Bible Men: Caleb: A Giant of Faith

Now therefore give me this mountain, whereof the LORD spake in that day; for thou heardest in that day how the Anakims were there, and that the cities were great and fenced: if so be the LORD will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the LORD said. Jos 14:12  

Mountains and Hills

Imagine a mediaeval knight wearing an iron armour and hurtling forward with his sword drawn, ready to draw blood, and you have an inkling of what sort of man Caleb was. He was a born soldier. And he wore no iron armour.

You can also have a picture of those poor ten spies who gave an evil report which sent shivers down the spines of the whole Israel congregation in the wilderness. Their words melted the hearts of the people. Their tenor is full of defeat.

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 a great stature… the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight. Numbers 13:32-33

They are not words a father can repeat in front of his children. They are traumatizing.

So we have a grudging admiration for men of great courage. But they also fill us with rage. They make us feel like grasshoppers.

It is nearly impossible to praise (or love) our equals, wrote the preacher Morrison. We hate them. So a beautiful woman cannot stand a fellow beautiful woman in the same room, a doctor a fellow doctor, and a preacher’s greatest critics are his fellow preachers.

So Caleb with all his bravery (together with Joshua) come in, and yet all that the people want to do with them (in gratitude!) is to stone them! (Nu 14:10).

And apostle Paul, that other giant of faith, elicited much love and much scorn at the same time, but chiefly from his fellow apostles. “At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me,” he cries to Timothy.

Men can only praise their fellows for a time. After a while that admiration wears off. But it is not so with God.

Greatness comes at a high price, chiefly loneliness. So Jesus too died alone:  “Then all the disciples forsook him, and fled.” His most avowed loyalist denied him in the most disparaging fashion to save his own life.

Preacher, do you feel like you are alone in the whole congregation? Please don’t lose heart! Hasn’t Christ promised to be with you until the end?

The Word “Mountain” in the Bible

Now I’m a student of the Bible. I’m also a lover of the language and everything that is beautiful. A study of the word “mountain” in the Bible unearths an interesting detail.

We associate a mountain with the place where God dwells (even in our traditional beliefs). So the psalmist sings, “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth.” A mountain is where we go for a transfiguration.

A poet will see gorges, ravines and the smoking peaks in a mountain, and in a sense, he will know he has seen God. “The world is charged with the grandeur of God.”

But a mountain can also be an obstacle: “Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain” (Isa 40:4). Pride and fear may be counted as examples of mountains we pray to God to remove.

A mountain can also be a challenge in life to be reckoned with. I think the latter interpretation is the one holding sway in Caleb’s “Give me this mountain” prayer. It is both a poetic and hyperbolic expression. And that is the nature of faith. It can only go up towards the clouds but never below!

Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done. And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive. Mat 21:21-22  

It Pays to be Specific in Prayer

A prayer like “Give me this mountain” isn’t quite enough. It wants a qualifier: A mountain of what? Is it faith? Is it God’s presence? Or is it health or peace?

I remember the prayer of Jabez. It is noted for its specificity. Nothing is left hanging. He goes directly for what he wants. “And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me! And God granted him that which he requested” (1Ch 4:10).  

Caleb prayed for Hebron, that hilly and rich (in both history and fertility) country, so he called it a mountain (for a hill and a mountain are the same thing to a Jew). And Joshua gave it to him.

And now, behold, the LORD hath kept me alive, as he said, these forty and five years, even 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. Jos 14:10  

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. Jos 14:11  

Now therefore give me this mountain, whereof the LORD spake in that day… Jos 14:12 

And Joshua blessed him, and gave unto Caleb the son of Jephunneh Hebron for an inheritance. Jos 14:13

So there goes Caleb, a man of endearing courage, and a man of daring faith. May he be an example to us all. Let us work too until we drop dead, if God so grant us the strength. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2022 everybody! God loves you and so do I! God willing let us meet here next year.  

Bible Men: Joshua: War and Peace

For the LORD hath driven out from before you great nations and strong: but as for you, no man hath been able to stand before you unto this day. Jos 23:9 

Sin Brought War and Hatred for Peace

Generally there are two wars which plague mankind. The temporal war which everyone can see. And the war of the mind and heart which is invisible. Someone has called it the universe within. Anyone can glean the light outside. It’s the light inside which astonishes.

Men are drawn to a fight like a moth to light.

A brawl will break out in the street, and suddenly men will gather. The combatants will breath fire. Men will cheer and anyone who tries to break it will be the new enemy. Why should he spoil other people’s fun?

I watched a thief being beaten to death and I’ve never forgotten it. First the thief was cornered. He was caught in the act having broken into someone’s house. He was a young man. I saw the terror on his face. Then the blows followed. Blood spurted out. For about half an hour that young man bore it all. Stones crashed on his head. But still he didn’t die. And still people didn’t stop. He died after about one hour. And like Saul at the death of Stephen I stood quietly nearby consenting to his death.

My girlfriend was livid that I felt mercy for such a man. She had been in the middle of the fight hurling stones. Just before the young man died, she confided to me in horror, his manliness passed out. As a writer I thought that was very interesting. That there’s a point in pain where it ceases being pain anymore but glory. And that is a terrifying thought for a man to dwell on. It is strange after the young man died everybody walked away in haste.

So we lost much more in Eden than we shall ever perceive. Sin brought war. And in our hatred and rejection of God, we threw out the baby with the birth water. We hated peace. In fact we scorned it and everything which reminded us of God. He became our chief enemy. His glory became a burning a fire. Our glory became a dark spot in the sky of the mind. War became a sport. People wrestled and killed for spoils and wives. Today war is much more subtle than that, but we still fight.

The Light in the Shadows

Of course light has shone. Men cannot deny that. It’s what keeps hope burning. It’s what keeps faith going. We believe God even though we don’t know him.

We watch the happenings outside in horror. But it’s the horror within our own hearts which keeps us awake. It’s that which drives us to our knees at midnight. Now a man can rise to his feet, go to his bed and sleep soundly until morning. He does that because he has a God who is larger than his horror.

Have you known such a God? Have you tasted his peace which passes understanding? Imagine he’s there. He’s not a dream. He’s real!

He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. Psa 91:1-6  

The Evasions and Nuances

In a way life is about evasion. And it is good because it enables people to avoid the unpleasant and to dwell on the bright. We evade war to stay alive.

That’s why books and movies are an antidote to the malaise of lethargy. Christians fly to fellowships and prayers and singing of psalms. We know what things to dwell on and what things not to (Phi 4:8).

Now the peculiar thing about war and peace is not that the Bible denies they are there. The peculiar thing is that it admits they are there.

When we talk of salvation people imagine it is a permanent escape from such wars, but that’s not true. Life may become harder just because the light has come.

What makes the difference is that the yoke of Christ (the Prince of Peace) is easier, just because the fight is no longer ours but God’s. It’s easier because of his promises.

The victory is not in winning the war. The chief war is always in keeping the victory which has been won. “But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved” (Mat 24:13). 

So we read about the murder of Abel and the birth of Seth, about Abraham’s waiting, about Israel and slavery in Egypt, about Israel’s redemption and exodus, about Israel’s exile and Israel’s return – and suddenly we know God is true because Israel is still standing today, being so small, and yet invincible in world history.

And in that note we understand why Joshua believed God, why he fought and why he won.

Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest. Jos 1:9  

There failed not ought of any good thing which the LORD had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass. Jos 21:45  

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever. Psa 23:6  

What comfort! What peace! What joy! So Joshua ends with this testimony (for Israel and for us) - that God is indeed faithful! He promised. He delivered. He still does. I pray you will believe that too!

Bible Men: Joshua: Whose Land?

So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the LORD said unto Moses; and Joshua gave it for an inheritance unto Israel according to their divisions by their tribes. And the land rested from war. Jos 11:23 

Crime and Punishment

Adam had no parents. He had no land and he had no home of his. Everything Adam had was given him by God including his wife. God gave him Eden and God took away Eden.

What do you or I have which we didn’t receive?

“Dust to dust and ashes to ashes.” It is a chime we hear every day when “man goeth to his long home”. So Adam came into this world with nothing and he left with nothing.

The story of our beginning is humbling. But our fall sometimes blurs that. Sometimes we imagine we own the world.

It is true no one can diminish the achievements man has made by God’s grace. “Go forth and multiply…and have dominion over everything on earth” said God, and it is a call humanity has excelled in.   

Today the world is a village. And we can hardly keep up with the new inventions appearing on the scene almost daily. We have conquered ignorance, disease and poverty. Everywhere you look you find the imprint of man. We have kept the faith. We have multiplied. And we have dominion over everything. Glory be to God!

The Holy Land as Center of World History

But we are still human, and dark passions sometimes run roughshod over us. We love, but we also kill for love… The Cain heart is still beating in our chests. Abel dies. And he dies because of land.

It is worse in Holy land. The Jews claim it is theirs from God, as the Arabs also do, since they are all descendants of Abraham. But who are the original owners of the land? The Bible calls them Amorites, or the Canaanites tribes. Why did God take their land away from them and give it to others?

The Bible is plain. It’s because of their sins. God gave them time (four hundred years to change) but they didn’t. So God punished them for their crime. He took the land from them and gave it to Abraham’s descendants, according to scripture. God did with them as he did with Adam.

The earth is the LORD'S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. Psa 24:1  

But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full. Gen 15:16  

Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things: for in all these the nations are defiled which I cast out before you:  And the land is defiled: therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants.  Ye shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations; neither any of your own nation, nor any stranger that sojourneth among you. Lev 18:24-26 

For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth. Deu 7:6  

Of course later God also got angry with Israel for their idolatry and he exiled them to Babylon. But after seventy years of tears Israel returned to her land. She came back to find a mixed lot though. The Assyrians had intermarried with the Jews (who remained) to give birth to Samaritans. The Arabs too were in Jerusalem.

So the story of Middle East is long and bloody. But it had been prophesied. All that history (through Adam) and how after Noah’s flood humankind spread throughout the world to become the tribes that we are today is all in the Bible.

Of course evolutionists too have their say. But it is not a dignified beginning. Moreover their history is forever being revised up to this day.

But it is not so with the history of the God of the Bible. His truths are eternal. He never changes. That’s why we believe him. His testimony is there for all to see. Whom do you believe and why? “And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?” (Dan 4:35).  

Children of Faith

But we are here not to understand God to perfection but to believe! That’s why we are children of faith.

We started by listening to our parents and obeying them. Next we moved to school and college and universities. We were obedient and patient so eventually we understood. So is it with the knowledge of God. He wants to reason with you. Will you take up the challenge?  

World History is Shaky and Uncertain

Let us for a moment agree with our ancestors’ logic. Kenya is our land. But history also says that some came from Congo and others up the Nile! So who are the original owners of Kenya? Whose land is the Americas? Or Europe? Or Asia? Or USSR? Where are the great world empires of yester years and their cities? Looks also like God took away from some and gave it to others!

That’s why a man can buy land anywhere in the world today and call it his home from the Lord. “Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses” (Jos 1:3). But we are still in the world with its glamour and hostility! So we shall not put down our cross, rather we shall carry it until the end, until Jesus comes back and receives us in his rest.

Land is a blessing, but it’s also a curse. To the extent one increases in possessions in this world to that extent he will never know peace, like Solomon boldly intimated. So don’t let covetousness kill you! Have you a very big land? Be content. Have you a very small land? Be content. Have you no land at all? Be content. Remember your treasure is where your heart is, so Jesus taught. Invest in the “lands” in heaven, he said, “where moth and rust doth not corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.”