Field Of Dreams: Two Winners– #1 Caleb

'As I live,' says the Lord, 'just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will do to you: The carcasses of you who have complained against Me shall fall in this wilderness, all of you who were numbered, according to your entire number, from twenty years old and above. Except for Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun.

Numbers 14:28-30 (NKJV)

Among 600,000 adult men, only Caleb and Joshua survived God’s forty-year wilderness adventure: a round-about trail to the Promised Land.

They endured more terrifying trials than any film producer could invent.

What qualities did these two stars possess… that others did not?

  • Patience, persistence, and humility.

  • Loyalty, courage, and self-denial.

  • Love, tolerance, and confidence in God.

  • Perseverance and God-can-do-this faith.

Even Moses and Aaron failed one test. But these two men crossed the Jordan River!

Of the 40-year-old Caleb, God says:

'My servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit in him and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land where he went, and his descendants shall inherit it' (Numbers 14:24).

45 years later, Caleb declares:

'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' (Joshua 14:10-12).

The hero’s reward? 

'Hebron, therefore, became the inheritance of Caleb... because he wholly followed the Lord God of Israel' (Joshua 14:14).

Among Old and New Testament legends, only Caleb got this commendation five separate times. He’s a man who 'Wholly followed the Lord.' *

Actors, models, and talent for Christ: Caleb ran circles around younger men. So whatever your age, be like Caleb: strong, brave, patient, faithful, and disciplined.

When Caleb first saw the land of Canaan (including where a race of giants lived), he said:

'Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it' (Numbers 13:30).

At age 85, he was STILL ready.

Field Of Dreams: Two Winners– #1 Caleb (Part 17)

* Caleb wholly followed the Lord: Scripture references: http://www.biblegateway.com/keyword/?search=wholly+followed+the+Lord&version=NKJV&searchtype=all&resultspp=500

Commentary on Caleb by Charles Spurgeon: http://www.spurgeon.org/sermons/0538.htm

Additional article on Caleb: http://www.heraldmag.org/literature/bio_4.htm

NOTE: This is a 2023 update of a 2013 Carey Lewis Devotion. You may see notes to 'Actors, Models & Talent for Christ.' If you think you're not in show business, think again. Shakespeare said, 'All the world's a stage and all its men and women merely players. Mostly true. But you're not merely players. You are messengers and ambassadors for the King of kings.

Carey Arban