Building Godly Character

April 7, 2010

Tonight we are going to look at the life of Caleb. Caleb was one of the spies Moses sent in to check out the Promised Land. When the spies returned he and Joshua were the only ones of the 12 that gave a good report. Because of their faith, God allowed them to be the only men from that generation to enter the Promised Land. Moses also promised them land for their faith. As the children of Israel began taking their land, Caleb remembered this promise.

Joshua 14:6-14 “A delegation from the tribe of Judah, led by Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, came to Joshua at Gilgal. Caleb said to Joshua, “Remember what the Lord said to Moses, the man of God, about you and me when we were at Kadesh-barnea. ⁷ I was forty years old when Moses, the servant of the Lord, sent me from Kadesh-barnea to explore the land of Canaan. I returned and gave an honest report, ⁸ but my brothers who went with me frightened the people from entering the Promised Land. For my part, I wholeheartedly followed the Lord my God. ⁹ So that day Moses solemnly promised me, ‘The land of Canaan on which you were just walking will be your grant of land and that of your descendants forever, because you wholeheartedly followed the Lord my God.’  ¹⁰ “Now, as you can see, the Lord has kept me alive and well as he promised for all these forty-five years since Moses made this promise—even while Israel wandered in the wilderness. Today I am eighty-five years old. ¹¹ I am as strong now as I was when Moses sent me on that journey, and I can still travel and fight as well as I could then. ¹² So give me the hill country that the Lord promised me. You will remember that as scouts we found the descendants of Anak living there in great, walled towns. But if the Lord is with me, I will drive them out of the land, just as the Lord said.” ¹³ So Joshua blessed Caleb son of Jephunneh and gave Hebron to him as his portion of land. ¹⁴ Hebron still belongs to the descendants of Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite because he wholeheartedly followed the Lord, the God of Israel. (NLT)

There are two important steps that Caleb took to claim his promise. First, He stood in faith. Caleb was 40 years old when he spied out the land. 45 years had passed when he made his request to Joshua. After all that time he still believed in the promise Moses had given him. When the time was right he was ready and waiting to possess his promise. Second, Caleb was ready to act. Often we are promised things, but if we fail to move out in faith we will miss the blessing. Caleb said that at 85 he was just as able to fight and take the land as he was at 40. The book of Joshua records that Caleb did just that. He went to his promised city and took it. Many times we have been promised things by God, personal things. We too must be willing to wait in faith until it is God’s time for us to possess His promise. We also must be ready to act in faith to possess our promises. Just because God promises does not mean it will be handed to us on a silver platter. Most often there is action required on our part. When we wait and we act then we can possess our promise.

Calvary Christian Center, Assemblies of God, Louisville, KY