Topic: Finish Well (Joshua 14)
Caleb was a man who finished well. It is a great thing to finish well. Paul tells of his fear of finishing up his life as a wicked old man on one of God’s rubbish dumps, of being a “Castaway” (1 Corinthians 9:27). Many people have started well but have not finished well. Solomon started well, King Saul started well, Lot started well, and Demas started well. John Phillips says, “The Bible is strewn with the wreckage of people who started well but ended as castaways.”
This passage centers on a man called Caleb. Caleb was a part of Israel when they left Egypt. He was there when God divided the waters of the Red Sea. By the way, Israel crossing the Red Sea is a picture of salvation. Free from bondage and free from Pharaoh.
What was it that enabled this 85-year-old man to possess that which God had promised him? Caleb pictures the Christian who is willing to pay the price, fight the battles and win the victory that God has waiting for him.
Caleb followed the Lord – Joshua 14:8-9, 14
Note the repeated phrase "followed the Lord fully." This is said about Caleb six times in the Old Testament. It is a phrase that means "to close the gap." It refers to the fact that Caleb was committed to keeping the distance between himself and the Lord at a minimum. Every inch, every ounce, every nerve, every fiber of Caleb belonged to God.
Caleb believed the Lord – Joshua 14:12
What was it that gave 85 year-old Caleb the idea he could be a giant killer? Caleb’s confidence was in God’s word. Deuteronomy 1:34-36, “Then the Lord heard the sound of your words, and He was angry and took an oath, saying, ‘Not one of these men, this evil generation, shall see the good land which I swore to give your fathers, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and to him and to his sons I will give the land on which he has set foot, because he has followed the Lord fully.” Caleb had seen the Promised Land and while others complained, Caleb looked for a mountain where milk and honey flowed. He was able to see beyond his circumstances into the promises of the Lord. Faith is more than saying that you believe; it is acting on what you believe (Numbers 13). Hebrews 11:1,“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
Caleb had to overcome three obstacles:
1. He had to overcome grasshoppers (Numbers 13:33). For Caleb to claim what God had promised he had to go against the majority. There will always be someone saying that it can’t be done, it’s never been done like that before, we can’t afford it, etc.
2. He had to overcome giants (Numbers. 14:8-9). All of us have giants in our lives but Caleb had physical giants, the size of Goliath (I Samuel 17).
3. He had to overcome gray hairs (Joshua 14:10-11). What does this tell us? When God makes a promise, age is not an issue. He will give us the strength to see its fulfilment! True faith looks beyond the present circumstance and sees the provision of the Almighty!
Caleb teaches us the difference between a promise and a possession is an action of faith! God promised Israel the land, but they had to possess it before it became theirs. God has victory for His children, that is His promise. However, that promise must be actively pursued by faith and possessed before it ever becomes a reality.
See you Sunday!
Dr. Scott Kallem