Old Man Caleb and the Giants

In Joshua 14, the Israelites have taken over the Promised Land, Canaan, and are beginning to divide it up among the 12 tribes. In the midst of all that, an 85-year-old man by the name of Caleb asks Israel’s leader, Joshua, to grant him some land in the hill country. He says it was promised to him by the Lord. (14:12)

If Caleb’s name sounds vaguely familiar, it’s probably because he was one of the twelve spies that Moses sent to do reconnaissance in Canaan after the Exodus from Egypt. When most of the spies warned against invading the land, saying “We can’t go up against them! They are stronger than we are!”, Caleb insisted, “Let’s go at once to take the land! We can certainly conquer it!” (Numbers 13:30-31) Joshua and Caleb, because of their confidence in the Lord in that moment, end up being the only two Israelites in their generation who survive the 40 years of wandering in the wilderness and eventually enter the Promised Land. And, because of Caleb’s faith, the Lord tells Moses, “I will give to him and his descendants some of the very land he explored during his scouting mission.” (Deut 1:36)

Forty-five years later, this is the promise Caleb is reminding his old friend of.

There’s just one problem: the last time Caleb and Joshua visited that region, it was occupied by giants living in fortified cities. Remember the spies who didn’t want to invade Canaan? This is why. Back in Numbers 13, they reported that “the people living there are powerful, and their towns are large and fortified. We even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak! …Next to them we felt like grasshoppers, and that’s what they thought, too!” (13:28-33)

But, for his part, Caleb never has seen giants in walled cities as much of a problem. He had counseled Moses to attack a generation earlier, and now he tells Joshua,

Today I am eighty-five years old. I am as strong now as I was when Moses sent me on that journey, and I can still travel and fight as well as I could then… You will remember that as scouts we found the descendants of Anak living there in great, walled towns. But if the Lord is with me, I will drive them out of the land, just as the Lord said. (14:10-12)

At 85, Caleb still has the same faith he did in his prime. Now, maybe he really is still as strong as he was then, but that’s not why he’s so confident here. He’s so confident because his faith is not in himself and his abilities.

It’s in the Lord. “If the Lord is with me,” he said, “I will drive them out of the land.”

For Caleb, the question is never “Can I do this?” The question is always “Can God do this?”

And the answer is always “Yes.”

Whether you’re 85 or 40, stay close to the Lord through today’s challenges. God can do this. And, if the Lord is with you, you can do this, too.

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