On the Precipice of the Promise
Notes
Transcript
17 When Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, he said to them, “Go up there into the Negev; then go up into the hill country.
18 “See what the land is like, and whether the people who live in it are strong or weak, whether they are few or many.
19 “How is the land in which they live, is it good or bad? And how are the cities in which they live, are they like open camps or with fortifications?
20 “How is the land, is it fat or lean? Are there trees in it or not? Make an effort then to get some of the fruit of the land.” Now the time was the time of the first ripe grapes.
Title:
On the Precipice of Promise
On the Precipice of Promise
Context: Start with the promise to Abraham and go through to the promise land...
Why Canaan? Why "promised land?"
God had favor on "Abram" (High Father), who had no kids, his body was "as good as dead" and his wife's womb was barren.
God's promise: Now the LORD had said to Abram, Depart from your country, and from your kindred, and from your father's house, to a land that I will show you:
And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing:
And I will bless them that bless you, and curse him that curses you: and in you shall all families of the earth be blessed.
- Gen. 12:1-3
And I will make you seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall your seed also be numbered.
- Gen. 13:16
And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if you are able to number them: and he said to him, So shall your seed be.
- Gen. 15:5
Abraham means "Father of a Multitude"
Through his seed, all the families of the Earth would be blessed...
Carryover from the promise to the woman in Genesis 3, that there would be a seed from her that would be bruised by the heel but He would crush the head of the serpent...
All this is leading to Jesus, and the lineage of Abraham is now the chosen geneology where Jesus would come from.
So we have the promise God has made to Abraham that his seed would bless the whole earth, and his children would be like the sand of the shore and the stars in the sky, but there is another line of the promise:
And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto your seed will I give this land: and there he built an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him.
- Gen. 12:7
And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now your eyes, and look from the place where you are northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward:
For all the land which you see, to you will I give it, and to your seed for ever.
- Gen: 13:14-15
So it was promised to Abraham... Thus "promised land."
Hundreds of years later, the nation which sprung from the seed of Abraham, is named after his grandson, Israel.
Israel has been living within Egypt under the rule of Pharaoh for 400 years, before God sends a deliverer by the name of Moses. Through a series of events we call the Exodus, Israel is championed by God and delivered out of the bondage they were in, and taken toward the promised land... the Land of Canaan.
It is here, after all this time, and all the journey taken throughout the generations of Abraham that we find our text.
They've been delivered out of Egypt, taken through the wilderness for months, been fed mana from heaven, drank water out of a rock, eaten quail God blew in with a strong wind, and now they are standing at the precipice of the promise...
Have you ever been at the precipice of the promise?
I feel like we as a congregation are in a similar position… on the precipice… on the edge…
Sometimes the precipice is the hardest place, because you can see where God wants to lead you, but you're unsure how you're going to get there.
Deuteronomy tells us Israel was on the precipice, and God commands them to send spies into the land.
1 Then the Lord spoke to Moses saying,
2 “Send out for yourself men so that they may spy out the land of Canaan, which I am going to give to the sons of Israel; you shall send a man from each of their fathers’ tribes, every one a leader among them.”
3 So Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran at the command of the Lord, all of them men who were heads of the sons of Israel.
God is showing them the power of the miracle, but they were looking for a strategic plan.
God, I know you can do it, but HOW are you...
27 Thus they told him, and said, “We went in to the land where you sent us; and it certainly does flow with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.
28 “Nevertheless, the people who live in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large; and moreover, we saw the descendants of Anak there.
29 “Amalek is living in the land of the Negev and the Hittites and the Jebusites and the Amorites are living in the hill country, and the Canaanites are living by the sea and by the side of the Jordan.”
30 Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we will surely overcome it.”
31 But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are too strong for us.”
They are too strong.. The problem is too big... The report is too bad... The result is final...
What do you mean two stories? How will we grow here? How will we ever go beyond where we are now?
We don’t have room, we don’t have the money, we don’t have the resources…
We are grasshoppers in our own sight!
God, it's too big! I can't do it!
32 So they gave out to the sons of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone, in spying it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great size.
33 “There also we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim); and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”
Grasshoppers in our own sight... We saw the promise, we saw the fruit, we saw the milk and honey... BUT WE SAW THE GIANTS...
Israel is on the precipice of the promise, but all they see are the giants...
God sends them to see the promise, but what they focus on is the obstacle standing in the way...
When they went in, they expected to see a land ripe for harvest and no opposition.
They thought for sure all their troubles drown in the Red Sea with Pharaoh's army.
They were expecting a military strategy, but what they get is a promise planted in the presence of Giants.
Have you ever prayed, and given God advice?
They were looking for logic, battle tactics, invasion plans, an easy takeover, but God had something else in mind...
What we find out later: Deut 6:10 When the Lord your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you—a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build, 11 houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant—then when you eat and are satisfied, 12 be careful that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
God had a plan all along, He doesn't need help strategizing!
"I brought you out of Egypt, I drown Pharoah's armies behind you, I provided mana from heaven for you to eat, quail from the winds, NOW, watch as I provide a land for you!
• God all by himself...
• Alpha and Omega...
• Beginning and End
• Author and Finisher...
• Stands on my side as a Dread Warrior...
• He holds the universe in the palm of his hand...
• He divided the day from the night, set earth in order...
• He spoke and all creation stands at attention.
• The heavens declare his glory and the firmament show his handiwork..
• From the breath of his nostrils the stars were formed
• At his command the sun gives forth its light...
• He's the commander of Angel Armies
• Ancient of Days
God's response to Job:
4
“Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?
Tell me, if you understand.
5
Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!
Who stretched a measuring line across it?
6
On what were its footings set,
or who laid its cornerstone—
7
while the morning stars sang together
and all the angels[a] shouted for joy?
8
“Who shut up the sea behind doors
when it burst forth from the womb,
9
when I made the clouds its garment
and wrapped it in thick darkness,
10
when I fixed limits for it
and set its doors and bars in place,
11
when I said, ‘This far you may come and no farther;
here is where your proud waves halt’?
12
“Have you ever given orders to the morning,
or shown the dawn its place,
13
that it might take the earth by the edges
and shake the wicked out of it?
It was at his word that all of creation was formed and it will be at his command when it melts away.
He is almighty, all powerful, omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent...
There was no one before him and there'll be nobody after him...
He has no beginning and he will have no end...
He never tires, never sleeps, never slumbers...
He answers to no board or committee, you can't fire him, he won't be impeached, and he will never resign!
Tell me, what do your giants look like next to this God?
In other words, it's not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit sayeth God!
God says, send out the spies, check this out! Watch what I am about to do for you! Look and see!
God didn't send them into the land for them to see the size of the giants, he sent them to see the size of the miracle!
What Israel sees as giant opposition, God sees as Giant opportunity!
God is saying, isn't this exciting!?
Isn't this awesome? You're on the precipice of my promise!
How do I know God was excited?
Years later, when they were actually able to enter the promised land, one of their first battles was at Jericho:
Joshua 6:1 Now Jericho was tightly shut because of the sons of Israel; no one went out and no one came in. 2 The Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and the valiant warriors.
"See?" Can you see it? Can you perceive it? Look what I'm about to do for you!
The city was tightly shut up! Walls so thick chariots raced on top, valiant men of renown, warriors trained in the art of battle, a city that was presented as impenetrable, and God says, "SEE!?"
With that same excitement over 40 years earlier, God is standing with Israel and pointing at the promised land saying, "SEE?"
But, What they saw was themselves as grasshoppers and the inhabitants as Giants, the cities as fortresses, and their armies as undefeatable!
They were on the precipice of the promise, but their perception resulted in fear rather than faith...
Don't get to the precipice of your promise and allow fear to overtake you!
What they saw as giants and fortified cities, God perceived as the fulfillment of promise!
Someone is on the edge of your destiny, on the precipice of your promise, but you're seeing giants, and God is saying, "SEE!?"
Can you perceive it? Do you see my promise?
In Exodus 23 God tells them, "27 I will send My terror ahead of you, and throw into confusion all the people among whom you come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you. 28 I will send hornets ahead of you so that they will drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites before you. 29 I will not drive them out before you in a single year, that the land may not become desolate and the beasts of the field become too numerous for you. 30 I will drive them out before you little by little, until you become fruitful and take possession of the land."
In other words, I shall deliver my promise to you! If I have to send angels or hornets, confusion or terror, fire or rain, My promise shall come to pass!
God had a plan all along! Had he delivered the land straightaway in one year, He says the beasts of the field would've overtaken Israel...
So He allowed the enemy to take care of the land while Israel prepared!
You may not be ready for the whole promise, but don't let the Giants stop you! They are babysitting your promise!
The wealth of the wicked is laid up for the righteous!
God's promise will prevail! You may be thinking, God I thought I was supposed to have that position, I thought I was supposed to have that job... I thought I would be filling that seat, but God is saying, HOLD ON!
If He promised it to you, it's yours! But He will allow another to develop it for you! They are planting the crops you'll eat, building the houses you'll live in, organizing the cities you'll profit from!
Don't let the giants deter you! The promise will prevail!
Hebrews tells us:
16For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses? 17And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? 18And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? 19So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.
Their unbelief gave way to fear and it cost them their promise!
Josh 1:9
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."
Call Mary
After they inhabited the land, God reminds the nation of Israel how they got there in Joshua 24:
12 ‘Then I sent the hornet before you and it drove out the two kings of the Amorites from before you, but not by your sword or your bow.
13 ‘I gave you a land on which you had not labored, and cities which you had not built, and you have lived in them; you are eating of vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant.’
And it all started at the edge, on the brim, on the precipice of the promise when God was saying, "SEE?"
God will show you a promise, but you must perceive it. It may look like opposition, persecution, it may look uncomfortable and risky, but it is a promise...
The city was shut up, but God said, "See?"
Can you see your promise in the giants?
Israel should've went in 40 years earlier! God wasn't waiting on them to become skilled in war, he was waiting on the unbelief to die!
They didn't need to be skilled in war. God had a plan! Look what Rahab tells the spies that come into Jericho:
"I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you. 10For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you devoted to destruction. 11And as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for the Lord your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath.
In other words, where were you 40 years ago? Fear of you drove our strength away!
The spies that went in 40 years earlier said the people saw them as grasshoppers, but the truth is, God had already setup victory ahead of their arrival!
Anytime there are giants, it is a sign of the promise...
Ask David... David is anointed king, but has no idea how God is going to get him from the sheep fields to the throne room. Then one day he sees a giant..
The giant was David's doorway to kingship. Where everyone else saw a giant, David saw a promise...
He said, "It was good for me that I was afflicted, that I may learn your statutes...
Ask Abraham and Sarah, their giant was called barrenness... Where it looked like their bodies were as good as dead, a promise was being held...
Ask Gideon. He started with an army, but God narrowed it down to 300, then told him to go to war...
Ask Elijah. He stood face to face on Mount Carmel with 400 priests of Baal.
Ask Mary and Martha... The sisters of Lazarus. Their giant was called death, Lazarus died for four days until Jesus showed up. When He got there, they said, "Lord if you had been here..." And He says, I AM the resurrection and the life! I am the promise! They saw death, but the giver of life walked in the door...
Don't let the giants scare you, they are just laboring for your promise!
Last point:
Imagine this: the children of Israel were taken into a place built by giants, formed to support those larger than themselves...
In other words, they ended up living in houses built bigger than they would have made had they been given an uninhabited land.
They reaped harvests from fields that were plowed with tools bigger than they could handle.
They took meat from herds of animals big enough to sustain giants...
The promise God has given you is bigger than you could imagine, larger than you could sustain, and beyond your ability to attain on your own...
The promise God has for you is a supernatural sized promise!
Don't let the giants deter you! It takes something bigger than yourself to hold the promise God has for you!
9 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
Do not be frightened.. Do not be dismayed... Don't be downtrodden...
Lift up your head! Stand your ground! The lord will fight for you!
He's already got a plan worked out... He's already working all things together...
Look at the promise...
I prophesy to you, you are on the precipice of the promise! You've been waiting and praying and here you are!
Right on the edge... Right on the cusp... Right on the precipice of the promise...
“We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we will surely overcome it.”
It's mine.. The promise is mine... God told me it was... No giant is going to deter me...
I'm going in... I won't miss it on the precipice..
Victory has already gone before me...
To live is Christ and to die is gain... WE WIN!
Alter call:
Pray: God bring to the forefront of our minds the promises you have in store for us. Don't allow us to be frightened by the Giants, but allow us to see the promise in their presence.
I wonder is there anyone in this room that has been asking God, where's the promise? All I see is opposition and resistance, but I need the promise!
If that's you, join me at this alter, I want to pray with you, and believe God for a supernatural perspective shift that you be able to see the promise in spite of the Giants.