Exploring Canaan

Portion for Reading- Num:11-14
Suppose we imagine we have an invitation to visit Caleb today (Numbers 13:30; Joshua 14:6-14), and we embrace the opportunity.

We should expect to find the old warrior at home on such a day because it is bright and fair; he did the most of his fighting in bad weather. It is not far to Hebron, where he makes his home. See, we are there now! Isn’t the prospect from here beautiful and inspiring! To the north along the ridge is Bethlehem and Jerusalem; to the east the silvery waters of the Dead Sea glitter in the sun; westward is Gath, where Goliath the giant came from; and to the south is Beersheba.
Tell us, Caleb, some of your experiences in Canaan.

“Forty and five years ago I first saw Hebron. It was when Moses had sent twelve spies, of whom I was one, to determine the character of the people and land of Canaan. Long ago our father Abraham trod this soil, and God Almighty promised to give it to him and his seed for an everlasting inheritance. When I first heard of Canaan, down in Egypt, my faith was strong that it was a good land, flowing with milk and honey, as God said, and I longed to set foot upon it.

“When we twelve first left Kadesh-barnea for Canaan [Numbers 13:1-3,17-33], I noticed that ten of the spies kept close together; but Joshua and I were eager to see all that we could of the land, and we ranged as far and wide as we could. Not far from where your feet rest now we got our first sight of the Anakims, giants of Canaan. They were giants indeed. Their legs looked like tree-trunks, and covering their faces was a dense growth of beard out of which their eyes gleamed like crystals in a haystack. The sight of them set my heart all aflutter, because I knew at once that they were very dangerous foes, not easily reckoned with. We were very cautious that they should not see us, and I must say that part of our company trembled violently with fear and, as soon as we got away a little distance, they ran with all their might.
“But something in my heart said that if God gave this land to Israel, then God would give us power over the Anakims, no matter how many or how strong they were.

“By and by we came to the walled cities. Joshua and I talked over the matter of taking them. While we could not see just how we were to do it, we decided that, since God had unmistakably promised the land to Abraham, and since He had already marvelously delivered us from the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and his dark bondage, and since He had helped us along through the wilderness and now had brought us to the very borders of the land, surely He expected us to have Canaan. And this I told to the others.“

‘We can never take it,’ they said, ‘never in the world. Let us get out of here and back into Egypt as quickly as we can. We feel so faint. We cannot conquer such a country. Why, see those giants, we are no bigger than grasshoppers by the side of them! And look at those walls, reaching almost to the sky! Let us get back.’

“ ‘But if God said we should inherit this land, shall He not help us?’ said Joshua and I.
“ ‘We thought surely God promised us the land,’ the ten replied. ‘But we did not expect to have to fight for it. We supposed God would just give it to us without any fighting or trouble on our part.’ “ ‘Oh, no, God never promised Canaan without a battle,’ we replied. ‘But He will help us fight, then we shall properly appreciate both God and Canaan and the fighting will make us stronger.’

“Well, we could not convince them, and our arguments fell upon very impervious minds, hardened as they were by unbelief and doubting [Numbers 14].
“Then for forty years we wandered in the black wilderness.

“Five years ago we crossed the Jordan, blessed be God. Those were great days in Canaan! God was very near us, and our foes trembled. Jericho fell down, Ai was taken, kings of darkness and giants of iniquity melted before the army of the Lord, until the land was in our possession.
“Then I went to Joshua and made known my request for Hebron, my home in Canaan. There were several giants making Hebron their home, and I was eager to dispossess them; for I liked the situation. Joshua gave me permission, and I marched toward it fully confident that our God would help me.

“There is no use to tell you the rest. Here am I, by God’s help, at home in my possession. The giants are dead, and I hold peaceable possession by right of divine promise, the oath that God swore to our father Abraham that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve Him without fear in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life [Luke 1:73-75]. Thanks be to God for His great gift!”