The story is a picture of failed leadership. Each of the spies was a leader of his tribe. With the exception of Caleb and Joshua, none of them could see beyond the challenges of the land. This could be attributed in part to Moses’ framing of their mission in white and black terms. Are the people few or many? Is the land fertile or not? The truth is there are always positives and negatives. An accurate evaluation would have stated both. They conclude with the psychologically revealing comment—we felt like helpless grasshoppers and so we must have appeared to them. Of course, they really couldn’t know how they appeared to the inhabitants of the land. This is all projection as is clear from another biblical text. In the Book of Joshua when two spies are sent to Jericho, they are told that the inhabitants are quaking in fear of the approaching Israelites!

        As soon as their report is challenged by Caleb, the other spies become defensive. They respond with fantasy—a land that devours its people and a land of giants. In turn, the people are terrified by their leaders who offer no plan. They revert to their old standby—why did we leave Egypt. In response, God responds with God’s own standby--I give up on this people. Moses mollifies God who then condemns the whole generation to die in the desert. 

        Leadership doesn’t consist of exaggerated fantasies about your enemies or ignoring the difficulties that lie ahead. Leadership is about giving hope and confidence that together we can do what needs to be done to get to a better place. It is about a realistic vision of what lies ahead. Shelakh Lekha–send for yourself–parallels Lekh Lekha, God’s command to Abraham to go forth from all that is familiar to him, whether it is family or birthplace. Shelakh Lekha is a call to explore not the familiar but the unknown future. Both require us not to give into fear of change. Both demand an inner journey as well as a physical one.