and surely it floweth with milk and honey;
and this is the fruit of it. 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.
Numbers 13:27,28
But then, an account that began on such a positive note suddenly took on an ominous tone: 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. The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south: and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan. And there we saw the giants...and we were in our OWN sight as grasshoppers... (verses 28,29,33) (You did get THAT part: in our OWN sight, didn't you?)
Boo hoo hoo, woe is me, woe is me! And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night. Numbers 14:1. Oh, they liked the part, "land of milk and honey". Then they got the "downside": ALREADY OCCUPIED. AGAIN, they got mad at Moses and Aaron AND God: And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness! And wherefore hath the Lord brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? were it not better for us to return into Egypt? And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt. Numbers 14:2-4. IF ever anyone sounded like a bunch of petty, fickle, whiney, "I can't have MY way" spoiled brats, they did! (And so do we, today!)
Now please understand, these were the SAME folks that God had brought through long long years of bondage and persecution in Egypt. These were the SAME folks that God had spared through all the plagues He sent on Pharaoh. These were the SAME folks that God led by a pillar of cloud in the day and a pillar of fire at night. These were the SAME folks that God had rolled back the waters for so they could cross the Red Sea on dry ground. These were the SAME folks to whom the Lord sent quails and manna for food. These were the SAME folks God caused the sun to stand still in the sky for, as Joshua led them into victory over Amalek. Time after time after time after time after time... God had NEVER failed them!
Out of that ENTIRE crowd, there were FOUR, I said, 4, who remembered what God had done for them time after time: Moses and Aaron, Caleb and Joshua. Joshua and Caleb tried to appeal to them, to remind them of how often God had delivered them: And they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land. If the Lord delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey. Only rebel NOT ye AGAINST THE LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is DEPARTED FROM them, and THE LORD IS with US: fear them not. Numbers 14:7-9.
Too late! GRASSHOPPER MENTALITY had gripped them! They were looking with their OWN sight; they were taking in that which MAN said, not remembering all that God had done for them already! All the previous times, when they had a complaint, something to whine about, they always wanted to stone Moses. This time they were ready to stone Moses, Aaron, Caleb and Joshua! But all the congregation bade stone them with stones. And the glory of the Lord appeared in the tabernacle of the congregation before all the children of Israel. And the Lord said unto Moses, How LONG will this people PROVOKE ME? and HOW LONG WILL IT BE ERE THEY BELIEVE ME, for ALL the signs which I have shewed among them? Numbers 14:10,11.
Let's look at the consequences of that assembly of people's behavior that day (verses 22-45): Ten times the Lord had shown His glory and miracles since they had left Pharaoh behind, but each time they had rebelled against God, and each time, Moses had prayed for their forgiveness, sparing them the chastisement of God. Not this time, though. It was consequence time: for forty years, they would wander in the wilderness to be consumed and die. Any man, from 20 years of age and up, who had murmured against God would die in the wilderness without setting foot into Canaan. (And the ONLY reason God was THAT merciful, the ONLY reason God did not destroy them where they stood, was because Moses pled for mercy from God for them!!) ONLY Caleb and Joshua would live to go into Canaan.
Understand this: the children of Israel had a choice in whose report they believed! The Lord had delivered them, brought them forth out of Egypt's bondage, but that wasn't good enough. He had provided for them EVERY single step of the way since they left Egypt behind, but that wasn't good enough. They had TWO reports to deal with: "Land of milk and honey--we CAN take it!" or "There are giants in the land--we are mere grasshoppers." Despite the bountiful blessings and the rich rewards awaiting them in Canaan, the Israelites were tightly gripped in that mental image of grasshoppers; they could not move forward or backward in their thinking. No wonder they spent the night crying. And no wonder God was so angry at those who so greatly hindered that which He wanted to do for His people!
There may have been giants in the land, and perhaps they did look like grasshoppers compared to them, but God had a perfect track record with these folks! NOT ONCE had He failed to deliver them, to provide for them, to keep them safe from their enemies! He had brought them through just about every kind of persecution and bondage that could be imagined. Yet they were not remembering ANY of that--all they saw were "giants" against their own strength (grasshoppers). At least, they had THAT part right: within themselves, they were no more than mere grasshoppers, when they looked to their OWN strength! The same is true for US today: within our own selves, our own strength, we are NO more than mere grasshoppers!
Let me tell you, Giants to grasshoppers: that is the VERY ratio God prefers! He WANTS the GLORY! Just look at the BENEFITS of us giving God ALL the GLORY: He has made available to us ALL the resources of Heaven! He didn't want them leaning to their own understanding, and He hasn't changed. He doesn't want US doing it either! He didn't want them relying on their own strength, and He hasn't changed. He doesn't want US doing it either! He wanted to do great and mighty things FOR them, if they would but let Him, and He hasn't changed. He wants to do GREAT and MIGHTY things for us, if we would but let Him! Glory to God! Hallelujah! Whose report will YOU believe?
"I never had it THIS bad when I was a sinner. Just look at WHAT ALL I gave up for Jesus!" So we slither right back into the gutter from whence we had been delivered. We turn our backs on God and blame Him for all our sad state: "God did this to me." NEVER MIND that He presents us with trials and tests that are BIGGER than we are so that we can GROW stronger IN HIM! We "forget" that He is LORD OVER ALL, Who wants to do great and mighty things for us. We INSIST on treating Him like He's a pauper! He IS King of King and Lord of Lords! When will WE begin to see Him as that? Whose report will WE believe?
I recall for you, a VERY IMPORTANT portion of verse 33 in Numbers, Chapter 13: ...we were in our own sight... It still gets us in trouble EVERY time, when we cannot see beyond "our own sight"! When we refuse to look with spiritual eyes, eyes of faith and trust in God, we are plunged into deepest doubt and fear, EVERY time, without fail! We MUST trust God--and in so doing, we will see with Caleb's sight: Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it. God rewarded him for his trust and faithfulness, just as He will us, today!
So again, I ask you, "Whose report will YOU believe?" If you know the Lord Jesus Christ as your PERSONAL Savior, you have been set free of sin's bondage. You have been made a Child of THE King. You have the BANK OF HEAVEN at your disposal. BUT there are giants in the land! Giants of fear, worry, doubt, lack of knowledge--are YOU a mere grasshopper or are you an overcomer in Christ--He Who strengthens us? Whose report will YOU believe?
Are you going to miss out on what God wants to do in your life and spend the nights crying? Whose report will YOU believe? Are you going to rely on what you "think" you know or on your own capabilities, which I assure you, will fall FAR SHORT of that which is required to live a victorious life in Christ? Whose report will YOU believe? Are you going to recall all that God has done that has been recorded in the written Word of God? (If you DON'T know it--GET BUSY! Read it, study it, learn it! No wonder we don't have any faith--we don't have any knowledge to base it on! We can't be SURE of what we know when we don't know anything!!! Duh!) Are you going to remember ALL that He has ALREADY done for YOU? Those are ALL REPORTS, my friend. Are you going to ignore THOSE reports? Whose report will YOU believe? That which MAN says canNOT be done, or that which GOD says HE CAN (and WILL) do?
Each of us have a choice to make when trials and times of testing come upon us. We have to decide whose report we are going to believe. There's no middle ground on this, my friends: we either TRUST GOD completely or we don't trust Him at all! There's no "cut and paste" in a time of trial: believing so much of this, so much of that, and a smattering of something else! Do you believe mankind? Or do you believe God? Are you going to limit yourself to man's imperfect ability, or rely on God's UNlimited resources? Are you willing to accept the reassurances of God's Word or can you hear only what man has to say?
I ask you one last time,
"Whose Report Will You Believe?" Copyright © 2001 by Patricia Sikes.
All Rights Reserved.
I've believed the true report, Hallelujah to the Lamb!
I have passed the outer court, O Glory be to God!
I am all on Jesus' side, On the altar sanctified;
To the world and sin I've died, Hallelujah to the Lamb!
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
I have passed the riven vail where the glories never fail.
Hallelujah, Hallelujah!
I am living in the presence of The King!
Lyrics and Music by Charles P. Jones
If you have been blessed, give God the Glory!
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