The opinions, facts and any media content in them are presented solely by the authors, and neither The Times of Israel nor its partners assume any responsibility for them. But there is an even bigger list, a list so big that it makes this first list look puny and small like a little tiny grasshopper its a list of the things in this world which give us hope and strength. We mine Gods Word but we also mine Gods work. Hello John. The Hebrew word translated here as multiplied greatly is more often rendered swarmed. It comes from seeing how God has worked among them. With that in mind, I want to look at three things from our passage as we prepare to read it. But take heart! Here we see the naysayer seeing the obstacles instead of the Omnipotent. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside still waters; He restores my soul. Isaiah 43 listen to what the prophet Isaiah, speaking on Gods behalf at Gods inspiration, says to the people of God. 4. Please add your name to the petition/email campaign to protect the Sumarins here. There is no room for stinking thinking. Facing The Giants: Overcoming The Grasshopper Syndrome Sermon by Jay Shaalu Shalom Yerushalayim activists visit the Sumarin family at their home in East Jerusalem, January 2020. The lie comes in the assumption that there is no help for us. 14: 6-15 The Osmond Brothers in the 1970s had a song that said, One bad apple dont spoil the whole bunch. Really? Numbers 13:33. Now only can we see grasshopper mentality in this passage defined and demonstrated, because of the grace of God, we can see it dissolved! We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them." The ten spies up their game. But they say, We cant take this land. Numbers 13:30Then Calebsilenced the people before Moses and said, We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.. Moses had said: "Be courageous" (13:20). Lets be intentional and bold, adventurous in being people of faith. There are many kinds of darkness. Perspective matters. Think about who these people were they had seen God bring plague and hardship on the nation of Egypt and been delivered completely from slavery. We form our understanding from what God tells us. We can be cynical, we can be untrusting. Our Scripture today gives us the report from these spies: They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh in the Desert of Paran. The promise of God made to Abraham is about to become reality. In that sense, we are where they were. We trust none other to be right with God save the person of Jesus Christ and the work that He has done on our behalf to save sinners. Twelve men were sent out to spy out the land of Canaan. Numbers 13:33-14:9, Denomination: The Moabites fear that Israel will devour the land: Numbers 22:2Now Balak son of Zipporsaw all that Israel had done to the Amorites,3and Moab was terrified because there were so many people. Have you not understoodsince the earth was founded? The people of Israel had been held captives in Israel. For they are stronger than we - , .. They see you as grasshoppers, they see you as angels what difference does it make? Like Grasshoppers - First Presbyterian Church, Jackson, Mississippi One that springs to mind is that the spies seem to have been worried in equal measure about being overpowered by the existing inhabitants of the land and being feared by them. Before we pray and read our passage, lets think about where this passage kind of finds us. JESUS WANTS US TO CAST OUT DEMONS AND REJOICE THAT OUR NAMES ARE WRITTEN IN THE HIS BOOK OF LIFE, Scriptures: That includes your mind by the way. The naysayers of the grasshopper mentality will eventually make doubt-casters. He ended up digging a 12 foot hole and could not find anything. HE WANTS US TO LAY HANDS ON THE SICK AND DYING AND SEE THEM HEALED. Numbers 13:23When they reached the Valley of Eshkol. How long will they not believe in Me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them? The Hebrew word that the English Standard Version translates despise also means to scorn or abhor. Thats what you and I do when we make a choice to refuse to trust God. Amen? We are still grappling with the challenge of how to rule justly a land in which the strangers who live among us are the people we once conquered. Send us your ideas and stories to Author@WeSaidGoTravel.com. We mine Gods Word for what He has promised. Those big people in Canaan did not say to the spies, "Hey, you little fellows look like grasshoppers to us.". 22He sits enthronedabove the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. Where does that kind of confidence come from? Some parents go further. They said, The land we explored devours those living in it. And we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.". Its OK to be afraid, young grasshoppers, but as the Midrash suggests fear is a type of darkness that must be managed. Step On the Grasshoppers! - Wonderful Jesus! 7-For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. Well make sure you have a Bible. He dug and could not find anything. They can also fly. These men heard this report and begin to make sounds that didnt have a lot of thought with them and before long, the chirping was throughout the people. Hes a non-factor. Were aware of insufficiencies, real and perceived. A Leader Is A Hero It happened with the Israelites. Agriculturally speaking, they say, the land indeed flows with milk and honey. I cant serve the Lord because its too hard. Sometimes in life and in our spirituality we have to understand that nothing worth having comes easy. Two of them carried it on a pole between them, along with some pomegranatesand figs. We want to look at this grasshopper complex later in the message. You cannot see, the boy says when he meets the master for the first time. Being part of something larger and lasting, McCarthy extols ties at Knesset, vows full support for Israeli security against Iran, White House reiterates Netanyahu to get invite but visit not currently planned, Levin accuses US administration of cooperating with judicial overhaul opponents, Gantz: No progress in talks with government on judicial reform compromise, Report: Israel got intel on Irans secret nuclear weapons program from executed spy, TA police chief refuses to discuss transfer with commissioner: An invalid procedure. How to live on the mountain while living in the valley. As Rabbi Steven Kushner puts it: their sin wasnt simply that they lost faith or that the scouts had misrepresented what they had seen Their failure wasnt even that they had low self-esteem, that they saw themselves as grasshoppers. Gods love is a sovereign, everlasting love. He is a big man with muscles like an Olympic weight lifter, a voice that booms and a laugh that is full and infectious. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); 2022 Copyright Wesaidgotravel. On a mountain where 90 Its about making us cynics. Its life that we find in Christ. YET GOD WANTS TO GIVE US SO MUCH MORE THAN THAT. - , . THE HOLY SPIRIT WANTS TO EMPOWER US AND FILL US WITH GRACE SO THAT WE CAN BE A LIGHTHOUSE TO A LOST AND DYING WORLD AROUND US. KJ21. Pastor Peter Spragg of Emmanuel Baptist Church (Bloomfield, ON) preaches a sermon called We Seemed Like Grasshoppers. You are invited to learn more about Second Billion by visiting www.billion.tv. read more, Scripture: them saying, "We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them" (13:33). If we have any other hope of personal goodness or personal ability, dash it, because Jesus is all. He explains himself this way. 23But all other flying insects that have four legs you are to regard as unclean. read more, Scripture: 13 When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command grasshoppers to devour the land or send a plague among my people, 14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 15The community is to have the same rules for you and for the stranger residing among you; this is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. It never is as we sit down to open Your Word. They know more than we do. A couple of years ago around this time of year I was sitting right up there in that portion of the balcony up there and Ralph Kelley was preaching and challenged us at the beginning of 2018 to be a people of the Word. A naysayer will only see part of the picture instead of the whole thing. 2023 The Times of Israel , All Rights Reserved, A Bible scholar on the streets of Jerusalem. They all will spoil. Grasshoppers rub their legs together to make chirping sounds. For the foolishness of God is wiser than mans wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than mans strength. We scorn Him. Are we good? John Milton said: The Mind in its own place can make a heaven or hell. A godly vision requires risk-taking & must be intentional in glorifying God. Numbers 13:30-33. Would that we had died in this wilderness! Rather it was their preoccupation with how others saw them that was their sin.. So, he would dig some more. Hes carried us this far ultimately just to do us in.. Is it possible that the quality the spies see in themselves, and believe that the lands existing inhabitants see in them, is not their small size but their ravenous hunger? The report they bring back has two main themes, the existing inhabitants of the land and, our focus here, food. I cant serve you God more because I dont have time. Really? 8-But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died Ill stop the moment He shows up. Unbelief tells us, God wont be showing up. Thats the attitude of the spies who bring the bad report. I give a weekly parsha shiur at Beit Moses home for the elderly in Jerusalem. John Hagee (January-10-2023) Daily Devotional: Numbers 13:33 - There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight. 33 We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). I hope you had a marvelous celebration of Christmas with family and friends and loved ones and that you have a festive beginning of the new year. Their eyes. 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Satirized by our childhood and criticized by others, would-be giants often shrink further at the thought of overcoming. and let me show you a different perspective. Scripture: Judges 7:8-14. Its come from reflecting on the fact that God has brought them this far not to forsake them. I wish that all the, The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan.. We seemed . A doubt-caster takes naysaying to a whole new level. A leader should be a hero. Listen to this from Hebrews chapter 10. In His name we pray and thank You, amen. I have good news. WHY DO WE TAKE OUR EYES OFF THE ONE WHO CAN WALK ON WATER WHEN THE STORM IS RAGING ALL AROUND US?