Joshua 14:11-12
I am still as strong today as I was in the day Moses sent me; as my strength was then, so my strength is now, for war and for going out and coming in. Now then, give me this hill country about which the Lord spoke on that day, for you heard on that day that Anakim were there, with great fortified cities; perhaps the Lord will be with me, and I will drive them out as the Lord has spoken.”
The above verse is taken from the section in Joshua that could be referred to as the land allotment section. In chapters 14 and 15 Joshua is instructed by God to divide the remaining portions of the land, that haven't been conquered, to each of the tribes of Israel, who have no land. While dividing the land out, Caleb, Joshua's fellow spy from 40 years earlier, approaches Joshua and asks for a special piece of land. Caleb and Joshua were sent 45 years earlier into the land, with ten other spies, to search out the land and to bring a report back to Moses and the nation of Israel. Caleb and Joshua gave a favorable report and, through faith in God's power, believed that they could conquer the land. The other ten spies were looking at the land through the lens of the flesh and only saw big giants in the land and therefore thought the nation should return to Egypt (where it was supposedly safe). The other ten spies and everyone else in the nation of Israel twenty-years old and up died over the next 40 years ... except Joshua and Caleb. Whereas Josuha was selected by God to lead the nation after Moses' death, Caleb was left in the wings ... to wait. Caleb had waited (and walked in the desert for 40 years) and fought, for just this day: The day Joshua would divid the land. Caleb had waited 45 years for this day. As Joshua started to divide the land, Caleb could have come up and stated that he wanted the easiest and most gratifying piece of land. Instead, Caleb claims he is still as vigorous as those early days and demands a chance to go after one of the hardest pieces of land ... the land of the giant, Anakim! Instead of looking for a retirement home, Caleb was looking for some giants to slay. Imagine when Caleb first saw these giants in the land, 45 years earlier. He came back and was eager to follow Moses and his brethren into battle to fight them, in the name of the Lord. But, the entire army chickened out. Where Caleb saw victory, they saw defeat. Like the sluggard who makes up excuses not to work, they saw a lion in the street and wanted to stay home.
Proverbs 22:13
The sluggard says, “There is a lion outside;
I will be killed in the streets!”
It is not that Caleb didn't see the lion in the street. He did. Rathe than fearing the lion in the street, Caleb saw it as lunch delivered. Caleb told Joshua he wanted those giants that were now 45 years older. Caleb was not being cocky. Caleb was trusting the same God he was willing to trust 45 years earlier. He knew he was older. But, he also knew all that walking in the wilderness for 40 years and all that fighting the last five years to conquer Jericho, Ai, Hebron and other cities, had continued to both fuel his passion and build his aging body. While others might be looking for a shuffle-board stick, Caleb was looking for a sword. Caleb knew that God would strengthen him, even in weakness. Caleb knew that it was the Lord's battle he was fighting, not his own. He wasn't looking for a retirement home. Caleb was looking forward to finishing the business God gave him to do 45 years earlier. This is a man who know that when God gives a mission, time and age and weakness doesn't stop the mission. He knew that if God could enable him when he was 40, God could enable him at 85. God is an enabler of those who put their trust in Him.
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