children of Israel. It was a matter of life and death. The only ones who would enter the (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) land out of the spies would be Caleb and Joshua who saw and reported the LORD's vision of the land, and the younger generation of Israelites who had been too young to choose to believe the false report of the majority of the spies.

     The title of this Sabbath's reading portion, Sh'lach L'cha, "Send for yourself," comes from the Hebrew word salah, which means "send/go out, send/go forth, stretch out, extend, let loose, sow, loose, set free, shoot forth, appoint, to inform by messenger." We can see that the word means much more than just "to send." Something spiritual is being let loose, set free, extended and stretched out, shot forth like an arrow. The LORD's purpose was to extend, stretch out and loose the kingdom, Word and will of God into this land with His people. However, the LORD made it plain that what was to be "shot forth" was to extend even further than the immediate land, as He said: "...but truly, as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD..." (Num. 14:21).

     We can see the similarity in the purpose of being salah sent as nasi/nasa leaders in the words of Jesus who told His disciple, Peter, who recognized Jesus as the Messiah/Christ, the Son of the living God by revelation from God: "And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth, will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." (Mt. 16:17-19). These words were not just for Peter, because later, Jesus repeated these words again for all of the disciples. The source of this spiritual authority was His name. (see Mt. 18:18-20).

     The question is, what are we binding and what are we setting free or loosing? The nasi/nasa leaders above who were sent to spy out the land loosed doubt and fear among the Israelites that caused them to miss God. The doubt and fear were so strong that even the revelation words of Caleb and Joshua could not convince the people.

     Like the nasi/nasa leaders of the tribes of Israel, we also are being sent: "So Jesus said to them (the disciples) again, 'Peace to you! As the Father sent Me, I also send you.' And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, 'Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive (aphiemi/hiemi - to send away, to send forth, forgive, keep no longer [loose], lay aside/to send, to go) the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain (krateo/kratos - continue to hold, not let go, be master of, to rule, to seize/power, dominion) the sins of any, they are retained." (Jn. 20:21-23). Our being "sent" in the same manner that Jesus was "sent", is an issue of life and death - the forgiveness or retention of the sins of others.

     As a parallel to the scriptural account of the spies above, after His resurrection, Jesus sent His disciples to go forth as witnesses of Him first in Israel (Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria), the same land of promise as mentioned above, but then also beyond Israel "to the end of the earth." (Acts 1:7-8). The LORD had said the same to Moses when He declared that the whole earth would be full of His glory (see above, Num. 14:21). Specifically Jesus said: "Go (poreuo/peran - depart, go forth, to lead over/beyond, on the other side, to pierce through) into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature...And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover...And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen." (Mk. 16:15-20).

     When we are obedient to the command of the LORD to salah send out or go forth, more is involved than just the immediate goal, which in the case of the nasi/nasa leader spies was to enter into the (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) land. The spiritual effect of that obedience goes far wider until the whole earth is impacted. However, we must go only at the command of the LORD.

     Upon hearing of their error, and the resulting sentence of forty years in the wilderness and death, the Israelites decided then to go up into the Promised Land on their own. Moses warned them, however, that it was too late. They had just been forbidden by God to enter the land. Moses said: "Now why do you transgress the command of the LORD? For this will not succeed. Do not go up lest you be defeated by your enemies, for the LORD is not among you....you shall fall by the sword; because you have turned away from the LORD, the LORD will not be with you.' But they presumed to go up to the mountaintop. Nevertheless, neither the ark of the covenant of the LORD nor Moses departed from the camp." (Num. 14:41-44). The enemy Amalekites and the Canaanites attacked them and drove them back. (v. 45).

      We cannot send ourselves, although it seems like a good thing to do. We must be sent by the LORD. Jesus assured His disciples as He sent them that He would be with them as they obediently went out. (see above, Mk. 16:20). He also said as He sent them after His resurrection: "...and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." (Mt. 28:20, excerpt).

     If you would like to learn more about being sent by the LORD, you can pray with me: "Father, You determine each one of my days. You direct my steps. You give me the words that I speak by Your Holy Spirit. In doing this, You make even my smallest steps to be more effective than I could ever think. Help and direct me, Father, that what I pray, do and say would spread Your glory in all the earth. Be glorified, Father. Be glorified Jesus. Be glorified Holy Spirit on earth as in heaven, for You desire to pour out Your salvation upon the world. You desire that we should live and not die, that we should choose life. Be glorified in Israel, the land where our Savior Jesus Messiah/Christ will return and reign, and in all the nations of the earth, in Jesus' name. AMEN."

*NOTE: aleph-tav written in Hebrew as אֶת, are the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The meaning of the two pictographic Hebrew letters can also be interpreted "Adonai (Lord) of the Cross/Covenant". In the New Testament, these letters are translated as Alpha and Omega written as ΑΩ , the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. These letters are those by which Jesus Christ identifies Himself in the Book of Revelation: see Rev. 1:8, Rev. 21:6, Rev. 22:13.