Are You a Grasshopper or a Giant Killer?

Here is the question for today, are you a grasshopper or a giant killer? There are characteristics that can be found for each of these in the Bible, but before we continue discussing this topic, let’s look at Numbers 13 & 14 to see what I am referring to.


Numbers 13 & 14

"AND THE Lord said to Moses, Send men to explore and scout out [for yourselves] the land of Canaan, which I give to the Israelites. ... And Moses called Hoshea son of Nun, Joshua. Moses sent them to scout out the land of Canaan, and said to them, Get up this way by the South (the Negeb) and go up into the hill country, And see what the land is and whether the people who dwell there are strong or weak, few or many, And whether the land they live in is good or bad, and whether the cities they dwell in are camps or strongholds, And what the land is, whether it is fat or lean, whether there is timber on it or not. And be of good courage and bring some of the fruit of the land. Now the time was the time of the first ripe grapes. So they went up and scouted through the land from the Wilderness of Zin to Rehob, to the entrance of Hamath. And then went up into the South (the Negeb) and came to Hebron; and Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai [probably three tribes of] the sons of Anak were there. (Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) And they came to the Valley of Eshcol, and cut down from there a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they carried it on a pole between two [of them]; they brought also some pomegranates and figs. That place was called the Valley of Eshcol [cluster] because of the cluster which the Israelites cut down there. And they returned from scouting out the land after forty days. They came to Moses and Aaron and to all the Israelite congregation in the Wilderness of Paran at Kadesh, and brought them word, and showed them the land's fruit. They told Moses, We came to the land to which you sent us; surely it flows with milk and honey. This is its fruit. But the people who dwell there are strong, and the cities are [a]fortified and very large; moreover, there we saw the sons of Anak [of great stature and courage]. Amalek dwells in the land of the South (the Negeb); the Hittite, the Jebusite, and the Amorite dwell in the hill country; and the Canaanite dwells by the sea and along by the side of the Jordan [River]. Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once and possess it; we are well able to conquer it. But his fellow scouts said, We are not able to go up against the people [of Canaan], for they are stronger than we are. So they brought the Israelites an evil report of the land which they had scouted out, saying, The land through which we went to spy it out is a land that devours its inhabitants. And all the people that we saw in it are men of great stature. There we saw the Nephilim [or giants], the sons of Anak, who come from the giants; and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight. AND ALL the congregation cried out with a loud voice, and [they] wept that night. All the Israelites grumbled and deplored their situation, accusing Moses and Aaron, to whom the whole congregation said, Would that we had died in Egypt! Or that we had died in this wilderness! Why does the Lord bring us to this land to fall by the sword? Our wives and little ones will be a prey. Is it not better for us to return to Egypt? And they said one to another, Let us choose a captain and return to Egypt. Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of Israelites. And Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among the scouts who had searched the land, rent their clothes, And they said to all the company of Israelites, The land through which we passed as scouts is an exceedingly good land. If the Lord delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land flowing with milk and honey. Only do not rebel against the Lord, neither fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their defense and the shadow [of protection] is removed from over them, but the Lord is with us. Fear them not. But all the congregation said to stone [Joshua and Caleb] with stones. But the glory of the Lord appeared at the Tent of Meeting before all the Israelites. And the Lord said to Moses, How long will this people provoke (spurn, despise) Me? And how long will it be before they believe Me [trusting in, relying on, clinging to Me], for all the signs which I have performed among them? I will smite them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and will make of you [Moses] a nation greater and mightier than they. … And the Lord said, I have pardoned according to your word. But truly as I live and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord, Because all those men who have seen My glory and My [miraculous] signs which I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet have tested and proved Me these ten times and have not heeded My voice, Surely they shall not see the land which I swore to give to their fathers; nor shall any who provoked (spurned, despised) Me see it. But My servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it. Now because the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwell in the valley, tomorrow turn and go into the wilderness by way of the Red Sea. And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, How long will this evil congregation murmur against Me? I have heard the complaints the Israelites murmur against Me. Tell them, As I live, says the Lord, what you have said in My hearing I will do to you: Your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness--of all who were numbered of you, from twenty years old and upward, who have murmured against Me, Surely none shall come into the land in which I swore to make you dwell, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. But your little ones whom you said would be a prey, them will I bring in and they shall know the land which you have despised and rejected. But as for you, your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness. And your children shall be wanderers and shepherds in the wilderness for forty years and shall suffer for your whoredoms (your infidelity to your espoused God), until your corpses are consumed in the wilderness. After the number of the days in which you spied out the land [of Canaan], even forty days, for each day a year shall you bear and suffer for your iniquities, even for forty years, and you shall know My displeasure [the revoking of My promise and My estrangement]. I the Lord have spoken; surely this will I do to all this evil congregation who is gathered together against Me. In this wilderness they shall be consumed [by war, disease, plagues], and here they shall die. And the men whom Moses sent to search the land, who returned and made all the congregation grumble and complain against him by bringing back a slanderous report of the land, Even those men who brought the evil report of the land died by a plague before the Lord. But Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among the men who went to search the land, lived still. Moses told [the Lord's] words to all the Israelites, and [they] mourned greatly. And they rose early in the morning and went up to the top of the mountain, saying, Behold, we are here, and we intend to go up to the place which the Lord has promised, for we have sinned."

Wow! What men of faith these people were, haha. You can see here that these men brought back an evil report and adopted a position of defeat and gave the enemy the upper hand! There were two men who tried to build them up in faith, but the others had allowed fear to captivate their heart rather than letting faith rise up on the inside. They saw themselves as grasshoppers and assumed that because they saw themselves that way, then the enemy did as well. They allowed fear to dominate their thinking and create a false self-image in their head! Many Christians do this today they get caught up with the "here and now" and what they see and give up on the promise of God. These people are like those who saw themselves as grasshoppers. There are six characteristics that grasshoppers have. The first characteristic that grasshoppers have is that they see what they see and see the negative in everything, they are moved by the physical circumstances, rather than resting in what the Word says. The second characteristic is that they are moved by fear, they allow the circumstances to reign supreme in their lives and fear will make your heart fail you(Luke 21:26). The third characteristic is that they give the enemy courage, Satan gets courage when he deceives Christians(Judges 16:23-24). The fourth characteristic is that they bring up an evil report - you can't judge things by timetables. (Duet. 1:21) Ten people caused the ENTIRE nation to die in the wilderness. The fifth characteristic is that grasshoppers end up backsliding and want to stone the leaders (Num 14:8-10). And the sixth characteristic is that they refuse to be persuaded, because it is a matter of PRIDE (Luke 16:29-31). They would rather die in the wilderness, than to admit that they are wrong.

Now, let's take a look at the characteristics of giant killers. The first characteristic of a giant killer is that they only see the promise (2 Corinthians 4:18). The second characteristic is that they are moved by faith and fear does not reign in them (Hebrews 10:38). A life style of faith will change the way you think! The third characteristic is that they cause the enemy to flee as in terror. This is what you have trained for as believer and you have been brought here for SUCH A TIME AS THIS! The fourth characteristic is that they bring up a good report. "Yes, but the Lord said this!" (Matthew 8:9-10). The fifth characteristic is that they speak the word only. And the sixth characteristic of a giant killer is that they refuse to be defeated!(Romans 8:36-39).

If you read both Numbers 14 and Joshua 14 you can see that the only people who saw the promise of God fulfilled were the ones who fit into the category of giant killer. Joshua and Caleb were full of faith! They looked and the circumstances and just laughed because the circumstances did not line up with what God said! They took to heart the word of the Lord and took courage and boldness in what it said! They were confident that God would fulfill that which He had promised. They were confident in the truth that if God is for them, who could be against them! Yet, because of some doubt-peddling grasshoppers they were not able to seize the victory in that moment. Sometimes grasshoppers can delay the promise for other people, but those who are giant killers WILL walk in the promise, even if it is delayed. That is why it is so important to be full of faith! When the word of the Lord comes forth, you don't want to be the one who delays the promise for everyone else! You want to be like Caleb and Joshua who said, "God WILL give us the land, because He said so!"

We have to be giant killers! There is too much pressure to compromise and to be discouraged by "grasshoppers," but we are not living in a time where we can slack off, we must press forward towards the goal and go boldly into the land which God has promised you! Do not allow the circumstances of this world to cause you to doubt that which the Lord has spoken over you, your church, your family, and so forth. The circumstances are temporal and they will change! Stand firm in faith and speak to those circumstances and say, "I refuse to be moved by what I see, God said this, and I know He is faithful to do that which He promised! Give me that mountain and I will conquer it because God has already won the victory!"

So when doubt and fear try to enter in and make you forget that which the Lord has spoken, you make your decision... Will you be a grasshopper or a giant killer? I don't know about you, but I don't want to cause my brothers and sisters to stumble and die in the wilderness because of my doubt filled speech! I want to be a giant killer, proclaim the good news, take the land and walk in the promise of God!