Caleb Followed the Lord Fully – Part One
Numbers 14:24 – “But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it.”
A familiar story of the Bible is that of the twelve spies of Israel sent to spy out the land of Canaan - Num 13:1-2 “The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, "Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel. From each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a chief among them."’ Spending 40 days traversing the land - Num 13:21-25 “So they went up and spied out the land from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, near Lebo-hamath. They went up into the Negeb and came to Hebron. Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, were there. (Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) And they came to the Valley of Eshcol and cut down from there a branch with a single cluster of grapes, and they carried it on a pole between two of them; they also brought some pomegranates and figs. That place was called the Valley of Eshcol, because of the cluster that the people of Israel cut down from there. At the end of forty days they returned from spying out the land.” Bringing back both good news and bad news. A land of milk and honey, as evidenced by the fruit - Num 13:27 “And they told him, "We came to the land to which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.” A land occupied by strong people and giants - Num 13:28 “However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there.” One of the spies, Caleb, sought to reassure the people - Num 13:30 “But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, "Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it."’ Yet ten of the spies overwhelmed the people with their bad report - Num 13:31-14:4 “Then the men who had gone up with him said, "We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are." So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, "The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height. And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them." Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night. And all the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, "Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! Why is the LORD bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?" And they said to one another, "Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt."’ Only Joshua and Caleb had confidence in the Lord - Num 14:6-9 “And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes and said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, "The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land. If the LORD delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey. Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the LORD is with us; do not fear them."’
But the people heeded the bad report, resulting in God’s condemnation. Israel was to spend 40 years of wandering in the wilderness - Num 14:28-34 “Say to them, 'As I live, declares the LORD, what you have said in my hearing I will do to you: your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness, and of all your number, listed in the census from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against me, not one shall come into the land where I swore that I would make you dwell, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun. But your little ones, who you said would become a prey, I will bring in, and they shall know the land that you have rejected. But as for you, your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness. And your children shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years and shall suffer for your faithlessness, until the last of your dead bodies lies in the wilderness. According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, a year for each day, you shall bear your iniquity forty years, and you shall know my displeasure.'” The ten spies died by a plague before the Lord - Num 14:36-37 “And the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, who returned and made all the congregation grumble against him by bringing up a bad report about the land-- the men who brought up a bad report of the land--died by plague before the LORD.” Only Joshua and Caleb were spared - Num 14:38 “Of those men who went to spy out the land, only Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive.” The Lord spared Caleb because “he...has followed Me fully” - Num 14:24 “But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it.” A similar statement about Caleb is made time and again - Num 32:11-12 “'Surely none of the men who came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, because they have not wholly followed me, none except Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua the son of Nun, for they have wholly followed the LORD.'”; Deu 1:36 “except Caleb the son of Jephunneh. He shall see it, and to him and to his children I will give the land on which he has trodden, because he has wholly followed the LORD!'”; Josh 14:8-9 “But my brothers who went up with me made the heart of the people melt; yet I wholly followed the LORD my God. And Moses swore on that day, saying, 'Surely the land on which your foot has trodden shall be an inheritance for you and your children forever, because you have wholly followed the LORD my God.'”, 14 “Therefore Hebron became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite to this day, because he wholly followed the LORD, the God of Israel.” What a wonderful epitaph: “He wholly followed the LORD God of Israel.”
What does it mean to follow the Lord fully as Caleb did? How might we follow Christ fully today...? What is it to follow the Lord fully; to follow Christ all our days? Such was the case with Caleb. He followed the Lord in the wilderness. He followed the Lord in land of Canaan, 45 years later - Josh 14:8-10 “But my brothers who went up with me made the heart of the people melt; yet I wholly followed the LORD my God. And Moses swore on that day, saying, 'Surely the land on which your foot has trodden shall be an inheritance for you and your children forever, because you have wholly followed the LORD my God.' And now, behold, the LORD has kept me alive, just as he said, these forty-five years since the time that the LORD spoke this word to Moses, while Israel walked in the wilderness. And now, behold, I am this day eighty-five years old.”
Numbers 14:24 – “But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it.”
A familiar story of the Bible is that of the twelve spies of Israel sent to spy out the land of Canaan - Num 13:1-2 “The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, "Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel. From each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a chief among them."’ Spending 40 days traversing the land - Num 13:21-25 “So they went up and spied out the land from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, near Lebo-hamath. They went up into the Negeb and came to Hebron. Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, were there. (Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) And they came to the Valley of Eshcol and cut down from there a branch with a single cluster of grapes, and they carried it on a pole between two of them; they also brought some pomegranates and figs. That place was called the Valley of Eshcol, because of the cluster that the people of Israel cut down from there. At the end of forty days they returned from spying out the land.” Bringing back both good news and bad news. A land of milk and honey, as evidenced by the fruit - Num 13:27 “And they told him, "We came to the land to which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.” A land occupied by strong people and giants - Num 13:28 “However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there.” One of the spies, Caleb, sought to reassure the people - Num 13:30 “But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, "Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it."’ Yet ten of the spies overwhelmed the people with their bad report - Num 13:31-14:4 “Then the men who had gone up with him said, "We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are." So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, "The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height. And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them." Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night. And all the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, "Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! Why is the LORD bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?" And they said to one another, "Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt."’ Only Joshua and Caleb had confidence in the Lord - Num 14:6-9 “And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes and said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, "The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land. If the LORD delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey. Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the LORD is with us; do not fear them."’
But the people heeded the bad report, resulting in God’s condemnation. Israel was to spend 40 years of wandering in the wilderness - Num 14:28-34 “Say to them, 'As I live, declares the LORD, what you have said in my hearing I will do to you: your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness, and of all your number, listed in the census from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against me, not one shall come into the land where I swore that I would make you dwell, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun. But your little ones, who you said would become a prey, I will bring in, and they shall know the land that you have rejected. But as for you, your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness. And your children shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years and shall suffer for your faithlessness, until the last of your dead bodies lies in the wilderness. According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, a year for each day, you shall bear your iniquity forty years, and you shall know my displeasure.'” The ten spies died by a plague before the Lord - Num 14:36-37 “And the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, who returned and made all the congregation grumble against him by bringing up a bad report about the land-- the men who brought up a bad report of the land--died by plague before the LORD.” Only Joshua and Caleb were spared - Num 14:38 “Of those men who went to spy out the land, only Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive.” The Lord spared Caleb because “he...has followed Me fully” - Num 14:24 “But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it.” A similar statement about Caleb is made time and again - Num 32:11-12 “'Surely none of the men who came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, because they have not wholly followed me, none except Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua the son of Nun, for they have wholly followed the LORD.'”; Deu 1:36 “except Caleb the son of Jephunneh. He shall see it, and to him and to his children I will give the land on which he has trodden, because he has wholly followed the LORD!'”; Josh 14:8-9 “But my brothers who went up with me made the heart of the people melt; yet I wholly followed the LORD my God. And Moses swore on that day, saying, 'Surely the land on which your foot has trodden shall be an inheritance for you and your children forever, because you have wholly followed the LORD my God.'”, 14 “Therefore Hebron became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite to this day, because he wholly followed the LORD, the God of Israel.” What a wonderful epitaph: “He wholly followed the LORD God of Israel.”
What does it mean to follow the Lord fully as Caleb did? How might we follow Christ fully today...? What is it to follow the Lord fully; to follow Christ all our days? Such was the case with Caleb. He followed the Lord in the wilderness. He followed the Lord in land of Canaan, 45 years later - Josh 14:8-10 “But my brothers who went up with me made the heart of the people melt; yet I wholly followed the LORD my God. And Moses swore on that day, saying, 'Surely the land on which your foot has trodden shall be an inheritance for you and your children forever, because you have wholly followed the LORD my God.' And now, behold, the LORD has kept me alive, just as he said, these forty-five years since the time that the LORD spoke this word to Moses, while Israel walked in the wilderness. And now, behold, I am this day eighty-five years old.”
Yet many do not. Like Lot’s wife, they turn back - Gen 19:26 “But Lot's wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.” Like the Galatians, they are easily bewitched - Ga 3:1 “O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified.”
What of us who follow Jesus today? Shall we follow Him in our youth? - 1 Ti 4:12 “Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.” Shall we follow Him in our old age? - Ti 2:1-5 “But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine. Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.”; Psa 92:12-15 “The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. They are planted in the house of the LORD; they flourish in the courts of our God. They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green, to declare that the LORD is upright; he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.” -- Shall we follow Jesus like Caleb followed the Lord, all the days of our life?
What is it to follow Christ with all our heart? Caleb followed the Lord “fully”, “wholly”. That is, with his whole heart. The perfect role model for keeping “the greatest commandment” - Mt 22:36-38 ‘"Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?" And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.” Sadly, many try to serve the Lord with divided hearts. Like Solomon, who was influenced by his foreign wives - 1 Kin 11:4 “For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father.” Like those in James’ epistle, seeking to be friends with the world - Ja 4:4 “You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” What of us who follow Jesus today? Shall we follow Him with all our heart? - Jn 14:15 ‘"If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” Shall we follow Him with undivided affection? - 1 Jn 2:15-17 “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world--the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions--is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.” -- Shall we follow Jesus like Caleb followed the Lord, with all our hearts?
We will continue this lesson in part two, by looking at two additional questions of following Jesus as Caleb followed the Lord. We will also look at how the Lord used the character of Caleb as an example to Israel. Can he be an example to us?
