I would like to begin this lesson with a Scripture reading from the Old Testament book of Joshua.
(Josh. 14:6-11) --- “Then the sons of Judah drew near to Joshua in Gilgal, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, ‘You know the word which the LORD spoke 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 word back to him as it was in my heart.--- Nevertheless my brethren who went up with me made the heart of the people melt with fear; but I followed the LORD my God fully. --- ‘So Moses swore on that day, saying, 'Surely the land on which your foot has trodden will be an inheritance to you and to your children forever, because you have followed the LORD my God fully.' --- ‘Now behold, the LORD has let me live, just as He spoke, these forty-five years, from the time that the LORD spoke this word to Moses, when Israel walked in the wilderness; and now behold, I am eighty-five years old today. --- ‘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.” --- (Vs. 12) continues; --- “Now then, give me this hill country about which the LORD spoke on that day, “ The NKJV reads;--- “Give me this mountain--” Thus, the title of this lesson.

Did you know that there are many people who claim to be Christians, but yet are wasting and losing their lives, and losing their souls?? --- They’re living defeated lives because they have never totally surrendered their wills to God. --- They have never realized that God has not meant for them to live in the valley of depression; --- but rather on the mountain top of faith and victory in Christ Jesus!! --- And Caleb was that kind of man, and so I would like to present for your prayerful consideration, some of the wonderful lessons from the life of Caleb.

The book of Joshua is more than just history. --- It is an Old Testament illustration of the great victory that the New Testament Christian is to have!! ---The Bible puts it thusly, in (1 Cor. 10:11) where the apostle Paul was pointing out how to avoid some of Israel’s mistakes; --- “Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction,--”

And so we ask; --- What does the land of Canaan which they were conquering represent? --- 
It represents heaven on the one hand, but also it represents the land of victory for the faithful Christian. --- By way of illustration, it means release! --- You remember, up until this time the nation of Israel had been under bondage, slaves. --- Aren’t you tired of being the devil’s slave? --- He says, “jump”; --- And you say, “How high?” --- Don’t you want to be free? --- Don’t you want it to be said of you; --- “Sin shall no longer have dominion over you??” --- But friends, the land of Canaan also meant the land of rest!! --- You see, up until this time the Israelites had been wondering round and round in circles across the burning desert sands; --- And now they enter into a land that the Bible calls “the land of rest”!!

Oh, we see so many Christians who have everything but rest! --- They’re so nervous and frustrated they don’t know which way to turn. --- They’re like the deep sea diver who got the message; --- “Come up quick, the ship is sinking!” --- And so, they don’t know what to do! --- We’re supposed to rest in Jesus Christ. --- That’s what He means when He invites; --- “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. --- Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS.” (Mt. 11:28-29) --- But yet, most of us are so continually frustrated; --- And “frustration” ought not be a word found in a Christian’s vocabulary!!

But not only did this new land mean “release” and “rest”; --- but also, a land of refreshment!! Up until they entered Canaan, they had been mostly on a desert diet; --- But now they were in a land which flowed with milk and honey, grapes and figs; --- O, such refreshment!!

And again, not only did it mean release, rest and refreshment; --- It meant reality!! ---Up until now,
the Israelites had only heard “sermons” about Canaan and that was all; --- But now they saw it for themselves! --- Oh, how wonderful it would be if this would become more than just another lesson; --- but that it would become a reality to you; --- that you would enter into your spiritual “Canaan”; --- the victorious Christian life that God has designed for you!!

Well, who does Joshua represent?? --- Joshua, who led them in the days after Moses’ death is an illustration and a “type” of Christ Jesus! --- As a matter of fact, the O.T. name for Jesus is Joshua!! (I.e. Jesus = Jehoshua; Strong’s ref:2434) --- And so, Joshua represents Christ who leads us into the land of victory!!

And Caleb, who does he represent?? --- Well, for practical purposes we’ll just let Caleb represent you. Alright? --- What we see here, is Caleb representing the Christian about to conquer his Canaan; and about to possess his possessions; --- And about to receive the promises that God has given to him!
And so let us notice a few things concerning Caleb; ---

1. Caleb’s Character:

Look again at (Josh. 14:) and notice with me in the last part of (Vs. 8), Caleb says; --- “but I followed the LORD my God fully.” (NKJV - “But I wholly followed the Lord my God.”) --- Moses speaking in (Vs. 9); --- “So Moses swore on that day, saying, 'Surely the land on which your foot has trodden will be an inheritance to you and to your children forever, (Why?) because you have followed the LORD my God fully.” --- (Vs. 14) tells of the outcome; --- “Therefore, Hebron became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite until this day, because he followed the LORD God of Israel fully.” --- Now, Caleb was a very unusual man, and I say unusual in the sense that out of the original 600,000 plus men (not counting women and children), who God had delivered from Egyptian bondage forty years earlier, only Caleb and Joshua survived to see the promised land. (Num. 26:65). 

And Caleb was a man who gave all that there was of him; ---every ounce, ever fiber of his being; ---Caleb WHOLLY followed the Lord his God!! --- Which makes me wonder sometimes; --- Just how many of us today could say honestly; --- “I have given everything to Jesus Christ!” --- “I am 100% committed to God!!”

Someone might say; --- “God doesn’t expect that of me, --- I’m just a new Christian!” Or “I’m so young in age (Not referring to infants now)!!” --- If that’s your thinking dear soul, you are 100% wrong!! --- The God of heaven gave you His very best (Jesus), and He well deserves your very best, Everything you’ve got! --- And if you haven’t given God everything; --- Well, shame on you! --- You are a disgrace to the name Christian!! --- I mean EVERYTHING, your time, talents and all that you have is to belong to God! --- And you ought to have Caleb’s attitude; --- “That as much as is in me, I want to wholly follow my God!!” --- Half-hearted religion will simply not cut it!! --- The half-hearted will be the faint hearted; --- And they will never enter into their Canaan!!

The apostle Paul said in (Phil. 3: 13-24); --- “--but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, --- I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” --- Is this your ambition?? --- To press on toward that heavenly goal? ---To be wholly committed to the cause of Christ?? --- Or could it be that perhaps, just because you go to church and warm a pew on Sunday morning, you’ve done God a big favor?? --- Well again, I’ve got news for you if that’s your attitude my friend; --- God is not impressed with your church attendance! --- He’s not the least impressed when you come in and “tip your hat” to Him!! --- Almighty God will be satisfied with nothing less than a total surrender of your will to Him!! --- God says in (Isa. 66:2); --- “But to this one I will look, --- To him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word.”

Jesus Christ did not bathe this world in His precious blood, only to have you serve the world of flesh and sin. --- Don’t you know that as a Christian, you belong to Jesus Christ? --- That you are not your own; --- You’re bought with a price?? (1 Cor. 6:19-20) --- Just imagine what wonderful things that could be accomplished by a whole congregation of “Calebs”, who are determined by faith to be wholly, completely and totally given to our loving God!! --- Are you willing to do that? --- Wouldn’t you like to see what God could do with a group such as this; --- Completely dedicated to Him?? --- This is Caleb’s Character!! --- How do you, dear soul compare? --- How do you “stack up”?? --- Now let’s take a look at; --- 

2. Caleb’s Confidence:

Because, you see, Caleb’s character leads to Caleb’s confidence! --- Caleb was a man who had strong confidence in the word of God!! --- Please notice how the phrase “The lord said” or “The Lord spoke” runs though this passage of Scripture; --- (Josh. 14:5); --- “Thus the sons of Israel did just as the LORD had commanded Moses.” --- Caleb speaking in the last half of (Vs.6); --- “You know the word which the LORD spoke to Moses the man of God concerning you and me in Kadesh-barnea.” --- “Now Joshua, don’t you remember what the Lord has said?” --- If you’re the kind who likes to mark up, highlight and underscore things in your Bible (Boy, do I), you might want to under score that phrase, “the LORD spoke”. --- Then drop down to (14:10), the first part; --- “Now behold, the LORD has let me live, just as He spoke, these forty-five years.” --- Next phrase of (Vs. 10); --- “the LORD spoke this word to Moses.” --- Now look at (Vs. 12); --- “Now then, give me this hill country (mountain) about which the LORD spoke on that day.” --- And the last part of (Vs.12); --- “perhaps the LORD will be with me, and I will drive them out as the LORD has spoken.” --- Do you see that??

Over and over again: 

a. “The Lord had commanded Moses“;                       d. “The Lord spoke this word to Moses.” 
b. “The Lord spoke;”                                                     e. “about that which the Lord spoke on that day.” 
c. “Just as He spoke;”                                                   f. “I will drive them out as the Lord has spoken.” 

                                                --- On and on!!

Do you know where Caleb’s confidence was? --- Caleb’s confidence was not in the words of men, but rather in the word of God!! --- Caleb had a mountain he needed to conquer. --- God had given him that mountain, and he went up that mountain with a sword in his hand; --- And he also went up with the title deed in his pocket, --- Because God had promised it to him! --- And Caleb’s confidence held fast in the word of God!!

Now, listen to Paul in (Rom. 10:17); --- “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by ⁾the word of Christ.” --- And in (Heb. 13:6) the Bible says; ---“So that we can confidently say, the Lord is my helper!” Brethren, you had better take God’s word and saturate yourself in it; --- Hide God’s word deep in your hearts, so that you can confidently say; --- “GOD HAS SAID!!” --- Do you really know what God has said in His Book? --- Do you?? --- Do you know what it was that made Caleb such a unique man? --- A rarity among men?? --- Caleb believed and had every confidence in the word of God!! ---Why did he believe? --- Because his heart was pure; --- And a pure heart is the fertile soil in which the seed of God’s word can find root!!

And the very reason why God’s word means so little to some people; --- The reason some people can sit in an assembly when the word of the Lord is being preached, and it just rolls off them like water off a ducks back! --- And they’re sitting there trying to find some fault with the messenger of God; --- They’re worried about going overtime; --- They’re wondering what the wife is making for dinner; --- Who’s going to win the ball game on TV this afternoon!! --- And their hearts and minds are a thousand miles away!! --- They’re simply not hungering and thirsting for righteousness! --- And the truth of the matter is; --- They don’t really want God!! --- They’re too busy being hung up on the things of the world!!

But, here’s Caleb over here, --- 100% out for God! --- He totally followed after his Lord God; --- And therefore, the word of God could find lodging in his heart!! --- And Caleb had a faith in God that is sorely lacking in some of us today!! --Remember, Caleb’s character led to Caleb’s confidence!!

But the next idea for us to consider is;

3. Caleb’s Courage:

You see, you’ll never have courage, --- and you’ll never be bold, nor will you do valiantly until you have a pure heart, and you’ve hidden the word of God deep within your heart. --- This is what David of old had in mind when he said; --- “Your word I have treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against You” (Ps. 119:11) --- So when this happens, then you’ll have the kind of courage God wants you to have!!

We must understand, before Caleb could take that mountain which God had promised him, and it was a glorious mountain! --- I mean Hebron was the richest, most fertile place; --- It was a place where all the best foods were in abundance; --- figs, grapes (fruit of the vine), corn, milk and honey! All of the most wholesome products were there in that rich land, and still is to this day. --- But before he could possess his mountain, there were some adversaries, some enemies to overcome!!

And one lesson we all can learn, is nothing great was ever accomplished from a rocking chair or easy chair. No Sir!! --- And if you’re looking for a cheap way, a lazy way or an easy way to live the faithful life unto God and conquer your mountain; --- FORGET IT!! --- Ain’t gonna happen!! --- Like I said, Caleb had some opposition he had to overcome. --- Someone once said; --- “The door of opportunity swings on the hinges of opposition!” --- And there’s a great effectual door open for us, but we need to defeat the adversaries along the way!! --- So let us take a look at some of those adversaries Caleb had to overcome; ---

In the first place, he had to overcome some grasshoppers. Yes, I said grasshoppers!! --- Look at it in (Josh. 14:7-8); --- Caleb remembers back some forty five years earlier when he first went out to spy out the land. (vs. 7); --- “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 word back to him as it was in my heart.” --- (i.e. “I brought back a good report.) --- (vs. 8); --- “Nevertheless my brethren who went up with me made the heart of the people melt with fear;--” --- And just how did these friends of Caleb make the hearts of the people melt with fear? --- Look back for a moment in (Num. 13:32-33); --- “So they gave out to the sons of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, ‘The land through which we have gone, in spying it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great size. --- There also we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim); and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.” --- Caleb’s brethren suffered from a “Grasshopper Complex“!! --- I’m convinced that’s the problem with many of us today. --- Some of you reading this are suffering from the “grasshopper complex”! --- Some who profess to be followers of Christ, to listen to them, they are totally “out of it”!! --- They say; --- “Talk about giving everything to God, why, people would begin to think I’m some kind of religious fanatic!” --- “Nobody can live that way!” 

Friends, it’s so called religious people like this who have no more inclination to put these kind of lessons into practice than they would put into practice what they watch on TV. --- Sometimes I would think the TV would stand more of a chance. --- It’s just sort of something you do when you’re like a grasshopper. --- You say, --- “There’s just too many giants in that land; --- nobody could live that way!!” --- Have you ever stopped to consider for a moment that before we, as Christians can ever do anything great, we must overcome the grasshoppers?? --- Grasshoppers; --- People who sit around and say; “It can’t be done!” --- “It won’t be done!” --- “It shouldn’t be thus and such!!”

These people are quite content to retreat back and live in the relative safety of the desert wasteland, because there are no giants out there. --- No, and there’s no luscious fruit either!! --- We need to thank God that Caleb didn’t follow the majority; --- because the majority is generally wrong! --- You just find out in most cases where the majority stands and you do something else and you’ll probably be all right!! --- Jesus taught that we’re to ---” Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. --- For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” (Mt. 7:13-14)

Alright now, notice where Caleb had to overcome the grasshoppers before he could overcome the giants!!

4. Caleb’s Giants:

Caleb says in (Josh. 14:12); --- “Now then, give me this hill country (mountain) about which the LORD spoke on that day, for you heard on that day that Anakim were there, --” --- Now what are Anakims? ---That’s not something you take for headaches; --- It’s Ana-kim!! --- And the Scripture says that they were giants, and they lived in great fortified cities. --- And Caleb said; --- “I know that these big huge giants are there, but I also know that “perhaps the LORD will be with me, and I will drive them out as the LORD has spoken.” --- So we see, not only did Caleb have to face grasshoppers, but giants also!! And oh, there are some fearful giants; --- But Caleb wasn’t at all bothered by these giants. --- As a matter of fact, he seemed to be a little excited that they were there. --- Do you know what Caleb had to say when he came back talking about those giants? --- Joshua and Caleb speaking to the sons of Israel in (Num. 14:8-9), had this to say; --- “If the LORD is pleased with us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us--a land which flows with milk and honey. --- Only do not rebel against the LORD; and do not fear the people of the land, for they will be our prey. Their protection has been removed from them, and the LORD is with us; do not fear them.” --- These giants will literally become our “food”, or “bread” as the NKJV puts it. They will be our bread, so Caleb says; --- “Pass the peanut butter, please!” --- “Look, they’re bread, we’re going to eat them alive!!”

And what is bread? ---Of course bread is something you eat, to strengthen you and make you grow! Caleb is saying that these giants will not be a means of our defeat, but rather a means of our growth!! And Caleb sits down at the table and said, --- “Pass the Anakim, please!!”

Mothers have to tell their children, --- “Eat your spinach dear, It’ll make you strong.” --- Junior says, --- “I don’t want any spinach, I don’t like it.” --- And I can imagine God saying; --- “Now my child, eat your Anakim!” --- We protest, “I don’t want to fight any giants!” --- He says, --- “Go ahead, it’s good for you, it’ll make you grow!” --- Again we contend, --- “No, I had rather not! --- “Go ahead and eat them!!!”

Look! --- You’ve been trying to get out of difficulties; --- “I don’t want to face anymore problems!” “I don’t want to face anymore troubles; --- they’re piling up on me and I just can’t bear it anymore!” Don’t you know that the difficulties God allows you, are the very things which can make you strong? Why not just sit down and gobble them up? --- Listen to the wise prophet Isaiah in (Isa. 54:17); --- “No weapon that is formed against you will prosper; And every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, And their vindication is from Me,’ declares the LORD.” --- If we could only understand that so many things we think are difficulties; --- Are not difficulties at all, but rather opportunities!! --- Do you know what the difference between a pessimist and an optimist is? --- A pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity; --- And the optimist sees opportunity in every difficulty!

Which reminds me of the story of a shoe salesman who went to Africa to sale shoes; --- And after a while he wrote back to his company; --- “Get me out of here, these people don’t even wear shoes!” --- So his company brought him home and sent another man; --- After a while he wrote back saying, ---“Urgent! Send me all the shoes you can, I’ve never seen so many prospects!!” 

You know, we need to start being more like Caleb, and start seeing things from God’s viewpoint!! ---We need to get past the grasshopper complex! --- And why do people suffer from the grasshopper complex?? --- Because they look at giants from their viewpoint!! --- We need to stop saying; --- “Look how much bigger and stronger he is than I!” --- And start saying; --- “Look how much smaller and weaker he is than God!!” --- When you go up in an airplane, things on the ground don’t look so big do they? --- You can’t tell a six foot man from a four foot man from an airplane can you? --- This one lady, about to go on her first flight turned to her companion and said; --- “It’s true, just look down there, those people look like ants!” --- Her friend replied, --- “They are ants, dummy, we haven’t taken off yet!”

But beloved, if you get up high enough and look down you’ll soon discover that things will look smaller and smaller! --- Or as the apostle Paul said; --- “-- and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,” (Eph. 2:6) --- We need to start looking at the opposition from Paul’s viewpoint!!

And again, the apostle John in (1 Jn. 4:4) says this; --- “You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.” --- There is not a giant of doubt, --- Or a giant of distress, --- Or a giant of fear or sin, that should not fall, before the Christian filled with the Holy Spirit; --- And the way we’re filled with the Holy Spirit is by having the 
Spirit inspired word of God firmly imprinted upon the tables of our hearts!! --- We ought to be sick and saddened to the core of seeing God’s people living defeated lives!!

The church of the living God is to move out like a mighty army! --- We ought to cry out; --- “I want that mountain, it belongs to me! --- God has promised it to me!! --- This is Caleb’s Courage! --- And this is Caleb’s courage to overcome grasshoppers and giants!! --- Finally, let’s notice;---

5. Caleb’s Conquest:

For Caleb’s character led to Caleb’s confidence; --- And Caleb’s confidence led to Caleb’s courage; And Caleb’s courage led to Caleb’s conquest!!

So, let us look at this mountain; --- The word for “Hebron” literally means “seat of association” (or fellowship). --- And Caleb was saying in effect; --- “I want that mountain of fellowship with God!” ---And Caleb took the whole mountain; --- Which we can see as “fullness”; --- All God has to offer!!

And do you know what Hebron was noted for? --- Fruitfulness!! --- So what was Caleb’s idea of conquest? --- Caleb’s greatest ambition was; --- “I want to live on God’s mountain of fullness and fruitfulness!! --- Now isn’t that where you want to live? --- Wouldn’t you like for your life to be a vineyard of fruitfulness? --- And bearing forth the fruit of the Spirit??

And do you know what the three biggest giants that you’re going to have to drive out of your life?
Look in (Josh. 15:14) for a moment; --- I want you to see the names of these three giants; --- “Caleb drove out from there the three sons of Anak: Sheshai and Ahiman and Talmai, the children of Anak.” ---So here are the three giants!!

Old Testament names had a meaning: --- Sheshai means “Who am I?” --- Here’s a giant saying, --- “You want to know my name?” --- “My name is Who I am!” --- And Ahiman meant “What I am” and his name imported that there was no man to be compared to him, his statue being so great. ---
Talmai is roughly translated; --- “What I can do.” --- (ref.)Alfred Jones Dictionary of O.T. Names

Friends, those are the three biggest giants you need to drive out of your lives!! --- That is, if you truly want to be pleasing to God! --- The giant of EGO = Who I am; --- The giant of PRIDE = What I am; --- And the giant of SELF-RELIANCE = What I can do!! --- Those are the three big giants that are in dire need of being displaced!! --- But, dear soul there’s no way you can fight the fight and win the victory on your own; ---You MUST depend on God!! ---You need to cry out with Paul and say; ---“I can do all things through Him who strengthens me;” (Phil. 4:13) --- God has promised to help you!! Will you not let Him??

Christians ought to be feasting on the luscious fruit!! --- “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, self-control; --- against such things there is no law.” (Gal. 5:22) --- Do you know that fruit? --- It comes from the bowers of Hebron!! ---I wish that every one of us would say; ---
“I’m sick and tired of living in the valley of despair!” --- I’m sick and tired of not having the kind of life I know God wants for me! --- “I’m sick to death of someone having to beat me over the head with the Scriptures and telling me I’m not the kind of Christian I ought to be!!” --- Then, why don’t you be what you ought to be??

Why don’t you be like Caleb of old, and say once and for all, I’m going to get out of the boat with both feet and quit playing religion and start living for God; ---“I’m going to wholly follow my Lord!”
Just imagine what would happen if every one of us would strictly by faith determine this day and this hour; --- “I don’t know what others may say or do; --- But as for me and my house, we will wholly follow our blessed Lord Jesus!! --- I want this mountain; --- Give Me This Mountain!!”

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Questions and comments more than welcomed: ewilburn@austin.rr.com

Please don't delete this from your files, as who knows that while you may not at this time be moved by these scriptures but perhaps in time you might want to refer back to this and come to know better the love of the Lord. --- ew