The Lord Matured Caleb in His Faith

IIT UBF - University Bible Fellowship at IIT

The Lord Matured Caleb in His Faith

Date: Sep. 2, 2017

Passage

Joshua 14:6-15 (ESV)

6 Then the people of Judah came to Joshua at Gilgal. And Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You know what the LORD said to Moses the man of God in Kadesh-barnea concerning you and me. 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 him word again as it was in my heart. 8 But my brothers who went up with me made the heart of the people melt; yet I wholly followed the LORD my God. 9 And Moses swore on that day, saying, ‘Surely the land on which your foot has trodden shall be an inheritance for you and your children forever, because you have wholly followed the LORD my God.’ 10 And now, behold, the LORD has kept me alive, just as he said, these forty-five years since the time that the LORD spoke this word to Moses, while Israel walked in the wilderness. And now, behold, I am this day eighty-five years old. 11 I am still as strong today as I was in the day that Moses sent me; my strength now is as my strength was then, for war and for going and coming. 12 So now give me this hill country of which the LORD spoke on that day, for you heard on that day how the Anakim were there, with great fortified cities. It may be that the LORD will be with me, and I shall drive them out just as the LORD said.”

13 Then Joshua blessed him, and he gave Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephunneh for an inheritance. 14 Therefore Hebron became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite to this day, because he wholly followed the LORD, the God of Israel. 15 Now the name of Hebron formerly was Kiriath-arba. (Arba was the greatest man among the Anakim.) And the land had rest from war.

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Daily Bread

Key Verse: 14:9

And Moses swore on that day, saying, ‘Surely the land on which your foot has trodden shall be an inheritance for you and your children forever, because you have wholly followed the LORD my God.’

1. Training develops faith and character (6-11)

The Israelites fought hard. They wandered in the desert for forty years. They fought seven years after crossing the Jordan. God trained Caleb through it all, developing many spiritual qualities like conviction and courage. He followed the Lord wholeheartedly. He served his role faithfully. God gave him strength into old age. Caleb was blessed by God to grow and mature into these qualities through God's training and sufferings.

2. Caleb asks for his inheritance (12-15)

Hebron still had Anakite strongholds. Caleb was not asking for something easy, but something very difficult, for it would involve driving out huge soldiers from the hills. Faith drove out all fear from his heart. He would follow the Lord into Hebron.

Prayer: Lord, I praise you for maturing Caleb in his faith and godly character. Mature me in my faith.

One Word: God matures our faith and character

Rehoboam’s Obedience to God’s Word

2 Chronicles 11:1-23

Key Verse: 11:4

‘Thus says the LORD, You shall not go up or fight against your relatives. Return every man to his home, for this thing is from me.’” So they listened to the word of the LORD and returned and did not go against Jeroboam.

Today's Question

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