We all have to face our own “giants” in our lives. Fearsome opponents that seem unbeatable. And there will be many of these giant enemies around, during the End Times.
Hello Readers, hope all’s well.
We all have to face “giants” in our lives. These aren’t literal, physical foes. Remember—Ephesians 6:12 says we don’t fight against physical foes. These giants can be Spiritual enemies: demons. Or they can be painful life problems like health problems, addictions, financial problems, and so on.
When these giants (and demons) rear their ugly heads, it’s easy to get intimidated. To fear the power they seem to have, or how tough they are. But this is fearing the wrong thing—we must fear only God. We must remember that God is greater than any enemy we could ever face, and that He is with us all the time.
In the Book of Numbers, we see a famous incident when the Israelites forgot these two simple, but powerful facts. They feared the giants instead of fearing the LORD. And we see the heavy price they paid for their lack of Faith. But their failure presents a lesson for us, one we can learn from. And since intimidating “giants” will only increase during the End Times, we’d better learn that lesson well and learn it now.
They Forgot the LORD and Feared the Giants
In Numbers 13, the Israelites arrive near to Canaan, the promised land. Up till now they’d had a harsh, painful journey through the desert, following the LORD. Finally, the end of their wandering was in sight. The LORD ordered Moses to send scouts into Canaan, to recon the promised land the LORD was bringing them to. They did so, and the scouts returned at the end of Numbers 13.
What came next was a failure of Faith that cost the Israelites forty more years of painful wandering in the desert.
The scouts gave their report on Canaan to the entire Israelite community. They were honest and said that the land was filled with powerful people. But while Caleb was unshaken and told the people not to be afraid (verse 30), the rest of the scouts didn’t have the same bravery or Faith. The rest of the scouts said the people of the land were too strong, and Israel couldn’t prevail against them.
To make sure Israel wouldn’t try to enter the land, the scouts made up a false rumor. They said the land was filled with giants—the Nephilim.
This happens in Numbers 13:25-33.
(25) They returned from exploring the land after forty days. (26) They went directly to Moses, Aaron, and the entire Israelite community in the Paran desert at Kadesh. They brought back a report to them and to the entire community and showed them the land’s fruit. (27) Then they gave their report: “We entered the land to which you sent us. It’s actually full of milk and honey, and this is its fruit. (28) There are, however, powerful people who live in the land. The cities have huge fortifications. And we even saw the descendants of the Anakites there. (29) The Amalekites live in the land of the arid southern plain; the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the mountains; and the Canaanites live by the sea and along the Jordan.”
Numbers 13:25-33 (CEB)
(30) Now Caleb calmed the people before Moses and said, “We must go up and take possession of it, because we are more than able to do it.”
(31) But the men who went up with him said, “We can’t go up against the people because they are stronger than we.” (32) They started a rumor about the land that they had explored, telling the Israelites, “The land that we crossed over to explore is a land that devours its residents. All the people we saw in it are huge men. (33) We saw there the Nephilim (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We saw ourselves as grasshoppers, and that’s how we appeared to them.”
In their fear, the scouts forgot the most important thing: The LORD was with them. It was the LORD who promised to bring them into Canaan. It was the LORD who had guided them through the desert so far. He had gotten them past every obstacle so far, but they still didn’t have a strong enough Faith in Him. The fear that the scouts and the Israelites had about entering Canaan was a failure of Faith.
Failure was the topic of my latest post, last Wednesday. Here is another example of God’s people failing. If they had stood firm in their Faith, the Israelites would have been eager to enter Canaan, remembering that the LORD Himself had promised to bring them there. But they failed, here. They forgot their Faith, and focused more on the power of the obstacle facing them than on the almighty power of the LORD. They forgot all that the LORD had done for them so far. It was a failure of Faith.
They even failed after hearing wise words of Faith from Joshua and Caleb. These two begged the Israelites to remember that God was with them. They begged Israel to have Faith in the LORD and not be scared by how fearsome the obstacle appeared. They begged Israel not to fear the giants—to be brave, knowing the LORD was with them.
Joshua and Caleb had the right idea. Have Faith in the LORD and His almighty power—don’t worry about how intimidating the obstacle is. Don’t fear the giants—fear the LORD. Be brave, never forgetting that the LORD is with us.
But the Israelites forgot this. They feared, despaired, and wanted to go back to Egypt. This happens in Numbers 14:1-10.
(1) The entire community raised their voice and the people wept that night. (2) All the Israelites criticized Moses and Aaron. The entire community said to them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt or if only we had died in this desert! (3) Why is the LORD bringing us to this land to fall by the sword? Our wives and our children will be taken by force. Wouldn’t it be better for us to return to Egypt?” (4) So they said to each other, “Let’s pick a leader and let’s go back to Egypt.”
Numbers 14:1-10 (CEB)
(5) Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before the assembled Israelite community. (6) But Joshua, Nun’s son, and Caleb, Jephunneh’s son, from those who had explored the land, tore their clothes (7) and said to the entire Israelite community, “The land we crossed through to explore is an exceptionally good land. (8) If the LORD is pleased with us, he’ll bring us into this land and give it to us. It’s a land that’s full of milk and honey. (9) Only don’t rebel against the LORD and don’t be afraid of the people of the land. They are our prey. Their defense has deserted them, but the LORD is with us. So don’t be afraid of them.” (10) But the entire community intended to stone them.
The Israelites forgot their Faith in the LORD, and were too afraid to enter the promised land. At the end of Numbers 14, the LORD punished them for their lack of Faith. Their failure of Faith here would earn them forty more years of painful wandering in the desert before the LORD brought Israel into Canaan. All who were adults at the time of this failure of Faith would first die in the desert before the LORD would deliver Israel to Canaan.
If only the people had stayed strong in their Faith, they could have avoided that extra pain. If only they had feared the LORD and not the giants. But, their failure creates a lesson we can learn from.
Focus on God, not on the Problem
We all have to face our own “giants” in our lives. Fearsome opponents that seem unbeatable. And there will be many of these giant enemies around, during the End Times. And I’m not talking about physical opponents. Remember Ephesians 6:12—we don’t have any of those. No, I’m talking about the problems, challenges, failures, and suffering of life.
These “giants” could be financial crises that stretch us to the breaking point, to where we have a hard time believing God will provide for us. They could be health problems that won’t go away and fill our every moment with pain. They could be addictions we can’t seem to defeat, or sins we can’t seem to escape. They can be powerful demons that attack us in vicious Spiritual assaults. These are the “giants” we face in our lives—and we all face them. These are the obstacles blocking our way to our promised land.
These giants are the enemies that ruin our lives, that stop us from living the kind of lives we’d like to. They seem unbeatable, invincible. But like the Israelites camped just outside of Canaan, we also need to be brave and remember the LORD is with us. Like Caleb and Joshua warned in Numbers 13/14, we too must not fear the giants. We must remember the LORD is with us, and that He is greater than any problem we could ever face.
If we fear the giants, we’re focusing on the wrong thing. We’re focusing on how difficult and fearsome the problems are, instead of focusing on how great God is, and how powerful He is. God is infinitely more powerful than any giant we could ever face, and we need to remember that.
When we focus on how fearsome the giants are, we make the problem worse. We make that addiction more unbeatable, we make that financial problem more stressful. We make the demon attacking us more powerful. Because the more we think about something, the more powerful it becomes in our mind. If the problem is all we think about, it will soon appear as all-powerful, and all we can think about.
Instead of focusing on the giants, let’s stay connected to God in prayer and read His Word too. This will reveal God’s amazing power to us—especially when we read God’s Word, which shows us many times when God rescued those who love Him from impossible situations. The Israelites crossing through the Red Sea. Daniel in the furnace and the lion’s den. The Apostles in prison. God is All-Powerful, and had done the impossible for His people many times throughout the Bible. Focus on God and His power, not the problem, not the giant.
That’s what the Israelites failed to do in Numbers 13/14, and they paid a heavy price for it. Forty more years of painful wandering in the desert, and none of those who were adults during this incident would live to see the Promised Land. And that wasn’t necessary—if only they’d had Faith and remembered the LORD was with them, they wouldn’t have suffered that terrible fate.
But their failure in Numbers 13/14 provides us with a valuable lesson for us. We don’t need to suffer the same fate they did. If we always remember the LORD is with us, and stay focused on His power rather than the power of any giant, we will battle those giants and defeat them. Then we can move into our own Canaan, and receive what the LORD wants to bless us with.
The LORD is greater than any demon, any giant. If we remember that, and remember He is with us, we have nothing to fear from anything we face. And we’re going to deal with many giants and demons during the End Times. But all this tells us is we’re closer than ever before to God’s Promise. Our Canaan, our Promised Land. Salvation.
Focus on that. Not the giants.
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Until next time, be strong and do good!
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