Before we turn to Joshua chapter
14 tonight, would you look at Numbers chapter 13 with me, please? Numbers chapter 13. When I was young, there was a
boy in my neighborhood that I grew up with. He was two or three
years older than me. Hanging out with him often got
me in trouble. And my mother said to me, and
now I know that it's an old saying, I thought it was original with
her at the time. My mother had all the sayings,
as maybe your mother did too, but she said, if you can't run
with the big dogs, you better stay on the porch. Meaning best
not to attempt doing what others are doing if you don't want to
face the consequences. And she was right. She was right. In our study of Joshua tonight,
we are reintroduced again to a man named Caleb. His name means
dog, faithful dog, but dog nonetheless. We've talked about Caleb many
times. And Caleb was a big dog who got
off the porch. But he didn't cause trouble or
worry or anxiety for others. He tried to prevent it. And I
suppose most everyone's familiar with the story found here in
Numbers chapter 13. Moses sent 12 men from each tribe
to spy out the land of promise, the land of Canaan. And according
to verse 25, those 12 spies returned from searching of the land after
40 days. And in verse 26, and they went
and came to Moses and to Aaron and to all the congregation of
the children of Israel and to the wilderness of Paran to Kadesh
and brought back word into them and into all the congregation
and showed them the fruit of the land. And they told him and
said, we came into the land whither thou sentest us and surely it
floweth with milk and honey as this is the fruit of it. We're
told in another place that it took two men with a big pole
to carry the grapes that they brought. Just an amazing exhibit
of fruit and profit in the land. And then they said, nevertheless,
you know, that's a wonderful word, but sometimes it's not
so wonderful depending on how it's used. Nevertheless, the
people be strong that dwell in the land and the cities are walled
and very great. And moreover, we saw the children
of Anak there, giants. And the Amalekites dwell in the
land of the south and the Hittites and the Jebusites and the Amorites
dwell in the mountains and the Canaanites dwell by the sea and
by the coast of Jordan. And Caleb steeled the people
before Moses and said, let us go up at once and possess it
for we are well able to overcome it. Faithful dog. Now it seems that something happens
here between verses 29 and 30, though we're not directly told
about it. It's somewhat obvious that the
people of Israel were stirred, they became upset and unsettled,
for why else would Caleb have need to have stilled, hushed,
silenced, and calmed the people? Many of the old commentators
believed that unbelieving Israel were coming after Moses with
more murmur and mutiny. Many of these commentators believed
that they would have tore Moses apart had Caleb not intervened
and stilled and calmed them. How did Caleb still the people?
He spoke out of the abundance of his heart. And what a picture
this is here of preaching the gospel. We in faith, believing,
tell people the truth about God and His Christ. That's the only
thing that can calm the soul of a child of God. He said with
great faith and confidence, let us go up at once and possess
the land. God gave it to us. That's preaching
the gospel, isn't it? Everything comes from God's hand.
God gave it to us, and we are well able in Him to overcome. That's what He's saying. Overcome
what? Overcome who? Well, verse 31
tells us. But the men that went up with
him said, we'd be not able to go up against the people for
they are stronger than we. And they brought up an evil report
of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel saying,
the land through which we have gone to search it is a land that
eateth up the inhabitants thereof. And all the people that we saw
in it are men of great stature. And there we saw the giants,
the sons of Anak. which come of the giants. And
we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, so we were in their sight." Now
look at chapter 14, verse one. And all the congregation lifted
up their voice and cried, and the people wept that night. And
all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron.
And the whole congregation said unto them, would God that we
had died in the land of Egypt, or would God we had died in this
wilderness, And wherefore hath the Lord brought us unto this
land to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should
be a prey? Were it not better for us to
return unto Egypt? And they said one to another,
let us make a captain and let us return unto Egypt. And what
a picture that is of us by nature. We're all about making and doing
something ourselves, aren't we? Let us make a captain, let us
return. We're all about returning to
our sin, like a pig to the mire and a dog to its vomit. Verse five, then Moses and Aaron
fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation
and the children of Israel. And Joshua, the son of Nun, and
Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that searched
the land, ripped their clothes. And they, Joshua and Caleb, spake
unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, the land which
we pass through to search it is an exceeding good land. And
if the Lord delight in us, then he will bring us into this land
and give it us a land which floweth with milk and honey. Only rebel
not ye against the Lord, neither fear ye the people of the land,
for they are bred for us. We'll eat them up like a sandwich. Their defense is departed from
them. They have no defense, and the
Lord is with us. Fear them not." Boy, that's the
gospel. But all the congregation bade
stone them with stones. And the glory of the Lord appeared
in the tabernacle of the congregation before all the children of Israel.
And the Lord said unto Moses, how long will this people provoke
me? And how long will it be ere they
believe me for all the signs which I have showed among them?
I will smite them with the pestilence and disinherit them and will
make of thee a greater nation and mightier than they. We can't
help but to read these verses and think to ourselves, unbelief,
such a wicked thing. Unbelief really is. When we see
who God is, who this book proclaims God to be, we ought to believe. We ought to bow down and say,
Lord, there's no God other than Thee. There's none like Thee.
Glorious and holiness. Faith is such a wonderful thing. Man is responsible for the unbelief,
and then God is responsible for one's faith. We know that faith
is not of ourselves. It's a gift of God. It's not
according to our works. And that's why I think this is
so wonderful. It's given to those who don't
deserve it at all. Two men, two, not just out of
10, or out of 12, two out of 12, but out of the millions that
left Egypt by God's mighty deliverance of them, only two believe God. Only two. Well, I suppose Abraham
and Moses and Aaron also. Joshua and Caleb. Joshua, whose
name means Savior, He's a type of our Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ. And Caleb, whose name means dog, a type and picture
of the believer. These things aren't new. We've
talked about these things several times, but I never grow tired
of hearing about them. It's just such a wonderful picture
of the gospel. And Joshua 14, look there with
me now, if you would. In verse six, we pick up our
story here 40 plus years later, probably 45 years later. And in verse six, Joshua 14,
then the children of Judah came unto Joshua in Gilgal, and Caleb,
the son of Jephunneh, the Kenizzite, said unto him, Thou knowest the
thing that the Lord said unto Moses, the man of God concerning
me and thee in Kadesh Barnea, Kadesh Barnea. Forty years old
was I when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh
Barnea to spy out the land and I brought him word again as it
was in mine heart." Well, Joshua knew this, he was right there
with him. He said, nevertheless, my brethren that went up with
me made the heart of the people melt. But I wholly followed the
Lord my God. And Moses swear on that day saying,
surely the land wherein thy feet hath trodden shall be thine inheritance. and thy children's forever, because
thou hast wholly followed the Lord my God." That's what Moses,
or the Lord said through Moses, would be better said. Verse 10,
and now, behold, the Lord hath kept me alive. As he said, these 40 and five
years, ever since the Lord spake this word unto Moses, while the
children of Israel wandered in the wilderness, and now, lo,
I am this day fourscore and five years old, 85 years old. As yet, I am as strong this day
as I was in the day that Moses sent me. As my strength was then,
even so is my strength now. for war, both to go out and to
come in. Now therefore, give me this mountain,
whereof the Lord spake in that day, for thou heardest in that
day how the Anacoms were there, and that the cities were great
and fenced. If so be the Lord will be with me, then I will
be able to drive them out as the Lord said." Faithful dog. And Joshua blessed him and gave
unto Caleb, the son of Jephenah, Hebron for an inheritance. And
Hebron therefore became the inheritance of Caleb, the son of Jephenah,
and the Kenizzite unto this day, because that he wholly followed
the Lord God of Israel. Caleb stands as an example of
faithfulness. The report of the 10 spies caused
Israel's heart to melt. They cried all the night. But
Caleb stood strong, and he stood valiant, and he stood determined. Like Abraham, Caleb staggered
not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith,
giving glory to God, being fully persuaded. Fully persuaded, that's
what faith is. Fully persuaded. Of what? That what he, God promised, he
was able to perform. Romans 4.21. Now Caleb here comes
to Joshua to possess what God through Moses had promised him.
And God through Moses promised in Deuteronomy chapter one, verse
35, I won't turn you there, but this is what he promised. Surely
there shall not one of these men of this evil generation see
that that good land, which I swear to give unto your fathers, save
or accept, Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, he shall see it, and
to him will I give the land that he hath trodden upon, and to
his children, because he hath wholly followed the Lord. Also
the Lord was angry with me for your sakes, Moses said, saying,
Thou also shalt not go in thither. And Moses didn't. But Joshua,
the son of Nun, which standeth before thee, he shall go in thither,
encourage him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it. And that's
what we've seen in the previous chapters of this beautiful book
of Joshua. Now, how beautiful is it that
Caleb comes with others of the tribe of Judah? This is his family. You see, the promise to the eldest
is the same as the promise to the youngest. Salvation by the
person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ is the same inheritance
for both young and old. The same inheritance for all
who are bought with the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. The
promise of God wasn't to Caleb only, but also to his seed with
him. And these men, these others of
the tribe of Judah, they didn't come with Caleb as moral support. They came also for their inheritance. They too were the children of
promise. The land that had been promised to Caleb was the land
of the Anacoms, the land of the giants. And look at what Caleb
declared in verse 11. He said, as yet I am as strong
this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me. And my strength
was then, even so is my strength now, for war, both to go out
and to come in. Now, somebody may view these
words as to be arrogant and proud, but not so when based upon the
promise of God. Tim James wrote in his commentary
on this chapter that assurance in Christ is wrong only if it's
wrong to believe God. Our assurance is not in ourselves. Our assurance is in what God
has done. Assurance is presumptuous and
false if it does not rest wholly upon the promise of God. No truer words have been spoken.
Caleb's did, it was the Lord Jehovah who testified of the
faithfulness of Caleb in Numbers chapter 14 when he said, but
my servant Caleb, because he hath another spirit with him
and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land where
into he went and his seed shall possess it. Caleb's spirit is
considered another spirit in contrast to the spirit of the
other 10 spies. They went out to see if they
could themselves possess the land. And when they got there
and they saw the fenced cities, and they saw the giants, and
they saw the mighty warriors of all the Hittites, they said,
well, we don't stand a chance. We're as grasshoppers compared
to them. But when Caleb went to examine
what God had already given them, oh, it was a big, big difference.
Big difference. The ten spies went looking within. and returned in fear and failure.
But Caleb, oh, he went in the spirit of faith, and he returned
with great confidence and assurance. Not in himself, but in his God,
who had promised and had already given them the land. The Lord
had told them time and time again, I've delivered all the enemies
for you. I'm gonna take care of it. Caleb
believed God. God is faithful, that promised. Do we really believe that? Oh,
if so, why do we worry and fret so much? Lord, help me not to
worry and fret so much. The ten spies viewed the land
as belonging to the Canaanites. Caleb viewed the land as belonging
to him. That's right. He didn't look
to some power within. He looked outwardly to the Almighty
God who had already given to them the land. Caleb followed
the Lord fully. Do we? May the Lord help us to. How do we overcome? By the blood
of the lamb and the word of the testimony. We love not our lives
unto the death. Caleb said, let's go. Let's thrust them out. It's ours. Let's take it. And
he didn't worry about death. He knew death would be a promotion. And we, like Caleb, do not have
the same spirit as the world, friend. We have faith, we have
confidence, and we have total assurance that what the Lord
of hosts has sworn and thought shall come to pass. And what
the Lord has purposed, it shall stand." Isaiah 14, 24. And in
a day when many have not because they ask not, that's what James
said, and when they do ask, they ask amiss to consume what they're
asking for upon their lust. It's never presumptuous to approach
the Lord on the basis of His covenant promise. It's not only
not wrong, it's reasonable and sure. Lord, you promised, therefore,
therefore. That's exactly what we have pictured
in this account. It's a beautiful picture of the
child of God seeking the Lord's face. and looking for Him alone
to fulfill His promise to us. Lord, you said it. You said that
you sent Christ into the world. It's a faithful saying and worthy
of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world to
save sinners. Lord, I'm a sinner. I qualify for this salvation. I'm a sinner. A child of God
knows they're not worthy. They don't make demands on God. They do not trust in their ability
to perform anything or do anything. They simply confess what the
Lord has done and finished for them. And Caleb only said what
God himself had said about him, but I wholly followed the Lord
my God. Oh, may that be said of this
dog. In verse seven, Caleb said concerning
his return with the spies, and I brought word again, now look
at this, as it was in my heart. To wholly follow the Lord, it's
a heart matter. The heart of Caleb was a heart
of faith. He saw the same things the other spies saw. But Caleb
saw them differently, didn't he? He saw them with the eyes
of faith. Caleb professed the Word of God. In his heart, he knew that the
Lord had given them the land, and that's what he confessed.
He said, the Lord is with us. Fear them not. Oh, the next time
something causes us fear, may these words come to our remembrance. The Lord is with us. Fear not
them. Child of God, trials and tribulations
are coming. Trouble and affliction are promised.
With much tribulation, we enter God's kingdom. But this too is
promised. The Lord is with us. Fear them
not. Fear them not. Fear what not?
The trials and the tribulations. Beloved, death is coming for
each of us. It's coming. Oh, it's sure. It's
appointed unto man once to die. And after this, the judgment. But the Lord is with us. Fear
neither death nor judgment, because the Lord is with us. Fear them
not. Now nearly 85 years old, Caleb
remembers God's promise to him 45 years before. He's not boasting. He's not being
arrogant. He's simply saying 45 years have
passed, and the Lord has preserved me. I'm as strong now as I was
then, and His strength wasn't from working out. It was by what
God had worked in. For him not to be strong enough
to take the land and the enemies that possessed it would mean
that God's promise was a lie. And that's never so, because
God cannot lie. Caleb's confession is, behold,
the Lord hath kept me alive. And you know what? That's what
all of us can say. Until we take our last breath,
it's the Lord that's kept us alive. He's given us every breath,
every heartbeat comes from Him. It was the Lord that preserved
His strength. It's the same with us. We don't
trust in our own strength, we trust in the strength of God's
promise to us. We persevere only because God
preserves us. This 85-year-old man rested in
God's promises. And when we see that, you know,
the giants that we face in this life, they're nothing, nothing
compared to God. There are a lot of giants, aren't
there? But we don't fear them because the Lord is with us.
Caleb had waited 45 years for the fulfillment of God's promise
to him. And this is amazing in and of
itself. Brother Montgomery used to say, we live in a microwave
society. We want it fast and we want it
now. But they that wait upon the Lord. Listen, that word wait,
you know what it means in the Hebrew? Look. Those that look upon the Lord
shall renew their strength. Strength. I'm as strong now as
45 years ago because the Lord has preserved me. Those who look
upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up
with wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary,
and they shall walk and not faint, Isaiah 40, 31. When we wait,
when we look upon the Lord like children upon their parents to
provide their every need, that's how we look to the Lord. You
provide everything for me, Lord. Well, I worked, brother. He gave
you the health to work. He gave you the sense and the
mental capacity to work and to hold a job. Everything, he's
the first cause of everything. Everything comes from him. We
look to our parents when we were young for everything. We look
to do them honor. We look to obey their commands,
their wishes. We look to receive all our provisions
from them. like servants look to their masters.
We look to the Lord to know His pleasure. We look to the Lord
to do His work. We look to the Lord for His instruction. And in looking, our strength
is renewed. We shall run and not be weary.
We hasten to God's commandments. We run with delight and pleasure
without weariness. We run with patience the race
that is set before us. How do you run with patience?
You wait on the Lord. You look to the Lord. You trust
in the Lord. You know the Lord's gonna do
all things well. We shall walk and not think. We trust in Christ alone. We
don't sink under the burden of sin. We're not weary and well-doing. We walk steadily to the mark
of the high calling, which is in the Lord Jesus Christ. We
know that because he has promised that everything is gonna be all
right. What a lesson this is for me. Caleb believed his own
report. By God's grace, so do I. I believe
these things that I preach. Not as I should, not as I ought,
but I do believe them. Lord, help thou my unbelief,
but I believe them. Now look at verse 13 again with
me. The Lord fulfills his promise to Caleb. God always fulfills
his promises. Why? Do you know? Because he's
faithful to the promise. Verse 13, and Joshua blessed
him and gave unto Caleb the son of Jephunneh, Hebron for an inheritance. Hebron therefore became the inheritance
of Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, the Kenizzite unto this day because
that he wholly followed the Lord God of Israel. Now in the history
of Israel, Hebron was a very important place. It became a
city of refuge, one of the cities of refuge. It was the home of
the priest of God. It later became the royal city
of King David. Hebron was the city of Judah,
picturing that resting place of spirits of just men made perfect. What a picture Hebron is of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Hebron was Caleb's inheritance,
meaning that Christ was Caleb's inheritance. Christ is our inheritance,
dear friend. Hebron's a city of refuge. Christ
is our refuge. Hebron is a habitation of priests. The priesthood of the church
resides in Christ. Being a royal priesthood, we
dwell in the city of the King. We reside in Christ, in Zion,
the city of our God. Jesus Christ is the believer's
inheritance, just as it was Caleb's. Well, next study, we'll see that
the giants, the sons of Anak, that brought such fear to Israel,
but not to Joshua and Caleb. The sons of Anak were, who were
just ferocious and terrible. They were men of war. 85-year-old Caleb. He said from
the very beginning, the Lord is with us. Fear them not. They were the temporary residents
of Hebron, but it belonged to Caleb. God had kept Caleb strong
to drive out the sons of Anak. Hebron had belonged to Caleb
before the foundation of the world. The sons of Anak were
there in the purpose of God. To do what? To build the cities.
to erect the houses, to dig the wells, to plant the vineyards.
And they did so for Caleb and his family to later possess.
Isn't it amazing how the Lord does things? The house that Teresa
and I live in, we bought from the Methodist church. I told
you that. And around 1996, the Methodist Church, the state association,
the higher ups, and the organization built an addition onto the house
for the pastor at that time to have a study, an additional bedroom,
full bathroom, and a half bath. And around the same time that
that addition was completed, the higher ups in the Methodist
church said, decided that no pastor was to work from home. And that addition pretty well
was unused until Teresa and I moved into that house 20 years later.
Now, am I patting myself on the back and saying that I'm something
special because of that? No, I'm not. But I am telling
you that my Lord is. He's something special. That
was my study 20 years before it ever became mine. May God be pleased to give us
the faith of Caleb. the faithful dog that he was.
In God's kingdom, there's no big dogs, there's no little dogs.
There are no doctor dogs, there are no reverend dogs, as Tim
James said. All are just dogs seeking the
crumbs that fall from the master's table. Just dogs worshiping at
Christ's feet, kissing them with adoration and worship, trusting
their master to do everything that he's promised. We have a
little dog at home that will lick you senseless. And it gets
on your nerves. We're constantly telling her
to stop. If someone could eavesdrop in on Theresa and I's conversations
at night sometimes, it would be, stop licking. Stop licking. We say that a lot. We're talking
to the dog. It gets on your last nerve. But
you know, licking with a dog is a sign of affection. And the
Lord never forbids it. Matter of fact, He loves it.
I'm glad to be such a dog. Like Mephibosheth, we bow ourselves
and say, what is thy servant that thou shouldest look upon
such a dead dog as I am? We're nothing but dogs, but we're
God's dogs. Made faithful by Christ, to Christ,
and in Christ. May God be pleased to make it
so for His glory, our good, and for Christ's sake.