Turning Giants into Grasshoppers - 1Numbers 13:33 (NIV) "... We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them."
Israel stood on the border of the Promised Land at Kadesh-Barnea. All they had to do was "Go up and possess the land." They would not do so because ten of the twelve spies. Moses sent the spies into the land and they brought back negative reports and frightened the people with stories of giants.
Numbers 14:6-9 (NIV) "Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had explored the land, tore their clothes {7} and said to the entire Israelite assembly, "The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. {8} If the LORD is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. {9} Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone, but the LORD is with us. Do not be afraid of them."
Numbers 14:1-4 (NIV) "That night all the people of the community raised their voices and wept aloud. All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, "If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this desert! Why is the LORD bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn't it be better for us to go back to Egypt?" And they said to each other, ‘We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt.'"
Moses told the Israelites that they would wander in the wilderness for forty years for not believing in God. Then the next morning the Israelites got up and decided to take Canaan without God.
Numbers 14:40-45 (NIV) "Early the next morning they went up toward the high hill country. "We have sinned," they said. "We will go up to the place the LORD promised." {41} But Moses said, "Why are you disobeying the Lord's command? This will not succeed! {42} Do not go up, because the LORD is not with you. You will be defeated by your enemies, {43} for the Amalekites and Canaanites will face you there. Because you have turned away from the LORD, he will not be with you and you will fall by the sword." {44} Nevertheless, in their presumption they went up toward the high hill country, though neither Moses nor the ark of the Lord's covenant moved from the camp. {45} Then the Amalekites and Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and attacked them and beat them down all the way to Hormah."
Now, in Joshua chapter six the children of Israel had just finished a 40-year march in the wilderness because of their lack of faith. They wandered in the wilderness because they turned giants into grasshoppers.
When do giants become grasshoppers? When we allow the enemy to be made bigger than life! When we calculate without God's help, giants become grasshoppers! When we don't know That God makes us conquerors! We do this when we magnify our problems—blow them out of proportion. That's how we turn giants into grasshoppers.
In Numbers 13, the Israelites were calculating their own strength and ability to handle the problem alone. They did not calculate God's help into the equation. Making a choice about the direction of our lives without faith in God turns a molehill into a mountain and giants into grasshoppers. When we have more faith in our problems potential to overwhelm us, than we have in God's ability to rescue us giants become grasshoppers. They saw themselves powerless to handle the problems they faced. They believed their problems were more than they could handle—even with God's help. "We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, ..." (Num 13:33).
It is popular in our society to believe that we are victims of our situations or our circumstances. Society emphasizes the problem rather than the person That is a major mistake. We turn giants into grasshoppers when we rely on our personal strength.
When the Israelites took inventory of their problems in light of their personal strength, God's giants became grasshoppers. Some say my personal faith will carry me through. They mean that their personal strength will see them through. It has nothing to do with faith in God. It is a faith in our self. That faith will never be stronger than one's own personal strength.
Solomon said, Proverbs 3:5 (NIV) "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight."
Faith is only as good as its object.
Faith is not valid simply because it is enthusiastic and intense. That's fanaticism. A fanatic is a person who has incredible faith, but the object of his faith may not be valid. Faith is only as valid as the faithfulness of the object. You can have great faith in thick ice and you will be safe. You can have the same amount of faith in thin ice and you will meet disaster. All the faith in the world will not make thin ice safe. Faith is only as good as its object. The object of faith must be valid.
When the Israelites decided to go, they thought they could succeed without God. They were leaning on their faith in themselves. No doubt they thought they had the means to solve the problem. God did not bless their self-deceived plans. They were defeated.
Without God our problems become magnified. Numbers 13:33 "...We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes . . ."
When do giants become grasshoppers? When WE do it!
Jesus said, Matthew 17:20 (NIV) "I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you'"
This verse reads like an extravagant statement. There is no doubt as to what Jesus is saying. He is saying that nothing really important will ever be done without faith. With faith we can accomplish things that otherwise would appear to be impossible.
Isaiah said, 40:4-5 "Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain" To the Jews the phrases, the raising of valleys and the lowering of mountains signified the removal of difficulties and the showing of the way around an obstacle.
Jesus is saying that faith in God is the instrument God uses to remove all kinds of mountains of difficulties in our lives. Jesus is saying if you have the right kind of faith, every difficulty can be solved, and the hardest task can be accomplished. Today we must learn the power faith can wield in our lives. A man of faith says, "I can," while the man without faith says, "I can't."
The twelve spies were sent out to spy out the land. Ten said, "We can't take it because the giants in the land are too great for us. Two said they could take it. Ten said, "We were grasshoppers in their sight." Both groups were right!! It is not so much the quantity of our faith, as the quality. Jesus says, "If you have faith like a mustard seed, that faith can remove mountains."
Jesus is saying: "It really does not matter how much faith you have. If that faith is living, rooted, and centered in God, it can do things as impossible, unthinkable, and unbelievable as the moving of mountains."
Grasshoppers become Giants when we have faith in the work of God. Forty years earlier, Joshua and Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, "We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it." Caleb and Joshua were calculating God's strength. We are not alone. God is our helper.
The giants were not the problem. It was Israel's heart.
Joshua and Caleb understood that (2 Cor 10:3-5 NIV). ". . . though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ"
The battle for Jericho was a spiritual battle. What military commander would resort to such tactics? Jericho was the first obstacle in the path of Israel's domination of Palestine. It was said to be the strongest and best-fortified city in the land. It was in a key defensive position.
Jericho was located on five to seven acres of land. It was surrounded by a double wall. There were actually two walls divided by a fifteen-foot space. The outer wall was six feet thick, and the inner wall was twelve feet thick. Both were about thirty feet high. The people of Jericho felt secure within their walls and believed they would protect them from the Israelites and their God.
Joshua 5:13-15 (NIV) "Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, "Are you for us or for our enemies?" {14} "Neither," he replied, "but as commander of the army of the LORD I have now come." Then Joshua fell face down to the ground in reverence, and asked him, "What message does my Lord have for his servant?" {15} The commander of the Lord's army replied, "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy." And Joshua did so."
Whose orders will you follow? The commander of the army of the Lord gave Joshua the battle plan. The men of war were to march around the walls of Jericho once each day for six days without saying a word or making audible sounds (Joshua 6:3-4, 10).
Seven priests carrying trumpets of rams' horns, and the priests bearing the Ark of the Covenant followed them. On the seventh day, the people were to march around the walls seven times. After the seventh round, the priests were to give a blast from their trumpets and the people were to shout with a loud voice. God promised that when they did this the walls would fall down flat (Joshua 6:5).
The Lord told Joshua before he took the first step to march around the city,
Joshua 6:2 "See I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men."
We Must Open Our Eyes so we see God's Help!
If you can't see God, you are like the grasshopper! Our task is to look for God and His direction!! We not only need to do what He says, we need to do it WHEN He says.