CALEB: FAITH ENDURES. NUMBERS13: 30; 14:6-9, JOSHUA 14: 6-14.
NUMBERS 13: 30; 14: 6-9; JOSHUA 14: 6-9, 10-14.
PLEASE OPEN YOUR BIBLE TO NUMBERS 13.
A young adult attempted to share her faith in Christ with a man who had no background or acquaintance with God or with Christianity. She told him he had to have faith in God and in Jesus. Without trying to be mean or argumentative he asked, “What is faith?”
If someone who had no knowledge of Christianity asked you that question, how would you answer? Most Christians probably would say something that would include the need to believe in Jesus. Yet if the inquirer asked you what believe means, what would you say?
The one common thread that runs through both the O.T. and N.T. regarding faith is that it is an action. In both divisions of Scripture faith is primarily used as a verb when used in reference to people. Unfortunately, the English language lacks a verb form of faith. Thus we have to think of faith in terms of what we do because of our acceptance of God. We know that God is faithful, and we believe in Him; thus we are faithful to Him.
What is faith? This Study Theme looks at faith in the lives of four men of the Bible. Last month we looked at faith in the lives of four women in the Bible. Now we will look at Caleb’s wholehearted faith.
The one common thread that runs through the lives of all four of the people we will study in this unit is that each was in a personal relationship with God and he was faithful to do what God told him to do.
He acted on his faith in God. The hazards of conquering a hostile land did not deter Caleb from believing that with God’s help he and the people of Israel could conquer that land. Thus he acted on his understanding of what God wanted him to do in wholehearted faithfulness.
Possibly you are looking for a real hero to model your life after. A sports star, a music star, or a movie star can mislead you; But you will have great standing with God if you model your life after any one of the men in this unit. Consistent unfailing faithfulness in doing what God wants us to do takes a tremendous amount of dedication and courage. But that lifestyle also is one of exhilarating joy and peace with God.
Today’s Study Theme is designed to help us develop strong, enduring lifestyles of faith by understanding that an enduring lifestyle of faith is built on wholehearted trust in God, and then committing to trust God wholeheartedly every day of our life.
The Bible affirms that faith in God is supremely valuable. Faith in God is worth keeping. Believers who wholeheartedly trust God keep faith in God and His promises throughout their entire lives.
In setting forth this interesting bit of Israel’s history we may consider that as Pharaoh, by his terrible oppressions, made Israel willing to go out of Egypt, so God, by his fearful visitations, made Pharaoh willing to let Israel go. Ten dreadful plagues, the last resulting in the death of the firstborn throughout the land, so crushed and humbled the haughty Egyptians that they were glad to send the people forth from the land.
Extensive preparation must have been made for the removal of so great a multitude with their families and their possessions. The eight or ten months during which Moses was contending with Pharaoh offered opportunity for this needed preparation. Laden with stores of jewelry, apparel and varied wealth given by the Egyptians, the chosen people marched out of Egypt.
The Promised Land of Canaan lay a little more than a hundred miles from Goshen, along the ancient caravan route and could have been reached in about two weeks.
But along that route the inhabitants were fierce and warlike, and its cities were walled fortresses. Enervated by long slavery, Israel was wholly unprepared to meet such foes. Hence God directed their course southward, and after 60 days of marching the people entered the open plain before Mt. Sinai, in the southeast region of the Sinai Peninsula. Numbers 10:ll says Israel would remain at Sinai for eleven months.
Their route was marked by miraculous signs, and signals of deliverance. Notably among these signs were: (a) the pillar of cloud shielding by day and of fire lighting by night; (b) the waters of the Red Sea parted; (c) the bitter waters of Marah sweetened; (d) manna given daily; (e) water supplied from the smitten rock.
During the year spent before Sinai we have four leading events, as follows:
The Decalogue or Ten Commandments were given. (2) The Golden Calf was destroyed. (3) The Tabernacle was built, (4) and the Levitical laws were given. Among the feasts that were to be permanently observed in Israel may be noted (a) The Passover, (b) the feast of weeks or Pentecost, and (c) the feast of tabernacles.
It was at Sinai that Israel was gradually organized into a nation.
After a solemn observance of Passover, the hosts of Israel, numbering upwards of two millions,
broke camp, and led on by the pillar of cloud, set out toward Canaan, reaching Kadesh-barnea, in the wilderness of Paran, just south of Canaan, at the time of the first ripe grapes, in the month of September. They were now in position to enter the Promised Land.
God instructed Moses to send 12 men into Canaan to see the kind of land it was. The twelve men brought back the report after 40 days in the land. They all agreed on two points. They said that it was a land of milk and honey. It took two men to carry back a cluster of grapes. They also agreed that it was a land of strong fortifications and large people (giants).
This caused a stir among the Israelites who heard this pessimistic report from most of their tribal leaders. At this crucial moment, one of the 12 men stilled the people before Moses. He must have had a loud voice and great faith and courage to be the sole voice in the face of the loud pessimists who had stirred up the crowd. It takes a courageous person to try and reason with an excited mob, but Caleb was such a person.
PLEASE READ NUMBERS 13: 30.
After he had the people’s attention, Caleb shared a different conclusion about what he and the other spies had seen. His recommendation was that the Israelites take positive action: “Let us go up at once, and possess it.” He insisted that the Israelites advance right away into the land that God had promise to them. As far as the difficulties were concerned, Caleb was optimistic: “We are well able to overcome it. We can conquer it; I know we can do it! Caleb’s confidence was based on the promised help of the Lord, not on the Israelites own strength.
But ten of the ones who had been to Canaan strongly disagreed with Caleb: “We be not able to go up against the people: for they are stronger than we.” They said that the land devours its inhabitants, and they told of the giants in the land, which made the Israelites look like grasshoppers.
This negative report caused the people to week and cry out. They complained against Moses and Aaron. They said it would have been better to have died in Egypt than for their wives and children to become prisoners of these giants. This led them to talk about returning to Egypt, and they were discussing a new leader to lead them back to Egypt. Moses and Aaron fell down on their faces before the angry, rebellious people.
PLEASE TURN TO NUMBERS 14: 6-9
PLEASE READ NUMBERS 14: 6-9.
The twelve tribal leaders had searched or spied out the land. They were like scouts who went ahead of the main body to see what was there. At this crucial moment Caleb spoke again, this time joined by Joshua, who had been the representative of the tribe of Ephraim when the 12 spies made their journey through the Promised Land. These two men presented a positive report about the Israelites’ ability to take Canaan. Now these two men of faith stood before the angry mob. They rent their clothes. This was their way of expressing great grief.
The Lord had delivered Israel from Egyptian slavery and at the Red Sea. He had led them to the border of the Promised Land. Now rather than enter it they wanted to return to the land where they had been slaves. That was reason enough to mourn.
Joshua and Caleb began by emphasizing what all 12 of the tribal leaders had said. They testified that the land was an exceeding good land…a land which floweth with milk and honey. This signified a rich and bountiful land. Goats’ milk would be plentiful and the honey of bees would abound. God had promised to give the land to the descendants of Jacob.
The other scouts ought to have realized hat if God was right about the goodness of the land, He also could be trusted in what He said about their ability to conquer the land.
God had promised to give the land to the descendants of Jacob, but He did not promise to give it to any generation of Israelites who acted as they were acting.
The word if shows that successfully entering and conquering the Promised Land was conditioned on the faith and obedience of the people. “If the Lord delights in us, then He will bring us into this land, and give it to us.”
Vs. 9 emphasizes the certainty that the Lord could give them the land if they went forward with courageous faith. Joshua and Caleb warned the people about two sins they were committing. The first was rebellion---“only rebel not ye against the Lord.” Refusing to move forward to claim God’s promise was an act of disobedience. Complaining about their leader Moses, through whom God had delivered them from Egypt, was an act of rebellion---not only against Moses but also against the Lord.
The other sin against which the people were warned was fear. They had blown the strength of the Canaanites all out of proportion. The 10 scouts had said that Canaan devoured people. Joshua and Caleb turned this around and said, “They are bread for us, and we will devour them.”
They insisted, “Their defense is departed from them.” Joshua and Caleb made these claims because they believed the Lord is with us. If the Lord was indeed with them, they should not fear the giants of Canaan. Had the Israelites forgotten how the Lord had delivered them from Egypt from the plagues and at the Red Sea? If He had delivered the nation in the past, He would deliver them in the future.
The rebellious people disregarded these words from Joshua and Caleb, and they prepared to stone the two faithful scouts and also Moses and Aaron. “And the glory of the Lord appeared in the tabernacle of the congregation before all the children of Israel.”
Moses interceded on behalf of the sinful people, and God did not wipe out the Israelites as His people. He did, however, send a deadly plague that killed the 10 fearful scouts. And He decreed that only two adults of that generation would live to enter Canaan.
The Israelites were sentenced to 40 years of wandering during which all who were over 20 years of age would die, except Joshua and Caleb.
We are not to suppose that the people traveled constantly during this time, but rather that they lived a wandering, unsettled life, moving from place to place as the necessities of water and pasturage required. Should you want to read of the many camping places of the Israelites move from Egypt to the Jordan River across from Jericho read Numbers 33. There you will find the reason they left Egypt with such boldness was “the Egyptians were busy burying all their firstborn,” whom the Lord had killed on the night of the first Passover. This was the 10th and final plague that released the Israelites from Egyptian bondage.
Numbers 14: 24 contains this tribute to Caleb by the Lord, “My servant Caleb was a different spirit and has followed Me completely. I will bring him into the land where he has gone, and his descendants will inherit it.”
When the people realized their failure to enter the Promised Land, they launched their own military attack on the land. Moses warned them that they would fail because they went up in their own strength and without the Lord’s help. The Israelites suffered defeat as Moses predicted.
PLEASE TURN TO JOSHUA 14: 6-9.
PLEASE READ JOSHUA 14: 6-9.
Many things happened to the Israelites during the 45 years between Number 14 and Joshua 14. God’s judgment on the unbelieving people was carried out year by year as the people wandered in the wilderness. All the adults (people over age 20) died during that time----all except the two men of faith who had brought a good report about Canaan. Moses himself was not allowed to enter the land, but the Lord chose Joshua to lead the conquest of Canaan.
The presence of the Lord was with Israel as God opened the way through the flooded Jordan River. He led in the defeat of Jericho, a fortified city with a high wall. God caused the wall to fall down. Then He led Joshua in subduing the various groups in Canaan. We are not told of Caleb’s activities during the time of wilderness wanderings and the conquests of Joshua 1-12, but we can assume that he crossed the Jordan and took part in the fall of Jericho.
Joshua, now an old man, obeyed the Lord as he assigned various parts of the land to various tries. Joshua had subdued many kings, but he said that much of the land remained to be occupied.
When the scouts had been selected, Caleb had been the one who represented Judah. When the people of his tribe came to receive their part of the land, Caleb came to claim the part of the land promised him years before.
Caleb looked back 45 years to that crucial day when the scouts gave their reports about the land they had seen. He used the same word to describe the mission that Moses had given to the 12 tribal leaders. They were told to espy out the land. Caleb recalled that he brought him word again as it was in mine heart, and honest report, a report according to my convictions. He also bitterly recalled how the majority of the scouts made the heart of the people melt with fear.
At Kadesh-barnea, Moses had promised that Caleb and Joshua would endure to live in Canaan. Joshua 14: 9 records what Moses promised Caleb. Caleb was promised the land, which his feet had trodden during the scouting of the land. Caleb had scouted the region around Hebron. This was the part of the land that Caleb claimed based on God’s promise through Moses. God had promised him that his part of the land would be his inheritance and that of his descendants forever.
What promise has the Lord made to us? He hasn’t promised that we will never face giants, but He has promised to always be with us, to enable us to endure, and to bring us into the promised land of heaven.
We are people who live with patience and endurance as we await the fulfillment of the promises. Caleb and Joshua might be called “survivors,” but the Bible’s word is endure, not survive. Some people survive by looking out for their own interests, even though they must gain their goals by selfish actions that harm others. Christian endurance is based on patience, faith, and love.
In vs. 8 and 9, Caleb is described as one who wholly followed the Lord. This description is found five times when the Scripture speaks of Caleb. In some ways Caleb might be considered a minor character in the Bible. He lived in a time of men such as Moses and Joshua, who appear in many biblical passages. Caleb appears in only two passages. But the Bible tells us five times that he was a man who followed the Lord with all His heart and life. He was no minor character because of this evaluation of him.
Deut. 6: 5, which Jesus called the greatest commandment, says: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.” Caleb demonstrated that he did this as well as anyone of his day. He held back nothing. He followed the Lord when he scouted the land of Canaan. He followed Him when he made his positive report. He followed Him for 45 years until he could claim his inheritance.
Caleb stands in striking contrast to the many who were half-hearted followers at best. God is seeking people in every generation who will wholly follow the Lord.
PLEASE READ JOSHUA 14: 10-14.
Life is a gift of God. He gives life, and He sustains life. Some people live a long life, and some maintain their health and strength into old age. Caleb was an example of such a person. This does not mean that old age is always a sign of loyal faith, nor does it mean that God does not love those who die young. But Caleb is an example of how one old man viewed his life and his God. “The Lord hath kept me alive,” he said. It must have been hard to watch as all his age group died except Joshua. Only these two were left from their entire generation. Caleb considered these forty and five years to be the gift of God.
Caleb had been 40 when he went to scout Canaan. When he stood before Joshua, he was 85.
The people wandered for 40 years in the wilderness. Where did the extra 5 years come from? We need to add to the 40 years the time of the conquest of Canaan. Caleb was 40 when he left to scout the land. He was 85 near the end of the conquest, which took some 7 years to complete.
Not only had the Lord sustained the life of Caleb but He also had given him youthful vigor and strength. Caleb testified that he was as strong at 85 as he had been at 40. He said, “My strength for battle and for daily tasks is now as it was then. Have you know elderly people with a loyal faith like Caleb? Some of us were blessed with grandparents or parents who loyally followed the Lord all their days.
The land that was allotted to the tribe of Judah was in the southern part of Canaan. The part promised to Caleb was Hebron, just south of what later became Jerusalem. Caleb came to Joshua to ask permission to take that region, which he considered his inheritance. This was among the most difficult regions in Canaan because the Anakims were there and because the cities were great and fenced (large fortified cities.)
These were the two factors that led the 10 scouts to warn Israel not to try and take the Promised Land---giants and fortified cities. The Anakims were the sons of Anak. They were giants, before whom the 10 scouts said that the Israelites were as grasshoppers.
At age 40 Caleb had been ready to take on both challenges. At age 85 he still wanted to defeat the giants and take the fortified cities. The successful campaign is described in Joshua 15: 13-20.
What kind of giants do we face today? If we define as giants anything that seems to have the power to overpower us, then the list would include things such as disease, disability, death, temptation, persecution, and other realities of the human condition.
These giants threaten us with defeat. They are like giants that people are called to face with faith in God. Only in His strength can we overcome these powerful forces. The Israelites at Kadesh-barnea magnified the power of the giants and refused to enter the land. Then later they committed the opposite error and tried to go in without God’s presence and power.
As a youth David had the faith to challenge the Philistine giant Goliath when other Israelites feared to do so. God gave young David victory. Caleb as an old man also faced giants and won the victory through faith. Regardless of our age, we all face forces that threaten to overcome us. Polycarp was a Christian leader who lived in the middle of the second century during the period when the Roman government persecuted Christians. Polycarp was arrested and asked to renounce Christ and worship the emperor. He was promised to be spared death, if he would do this. Polycarp was an old man of 86 when this happened. When the Romans told him to curse the Christ he replied, “Eighty and six years have I served him, and he hath done me no wrong: how then can I blaspheme my king who saved me?”
Caleb and Polycarp did not wait until they were old before serving God with all their hearts. They took their stand for Him while they were young. All of us are what we are because of decisions and habits formed when we were younger. We are what we have become. We will be what we are becoming. Caleb at 85 was the kind of man he was at 40. What kind of person are you now? What will you be in your old age? The Bible consistently describes Caleb as one who wholly followed the Lord.
The name Caleb means wholehearted and aptly describes this doughty warrior and faithful servant of God. He did not immediately get possession of Hebron, but he fought stubbornly and determinedly until he had driven out the ancient inhabitants and so took possession of it. Later it became a Levitical city and a city of refuge, but the suburbs belonged to Caleb and his descendants.
NEXT SUNDAY DANIEL REFUSES TO COMPROMISE HIS FAITH AND GOD CLOSES THE LIONS MOUTHS. A.V. DAUGHERTY <altav@swbell.net>