"GOD'S SPY"
Caleb, The Great-hearted
By Michael Guido, D.D.
Before Columbus, the Spanish Empire had for its motto: "No More Beyond." They believed their ships had sailed as far as any ship could sail, their men had marched as far as any men could march, and their explorers had explored everything there was to explore. They concluded, "No More Beyond." Then Columbus discovered the New World. So they changed their motto to: "More Beyond."
Sometimes young people, in the prime of life, and mature people, in the middle of life, and aged people, in the sunset of life, think there's no more beyond. But they're wrong. There's more beyond! This is seen dramatically in the life of Caleb, God's spy.
Caleb Was Fervent In Youth.
The Israelis had been in Egypt for more than 400 years. The Egyptians made slaves of them and put brutal taskmasters over them. But the more the Egyptians mistreated them, the more they multiplied. The Egyptians became alarmed. They made their slavery more painful, killing baby boys and afflicting the adults.
In their deep distress, the Israelis wept before the Lord. He heard their cries and prepared for their rescue. He called Moses and delivered Israel from Egypt by leading them through the Red Sea and across the wilderness. They came to Kadesh Barnea, on the border of the Promised Land, and the Lord said to them in Deuteronomy 1:21, "Behold, the Lord thy God hath set the land before thee: go up and possess it, as the Lord God of thy fathers hath said unto thee; fear not, neither be discouraged."
Faith must have a pledge on which to rest. It finds the pledge in the promises of God. And what's a promise? The assurance given by a person to another that he will do a certain thing. The validity of the promise depends on the character and resources of the one who makes it. God, who made these promises, can't break them. And He's kinder than the kindest, wiser than the wisest, stronger than the strongest, and richer than the richest. His promise and His performance are constantly together. No one and nothing can separate them. You and I must stand on the promises or stagger at them. Faith stands on them. Unbelief staggers at them.
The Israelis, in their unbelief, staggered at them. They doubted them. And they suggested according to Deuteronomy 1:22, "We will send men before us, and they shall search us out the land, and bring us word again by what way we must go up, and into what cities we shall come." That's sad, isn't it? Had not God spied out the land? Did He not know all of the dangers and difficulties? Was He not able to deliver them from their dangers and overcome all their obstacles? He was! But they didn't believe Him. They wanted the words of men. How is it with you? Are you more apt to trust the words of a servant than of the Savior?
But God gave in to them. Moses chose 12 men and sent them to spy out the land. They spent 40 days traveling up and down the land, drinking of its springs, eating of its fruits, and checking on its men. And they returned safely. The same God who guided and guarded the 12 men could just as easily guide and guard the 12 tribes. Whatever you do, don't limit the Lord.
When the spies returned, they thrilled the Israelis with the sights they saw and the food they ate. They even brought back fruit that was delightfully delicious. But they terrified them with the report, "The people are powerful, the cities are fortified, and the men are giants."
But Caleb said, according to Numbers 13:30, "Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it."
Why the difference in the report of the majority and the minority? The ten spies saw the giants, Caleb and Joshua saw God. The ten spies looked at the problems, Caleb and Joshua looked at the possibilities.
The majority looked at the position - the walled cities. They looked at the people - they were giants. They looked at their problems - the Israelis seemed as grasshoppers. No wonder they were stupefied with fear. They said, "We're not able." Caleb looked at God and was stimulated by faith. He said, "We're able."
You, too, may be facing "walled cities." But there never has been a wall too high for Almighty God. You, too, may be facing giants. David did. But with God and a pebble, he defeated Goliath. You, too, may be facing big problems. But God's bigger. There's no burden too big for God to lift; no problem too difficult for Him to solve; no need too great for Him to supply; no sickness too fatal for Him to heal; no sin too foul for Him to forgive; no habit too horrible for Him to break; no prayer too great for Him to answer. "With God all things are possible."
But the Bible doesn't leave the matter of His deity to His pre-existence. This is seen by the use of the word "being." It speaks of an antecedent condition protracted into the present. That's to say our Lord gave expression to the essence of His deity not only before He became Man, but also after becoming Man.
He proved His deity by accepting worship when Thomas fell at His feet and declared, "My Lord and my God." He expressed His deity by forgiving sins when He said to the paralytic, "Thy sins be forgiven thee." He showed His deity by saying, "I and My Father are one." And He divulged His deity by dying at will. Only God, manifest in the flesh, could say, "I lay down My life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again."
Faith, mighty faith the promise see,
And looks to God alone.
Laughs at impossibilities
And shouts it can be done!
Caleb Was Faithful In Midlife.
When George Fox was arrested by the soldiers of King Charles, they couldn't bend his spirit or make him deny his faith. They said of him, "He's as stiff as a tree, and as pure as a bell." Could that be said of you? It could be said of Caleb.
His spirit wasn't bent by boiling. The word "zeal" comes from the Greek word for jealousy, which literally means "boiling." When Moses died, the Lord chose Joshua over Caleb to be his successor. Joshua didn't politic for the job, and he didn't pull any strings. He was picked by the Lord. Caleb didn't boil over with jealousy. Too many believers envy the sinners their pleasure, and the saints their position. But it won't enrich you to be jealous of another's possession. If anything, it will empty you. And it won't lift you to be jealous of another's position. If anything, it will lower you. Like Caleb, let's be given to joy, not jealousy.
His spirit wasn't bent by bitterness. The Lord promised the Israelis the land. It was their land to enjoy. They could have claimed it immediately. That's why Caleb said, "Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it." But some said, "We're not able." And they demanded, "stone him." But he didn't lash back, he loved back. He was more concerned about carrying his own charge than with complaining about his callouses. He remembered the goal, not the grief. He dwelt more on God's promises than on their perversion. He didn't allow their backsliding or badness to make him bitter. We would do well to heed Ephesians 4:31-32 of the New King James Version, "Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you."
His spirit wasn't bent by burn out. But that can't be said about Demas. Over his vacant niche in the Biblical Hall of Fame the recorder of history has carved one word: "Deserter." Barnabas deserted Paul because he disagreed. But he went on working elsewhere. Demas, however, just quit. This world was too much with him. The next world was too far away. He had suffered persecution, poverty and prison for the Lord. He was tired of it. He put comfort above the cross, license above loyalty, possessions above principal, self-indulgence above the Savior, the world above the word. Not Caleb! But what about you? Has the glow gone out of your giving, the sparkle out of your singing, the thrill out of your testimony, the warmth out of your worship?
During the last World War a man couldn't stand the strain any longer. Under the cover of darkness he climbed out of the trench, slipped away from his company, and found his way into the country. He was lost. He didn't know which way to go. He stumbled on and came to what he thought was a sign post. He climbed to the top, struck a match, only to discover that he had climbed up a wayside crucifix. Confronted with the cross, he suddenly thought of the Lord who loved him and gave Himself for him. Slipping down from the crucifix he found his way back to his company, and he was at his post of duty in the morning. Won't you make your way into the presence of our Lord, and get a new glimpse of the Christ of the cross, and go forth to be faithful to the Lord?
Caleb Was Fearless In Old Age.
He reminds me of that eighty-five-year-old man who married a twenty-five-year-old woman, and purchased a five-bedroom house near an elementary school.
Caleb had a passion. He said in Joshua 14:8, "I wholly followed the Lord." The word "wholly" means altogether, completely, entirely, fully, utterly. Someone asked General William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, "What's the secret of your success?" "God has all there is of me," he answered. Does God have all there is of you? He doesn't? Then just now come to Him with no conditions, rededicate all to Him with no reservations, surrender all to Him with no strings attached. Give Him all that you are for all of time.
Noah didn't do this. For six hundred years he lived a life radiant with righteousness in an evil world. Then one day he planted a vineyard and he made wine. He became drunk and he lay naked in his tent. It is the first time wine is referred to in the Bible, and it's found associated with drunkenness, shame and a curse. His sin gave occasion for his son to sin, and the last three hundred years of his life are a blank. May God save us all from becoming a disobedient old man. How much better it is to wholly follow the Lord every day of our lives as did Caleb.
Caleb had a purpose. He said in Joshua 14:12, "Give me this mountain!" It was different with the Israelis. They said in Numbers 14:2, "Would God we had died in this wilderness." And die in the wilderness they did. It's written in Numbers 14:28-29, "As truly as I live, saith the Lord, as ye have spoken in Mine ears, so will I do to you: Your carcases shall fall in this wilderness." People usually get what they go after. But Caleb wanted the Promised Land, and God gave it to him! What's your purpose? Whatever it is, however impossible it seems, whatever obstacles lie between you and it; if it's consistent with the Lord's word and will, hunger and thirst after it. Stretch to reach it!
Believers are made to meet challenges. God made us to stretch. He made man something on the order of a rubber band. It's made to stretch. And when it's stretched, it's doing what it was made to do. Caleb stretched. He was 85 years old. He said, "Give me this mountain." Not a molehill, but a mountain; not a pension, but a pinnacle; not seclusion, but a sierra. "But," protested some, "giants are there!" They saw an obstacle in every opportunity, but Caleb saw an opportunity in every obstacle. They criticized circumstances, he conquered conditions. They built barriers, he removed roadblocks. They gave excuses, he gave an exhibition. What do you do?
Caleb had a presence. He said in Joshua 14:12, "If so be the Lord will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the Lord said." That wasn't an "if" of unbelief. It was an "if" of humility. Because his faith never wavered, he had a strength that never weakened - the very presence and power of God Himself. Caleb counted on God who is all-wise and all-powerful. All nature is subject to His will and word. All men are absolutely subject to His authority. All angels recognize His sway, and all satanic hosts bow to His almightiness. Therefore no prayer is too hard for Him to answer, no need too great for Him to supply, no foe too strong for Him to subdue, no temptation too powerful for Him to deliver from, and no mountain too high for Him to climb! Like Caleb, are you counting on His presence?
Then, like Caleb, you'll have your possession. His quest became his conquest. He took the mountain. It was the best of the Promised Land. Most are content with the good, but Caleb wanted the best, and he got it! Dare you?
In every age of life there's "More Beyond." But do you find yourself losing your passion and your purpose? Have you lost the perception of His presence and the love which you had for the Lord at the first?
Napoleon had a number of choice followers whom he called "the Old Guard." He knew he could trust them. They were lovingly loyal. But one day it was whispered to Napoleon that they had lost the love they had at the start. He summoned the Old Guard to the Palace Court. They waited outside, while alone in the throne room sat Napoleon.
The Old Guard wondered, "What will our Chief do? Will he put us in prison and punish us? Will he condemn us and kill us? What will he do?" Suddenly a messenger came out and summoned the men one by one into the presence of Napoleon.
The first man came in. The door was closed. He was alone with his Emperor. He walked up to the throne. He stood face to face with Napoleon. Not a word was spoken. Napoleon looked into his eyes. He looked into the eyes of Napoleon. Then Napoleon stretched out his hand. They gripped hands. And the old guardsman marched out. The next man came in. There was the same look. The same hand. And the next, one by one, and the rebellion was over.
Will you come into the presence of your Lord? Will you look into the eyes of your Lord? Will you stretch forth your hand and put it into His nail-scarred hand? Just the look, the outstretched hand, and the clasp of His hand, and you're His for all of time and eternity!
How I thank God there's no passion too strong for Him to subdue, no problem too difficult for Him to solve, no need too great for Him to supply, and no struggle too hard for Him to win. He won these victories when He stepped down in Jesus, and He'll do it now for you and me.
copyright 1999 Guido Evangelistic Association
All Scripture verses are quoted from the New International Version.
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