The story of Joshua and Caleb is one of the most powerful and dramatic stories in the entire Bible. There are important lessons in this story for all Christians to learn!
Most Christians have heard of the story of Moses, but many Christians do not know the story that involves these two. They are an extension of the story of Moses. They are the climax of the story of Moses, as I will show you next. I’ll first give you a brief synopsis of his story, and then I’ll give you what you need to learn from his story and how it applies personally to the situation he’s facing right now.
Brief synopsis of Joshua and Caleb
God sends Moses to the land of Egypt to rescue and lead His people out of slavery to the Egyptians. He parts the Red Sea so they have a way to escape the Egyptians. He throws 10 huge plates at Pharaoh to free his people from his slavery. God the Father performs one of the most powerful supernatural displays of signs and wonders the world has ever seen to lead his people out of Egypt.
Moses tells God’s people that He will give them what He calls the “Promised Land.” It is a land flowing with milk and honey. He will establish his people in this land and this is where he will divide the Israelites into 12 different tribes.
However, there is a little catch in this story. Before they are allowed to enter this Promised Land, they must first pass a test. God allows them to remain in the “desert” for 40 years. He gives them all the basics of food and water to survive in the desert for 40 years.
God deliberately tested his people to see if they would.”hold on tightto Him while He was in the desert for 40 years. And over and over again, they kept messing up. At one point, God got so angry at their rebellious attitude, He literally wanted to kill them. But Moses stepped into the gap. for his people, he pleaded his case before God as to why he should not kill his people, and the Bible says that God repented and changed his mind, just because Moses stood in the gap and effectively pleaded his case before God .
However, just after a little over 2 years into this 40 year journey is where they finally did it big for the last time with God the Father. The Israelites sent some spies to the Promised Land to find out who the enemy was and to develop battle strategies to defeat the enemies. God was going to allow them to enter the Promised Land, but first they had to defeat and expel the enemies in order to conquer and possess the land.
When the spies returned, they came back with a “bad report.” They said that the enemies were “giants” and that their kingdoms were too well fortified and they would not be able to defeat them. Now mind you, God had just brought them out of Egypt with one of the greatest displays of His supernatural power the world has ever seen with Him throwing 10 huge plates at the Egyptians and then parting the Red Sea to give them safe passage into the wild.
When God saw their negative attitudes and their lack of faith and belief in His power, He literally threw up His hands and basically said that’s it, that’s it. At that time, he told them that all men over the age of 20 would not enter the Promised Land due to their lack of faith and belief in Him. He said that they would all wander in the desert for the next 40 years until they literally died out in the desert. God says that their corpses would fall in this desert and that his children would be shepherds who would bear the brunt of their infidelity towards God. The spies who went to spy out the land did so for 40 days. As a result of this misreporting, God pronounces the judgment that they must wander in the desert for 40 years to coincide with the 40 days they had spied out the land.
Now this is where Joshua and Caleb come in. So God tells Joshua and Caleb that they and the younger generation under the age of 20 would be the ones to go to the Promised Land because they had “with enthusiasm followed god.” They had full faith and faith in God that He would be able to defeat all their enemies once they entered the Promised Land to conquer and possess it.
Joshua was the leader who guided them. Moses himself was not allowed to enter and he died and was buried in the desert. So Joshua took Moses’ position as leader of the Israelites. He then enters the Promised Land with his strong faith in God and then proceeds to literally wipe his enemies off the face of the earth and conquer and possess the land that God had promised his ancestors.
Lessons to learn from Joshua and Caleb
1. I believe that the “Promised Land” for today’s Christian refers to God’s call on that person’s life. For the Christian who will completely surrender his entire life to God the Father, I believe that God will place a specific calling or callings on that person’s life. However, it may be many years before God releases that person to what is his true calling to God. Sometimes it takes years of preparation to be ready for that calling.
But once that call comes and you are preparing to cross over to your “Promised Land”, many Christians chicken out at the last minute and abandon their call. They start to focus too much on all the negative possibilities they will encounter if they take the call. Fear sets in and they “jump off the boat.”
This is why the story above is so powerful. The Israelites lost their only chance to enter this Promised Land due to one main reason: fear and lack of true faith and belief in the power of God to help them. They were too scared of the “giants” they saw in the land they were supposed to possess and they didn’t have enough faith in God to conquer and defeat these giants. As a result, they lost the greatest blessing of their entire lives.
After Joshua was fully successful in his mission, he makes the comment shortly before he died that God had not he failed him in some of the promises he made to him that he would give him every ounce of land he stepped on. He told Joshua that his enemies would be eliminated and that he would receive total victory as long as he followed God’s instructions. Joshua saw his call fully and when he died, he died as a man with his call and mission from God fully fulfilled.
His story is how God wants all his people to live! The 2 keys to Joshua’s success were his strong faith in God and the fact that he had always “followed God wholeheartedly.” I always tell everyone to stay with the leading of the Holy Spirit. The Bible says that the Holy Spirit “will guide us into all truth and teach us all things.” He is our guide and our teacher. If God places a calling on your life, but you don’t follow his instructions and specific guidelines on how to get there, you will never succeed.
The story of Joshua is one of the most dramatic stories in the Bible about someone who “he did good in god.” Her story is a perfect example for all Christians on how to correctly follow God and the call He can put on your life.
2. Susie, this story really applies to where you are right now with God. It is possible that he is preparing for the door to be opened to enter his Promised Land, in the true call of God for his life. However, you are well aware of the “giants” and “fortresses” you will face if this door is opened for you.
Susie, remember the earlier story about Joshua. He saw the same “giants” and “fortresses” that you are seeing. He saw all this before entering. God let her see exactly what she was getting herself into before she actually did. And God is showing you the same thing.
You have two options. You can either let fear and panic set in like the Israelites did and lose your chance to enter their “Promised Land”, or you can have the same faith and belief in God that Joshua had, and go in with a “kicking attitude.” butts” that you will be victorious and that you will accomplish all that God wants you to accomplish..
I leave you with one last thought. Joshua took his strong faith and belief in God, entered the Promised Land and achieved
total victory in God. The Bible says that God is “no respecter of persons.” What He will do for one, He will do for another.
If God is calling you to come through this door, rest assured that you will have all of God’s power working through you for total victory, just as Joshua did!
As a final testament to this man’s history, God saw fit to name one of the books of the Bible after him: “The Book of Joshua.” I think it was a very fitting end to what this man accomplished “in God” while he was here on earth. The Bible says that Joshua lived to be 110 years old.
