In the life of Caleb we find a beautiful picture of the perseverance of faith. His name is mentioned
for the first time in Numbers 13:6 where we read that Moses sent out from the desert of Paran a
man from each tribe to search out the land of Canaan. Among these twelve we find Caleb, the son
of Jephunneh, and Joshua, the son of Nun.

From this moment the name of Caleb is found so closely linked with that of Joshua that one might
almost say they are inseparable (see Num. 14:30, 38; 26:65; 34:17-19; Deut. 1:36,38; Joshua
14:13). Together they searched the land; together they crossed the desert; together they entered
Canaan. We have in Joshua a figure of Christ, the Saviour Jesus, who brings His people into the
rest of the promised land; and Caleb walks in company with him. The great name of Joshua
overshadowed, so to speak, that of Caleb, and imprinted upon it its character. These two men had
but one thought, they had the same faith, confidence, and courage, the same starting point, the
same path, the same purpose of heart, the same goal. Is it so with us, dear readers? Are we so
associated with Christ that our name cannot be uttered without His, and that our very existence
owes its value to the fact that, by grace, we have been made companions of the Lord Jesus?

In Numbers 13 the twelve men sent by Moses, having reached Hebron, proceeded to Eshcol to
carry back from that spot the magnificent fruits which were to prove the beauty of the country.
But it was not, as one might have thought, Eshcol which arrested the gaze and captivated the heart
of Caleb. His faith reached on to something better. Hebron, whereon his feet had trodden, was
given to him (Joshua 14:9). From that moment its name was engraved on his heart during 45
years, until the day when he should appear before Joshua to claim "this mountain whereof the
Lord spake" as his everlasting possession.

This spot was not lacking in celebrity. To the flesh, in truth, it could not but inspire terror, for
the formidable Anakims dwelt there. But on the other hand, it was a place rich in memories for
this man of God. There Abraham chose his abode (Gen. 13:18); there he built an altar to Jehovah
and received the promise of God (Gen. 18:1). But more than this, Hebron was pre-eminently the
place of death. It was there that Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, and Jacob were buried. Hebron was
indeed the place of the sepulcher, the scene of death, the end of man. What was there in it to
attract? Nothing for the natural man, everything for faith. There is one supreme spot where the
believer learns the end of himself:it is the cross of Christ.

Again, it was from Hebron that Joseph set forth in search of his brethren. Later it became a city
of refuge, and later still it was the starting point of David’s kingdom. Finally, it was there that all
the tribes of Israel acknowledged David as their king and came to do him homage.

Is it not a wondrous spot? What a succession of blessings it records! How Caleb prized this spot,
to the outward eye so unattractive. He desired it for his everlasting inheritance. Caleb’s faith laid
hold, from the very outset, on what Abraham in his faith had learned there:himself done with,
self set aside, old things passed away. And here we see a man setting out in dependence on God,
with no confidence in himself, and continuing in this blessed path until the end-the full enjoyment
of the promises_is reached in the place where man has come to his end.

There is another characteristic of this man of faith. Caleb realized his hope. He entered Canaan
first, not as a dweller, but as a visitor; but it was there, and not in the desert, that his course
began. He returned to the desert with an indelible impress on his heart of the reality and beauty
of the things which he had seen, and which during forty-five years formed the object of his hope.
It is the same with the Psalmist (Psalm 63:1,2), a man walking after the example of Caleb. He had
seen God in the sanctuary, and starting from there, he came down to the earth filled with the
glorious reality of those divine things which would be for the sustenance of his heart to the end
of the journey. A point that might be made in this connection is the following:to the soul which
is fed with the marrow and fatness of the sanctuary, the desert not only loses its attraction, but
assumes its true character of dearth and drought. Heaven becomes the measure of earth so that
things that are seen lose their apparent value and become emptiness and a barren waste.

Let us now return to that which is so prominent in Caleb’s character, his perseverance in the path
of faith. We see him first taking knowledge of the good land that God would give to His people,
and the divine comment on his history at this point is that he "wholly followed the Lord" (Num.
14:24; Deut. 1:36; Josh. 14:8,9). But the forty years of desert life had yet to be trodden, and he
courageously did it right on to the end, because he carried in his heart the remembrance of the
riches and the treasure of Canaan. To him the difficulties of the desert were nothing; he heeded
not the burning sands, the scorching sun, the weariness, or the thirst. Not for a moment did he
dream of seeking anything in the scene around him. His courage was sustained by a hope; and the
believer’s hope is not merely Canaan, that is to say, heaven, in a general way, but it is Christ
Himself.

But there is another aspect of Caleb’s perseverance:we see him taking possession of Canaan. Five
years had run their course during which the fight had continued, and then by his sword he gained
possession of his own particular portion, the mountain of which Jehovah had spoken. He entered
into his inheritance in spite of the formidable power of the enemy. But, like us, Caleb met in "him
who had the power of death" a vanquished enemy who has no power to intimidate us.

Caleb’s perseverance was crowned with success. He was the only one in Israel who seems to have
driven out all his enemies. What a lesson for us, beloved! Let us remember that Caleb’s taking
possession speaks to us of a present fact, and not only of future enjoyment. Have we persevered
in the conflict so as to enjoy now our privileges? May God give us, like him, purpose of heart in
the hope, the path, and the fight.

Let us consider one further characteristic of perseverance which is found at the close of our
chapter. Caleb says in verse 11:"As yet 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, for war, both to go out, and to
come in." Caleb was 85 years old, but neither his great age nor the weary desert journey had
diminished in the smallest degree his strength. And why? Because he had no confidence in
himself. Hebron’s lesson had remained engraved on his heart. He says in verse 12:"If so be the
Lord will be with me." Do you think from this that he mistrusted the Lord? No, he mistrusted
himself_he realized that if there were any obstacle to the Lord’s being with him, it must proceed
from himself. We realize strength in proportion as we mistrust self. It is thus that we go from
strength to strength.

Caleb walked in the consciousness that his strength was in and with God. May it be the same with
us. And not only so, but may we live in the enjoyment of heavenly things, take part in the scene
of conflict, and run patiently and with unwearied feet the race which leads to the glory.

(From Meditations on the Book of Joshua.)