Caleb: Wholehearted!

Joshua 14

The Ten Signposts of the Bible
CAMDE—400—CALY
Creation. Abraham. MOSES. David. Elijah. 400. Christ. Apostles. Letters. Yet-to Come.

The land of Canaan was inhabited by wicked nations under God’s judgment (Gen. 15:16). Israel’s conquest of the promised land began with Jericho, but they faced setbacks—they were defeated at Ai because of Achan’s sin (Josh. 7). Achan saw, desired, and took, following the pattern of sin. 

Unlike Achan, consider a fellow Israelite who fully followed God. Caleb shows that wholehearted faith locks onto the Person and promises of God—without reservation or hesitation. Caleb’s story begins in Numbers 13. 

Two years after slavery, Israel was on its way to Canaan—the promised land. To properly prepare for what lay ahead, Moses sent twelve spies to explore the area. 

While two of the spies, Joshua and Caleb, knew the land was theirs to claim, ten spies convinced the people that with giants living there, victory seemed impossible. As a result, the unbelieving generation spent the next thirty-eight years wandering in the desert until they died. 

During the Israelites’ time in the desert, God protected Joshua and Caleb (Num. 14:30). God said, “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” (Num. 14:24).

The Hebrew word “fully” (Heb: yemale’) can be translated as “wholeheartedly,” as it is in the NIV. This describes a person who follows God completely, without reservation or hesitation. While ten of the spies acted out of fear, Caleb acted out of faith. That’s who he was.

How does someone develop such unwavering, full-out faith? Let me share a principle and then explain it.

Wholehearted faith locks onto the Person of God.

For the first thirty-eight years of his life, Caleb was a slave. It was all he knew. I picture Caleb as a strong man shaped by years of hard labor; his hands calloused and stained from mixing mud into mortar to make bricks. I believe we can easily assume that as Caleb worked, he prayed that God would deliver his people. 

And then one day, Moses showed up.

Caleb had seen God move. He witnessed the plagues in Egypt. He walked through the Red Sea. He stood at Sinai when the mountain shook, and he heard God’s voice. He gathered daily manna in the wilderness.

Caleb had experienced God’s powerful work. That’s why when the people wanted to choose a different leader and go back to Egypt, Caleb and Joshua “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’” (Num. 14:6-9).

Here’s a second principle:

Wholehearted faith locks onto the promises of God. 

Forty-five years later, the promise still stood because God had not forgotten. Joshua led the initial conquest and captured thirty-five cities. There was still more land to be taken, but Joshua 14-22 records how it was divided among the twelve tribes of Israel. 

While the land was being allocated, Caleb approached Joshua. Caleb reminded him of the time they explored the land and how the ten spies “made the heart of the people melt,” but Caleb had “wholly followed the LORD my God” (Josh. 14:6). On that day, Moses promised Caleb the land he had surveyed in Canaan, and now he recalls the words spoken. Moses swore, 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” (Josh. 14:9).

Caleb said, “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. I am still as strong today as I was in the day that Moses sent me; my strength now is as my strength was then, for war and for going and coming. So now give me this hill country of which the Lord spoke on that day, for you heard on that day how the Anakim were there, with great fortified cities. It may be that the Lord will be with me, and I shall drive them out just as the Lord said” (Josh. 14:10-12).

The giants of Anakim had made Israel tremble. Yet, Caleb, at eighty-five years old, is ready to confront them because he has been completely focused on the Person and the promises of God. 

So, Hebron, the land of the giants and also the burial place of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, “became the inheritance of Caleb . . . because he wholly followed the LORD, the God of Israel” (Josh. 14:14).

Caleb was locked onto the Person of God and the promises of God. That’s why his faith was wholehearted—free from reservation or hesitation. No half-hearted obedience. No acting differently depending on who he was with. No pretending with his faith. Caleb stood out from the others. 

How about you?

PERSONAL TIME WITH GOD
Read and reflect on Joshua 14. What promise of God do you need to hold onto in this season, even if fulfillment seems delayed?

Talking to God: Ask God to keep you locked onto his Person and promises. 

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