CALEB: THE LOYAL SERVANT

 

“Then the children of Judah came unto Joshua in Gilgal: and Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite said unto him, Thou knowest the thing that the LORD said unto Moses the man of God concerning me and thee in Kadeshbarnea…And Joshua blessed him, and gave unto Caleb the son of Jephunneh Hebron for an inheritance.  Hebron therefore became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite unto this day, because that he wholly followed the LORD God of Israel.” (Joshua 14:6, 13, 14).

One of my favorite individuals in all of scripture is the Old Testament Bible character Caleb.  You may remember that he and Joshua were among the twelve men that Moses selected to send into Canaan to spy out the land before the armies of Israel went in to claim it.  Of the twelve spies, only Caleb and Joshua had a positive report about the Promised Land that God had said was theirs.  The other ten spies had many things to say about the land, but most of them were negative. 

Caleb’s name in Hebrew means “dog.”  This seems derogatory when you first think about it.  To refer to someone as a “dog” in Bible times was an insult.  When you consider the character of a dog, however, it makes more sense.  Dogs are known as man’s best friends.  This comes from their loyalty and devotion to their masters, and the strong bond that develops between a dog and its owner over time.  From the root “dog” we also get our English word “dogged” which means to be tenacious and persistent.  If this describes anyone in the Bible, it would be Caleb.  It is mentioned repeatedly in scripture that “he wholly followed the LORD God of Israel.”  His was a faith that seemed to fully understand and embrace the promises of God.  After 40 years, Caleb still kept alive the word that Moses spoke to Joshua and him and believed that God would fulfill that word.   Where others saw only the obstacles and the difficulties that stood before them, Caleb, along with Joshua, saw what God was willing to do on behalf of His people.  Oh that men and women of God would so fully embrace the things that the Lord has spoken of them in His Word!  He has said that we are more than conquerors through Him Who loves us!  Isn’t it time that we believe and walk in that Word?

The things that the other ten spies were complaining about were actually true.  They weren’t making things up or portraying them in such a way as to make them appear worse than they really were.  They said to Moses, “We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey.”  This was true.  They said, “The people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great.”  Also true.  They said, “We saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers.”  This, too, was true.  There conclusion, therefore, was that “We be not able to go up against this people; for they are stronger than we.” (Numbers 13:26-33).  The overall effect of all this negativity was that the people wept that night when they heard the spies’ report, and they spoke against Moses and against Aaron.  They said it would have been better to die in Egypt or in the wilderness rather than die by the sword of the inhabitants of Canaan.  They were even ready to elect a new captain who would lead them back to Egypt!

“And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.” (Numbers 13:30).  Joshua and Caleb had seen the same things that the other ten had seen and yet were ready to go at once and take the land.  They considered that they were “well able to overcome it.”  The difference was that the two believed God and trusted wholly in His promises while the ten saw only the barriers to their success and were ready to “throw in the towel.”  As Ed Cole once wrote, “Faith and fear is believing that what you cannot see will come to pass, faith attracts the positive while fear attracts the negative.”  If the definition of these two forces is the same, why is it so much easier for us to believe that God will fail us rather than strengthen us, and give us success? 

God never starts something in our lives that He has not already finished.  When God sat down to rest on the seventh day, His works were finished.  Things have just been trying to catch up to His plan ever since!  All things are also working together for good according to His Divine Purpose.  Nothing surprises our heavenly Father.  Nothing causes Him to rethink His strategy or redesign His game plan.  He has known from the beginning how things would play out.  This is why He is at rest, and it is also why He invites us into His rest.  God knows how this story ends, but so should we!  That knowledge and that assurance should inform our every action. 

Too many Christians are sitting on the sidelines afraid to go up and possess the Promises of God because of the obstacles that stand in their way.  It is time that they rise up in faith and believe that if God said it, He will make it happen.  When Jesus told His disciples to get in a ship and go to the other side of the sea, they complied, wishing to obey the Lord’s command.  When they found themselves in the middle of a great storm, however, they began to fear for their lives and cry out to the Lord.  Jesus was asleep in the boat, a picture of peaceful rest.  He was not concerned about the storm at all.  He knew that His Word could not be altered by circumstances.  They were merely a distraction from the will of God that Jesus had expressed: “Let us go to the other side.”      

The ten spies saw the obstacles and thought that God’s promise was no longer valid.  Caleb and Joshua saw those obstacles and knew that nothing had changed!  The walls of Jericho, the giant sons of Anak, the enemy kings with all their armies – none of it mattered because God had given them the Promised Land already.  They would prevail!  The rest of Israel was leaving God out of the equation.  Their enemies were certainly stronger than they were, but they were not stronger than God!  The Lord wants us to understand that the battles that we face in life are not our battles at all, but His!  It is faith, not our might, wisdom, or strength, that is our victory! (1 John 5:4, 5).

“But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it.” (Numbers 14:24).  Oh, that we too might have the same spirit that was in Caleb and that we might follow the Lord Jesus Christ fully in our day to day walk.  In fact, we can!  It should not be the exception for a Christian to walk with His Lord; it should be the rule!  To walk with the Lord is the highest call and the most important task that we have in this life.  When Jesus called His disciples, He simply said to them, “Follow Me,” and they dropped what they were doing and followed Him.  That call has never changed for modern day believers.  “For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow His steps.” (1 Peter 2:21).  The Patriarch Enoch was translated from this life to the next without seeing natural death.  What does the Bible say that he did to earn this great reward?  It says, “And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.” (Genesis 5:24).  How do we walk with God today?  We learn to walk in, and be led by, the Spirit of God.  St. John chapters 14 through 16, Romans chapter 8, and Galatians chapter 5 give us some valuable insight into what it means to walk in the Spirit.  It isn’t some mystical exercise that we must spend years to master.  It is learning to hear the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit that every true believer has been given, and then following in devoted obedience what He speaks to us. 

“And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that searched the land, rent their clothes.” (Numbers 14:6).  God’s people should also be grieved when they hear the negative confession of believers today.  They should lament greatly for the effect that such witnesses have on other believers and how quickly a negative report can spread. 

“And they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land.  If the LORD delight in us, then He will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey.  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 14:7-9).  What a tremendous word of faith this is?  Our enemies are bread for us!  Praise the Lord!  The battles that we face as Christians will not destroy us, but will, instead, nourish us in the faith as we trust in our Commander and King.  Our victory is assured if we believe God’s promises.  David said in Psalms 23, “Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies.”  Our enemy’s defense is departed from them; the Lord is with us, so we need not fear!

“And now, behold, the LORD hath kept me alive, as He said, these forty and five years, even since the LORD spake this word unto Moses, while the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness: and now, lo, I am this day fourscore and five years old [85].  As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, both to go out, and to come in.  Now therefore give me this mountain, whereof the LORD spake in that day.” (Joshua 14:10-12).  At 85 years of age, after a life of wandering through the deserts, Caleb was as strong as he was when he was 45, and not only willing, but capable of, defeating the race of giants that was the Anakims.  When most men of any age would avoid assaulting the mountains in their lives, Caleb said, “GIVE ME THIS MOUNTAIN!”  This man of faith knew that God could move any mountain in his life if he would only trust Him.  I believe that once we understand that our strength is in the Lord, and not in ourselves, we, too, will be able to operate in that strength even when we reach our advanced years.  We can do all things through Christ Who strengthens us!  The more we trust in Him and His ways, the more our strength is renewed as the eagles.  Caleb was not through seeing God move the mountains in his life.  He considered that if God had promised it, it was his, regardless of the circumstances.  We, too, can still be defeating our enemies no matter what age we attain.  “Yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it.” (Isaiah 46:11).  “Faithful is He that calleth you, Who also will do it.” (1 Thessalonians 5:24).