A Day of Great Necessity!
In Numbers 14:3, God warned husbands and fathers not to use their wives and children as an excuse to keep them from going into battle. They complained:
“Why is the LORD bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?”
What would make these men become so weak and cowardly? Giants! As Israel entered into the promised land, it wasn’t long before they encountered a whole welcome party of abnormally terrifying-sized humans! This may be the first time they had ever encountered such men. Consider for a moment that the average height of an Egyptian male at that time was 5’ 6” while the height of the giants was approximately 9’ 9”!
Within the narrative we discover one man who had abnormally large faith. Even at 80 years old he felt as strong as did when he was 40. In Numbers 13:30 we read:
“But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, ‘Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.’”
Caleb didn’t let the majority of dissenters discourage him. With the bondage of Egypt still in the forefront of his memory, he was able to see past the giants and put his trust in the LORD. Let’s listen in to a talk between Caleb and Joshua:
“Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite said unto Joshua, You know the thing that the LORD said unto Moses the man of God concerning me and you in Kadeshbarnea. Forty years old was I when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadeshbarnea to spy out the land; and I brought him word again as it was in mine heart. Nevertheless my brethren that went up with me made the heart of the people melt: but I wholly followed the LORD my God. And Moses sware on that day, saying, Surely the land whereon thy feet have trodden shall be thine inheritance, and thy children's forever, because thou hast wholly followed the LORD my God. And now, behold, the LORD hath kept me alive, as he said, these forty and five years, even since the LORD spake this word unto Moses, while the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness: and now, lo, I am this day fourscore and five years old. 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. Now therefore give me this mountain, whereof the LORD spake in that day; for thou heardest in that day how the Giants were there, and that the cities were great and fenced: if so be the LORD will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the LORD said” (Josh 14:6-12).
While the majority of the men were using their wives and children as an excuse from exercising their manly responsibilities, Caleb boldly entered the battle to secure the future for his wife and children. Don’t you just love his response?! “I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me!...Now therefore give me this mountain!”
We live in a day of great necessity. May we as men, “Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong” (1st Corinthian 16:13).
Sincerely,
Mark Hamby
M.S., M. Div., Th. M., D. Min.
Recommended Reading:
Phil Tyler’s Stand (Ages 9+)
True Stories of Great Americans for Young Americans (Ages 9+)
Ned Franks Trilogy (Ages 12+)
