The other important topic of the parsha Shlah is a Divine Providence regarding Israel.
Israel failed to accept the Divine favor by rejecting it in favor of mundane sensory mentality. The mentality which brought about a misery of fear with all it’s consequences. Israel is punished by a terrible decree, prompted by Israelites themselves –
Surely just as you have spoken in my ears thus will I do to you
Israelites complaints were formed by their perceived fear of the future wars – You brought us here to die … God will implement just that – all the adults will die in the desert. To understand the extent of the punishment one have to realize the reality of the life in the desert – the “no man zone” … to the last day …
Yet, the Covenant still lives. It will be continued for the children of those who failed to develop a connection to God in their lifetime. Punishments applied to individuals (those 10 spies who brought about the failure where killed in plaque without delay) and to the whole generation which rejected the Divine offer, but the Covenant lives to be continued by their children. And such individuals who can see the reality on the ground based on their perception of the Divine, Calev and Joshua, are rewarded even in this mundane life.
The unfaithful behavior of Israelites did not alter the Divine Plan concerning Israel but amended the Path leading to it’s implementation.
The path between point A and B of the Divine Providence might not be as short as it ideally could be, but, as Rod Serling would put it, it may be curved, trespassing through a Twilight Zone.
This reality, observed also in our days, is a signature of the eternity of the Covenant as it is documented in our Holly Torah.
