How is it that Eleazar made it into the Promised Land?

[rjcjid]

Do we know how is it that Eleazar made it into the Promised Land?



In Numbers 14 we see that the people did not believe God would give them victory over the people in the Promised Land and grumbled against the Lord.



We know that due to their grumbling against the Gods plan and their lack of faith, all of Israel was made to wander in the wilderness until, all those that were 20yrs and older, and numbered among those capable to go to war, and all those that grumbled and did not believe, died.

We know that Eleazar was a Levite, was married and had a son at the time of the 12 spies. (Exodus 6:25)


Was Eleazar not 20yr old at the time of the 12 spies?

Did he not grumble against the Lord?
 
Were the Levites numbered with those capable of going to war?
( Numbers 14:29)
Were the Levites somehow exempt of "wandering " judgement?

Note: I've been led to believe that the reference to "all of your number" referred a count of those capable of going to war. Is that correct?

[alon]

Feb 17, 2017 9:59:12 GMT -8 rjcjid said:

Do we know how is it that Eleazar made it into the Promised Land?



In Numbers 14 we see that the people did not believe God would give them victory over the people in the Promised Land and grumbled against the Lord.



We know that due to their grumbling against the Gods plan and their lack of faith, all of Israel was made to wander in the wilderness until, all those that were 20yrs and older, and numbered among those capable to go to war, and all those that grumbled and did not believe, died.

We know that Eleazar was a Levite, was married and had a son at the time of the 12 spies. (Exodus 6:25)


Was Eleazar not 20yr old at the time of the 12 spies?

Did he not grumble against the Lord?
 
Were the Levites numbered with those capable of going to war?
( Numbers 14:29)
Were the Levites somehow exempt of "wandering " judgement?

Note: I've been led to believe that the reference to "all of your number" referred a count of those capable of going to war. Is that correct?

We are told of the birth of Eleazar in Ex 6:23. He was the third son of Aaron and Elishaba; Nadav and Avihu being older. The geneology is given right about the time the Exodus was to begin. So it is very likely he was well under 20 when the spies returned with the bad report. As for his having a family, we don't know at what age he might have married. 

I don't recall being told specifically that Eleazar did or did not grumble at the report. Regardless, if he'd been over 20 he should have died (Which makes me think he wasn't as well). As for "those capable of going to war" being the criteria, I doubt it. Newlywed men, those with infirmities and the old would be exempt from going to war, but not from being judged for their lack of trust in Elohim who had just miraculously delivered them.

Dan C

[alon]

One thing Rav S always stresses is to be careful when we see words like "all" or "everyone." So I dug a bit more; and there is a lot of controversy on this topic. Most of it centers on the point of this only being about the census of the men of military age. Some even go so far as to call all the Israelite men cowards, saying this is why the conquest did not happen. So let's deal with this first. I don't see tis as a viable reason. If you think about it, this was not just a military invasion. EVERYONE would be taking part in one way or another. They all were supposed to go in. Furthermore scripture does not support the claims against only those of fighting age as being at fault:  

Numbers 13:25-14:4 (NASB)  The Spies’ Reports

25 When they returned from spying out the land, at the end of forty days, 26 they proceeded to come to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the sons of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh; and they brought back word to them and to all the congregation and showed them the fruit of the land. 27 Thus they told him, and said, “We went in to the land where you sent us; and it certainly does flow with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. 28 Nevertheless, the people who live in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large; and moreover, we saw the descendants of Anak there. 29 Amalek is living in the land of the Negev and the Hittites and the Jebusites and the Amorites are living in the hill country, and the Canaanites are living by the sea and by the side of the Jordan.”

30 Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we will surely overcome it.” 31 But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are too strong for us.” 32 So they gave out to the sons of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone, in spying it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great size. 33 There also we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim); and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”

The People Rebel
14 Then all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night. 2 All the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron; and the whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! 3 Why is the Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become plunder; would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?” 4 So they said to one another, “Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt.”

According to scripture, the entire camp was for returning to Egypt. They all refused to go in. But here we have this absolute which Rav S warns about. "All" the people; except of course Moshe and Aharon and Calev. But what about Yehoshua, the man who would succeed Moshe? 

Numbers 14:22-24 (NASB)  Surely all the men who have seen My glory and My signs which I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet have put Me to the test these ten times and have not listened to My voice,  shall by no means see the land which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who spurned Me see it.  But My servant Caleb, because he has had a different spirit and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land which he entered, and his descendants shall take possession of it.

Only Calev is granted the repreive, at least as far as we are initially told. This probably because he was so outspoken. Yet later:

Numbers 14:38 (NASB)  But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive out of those men who went to spy out the land.

So now it is recorded that both Calev and Yehoshua, the two who brought back the good report, were to be allowed to enter the land. Not only that, it is recorded in the present perfect tense, as though it had already happened. Why this change in tense as well as listing Yehoshua here and not earlier, I can't say. But it does bring up the possibility that others may also have been allowed in. I don't think this is the case, but I do have to allow for the possibility.

In any event, Eleazar would have had to be very young at this time because he lived through the 40 yrs, through the conquest and on into the occupation and settlement of Ha Eretz Yisroel. Indeed, he assisted with the allotment of the lands. He succeeded as Cohen HaGadol thus continuing the Aaronic line in that capacity after the deaths of his older brothers and later his father. So if as some speculate he was over 20 but spared anyhow, I would venture to speculate that this is why. However, regardless what my children may have told you, I am not old enough to have witnessed these things; so it is just speculation. 

Dan ( ) C

edit: someone who actually passed HS English, feel free to correct me on what tense that is ...