Giants, Grasshoppers and God
The LORD said to Moses, “Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. From each ancestral tribe send one of its leaders.”
So at the LORD’s command Moses sent them out from the Desert of Paran. All of them were leaders of the Israelites. These are their names: from the tribe of Reuben, Shammua son of Zaccur; from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat son of Hori; from the tribe of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh; from the tribe of Issachar, Igal son of Joseph; from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea son of Nun; from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti son of Raphu; from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel son of Sodi; from the tribe of Manasseh (a tribe of Joseph), Gaddi son of Susi; from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel son of Gemalli; from the tribe of Asher, Sethur son of Michael; from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi son of Vophsi; from the tribe of Gad, Geuel son of Maki.
These are the names of the men Moses sent to explore the land. (Moses gave Hoshea son of Nun the name Joshua.)
When Moses sent them to explore Canaan, he said, “Go up through the Negev and on into the hill country. See what the land is like and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many. What kind of land do they live in? Is it good or bad? What kind of towns do they live in? Are they unwalled or fortified? How is the soil? Is it fertile or poor? Are there trees on it or not? Do your best to bring back some of the fruit of the land.” (It was the season for the first ripe grapes.)
So they went up and explored the land from the Desert of Zin as far as Rehob, toward Lebo Hamath. They went up through the Negev and came to Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, lived. (Hebron had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) When they reached the Valley of Eshcol, they cut off a branch bearing a single cluster of grapes. Two of them carried it on a pole between them, along with some pomegranates and figs. That place was called the Valley of Eshcol because of the cluster of grapes the Israelites cut off there. At the end of forty 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. But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there. 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.”
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.”
But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.” 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. 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.”
Giants (vv. 27-29) — We tend to overstate the opposition to our advance. We who are of the Faith of Christ Jesus the Lord of Glory have received a marvellous promise of victory. I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it [Matthew 16:18]. According to the Saviours’ own word, not Hades, not even death itself, can overcome Christ’s work. The New Living Translation interprets this final victorious statement as all the powers of hell will not conquer it.[1] That seems to be an accurate sense of Jesus’ words.
Despite this glorious promise of victory the vast majority of churches, at least in Western Canada, seem to live in defeat. The powers of hell appear to be slowing our advance. I would not make such a statement to be deliberately provocative, but I suggest that the evidence does support this contention. We Baptists look to baptisms as an indicator of evangelistic success. We accept that an individual who is baptised has confessed Christ. Thus we are reasonably confident that those reported as baptised have confessed Christ and been born into the Family of God. We do not count those who make professions and yet hesitate to be baptised though we know that faith in Christ is the sole criterion for salvation. Therefore, the number of baptisms in a given period of time should be a valid indicator of how we view the advance of the church.
Within the Alberta Area of the Baptist Union of Western Canada during the last reporting period covering1997/98 our churches reported 4.5 baptisms per church. That means that it took twenty-six members to bring about one baptism.[2] This was better than the average for the denomination as a whole. Bear in mind, however, that nineteen of our fifty-nine churches in Alberta reported no baptisms during the entire reporting period.[3]
During that same reporting period we lost a net total of five churches throughout Western Canada. Membership advanced in the four western provinces by only 225 during that same period.[4] When all the calculations are complete there was a growth of membership within our churches of barely one-percent throughout all of Western Canada. We are not even keeping pace with the growth of population. We are not even holding our own. If the advance of the Faith depended upon our churches, we would be forced to concede that it is only a matter of time until there is no viable witness left. Tragically, our experience is not so terribly different from most other denominations in Western Canada. The evangelical churches are certainly in better shape than the old-line denominations, but we have nothing to brag about. We do not believe the promise of Christ and as a consequence we are in decline relative to the growth of our population.
I cite this lack of evangelistic growth neither to embarrass anyone nor to castigate the evangelical churches that serve in Canada. I do, however, suggest that as we listen to the people within those same churches we will hear some fascinating excuses for our lack of progress. I hear many of those same excuses for failure within this church. No doubt those who are guests and friends from other churches either hear or voice similar excuses. We are told that people don’t want to hear the message of life. We are told that young people are not interested in that message. We are told that the cults have muddied the waters so much that people are suspicious of us. In effect the excuses are that the people living in our land are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. In effect we hear that there are giants in the land; we can’t attack those people, they are stronger than we are.
There have always been giants in the land—reasons why the churches cannot advance. The descendants of Anak are not always nine feet tall, though they are giants nevertheless. Seeing such opposition to the work God has called us to, we quiver and quake at the thought of confronting these giants.
What we fail to realise is that the enemy has always used the roar of giants to terrify the saints. Peter cautions Christians about the methods of the enemy in 1 Peter 5:8. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. The roar of the lion is intended to paralyse the prey with fear so that they cannot react. We cannot be self-controlled and alert if we are terrified. We cannot resist the foe, standing firm in the faith, if we are looking for a way of escape. The lion’s roar is but to terrify and dismay. Should we listen to the roar of giants we cannot hear the voice of God. Perhaps we need to cease taking counsel with our fears and listen to the voice of God.
As you read the account of David confronting Goliath you will first read a pitiful description of the armies of Israel. The army of Israel had experienced a glorious string of unbroken successes in confronting the enemies of God under Saul’s leadership. Nahash the Ammonite had been defeated and the city of Jabesh Gilead delivered from defeat [1 Samuel 11:1-11]. Jonathan had attacked the Philistine outpost at Geba, defeating it [1 Samuel 13:23-14:14]. Again God had worked through Jonathan to rout the Philistines [1 Samuel 14:15-23]. Once more God gave Israel victory and they defeated the Amalekites [1 Samuel 15:1-7]. There had been continuous success against the enemies of the Lord, but this time when the Philistines opposed Israel they had a giant with them.
One giant can stop the mightiest army. Goliath defied the army of Israel and challenged the army to send just one man to fight him. 1 Samuel 17:11 is a pitiful verse. On hearing the Philistine’s words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified. Everyone was frightened! Everyone trembled! Later we learn that the mere appearance of this man would cause the Israelites to run from him in great fear [see 1 Samuel 17:24].
The majority of the scouting expedition in our text was focused on the opposition they had discovered and not on the power which had brought them to this point. They saw giants and they knew they could not defeat giants. Increasingly the churches of this day must anticipate that they will confront giants if they will serve the Risen Son of God. Think with me of some of the giants already assembled in opposition to the Faith.
The Society of Tolerance is one giant standing opposed to the Faith today. We had a Prime Minister in Canada (she ruled for a matter of months before leading her party to inglorious and seemingly permanent defeat) who repeatedly stated that the greatest virtue was tolerance; and Canada does pride itself on being a tolerant society. This has come to mean, however, that every perversion which once lurked in darkness is emboldened to parade in the light as licit and legitimate. Were this all that was meant by tolerance perhaps the saints would never speak against it. However, those same dark urges are exalted and we are coerced into embracing them as equal to righteousness and goodness.
So that no one will miss the point, I am speaking of the cult of exalting sodomites and lesbians as a distinct group within society. We are brainwashed to accept these deviant lifestyles as genetically programmed instead of being a choice. It is of no consequence that no scientific evidence is advanced which has yet to stand up to scrutiny or even to peer review. We are to accept on faith that such individuals have no choice and we not only must not discriminate against them, but we must give them preference in any situation where their choice is in conflict with those who are moral and of the Faith.
Currently there is a high profile campaign ongoing to silence Dr. Laura Schlessinger’s forthcoming TV show.[5] An orthodox Jew, Dr. Laura believes it is wrong to approve of homosexuality. Though she contends that these pitiful people deserve respect and kindness as fellow human beings she nevertheless aligns with millennia of godliness in stating that homosexuality is deviant behaviour. Unfortunately, not only such suspect groups as the ACLU, but now the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council, has decided that if she does not endorse sodomite practises she is guilty of hate speech.
I have no warrant to defend Dr. Laura, but that particular news item is only the tip of the iceberg today as an increasing number of Christians are under assault to accept as valid behaviour that which the Bible condemns. Sodomite protestors disrupted the United Methodist in conference this month in an effort to force that denomination to back down on its threat to continue the stand which has characterised Methodists since the days of John Wesley, which is opposition to that which God calls evil.[6]
Ultimately, sodomite action had to openly challenge evangelicals. One of the earliest inroads is at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts. There, a student tribunal, the Tufts Community Union Judiciary, voted to “derecognize” the Tufts Christian Fellowship because the Fellowship would not allow Julie Catalano, a bisexual member of the group, into a leadership position.[7] The larger community feels it is right to impose its moral view on the Christian group because after all, the contemporary view carries so much greater validity than does the ancient view of the Bible which has endured and guided millions throughout these long centuries.
Almost daily reports in the various news media force us to conclude that a campaign, co-ordinated or otherwise, is being conducted against ancient moral views to compel acceptance of that which is clearly condemned in the Word of God. The British Columbia Teachers Federations is convinced it has a right to silence moral conscience through rewriting what is moral and what is immoral.[8] Movies increasingly feel safe in attacking white Christians.[9] Religious schools are censured for suspending students who refuse to take religion courses because we must tolerate those who wish an education at Christian expense without discriminating against their refusal to participate.[10] Even the CBC feels justified in ridiculing Christians and their worship.[11]
In the face of such intimidating giants an increasing volume of voices is being raised to advise Christians to be silent concerning their beliefs so that they will not offend or bring censure from such powerful foes. If ever there was a time to speak and if ever there was a time for men and women of conscience to take a stand surely it is now.
The Doctrine of Separation of Church and State is another giant which dares the saints of God to obey Christ. I must note this powerful giant which seemed once to be a friend to the faithful. Since earliest days of the American republic voices have been raised because they thought they had found a wall of separation between church and state. In the past fifty years that wall of separation has been transformed into a barrier to religion and increasingly the world enjoys separation from religion.
Thus we have come to a day in which the Faith is censured in any activity which even bears on public activity. School prayer is rapidly fading into the dim memory of an ageing population. Baccalaureate prayers are a thing of the past since such petitions to Almighty God may offend some benighted soul. Though our constitution acknowledges our dependence upon God, for all practical purposes He is a non-entity in Canadian life.
The Cult of Private Religion has become a giant which attempts to cower believers. The manner in which this doctrine plays out in our lives here in Canada is that we have been indoctrinated for so long that we have become convinced that what we believe is private and must be kept to ourselves. However we have forgotten that we are the light of the world—a city on a hill. We have forgotten the words Jesus spoke: Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven [see Matthew 5:14-16]. The Christian Faith can never be kept as something private but it must rather be lived out publicly.
These are just a few of the giants facing the citizens of the heavenly kingdom in this day. They roar and they threaten and they are sufficient to intimidate many of God’s people into silence. A silent church is a church which is no longer obedient to Him who purchased her with His blood. A silent church is a church which has lost momentum and which is dying. The appearance of such giants demands that we understand our real power and that we not forget our commission to make disciples, to shine as lights in the midst of a darkened world, and to serve as salt in the midst of a decaying world.
Grasshoppers (vv. 32, 33) — We tend to underestimate our ability in Christ. The majority report was not very flattering to either those commissioned to explore the land or to the people of God. The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. 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 [Numbers 13:32, 33]. Think of that! Not only did these men think of themselves as small in the eyes of the Nephilim, but they also considered themselves small.
There is an axiom of the faith evident in these verses which you should not miss: so long as we focus on the size of the giants confronting us we will think of ourselves as grasshoppers. Years ago one would hear among the people of God a number of sayings which capsulated biblical truth. One such saying, which would certainly apply in this instance, reminds us that God does not send those whom He has not equipped. The truth conveyed within this saying is that the child of God is well equipped to do that which God commands. God calls, and God equips. We are to obey, not to debate the command of God.
One verse of Scripture which makes this plain is that which Paul wrote in Philippians 4:13. I can do everything through him who gives me strength. Perhaps you recall memorising that verse at some time in the past. The unfortunate aspect is that though we know this truth and may even be prepared to recite the truth, it becomes just one more piece of forgotten information so long as we focus on the size of the opposition.
Throughout the journey from Egypt to this point God had been telling the people that they would receive the land promised to their fathers. They would need to occupy the land, but God would go up with them to dispossess those then in the land. The sin of the Amorites had now reached its full measure [see Genesis 15:16]. The time of the Canaanites had come to an end in God’s timetable. The people of Israel were to be an instrument of divine judgement in the hand of the Living God to accomplish His will … if they would but walk by faith with Him and cease looking at the size of the opposition.
In the same way the giants we face today make us seem insignificant so long as we focus on them and on their might. No church alone, much less an individual Christian, can defy the power of society. Even most of our fellow believers have adopted the philosophy of this dying age and trumpet abroad the cry of tolerance. How can we think to stand against such powerful foes? We do not want to appear bigoted or petty.
I recall when the Southern Baptist Convention adopted a stand on roles within the family a couple of year’s back. Even within this church there were people who were appalled by such bigotry. How could an entire denomination think to oppose society? Now that same denomination is considering adoption within the Baptist Faith and Message a statement opposing women preachers. Already the same chorus of voices of moderation is speaking out against such intolerance. They are the same voices which were offended when that Convention encouraged their people to pray for the conversion of Jews, to pray for the salvation of Hindus, and to seek the conversion of Muslims. How could they be so intolerant? One denomination standing almost alone against the united voice of society—together with the silence of evangelicalism—must seem terribly small!
We dare not offend by attempting to permit religion influence the power of the state. How terrible that such individuals as Preston Manning or Stockwell Day should think they can be leaders of a major political party! What if their convictions dictate how they vote? What if they should pray before they propose legislation or before they deal with other heads of state? What if they were to think they could adopt a moral issue without consulting the polls? It could bring down the entire nation!
How terrible that Canada faces the prospect of leaders with moral values which honour God. Surely we are much better off with leaders such as one in another great nation who is unable to tell if he has had sex with a girl young enough to be his daughter. How tragic if we should have a leader with convictions who speaks the truth instead of having a leader that debates the meaning of the verb is and openly lies to his constituency.
While I was in a Dawson Creek a week ago I read some of the historical records of the First Baptist Church of that city. I was interested to note that some twenty years ago Preston Manning led an evangelistic effort in that region and the First Baptist Church supported that effort. I was pleased to discover that he is a man of the same godly convictions throughout the years of his political career and not just a recent convert. I think it is marvellous that Stockwell Day is an ordained Pentecostal minister. I applaud his willingness to speak openly and plainly concerning the great issues which face the country. It is about time that godly men and women stood for something in Canada!
Whether either of these men should gain the leadership of their party or not, I pray that God will raise up a few individuals of courage who demonstrate that faith must not be segregated from life. I pray that God will make you a people who are convinced that your faith must not be relegated to a pigeonhole far removed from your daily conduct. I pray that you become men and women of courage in the home, in the marketplace, and in society.
In the final analysis your faith is not a private affair—not if it is real. Your faith reflects the presence of the Living God and God cannot be inconsequential to your life. God must assuredly transform you by His very presence; and if you are not transformed you may take it as a given that He is not present with you. You are not grasshoppers. You are men and women of God by faith in the Risen Son of God.
God (v. 30) — We tend to ignore the one resource which ensures success in every endeavour. One lonely voice echoed by one other voice was all that was available to remind the people of the greatest resource ever offered to mankind—the presence of the True and Living God. We must bear in mind that it was at the Lord’s command that these men had been dispatched to explore the land [cf. Numbers 13:3]. The point is not inconsequential, but it is rather essential if we will understand the courage of Caleb and Joshua. God does not send His people where He Himself does not go. He is ever with His people. Recall just a few of the comforting verses which are found in Scripture.
[Being as you are going] make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age [Matthew 28:19, 20].
Be content with what you have, because God has said,
“Never will I leave you;
never will I forsake you.”
So we say with confidence,
“The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me?”
[Hebrews 13:5, 6]
Among the Psalms are some which are a delight and a source of great strength. Perhaps you will recall Psalm 28:7-9.
The LORD is my strength and my shield;
my heart trusts in him, and I am helped.
My heart leaps for joy
and I will give thanks to him in song.
The LORD is the strength of his people,
a fortress of salvation for his anointed one.
Save your people and bless your inheritance;
be their shepherd and carry them forever.
Another of the glorious Psalms is Psalm 118:5-15. Listen as the Psalmist sings a song of victory, much as you and I should sing.
In my anguish I cried to the LORD,
and he answered by setting me free.
The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me?
The LORD is with me; he is my helper.
I will look in triumph on my enemies.
It is better to take refuge in the LORD
than to trust in man.
It is better to take refuge in the LORD
than to trust in princes.
All the nations surrounded me,
but in the name of the LORD I cut them off.
They surrounded me on every side,
but in the name of the LORD I cut them off.
They swarmed around me like bees,
but they died out as quickly as burning thorns;
in the name of the LORD I cut them off.
I was pushed back and about to fall,
but the LORD helped me.
The LORD is my strength and my song;
he has become my salvation.
Shouts of joy and victory
resound in the tents of the righteous:
“The LORD’s right hand has done mighty things!”
You may take it as a given that when you take your eyes off of God you will focus on the enemy—you will see his size, his fierce countenance, his rage, his weapons. Focused on the enemy you will find your strength turning to water and your confidence plummeting. Beyond our text and in the chapters following we read that the people rebelled. After all, a frightened people are an undisciplined people. Their rebellion brought upon them divine discipline which sentenced the people to desert wanderings for forty years. That entire generation of people twenty years or older, with the exception of Joshua and Caleb—the two men who had remained focused on the Living God—died in the wilderness. Their children were the ones who inherited the Lord’s land. Those who began the victorious exodus from bondage died en route to the Promised Land.
Surely this text teaches us to obey, for to fail to obey is to ensure that all advance ceases. When advance ceases, God is dishonoured and we are consigned to the dustbin of history. Underscore in your mind this sobering truth: not everyone who begins the journey toward God’s victory will conclude the trek. I have served God among you for two years. During that time I have endeavoured to deliver the full counsel of God. I have made every effort to challenge you to excel for the cause of Christ. Whether you finish the race well or whether you stumble or whether you simply cease running has yet to be determined. There is much work to be done in Jasper, and I pray that this church will glorify God through completing the work He has assigned. I pray that each of you whom I know and whom I have served will continue to honour God for years to come.
You will finish well if you keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God [cf. Hebrews 12:2]. If, however, you begin to look at the opposition to your service, you will stumble and cease to advance toward the goal of your high calling in Christ. You will console yourselves, telling each other that you are doing well; but the lack of souls saved, the failure to penetrate society with the message of life, and the fact that you cease to serve as salt and light will testify against you.
Consequently, giants can be slain. As I read the exploits of David’s mighty men I discover some fascinating and encouraging examples. I read that Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Saph, one of the descendants of Rapha [2 Samuel 21:18]. A moment later I discover that in another battle with the Philistines at Gob, Elhanan son of Jaare-Oregim the Bethlehemite killed Goliath the Gittite, who had a spear with a shaft like a weaver’s rod [2 Samuel 21:19]. Later I read that in still another battle, which took place at Gath, there was a huge man with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot—twenty-four in all. He also was descended from Rapha. When he taunted Israel, Jonathan son of Shimeah, David’s brother, killed him [2 Samuel 21:20, 21]. The divine author summarises these exploits with these insightful words. These four were descendants of Rapha in Gath, and they fell at the hands of David and his men [2 Samuel 21:22]. In other words, these were all giants defeated by the people of God.
Later, in the same book I read of a man who slew eight hundred men in one encounter, of a man who stood his ground in the face of an enemy onslaught which caused the retreat of his army. I read of a man who defended a field of lentils and as result brought about a great victory. I read of a three men who almost playfully passed through an entire army to get their king a drink of water, and of another man who with his spear killed three hundred men at one time [2 Samuel 23:8-19].
Then I read of Benaiah who struck down two of Moab’s best men, went down into a pit with lion on a snowy day, and who armed with a club killed an Egyptian giant wielding a spear [2 Samuel 23:20-23]. Giant killers all! They kept their eyes on the Lord. They refused to look at the size and the visage of their foes, but instead considered how they might please God who appointed them to their service.
I will be the first to admit that I enjoy some strange diversions. Among those amusements is my enjoyment of the Far Side Calendar for my desk. The cartoon for this past Monday, Victoria Day, illustrates the Christian who attempts to do great things while forgetting his greatest resource. Situated on the street corner of a city is a little steam locomotive. In front of that little locomotive is a hat situated upside down. A few bills have been dropped into the hat and coins are scattered around the hat. The little locomotive has a sign in front of him saying: I thought I could, I thought I could…
That little locomotive is a parable of those who take their eyes off the Lord. Forgetting that God has appointed them to do His glorious work they lose heart and are soon beggars before a heartless world. We are not a people who thought we could; we are a people called of God to dream great dreams and to accomplish great deeds—in His strength and by His will. Keep at the work until Jesus comes. Amen.
----
[1] Holy Bible, New Living Translation, (Tyndale House Publisher, Ó 1996) pg. 977
[2] The Baptist Union of Western Canada Yearbook, Section D: Statistics, pg. 25
[3] op. cit., pp. 17-19
[4] op. cit., pg. 25
[5] John Leo, Watch what you say, US News & World Report, Outlook 3/20/00 (www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/000320/20john.htm)
Mark Steyn, Hollywood’s new blacklist, National Post, Thursday, March 30, 2000 (www.nationalpost.com/commentary.asp?f=000330/245927)
Neil Seeman, Dr. Laura censured for anti-gay talk, National Post, Thursday, May 11, 2000 (www.nationalpost.com/home.asp?f=000511/285408)
[6] Protesters press gay-rights demands at Methodist meeting, May 11, 2000 (www.cnn.com/2000/US/05/11/methodists.protest.ap/index.html)
[7] John Leo, Coercion on campus, US News & World Report, Outlook 5/15/00 (www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/000515/15john.htm)
[8] Susan Martinuk, Will BCTF also set up clubs for nerds, geeks and dorks? Vancouver Province, Wednesday, 22 March 2000 (www.vancouverprovince.com/newsite/edpage/000322/3797862.html)
[9] John O’Sullivan, Open season on WASPs, National Post, Tuesday, April 25, 2000 (www.nationalpost.com/commentary.asp?f=000425/269058)
[10] Mark Stevenson, Catholic school suspends boy for refusing to take religion, National Post, Wednesday, May 03, 2000 (www.nationalpost.com/home.asp?f=000503/278390)
[11] Ezra Levant, Look who’s being thin-skinned now, National Post, Tuesday, May 16, 2000 (www.nationalpost.com/commentary.asp?f=000516/289911)