Give Me This Mountain

Give Me This Mountain

FBC Pompano Beach; Sr. Adult Day

Texts: Joshua 14:6-14; Numbers 13:26-33

Introduction: (What?)

Imagine being born into slavery, named “Dog” (the meaning of Caleb), experiencing the first Passover, the escape through the Red Sea, the miraculous provision of water and food from the hand of God and then being selected to represent your tribe as a spy to check out the land promised by God. Then imagine that you are one of two who came back with a positive report against 10 who said, “No way can we enter this land which eats up its inhabitants.” That is the situation that Caleb found himself in. Yet he stood firm in his report because, as God said about him, “He had a different spirit.” In this message we are going to ask the question “Do I have a different spirit like the spirit of Caleb?”

“What giants am I facing and what am I going to do about it?”

In Deuteronomy 1:28-36 God told Moses that all the generation who bought into the negative report of the 10 spies would not enter the Promised Land because of their unbelief. That meant that anyone twenty or over would die in the desert. However, He said that Caleb and Joshua would enter because of their faith. He also said that Caleb would be given the “land on which he set foot”. Forty years later all the unbelieving generation had died. The next five years were spent claiming the land. Then Caleb went to Joshua and reminded him of what God had promised through Moses. Now, as an 85 y/o Caleb demanded that Joshua grant what God had promised.

Throughout scripture we find evidence that with God age really is just a number. He called Abram to leave home and head out to an unknown destination at age 75. He made him a Father at age 100. He called Moses to be His front=man in Egypt when he was 80 y/o. Today we will look at the 85 y/o Caleb as he claims what God had promised.

Examination: (Why?)

1. Reality is in the Eye of the Believer

Numbers 13:26–33 “The men went back to Moses, Aaron, and the entire Israelite community in the Wilderness of Paran at Kadesh. They brought back a report for them and the whole community, and they showed them the fruit of the land. They reported to Moses, “We went into the land where you sent us. Indeed it is flowing with milk and honey, and here is some of its fruit. However, the people living in the land are strong, and the cities are large and fortified. We also saw the descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites are living in the land of the Negev; the Hethites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live by the sea and along the Jordan.” Then Caleb quieted the people in the presence of Moses and said, “Let’s go up now and take possession of the land because we can certainly conquer it!” But the men who had gone up with him responded, “We can’t attack the people because they are stronger than we are!” So they gave a negative report to the Israelites about the land they had scouted: ‘The land we passed through to explore is one that devours its inhabitants, and all the people we saw in it are men of great size. We even saw the Nephilim there---the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim! To ourselves we seemed like grasshoppers, and we must have seemed the same to them.’”

The first part of the report was spot on. It was exactly what they had been told to check on, and everything was as God said it would be. But everything after the “however” that starts verse 28 is opinion that totally discounts the promises of God. Caleb tried to set the record straight, but was over-ruled by the majority (this is one of the problems with majority rule.) Not only did the reject Caleb’s report, they threatened to stone Caleb, Joshua, Moses and Aaron. Mob-think had kicked in.

While Caleb and Joshua saw the circumstances through the lens of God’s promise, the ten other spies saw Gods’ promises through the lens of the circumstances. Anytime we give our circumstances equal standing with the Word of God, we are headed for trouble. In Numbers 14 we see the initial judgment of God, the intercession of Moses and the final judgment of God because the people went along with the negative report of the ten spies. We must recognize that negativity has a “down-hill” pull in the tug of war of life.

Initially God said, in Numbers 14:12“I will strike them with a plague and destroy them. Then I will make you into a greater and mightier nation than they are.”” To which Moses replied in Numbers 14:13–19 “But Moses replied to the Lord, “The Egyptians will hear about it, for by your strength you brought up this people from them. They will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that you, Lord, are among these people, how you, Lord, are seen face to face, how your cloud stands over them, and how you go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night. If you kill this people with a single blow, the nations that have heard of your fame will declare, ‘Since the Lord wasn’t able to bring this people into the land he swore to give them, he has slaughtered them in the wilderness.’ “So now, may my Lord’s power be magnified just as you have spoken: The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in faithful love, forgiving iniquity and rebellion. But he will not leave the guilty unpunished, bringing the consequences of the fathers’ iniquity on the children to the third and fourth generation. Please pardon the iniquity of this people, in keeping with the greatness of Your faithful love, just as You have forgiven them from Egypt until now.”

The power of intercessory prayer is evident in Numbers 14:20–25 “The Lord responded, “I have pardoned them as you requested. Yet as I live and as the whole earth is filled with the Lord’s glory, none of the men who have seen my glory and the signs I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tested me these ten times and did not obey me, will ever see the land I swore to give their ancestors. None of those who have despised me will see it. But since my servant Caleb has a different spirit and has remained loyal to me, I will bring him into the land where he has gone, and his descendants will inherit it. Since the Amalekites and Canaanites are living in the lowlands, turn back tomorrow and head for the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea.”” The key words in God’s response are in v 24. The “different spirit” of Caleb was a spirit of positivity, faithfulness, courage, and perseverance.

2. Age is Just a Number

Jump forward 45 years and in Joshua 14 we find Caleb, now age 85, demanding what he had been promised.

Joshua 14:7 “I was forty years old when Moses the Lord’s servant sent me from Kadesh-barnea to scout the land, and I brought back an honest report.”

Joshua 14:10–12 ““As you see, the Lord has kept me alive these forty-five years as he promised, since the Lord spoke this word to Moses while Israel was journeying in the wilderness. Here I am today, eighty-five years old. I am still as strong today as I was the day Moses sent me out. My strength for battle and for daily tasks is now as it was then. Now give me this hill country the Lord promised me on that day, because you heard then that the Anakim are there, as well as large fortified cities. Perhaps the Lord will be with me and I will drive them out as the Lord promised.””

Caleb reminded Joshua of the honest report the two of them had made. Then he aserted that God had not only preserved him to this ripe old age, but that he was a vigorous at 85 as he had been at 40. Caleb knew that if God had promised something, He would see it through to completion. He didn’t let his age deter him from claiming what God had promised.

3. Faith is the Victory

Joshua 14:12–14 “Now give me this hill country the Lord promised me on that day, because you heard then that the Anakim are there, as well as large fortified cities. Perhaps the Lord will be with me and I will drive them out as the Lord promised.” Then Joshua blessed Caleb son of Jephunneh and gave him Hebron as an inheritance. Therefore, Hebron still belongs to Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite as an inheritance today because he followed the Lord, the God of Israel, completely.”

I wonder how many here today once had a sense that God was leading them to accomplish something for His kingdom, but they kept letting circumstances get in the way until they felt it was too late. Perhaps you sensed God calling you to teach a class, lead a group, or share the gospel with someone. Let me assure you that as long as you have breath and a promise from God, you can still achieve whatever He has called you to do.

Let me tell you something about how God works.

God will never promise you something that He will not equip you to achieve.

When God calls you, the job will seem to be too big for you to handle.

Over and over in scripture God urges perseverance and endurance.

If you look on my Facebook page you will see my profile picture is of me emerging from Hezekiah’s tunnel in Jerusalem, Israel. The 1700 foot tunnel came into being when Jerusalem was being threatened by the Assyrialns. Hezekiah was king and feared that a seige wall would be erected against Jerusalem and their water supply cut off. He commissioned the drilling of a tunnel under the walls of Jerusalem that started at the Gihon Spring outside the walls and ended at the Pool of Siloam inside the walls. Not only did this become the water source for the city, but later it became a place of healing for many. The amazing thing about this tunnel is that it was dug from both ends…and somehow met in the middle. The water in the tunnel runs from ankle deep to hip deep. An impossible task that God made possible.

Application: (How will you respond to God’s call and promises today?)

Have you surrendered your life to Christ?

What has God put in your heart to do that you have yet to accomplish?

Are you willing to start, trusting God to make it happen?