Continuing from this post…

Not only did the Israelites forget all that God had done for them in the past, but…

• They measured the task by their own strength and not by God’s might

In chapter 13, verses 31-33 we see Israel say “Those people are much too strong for us.”(31) Then they described the people of the land saying, “the people are like giants.” (32)  Finally, it culminated in them saying of themselves, “They were so big that we felt as small as grasshoppers.”

But they forgot one thing:  they were not alone!  God was on their side!  It didn’t matter what their strength was, because God was able to handle it, if they would just let Him!

It is easy to sit back and judge the Israelites, but how many times have we tried to do something in our own strength  and leave God out of it?  We try things on our own and then if it doesn’t work, we go to God and ask Him to take care of the mess!  How much easier would it be if we just let God do what He said He would do and believe Him!

If we are going to be “Giant Killers” and not “Grasshoppers,” we have to go in God’s strength, not our own!

I am amazed when I read through the Old Testament and see God’s people, Israel, as they constantly complain.  I know it is human nature to complain.  We all know people who have that “gift” of complaining.  But think about it, time after time Israel would find themselves in a spot that only God could rescue them from, and He did.  Yet they would literally forget about it overnight and continue complaining.  Amazing!  Yet, I believe you and I would have done the same!

In Numbers 13 and 14, we see the same old complaining Israel as they are just on the brink of going into the promised land.  They send out some spies to look at the land and report on it.  Those spies come back and tell Israel that the land is all that God had been promising them… it is an amazing place!  But, then you get to Numbers 13:33, and the spies reported the they saw the people in the land and said, “we felt as small as grasshoppers.”

After all Israel had seen God do, they get to this point and freeze.  They end up not getting to go into the land yet, and an entire generation had to die off before God’s plan could be accomplished (because of their attitude).  Israel made some major mistakes as they approached the promised land and what the spies saw.  Let’s look at just one today:

• They forgot what God had done in the past as they viewed the seemingly impossible task at hand

In Numbers 14:22 God reminded them that they had seen His power, but as they looked at what was before them, they forgot all that God had done already!

We do the same thing, don’t we?  We come to a difficult situation in life and we forget all that God has taken us through already.  We forget His love and grace and forgiveness that He has displayed toward us.  We forget that He has delivered us from sin, and from temptation.  We decide that this is the one situation that He cannot take us through, but we are wrong!  He will take care of us now just as He did then!

We cannot live int he past, but the past is a great teacher for us. If we want to be “Giant Killers” rather than “grasshoppers,” we cannot forget what God has done in the past as we look at that which is before us.