Sunday Service (2)

Sunday Service: Grasshopper Mentality

(06-20-2021) Ptr. Lynard Molo

*Numbers 13:1-3
"1 The LORD said to Moses,
2 "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."
3 So at the LORD's command Moses sent them out from the Desert of Paran. All of them were leaders of the Israelites.
17 When Moses sent them to explore Canaan, he said, "Go up through the Negev and on into the hill country.
18 See what the land is like and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many.
19 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?
20 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.)
21 So they went up and explored the land from the Desert of Zin as far as Rehob, toward Lebo Hamath.
22 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.)
23 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.

10 Spies: Grasshopper Mentality

=Grasshopper Mentality=

Signs of Grasshopper Mentality:
1. Cynical
-"pessimist"

*Numbers 13:26-27
"26 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.
27 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.

*The Land has Abundance of Food

28 But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there.

"Your doubt create mountings."
"Doubt kills your dreams."

2. Coward
*Numbers 13:29-31
"29 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."
30 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."
31 But the men who had gone up with him said, "We can't attack those people; they are stronger than we are."

3. Contagious
*Numbers 13:32
"32 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."

*Numbers 14:1-4
"1 That night all the people of the community raised their voices and wept aloud.
2 All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, "If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this desert!
3 Why is the LORD bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn't it be better for us to go back to Egypt?"
4 And they said to each other, "We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt."

4. No Confidence
"How is it that you can stake down a ten-ton elephant with the same size stake that you use to restrain this baby elephant?"

"It's easy." said the trainer.
"When they are babies, we stake them down."
"They try to tug away countless times before they realized that they can't get away. At that point, the elephant memory takes over and for the remainder of their lives they remain convinced that they can't  get away from the stake."

*Numbers 13:33
"33 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."

*Joshua 2:8-11
"8 Before the spies lay down for the night, she went up on the roof
9 and said to them, "I know that the LORD has given this land to you and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you.
10 We have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed.
11 When we heard of it, our hearts melted and everyone's courage failed because of you, for the LORD your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below.

*Most of our limitations are SELF-IMPOSED."

Results of having GRASSHOPPER MENTALITY:
1. The 10 spies were stuck down and died of a plague before the Lord;
2. Some of them experience defeat from their enemies.
3. They did not enter the promise land.
4. They spent 40 years in the wilderness and died.

What are the truths? (As God's People)
1. All our fears are lies.
2. Our enemy "Satan" fears us because God is with us.
3. God's people are always on the winning side.