we were like grasshoppers sermon

Numbers 13:23When they reached the Valley of Eshkol. My photo. Some of you might remember the old 1970s television show, Kung Fu which aired from 1972-1975 on ABC. Pastor Peter Spragg of Emmanuel Baptist Church (Bloomfield, ON) preaches a sermon called We Seemed Like Grasshoppers. There are not many references to grasshoppers in the Tanakh. Sometimes we, like those spies, motivated by fear, see ourselves as little better than insects. Such is the case of the Israelites. Spot on for me today. John 3:16 Father, we thank You that Your ways are good towards us. But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. INTRODUCTION: Do you believe God is a loving God? Charlie brown, I read this week of some fears that Perhaps then I will be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land. They are bread for us. They know more about whats ahead of them than we will know whats ahead of us. 1 John 4:7-12, Denomination: He told Moses to send some men over to explore the land. Asaph is decrying the prosperity of the wicked while the righteous, it seemed, know only suffering. The grasshopper mentality always begins with a low estimate of ourselves. If you think you're an insect, don't be surprised when everybody around you treats you like an insect - looks upon you like a worm, or a beetle, or a bug! And now they hear through Moses what God has said. Unbelief isnt about making us atheists. Grasshoppers and locusts are of the same insect order. 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. The boy looks down and sees the grasshopper. 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. As holy men? 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. We are like grasshoppers in their sight, and the are like giants.". Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. In fact, if we humans could jump like they do, we could jump the length of a football field. Is it? TEXT: Joshua 14:6-15; Numbers 13:26-33 TITLE: GRASSHOPPER MENTALITY Throughout this message I will be referring back to Numbers 13. 7-For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. God gives it to us as He brings our dead hearts to life in Christ. After an eleven day journey from Sinai, they find themselves here at the wilderness of Paran, Kadesh Barnea. If you have hope in anything else, get Christ today. 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? He tells the cautious Israelites not to worry about the existing inhabitants because they will be our bread (Numbers 14:9). But its also a community effort. But the most compelling support for my reading comes from other encounters between the Israelites and hostile foreign powers. The doubt-caster begins with we cant and moves to exaggerated truth. We hate Him. 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. Unbelief tells us that who God is and His attitude and intentions towards us dont really matter in the way events fall out. He explains himself this way. There they reported to themand to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land. Judges 7:8-14. But one thing is certain: it should not involve injustice and ruthless exploitation that make us feared and hated. They are called upon to trust God for that very enterprise. Fear is keeping you from your Promised Land. Are we kind? Lets be self-conscious, intentional, bold, adventurous about trusting God, choosing to trust God for what He has promised to do, for what He has promised to give, for how He has promised to help. Its life that we find in Christ. Over 600,000 Israelites were delivered from the captivity in Egypt and wandered for years in the wilderness anticipating going into the Promised Land, which the Bible describes as flowing with milk and honey. Grasshoppers have the ability to jump away from any kind of predator. read more, Scripture: That just makes them a bigger target. Our wives and our little ones will become a prey! A naysayer is person that does not believe anything good can come out of the situation. Ten spies bring a negative report. ? 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. If we have any other hope of personal goodness or personal ability, dash it, because Jesus is all. The reality of time as God has created it will propel us forward into 2020, whether we want it to or not. Grasshoppers rub their legs together to make chirping sounds. Now I see it differently. 33We saw the Nephilimthere (the descendants of Anakcome from the Nephilim). Twelve men were sent out to spy out the land of Canaan. Unbelief operates with an unwillingness to factor God, and most particularly the goodness of God, into our evaluation of circumstances and need. Indeed, we need words of life. . It was a theme last week too, when the Israelites complain about manna and are given a nauseating over-supply of quails, and it will return next week, when the earth opens its mouth and swallows the rebellious Korach and his band. Or, perhaps, as fierce and clever warriors. GOD, GRASSHOPPERS AND A BARLEY CAKE Do so here this day. They weren't grasshoppers. Sermon by Billy Dempsey on December 29, 2019. God showed His love on the cross, His love cost Him everything He had in this life..His life! Father, this is Your Word. With that in mind, I want to look at three things from our passage as we prepare to read it. Heres His response as He questions Moses. We dont always know how to believe, but unbelief comes to us naturally. If we can be apathetic, then really it doesnt matter very much about God at all. and let me show you a different perspective. Please participate by adding your voice to our growing global community. How do we live that life of faith? Rashi's comment expands upon this concept. 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., Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it., But the men who had gone up with him said, We cant attack those people; they are stronger than we are. And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. Hes brought us here to take away from us. Their only reported action was to pick a bunch of grapes so large that it required two men to carry. 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. He speaks with confidence. 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. 31But the men who had gone up with him said, We cant attack those people; they are stronger than we are.32And they spread among the Israelites a bad reportabout the land they had explored. 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.". It never is as we sit down to open Your Word. When you pass through the waters I will be with you, and through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. Try, If The Preacher Is Dead, The Sermon Will Be Dead, Chasing The Dream, Preaching Greatness, And Knowing Your Audience. 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. More significantly, parshat Balak, which is coming up soon, opens with statements by the Moabites and their king that mirror exactly the sentiment I think the spies have in mind when they describe themselves as grasshoppers. 1. One is, What does the passage teach us about faith? Numbers 13:33. Some of the best advice I have ever received was when I made a statement like that to a pastor friend. They may have been giants who were strong and tall. The original Hebrew word peger holds within it the sense of being eaten. Have you not understoodsince the earth was founded? How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! And then, after just praising the land for its bounty, they now spread lies about it, calling it a land devours its inhabitants . To start saving items to a SermonFolder, please create an account. They said, "The land we explored devours its inhabitants. Thank You, our Father, that Your thoughts are not our thoughts and Your ways are not our ways. Thats in their background; they can remember those things. Numbers 13:33. I remember as a kid watching the TV series called "KUNG FU" staring David Caradine. 5They will cover the face of the ground so that it cannot be seen. We want to look at this grasshopper complex later in the message. Joshua 14:6-14, Denomination: How many excuses can we come up with in our Christian walk? Those are promises, and there are hundreds and hundreds of other promises that God has made. 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? What is the purpose of this verse? But the men who had gone up with him said, We cant attack those people; they are stronger than we are.. They couldn't hear God tell them how they were going to take the promised land because their eyes were too busy focusing on the challenges. He shows bravery and courage. Fortified cities up to the heavens! However, the inhabitants are fierce, their cities are well-fortified, and there are even giants there. 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. He ended up digging a 12 foot hole and could not find anything. We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes. I talk to many people that have this mentality. First, I see it demonstrated through naysayers. And that spectacular display of Gods glory and power at Sinai. TEXT: Numbers 13: 25-33; 14: 6-10; Josh. One interesting fact is that they have ears on their bellies. GOD, GRASSHOPPERS AND A BARLEY CAKE Judges 7:8-14 INTRODUCTION: Many times circumstances seem overwhelming like grasshoppers, while at the same time we feel as helpless as a muffin (barley cake). read more, Scripture: When you walk through the fire you will not be burned and the flame will not consume you. He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also graciously with Him give us all things?. 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. 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. We seemed . No attempt has been made, however, to alter the basic extemporaneous delivery style, or to produce a grammatically accurate, publication-ready manuscript conforming to an established style template. The main character of the series, Kwai Chang Caine, is played by David Carradine. This transcribed message has been lightly edited and formatted for the Web site. 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.. According to 2 Corinthians 5:7 we walk by faith and not by sight . ( Someone bigger than what is considered Numbers 13:23When they reached the Valley of Eshkol,they cut off a branch bearing a single cluster of grapes. Numbers 13:26 They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadeshin the Desert of Paran. 8-But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. A naysayer will only see part of the picture instead of the whole thing.

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