|
DAVID'S EMAIL BIBLE STUDY:
A. BACKGROUND
...hey, we are all getting older, so all the more reason to respect it! We are looking at lessons to be learned from key older folks in the Bible. Last week we looked at Genesis 5, the first generations of humans who lived looooooong lives, Methuselah even reaching 969. However many years we get, how can we live them fully, meaningfully, joyfully, faithfully? Last week we met Enoch whose intimate relationship with God made his life worth living. Once upon a time "the elders" (now the "elderly, senior citizens, old codgers") were the heart of any society. We need that "old" tradition back!.
B.
TODAY, CALEB, Joshua 14:6-14
.
C. SUMMARY: To understand these verses, you also need Numbers 13:21-33 and Deuteronomy 1:35-36. Taken together, it goes like this. When the Israelites escaped slavery in Egypt God led them to "The Promised Land". Moses sent scouts to spy the land and report back. CALEB was one of the spies and he filed a mostly positive report: great land, fertile, big fruit, "a land flowing with milk and honey", as promised by God! Unfortunately, other spies reported that the people already there were gigantic, the cities well-fortified, the odds against them. The negatives won, and Israel wondered about another 40 years. When Israel finally took possession of "the Promised Land" CALEB's faithfulness was rewarded by being offered whatever choice land he wanted. At age 85 he declared, "Give me the mountain.".
D.
KEY POINTS:
1. "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger," a great movie quote, and quite true, if we want it to be. At age 85, among all his options for an easy retirement, Caleb chooses the mountain, the tough terrain. Caleb always met a challenge head on. One lesson to be drawn is that we are likely to be as an older person similar to what we were when younger. Therefore, the stronger the traits we develop when younger the better they will hold up as we age. These can range from courage, patience, honesty, to prayer, Bible Study, and compassion. Caleb was bold, a risk-taker, visionary and trusting in God at 85 - the same as when he was 40 and in between. In sports we call it "muscle memory", remembering to do what works. In religion we call it "faithfulness", staying true to your beliefs. It works.
2. NO half-measures. The Bible says repeatedly that Caleb did what he did "whole-heartedly". Look at that word in its parts: whole plus heart. "All in", as we say. In so much of life we see people half-in, half-way, lukewarm, half-hearted. I can't think of anything that achieves a full measure of success by half-hearted attempts. Imagine hiring someone who promised to give half their best! Would you entrust your surgery to someone who offered to be half-focused? Do you want a sports team that half-care? Caleb was a heroic leader of Israel at a time that was frightening, chaotic, and uncertain. His whole hearted trust in God's plan kept his "eye on the prize", a focus that fed his people to the Promised Land. A great leader stays focused, positive, and all-in.
3. The TOO-Promised Holy Land. Like it or not, Caleb's story is also the story of today's ongoing Middle East crisis. Caleb trusted in God's promise to give them Canaan, the "Promised Land". As the Bible reports, the land promised to the Israelites was already populated with people of long standing - long enough to have developed "well-fortified cities". Those people thought they were in their own God-given land. Likewise, today's Israel/Palestine/West Bank/Gaza Strip is land that Christians, Jews, and Muslims call "Holy"; that Jews and Muslims claim as theirs not only by history but by God. Caleb's "wholeheartedness" is rooted in the conviction that "the Lord is with us, but their protection is gone." (Numbers 14:9) Today, Jewish Israelites and Muslim Palestinians say exactly the same about each other - God is on our side, not theirs. I can only suggest that we look at these promises through New Testament, Christ-like eyes. What would God want for the peoples of the Holy Land now? As Muslims, Jews, and Christians of good will, what would show their best trust in God?
|
