Joshua 14:9-14 Higher Ground is Holy Ground
Joshua 14 Higher Ground is Holy Ground
Since I love to hike, I’ve been doing some personal studies on people in the Bible who loved to hike as well. One of my favorites is that Old Testament octogenarian Caleb who said in Joshua 14:9-14, [That] Moses promised saying, Surely the land on which your feet have trod, that will be your inheritance. You will have this land forever because you have wholly followed the Lord [10] And [Caleb said] Behold the Lord has kept me alive these eighty-five years [11] I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength was then, even so is my strength now [12] Now therefore give me this mountain, of which the Lord spoke in that day [when He promised this mountain to me]. You heard in that day how a tribe of giants were there and that the cities were great and fenced: since the Lord will be with me, then I will be able to drive them out, as the Lord said. [13] And Joshua blessed him, and gave unto Caleb the son of Jephunneh Hebron for an inheritance. [14] Hebron therefore became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite unto this day, because he wholly followed the Lord.
In spite of the hardships of the hike and the difficulties that lay before him, Caleb realized that his reward wasn’t ‘down here’ at the base of the mountain, it was ‘up there’ at the top. Prior to taking that first step toward the summit, Caleb knew that his legs would burn, his mouth would get dry, and that his lungs would crave as much oxygen as he could breathe. But, for that 400-600 miler, he never doubted his success. There wasn’t any half-hearted determination or thoughts of “I’m too old to make this hike.” I doubt that Caleb ever said, that God had already used up all His miracles on others and that “God doesn’t have any miracles leftover for me.” Instead, being repeatedly whole-hearted for the Lord, Caleb dedicated himself – with every ounce of fiber he had physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually – to claim, climb, and conquer his mountain for God.
About those giants that Caleb would find at the top: they were the same giants that Caleb saw forty-years before when as a ‘trust-based, not task-based’ spy, he scouted out the trail. During those forty years, the giants hadn’t changed – they multiplied. But God hadn’t changed either. Since, when God is for us nobody can effectively be against us (Romans 8:31), Caleb accepted the challenge of full commitment and won his victory for God.
What can we learn from the story of Caleb?
- Nothing is impossible with God (Matthew 19:26).
When I get to the top of a mountain and admire the vista from Cammerer, The Bunion, or Andrews Bald, I set aside some time to admire/praise the God Who faced and ‘conquered’ the impossible situations of creation, the Fall, saving Noah, Isaac’s birth, Goliath, Messiah’s ancestry, the cross, Christ’s resurrection, and Caleb’s giants. Knowing, like Caleb, that I face situations that are beyond my ability to handle, I’m thankful that I serve the God of the impossible Who can handle those situations for me. It’s never an easy climb on a trail marked ‘strenuous’. Since, on the scale of difficulty, ‘strenuous’ is less than impossible, I’d say that God can handle that too! Since nothing is impossible in the will of God, is there a psychological, emotional, physical, geographical, relational, mental, or spiritual mountain that we need to claim, climb, and conquer for Him?
- God rewards for faithfulness.
Three times God said of Caleb: He wholly followed the Lord (Joshua 14:8, 9, 14). Here was a man who placed his faith between himself and his circumstances. Instead of focusing on the giants in his life as obstacles, he focused on the opportunity for victory those giants presented to God. We can hear the doubters now: “Caleb, you’re too old to hike that mountain. You have twinges in your hinges. You were alive when Dr. Pepper was just an intern. When you were younger and capable of this hike, the Dead Sea was just sick!” On what do you focus when you take on a challenge the size of Caleb’s mountain? Wholly following the Lord and, as a ‘young man’ in an older container, Caleb refused to allow the limitations perceived by others to keep him from claiming his promises from God. Paul was a man who wanted to offer God something from his golden years. He said in Romans 12:3, “God rewards for faithfulness.” Keep your commitments current. Instead of allowing the mountain to remove your faith, have a faith that allows you to claim, climb, conquer and remove that mountain for God. Higher ground is holy ground. When we experience/see the vistas from the tops of the mountains, like Caleb, we understand: It’s the higher ground that God will bless.
High in the Alps in Europe, a monument was raised in honor of a faithful guide who died while climbing a peak to rescue a stranded tourist. Inscribed on that memorial stone are these words, “He died climbing.” We don’t have to be a mountain climber or a trail hiker to claim some mountain of circumstance for God. Can God? God can! The God Who could in Caleb’s day is the same God Who can in our day today. Since there are many mountains in each life to conquer: From the life of hiker Caleb, be encouraged! Accept yours! With wholehearted commitment and faith in the God of Caleb, claim, climb, and conquer your mountain today!
Closing thoughts: I’m thankful that Jesus claimed, climbed, and conquered that mountain called Calvary! How about you? As we claim and climb our mountains, let’s make a commitment together to wholly follow the Lord!