Jeff Schreve - Spies, Lies, and Grasshoppers
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If you wanna be a bold believer in these wicked days, you must learn to walk by faith and not by sight. Sadly, most Christians, they do just the opposite, and they miss out on the abundant life God has for them. So, grab your Bible and turn to Numbers 13 for a message I’ve titled, «Spies, Lies, & Grasshoppers».
So the text that we wanna look at today is a very, very famous text. It was a major fail in the lives of the children of Israel. They came out of Egypt and they came to Mount Sinai. God led them out of the realm of Pharaoh and He brought them to Mount Sinai to receive the law from God, to have an experience with God on the mountain as Moses did, and the people all saw that. And then from there, they went up to a place called Kadesh Barnea, which is just on the outskirts of the Promised Land. But if you know anything about the children of Israel and their history, they didn’t go into the Promised Land when they were supposed to. It was about a year from the time that they left Egypt until they got to Kadesh Barnea. And they were supposed to go into the Promised Land, but they didn’t. Why? Because they didn’t exercise faith. They walked by sight and not by faith. And it was a disaster.
This is what the scripture says, Numbers chapter 13, verse 25: «When they returned from spying out the land, at the end of forty days, 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». They had grapes, a cluster of grapes, that was carried by two men between a pole. I had a Bible teacher when I was in college, he said, «In the land of promise, you had grapes as big as coconuts». I mean, it was something, and they had pomegranates and figs, and the fruit was amazing. «Thus, they told them,» verse 27, «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.'»
Three truths for today. Are you walking by faith or walking by sight? Truth number one, God has a promised land for His people. A promised land for His people. Now, Genesis 12 is the initial promise God makes to a man named Abram who’s gonna get his name changed to Abraham about a land. He says, «Abram, go to a land that I will show you and I will make you a great nation and I will bless you and you will be a blessing and I’ll bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you». And Abraham who didn’t have any kids, he just by faith went and he left Ur of the Chaldees where he lived and he went to the land that God would show him. And that land was known as the Promised Land, the land of Canaan.
«On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, 'To your descendants I have given this land, From the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates: the Kenite and the Kenizzite and the Kadmonite, the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Rephaim, '» also known as Rephaites. They’re the «terrible ones». That’s what that word means. «'And the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Girgashite and the Jebusite.'» Canaan wasn’t a empty, vacant piece of property. There are people that live there and they’re the «ites,» you know, they have all these «ites,» that’s who lives there. The ites, Canaanites, Jebusites, Girgashites. If your last name’s «Ite,» that’s where you live. And so the Lord says, «I’m gonna give you that land».
So it’s an actual land and it’s an abundant land. The Promised Land is a euphemism for abundance. It is what God promised, but God promised abundance. And how did they refer to that land? «It’s a land flowing with milk and honey». That’s what the Lord said to Moses in Exodus chapter 3. He said, «Moses, I’m gonna send you to deliver My people and I’m gonna bring you into the land that I promised Abram and his descendants, to a land flowing with milk and honey». That means it is rich, it is full, it is abundant. That’s a good thing when you have a land flowing with milk and honey. So in a literal sense, it’s a land. In a metaphorical sense, it’s abundance. That’s what the promised land indicates to you and to me, abundance. He wants them to live in the Spirit-filled life where there’s love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control. Against such things, there is no law.
«I came that you might have life,» Jesus said, «and you might have it abundantly». So the truth, the first truth, God has a Promised Land for His people. Truth number two, God requires us to exercise faith to enjoy His promises. Now, the Christian life is a life of faith. How do you become a Christian? «For by grace, you’ve been saved through faith and that not of yourselves; it is a gift of God, not as a result of works lest anyone should boast». At Colossians 2:6: «As you have received Christ Jesus, the Lord, so walk in Him».
So how did we receive Christ? By faith. That takes us out of Egypt. And how do we go into the Promised Land? By faith. So to enjoy the promises of God, you have to walk by faith and not sight. And if you walk by sight, you’re not going to experience those. Now, faith, just in very simple terms, is believing that God is telling the truth. And when you believe God is telling the truth, you act upon that. You believe that, «Hey, God says we’re gonna take this promised land. We’re gonna kick out all the ites. Okay, I believe God. Let’s go and kick some -ite». That’s what you do. You believe God. And so here is what happened. So, they come back, 12 spies: «Thus they told him, 'We went in to the land, '» verse 27, «'where you sent us; and it certainly does flow with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.'»
God wasn’t blowing smoke on that. This is an amazing place. «'Nevertheless, '» here it comes. «'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.'» Anak, the descendants are the Anakim. That word means long neck. They’re the giants, they’re part of the Anakim, the Nephilim, the Rapheites, they’re all kind of in the same group. They’re giants.
«'And we saw the descendants of Anak there. 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.' Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, 'We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we shall surely overcome it.' But the men who had gone up with him,» the ten spies, «'We are not able to go up against the people, for they are too strong for us.' 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. 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.'»
We’re here in the wilderness, Kadesh Barnea. We wanna go into the Promised Land, but it takes faith to do that. And we walk by faith, not by sight, God says, but not these people. With the exception of Joshua and Caleb and Moses and Aaron, they were walking by sight. Now, faith is never focused on the circumstances. It’s never focused on the circumstances. But these ten faithless spies, they were completely focused on the circumstances. Now, some of the things that they said are not necessarily wrong in terms of their assessment of the land. Were the cities fortified? Yes, you read about Jericho in the book of Joshua had those tall walls. Cities were fortified. Cities were large. Were the descendants of Anak there? Yes. The Anakim, are they giants? Yes. Where you run into trouble is when you get to verse 31: «The men had gone up with him. 'We are not able to go up against this people for they are too strong for us.'»
Everything for them was circumstances. They were just looking at how difficult things were and they focused on the problem and not the problem solver. Joshua and Caleb were focused on the problem solver. These guys focused on the insurmountable circumstances, and Joshua and Caleb focused on the invincible Savior, the invincible Christ, the God who can deliver. Hey, if you’re walking by faith, you’re not focused on circumstances. So the big question, what are you focused on today? Chris preached a few weeks ago about Peter walking on the water with Jesus and he got out of the boat and he responded to the Lord’s word: «Lord, if it’s really You, bid me come to You on the water,» and He said, «Come».
And so, Peter got out of the boat and, one leg over and the next leg over, he’s holding on to the side, and then he lets go, and he’s walking on the water to get to Jesus. And it was awesome. It was wonderful, it was glorious. «And seeing the wind, he became afraid». Faith is never focused on the circumstances and faith doesn’t see a grasshopper. Faith sees a super conqueror. Faith doesn’t see a grasshopper. I’ve entitled this message, «Spies, Lies, & Grasshoppers». Why? Comes from verse 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». «We’re not able. How are we gonna go into the Promised Land»? They’re telling the congregation this, the ten spies.
«There’s no way we can go into the Promised Land. There are giants in there. You remember Og, King of Bashan, his bed was 13 and 1/ 2 feet tall? That’s what these guys are like. And there are giants and every single one of those people are people of great size». Well, not every single one of them. And yeah, I mean, just law of averages. Not everybody is 13 feet tall, not everybody is as big as Goliath. There are some that are like that. But they just start painting this picture of doom and gloom. «And what are we? They’re giants and we’re just grasshoppers. I mean, they can just stomp us like nothing».
Now, what does the Lord say? He says, Romans 8:37, «But in all these things, we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. We are super-conquerors». In the Greek, it’s hupernikao. Nike gets their name from Nikao, the God Nike, but it comes from the Greek, «Nikao,» which means a conqueror and hupernikao means a super-conqueror. What are we in Jesus Christ? We’re not people who are unable. «I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me». I’m a super-conqueror in the Lord Jesus Christ. I keep my eyes on Him and I can do anything that He calls me to do. And if He calls me to go after the «ites» in Canaan, I can do it, not in my strength but in His strength.
And that’s why Caleb said in verse 30: «We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we shall surely overcome». Faith doesn’t see a grasshopper. Faith sees a super-conqueror. So God requires us to exercise faith to enjoy His promises. And then truth number three, God warns us of the severe consequences of unbelief. Severe consequences of unbelief. Numbers chapter 14: they give a bad report. «Then all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night. And 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! 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? ' So they said to one another, 'Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt.'»
Good night. «Then Moses and Aaron», I added the «good night». That’s just a little aside. «Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces in the presence of all the assembly of the congregation and the sons of Israel». They fell on their faces in prayer. That is such a strong word to leaders today. When the natives get restless, when things start going off the rails, what do we need to do? We need to pray. And so they fell on their faces and prayed, «And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, of those who had spied out the land, they tore their clothes». I mean, they’re in anguish. «And they spoke to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, saying, 'The land which we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land.'»
It’s the land flowing with milk and honey. «'If the LORD is pleased with us, then He will bring us into this land, and give it to us, a land which flows with milk and honey. Only do not rebel against the LORD; and do not fear the people of the land, for they shall be our prey.'» You think they’re gonna eat us like grasshoppers? They’re gonna be our prey. We’re gonna eat them. Anakim is the breakfast of champions. We’re gonna eat those guys. «He said, 'Their protection has been removed from them, and the LORD is with us; do not fear them.'» Oh, okay, that won the day. «But all the congregations said to stone them with stones. Then the glory of the LORD appeared in the tent of meeting to all the sons of Israel. And the LORD said to Moses, 'How long will this people spurn Me? How long will they not believe in Me, despite all the signs which I have performed in their midst? I will smite them with pestilence and dispossess them, and I will make you a nation greater and mightier than they.'»
God warns us in this passage of scripture of the severe consequences of unbelief. Now, how does unbelief work? First, you take your eyes off Jesus, you start walking by sight instead of faith. And when you start focusing in on the circumstances, take your eyes off the problem solver and focus in on the problems, then sight turns to doubt. You start to doubt: «We’re unable. We’re not gonna be able to look how tall these guys are. They’re giants, they’re big and fierce and ferocious. They’re the rephaim, they’re the terrible ones». And you go from sight to doubt to unbelief. The sight produces the fear and fuels the doubt. And then you start to believe the lies and then you sink into a place of unbelief.
Now, notice some things about unbelief. First of all, unbelief leads to grumbling and it reveals itself through the grumbling. «And all the sons of Israel,» verse 2, «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! '» Underscore that because that’s gonna come back to haunt them. But they’re grumbling.
Now, that’s not the first time they grumbled at Moses. You type into a Google search or to a Bible search and type in the word «grumble» and you see what comes up. They grumbled at him on three other occasions. Well, unbelief shows itself in grumbling and it leads, secondly, to rebellion. That’s what Joshua said. He says, «If the LORD,» verse 8, «is pleased with us, then He will bring us into this land, and give it to us, a land which flows with milk and honey. Only do not rebel against the LORD; and do not fear the people of the land, for they shall be our prey». They’re our food. «Their protection has been removed from them, and the LORD is with us; do not fear them». Unbelief leads to rebellion. «And rebellion,» 1 Samuel chapter 15, «is as the sin of witchcraft and divination». It’s serious business to rebel against the King of kings and Lord of lords. It’s serious business to tell God, «Hey, we’re not going into that land that You’ve been promising us since the time of Abraham».
There’s been hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years. That’s what they longed for and lived for, was the Promised Land. «We’re not going in. What we’re gonna do, God, is we’re gonna appoint a leader and go back to Egypt». Can you imagine? Egypt is a picture of the lost condition. And they’re saying, «We wanna go back to where it was when we were under the thumb of Pharaoh». Such a slap in the face of God. And that’s why He said, «How long will this people spurn Me? How long will they not believe in Me, despite all the signs which I have done and performed in their midst»? To rebel against the Lord, that comes out of a heart of unbelief. And their unbelief led them to rebel against the Lord. And the unbelief then leads to death. From sight to doubt to unbelief, to the grumbling to the rebellion to the judgment that comes from God and the judgment was death.
Look in verse 28. So here’s the picture. So God tells Moses, «I’m gonna destroy them all». Some people read that and say, «Well, Moses had to walk God off the ledge. He had to talk Him off the ledge». «God, please don’t do that». But it was just a test. God didn’t wanna do that. And Moses basically says to the Lord, «Well, Lord, Your reputation is at stake, Your name is at stake, because the Egyptians will hear that You couldn’t bring them in and then it’s gonna reflect poorly on You. So pardon their iniquity». And the Lord said, «All right, I will». But then this is what He says, beginning in verse 28: «Moses, say to them, 'As I live, ' says the LORD, 'just of you have spoken in My hearing, so I will surely do to you; your corpses shall fall in this wilderness, even all your numbered men, according to your complete number from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against Me.'» The grumblers were going to die.
«'Surely you shall not come into the land in which I swore to settle you, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun. Your children, however, whom you said would become a prey… I will bring them in, and they shall know the land which you have rejected. But as for you, your corpses shall fall in this wilderness. And your sons shall be shepherds for forty years in this wilderness, and they shall suffer for your unfaithfulness, until your corpses lie in the wilderness. According to the number of days which you spied out the land, forty days, for every day you shall bear your guilt a year, even forty years, and you shall know My opposition. I, the LORD, have spoken, surely this I will do to all this evil congregation who are gathered together against Me. In this wilderness they shall be destroyed, and there they shall die.' As for the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land and who returned and made all the congregation grumble against him by bringing out a bad report concerning the land, even those men who brought out the very bad report of the land died by a plague before the LORD. 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».
Their unbelief brought death. When we refuse to believe God, we are basically calling God a liar. When you call the God of the universe who is holy, holy, holy a liar, them’s fighting words. God hates that. Truth is not what you think, it’s not what you feel, it’s not what you want it to be. Truth is what God says. And Jesus said, «I am the way and the truth and the life, and no one comes to the Father but through Me». Hebrews chapter 3, verse 19 says they were not able to enter into the land. Why? Because of unbelief.
Now listen, as we close out today, they’re one of three places. Everybody in this room, everybody under the sound of my voice. You’re in one of three places. You’re either in Egypt. You’ve never been saved. You’ve never put your faith and trust in Jesus and Jesus alone for your salvation. You’re in Egypt and what is the word to you? You need to exercise faith and put your faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. You put your faith where God put your sins, and where did God put your sins? On the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. And you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.
Now, some of you are in the wilderness. Sadly, most Christians, this is where we live. We live in the wilderness, where we’re walking by sight and not by faith. And the Lord says, «How do you get out of this? You start believing Me. You walk by faith and not by sight,» and you can enter in to the land flowing with milk and honey, to the life flowing with milk and honey. Doesn’t mean there are not problems in there. Doesn’t mean you’re not gonna have to fight in there, because there are «ites» in here. It means that you can conquer in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you can experience the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control. Against such things there is no law. Where are you living today? Here’s the question: will you walk by faith and not by sight and let God bless your life?