The
Secret of Caleb's Overcoming.
God's
Testimony
"But
my servant
Caleb, because he had another spirit in him, and has followed me fully,
him will I bring into the land whereinto he went, and his seed shall
possess it." NUM. 14. 24.
Moses'
Testimony
"Save
Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, the Kenezite, and Joshua the son of Nun,
for they have wholly followed the Lord." NUM. 32. 12.
"Save
Caleb, the son
of Jephunneh, he shall see it and to him will I give the land that he
has trodden upon, and to his children, because he has wholly followed
the Lord." DEUT. 1. 36.
Caleb's
Testimony
"Nevertheless
my brethren that went up with me made the heart of the people melt, but
I wholly followed the Lord my God." JOSH. 14. 8
"And
Moses swore on
that day, saying, Surely the land whereon your feet have trodden shall
be your inheritance and your children's for ever, because you have
wholly followed the Lord my God." JOSH. 4. 9.
"Hebron
therefore
became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh, the Kenezite,
unto this day, because that he wholly followed the Lord God of Israel."
JOSH. 14. 14.
INTRODUCTION
THE
best
illustration of overcoming is the life of an overcomer. The
incontrovertible proof of its possibility is that it has been done. The
most powerful incentive to live such a life is to see it lived. Herein
lies the value of a study of Caleb's life. He was an overcomer.
Most
of us
Christians are just common folks living comparatively obscure lives. We
are apt to think that the abundant life of a Spirit-filled Christian is
reserved for the few called to high and holy positions. To preach as he
did, Peter must be Spirit-filled. To write as he did necessitated such
a life in John. To be the foremost missionary of all time demanded of
Paul that he be a Spirit-filled man. We look at such men in public life
and say, "Surely God does not expect me to live as they live."
But
Caleb played no
such role in God's service. He was not an Abraham, nor a Moses, nor a
David, nor a Paul. He was just Caleb, a man out of the common run of
folks, living a life brilliant in no other respect than in its faith,
obedience and courage. He was an ordinary man living an extraordinary
life not because of anything in himself or in his circumstances but
solely because of his relationship to his God. Caleb became nothing
that God might become everything. Caleb had but one concern, his
relationship to his God. That being right everything else must be
right. Caleb went in a straight line allowing no deflection or
deviation. In youth and in old age, amid all difficulties and
discouragements, in face of all opposition, he wholly followed the
Lord.
Is
there any one of
us who cannot do the same? Do we not have much more to aid us to live
the life of an overcomer than Caleb had? Are we not living on the other
side of the Cross and of Pentecost? As we run the race set before us
are we not compassed about with a much greater cloud of witnesses to
God's
faithfulness
and
power? If in the early dawn of the spiritual history of God's people
such an overcomer as Caleb could shine forth with such brilliancy, what
excuse can there possibly be to those of us living near the midnight
hour of the time of Christ's church on earth?
Canaan
stands for
the Christian's deliverance from all the power of Satan, for his full
inheritance of all his possessions in Christ, for his enjoyment of the
peace and power of a Spirit-filled life. God teaches us through Caleb
how such a life may be obtained and maintained. Caleb calls and
challenges us to enter into it. "Let us go up at once and possess it:
for we are well able to overcome it."
Dear
reader, will you respond to the call and accept the challenge of Caleb
the overcomer?
RUTH
PAXSON.
Lausanne,
Switzerland.
CALEB
AS A YOUNG MAN—AT KADESH-BARNEA
"I
write unto you,
young men, because you have overcome the wicked one. I have written
unto you, young men, because you are strong and the word of God abides
in you, and you have overcome the wicked one." 1 JOHN 2:13.14.
"For
whatsoever is born of God overcomes the world, and this is the victory
that overcomes the world, even our faith." 1 JOHN 5:4.
CALEB
AS A YOUNG MAN—AT KADESH-BARNEA
THE
first glimpse
that we have of Caleb is at Kadesh-barnea. He is forty years old, the
height of his young manhood. We know nothing about him until he is
suddenly brought into action as one of the twelve spies appointed by
Moses to search out the land of Canaan.
Here
we learn that
he was a ruler in the tribe of Judah, the largest and most important
tribe of the children of Israel. From this we may infer that Caleb, as
a young man, was capable and responsible. His work upon this commission
reveals the innermost life of this young man and reflects a
consecration to the Lord so outstanding that we may rightly conclude
that it must have commenced when he was but a youth. We can only
comprehend the great importance of this task to which Caleb was
appointed and the part he played in it by understanding the purpose in
sending this commission into Canaan to spy out the land.
Through
the call of
Abraham, God had chosen a people for Himself and He had promised unto
them and to their seed the land of Canaan as their everlasting
possession through an everlasting covenant. The early fathers, Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob, had dwelt in Canaan, but only as strangers. It had not
yet become their possession.
While
Jacob dwelt in
Canaan, his son Joseph had been sold into Egypt through the jealousy
and treachery of his brothers. There he became the virtual ruler over
Egypt by Pharaoh's appointment. Driven to the point of starvation by
the famine that spread over Canaan as well as Egypt, Jacob and all his
house finally went into Egypt. There through Joseph's magnanimous
forgiveness and generosity
they
were fed throughout the time of famine.
Four
hundred and
thirty years the children of Israel remained in Egypt. As a people they
were "fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and grew
exceeding mighty, and the land was filled with them." Then there arose
a new king over Egypt who had not known Joseph and he became fearful of
both the number and the power of this shepherd people. Taskmasters were
set over them who afflicted them with unbearable burdens. Then the
children of Israel cried unto God for deliverance. The heart of God was
moved and He appointed Moses to be their deliverer.
This
deliverance was
to be two-fold. It was to be a deliverance in Egypt from God's judgment
of death upon all the first-born in every house on the night of the
Passover. This was effected for Israel solely by the blood of the slain
lamb which God had commanded to be put upon the lintel and the door
posts.
It
was also a
deliverance out of Egypt, and from Pharaoh and the Egyptians who
pursued the departing Israelites as at God's command they left the
country. This deliverance was effected for the children of Israel
solely by God's supernatural power, manifested by the dividing of the
Red Sea, which enabled them to pass over on dry land, and by the
returning of the waters which engulfed Pharaoh's pursuing hosts.
"We
were Pharaoh's
bondmen in Egypt: and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty
hand." And "he brought us out from there, that he might bring us in, to
give us the land which he swore unto our fathers."
The
road to Canaan
passed through the way of the wilderness. But God was with them to
guide by the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. He
provided them with food, drink and clothes. He protected them from all
enemies.
Finally
they came to
Kadesh-barnea on the very border of the land of Canaan. The promised
land lay just before them, a land of which God had said it is "a land
of brooks of water, of fountains, and depths that spring out of the
valleys and hills: a land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig
trees, and pomegranates: a land of olive-trees and honey; a land
wherein you shall eat bread without scarceness, you shall not lack
anything in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills
you may dig brass. When you have eaten and are full, then you shall
bless the Lord your God for the good land which he has given you." DEUT.
8:7-10
"The
land which the
Lord swore unto your fathers to give unto them and to their seed, a
land that flows with milk and honey. For the land whither you go in to
possess it is not as the land of Egypt, from whence you came out, where
you sowed your seed, and watered it with your foot, as a garden of
herbs. But the land, whither you go to possess it, is a land of hills
and valleys, and drinks water of the rain of heaven. A land which the
Lord your God cares for: the eyes of the Lord your God are always upon
it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year." DEUT.
11:9-12
A
land of
sufficiency, satisfaction and safety! Contrast it with the land of
burdens and bondage from which they had been delivered and the
barrenness of the wilderness through which they had passed. They are
now at the very gates of such a land and God is saying to them:
"Behold,
the Lord
your God has set the land before you: go up and possess it, as the Lord
God of your fathers has said unto you: fear not, neither be
discouraged." DEUT. 1:21.
Such
a land set
before them as an outright gift to be had for the taking! It was theirs
already as far as God's part was concerned, but was to be made theirs
in actual possession by simple faith and obedience. Would you not think
they would have hastened without one moment's hesitation or one hour's
delay to go in and possess "the land which the Lord swore unto Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after them?"
A
Crisis demanding a Choice
But
what did they
do? They asked Moses to appoint an appraisal commission to spy out the
land! Is there anything new under the sun? Some modern methods which
today seem so up to date have the musty smell of ages upon them. What
was this commission to do?
"They
shall search out the land, and bring us word again by what way we must
go up, and into what cities we shall come." DEUT. 1:22
How
human it all is!
Now that the children of Israel were out of Egypt and through the
wilderness, they could dispense with God's leadership and substitute
man's wisdom and guidance for it. They would now take the management of
affairs into their own hands and decide for themselves by what route
they would enter the land and what the plan of campaign would be. To be
guided by God's explicit direction did not seem as necessary as during
the miraculous deliverance from Egypt or on the perilous journey
through the wilderness. Then they knew they were helpless, but now, no
doubt, they could well make their own decisions and trust to their own
judgment. Oh! the innate, latent pride of the human heart!
But
there was an
even more terrible thrust at God in the appointment of such a
commission. Blatant unbelief lurks in the suggestion that these men
should "search out the land." Had not God already told them everything
they needed to know about that land? Is it possible that God's word
needs confirmation? Will they not believe until they see? Does it mean
that after all the wonders of their deliverance and journeyings they
still cannot trust Him? And what would be the outcome, if the
commission upon its return from the investigation should bring in a
report contrary to God's command? How sinister is even the suggestion
of such a commission! But God allows it to be appointed, a man from
each tribe constitutes that committee. Here we first meet Caleb, as the
representative of Judah.
What
commission is given to the twelve spies? We are told explicitly in Numbers
13:17-20.
They were to see the land, whether it was "good or bad, fat or lean,
and whether there be wood therein or not." God had already told them it
was fruitful, fertile and filled with all kinds of trees. They were to
see "the cities in which the people dwelt, whether in tents or
strongholds." God had already told them they dwelt in cities "great and
fenced up to heaven." They were to see whether the people were "strong
or weak, few or many." God had already faithfully told them that the
nations inhabiting the land were "greater and mightier than they, a
people great and tall, the children of the Anakims." But He had
promised to go over before them, as a consuming fire, to destroy all
their enemies and drive them out of the land. So He commanded them "to
be of good courage." In other words, to believe God and to obey Him.
Under
these
circumstances such a commission was absolutely
superfluous—nay,
more than that, it was sinful. But the spies went and searched the land
forty days. They brought back from Eschol a branch with one cluster of
grapes which required two men to bear it upon a staff; proof abundant
of God's word regarding the land and a pledge in hand of His power to
fulfill every promise regarding their dwelling in the land. They
brought back also a report. But it was not unanimous. The commission
was divided ten to two. There was both a majority and a minority
report.
The
Majority Report
The
ten spies spoke
favorably, yet not very enthusiastically, regarding the land. It was,
as God had said, a "land that flows with milk and honey." The fruit in
their hands was a sample of its abounding fertility. Two ominous words
now occur in the report. The odor of rebellion and self-will exude from
them.
"Nevertheless
the
people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and
very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there." NUM.
13:28.
There
are absolutely
insurmountable difficulties in entering Canaan. We are doomed to defeat
before we begin. Our mind is already made up about this matter. This is
our decision.
We
be not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than
we." NUM. 13:31.
So
the ten spies "brought up an evil report of the land which they had
searched."
The
Minority Report
Two
of the spies,
Caleb and Joshua, handed in the minority report, Caleb evidently acting
as chairman. The two spies couldn't say enough about the land. They
were captivated by it; it had exceeded their expectations, it was an
"exceedingly good land."
Their
report even
regarding the people, while honest, was enthusiastic. They, too, had
seen the great walled cities and the strong, powerful people dwelling
in them; yes, they had measured the size of the giants as had the other
ten spies. They were not self-deceived regarding the strength of their
enemies in the land.
They
did not
minimize the difficulties but they magnified the Lord. In their
estimation the presence of the Lord with them entirely offset the power
of the people against them. Therefore they saw the enemy already
defeated.
"If
the Lord delight
in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land
which flows with milk and honey. Only rebel not against the Lord,
neither fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us: their
defense is departed from them, and the Lord is with us: fear them not."
NUM. 14: 8, 9.
To
the two spies
victory was already assured, so their verdict was unhesitating. God's
word should be believed and His command immediately obeyed. And Caleb
fearlessly said so.
"And
Caleb stilled
the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess
it; for we are well able to overcome it."
So
the two spies brought in a good report of the land as in full
conformity to God's clearly given description.
What
was at the
bottom of these radically opposite, mutually exclusive reports? God
reveals with crystal clearness that the action of the two groups was
due to their attitude. It was the result of a fundamental difference in
their relationship to the Lord Himself. Let us now analyze these
attitudes.
The
Attitude of the Two Spies
On
the part of both
Caleb and Joshua it was an attitude of implicit obedience which
resulted from a complete consecration. Their relationship to their Lord
and not their relationship to the people in the land determined their
action. Faith in God and not fear of giants animated their report. And
what was their relationship to the Lord?
"Save
Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun, for they have
wholly followed the Lord."
May
we now go into a
still closer analysis of Caleb's attitude as recorded in Scripture. Six
times we are told that Caleb "wholly followed the Lord." Such
repetition has great significance. It unfolds to view the innermost
secret of the man's life. It mirrors his soul to us. What Caleb was
determined what he did. His attitude determined his action.
But
Scripture
reveals something deeper still in the life of this glorious man. God's
own hand pulls aside the curtain from his spirit and gives us a glimpse
into its innermost chamber,—the sanctuary of the Lord
Himself.
"My
servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and has followed
me fully..." NUM. 14:24.
And
what kind of
spirit did he have, contrasted so vividly with that of all the others?
It is none other than the spirit of an overcomer. "My servant Caleb" is
Caleb, the overcomer! Now study his attitude further as revealed in
that minority report.
His
Attitude toward the Land
It was a land to be desired
"An
exceedingly good land."
to be entered
"Let us
go up at once."
to be possessed
"Let us
possess it."
Caleb
had a deep
conviction regarding the land. This conviction determined his action.
Forty-five years later he said to Joshua after they were actually in
the promised land, "Forty years old was I 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."
Such
a man as Caleb
could not have done otherwise than state his moral conviction, even
though it meant taking a stand against ten "brethren" (JOSH.
14:8)
and bringing in a minority report. To have done otherwise would have
been to stultify his conscience and to become a moral coward. Caleb
could not be swayed by the ten no matter what the consequences. He had
been chosen to spy out the land. He must bring word again as it was in
his heart. Caleb not only had a conviction but he had the daring of
that conviction.
Can
you not imagine
what went on within that camp? The insinuation of obstinacy and
self-will! The accusation of breaking the unity of the commission! As
though that were a greater sin than breaking the command of God! The
subtle appeal to yield to the majority opinion which must be right!
But
this man of
"another spirit" who "wholly followed the Lord" can stand every rebuke
and reproach. Within his innermost spirit he knows the Lord delights in
him because he is obedient to His word. So it matters little to him
what man says or does. To know that he is in the center of God's will
and obedient to God's word gives him moral courage. He is satisfied
just to wholly follow the Lord, though it places him in the minority
with men.
His
Attitude toward the People
He was devoid of fear.
"Neither
fear the people of the land. Fear them not." NUM. 14:9.
He was dominated by faith.
"For they
are bread for us, their defense is departed from them." NUM.
14:9.
This
is not a
reckless attitude due to folly. It is instead a consistent courage
deeply rooted in faith. To be sure, Caleb had seen the giants of great
stature, but he had also seen One of greater strength than they. "The
Lord is with us." Therefore whom or what should we fear? Had He not
said that if they walked in His statutes and kept His commandments to
do them they should chase their enemies who would fall before their
sword? That five of them should chase a hundred and a hundred of them
should put ten thousand to flight? Would God not do "as he had said?"
Caleb's attitude was "Be of good cheer, for I believe God, that it
shall be even as it was told me."
Fear
and faith were
to him incompatible. Fear always drives out faith if faith does not
dispel fear. The ten spies were dominated by fear and so devoid of
faith. Caleb was dominated by faith and so devoid of fear.
His
Attitude toward the Lord
It
was one of calm confidence and of absolute assurance based on
unquestioning faith in God's promise.
"If
the Lord delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give
it us." NUM. 14:8.
God
had said that He
would give them the land. That was enough for Caleb. To him "God is not
a man, that he should lie, neither the son of man, that he should
repent." Caleb had but one attitude toward his Lord, "Has he said, and
shall he not do it? Or has he spoken, and shall he not make it good?" (NUM.
23:19),
Caleb quietly lay full length upon this promise of God that He would
give them the land. The fact that the sons of Anak were there did not
shake his confidence an atom. It would but give God greater glory when
even they were driven out of Canaan. "The Lord is with us" and who are
the sons of Anak beside the Lord of heaven and of earth? The Creator of
the Anakims is in our midst! What can the created do to Him or His?
His
Attitude toward Himself
Caleb
saw himself
only in his relationship to his God. He was God's chosen, redeemed,
sanctified one. Therefore he looked upon himself as the one who had the
right to the inheritance in Canaan and the power to possess it.
"We
are well able to overcome it." NUM. 13:30.
Caleb's
one concern
for himself was not for his safety but for his sanctification. "If the
Lord delight in us, then he will bring us into the land." His part was
just to see that his own life was well pleasing unto the Lord. Then all
would come to him that God had promised.
This
attitude of
confidence did not have its springs in self-righteousness. It was not
due to what Caleb thought himself to be, but because of what he knew
God was. He himself had reached zero. He was nothing, God was
everything.
Let
us sum up what we have seen to be Caleb's attitude.
Conviction regarding the land.
God had
already given it to the children of Israel.
Courage regarding the people.
They were
already defeated foes.
Confidence regarding the Lord.
He would
do as He had said.
Consecration regarding himself.
He would
wholly follow the Lord.
The
result of such
an attitude was action. Appropriating faith coupled with assurance of
victory made him ready to act immediately.
"Let
us go up at once and possess it."
"We
are well able to overcome it."
Caleb's
deep-rooted
conviction, his undaunted courage, his calm confidence and his complete
consecration challenged him to aggressive action.
Standing
alone,
Caleb would be one of the most winsome characters in Biblical history.
But when we see his life silhouetted against that of the ten spies, who
represent also the congregation of Israel, it is nothing short of
majestic. To observe the difference may we now study their attitude.
The
Attitude of the Ten Spies
We
are not left to
form our own judgment of these men. God clearly reveals the spirit that
animated them, and tells us in so many words that it was one of
rebellion caused by disbelief and disobedience.
"Likewise
when the
Lord sent you from Kadesh-barnea saying, Go up and possess the land,
which I have given you; then you rebelled against the commandment of
the Lord your God, and you believed him not, nor hearkened to his
voice." DEUT. 9:23.
It
was not the great
walled cities of Canaan nor even the great stature of the giants that
kept them from their inheritance in Canaan. It was their own faulty
relationship to the Lord. God Himself says so.
"Surely
none of the
men that came up out of Egypt from twenty years old and upward, shall
see the land, which I swore unto Abraham and unto Isaac, and unto
Jacob; because they have not wholly followed me." NUM. 32:11.
What
they were not, determined what they did not.
But
Scripture
reveals something more in the lives of these men which so quickly
brought them to destruction and death. Their own words betray and
condemn them. Behind their rebellion, unbelief and disobedience is an
evil spirit of ingratitude and murmuring which led to basest
accusations and lies against their faithful, loving God.
"And
you murmured in
your tents, and said, Because the Lord hated us, he has brought us
forth out of the land of Egypt, to deliver us into the hands of the
Amorites, to destroy us." DEUT. 1:27.
"When
they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful."
Let
us now go into a more detailed study of their attitude.
Their
Attitude toward the Land
They
had admitted
that it was a land flowing with milk and honey, as God had said. But
they had no desire for it. God goes even further in unveiling their
real attitude toward the promised land. They despised it.
"But
your little
ones, which you said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they
shall know the land which you have despised." NUM. 14.
But
their guilt was
even deeper still. They brought back such a slanderous report that they
encouraged the whole congregation of Israel to despise it also.
"And
the men, which
Moses sent to search the land, who returned, and made all the
congregation to murmur against him by bringing up a slander upon the
land." NUM. 14:36.
The
ten spies and
all the children of Israel with them had no heart longing for Canaan.
Instead, their hearts lusted for the onions, leeks and garlic of Egypt.
They loved not Canaan because they lusted for Egypt.
Their
Attitude toward the People
It
was one of abject fear resulting in paralyzing cowardice.
"All
the people that
we saw in it are men of a great stature. And there we saw giants, the
sons of Anak, which come of the giants." NUM. 13:32, 33.
They
saw "giants"
instead of "God." Therefore they yielded to panic instead of trusting
themselves to God's power. Controlled by fear, they became cowards.
Their
Attitude toward the Lord
God
is utterly
ignored. His name does not even appear in the majority committee's
report. God is not even remotely referred to. There is no reference
whatsoever to His gracious promises to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob,
to His miraculous power manifested in Egypt and at the Red Sea, to His
unfailing
protection
all
through the wilderness journey or to His abiding presence in the pillar
of cloud by day and of fire by night. God is not in their thoughts.
Neither
is He in their vision. They see nothing but giants. "We saw giants."
Three
times they state this terrifying fact. Is it to be marveled at that
they brought back an evil report?
"But
the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go against the
people: for they are stronger than we." NUM. 13:31.
Of
course they were.
God had told them so many times. But had He ever said "the people" were
stronger than He? Their attitude to God was one of inexcusable unbelief.
"And
the Lord said
unto Moses, How long will this people provoke me? and how long will it
be ere they believe me? for all the signs which I have shown among
them?" NUM. 14:11.
Rejection
of God's
word breeds rebellion against God's will. Their failure to enter Canaan
was not because they could not, but because they would not.
"Notwithstanding
you would not go up, but rebelled against the commandment of the Lord
your God." DEUT. 1:26.
Their
Attitude toward Themselves
They
state quite clearly what they think about themselves.
"We
saw giants and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so were we
in their sight." NUM. 13:33.
"Grasshoppers"
versus "giants!" Humility? Consummate conceit! "We" is the biggest word
in that sentence, used nine times. Herein lies their whole trouble,
they are too big. If they had said, "We are as worms," they would have
come nearer the truth. Then they might have given God some place in
their thought. But "grasshoppers!" They could at least hop around by
themselves even if they did not avail anything by it as against
"giants."
"In
our sight" as
grasshoppers! But oh! what were they in God's sight? His very own! His
chosen, redeemed, sanctified people, to whom He had given His promise,
protection, power and presence from the day of their redemption in
Egypt right up to Kadesh-barnea. But not one word as to what they were
in the sight of the Lord their God!
The
ten spies saw
themselves primarily in relation to their enemies. Consequently their
chief concern was for their safety. So they would sacrifice their
inheritance in Canaan rather than risk their lives. "They loved not
their lives unto death" did not apply to them, "because they have not
wholly followed
the
Lord."
Let
us review their attitude.
Regarding the land
They
despised it.
Regarding the people
They
dreaded them.
Regarding the Lord
They
doubted, disdained and disobeyed Him.
Regarding themselves
They
depended upon their own strength.
Let
us bring into sharp contrast these mutually exclusive attitudes.
Caleb desired Canaan.
The ten
despised Canaan.
Caleb sought to enter the land.
The ten
slandered the land.
Caleb had the spirit of an overcomer.
The ten
had the spirit of one overcome.
Caleb said, "We are well able to overcome it."
The ten
said, "We are not able to go up against this people."
Caleb looked up at God's promise and power.
The ten
looked in at themselves, around at their enemies.
Caleb saw God.
The ten
saw giants.
Caleb wholly followed the Lord his God.
The ten
did not wholly follow the Lord.
The
Consequences of the Choice at Kadesh-barnea
It
is most
illuminating to study the consequences of the two choices made at
Kadesh-barnea. This was determined by God's response to the two
reports.
The
Consequence to the Ten Spies
Rebellion
is infectious, and the rebellion of the ten spies bred a revolution
among the whole congregation of Israel.
"All
the congregation lifted up their voices and cried."
"All
the children of Israel murmured."
"The
whole congregation said, Would God we had died in the land of Egypt."
"All
the congregation bade stone them with stones." NUM. 14:1, 2
And
God lays the blame for this revolt against Him by Israel upon these ten
who brought in the majority report.
"Whither
shall we go
up? Our brethren have discouraged our heart, saying, The people is
greater and taller than we; the cities are great and walled up to
heaven; and moreover we have seen the sons of the
Anakims
there." DEUT.1:28.
"Nevertheless
my brethren that went up with me made the heart of the people melt; but
I wholly followed the Lord." JOSH. 14:8.
Through
the majority
report of this ancient, self-instigated Appraisal Commission nearly two
million people were deprived altogether of their inheritance in Canaan,
were driven back into the wilderness to die, and God's purpose for His
chosen people was deterred forty years in its fulfillment.
And
what was God's
judgment upon the ten members of this Appraisal Commission? Oh! how
extremely solemn are these words! No comment upon them is needed.
"Even
those men that did bring up the evil report upon the land, died by the
plague before the Lord." NUM. 14:37.
The
Consequences to the Congregation of Israel
God
stood ready to
disinherit them and to make of Moses a greater and mightier nation. He
was restrained, however, by Moses' remarkable prayer pleading the honor
of His own Name and the potency of His power before the heathen, and
the pardoning grace He had so constantly manifested toward His
rebellious people from Egypt even unto that day (NUM. 14:11-20).
God
did pardon, yet
they had to bear the consequences of their choice. They would never be
permitted to enter Canaan. But God is always just in His judgments. Not
all in the congregation of Israel would be kept out of their
inheritance.
God
divided the
congregation into two parts; those twenty years old and above who had
murmured against Him, and the children and little ones who at
Kadeshbarnea had neither the knowledge nor the privilege to make a
choice. To the elders He said,
"Your
carcases shall
fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according
to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which have
murmured against me . . . Doubtless you shall not come into the land,
concerning which I swore to make you dwell therein." NUM.
14:20, 30.
Not
one of these should ever see the land. Everyone of them would fall in
the wilderness.
"Surely
there shall
not one of these men, of this evil generation, see that good land,
which I swore to give unto your fathers." DEUT. 1:35.
"But
as for you, your carcases shall fall in this wilderness." NUM.
24:32.
Forty
days they had
searched the land and every day of the search brought fresh evidences
of the veracity of God's word, and the cluster of grapes was a visible
pledge of its fulfillment. But they had broken covenant with their
faithful God through shameless, reasonless unbelief. Now they would
have forty years, a year for a day, to meditate upon their folly in
forcing God to faithlessness in keeping His promise to them.
"After
the number of
the days in which you searched the land, even forty years, each day for
a year, shall you bear your iniquities, even forty years, and you shall
know my breach of promise." NUM. 24:34.
Such
irremediable
self-punishment would seem sufficient wouldn't it? But the end of their
fatal choice at Kadesh-barnea is not yet reached. The choice of the
parents affected not only themselves but all those with whom they were
bound together in the bundle of life.
What
effect did it
have upon their children? Here the unbelief of their parents struck
bottom. They had openly accused God of being the murderer of those
innocent little ones. Indeed they had intimated that it were better to
take them back to Egypt and entrust them to the tender mercies of
Pharaoh than to leave them in the hands of such a God!
"Wherefore
has the
Lord brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives
and our little ones should be a prey? Were it not better for us to
return to Egypt?" NUM. 14:3.
Oh!
the blind,
unreasoning folly of those unbelieving parents! Did they think they
loved them more than God did? And did they better their condition by
their worry and unbelief? Nay, rather they imposed upon them part of
their own punishment. The children must wander forty years in the
wilderness waiting for their parents' bones to whiten on the desert
sands.
But
God in His
infinite grace dealt justly with them. By no choice of theirs were they
turned back into the wilderness at Kadesh-barnea. So God would give all
under twenty years of age their chance to choose whether they would
enter the land or not. If they truly desired their inheritance in
Canaan, by no fault or folly of their parents would they be kept from
it. They, too, were redeemed and Canaan was thereby theirs as well as
their fathers'. The promise had been made to their seed and God could
break no promise to them.
"But
your little
ones, which you said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they
shall know the land which you have despised . . . And your children
shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms,
until your carcases be wasted in the wilderness." NUM.
14:31.33.
"Your
children,
which in that day had no knowledge between good and evil, they shall go
in thither, and unto them will I give it, and they shall possess it." DEUT.
1:39.
The
Consequence to the Two Spies
At
least once in the
history of God's people it was best to be in the minority. When Caleb
and Joshua handed in their minority report they were treated rather
roughly by the congregation of Israel, and were in immediate danger of
being stoned to death. But God's protection was about them and life was
preserved.
"But
Joshua, the son of Nun, and Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, which were of
the men that went to search the land, lived still." NUM. 14:38.
But
much better
still the deepest desire of their hearts was to be realized. They were
to see the land they loved, to enter it and to possess it even as God
had promised. They must wait a while until that evil, unbelieving
generation had passed on, but ultimately they and their seed should
possess Canaan.
"Not
one of this
evil generation shall see that good land, which I swore to give unto
your fathers. Save Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, he shall see it, and to
him will I give the land, that he has trodden upon, and to his
children, because he has wholly followed the Lord." DEUT
1:35, 36.
"But
Joshua, the son
of Nun, which stands before you, he shall go in thither; encourage him,
for he shall cause Israel to inherit it." DEUT. 1:38.
As
the ten faithless
spies not only missed Canaan for themselves but caused tens of
thousands of others to miss it, so the two faithful spies not only
gained Canaan, but they were used of God to lead that entire younger
generation into their inheritance in the promised land.
"Be
strong and of
good courage; for unto this people shall you divide for an inheritance
the land, which I swore unto their fathers to give them." JOSH.
1:6.
While
Joshua was the
commander of the military forces that gained the victories in warfare,
surely it was old Uncle Caleb that took many a little one on his knee
and told them the story of that wonderful Passover night, and held even
the older children spellbound as he recounted every incident of the
passage of the Red Sea. And I am sure their hearts were drawn out in
true longing for Canaan as he made their mouths water for the grapes of
Eschol. While Joshua hardened their physical muscles in preparation for
the battles of Beth-horon and Makkedah, Caleb was no doubt used to
prepare the spiritual sinews of faith that gave them the conquest of
Jericho.
CALEB
IN MIDDLE LIFE—IN THE WILDERNESS
"I
pray not that you should take them out of the world, but that you
should keep them from the evil one." JOHN 17:15.
"These
things have I
spoken unto you that in me you might have peace. In the world you shall
have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." JOHN
16:33.
CALEB
IN MIDDLE LIFE—IN THE WILDERNESS
It
is one thing to
stand steadfast in the moment of crisis, but quite another to continue
in a sustained steadfastness in the ordinary routine of a drab,
monotonous life. Many may face an emergency victoriously, but very few
live habitually the life of an overcomer.
If
one is failing to
do so, he is quite apt to insist that such a life is impossible. We may
even persuade ourselves that God never intended us to live a victorious
life this side of Heaven. Many earnest Christians are questioning,
"Does the life of victory work under all circumstances? Is the fullness
of the Holy Spirit for everyone and can it be continuous? Can life be
lived habitually on the highest plane in this unspiritual world and
with such human limitations as we all have? Has anyone ever lived the
life of an overcomer?
There
are two ways
of answering these questions. First: What does God's Word say about it?
If God's Word teaches that such a life is provided for in Christ's work
for us and His life in us, then it is possible for every Christian,
whether we have ever seen such a life or not. Secondly: Is there any
record of such a life in Scripture? If even one person has lived the
life of an overcomer, then such a life is possible to every person who
meets the Scriptural conditions for it.
No
truly honest
student of God's Word could deny that it teaches with crystal clearness
that not only is such a life possible but that it is obligatory upon
every Christian to live it. And a careful study of Caleb's life shows
that it has been done.
We
have seen Caleb
in young manhood at Kadesh-barnea standing steadfast in glorious
victory. There he shone forth with blazing light as an overcomer. But
now he is compelled by the sin of others to turn away from the land of
his heart's delight and to renounce all hope of Canaan for forty years.
Instead of occupying a God-given possession, he must wander forty years
in the wilderness with this querulous, discontented people. The best
years of his middle life must be sacrificed to the sin of these rebel
relatives and brethren. He will be an old man before he reaches Canaan
and would not have long to enjoy his inheritance there.
He
was an overcomer
in the moment of crisis at Kadesh-barnea, but surely it is not to be
expected that he can continue to be one for forty long years in the
wilderness with such an unbelieving, unspiritual crowd. Can he stand
this test? Can he maintain the level of Kadesh-barnea? If so, then
there is a similar daily victory for you and me.
We
are always prone
to think that our lot is the hardest; that no one suffers quite as much
as we; that there is some excuse for us because of circumstances so
much more difficult than those of others. We are quite persuaded that
no one could be victorious under the same circumstances. This attitude
is so clearly revealed in these lines from a letter I received from a
friend not long ago. "It seems I have had nothing but trials and
afflictions for so long, and I pray so much for patience and
long-suffering, but I must confess that I have not reached the place
where I can take my trials joyfully, and what is more, I fear I never
can. I may be wrong, but I don't believe anyone does, unless it is
someone who is in Christian work all the time or someone who does not
have the worries and cares of home life with all its trials and
burdens. Sometimes I think if I had a lot of money, enough to give and
give, and did not have to work so hard that I can't even have time to
think, I could be good too—may be not, but I'd like awfully
well
to try it."
In
sending forth
this little book it is my prayer that Caleb may act as a spiritual
tonic to all such defeated, self-pitying Christians. Let us study the
circumstances under which he lived those forty years in the wilderness.
First let us see what it meant to him physically. Think of the
exhausting weariness of body caused by those marches and
counter-marches. There were days, months, years of futile, aimless
wandering, always going and never getting anywhere. There was the still
more wearying work of war. Over against this Caleb had continually in
his imagination the promised land of Canaan.
Then
there were the
physical deprivations he was compelled to endure. To his completely
surrendered soul the daily manna was ever sweet and palatable we may be
sure. But it couldn't compare with the milk, honey and
fruit—the
abounding plenty of the promised land.
Then
to such a
home-lover as Caleb, what must the forty years of homelessness have
meant to him? And with Hebron, his rightful home, ever in his memory
and vision! In Lausanne, Switzerland, not far from where I have lived,
is the dear little home of a retired school teacher. It overlooks the
lake of Geneva and the mountains beyond and nestles down into a little
vegetable and flower garden in a most homely manner. On the two
gate-posts, written so every passer-by may see, are the two words, "MY
OWN." In spiritual imagination Caleb had written these two charming
words upon the gate-posts of Hebron when he went to search out the
land. Yet for forty years he was deprived of the peace and
plenty,
the sweetness and the satisfaction of Hebron.
But
perhaps hardest
of all to bear was the useless waste of life as it might legitimately
have seemed to a wholly yielded person. Think of those rare years of
middle life that might have been spent in the cultivation and use of
his rightful inheritance, sacrificed to what seemed to be mere
existence.
But
the physical
test was by far the easier. Can we appreciate what those forty years
cost Caleb spiritually? The daily terrific down-pull? We are not left
to our own imagination to sense the spiritual atmosphere which Caleb
had to breathe. It is too vividly portrayed to leave us to mere
conjecture. Into this whirlpool of sin the devil must have tried
persistently to draw Caleb.
First,
think of the
recorded murmurings of this thankless, ungrateful people. What must it
have meant of heart-ache to Caleb to have to listen to their ceaseless
murmuring against God; how did he keep his own heart free from the
taint of this fearful sin?
Then
how did he
escape being drawn into the petty jealousies that broke out among the
leaders? How very easy it would have been for Caleb to be a party to
the jealous spite of Aaron and Miriam against Moses and to capitalize
it for his own advantage to gain a place of leadership! For did he not
know from God's own word that Moses would not enter Canaan?
Or
how was Caleb
kept from terrible depression? Think of the deaths he witnessed! The
funerals he attended! The constant atmosphere of sadness and gloom that
hung like a black cloud over that camp!
Lastly
think of the
constantly ebbing tide in the moral life of the children of Israel from
the moment they turned from Kadesh-barnea into the wilderness. Any
departure from God inevitably leads to degeneration. They had
deliberately chosen their will as against God's will. And what had they
now to live for? Only death. Forty years of aimless wandering, waiting
to die! No vision! No aspiration! No incentive! No goal! A deadening,
dead-level existence! How did Caleb ever keep himself from being drawn
by the eddies of this low moral standard into the whirlpool of sin that
had engulfed the others?
And
in the midst of
this spiritual desert no one with whom he could have spiritual
fellowship, save Joshua, Moses, Aaron, just a few like-minded ones
near. And perhaps Joshua, as Moses' understudy in training for the
future leadership of this people into Canaan, may have been too busy to
give this elder man much time that they might talk together of the land
they had once seen and into which they would one day enter. Caleb stood
singularly alone. I dare say his spiritual solitariness was his
greatest trial in the wilderness. No one with whom he could talk of the
things that meant most to him. If they had despised the land and had
been shut out of it by their own rebellion and unbelief, they would not
care to make it the theme of conversation with the man who loved it
passionately and who was actually to enter and possess it as soon as
they had all died. Much less would they want him to talk with them of
its peace and plenty, its sufficiency and satisfaction which in their
own hearts they knew they had forfeited by their own sin. How great
must have been the loneliness of Caleb's life!
But
think, too, of
what terrific inner temptations Caleb must have experienced, the subtle
temptation that must certainly have come sometimes, to rebellion
against God, for causing him for the sins of others to wander forty
years in that wilderness. What injustice in allowing him to suffer so
for that in which he was utterly blameless.
What
temptation also
to implacable resentment against the ten spies and the whole
congregation because their decision had brought upon him such dire
deprivation! How did he refrain from yielding to perpetual self-pity,
increasing as the years went on? Or, if he avoided this pit-fall, how
did he ever escape falling into the opposite one of self-righteousness,
comparing his surrendered life with their selfish lives? How was he
kept from contempt for his carnal brethren?
Think
of the daily,
nay, hourly temptation to yield to the level of his environment and
sink down into the conventional carnality of all those about him,
vindicating himself for it on the ground of his circumstances.
But
did Caleb yield
to these manifold temptations? Did he succumb to circumstances,
becoming a victim to them instead of a victor over them? Or did Caleb's
victory work in the grueling routine of the wilderness discipline as
gloriously as in the moment of sudden crisis? Did Caleb remain an
overcomer?
Everything
in the
record would go to show that he did. The same "spirit" that animated
him at Kadesh-barnea seems to have sustained him for the whole
wilderness wandering. He himself testified to God's wondrous keeping
power. "God works for him that waits for him." The forty years of
wilderness wandering were Caleb's waiting days.
Surely
we all want
to profit by Caleb's experience. Has God anywhere recorded for us the
secret of Caleb's overcoming? It is written crystal clear in Caleb's
own retrospect given in Joshua fourteen.
Caleb
Rested upon the Promises of God
"Caleb
said unto him
(Joshua), you know the thing that the Lord said unto Moses the man of
God, concerning me and you in Kadesh-barnea." JOSH. 14:6.
"Now
therefore give
me this mountain, of which the Lord spoke in that day; for you heard in
that day how the Anakims were there, and that the cities were great and
fenced; if so be the Lord will be with me, then I shall be able to
drive them out, as the Lord said." JOSH. 14:12.
"As
the Lord
said"—here is the secret spring of Caleb's sustained
overcoming.
The promises of his God burned as a steady light in his soul. That
light never went out, never burned low. His delight was in the spoken
word of God and "in that he meditated day and night." Therefore Caleb
was "like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth his
fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever he
does shall prosper." God's promise was the rock of Gibraltar in Caleb's
wilderness experience.
"God
is not a man,
that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent; has
he said, and shall he not do it? Or has he spoken, and shall he not
make it good ?" NUM. 24:19.
Caleb
was absolutely assured that in His own time and way God would perform
and perfect that which concerned him. Psa. 7:2, 138:8.
He rested full length upon the promises of God.
Caleb
Reached Out for His Inheritance by Faith
"And
Moses swore on
that day, saying, Surely the land whereon your feet have trodden shall
be your inheritance, and your children's for ever, because you have
wholly followed the Lord my God." JOSH. 14:9.
During
all the forty
years of wilderness wandering, Caleb lived in the promised land through
anticipatory, appropriating faith. He lived above the wilderness by
living in the promised land. The love of Hebron and the assurance of
one day actually inheriting it sustained and strengthened him in the
midst of all the vicissitudes and temptations of the wilderness life.
He was in the wilderness, but not of it.
He
had once crossed
the Jordan. He had been in Hebron and Hebron had gotten into him. From
that hour his heart and his eyes were steadfastly fixed upon Hebron.
The children of Israel might look backward to Egypt and hanker after
its onions, leeks and garlic, but not he. He looked steadfastly onward
to Canaan, and hungered ever for its milk, honey and grapes. From the
day he saw Hebron he said with the Psalmist, "My heart is fixed, O
Lord, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise."
He
had seen Hebron
and nothing could obliterate the sight from his memory nor could ought
else substitute for Hebron in his desire. HEBRON, beneath whose oaks
Abraham had pitched his tent; HEBRON, trodden by the feet of the
incarnate God as with the angels He visited Abraham; HEBRON, which held
the tombs of Sarah, Abraham, Isaac, Rebekah and Rachel as a silent but
sure pledge
that
the promise of
God to all the children of Israel would one day be fulfilled. HEBRON,
which one day would be his and his children's if only his feet could
tread upon its sacred ground. HEBRON, Caleb's last thought at night,
his first thought in the morning, and never really out of his mind
during his waking hours.
"Delight
yourself
also in the Lord, and he shall give you the desires of your heart."
Above all other desires in Caleb's heart was the desire for his
inheritance in Hebron. So his one passion was God Himself. Therefore he
deliberately turned his eyes away from circumstances, from people, even
from himself, and fixed them steadfastly upon God and upon Canaan. His
one concern was to keep his own life up to standard, wholly following
the Lord, in order that God might continually delight in him and so
fulfill the desire of his heart.
Caleb
Relied Upon God's Keeping Power
"And
now, behold,
the Lord has kept me alive, as He said, these forty-five years, even
since the Lord spoke these words unto Moses, while the children of
Israel wandered in the wilderness and now, lo, I am this day
eighty-five years old. And yet I am as strong this day as I was in the
day that Moses sent me; as my strength was then, even so is my strength
now, for war, both to go out and to come in." JOSH. 14:10, 11.
While
all the
children of Israel who murmured and rebelled wasted away and died in
the wilderness, Caleb was not only kept alive, but with undiminished
strength. God's power was vouchsafed to him until God's promise was
fulfilled in him, and God's purpose accomplished through him.
Caleb
Resisted all Counter-influences through Complete Consecration
"Nevertheless
my brethren that went up with me made the heart of the people melt: but
I wholly followed the Lord my God." JOSH. 14:8.
"Hebron
therefore became the inheritance of Caleb, because that he wholly
followed the Lord God of Israel." JOSH. 14:14.
That
rare spirit of
the overcomer which had been manifested in him at Kadesh-barnea
remained in him unperturbed and unchanged all through the wilderness
wanderings. Amid all the murmurings, jealousies, and rebellions of the
wilderness environment, Caleb steadfastly maintained his purpose to do
only the will of God, to listen only to the voice of God, to please God
alone. Despite all counteracting influences, he would wholly follow the
Lord.
The
remembrance of
God's promise to him; the consciousness of God's presence with him and
the assurance of God's delight in him sustained and strengthened Caleb.
Working in obedience to God, he had fellowship with God. So he had the
rest of Canaan in his heart, before he had it in his life. Caleb had
passed through the Red Sea. Death to Egypt and the Egyptians, yes,
death to Caleb was to him a living reality. He had also crossed over
Jordan and had been in Canaan, so that he was now alive to the land of
promise and its sovereign God. This was not sterile head knowledge of
great redeeming, sanctifying truths, but satisfying heart experience of
their benefits and blessings.
So
we see Caleb in
the wilderness like a pure lily rising out of a putrid pond. About his
life is the pureness of the lily, the fragrance of the rose, the
rareness of the orchid.
CALEB
IN OLD AGE—IN CANAAN
"And
every spirit
that confesses not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of
God, and this is that spirit of anti-Christ, of which you have heard
that it should come, and even now already it is in the world. You are
of God, little children, and have overcome them, because greater is he
that is in you than he that is in the world." 1 JOHN 4:3, 4.
"And
they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their
testimony, and they loved not their lives unto death." REV.
12:11.
CALEB
IN OLD AGE—IN CANAAN
We
have now come to
the twilight years of Caleb's life. "And now, lo, I am this day
eighty-five years old." Caleb has never yet disappointed us. In his
youth at Kadesh-barnea he measured up to the full stature of an
overcomer. In his middle life, spent in the adversity and affliction of
the wilderness, he towered head and shoulders above the carnal brethren
with whom he was associated. For eighty years he has "wholly followed
the Lord." But how will it be in his old age when he actually reaches
Canaan? Will he now let down and consider himself exempt from adherence
to that high standard so consistently maintained? Will he become
self-indulgent, a lover of ease? Will he become self-confident, resting
upon his past laurels? Will he become self-righteous, boasting of his
own achievements?
Grey
hairs are no
guarantee of spirituality. Indeed, one of the tragedies of Christian
experience is the spiritual slump that sometimes occurs in the
declining years of even earnest Christians. We need to begin in youth,
as Caleb did, to prepare for old age. As we lay up temporal resources
against the physical infirmities of old age, so we need to lay up
spiritual reserves against the spiritual exigencies of the twilight
years of life.
There
are two widely
divergent view-points of old age. Some think of it as a descent. One
reaches the highest point of usefulness, no, even of enjoyment, at
middle age, and from then on it is going down hill until death brings
release. The aged one is looked upon often as a victim of inescapable
circumstances, such as weakness, ill-health, infirmity, loss of
faculties and loneliness.
But
there is another
totally different aspect of old age given us through Caleb's life and
one which seems far more in conformity with God's purpose and plan.
Should
not old age
be an ascent, a going up to an ever richer attainment and a higher
achievement until death comes more as a reward to the victor than as a
release of a victim, as it opens the door into a still more heavenly
life and fruitful service? Should not old age be the glorious
consummation of a life of
continuous
consecration?
"Blessed
is the man that trusts in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is.
For
he shall be as a
tree planted by the waters, and that spreads out her roots by the
river; and shall not see when heat comes, but her leaf shall be green;
and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease
from yielding fruit." JER. 17:7, 8.
Caleb's
last years
were his very best. His supreme achievement came at eighty-five years
of age. There was no slump, no shrinkage, no stagnancy in Caleb's life.
We witness no spiritual collapse in his later years. Rather upon his
gray head God places the crown of an overcomer.
In
both physical and
spiritual strength Caleb held his own up to the very last. His physical
strength at eighty-five was undiminished and undecaying.
"As
yet I am as
strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me; as my strength
was then, even so is my strength now, for war, both to go out and to
come in." JOSH. 14:11.
It
was a sustained
strength, "as strong this day as in that day." It was a sufficient
strength, "both to go out and to come in" and "for war." For the
ordinary walk of daily life or for the extraordinary emergencies of
warfare, his strength was all-sufficient.
But
an even greater marvel was his superb spiritual strength.
"Now
therefore give
me this mountain, of which the Lord spoke in that day; for you heard in
that day how the Anakims were there, and that the cities were great and
fenced; if so be the Lord will be with me, then I shall be able to
drive them out, as the Lord said." JOSH. 14:12.
Here
is a spiritual classic for every aged Christian; in fact, for everyone
who wishes to become an overcomer.
"Now therefore give me this mountain."
"For you heard how the Anakims were there."
"The cities were great and fenced."
"But I shall be able to drive them out."
How
superb the
invincible spirit of Caleb the overcomer! Caleb at eighty-five asking
for the hardest task of all. "Give ME this mountain." Can you not hear
him say it? "I know all about those Anakims and how afraid those young
spies were of them forty-five years ago. I know their power and the
apparent impregnability of their position in that mountain fastness.
Nevertheless, I am as assured of victory over them today as I was
forty-five years ago. My faith rests now as it did then upon an
unchanging and unchangeable foundation—the presence and the
promise of God."
"If so be the Lord will be with me."
"As the Lord said."
"Then I shall be able to drive them out."
Was
this
presumptuous folly on Caleb's part or was it only proper faith? "By
their fruits you shall know them." Judging of Caleb's action by this
Scriptural test, what is our conclusion? What was the fruit of Caleb's
faith? It was a twofold achievement.
The
Possession of His Inheritance in Canaan
"And
Joshua blessed him and gave unto Caleb the son of Jephunneh, Hebron for
an inheritance". JOSH. 14:13.
The
Dispossession of all His Enemies in Canaan
"And
Caleb drove from there the three sons of Anak, Sheshai, and Ahiman and
Tairnai, the children of Anak." JOSH. 15:14.
"And
they gave Hebron unto Caleb, as Moses said, and he expelled from there
the three sons of Anak." JUDGES 1:20.
The
victory was
complete. Caleb was the only one who fully dispossessed the enemy. He
expelled the sons of Anak from the land. As we face our own failure to
possess fully our inheritance and to dispossess wholly our enemy, we
are driven to ask, how did Caleb do it? What was the inner spring of
such spiritual success? God leaves us in no doubt; He discloses it six
times in Scripture. Why did Caleb enter Canaan while tens of thousands
of Israelites who, as he, had been redeemed in Egypt and out of Egypt,
died in the wilderness?
"Surely
none of the
men that came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upwards, shall
see the land, because they have not wholly followed the Lord. Save
Caleb and Joshua . . . for they have wholly followed the Lord." NUM.
32:2, 12.
Why
did Caleb possess his inheritance in Hebron while their carcases lay
whitening on the desert sand?
"Hebron
therefore became the inheritance of Caleb . . . because that he wholly
followed the Lord God of Israel." JOSH. 14:14.
Why
was Caleb able
to completely dispossess the enemy while all the others who possessed
their inheritance dispossessed their enemies only in part?
"Nevertheless
the
children of Israel expelled not the Heshurites, nor the Maachathites,
but the Geshurites and the Maachathites dwell among the Israelites
until this day."
"Because
he wholly
followed the Lord." God gives but this reason for the overcoming life
of this grand old man from his youth to his old age. The very
simplicity of the statement both solemnizes and shames us. Oh! that it
might send each of us into the presence of our Lord until He can say of
us too, "He is one who wholly follows Me." Perhaps it will help us to
see where we fall short if we take a full-length portrait of Caleb, the
overcomer, noticing the outstanding features of this rarely devoted
life.
It
was a Life of Faith
Caleb's
faith was no
common faith, yet it was the faith of a common man. Caleb habitually
said, "I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me." Caleb
realized the promises because he rested upon them. He not only claimed
the promises of God, but he stood ready to cooperate with God in their
fulfillment.
He was prepared to do his part, confident that God would perform His.
But
there was
another aspect of Caleb's faith. He deeply desired the land. He longed
to live there. He anticipated the delights of his own vine and fig tree
in Hebron. Therefore his was an appropriating faith because it was an
aspiring faith.
At
Kadesh-barnea as
a young man, his was a surprising faith. Not many young men would have
had the courage to stand out as he did against the ten other spies and
challenge the rebellious, riotous mob to disregard their report and to
go at once to Canaan. It is infinitely more comfortable to drift with
the tide than to stem it; to go with the crowd than to oppose it.
In
the wilderness
all through his middle life it was a sustained faith. Think of Caleb
for forty years, four hundred and eighty months; fourteen thousand and
six hundred days; three hundred and fifty thousand and four hundred
hours, not faltering in his devotion to the Lord; keeping eyes, heart
and faith fixed
steadfastly
upon the Giver of Canaan, the Lord of Hebron.
In
Canaan in his old
age it was a superb faith. Can you not see the sparkle in his kindly
eyes; the smile on his gentle but strong face; the sprightliness of his
step; the vibrant eagerness of his whole being as he said to Joshua,
"Give me the mountain where the Anakims are. I always believed that God
was greater than those giants. Forty-five years ago I wanted to prove
it. Oh! let me prove it now!" By faith this grand old senior asked for
the place the juniors feared; by faith possessed it, and by faith
dispossessed every enemy there.
Yes,
it is no common
faith we find in Caleb, yet it is the faith of a common man. Caleb is
no spiritual prodigy. If he towers head and shoulders above you and me
in respect to faith, let us not seek to excuse ourselves for our lack
by thinking it is due to his possession of some intellectual ability or
spiritual grace denied the ordinary run of men. The secret spring of
Caleb's faith is to be found in a spiritual grace opened equally to
every Christian, "He wholly followed the Lord." As some one has truly
written, "The weakness of your faith is due not to any inherent
incapacity for faith but because you have not yet learned the meaning
of the words, 'He wholly followed the Lord his God.' "
Dear
friend, are you
still waiting for your inheritance in Christ? Longing for your promised
Hebron? Thirsting for the fullness of the Holy Spirit? God is also
waiting. He is waiting for you to believe His Word and by simple faith
to claim and take that which He has already given you. Would you not
stop reading and do it just now?
It
was a Life of Fellowship
Caleb
found his
satisfaction and sufficiency in God Himself. He did not seek it in
Egypt or in his fellow companions. Neither was he deterred from it by
the carnal life of those with whom he was compelled to associate. Caleb
was an other-worldly man. He had "another spirit with him" which made
God's companionship his chief delight. "If the Lord delight in us," "If
the Lord is with us," "If the Lord will be with me"; such was always
the language of his heart from youth until old age.
Caleb
was
spiritually refreshed and renewed by the presence of the Lord. One
resolve seems to have been paramount all through his life—to
keep
his own life up to standard so that God could delight in him and would
never have to deprive him of His presence.
Hebron
means
"fellowship," therefore Caleb lived in Hebron even while in the
wilderness. He was in the wilderness but not of it. By intelligent,
deliberate choice he had laid hold upon Hebron when he entered it as
one of the spies and he never went back upon that choice. He then and
there yielded himself to God for His will to be done in him and he
never recalled that decision or retreated from that position in his
relationship to God. "If any man love me, he will keep my word, and my
Father will love him and we will come and make our abode with him."
In
whom and where do
you find your satisfaction and sufficiency? Have you your Hebron dearer
to you than all else besides? Are your "affections set on things above
and not on things on the earth?" Are you seeking only "those things
which are above, where Christ sits on the right hand of God?" To you is
there "fullness of joy in the presence of the Lord?"
It
was a Life of Strength
In
his youth at
Kadesh-barnea it was the strength of a God-begotten conviction that
gave courage to stand and to withstand all Satan-begotten opposition.
In his middle life in the wilderness it was the strength of a
God-bestowed control that gave constancy to endure in the midst of the
most worldly atmosphere and to abide in uninterrupted fellowship with
his Lord. In his old age in Canaan it was a God-bequeathed confidence
to claim his inheritance, the consummation of all his life's desire.
Throughout
his life
from its beginning to the end it was the strength of a full-orbed
consecration to the living God. Caleb's life teaches us that God's
strength in full measure is at the disposal of all, young and old, who
with deliberate intent of purpose choose to do God's will at all times,
at all costs, under all
circumstances.
Have
you, dear
reader, young or old, yet taken such a deliberate stand? Have you made
the doing of God's will the rule of your life, allowing no exceptions
to the rule? If not, will you not do so this moment, that you too may
be the recipient of God's strength in unlimited measure?
It
was a Life of Victory
There
were two parts
to the victory of the children of Israel in Canaan. One was the victory
due to possession. The land was to be possessed by treading upon it
with their feet. To possess their inheritance they must take it.
"Every
place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given
unto you, as I said unto Moses." JOSH. 1:3.
"Within
three days
you shall pass over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land, which
the Lord your God gives you to possess it." JOSH. 1.
The
other part of
the victory was due to dispossession. The enemy was to be utterly
expelled. The usurpers were to be dispossessed.
"And
Joshua said,
Hereby you shall know that the living God is among you, and that he
will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, and the
Hittites, and the Hivites, and the Perizzites, and the Gergashites, and
the Amorites, and the Jebusites." JOSH. 3:10.
"And
the Lord your
God, he shall expel them from before you, and drive them from out of
your sight, and you shall possess their land, as the Lord your God has
promised unto you." JOSH. 23:5.
The
land was divided
as God had said, Each tribe received its inheritance. But over and over
again we read of the failure of each tribe to completely expel the
enemy.
"As
for the
Jebusites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the children of Judah could
not drive them out, but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Judah
at Jerusalem unto this day." JOSH. 15:63.
"And
they drove not
out the Canaanites that dwell in Gazer, but the Canaanites dwell among
the Ephraimites unto this day and serve under tribute." JOSH.
16:10.
But
not so with
Caleb. His victory of dispossession was as complete as that of
possession, as we have seen. What though Arba was the greatest man
among the Anakims? What if his descendants, the three sons of Anak,
were there to stubbornly resist his advance into their territory? Yet
"Caleb drove them all from
there."
But
why was Caleb able to do this and the others not able? Has God not
revealed to us the secret source of Caleb's victory?
"But
cleave unto the
Lord your God, as you have done this day. For the Lord has driven out
from before you great nations and strong, but as for you, no man has
been able to stand before you unto this day. One man of you shall chase
a thousand; for the Lord your God, he it is that fights for you, as he
has promised you. Take heed therefore unto yourselves, that you love
the Lord your God." JOSH. 23:8-11.
God
fulfilled the promise perfectly because Caleb fulfilled the conditions
completely.
Then
why are we not
able to dispossess Satan in our lives? Why have we not gotten
deliverance from that besetting sin? Why do the Canaanites of jealousy,
temper, hatred, unforgiveness, worry, unbelief, depression, backbiting,
unlove, lying, hypocrisy, impurity, dwell with us unto this day? Why
can we not drive out these sons of Anak? There is but one answer.
Somewhere there is a flaw in our consecration. There is some secret
reservation in our yielding. Somewhere we yet "give place to the
devil." Some member of the body is still yielded to sin as an
instrument. In something we do not "wholly follow the Lord."
Dispossession
is the
other side of possession. To be filled with the Spirit implies yielding
no place to Satan. They are two parts of one experience. It is
impossible to be filled with the Spirit if by our consent Satan
controls even one small area in mind, heart or will. The Spirit can and
will drive out Satan from every high mountain as well as every low
valley.
Do
you possess the
fullness of the Spirit? Has He dispossessed Satan of even standing room
in your life? If not, is any time better to obtain that victory through
such fullness than just this moment? "Wherefore as the Holy Ghost says,
Today if you will hear His voice."
It
was a Life of Blessing
From
Caleb's life
rivers of living water flowed, bringing enrichment to his own family,
to his tribe and to the whole congregation. Caleb had leisure from
himself to bless and help others. The blessing through him was felt
first in his own family as it should be. The promise of God had been to
Caleb and to his seed. God definitely said that Caleb's children would
profit by their father's consecration and godliness.
"Save
Caleb . . . to
him will I give the land that he has trodden upon, and to his children,
because he has wholly followed the Lord." DEUT. 1:36.
Caleb
had given his
daughter "a south land"; for comfort and for fertility one of his very
best, no doubt. But there was something that could make it more
fruitful. The "south land" needed "the upper and the lower springs."
These the daughter asked of her father. What joy that request evidently
gave him, for it
voiced
her appreciation of the gift already made and her apprehension of the
value of the springs to complete it.
"Caleb
said unto
her. What do you want? Who answered Give me a blessing, for you have
given me a south land, give me also springs of water. And he gave her
the upper springs and the lower springs." JOSH. 15:18, 19.
What
a precious
spiritual truth is wrapped up for us in this simple incident. The
glorious inheritance of the Christian in Christ is the indwelling of
the Holy Spirit. The moment one believes on the Lord Jesus as Saviour,
the Holy Spirit comes to dwell within him. But God always gives what
necessitates more. And He delights to have us say, "What you have given
is precious, but it is not enough. You have given me life, give me also
life more abundant. You hast sent the Holy Spirit to dwell in me, but
give me now His fullness." Are you satisfied with a conventional
Christian life, or are you asking God for the "upper and the lower
springs?"
Caleb
had the
springs to give. Through the wholly consecrated life of this father
came fullness of blessing to his daughter. Are we able to help those
who want fullness of life? Many today are thirsting for the fullness of
the Holy Spirit. They have "the south land" but they long for "the
upper and the lower springs." The overcoming life is always an
overflowing life.
There
is still one
other lesson to be learned from this grand old man. It was his
willingness to share responsibility and work with a younger man. He had
possessed the land and dispossessed his enemies. The land rested from
war. Now he must keep what was his. But Caleb had no desire to be an
overlord. He does not talk of "my Hebron" or "my Debir." What a
magnanimous spirit he has! No wonder he is called "Great Heart!" So he
offers his nephew the opportunity for such service and promises him his
daughter if he succeeds.
How
very difficult
it often is for an older person to lay down work or even to share a bit
of the responsibility with younger ones! The current of human life
often becomes narrower rather than broader as it approaches the end.
With Caleb a magnanimous generosity characterizes his old age. How
clearly God shows us in Caleb that the overcoming life is both the
enriched and the enriching life. Rivers of living water flowed from his
life to refresh many another pilgrim on the journey into the promised
land.
CALEB'S
MESSAGE TO US
"All
scripture is
given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for
reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man
of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." 2
TIM. 3:16, 17.
CALEB'S
MESSAGE TO US
"The
Holy Spirit
loves to teach us by typical lives." What has He taught us through
Caleb's life as we have followed its course from youth to old age?
Caleb's
Life Leaves us in Admiration
The
life of Caleb,
the overcomer, perfumes the pages of Scripture. It is a golden cord
interwoven into the fabric of human history. It has been the savor of
life unto life to each of you, I trust, as it has been to me. Caleb's
life sheds a trail of light over the cloudy history of the children of
Israel, a light that shines on down through the centuries with undimmed
brightness to show us the way of victory. It is "profitable for
doctrine," because it teaches us the spiritual history of an overcomer.
Caleb's
Life Leaves us Reproved
Perhaps
we have said
that a life of habitual overcoming was impossible. But here is a man
who lived such a life. We have granted that it is possible to be
victorious sometimes, under some circumstances, with some people. But
Caleb was habitually an overcomer. Some of us may be victorious in
crises, but
succumb
in defeat
before the little, nagging trials of daily life. Or there may be the
habitual defeat in some besetting sin over which we despair of
deliverance.
We
do not believe
that Caleb never sinned or was never defeated, for that has been and
can be true of only One who has lived or will live on earth. We do not
claim for Caleb a life of sinless perfection, but we do believe that it
was the habit of his life to be an overcomer. If he was, we can be. If
we are not, then Caleb's life is "profitable for reproof," for it shows
our habitual defeat to be unscriptural and unnecessary.
Caleb's
Life Leaves us Without Excuse
Whether
young or
old, whether new converts or mature Christians, whether in prosperous
or adverse circumstances, the life of Caleb, the overcomer, leaves
every defeated Christian without excuse. There was nothing either in
Caleb or his circumstances to account for his overcoming. He was an
ordinary man, who lived in ordinary circumstances. He experienced the
testings, trials and temptations of the common run of men. Not one of
us can rightly say, "If Caleb had had to live where, how and with whom
I live, he would not have been an overcomer." His environment was no
more conducive to spirituality than yours and mine. Caleb's life is
"profitable for correction," because it strips us of all
excuse
for our failures and leads us to confess them as sin.
Caleb's
Life Leaves us With Hope
When
we see a person
of natural ability or attractiveness live victoriously, it is very
difficult not to attribute his overcoming to something in himself. But
Caleb was not a gifted man, as was Moses or even Joshua. There is
nothing in the Scriptural record to lead us to think he had any
outstanding gifts. Neither was Caleb a spiritual genius. Perhaps he was
an older man than Joshua, yet he was not chosen to lead the children of
Israel into Canaan, "to cause them to inherit the land." The only
mention of leadership on his part is his choice as one of the spies to
act as Judah's representative to divide the inheritance to that tribe
in Canaan.
But
while Caleb was
not endowed with extraordinary spiritual gifts, he does seem to have
had conspicuous spiritual graces. There is a vast difference in the
gifts of the Spirit which God bestows upon men, but He opens the
treasure-house of His grace equally to all. We may have as many
spiritual graces and as much of each as we choose to have. Caleb chose
to have his quiver full. With deliberateness of choice, "he wholly
followed the Lord." Caleb's life is "profitable for instruction in
righteousness," for it shows us the one thing needful to a life of
continuous overcoming and that every Christian may do that one needful
thing.
Caleb's
Life Leaves us With Aspiration
I
have been spending
several weeks in the company of Caleb, and the more I have fellowship
with this man of God, the more I hunger to be like him. I, too, desire
to possess my inheritance in full and to dispossess the enemy. I, too,
long to be used of God to help others to become inheritors of the peace
and plenty of the promised land. How is it with you?
The
Scripture
recording Caleb's life is inspired of God, "that the man of God may be
perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works," and the revelation
is given to us for our profit. What profit has this study brought you?
God grant it may be used to help each one of us to purpose to "wholly
follow the Lord our God," that we, too, may be overcomers.
GOD'S
REWARD TO THE OVERCOMER IN THE AGE TO COME
"He
that has an ear,
let him hear what the Spirit says unto the churches: To him that
overcomes will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst
of the paradise of God." REV. 2:7.
"He
that has an ear,
let him hear what the Spirit says unto the churches: He that overcomes
shall not be hurt of the second death." REV. 2:11.
"He
that has an ear,
let him hear what the Spirit says unto the churches: To him that
overcomes will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a
white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knows
saving him that receives it." REV. 2:17.
"And
he that
overcomes and keeps my works unto the end, to him will I give power
over the nations. And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the
vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers; even as I received
of my Father. And I will give him the morning star." REV.
2:26, 28.
"He
that overcomes,
the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his
name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my
Father, and before his angels." REV. 3:5.
"Him
that overcomes
will I make a pillar in the temple of my God and he shall go no more
out; and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the
city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven
from my God, and I will write upon him my new name." REV. 3:12.
"To
him that
overcomes will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also
overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne." REV.
3:21.
[This
book, being no longer in print and (as far as I know) no longer under
copyright, was photocopied from an original, scanned, and formatted as
you see it. The attempt was made in formatting to remain similar to the
original layout. The older British spellings were changed to make the
text more readable.]