What Do You See: Giants or God?

My lapel might not be situated.

I promise I'm not going to do any walking today, or I'm going to try not to.

So if you want to just leave that one on, that'll be good.

Numbers 13, verses 25 through 33.

Numbers 13:25–33

You know, these verses have a very remarkable story in them that I want us to explore this morning.

And the reason I want us to really dive into these verses today

is because I think there are some valuable truths that each of us can learn and apply to our lives

as the Lord may be leading us to serve Him in capacities.

And we think, you know what, I don't have the ability to do that.

That's bigger and beyond me to do.

Or maybe today you're facing some circumstances.

You're facing some challenges.

You're facing some difficulties in your life.

And it is bigger than you.

It's more than you can deal with and get through.

And you don't know how you're going to get through it.

You don't know where to turn except to the Lord.

And so I think there's some valuable truths in the passages that we're going to look at today

to help us to glean from that, to take these truths that are found in this scripture

and really apply it to our lives.

Give us faith.

Give us hope.

Give us trust.

And realize that we have to depend completely, fully, and wholly upon the Lord to see us through.

This is the story of when Moses was used of God to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt.

They've gone for several weeks headed towards the promised land.

And they're right on the border of the promised land.

They're ready to enter into it.

And God said, now is the time.

He gave the word through Moses to tell the children of Israel,

now is the time to go and take possession of the land.

This land God has been working, preparing, and readying them for a long time.

They were slaves in Egypt for 400 years.

And God has been preparing that land for them during that time frame.

And they stand on the edge of the promised land.

And God is saying, go take possession.

But before he does, God tells Moses to give the people, you know,

the message of one individual from each of the 12 tribes to go into the land and spy out the land.

Now, God's not going to tell them to go and spy out the land to have a battle plan

or to figure out how they are going to conquer this land.

It's my belief that God is sending them in so that they will see that the land is everything

that God had said that it would be.

He's told them it's a magnificent land flowing with milk and honey.

It's fertile.

It's a land that they can go in and take possession of and become the people of God

and the nation that God was raising up to be a reflection of Him to the entire world.

And He's sending these 12 spies in for them to see that God's Word is true

and that it is everything that God said that it would be.

He's not sending them in so that they could see in their own power and their own strength

that somehow they can take the land because that's not at all what God is doing here.

Now, most of us, if we grew up in church, we grew up studying this passage,

especially if you're in a Baptist church and use Lifeway curriculum.

The curriculum for the children is written on a two-year cycle.

So you probably studied this passage about every two years growing up.

And we know all the factual information about this story.

We know the historical truths of this story.

But what I want us to do this morning is go beyond the historical truths of this passage.

And I want us to ask God to open our eyes, open our ears,

that we may go beyond the historical facts of this

and see the spiritual truths that God is trying to show each of us,

to lead each of us, that we can take those truths

that God has placed in these passages for us to apply to our lives.

Because I'm quite sure that each of us, if not right now,

at some point, we're facing or will face challenges, difficulties,

hardships, obstacles that are bigger than ourselves,

that are beyond our power and our ability to face.

They're beyond our ability to handle and get through,

and we don't know how we're going to handle it.

Or God may be leading us, and I'm sure at some point He will do this.

If we surrender our lives to Him,

He will lead us to serve Him in capacities that we may think,

I can't do that.

That is beyond me.

That is not my skill.

But God is laying that on our hearts.

And we have to learn that we can step out in faith and trust that if God calls us to do something,

if God is leading us to do it, He's not calling you because you're qualified.

He's calling you because He wants to do the work in you.

And He wants to use you.

Look at Moses.

Moses had every excuse and every argument in the book of why he could not do what God was calling him to do,

to lead a nation.

And yet God kept telling him,

it's not you.

It's not you.

It's God that's going to accomplish that in Him.

So today I want us,

before we look into our scripture,

I want us to take a moment to pray.

And I want us to ask God,

wherever you are today,

whatever circumstances you're facing,

whatever obstacles you're up against,

let's ask God to open our eyes,

to see a truth in this passage

that maybe we have never seen before.

A truth that goes beyond,

you know,

just the historical facts of this passage

and something that we can take with us in our lives

and help us to walk and be the people of God

and apply that to our lives

that we can step out in faith

and trust God to either lead us through or around

those obstacles,

those challenges,

or those difficulties,

or use us to serve Him in ways

that we never believed possible.

Let's go to the Lord in prayer.

Father, we thank You for this day.

What a glorious day to come into Your house

and to stand before Your throne

and to worship You.

Lord, I don't know what each of us are facing today,

what challenges that we're up against,

what hardships we may be facing

or maybe a calling

that You're putting on some of our hearts today to serve.

But I pray, Lord,

that as we study Your Word and Your truth,

that You would open our eyes

to see Your message to each of us.

Open our ears that we might hear

and give us hearts, Lord,

that would be receptive,

that would be receptive, Lord,

to receiving Your Word

and give us faith

that we can face those challenges,

we can face those difficulties

or those obstacles,

or we can step out,

giving our lives

as living sacrifices to You,

that we know that whatever You've called us to do,

wherever You've called us to serve,

that we can do it

in the power and the strength

of Your Holy Spirit,

and that it will be You

that accomplishes the work through us.

And it is in Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Let's look together.

We're going to begin with verses 25 through 27 here

in Numbers chapter 13.

Numbers 13 · chapter mention

And we're going to begin,

just we're going to look,

instead of reading the whole passage all at once,

we're going to look at a few verses here at once.

Again, the spies have gone into the land.

They have seen that it was a land,

everything God said it would be.

And they're ready to come back

and give their report to Israel.

So let's look at verses 25 through 27.

At the end of the 40 days,

they returned from exploring the land.

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.

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.

When the spies returned

after going into the land for 40 days,

they came back and they told the people,

the land is everything that God said it would be,

maybe more.

It was everything that they had imagined

and dreamed of.

It truly was a very magnificent land.

Verse 23 tells us

that they cut one bunch of grapes

that were so big

that they tied it to a pole

and it took two men to carry.

How many of you grow grapes in here?

Have any of you ever had

a bundle of grapes that large?

Jerry?

Jerry?

You ever had grapes that large

that it took two men to carry?

You can imagine.

Wow.

Here they have been in slavery

in Egypt for 400 years

and now they stand on the brink

of going into the promised land,

a land that was fertile, plentiful,

and a land that they could settle in,

raise families, and be the nation

that God was calling them to be.

However, the report stops there

from being very positive and uplifting

and there became a division

between the 12 spies.

You know, 10 of the spies

began to say,

the land is everything

that God said it would be,

but we cannot go in.

We cannot attack the people

that are living there.

The people are large.

We look like grasshoppers

in their eyes.

You know, they live in very large,

fortified cities,

and the land would swallow us up.

Let's look at verses 28 to 29 here.

But the people living there are powerful,

and their towns are large and fortified.

We even saw giants there,

the descendants of Anak.

The Amalekites live in the Nagib,

and the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites

live in the hill country.

The Canaanites live along the coast

of the Mediterranean Sea

and along the Jordan Valley.

10 of the 12 spies,

they, now this is a dangerous ground

they're standing on

because I want you to pay attention

to what they're doing.

They're not just coming back

and giving a report

that these men that live there

are these people groups

that live there

are in fortified cities.

They're larger nations than Israel.

You know, they look like giants.

But what are they really doing?

They're recommending

to the nation of Israel

to disobey God.

You see that?

God has said,

go in and take possession of the land.

And they're saying,

no, we can't.

They're saying,

we need to disobey God

and do what we think

is a better solution

than what God is saying.

Now let me tell you something.

Never once,

never ever,

does anything positive

come from disobeying God.

Nothing ever

has turned out good.

When God lays something on our heart,

God commands us to do something

and we disobey it.

But that's what the 10 spies are doing.

They're telling the people,

we need to disobey God

and don't do what He is saying

that we should do

because they're afraid.

They're scared.

They think that they cannot go in

in their own power

and their own strength.

They're looking at the people

and they're not seeing God,

which is pretty amazing

if you want to think about it

after you think about

all the things

that God had already done

and we'll get into that

in a little bit more in detail.

Let me just say something.

Don't be surprised

in your own life today

when you feel like

God is leading you

to do something

and it's going to take you

stepping out in faith.

It's going to take you

trusting in God.

Don't be surprised

when others around you

try to talk you out of it.

Even Christians.

A lot of times

even Christians

try, oh, don't do that.

You can't do that.

You don't know how many times

I have been tried

to be talked out of

going on mission trips.

You don't know how many times

I've been tried to be talked out

when I felt called

to go into ministry.

People try to talk me out of it.

My, even my own pastor

when I was a teenager

in high school,

when I told him

I was called to ministry,

you know what he told me?

He said, I'm sorry.

People try to talk me out

of doing what God

was calling me to do.

And they'll do the same thing

to you.

When you're stepping out

in faith,

doing what seems

to be crazy

in other people's eyes,

they'll try to talk you

out of it.

Even other Christians,

even your own family members

will try to keep you

away from doing

what God is calling you

to do.

And it's going to take

grit and determination

for us to realize

what's going on

and that they don't

have the faith,

but we're going to have

to have the faith

to stand

and trust God

and move forward

knowing that God

will do what he says

he will do.

You know, Caleb and Joshua

are the only two,

only two,

two out of twelve

who believed

that God would do

what he said

he would do

and they tried

to get the people

to go immediately

and take possession

of the land.

They wanted them

to go immediately

and they tried

to overcome

the ten spies

and talk to the people.

Look at verse 30.

It says,

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.

Now Caleb and Joshua

were not foolish enough

to think

because Israel

was a smaller nation

than all these other countries.

These people

were like giants to them.

They lived

in fortified cities.

Caleb and Joshua

were not foolish enough

to think

that they could develop

a great and mighty

battle plan

and they had better weapons

and all this stuff

and that they could go in

and do it in their own power

and their own strength.

They saw everything

that the other spies saw.

But what were they doing?

What were they seeing

different

than the other ten spies?

They had no faith

and confidence

in their own power

and their own ability.

What they saw

was God.

When they looked

into that land

they didn't see giants

and fortified cities.

What they saw

was God.

Look at verse 2

of chapter 13.

I don't have this

in the notes

so hopefully

you have your Bibles

open but I'll read it

to you.

Start with verse 1

actually.

The Lord

said to Moses,

Send some men

to explore

the land of Canaan

which I

God speaking

I am giving

to the Israelites.

God has already

declared

He was giving

this land

to Israel.

It wasn't

a matter in question

of whether Israel

could go in

and take possession

of the land.

God has already

declared it

that He

is giving

possession

to the Israelites

of this land

the promised land.

He's already

declared it.

And Caleb

and Joshua

were the only

two who were

willing to look

into that land

and see

that God

had already

declared it

and it would be

God who would

win the victory

not them.

But the other

12 spies

they were fearful

and they were afraid

and they were only

looking at themselves.

They were only

looking at

their own ability

and whether

they as a nation

could go in

and conquer

the land.

But Caleb

and Joshua

are fully

trusting God

to go in

and take

that land.

Caleb and Joshua

teach us

that there are

going to be

times in our lives

when we have

to take a stand

for Jesus

even if we

have to stand

alone.

There are going

to be times

when we have

to take a stand

whether it's

in faith

or trust

or defend

the faith

of God

even when

we stand

alone

and no one

else around

us will stand

with us

not even

other believers

not our own

family.

And folks

we need to

teach our

children this.

We need to

teach our

children

our grandchildren

that there

are going to

be times

when they

stand alone

in school

or among

their friends

or others

and they've

got to be

willing to

be okay

because when

we're standing

with God

it's okay.

We're not

alone are we?

We're actually

the majority

and it's better

to stand

in the right

alone

than it is

to stand

with the

multitudes

in the crowd

who are wrong.

But we have

to learn

to stand.

You would

think

after all

the Israelites

had already

seen the

Lord do

for them

they would

quickly move

to take

possession of

the land.

After all

they had

seen God

already do

in a short

window

a period

of time

I looked

it up

and what

should have

taken them

just walking

from Egypt

to the

promised land

should have

taken them

about 11

days.

Now I know

they stopped

at times

and God

gave them

a lot of

commands

so it took

a little bit

longer than that

but we're

only talking

a few

weeks.

And in

that period

of time

I want us

to think

about what

God did

for them

in a short

window of

time and why

should they

have not

had enough

faith to

trust in

them.

Before leaving

Egypt what

did God

do?

You know

he sent

the ten

plagues

didn't he?

Egypt was

the most

powerful nation

in the world

with the

largest army.

Pharaoh was

the most

powerful man

in the world

at that

day and

time and

God sent

plagues upon

them to the

place where

not only did

he free

Israel from

them they

drove them

out and

they gave

them all

their gold

and possessions

and Stan

just said

get out

go.

Then what

happened?

Pharaoh

changed his

mind and he

got his army

together and he

chased them and

what happened?

They get to the

Red Sea they're

trapped.

trapped in

between the

largest army in

the world and

the Red Sea.

Anybody know

what happened?

He departed

the sea.

Who else could

do that?

Who else could

do that but

God?

You know I

heard a story

one time about

a pastor who

was preaching

and he was

trying to

explain away

this miracle and

he was saying

things like it

really wasn't the

Red Sea it was a

smaller body of

water it was

more like a

mud puddle and

this senior adult

lady was sitting

on the front

pew and she

kept going

praise the

Lord!

Hallelujah!

Amen!

And the

pastor finally

said do you

not hear what

I'm saying?

It wasn't the

Red Sea at

all it was

just a really

small body of

water and she

said if God

could drown

the entire

Egyptian army

in a mud

puddle then

praise God!

Amazing!

By the way

if you really

look at

historical

archaeological

truths today

they have

found gold

wagon wheels

around the

Red Sea

in the last

20 years or

so where the

chariots and

stuff it proves

that they were

washed away by

the Red Sea

but God

divided the

sea they

walked around

on dry

ground that's

another miracle

when I was a

kid my friend

and I we

we swam in

ponds you

couldn't see

and we got

out in this

one pond one

time and I

mean we sank

to our knees

in mud and

you think about

they walked

across the

Red Sea on

dry ground and

then God brought

the sea together

and he destroyed

the entire

Egyptian army he

gave them water

in the desert

when they were

thirsty he

provided food for

them when they

were hungry God

led them through

the wilderness by

cloud during the

day and a

pillar of fire

by night the

people had even

heard the voice

of God on

Mount Sinai as

he prepared to

give them the

Ten Commandments

they had already

fought the

Amalekites do

you remember

when the men

had to stand

and hold Moses

arms up and

as long as they

held his arms

up they defeated

the Amalekites

that was in that

time period where

they left Egypt

and they were

headed to the

edge of the

promised land

they had

already fought

them once

and God

had already

won the battle

once but it's

almost like that

old saying what

have you done

for me lately

they had forgotten

everything that God

had already done

for them and they

were simply looking

at what they could

do in their own

power their own

strength their own

resources now

listen are we ever

guilty of doing

that are we ever

guilty of doing

the same exact

thing we look at

our situation we

look at our

circumstances we

look at our

obstacles we look

at challenges and

we look at how we

can handle it and

we turn to God

last as a last

resort over the

years I've observed

a very dangerous

mindset among

believers and

churches it seems

that we're willing

to only try to do

the things that we

feel we can do

God may be leading

us to do something

but I've heard time

and time again we

can't do that

no we can't do

that that's beyond

us it's beyond our

resources so we

don't do what God

has called us to

do and we're

fearful to step

out in faith and

trust God to do

what he's called us

to do but you know

what when we are

only willing to do

what we think we

can do then what

results do we get

when we're only

willing to do what

we can physically do

we get the results

results that only we

can do when we step

out in faith and we

trust God and we

hold tight to his

claims and his

promises and his

word and we follow

him we get a whole

different set of

results don't we

when we trust God to

do what he says he

will do or we trust

God to do what he's

called us to do we

get results that God

can achieve and in that

better and that

beyond what we can do

in our own strength

you know I don't know

about you but I want

to see God work I

want to see God

achieve I want to see

God accomplish far

more than what I can

because I know I'm

extremely limited we

don't get much I'm a

country bumpkin boy from

whitesville Kentucky

smaller than pickens and

I know I'm sophisticated

and suave now but I

was I was a hillbilly

redneck I'm still not far

from it and you're not

going to get much from

what I can do we're not

going to get a whole lot

from what any of us can

do in our own strength

it's what we we want to

see God move don't we

we want to see God stir

us our nation is in

trouble and we've proven

that through our programs

or electronics or

whatever we're not going

to change people's

hearts we're not going

to turn this nation

around we're not going

to bring people to

Jesus it's got to be a

work of the Holy Spirit

working it through us

is that what you want

today do you want to

see God do the miraculous

through us then we have

to step out in faith and

hold tight to him we've got

to step in faith and trust

that what he says he will

do when we're facing

challenging times do we

ever forget what God has

already done in our lives

do we forget his word and

his promises do we doubt

God's ability to work in us

and in our circumstances if

we just stop sometimes and

think back and remember what

God has already done in our

lives if we just stop

sometimes and reflect upon his

word and his promises that he

gives us then our faith would

be strengthened and we would

realize that it's not about

me it's about me being strong

enough to or it's not about

me being strong enough to

handle a situation or

circumstance it's about God

working in me it's about

trusting God to do what he

says he will do and for God to

fight the battles you know a

young David a little shepherd boy

taught us that in first Samuel

17 47 said all those gathered

here will know that is not by

sword or spear that the Lord

saves for the battle is the

Lord's and he will give all of

you into our hands David didn't

go up against Goliath thinking

just because he was at times

killed bears or lions where he

didn't go into that battle

thinking I can win this battle and I

will defeat Goliath no he knew

better he didn't fight the bear he

didn't fight the lion thinking he

could do that a little shepherd boy

that no one even thought to call when

they were looking for a new king how

did he fight the bear how did he

fight the lion how did he fight

Godís doing that in earth right now

and he is the king of the world

that rackets the king of the king of

the king of the king of the king of the

king of the king of the king of theORY

what are you up against today in the

world that's a new king of the kingdom

he is by all right now what are you

yelling at Goliath in complete faith and

you? Are you trusting God to take you and use you to serve him? Are you stuck thinking,

I can't do that. I can't achieve that. The 10 spies were so fearful of what, you know,

they had seen that they forgot all about what God had done already in their lives and that

God would win the battle. And not only did they allow it to paralyze them and cause fear in them,

they began to spread rumors among all of Israel to the point where the entire nation of Israel

wouldn't listen to God and obey God or to Joshua and Caleb. And they struck fear in the entire

nation to where they would not go forward and do what God had called them to do. And as a result,

they missed out on what God wanted to bless them with. They had to wander through the wilderness for 40

years. And he realized this, every man that was military age, except for Joshua and Caleb died

in those 40 years and never tasted the promised land. They missed out completely on what God wanted

to bless them with because of fear and disobedience of doing what God had called them to do. I hope today

that none of us are missing out on God's blessings for our lives because we're afraid to trust him.

I hope none of us miss what God wants to do in us. Ways of service or deliverance from challenges and

obstacles and difficulties that we may face. Are we missing God's blessings and God's best because we're

stepping in disobedience because of fear rather than faith and trust? So I want to ask you today,

as we dismiss, when you look into your future or your circumstances and your situations of life,

do you see giants? Or do you see God? Let's close with a word of prayer. Father, we just thank you for your word and your truth today.

And I pray that you would put faith and trust in all of us to see clearly, Lord, that it is not about us,

it's about you. And it's about you winning the battle. It's about you going before us and fighting the battles

for us and using us to bring glory and honor to your name. And we thank you for this. We praise you,

Lord, always in Jesus' name. Amen. We're going to go into...