POINT #1 – WE NEED TO KNOW WHAT GOD SAYS.
Summary (Numbers 13:1-3, 17-21,25, 27-33)
(***Begin by reading this summary. I encourage you to open your bible to Numbers 13 and place the summary inside your bible. We want our kiddos to know that this truly is the word of God, not just a story.***)
***(v. 1-3) The Lord told Moses, “Send some men to explore and spy out the land of Canaan. I will give this land to you, the Israelites, which were God’s people. Send one leader from each of the 12 tribes.” So Moses obeyed the Lord’s command and sent out the 12 leaders while the rest of the people camped out in the desert. Moses told the people to look and see what the land was like, what the people were like, and for them to have courage. The men went to spy out the land.
***(v. 17-21, 25) When Moses sent the 12 leaders out to explore the land of Canaan he said, “Go through the Negev (which is a desert), and then into the hill country. See what the land looks like. Learn about the people who live there. Are they strong or are they weak? Are they few or are they many? Learn about the land that they live in. Is it good land or bad land? What kind of towns do they live in? Do the towns have walls protecting them? Are the towns strongly guarded? And learn other things about the land. Is the soil good for growing things, or is it poor soil? Are there trees on the land? Try to bring back some of the fruit from that land.” (The first grapes should be ripe at this time.) So they went to explore the country…. The men explored that country for 40 days, and then they went back to the camp.
***(v. 27-33) When they came back to their camp, they told Moses, “We went to the land where you sent us. It is a land filled with many good things! Here is some of the fruit that grows there!” They brought back some fresh grapes from the vine. And they continued to say, “But the people living there are very powerful and strong. The cities are very large and there are guards protecting the city. We even saw some Anakites, Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites.” Caleb, one of the leaders, told the people near Moses to be quiet. Then he said, “We should go up and take that land for ourselves. We can easily take that land.” But the other leaders that had gone to spy the land with him said, “We cannot fight those people! They are much stronger than we are.” So those men gave a report that made all the rest of the people sad. They said, “The land we saw was full of really strong people. They are strong enough to easily defeat anyone who goes there. We saw giants there too, the Nephilim. We felt like tiny little grasshoppers. Yes, we were like grasshoppers to them!”
God told Moses that HE WOULD give the land of Canaan to the people, and for Moses to send the men out to explore the land. He did not tell the people to go see the land so they could then decide if they thought they could beat the giants and take the land. But, after seeing the giants, the people quickly forgot that God already told them that HE WOULD give them the land. It had nothing to do with whether or not they thought they were strong enough to do it. They had forgotten all about what God said. He said that HE would give them the land. He would be with them. God’s plan all along was to be with His people and help them overcome the giants in the land of Canaan. And, that’s God’s plan for us, too.
- Why do you think the leaders forgot what God said when they saw the giants?
- Have you ever tried to do something hard or scary and forgotten what God told you or what His word says? (Ex. Maybe you have worried about going to a new school, new class, new team, etc. and forgot that God’s word says that we should NOT worry?)
- Why is it important to remember God’ words in the Bible?
- What can we do to help us remember what God’s word says? (read it, write it, speak it, memorize it, sing it, etc.)
We need to KNOW what God says. When we know what God says about us, about our life, we can have courage. We need to know what God’s word says about fear, worry, unforgiveness, sickness, death, etc. We need to focus on what God says and not on the problem or the difficulty we are facing. We need to know that what God says is the truth. God can only tell the truth, He cannot lie. When we KNOW God’s word, when we KNOW the truth, it sets us free from fear, worry, unforgiveness, and even sickness and death!
Scripture memory verse: You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” John 8:32 ERV
Prayer: Jesus, we thank you for your words in the Bible. We thank you that your words are true, and that you can only tell us the truth and cannot lie. We thank you that in your word, there are answers to everything we face, every hard and scary thing. Your words tell us what we should do. Holy Spirit we ask you to help us remember the words from God in the Bible when we read it, when we hear it, when we speak it and when we pray it. We are so thankful to know the truth, and that the truth in your words sets us free. We want to be free, Jesus. In your name we pray, amen.