Joshua, Chapter 14 - Unstoppable Faith | Prophets of Israel

[music] >> Shalom friends, welcome to the Prophets of Israel daily. This is chapter 14 of the book of Joshua. My [music] name is Jeremy Kumpel. I'm here with my Havruta Ari Abramowitz and this series is brought to you by the Land of Israel Network at the landofisrael.com. >> [music] >> So, what does it look like to wait 45 years for a promise to come true? Not days, not months, 45 years. In chapter 14 of Sefer Yehoshua, the battle begins to slow. The dust starts to settle and the nation of Israel begins the long process of dividing the land of Israel. But right in the middle of maps and borders, someone steps forward. A man who refuses to retire quiet into history. This chapter isn't only about land, it's about faith that survives the waiting. It's about a generation that died in the desert and one man, Caleb, Calev, who never let the promise die inside him. Jeremy, I just want to point out, you know, most people after 45 years of wandering the desert are not asking for more challenges. I mean, there there are times I've thrown the white flag after 45 minutes. You know, have you ever heard the term of like resting on your laurels? Like just I think about Rabbi Riskin and if I already found it all of a sudden, I'd be like, okay, that's it. Life's mission, I can relax now. But he doesn't. There are certain people that just don't and Caleb was one of them. I mean, Caleb could have said, "Listen, I did my part. I stood against the spies. I survived the desert. Just give me a quiet vineyard somewhere." You know, I mean, at this point, he's an older guy in his 80s. Most people of that age are playing bingo and arguing about the thermostat. You know, but Caleb, he's scouting out fortified cities filled with giants. He doesn't ask for comfort. He's he's asking for confrontation. He wakes up one morning and says, "You know what sounds good today? Hebron with the Anakim, the giants. Let's go. Let's do this thing." Right? There's no retirement or social security for this guy. He was a Judean warrior until the very last day. It's really inspiring. You know, and that's what exactly makes this story so powerful. You know, as you said already, chapter 14 introduces us to one of one of the greatest heroes in Tanakh, Caleb ben Yefuneh. And the chapter opens with the formal division of the land that's now west of the Jordan and Eleazar the priest, Joshua, and the heads of the tribes are there. And this is the moment that Israel has been moving towards for generations. You think about it from Abraham's first steps to the Exodus, through the desert, through the conquest, and right as the promise is about to be fulfilled, Caleb interrupts the story. And you look at verse six. Then the children of Judah came to Joshua in Gilgal. And Caleb, the son of Yefuneh, 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." And Caleb takes Joshua back in time. Back to a moment of the spies. Back to the fork in the road where an entire generation chose fear and two men chose faith. Only Joshua and Caleb gave a good report about the land and encouraged the nation to trust in God. Only Caleb and Joshua made it into the land from that generation. I mean, Joshua and Caleb, they had to have a very, very special relationship. And in this chapter, they come together for one last time. And then Caleb says, verse 10, "And now behold, the Lord has kept me alive as he said these 45 years. And now, here I am this day, 85 years old. Yet I am as strong this day as on the day that Moses sent me." So, 85 years old and he's not asking for retirement. He's asking for a mission. Look at verse 12. "Now therefore, give me this mountain of which the Lord spoke on that day. For you heard that on that day how the Anakim were there and that the cities were great and fortified." So, just like we said, like look what Caleb didn't ask for. He's not asking for an easy territory. He's not asking for a quiet valley, the already conquered land. He asks for the hardest place, the mountain, the giants, Hebron. And why? And that was the place that he first visited when he was sent as a spy into the land of Israel. And that's where the Cave of the Patriarchs that was the first place that Abraham bought in the land of Israel. Hebron is the heart of Israel and Caleb, a leader of the tribe of Judah, wanted to have the merit of reclaiming Hebron as his own and Joshua blesses him and Hebron is given to Caleb. You know, Jeremy, I I never really saw Caleb in this light. I I reflected on him in different ways. I had different perceptions. I even did a program about Caleb once. But I never thought of him like this and by the way, that alone is making this whole journey of Nach Yomi, of the daily Prophets of Israel worth it. Just to be able to go so deep and see it all through different prism and a different light in a different time in history. But anyways, I used to see Caleb much more, I think, simply. You know, he was a man of great courage and faith. You know, but now, living in in our times and living our lives where we you and I are settling the deepest settlements in southeastern Judea, well, I see Caleb as the original Judean settler. Right? He doesn't ask for Tel Aviv beachfront property. He asks for Hebron. The mountain. Right? The place still crawling with giants. The place that just like today, just like today, many people would rather avoid it because it's pretty clear that Hebron has never been an easy place. But Caleb understood that, you know, we're relearning it today and he understood it then that the holiest places are rarely uncontested. He knew that if you want to have the heart of the land, you need to be ready to fight for it. And he knew that Hebron is where Abraham bought the first piece of land and he knew that Hebron is where the promise first touched the earth, the promise that God gave to Abraham. Right? So, reclaiming Hebron wasn't about square footage, it was about faithfulness. It was that's really, I think, the deeper lesson. That when you understand what a place represents, you don't fight for land. You fight for the covenant between God and his people. And that's exactly what's happening in our generation right now. When people say, "You know, why do these crazy settlers have to live out there surrounded by jihadists and terrorists? Why Judea? Why Hebron?" Well, the answer is Caleb. Because sometimes the mountain you're called to inherit is precisely the one that the entire world is telling you to abandon. And so, Caleb wasn't chasing property. You know, the truth is that he was guarding prophecy. He told Joshua to let him conquer Hebron at the age of 85, not because it was easy, but because it was eternal. And that that's what touches me about Caleb. You know, that's really beautiful. That's really so just true. Until today, if you want to know the real story of what's happening in Israel, just look at the heart of Judea in Hebron. You'll see exactly where Israel's holding as Hebron's continuing to be rebuilt, to be replenished, have new people move there. Hebron is the heart and in that way, Caleb is really one of the most inspiring heroes of the Bible. I mean, he lived with emunah, with faith, on a different level. Joshua needed to change his name to give him extra spiritual power before he was sent in as a spy to the land. Caleb didn't. Caleb was just built different. He had emunah on a different level and that's what we need. It's what all the good people of the world need today. And Joshua 14, it's not just our ancient history, it's a mirror into the future and Caleb is an example for all of us. It may take 45 years, but God's promise will be fulfilled. We need to remember that sometimes the mountain you're meant to inherit, it's the one that takes the longest to reach and it just takes people of faith with patience and perseverance to never let go of the promise. And that's really what Caleb teaches us here. And so, that's it, my friends. That was chapter 14. We'll see you tomorrow with chapter 15 of the book of Joshua. And as always, if you're enjoying this series, you're invited to join our global community at the Land of Israel Fellowship. We meet every Sunday and connect with the most amazing people on the planet. We're all being drawn together to [music] the land of Israel and we would love for you to join us. So, you can find out more at the landofisrael.com. [music] Shalom.