Caleb: Three Demonstrations Of Faith

by Toms, A. F. | Category: General | Oct 1995

Faith to Conquer:

The first time we read of Caleb is in Numbers 13 when he was chosen as one of the princes to spy out the land. He represented his tribe, Judah. He was a prince by nature as well as by rank; a princely man of faith. Like his ten brethren, he also saw the great stature of the people of the land and their fenced cities. He saw the giants too. But he saw beyond, for faith always takes a long distance view. He saw the Lord who had promised to give them the land and was waiting to fulfil His promise. 'If the LORD delight in us, then He will bring us into this land, and give it unto us' (Num. 14:8). That was the 'if, of argument, not of doubt. There was no question that the Lord delighted in them. Had He not delivered them from the tyranny of Egypt, divided the Red Sea, fed them with daily manna and provided a pillar of fire and cloud to guide them by night and day? The whole matter was as clear as daylight to Caleb's faith and he stood courageously by his convictions, even at the risk of being stoned. 'Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is an everlasting rock' (Is. 26:4). This man of faith stood firm as a rock!

Faith to Endure:

We do not read of him again until they came into the land and once more he was chosen as one of the princes to assist in dividing it up. Joshua his companion now occupied a more eminent role, as the new leader of God's people, but there was no jealousy on Caleb's part. How do we know? Because he wholly followed the Lord. Moses had said so, but better than that, God said so, and more than once. And God knew his heart. He wholly followed. The word is an interesting one. It carries the thought of being full. His life was literally filled with following the Lord. Had he given place in his heart to any jealousy he would have forfeited that high commendation of the Lord.

Faith to Possess:

On his eighty-fifth birthday he presented himself to Joshua with the request that he be allocated mount Hebron as his possession. He had set his heart on it forty-five years before when he spied out the land. 'Give me this mountain', he said in a soul stirring burst of conquering faith (Josh. 14:12). The Anakim were there, the greatest among the giants. But those giants who filled the hearts of his brethren with terror, served only as a challenge to this man's faith. His heart rested on a word from God. 'I shall drive them out, as the LORD spake' (Josh. 14:12) he said. For forty-five years he had cherished that word. His faith had relied on it. And he did drive them out. The next chapter records the conquest and Caleb spent the closing years of his life in Hebron fellowship with God.

That had been the order of his life, of course. He wholly followed the Lord. Day by day he walked with Him through all those years in the desert. He quietly walked with God. Lesser men might have held a bitterness in their hearts, but not Caleb. Had it not been for his brethren's unbelief he might have enjoyed the blessings of the land all those years. But it would seem that he did not allow such thoughts to distress him unduly. For he said he was as strong at eighty-five years of age as he was at forty, and did not express any bitterness about the long years in the wilderness. Bitterness in the heart, or a grudge, damage the person who holds it far more than the one against whom it is directed. Therefore 'let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and railing, be put away from you, with all malice: and be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other, even as God also in Christ forgave you' (Eph. 4:31,32). Caleb seemed to live by that rule.

'They that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength'. That was the secret of Caleb's strength. 'They shall mount up with wings as eagles' and so he did, at Kadesh-barnea and again at Hebron. Faith soared high on those occasions. But what of those thirty-eight long years in the waste and howling wilderness? Surely those years were an even greater test of his faith. They were. But 'they that wait upon the LORD... shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint'. Caleb proved the truth of that word. Shall we not be encouraged by his faith and ask the Lord's help to do the same?

Toms, A. F. | Oct 1995
General