The faithful dog of Israel

Man’s best friend

When I think about dogs, you have to admit, humanity does not deserve such a loyal and faithful friend, these animals stick by us and protect us like faithful friends, depending on how well we treat them of course.

It is said that the reasons why dogs are loyal to us is because of the history we share. Throughout the ages dogs helped hunt for game with humans and in return we fed them, washed them and give them shelter.

Coco

I have a little Maltese dog, her name is Coco, she’s 7 years old we’ve only had her for 5 years, and when Ana and I first met her, she immediately became part of our small family

When we would come home she is the one that will greet us at the door with her little jumps and barks.

The suffers from ‘small dog syndrome’ though, where she will bark non-stop at other dogs at the dog park or when we take her for walks and she sees other dogs.

Who here has a dog? You know the feeling

Hachiko the faithful dog

There is an adorable and sad story about a dog by the name Hachiko, a Japaneses Akita dog who is remembered for his loyalty and dedication to his owner.

Hachiko was born on the 10 November 1923 and was adopted by professor Hidesaburo Ueno who lived in Shibuya, Tokyo. The professor would commute daily to his work at Tokyo Imperial University and at the end of the day Hachiko would leave the house to greet the professor near by the station.

On the 21 May 1925, the professor made his way to work and while at work suffered a cerebral hemorrhage while giving a lecture and died.

Hachiko on that day went to the station and waited for the professor to come home. Each day for the next 9 years, 9 months and 15 days Hachiko waited for the professor to return home where he would pass away on the 8 March 1935 at the age of 11 years old.

13 years after his passing, a statue was erected in his honour and would be a popular meeting spot at Shibuya station entrance. The station entrance near the statue is named Hachiko-guchi meaning, ‘The Hachiko Entrance/Exit’.

Story of Caleb the faithful servant

We’re going to look at unique and special individual who has been faithful to God and to Israel through the wilderness and in the promised land.

His name is Caleb, a mighty warrior of Israel, there are only a few chapters that tell his story and journey, but they are some of the great stories of faith, stories for us to learn and grow in faith.

The spy who loved me

In the book of Numbers 13, God speaks to Moses to send out spies into the land of Canaan. 12 people who were the heads of the children of Israel were selected to go and spy out the land.

In Numbers 13:6, introduces us to Caleb the son of Jephunneh of the tribe of Judah he was one of the 12 spies and these spies were told to bring back reports on the condition of those that occupy the land and how fruitful the land was, they even asked them to return with some of its fruits.

They went out for 40 days into the land of Canaan, there they met with giant humans and various fortified cities. There they saw the great cluster of fruits and delighted themselves to eating those fruits.

In Numbers 13:23

Numbers 13:23 NLT

23 When they came to the valley of Eshcol, they cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes so large that it took two of them to carry it on a pole between them! They also brought back samples of the pomegranates and figs.

Imagine having something like this for church pot luck? We would be eating for a week on this sample! I can imagine some of you taking some of it home.

So, it came time for them to share the report on what they saw but sadly, 10 of the 12 spies gave bad report, in verse 32-33.

Numbers 13:32–33 NLT

32 So they spread this bad report about the land among the Israelites: “The land we traveled through and explored will devour anyone who goes to live there. All the people we saw were huge. 33 We even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak. Next to them we felt like grasshoppers, and that’s what they thought, too!”

Only Caleb and Joshua encouraged the Israelites to not fear and have faith because God has given the land to the children of Israel.

In verse 30

Numbers 13:30 NLT

30 But Caleb tried to quiet the people as they stood before Moses. “Let’s go at once to take the land,” he said. “We can certainly conquer it!”

But the Israelites rebelled and cried out fearing that they were sent to their doom that they wanted to return back to Egypt. They schemed to select another leader to return and to remove those that stood in their way.

In Numbers 14:6-10

Numbers 14:6–10 NLT

6 Two of the men who had explored the land, Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, tore their clothing. 7 They said to all the people of Israel, “The land we traveled through and explored is a wonderful land! 8 And if the Lord is pleased with us, he will bring us safely into that land and give it to us. It is a rich land flowing with milk and honey. 9 Do not rebel against the Lord, and don’t be afraid of the people of the land. They are only helpless prey to us! They have no protection, but the Lord is with us! Don’t be afraid of them!” 10 But the whole community began to talk about stoning Joshua and Caleb. Then the glorious presence of the Lord appeared to all the Israelites at the Tabernacle.

Caleb stood firm on his faith that God has given the land to them and that they will have victory on those giants. Caleb stood on truth though he was outnumbered and faced great opposition.

Are we willing to stand firm in our faith though the heavens may fall? Are we willing to stand on truth even if the world around us forces their lie on us? Are we willing to raise the banner of the Lord even to the point of death?

Caleb stood firm on his belief and he and Joshua were allowed to enter into the promised land because of their faith in Lord.

Later we read that God gives Caleb credit and great honour for his faith.

In verse 24

Numbers 14:24 NLT

24 But my servant Caleb has a different attitude than the others have. He has remained loyal to me, so I will bring him into the land he explored. His descendants will possess their full share of that land.

Sadly for all who rebelled, God says

Numbers 14:28–30 NLT

28 Now tell them this: ‘As surely as I live, declares the Lord, I will do to you the very things I heard you say. 29 You will all drop dead in this wilderness! Because you complained against me, every one of you who is twenty years old or older and was included in the registration will die. 30 You will not enter and occupy the land I swore to give you. The only exceptions will be Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.

How sad the consequences of sin does to a community of believers. One bad report can change the outcome of a community. This is why we need men like Caleb to stand for truth and have the faith to declare it.

Who is Caleb

Now, I can go on about Caleb’s life as he continued to journey with the Israelites for another 40 years and how he continued to fight those giant humans at the age of 85 and continue fighting even when the other tribes were growing weary in fighting.

But the question is, who is Caleb? We’re told he was one of the leaders of the tribe of Judah and that he was the son of Jephunneh.

Now you might also be wandering why I called this sermon ‘the faithful dog of Israel’ because Caleb means dog in Hebrew. Now, dogs are considered to be loyal and faithful animals but in some Middle Eastern countries dogs are considered filthy and disgusting animals.

However, here we have Caleb one of the leaders of the tribe of Judah, who we all know is a tribe well favoured by the Lord.

Where does Caleb come from?

But, here is something interesting I’ve discovered when reading about the life of Caleb. You see, you might assume that Caleb is a child of Israel, that is, a child of Judah and of the line of Judah. However, in Numbers 32:12

Numbers 32:12 NLT

12 The only exceptions are Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua son of Nun, for they have wholeheartedly followed the Lord.’

Also in Joshua 14:6

Joshua 14:6 NLT

6 A delegation from the tribe of Judah, led by Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, came to Joshua at Gilgal. Caleb said to Joshua, “Remember what the Lord said to Moses, the man of God, about you and me when we were at Kadesh-barnea.

So, it appears that one of the leaders of Judah is not of the tribe of Judah, but somehow incorporated, now we unsure whether through marriage or some sort of alliance. But who were the Kenizzites?

Kenizzites

The Kenizzites apparently are of Edomite origin, for those that aren’t sure who the Edomites were, they were the children of Esau, Israel or Jacob’s twin older brother.

The foreign fighter for Israel

So the brother who lost his birthright over a bowl of stew and had his blessing take away from him by deceit will regain what was taken from him through Caleb, the faithful dog of the Edomites and Israel who would lead Israel into battle and drive out the inhabitants of the land.

We’re bound for the Promised Land

My friends, the story of Caleb is a story for all that remain faithful and loyal despite the opposition that comes our way. Whether giants, a rebellious mob, or even 40 years in the wilderness, Caleb remain strong and firm in his belief because he had God by his side and that was the truth for him.

Like Caleb, we have no right to the inheritance of Jacob, being Gentiles and foreigners for those that were promised but through faithfulness and loyalty to Jesus if we remain firm in His Word, for His Word is truth, we will be allowed to receive of that blessing that was promised to Jacob, a land where there will “… be no more death, nor sorry, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

Paul puts it so ever bluntly to Timothy

1 Timothy 6:11–12 NLT

11 But you, Timothy, are a man of God; so run from all these evil things. Pursue righteousness and a godly life, along with faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight for the true faith. Hold tightly to the eternal life to which God has called you, which you have declared so well before many witnesses.

Remain faithful like Caleb

The promise is there for you all, if you remain faithful and loyal to Jesus, be the faithful dog of Israel and you will find your victory in Him.

Will you take hold of eternal life that God has called you to?

Seventh-day Adventist dog

Have you heard about the Seventh-day Adventist dog that converted a village?

The story goes a pilot by the name of Gary Roberts just landed on a newly created air strip built up in the mountain village called Suminka, in the Indonesian province of Papua.

It had taken the villagers 10 years to cut down the tree to clear the way to make an airstrip and Gary’s mission plane was the first to land, before the plane landed as the villagers were awaiting the first plane. They had gathered and celebrated with singing and dancing.

As the plane landed however, the crowds grew silent and the singing and dancing stopped.

Gary Roberts, as he stepped out the plane, would be quiet cautious and fearful as he met the crowd. What would you have done if you you put in his shoes facing a crowd that were silent.

A man approached him and asked “is this a Seventh-day Adventist plane?”

Gary was confused at first, because how was it possible that Adventist missionaries were able to make the trek up the mountainous terrain? Let alone know what the Adventist logo looked like.

But the villagers had seen the three angels’ logo and told him that many of the villagers were keeping the Sabbath all because of a Seventh-day Adventist dog.

The Unusual Dream

So, several years earlier across the border in Papua New Guinea, an Adventist pastor by the name of Moses and a lay pastor named Darius had the same dream on the same night.

They both shared their experience and dream and they were told to go to Suminka. Without hesitation, they left for the village from PNG into the province of Papua, Indonesia.

There they held evangelistic meetings under a tree on the far side of the village. The story goes that Pastor Moses fell ill with malaria and was terribly sick. The villagers predicted that he would die, they said “If he gets better, then we will listen to him at the meeting”.

Pastor Moses was sick for the whole day and bed ridden but at 5 PM he felt better, took a bath and preached, afterward he fell ill again.

Now this happened all week, Pastor Moses never gave up and shared the Sabbath message and cautioned people against eating unclean meats. Wild pigs are a popular dish in the Papua mountains.

Sadly, when Pastor Moses made an appeal, no one came forward and both Pastor Moses and Darius felt deeply disappointed and questioned the dream they have had.

The changed dog

Life resumed after the evangelistic meetings until one Saturday morning the village’s hunting dog, Dolby, did something unusual, the dog went to the tree where the missionaries had spoken and sat down. He continued doing this and refused to go hunting on Saturdays.

They also noticed that Dolby stopped eating pork and refused to go hunting for wild pigs and other unclean animals.

One of the villagers said “Dolby has become a Seventh-day Adventist”.

As a result, many of the villagers began keeping the Sabbath and stopped eating unclean foods.

Gary Roberts was excited to hear the story that he called Pastor Moses, Moses called Darius and they spent a year at the village teaching the people about the Bible.

200 adults and children worship on Sabbath and 21+ people have been baptised, all because a dog became the example of the village.

Conclusion

My friends, Caleb led an army through his loyalty and faithfulness to God and victory was given to him. Through his life he inspired many more warriors such as his nephew who became the first judge of Israel after Joshua.

Now you might think you’re not doing much, but if you remain loyal and stand firm in your faith, you can do the impossible and even change a village, a community or the person next to you at the bus stop.

If a dog can change a village, imagine where God can take you to change someone’s world.

Do you believe God can give you the victory?