Thought from today’s Bible reading from Joshua 12-15.
Caleb was one of the twelve spies who believed the Israelites could conquer the land of Canaan because God was with them. Though he and Joshua were unable to convince the people, he was promised an inheritance in the land. After the land was divided among the tribes, Caleb asked Joshua to grant him what he was promised.
“You know the word which the Lord spoke to Moses the man of God concerning you and me in Kadesh-barnea. I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh-barnea to spy out the land, and I brought word back to him as it was in my heart. Nevertheless my brethren who went up with me made the heart of the people melt with fear; but I followed the Lord my God fully. So Moses swore on that day, saying, ‘Surely the land on which your foot has trodden will be an inheritance to you and your children forever, because you have followed the Lord my God fully.’
“Now behold, the Lord has let me live, just as He spoke, these forty-five years, from the time that the Lord spoke this word to Moses, when Israel walked in the wilderness; and now behold, I am eighty-five years old today. […] Now then, give me this hill country about which the Lord spoke on that day, for you heard on that day that Anakim were there, with great fortified cities; perhaps the Lord will be with me, and I will drive them out as the Lord has spoken” (Joshua 14:6-12).
Caleb had waited forty-five years to receive the promised inheritance. Even then, it would take work to drive out the current inhabitants of the land. Yet he was willing to do this, despite his old age. He put his trust in God that He would be with him.
“Now he gave to Caleb the son of Jephunneh a portion among the sons of Judah, according to the command of the Lord to Joshua, […]. Caleb drove out from there the three sons of Anak: Sheshai and Ahiman and Talmai, the children of Anak” (Joshua 15:13-14).
There was an inheritance for Caleb, but he needed to exhibit certain characteristics to obtain it.
- He needed to have patience in order to wait for God’s promises.
- He needed to have diligence in order to complete the work which he was responsible to do.
- He needed to have faith in order to put his complete trust in God.
Tomorrow’s reading: Joshua 16-18
[I’m using the Chronological reading plan on the Bible Gateway website if you’d like to follow along, too.]
Daily Notes & Observations contains all 365 articles from this series and is available in paperback from Gospel Armory.
