GRASSHOPPER THEOLOGY

 Aaaaaah...Grasshopper...

Back in the 70's...martial arts were the rage as "everybody was Kung Fu fightin'...their fists were fast as lightning..." (Kung Fu Fightin' by Carl Douglas)  Bruce Lee...Billy Jack...Chuck Norris...multiple "chop suey" flicks captured the minds and hearts of many.  On T.V. David Carradine (a non-oriental) played the title role in a Bruce Lee inspired concept...of Kwai Chang Caine  in Kung Fu.  He was known affectionatly by his mentors (the Shaolin monks) as Grasshopper. One of the Shaolin masters was Master Po...who was blind.  A young Caine is quizzing Po about his blindness:

Young Caine:  You cannot see.

Master Po: You think I cannot see?

Young Caine: Of all things, to live in darkness must be the worst.
Master Po:  Fear is the only darkness.



Master Po (after easily defeating the boy in combat):  Ha, Ha...never assume because a man has no eyes he cannot see.  Close your eyes.  What do you hear?

Young Caine: I hear the water...I hear the birds.

Master Po:  Do you hear your own heartbeat?

Young Caine:  No.

Master Po: Do you hear the GRASSHOPPER that is at your feet?

Young Caine (looking down and seeing the insect):  Old man...how is it that you hear these things?

Master Po:  Young man...how is it that you do not?

Master Po:  What do you hear?

Young Caine:  I hear the GRASSHOPPER.

NOTE:  From that point on...the affectionate name of Grasshopper was used...and they would say whenever they would either praise or teach the boy...Aaaaaaaaaaah...Grasshopper.


Many years earlier...there was a another mention of the little bitty insect known as the GRASSHOPPER  found in the book of NUMBERS.  The children of Israel had a promise, given many years earlier to Abraham as part of God's covenant with him.

"Now the Lord said to Abram, go forth from your country (land) and from your relatives, and from your father's house, to THE LAND I WILL SHOW YOU; and I will make you a great NATION...and I will BLESS YOU...and make your NAME GREAT, ans so YOU SHALL BE A BLESSINGS; and I will BLESS those who BLESS you and the one who CURSES you I will CURSE.  And IN YOU all the families of the earth shall be BLESSED." (Genesis 12:1-3)  This COVENANT OF BLESSING would be underscored throughout the years...passed from  Abraham to Isaac to Jacob (Israel) and was something that was theirs for the POSSESSING.

NOTE:  The ultimate blessing would be...and is Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:1-14)

In Numbers chapters 13 and 14...we see Moses and the children poised on the edge of Canaan...the Promised Land...the Land Flowing with Milk and Honey.  The first thing the Lord told Moses to do was to send out a RECONNAISSANCE MISSION to RECONNOITER the LAND. (The act of searching for useful military information in the field, especially by examining the ground.)  the MISSION was to "spy out the land of Canaan which I am going to give to the sons of Israel.." (Numbers 13:1-2)  God told Moses to select from the tribes...every one a LEADER (the elite).

They were given specifics of the mission:  (1) Go into the Negev (the south country) (2) Then go up into the hill country (3) See what the land is like.  This included: (a) Whether the people who live in it are strong or weak (c) Whether they are few or many (d) How is the land in which they live, is it good or bad (e)  How many are in the cities in which they live (f) Are they like open camps or with fortifications. (g) How is the land, is it fat or lean (h) Are there trees in it or not (i) Make an effort to get some of the fruit of the land.  (Numbers 13:17-20)

NOTE:  This RECONNOITERING was not for God's benefit...He already knew what He was giving them to possess.  I think it was for the benefit of whetting their appetites for what was promised...and to give them a view of the opposition...and that they would have to rely on God to possess the land.

"So...they went up and spied out the land..."(Numbers 13:21)  They found fruit in the valley of Eshcol (clusters) and cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes and carried it on a pole between two men, with some of the pomegranates and the figs. (Numbers 13:23-24)  What God said was true.
Now was time to RETURN and REPORT back to General Moses and Commander Aaron...and to ALL the congregation of the sons of Israel in the wilderness of Paran at Kadesh...and BROUGHT BACK WORD to them and to all the congregation and showed them the fruit of the land. (Numbers 13:25-26)

They started the report with the GOOD NEWS...and then brought the BAD NEWS.

"Thus they told him, and said, We went in to the land where you sent us; and it CERTAINLY DOES flow with milk and honey, and this is its fruit." (Numbers 13:27)  So far... so good...a GOOD REPORT is being presented.  But there is a shift in their report that begins with the word NEVERTHELESS.

NOTE:  The word...nevertheless means (1) nonetheless (2) not withstanding (3) IN SPITE OF.  The synonym for this would be the word BUT. 

In the face of the TRUTH of what God had spoken and promised...there was a BUT.  There is nothing new under the sun...especially with lies.  Adam and Eve had the truth and the promise...and the serpent, the devil, the liar, the thief, the stealer, the killer, the destroyer, the accuser of the brethren, the doubt planter...planted a BUT in their minds.  For us as BELIEVERS in the Death, Burial, Resurrection of Jesus (The D.B.R...nothing more...nothing less)...as we walk by faith and not by sight...as we live by faith...as we have faith in God continually...we are presented with the NEVERTHELESS and BUTS...to doubt what God has said in His Word is true.  The word NEVERTHELESS/BUT is at the root of what is known as GRASSHOPPER THEOLOGY...and it will stop you in your tracks from possessing what God has promised because of what Master Po told Grasshopper at the beginning of this Rambling..."Fear is the only darkness."

"NEVERTHELESS/BUT...the people who live in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large; and MOREOVER, we saw the descendants of Anak there.  Amalek is living ht the land of the Negeve and the Hittites and the Jebusites and the Amorites are living in the hill country, and the Canaanites are living by the sea and by the side of Jordan." (Numbers 13:28-29)  NOTE:  This is the BAD NEWS (aka the Bad Report)  NOTE TO THE NOTE:  The double punch of fear is NEVERTHELESS...and then MOREOVER.  The word MOREOVER...is like adding salt to the wound of fear.  It is ...this is how bad it is...and could it get any worse?  Well..Yes it can!!!

The crowd began to make some noise...about the bad report...to the point of where Caleb had to quiet them down..."then Caleb quieted the people before Moses..." (Numbers 13:30)

Here comes the GOOD REPORT...in the face of the NEVERTHELESS/BUT and MOREOVER fear factor.  "...We should by ALL MEANS GO UP AND TAKE POSSESSION OF IT...FOR WE SHALL SURELY OVERCOME IT." (Numbers 13:30) 

NOTE:  To be an OVERCOMER...there must be something to OVERCOME.   Caleb and Joshua did not deny the reality of the situation...but they did deny realities RIGHT TO RULE them by fear...and rob them of what God had PROMISED THEM.   God had told them that they would POSSESS IT...and POSSESSION would be met with OPPOSITION.  As Bruce Cockburn sings (I love this quote...as you know I use it often)..."nothing worth having comes without a fight..you've got to kick at the darkness... until it bleeds daylight." (Lovers In A Dangerous Time).

Out of twelve men...strong men...leaders among the tribes...shall we say the elite...only two gave a good report.  Ten men came back with a bad report.  They had all seen the SAME THINGS...but two different view points.  It is like the example that we have used so many times before with the simple phrase...GODISNOWHERE.  Everyone is reading these words...but not everyone will see the same thing.  it will all depend on how they look at it.  Some will see...GOD IS NO WHERE (bad report)...while others will see GOD IS NOW HERE (good report). 

"But the men who had gone up with him said...we ARE NOT ABLE to go up against the people...for they are TOO STRONG for us."  (Numbers 13:31)  Why did they give out this bad report?  What put the NEVERTHELESS/BUT and the MOREOVER FEAR FACTOR in them?

"So they gave out to the sons of Israel a BAD REPORT of the land which they had spied out saying...The land through which we have gone, in spying it out...is A LAND THAT DEVOURS  its inhabitants, and all the PEOPLE whom we saw in it are men of GREAT SIZE.  There also we saw the NEPHILIM (the sons of Anak are part of Nephlim) and WE BECAME LIKE GRASSHOPPERS IN OUR OWN SIGHT...AND SO WE WERE IN THEIR SIGHT." (Numbers 13:32-33)

Fear...will us to begin to compare ourselves to what puts fear in out...that will in turn make us see ourselves as something...and in turn...who we fear...will begin to see us...as we see ourselves. In other words...we BECOME (go from one state to another) less than we are in our OWN SIGHT...and become in the SIGHT OF OUR ENEMIES...like we SEE OURSELVES. 

To make a long story short (too late huh)...two went in...and multitudes died in the wilderness...because of REBELLION based on a BAD REPORT.  Grumbling, complaining, fear, desire to return to Egypt (bondage).  Like Job who said, "what I feared has come upon me"...so it was with the children of Israel who believed the BAD REPORT from ten men (it does not take a lot of people to lead people away from the truth)...instead of believing a GOOD REPORT from two men...but more than that...the bottom line is that the people believed a BAD REPORT from ten men...and did not believe GOD'S WORD OF PROMISE.

FINAL THOUGHTS...FINALLY

"We should surely by all means go up and take possession of it...for WE SHALL SURELY OVERCOME IT."  (Numbers 13:30)

"And they spoke to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, saying...the land which we passed through to spy out is an EXCEEDINGLY GOOD LAND.  If the Lord is pleased with us...then HE WILL BRING US INTO THIS LAND...and GIVE IT TO US...a land which flows with milk and honey.  Only do NOT REBEL AGAINST THE LORD...and DO NOT FEAR THE PEOPLE OF THE LAND...for they shall be our prey.  Their protection has been removed from them...and THE LORD IS WITH US...DO NOT FEAR THEM." (Numbers 14:7-9)

In the words of Master Po to Young Caine..."Do you hear the GRASSHOPPER at your feet?"  What is really so small...can cause such great fear...to the point that you become as the GRASSHOPPER at your feet...in the eyes of those who are your enemies.  Remember...GREATER IS HE...THAT IS IN YOU...THAN HE THAT IS IN THE WORLD." (I John 4:4)

Love and Non-Fearful Kisses
Rodney "Good Report" Boyd