The doubt-caster begins with we cant and moves to exaggerated truth. But do your actions & attitudes reflect that? Have you not heard? Our 3000+ year-old tradition of wisdom and learning, Our community right here and communities like it across the Jewish world, Our Jewish belief that better days are ahead of us, not behind us, These doctors, these nurses who brought healing with their hands and their hearts their intellect, Our tikvah our hope that our world can be perfected, that it will be perfected and that WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE in our world today, we can make things better, more just, more loving, more peaceful. Rather it was their preoccupation with how others saw them that was their sin., Lesson number three, young grasshoppers: Worry less about how others see you and more about, Who Are We? To think of a few, Psalm 23, The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. even the darkness will not be dark to you; you knit me together in my mothers womb. 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. Will we have fooled God? Lets place this passage. Is it? 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 . They prepare for He immediately started digging to found the prize. If we can be apathetic, then really it doesnt matter very much about God at all. They weren't grasshoppers. The other groups would have never been as united and their efforts would have failed. Copyright 2003-2023 | Outreach, Inc., All rights reserved. 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. They said, The land we explored devours those living in it. We need the language of confidence in God. "You cannot see," the boy says when he meets the master for the first time. Twelve men were sent out to spy out the land of Canaan. 28So tell them, As surely as I live,declares theLord, I will do to youthe very thing I heard you say:29In this wilderness your carcasses will fallevery one of you twenty years old or morewho was counted in the censusand who has grumbled against me. In Israel, I've taught Bible at Hebrew University's International School and, currently, in the Department of Biblical Studies at Tel Aviv University, where I am a Teaching Fellow and chair the Academic Steering Committee of the Orit Guardians MA program for Ethiopian Jews. Of all things, says the boy, to live in darkness must be the worst., Fear, says the master, is the only darkness.. and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight" (Num. We also invite you to comment below. If you would open your Bibles to Numbers chapter 13. We can sense more. Faith doesnt come naturally to us, does it? We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes. I talk to many people that have this mentality. 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. The Osmond Brothers in the 1970s had a song that said, One bad apple dont spoil the whole bunch. Really? Grasshoppers rub their legs together to make chirping sounds. I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. For full copyright, reproduction and permission information, please visit the First Presbyterian ChurchCopyright, Reproduction & Permission statement. read more, Scripture: My challenge to us is this lets be a people of faith. When my back is against the wall and Ive got nowhere else to go and events are pressing down on me, the question Im always having to ask is, Am I willing to trust God here? 6Now come and put a curseon these people, because they are too powerful for me. Romans 5:6-8, Denomination: John the Baptist ate locusts and honey. ( Someone bigger than what is considered Again, we go back to David preparing to approach Goliath alone on behalf of his people. However, the inhabitants are fierce, their cities are well-fortified, and there are even giants there. And I would call us to examine our hearts today to know that indeed we trust none other save Christ. The same thing happens with a grasshopper mentality. There we saw the giants . In verse 26, we see that the men came back with a report. They saw that this was indeed everything that God had told them it was BUT TEN OF THOSE TWELVE EXPLORERS NOTICED THE SIZE OF THE ENEMY WAITING TO BE DEFEATED. He is the only hope we have to be right with God, to be reconciled to Him, to be adopted by Him as His sons and daughters. Our confidence is in Him to glorify Himself and to accomplish all the good He intends with us and for us. Ten spies bring a negative report. The spies who go out into the land see many things but what, ultimately, do they understand? What have they, as a nation, seen? Kwai Chang is the orphaned son of an American man and a Chinese woman As a boy, he comes to study martial arts and wisdom at a Shaolin Temple. In verse 30, Caleb says: He shows some heart. They start exaggerating and trying to scare the Israelites. Here is its fruit. GOD WANTS US TO PRAY AND THEN SEE OUR PRAYERS ANSWERED. It will be the new year that well think about in this look at Numbers chapter 13. The 2018 season of excavation at a Late Roman synagogue at Huqoq revealed more fascinating mosaics, including this one referencing Numbers 13:23: two Israelite spies sent by Moses to scout out the land of Canaan carrying a pole with a cluster of grapes. Its OK to be afraid, young grasshoppers, but as the Midrash suggests fear is a type of darkness that must be managed. But if we, rebel not against the Lord, neither fear ye the people o, Moving Beyond A Grasshopper Complex Now I see it differently. 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. Perhaps they acted like What is the purpose of this verse? How do we create that? 21Throughout the generations to comeyou are to give this offering to theLordfrom the first of your ground meal. Matthew 10:18-19. Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel. Thats verse 2 of chapter 13. What does the passage tell us about faith? WHY DO WE DO THAT? 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. PATRICK PATTERSON loves the Lord and if 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. Joshua and Caleb believed that God had brought them that far to keep His promise, in light of all that He had done for them to that point, in light of His sure promise to plant them in the land that He had promised their ancestors. Both seem to be a great source of protein. Lets be intentional and bold, adventurous in being people of faith. GOD WANTS US TO EXPERIENCE HIS LOVE AND FELLOWSHIP. Do you have powerful people in your life? Thats not a problem. ); and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight." Now, that's natural. We hate Him. Note with me that these are the children of those who have died in the desert because of their doubt and unbelief. He turns the Midrash on its head. JESUS WANTS US TO HAVE A RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM AND BE HIS FRIEND SO WE CAN BE LIKE HIM. 4. Exodus 1:7The Israelites were exceedingly fruitful; Numbers 22: A people has come out of Egypt; Please use the following structure: example@domain.com, Send me The Times of Israel Daily Edition. TEXT: Numbers 13: 25-33; 14: 6-10; Josh. But before that, a request: please add your name to a petition/email campaign here to protect a Palestinian family, the Sumarins, who are facing unjust eviction from their East Jerusalem home. Will we have fooled ourselves? Therefore honor God with your body. That person will always say no and have a pessimistic or negative view of the outcome. The Bible says in. How do we access that? This is in the midst of the report from the spies: But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it. Then the men who had gone up with him said, We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are. So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height. Its natural for the scouts to be afraid they are a group of former slaves who must imagine what it would mean to conquer a land populated by other nations with armies and fortified cities and men of great stature. A Leader Is A Hero They all will spoil. The writer of Hebrews sees that same thing. read more, Scripture: Hello John. "Of all things," says the boy, "to live in . Gods people need to trust Him, needs to learn how to trust Him. Introduction: One of my favorite Comic scenes, is when Charlie brown goes to Lucy for some counseling advice. Has it not been toldyou from the beginning? 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. I remember as a kid watching the TV series called "KUNG FU" staring David Caradine. YET GOD WANTS TO GIVE US SO MUCH MORE THAN THAT. 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. After an eleven day journey from Sinai, they find themselves here at the wilderness of Paran, Kadesh Barnea. With God at our side, life as a grasshopper in His care is good. In this weeks parsha, Shelach Lecha (Numbers 13:1-15:41), Moses sends twelve spies, one from each tribe, to scout out the Promised Land. How do we nourish that? Since then, since the realization of that promise, Hes made abundant promises to His people that have to do with His presence, with our wellbeing, with the bright future Hes planned for all that are His. This weeks Torah portion offers us several grasshopper lessons. The Israelites remain skeptical, and God gets extremely angry: Numbers 14:27How long will this wicked community grumble against me? This post presents a new please correct me if Im wrong reading of what the spies in this weeks parsha mean when they say that they were like grasshoppers in their own eyes and in the eyes of the existing inhabitants of the Promised Land. 20Present a loaf from the first of your ground mealand present it as an offering from the threshing floor. Its a good land. If you have hope in anything else, get Christ today. Gods love is unconquerable. There they reported to themand to the whole. HE WANTS US TO LAY HANDS ON THE SICK AND DYING AND SEE THEM HEALED. Send us your ideas and stories to Author@WeSaidGoTravel.com. 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. read more, Scripture: I give a weekly parsha shiur at Beit Moses home for the elderly in Jerusalem. But take heart! It is reassuring to know that mans strength and mans host mean nothing to God. He is assured that because of Gods promise, it will be so! Our wives and our little ones will become a prey! Please note that the posts on The Blogs are contributed by third parties. But Moses replied, Are you jealous for my sake? 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. supports HTML5 video, Sermon by A very large person; impressive in size or qualities, Someone who is abnormally large The purpose of God will propel them into the land eventually. This made God furious, which is not surprising. And now they hear through Moses what God has said. The report they bring back has two main themes, the existing inhabitants of the land and, our focus here, food. . Amen? Hear us, as we make our prayer in Jesus name, amen. (Its the term used in Leviticus 11 above.). 13:32, 33, NKJV). This is a case of hyperbole. 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. Its life that we find in Christ. Evangelical/Non-Denominational. God showed His love on the cross, His love cost Him everything He had in this life..His life! Unbelief operates with an unwillingness to factor God, and most particularly the goodness of God, into our evaluation of circumstances and need. Copyright 2003-2023 | Outreach, Inc., All rights reserved. Numbers 13:30-33. 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. Its the natural disposition, the default position of our hearts. read more, Scripture: He promised to give His people the land of Canaan. Some of you might remember the old 1970s television show, Kung Fu which aired from 1972-1975 on ABC. We can be more. Faithlife Sermons is now Logos Sermons. 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. The lie comes in the assumption that there is no help for us. Down deep, do you really believe that God is a loving God? While grasshoppers struggle to hear, they have magnified sight. All rights reserved. Yet for all they have experienced about God, for the good report they could have given at testimony time, they lacked the faith to enter the promised land. The spies are certain that the Canaanites see them as but grasshoppers. Its a new beginning. We want to look at this grasshopper complex later in the message. They know more about whats ahead of them than we will know whats ahead of us. There is a figure of speech that is called hyperbole where an idea is exaggerated to the extreme to emphasize a point. 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. Judges 7:8-14 Some of you have been wandering in your own wilderness for a long time. - , . The land that God promised them the land and they only had to go and process it. God chose Moses to lead them out of Egypt into a land that he had promised them. Giants are in the land! You can read about their long and complex history here and here. To view recordings of our entire services, visit our Facebook page. Shaalu Shalom Yerushalayim activists visit the Sumarin family at their home in East Jerusalem, January 2020. We cant find out what November will be like. The peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord, now and forever. Theres no reckoning of confidence in God as they make their report. 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? As people appear to God looking down from the heavens, so the Israelites looked to the existing inhabitants of the promised land. Is it to instigate fear? 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. 1 a : a mythological or legendary figure often of divine descent endowed with great strength or ability As surely as the Israelites eventually will be led into the land, we will be led into another year. Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. Sermon by Billy Dempsey on December 29, 2019. And Edmond Dantes of course crying out to God for justice and mercy, the jailor says, You cry out to God. Finally, back in our parsha, the challah offering thats specified in Numbers 15 becomes obligatory once the Israelites have eaten their first meal in the land: Numbers 15:17 TheLordsaid to Moses,18Speak to the Israelites and say to them: When you enter the land to which I am taking you19and you eat the food of the land,present a portion as an offering to theLord. Well see much at home and at work, among friends and coworkers and extended family that will make us feel like grasshoppers insufficient, weak, unable, unprepared. Here is its fruit. Gods love is a sovereign, everlasting love. Your email address will not be published. Rather it was their preoccupation with how others saw them that was their sin.. Numbers 13:33 said: "There we saw the giants (the sons of Anak . For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. Jesus, in His last few hours with His disciples, John 14, says this, Let not your hearts be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. What do you care how you appear in the eyes of others. (Itturey Torah, 5, p. 83). 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. They get on the southern edge of the Promised Land, and they get a glimpse of this land and its inhabitants. 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. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another all the more as you see the day drawing near. We have an obligation as the church of God to nourish faith among each other. We must learn to dream big for God for As A Man Thinks In His Heart, So Is He (Pro. 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. In verse 33, We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). 14: 6-15 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; When I was woven together in the depths of the earth. He is amazed. Are we kind? We cant send spies into 2020. , . Why is the Lord bringing us to this land to fall by the sword? If you would open your Bibles to Numbers chapter 13. God brought them there to keep faith, not to destroy them.
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