April, 1945
129
“Hebron therefore became the inheritance of Caleb . . . because that he wholly followed the Lord God of Israel" (Josh. 14: 14). “Because he wholly followed the Lord.” God gives but this reason for the overcoming life of this grand old man from his youth to his old age. The very ■ simplicity of the statement both solemnizes and shames us. Oh that it might send each of us into the presence of our Lord until He can say of us too, “He is one who wholly follows Me.” Perhaps it will help us to see where we fall short if we take a full-length portrait of Caleb, the overcomer, noticing the outstanding features of this rarely devoted life. H* It Was a Life of Faith Caleb’s faith was no common faith, yet it was the faith of a common man. Caleb habitually said, “I be lieve God, that it shall be even as it was told me." Caleb realized the promises because he rested Upon them. He not only claimed the promises of God, but he stood ready to cooperate with God in their fulfillment. He was pre pared to do his part, confident that God would perform His. But there was another aspect of Caleb’s faith. He deeply desired the land. He longed to live there. He anticipated the delights of his own vine and fig tree in Hebron. Therefore his was an appropriating faith because it was an aspiring faith*., At Kadesh-barnea as a young man, his Was a Sur prising faith. Not, many young men would have had the courage to stand out as he did against the ten: other spies and challenge the rebellious, riotous mob to dis regard their report and to go at once to Canaan. In the wilderness all through his middle life it was, a sustained faith. Think of Caleb for forty years, fouru hundred arid eighty , .months;'fourteen thousand and! six hundred days; three hundred and fifty thousand,and! four hundred hours, not faltering in his devotion to the; Lord; keeping eyes, heart, and faith fixed steadfastly/ upon the Giver of Canaan, the Lord of Hebron. In Canaan in his old age it was a superb faith. Can you not see the vibrant eagerness of his whole being as he said to Joshua, “ Give me the mountain where the -Anakim are. I always believed that God was greater than those giants. Forty-fiye years, ago I wanted to prove it. Oh let me prove it now!” Yes, it is no common faith we find in Caleb, yet it is the faith of a common man. Caleb is no spiritual prodigy. If he towers head and shoulders above you and me in respect to faith, let us not seek to excuse ourselves for our lack by thinking it is due to his possession of some intellectual ability or spiritual grace denied the ordinary run of men. The secret spring of Caleb’s faith is to be found in a spiritual grace opened equally to every Christian, “He wholly followed the Lord.” Dear friend, are you still waiting.for your inheritance! in Christ? Longing for your promised Hebron? ThirstingV for the fullness of the Holy Spirit? God is also waiting. He is waiting for. you to believe His Word and by simple faith to ¡claim and take that which He has already given you. Would you not stop reading and do it just now? It Was a Life of Fellowship Caleb found his satisfaction and sufficiency in God Himself. He did not seek it in Egypt or in his fellow companions. Neither was he deterred from it by the carnal life of those with whom he was compelled to associate. Caleb was an other-worldly man. He had “ another spirit with him” which made Go Hebron means “fellowship,” therefore Caleb lived in Hebron even while in the wilderness. He was in_ the wilderness but not o fjt. By intelligent, deliberate choice he hadTaid holdupon Hebron when he entered it as one of the spies and he never went back upon that choice. He then and there yielded himself to God for His will to be done in him, and he never recalled that decision or retreated from that position in his relationship to God. In whom and Where do you find your satisfaction and sufficiency? Have you your Hebron dearer to you than all else besides? Are your affections set on “things above, not on things on the earth?” To you is there “fullness of joy” in the presence of the Lord? It Was a Life of Strength In his youth- at Kadesh-barnea it was the strength of a God-begotten conviction that gave courage to stand and to withstand all Satan-begotten opposition. In his middle life in the wilderness it was the strength of a God-bestowed control that gave constancy to endure in the midst of the most worldly atmosphere and to abide in uninterrupted fellowship with his Lord., In his old age in Canaan it was a God-bequeathed confidence to claim his inheritance, the consummation of all his life’s desire. Throughout his life from its beginning to the end it was the strength of a full-orbed consecration to the living God. Caleb’s life teaches us that God’s strength iri full measure rs at the disposal of all, young and old, who with deliberate intent of purpose choose to do God’s will at all times, at all costs, under all circumstances. Have you, dear reader, young or old, yet taken such a deliberate stand? Have you made the doing of God’s will the rule of your life, allowing no exceptions to the rule? If not, will you not do so this moment, that you too may be the recipient of God’s strength in unlimited measure? It Was a Life of Victory There were two parts to the victory of the children of Israel in Canaan. One was the victory due to possession, The land was to be possessed by treading upon it with their feet. To posses their inheritance they must take it (cf. Josh. 1:3, 11). The other part of the vicjory was due to dispossession. The enemy was to be utterly expelled. The usurpers were to be dispossessed. And Joshua said, “Hereby ye shall know that the living God is among you, and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, and thé Hittites, and the Hivites, and the Perizzites, and the Gergashites, and the Amorites, and the Jebusites” (Josh. 3:10). The land was divided as God had said: Each tribe received its inheritance. But over and over again we read of the failure of each tribe to completely expel the enemy (cf. Josh. 15:63; 16:10). But riot so with Caleb. His victory of dispossession was as complete as that of possession, as we have seen. But why was Caleb able to do this and the others not able? Has God not revealed to us the secret source of Caleb’s victory? “But cleave unto the Lord your God, as ye have done this day. For the Lord hath driven out from before you great nations and strong: but as for you, no man hath been able to stand before you unto this day. One man of you shall chase a thousand: for the Lord your God, he it is that fighteth for you, as he hath promised you. Take heed therefore unto yourselves, that ye love the Lord your God" (Josh. 23:8-11). God fulfilled the promise perfectly because Caleb fulfilled the conditions completely. Then why are we not able to dispossess Satan in our lives? Why do the Canaanites of jealousy, temper, hatred,
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