Joshua 14.
WE come now to the division of the land west of the Jordan—the true land of Canaan, which God had long purposed for His people Israel, —among the nine and one-half tribes remaining on that side. According to God’s order, the division was made; there was no room for man’s will in any way.
Now appears a bold man, Caleb the son of Jephunneh, whom we found in Numbers 13 and 14, as one of the twelve spies sent to look over the land some forty-five years earlier. Then he had been one of the two who gave a good report of the inheritance, and of him God had said,
“But My servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed Me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it.” I will quote from another:
“Joshua prefigured Christ, the Saviour-Jesus, bringing His people into the rest of the promised land, and Caleb walks in company with him. The great name of Joshua overshadows, so to speak, that of Caleb, and imprints upon it its character. These two men have but one thought, they have the same faith, confidence and courage, the same starting point, the same path, the same purpose of heart, the same goal. Is it so with us, dear reader? Are we so associated with Christ that our name cannot be uttered without His, and that our very existence owes its value to the fact that by grace we have been made companions of the Lord Jesus?
Hebron, Abraham’s and Isaac’s and Jacob’s burial place, was Caleb’s choice, —the place of death, but the place of faith. May we not say that the cross of Christ was thus foreshadowed—the place of the end of man, yet the place where faith lodges, seeing there the sinner’s Substitute in death, presently to come forth as the Lifegiver. There are “Anakims” (giants), and “cities great and fenced”, but “if so be”, said this man of faith, “that the Lord will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the Lord said.”
Sweet to trust in this God of our refuge! How firm a foundation is under the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus! Poor man or woman of this world, you are suffering an incalculable loss.
“Come to the Saviour, make no delay!”
ML 08/30/1925