Seven years has now elapsed since the Israelites had crossed the Jordan River. The problem was this: Even though they had been given their inheritance – much of Israel had not yet possessed their land. They were enjoying the peace of no war but had become lax about obtaining their promised inheritances.
So Joshua said to the people of Israel, “How long will you put off going in to take possession of the land, which the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you? (Joshua 18:3 ESV)
In this chapter – we see Caleb coming to Joshua for his inheritance - He wanted his mountain
Personally, I don’t necessarily enjoy the valleys that I go through in this life! That’s why I need to look for the mountain top experiences as they help us survive the valleys.
Now… just because I don’t enjoy the valleys, I am thankful for them! It is in the valleys that God’s strength is made perfect in my weakness! Everyone of us will have mountains and valleys. Someone once said… "I’m never in the valley, I’m just changing mountain tops!" *
In this passage, Caleb comes to claim his mountain - his inheritance! By this time he is the leading man in Judah and he comes to claim an inheritance for the tribe and also for himself. He asks for no small thing! Keep in mind that this as a place of giants but it was also a place filled with much possibility. Remember that Caleb had been here 40 years before. He knew the potentiality of the land. Now, 45 years later - he comes to claim his inheritance.
SIX PRINCIPLES IN OBTAINING YOUR MOUNTAIN!
1. Caleb Never Forgot God’s Promises – 14:6
“You know what the Lord said to Moses the man of God in Kadesh-barnea concerning you and me. (Joshua 14:6 ESV)
45 years have now passed since the 12 spies had entered the promise land. 10 came back with a negative report – 2 came back with a positive report. Caleb was one of them.
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. (Numbers 14:24 ESV)
2. Caleb Continued To Be Faithful – 14:7
I was forty years old 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. (Joshua 14:7 ESV)
Mat 24:13 "But he who endures to the end shall be saved.
- Negative people did not deter him.
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.’ (Joshua 14:8, 9 ESV)
- Age did not deter him.
He is now 85 years old.
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. (Joshua 14:10, 11 ESV)
At age 85 people have usually slowed down. Their focus is not on life but on death.
Caleb was different. He said he was as strong today as he was 45 years ago.
- Obstacles did not deter him.
Someone has said that, “When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.” Sometimes all we have left are the promises of God.
Caleb clung to the promises of God. He knew that the land was theirs and he said so - “that’s our land - God promised it to us."
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.” (Joshua 14:12 ESV)
Look at the different obstacles he had to overcome…
- The mountain itself
- The Anakin people – giants!
- Large and fortified cities
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1 ESV)
He was not moved by what He saw but by what he knew God would do in his heart!
Although he knew that God had given him the land – he also knew that he had to be the one that took it.
3. Caleb Knew That God Was With Him - 14:12
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.” (Joshua 14:12 ESV)
Rom 8:31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
4. Caleb Waited For The Blessing – 14:13
Josh 14:13 And Joshua blessed him, and gave Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephunneh as an inheritance.
In a season of waiting we often become impatient - frustrated - resentful - God is not moving as quickly or in the way that we want Him to. Do you ever look around and wonder if God is ever going to come through? Caleb didn’t give up. He continued to prepare for the battle to come. He spent 45 years working on it. He was on a physical fitness program – He kept his strength up and was as ready to conquer the land as he was 45 years earlier. Caleb - lived 45 years among people dying because they had not remained faithful. When he told Joshua - “Give me my land,” there was no doubt that it would be his. He was pregnant with the promises of God. He waited for the blessing and the go signal from Joshua.
5- Caleb Claimed His Inheritance - 14:14-15
Josh 14:14-15 Hebron therefore became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite to this day, because he wholly followed the LORD God of Israel. And the name of Hebron formerly was Kirjath Arba (Arba was the greatest man among the Anakim). Then the land had rest from war.
He didn’t just sit back but took the initiative and claimed what was rightfully his. He fought for his land and won it!
And Caleb drove out from there the three sons of Anak, Sheshai and Ahiman and Talmai, the descendants of Anak. (Joshua 15:14 ESV)
These were the same cities that the spies said could not be taken. They were well fortified. Of all the people who received an inheritance – Caleb was the only one who completely expelled his enemy.
6. Caleb Understood The Principle Of Giving - 21:9-12
Out of the tribe of the people of Judah and the tribe of the people of Simeon they gave the following cities mentioned by name, which went to the descendants of Aaron, one of the clans of the Kohathites who belonged to the people of Levi; since the lot fell to them first. They gave them Kiriath-arba (Arba being the father of Anak), that is Hebron, in the hill country of Judah, along with the pasturelands around it. But the fields of the city and its villages had been given to Caleb the son of Jephunneh as his possession. (Joshua 21:9-12 ESV)
This is the key to faith. We must give away what we have. If we hold it in – we become stagnant. The Levites were in need of a city. Caleb unselfishly gave them the city of Hebron.
Luke 6:38 "Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you."
What mountain do you need to climb today? Are you preparing yourself to be ready when it is time to climb the mountain?
Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. (John 14:13, 14 ESV)
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