A story of passion and conquest

DAILY BIBLE READING:

Joshua 13:1-14:15
Luke 18:1-17
Psalm 85:1-13
Proverbs 13:7-8

BIBLE VERSE(S) FOR TODAY:

Joshua 14:12 (CSB) "Now give me this hill country the Lord promised me on that day, because you heard then that the Anakim are there, as well as large fortified cities. Perhaps the Lord will be with me and I will drive them out as the Lord promised."

REFLECTIONS ON TODAY'S BIBLE VERSE(S):

I have some 'favorite' Bible stories and Joshua 14:6-15 is definitely one of them!

In it, we see in our mind's eye an 85-year-old man step into Joshua's presence. These two men were special. They were the only 2 spies (out of the 12 that Moses sent into the Promised Land) who came back with a positive, faith-filled report. The other 10 expressed doubt that they could take the Land but Joshua and Caleb resolutely believed that God could be counted on to do what He promised (see Numbers 13:26-33).

The Israelites believed the 10 faithless spies and rejected Joshua and Caleb's words. That one act doomed the nation of Israel to wander in the wilderness for 40 years. 

Now, in Joshua 14, Joshua and Caleb are the oldest of all the Israelites and they have seen God conquer most of the Promised Land through them just like He said he would.

But, there's one particular area that was still a splinter in Israel's eye. It hadn't been conquered yet. It was the area where the Anakim lived - the people who were so tall that they made the Israelites feel like 'grasshoppers' (see Numbers 13:28-29, 33; Joshua 14:12). The 10 spies used those particular people as the excuse to doubt God's promise.

Well, for 45 years, that act of faithlessness had turned Caleb's stomach. He knew God would have given the Israelites victory but they doubted and were, therefore, put on the shelf of 'do-nothing' until they learned their lesson.

So on this day, Caleb approaches Joshua and asks specifically for the land where the Anakim still lived. He wanted to kick some Anakim booty to vindicate God's name. He believed that God's glory was diminished among the Israelites when they doubted that He would and could do what He said He would do. So, Caleb wanted to show that an 85-year-old man with a promise from God could do what a whole Israelite army didn't think He could do.

Well, did Caleb succeed? Did he let the Anakim know that the God in Heaven could do whatever He pleased?

Knowing that Caleb had fire in his eyes, was jealous for God's glory, and wasn't going to back down from the fight, all we need to do is read the last sentence of this story...

"...After this, the land had rest from war." (Joshua 14:15)

I can picture Caleb sitting under a shade tree drinking a cold glass of tea and, with a broad smile and a twinkle in his eye, saying under his breath: "I knew God could do it!"

Are you a person filled with faith and passion? All you need to do is ask God to develop within you a jealousy for His glory. Find some precious promises of God that He has given to you. And then engage in the spiritual warfare against our satanic foe.

We NEED people like Caleb in our spiritually apathetic days!