Caleb, written by Pastor Steve: Joshua 14:6 - 15:9

June 17, 2011 – Caleb

“In God we trust.” We imprint that phrase on our coins. We talk about trusting God. And many of us wish we could trust God more than we sometimes are able. But trusting even God can be hard when your life is on the line. And that’s what makes Caleb an important, although virtually unknown, figure in the Old Testament. Caleb was one of the spies Moses sent to explore the land that God had promised to give to the Israelites. When the spies returned, they said, essentially, that the place was great, but that it was populated by giants and people who would surely kill them if they tried to go in and occupy the Promised Land. (Read the back story in Numbers 13:1-14:24)

And so the spies advised that the Israelites should abandon the effort. Some even suggested going back to Egypt and slavery. But Caleb tried to talk them out of it. He told them that they could trust God to do what God had promised. And he was willing to go forward – to put his life on the line – to enter into God’s promise.

Ultimately, Caleb and Joshua and Moses couldn’t convince the Israelites to take the risk. And so the whole congregation wandered for another 40 years in the wilderness until a new generation arose that was willing to trust God. But Caleb remained faithful, and he ended up being the only one of the original spies still alive to go in and take possession of the land that had been promised to him and to his people (this is today’s reading.)

It’s not always easy for us to trust God when things look tough. It’s not always easy to be Caleb. But Caleb’s story reminds us that God is faithful even when we waver. Caleb’s story reminds us that if we don’t take a leap of faith, we won’t see God’s promises in action. And Caleb’s story reminds us that God’s promises are fulfilled, even if it seems to take a long time.

joshua 14:6 - 15:19

Hebron Allotted to Caleb

6 Then the people of Judah came to Joshua at Gilgal; and Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, ‘You know what the Lord said to Moses the man of God in Kadesh-barnea concerning you and me. ⁷I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh-barnea to spy out the land; and I brought him an honest report. ⁸But my companions who went up with me made the heart of the people fail; yet I wholeheartedly followed the Lord my God. ⁹And Moses swore on that day, saying, “Surely the land on which your foot has trodden shall be an inheritance for you and your children for ever, because you have wholeheartedly followed the Lord my God.” ¹⁰And now, as you see, the Lord has kept me alive, as he said, these forty-five years since the time that the Lord spoke this word to Moses, while Israel was journeying through the wilderness; and here I am today, eighty-five years old. ¹¹I am still as strong today as I was on the day that Moses sent me; my strength now is as my strength was then, for war, and for going and coming. ¹²So now give me this hill country of which the Lord spoke on that day; for you heard on that day how the Anakim were there, with great fortified cities; it may be that the Lord will be with me, and I shall drive them out, as the Lord said.’

13 Then Joshua blessed him, and gave Hebron to Caleb son of Jephunneh for an inheritance. ¹⁴So Hebron became the inheritance of Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite to this day, because he wholeheartedly followed the Lord, the God of Israel. ¹⁵Now the name of Hebron formerly was Kiriath-arba;^* this Arba was^* the greatest man among the Anakim. And the land had rest from war.

The Territory of Judah

15The lot for the tribe of the people of Judah according to their families reached southwards to the boundary of Edom, to the wilderness of Zin at the farthest south. ²And their southern boundary ran from the end of the Dead Sea,^* from the bay that faces southwards; ³it goes out southwards of the ascent of Akrabbim, passes along to Zin, and goes up south of Kadesh-barnea, along by Hezron, up to Addar, makes a turn to Karka, ⁴passes along to Azmon, goes out by the Wadi of Egypt, and comes to its end at the sea. This shall be your southern boundary. ⁵And the eastern boundary is the Dead Sea,^* to the mouth of the Jordan. And the boundary on the north side runs from the bay of the sea at the mouth of the Jordan; ⁶and the boundary goes up to Beth-hoglah, and passes along north of Beth-arabah; and the boundary goes up to the Stone of Bohan, Reuben’s son; ⁷and the boundary goes up to Debir from the Valley of Achor, and so northwards, turning towards Gilgal, which is opposite the ascent of Adummim, which is on the south side of the valley; and the boundary passes along to the waters of En-shemesh, and ends at En-rogel; ⁸then the boundary goes up by the valley of the son of Hinnom at the southern slope of the Jebusites (that is, Jerusalem); and the boundary goes up to the top of the mountain that lies over against the valley of Hinnom, on the west, at the northern end of the valley of Rephaim; ⁹then the boundary extends from the top of the mountain to the spring of the Waters of Nephtoah, and from there to the towns of Mount Ephron; then the boundary bends around to Baalah (that is, Kiriath-jearim); ¹⁰and the boundary circles west of Baalah to Mount Seir, passes along to the northern slope of Mount Jearim (that is, Chesalon), and goes down to Beth-shemesh, and passes along by Timnah; ¹¹the boundary goes out to the slope of the hill north of Ekron, then the boundary bends around to Shikkeron, and passes along to Mount Baalah, and goes out to Jabneel; then the boundary comes to an end at the sea. ¹²And the western boundary was the Mediterranean with its coast. This is the boundary surrounding the people of Judah according to their families.

Caleb Occupies His Portion

13 According to the commandment of the Lord to Joshua, he gave to Caleb son of Jephunneh a portion among the people of Judah, Kiriath-arba,^* that is, Hebron (Arba was the father of Anak). ¹⁴And Caleb drove out from there the three sons of Anak: Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak. ¹⁵From there he went up against the inhabitants of Debir; now the name of Debir formerly was Kiriath-sepher. ¹⁶And Caleb said, ‘Whoever attacks Kiriath-sepher and takes it, to him I will give my daughter Achsah as wife.’ ¹⁷Othniel son of Kenaz, the brother of Caleb, took it; and he gave him his daughter Achsah as wife. ¹⁸When she came to him, she urged him to ask her father for a field. As she dismounted from her donkey, Caleb said to her, ‘What do you want?’ ¹⁹She said to him, ‘Give me a present; since you have set me in the land of the Negeb, give me springs of water as well.’ So Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.