Seder 112: Numbers 13-14---Caleb and Hebron

The journey from Sinai was proceeding slowly.  Moses had his eyes set on the good (tov in Hebrew) awaiting them in the Promised Land, but too many of the people were focused on perceived negative aspects of their situation (ra in Hebrew).  The camp apparently spent a month at Kibroth-Hataavah and an extra week at Hazeroth.  The overall mindset of the group would have to change for progress to Canaan to be possible.     

So it was worth it for Israel to stay put for another 40 days while a group of 12 tribal leaders took a tour of the Promised Land.  If they could communicate to the group the attractions of the land, the people's minds could be changed.  

One of those attractions was the nearby town of Hebron, where Abraham had spent much time, and where the patriarchs and matriarchs were buried at Machpelah.  The idea of returning to the place where the bones of their ancestors lay had the potential to capture the imaginations of the Israelites.  

Jewish tradition (e.g., b. Sotah 34b) says that this potential was realized for just one of the scouts---Caleb.  The tradition is based on a couple of biblical passages.  One is Numbers 14:24, where God promises that Caleb's descendants would possess the land "into which he went."  Caleb later was granted Hebron (Joshua 14:6-15).  

The other is Numbers 13:22, where the Hebrew says that "they went up into the Negev, and he came to Hebron."  The conclusion is that "he" refers to Caleb, perhaps the only one of the group who bothered to visit Machpelah.  

Seder 112: Numbers 13-14---The Power of Providential Thinking

 In July 2022, the book ranked number 2 on the Publishers Weekly Religion Nonfiction bestseller list was Norman Vincent Peale's The Power of Positive Thinking, a book originally published in 1952.  I was a little surprised to read this, having not heard or thought about this title in years.    

Certainly, though, the importance of how we perceive things is illustrated in Num 13-14, where two groups of men saw the same things on their scouting mission to the land of Canaan but drew entirely different conclusions.  

Here it was a matter of recognizing reality rather than just opting to see things positively.  Joshua and Caleb kept sight of the fact that the King of the Universe was with them.  James Whitman has suggested to me that we see in Joshua and Caleb "the power of providential thinking."

In a sermon at Church of the Messiah on August 13, 2022, Kyle Kettering reflected on the example of Caleb, one of the most admired figures in the Bible.  The name Caleb means "dog," but the reference in this case is not derogatory.  In the Ancient Near East this name and its cognates were used to designate someone as a loyal servant of a deity.  

Kyle described Caleb as a bulldog who clung to a vision of settling in the Promised Land for 40 years and refused to let it go. 

Kyle noted that all twelve of the delegation on the fact-finding mission to Canaan had seen 

• slavery in Egypt.
• a miraculous Exodus.
• Yahweh on the mountain.
• Yahweh in the tabernacle.
• the goodness of the land.
• the people of the land.

In addition, Caleb saw 

• that he was a leader of Judah, a key tribe.
• the courage of friends fail.
• righteous men go weak.
• the need for immediate action (Num 13:30).
• the need to speak up for reality.
• the potential of the land.
• the power of God forgotten.
• thirty-eight years later, the promise fulfilled.

For us, Kyle concluded, the question is, "What do we see?"       

Seder 112: Numbers 13-14---Sending the Spies

 As Numbers 13 opens, it is the summer of the second year of the exodus and the children of Israel are camped just south of Canaan.  In Numbers 13:1-2, God instructs Moses to send a delegation of twelve leaders, one from each tribe (other than Levi), on a fact-finding mission to Canaan.  

Experienced Bible students know that more details are given in Deut 1:19-23, where Moses recalls this moment from the vantage point of 38 and a half years later.  He remembers that Israelites had requested that he authorize such a mission, and that he had been in favor of the idea. 

One textual tradition, preserved in the Samaritan Pentateuch, places Deut 1:20-23a after Num 12 and before Num 13:1.  This tradition favors a sequence of events in which Israelites had requested a fact-finding mission, Moses asked God about the matter, and God than gave his permission/approval for such a mission.  

In light of how things turned out, the advisability of the plan to spy out the land has been questioned.  Certainly there was no requirement for such a plan.  God was leading them and knew everything they would need to know about their destination.  On the other hand, the plan had considerable upside.  If the twelve leaders liked what they saw and became excited about the prospects of life in Canaan, they would communicate their excitement to their tribes, and the people might unite behind Moses. 

In Num 13:4-15, the tribes are listed in an order that intersperses sons of Leah with sons of Rachel.  The ordering may emphasize the importance of unity among the tribes.

The plan can also be seen as a kind of test.  If the Israelites were ready to enter the Promised Land, they would catch Moses' vision of the good land that lay before them.  If they were not yet ready to enter the Promised Land, they might shrink back in fear, indicating that they needed more training and preparation. 

There was plenty in Canaan to create excitement among the spies.  Early in their trip they reached Hebron, where their forefathers had spent much time.  Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Leah were buried nearby at Machpelah (Gen 23).  It would have been a thrill to set foot in this special place where their ancestors had lived.  

This was a land where great agricultural production was possible, as evidenced by the huge cluster of grapes that the spies brought back.  

There were also challenges to be faced.  The land contained a number of warring city states with fortifications, and the inhabitants included giants who were descended from the Nephilim, the offspring of angels and people mentioned in Gen 6:4.  These giants might have the assistance of evil supernatural powers.  

Two of the delegation, Joshua and Caleb, were energized by the opportunities they saw. "Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it," Caleb encouraged the people (Num 13:30).  

Sadly, ten of the twelve members of the delegation were driven to despair by the challenges ahead..  "We seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them," they lamented (v 33).  In their fear they lost sight of the God who was with them.  A midrash on this verse has God saying, "How do you know how you seemed to them?  Perhaps I made you seem to them like angels."  In fact, there was widespread fear of the Israelites among the inhabitants of Canaan, a fear that was still present 38 years later (Josh 2:9).  

The negative report of the spies caused despair in the camp on the night of their return, a night traditionally identified as the Ninth of Ab, a day connected with a number of calamities in Israel's history.  The next day there were threats of mutiny, as many wanted to turn around and go back to Egypt (Num 14:2-4,10).  

Seder 112: Psalm 10---Temporary Success of the Wicked

Psalm 10 is one of 34 psalms that has no superscription in the MT, one of only 3 in Book 1 (the others in Book 1 are Psalms 1 and 2).  In the LXX, there are 17 psalms with no superscription, and Psalms 9 and 10 are combined as Psalm 9.

Like Psalm 73, Psalm 10 deals with the question of the temporary success enjoyed by the wicked (see verses 2-11).  When the wicked exploit others with seeming impunity, they may be emboldened to ramp up their bad behavior and mistake God's patience for indifference.  They imagine that they will "not be moved" (v 6), something that is really only true for those who trust in God (Ps 15:5; 16:8; 125;1).

The wicked tend to use speech as a weapon.  "His mouth is filled with cursing and deceit and oppression; under his tongue are mischief and iniquity" (v 7).  Paul quotes this verse from the LXX in Rom 3:14 as part of a string of scriptures showing man's universal sinfulness.  We shouldn't think of "the wicked" in this psalm as just someone other than us; we all have sinned.      

The psalmist prays in vv 12-15 for God to intervene on behalf of those exploited by the wicked.  He appeals to God's reputation (v 13) and righteous character (v 14) and prays a "thy kingdom come" prayer for the elimination of all evil (v 15).  In verses 16-18, God's universal rule is affirmed.  The success of the wicked is just a temporary phenomenon.