GRASSHOPPERS BY TWO TOUCHDOWNS!

“Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God” (Hebrews 3:12).

The writer of Hebrews is referring to the Israelites who failed to enter the Promised Land under Moses. This generation saw the greatness of God’s miracles in Egypt, the parting of the Red Sea, and the miraculous provision of food and drink in the wilderness, and despite this, saw nothing but themselves in there hour of crises. Listen to what God calls their evil report:

“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. 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. 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” (Numbers 13:31-33).

To get to the heart of unbelief we need to see the root: What is it deep within man that is the foundation of all atheism?

I thought we were talking about unbelief: What do you mean atheism?

The generation that died in the wilderness was practical atheists. Their actions spoke loud and clear that God was no where to be found when they needed him most: “And wherefore hath the LORD brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? Were it not better for us to return into Egypt? And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt” (14:3-4). Follow this “fruit of their lips” to its source and you will discover the heart of all unbelief:

Their faith was in their ability.

They accused the Lord of bringing them “to fall by the sword.” The truth is, it never entered into the mind of the Lord for Israel to conquer Canaan with their sword no more than he depended on such to bring them out of Egypt? It was the Ten Plagues that persuaded Pharaoh to let God‘s people go: Not the top ten swordsman of Israel!

Unbelief is misplaced confidence. It is being faithless: a belief that comes from hearing the voice of man rather than true faith which comes from hearing the voice of God. This voice of unbelief is universal and is “omnipresent” in every storm and every point of crises. It is the voice that cries deep within man and says with great conviction: “I do not have what it takes. Who am I to stand up to that which has killed millions just like me; stole from men greater than me; destroyed stronger than me?

God called it an “evil” heart that thinks like this. The word evil means, “Full of labors, annoyances, hardships, pressed, and bringing toils. It is “of a bad nature and is blind." It speaks of the “intense desire” in man to be independent—a “self made” man. This man’s faith is in self effort that drives him: “Try harder, dig in, give it all you’ve got! Make sure you confess the seven steps to success just right!"

After all: If you can think it you can achieve it!

This faith is “of a bad nature.” It is based on the natural assumption that all depends on “might and power.” The truth is, there was no lack of faith in their believing they couldn’t do it; unbelief was believing it was up to them: “Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts” (Zechariah 4:6). Identifying and even confessing the giants was not the problem; the issue was in not discerning the presence of the Lord and failing to confess what He had say about the situation.

Sooner or later all faith in the natural dies in the face of impossibility; only the “faith of Christ” is eternal. Whose faith raised Lazarus from the dead? Whose faith enabled Caleb to posses what they said was unattainable? “But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it” (Numbers 14:24).

“Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.” Do not dare leave the Living God and face the giants in your own strength!

By the way, God could have defeated the giants with the grasshoppers.

It would not have been close: Grasshoppers by two touchdowns!