Intro
In Numbers 13 we are introduced to a man named Caleb. He was the leader of the tribe of Judah when Moses sent the tribal leaders into the Promise Land to explore it in anticipation of invasion.
Follow with me as we read Num. 13:17-20
“Then Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said to them, "Go up this way into the South, and go up to the mountains, 18 and see what the land is like: whether the people who dwell in it are strong or weak, few or many; 19 whether the land they dwell in is good or bad; whether the cities they inhabit are like camps or strongholds; 20 whether the land is rich or poor; and whether there are forests there or not. Be of good courage. And bring some of the fruit of the land." Now the time was the season of the first ripe grapes.”1
At the beginning of this chapter, God told Moses to send these men into Canaan to spy out the land. Their assignment is delineated in the passage we read. Verse 18, see what the land is like. Appraise their strength. Determine the nature of their strongholds and vulnerability. Also bring back a report on the resources of the land. Are there forests there where we can obtain battering rams? What kind of produce is in the land? In fact, bring back some of the fruit so we can taste it for ourselves. Notice the instruction Moses gave them in the middle of verse 20, “Be of good courage.” That is one Hebrew word: chazaq.2 It is the same word used in 1 Sam. 30:6 when the Amalekites plundered David’s camp at Ziglag and took their wives and children captive. The Bible says “But David “chazaq” “encouraged himself in the Lord….” “Be of good courage” Moses told the spies. Did they do that? Two of them did; the other ten did not. Caleb was one of the men that did exactly what his commander told him to do.
So these twelve men go into the Promise Land and check it out for 40 days. In verse 26 they return. (Num. 13:26)
” Now they departed and came back to Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the children of Israel in the Wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh; they brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. 27 Then they told him, and said: "We went to the land where you sent us. It truly flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. 28 Nevertheless the people who dwell in the land are strong; the cities are fortified and very large; moreover we saw the descendants of Anak there. 29 The Amalekites dwell in the land of the South; the Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the mountains; and the Canaanites dwell by the sea and along the banks of the Jordan." 30 Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, "Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it." 31 But 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." 32 And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, "The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. 33 There
we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight."
Chapter 14:1-2 “So all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night. 2 And all the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, "If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or if only we had died in this wilderness!”
There are three faith lessons I want to talk about this morning from the life of Caleb. First he demonstrated faith as one who:
I. SAW OPPORTUNITY WHERE OTHERS SAW PROBLEMS.
Joshua and Caleb saw the same facts in the Promise Land as the Ten other spies. But they came to an altogether different conclusion. Why, they saw it from a different perspective. The ten spies saw good things that they wanted. There was before them a land flowing with milk and honey. In my years of pastoring, I find that everybody wants the good things of the kingdom of God. They want a relationship with God. They want a strong family. They want godly kids. They want God’s blessings on the finances. And sometimes, just because a person wants these things, he concludes that he is in pursuit of God. But the Bible clearly teaches us that these ten spies were not pleasing to the Lord. Their report was a “bad” report. Even though they said some good things about the Promise Land, all-in-all their choices were bad choices. The main things they saw were obstacles and problems. They saw enemy strongholds. They saw giants in the land. Were these things there? Yes, they were. Did Caleb see these problems? Yes he did.
The difference between Caleb and these 10 spies is what I would call “the God factor.” Naturally speaking, these giants may have been too much for them. When they saw these giants, they compared them to themselves and their own strength. In verse 33 they said, “we were like grasshopper in our own sight” compared to those giants. We are no match for that enemy. When you see yourself like a grasshopper, you’re probably going to behave like a grass hopper, the way these ten spies did.
Caleb understood the challenges. He was not Pollyanna about the enterprise. Yes, there are enemies. Yes, they are formidable. If we were in this by ourselves, it would be too much for us. But here is “the God factor.” “If God be for us, who can be against us?” (Rom. 8:31). The deciding factor is not how big the giants are. The deciding factor is not how terminal the prognosis is. The deciding factor is not how much the unpaid mortgage payment is. The deciding factor is God! If you leave Him out, then you may very well agree with the ten spies. But Caleb saw something in the equation that the 10 spies ignored. He saw God’s involvement. God had already told them through Moses that He had given them the land.3 That alone should settle the matter.
Are you including God in the equation? When you look into 2017 are you seeing God, active in your behalf? Are you focused on what He has said or are you allowing your own reasoning to dominate your conclusions?4
Faith and denial are two different things. Faith faces the facts.5 Yes, there are strongholds in the land. Yes, there is a formidable adversary there. Yes, there are giants that will oppose us. There is no value in ignoring those facts. Those problems will have to be addressed. And the problems don’t go away by simply ignoring them or wishing they weren’t there. Caleb sees them and is ready to take them on.
The unbelief in the ten spies has a chilling effect on the people. Caleb sees it in Num. 13:30 and immediately steps up. Wait a minute, we can do this! Let’s stop analyzing why we can’t do it and start doing what God has sent us to do. He saw their words shattering the faith of the congregation, so he stepped up and said, “Let us go up at once and take possession….” When God tells you to do something, just do it! It’s ok to try the spirits and get some assurance that you’re hearing the Lord. But once that is settled, take a step of faith, act in obedience before you talk yourself out of it.
Caleb saw the goodness of the land just as the other spies saw it. Caleb saw the giants and obstacles just as the other spies. He was not in denial about the challenges. But Caleb saw something that the 10 spies were not seeing. He saw God working with them. He knew they could take the land because God wanted them to take the land. Didn’t mean it would be a cake walk, Didn’t mean there would be no battles. But it did mean they would prevail if they would simply do what God told them to do.
It’s much like David’s experience when Goliath was challenging the armies of Israel. David heard the same roar from Goliath that the Israeli soldiers heard. From a natural standpoint, David was the least equipped person there to take on Goliath. He had no military training. He was young and tender. He was just there to deliver some bread and supplies. No one expected him to do anything about Goliath. But David had one thing that seemed to be lacking in Saul and in all Saul’s soldiers: faith in God. He had a righteous indignation about Goliath’s blasphemy against the Lord. He had a passion for the glory of God. Anytime people exalt the glory of man above the glory of God, there is a problem. Anytime honoring man is a higher priority than the honor due to God, it can’t be right. Jesus didn’t come to die on the cross. He came to do the will of God. When it became clear in the Garden of Gethsemane that the cross is the will of God, then he set His face like flint to take that cup and drink it to the full. The glory and honor of God is more important than political correctness. The honor of God comes way before the honor of man. David was stirred by His respect for the honor of His God. David was willing to step out and take on a giant to do the will of God. David’s response to the problem was faith in God. Caleb’s response to the giants in his day was faith in God.
Now I must ask you, what is your response to the challenges standing before you? Will you believe God to heal that physical condition? Will you believe God to guide your family into righteousness? Your own shortcomings and limitations stand up like Goliath to cow you down. But will you say with Caleb, “Let us go up at once [let’s don’t talk ourselves out of it] and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.” Why is that the case? God has already said it is ours. We can overcome it because God is with us. We are His children. We are not doing it in our own strength. We are empowered by His Spirit to get the job done.
Life Church, we are in our first service at this new facility. There are indeed adversaries that will oppose the kingdom of God. But we are commissioned to take the land. We are commanded to go into all the world and make disciples. We are not commanded to hunker down and hope for the best. It is time. It is time to immediately possess the land. Be of good courage, “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Lk 12:32 KJV). Caleb demonstrated faith because he saw opportunity where others saw problems
He also demonstrated faith because he:
II. FOLLOWED THE LORD WHEN OTHERS DID NOT.
Caleb’s stance of faith at Kadesh Barnea stood in contrast to most of those around him. He was a person who could stand in faith when surrounded by unbelief. When I committed my life to the Lord in my 20s, God placed me under a godly pastor who was a man of faith. E.M. Fjordbak was a tower of spiritual strength. I found myself in a church that had been under his leadership for years, and it was an atmosphere of faith. Of course, I thrived in that environment. I drank in the spiritual refreshing and manna of the word. When the battle got too severe, I could go to Pastor Fjordbak and get the help I needed. On one occasion six demons were chasing me all over Dallas and I had to go to him late in the evening. He chased the demons away and put me up in his home over night. In time, I started feeling pretty strong in the Lord. I was on the streets of Dallas taking the enemy on and ministering to the oppressed.
Then God put me in a different location where that resource was no longer available. I soon found that I was quite as strong as I thought I was. Can you stand when everybody around you is melting? In the next situation, the pastor had fallen into adultery. The church was in chaos. The sermons didn’t strengthen my soul. I had to start digging into the word for myself. I personally had to dig some wells to find the refreshing I needed. That’s how I became a person who could feed others. That’s how I learned to get with God and hear Him for myself. You want to become a minister? It’s not always developed in the oasis. Sometimes it’s developed on the backside of the dessert like it was with Moses.
Caleb is a man who can stand by his convictions regardless of what those around him are doing.
In Num. 14 Israel hears the bad report from the ten spies and latches onto it. They begin complaining against Moses and Aaron. They took on a victim mentality. In verse 2 they see their families as victims. Never in the Bible do I see a victim mentality to be a good thing. Joseph was oppressed and mistreated, but he never took on a victim mentality. A victim can’t lead all of Egypt through a famine. A victim can’t rescue brothers who sold him into slavery. A victim is too busy licking his wounds and feeling sorrow for himself. A victim is focused on what happened. A victor is focused on what’s about to happen! In verse 2 the whole congregation of Israel was saying, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt? Or if only we had died in this wilderness.” What kind of a vision is that? No appreciation for what God has already done. No anticipation for what God is about to do. These people were talking about returning to Egypt.
That’s when Joshua and Caleb spoke up and stood against the crowd. They tore there clothes and cried out in verse 8 “If the Lord delight in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land which flows with milk and honey.” Where did their confidence rest? “If the Lord delights in us then He will bring us into the land…” “It is no secret what God can do. What He’s done for others He’ll do for you.”
In our democracy, there is a tendency to validate things by majority vote. In our story here at Kadesh Barnea the majority certainly voted wrong, and it cost them dearly. Just because a lot of people agree on something, does not make it right. There are a lot of people in America who think homosexuality is just a personal preference. God clearly calls it sin. There are a lot of people who think abortion is a woman’s right. But none of us have the right to take another person’s life. You can’t define morality by popular vote.. Morality is not something that shifts with the tide of society. Right and wrong is rooted in the nature of the eternal God. And by the way, He does not change (Mal. 3:6). Therefore, righteousness is something that is absolute. It is rooted in God Himself. You either take what God has declared in His word or you are a ship adrift in a raging sea of chaos.
In verse 22 God pronounces his judgement on the unbelief of Israel. The judgement was this: this generation will die in the wilderness and never enter into the good things God had prepared for them. They will never come into the Promise Land. Their lives will be wasted walking in circles in a hot, dry dessert.
But in verse 24 God makes Caleb an exception and explains why he is an exception. “But My servant, Caleb, because he has a different spirit in him and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land where he went, and his descendants shall inherit it.” Notice how Caleb’s choices affected his posterity. The decisions you and I make today, will affect our tomorrows. But beyond that, they even affect our children and their children. What you do matters a lot!
God says three things here about Caleb that distinguishes him from the crowd and explains why God is going to fulfill His promise to Caleb, even though the nation as a whole will be judged and fail to enter in.
(1) He calls Caleb his “servant.” Everything Caleb did was because of this mentality. He did not see himself as here to serve his own desires. He saw himself as a servant of God and God saw him as a servant of God. When we make life decision, do we make them from that perspective? God I am your servant, what do you want me to do? It’s not a matter of what gives me the most pleasure or comfort. It not a matter of how I can glorify myself. It’s not a matter of what other people want me to do. The decisions are based on one thing. What does my Master want me to do? Jesus said in John 5:30 “…I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.” That’s what a servant does; and to the extent he does not do that, he is not acting as a servant. In God’s evaluation of Caleb, He referred to him as “My servant.”
(2) God says Caleb has “a different spirit in him.” He could have followed the crowd or he could be of a different spirit. They were in rebellion against God. He was in submission to God. They were convinced they could not win. He was convinced they could win, because God was with them. They complained. He confessed the faithfulness of God. Prov. 16:2 says, “All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, But the LORD weighs the spirits.” There was substance in who Caleb was at his core. He was a man of integrity. He served the Lord regardless of what the crowd around him was doing.
(3) God says Caleb “has followed me fully” or wholeheartedly. There is a mentality in the world and sometimes even in the church that says “Don’t get too religious.” That’s fine if you’re talking about superficial religion. But you can’t get too consecrated to God. You can’t get too sold out to God. I’m talking about being radically committed to the Lord and His purposes for your life. I’m not talking about doing stupid things just because you want to. I’m talking about being wholehearted in your love for the Lord. In fact it is the greatest commandment of all. Matt. 22:37 “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” The point of dwelling on all of this is that this is an example for us to follow. This is an assurance that if you will fully obey the Lord, He will bless you, regardless of what everybody else does.
Caleb demonstrated faith when he stood firm even though those around him did not stand.
Finally, Caleb demonstrated faith when he:
III. FINISHED WELL AND LEFT A GODLY LEGACY.
It one thing to start out with zeal. It’s one thing to have spurts of excitement and consecration. It’s another thing to consistently and faithfully follow the Lord. That means we do it when it’s difficult, maybe even boring. That means we do it when we’re tired. It means we do it when there are other things we would rather do.
All of Caleb’s generation drop over dead like flies because of their sin and unbelief. But Caleb keeps plodding. He is walking along beside them. I can see him encouraging them to trust the Lord just like he did at Kadesh Barnea. Some days his lips were dry and cracked. Some days his feet hurt. His journey was no easier than the man beside him. But he was not complaining. He was still trusting God to fulfill His promises to him. It would have been nice if all of Israel had been like Caleb and he could have gone in immediately as a young 40 year old man. But that was not to be. His journey was longer than he had hoped it would be; but he kept walking and he kept trusting God for a good outcome.
Has your journey been a little tougher than you thought it would be? I’m glad I didn’t know in advance all the challenges I would face. It was better just taking them on as they came. Did you think you were going to enter in 40 years ago? It doesn’t matter because God can bring you in at 80 just as easy as He can bring you in at 40. Sarah had hoped for a child as a young bride. But she was 90 years old when she finally received the promise. Her journey was not easy; but it was worth it.
The second generation of Israelites are now entering into the Promise Land, under Joshua’s leadership. In Joshua 14 Caleb comes to Joshua and reminds him of the promise God had made to him. Look with me at Josh. 14:7.
“I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadesh Barnea to spy out the land, and I brought back word to him as it was in my heart. 8 Nevertheless my brethren who went up with me made the heart of the people melt, but I wholly followed the LORD my God. 9 So Moses swore on that day, saying, 'Surely the land where your foot has trodden shall be your inheritance and your children's forever, because you have wholly followed the LORD my God.' 10 And now, behold, the LORD has kept me alive, as He said, these forty-five years, ever since the LORD spoke this word to Moses while Israel wandered in the wilderness; and now, here I am this day, eighty-five years old. 11 As yet I am as strong this day as on the day that Moses sent me; just as my strength was then, so now is my strength for war, both for going out and for coming in.”
Did you notice what God did for Caleb. He didn’t spare him the hardships of the wilderness. He didn’t spare him 45 years in the dessert. But he sustained him so that when he had his opportunity to go into the land he was just as strong at 85 as he was at 40. How many know, that’s got to be a miracle. God may have you go through the wilderness some. But He is able to supersede the normal deterioration and aging that would have occurred. He is able to enable you when the time comes. He may not give you a new pair of shoes every year. He may just cause the one’s you have to not wear out. The car I drive has over 200,000 miles on it. But it does everything I need it to do. I’ve had to do very little maintenance on it. I’m just as content for him to sustain what I have as for Him to give me a new one. It doesn’t matter. He will give me what I need. Now look at Caleb’s attitude of faith in the next verse.
Verse 12 “’Now therefore, give me this mountain of which the LORD spoke in that day; for you heard in that day how the Anakim were there, and that the cities were great and fortified. It may be that the LORD will be with me, and I shall be able to drive them out as the LORD said.’ 13 And Joshua blessed him, and gave Hebron to Caleb the son of Jeph-unneh as an inheritance. 14 Hebron therefore became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jeph-unneh the Ke-niz-zite to this day, because he wholly followed the LORD God of Israel.”
Caleb is 85 years old. God finally brings him to his promised land. Is it handed to him on a silver platter? No, Caleb has to drive out the enemy off Mt. Hebron. He has to (by faith) take the land that God has given him. I don’t see a lazy entitlement mentality in this man. I don’t see him complaining about the task ahead. I don’t see him excusing himself from the challenge. He trusts God to give him the strength needed (at 85) to take this land. He drives the giants off that mountain and claims his inheritance. You can’t take your mountain unless God gives it to you. He won’t give it to you if you won’t act in faith and obedience. “Without faith it is impossible to please God” (Heb.11:6).
One of these days I would like to preach about Caleb’s daughter, Achsah. You can read about her in Josh 15:16-19. She had that same spunk her dad had. She was not passive about the things of God. Caleb had given her a piece of land as her dowry. But she boldly asked for the upper and lower springs to go with it. Land alone was not enough for this woman. She wanted the refreshing waters as well. You can make the application to the spiritual realm.
Caleb took the land and passed it on to his children. He left a godly legacy. Today we read about him.
The promises of God are before you. There are giants in the land. There are battles to fight. But the essential question is this. Will you take your mountain? Will you possess your land? May God enable you to do so.
Invitation
END NOTES
1 All Scripture quotes are from the New King James Version unless indicated otherwise.
2 OT:2388 (Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright (c) 1994, Biblesoft and International Bible Translators, Inc.).
3 This promise can be traced all the way back to Abraham (Gen. 15:18-21), something that was surely passed down from generation to generation.
4 Proverbs 3:5-6
5 Rom. 4:19 NIV
6 “It Is No Secret (What God Can Do)” by Jim Reeves.
