Possess Your Gilead

"And I gave Gilead unto Machir." — Deuteronomy 3:15 (KJV)

Fear Lost It, Faith Won It

That one short verse sits at the end of a long story about two generations. Both stood at the edge of the same promise, facing the same kind of giants. Fear cost one generation their inheritance, and faith won it for the next.

The question for us is simple: which generation are we going to be?

“As Grasshoppers”

Nearly forty years before Machir’s family took Gilead, Israel stood at the border of the Promised Land. Twelve spies went in, saw the land, and came back with a report. The land was good, but there were giants in it, and ten of the spies backed down.

"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 13:33 (KJV)

Notice the order. First they were grasshoppers “in our own sight.” Fear shrank them in their own eyes before it ever showed up in the enemy’s eyes.

God had already promised them that land, but fear made them forget it. Two spies hadn’t forgotten. Joshua and Caleb begged the people to remember who was with them.

"Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the LORD is with us: fear them not." — Numbers 14:9 (KJV)

The people wouldn’t listen. And the New Testament tells us exactly what kept them out.

"So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief." — Hebrews 3:19 (KJV)

Fear didn’t just scare them. It cost them the victory they would have won. The giants were never the real problem. Unbelief was.

The Next Generation Didn’t Back Down

The frightened parents claimed their kids would be the victims. God turned that around.

"But your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have despised." — Numbers 14:31 (KJV)

Those children grew up in the wilderness. And when their turn came, they didn’t back down just because their parents did.

They marched straight toward the kind of enemy that had terrified the last generation. Og, king of Bashan, was a giant.

"For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of giants; behold, his bedstead was a bedstead of iron; is it not in Rabbath of the children of Ammon? nine cubits was the length thereof, and four cubits the breadth of it, after the cubit of a man." — Deuteronomy 3:11 (KJV)

That bed was roughly thirteen and a half feet long. This was exactly the kind of giant the spies had run from. But this time, God’s people believed Him, and the LORD delivered Og into their hands (Deuteronomy 3:3).

Then Moses handed out the land.

"And the rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, being the kingdom of Og, gave I unto the half tribe of Manasseh; all the region of Argob, with all Bashan, which was called the land of giants." — Deuteronomy 3:13 (KJV)

The land of giants. The very thing the last generation feared became the inheritance of the next. And two verses later, “And I gave Gilead unto Machir.”

What Giant Are You Facing?

You probably won’t run into a nine-cubit king this week. But you have giants of your own. And just like Israel, the real danger isn’t the giant. It’s forgetting what God promised. So for each giant, ask: what promise of God am I forgetting?

When the world seems to be falling apart

"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;" — Psalm 46:1–2 (KJV)

When your body or your health is failing

"My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever." — Psalm 73:26 (KJV)

Notice that word portion. Even when your body fails, God Himself is your inheritance.

When stress and anxiety are gripping you

"Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." — Philippians 4:6–7 (KJV)

When you’re wondering what God’s calling on your life even is

"Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." — Proverbs 3:5–6 (KJV)

Promises That Shrink Giants

The spies saw themselves as grasshoppers. God’s Word tells you how He sees you instead.

You weren’t given fear

"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." — 2 Timothy 1:7 (KJV)

If fear is running your life, it didn’t come from God.

The One in you is bigger

"Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world." — 1 John 4:4 (KJV)

Whatever giant is out there, the One living in you is greater.

You’re more than a conqueror

"Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us." — Romans 8:37 (KJV)

Not grasshoppers. Conquerors, and more than that, through Christ.

This is why memorizing Scripture matters so much. The spies forgot God’s promise at the exact moment they needed it. When your giant shows up, you want His promises already hidden in your heart.

The Only Fear You Need

There is one kind of fear the Bible actually tells us to have, and it comes right after Hebrews talks about the generation that died in the wilderness.

"Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it." — Hebrews 4:1 (KJV)

The spies feared the wrong thing. They were terrified of the giants and not afraid at all of missing what God promised.

Flip that around. Be afraid of missing the promise, not of the giant.

A Chosen Generation

You don’t have to back down just because the last generation did. Machir’s family didn’t inherit their parents’ fear. They inherited God’s promise and acted on it.

God calls you to be that kind of generation.

"But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:" — 1 Peter 2:9 (KJV)

Peculiar doesn’t mean weird. It means set apart as God’s own possession. God used the same idea for Israel:

"Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:" — Exodus 19:5 (KJV)

So be different. When everyone around you is shrinking back in fear, be the peculiar treasure God called you to be.

Possess Your Gilead

Jesus never promised that following Him would be giant-free. But He told us how the story ends.

"These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." — John 16:33 (KJV)

Christ already won. And while you wait for the giant to fall, God promises to guard your mind.

"Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee." — Isaiah 26:3 (KJV)

So keep your mind stayed on His Word, even when you’re staring down your giant.

This Week, Try This

• Name your giant, and write it down
• Find one promise from this post that answers it
• Memorize that promise along with this week’s verse

This Week’s Verse

"And I gave Gilead unto Machir." — Deuteronomy 3:15 (KJV)

More on this week’s verse: God Gave It. Now Go Take It. and Your Inheritance Starts Now.