Ein Gedi, Israel, photo by Rob Bye from Unsplash.com
Imagine how the scene plays out as the spies report back on the Promised Land.
27-29 “We went to the land to which you sent us and, oh! It does flow with milk and honey! Just look at this fruit! The only thing is that the people who live there are fierce, their cities are huge and well fortified. Worse yet, we saw descendants of the giant Anak. Amalekites are spread out in the Negev; Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites hold the hill country; and the Canaanites are established on the Mediterranean Sea and along the Jordan.”
30 Caleb interrupted, called for silence before Moses and said, “Let’s go up and take the land—now. We can do it.”
31-33 But the others said, “We can’t attack those people; they’re way stronger than we are.” They spread scary rumors among the People of Israel. They said, “We scouted out the land from one end to the other—it’s a land that swallows people whole. Everybody we saw was huge. Why, we even saw the Nephilim giants (the Anak giants come from the Nephilim). Alongside them we felt like grasshoppers. And they looked down on us as if we were grasshoppers.” (The Book of Joshua, Chapter 13, Verses 27-33, The Message, BibleGateway.com)
Photo by Gouthaman Raveendran from Unsplash.com
Imagine this scene! In front of CinC Moses, peers in G-2 (the other spies), the rest of the army, and all the taxpayers, Caleb Promise Owner Extreme stands up, cuts short the chatter, and says, Let’s get after it! Well, what happened is history. The people did not pay attention to Caleb nor to his bud Joshua. So you hear from this guy again 45 years later:
Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite spoke: “You’ll remember what God said to Moses the man of God concerning you and me back at Kadesh Barnea. I was forty years old when Moses the servant of God sent me from Kadesh Barnea to spy out the land. And I brought back an honest and accurate report. My companions who went with me discouraged the people, but I stuck to my guns, totally with God, my God. That was the day that Moses solemnly promised, ‘The land on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance, you and your children’s, forever. Yes, you have lived totally for God.’ Now look at me: God has kept me alive, as he promised. It is now forty-five years since God spoke this word to Moses, years in which Israel wandered in the wilderness. And here I am today, eighty-five years old! I’m as strong as I was the day Moses sent me out. I’m as strong as ever in battle, whether coming or going. So give me this hill country that God promised me. You yourself heard the report, that the Anakim were there with their great fortress cities. If God goes with me, I will drive them out, just as God said.” (The Book of Joshua, Chapter 14, Verses 6-12, The Message, BibleGateway.com.
Is this extreme ownership of a promise, or what? Forty-five years later!! So at the age altitude where I fly now, Caleb is my hero. But Caleb can be a hero for anybody who wants to just get up and get after it.
Most of us, maybe all of us, face some giant problems: internationally, politically, financially, at work, and at home! As for me, sometimes I really do feel like a grasshopper in front of giants. Guess what, though! Caleb got his land, but not on a silver platter. He did not back down in front of public pressure. He did not give up for 45 years. Let’s don’t let the giants make us flop down and roll over. My hope is to go for it sword in hand. I think if we all do the same the giants will turn and beat it out of Dodge.
If you can manage a click over to BibleGateway.com, the audio recording of The Message by Kelly Ryan Dolan is well worth the trip. Meanwhile, if you need some motivation, check out the following (Yep, I do make a little if you buy, but not enough yet to buy frijoles for a week):
