“A Grasshopper Complex!” Numbers 13:30-33

Spies from Canaan report. 10 were bad and 2 were good…

Were Joshua and Caleb blind optimist Were Joshua and Caleb blind optimist? When bringing back their glowing report were they being wishful in their thinking much like many view prayer?

One shoe salesman said, “No prospect of sales One shoe salesman said, “No prospect of sales. People don’t wear shoes here.” …

Israel had a real grasshopper complex!

to learn how not to have a grasshopper complex Purpose: to learn how not to have a grasshopper complex

“The only thing men learn from history, is that men don’t learn from history.”

I Causes of this Complex A. Causes of Israel’s Complex

Numbers 13:31 “But the men who had gone up with him said, ‘We can’t attack those people; THEY ARE STRONGER THAN WE ARE.’”

Numbers 13:32 “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 great size.’”

Numbers 14:4 “And they said to each other, ‘We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt.’”

I Causes of this Complex A. Causes of Israel’s Complex B. Causes of Our Complex

Ephesians 6:12 “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realm.”

“Spiritual Warfare” by Ron DiCianni

2 Timothy 1:7 “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.”

II Symptom of this Complex

Elephants are known for their memories… Man is not…

II Symptom of this Complex A. Matters Israel Forgot

Exodus 3:8 “So I have come to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey…”

Numbers 13:1-2 “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.’”

II Symptom of this Complex A. Matters Israel Forgot B. Matters We Forget

We are prone to FORGET, but especially in the following key areas:

Romans 8:31-32 “What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He Who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all – how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?”

1 Corinthians 15:57-58 “But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”

How can we afford to forget our Lord’s promises, especially the promise of victory?!

III Result of this Complex A. Israel’s Situation

Technical term for this is “meander”… Same term best depicts Israel after they refused to enter the Promised Land…

III Result of this Complex A. Israel’s Situation B. Our Situation

CHANGE?! What do you mean we’re going have to change?

Fear of the unknown, failure, lack of faith will paralyze your worship and service to the Lord…

The grasshopper complex (lack of faith/trust) is what kept Israel out of the Promised Land…

Gretchen Alexander refused to allow her blindness to limit her life experiences…

Conclusion and Summary God has promised victory, but He won’t and can’t give it without some display of faithfulness and trust. How we face these battles/challenges will be the test of our faithfulness or the lack thereof…