The Four G’s

The message was brought by Rev. Eddie Foster.

Numbers 13:17 And Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said unto them, Get you up this way southward, and go up into the mountain: 18 And see the land, what it is, and the people that dwelleth therein, whether they be strong or weak, few or many; 19 And what the land is that they dwell in, whether it be good or bad; and what cities they be that they dwell in, whether in tents, or in strong holds; 20 And what the land is, whether it be fat or lean, whether there be wood therein, or not. And be ye of good courage, and bring of the fruit of the land. Now the time was the time of the firstripe grapes. 21 So they went up, and searched the land from the wilderness of Zin unto Rehob, as men come to Hamath. 22 And they ascended by the south, and came unto Hebron; where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the children of Anak, were. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) 23 And they came unto the brook of Eshcol, and cut down from thence a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they bare it between two upon a staff; and they brought of the pomegranates, and of the figs. 24 The place was called the brook Eshcol, because of the cluster of grapes which the children of Israel cut down from thence. 25 And they returned from searching of the land after forty days. 26 And they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word unto them, and unto all the congregation, and shewed them the fruit of the land. 27 And they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it. 28 Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there. 29 The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south: and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan. 30 And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it. 31 But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we. 32 And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature. 33 And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.

We see four G’s in this scripture: grapes, grasshoppers, giants and God. This land was called the Promised Land way back when God promised it to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  It is referred to as a land flowing with milk and honey. But they saw giants; they gave good reasons for going but their fear got them. Fear grabs and gets the best of us. They compared themselves as grasshoppers in the sight of the giants. At this time, they were at Kadesh Barnea, the place Moses disobeyed God and where Aaron and Miriam died. They were less than a two week journey from the Promised Land. It was a time of decision, one that would be life changing. If they had gone on they would have avoided 40 years of wandering and the death of an entire generation.

In our own lives we come to Kadesh Barnea. I wish I could say I have always made good decisions, but there are times I wish I’d done something another way. In about 10 years Israel would, I’m sure, be wishing they had done things differently. We came to our Kadesh Barnea when we decided to accept Jesus…or not…. I urge that if you’re there, make the right decision. And church, at times we come to Kadesh Barnea when we decide to move forward or backward. Let’s go forward for the glory of God. We don’t always know we’re at Kadesh Barnea at the time, but we figure it out later.

G #1:  Grapes of incomplete blessing. The blessing can be ours if we accept Jesus and grow. We find the grapes of pardon. Jesus paid our sin debt. God required a payment for sin. By receiving Jesus Christ we appear before God just as if we never sinned; that’s what justification is. That’s more than I can comprehend but by faith I believe it. God looks at me through his Son and sees me the same way. Our sins have been cast as far as the east is from the west and buried in the depths of the sea. We find the grapes of peace of mind.  Cast all your care on Jesus. It’s not a mystery in heaven what is going on here on earth. God knows. He already knew who would be infected and who would die from this virus. God help us not to worry. Tell your problems to God. God never bites his nails. He can take care of them.  We find the grapes of abiding in the presence of Christ. God has always made his presence known. In those days God showed his presence to Israel in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. The Hebrew writer said God would never leave or forsake us. Many will not cross over to the blessings. Many could have; they were so close, yet so far away. You may have pondered it, even come very close to it. Close still leaves you on the outside.

G #2:  Giants. We wrestle with things in our mind, but it is God who gives victory. The devil tells the unsaved that Christians are unhappy when we are not. We gained far more than we gave up. While we don’t know what’s going to happen, we know there’s a far better place. Whether here or there, God will be with us. The devil will tell people they cannot live it. When we’re saved the Holy Spirit takes up abode in our heart. If I depend on myself I’ll see the giants instead of God. God is greater. The devil will use the giant of doubt. He tries to get us all to doubt our salvation. Take him to the Word. Remind him when salvation happened in your life. There are also giants of dismay. You may want to give up at a difficult task. You may be easily discouraged. Don’t be. I pray every day “Lord, build a hedge around my family and around the church.” There is no better protection. Then there is the giant of delay. Most people who believe in God, heaven, and hell intend to get saved. The devil tells them to wait until another day. Next thing you know you’re out of days. Don’t wait. Felix didn’t get saved at Paul’s invitation.  There is no proof that the Holy Spirit visited him again. If the Spirit is bidding you today, come. 

G #3: Grasshoppers. The spies said that in the sight of the giants of the land they were like grasshoppers. The minority report came from Joshua and Caleb. It was simple:  God can! Verse 30 says And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.  Imagine voicing an unpopular opinion before a large crowd. Caleb realized that if Israel went against the giants, they would lose. But he knew that if God went against them, they would win. Philippians 4:13 says I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. We will all face trials in life, whether divorce, death or financial crisis. When they come, Christ will help us, strengthen us. We run from problems when we should just face them through Christ. We can withstand even temptation with his help. One of my favorite verses is I Corinthians 10:13:  There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. In my mind I see this as a door over here.  When temptation comes, the Lord shows us the door. He makes a way, but we close the door. We can bear the temptation if we take the way out through the door.  Second Peter 2:9 reminds us The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations. Keep holding on.

G #4: God. Through Christ we can fulfill every duty, whether it be Sunday school teacher, preacher, deacon, whatever your position. Through Christ we can face any giant. Then you realize it wasn’t as big as you thought it was. Many barriers are in our own mind. Only through Christ can we take care of the sin problem. Receive Christ as Savior and enjoy the grapes of blessing and the strength to conquer giants. The majority of the spies thought the giants were bigger than the God they served. They wanted the land. How soon they forgot about the Red Sea, crossing it on dry ground and watching the Egyptian army drown afterward.  Either the God we serve is bigger than the giants or the giants are bigger than God. Tell Satan our God is bigger. If your god isn’t bigger than your giants, it’s time for you to change to God, the giant slayer. David was a little boy but with God’s help he slayed a very big giant.

If you’re at the point of decision, don’t make a bad choice. Surrender your life to Jesus Christ.