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The Faith-Filled Warrior
When we come to Joshua chapter 14, Caleb is identified as the legendary spy leader from the tribe of Judah 45 years previous. As Judah's tribal spokesman, he addresses Joshua, his old comrade in arms. Joshua knows the story for sure, but Caleb repeats it again for the sake of any that are assembled there or maybe even those who were children at the time. In the passage that follows, we hear vintage Caleb, the voice of the old faith-filled warrior who still believes in Yahweh's power.
These two old friends were now going to have an open conversation to the tribes - this is like making it official, like a court transcript, if you will. Caleb says to Joshua:
"You know what the Lord said to Moses, the man of God in Kadesh Barnea, concerning you and me" (Joshua 14:6)
Did you catch that? It ain't what Moses said. It's what the Lord said to Moses about Joshua and Caleb.
Joshua and Caleb each had their purposes and journey laid out for them by the Lord and how they would be following the Lord. And it seems that Moses told them directly years ago:
- Joshua would go on to become the top leader
- Caleb would go on to be the behind-the-scenes backbone for much of what the tribes accomplished
An awesome little side thought is how cool Caleb was with the path the Lord had chosen for him. I dare say he was content with Joshua getting the top spot and him being the support. Caleb was so at peace. It was well with him the journey that God had him on.
The Time for Payday
And now right here in this passage, it's time for the payday. When it was time for the land to be given away, he isn't going to go for the low-lying pasture life of ease. No. Caleb was going to claim what God had provided for him, and he is going to claim the hill country, the mountain lands, the hard lands.
See, there was still some giants that needed to be whooped there. And here is a man standing in front of his true mate, as the Brits would say, knowing he could claim pretty much any land he wanted for Judah. And he instead claims what Moses had promised decades previous, knowing God had called him to a harder, more difficult path. Don't miss that.
The Story Behind the Claim
We have to back up for a minute before we really get going full steam in this. It's just a reminder for everyone what went down 45 years before. See, Joshua would have known that story because that story is the defining story of the Israelites' wilderness journey for both Caleb and Joshua and all of their brothers and sisters. But in case the younger ones had forgot or no doubt maybe some of the older ones had not really completely understood, Caleb recounts the facts about the spies in the bad report.
To better understand why and what is being said here, let's go back to the actual event for the basis of this claim. It's found in Numbers chapter 13 and 14. It starts in Numbers 13:1-2:
"The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 'Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel. From each tribe of their fathers, you shall send a man, everyone chief among them.'"
This is how it all started.
Moses gets the logistics in place, and we see the 12 spies sent out. We pick it up again in verse 17:
"Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan and said to them, 'Go up to the Negeb and to the hill country, and see what the land is, and whether the people who dwell in it are strong or weak, whether they are few or many, whether the land that they dwell in is good or bad, and whether the cities they dwell in are camps or strongholds'" (Numbers 13:17-19)
So, the spies go up and they go into the land, and they find some of the giants were still there, the descendants of Anak. They find a huge cluster of grapes and other food that is outstanding. At the end of the 40-day mission of spying out the land that the Lord had told them could be theirs, they returned to give a report.
Numbers 13:27-28 records:
"And they told him, 'We came to the land to which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there.'"
In other words, yeah, the food is great, just like we heard, but there are giants there and other troublesome people, so we shouldn't even try.
Caleb's Bold Faith Emerges
A few verses later in verse 30, Caleb has his say:
"But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, 'Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.'"
Is he talking bravado? Is he trash talking here? No. Caleb is saying with Yahweh, we can do all of this and more. This is the way Caleb was always looking to his God as being able and trustworthy. Certainly, the Lord went before them. Of course, they could conquer the land.
But the whiny doubters on the 40-day spy journey spoke up again. Verses 31-33 of Numbers 13:
"Then the men who had gone up with him said, 'We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are.' So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land they had spied out, saying, 'The land through which we have gone to spy out is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height. And there we saw the Nephilim, the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim, and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.'"
And right after that, the rebellion happens. The people of Israel rebel and Moses has to intercede.
Caleb's Faith on Full Display
Now, flip forward to Joshua 14:7-9 of our text today:
"I was 40 years old when Moses, the servant of the Lord, sent me from Kadesh Barnea to spy out the land. And I brought him word again as it was in my heart. But my brothers who went up with me made the heart of the people melt. Yet I wholly followed the Lord my God. And Moses swore on that day, saying, 'Surely the land on which your foot has trodden shall be an inheritance for you and your children forever because you have wholly followed the Lord my God.'"
Make a little more sense now? So before the land west of the Jordan is fully distributed by Lot (now that's assuming the chronologically of the chapters that it is sequential), Caleb now stakes his own claim based on the promises made to him by Moses and confirmed by an oath. We don't have a record anywhere of Moses' specific promise, but based on everything we do know and Joshua's response, we can conclude that Caleb is speaking a known truth of Moses's oath to him.
And Caleb's faith because of this is on full display in verses 10-12. Verse 10 says:
"And now, behold, the Lord has kept me alive, just as he said these 45 years since the time of the Lord spoke this word to Moses while Israel walked in the wilderness. And now, behold, I am this day 85 years old."
Then, Caleb doubles down on why he should claim what he is about to claim. Verse 11:
"I am still as strong today as I was in the day that Moses sent me. My strength now is as my strength was then, for war and for going and coming."
Verse 12:
"So now give me this hill country of which the Lord spoke on that day."
Some translations say, "Now give me this mountain country." It was a hard land. No one would pick this land first. It's like having a steak, a lobster, you know, and then over here you've got just like a small little dill pickle. "I don't want any of that. I'll take the dill pickle." You get what I'm saying? I mean, it's that outrageous. Why would you do this, Caleb?
Caleb continues:
"For you heard on that day how the Anakim were there. [Ding, ding, ding.] With great fortified cities. It may be that the Lord will be with me, and I shall drive them out just as the Lord said."
There it is. Notice that in three of the four statements in this section, Caleb mentions the name of Yahweh:
- The Lord has promised
- The Lord spoke on that day
- The Lord will be with me
Do you see it? Here is a man who has learned to trust in the promises of God and stake his whole future on them. He knows what it is like to have the Lord help him and he is trusting that the Lord will continue to do so. This is expectant powerful faith prior to the event. It may sound like bragging in English, but it is bragging on the power of God to keep his promises. And that is the most awesome of all faith.
Choosing the Hard Path
So Joshua grants Caleb's request like there was ever a doubt, right? The land is called Hebron. Joshua gives Caleb Hebron as his inheritance.
Think about it now. The promise from Moses, it was "where your foot has trodden." Now piece it together. Caleb and the other spies had walked hundreds of miles to the most northern part of Canaan and back again. His feet had trod the whole country. Any part of the land could have been his for the asking. And not only Caleb knew it, but then he decided to choose Hebron.
Because of the stark contrast to the other easy, more potentially prosperous lands, why oh why would Caleb choose the hard land? I think he wanted Hebron because there were Anakite giants there that had so terrified his fellow scouts 45 years before. "We look like grasshoppers in their eyes," they whimpered. "Bring them on," says Caleb. "They're no match for the Lord."
Why would he say that? Remember that passage from Numbers 13 I kind of skipped through from 45 years earlier? Well, in the next chapter, chapter 14, Caleb goes for broke. He says, "Their protection's gone. The Lord is with us." And the people go to stone him. And then the glory of the Lord shows up to stop them.
Now, before I show it to you, keep in mind the people were wailing at the bad report and they were beginning their rebellion. And Joshua and Caleb are the only ones standing up. In the first part of Numbers 14, they want to pick new leaders and go back to Egypt. Moses and Aaron, they go prostrate. They fall on their face flat out. That's a position of protest.
And then check out what happens next. It's in Numbers 14:6-10:
"And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes and said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, 'The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land. If the Lord delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey. Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the Lord is with us. Do not fear them.' Then all the congregation said to stone them with stones. But the glory of the Lord appeared at the tent of meeting to all the people of Israel."
How cool is that, huh? So now it's 45 years later, and Caleb is still ready to throw down on behalf of the Lord, even at 85. Now he finally has his chance to prove it as the leader of the men of Judah. He wants the hard place to show the power of God and the promises of God in a real tangible way.
Facing Down Giants
Later in Joshua chapter 15, you'll see that Caleb does indeed drive out the giants, the sons of Anak. Do you want to know what their names are? Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.
Do you know that the scripture gives the names of these three Anakite giants three different times? It's here in:
- Joshua 15:14
- Judges 1:10
- Numbers 13:22
Why? Why do they get named three times? Because their names were well-known. Giants are what legends are made of, like Goliath of Gath, right? You only name great opponents, and these giants are great enemies with reputations to match.
But Caleb fearlessly drives them out. Doubtless, the story was told again and again and again at the campfires in ancient times down through the centuries. "You remember when Caleb took those giants?"
Ambition and Faith in Balance
What's the point? This story is the ultimate balance of ambition and faith. It's a balance of ambition and faith. I have many many times wondered where's the line? Is there a fine line between focused ambition and bold faith?
Without question, Caleb had cherished in his heart 45-year-old ambition to defeat the Anakite giants. He has something to prove. He has a score to settle with those giants. Yes. But also I think he wanted to spike the football on the doubters from 45 years earlier. He knows the victory will be the Lord's, and he has so wanted to be the instrument that Yahweh uses.
So then is this an ambition from God? Look at Moses for a second. Moses doesn't want to lead the people out of Egypt. But when he finally accepts his calling because God doesn't take no for an answer. And guess what? Moses puts all his heart and soul into the job. He personally identifies his cause with God's cause, and his ambition now is in line with God's ambition for him. So then when God wonders aloud about destroying the unbelieving Israelites, Moses knows God's heart well enough to boldly speak to God about God's interests.
What can be a strong takeaway from this? Moses has internalized God's desire so that God's desire becomes Moses's ambitions. Yes, sometimes people will see that as pride or significance or ego blows or whatever. And let's not kid ourselves. Sometimes that is exactly what it is. But in Moses' case and in many other cases, it is a God thing. God sees Moses as a guy he wants to speak with face to face.
Caleb as well has developed a bold faith. When he is all bravado, he is bravado about and in God, he is actually exalting God, not himself. And so he identifies with God because his ego is immersed in God's ambition. Much the same as the Apostle Paul a thousand years later. Apostle Paul wrote Galatians 2:20. And for us in modern times, it kind of comes down to this being real. Galatians 2:20 says:
"I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me. In the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the son of God who loved me and gave himself for me."
Of course, we need to be continually examining our hearts. Any self-exaltation we see there must be put down. We make adjustments on an ongoing basis. And good accountability being set up in your life really helps this. See, it is so easy to develop an ugly self-centered existence. I mean, in America, we're taught from a young age to look out for number one, right?
But know that boldness can be in the Lord as it should be. Jeremiah 9:24 says this:
"But let him who boast boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord."
Vision and Purpose for Today
So where does this leave us today? What giants are we facing? Well, I'm going to break it down into two words, two concepts that might help us get there. It's vision and purpose.
Vision
The Bible says, "Where there is no vision, people perish." That's in Proverbs 29:18. Where there is no vision, people perish. You know that you can substitute the word people for church, business, marriage. Follow:
- Where there is no vision, the church will perish
- Where there is no vision, the business will perish
- Where there is no vision, the marriage will perish
Sight is a function of the eyes, while vision is a function of the heart. Vision is seeing the future before it comes into being. Vision is the ability to see farther than your eyes can look. It is vision that makes the unseen visible and the unknown possible. God does not speak to us very often about where we are. He speaks to us about where we're going because where you're going is far more important than where you are. He's already got you here.
1. Be Open to a Big Vision
Number one, you should be open to having a big vision. Ephesians 3:20 says:
"Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, abundantly."
Do you believe that? Another translation says, "Exceedingly." Look, he's not just a God for emergencies and problems.
There's the story about the duck church. It's a church full of ducks. And the duck preacher gets up in the duck pulpit and he tells the congregation of ducks, "We are ducks and we have wings and we can spread our wings and we can fly to the highest mountain tops. We can soar like eagles because we are ducks." And all the ducks yelled, "Amen." And then they all waddled home.
Vision determines your deal. Vision is key to whatever your future is to be. Remember Numbers 13:33: "We were like grasshoppers in their sight." Let that not be us.
Purpose
2. Your Future Is Found Within You
Point number two. Your future is found within you. Let's talk Dr. Obvious for a second here. Your future lies ahead of you and within you. Choices you make today will create your tomorrow. Isaiah 1:19 says:
"If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land."
So, it all comes down to what do you really believe? Can you match up what you really believe with willingness, with obedience, with authentic faith that pleases God? Can you really match up what you truly in your heart believe with the willingness and obedience with authentic faith to please God?
The Blondin Story
I'm going to give you the best example of really believing something. It's a story I've told many many times here at Fresh Encounter Church. I've told the story at least twice, but it's been a minute. We have a lot of new people here. So, here goes again.
In the middle of the 1800s, there was a tightrope walker who became world famous. To this day, he's still considered the greatest tightrope walker that ever lived. And he was a French man who went by the stage name Blondin. And Blondin set up a tightrope across the Niagara Falls. And it was in every newspaper in the country. And 10,000 people showed up to watch Blondin cross the Niagara Falls on a tightrope.
And Blondin makes it to, you know, he goes makes it to the other side and the crowd just erupts. And Blondin is this great showman. And he quiets the crowd down. He said, "I am Blondin. Do you believe in me?" And 10,000 people start cheering: "We believe! We believe! We believe!"
Quieted them down again. He said, "I'm going to go back across the falls. This time I'm going to carry a human being on my shoulders. Do you believe I can do that?" And oh, they went crazy: "We believe! We believe!"
Then he said, "Okay, who will be that human being?" And they all got really quiet and one man stepped out of the crowd, got on Blondin's shoulders, and they went back across the tightrope. Who was that man? That was his manager. That was the guy who traveled with him. Blondin used to sit down and make eggs on the tightrope. He used to take wheelbarrows across the tightrope with people in it. The manager knew that the odds were astronomical that Blondin would fall. That's how good he was. But 10,000 people said we believe, but only one actually believed.
3. You Are Perfect for God's Vision
Point number three today, you are perfect for God's given vision. You are perfect for your God-given vision. Stop wishing you were someone else. The Bible tells us you are fearfully and wonderfully made. God has given everything that you need that he called you to do. He's given you it all. This is not the season to hate yourself. This is not the season to be down on yourself or doubting yourself. This is the season to discover yourself in the Lord Jesus. If this is in fact the end days, what are we waiting on?
See, some of us have too much purpose to die. What do I mean by that? That means you will die when you have finished what God has planned for you and not an hour before. If you belong to Jesus, and that part is key, if you belong to Jesus, you are immortal until you finish what he has planned for you. And that's good news. But also some Sundays I think, was that the last message I was supposed to get? Come get me, Lord Jesus. Did I finish? Did I finish? What's he calling you to do?
Being Light and Salt
It is important at this point that we distinguish between means and ends. The child of God will live at least two addresses. Get this in your mind and don't lose this as you walk your come and go in day-to-day life. You have two addresses if you belong to Jesus:
- You have the here
- You have the there - here in the hereafter
We are striving to live in such a way on earth that heaven will naturally be our next step in our home.
For Christians, the activities we do like preaching, teaching, worship, filming, broadcasting, outreach, events, and the like - the event itself is not the end to be achieved. It is the means. You follow? You following me? The end goal must always be that of accomplishing God's will in the lives of people through any particular activity, whatever that may be. The child of God is what they do. Make sense?
Light of the World
If they are light, they will shine as light. Matthew 5:14-16 says:
"You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your father who is in heaven."
Salt of the Earth
What if they're salt? They will preserve and flavor if they're salt. Matthew 5:13 says:
"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet."
A Chosen People
If they are blessed, they will be a blessing. 1 Peter 2:9 says:
"But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light."
Have you been called out of darkness into his marvelous light? You can't stop talking about him. You can't stop thinking about him. You can't stop processing what's going on in and around you.
And do you know why all of that is so important? Because we are a remnant, a God-specific remnant assembled by his mighty hand, sustained by his sovereignty.
Final Takeaways
Final takeaways today:
- Vision: What do you see?
- Purpose: Why do you see it?
- Goals: How are you going to get there?
Not just talking the standard practice for businesses, but also for your walk with Christ. Those are things that businesses do, organizations do. But what about your walk with Christ? What fruit do you want to see happen in your midst according in surrounding your effort?
Set a vision 10 years from now. Set short and long-term goals based on your prayerful vision. Come alongside some of the stuff that we got going on here that God has set up for people just like you to get involved with. Stop dreaming about stuff you can finish in a week.
Caleb chose the mountain region because it was hard and it fulfilled a 45-year longing that was put there by God. He chose the hard thing so he could again see the power of God. Joy in doing the hard and the difficult. May we seek what God has for us. And may we see the power of God and what the Lord has for us.