Moses sent out twelve spies to search out the land

Num 13:28  Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there. 

Moses sent out twelve spies to search out the land. They returned with good report about the land; it was indeed a fruitful land. But, there were some problems: The inhabitants were tall and strong, the city was fortified with walls and the children of Anak lived there. Their assessment of the situation was, “We can’t win them.” Only Joshua and Caleb had the confidence of faith, and were assured that God would give them Canaan as an inheritance.

The report of the majority of the spies was one of exaggeration; they magnified the problem a hundred times: “They were so big that we felt as small as grasshoppers" (Numbers 13:33, CEV). We call this the grasshopper complex.

The problem wasn’t that big as they imagined. Instead of focusing on the land which was fruitful, they focused on the problems:

1. The GRAPES were huge; it took two men to carry a cluster of grapes on a pole (verse 23). Well, it was a good problem.

2. The inhabitants were like GIANTS (verse 32).

3. They were like GRASSHOPPERS (verse 33).

4. GOD was missing in the equation; there was no mention of GOD.

Remember the 4Gs – Grapes, Giants, Grasshopper, and God. Unfortunately, they left out God in the plan for otherwise, the roles would be reversed: they would be giants and the inhabitants were grasshoppers.

If they had faith in God and remembered that as God had promised them, He would deliver on His promise, they would not have become fearful: “With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible” (Mark 10:27).

Thinking too little of God sometimes leads us to think too little of ourselves. This was what happened to the Israelites: instead of being giants, they became grasshoppers. But faith in God will cause us to slay giants. We have a good example in David; he was a giant slayer. How did that young boy slay a giant? He had God; he told the giant Goliath: “Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts,” (1 Samuel 17:45).

Have you ever felt as though you were a grasshopper up against a giant – some horrific problem that looms so large you feel it will wipe you out? Remember God.

Caleb and Joshua believed they could slay giants (Numbers 13:30). Faith made them fearless. Unfortunately, that was the Minority Report. The Majority Report consisted of ten chicken-hearted spies who encouraged the people to focus on all the obstacles. In the end, the Majority Report won and the Israelites spent forty years wandering in the wilderness for their decision.

Faith in God will overcome all obstacles: “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Philippians 4:13). The faithless spend their entire time sizing up how big the obstacles are and how life might go wrong.

Faith and Faithless; which are you? Let us be like Caleb and Joshua; they had faith in God to defeat giants. We can slay giants too; when we believed that with God, nothing is impossible!

Jimmy Lau

Psa 119:97  Oh how love I thy law! It is my meditation all the day.