March 8 Bible
Reading: Joshua Chapters 13-15
Claiming God’s Promises by FAITH
"Now Joshua was old, advanced in years. And the Lord said to him:
"You are old, advanced in years, and there remains very much land yet to
be possessed"
(Josh 13:1). Joshua was probably a hundred years old now, and his advanced age
necessitated the allocating of Canaan among the tribes of Israel -- not only
the land already possessed but those also which were still left to be
conquered.
"Then the children of Judah came
to Joshua in Gilgal. And Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite..." (Josh 14:6a). This incident is
recorded here because it occurred while the preparations were being made for
casting the lots in Gilgal. Caleb was one of the two survivors of the Israelites
permitted to enter the land of promise (Num 14:30, 38; 32:11-13; Deut 1:34-36)
because he was sent to Canaan as a spy (Num 13:6) and brought a favorable
report (Num 13:26-30; 14:6-9) in line with God's plan. The claim of Caleb to
the mountains of Hebron as his personal and family possessions was founded on a
solemn promise of Moses forty-five years before (Num 14:24; Deut 1:36), to give
him that land on account of his loyalty towards God.
Caleb's
request was: "Give me this
mountain" or Hebron (Deut 14:12) because it was God's promise to him
and he valued that promise. Those who live by faith value God's promises far
above what is obtained by God’s providence only. The name Caleb means "all heart". During the last
eighty-five years of his life Caleb was singular in his devotion to God’s will, and “wholly followed the Lord
God of Israel” (Deut 14:8b, 14b). Hebron was now occupied by Anakims’ but
Caleb did not fear his enemy as he considered himself still strong and able to
do mighty exploits. In his own words: "As
yet I am as strong this day as on the day that Moses sent me; just as my
strength was then, so now is my strength for war, both for going out and for
coming in. Now therefore, give me this mountain of which the Lord spoke in that
day; for you heard in that day how the Anakim were there, and that the cities
were great and fortified. It may be that
the Lord will be with me, and I shall be able to drive them out as the Lord
said" (Josh 14:11-12). Eventually,
Caleb did possess his inheritance and claimed his promises by faith (Josh
15:13-19).
Like Caleb, we too have lots of promises in God’s Word that we need to claim by faith. We have been given "...exceedingly great and precious promises that through these we may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2 Peter 1:4). We should not become sluggish, but imitate those (like Caleb) who through faith and patience inherited the promises (Heb 6:12). Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise: "For yet a little while, and He who is coming will come and will not tarry" (Heb 10:35-37)
0 Comments