GIVE ME THIS MOUNTAIN

Text: Joshua 14:6-12

Introduction: Colonel Sanders was famous for his fried chicken. He started out with one restaurant in Corbin, Kentucky, and built a global chicken empire. The Colonel was 65 when he launched his business. When others were retiring, he was just getting “warmed up”!

His amazing energy and zeal caught the attention of the Congressional Committee on Aging, and they invited him to Washington to testify before the committee. His appearance was unforgettable. Decked out in his traditional white suit and black tie, he said: “If you want to keep from having problems about getting old, for goodness sake don’t think about retiring. It’s the worst mistake a man can make. It’ll kill him quicker than anything. A man will rust out quicker than he will wear out.”

Colonel Sanders reminds me of an octogenarion in the Bible named Caleb. He and his friend Joshua are remembered for their confidence in God. We meet Caleb in the book of Numbers when he is 40 years old. Let’s take a look at the qualities that characterized Caleb.

1.    He was courageous from the beginning (Numbers 13:1-16).

• The reconnaissance mission: We need to remember that God gave Canaan to the children of Israel. The mission was not to decide if they should go in or stay out. It was to plan their strategy for conquering Canaan. The land was a gift from God, so victory was assured. But they still had to fight their enemies and “dispossess” them from the Promised Land. Each tribe sent a leader to spy out the land. Caleb represented Judah and Joshua was voted in for Ephraim. The text lists 10 others, but they are long forgotten because of their fears and doubts.

• His remarkable report: How could 12 men take the same journey and see the same sights, but return with such different conclusions? For the 10, it was all about giants, but for Caleb and Joshua it was all about God (13:20-33). I like what F. B. Meyer writes about the reports: “The rest of the spies had turned aside, dismayed by the spectacle of giants and walled-up cities and vast battle array. They had ceased to keep their eye steadfastly fixed on the movements of God’s will, and the might of His hand; and instead of following hard after Him, they had yielded to panic, and made the hearts of the people melt. But there had been no panic in the heart of Caleb. He had only been considering that, when God delights in men, He brings them into the land of milk and honey, and makes it theirs by deed of gift. And as he thought in his heart, so he spake with his mouth. In his rough soldier’s phrase he even dared to boast that the Canaanites were but bread waiting to be eaten by the hosts of Israel” (Joshua, p.160).

• His resolute devotion to God (Joshua 14:14). When Caleb received his long-awaited inheritance, we learn the secret of his confidence: “He wholly followed the Lord” (nkjv) or “He wholeheartedly followed the Lord” (nlt).

2.    He was steadfast in times of testing (Numbers 11). The judgment of God for the unbelief of the majority was 40 years of desert wandering until an entire generation of doubters perished. Only Caleb and Joshua entered the land flowing with milk and honey. What is remarkable to me is what these two stalwarts had to endure. For, after all, their faith in God could have been rewarded with a 40-day journey, instead of the misery of 40 years of aimless wandering. Desert experiences are testing times for God’s men and women, past and present. Moses was tested and refined in the wilderness. Paul was sent to Arabia and learned much from the Lord. And Caleb and Joshua lived in the desert for 40 years. Think of it! Forty years of watching graves dug as a whole generation died. Forty years of listening to complaints about manna and water. Forty years of enduring the rebellious talk of returning to Egypt or overthrowing Moses as their leader. Yet there is no record of bitterness in the heart of Caleb. He did not join in with Aaron and Miriam as they railed against their brother, Moses.
In many places across our land, criticism of pastoral leaders has reached epidemic proportions. Moses collapsed under the complaints, wishing he were dead. If anyone could have rightfully complained about the long journey, it was Caleb. He could have been full of rebukes. But Moses had a supporter in this man. Will you be a 21st-century Caleb and not be among those who criticize their leader?
3.    He was adventurous in old age (Joshua 14:6-13). At 85, Caleb was ready to claim the promise of Hebron. F. B. Meyer speculates that young Caleb couldn’t have viewed the white buildings of Hebron for longer than an hour or two. But God made a promise that He would keep him alive until Hebron was his. Now at 85, he was ready. “Hebron, beneath whose oaks Abraham had pitched his tent; Hebron, whose soil had been trodden by the feet of the Incarnate God, as with two angel attendants He visited the tent of Abraham; Hebron, where Sarah and Abraham, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Leah lay buried” (Joshua, p.162). Caleb made a bold claim that he was as strong at 85 as he was at 40. He promised to war against the Anakim giants and come back with victory. You can hear the joy and confidence as he said to Joshua: “Therefore, give me this mountain” (14:12).
What is your Hebron—your mountain? What promise from God have you claimed and been holding on to for many years? Is it a son or daughter not yet come to faith in our Lord? Is it a grandson or granddaughter far from God? Is it a desire for a Christian husband for a single daughter or a job for a desperate family member? Then join Caleb and cry to God, “Give me this mountain.”