Danny Ingram March 14, 2004
He returns from college in Ohio, and his father took him to Houston to Berachah. His family was similar to a scene in “Saving Private Ryan.” One uncle spent the war in a German POW camp (and he was a part of those noted in “The Great Escape”). His Uncle Ben was an instructor and requested to go into combat. He was later listed as MIA and presumed dead. Ingram’s father was involved and he ferried oil from Houston to Norfolk.
Deuteronomy 9 “The Long Necks, the Stiff Necks and the Grasshoppers.”
Deuteronomy is a Greek name which means Second Law. This book begins with Israel camped on the east side of the Jordan. 39 years prior, Moses taught the Law. However, this is not his second time to teach this information; he’s probably been teaching all of these years. This is a set of his last messages. Ingram refers to the first generation as the X-generation (I call them Gen. X). The first generation failed at the southern boundary of Canaan. Moses has taken them up the east side of the Jordan. Moses is now talking to the second generation 39 years later. Moses is like a coach with a sports team that he had worked with for about a year; this is gen X, and they were losers. They whined at the Sea of Reeds. The Red Sea was actually very far south of where they actually were. This group had a slave mentality and they could not get their eyes off themselves and off their problems. They never took responsibility for themselves and their own failures. Moses had taught, and he made intercession for them, and he encouraged them, and he performed miracles; and this team went nowhere. They were crushed on game day; they feared the opposing team, and were destroyed.
Now Moses has been working with this second team for 39 years. These are the sons of gen X. He’s moved out the seasoned players and he is moving in the rookie players to take their place. Gen X is dead. Only Moses remains. Moses teachings on the Law is is what Deuteronomy is all about. There were potential blessings for those who entered into the land. “Remember Israel to learn from your mistakes” is the general idea of this chapter and book.
We need to learn from others’ mistakes because we will not live long enough to commit all of these mistakes ourselves. We are to learn and live, not vice versa. His brother home-schooled his 3 kids, and called it the “Ingram School” and the motto was Learn and Live. Moses does not want this generation to repeat this mistakes of the previous generation.
Deu 9:1 Hear, O, Israel! You are to pass over Jordan today, to go in to expel nations greater and mightier than you, cities great and fenced up to heaven,
Moses is trying to set up the generation to cross over the Jordan. He uses figures of speech. Today is used in the sense of it’s a new day. “I robbed the other churches of Macedonia, so that I would not be a burden to you” is what Paul said; this was a figure of speech.
Moses acted as though they were in the process of crossing over the Jordan, even though they were not actually doing that. Moses has them mentally playing the game before they play it. Yarash (ש-רָי) [pronounced yaw-RAHSH], which means to be a consuming fire, to take by force. Israel will need to get up and go in and take the land. Israel will be required to do something. God will not hand us life on a platter. We are required to get up and go get it. As we get up and go get it, He hands it to us. We might be required to work hard and God will provide.
Israel had been promised the land; and God would give it to them. But Israel would still have to train, prepare, fight, and God would give it to them.
Deu 9:2 a people great and tall, the sons of the giants, whom you know and have heard it said, Who can stand before the sons of Anak!
Moses is not necessarily being encouraging here, but he is making them realistic. Two approaches: the cakewalk technique: this will be easy, this will be a cakewalk. You use this to get the kids to go with you to the dentist. When an event is instantaneous or if you aren’t going to be there, you might you this method. The Vince Lombarde technique: this opposing team is so prepared for us, and they are going to walk all over you. He is encouraging those to be tough and prepared.
There was a report from 39 years ago that these men of the land were more numerous, larger and well-prepared. This was an accurate report. God was capable then and He is capable now to bring the Israelites into the land. Failing a test today and rolling down the hill of spiritual maturity will not make things any easier the next time that we go into the land. It is almost guaranteed that if we fail a test once, God will give us the privilege of passing that test again. Therefore, be a good time manager and pass the test the first time through. Nothing is impossible for God. When it is too tough for everyone else, it is perfect for God (taken from the Marine maxim, if it is too tough for everyone else, then it is just about right for us).
The Anakim are descendants of Anak; and it means long-necked, which indicates that they were abnormally tall. They could have had long necks as well. “You know these people, Israel; you know them only too well.” We add pronouns to our verbs so that we know who did what; however, this is included in the suffixes of the Hebrew. When a pronoun is added, that is for emphasis. “You’ve heard about the Anakim.” Shâmah ה-מָש) [pronounced shaw-MAH], which means to hear and obey. Moses tells them that they shamah-ed the report of the spies, but they did not shamah God.
The Jews whined about Moses taking them out of Egypt in order to see that they were killed by the sword. Do not blame Moses for your failures. The Jews blamed Moses. What goes wrong in our own lives is generally our fault. These long-necks are so tough, who can position themselves against them? Num. 13:26 is the original report of the spies which caused such an uproar in Israel. And they left and came to Moses and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, to the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh. And they brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. And they told him and said, We came to the land where you sent us, and surely it flows with milk and honey. And this is the fruit of it. However, the people that dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are walled, very great. And also we saw the children of Anak there. The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south, and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the mountains. And the Canaanites dwell by the sea and by the coast of Jordan. And Caleb stilled the people before Moses and said, Let us go up at once and possess it. For we are well able to overcome it. But the men that went up with him said, We are 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 to the sons of Israel, saying, The land through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eats up those who live in it. And all the people whom we saw in it were men of stature. And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, of the giants. And we were in our own sight like grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight (Num. 13:26–33). Caleb is not worried. He knows that God can take them into the land. However, the majority of this group did not want to face the Anakim, so they began murmurs and whispers which was a bad report about there assignment. They are telling the rest of that there is too much of a problem. This dissenting group (dissenting against God) change the complexion of the land—this land devours its inhabitants. They don’t actually think that the land does this; just that it will do that to them. Not all of the enemies in the Land of Promise are of a daunting size. When you lose spiritual perspective, everything in your life becomes huge. These fomenters of fear and dissent get their desired result, and Israel will not go into the land. The word for giants is Nephalim (םי.ל-ףנ) [pronounced ne-fah-LEEM], which means giants. This was the word used back in Gen. 6. They complained that they were like grasshoppers in the sight of these giants. They ignored the fact that God had promised that He would give them the land. They saw the hopelessness of it all. They were preoccupied with the problem and they were afraid. They were so preoccupied with themselves, that they were small in the eyes of the giants.
This reconnaissance team was not supposed to be seen, yet they say, “We were small in their eyes.” They first appeared small in their own eyes, meaning that they did not have their eyes on God. See the problem; see the Lord; become confident in God. Do not focus on the problems of your life; focus on the God Who will solve these problems. God has a solution for every problem in our life. God is the solution. Keeping your eyes on the Lord will save us an immeasurable amount of time which we would otherwise waste.
Dan Ingram March 14, 2004
His brother is in Iraq finding translators for the armed forces.
He’s used the analogy of a coach; Moses prepared one team, and it failed. Here, Moses starts with a new team. Moses will not be able to go with this team into Canaan. The previous generation failed; and he has one last short with their children. The Jews revealed feelings of inadequacy because they lacked perspective in their lives. Num. 14 tells us how grasshoppers behave. Num 14:1–2: And all the congregation lifted up their voice and cried. And the people wept that night. And all the sons of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron. And the whole congregation said to them, Oh that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or, Oh that we had died in the wilderness! When you get in a bind, take responsibility for your own actions. This enhances the recovery process and even initiates the process. You must confess your sins in order to move on.
Adam began by blaming God and then the woman. This got him nowhere. Most men want to extablish blame rather than to establish harmony inthe relationship. Adam was responsible. A commanding officer must take responsibility for what happens in his command. He releases the pressure by taking responsibility. Sometimes closed door remedial action is called for; however, that is not for public display. This works even more so in marriage. The woman is designed to respond and she responds to her leader. Husband takes responsibility for mistakes, mis-communications, etc. Good decisions increase our options; poor decisions limit these options. God did not bring these men there to die; He did not bring them there to lose. They already know by Moses that this would not be a cakewalk. They say that God brought us here to be killed by the sword and our wives and children will becomie plunder. Allow God to provide day in and day out for us. You do not have to reinvent the wheel. The Jews should know that God has brought them to that point; that God has provided for them in the wilderness. How could they even march back to Egypt? It took God’s daily provision to keep them alive in the wilderness. Be careful what you ask for, God may just give it to you and you will be more miserable than before. Our solutions will not make us happy and God may even allow us what we want. Principle: God has brought us this far; don’t go back to Egypt. Num. 14:3–7: And why has Jehovah brought us into this land to fall by the sword, so that our wives and our sons should be a prey? Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt? And they said to one another, Let us make a leader, and let us return to Egypt. And Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the sons of Israel. And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, of those that searched the land, tore their clothes. And they spoke to all the company of the sons of Israel saying, The land which we passed through to search is an exceedingly good land.
When we reject God’s plan for our lives, then even idiocy sounds good to us. These men will not have to worry about these things. God will take them out in the desert. Num 14:16: Because Jehovah was not able to bring this people into the land which He swore to them, therefore He has slain them in the wilderness.
Back to Deut. 9. As a coach, Moses reviews the tapes. Here are the mistakes that we made before. Moses is not going to lose this team; so he bears down on them.
Deu 9:3 Therefore, understand today that Jehovah your God is He who goes over before you. Like a consuming fire, He shall destroy them, and He shall bring them down before your face. So you shall drive them out and destroy them quickly, as Jehovah has said to you.
God’s provisions are not only sufficient, but they come with perfect timing. He knew of our problems in eternity past, and He solved them at that time. God has gone before us and He has done the heavy lifting already. God is a consuming fire. God would cause them to be exterminated. Kanah (ה-נ-כ) [pronounced kaw-NAH], which means to bring down. These are the Nephaliim, the giants; and God can bring them down. They do not stand a chance before God.
God has a plan for our lives, and if we make the correct decisions, He will cause it to happen. We do not have to worry how it will happen; we simply need to be confident that what the Lord has promised, He will bring it to pass. What about the daunting problems? God brings them down. Israel will cause them to be dispossessed. Israel will be caused to fight. Israel will cause them to perish, but that is because God will bring them down.
The battle has already been won, but God uses us as instruments in his game plan. In essence, we are merely playing out a winning hand. Israel must invade the land and attack the inhabitants. The same is true in our lives. We cannot simply twiddle our thumbs in the plan of God. He goes before us like a devouring fire. Principle, let’s get on with our Christian lives and stop whining. Has God ever given us a reason for not believing His promises. All we must do is just believe it and get cracking. There is a contrast between being obedient and . Deut. 4:23–24: Take heed to yourselves, lest you forget the covenant of Jehovah your God, which He made with you, and make you a graven image, a likeness of anything which Jehovah your God has forbidden you. For Jehovah your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. Deut. 7:4: For they will turn away your son from following Me, so that they may serve other gods. So the anger of Jehovah will be kindled against you and will destroy you suddenly. On which end of the consuming fire do the Israelites want to be?
Deu 9:4 Do not speak in your heart, after Jehovah your God has cast them out from before you, saying: For my righteousness, Jehovah has brought me in to possess this land. But for the wickedness of these nations, Jehovah your God drives them out from before you.
Deu 9:5 Not for your righteousness, or for the uprightness of your heart, do you go to possess their land. But for the wickedness of these nations Jehovah your God drives them out from before you, so that He may perform the Word which Jehovah swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Deu 9:6 Therefore, understand that Jehovah your God does not give you this good land, to possess it, for your righteousness. For you are a stiff-necked people.
Deu 9:7 Remember, and do not forget, how you provoked Jehovah your God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day you departed out of the land of Egypt, until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against Jehovah.
Deu 9:8 Also in Horeb you provoked Jehovah to wrath, so that Jehovah was angry with you to have destroyed you.
Deu 9:9 When I had gone up into the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant which Jehovah made with you, then I stayed in the mountain forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water.
Deu 9:10 And Jehovah delivered to me two tablets of stone written with the finger of God, and on them according to all the words which Jehovah spoke with you in the mountain out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly.
Deu 9:11 And it happened, at the end of forty days and forty nights Jehovah gave me the two tables of stone, the tablets of the covenant.
Deu 9:12 And Jehovah said to me, Arise! Get down quickly from here, for your people whom you have brought forth out of Egypt have corrupted. They have quickly turned aside out of the way which I commanded them. They have made them a molten image.
Deu 9:13 And Jehovah spoke to me saying: I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiff-necked people.
Deu 9:14 Let Me alone, so that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under the heavens. And I will make of you a nation mightier and greater than they.
Deu 9:15 So I turned and came down from the mountain, and the mountain burned with fire. And the two tables of the covenant were in my two hands.
Deu 9:16 And I looked, and behold! You had sinned against Jehovah your God, and had made you a molten calf. You had turned aside quickly out of the way which Jehovah had commanded you.
Deu 9:17 And I took the two tablets and threw them out of my hands and broke them before your eyes.
Deu 9:18 And I fell down before Jehovah, as at the first, forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all your sins which you sinned in doing wickedly in the sight of Jehovah to provoke Him to anger.
Deu 9:19 For I was afraid of the anger and fury with which Jehovah was angry against you to destroy you. But Jehovah listened to me at that time also.
Deu 9:20 And Jehovah was very angry with Aaron to have destroyed him. And I prayed for Aaron also at the same time.