Send On Your Behalf
- Posted on JunpmThu, 30 Jun 2016 23:01:57 -05002016-06-30T23:01:57-05:0011 17, 2016
- in Bible, God, Hebrew, Messiah, Shelach Lecha, Study, Torah, Yeshua
- by Hallelujah Girl
I can remember studying this particular portion, Shlach L’kha, meaning “send on your behalf”, last year while in the book of Bamidbar (Numbers). I believe this was the portion where something clicked and viola! -New Understanding!
As this brand new nation, the Children of Israel stood at the edge of the Land of Israel and Moses tells them that is time for them to conquer it. Might have the Children of Isreal been slightly apprehensive about moving on without the Divine guidance, the manna, the water that followed them, they didn’t ever need new clothes or shoes, they were “spiritual babies“. This chosen nation saw, not just heard, the voice of the Holy One!
Twelve of the truly great leaders of the nation, we are talking the “princes” here, one from each tribe, went to survey the land. They came back with a report that discouraged, or maybe even frightened the people. Caused them to lose their faith, their trust, and ultimately their inheritance. As a result, the children of Israel, with the exception of two, were condemned to death in the Wilderness. Thirty nine years they would roam the desert teaching their children the Words of Torah.
Shalach begins in Bamidbar (Numbers) 13:1, “HASHEM spoke to Moses saying, “Send forth men, if you please, and let them spy out the land of Canaan that I give to the Children of Israel; one man each from his father’s tribe shall you send, every one a leader among them.”
Sh’lach l’cha, “Send forth, if you please” or “Send on your behalf” is our title. The word shelach , שלח, is made up of the three Hebrew letters: shin, lamed, chet. The letter shin pictures flames rising upward, teeth, ivory, to destroy, point of a rock, to devour, consume, something sharp, or El Shaddai. The lamed represents a staff, a cattle goad, rod, prod, learn, to teach, urge forward, or to control (the tongue). The chet shows a fence, an inner room, chamber, to seperate, to cut off from, or to protect. The first the word shelach is used in scripture is Genesis 3:22, Then the Holy One said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil. So now, in case he stretches out his hand and takes also from the Tree of Life and eats and lives forever,”
Three different Torah Portions use the root “shelach”. Earlier this year we studied the portion Beshelach, “When he sent“, an account of the children being sent out of Egypt, to become the chosen nation. This week we study the portion Shelach Lecha, “Send on your behalf“, the sending of the spies to “the land”. It will be back to Genesis in December when we will study Vayishlach, “He Sent”, here Jacob will reach out to his brother Esau, wrestle with the Holy One, get a name change, then face his brother.
Could it be that s’lach or the idea of being sent, is that the Holy One (shin) will guide (lamed) you and protect you (chet)? Could it mean that when we are sent we are to continue to to let HASHEM guide us, teach us, reaching out to that Tree of Life?
It was not the Holy One’s idea to send these spies, hence the words, “if you please”, or “on your behalf”. I believe He wanted the Children of Israel to “Go up, and take possession of the land”. He told them back in Exodus He was sending an angel ahead of them to guard and protect them. After all the Holy One had provided for them up until this point, the miracles they witnessed, actually seeing the voice of HASHEM, and still didn’t trust? These “men” that are to be sent on the people’s behalf, the Hebrew uses the word enosh, meaning men, mankind, advisors, friends, life, another, blood thirsty, certain, fellow, or in the flower of their age. Enosh comes from the root “anash” meaning a mortal, to be weak, sick, incurable. This is not like the more dignified word for man which is “adam“.
Speaking of these men, according to our opening verse these men are supposed to “tur“, תור, the hebrew word for spy, to seek out, or explore. It seems good business to go explore the possibilities of a new venture, check things out. The problem with sending spies, you get their “opinions”. Relying on opinion rather than Revelation can get you stuck in the Wilderness a lot longer than you might want to be.
These men were leaders, according to the Hebrew the word for leader here is Nasiy’, נשיא, pronounced “naw-see”. Nasiy’ means captain, chief, cloud, governor, prince, or ruler. It comes from the word “nasa” or “nasah”, נשא, pronounced naw-saw” meaning lifted, to lift, carry, take arise, able to, armor, suffer to bearer, up, or bring forth.
The portion Shelach Lecha has all the names of these men able to arise and carry out this mission. You, as well, have a mission. To go forth, raising your standard of Torah, following The Messiah! As you go forth to explore, check things out, but always wait on the Divine Revelation in your journey. Being certain to maintain your armor, because satan will always try to sway you from your path.
Shalom, Happy Day,
Hallelujah Girl
Tags: #ReadYourBible #ItsAllAboutYeshua #TorahIsTruth, S'lach, shelach, ShelachLecha