In the section of the Torah titled “Shelach Lecha,” men are sent into Canaan to spy out the challenges that the Children of Israel will face in their upcoming campaign to inhabit the land. Will this Holy Land support them and furnish their needs? Will they be able to overcome the impediments of people, terrain, and weather that hinder the ability to dwell there successfully?
Ten out of twelve of these spies gave a negative report. They discouraged advancement into this conflict. Rejecting the Divine assurance of success resulted in a change of plan. Many of the former slaves would not be allowed to cross the Jordan River. They will wander in the desert for a total of forty years.
After everything that happened, culminating with the miraculous splitting of the Red Sea, how could they be so fearful? How could they not have faith in God’s guarantee that they will prevail? How could they not understand the implications of being led by an actively involved, all-powerful Deity? What’s wrong with them?
The answers to these questions are simple. They were not fearful. They did have faith. They had not learned to understand yet. Nothing was wrong with them; they were acting as expected.
A little history is called for now.
Abraham, the first Jew, recognized the existence of the One God. He had a vision of a purpose for humans on earth. He began to teach about this spiritual Force in the heavenly realm. Other people joined him, educated by his wisdom and perspective. His family and pupils followed him into Egypt to escape a famine in the land. These events transpired about 400 years before God took Abraham’s descendants out of their slavery in Egypt.
This exodus is described as the birth of the Jewish People. Although the religion had already been developing, a new nation emerged after centuries of bondage and subjugation.
As a people, they were in their infancy. Marching out of a life of servitude was the beginning of their spiritual journey, under the tutelage of Moses. Emotional and psychological maturation was still a long way into the future. Like a newborn child, they were focused on their needs, complaining whenever these were not being met.
Departing the horrors of their captive lives in Egypt, the budding Israelites were treated like young, inexperienced children. They were being thrust into a dangerous environment without preparation. Survival in a hostile desert was not a skill taught to slaves in Egypt. Immediate needs were supplied:
They had to be fed.
They had to be led.
They were protected from environmental harm.
They were sheltered against those that might harm them.
They had to be told what to do and what not to do.
They were punished for not following directions.
Dissension was not tolerated.
Decisions were legislated for them.
Just like a little child.
On the other hand, life was a truly miraculous path (a child, if it had mastered language, might come to the same conclusion about its infancy also being phenomenal). Food fell from the sky. Water came out of a rock or a wandering well. Clothes did not deteriorate. Snakes and scorpions and savage beasts did not assault them. Wine may have been served at times.
These Children of Israel could spend their time focused on spiritual pursuits.
They got plenty of healthy exercise.
Disputes were settled by God’s own representative.
All their needs were met.
Everybody found a mate and had a family.
Solutions to things like jealousy, anger, hatred, and so forth, were all proscribed.
In general, triggers for these hurtful emotions were rare.
If you spoke ill of another person, you developed a rash and had to wander off by yourself. Or maybe the earth would open and swallow you alive. An uncomfortable disincentive, that.
What’s not to like about all this?
No cars or pizza or cell phones?
Bah!
This was the life
Who would want to leave and go fight for and plow a new land?
This nation was barely two years old. What kid that age is ready to go out on its own? Weaning has not yet been completed. There is no hurry to enter the Promised Land. As a people, they had not reached adulthood.
They had just been delivered out of the womb of cruel slavery. Suddenly they are supposed to be a nation of adults?
At this age, the nation was learning to grow spiritually as it sought its identity. It was far from capable of accomplishing anything. It was just beginning to learn how to balance on its own two feet, and was unable to make rational decisions. The people may have been chronological grownups, but their coherence was spiritual, not emotional or intellectual or purposeful. They lacked the experience derived from living free lives. They were not yet a nation.
God, being 100% spiritual by nature, judged spiritual achievement to be the most important factor for the next stages of development. The heart may be in the right place, but action in the material world is dependent upon the blossoming of earthly traits and abilities. They had to acquire some “street smarts.”
The recently freed slaves were given time to find themselves individually. They also used this period to develop their unique culture and religion. They needed another 38 years to discover and comprehend ways of living.
While wandering in the desert, God’s shield continued to hover over them. Enfolded in a miraculous lifestyle, cared for and waited upon and protected, they had time to reflect and bloom. They breathed in life’s potentialities. Novel vistas revealed themselves before they had to leap into the complexities of the material world.
But it did feel safe and womb-like where they were. Sheltered safety at any age is instinctively appealing.
The problem for our lives is in the many ways we are drawn to by the very comfortable situations in which we can find ourselves. The miraculous desert wanderings of the Children of Israel was an idyllic island of tranquility and contentment. It did not foster an incentive to experiment with the world. Yet, experimentation is precisely the purpose of being in a physical world. We are attracted to it. We possess the knowledge and the tools to pursue it. We are rewarded in our efforts to tame and control it.
The lesson of the spies is of what holds us back in life. The attraction of a simple life without conflict or travail is powerful. Fascination with a blissful, pastoral, and peaceful life is a barrier. People define their own comfort zones. Living life means finding and walking through a doorway out of that zone.
The spies teach us to resist complacency. It is about the process of learning how to move forward and then doing it. Childhood is merely one of the examples of security and comfort that we must sacrifice to some degree as we each follow our unique paths.
From a preventive health perspective, I observed another valuable life lesson: In my medical practice and in life, I witnessed a frame of mind wherein someone instinctively assumes that, since she or he feels good today, tomorrow will bring the same robust health. This subconscious attitude is common, despite 100% of evidence to the contrary. Everybody eventually experiences bodily deterioration.
It seems reasonable to assume that most people would strongly desire and strive to retard and mitigate the inevitable loss of health and vigor. We should automatically put current and future health and well-being first. Unfortunately, such is not the case. Disease prevention is not a primary ambition. It should be. A passive mindset that “it won’t happen to me” is an excuse to procrastinate and not move forward. It is fundamentally the same mindset held by those living in the desert under God’s umbrella. Both are essentially otherworldly lifestyles that are illusory. It doesn’t last. We have to break free no matter our attachment. Entering the real world via appropriate action is another of the lessons from the episode of the spies.
The recalcitrance of the spies reveals inclinations of fear, poor self-esteem, dearth of faith, and lack of confidence. These are all characteristics of human limitations that block efforts to realize our goals. Rising above them is, indeed, an important task in life. However, emotional and psychological hesitations to leaving must be overcome before facing obstacles to achieving.
Health and Spirit by Dr. Jack Zoldan 