we were like grasshoppers sermon

Lets be intentional and bold, adventurous in being people of faith. Numbers 13:32-33 tells us the whole story of the mistakes made just this side of glory but to sum it all up quickly, THEY REFUSED TO HAVE FAITH THAT GOD WAS IN CONTROL.. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to Myself that when I am, you may be also. Or Paul in Romans chapter 8 says this, If God is for us, who can be against us? ASV. We also invite you to comment below. He is amazed. The blind Master Po (Keye Luke) calls his young student "GRASSHOPPER" to "EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED". Its about making us cynics. read more, Scripture: 4. Lets be a people who are intentional about trusting God, not just when the whim lands upon us, but intentional as we face things that we dont want to be involved in or things that seem too big for us, to trust God to see what He might do to help us accomplish all that He intends for us to accomplish as individuals, as families, as a congregation of His people. A naysayer will only see part of the picture instead of the whole thing. Father, this is Your Word. What does our passage teach us about unbelief? Its about time to go. Do you have powerful people in your life? We dont know what the future holds, but we know who holds the future. Faithlife Sermons is now Logos Sermons. Its interesting to see Gods response to the unbelief of His people. Let him have a spear like a weaver's beam. Unbelief operates with an unwillingness to factor God, and most particularly the goodness of God, into our evaluation of circumstances and need. And then, perhaps the most devastating part of all, the ten spies say that when they scouted out the land they came across the Nephilim, the fallen ones, the sons of Anak, the giant. All rights reserved. Their only reported action was to pick a bunch of grapes so large that it required two men to carry. He promised to give His people the land of Canaan. Thank You, our Father, that Your thoughts are not our thoughts and Your ways are not our ways. Indeed, we need words of life. What year was this posted? Numbers 13:1-33. The twelve spies whom Moses sent in to report on the Promised Land saw the same things. The main character of the series, Kwai Chang Caine, is played by David Carradine. God had already promised them the promised land. They are too many and too large and still, there are giants in the land! While two of the spies, Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh say, We can take the land! Grasshoppers rub their legs together to make chirping sounds. Your perspective needs to change. He is assured that because of Gods promise, it will be so! We'll take a moment to orient ourselves to the passage. Our Torah portion says: In our own eyes, we were like grasshoppers, and so we were in their eyes as well! Says the Midrash: I take no objection to your saying In our own eyes, we were like grasshoppers, but I take offense when you say, and so we were in their eyes as well! How do you know how I made you look to them? You and the stranger shall be the same before theLord:16The same laws and regulations will apply both to you and to the stranger residing among you.. They have completely forgotten the promise of God. Do you see that? It is reassuring to know that man's strength and man's host mean nothing to God. 33We saw the Nephilimthere (the descendants of Anakcome from the Nephilim). And so we were in their sight (Numbers 13:33). We scorn Him. There are not many references to grasshoppers in the Tanakh. Have you ever noticed that before? . Speak words of life to us. Asaph I appreciated our reading of Asaph this morning and recognized that he is remembering those deeds of God as you look through the latter half of Psalm 77 and feeding his heart on the deeds of God for His people. TOPIC: The Mountain Top Moses had said: "Be courageous" (13:20). Any creature of exceptional size. David, 1 Samuel 17, upon seeing Goliath and hearing his taunts to the army of Israel for the first time, asks this question. We see in the very last verse of this passage a mindset that is described. The land that God has described more than once as a land flowing with milk and honey, theyre about to be ushered into that land. Now I see it differently. We end one year and prepare to begin another. They will devour what little you have leftafter the hail, including every tree that is growing in your fields. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! World Travel Bug, Best Things to do in the Finger Lakes: A Four-Seasons Destination, Keeping the Faith in the Land of The Free, The Bittersweets of Traveling: Life as an Emirates Cabin Crew Member, Second Chances: Two Very Different Visits to the Dead Sea, Travel Photo Contests, Classes and Resources, Travel Writing Contests, Classes and Resources, And then, after just praising the land for its bounty, they now spread lies about it, calling it a land devours its inhabitants , how they looked to others. It doesnt take but one or two doubt-casters to get that ball rolling. God had made them giant-killers, but they chose to see themselves as mere grasshoppers. Is it? With the resoureces of Gods Promise, His Provision and His Presence, Christians can overcome the grasshopper complex. December 29, 2019. They and two other species are the only insect-like creatures its permissible to eat: Leviticus 11:20All flying insects that walk on all fours are to be regarded as unclean by you. And I would call us to examine our hearts today to know that indeed we trust none other save Christ. 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. THEME: How to live on the mountain while living in the valley. Lesson number three, young grasshoppers: Worry less about how others see you and more about who you are and about who you are capable of becoming. Shaalu Shalom Yerushalayim activists visit the Sumarin family at their home in East Jerusalem, January 2020. We hear of locust swarms devouring fields and we even see evidence of this in the Bible as one of the plagues. God is your refuge .read more. They know more about whats ahead of them than we will know whats ahead of us. In verse 27, they call the promised land the land which you sent us. If you study other scriptures that describe the promised land, you will see language that is described as the land which the Lord swore to give them. They were afraid and fear made them feel disqualified. They were perceived as giants. While grasshoppers struggle to hear, they have magnified sight. Judges 7:8-14 Both, they and we, are bounded by Gods promise to do good to those who belong to Him. This is the first of three references to carcasses in this passage. Sunday, 15 May 2022 23:27. They see you as grasshoppers, they see you as angels what difference does it make? Caleb, one of two spies who bring a more hopeful account of the land, tries to calm the people and tells them: We should go up at once and possess the land for surely we are able to do so! In fact, you will remember that the apostle Paul describes saving faith as the gift of God. We dont come to saving faith, that is, the confidence that the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ are sufficient to reconcile us to God and cause us to be adopted as His sons and daughters. Do you hear the grasshopper which is at your feet?. i heard this week the true story of a man that got a brand new metal detector. We see obstacles; we see challenges. The verse immediately before the announcement of a new king in Egypt who did not know Joseph describes the Israelites in language that the new king himself might have used: Exodus 1:7The Israelites were exceedingly fruitful; they multiplied greatly, increased in numbersand became so numerous that the land was filled with them. We live the life of faith as we feed our souls on Gods Word, paying attention to the promises Hes made, and as we see from His dealings with us in the past, our own past, our collective past as a congregation, that He is faithful and true. In that sense, we are where they were. A couple of months ago, David Strain was preaching through 1 Peter chapter 2 and he preached on the passage where Peter is urging the people of God to crave the pure spiritual milk of the Word. This report came back and they doubted Gods Word. James O. Davis is the founder and president of Second Billion (TM). read more, Scripture: The naysayers focused on what was seen instead of the One who was allowing them to see. I serve on the Boards of Jerusalem Culture Unlimited (JCU) and Hassadna Jerusalem Music Conservatory. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt? Theyre saying, The Lord is bringing us here to kill us! Unbelief, of this sort, carries with it the echo of Eden God is not good. 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. How long will this people despise Me? In His name we pray and thank You, amen. (Its the term used in Leviticus 11 above.). God is not good. They saw the provision of water from the rock, daily manna, quail when they longed for meat, the visual display of Gods ongoing presence in the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire over them, and following those signs through the wilderness as God led them on their way. Send us your ideas and stories to Author@WeSaidGoTravel.com. His perspective is worth looking at as we close. Numbers 15:14For the generations to come,whenever a stranger or anyone else living among you presents a foodofferingas an aroma pleasing to theLord, they must do exactly as you do. However, the inhabitants are fierce, their cities are well-fortified, and there are even giants there. I give a weekly parsha shiur at Beit Moses home for the elderly in Jerusalem. Now only can we see grasshopper mentality in this passage defined and demonstrated, because of the grace of God, we can see it dissolved! The idiom to cover the eye of the land occurs twice in Exodus 10 (verses 5 and 15), where it refers to locusts: Exodus 10:4If you refuseto let them go, I will bring locustsinto your country tomorrow. But its also a community effort. Click the link in that email to complete registration so you can comment. ( Someone bigger than what is considered Hes brought us here to do us harm. Its life that we find in Christ. And in our own eyes, we were like grasshoppers, and so we were in their eyes as well . Again, we go back to David preparing to approach Goliath alone on behalf of his people. read more, Scripture: Just as surely as there are grasshoppers in the earth there are giants. There is no other save Christ. GOD WANTS US TO EXPERIENCE HIS LOVE AND FELLOWSHIP. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. 8-But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died In verse 33, We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). The writer of Hebrews sees that same thing. Rashi's comment expands upon this concept. If you would open your Bibles to Numbers chapter 13. Have you not heard? We form our understanding from what God tells us. It runs throughout the parsha. 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. I cant serve you God more because I dont have time. Really? As he understood the soldiers of Israels army around him, the visible army of the living God impressive not in themselves but in their connection to their commander in chief, the Lord of hosts, mighty in battle. Some of the best advice I have ever received was when I made a statement like that to a pastor friend. If we can be apathetic, then really it doesnt matter very much about God at all. He takes it personally. We need a new language. In a speech to King Solomon in 2 Chronicles about the power of prayer, God mentions grasshoppers in a context where we would expect locusts to appear: 2 Chronicles 7:12 The Lord appeared to him [Solomon] at night and said: I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a temple for sacrifices. 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. As holy men? Escaped felons, dwindling water supplies, nuclear proliferation, rising antisemitism around the world and on college campuses, racism, this past months report that the number of homeless people in our city right here in Los Angeles went up 12% over the past two years the list goes on and on. 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. We are not grasshoppers but we are called to BEWARE. Here is its fruit. Unbelief isnt about making us atheists. He tells the cautious Israelites not to worry about the existing inhabitants because they will be our bread (Numbers 14:9). It never is as we sit down to open Your Word. "We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them." Our own eyes. Saving faith is the first priority of faith. He shows bravery and courage. Giants are in the land! And we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.". a great leader. Theres nothing new under the sun, but still I want to offer what to my knowledge is a fresh perspective on the grasshoppers. His word is infallible. The oft-repeated description of the land as flowing with milk and honey occurs twice in this episode, once in the spies initial report (above), and again in a speech by Joshua (Numbers 14:8). For this they could be forgiven. Fear is keeping you from your Promised Land. The Bibles in the bookstore are all gone, those one-year chronological Bibles, but were ordering more tomorrow if you want to participate just call the church office. Directly after his reference to the land flowing with milk and honey, Joshua makes another allusion to food. We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them." The ten spies up their game. How could they know this? And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.. To think of a few, Psalm 23, The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He said, Stop looking in the rear view mirror, keep your eyes on the road ahead, and put the pedal to the metal and go!. "Mrs. Smith, something unusual happened today in your sons third grade class. What does the passage tell us about faith? I can say only that injustice has many tentacles, but it stings individuals. The children of Israel had to decide whether they were going to enter the land or stay out. Print This Post. 22He sits enthronedabove the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. We cant send spies into 2020. Gen 6:4 There were giants in the earth in those days They said, The land we explored devours those living in it. That last sentence is the one that really stands out to me. He checked his signal again. Theyve seen ten plagues that brought the great nation of Egypt to its knees, culminating in the night of the Passover and the death of all of Egypts firstborn. Gods people need to trust Him, needs to learn how to trust Him. 103 views, 1 likes, 0 loves, 10 comments, 2 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from Community Wesleyan Church of Baldwinsville, NY: Welcome and thank you for joining us as we wrap up our series on Easter. read more, Scripture: The theme of food and eating is not restricted to the spies report. They all will spoil. A leader should be a hero. And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of Do not fear them.. From this place, Moses sends out the twelve spies, each a leader or a chief from his tribe to spy out the land and bring back a report from south to north, from east to west; Moses charges them what the land is, to see what the land is, to whether the people that dwell in it are strong or weak, few or many, whether the land is good or bad, whether the cities they dwell in are camps or strongholds, whether the land is rich or poor, whether there are trees in it or not. God gives it to us as He brings our dead hearts to life in Christ. The passage says they saw the descendants of Anak there. OVERCOMING THE GRASSHOPPER COMPLEX : . , . ? Please add your name to the petition/email campaign to protect the Sumarins here. Ask Patricia Schultz, 1000 Places to See Before You Die, Millie Goes encourages people to step outside their comfort zone, Who Tells Vivid Visual Stories? 21Throughout the generations to comeyou are to give this offering to theLordfrom the first of your ground meal. 52-week preaching calendar to help you plan your sermons, Customizable sermon manuscripts for verse-by-verse preaching, Preach with creativity and impact throughout the year, Help your church understand God's plan in pain, Call your people to experience a higher freedom, Proclaim the gospel to the ends of the earth, In Modern America who would want to have a grasshopper complex? Satirized by our childhood and criticized by others, would-be giants often shrink further at the thought of overcoming. How to live on the mountain while living in the valley. The report has three parts. When they saw the Nepthalim they said they became like "grasshoppers." We want to look at this "grasshopper" complex later in the message. read more, Scripture: Leave that bad apple in the bunch long enough and watch what happens. A very large person; impressive in size or qualities, Someone who is abnormally large He can preach sermons by the yard . One is, What does the passage teach us about faith? INTRODUCTION: Many times circumstances seem overwhelming like grasshoppers, while at the same time we feel as helpless as a muffin (barley cake). Grasshoppers have the ability to jump away from any kind of predator. When they were originally brought to the border of the promised land just this side of the Jordan river, they sent in twelve spies to survey the land and it was a good land because they came back each and every one with a good report of the unspeakable, uncontainable blessings of a Holy and righteous God. The doubt-caster begins with we cant and moves to exaggerated truth. God showed His love on the cross, His love cost Him everything He had in this life..His life! We shape our understanding of the world around us and the relationships that give texture to it by trusting what God has said to us about Himself, about us, and about everything around us, as well as the future ahead of us. milk, baby food, bath tub, diapers, medicine, toys, etc. Generation Of Grasshoppers (Num.13) ".and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight" (Num.13:33). "You think I cannot see," says the master. Your email address will not be published. We dont need doubt; doubt is our native tongue. Yet by the end of the parsha, he is already including non-Israelites (ger in Hebrew, often translated stranger, as below, but best understood as resident alien) as beneficiaries of, and even, participants in sacrificial offering and associated rituals. PATRICK PATTERSON loves the Lord and if Some parents go further. b : an illustrious warrior c : a man admired for his achievements and noble qualities d : one that shows great courage How do we nourish that? First, we should recall that in the food laws outlined in Leviticus 11, grasshoppers are grouped with locusts. It was published on Jun 16, 2015, Your email address will not be published. Perhaps then I will be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land. A couple of factors point in this direction. If others see us as those things but we are not really those things, what have we accomplished? Old man, how is it that you hear these things? asks the boy. Well, I am glad to know you are not a grasshopper, but our Bible story today is about some people who thought they were like grasshoppers. Father, we thank You that Your ways are good towards us. Its from that birth that God begins to call us to exercise that daily faith, that daily faith in the work of God, the truth of His Word; daily faith in His presence and in His power. Joel Osteen (May-16-2022) Today's Word: Grasshopper Disease. 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.. Copyright 2003-2023 | Outreach, Inc., All rights reserved. Try, If The Preacher Is Dead, The Sermon Will Be Dead, Chasing The Dream, Preaching Greatness, And Knowing Your Audience. Part 14 - Matthew 10:18-19 - Grasshopper, Expect The Unexpected! There is a figure of speech that is called hyperbole where an idea is exaggerated to the extreme to emphasize a point. We see they recognized that the land does flow with milk and honey and they had a sample of the huge fruit. When that happens, division happens. Numbers 13:33 - 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.' on StudyLight.org . Our confidence is in Him to glorify Himself and to accomplish all the good He intends with us and for us. Are we generous? GOD WANTS US TO PRAY AND THEN SEE OUR PRAYERS ANSWERED. I loved the article/sermon. But Moses replied, Are you jealous for my sake? One interesting fact is that they have ears on their bellies. Be of good courage, he tells them, and bring some of the fruit of the land. The spies, as we know, after they spend forty days in the land bring back a mixed report. We dont come to that realization on our own. read more, Scripture: When the spies say, and so we were in their eyes as well, the Kotzker replies: Whats with this?!?!? We scorn Him. Gods love is unconquerable. Almost all other occurrences of the word refer to insects, and indeed, the noun associated with this verb, sheretz, means insect. Numbers 13:26 They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadeshin the Desert of Paran. We can all be guilty of this if we allow it to happen. Do so here this day. We nourish our choices to trust God. 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. What have they, as a nation, seen? How do we live that life of faith? There is one little, ruddy-faced boy who has the blessing and power of God on him and he says, "I'll lick that big giant. According to 2 Corinthians 5:7 we walk by faith and not by sight . In order to do so, we have to resolve that there is nothing bigger than God Almighty. Charlie brown, I read this week of some fears that It will be the new year that well think about in this look at Numbers chapter 13. You cannot see, the boy says when he meets the master for the first time. That just makes them a bigger target. All the people we saw there are of great size. Its the natural disposition, the default position of our hearts. HOW TO HAVE He is Creator, Sustainer, Omnipotent and head over heels in love with you! INTRODUCTION: Do you believe God is a loving God? The nourishing of faith is all of our individual responsibility. KJ21. A doubt-caster takes naysaying to a whole new level. In this world you will have trouble. He says, Lets go and possess not Lets go and conquer. God had already promised. The Hebrew word translated here as multiplied greatly is more often rendered swarmed. We dont always know how to believe, but unbelief comes to us naturally. Bearing in mind all this food, lets turn to the end of the spies report. read more, Scripture: Scripture: Judges 7:8-14. We mine Gods work as we see what He has done for us. The promise of God made to Abraham is about to become reality. You are saying to the One who created time, you dont have time? We mine Gods Word for what He has promised. They walked on dry ground through the Red Sea and were fed manna and quail from heaven, given water from a rock and god had even taken this ragtag bunch of nobodies and made them into a great army defeating armies of other kings. 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? Perhaps you appeared to them as angels?. Imagine how he felt when he realized the signal he was getting was coming from his steel-toed boots. Num 13:32 All the men we saw in it are men of great stature. One more word about being a doubt-caster. As a result, they respond to the chirps of other grasshoppers and do what they do. The giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, We mine Gods Word for what He has promised. The fruit the spies show to their fellow Israelites was already mentioned in the brief account of the 40 days they spent touring the land. This made God furious, which is not surprising. You discern my going out and my lying down; If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. And this is not an intellectual exercise this morning. They gave Moses this account: We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! The mother of a nine-year-old boy named Mark received a phone call in the middle of the afternoon. What kind of people are we? Weve got decisions to make, weve got roles to play, things to do that cant wait on whether or not God might show up. Or sign uphere to join Shaalu Shalom Yerushalayim, Seek Peace Jerusalem, religious activists against evictions in East Jerusalem. JESUS WANTS US TO HAVE A RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM AND BE HIS FRIEND SO WE CAN BE LIKE HIM.

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we were like grasshoppers sermon

we were like grasshoppers sermon