The time had arrived. The Children of Israel had travelled to the place where they would cross into unfamiliar territory to take the land promise to them by God.

Caleb and eleven other men were sent by the direction of the Lord to spy out the land of Canaan. “Go up into the Negeb and go up into the hill country, and see what the land is, and whether the people who dwell in it are strong or weak, whether they are few or many, and whether the land that they dwell in is good or bad, and whether the cities that they dwell in are camps or strongholds, and whether the land is rich or poor, and whether there are trees in it or not. Be of good courage and bring some the fruit of the land” (Numbers 13:17-20 ESV). 

So the twelve spies went into the land and came back with the following report: “We came to the land to which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there” (Number 13:27-28). 

Ten of the twelve spies gave a bad report, but Joshua and Caleb said they could take the land. The people were afraid, and they grumbled. There were giants in the land, and they refused to go. The people were so angry with Caleb and Joshua for insisting that could take the land they threatened to stone them.

God was angry with the ten spies. As punishment, none of the men who were delivered from Egypt would be allowed to go into the Promised Land. Joshua and Caleb were excluded from this punishment because of their good report.

The Lord made a promise for Caleb. He said, “I will give the land on which he has trodden, because he has wholly followed the LORD!” (Deuteronomy 1:36).

When the land had been conquered, and Joshua had begun dividing the land among the tribes, Caleb made a request of Joshua. He requested the land that was promised to him.

This is how he built his case. He told Joshua that he was forty years old when together they spied out the land they now possess. He brought back a favorable report because “it was in my heart” (Joshua 14:7).

Then Caleb told Joshua, “But my brothers who went up with me made the heart of the people melt; yet I wholly followed the LORD my God” (Joshua 14:8). He reminded Joshua that Moses had promised him the land because he had wholly followed the Lord.

Caleb is now 85 years old; and he said, “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” (verse 11).

At this point he asked for the land, and Joshua blessed him and gave him the land because “he wholly followed the LORD, the God of Israel” (verse 14). 

I guess Caleb had to remind Joshua of the promise. He was willing to do whatever it took to possess the land he had been promised. He was still wholly following the Lord.

God has promised us a home in the hereafter. “Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him” (James 1:12).

We, too, will have trials and tribulations. We will have opposition from friends and enemies. We will have sickness and persecutions, and we may not be as strong at 85 as we were at 40. But the promise is still there, and we will not have to remind God of His promise. He will reward us with a home in heaven if we will wholly follow Him.

Sandra Oliver