Caleb’s eyes were on the LORD
Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 2 viewsNotes
Transcript
The Gaze of my Soul - looking to GOD
The Gaze of my Soul - looking to GOD
The Gaze of the Soul - looking to GOD
Caleb’s eyes were on the Lord
In the book of Numbers (Numbers 21:4–9) faith is seen in action.
Israel became discouraged and spoke against God, and the Lord sent fiery serpents among them. “And they bit the people; and much people of Israel died” (Numbers 21:6).
Then Moses sought the Lord for them and He heard and gave them a remedy against the bite of the serpents. He commanded Moses to make a serpent of brass and put it upon a pole in sight of all the people, “and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live” (Numbers 21:8). Moses obeyed, “and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived” (Numbers 21:9).
In the New Testament this important bit of history is interpreted for us by no less an authority than our Lord Jesus Christ Himself
He is explaining to His hearers how they may be saved. He tells them that it is by believing. Then to make it clear He refers to this incident in the book of Numbers. “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:14–15).
Our plain man, in reading this, would make an important discovery. He would notice that look and believe are synonymous terms.
“Looking” on the Old Testament serpent is identical with “believing” on the New Testament Christ.
That is, the looking and the believing are the same thing. And he would understand that, while Israel looked with their external eyes, believing is done with the heart.
I think he would conclude that faith is the gaze of a soul upon a saving God.
When he had seen this he would remember passages he had read before, and their meaning would come flooding over him. “They looked unto him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed” (Psalm 34:5).
“Unto thee lift I up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens. Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress; so our eyes wait upon the LORD our God, until that he have mercy upon us” (123:1–2).
Here the man seeking mercy looks straight at the God of mercy and never takes his eyes away from Him till He grants mercy.
And our Lord Himself looked always at God. “Looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples” (Matthew 14:19). Indeed, Jesus taught that He wrought His works by always keeping His inward eyes upon His Father. His power lay in His continuous look at God (John 5:19–21).
In full accord with the few texts we have quoted is the whole tenor of the inspired Word. It is summed up for us in the Hebrew epistle when we are instructed to run life’s race “looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2).
From all this we learn that faith is not a once-done act, but a continuous gaze of the heart at the Triune God.
Believing, then, is directing the heart’s attention to Jesus. It is lifting the mind to “Behold the Lamb of God” (John 1:29), and never ceasing that beholding for the rest of our lives.
Lift your heart and let it rest upon Jesus and you are instantly in a sanctuary though it be a Pullman berth or a factory or a kitchen.
You can see God from anywhere if your mind is set to love and obey Him.
Service and work and activity—all are good and should be engaged in by every Christian. But at the bottom of all these things, giving meaning to them, will be the inward habit of beholding God.
A new set of eyes (so to speak) will develop within us enabling us to be looking at God while our outward eyes are seeing the scenes of this passing world
When the habit of inwardly gazing Godward becomes fixed within us, we shall be ushered onto a new level of spiritual life more in keeping with the promises of God and the mood of the New Testament.
The Triune God will be our dwelling place even while our feet walk the low road of simple duty here among men
We will have found life’s summum bonum indeed.
“There is the source of all delights that can be desired; not only can nought better be thought out by men and angels, but nought better can exist in any mode of being! For it is the absolute maximum of every rational desire, than which a greater cannot be.”
Tozer The Pursuit of God, ch7
Joshua 14:9-13
So Moses swore on that day, saying, ‘Surely a the land on which your foot has trodden will be an inheritance to you and to your children forever, because you have followed the Lord my God fully.’
10 Now behold, the Lord has let me live, just as He spoke, these forty-five years, from the time that the Lord spoke this word to Moses, when Israel walked in the wilderness; and now behold, I am eighty-five years old today. 11 a I am still as strong today as I was in the day Moses sent me; as my strength was then, so my strength is now, for war and for b going out and coming in.
12 Now then, give me this hill country about which the Lord spoke on that day, for you heard on that day that a Anakim were there, with great fortified cities; perhaps the Lord will be with me,
and I will 1 drive them out
as the Lord has spoken.”
13 So Joshua a blessed him and b gave Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephunneh for an inheritance. 1
a a Deut 1:36
a a Deut 34:7
b b Deut 31:2
a a Num 13:33
1 1 Or dispossess
a a Josh 22:6
b b Judg 1:20; 1 Chr 6:55f
1 New American Standard Bible, 1995 Edition: Paragraph Version (Jos 14:9–13). (1995). The Lockman Foundation.
INHERITING WHAT GOD HAS PROMISED IS A LIFE OF OVERCOMING… “WILL I FIND FAITH?”
We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are” (Numbers 13:27, 28, 31).
That was the majority conclusion signed by ten of the spies. But alongside it was a contradictory minority view, signed only by Caleb and Joshua.
“Let us go up - at once - and occupy it - for we are well able - to overcome it” (Numbers 13:30).1
1 Jackman, D. (2014). Joshua: People of God’s purpose (R. K. Hughes, Ed.; p. 144). Crossway.
Look what God says is the trouble with fear. Look at 14:9. ...
… misery loves company, Caleb …says, “… do not rebel against the Lord, and do not be afraid of the people of the land …”
Do you see that? He says to rebel against God and to be scared of the people is the same thing.
To be scared of the people when God says, “Go do that,” to be scared of it is to rebel against him. It’s not two different things. It’s the same thing.
“Do not rebel against the Lord and be afraid of these people.”
Why? Because being afraid is a refusal to honor God or see him as he is.
He says in verse 23, “No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it.” Earlier, he says, “… as surely as I live, and as surely as the glory of the Lord fills the whole earth …” What he’s saying is, “You have forgotten my glory. You have forgotten who I am.”
When you are afraid of anything, when you are afraid you won’t have money because money is your security, when you’re afraid you won’t have your looks because your looks is your security, when you’re afraid you won’t have somebody to be hanging on their arm because a relationship is your security, when you’re afraid of this or you’re afraid of that, don’t you see, what you’re doing is you are giving more weight to that than to God. You are treating him with contempt.
When you’re afraid of anything, what you’re really saying is, “God is a small thing, smaller than this. This is bigger. This is more than God can handle.” “As surely as I live, and as surely as my glory fills the whole earth, if you saw my glory fill the whole earth, you wouldn’t be afraid to the degree that you’re afraid. To that degree, you treat me as a small thing. You treat me with contempt.” It’s a form of insanity. You’re out of touch with reality. Jesus Christ tries to reason with you.
In Matthew 6, it says, “Why are you anxious? Why are you anxious about your size, about your weight? Why are you anxious about your food? Why are you anxious about your clothing? Why are you anxious about these things? Don’t you realize God takes care of the birds?” Jesus says, “And he takes care of the flowers of the fields, and you are far more valuable than they. Will he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?” …He’s saying, “You’re out of touch with reality. You’re not thinking.”
Thinking will get rid of the fear.
Fear is an absence of thinking about God.
Fear is an absence of thinking accurately about God.
Fear is an absence of adoration and seeing his glory. They are mutually exclusive
Keller, T. J. (2013). The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive. Redeemer Presbyterian Church.
WAITING TO INHERIT WHAT GOD HAS PROMISED REQUIRES FAITH IN ACTION
40 YEARS LATER…the time is right
Caleb steps forward, because there is a prior promise that Yahweh had made and that now has to be fulfilled1
1 Jackman, D. (2014). Joshua: People of God’s purpose (R. K. Hughes, Ed.; p. 143). Crossway.
My Note - (Joshua 14:8-13) Caleb didn’t wait passively for his inheritance, his eyes were on the Lord
he
expected God to be faithful to his word no matter how long it took
was sensitive to God’s timing and ready to seize the moment when it presented
established his claim based on God's Word and God's enabling him to accomplish the task
approached the appropriate anointed authority (Joshua)
was both ready and prepared to fight for what God had promised
by:
going up into the hill country - (an apparently disadvantaged position)
To great fortified cities - (an apparently hopeless situation)
Where giants lived - (an apparently overwhelming opposition)
to drive them out - (an apparently impossible mission)
as the Lord has spoken - the invincible power of God to do all that he says which transcends and is victorious over all that is apparent.
PERHAPS THE LORD WILL BE WITH ME…
God told him that the land on which his foot has trodden would be his inheritance, he could have taken this as a general statement and found his portion within the allocation to each tribe, but he identified something specific within a statement that appears to be general - the land, i.e. all the land was for Israel but for Caleb specifically it was Hebron, the stronghold of giants whom he wanted to dispossess.
Not 'perhaps' as in - maybe, but 'perhaps' as in humbly putting himself in God's hands, recognising God's Sovereignty and Authority to do as He pleases.
Caleb used but didn't rely on his own gifting, strength, experience or ability to wage war - he depended on God by keeping his eye on God not himself or the situation.
(Num 14:24) Because he has a different spirit and has followed Me fully.
Caleb followed God wholeheartedly, because his eyes were on the Lord
he got how to -
Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and soul and strength... (Deut 6:5)[ to be absolutely loyal and obedient to him in every respect,]
Proverbs 3:5–6 (NASB 95) 5Trust in the Lord with all your heart. And do not lean on your own understanding. 6In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.
Knowledge is to be the food of faith.
If knowledge under God the Holy Spirit is truly the food of faith, then, in order to be strong—since faith is the sinew of human strength—we must get much knowledge of the things of God.
The people who know their God will be strong in faith and will do great exploits. (Daniel 11:32)
Spurgeon. (2017). The Spurgeon Study Bible: Notes (p. 1171). Holman Bible Publishers.
INHERITING WHAT GOD HAS PROMISED IS BASED ON GOD'S FAITHFULNESS TO HIS PROMISES
God said, “ ‘But My servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit in him and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land where he went, and his descendants shall inherit it’ ” (Num. 14:24).
Now some forty-five years later, Caleb lives to see the covenant fulfilled. The very land most peopled with the giants is the land that Caleb wants. He now is going to claim the Lord’s help to defeat the Anakim and to possess the land that he knew God would give to His people.
So, at age eighty-five, Caleb received that for which he had trusted God all those years.1
1 Huffman, J., John A., & Ogilvie, L. J. (1986). Joshua (Vol. 6, p. 195). Thomas Nelson Inc.
A true servant of God is one who believes in God and trusts his word implicitly, who speaks of God and for God words of deliverance and hope to the peoples and who carries out the will of God even in the face of a world that denies and defies him.
Cole, R. D. (2000). Numbers (Vol. 3B, p. 233). Broadman & Holman Publishers.
Faith… is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8) and “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17).
King David, who was a descendant of the clan of Judah to which Caleb belonged, was first crowned king in Hebron.
Sakenfeld, K. D. (1995). Journeying with God: a commentary on the book of Numbers (p. 88). Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co.; Handsel Press Ltd.
INHERITING WHAT GOD HAS PROMISED REQUIRES A DIFFERENT SPIRIT
Their eyes were on the giants, but Caleb’s eyes were on the Lord.
He treasured God’s promise, knowing that it would most certainly be fulfilled, and that is what kept his faith fresh and alive and his heart united in its dependence on the Lord.
That is the refrain that recurs three times in Joshua 14 (vv. 8, 9, 14): Caleb “wholly [“wholeheartedly” niv ] followed the Lord.” That is the secret to everything that follows.1
1 Jackman, D. (2014). Joshua: People of God’s purpose (R. K. Hughes, Ed.; pp. 144–145). Crossway.
The real way to make a new life is to receive a new spirit. There must be given us, if we would follow the Lord fully, a new heart, and that new heart must be found at the foot of the Cross, where the Holy Spirit works through the bleeding wounds of Jesus. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Exell, J. S. (n.d.). The Biblical Illustrator: Leviticus and Numbers (Vol. 2, p. 151). Anson D. F. Randolph & Company.
This is the only time in the whole Bible that Caleb is called my servant. Previously Moses was given this title in 12:7 (see the comments there).
Because he has a different spirit is literally “because a different spirit was with him” (compare njpsv with “because he was imbued with a different spirit”). The Hebrew word for spirit is ruach. Here it refers to Caleb’s inner frame of mind or disposition (compare 11:17), which was different from that of other people.
De Regt, L. J., & Wendland, E. R. (2016). A Handbook on Numbers (P. Clarke, S. Brown, L. Dorn, & D. Slager, Eds.; pp. 303–304). United Bible Societies.
Caleb had a quiet disposition,
not turbulent, not factious, not seditious, but loving order and obedience to superiors—a thing most pleasing again to God, as appeareth by the blessing of him...
Caleb used to speak as was in his heart (Josh. 14);
and this again was another spirit than others had, and greatly pleased the Lord. He counterfeited nothing to please men. And what a happiness were it if all men would do so! “
Blessed are the pure in heart”; that is, such men as are free from glossing and dissembling.
Exell, J. S. (n.d.). The Biblical Illustrator: Leviticus and Numbers (Vol. 2, p. 151). Anson D. F. Randolph & Company.
A man of real integrity:—
there is no honour in this world like the honour of honest men. There is no honour like that of men whom you cannot tempt to swerve or bend. The dearest and the scarcest thing in the market to-day is a man who is thoroughgoing and clear-headed, who has right intentions, who chooses clean measures for clean ends, and who is unbribable.
...the very breastplate of the preparation for life, is a keen and abiding sense of real integrity.
Exell, J. S. (n.d.). The Biblical Illustrator: Leviticus and Numbers (Vol. 2, p. 152). Anson D. F. Randolph & Company.
God looks at the heart (1 Samuel 16:7).
A firm persuasion of God’s providence, an intimate conviction of His truth, and an unwavering reliance on His goodness, are the groundwork of a character which is equally “acceptable to God and approved of men,” the character of those who “wholly follow the Lord their God.”
Exell, J. S. (n.d.). The Biblical Illustrator: Leviticus and Numbers (Vol. 2, p. 153). Anson D. F. Randolph & Company.
(1) This other spirit is a renewed spirit (Ezek. 11:19).
(2) This other spirit works from God, and for God.
(3) Where true spiritual excellency is, there is a connection of all spiritual excellences, of all graces (Eph. 5:9).
(4) Where there are true spiritual excellences there is an impulse of heart, a strong bent of spirit in following after the Lord; there is such a powerful impression of Divine truths upon the soul as presses it on with strength in God’s ways, for that it cannot easily be hindered, as the prophet saith (Isa. 8:11).
Exell, J. S. (n.d.). The Biblical Illustrator: Leviticus and Numbers (Vol. 2, p. 159). Anson D. F. Randolph & Company.
The special form of service to which Israel was called, and in which Caleb proved faithful, was that of war.
This reminds us that the service of every follower of God is largely a confilct. But when he is of the type of Caleb, and acts in character, then—
1. Having full faith in his Leader, he is ready to follow him, and—
2. Having no fear of the enemy, he is ready to encounter him.
Exell, J. S. (n.d.). The Biblical Illustrator: Leviticus and Numbers (Vol. 2, p. 152). Anson D. F. Randolph & Company.
Before we can follow God we must not only know that He is supreme, and hath a right to command; but we must likewise believe that He is worthy to command, and infinitely possessed of all those perfections which qualify Him to govern the creatures He hath made.
Two things we must be thoroughly persuaded of:
first, that the laws of our Sovereign are righteous and good; and next,
that He is both able and willing to protect us in His service.
Exell, J. S. (n.d.). The Biblical Illustrator: Leviticus and Numbers (Vol. 2, p. 153). Anson D. F. Randolph & Company.
See, then, in Caleb just the virtues demanded of us to-day.
To us—to each man of us—who have always a crowd of discouragements holding us back, creeping on with but half a heart, to us this exhilarating voice comes like a trumpet sounding from that distant time: “Let us go up, for we are able.”
We need the joy, the hope, of courage; and that we may have courage, we need an unbounded trust in God.
We see that the land is good—but ah, the giants!
We are appointed to reach a wide and rich and peaceable land through enemies. For this, I have said, we need a will which grasps success, and fastens upon it, and will never let it go; and there is no such courage without a fulness of trust in the heart.
But this is not all our need. Listen: “But My servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed Me fully, him will I bring into the land.”
That is God’s description of the man who wins. “Another spirit”—a spirit the precise opposite of that of the Hebrew mob—and “because he hath followed Me fully.”
Wholeness—the heart whole.
God does not praise Caleb’s courage and faith, though He might well have done so.
One thing fixed the Divine attention and applause: “He hath followed Me fully.” “And him will I bring into the land.” The land—the better land on high—it is for him, and for all such.
Ah! Lord God, some of us would follow Thee fully—but our weakness!
Breathe Thou light and strength within us, touch us with a better trust, let us see and live in Thy presence, and feel Thy power, and remember Thy gracious promise.
And oh, when we have finished our course here “as good soldiers of Jesus Christ,” may we rest in hope, and our record be: “This My servant, because he hath followed Me fully, him will I bring into the land.”
Exell, J. S. (n.d.). The Biblical Illustrator: Leviticus and Numbers (Vol. 2, p. 155). Anson D. F. Randolph & Company.
The promise rewards Caleb’s one sterling trait: He “followed the Lord … God wholeheartedly,” a trait the context recalls verbatim three times (v. 9; cf. vv. 8, 14). In my view, the Hebrew phrase (lit., “to fill behind”) is a short form of a longer idiom (lit. “to fill [one’s] heart to walk behind”).35
As Snijders writes of the phrase, “The heart contains nothing against Yahweh: it is fully, completely for or [my addition: following] behind the Lord.”36
In other words, what Caleb did was wholeheartedly—i.e., resolutely, unswervingly, unhesitatingly—to obey God’s will rather than his own or that of someone else. Therein lies what Yahweh himself calls the “different spirit” of Caleb that set him apart from his unfaithful comrades (Num. 14:24).135
35 Num. 14:24; 32:11, 12; Deut. 1:36; Josh. 14:8, 9, 14; 1 Kings 11:6); cf. L. A. Snijders, “מָלֵא,” TDOT, 8:300–301, who accepts “heart” as the direct object of “fill” but omits “walk” from (in my view) the implied idiom “to go after, to follow” (Heb. leket ʾaḥarey; e.g., Deut. 13:5; Jer. 2:2). It usage with Yahweh may intentionally contrast the use of the latter idiom with the names of other gods (Deut. 4:3; 1 Kings 11:5; 18:18; Jer. 2:23).
36 36 Ibid., 8:301.
1 Hubbard, R. L., Jr. (2009). Joshua (p. 405). Zondervan.
Lest there be the objection that an aged man of eighty-five would not be capable of ousting the remnants of the powerful Anakim still dwelling in the area (for the condition of dwelling in the land was the ability to battle against any enemies located there), Caleb assured Joshua he was as strong as forty years before, and with the Lord’s help would drive out the Anakim (14:10–12).1
1 Jensen, I. L. (1966). Joshua: Rest-Land Won (p. 103). Moody Press.
Caleb’s faithfulness was not just something that happened forty-five years previously (indicating that the conquest so far has taken some five years); rather, it is something he continues to demonstrate. 1
1 Firth, D. G. (2015). The Message of Joshua (A. Motyer & D. Tidball, Eds.; p. 149). Inter-Varsity Press
The Lord commanded Israel to clean out the land by expelling its pagan inhabitants (Num. 32:21; 33:52).
Caleb is itching to get on with it in his land inheritance. He is looking to pick a fight with the Anakim so that he might ‘drive them out just as the Lord said’ (14:12).
Caleb, although eighty-five years old, is like a dog straining at the leash!
All the Israelites should have had this zeal and fervour as they attempted to secure and populate their land inheritance, but that did not turn out to be the case.
Oh that we had such enthusiasm for the gospel, for obedience to God’s Word and for evangelism. 1
1 Currid, J. D. (2011). Strong and Courageous: Joshua Simply Explained (pp. 178–179). EP Books.
I would to God that we had all of us that which is the distinguishing mark of a right spirit, the spirit of faith, that spirit which takes God at his word, reads his promise, and knows it to be true.
O that his Holy Spirit would lead us to go to Jesus just as we are, and look up to him and beseech him to fulfil that great covenant promise—‘A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you.’
Spurgeon, C. H., & Crosby, T. P. (2002). 365 Days with Spurgeon (Volume 2) (p. 312). Day One Publications.
There are three things about Caleb worthy of consideration: first, his faithful following; secondly, his favoured reward; and thirdly, his inner character—that which was the secret source of his following God, namely, that “he had another spirit.”
The highest point to which the true believer ever comes is to walk with God, but never to walk [ahead of] him.
It is true that we walk before the Lord in the land of the living, but that is in another sense, meaning under his eyes; we never run before God so as to outrun his providence, and become the directors of our own steps.
I. He followed the Lord wholly, that is, first of all, he followed him universally, without dividing.
Whatever his Master told him to do, he did.
“In all the Lord’s appointed ways
His journey he pursued.”
He did not say “I will perform this duty and neglect the other; I will be faithful to my conscience and to my God upon this point, but that shall be left unto another day;” he took the commandments as he found them
Caleb was quite as ready to fight the giants, as he was to carry the clusters.
We have a host who are ready for sweet duties, pleasant exercises, and spiritual engagements, which bring joy and peace, are always very acceptable; but as for the fighting of giants—how many say, “I pray thee have me excused.”
To defend Christ’s cause against adversaries, to submit themselves to rebuke, to go up single-handed and fight against the Lord’s foes—from this the many will draw back, and we are afraid there be some that draw back unto perdition, because they have never had the perfect heart given to them which is obedient to God in all his will.
you can never have the blessing of Caleb till you have the complete and universal spirit of obedience which Caleb had.
2. Caleb followed the Lord fully, that is, sincerely without dissembling.
He was no hypocrite; he followed the Lord with his whole heart.
One of the safest tests of sincerity is found in a willingness to suffer for the cause.
Caleb stood out alone, and took the brunt of the tumult. ..“Let us go up; we are able to possess the land.”
When the people took up stones, and Joshua was forced to speak with Caleb
3. Caleb followed the Lord wholly, that is, cheerfully without disputing.
Those who serve God with a sad countenance, because they do what is unpleasant to them, are not his servants at all.
Our God requires no slaves to grace his throne; he is the Lord of the empire of love. The angels of God serve him with songs, not with groans; and God loveth to have the joyful obedience of his creatures; in fact I will venture to say that that obedience which is not cheerful is disobedience, for the Lord looketh at the heart of a thing, and if he seeth that we serve him from force, and not because we love him, he will reject our offering at our hands.
That service which is coupled with cheerfulness is hearty service, and therefore true.
4. He followed the Lord constantly without declining.
Having begun when he first started upon the search to exercise a truthful judgment, he persevered during the forty days of his spyship and brought back a true report.
Forty-five years ...he followed the Lord and never once consorted with murmuring rebels; and when his time came to claim his heritage at the age of eighty-five, the good old man is following the Lord fully...he shows a constant heart.
Caleb was constant, because he was a rooted man, and even success did not overturn him.
Caleb was kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation. He could say with Jude, “Now unto him who is able to keep me from falling, unto him be honour and glory for ever and ever.”
He that hath made his refuge God,
Shall find a most secure abode;
Shall walk all day beneath his shade,
And there at night shall rest his head.
When you look to nothing but your Master’s honour, your Master will look to your honour
Caleb is willing to give his life for his Master, and therefore his Master gives him his life. There be many who seek their life that lose it; and there be some who lose it for Christ’s sake, that find it to life eternal. Caleb was also comforted with a long life of vigour. At eighty-five he was as strong as at forty, and still able to face the giants. Caleb received as his reward great honour among his brethren. He was at least twenty years older than any other man in the camp except Joshua.
if we honour God he will honour us. “They that honour me I will honour; they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.”
Caleb had the distinguished reward of being put upon the hardest service.
That is always the lot of the most faithful servant of God.
There were three huge warriors in Mount Hebron; no one will undertake to kill them, except it be our good old friend Caleb. These Anakims, with their six toes on each foot, and their six fingers on each hand, are to be upset and driven out. Who is to do it? If nobody else will offer himself, here is Caleb. Nay, he does not merely allow himself to be sent upon the service, but he craves permission to be allowed to take the place, the reason being because it was the worst task of the war, and he panted to have the honour of it. Grand old man!
If we were true heroes we should each of us contend which should undertake the most hopeless, the most difficult, and the most dangerous task.
Caleb had the distinguished honour of being permitted to lead the van against the gigantic Anakim. Follow the Lord fully, and the devil himself will be afraid of you; keep close to your Lord, and defy all the fiends of hell.
Get your heart right, and you are independent of weather. Get your soul right, and you may defy the sharpest arrow of the adversary.
The Lord is with us, if we be with him.
The Lord saith of him, “Because he hath another spirit with him.”
He had another spirit—not only a bold, generous, courageous, noble, and heroic spirit, but the Spirit and influence of God which thus raised him above human inquietudes and earthly fears. Therefore he followed God fully—literally he filled after him.
God shewed him the way to take, and the line of conduct he must pursue, and he filled up this line, and in all things followed the will of his Master.
Everything acts according to the spirit that is in it. Yonder lamp gives no light. Why? It has no oil. Here is another; it cheers the darkness of the cell. Why? It is full of oil
There must be given us, if we would follow the Lord fully, a new heart, and that new heart must be found at the foot of the Cross, where the Holy Spirit works through the bleeding wounds of Jesus.
Dear friends, I would to God that we had all of us that which is the distinguishing mark of a right spirit, the spirit of faith, that spirit which takes God at his word, reads his promise, and knows it to be true. He that hath this spirit will soon follow the Lord fully.
Unbelief is the mother of sin, but faith is the nurse of virtue. More faith, Lord, more simple childlike faith upon a precious Saviour!
Then a faithful spirit always begets a meek spirit, and a meek spirit always begets a brave spirit. It is said of the wood of the elder tree that none is softer, but yet it is recorded of old that Venice was built upon piles of the elder tree because it will never rot; and so the meek-spirited man who is gentle and patient lasts on bravely, holding his own against all the attacks of the destroying adversary.
The true believer has also a loving spirit as the result of Jesus’ grace. He loves God, therefore he loves God’s people and God’s creatures, and having this loving spirit he has next a zealous spirit, and so he spends and is spent for God, and this begets in him a heavenly spirit and so he tries to live in heaven and to make earth a heaven to his fellow-men, believing that he shall soon have a heaven for himself and for them too on the other side of the stream. Such a spirit had good Caleb. We cannot imitate him till we get his spirit; we are dead until he quickens us.
O that his Holy Spirit would lead us to go to Jesus just as we are, and look up to him and beseech him to fulfil that great covenant promise—“A new heart also will I give them, a right spirit will I put within them.”
You and I have not followed the Lord fully. What shall we then do?
First let us humbly repent.
Let us crouch at the feet of God’s justice, let us look up into the face of God’s mercy, and through Jesus Christ he will forgive us.
He that is one with Jesus will follow God, because Jesus is perfect in his following of his Father, and we being parts of him, shall be perfect too; but the Holy Spirit’s work must begin by bringing us to Jesus just as we are.
God help us to trust him as we are, and then he will make us Calebs, and keep us to the end.
Spurgeon, C. H. (1863). Caleb—The Man for the Times. In The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons (Vol. 9, pp. 623–624). Passmore & Alabaster.
Caleb was a man of a truly gallant and generous spirit. His name signifies all heart, and his disposition corresponded with his name.
He possessed a spirit from heaven, calculated for the work to which he was appointed; and that Spirit inspired him with courage, with undaunted resolution, while the rest were misled by a base, mean, sneaking spirit. He was truly courageous in his actions; his other spirit made him behave himself otherwise than the rest.
He followed the Lord fully; he walked with the Lord, kept close by his duty, in opposition to all difficulties and discouragements. He was not afraid of the Anakims, nor did his undaunted heart shrink at the sight of their high walls. He knew that towns, walls, armies, and giants, must fall before the Lord, when his promise was engaged for it.
They who are careful of God’s honour, he will see to their interest.
Caleb was to fight for the land, but God says, I will bring him into it. The praise of the success of our endeavours is due to the Lord only; this promise secured his through-bearing over all difficulties.—From this subject, we may draw the following doctrines, which we shall attend to in their order, viz.
Doct. I. That the honest servants of Jesus Christ must distinguish themselves from others, by following the Lord fully.
Doct. II. That they who would follow the Lord fully must have another spirit, another than the spirit of the world, another than their own spirit naturally is.
Doct. III. That those who, by following the Lord fully in the time of great declining, distinguish themselves from others, God will distinguish them, by special marks of favour in a time of great calamity.—The scripture affords many instances in proof of this, as Noah, Lot, Jeremiah
Doct. I. That the honest servants of Jesus Christ must distinguish themselves from others, by following the Lord fully
.It is to follow the Lord only as our great guide and leader; Heb. 12:2, “Let us run the race set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.” They that follow not the Lord only, do not follow him fully: Hos. 10:2, “Their heart is divided.” Their heart was going, one part after the Lord, another after their idols. He must have the whole man.
we must not follow our own lusts: Rom. 8:1, “Who walk not after the flesh.” Lusts are followed by many unto their own perdition; when they lead, the devil drives, because they lead the highway from God. Wind and tide from hell go with the stream of corrupt lusts, while the soul follows as an ox to the slaughter. Much of the spiritual warfare here lies in striving against this stream.
Neither must we follow the world; the world would have the leading of all, and it gets the leading of its own.—We must not follow the men of the world: 1 Cor. 7:23, “Ye are bought with a price, be not ye the servants of men.” No man must be followed farther than he follows Christ.
The devil, the world, and the flesh, make many offers; God makes one, “I will be thy God,” which, in a day of power, downweighs all the offers of the world and of hell. Hence, when the man is brought to follow the Lord fully, then farewell all others, and the Lord is welcome for all.
The Lord goes before them, and they follow his steps. He is glorious in holiness, and their design is to be like him, holy as he is holy. They labour to imitate him in his imitable perfections. They are “followers of God, as dear children.”
God, to shew men how they should walk, sent his own Son in manhood, both to die for sinners, and also to leave them an example, that men might see with their eyes how God walked, and so learn how he would have them to walk. Thus we must write after his copy, 1 John 2:6, “He that saith he abideth in him, ought himself so to walk, even as he walked.” And no less pattern do they propose to themselves who follow the Lord fully.
They that would follow the Lord fully, must follow the Spirit of the Lord, and not follow their own spirit.
They must follow the word of the Lord, Psalm 119:30. The Lord’s written word is the Christian’s directory for heaven, the compass by which he is guided on the sea of this world, and by which he is to steer his course... Those who study the Bible, have the advantage above all others, they get their directors away to heaven with them. “It is written,” will be enough to them that follow the Lord fully.
To follow the Lord fully, is to follow him uprightly...as a child follows his father: John 6:26, “Ye follow me,” said Jesus, “not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled.” ... with a design and desire to please him, and not for carnal selfish ends... leaning on his, and not on our own strength. This is the life of faith in obedience, by which the soul goes out of itself to the Lord for all strength, saying, as in Psalm 71:16, “I will go in the strength of the Lord
To follow the Lord fully, is to follow him constantly: John 8:31, “Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed.” It is a small matter to begin well, but it is the continuing to follow the Lord which is true following of him.
Finally, it is to follow the Lord resolutely, as Ruth did Naomi, in opposition to all discouragements and impediments in the way...Rev. 3:21, “To him that overcometh, will I grant to sit with me on my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father on his throne.”
Doct. II. That they who would follow the Lord fully, must have another spirit; another than the spirit of the world, another than their own spirit naturally is.
Caleb’s spirit of faith looked to the Lord, as sufficient to bear him over all difficulties.
He saw the Anakims as well as the rest, and had as little confidence in himself as they had; but he had confidence in the Lord, and so would go against them in the strength of the Lord.
Such a spirit have all the saints: Psalm 71:16, “I will go in the strength of the Lord.” Isa. 45:24, “Surely shall one say, In the Lord have I righteousness and strength.” This carries them to the Lord as the fountain of strength; while as to the rest of the world, their spirit is as a pipe laid short of the fountain, by which no water can be conveyed. Without such a spirit, none can follow the Lord fully.—For, there are difficulties in the way to heaven, which none can overcome, but by divine strength: 2 Cor. 12:9, “My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” Unmortified corruptions will be as heavy as a giant upon a child, till God himself take part with the soul, and give the victory. They may lie under them and groan, but who shall roll away the stone, if the angel come not from heaven for that purpose? Wo to him that is alone when he falleth! without the Lord, the least work of religion is above us.
“Without me,” saith he, John 15:5, “ye can do nothing.” The slenderest temptation will be found a wind from hell sufficient to blow over the man that is not supported; the least duty, a task which they cannot perform acceptably. Where the Spirit of the Lord does not draw, we never will follow.
Thus that spirit of dependence upon the Lord is necessary.
Eph. 6:12, “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against spiritual wickednesses in high places.”
No sooner was man set up in the world, than the devil attacked and overcame him: and as soon as a soul begins to set heaven-ward again, the devil then will be on his top.
Satan is a powerful and subtle enemy. He will be sure to attack you on your weak side, and suit his temptations to your circumstances. Thus he did with our Saviour; for when he had fasted forty days, the devil said to him, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones may be made bread,” Matth. 4:3. He has his temptations for the poor and for the rich. He tempts the poor to steal, and the rich to deny God.
There is thus need of a spirit of courage to oppose him.
Doctrine III. That those who, by following the Lord fully in the time of general declining, distinguish themselves, God will distinguish them from others, by special marks of favour in the time of general calamity.—The scriptures afford many instances in proof of this, as Noah, Lot, Jeremiah...
That they must be best, when others are worst: Gen. 6:9, “Noah was a just man, and perfect in his generation; and Noah walked with God.” Their candle must shine brightest, when that of others is dying out. It is the property of holy zeal for God and his way, to become more vehement by opposition; so that the declining of others is as oil to their flame.
It is hard work to follow fully in a declining time, to strive against the stream which is so ready to carry people away: Matth. 24:12, “And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.” Hard to keep warm in cold Sardis, Rev. 3:4. To keep up the flame of religion, when a deluge of sin comes on, is very hard work. But hard work has always the greatest reward from the Lord.
Be not, therefore, “weary in this well-doing, for in due time ye shall reap, if ye faint not.”
Boston, T. (1851). The Whole Works of Thomas Boston: Sixty-Six Sermons (S. M‘Millan, Ed.; Vol. 9, p. 334). George and Robert King.
The anecdote adds to the prestige of Caleb, for he took the city of the greatest giant of the land.
The summary adds the refrain then the land had rest from war (14:15). The conquests of Caleb, like those of Joshua, brought a temporary period without war.1
1 Harris, J. G. (2012). Joshua. In W. W. Gasque, R. L. Hubbard Jr., & R. K. Johnston (Eds.), Joshua, Judges, Ruth (p. 87). Baker Books.
God certainly will remember the kindness of those who are willing to follow Him through the wilderness of difficulties and discouragement (Jer. 2:2).
You who do thus shall die without stain, which few do; your memories shall be sweet and blessed when you are dead and gone. You shall have “an entrance ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” (2 Pet. 1:11)
Exell, J. S. (n.d.). The Biblical Illustrator: Leviticus and Numbers (Vol. 2, p. 161). Anson D. F. Randolph & Company.
Men of Caleb’s spirit, wholly following the Lord, have the power of standing alone.
The mass move with the stream. The few stand like a rock.1
1 Exell, J. S. (n.d.). The Biblical Illustrator: Joshua, Judges, and Ruth (Vol. 1, p. 225). Fleming H. Revell Company.
Oh that we had such enthusiasm for our eternal inheritance!1
1 Currid, J. D. (2011). Strong and Courageous: Joshua Simply Explained (p. 179). EP Books.
INHERITING WHAT GOD HAS PROMISED REQUIRES SPIRITUAL VISION
Spiritual vision means being able to see a situation from God’s perspective, based on his self-revelation, and so to be able to go forward into that situation confident that God’s purposes will indeed be fulfilled, trusting him and expecting him to work.
Such a vision of spiritual reality is as desperately needed in the church today as it was in Israel in the days of Caleb.
It means seeing the invisible God, in the sense of reckoning on his secret power and sovereign will to do things that no one otherwise would begin to guess could happen.
The first characteristic of true spiritual vision, which Caleb exemplifies, is realism.
Vision is …not pretending things are other than they are. .
Vision starts with the heart, which in Biblical thinking is the control center of the personality where we decide on choices in life and formulate our decisions.
That consistent Godwardness of his innermost being kept Caleb constant when everyone around him was losing their way
He and Joshua saw exactly the same challenges as the others, but they saw them through the lens of faith in the promises of God, a great God committed to his people, to whom giants are as nothing.
But they only maintained that faith because their hearts were wholly committed to the Lord. No wonder the psalmist prayed, “Unite my heart to fear your name” (Psalm 86:11), or as the NIV renders it, “Give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.”
for the ten spies factual accuracy was matched by spiritual bankruptcy…
The issue is whether we measure the giants by our strength or by God’s promises, and the results are polar opposites.
The undivided heart is totally realistic about the dimensions of the challenges and problems, but its focus is on the dynamic power of the gospel to transform human lives and turn around whole communities.
A second aspect of Caleb’s vision is his humility,
C. S. Lewis says that the first step on the path to humility is to realize that we do not have it…for Caleb this was an essential ingredient of his undivided heart.
“If the Lord delights in us, he will bring us into this land,” he said on that day at Kadesh-barnea (Numbers 14:8).
Vision is not dictating to God what he is to do or how he is to do it, under the delusion that this is evidence of great faith. It is not.
The wholehearted believer knows the greatness of God’s infinite wisdom and inexhaustible power and submits himself unreservedly to the Lord.
He recognizes that everything depends on God’s grace and favor, which from the human standpoint is his response to faith and obedience.
Obedience does not secure God’s blessing in some semiautomatic way; rather it is an expression of the humility that keep the channels open for God’s grace to keep flowing into our lives.
Arrogance is a great enemy of the undivided heart. To think that I have a hotline from Heaven, a special word, or a particular gifting can so easily divert my fickle heart from humble trust to pious self-assertion.
Caleb’s humility is revealed in his total dependence on the Lord and the Lord’s “delight.”
“Delight” is a relational, almost emotional description of how the Lord wants to view his people.
The heart that wholly follows him is one that is constantly deepening its love for him and rejoices in his presence, which brings joy to God’s heart.
It is because he has first loved us that we are able to love him in any measure at all.
The center of his great plan of redemptive love is to restore his image within his people and for them to be the apple of his eye. That was why he designated Israel his “treasured possession” back at Sinai (Exodus 19:5), his personal treasure-chest, his investment portfolio, in which he finds joy.
Humility is a key to our reciprocal enjoyment of all that God wants to give us. Every significant work for God depends on a relationship of humble dependence on God. “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain” (Psalm 127:1).
Caleb had learned the vital lesson that trusting Yahweh’s promises and obeying his commands, living by his priorities and following his blueprints, is the only way to enjoy God’s grace and favor as he wholeheartedly followed his delighted King.
All this underlines for us the third and perhaps greatest element of Caleb’s vision, which was his faith, expressed in a simple, uncluttered trust that God would be all that he declared himself to be and thus would keep the promises that he had made.
It comes through with great clarity in the Numbers 14 account. There is not a shadow of doubt there. Caleb said in essence, “The Lord will give us the land. It is already his. The Canaanites have no protection before their sovereign Creator.” And that same quality of faith is foremost forty-five years later as he says to Joshua, “You know what the Lord said to Moses … concerning you and me” (14:6).
All through the years his faith has been in the Word of God and thus in the God of the Word. That has kept him believing that he will indeed see the land since God is the one who gives life and breath, and that he will not only see it but possess his inheritance. “So now give me this hill country of which the Lord spoke on that day” (v. 12).
Faith is the antidote to fear. The ten spies were transfixed by the giants and the human impossibilities of their task, but Joshua and Caleb had their eyes on the God of promise, and thus they were able to live the life of faith. Fear said, “We cannot,” but faith replied, “God can and will.”
This is a clear Biblical principle taught throughout the Scriptures, but perhaps with unusual clarity in Isaiah 51:12, 13. Israel is sunk in despondency caused by unbelief, facing the coming Babylonian exile and unable to believe that God has gracious purposes beyond it that will be richer and more glorious than anything they have known.
God addresses them through the prophet: “I, I am he who comforts you; who are you that you are afraid of man who dies, of the son of man who is made like grass, and have forgotten the LORD, your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth, and you fear continually all the day because of the wrath of the oppressor, when he sets himself to destroy?”
In essence God is saying, “You are afraid of man (who would not be terrified of the Babylonian war machine?), but that is because you have forgotten the Lord.”
Forget the eternal Creator God and his part in your affairs, and you will soon capitulate to the fear of man.
Fear and faith cannot coexist. Faith may be assailed by doubt, as with the father of the demon-possessed boy who cried out to Jesus, “I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24), but the very act of turning to God in faith begins to give fear its marching orders.
Our reaction to Caleb’s story is often to elevate him to a position far above ourselves, which we fear is ultimately unattainable for us. But that is precisely because we lack faith. “How wonderful it would be to have a faith like Caleb’s” becomes our stock response. But then we either settle back into our comfortable mediocrity (he was a great Bible hero and we are not) or we go on a quest to try to find a greater “faith,” as though it is an abstract entity that we can acquire, perhaps through some overwhelming emotional experience.
But faith is like a muscle. The more it is exercised and stretched, the stronger it will become; yet in the end it is the object of faith, rather than merely its exercise, that determines our spiritual condition. Think of a gymnast swinging on the bars. He may have an iron grip, but if the equipment is defective or wrongly assembled, the result will be disaster.
What we need is not greater faith, subjective confidence, but faith in a great God. The essence of faith is holding on to a God who is faithful. Our grip may sometimes be very weak, which is perhaps why Jesus described faith as “like a grain of mustard seed” (Matthew 17:20), but it is to whom that feeble faith looks that determines the outcome.1
1 Jackman, D. (2014). Joshua: People of God’s purpose (R. K. Hughes, Ed.; pp. 146–148). Crossway.
Though Caleb had shared with Joshua the honour of being faithful and brave in the day of general failure, he has lived quietly ever since, seeking no peculiar honour, and now the brave old man asks for inheritance a mountain region infested with hordes of the fiercest Canaanites, and offers to conquer it for himself.
Like Lot, we commonly choose the pleasant places, and are greedy of much reward for little service.1
1 Spence-Jones, H. D. M., ed. (1909). Joshua (p. 235). Funk & Wagnalls Company.
INHERITING WHAT GOD HAS PROMISED REQUIRES EXPECTATION AND DEPENDANCE
Caleb alone with Joshua had remained steadfast, as the rest of the spies denied the faith and discouraged the hearts of the people.
Those who remain firm when they are tempted, and faithfully follow God, increase in the strength of the Lord, remaining alert and faithful even though they have grown old, and inherit the blessing. Yes, the Lord has preserved for his faithful servants great honor and reward.1
1 Crossway. (2023). ESV Church History Study Bible (p. 324). Crossway.
We are not free to take our destinies into our own hands. We are God’s servants, God’s children. Dutiful obedience implies submission to God’s will in the shaping of our lives (1 Sam. 3:18).1
1 Spence-Jones, H. D. M., ed. (1909). Joshua (p. 234). Funk & Wagnalls Company.
Caleb does not seek a rich nor easy inheritance, but one full of danger1
1 Spence-Jones, H. D. M., ed. (1909). Joshua (p. 232). Funk & Wagnalls Company.
This is the way faith looks at things; faith is always looking into the past, seeing God’s goodness there, dragging it into the present, pondering it, praising for it, and so going on from strength to strength. The perspective of faith takes in God’s goodness, responds in gratitude, and finds grace for God’s next call.1
1 Davis, D. R. (2000). Joshua: No Falling Words (p. 117). Christian Focus Publications.
William Guthrie, pastor of a church in Fenwick, Scotland, during the seventeenth century, had such a zeal for the salvation of souls. On one occasion he was travelling home from a meeting when he got lost in the darkness and mist of the moor. He prayed that God would lead him to safety. Eventually he made it to a farmer’s house and he was given safe haven for that evening. The lady of the house was in the throes of death, and a Catholic priest was there giving her the last rites. After the priest left, Guthrie went to the woman and asked if she had received peace to die. She said she had not. So Guthrie shared the gospel with her, and he prayed that her heart would be opened to the truth. His prayer was answered as she died rejoicing in the Saviour. When he finally made it home, his worried wife asked where he had spent the night. He said,
‘I came to a farmhouse where I saw a great wonder.
I found a woman in a state of nature;
I saw her in a state of grace;
and I left her in a state of glory.’1
1 Currid, J. D. (2011). Strong and Courageous: Joshua Simply Explained (p. 179). EP Books.
Lesson #1. Enter into the inheritance God appoints for you and rejoice in it.
“He will choose our inheritance for us, the excellence of Jacob whom He loves” (Ps. 47:4, NKJV). The will of God is the expression of the love of God and is always the best for us.
Since the tribe of Reuben had taken its territory from Moab, it was logical for the story of Balaam to be mentioned here (Josh. 13:22–23; see Num. 22–25).
When Balaam saw that God was turning his curses into blessings, he advised Balak to be friendly to the Jews and invite them to one of the Moabite religious feasts. This resulted in some of the Jewish men taking Moabite women for themselves and thus violating the Law of God.
What Satan couldn’t accomplish as a lion, cursing Israel, he accomplished as a serpent, beguiling Israel and leading the men into wicked compromise.1
Lesson #2. Be encouraged...You have already received your inheritance in Christ and can claim “every spiritual blessing” (Eph. 1:3, NKJV).
Since you have a glorious inheritance before you (1 Peter 1:3–6), keep looking up! The best is yet to come!
Caleb was eighty-five years old, but he didn’t look for an easy task, suited to an “old man.” He asked Joshua for mountains to climb and giants to conquer! His strength was in the Lord, and he knew that God would never fail him.
The secret of Caleb’s life is found in a phrase that’s repeated six times in Scripture: “he wholly followed the Lord God of Israel” (Josh. 14:14; also see Num. 14:24; 32:12; Deut. 1:36; Josh. 14:8–9). Caleb was an overcomer because he had faith in the Lord (1 John 5:4).
Lesson #3. We are never too old to make new conquests of faith in the power of the Lord.
Like Caleb, we can capture mountains and conquer giants if we wholly follow the Lord. No matter how old we become, we must never retire from trusting and serving the Lord.
In Joshua 15:13–19, we see Caleb providing for the next generation. Some of Caleb’s daring faith rubbed off on his son-in-law Othniel, who later became a judge in the land (Judg. 3:7–11).
Caleb’s faith also touched his daughter, for she had the faith to ask her father for a field and then for springs of water to irrigate the land.
Caleb’s example of faith was more valuable to his family than the property he claimed for them.
Lesson #4. The older generation must provide for the next generation, not only materially but most of all spiritually.
“Senior saints” must be examples of believers and encourage the younger generation to trust the Lord and wholly follow Him.
In the nation of Israel the sons inherited the property but the daughters of Zelophehad saw to it that the daughters weren’t discriminated against (vv. 3–6; Num. 27:1–11). Like the daughter of Caleb, these women had the faith and courage to ask for their inheritance; and they even changed the law.
Lesson #5. God wants to give all His people their inheritance.
“You do not have because you do not ask” (James 4:2, NKJV). In Jesus Christ, all believers are one and are heirs of God (Gal. 3:26–29). Nothing from your first birth should hinder you from claiming all that you have in Jesus Christ.
Joshua had a problem with the children of Joseph (Ephraim and Manasseh), who complained because the Lord didn’t give them enough room! (Josh. 17:14–18)
Joshua told his brethren that, if they were such a great people, now was their opportunity to prove it! Let them do what Caleb did and defeat the giants and claim the mountains!
It’s worth noting that the people of Ephraim and Manasseh seemed to be given to criticism and pride. They not only created problems for Joshua but also for Gideon (Judg. 8:1–3), Jephthah (12:1–7), and even David (2 Sam. 20:1–5). “For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there” (James 3:16, NKJV).
Lesson #6. It’s not your boasting but your believing that gives you the victory and gains you new territory.
Sometimes those who talk the most accomplish the least.1
1 Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). Be Strong (pp. 126–127). Victor Books.
INHERITING WHAT GOD HAS PROMISED IS A BLESSING FROM GOD
How unspeakable a blessing is it where the heart of the young—for Caleb was a young man—is influenced by the same Spirit that directed him “to follow the Lord fully.”
Not wavering between God and the world, sometimes following the one and sometimes the other, but steadily and resolutely bent to follow only God, and to do this with all their heart and mind and soul and strength.
Crossway. (2023). ESV Church History Study Bible (p. 209). Crossway.
Joshua blessed Caleb and gave him the city of Hebron as his inheritance.
This verse records only the second instance in the book of a blessing (brk).87
The concept of a blessing is a rich one in biblical thought. God’s blessing upon his people bestowed abundant and effective life upon them (e.g., Gen 27:27–29; 49:1–28). It involved bestowing material abundance upon them, such as children (e.g., Gen 1:28; 28:3), land (Gen 26:3; 28:4), or wealth (Gen 28:12–14), as well as upon others (Gen 12:3; 22:18).
When people blessed God, they were worshiping him, ascribing worth to him and his great name (e.g., Ps 103:1–2; 104:1).
When people blessed each other, it conveyed a desire for God’s best to befall them (e.g., Gen 47:10; Judg 5:24; Neh 11:2; Prov 30:11).
Blessing someone was more than wishful thinking, ...since blessing in the name of the Lord {taps] into the power and resources of God himself.
87 87 The verb “to bless” is found eight times in the book: 8:33; 14:13; 17:14; 22:6, 7, 33; 24:10 [2x]. The noun “blessing” is found in 8:34 and 15:19.
1 Howard, D. M., Jr. (1998). Joshua (Vol. 5, p. 330). Broadman & Holman Publishers.
INHERITING WHAT GOD HAS PROMISED REQUIRES INTIMACY WITH JESUS
Forward Momentum
As long as Peter kept his eyes fixed on Jesus and moved in forward momentum toward Him, he continued to do the impossible.
Moving closer to Jesus every chance we get will help us fulfill our destiny and will also act as a safeguard to protect us from sinking.
We are always moving; the question is in which direction. When the Israelites were presented with the opportunity to inherit the Promised Land, instead of choosing courage, they embraced fear. Instead of moving toward the abundance God had awaiting them, they wanted to go backward into the land of their bondage. They were even willing to forfeit the ground they had already gained to do so (see Numbers 14).1
When we are presented with a choice, forward momentum is not only crucial to stepping into the impossible; it is a life-or-death matter that holds our destiny in the balance. There is no middle ground. Apathy is a killer. Remaining stationary or standing still when an invitation to come closer beckons means one can easily be seduced into deeper darkness than before.
King Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, held fast to Him and “did not cease to follow Him.” Because of this forward momentum and continual pursuit of God, “the Lord was with him [and] he was successful in whatever he undertook” (2 Kings 18:5–7). By always choosing to keep our eyes on Jesus and walk toward Him, we protect ourselves from fulfilling the lust of the flesh.
Once we get distracted, hesitate, stop or lose focus by putting our attention on the storm around us rather than on Him, we begin to sink. It is imperative to continue moving toward Jesus in all circumstances. If we do this, we will remain safe in Him, fulfill our God-given destinies and go from glory to glory.
Do you realize that in the passage describing the armor of God in Ephesians 6:10–17, there is no armor protecting one’s back? We conquer the enemy by moving forward, on the offensive. If we turn back to where we just came from, we are unprotected. The safest place to be is exactly where God is leading us, no matter if that is in a war zone, in some far-off country or in the middle of the sea. Forward momentum protects us from sinking in the storms and enables us to partner with God for the impossible.
Walk in the Spirit
The word translated “walk” used in Matthew 14:29, when Peter walked on water, is the Greek word peripateo. It means how people conduct their lives or how they live. By walking on water, Peter literally stepped into the same authority and dominion over the laws of nature as Jesus.
When we walk in the footsteps of Jesus, we accept His invitation to live an empowered life. Galatians 5:16 also makes clear that when we walk in the Spirit, we will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. When we are full of Jesus and His Spirit, we will not have an empty void to try to fill with other things.
Walking in the Spirit, keeping our eyes on Jesus and fulfilling the assignments God has called us to (see Ephesians 2:10) are crucial to embracing the abundant life and keeping us away from sin. King David experienced this the hard way when he chose not to engage in his assignment during a particular season. “In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem” (2 Samuel 11:1). By not engaging in the battle he was born for, King David got bored and was left with plenty of time to let his mind wander to other things. He eventually committed adultery with Bathsheba and later had her husband killed. If he had been in war during the time when kings go to war, he would never have found himself in that place of temptation. By not stepping into the forward momentum of his destiny, David fulfilled the lust of the flesh.
Sometimes we yield to the world’s temptations to give up and conform.
We are called to persevere. He wants to take us to the place where our eyes never leave His and where we are inspired to move toward Him always.
Run with Perseverance
Beyond simply walking in the Spirit, God is also calling us to run the race set before us with perseverance, keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus. Hebrews 12:1–3 says,
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
When we are running wholeheartedly toward Jesus and the calling of God He has placed on our lives, we are safe in the midst of the storms and empowered to do the impossible. This focus on Jesus and on a consecrated lifestyle accelerates us into our destiny. We gain even more momentum when we strip off the things that weigh us down.
Miskov Ph. D, J. A., & Baker, H. (2017). Walking on water: experiencing a life of miracles, courageous faith and union with god. Chosen.
Caleb…has provided us with a great pattern...But for us our greater and greatest exemplar is our Lord Jesus Christ, who won for us far greater victories and a more lasting inheritance and who is the object and content of our faith.
Oh let me see thy footprints,
And in them plant my own;
My hope to follow duly
Is in thy strength alone.
O guide me, call me, draw me,
Uphold me to the end;
And then in Heaven receive me,
My Savior and my Friend.3 1
3 3 John E. Bode, “O Jesus, I Have Promised,” 1868.
1 Jackman, D. (2014). Joshua: People of God’s purpose (R. K. Hughes, Ed.; p. 151). Crossway.
NOTE - An′akim (Heb. Anakim′, עֲנָקִים, Deut. 2:10, 11, 21; Josh. 11:21, 22; 11:12, 15; also called sons of Anak, בְּנֵי עֲנָק, Num. 13:33; בִּנֵי הָעֲנָק, Josh. 15:14; children of Anak, יִלִידֵי הָעֲנָק, Num. 13:22; Josh. 15:14; sons of the Anakim, בְּנַי עֲנָקִים, Deut. 9:2; Sept. Ἐνακὶμ υἰοὶ Ἐνάκ, γενεαὶ Ἐνάκ, γενεὰ Ἐνάκ, γίγαντες; Vulg. Enacim, filii Enakim, filii Enac, stirps Enac; Auth. Vers. “Anakims,” “sons of Anak,” “children of Anak,” “sons of the Anakims”), a nomadic tribe of giants (Num. 13:33; Deut. 9:2) [see Nephilim] descended from a certain Arba (Josh. 14:15; 15:13; 21:11), and bearing the name of their immediate progenitor, Anak (Josh. 11:21), dwelling in the southern part of Palestine, particularly in the vicinity of Hebron (q. v. ), which was called Kirjath-Arba (city of Arba) from their ancestor (Gen. 23:2; Josh. 15:13).
These designations serve to show that we must regard Anak as the name of the race as well as that of an individual, and this is confirmed by what is said of Arba, their progenitor, that he “was a great man among the Anakim” (Josh. 14:15).
The Anakim appear (see Bochart, Chanaan, i, 1) to have been a tribe of Cushite wanderers from Babel, and of the same race as the Philistines, the Phœnicians, the Philistim, and the Egyptian shepherd-kings (see Jour. Sac. Lit. July, 1852, p. 303 sq. ; Jan. 1853, p. 293 sq. ).
They consisted of three tribes, descended from and named after the three sons of Anak—Ahiman, Sesai, and Talmai (Josh. 15:14). When the Israelites invaded Canaan, the Anakim were in possession of Hebron, Debir, Anab, and other towns in the country of the south (Josh. 11:21).
Their formidable stature and warlike appearance struck the Israelites with terror in the time of Moses (Num. 13:28, 33; Deut. 9:2); but they were nevertheless dispossessed by Joshua, and utterly driven from the land, except a small remnant that found refuge in the Philistine cities, Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod (Josh. 11:22).
Their chief city, Hebron, became the possession of Caleb, who is said to have driven out from it the three sons of Anak mentioned above—that is, the three families or tribes of the Anakim (Josh. 15:14; Judg. 1:20).
The Philistine giants [see Goliath] that David on several occasions encountered (2 Sam. 21:15–22) seem to have sprung from the remnant of this stock.
Og, king of Bashan, was of this race, and the same dubious authority states that the prophet Shoaib or Jethro was sent by the Lord to instruct the Anakim, having been born among them (D’Herbelot, Bibliotheque Orientale, p. 105). They are thought to be depicted on the Egyptian monuments. See Talmai.1q. v. q. v. quod vide = which see.
sq. sq. sequent. = following.
sq. sq. sequent. = following.
sq. sq. sequent. = following.
1 M’Clintock, J., & Strong, J. (1880). An′akim. In Cyclopædia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature (Vol. 1, pp. 212–213). Harper & Brothers, Publishers