#300 Giants and Grasshoppers

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

2 Send thou men, that they may search the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel: of every tribe of their fathers shall ye send a man, every one a ruler among them.

3 And Moses by the commandment of the Lord sent them from the wilderness of Paran: all those men were heads of the children of Israel.

4 And these were their names: of the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur.

5 Of the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori.

6 Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh.

7 Of the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph.

8 Of the tribe of Ephraim, Oshea the son of Nun.

9 Of the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu.

10 Of the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi.

11 Of the tribe of Joseph, namely, of the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi the son of Susi.

12 Of the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli.

13 Of the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael.

14 Of the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi.

15 Of the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi.

16 These are the names of the men which Moses sent to spy out the land. And Moses called Oshea the son of Nun Jehoshua.

17 And Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said unto them, Get you up this way southward, and go up into the mountain:

18 And see the land, what it is, and the people that dwelleth therein, whether they be strong or weak, few or many;

19 And what the land is that they dwell in, whether it be good or bad; and what cities they be that they dwell in, whether in tents, or in strong holds;

20 And what the land is, whether it be fat or lean, whether there be wood therein, or not. And be ye of good courage, and bring of the fruit of the land. Now the time was the time of the firstripe grapes.

21 So they went up, and searched the land from the wilderness of Zin unto Rehob, as men come to Hamath.

22 And they ascended by the south, and came unto Hebron; where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the children of Anak, were. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)

23 And they came unto the brook of Eshcol, and cut down from thence a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they bare it between two upon a staff; and they brought of the pomegranates, and of the figs.

24 The place was called the brook Eshcol, because of the cluster of grapes which the children of Israel cut down from thence.

25 And they returned from searching of the land after forty days.

26 And they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word unto them, and unto all the congregation, and shewed them the fruit of the land.

27 And they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it.

28 Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there.

29 The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south: and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan.

30 And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.

31 But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.

32 And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature.

33 And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight. Numbers 13

The people have been guided by a cloud by day and fire by night, and Moses has spoken that the Lord go before them to their enemies. Men are sent now before the people and it becomes clearer in the telling of Deuteronomy 1:22 that this was what the people wanted. Those that have put their trust in the Lord will see no reason not to enter the land. The men are there 40 days and spy out the land and it's inhabitants. Caleb wants to go up at once and possess it because he believes God has given it to them so they will be able to overcome. The rest of the men, except Joshua, give a different report. They say that they cannot take the land, that the inhabitants are huge, which is probably exaggeration based upon a small percentage of large men or warriors. When I looked up what was meant by the land eating up the inhabitants, it is thought to mean that there was a plague in the land and many dead. This would make the taking of the land even easier for them, if the people were already being visited by plague, but who should they believe, the Creator or men? So many men will look at the same thing and come up with as many interpretations, but God never changes and His word is steadfast. Circumstances should not be the sole dictator of our actions; they are always the excuse though, but what has God told us to do? We give occasion to lie even when God has never said Thou Shalt not Except when you deem it necessary. So many things I hear in the mouth of politicians and others to justify wrong actions are based upon situational ethics. Abraham was promised Isaac, but he did not see it possible and wavered, listening to the voice of his wife he sired Ishmael. David sought direction from God when going to war, but ignored the laws of God and acted on his lust and emotions when it came to many of his relationships. Every day I interact with people, and some situations carry much temptation. If I lie, they will get off my back. If I speak ill then we enjoy the gossip and a laugh in the moment. If I get caught then I would reason that the law in question is ridiculous or unattainable. God, if you would not have said coveting thy neighbor's wife or adultery was wrong, then I would not have been in transgression with Bathsheba, and then I would not have had to hide it by deceit and murder. Personally, I found myself so far away from God's intent and laws that it was easier in my mind to say there is no God. Then I was not a sinner for there was no such thing then, and I had just to harden my heart and avoid Him altogether. These people don't mind a god, but he has to be made in their image. None of what I think about what I see changes who God is, and when He has gone before them, He has also gone before me. There are no excuses, only trust and obey, God is Sovereign. Walk by faith.

Going a little farther, He fell facedown and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me. Yet not as I will, but as You will." Matthew 26:39

Then they seized him and led him away, bringing him into the high priest's house, and Peter was following at a distance. 55 And when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat down among them. 56 Then a servant girl, seeing him as he sat in the light and looking closely at him, said, “This man also was with him.” 57 But he denied it, saying, “Woman, I do not know him.” 58 And a little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.” But Peter said, “Man, I am not.” 59 And after an interval of about an hour still another insisted, saying, “Certainly this man also was with him, for he too is a Galilean.” 60 But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about.” And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. 61 And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had said to him, “Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.” 62 And he went out and wept bitterly. Luke 22: 54-62 ESV