Caleb’s Courage
Caleb’s courage was first displayed after his return from his spy mission into the Promised Land. He was willing to take a stand with God when the crowd was more than willing to oppose God’s will. As we recall, ten of the spies returned with “bad news”. They stated that taking the land was beyond their ability (Numbers 13:31). Joshua and Caleb reported just the opposite. In fact Caleb, “quieted the people before Moses”, and said, “Let us go up at once, and occupy it; for we are well able to overcome it” (Numbers 13:30 – ESV). He also said, “If the Lord delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us” (Numbers 14:8). Caleb was simply trying to motivate the people to go up and possess the land which God had promised (Genesis 17:8). They in turn desired to kill him (Numbers 14:10). Think about it! These people would rather have killed Caleb than listen to his words of exhortation. Like Caleb, we as faithful followers of God must be prepared to face adversity when we stand for the truth of God’s word. There are those who will oppose us with every fiber of their being before they will submit to God’s will. Do we possess the courage of Caleb? Will we stand with God even if means standing alone?
Understanding Caleb’s Character
The “key” to our understanding of Caleb’s character is found in Numbers 14:24 in the phrase, “different spirit” (ESV). We too must possess a “different” spirit in order to be pleasing to God. Many in the Lord’s church must come to grips with the fact that we are not like everyone else. Standing for the truth will not be popular with those of the world (John 15:19; John 17:14; 1 John 3:13). Too many Christians are more concerned about “what everyone else thinks” than “what God thinks”.
2 years ago
From the reports of the spies to the Promise Land, we can learn that two groups of people are in assembly of Israel - for God and against God.
ReplyDeleteThe first group, they go against Moses, God's representative among the Israelites.
The second group, they pro to God's promise to occupy the Promise Land.
Referring to the number of people in the two groups, most of them agree to the group that against Moses while only a few of them pro to Caleb.
So it is with the present situation of the world. Most of the people prefer to follow the world which is contradict to God's will compared to those seeking God. We tend to search for things that are visible which lead to destruction such as the world pleasures. Only a small numbers are searching for God.
Jesus said, "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow is the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." (Mathew 7:13-14)
Thank you for this reflection on Caleb...any other reflections on Caleb?
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