A life that points to Christ
Caleb
From Caleb we learn a wholehearted faith that outlasts a whole generation of unbelief, and a vigor of trust that does not fade with age. His life teaches perseverance and following God fully, and it points to the inheritance that Christ secures for those who trust Him.
“But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it.”Numbers 14:24
“And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.”Numbers 13:30
“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.”Joshua 14:11
“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.”Joshua 14:12
Their story, honestly
Caleb was one of the twelve spies sent into the promised land. When ten returned terrified of the giants, Caleb stilled the people and said, let us go up at once and possess it, for we are well able. Because the nation believed the fearful report instead, they wandered forty years, but God singled out Caleb, saying he had another spirit and had followed the LORD fully, and promised him the land his feet had walked. Forty-five years later, at eighty-five, Caleb came to claim it, declaring he was as strong for war as the day Moses sent him, and asked for the hill country of the giants, saying, give me this mountain.
What their life teaches us
First, Caleb teaches faith that stands against the majority when the majority is afraid; he saw the same giants the others saw and trusted God anyway. Second, he teaches endurance, keeping faith through forty years in the wilderness for a promise deferred by other people's unbelief. Third, his old age teaches that trust need not shrink with the years; he asked for the hardest ground, not the easiest. The phrase God repeats over him, he followed the LORD fully, is the quiet secret of his whole life, and it is available to anyone.
How their life points to Christ
Caleb held onto God's promise of an inheritance through long delay, and received it in the end. In Christ, believers are given an inheritance that is incorruptible and undefiled and does not fade away, kept in heaven for them. Caleb followed the LORD fully because grace had given him another spirit; the Spirit of Christ gives that same wholehearted heart to us. And the mountain Caleb claimed points to the sure inheritance Jesus has gone ahead to secure, which no giant and no delay can take away.
Questions people ask
Why did God single Caleb out for praise?
God said Caleb had another spirit and followed Him fully. While ten spies spread fear and the nation shrank back, Caleb trusted God against the crowd. That wholehearted, undivided trust is what God honored, and it is the quiet theme of his whole life.
What does give me this mountain mean?
At eighty-five, Caleb asked for the hardest territory, the hill country still held by giants, rather than an easy plot. It is a picture of faith that does not soften with age but still trusts God for the difficult thing, resting on His promise rather than on failing strength.