"The promise of the kingdom of God is given to every believer; but how many are discouraged by the difficulties in the way! A slothful heart sees dangers, lions, and giants, everywhere..."
"Reader, canst thou not take God at His word? He has never yet failed thee. Surely then thou hast no reason to doubt. Thou hast never yet tried Him to the uttermost. Thou knowest not how far and how fully He can save. Do not be dispirited: the sons of Anak shall fall before thee, if thou meet them in the name of the Lord of hosts."
"Whatever we undertake, God's favourable presence with us is all in all, to our success; this therefore we must earnestly pray for, and carefully make sure of, by keeping ourselves in the love of God; and on this we must depend, and from this take our encouragement against the greatest difficulties."
- all of the above quotes are from Matthew Henry
The Anakims - who were they? They were a race of giants called Anak. This was the actual name of the race rather than the name of an individual. They dwelt in the southern part of Canaan - particularly at Hebron. They were a people "great and tall" - of a large bulky size and tall stature.
Throughout the Bible, we find them described as such -
Numbers 13:28 says - "Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land...and moreover we saw the children of Anak there."
Numbers 13:33 says - "And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants..."
Deuteronomy 1:28 says - "...The people is greater and taller than we..."
Deuteronomy 2:10-11 says - "The Emim dwelt therein in times past, a people great, and many, and tall, as the Anakim; Which also were accounted giants, as the Anakim; but the Moabites called them Emim."
Deuteronomy 2:20-21 says - "(That also was accounted a land of giants: giants dwelt therein in old time; and the Ammonites call them Zamzummim; A people great, and many, and tall, as the Anakim..."
Deuteronomy 9:2 says - "A people great and tall, the children of the Anakim, whom thou knowest, and of whom thou hast heard say, Who can stand before the children of Anak!"
From the study of just these Scriptures alone, we gather this information about them - They were a very large bodied men of a gigantic stature...a robust, sturdy, warlike race of men...men of valor and courage...very numerous, hardy, fierce, and terrible ...called Emim, Anakim, and Rephaim depending on their different localities...and were a kind of wandering, free-booters who lived by plunder.
These people were a great terror to any society of people. In fact, there was a common proverb in the mouth of most people in those days which went like this - "Who can stand before the children of Anak!"
You would not care so much if the Anakim lived on one side of the earth and you lived on the other - just so you didn't have to see them every day or deal with them on a personal basis.
But what do we have recorded here in the book of Numbers and Deuteronomy about the Anakim? God Almighty directed His people to go and possess the land of these monsters!
We are not talking about being neighbors with these "tall fellows." We are talking about destroying them and then taking their land for an inheritance.
Whoa! Hold on, God! Have you checked out the size of these "beings" in comparison to Your people? They are but "grasshoppers" against these Anakim! (Numbers 13:33).
There is no doubt that the Anakim were "a people great, and many, and tall." The Bible nowhere discounts that fact. However, God did not intend for His people to walk by sight in possessing their possessions. He intended that they would walk by faith in Him!
If you will notice the words of the Israelites in the above Scriptures, all of their descriptions have to do with what they saw. However, one thing was lacking. Even though they saw the bigness of their enemy, they only saw half of the picture. Their vision was perverted. They had "tunnel vision." They seemingly were wearing blinders on their eyes.
For, where is God in this picture? How is it that there is not one mention of the bigness of their God in comparison to these "giants"?
All they saw was the bigness of the Anakim! And they already were familiar with the common proverb - "Who can stand before the children of Anak!" - so their minds were already corrupted with fear and unbelief through past reports and tales.
Here we have a people who - for the longest time - were fed the same fearful report about this race of people. Then when they actually saw them, they were totally paralyzed with fear to encounter them - paralyzed so much so that they never remembered God's Word of Promise to them.
Read what Moses had said to the children of Israel concerning their mandate to destroy this gigantic race from the face of the earth - "Hear, O Israel: Thou art to pass over Jordan this day, to go in to possess nations greater and mightier than thyself, cities great and fenced up to heaven, A people great and tall, the children of the Anakim, whom thou knowest, and of whom thou hast heard say, Who can stand before the children of Anak! Understand therefore this day, that the LORD thy God is He Which goeth over before thee; as a consuming fire He shall destroy them, and He shall bring them down before thy face: so shalt thou drive them out, and destroy them quickly, as the LORD hath said unto thee" (Deuteronomy 9:1-3).
Notice what Moses said to the children of Israel concerning the Anakim - "...whom thou knowest, and of whom thou hast heard say, Who can stand before the children of Anak!" The Israelites knew who he was talking about when he mentioned the Anakim. They were the ones who indirectly caused them to wander forty years in the wilderness rather than enter the Promised Land as God intended. Instead of holding onto His promise that He would be the One to bring down, drive out, and destroy the Anakim, they went by what they heard and saw. In doing so, they acted just like the godless, heathen nations which surrounded them.
What do the Anakims have to do with you and me?
You may be reading this message and find yourself relating to the children of Israel in a very personal way. Perhaps a year..two years...five years...ten years...or even twenty years ago, the Lord spoke to you to do something that was out of the ordinary. Instead of obeying Him, you froze in fear based on the opinions of your friends and family members and on what you saw in the natural. You went by the report of men and your senses rather than by - "Thus saith the Lord God!"
Resultantly, for several years, you have found yourself - like Israel - wandering through a seeming wilderness.
But the winds of change are blowing for you now! God has revived that "word" to you and, as in the past, you are facing the same "giants" - the same evil report and the same sensory hindrances. Because of what you heard and what you see, you are being tempted with the same paralysis of fear.
Stop it right now before you repeat history! Remember the promise of God to you!
God is saying to you this day - "Understand therefore this day..." What is it that you are to "understand"? "...that the LORD thy God is He Which goeth over before thee; as a consuming fire He shall destroy them, and He shall bring them down before thy face: so shalt thou drive them out, and destroy them quickly, as the LORD hath said unto thee."
In other words, those "giants" that are standing in the way of your spiritual inheritance or all that God has for you are no match for the Lord Jesus. You are no match for them, but He certainly is! It is not you that is going to bring them down - it is Him! It is through His power and might that they will be totally driven out of your life and family.
Some of you reading this message are right now contending with "giants" of sickness like cancer, heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, etc. Others may be facing the "giants" of poverty, lack, want, or bankruptcy. And then others are facing the "giants" of fear, unbelief, rejection, depression, addiction, bitterness, or regret. These "giants" are real. Others have told you that no one in your family has been able to tackle these "giants" and so you probably won't either.
You have seen what your "giants" have done to members of your family and so based on what you have heard and seen, you are paralyzed with fear in confronting them yourself.
You need to get some "understanding" today from God's Holy Word! The Lord God is He that goes before you. He is a "consuming fire." He is the One Who is greater than your "giants."
You may have at times felt like a "grasshopper" against your "Anakims." But understand this - that the only "grasshoppers" in your midst are them in the Presence of your God!
We have news for you! Your "giants" aren't going anywhere until you conquer them in Jesus' Name! They were there last year and they will be around next year - unless you pull yourself up by the boot straps and decide to allow God - working in and through your faith - to drive them completely from your life, home, marriage, family, ministry, and church.
If you get anything from this message, get this - "...Understand therefore this day, that the LORD thy God is He Which goeth over before thee; as a consuming fire He shall destroy them, and He shall bring them down before thy face: so shalt thou drive them out, and destroy them quickly, as the LORD hath said unto thee."
You may know all about the "Anakims" in your life. You may be far more familiar with them than you would like to be. You may even have had others tell you that - "Who can stand before the children of Anak!"
Whose report are you going to believe - your own report - based on what you heard others say and what you saw with your own eyes - or God's report?
Remember - the "Giants" are going nowhere until you - through the power of God's Holy Word and His Spirit - drive them out and eventually destroy them.
Don't let it happen that a year from now you come across this same message - having done nothing about the "giants" which are holding you frozen in fear and hindering you from moving on in God's will for your life.
We leave you with one more quote from Pastor Henry - "Understand therefore what thou must trust to for success, and which way thou must look; it is the Lord thy God That goes before thee, not only as thy captain, or commander-in-chief, to give direction, but as a consuming fire, to do execution among them."
May God Bless His Word,
Connie
No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. (Isaiah 54:17)
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