Facing Your Giants

We face faith-killing giants all the time. These are enemies of our faith. They take many forms. Disease and sickness. Trials of life. Situations that seem hopeless.

Let’s talk about facing those giants.

Face your giants and gain victory

Deuteronomy 9:1–5 HCSB

1 “Listen, Israel: Today you are about to cross the Jordan to go and drive out nations greater and stronger than you, with large cities fortified to the heavens. 2 The people are strong and tall, the descendants of the Anakim. You know about them and you have heard it said about them, ‘Who can stand up to the sons of Anak?’ 3 But understand that today the Lord your God will cross over ahead of you as a consuming fire; He will devastate and subdue them before you. You will drive them out and destroy them swiftly, as the Lord has told you. 4 When the Lord your God drives them out before you, do not say to yourself, ‘The Lord brought me in to take possession of this land because of my righteousness.’ Instead, the Lord will drive out these nations before you because of their wickedness. 5 You are not going to take possession of their land because of your righteousness or your integrity. Instead, the Lord your God will drive out these nations before you because of their wickedness, in order to keep the promise He swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

These are the same giants they chose not to face 40 years earlier. (Verse 1-2)

God wins the battles. (3)

We must join in the work (3)

Victory doesn’t come because of our goodness, but His grace. 4-5)

He gives two reasons for victory. 1. The evil of the people they are to conquer.. but remember our battle is not with people but principalities of the air. This does however speak to what some call “just war” when a nation goes into battle to take out a nation that is evil. 2. He made promises that He intends to keep.

Faithless rebellion leads to sorrow

A stiff-necked… a stubborn people.

What follows is a long list of ways God’s people had been stubborn.

This includes worshipping the golden calf.

Deuteronomy 9:16 HCSB

16 I saw how you had sinned against the Lord your God; you had made a calf image for yourselves. You had quickly turned from the way the Lord had commanded for you.

Quickly- Moses had only been gone 40 days. already they had lost faith and became disobedient.

Moses labors the point of how he was fasting, praying, and interceding for them while they rebelled. We owe a debt of gratitude to those who faithfully intercede for us, and we should learn the importance of praying for those who are off in faithless rebellion. In an amazing way, Moses intercession caused God to back away from destroying the whole lot of them. This is a beautiful picture of Christ’s atoning death on the cross.

Were it not for the atoning death of Christ on the cross, our sins would not be paid for, there would be no satisfaction of God’s wrath against our faithless rebellion, and we would perish forever in Hell. But Jesus, at a far greater level than Moses, not only interceded for us, but paid the sin debt we owed, so that our rebellion could be forgiven.

Constant Murmuring, and complaining that were rooted in a lack of trust in God.

Deuteronomy 9:22 HCSB

22 “You continued to provoke the Lord at Taberah, Massah, and Kibroth-hattaavah.

These were multiple incidences in multiple locations that showed that on numerous occasions Israel demonstrated habitual lack of faith.

It could be argued that almost every time there was some new trial in their lives, they fell apart all over again.

An unwillingness to take the land that was rooted in lack of faith and obedience.

Deuteronomy 9:23 HCSB

23 When the Lord sent you from Kadesh-barnea, He said, ‘Go up and possess the land I have given you’; you rebelled against the command of the Lord your God. You did not believe or obey Him.

This brings us back to the beginning of the chapter. Its the issue of trusting God to fight your battles. It’s about gaining strength from Him to fight your battles, or to walk with Him as he fights your battles.