Grapes Or Giants
Deuteronomy 6:23 (NKJV)
23 Then He brought us out from there, that He might bring us in, to give us the land of which He swore to our fathers.
Possessing The Promise
Lessons To Learn
Corinthians 10:11 (NKJV) 11 Now [a]all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our [b]admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.
What Not To Do!
At Doorway To The Promise Land
Numbers 13:1-2 (NKJV)
1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
2 “Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel; from each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a leader among them.”
An 11-Day Journey
The Report
Numbers 13:25-29 (NKJV)
25 And they returned from spying out the land after forty days.
26 Now they departed and came back to Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the children of Israel in the Wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh; they brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land.
27 Then they told him, and said: “We went to the land where you sent us. It truly flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.
28 Nevertheless the people who dwell in the land are strong; the cities are fortified and very large; moreover we saw the descendants of Anak there.
29 The Amalekites dwell in the land of the South; the Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the mountains; and the Canaanites dwell by the sea and along the banks of the Jordan.”
Yes! There are Grapes, but there are also Giants!
Don’t get Paranoid
Numbers 13:31-33 (NKJV)
31 But 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.”
32 And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature.
33 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.”
The Reality
Numbers 13:17-20 (NKJV)
17 Then Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said to them, “Go up this way into the South, and go up to the mountains,
18 and see what the land is like: whether the people who dwell in it are strong or weak, few or many;
19 whether the land they dwell in is good or bad; whether the cities they inhabit are like camps or strongholds;
20 whether the land is rich or poor; and whether there are forests there or not. Be of good courage. And bring some of the fruit of the land.” Now the time was the season of the first ripe grapes.
Yes! There are Giants. But there are Grapes! We don’t live in denial. However, we are called to walk by Faith!
The Remedy
Numbers 13:30 (NKJV)
30 Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, “Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.”
Numbers 14:6-8 (NKJV)
6 But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes;
7 and they spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying: “The land we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land.
8 If the Lord delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, ‘a land which flows with milk and honey.’
Glance at the problem – Gaze at the promise
Yes! There are giants, but God is bigger!
Hebrews 11:30 (NKJV)
30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days.
Fix your eyes on Jesus
Hebrews 12:1-2 (NKJV)
1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
The just shall live by faith