He and Joshua Were Not Afraid—Would Have Been Stoned to Death but for Divine Interposition—Afterward Conquered the Very Giants That Spread the Terror
By GEORGE I. BUTLER
CALEB, the hero of faith, is first brought into view at a great crisis in the history of the exodus from Egypt to the promised land. We can hardly realize that it was less than two years from the call of Moses to lead out the children of Israel, at the burning bush, till the spies were sent out to search the land of Canaan and bring back to Moses their report. Yet "Usher's Chronology" so declares.
FORCED BY PRESSURE OF MIRACLES
Wonderful events were packed into that brief space of time. The pressure of God's miracles at last forced Pharaoh to let the people go. The journey through the Sinaitic desert, the sojourn at Mount Sinai, the march to the border of Canaan, and all the changes wrought in the host to transform it from a promiscuous multitude to a disciplined army, each tribe under its appointed leader, was a great work, made very difficult by their murmurings, lack of faith, stubbornness, fault-finding, and incipient rebellion. At last they reached Kadesh, in the wilderness of Paran, not so very far from the border of the promised land.
SENT TO SPY OUT THE LAND
"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Send thou men, that they may search the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel." Num. 13: 1, 2. One from each tribe was selected. Caleb was here first mentioned. He represented the tribe of Judah, while Joshua represented the tribe of Ephraim. So they searched the land. It was a rich country, with many strong cities, and well populated. Giants were there of great height,—powerful men. The soil was very fruitful. At the brook of Eshcol they cut off a cluster of grapes so large that it required two men to carry it between them on a staff. The land flowed with milk and honey.
At last the spies returned. Ten of the men brought back a discouraging report. While they admitted that the land was very rich and good, they said they were not able to conquer it. These ten spies greatly discouraged the people by their evil report. But Caleb and Joshua were full of faith. "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." But the ten spies denied that, and said, "We are not able"; "and they brought up an evil report" that was false.
ENRAGED, THEY WANTED TO STONE THEM
A great crisis was now reached. It was a very serious matter. They had come a long distance through the desert. God had wrought mightily for them. His power was revealed as it never was seen before by mortal men; and now as they were almost ready to enter the promised land, there was an actual rebellion. When Caleb insisted that with God's help they could easily possess the land, the people were so enraged that they were about to stone the two witnesses.
Then the glory of the Lord appeared in the tabernacle, and the Lord said: "Because all those men which have seen My glory, and My miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted Me now these ten times, and have not harkened to My voice; surely they shall not see the land which I swore unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked Me see it: but My servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed Me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it. . . . As truly as I live, saith the Lord, as ye have spoken in Mine ears, so will I do to you: your carcasses 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 ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I swore to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun: But your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have despised."
WAS INDEED A GREAT CRISIS
This was indeed a great crisis. Caleb, first mentioned in this connection, here appeared conspicuous. He "wholly followed the Lord." Precious promises were made to him and Joshua. All the others of the children of Israel above twenty years of age passed away and miserably perished during the succeeding thirty-eight years of wandering in the wilderness of Paran. Not one of them even entered the promised land. So much for their unbelief.
EIGHTY-FIVE, BUT READY FOR THE CONFLICT
From this time, Caleb's name is not mentioned for over forty years, until Joshua led victorious Israel into the promised land. As the people were conquering the land, Caleb again appeared on the stage of action, valiant and true to the last. When he went as one of the spies, he was forty years of age. Now he was eighty-five, but strong and vigorous as he ever was, fighting the battles of the Lord. One of the great terrors of the ten spies was the Anakims, a race of giants who inhabited the country about the city of Hebron, one of the most ancient cities of the world. Goliath, slain by David with his sling, was of this race. He was over nine feet high, and powerful in proportion.
Caleb did not fear them, though they terrified the whole nation. He called the attention of Joshua to the promises God made him because of his faith in God. He claimed the very territory where the giants lived as the gift of God to him and his seed. And Joshua granted his petition.
CONQUERED THAT WHICH HAD TERRIFIED THE WHOLE NATION
The valiant man of faith then proceeded to demonstrate the truthfulness of his statements forty-five years previous, when the cowardly ten spies terrified all the people by describing the gigantic sons of Anak, and the inability of the Israelites to conquer them. Caleb had said they were abundantly able to conquer them and the whole promised land. And now, when over fourscore years old, he and a few others entered the very land of these giants, and their fortified cities, and victoriously drove them all out of that portion of the country. Such is the power of faith when men "wholly follow the Lord."
What an evidence of God's power Caleb and Joshua must have furnished to the children of Israel! After all the race of unbelievers was purged out of the host, their children, led by Caleb and Joshua, conquered the land. How easily could they have conquered it thirty-eight years before had the leaders and the people been possessed of Caleb's faith!
We have now reached the greatest crisis this world has ever seen or ever will see. We are seeking the antitypical Canaan and the New Jerusalem. The same living faith that Caleb possessed is greatly needed now. Many are proving their lack of faith. But there are many Calebs who believe we are abundantly able to go up and possess the true promised land—the new earth and the New Jerusalem. May God greatly increase the Calebs of this host!
