Hassidout sur Les Nombres 11:27

And this is what appears correct: Behold, the Sages, may their memory be blessed, said (Tanchuma, Sh'lach 5:1): "Send men, etc." (Numbers 13:1) - this text is related (to Isaiah 44:18), "They neither know nor understand; for their eyes are stuck shut so that they cannot see." What did He see, to say, "Send men," after the episode of Miriam? It is simply that it was anticipated by the Holy One, blessed be He, that they would come and utter evil speech against the land [of Israel]. The Holy One, blessed be He, had said that they should not [be able to] say, "We did not know what the penalty for evil speech was." For that reason, the Holy One, blessed be He, put this [story] next to the one [in which] Miriam was afflicted with leprosy, because she had spoken [slander] against her brother, etc. But even so, they did not desire to learn. To here is [the midrash]. But behold, according to this, that which Scripture says above (in the section preceding this), "And Miriam spoke to Aharon about Moshe, etc.," is meaning to say, it is a wonder! The wonder is how two righteous people like this could do something like that, to speak evil speech. For it is well known that it is almost more severe than all of the sins in the Torah; and especially about Moshe, the man of God, who ascended into the heavens. Who would not be afraid about speaking against him! However the Cause of causes, blessed be He, is the One who is awesome in [His] plans for people, such that the thing happened for several reasons: 1) In order to publicize the virtues of Moshe, our teacher, who is the master of the prophets; and God came to elevate him, so that his fear would be on the faces of people. 2) To publicize that the Holy One, blessed be He and blessed be His name, does not neglect the reward of any creature. So it is like the statement of the Sages, may their memory be blessed, "Miriam waited a short time for Moshe, etc. Hence all of the Jewish people stopped for her for seven days, etc." (Sotah 9b). And 3) It - and this is the main one - is in the manner of the statement of the Sages, may their memory be blessed, "The Jewish people was not fitting for such an episode. Rather, it was to give a claim to penitents, etc." (Avodah Zarah 4b). And likewise, Aharon and Miriam were not fitting for that speech, were it not because the Jewish people [would] say, "Send men before us, etc." And Moshe took counsel with the Omnipresent, and His blessed name arranged that the matter of Aharon and Miriam would be first. For maybe, as a result of it, the scouts would see the rebuke for themselves and not speak evil slander against the land. For from the language of [the Sages], may there memory be blessed - in that they said, "What did He see, to say, 'Send men,' after the episode of Miriam" - it is implied that the Jewish people's saying, "Send me," was before the episode of Miriam. For if not, there is no reason to wonder about this: Perhaps that is how it was, this episode was after that episode! But it follows that since it was before the episode of Miriam, it was certainly [also] after the coming together of the elders, for it is surely from this that Miriam's speech was drawn. For Miriam was next to Tzipporah when it was said to Moshe (Numbers 11:27), "Eldad and Meidad are prophesying in the camp." [In response,] Tzipporah said, "Woe to the wives of those [men], etc." - as per the statement of the Sages, may their memory be blessed (Sifrei, Bemidbar 99:1; cited in Yalkut Shimoni on Torah 736; and Rashi on Numbers 12:1). However the Cause of causes, blessed be He and blessed be His name, waited to answer and say, "You send," until He arranged for the speech of Aharon and Miriam, and that which happened to the righteous Miriam as a result of it, first - so that the scouts would accept the rebuke and be afraid for their lives, to say evil slander. Yet even though the scouts saw this with their eyes, they did not place it into their hearts to be afraid of this, but acted according to their evil wills. And it is to this that they, may their memory be blessed, hinted to with their words, "this text is related to, 'They neither know nor understand; for their eyes are stuck shut so that they cannot see.'" The understanding of this is that they did not want to know and to understand, even from what they saw with their eyes, not to do this.

Yet another approach to the above verse. In this verse the ‎Torah speaks of the performance of righteousness preceding the ‎performance of justice, i.e. ‎לעשות צדקה ומשפט‎, whereas ‎elsewhere we find the reverse order of ‎עושה משפט וצדקה‎. ‎‎[Actually, in connection with G’d we do not find that order ‎anywhere, we only find the sequence of ‎עושה חסד, משפט ‏וצדקה‎,“performing deeds of loving kindness, justice and ‎righteousness,” in that order. David, on the other hand is ‎described as :‎ויהי דוד עושה משפט וצדקה‎, “David used to mete out ‎justice and righteousness.” Ed.] It is a rule that G’d always ‎dispenses His largesse to the Jewish people, this being His only ‎pleasure. The fact that the Jewish people are the recipients of His ‎goodness gives Him satisfaction. Our sages in Pessachim 112 ‎phrased it thus: “the mother cow is more desirous of suckling her ‎calf than the calf is anxious to drink her milk.” [I am omitting the ‎balance of this paragraph, as I have not understood it. Ed.]‎
We know that Yitzchok personified the characteristic/virtue ‎of ‎גבורה‎, steadfast bravery in face of overwhelming odds. We also ‎know that G’d in His love for the Jewish people, arranged for the ‎‎“cure” before the onset of the disease. (Megillah 13) ‎‎(Compare Rashi who describes the period of the Jews’ exile ‎and bondage as having commenced with the birth of Yitzchok. ‎Exodus 12,40) The Torah’s describing the birth of Moav and ‎Ammon, even before the birth of Yitzchok, is another example of ‎the redemption being prepared by G’d even before the onset of ‎exile, seeing that the messiah will be a descendant of Moav, Ruth ‎in David’s maternal ancestry.‎