INTRODUCTION
In the current climate, a large swath of secularists would be nervous if they knew we were considering the conquest of Canaan in the book of Joshua. The remainder would be fascinated as they attempted to understand the Christian way over against their own unbelieving assumptions. Their fascination would not be misplaced, nor their fear. Granted, many of them would speak of a Christian jihad, and we are up to nothing of that sort. But their true fear is the terror of the Lord—the sword of the Spirit—which is more deadly than any earthly blade.
What this means for us is that we should not let the secularists understand the times better than we do. If they understand Joshua is an apt book at this moment, how much more should we?
TEXT (JOSHUA 14:6-15)
Then the children of Judah came unto Joshua in Gilgal: and Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite said unto him, “Thou knowest the thing that the LORD said unto Moses the man of God concerning me and thee in Kadesh-barnea. Forty years old was I when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadesh-barnea to espy out the land; and I brought him word again as it was in mine heart. Nevertheless my brethren that went up with me made the heart of the people melt: but I wholly followed the LORD my God. And Moses sware on that day, saying, Surely the land whereon thy feet have trodden shall be thine inheritance, and thy children’s for ever, because thou hast wholly followed the LORD my God . . .”
SUMMARY OF THE TEXT
At Gilgal, Caleb went before Joshua to remind him of what the LORD said to Moses about him in Kadesh-barnea (v. 6). Caleb was forty years old back then when he went with others to spy out the land of Canaan (v. 7). Caleb followed the LORD fully, but the other spies feared and made the hearts of the people melt (v. 8). As a result, Moses swore that the land where Caleb had walked (which was Hebron) would be his and his children’s inheritance forever (v. 9). Caleb noted that he was still alive at the age of eighty-five, and this according to God’s promises (v. 10). Moreover, he had the same strength for battle that he had when he was forty (v. 11). Caleb asked for Hebron, since the LORD had promised it to him, with confidence that if the LORD would be with him, then he would drive out what remained of the giant Anakims (v. 12). Joshua blessed Caleb and gave him Hebron, and Caleb possessed it as an inheritance because he wholly followed the LORD (vv. 13–14). Hebron used to be named Kirjath-arba, after Arba, the greatest of the giants; but the name of that land changed, and it had rest from war (v. 15).
OBEDIENCE TO THE HILT
Three times we are told that Caleb wholly followed the LORD (vv. 8, 9, 14). The testimony from the book of Numbers has the same phrase and adds that Caleb had another spirit with him—one that was not with the other spies (Numbers 14:24). Wholly following the LORD boils down to the old- fashioned spirit of faith and obedience in the face of obstacles. The lack of this spirit caused the spies to see the giants and fear. The presence of this spirit of obedience made Caleb look at the giants at Hebron and say, “They are bread for us” (Numbers 14:9).
HOW INHERITANCES WORK
The tribes of Israel received their various inheritances, but Caleb’s situation is unique because he was ready for his forty-five years earlier. You can imagine him asking the Lord back then, when he was ready to enter Canaan, “Can I skip out on the wilderness wandering?” But the answer was no. Caleb had to wait for his inheritance—and he had to wait while exercising that spirit of obedience the whole time.
An inheritance is the kind of thing that is out in front of you until it is not. But wholly following the Lord is not dependent upon receiving the inheritance. Receiving the inheritance is dependent upon wholly following the Lord. The man who waits around to trust and obey the Lord, insisting that he will do it right after he has received the promise, is like a man who says he will climb the mountain right after he enjoys the view from the summit.
ARBA TO HEBRON
The land that Caleb inherited used to be named after a great one among the giants, Arba. But the land was rightly renamed Hebron—a word meaning “association” or “league.” Abraham built an altar in Hebron some four hundred years earlier as God covenanted with him and his children (Genesis 13:18). Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were buried in Hebron. Caleb took that land not as an act of selfishness to exalt his own name like Arba, or like those in the days of Babel who sought to make a name for themselves (Genesis 11:4). But Caleb drove giants from that land, for God had promised it to his fathers, and to him, and to his children. Hebron would be designated a city of refuge (Joshua 21:13) and a place for Levites (1 Chronicles 6:55). Hebron was a land of covenant promise for covenant people. This is a reminder to us—a reminder about why we are here.
Trust in the LORD, and do good; So shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed . . . For evildoers shall be cut off: But those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth (Psalm 37:3, 9).
How do we know we will inherit the earth? Because our Caleb has—and we in Him. Like Caleb of old, He wholly followed the LORD, wandered in the wilderness tempted by the serpent, walked through the River Jordan, conquered Canaan, and has turned this place of high rebellion into a land of priests and refugees.