Bible Word of the Day
Caleb (One of Two Faithful Spies)
Meaning
The “Exodus” refers to the time when the Hebrew people in mass with one accord, under God’s direction left ancient Egypt. It was during the Exodus on the border of the Promised Land, after leaving Egypt, Moses sent twelve spies to spy out the land. Of those twelve spies ten were wicked men who tried to dissuade the people from following God’s command. However, two of the men were honest men who trusted in the Lord and tried to build up and motivate the people to follow God’s will and take the land. Those two men were Joshua and Caleb and because of their faith the Lord kept their minds and bodies strong and they not only survived the forty years of wandering in the wilderness, but also entered the Promised Land.
Caleb represented the tribe of Judah, and he and Joshua were the only two who showed faith in the Lord. Caleb was forty when he served as a spy and eighty-five when he received his own inheritance of land. Moreover, at eighty-five Caleb not only asked for the hill country, but the land where the giants lived. Because of his faith he was certain he and his men would kill and drive out the giants.
“Now they [the spies] departed and came back to Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the children of Israel in the Wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh; they brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. Then they told him, and said: ‘We went to the land where you sent us. It truly flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. Nevertheless the people who dwell in the land are strong; the cities are fortified and very large; moreover we saw the descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites dwell in the land of the South; the Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the mountains; and the Canaanites dwell by the sea and along the banks of the Jordan. Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.'” (Book of Numbers 13:26-30)
“Then the children of Judah came to Joshua in Gilgal. And Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him: ‘You know the word which the Lord said to Moses the man of God concerning you and me in Kadesh Barnea. 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 back word to him as it was in my heart. Nevertheless my brethren who went up with me made the heart of the people melt, but I wholly followed the Lord my God. And now, behold, the Lord has kept me alive, as He said, these forty-five years, ever since the Lord spoke this word to Moses while Israel wandered in the wilderness; and now, here I am this day, eighty-five years old. As yet I am as strong this day as on the day that Moses sent me; just as my strength was then, so now is my strength for war, both for going out and for coming in. Now therefore, give me this mountain of which the Lord spoke in that day; for you heard in that day how the Anakim were there, and that the cities were great and fortified. It may be that the Lord will be with me, and I shall be able to drive them out as the Lord said.’ And Joshua blessed him, and gave Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephunneh as an inheritance.” (Book of Joshua 14:6-8, 10-13)