“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.”
My Notes
What Does Numbers 13:33 Mean?
The ten faithless spies deliver their final, most devastating assessment of the promised land's inhabitants: "we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight." The self-assessment is twofold: first, they saw themselves as grasshoppers (tiny, insignificant, crushable). Second, they projected that self-image onto the enemy: the giants must see us the same way we see ourselves.
The critical phrase is "in our own sight." The spies' primary problem wasn't the size of the giants. It was the size of their self-image. They looked at themselves and saw insects. And then they assumed the giants agreed with their self-assessment. The grasshopper identity was internal before it was external. They decided they were small, and then they concluded that everyone else saw their smallness too.
The theological failure is in the comparison framework: the spies compared themselves to the giants. They should have compared the giants to God. The question isn't "how big are we compared to them?" It's "how big are they compared to God?" When you compare yourself to the obstacle, you're a grasshopper. When you compare the obstacle to God, the obstacle is the grasshopper.
Reflection Questions
- 1.When you face a challenge, do you compare yourself to the obstacle or the obstacle to God?
- 2.Where has a 'grasshopper' self-image determined your response before you even engaged the challenge?
- 3.The spies projected their internal smallness onto the enemy. What self-assessment are you projecting onto your circumstances?
- 4.David compared Goliath to God. How would your current obstacle look if you compared it to God rather than to yourself?
Devotional
"We were in our own sight as grasshoppers." The spies saw themselves as insects. Tiny. Crushable. Insignificant. And then they projected that self-image onto the enemy: "so we were in their sight." The giants must see us the way we see ourselves. The smallness started in their own eyes and then became the story they told about everyone else's eyes.
The problem wasn't the giants. The problem was the mirror. The spies looked at themselves and saw grasshoppers—and from that moment, the battle was lost before it started. Because a grasshopper doesn't fight a giant. A grasshopper runs. The self-image determined the response before the response was consciously chosen.
The comparison was wrong: they compared themselves to the giants. They should have compared the giants to God. David will later face a single giant and say: "I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts" (1 Samuel 17:45). David didn't compare himself to Goliath. He compared Goliath to God. And Goliath became the grasshopper.
If you've been looking at the obstacles in your life and feeling like a grasshopper—if the challenges are so large that you've shrunk in your own sight—the problem isn't the obstacle. It's the comparison. You're comparing yourself to the giant. Compare the giant to your God. The same God who promised the land is the God who dwarfs every giant in it. You're not a grasshopper. You're a child of the God who makes giants look small.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
It is a wonder how the people of Israel had patience to stay forty days for the return of their spies, when they were…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture