we were like grasshoppers sermon

The blind Master Po (Keye Luke) calls his young student "GRASSHOPPER" to "EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED". 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. His word is infallible. A naysayer is person that does not believe anything good can come out of the situation. Parashat Shelach-Lcha Shabbat sermon at Stephen S Wise Temple. Would you like to write for WeSaidGoTravel? James O. Davis is the founder and president of Second Billion (TM). Gods love is unconquerable. 1 a : a mythological or legendary figure often of divine descent endowed with great strength or ability 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. This made God furious, which is not surprising. He is Creator, Sustainer, Omnipotent and head over heels in love with you! Their only reported action was to pick a bunch of grapes so large that it required two men to carry. Still nothing. We hear of locust swarms devouring fields and we even see evidence of this in the Bible as one of the plagues. These naysayers doubted the Word of God. How do we access that? He is a big man with muscles like an Olympic weight lifter, a voice that booms and a laugh that is full and infectious. Do you hear the grasshopper which is at your feet?. Trust Christ today. Or, perhaps, as fierce and clever warriors. Well make sure you have a Bible. 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. There is limited thinking which produces limited abilities that gives limited results. What do you care how you appear in the eyes of others. (Itturey Torah, 5, p. 83). Today's Scripture: Numbers 13:33, NKJV - 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. 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. We mine Gods Word for what He has promised. They saw deliverance at the Red Sea through which they crossed on dry ground. Until yesterday, I assumed, along with most other readers, that the one thats relevant to our verse is in Isaiah: Isaiah 40: 21Do you not know? John 3:31. You are invited to learn more about Second Billion by visiting www.billion.tv. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); 2022 Copyright Wesaidgotravel. read more, Scripture: I can say only that injustice has many tentacles, but it stings individuals. We can sense more. He promised to give His people the land of Canaan. Daily faith that we are called upon to exercise more and more as we grow towards maturity in Christ. Numbers 13:25-14:10, Denomination: Shaalu Shalom Yerushalayim activists visit the Sumarin family at their home in East Jerusalem, January 2020. And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, who come of the giants. Here we see the naysayer seeing the obstacles instead of the Omnipotent. Lets go to the Lord in prayer. Well, were not standing before the land but were standing before an unknown year. There is a figure of speech that is called hyperbole where an idea is exaggerated to the extreme to emphasize a point. More To Follow For this they could be forgiven. Romans 5:6-8, Denomination: We mine Gods Word but we also mine Gods work. But the men who had gone up with him said, We cant attack those people; they are stronger than we are.. The majority report can be summed up by three words: grapes, giants and grasshoppers. One interesting fact is that they have ears on their bellies. Too often we see ourselves as nothing DO NOT LIMIT THE HOLY ONE OF ISRAEL (PART 6): DO NOT LIMIT GOD IN THE POWER OF YOUR IMAGINATION I AM NOT A GRASSHOPPER His master is blind. One of the most damaging things that can ever happen in a church is for one or two people to start casting doubt. All the people we saw there are of great size. 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. 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? Northern Seoul Rice wine, Monks, and Sheep, Springing into Success: My Blooming Awards Collection, #11 in 100 Best Travel and Lifestyle Blogs 2023, What You Do Matters! Unbelief tells us that who God is and His attitude and intentions towards us dont really matter in the way events fall out. David is mining Gods truth to discover how to understand the world he finds himself living in. We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them." The ten spies up their game. Suffering from a degenerative eye disease, he lost his sight when he was 13, but that didnt stop him. One last lesson thats really about right now, this place and this moment: There is in this world much of which to be afraid. If we can be untrusting we can be apathetic. I have heard the complaints of these grumbling Israelites. Anxiety about being feared is an inauspicious emotion for would-be conquerors, who should want their enemies to fear them. Numbers 13:1-33. Numbers 13:33. Please note that the posts on The Blogs are contributed by third parties. Required fields are marked *. Before a child is born, the parents prepare a room, a bed, some blankets, warm clothes, bottles, He says, Lets go and possess not Lets go and conquer. God had already promised. They prepare for 22He sits enthronedabove the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. The spies are certain that the Canaanites see them as but grasshoppers. . What does our passage teach us about unbelief? are huge and the walls are high. Hear us, as we make our prayer in Jesus name, amen. Faith doesnt come naturally to us, does it? Step On the Grasshoppers! Grasshoppers have the ability to jump away from any kind of predator. You cannot see, the boy says when he meets the master for the first time. In verse 26, we see that the men came back with a report. It is reassuring to know that man's strength and man's host mean nothing to God. We'll take a moment to orient ourselves to the passage. He speaks with confidence. 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. Almost all other occurrences of the word refer to insects, and indeed, the noun associated with this verb, sheretz, means insect. 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. This is the first of three references to carcasses in this passage. The doubt-caster begins with we cant and moves to exaggerated truth. Theres no reckoning of confidence in God as they make their report. How could they know this? and let me show you a different perspective. He immediately started digging to found the prize. Scripture: 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. We end one year and prepare to begin another. Hes carried us this far ultimately just to do us in.. For example, the carcasses of the animals that Abraham cut in half during the Covenant of the Pieces are eaten by birds of prey (Genesis 15:11), and David threatens Goliath that he will give the carcasses of the Philistines to the birds and beasts (1 Samuel 17:46). Grasshoppers can eat half their body weight in a day. He stretches out the heavenslike a canopy, and spreads them out like a tentto live in. Its a new beginning. Sunday, 15 May 2022 23:27. Romans 5:6-For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. And now they hear through Moses what God has said. I cant serve the Lord because of what I have done in my past. If that were true, none of us could serve. 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. They will devour what little you have leftafter the hail, including every tree that is growing in your fields. This article is adapted from a sermon given at the San Francisco (California) Central church on November 19, 2011. . With that in mind, I want to look at three things from our passage as we prepare to read it. Before I moved to Israel in 2011, I was a Fellow of Newnham College, Cambridge (1997-2006), and a Reader in Hebrew Bible and Jewish Studies at King's College London (2007-2011). 20Present a loaf from the first of your ground mealand present it as an offering from the threshing floor. He checked his signal again. Download. It never is as we sit down to open Your Word. 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. 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. Numbers 13:23When they reached the Valley of Eshkol,they cut off a branch bearing a single cluster of grapes. Have you not understoodsince the earth was founded? Please contact us in case of abuse. He explains himself this way. They all will spoil. Strong as it could be. Billy Dempsey on The first lesson Ive already shared and it comes, ultimately, not from the Torah of the ABC series Kung Fu but is actually based on the teachings of Lao-Tze, the great Chinese philosopher who taught approximately 2500 years ago. 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. In case of abuse. Numbers 14:27How long will this wicked community grumble against me? : . , . ? He dug and could not find anything. ( Someone bigger than what is considered "You cannot see," the boy says when he meets the master for the first time. 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. The nourishing of faith is all of our individual responsibility. 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). read more. Why did you go, Why did you die? Some of the best advice I have ever received was when I made a statement like that to a pastor friend. Fear not, I have redeemed you. Their protection is removed from them and the Lord is with us. The Israelites had a commander in chief that was knowledgeable and had been with God. Instead of a bolstered trust in Gods willingness to help them and to keep His promise to place them in the land, they were begging to go back into bitter slavery in Egypt. Will He help? And Ive found that the more I trust Him, the more I choose to believe Him, the more I love Him; the more I love Him, the more deeply I want to know Him. Numbers 13:23When they reached the Valley of Eshkol. The lie comes in the assumption that there is no help for us. 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.. Isnt it? 8-But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died Romans 5:1-32. Let him be nine feet, nine inches tall. To start saving items to a SermonFolder, please create an account. Later in the scene, the master instructs the boy: I hear the water. "You think I cannot see," says the master. HE WANTS US TO LAY HANDS ON THE SICK AND DYING AND SEE THEM HEALED. Your favorite preaching resources have a brand-new look. In addition to being a people of the Word, lets be a people of faith, trusting God to lead us and to carry us through hardships, to carry us through undesirable circumstances to the place of rest and security that He has for us. Well, lets think a bit about the ten spies and their judging the challenge before the nation with no reckoning of confidence in God. OVERCOMING THE GRASSHOPPER COMPLEX Published in Daily Devotionals by Joel Osteen. Saving faith is the first priority of faith. In verse 30, Caleb says: He shows some heart. 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. Perspective matters. Our wives and our little ones will become a prey! We cant find out what November will be like. Pentecostal. To think of a few, Psalm 23, The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. Speak words of life to us. and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight" (Num. 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. This was the children of Israel's problem in this story. On a mountain where 90 Amen. It was the teacher from her sons school. 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. Such is the case of the Israelites. (In case you couldn't already tell that from the title of this post.) This allows them to feel the vibrations of other grasshoppers. The Kotzker is upset that the spies should care how they looked to others. The Israelites far outnumbered all of these groups combined. The master may be blind but he can see many things that the student cannot. Print This Post. 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. Thats in their history. I loved the article/sermon. For full copyright, reproduction and permission information, please visit the First Presbyterian ChurchCopyright, Reproduction & Permission statement. 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. 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? GOD WANTS US TO EXPERIENCE HIS LOVE AND FELLOWSHIP. The promise of God made to Abraham is about to become reality. Please try again or choose an option below. Judges 7:8-14 You are saying to the One who created time, you dont have time? Bearing in mind all this food, lets turn to the end of the spies report. One more word about being a doubt-caster. A doubt-caster takes naysaying to a whole new level. Twelve men were sent out to spy out the land of Canaan. They are bread for us. Indeed, we need words of life. Directly after his reference to the land flowing with milk and honey, Joshua makes another allusion to food. Ten spies bring a negative report. They had a "grasshopper mentality.". Heres His response as He questions Moses. You and I are rarely enough to face what is before us, but its not all the truth either. The twelve spies whom Moses sent in to report on the Promised Land saw the same things. With God at our side, life as a grasshopper in His care is good. They werent enough. But they say, We cant take this land. God sets the barrier very high. ? For this they could be forgiven. To ourselves we seemed like grasshoppers, and we must have seemed the same to them." We seemed . But let's not allow the "naysayers" to rob us of our confidence in the Lord. But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. The fear of the Israelites caused them to have to wander the wilderness for 38 more years. The same thing happens with a grasshopper mentality. Numbers 13:30-33. He takes it personally. 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. He wants the Israelites to enter the land and conquer it, undaunted by the peoples already living there. Before we pray and read our passage, lets think about where this passage kind of finds us. 27They gave Moses this account: We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! There are many kinds of darkness. As a result, they respond to the chirps of other grasshoppers and do what they do. Joshua 14:6-14, Denomination: 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. As we do so, I bring you seasons greetings. That just makes them a bigger target. The report they bring back has two main themes, the existing inhabitants of the land and, our focus here, food. The lie comes in the assumption that there is no help for us. Try, If The Preacher Is Dead, The Sermon Will Be Dead, Chasing The Dream, Preaching Greatness, And Knowing Your Audience. God is not good. They can also fly. You can read about their long and complex history here and here. Perhaps then I will be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land. 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). What do you care how you appear in the eyes of others. (Itturey Torah, 5, p. 83), 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. December 29, 2019. I remember it from re-runs. Those are promises, and there are hundreds and hundreds of other promises that God has made. More food. I cant serve you because I dont have the right opportunity. Unbelief always sees the obstacles but faith sees the opportunities. We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them." - Numbers 13:31-33. Thats not a problem. Lets read from Numbers chapter 13, beginning with verse 30. A naysayer will only see part of the picture instead of the whole thing. Have you ever felt overwhelmed and helpless to do anything about it? And so we were in their sight (Numbers 13:33). As holy men? We give You thanks. Some parents go further. , . Thats the first matter of faith that we have to occupy yourselves with here this morning. He would pick up the metal detector and get a signal that was very strong. read more, Scripture: Lets pray. It was published on Jun 16, 2015, Your email address will not be published. Imagine how he felt when he realized the signal he was getting was coming from his steel-toed boots. My last book was 'From Forbidden Fruit to Milk and Honey: A Commentary on Food in the Torah'; proceeds go to Leket, Israel's national food bank. John the Baptist ate locusts and honey. John 3:16, An Easter message about Gods love from John 3:16, Whats Love Got to Do With It? Both, they and we, are bounded by Gods promise to do good to those who belong to Him. Evangelical/Non-Denominational. Down deep, do you really believe that God is a loving God? With the resoureces of Gods Promise, His Provision and His Presence, Christians can overcome the grasshopper complex. But its also a community effort. They gave Moses this account: We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Sitting next to her lemonade stand/office, Lucy prepares to offer her sage advice, 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.. Caleb gives us a great example to follow. Introduction: One of my favorite Comic scenes, is when Charlie brown goes to Lucy for some counseling advice. "We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them." Our own eyes. TEXT: Joshua 14:6-15; Numbers 13:26-33 TITLE: GRASSHOPPER MENTALITY Throughout this message I will be referring back to Numbers 13. ); and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight." Now, that's natural. 22Of these you may eat any kind of locust,katydid, cricket or grasshopper. Have you ever noticed that before? JESUS WANTS US TO HAVE A RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM AND BE HIS FRIEND SO WE CAN BE LIKE HIM. I have good news. Let him have a spear like a weaver's beam. Grasshoppers and locusts are of the same insect order. Part 14 - Matthew 10:18-19 - Grasshopper, Expect The Unexpected! The question is which one are you? His promises are true. For they are stronger than we - , .. They see you as grasshoppers, they see you as angels what difference does it make? Note how the ten spies with their bad report turn the heart of the whole nation The land devours its inhabitants! He had kept them united. He ended up digging a 12 foot hole and could not find anything. We form our understanding from what God tells us. Numbers 13 1 The Lord said to Moses, 2 Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I have given to the Israelites. Your son did something that According to 2 Corinthians 5:7 we walk by faith and not by sight . Giants are in the land! Part one continues the theme of food and eating: The land eats its inhabitants. We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them., See the self-infliction? I remember recently watching the most recent movie version of The Count of Monte Cristo. 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. 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. Lesson number one, young grasshoppers: there are many ways of knowing, many ways of seeing, many ways of apprehending and sensing. Moses had said: "Be courageous" (13:20). And Edmond Dantes of course crying out to God for justice and mercy, the jailor says, You cry out to God. Its interesting to see Gods response to the unbelief of His people. To say the above statement was made by elders and leaders commissioned by God to lead His people to their place of rest and destiny is absurd, would be an understatement . 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. They were spread all over the land and could not have easily or quickly come together. They said, The land we explored devours those living in it. 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!. They know more about whats ahead of them than we will know whats ahead of us. "We were like grasshoppers in our eyes, and so we were in their eyes" (Bamidbar, 13:33) In this unique syntax, the Torah teaches us a psychological principle of the greatest importance: The way you feel about yourself is how you think others perceive you. We scorn Him. When they saw the Nepthalim they said they became like "grasshoppers." We want to look at this "grasshopper" complex later in the message. PADI Save Our Ocean Pledge, Aliza Licht on being the Chief Brand Officer of YOU, Where To Go Next? read more, Scripture: Hes brought us here to do us harm. It runs throughout the parsha. It is curiously odd that people who are filled with horrified indignation whenever a cat kills a sparrow can hear the story of the killing of God told Sunday after Sunday and not experience any shock at all. 14: 6-15 In my life, in the midst of all those things God has taught me in trial and hardship, theres a common thread that unites all of those things and it is the issue of faith. The naysayers of the grasshopper mentality will eventually make doubt-casters. As surely as the Israelites eventually will be led into the land, we will be led into another year. As people appear to God looking down from the heavens, so the Israelites looked to the existing inhabitants of the promised land.

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