I was impressed this morning with the faith of Caleb. No, not my friend from St. Cloud (sorry Caleb), but the Biblical Caleb. Hebrews 6:12 tells us that through faith and patience we inherit the promises. Most of Caleb's life that we see in the Scriptures is an exercise of faith and patience.
Many of you know probably know the story. In case you don't, here's a quick summary: Shortly after passing through the Red Sea and being delivered from Egypt, Israel was in the wilderness. God tells Moses to select 12 men, each a leader from one of the tribes of Israel, and send them into the land of Canaan (the promised land) to spy it out and bring back a report of the land and its people. Caleb was one of those men. After 40 days of exploring, the 12 returned to the camp of Israel to give their report. They all agreed that the land was good, but most feared the people of the land, though God had already delivered them from the mightiest kingdom (Egypt) and had promised to subdue the Canaanite nations before them as well. Only Caleb and Joshua believed God's promise to subdue those nations and give Israel the land. The others feared the Canaanite people and rebelled against Moses and Aaron (and ultimately God). To make a long story short, God destroyed those that brought back the bad report and rebelled, and vowed that that generation of Israel, who joined the others in their disbelief, would die in the wilderness and not enter the promised land. 40 years, He said, they would wander in the wilderness - one year for every day they were in the land spying it out - until that generation all died off. Only Joshua and Caleb would enter the land because, as the Lord said, "My servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly..."
All that is background to bring us to Joshua 14 - 45 years later. Joshua is now leading the Israelites, and they are, indeed, beginning to take the promised land. Caleb approaches Joshua and says to him,
"Now then, just as the Lord promised, He has kept me alive for forty-five years since the time He said this to Moses, while Israel moved about in the wilderness. So, here I am today, eighty-five years old! I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I'm just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then. Now give me this hill country that the Lord promised me that day. You yourself heard then that the Anakites were there and their cities were large and fortified, but, the Lord helping me, I will drive them out just as He said."
Imagine wandering around in the wilderness, getting older year by year for forty years, forty-five years, awaiting the fulfillmet of the promise. Our natural inclination (contrary to faith) in situations like this is to doubt - even when we've received the word of the Lord! You think to yourself, "I know God said He would kill off this generation and then I would inherit the land, but maybe that word wasn't even really God; maybe it was just Moses' word but not the word of God " or, "I was the one who came back with a good report - I'm not the one who doubted God, so why do I have to wait?" or, "Sure, forty years from now, but what good is receiving the promise going to do me then - I'll be 85! Too old to really benefit from it anyways." or "(insert your own doubt/fear/anxiety/complaint/excuse here_____)."
Though we're not told exactly what Caleb went through during those forty years, we can assume that, like the other heroes of faith, he "considered Him (God) faithful who had made the promise." Our faith is more than a passive wish; it is a confident trust and expectation that illicits a response from people of faith back to God. Those who believe God's promise prepare themselves to receive what God has promised. Again, that's why Hebrews 6:12, the verse about inheriting the promises through faith and patience begins by saying "We do not want you to become lazy, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised. Lazy, wishful thinking is not faith. We see the fruit of Caleb's faith in v. 11 "I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I'm just as vigorous to go out into battle now as I was then." Caleb did not become lazy while waiting for the promise of God. No, he remained wholehearted and full of faith towards the promise of God and prepared himself physically to take the land he expected to receive. As James wrote of Abraham, the same is true of Caleb "You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did."
The wise farmer who is believing for rain and a harvest to follow prepares their field and plants their seed; the farmer who believes for rain and a harvest but does not prepare their field or sow their seed is a fool. This same principle is seen in Proverbs 28:19 "Those who work their land will have abundant food, but those who chase fantasies will have their fill of poverty."
So may we also receive what God has promised us through faith and patience.
