Courageous Caleb

Legacy Standard Bible CHAPTER 14

6 Then the sons of Judah drew near to Joshua in Gilgal, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You know the word which Yahweh spoke to Moses the man of God concerning you and me in Kadesh-Barnea.

7 “I was forty years old when Moses the servant of Yahweh sent me from Kadesh-barnea to spy out the land, and I brought word back to him as it was in my heart.

8 “Nevertheless, my brothers who went up with me made the heart of the people melt with fear; but I followed Yahweh my God fully.

9 “So Moses swore on that day, saying, ‘Surely the land on which your foot has trodden will be an inheritance to you and to your children forever because you have followed Yahweh my God fully.’

10 “So now behold, Yahweh has let me live, just as He spoke, these forty-five years, from the time that Yahweh spoke this word to Moses, when Israel walked in the wilderness; so now behold, I am eighty-five years old today.

11 “I am still as strong today as I was in the day Moses sent me; as my strength was then, so my strength is now, for war and for going out and coming in.

12 “So now, give me this hill country about which Yahweh spoke on that day, for you heard on that day that Anakim were there, with great fortified cities; perhaps Yahweh will be with me, and I will dispossess them as Yahweh has spoken.”

13 So Joshua blessed him and gave Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephunneh for an inheritance.

14 Therefore, Hebron became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite until this day because he fully followed Yahweh, the God of Israel.

Introduction

In this passage, we can notice an aged Caleb who still had the desire to do what he could for the Lord, even at the age of eighty-five.

Caleb is reminding Joshua of the promise concerning the land that he was promised.

The purpose of this lesson is to highlight Caleb’s character and how the child of God needs to imitate his faith and can realize the great reward it can bestow.

Outline

Let us consider three points based on the aspects of Caleb’s courage, and how the Christian ought to imitate Caleb’s courage. Let us consider…

Caleb’s Recollection (vv. 6-9).

Caleb’s Requisition (vv. 10-12).

Caleb’s Reward (vv. 13-14).

Let us begin our discussion into Courageous Caleb.

I. Caleb’s Recollection

A. The Setting

The tribe of Judah came before Joshua in Gilgal. Some interesting information about Gilgal:

Gilgal was the place where they laid down the Memorial Stones (Joshua 4:19-20).

Gilgal was the first camp Israel established following the crossing of the Jordan River, according to Baker’s Encyclopedia (867-868).

While the tribe of Judah came before Joshua, Caleb went before Joshua and reminded him of God’s promise through Moses.

B. Caleb’s Mission

Caleb was selected by Moses to be the spy from the Tribe of Judah (Numbers 13:6). He, along with eleven other men from the other tribes of Israel were commissioned by Moses to scout the land of Canaan for forty days.

According to Baker’s Encyclopedia, Kadesh-Barnea was located southwest of Beersheba. They departed and returned to this location after the forty day time window (Numbers 13:25-26).

C. Caleb’s Firm Foundation

When the twelve spies returned, ten of them expressed doubt and swayed the camp of Israel to their side, which resulted in the forty year Exodus. One year for every day they went out to spy on the Canaanites. Joshua and Caleb tore their clothing, which was a way to express deep remorse or sorrow (Numbers 13:31-33; Numbers 14:1-9).

Out of the twelve spies, Joshua and Caleb remained faithful to God, which rewarded them with the ability to enter into the land of Canaan. Their faith to God resulted in these two men being the only two Israelites that survived the entire Exodus (Numbers 13:30).

D. Moses’ Promise

The Lord promised Caleb the land of Hebron (Numbers 14:24), Moses reminded the children of Israel of Caleb’s inheritance (Deuteronomy 1:36) and Caleb is reminding Joshua of that same promise (Joshua 14:9).

Caleb was not being selfish with his eventual request, but rather he is reminding Joshua of the promise God had made to Caleb and his family as well as the rest of the tribe of Judah that was not alive at the time of that promise.

II. Caleb’s Requisition

A. Caleb’s Proclamation

The Bible student can realize Caleb’s desire to continue to do what was right in the eyes of God as well as ensuring that his promise would be fulfilled.

Like mentioned previously, Caleb was eighty five years old at this particular time:

The Exodus lasted for forty years, and by the end Caleb would have been around eighty years old.

The Conquest of Canaan lasted for around five years at this point, as Caleb was around eighty-five.

B. Caleb’s Motivation

Consider Caleb’s attitude in this verse concerning the work that was needing to be done. He volunteered to do what he can to benefit the Lord as well as his family.

For the Christian, there is much work that needs to be done. There are many souls that need to be taught the ‘whole counsel of God’ (Matthew 9:37; Acts 20:27).

The Christian must be unashamed in the efforts to obey the Word of God even when it is the unpopular thing to do.

C. Caleb’s Declaration

This is where the climax of the passage can be seen. After Caleb reminded Joshua of the words of God and Moses, he told Joshua to give him that mountain.

According to Baker’s, the Anakim were a race of unusually tall men that caused great fear to the ten spies, as the following passage points out (Numbers 13:33).

According to the Scriptures, there are two ethnic groups that are known as Nephilim (a group of giants mentioned in Genesis 6:1-4).

Anakim (seen in Numbers and Joshua). It is highly possible that Goliath was a remnant of this group (Joshua 11:22) due to Goliath being from Gath.

Rephaim (first mentioned in Genesis 15:20 concerning the Land Promise to Abraham). Og of Bashan was the last Rephaim mentioned in the Bible (Deuteronomy 3:11).

Notice the potential difficulties that Caleb would face in this conquest. The mountain (high elevation) provided a disadvantage for any surprise attacks while the fortified cities (high defenses) would make it difficult to break into.

Once again, Caleb is proving his faith like he did those forty-five years ago (Numbers 13:30). He knew that God was with him through the promise he made through Joshua’s farewell message (Joshua 23:10).

Caleb’s Reward

Joshua’s Blessing

Through the promises that Caleb was given by God and Moses, Joshua gave the city of Hebron to Caleb and his family as an inheritance. The city of Hebron was around twenty-five miles southwest of Jerusalem.

The city of Hebron’s former name was Kirjath-Arba, which was named for Anak, which was the patriarch of the Anakim (v. 15).

Earlier in this sermon, it was discussed that Caleb was given this inheritance due to his great faith and courage in God. If the child of God remains faithful to the Lord, then a superior inheritance will be granted (Philippians 3:20-21).