Grapes, Giants, Grasshoppers, & God

GRAPES, GIANTS, GRASSHOPPERS, & GOD

Num. 13:26-14:11

INTRODUCTION

A. HUMOR

1. Tom Eppler and his wife were reminiscing about their dating days when he mentioned how she used to have a “coke-bottle” figure. She said, “I still have a “coke-bottle” figure, only now it’s two-litter!”

2. Louis Shanks said, “Since I am a police officer and my wife is a court reporter, our paths often cross in a courtroom.

3. Once while she was the assigned reported, he was testifying as the investigating officer in a burglary case.

4. After he’d been sworn in and had begun his testimony, the judge handed his wife a note which caused her to smile. Later he asked her what the judge had written.

5. It read, “Is there anything you want to ask your husband while he’s under oath?”

B. SALESMEN

1. ILLUS.

a. 2 salesmen went to a country where no one wore shoes. Both wrote back to HDQRS.

b. First said, “I can’t sell shoes here; no one wears shoes!” The second wrote; “Quick, send me more order forms! No one here has any shoes, so everyone is a potential customer!”

2. We’re going to look at a group of men in the Bible who closely resemble these two salesmen. All of us can be identified with either one or the other.

C. TEXT

26 They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh in the Desert of Paran. There they reported to them and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land. 27 They gave Moses this account: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. 28 But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there. 29 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.” 30 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.” 31 But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.” 32 And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. 33 We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.” 14:1 That night all the members of the community raised their voices and wept aloud. 2 All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this wilderness! 3 Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?” 4 And they said to each other, “We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt.” 5 Then Moses and Aaron fell facedown in front of the whole Israelite assembly gathered there. 6 Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had explored the land, tore their clothes 7 and said to the entire Israelite assembly, “The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. 8 If the Lord is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. 9 Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will devour them. Their protection is gone, but the Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of them.” 10 But the whole assembly talked about stoning them. Then the glory of the Lord appeared at the tent of meeting to all the Israelites. 11 The Lord said to Moses, “How long will these people treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the signs I have performed among them?

I. WE’RE THE SPIES TO OUR GENERATION

1. Do the names Shammua, Shaphat, Igal, Palti, Gaddiel, Gaddi, Ammiel, Sethur, Nahbi, and Geuel ring a bell with you?

2. You know about them for they were leaders among the Israelites. You don’t remember their names because they looked at something and saw all the wrong things.

3. Helen Keller, who was blind, was once asked if there were anything worse than blindness. Replied, “Yes, to have sight but no vision!”