Calling and Purpose 39—When Life Gets Harder 3—Joshua and Caleb
Faithfulness to God, pursuing His calling and purpose for your life, doing the next thing He asks of you does not make you immune to opposition or consequences. Joshua and Caleb knew and lived that first-hand. They are part of the group of Israelite slaves who escape to freedom from Egypt.
When the Israelites come into proximity with the land God had promised them, the Lord tells Moses to send twelve leaders—one from each tribe—to explore Canaan and report back. Caleb is selected to represent the tribe of Judah; Joshua (Hoshea) to represent Ephraim.
The twelve travel through the desert into hill country. They assess the land, the people, the towns, the crops. They spend forty days on their exploration.
Upon their return, they report that the land “does flow with mild and honey!” but also that “the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large.” They said the people there were much stronger than the Israelites.
But Caleb confidently says that they should go and take possession of the land, “for we can certainly do it.”
The people panic, weep, grumble against their leaders, wish they were back in Egypt, and lose confidence in God’s ability to rescue them.
Moses, Aaron, Joshua, and Caleb all continue to have confidence in God: “The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. If the Lord is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. Only do not rebel against the Lord.”
“But the whole assembly talked about stoning them.” [See Numbers 13-14.]
The Lord threatens to destroy the Israelites for their lack of faith; Moses intercedes on their behalf. The Lord forgives them, but says that not one of that disobedient and disbelieving generation will set foot in the new land because of their unbelief—except for Caleb and Joshua.
That means that as all of the Israelites wander in the desert for the forty years (one year for each day they had explored the land), Joshua and Caleb—faithful and courageous though they were—have to endure that same set of hardships until they can live into God’s ultimate promise in a new place.
All the subsequent rebellion, grumbling, uprisings, lack of water, travel weariness, and death of their peers—are things that Joshua and Caleb and their families must endure for four likely slow-moving decades.
Joshua and Caleb’s faith in God, at the beginning, seemed absolute. What did it look like after forty years of wandering with a grumpy landless nation?
Joshua says—once the people are in the new land: “Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:14-15). Still faithful. Rooted in trust in the Lord—Who has gone with him all these long decades.
Caleb—forty-five years after his recommendation was not taken by the people—now 85 years old—says to Joshua: “I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh Barnea to explore the land. And I brought him back a report according to my convictions, but my fellow Israelites who went up with me made the hearts of the people melt in fear. I, however, followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly. So on that day Moses swore to me, ‘The land on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance and that of your children forever, because you have followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly.’
“Now then, just as the Lord promised, he has kept me alive for forty-five years since the time he said this to Moses, while Israel moved about in the wilderness. So here I am today, eighty-five years old! I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I’m just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then. Now give me this hill country that the Lord promised me that day…Then Joshua blessed Caleb son of Jephunneh and gave him Hebron as his inheritance. So Hebron has belonged to Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite ever since, because he followed the Lord, the God of Israel, wholeheartedly (Joshua 14:6-14).
Imagine it. Enduring the hardship of spying in a foreign land for 40 days. Giving your honest perspective and having your own people threaten you with stoning. Having to live through 40 years of the consequences of other people’s disobedience and lack of faith. Knowing that your entire generation of peers, save one, would die before you got to enter the Promised Land. Mourning all of those losses—friends, family, neighbors. Having to wait decades and decades.
And still remaining faithful. Growing stronger. Preparing. Discipling others. Raising believing families. Trusting in God. Following the Lord wholeheartedly. Serving Him no matter what.
· Does following your own calling seem somehow limited by others’ lack of faith?
· How can you “stay the course” in spite of setbacks?
· In what ways are you choosing to serve the Lord?
· In what ways are you following God wholeheartedly?
· How can you stay rooted in God’s promises to you today—even if you might have to wait 10-20-30-40 years to see Him fulfill one or more of them?
Additional Resources:
• Downloadable Resources--See Sample List of Interest Areas; Your Spiritual Gifts—A Study Guide; Knowing Your Unique Calling and Purpose Study Guide; Whole-Life Ministry: A Form of Worship, Grace-Giving, and Living into Your Calling.
Shirley Giles Davis, author of the God. Gifts. You. Your Unique Calling and Design workbook, is a consultant, coach, facilitator who has worked with a diversity of individuals, organizations, and leaders for over 30 years. Shirley has been EquipConnectServe Director at a 1,200-member church in Boulder since 1999. Contact Shirley.
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Photo © Wallace E. Giles, all rights reserved.