Joshua Chapter 14
JOSHUA CHAPTER 14 (VERSES 6 TO 14)
Then the children of Judah came to Joshua in Gilgal. And Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You know the word which the LORD said 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 back word to him as it was in my heart. Nevertheless my brethren who went up with me made the heart of the people melt, but I wholly followed the LORD my God. So Moses swore on that day, saying, ‘Surely the land where your foot has trodden shall be your inheritance and your children’s forever because you have wholly followed the LORD my God.’ And now behold, the LORD has kept me alive, as He said, these forty-five years, ever since the LORD spoke this word to Moses while Israel wandered in the wilderness; and now, here I am this day, eighty-five years old. As yet I am as strong this day as on the day that Moses sent me; just as my strength was then, so now is my strength for war, both for going out and for coming in. Now therefore, give me this mountain of which the LORD spoke in that day; for you heard in that day how the Anakim were there, and that the cities were great and fortified. It may be that the LORD will be with me, and I shall drive them out as the LORD said.” (vs. 6-12)
“And Joshua blessed him, and gave Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephunneh as an inheritance. Hebron therefore became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite to this day; because he wholly followed the LORD God of Israel.” (vs. 13 &14)
COMMENTARY:
1. Caleb the son of Jephunneh of the tribe of Judah was one of the two spies, the other being Joshua, who returned with the twelve spies from spying out the land of Canaan. The twelve returned with a cluster of grapes carried between two of them on a pole, pomegranates and figs.
They said to Moses, “We went to the land where you sent us. It truly flows with milk and honey and this is its fruit. Nevertheless the people who dwell in the land are strong; the cities are fortified and very large; moreover we saw the descendants of Anak. Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, “Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.”
However the other ten said to the people, “The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”
They said, “We are not able to go up against the people for they are stronger than we.” And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out. So the people said to one another, “Let us select a leader and return to Egypt.”
Caleb and Joshua tore their clothes and spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, “The land which we passed through to spy out is a good land. If the LORD delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land which flows with milk and honey. Only do not rebel against the LORD, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread; their protection has departed from them, and the LORD is with us. Do not fear them.” (Num. 13:21-33; 14:4-9).
Caleb was forty-five years old when he was sent with the twelve to spy out the land of Canaan.
Forty years later, when Caleb was eighty-five years old, when the Israelites had crossed the Jordan and entered the promised land of Canaan and were driving out tribes of the Canaanites, Caleb asked Joshua to give him Hebron as his possession, the land of mountains where the descendants of Anak dwelt. That mountainous land was difficult to take possession and the descendants of Anak whom Caleb had to drive out were giants.
Nevertheless Caleb had courage through his faith in the LORD as he had forty-five years earlier, when he encouraged the congregation of the children of Israel to enter and take possession of the land of Canaan, even though the people who dwelt there were strong and their cities fortified; also descendants of Anak lived among them.
Caleb and Joshua said, “If the LORD delights in us, He will bring us into the land, a land which flows with milk and honey.”
The words of Caleb before Moses and the children of Israel were of his heart when he said, “Let us go up at once and take possession for we are well able to overcome it” and “If the LORD delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land which flows with milk and honey. Only do not rebel against the LORD, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread; their protection has departed from them, and the LORD is with us. Do not fear them.”
Caleb though eighty-five years old yet was as strong as the day that Moses sent him forty-five years earlier; just as his strength was then, so was his strength for war, when he asked Joshua to give him Hebron in the land of mountains for a possession. Caleb trusted the LORD that He would be with him to drive the inhabitants and descendants of Anak out as the LORD had said (Josh. 14:12)
TEACHINGS:
1. In the ministry of the gospel of salvation to the whole creation.
The Lord Jesus Christ said, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. He who believes and is baptised will be saved ……….” (Mark 16:16). “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the ages.”(Matt. 28:19-20)
a. True Jesus Church believers ought to have faith and obedience to the command of our Lord Jesus Christ to go into all the world and preach the gospel.
Nevertheless there will be many obstacles and difficulties yet like Caleb, we must be courageous and work diligently in the ministry of the gospel. If the Lord delights in us, He shall give us the souls of many people to save and hearts of the God-fearing to plant the seed of eternal life. (I Cor.3:6-9)
b. Workers of the gospel in the True Jesus Church must have faith to trust in the Lord God to fight the good fight of faith and snatch souls from the fire. (I Tim. 6:12; Jude vs.22-23)
2. In the pursuit of eternal life and the continuance in the salvation grace of Christ Jesus.
a. “And Moses indeed was faithful in all His house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which would be spoken afterward, but Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house we are, if we hold fast the confidence and rejoicing of the hope firm to the end.” (Heb. 3:6)
We have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.” (Heb. 4:14)
b. The promise of the Lord Jesus Christ received when we first believed and were baptized that He shall be our God and we His people and special treasure, hold firm and hold fast to the first confidence. Conduct ourselves in holiness and godliness to abide in the grace of salvation and eternal life (I Pet. 2:9; Tit. 2:11-14).
Do not because of old age and loss of good health lose our confidence in Jesus Christ the Son of God-the great High Priest who is able to sympathise with our weaknesses and save to the end. (Heb. 2:17-18; 4:15-16)