CALEB
THE OVERCOMER

by
Ruth Paxson

(An address given at a conference in London)

God's Testimony
"But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit in him, and has followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went, and his seed shall possess it." NUM. 14. 24.

Moses' Testimony
"Save Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, the Kenezite, and Joshua the son of Nun, for they have wholly followed the Lord." NUM. 32. 12.

"Save Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, he shall see it and to him will I give the land that he has trodden upon, and to his children, because he has wholly followed the Lord." DEUT. 1. 36.

Caleb's Testimony
"Nevertheless my brethren that went up with me made the heart of the people melt, but I wholly followed the Lord my God." JOSH. 14. 8

"And Moses swore on that day, saying, Surely the land whereon your feet have trodden shall be your inheritance and your children's for ever, because you have wholly followed the Lord my God." JOSH. 4. 9.

"Hebron therefore became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh, the Kenezite, unto this day, because that he wholly followed the Lord God of Israel." JOSH. 14. 14.

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THE best illustration of overcoming is the life of an overcomer. The incontrovertible proof of its possibility is that it has been done. The most powerful incentive to live such a life is to see it lived. Herein lies the value of a study of Caleb's life. He was an overcomer.

Most of us Christians are just common folks living comparatively obscure lives. We are apt to think that the abundant life of a Spirit-filled Christian is reserved for the few called to high and holy positions. To preach as he did, Peter must be Spirit-filled. To write as he did necessitated such a life in John. To be the foremost missionary of all time demanded of Paul that he be a Spirit-filled man. We look at such men in public life and say, "Surely God does not expect me to live as they live."

But Caleb played no such role in God's service. He was not an Abraham, nor a Moses, nor a David, nor a Paul. He was just Caleb, a man out of the common run of folks, living a life brilliant in no other respect than in its faith, obedience and courage. He was an ordinary man living an extraordinary life not because of anything in himself or in his circumstances but solely because of his relationship to his God. Caleb became nothing that God might become everything. Caleb had but one concern, his relationship to his God. That being right everything else must be right. Caleb went in a straight line allowing no deflection or deviation. In youth and in old age, amid all difficulties and discouragements, in face of all opposition, he wholly followed the Lord.

Is there any one of us who cannot do the same? Do we not have much more to aid us to live the life of an overcomer than Caleb had? Are we not living on the other side of the Cross and of Pentecost? As we run the race set before us are we not compassed about with a much greater cloud of witnesses to God's
faithfulness and power? If in the early dawn of the spiritual history of God's people such an overcomer as Caleb could shine forth with such brilliancy, what excuse can there possibly be to those of us living near the midnight hour of the time of Christ's church on earth?

Canaan stands for the Christian's deliverance from all the power of Satan, for his full inheritance of all his possessions in Christ, for his enjoyment of the peace and power of a Spirit-filled life. God teaches us through Caleb how such a life may be obtained and maintained. Caleb calls and challenges us to enter into it. "Let us go up at once and possess it: for we are well able to overcome it."

Dear reader, will you respond to the call and accept the challenge of Caleb the overcomer?

RUTH PAXSON.
Lausanne, Switzerland.

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"I write unto you, young men, because you have overcome the wicked one. I have written unto you, young men, because you are strong and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the wicked one." 1 JOHN 2:13.14.

"For whatsoever is born of God overcomes the world, and this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith." 1 JOHN 5:4.


CALEB AS A YOUNG MAN—AT KADESH-BARNEA

THE first glimpse that we have of Caleb is at Kadesh-barnea. He is forty years old, the height of his young manhood. We know nothing about him until he is suddenly brought into action as one of the twelve spies appointed by Moses to search out the land of Canaan.

Here we learn that he was a ruler in the tribe of Judah, the largest and most important tribe of the children of Israel. From this we may infer that Caleb, as a young man, was capable and responsible. His work upon this commission reveals the innermost life of this young man and reflects a consecration to the Lord so outstanding that we may rightly conclude that it must have commenced when he was but a youth. We can only comprehend the great importance of this task to which Caleb was appointed and the part he played in it by understanding the purpose in sending this commission into Canaan to spy out the land.

Through the call of Abraham, God had chosen a people for Himself and He had promised unto them and to their seed the land of Canaan as their everlasting possession through an everlasting covenant. The early fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, had dwelt in Canaan, but only as strangers. It had not yet become their possession.

While Jacob dwelt in Canaan, his son Joseph had been sold into Egypt through the jealousy and treachery of his brothers. There he became the virtual ruler over Egypt by Pharaoh's appointment. Driven to the point of starvation by the famine that spread over Canaan as well as Egypt, Jacob and all his house finally went into Egypt. There through Joseph's magnanimous forgiveness and generosity
they were fed throughout the time of famine.

Four hundred and thirty years the children of Israel remained in Egypt. As a people they were "fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and grew exceeding mighty, and the land was filled with them." Then there arose a new king over Egypt who had not known Joseph and he became fearful of both the number and the power of this shepherd people. Taskmasters were set over them who afflicted them with unbearable burdens. Then the children of Israel cried unto God for deliverance. The heart of God was moved and He appointed Moses to be their deliverer.

This deliverance was to be two-fold. It was to be a deliverance in Egypt from God's judgment of death upon all the first-born in every house on the night of the Passover. This was effected for Israel solely by the blood of the slain lamb which God had commanded to be put upon the lintel and the door posts.

It was also a deliverance out of Egypt, and from Pharaoh and the Egyptians who pursued the departing Israelites as at God's command they left the country. This deliverance was effected for the children of Israel solely by God's supernatural power, manifested by the dividing of the Red Sea, which enabled them to pass over on dry land, and by the returning of the waters which engulfed Pharaoh's pursuing hosts.

"We were Pharaoh's bondmen in Egypt: and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand." And "he brought us out from there, that he might bring us in, to give us the land which he swore unto our fathers."

The road to Canaan passed through the way of the wilderness. But God was with them to guide by the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. He provided them with food, drink and clothes. He protected them from all enemies.

Finally they came to Kadesh-barnea on the very border of the land of Canaan. The promised land lay just before them, a land of which God had said it is "a land of brooks of water, of fountains, and depths that spring out of the valleys and hills: a land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates: a land of olive-trees and honey; a land wherein you shall eat bread without scarceness, you shall not lack anything in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you may dig brass. When you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land which he has given you." DEUT. 8:7-10

"The land which the Lord swore unto your fathers to give unto them and to their seed, a land that flows with milk and honey. For the land whither you go in to possess it is not as the land of Egypt, from whence you came out, where you sowed your seed, and watered it with your foot, as a garden of herbs. But the land, whither you go to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys, and drinks water of the rain of heaven. A land which the Lord your God cares for: the eyes of the Lord your God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year." DEUT. 11:9-12

A land of sufficiency, satisfaction and safety! Contrast it with the land of burdens and bondage from which they had been delivered and the barrenness of the wilderness through which they had passed. They are now at the very gates of such a land and God is saying to them:

"Behold, the Lord your God has set the land before you: go up and possess it, as the Lord God of your fathers has said unto you: fear not, neither be discouraged." DEUT. 1:21.

Such a land set before them as an outright gift to be had for the taking! It was theirs already as far as God's part was concerned, but was to be made theirs in actual possession by simple faith and obedience. Would you not think they would have hastened without one moment's hesitation or one hour's delay to go in and possess "the land which the Lord swore unto Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after them?"

A Crisis demanding a Choice
But what did they do? They asked Moses to appoint an appraisal commission to spy out the land! Is there anything new under the sun? Some modern methods which today seem so up to date have the musty smell of ages upon them. What was this commission to do?

"They shall search out the land, and bring us word again by what way we must go up, and into what cities we shall come." DEUT. 1:22

How human it all is! Now that the children of Israel were out of Egypt and through the wilderness, they could dispense with God's leadership and substitute man's wisdom and guidance for it. They would now take the management of affairs into their own hands and decide for themselves by what route they would enter the land and what the plan of campaign would be. To be guided by God's explicit direction did not seem as necessary as during the miraculous deliverance from Egypt or on the perilous journey through the wilderness. Then they knew they were helpless, but now, no doubt, they could well make their own decisions and trust to their own judgment. Oh! the innate, latent pride of the human heart!

But there was an even more terrible thrust at God in the appointment of such a commission. Blatant unbelief lurks in the suggestion that these men should "search out the land." Had not God already told them everything they needed to know about that land? Is it possible that God's word needs confirmation? Will they not believe until they see? Does it mean that after all the wonders of their deliverance and journeyings they still cannot trust Him? And what would be the outcome, if the commission upon its return from the investigation should bring in a report contrary to God's command? How sinister is even the suggestion of such a commission! But God allows it to be appointed, a man from each tribe constitutes that committee. Here we first meet Caleb, as the representative of Judah.

What commission is given to the twelve spies? We are told explicitly in Numbers 13:17-20. They were to see the land, whether it was "good or bad, fat or lean, and whether there be wood therein or not." God had already told them it was fruitful, fertile and filled with all kinds of trees. They were to see "the cities in which the people dwelt, whether in tents or strongholds." God had already told them they dwelt in cities "great and fenced up to heaven." They were to see whether the people were "strong or weak, few or many." God had already faithfully told them that the nations inhabiting the land were "greater and mightier than they, a people great and tall, the children of the Anakims." But He had promised to go over before them, as a consuming fire, to destroy all their enemies and drive them out of the land. So He commanded them "to be of good courage." In other words, to believe God and to obey Him.

Under these circumstances such a commission was absolutely superfluous—nay, more than that, it was sinful. But the spies went and searched the land forty days. They brought back from Eschol a branch with one cluster of grapes which required two men to bear it upon a staff; proof abundant of God's word regarding the land and a pledge in hand of His power to fulfill every promise regarding their dwelling in the land. They brought back also a report. But it was not unanimous. The commission was divided ten to two. There was both a majority and a minority report.

The Majority Report
The ten spies spoke favorably, yet not very enthusiastically, regarding the land. It was, as God had said, a "land that flows with milk and honey." The fruit in their hands was a sample of its abounding fertility. Two ominous words now occur in the report. The odor of rebellion and self-will exude from them.

"Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there." NUM. 13:28.

There are absolutely insurmountable difficulties in entering Canaan. We are doomed to defeat before we begin. Our mind is already made up about this matter. This is our decision.

We be not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we." NUM. 13:31.

So the ten spies "brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched."

The Minority Report
Two of the spies, Caleb and Joshua, handed in the minority report, Caleb evidently acting as chairman. The two spies couldn't say enough about the land. They were captivated by it; it had exceeded their expectations, it was an "exceedingly good land."

Their report even regarding the people, while honest, was enthusiastic. They, too, had seen the great walled cities and the strong, powerful people dwelling in them; yes, they had measured the size of the giants as had the other ten spies. They were not self-deceived regarding the strength of their enemies in the land.

They did not minimize the difficulties but they magnified the Lord. In their estimation the presence of the Lord with them entirely offset the power of the people against them. Therefore they saw the enemy already defeated.

"If the Lord delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which flows with milk and honey. Only rebel not against the Lord, neither fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us: their defense is departed from them, and the Lord is with us: fear them not." NUM. 14: 8, 9.

To the two spies victory was already assured, so their verdict was unhesitating. God's word should be believed and His command immediately obeyed. And Caleb fearlessly said so.

"And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it."

So the two spies brought in a good report of the land as in full conformity to God's clearly given description.

What was at the bottom of these radically opposite, mutually exclusive reports? God reveals with crystal clearness that the action of the two groups was due to their attitude. It was the result of a fundamental difference in their relationship to the Lord Himself. Let us now analyze these attitudes.

The Attitude of the Two Spies
On the part of both Caleb and Joshua it was an attitude of implicit obedience which resulted from a complete consecration. Their relationship to their Lord and not their relationship to the people in the land determined their action. Faith in God and not fear of giants animated their report. And what was their relationship to the Lord?

"Save Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun, for they have wholly followed the Lord."

May we now go into a still closer analysis of Caleb's attitude as recorded in Scripture. Six times we are told that Caleb "wholly followed the Lord." Such repetition has great significance. It unfolds to view the innermost secret of the man's life. It mirrors his soul to us. What Caleb was determined what he did. His attitude determined his action.

But Scripture reveals something deeper still in the life of this glorious man. God's own hand pulls aside the curtain from his spirit and gives us a glimpse into its innermost chamber,—the sanctuary of the Lord Himself.

"My servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and has followed me fully..." NUM. 14:24.

And what kind of spirit did he have, contrasted so vividly with that of all the others? It is none other than the spirit of an overcomer. "My servant Caleb" is Caleb, the overcomer! Now study his attitude further as revealed in that minority report.

His Attitude toward the Land
    It was a land to be desired
            "An exceedingly good land."
    to be entered
            "Let us go up at once."
    to be possessed
            "Let us possess it."

Caleb had a deep conviction regarding the land. This conviction determined his action. Forty-five years later he said to Joshua after they were actually in the promised land, "Forty years old was I when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh-barnea to spy out the land, and I brought him word again as it was in my heart."

Such a man as Caleb could not have done otherwise than state his moral conviction, even though it meant taking a stand against ten "brethren" (JOSH. 14:8) and bringing in a minority report. To have done otherwise would have been to stultify his conscience and to become a moral coward. Caleb could not be swayed by the ten no matter what the consequences. He had been chosen to spy out the land. He must bring word again as it was in his heart. Caleb not only had a conviction but he had the daring of that conviction.

Can you not imagine what went on within that camp? The insinuation of obstinacy and self-will! The accusation of breaking the unity of the commission! As though that were a greater sin than breaking the command of God! The subtle appeal to yield to the majority opinion which must be right!

But this man of "another spirit" who "wholly followed the Lord" can stand every rebuke and reproach. Within his innermost spirit he knows the Lord delights in him because he is obedient to His word. So it matters little to him what man says or does. To know that he is in the center of God's will and obedient to God's word gives him moral courage. He is satisfied just to wholly follow the Lord, though it places him in the minority with men.

His Attitude toward the People
    He was devoid of fear.
            "Neither fear the people of the land. Fear them not." NUM. 14:9.

    He was dominated by faith.
            "For they are bread for us, their defense is departed from them." NUM. 14:9.

This is not a reckless attitude due to folly. It is instead a consistent courage deeply rooted in faith. To be sure, Caleb had seen the giants of great stature, but he had also seen One of greater strength than they. "The Lord is with us." Therefore whom or what should we fear? Had He not said that if they walked in His statutes and kept His commandments to do them they should chase their enemies who would fall before their sword? That five of them should chase a hundred and a hundred of them should put ten thousand to flight? Would God not do "as he had said?" Caleb's attitude was "Be of good cheer, for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me."

Fear and faith were to him incompatible. Fear always drives out faith if faith does not dispel fear. The ten spies were dominated by fear and so devoid of faith. Caleb was dominated by faith and so devoid of fear.

His Attitude toward the Lord
It was one of calm confidence and of absolute assurance based on unquestioning faith in God's promise.

"If the Lord delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us." NUM. 14:8.

God had said that He would give them the land. That was enough for Caleb. To him "God is not a man, that he should lie, neither the son of man, that he should repent." Caleb had but one attitude toward his Lord, "Has he said, and shall he not do it? Or has he spoken, and shall he not make it good?" (NUM. 23:19), Caleb quietly lay full length upon this promise of God that He would give them the land. The fact that the sons of Anak were there did not shake his confidence an atom. It would but give God greater glory when even they were driven out of Canaan. "The Lord is with us" and who are the sons of Anak beside the Lord of heaven and of earth? The Creator of the Anakims is in our midst! What can the created do to Him or His?

His Attitude toward Himself
Caleb saw himself only in his relationship to his God. He was God's chosen, redeemed, sanctified one. Therefore he looked upon himself as the one who had the right to the inheritance in Canaan and the power to possess it.

"We are well able to overcome it." NUM. 13:30.

Caleb's one concern for himself was not for his safety but for his sanctification. "If the Lord delight in us, then he will bring us into the land." His part was just to see that his own life was well pleasing unto the Lord. Then all would come to him that God had promised.

This attitude of confidence did not have its springs in self-righteousness. It was not due to what Caleb thought himself to be, but because of what he knew God was. He himself had reached zero. He was nothing, God was everything.

Let us sum up what we have seen to be Caleb's attitude.
    Conviction regarding the land.
            God had already given it to the children of Israel.
    Courage regarding the people.
            They were already defeated foes.
    Confidence regarding the Lord.
            He would do as He had said.
    Consecration regarding himself.
            He would wholly follow the Lord.

The result of such an attitude was action. Appropriating faith coupled with assurance of victory made him ready to act immediately.

"Let us go up at once and possess it."
"We are well able to overcome it."

Caleb's deep-rooted conviction, his undaunted courage, his calm confidence and his complete consecration challenged him to aggressive action.

Standing alone, Caleb would be one of the most winsome characters in Biblical history. But when we see his life silhouetted against that of the ten spies, who represent also the congregation of Israel, it is nothing short of majestic. To observe the difference may we now study their attitude.

The Attitude of the Ten Spies
We are not left to form our own judgment of these men. God clearly reveals the spirit that animated them, and tells us in so many words that it was one of rebellion caused by disbelief and disobedience.

"Likewise when the Lord sent you from Kadesh-barnea saying, Go up and possess the land, which I have given you; then you rebelled against the commandment of the Lord your God, and you believed him not, nor hearkened to his voice." DEUT. 9:23.

It was not the great walled cities of Canaan nor even the great stature of the giants that kept them from their inheritance in Canaan. It was their own faulty relationship to the Lord. God Himself says so.

"Surely none of the men that came up out of Egypt from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land, which I swore unto Abraham and unto Isaac, and unto Jacob; because they have not wholly followed me." NUM. 32:11.

What they were not, determined what they did not.

But Scripture reveals something more in the lives of these men which so quickly brought them to destruction and death. Their own words betray and condemn them. Behind their rebellion, unbelief and disobedience is an evil spirit of ingratitude and murmuring which led to basest accusations and lies against their faithful, loving God.

"And you murmured in your tents, and said, Because the Lord hated us, he has brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites, to destroy us." DEUT. 1:27.

"When they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful."

Let us now go into a more detailed study of their attitude.

Their Attitude toward the Land
They had admitted that it was a land flowing with milk and honey, as God had said. But they had no desire for it. God goes even further in unveiling their real attitude toward the promised land. They despised it.

"But your little ones, which you said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which you have despised." NUM. 14.

But their guilt was even deeper still. They brought back such a slanderous report that they encouraged the whole congregation of Israel to despise it also.

"And the men, which Moses sent to search the land, who returned, and made all the congregation to murmur against him by bringing up a slander upon the land." NUM. 14:36.

The ten spies and all the children of Israel with them had no heart longing for Canaan. Instead, their hearts lusted for the onions, leeks and garlic of Egypt. They loved not Canaan because they lusted for Egypt.

Their Attitude toward the People
It was one of abject fear resulting in paralyzing cowardice.

"All the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature. And there we saw giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants." NUM. 13:32, 33.

They saw "giants" instead of "God." Therefore they yielded to panic instead of trusting themselves to God's power. Controlled by fear, they became cowards.

Their Attitude toward the Lord
God is utterly ignored. His name does not even appear in the majority committee's report. God is not even remotely referred to. There is no reference whatsoever to His gracious promises to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob, to His miraculous power manifested in Egypt and at the Red Sea, to His unfailing
protection all through the wilderness journey or to His abiding presence in the pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night. God is not in their thoughts.

Neither is He in their vision. They see nothing but giants. "We saw giants."

Three times they state this terrifying fact. Is it to be marveled at that they brought back an evil report?

"But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go against the people: for they are stronger than we." NUM. 13:31.

Of course they were. God had told them so many times. But had He ever said "the people" were stronger than He? Their attitude to God was one of inexcusable unbelief.

"And the Lord said unto Moses, How long will this people provoke me? and how long will it be ere they believe me? for all the signs which I have shown among them?" NUM. 14:11.

Rejection of God's word breeds rebellion against God's will. Their failure to enter Canaan was not because they could not, but because they would not.

"Notwithstanding you would not go up, but rebelled against the commandment of the Lord your God." DEUT. 1:26.

Their Attitude toward Themselves
They state quite clearly what they think about themselves.

"We saw giants and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so were we in their sight." NUM. 13:33.

"Grasshoppers" versus "giants!" Humility? Consummate conceit! "We" is the biggest word in that sentence, used nine times. Herein lies their whole trouble, they are too big. If they had said, "We are as worms," they would have come nearer the truth. Then they might have given God some place in their thought. But "grasshoppers!" They could at least hop around by themselves even if they did not avail anything by it as against "giants."

"In our sight" as grasshoppers! But oh! what were they in God's sight? His very own! His chosen, redeemed, sanctified people, to whom He had given His promise, protection, power and presence from the day of their redemption in Egypt right up to Kadesh-barnea. But not one word as to what they were in the sight of the Lord their God!

The ten spies saw themselves primarily in relation to their enemies. Consequently their chief concern was for their safety. So they would sacrifice their inheritance in Canaan rather than risk their lives. "They loved not their lives unto death" did not apply to them, "because they have not wholly followed
the Lord."

Let us review their attitude.
    Regarding the land
            They despised it.
    Regarding the people
            They dreaded them.
    Regarding the Lord
            They doubted, disdained and disobeyed Him.
    Regarding themselves
            They depended upon their own strength.

Let us bring into sharp contrast these mutually exclusive attitudes.
    Caleb desired Canaan.
            The ten despised Canaan.
    Caleb sought to enter the land.
            The ten slandered the land.
    Caleb had the spirit of an overcomer.
            The ten had the spirit of one overcome.
    Caleb said, "We are well able to overcome it."
            The ten said, "We are not able to go up against this people."
    Caleb looked up at God's promise and power.
            The ten looked in at themselves, around at their enemies.
    Caleb saw God.
            The ten saw giants.
    Caleb wholly followed the Lord his God.
            The ten did not wholly follow the Lord.

The Consequences of the Choice at Kadesh-barnea
It is most illuminating to study the consequences of the two choices made at Kadesh-barnea. This was determined by God's response to the two reports.


The Consequence to the Ten Spies
Rebellion is infectious, and the rebellion of the ten spies bred a revolution among the whole congregation of Israel.

"All the congregation lifted up their voices and cried."

"All the children of Israel murmured."

"The whole congregation said, Would God we had died in the land of Egypt."

"All the congregation bade stone them with stones." NUM. 14:1, 2

And God lays the blame for this revolt against Him by Israel upon these ten who brought in the majority report.

"Whither shall we go up? Our brethren have discouraged our heart, saying, The people is greater and taller than we; the cities are great and walled up to heaven; and moreover we have seen the sons of the
Anakims there." DEUT.1:28.

"Nevertheless my brethren that went up with me made the heart of the people melt; but I wholly followed the Lord." JOSH. 14:8.

Through the majority report of this ancient, self-instigated Appraisal Commission nearly two million people were deprived altogether of their inheritance in Canaan, were driven back into the wilderness to die, and God's purpose for His chosen people was deterred forty years in its fulfillment.

And what was God's judgment upon the ten members of this Appraisal Commission? Oh! how extremely solemn are these words! No comment upon them is needed.

"Even those men that did bring up the evil report upon the land, died by the plague before the Lord." NUM. 14:37.

The Consequences to the Congregation of Israel
God stood ready to disinherit them and to make of Moses a greater and mightier nation. He was restrained, however, by Moses' remarkable prayer pleading the honor of His own Name and the potency of His power before the heathen, and the pardoning grace He had so constantly manifested toward His rebellious people from Egypt even unto that day (NUM. 14:11-20).

God did pardon, yet they had to bear the consequences of their choice. They would never be permitted to enter Canaan. But God is always just in His judgments. Not all in the congregation of Israel would be kept out of their inheritance.

God divided the congregation into two parts; those twenty years old and above who had murmured against Him, and the children and little ones who at Kadeshbarnea had neither the knowledge nor the privilege to make a choice. To the elders He said,

"Your carcases shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which have murmured against me . . . Doubtless you shall not come into the land, concerning which I swore to make you dwell therein." NUM. 14:20, 30.

Not one of these should ever see the land. Everyone of them would fall in the wilderness.

"Surely there shall not one of these men, of this evil generation, see that good land, which I swore to give unto your fathers." DEUT. 1:35.

"But as for you, your carcases shall fall in this wilderness." NUM. 24:32.

Forty days they had searched the land and every day of the search brought fresh evidences of the veracity of God's word, and the cluster of grapes was a visible pledge of its fulfillment. But they had broken covenant with their faithful God through shameless, reasonless unbelief. Now they would have forty years, a year for a day, to meditate upon their folly in forcing God to faithlessness in keeping His promise to them.

"After the number of the days in which you searched the land, even forty years, each day for a year, shall you bear your iniquities, even forty years, and you shall know my breach of promise." NUM. 24:34.

Such irremediable self-punishment would seem sufficient wouldn't it? But the end of their fatal choice at Kadesh-barnea is not yet reached. The choice of the parents affected not only themselves but all those with whom they were bound together in the bundle of life.

What effect did it have upon their children? Here the unbelief of their parents struck bottom. They had openly accused God of being the murderer of those innocent little ones. Indeed they had intimated that it were better to take them back to Egypt and entrust them to the tender mercies of Pharaoh than to leave them in the hands of such a God!

"Wherefore has the Lord brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our little ones should be a prey? Were it not better for us to return to Egypt?" NUM. 14:3.

Oh! the blind, unreasoning folly of those unbelieving parents! Did they think they loved them more than God did? And did they better their condition by their worry and unbelief? Nay, rather they imposed upon them part of their own punishment. The children must wander forty years in the wilderness waiting for their parents' bones to whiten on the desert sands.

But God in His infinite grace dealt justly with them. By no choice of theirs were they turned back into the wilderness at Kadesh-barnea. So God would give all under twenty years of age their chance to choose whether they would enter the land or not. If they truly desired their inheritance in Canaan, by no fault or folly of their parents would they be kept from it. They, too, were redeemed and Canaan was thereby theirs as well as their fathers'. The promise had been made to their seed and God could break no promise to them.

"But your little ones, which you said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which you have despised . . . And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms, until your carcases be wasted in the wilderness." NUM. 14:31.33.

"Your children, which in that day had no knowledge between good and evil, they shall go in thither, and unto them will I give it, and they shall possess it." DEUT. 1:39.

The Consequence to the Two Spies
At least once in the history of God's people it was best to be in the minority. When Caleb and Joshua handed in their minority report they were treated rather roughly by the congregation of Israel, and were in immediate danger of being stoned to death. But God's protection was about them and life was preserved.

"But Joshua, the son of Nun, and Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, which were of the men that went to search the land, lived still." NUM. 14:38.

But much better still the deepest desire of their hearts was to be realized. They were to see the land they loved, to enter it and to possess it even as God had promised. They must wait a while until that evil, unbelieving generation had passed on, but ultimately they and their seed should possess Canaan.

"Not one of this evil generation shall see that good land, which I swore to give unto your fathers. Save Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, he shall see it, and to him will I give the land, that he has trodden upon, and to his children, because he has wholly followed the Lord." DEUT 1:35, 36.

"But Joshua, the son of Nun, which stands before you, he shall go in thither; encourage him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it." DEUT. 1:38.

As the ten faithless spies not only missed Canaan for themselves but caused tens of thousands of others to miss it, so the two faithful spies not only gained Canaan, but they were used of God to lead that entire younger generation into their inheritance in the promised land.

"Be strong and of good courage; for unto this people shall you divide for an inheritance the land, which I swore unto their fathers to give them." JOSH. 1:6.

While Joshua was the commander of the military forces that gained the victories in warfare, surely it was old Uncle Caleb that took many a little one on his knee and told them the story of that wonderful Passover night, and held even the older children spellbound as he recounted every incident of the passage of the Red Sea. And I am sure their hearts were drawn out in true longing for Canaan as he made their mouths water for the grapes of Eschol. While Joshua hardened their physical muscles in preparation for the battles of Beth-horon and Makkedah, Caleb was no doubt used to prepare the spiritual sinews of faith that gave them the conquest of Jericho.

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"I pray not that you should take them out of the world, but that you should keep them from the evil one." JOHN 17:15.

"These things have I spoken unto you that in me you might have peace. In the world you shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." JOHN 16:33.


CALEB IN MIDDLE LIFE—IN THE WILDERNESS
It is one thing to stand steadfast in the moment of crisis, but quite another to continue in a sustained steadfastness in the ordinary routine of a drab, monotonous life. Many may face an emergency victoriously, but very few live habitually the life of an overcomer.

If one is failing to do so, he is quite apt to insist that such a life is impossible. We may even persuade ourselves that God never intended us to live a victorious life this side of Heaven. Many earnest Christians are questioning, "Does the life of victory work under all circumstances? Is the fullness of the Holy Spirit for everyone and can it be continuous? Can life be lived habitually on the highest plane in this unspiritual world and with such human limitations as we all have? Has anyone ever lived the life of an overcomer?

There are two ways of answering these questions. First: What does God's Word say about it? If God's Word teaches that such a life is provided for in Christ's work for us and His life in us, then it is possible for every Christian, whether we have ever seen such a life or not. Secondly: Is there any record of such a life in Scripture? If even one person has lived the life of an overcomer, then such a life is possible to every person who meets the Scriptural conditions for it.

No truly honest student of God's Word could deny that it teaches with crystal clearness that not only is such a life possible but that it is obligatory upon every Christian to live it. And a careful study of Caleb's life shows that it has been done.

We have seen Caleb in young manhood at Kadesh-barnea standing steadfast in glorious victory. There he shone forth with blazing light as an overcomer. But now he is compelled by the sin of others to turn away from the land of his heart's delight and to renounce all hope of Canaan for forty years. Instead of occupying a God-given possession, he must wander forty years in the wilderness with this querulous, discontented people. The best years of his middle life must be sacrificed to the sin of these rebel relatives and brethren. He will be an old man before he reaches Canaan and would not have long to enjoy his inheritance there.

He was an overcomer in the moment of crisis at Kadesh-barnea, but surely it is not to be expected that he can continue to be one for forty long years in the wilderness with such an unbelieving, unspiritual crowd. Can he stand this test? Can he maintain the level of Kadesh-barnea? If so, then there is a similar daily victory for you and me.

We are always prone to think that our lot is the hardest; that no one suffers quite as much as we; that there is some excuse for us because of circumstances so much more difficult than those of others. We are quite persuaded that no one could be victorious under the same circumstances. This attitude is so clearly revealed in these lines from a letter I received from a friend not long ago. "It seems I have had nothing but trials and afflictions for so long, and I pray so much for patience and long-suffering, but I must confess that I have not reached the place where I can take my trials joyfully, and what is more, I fear I never can. I may be wrong, but I don't believe anyone does, unless it is someone who is in Christian work all the time or someone who does not have the worries and cares of home life with all its trials and burdens. Sometimes I think if I had a lot of money, enough to give and give, and did not have to work so hard that I can't even have time to think, I could be good too—may be not, but I'd like awfully well to try it."

In sending forth this little book it is my prayer that Caleb may act as a spiritual tonic to all such defeated, self-pitying Christians. Let us study the circumstances under which he lived those forty years in the wilderness. First let us see what it meant to him physically. Think of the exhausting weariness of body caused by those marches and counter-marches. There were days, months, years of futile, aimless wandering, always going and never getting anywhere. There was the still more wearying work of war. Over against this Caleb had continually in his imagination the promised land of Canaan.

Then there were the physical deprivations he was compelled to endure. To his completely surrendered soul the daily manna was ever sweet and palatable we may be sure. But it couldn't compare with the milk, honey and fruit—the abounding plenty of the promised land.

Then to such a home-lover as Caleb, what must the forty years of homelessness have meant to him? And with Hebron, his rightful home, ever in his memory and vision! In Lausanne, Switzerland, not far from where I have lived, is the dear little home of a retired school teacher. It overlooks the lake of Geneva and the mountains beyond and nestles down into a little vegetable and flower garden in a most homely manner. On the two gate-posts, written so every passer-by may see, are the two words, "MY OWN." In spiritual imagination Caleb had written these two charming words upon the gate-posts of Hebron when he went to search out the land. Yet for forty years he was deprived of the peace and
plenty, the sweetness and the satisfaction of Hebron.

But perhaps hardest of all to bear was the useless waste of life as it might legitimately have seemed to a wholly yielded person. Think of those rare years of middle life that might have been spent in the cultivation and use of his rightful inheritance, sacrificed to what seemed to be mere existence.

But the physical test was by far the easier. Can we appreciate what those forty years cost Caleb spiritually? The daily terrific down-pull? We are not left to our own imagination to sense the spiritual atmosphere which Caleb had to breathe. It is too vividly portrayed to leave us to mere conjecture. Into this whirlpool of sin the devil must have tried persistently to draw Caleb.

First, think of the recorded murmurings of this thankless, ungrateful people. What must it have meant of heart-ache to Caleb to have to listen to their ceaseless murmuring against God; how did he keep his own heart free from the taint of this fearful sin?

Then how did he escape being drawn into the petty jealousies that broke out among the leaders? How very easy it would have been for Caleb to be a party to the jealous spite of Aaron and Miriam against Moses and to capitalize it for his own advantage to gain a place of leadership! For did he not know from God's own word that Moses would not enter Canaan?

Or how was Caleb kept from terrible depression? Think of the deaths he witnessed! The funerals he attended! The constant atmosphere of sadness and gloom that hung like a black cloud over that camp!

Lastly think of the constantly ebbing tide in the moral life of the children of Israel from the moment they turned from Kadesh-barnea into the wilderness. Any departure from God inevitably leads to degeneration. They had deliberately chosen their will as against God's will. And what had they now to live for? Only death. Forty years of aimless wandering, waiting to die! No vision! No aspiration! No incentive! No goal! A deadening, dead-level existence! How did Caleb ever keep himself from being drawn by the eddies of this low moral standard into the whirlpool of sin that had engulfed the others?

And in the midst of this spiritual desert no one with whom he could have spiritual fellowship, save Joshua, Moses, Aaron, just a few like-minded ones near. And perhaps Joshua, as Moses' understudy in training for the future leadership of this people into Canaan, may have been too busy to give this elder man much time that they might talk together of the land they had once seen and into which they would one day enter. Caleb stood singularly alone. I dare say his spiritual solitariness was his greatest trial in the wilderness. No one with whom he could talk of the things that meant most to him. If they had despised the land and had been shut out of it by their own rebellion and unbelief, they would not care to make it the theme of conversation with the man who loved it passionately and who was actually to enter and possess it as soon as they had all died. Much less would they want him to talk with them of its peace and plenty, its sufficiency and satisfaction which in their own hearts they knew they had forfeited by their own sin. How great must have been the loneliness of Caleb's life!

But think, too, of what terrific inner temptations Caleb must have experienced, the subtle temptation that must certainly have come sometimes, to rebellion against God, for causing him for the sins of others to wander forty years in that wilderness. What injustice in allowing him to suffer so for that in which he was utterly blameless.

What temptation also to implacable resentment against the ten spies and the whole congregation because their decision had brought upon him such dire deprivation! How did he refrain from yielding to perpetual self-pity, increasing as the years went on? Or, if he avoided this pit-fall, how did he ever escape falling into the opposite one of self-righteousness, comparing his surrendered life with their selfish lives? How was he kept from contempt for his carnal brethren?

Think of the daily, nay, hourly temptation to yield to the level of his environment and sink down into the conventional carnality of all those about him, vindicating himself for it on the ground of his circumstances.

But did Caleb yield to these manifold temptations? Did he succumb to circumstances, becoming a victim to them instead of a victor over them? Or did Caleb's victory work in the grueling routine of the wilderness discipline as gloriously as in the moment of sudden crisis? Did Caleb remain an overcomer?

Everything in the record would go to show that he did. The same "spirit" that animated him at Kadesh-barnea seems to have sustained him for the whole wilderness wandering. He himself testified to God's wondrous keeping power. "God works for him that waits for him." The forty years of wilderness wandering were Caleb's waiting days.

Surely we all want to profit by Caleb's experience. Has God anywhere recorded for us the secret of Caleb's overcoming? It is written crystal clear in Caleb's own retrospect given in Joshua fourteen.

Caleb Rested upon the Promises of God
"Caleb said unto him (Joshua), you know the thing that the Lord said unto Moses the man of God, concerning me and you in Kadesh-barnea." JOSH. 14:6.

"Now therefore give me this mountain, of which the Lord spoke in that day; for you heard in that day how the Anakims were there, and that the cities were great and fenced; if so be the Lord will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the Lord said." JOSH. 14:12.

"As the Lord said"—here is the secret spring of Caleb's sustained overcoming. The promises of his God burned as a steady light in his soul. That light never went out, never burned low. His delight was in the spoken word of God and "in that he meditated day and night." Therefore Caleb was "like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever he does shall prosper." God's promise was the rock of Gibraltar in Caleb's wilderness experience.

"God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent; has he said, and shall he not do it? Or has he spoken, and shall he not make it good ?" NUM. 24:19.

Caleb was absolutely assured that in His own time and way God would perform and perfect that which concerned him. Psa. 7:2, 138:8. He rested full length upon the promises of God.

Caleb Reached Out for His Inheritance by Faith
"And Moses swore on that day, saying, Surely the land whereon your feet have trodden shall be your inheritance, and your children's for ever, because you have wholly followed the Lord my God." JOSH. 14:9.

During all the forty years of wilderness wandering, Caleb lived in the promised land through anticipatory, appropriating faith. He lived above the wilderness by living in the promised land. The love of Hebron and the assurance of one day actually inheriting it sustained and strengthened him in the midst of all the vicissitudes and temptations of the wilderness life. He was in the wilderness, but not of it.

He had once crossed the Jordan. He had been in Hebron and Hebron had gotten into him. From that hour his heart and his eyes were steadfastly fixed upon Hebron. The children of Israel might look backward to Egypt and hanker after its onions, leeks and garlic, but not he. He looked steadfastly onward to Canaan, and hungered ever for its milk, honey and grapes. From the day he saw Hebron he said with the Psalmist, "My heart is fixed, O Lord, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise."

He had seen Hebron and nothing could obliterate the sight from his memory nor could ought else substitute for Hebron in his desire. HEBRON, beneath whose oaks Abraham had pitched his tent; HEBRON, trodden by the feet of the incarnate God as with the angels He visited Abraham; HEBRON, which held the tombs of Sarah, Abraham, Isaac, Rebekah and Rachel as a silent but sure pledge
that the promise of God to all the children of Israel would one day be fulfilled. HEBRON, which one day would be his and his children's if only his feet could tread upon its sacred ground. HEBRON, Caleb's last thought at night, his first thought in the morning, and never really out of his mind during his waking hours.

"Delight yourself also in the Lord, and he shall give you the desires of your heart." Above all other desires in Caleb's heart was the desire for his inheritance in Hebron. So his one passion was God Himself. Therefore he deliberately turned his eyes away from circumstances, from people, even from himself, and fixed them steadfastly upon God and upon Canaan. His one concern was to keep his own life up to standard, wholly following the Lord, in order that God might continually delight in him and so fulfill the desire of his heart.

Caleb Relied Upon God's Keeping Power
"And now, behold, the Lord has kept me alive, as He said, these forty-five years, even since the Lord spoke these words unto Moses, while the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness and now, lo, I am this day eighty-five years old. And yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me; as my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, both to go out and to come in." JOSH. 14:10, 11.

While all the children of Israel who murmured and rebelled wasted away and died in the wilderness, Caleb was not only kept alive, but with undiminished strength. God's power was vouchsafed to him until God's promise was fulfilled in him, and God's purpose accomplished through him.

Caleb Resisted all Counter-influences through Complete Consecration
"Nevertheless my brethren that went up with me made the heart of the people melt: but I wholly followed the Lord my God." JOSH. 14:8.

"Hebron therefore became the inheritance of Caleb, because that he wholly followed the Lord God of Israel." JOSH. 14:14.

That rare spirit of the overcomer which had been manifested in him at Kadesh-barnea remained in him unperturbed and unchanged all through the wilderness wanderings. Amid all the murmurings, jealousies, and rebellions of the wilderness environment, Caleb steadfastly maintained his purpose to do only the will of God, to listen only to the voice of God, to please God alone. Despite all counteracting influences, he would wholly follow the Lord.

The remembrance of God's promise to him; the consciousness of God's presence with him and the assurance of God's delight in him sustained and strengthened Caleb. Working in obedience to God, he had fellowship with God. So he had the rest of Canaan in his heart, before he had it in his life. Caleb had passed through the Red Sea. Death to Egypt and the Egyptians, yes, death to Caleb was to him a living reality. He had also crossed over Jordan and had been in Canaan, so that he was now alive to the land of promise and its sovereign God. This was not sterile head knowledge of great redeeming, sanctifying truths, but satisfying heart experience of their benefits and blessings.

So we see Caleb in the wilderness like a pure lily rising out of a putrid pond. About his life is the pureness of the lily, the fragrance of the rose, the rareness of the orchid.

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"And every spirit that confesses not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God, and this is that spirit of anti-Christ, of which you have heard that it should come, and even now already it is in the world. You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world." 1 JOHN 4:3, 4.

"And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they loved not their lives unto death." REV. 12:11.


CALEB IN OLD AGE—IN CANAAN
We have now come to the twilight years of Caleb's life. "And now, lo, I am this day eighty-five years old." Caleb has never yet disappointed us. In his youth at Kadesh-barnea he measured up to the full stature of an overcomer. In his middle life, spent in the adversity and affliction of the wilderness, he towered head and shoulders above the carnal brethren with whom he was associated. For eighty years he has "wholly followed the Lord." But how will it be in his old age when he actually reaches Canaan? Will he now let down and consider himself exempt from adherence to that high standard so consistently maintained? Will he become self-indulgent, a lover of ease? Will he become self-confident, resting upon his past laurels? Will he become self-righteous, boasting of his own achievements?

Grey hairs are no guarantee of spirituality. Indeed, one of the tragedies of Christian experience is the spiritual slump that sometimes occurs in the declining years of even earnest Christians. We need to begin in youth, as Caleb did, to prepare for old age. As we lay up temporal resources against the physical infirmities of old age, so we need to lay up spiritual reserves against the spiritual exigencies of the twilight years of life.

There are two widely divergent view-points of old age. Some think of it as a descent. One reaches the highest point of usefulness, no, even of enjoyment, at middle age, and from then on it is going down hill until death brings release. The aged one is looked upon often as a victim of inescapable circumstances, such as weakness, ill-health, infirmity, loss of faculties and loneliness.

But there is another totally different aspect of old age given us through Caleb's life and one which seems far more in conformity with God's purpose and plan.

Should not old age be an ascent, a going up to an ever richer attainment and a higher achievement until death comes more as a reward to the victor than as a release of a victim, as it opens the door into a still more heavenly life and fruitful service? Should not old age be the glorious consummation of a life of
continuous consecration?

"Blessed is the man that trusts in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is.

For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreads out her roots by the river; and shall not see when heat comes, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit." JER. 17:7, 8.

Caleb's last years were his very best. His supreme achievement came at eighty-five years of age. There was no slump, no shrinkage, no stagnancy in Caleb's life. We witness no spiritual collapse in his later years. Rather upon his gray head God places the crown of an overcomer.

In both physical and spiritual strength Caleb held his own up to the very last. His physical strength at eighty-five was undiminished and undecaying.

"As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me; as my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, both to go out and to come in." JOSH. 14:11.

It was a sustained strength, "as strong this day as in that day." It was a sufficient strength, "both to go out and to come in" and "for war." For the ordinary walk of daily life or for the extraordinary emergencies of warfare, his strength was all-sufficient.

But an even greater marvel was his superb spiritual strength.

"Now therefore give me this mountain, of which the Lord spoke in that day; for you heard in that day how the Anakims were there, and that the cities were great and fenced; if so be the Lord will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the Lord said." JOSH. 14:12.

Here is a spiritual classic for every aged Christian; in fact, for everyone who wishes to become an overcomer.

"Now therefore give me this mountain."

"For you heard how the Anakims were there."

"The cities were great and fenced."

"But I shall be able to drive them out."

How superb the invincible spirit of Caleb the overcomer! Caleb at eighty-five asking for the hardest task of all. "Give ME this mountain." Can you not hear him say it? "I know all about those Anakims and how afraid those young spies were of them forty-five years ago. I know their power and the apparent impregnability of their position in that mountain fastness. Nevertheless, I am as assured of victory over them today as I was forty-five years ago. My faith rests now as it did then upon an unchanging and unchangeable foundation—the presence and the promise of God."

"If so be the Lord will be with me."

"As the Lord said."

"Then I shall be able to drive them out."

Was this presumptuous folly on Caleb's part or was it only proper faith? "By their fruits you shall know them." Judging of Caleb's action by this Scriptural test, what is our conclusion? What was the fruit of Caleb's faith? It was a twofold achievement.

The Possession of His Inheritance in Canaan
"And Joshua blessed him and gave unto Caleb the son of Jephunneh, Hebron for an inheritance". JOSH. 14:13.

The Dispossession of all His Enemies in Canaan
"And Caleb drove from there the three sons of Anak, Sheshai, and Ahiman and Tairnai, the children of Anak." JOSH. 15:14.

"And they gave Hebron unto Caleb, as Moses said, and he expelled from there the three sons of Anak." JUDGES 1:20.

The victory was complete. Caleb was the only one who fully dispossessed the enemy. He expelled the sons of Anak from the land. As we face our own failure to possess fully our inheritance and to dispossess wholly our enemy, we are driven to ask, how did Caleb do it? What was the inner spring of such spiritual success? God leaves us in no doubt; He discloses it six times in Scripture. Why did Caleb enter Canaan while tens of thousands of Israelites who, as he, had been redeemed in Egypt and out of Egypt, died in the wilderness?

"Surely none of the men that came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upwards, shall see the land, because they have not wholly followed the Lord. Save Caleb and Joshua . . . for they have wholly followed the Lord." NUM. 32:2, 12.

Why did Caleb possess his inheritance in Hebron while their carcases lay whitening on the desert sand?

"Hebron therefore became the inheritance of Caleb . . . because that he wholly followed the Lord God of Israel." JOSH. 14:14.

Why was Caleb able to completely dispossess the enemy while all the others who possessed their inheritance dispossessed their enemies only in part?

"Nevertheless the children of Israel expelled not the Heshurites, nor the Maachathites, but the Geshurites and the Maachathites dwell among the Israelites until this day."

"Because he wholly followed the Lord." God gives but this reason for the overcoming life of this grand old man from his youth to his old age. The very simplicity of the statement both solemnizes and shames us. Oh! that it might send each of us into the presence of our Lord until He can say of us too, "He is one who wholly follows Me." Perhaps it will help us to see where we fall short if we take a full-length portrait of Caleb, the overcomer, noticing the outstanding features of this rarely devoted life.

It was a Life of Faith
Caleb's faith was no common faith, yet it was the faith of a common man. Caleb habitually said, "I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me." Caleb realized the promises because he rested upon them. He not only claimed the promises of God, but he stood ready to cooperate with God in their
fulfillment. He was prepared to do his part, confident that God would perform His.

But there was another aspect of Caleb's faith. He deeply desired the land. He longed to live there. He anticipated the delights of his own vine and fig tree in Hebron. Therefore his was an appropriating faith because it was an aspiring faith.

At Kadesh-barnea as a young man, his was a surprising faith. Not many young men would have had the courage to stand out as he did against the ten other spies and challenge the rebellious, riotous mob to disregard their report and to go at once to Canaan. It is infinitely more comfortable to drift with the tide than to stem it; to go with the crowd than to oppose it.

In the wilderness all through his middle life it was a sustained faith. Think of Caleb for forty years, four hundred and eighty months; fourteen thousand and six hundred days; three hundred and fifty thousand and four hundred hours, not faltering in his devotion to the Lord; keeping eyes, heart and faith fixed
steadfastly upon the Giver of Canaan, the Lord of Hebron.

In Canaan in his old age it was a superb faith. Can you not see the sparkle in his kindly eyes; the smile on his gentle but strong face; the sprightliness of his step; the vibrant eagerness of his whole being as he said to Joshua, "Give me the mountain where the Anakims are. I always believed that God was greater than those giants. Forty-five years ago I wanted to prove it. Oh! let me prove it now!" By faith this grand old senior asked for the place the juniors feared; by faith possessed it, and by faith dispossessed every enemy there.

Yes, it is no common faith we find in Caleb, yet it is the faith of a common man. Caleb is no spiritual prodigy. If he towers head and shoulders above you and me in respect to faith, let us not seek to excuse ourselves for our lack by thinking it is due to his possession of some intellectual ability or spiritual grace denied the ordinary run of men. The secret spring of Caleb's faith is to be found in a spiritual grace opened equally to every Christian, "He wholly followed the Lord." As some one has truly written, "The weakness of your faith is due not to any inherent incapacity for faith but because you have not yet learned the meaning of the words, 'He wholly followed the Lord his God.' "

Dear friend, are you still waiting for your inheritance in Christ? Longing for your promised Hebron? Thirsting for the fullness of the Holy Spirit? God is also waiting. He is waiting for you to believe His Word and by simple faith to claim and take that which He has already given you. Would you not stop reading and do it just now?

It was a Life of Fellowship
Caleb found his satisfaction and sufficiency in God Himself. He did not seek it in Egypt or in his fellow companions. Neither was he deterred from it by the carnal life of those with whom he was compelled to associate. Caleb was an other-worldly man. He had "another spirit with him" which made God's companionship his chief delight. "If the Lord delight in us," "If the Lord is with us," "If the Lord will be with me"; such was always the language of his heart from youth until old age.

Caleb was spiritually refreshed and renewed by the presence of the Lord. One resolve seems to have been paramount all through his life—to keep his own life up to standard so that God could delight in him and would never have to deprive him of His presence.

Hebron means "fellowship," therefore Caleb lived in Hebron even while in the wilderness. He was in the wilderness but not of it. By intelligent, deliberate choice he had laid hold upon Hebron when he entered it as one of the spies and he never went back upon that choice. He then and there yielded himself to God for His will to be done in him and he never recalled that decision or retreated from that position in his relationship to God. "If any man love me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him and we will come and make our abode with him."

In whom and where do you find your satisfaction and sufficiency? Have you your Hebron dearer to you than all else besides? Are your "affections set on things above and not on things on the earth?" Are you seeking only "those things which are above, where Christ sits on the right hand of God?" To you is there "fullness of joy in the presence of the Lord?"

It was a Life of Strength
In his youth at Kadesh-barnea it was the strength of a God-begotten conviction that gave courage to stand and to withstand all Satan-begotten opposition. In his middle life in the wilderness it was the strength of a God-bestowed control that gave constancy to endure in the midst of the most worldly atmosphere and to abide in uninterrupted fellowship with his Lord. In his old age in Canaan it was a God-bequeathed confidence to claim his inheritance, the consummation of all his life's desire.

Throughout his life from its beginning to the end it was the strength of a full-orbed consecration to the living God. Caleb's life teaches us that God's strength in full measure is at the disposal of all, young and old, who with deliberate intent of purpose choose to do God's will at all times, at all costs, under all
circumstances.

Have you, dear reader, young or old, yet taken such a deliberate stand? Have you made the doing of God's will the rule of your life, allowing no exceptions to the rule? If not, will you not do so this moment, that you too may be the recipient of God's strength in unlimited measure?

It was a Life of Victory
There were two parts to the victory of the children of Israel in Canaan. One was the victory due to possession. The land was to be possessed by treading upon it with their feet. To possess their inheritance they must take it.

"Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses." JOSH. 1:3.

"Within three days you shall pass over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land, which the Lord your God gives you to possess it." JOSH. 1.

The other part of the victory was due to dispossession. The enemy was to be utterly expelled. The usurpers were to be dispossessed.

"And Joshua said, Hereby you shall know that the living God is among you, and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Hivites, and the Perizzites, and the Gergashites, and the Amorites, and the Jebusites." JOSH. 3:10.

"And the Lord your God, he shall expel them from before you, and drive them from out of your sight, and you shall possess their land, as the Lord your God has promised unto you." JOSH. 23:5.

The land was divided as God had said, Each tribe received its inheritance. But over and over again we read of the failure of each tribe to completely expel the enemy.

"As for the Jebusites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the children of Judah could not drive them out, but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Judah at Jerusalem unto this day." JOSH. 15:63.

"And they drove not out the Canaanites that dwell in Gazer, but the Canaanites dwell among the Ephraimites unto this day and serve under tribute." JOSH. 16:10.

But not so with Caleb. His victory of dispossession was as complete as that of possession, as we have seen. What though Arba was the greatest man among the Anakims? What if his descendants, the three sons of Anak, were there to stubbornly resist his advance into their territory? Yet "Caleb drove them all from
there."

But why was Caleb able to do this and the others not able? Has God not revealed to us the secret source of Caleb's victory?

"But cleave unto the Lord your God, as you have done this day. For the Lord has driven out from before you great nations and strong, but as for you, no man has been able to stand before you unto this day. One man of you shall chase a thousand; for the Lord your God, he it is that fights for you, as he has promised you. Take heed therefore unto yourselves, that you love the Lord your God." JOSH. 23:8-11.

God fulfilled the promise perfectly because Caleb fulfilled the conditions completely.

Then why are we not able to dispossess Satan in our lives? Why have we not gotten deliverance from that besetting sin? Why do the Canaanites of jealousy, temper, hatred, unforgiveness, worry, unbelief, depression, backbiting, unlove, lying, hypocrisy, impurity, dwell with us unto this day? Why can we not drive out these sons of Anak? There is but one answer. Somewhere there is a flaw in our consecration. There is some secret reservation in our yielding. Somewhere we yet "give place to the devil." Some member of the body is still yielded to sin as an instrument. In something we do not "wholly follow the Lord."

Dispossession is the other side of possession. To be filled with the Spirit implies yielding no place to Satan. They are two parts of one experience. It is impossible to be filled with the Spirit if by our consent Satan controls even one small area in mind, heart or will. The Spirit can and will drive out Satan from every high mountain as well as every low valley.

Do you possess the fullness of the Spirit? Has He dispossessed Satan of even standing room in your life? If not, is any time better to obtain that victory through such fullness than just this moment? "Wherefore as the Holy Ghost says, Today if you will hear His voice."

It was a Life of Blessing
From Caleb's life rivers of living water flowed, bringing enrichment to his own family, to his tribe and to the whole congregation. Caleb had leisure from himself to bless and help others. The blessing through him was felt first in his own family as it should be. The promise of God had been to Caleb and to his seed. God definitely said that Caleb's children would profit by their father's consecration and godliness.

"Save Caleb . . . to him will I give the land that he has trodden upon, and to his children, because he has wholly followed the Lord." DEUT. 1:36.

Caleb had given his daughter "a south land"; for comfort and for fertility one of his very best, no doubt. But there was something that could make it more fruitful. The "south land" needed "the upper and the lower springs." These the daughter asked of her father. What joy that request evidently gave him, for it
voiced her appreciation of the gift already made and her apprehension of the value of the springs to complete it.

"Caleb said unto her. What do you want? Who answered Give me a blessing, for you have given me a south land, give me also springs of water. And he gave her the upper springs and the lower springs." JOSH. 15:18, 19.

What a precious spiritual truth is wrapped up for us in this simple incident. The glorious inheritance of the Christian in Christ is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The moment one believes on the Lord Jesus as Saviour, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell within him. But God always gives what necessitates more. And He delights to have us say, "What you have given is precious, but it is not enough. You have given me life, give me also life more abundant. You hast sent the Holy Spirit to dwell in me, but give me now His fullness." Are you satisfied with a conventional Christian life, or are you asking God for the "upper and the lower springs?"

Caleb had the springs to give. Through the wholly consecrated life of this father came fullness of blessing to his daughter. Are we able to help those who want fullness of life? Many today are thirsting for the fullness of the Holy Spirit. They have "the south land" but they long for "the upper and the lower springs." The overcoming life is always an overflowing life.

There is still one other lesson to be learned from this grand old man. It was his willingness to share responsibility and work with a younger man. He had possessed the land and dispossessed his enemies. The land rested from war. Now he must keep what was his. But Caleb had no desire to be an overlord. He does not talk of "my Hebron" or "my Debir." What a magnanimous spirit he has! No wonder he is called "Great Heart!" So he offers his nephew the opportunity for such service and promises him his daughter if he succeeds.

How very difficult it often is for an older person to lay down work or even to share a bit of the responsibility with younger ones! The current of human life often becomes narrower rather than broader as it approaches the end. With Caleb a magnanimous generosity characterizes his old age. How clearly God shows us in Caleb that the overcoming life is both the enriched and the enriching life. Rivers of living water flowed from his life to refresh many another pilgrim on the journey into the promised land.

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"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." 2 TIM. 3:16, 17.


CALEB'S MESSAGE TO US
"The Holy Spirit loves to teach us by typical lives." What has He taught us through Caleb's life as we have followed its course from youth to old age?

Caleb's Life Leaves us in Admiration
The life of Caleb, the overcomer, perfumes the pages of Scripture. It is a golden cord interwoven into the fabric of human history. It has been the savor of life unto life to each of you, I trust, as it has been to me. Caleb's life sheds a trail of light over the cloudy history of the children of Israel, a light that shines on down through the centuries with undimmed brightness to show us the way of victory. It is "profitable for doctrine," because it teaches us the spiritual history of an overcomer.

Caleb's Life Leaves us Reproved
Perhaps we have said that a life of habitual overcoming was impossible. But here is a man who lived such a life. We have granted that it is possible to be victorious sometimes, under some circumstances, with some people. But Caleb was habitually an overcomer. Some of us may be victorious in crises, but
succumb in defeat before the little, nagging trials of daily life. Or there may be the habitual defeat in some besetting sin over which we despair of deliverance.

We do not believe that Caleb never sinned or was never defeated, for that has been and can be true of only One who has lived or will live on earth. We do not claim for Caleb a life of sinless perfection, but we do believe that it was the habit of his life to be an overcomer. If he was, we can be. If we are not, then Caleb's life is "profitable for reproof," for it shows our habitual defeat to be unscriptural and unnecessary.

Caleb's Life Leaves us Without Excuse
Whether young or old, whether new converts or mature Christians, whether in prosperous or adverse circumstances, the life of Caleb, the overcomer, leaves every defeated Christian without excuse. There was nothing either in Caleb or his circumstances to account for his overcoming. He was an ordinary man, who lived in ordinary circumstances. He experienced the testings, trials and temptations of the common run of men. Not one of us can rightly say, "If Caleb had had to live where, how and with whom I live, he would not have been an overcomer." His environment was no more conducive to spirituality than yours and mine. Caleb's life is "profitable for correction," because it strips us of all
excuse for our failures and leads us to confess them as sin.

Caleb's Life Leaves us With Hope
When we see a person of natural ability or attractiveness live victoriously, it is very difficult not to attribute his overcoming to something in himself. But Caleb was not a gifted man, as was Moses or even Joshua. There is nothing in the Scriptural record to lead us to think he had any outstanding gifts. Neither was Caleb a spiritual genius. Perhaps he was an older man than Joshua, yet he was not chosen to lead the children of Israel into Canaan, "to cause them to inherit the land." The only mention of leadership on his part is his choice as one of the spies to act as Judah's representative to divide the inheritance to that tribe in Canaan.

But while Caleb was not endowed with extraordinary spiritual gifts, he does seem to have had conspicuous spiritual graces. There is a vast difference in the gifts of the Spirit which God bestows upon men, but He opens the treasure-house of His grace equally to all. We may have as many spiritual graces and as much of each as we choose to have. Caleb chose to have his quiver full. With deliberateness of choice, "he wholly followed the Lord." Caleb's life is "profitable for instruction in righteousness," for it shows us the one thing needful to a life of continuous overcoming and that every Christian may do that one needful thing.

Caleb's Life Leaves us With Aspiration
I have been spending several weeks in the company of Caleb, and the more I have fellowship with this man of God, the more I hunger to be like him. I, too, desire to possess my inheritance in full and to dispossess the enemy. I, too, long to be used of God to help others to become inheritors of the peace and plenty of the promised land. How is it with you?

The Scripture recording Caleb's life is inspired of God, "that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works," and the revelation is given to us for our profit. What profit has this study brought you? God grant it may be used to help each one of us to purpose to "wholly follow the Lord our God," that we, too, may be overcomers.

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"He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says unto the churches: To him that overcomes will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God." REV. 2:7.

"He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says unto the churches: He that overcomes shall not be hurt of the second death." REV. 2:11.

"He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says unto the churches: To him that overcomes will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knows saving him that receives it." REV. 2:17.

"And he that overcomes and keeps my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations. And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers; even as I received of my Father. And I will give him the morning star." REV. 2:26, 28.

"He that overcomes, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels." REV. 3:5.

"Him that overcomes will I make a pillar in the temple of my God and he shall go no more out; and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God, and I will write upon him my new name." REV. 3:12.

"To him that overcomes will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne." REV. 3:21.

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[This book, being no longer in print and (as far as I know) no longer under copyright, was photocopied from an original, scanned, and formatted as you see it. The attempt was made in formatting to remain similar to the original layout. The older British spellings were changed to make the text more readable.]