Scripture: Numbers 13:25-33 & Numbers 14:1-4
I. Vs 25-29 & 31-32 People
A tool is an instrument that is used for a specific purpose and the devil has
some tools that he loves to use on believers. The Bible tells the church not
to be ignorant of the devil’s devices, so we need to “Be sober, be vigilant,
because your adversary the devil as a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour.” I Peter 5:8. Let’s take a look at five of the devil’s favorite tools, so we can be prepared to face the enemy. The first tool that requires our attention is called people, because Israel choose one leader from each tribe to search the land. They came back forty days later to report that the land flowed with milk and honey. The land has everything that the Lord promised Israel before they ever left Egypt, but people occupied the land. Caleb saw the Lord, but the ten spies only saw the Amalekites, Hittites, Jebusites, Amorites, and Canaanites. The ten spies said that the people are strong, very great, and brought up an evil report that weakened Israel’s faith.
The devil is still using people today to cause doubt in your mind about what
the Lord can do. The devil will use anybody that will make themselves
available to be used by him. Remember Peter (Matthew 16:22-23) and Judas (Luke 22:3-4). *Point: Don’t let the devil use you and don’t let people cause you to miss out on a blessing or doubt the promises of God. This was the promise land and you must walk by faith and not by sight. The ten spies were right, we can’t, but God can.
II. Vs. 28 Circumstances
Israel not only had to deal with the people in the land, but the cities were
walled, so the second instrument in the devil’s tool box is called
circumstances. Everybody has to face circumstances in life, but believers
don’t face them alone. We have the Word, Spirit, and the Lord, so our
circumstances are nothing but another opportunity to trust God. A wall can
represent many things other than a physical barrier. A wall can be finances,
job, relationship, or education, so the issue is not about the size of the
wall, but how big is your God. Nothing is too hard for the Lord, so everything is easy. You make things difficult when you don’t trust him and focus on the circumstances instead of the Lord. *Point: Don’t avoid your circumstances and don’t avoid the Lord. You are about to learn something about the Lord that only certain circumstances can teach you and don’t forget you did cross the Red Sea. Tell the devil that “this wall is not bigger than my God.”
III. Vs. 33 Fear
The third instrument goes all the way back to the garden of Eden, because sin makes us afraid (cowards). Remember fear and faith can’t co-exist in the same room, so Adam/Eve hid themselves. The people were giants and when Israel looked in the mirror they saw a grasshopper. They should have seen the Lord and that the people were so big that it made it impossible to miss. Fear will cripple and paralyze your faith in the Lord. People are afraid to fly, afraid of crowds, and public speaking, but the God has not given us a spirit of fear. Hey Christian the bigger they are the harder they fall. It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog. Remember David killed Goliath with a slingshot and cut his head off with his own sword. Faith made this possible, because we should depend on God and not man. The Lord is my helper and I will not fear what man shall do unto me. Fear is not our friend.
IV. Vs. 14:1-2 Discouragement
The whole nation wept, lifted up their voice and complained, because they were discouraged. The devil has a high success rate with this tool, because
discouragement spreads like a virus. You see, fear and discouragement leads to unbelief. People become discouraged with life (suicide), marriage (divorce), job (quit), Lord (stop going to church), because the devil knows how use this tool. The nation of Israel was not pleased with Moses, Aaron, and the Lord, because discouragement causes the tongue to speak death not life. They would rather have died in Egypt than die in the wilderness near the promised land.
Israel was willing to quit two feet away from the finish line, because they
were discouraged. Israel had already forgotten Deuteronomy 1:21 “Behold, the Lord thy God hath set the land before thee, go up and possess it, as the Lord God of thy fathers hath said unto thee, fear not, neither be discouraged.” News flash: If the Lord wanted them to die, he would have left them in Egypt.
*Point: If the Lord wanted you to die in your sins, he would never have sent
Jesus to Calvary. Child of God stand on his promises, because your blessing
could be right around the corner.
V. Vs. 14:3-4 Your Past
The final instrument in the devil’s tool box is your past, because he loves to
use your past against you. Everybody has a past, but there is no future living in the past. Hey don’t let the devil beat you up about what you were or what you did before you came to faith in Christ. Read I Corinthians 6:9-11, but focus on verse 11. Paul said “Brethren, I count not myself to have
apprehended, but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before. I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Israel wanted to fire the Lord and Moses, then go back to Egypt. Egypt represented many things, but the number one thing it represented was the past. News flash: They were slaves in Egypt. Child of God, you were a slave to sin and Jesus nailed your past to the cross and set you free. Don’t live like a slave, but live like a saint. You can’t change your past and your past was life without Christ. Let’s move forward to the promised land with God.
I hope this was a blessing to you.
Because He Lives
Bro. Mack