Basic HTML Version
“Give Me This Mountain”, April 27
Joshua 14
I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me.... Now
therefore give me this mountain.
Joshua 14:11, 12
.
Before the distribution of the land had been entered upon, Caleb, accom-
panied by the heads of his tribe, came forward with a special claim. Except
Joshua, Caleb was now the oldest man in Israel. Caleb and Joshua were the only
ones among the spies who had brought a good report of the Land of Promise,
encouraging the people to go up and possess it in the name of the Lord. Caleb
now reminded Joshua of the promise then made, as the reward of his faithful-
ness: “The land whereon thy feet have trodden shall be thine inheritance, and thy
children’s forever, because thou hast wholly followed the Lord.” He therefore
presented a request that Hebron be given him for a possession.... His claim was
immediately granted. To none could the conquest of this giant stronghold be
more safely entrusted....
Caleb’s faith now was just what it was when his testimony had contradicted
the evil report of the spies. He had believed God’s promise that He would put His
people in possession of Canaan, and in this he had followed the Lord fully. He
had endured with his people the long wandering in the wilderness, thus sharing
the disappointments and burdens of the guilty; yet he made no complaint of this,
but exalted the mercy of God that had preserved him in the wilderness when
his brethren were cut off.... The brave old warrior was desirous of giving to
the people an example that would honor God, and encourage the tribes fully to
subdue the land which their fathers had deemed unconquerable. Caleb obtained
the inheritance upon which his heart had been set for forty years, and, trusting in
God to be with him, he “drove thence the three sons of Anak.” ...
The cowards and rebels had perished in the wilderness, but the righteous
spies ate of the grapes of Eshcol. To each was given according to his faith. The
unbelieving had seen their fears fulfilled. Notwithstanding God’s promise, they
had declared that it was impossible to inherit Canaan, and they did not possess
it. But those who trusted in God, looking not so much to the difficulties to
be encountered as to the strength of their Almighty Helper, entered the goodly
land
[124]
41
Ibid., 513-514
.
126