THE HAPPY OUTCOME OF THE WHOLE-HEARTED FOLLOWER – Joshua 14:6-15

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on December 4, 2013 under AM Bible Study |

AM Bible Study Group; December 4, 2013

Joshua 14:6-15

Theme: Caleb illustrates for us the outcome of the one who wholly trust in the Lord for victory.

(Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).

This remarkable book is named after its author—Joshua. And it would be easy to think, then, that Joshua is its hero. But when we come to the second half of Chapter 14, we might need to rethink that.

After telling us the story of the of the settling of the two-and-a-half tribes on the east of the Jordan River, and just before beginning the story of the division of the land of Canaan in the west, Joshua is led to first tell us the story of the outcome of the great faith of his contemporary Caleb. And because Joshua (whose name is the same as our Lord) best represents the way that the Lord Jesus leads us into the victorious possession of the inheritance He has won for us, Caleb best represents the kind of heroic and whole-hearted faith that our Lord wants us to have—the kind of faith that leads us into the full possession of that inheritance.

I. CALEB’S CONFIDENCE IN GOD’S PROMISE (vv. 6-9).

A. The story of Caleb’s victorious outcome in this chapter begins in the context of a sad defeat. Forty-five years earlier, he and Joshua were among the twelve spies that Moses had sent out to investigate the land before the children of Israel were to go in and take possession of it. That story was told to us in Numbers 13-14. The majority report of the twelve spies was discouraging to the people. It was filled with giants; and ten of the twelve said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we” (Numbers 13:31). The people became terrified at this report. But Joshua and Caleb insisted, “If the LORD delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land flowing with milk and honey. Only do not rebel against the LORD, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread; their protection has departed from them, and the LORD is with us. Do not fear them” (Numbers 14:8-9). As Alan Redpath wrote, “They had seen all that the majority had seen, with this difference: the majority measured the giants against their own strength, Caleb and Joshua measured the giants against God. The majority trembled; the two triumphed. The majority had great giants but a little God. Caleb had a great God and little giants. Certainly there was an ‘if’ in his belief, but it was not an ‘if’ of unbelief but of humility: ‘If the Lord delights in us’” (Alan Redpath, Victorious Christian Living, pp. 197-8).

B. And now—after forty-five years—Caleb comes before Joshua. As Matthew Henry wrote in his commentary, “He was now, except Joshua, not only the oldest man in all Israel, but was twenty years older than any of them, for all that were above twenty years old when he was forty were dead in the wilderness; it was fit therefore that this phoenix of his age should have some particular marks of honour put upon him in the dividing of the land.” We’re told, “Then the children of Judah came to Joshua in Gilgal. And Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him: ‘You know the word which the Lord said to Moses the man of God concerning you and me in Kadesh Barnea. I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh Barnea to spy out the land, and I brought back word to him as it was in my heart. Nevertheless my brethren who went up with me made the heart of the people melt, but I wholly followed the Lord my God. So Moses swore on that day, saying, ‘Surely the land where your foot has trodden shall be your inheritance and your children’s forever, because you have wholly followed the Lord my God’” (vv. 6-9).

C. For forty-five years, Caleb held on to that promise from God. God had said of the rest of the people, “they certainly shall not see the land of which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who rejected Me see it” (Numbers 14:23). And then He added, “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” (v. 24). For over a generation’s time, Caleb kept on believing that promise from God—granted to Him because of his whole-heartedness in following God. What an example he is to us of the kind of faith that endures to victory! As the writer of Hebrews put it, “And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises” (Hebrews 6:11-12).

II. CALEB’S ENDURANCE IN FAITH (vv. 10-12).

A. Caleb was an old man at this point. His strength, however, remained. According to the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, his name means, “raging with canine madness”. He was the original ‘big bad dog’! The task of taking the inheritance was difficult, but he was up to it. He said to Joshua, “And now, behold, the Lord has kept me alive, as He said, these forty-five years, ever since the Lord spoke this word to Moses while Israel wandered in the wilderness; and now, here I am this day, eighty-five years old. As yet I am as strong this day as on the day that Moses sent me; just as my strength was then, so now is my strength for war, both for going out and for coming in” (vv. 10-11). It may be that we aren’t physically strong in our later years as Caleb was. But our faith isn’t dependent upon our physical state. As Paul wrote, “Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18).

B. Look how that enduring faith expressed itself in Caleb! “Now therefore, give me this mountain of which the Lord spoke in that day; for you heard in that day how the Anakim were there, and that the cities were great and fortified. It may be that the Lord will be with me, and I shall be able to drive them out as the Lord said” (v. 12). Just as he trusted in the provision of the Lord back in the old days—forty-five years prior—so he trusted in the “it may be” of the Lord at that time. And that was what led to the victory!

III. CALEB’S POSSESSION OF HIS INERITANCE (vv. 13-15).

A. Caleb was not the kind of man could be denied. God had promised; and that was all that there was to it. “And Joshua blessed him, and gave Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephunneh as an inheritance” (v. 13). That was a land filled with giants—the fearsome “Anakim”. But it became known by a Hebrew name (“Hebron”) that means “league” or “confederacy”. What a great name! Caleb didn’t take possession of it on his own. He could only take it because he was in league with a mighty God!

B. We’re told, “Hebron therefore became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite to this day, because he wholly followed the Lord God of Israel. And the name of Hebron formerly was Kirjath Arba (Arba was the greatest man among the Anakim)” (vv. 14-15a). What an amazing place! It was where Abram originally came into the land God promised Him (Genesis 13:18), and from where he went to rescue his nephew Lot (14:13), and where God had changed his name to Abraham (17:5), and were God promised him a son (18:1), and where he buried his wife Sarah (23:17). This was the very place where the people had become defeated by fear forty-five years before. No wonder Caleb was eager to lay claim to it as his inheritance from God! It symbolized the way God kept all His promises! In Joshua 15:14-15, as we’re told that, later on, Caleb faithfully drove the very same giants out of the land that had originally caused the people to fear and not take the land in the first place. And having taken it, he later gave it as a possession to his offspring. After laying claim to his inheritance, we’re told, “Then the land had rest from war” (v. 15b).

* * * * * * * * * *

Three times in this passage, we’re told the secret of Caleb’s victory. He wholly followed the Lord his God (vv. 8, 9 , 14). “Such faith was Caleb’s and in this he is an example for us all. We are too apt to take the line of least resistance, to be content with that which seems the easiest thing instead of valiantly going on in faith to lay hold of the best that God has for us, no matter what difficulties may seem to make it impossible for us to overcome the foe and to enter into and enjoy our allotted portion” (H.A. Ironside, Joshua, p. 116).

We all too often face the challenges of life in the way that Israel did back when Caleb and Joshua gave their original report. We rebel against the command of the Lord and refuse to do what He says, because we fear the obstacles and oppositions that may stand in our way. But God help us to have a Caleb-like faith that believes God’s promises and lays hold of the inheritance He gives us!