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Caleb and Joshua

by Jerry Ousley  
12/30/2016 / Christian Living


Here they came. A large group of people were watching as a small party of twelve men approached from the distance. They were the twelve original spies, one from each tribe of the currently nomadic nation of Israel. They had been slaves in the land of Egypt, and God, using the man Moses, had miraculously led them out of slavery to a land long promised to these descendants of Abraham. They had crossed the wilderness, received the Law of God by the hand of Moses and were now standing on the brink of the long awaited promise. Their parents and grand-parents had told them stories of how they had come to be slaves for the Egyptians and how that God had promised that one day He would bring them out of their bondage and take them to a land rich in resources to live peaceful, healthy and prosperous lives. It all had seemed like a fairy tale as they had grown into men and women. Could it ever come to pass? But now here they stood on the edge of that land watching the men they had sent to spy it out returning to tell them all about it. They had to be excited and overflowing with anticipation.

 

The men arrived in camp bearing giant clusters of grapes and other fruit they had

discovered in the land. The people listened with great interest and happiness as the men told of all they saw and experienced there. It was without doubt a land they described as flowing with milk and honey. It was indeed a land rich in resources, flowing with water; a place where their cattle and sheep would have abundant grazing land. All they had dreamed about could be found there.

 

Then they stuck the pins in their proverbial balloons. They began to describe the people.  There were giants in that land. The place was crawling with hostile and pagan people. They didn't worship the God of Israel and sacrificed their children to false gods. They had huge walled cities and large armies. The men spoke with fear as they told the people, “We felt like grasshoppers in their eyes and so we were. We can't defeat them. We'll all be destroyed. We've been deceived by this man Moses and we'll all be better off if we just give up this dream of a promised land, pack up our stuff and go back to being slaves in Egypt.”

 

The people grew angry at God and angry at Moses for leading them here. Because of the report of these spies their dream had collapsed and disappointment discouraged them until they just gave up.

 

But two of the spies had a different word for them. Joshua and Caleb stood up and told the people, “They're wrong. We have the promise of God on our sides and we can take them!  Don't give up. Leap up in your hearts and have faith in God and we can possess this land He has promised to us!” But their words fell on empty ears.

 

Because of their doubt and discouragement God told Moses that these people would have to wander in the wilderness for forty years until all of that generation had died out and then He would take their children as adults into this land of promise. The only exception He would make was that He would allow Joshua and Caleb to live long enough to enter the Promised Land.

 

Joshua later went on to succeed Moses as leader of the people and he led them into the land of promise. Caleb had stood strong for that entire forty year period and God also allowed him to enter the Promised Land.

 

Today we have another promise. It is the hope of Heaven. Maybe you've just come to Christ or perhaps you've been a Christian for so long it's hard to remember when you weren't a believer. But just the same the devil would like to discourage you. He brings on all kinds of hardships including sickness, disease, financial difficulty and lost relationships with people. His attacks are designed for one thing – to make you discouraged and keep you from the promise of God.  Remember Caleb and Joshua. Don't let him talk you into going back to your own Egypt.  The promise is true and will come to pass. It's no fairy tale. The next time you feel discouraged remember Caleb and Joshua.

Jerry D. Ousley is the author of ?Soul Challenge?, ?Soul Journey?, ?Ordeal?, ?The Spirit Bread Daily Devotional and his first novel ?The Shoe Tree.? Visit our website at spiritbread.com to download these and more completely free of charge.

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