Jump Start # 464

Numbers 13:30 “Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we will surely overcome it.” 

  We return with one more Caleb passage. He is such an incredible person and force for good. One day we will get to meet Caleb in Heaven—can you imagine!

  Our verse today comes from the time that the twelve spies returned from checking out the promise land. There were twelve spies, one from each tribe. They were gone for forty days. They saw that the land was plentiful, just as God had promised. They also saw who lived there. They lived in fortified cities and were strong. How could they move in and fight established armies? Israel had fled from Egypt. They did not have a real army. They had never fought before. The report from ten of the spies was discouraging. When Israel heard it, their hearts melted. What were they going to do now?

  Somehow in all of this they failed to connect what God did to get them out of Egypt and what God did to the Egyptian armies that were chasing them had any bearing now. They seemed to think that they were on their own.

  Bad news tends to spread among the nations, family or even church. Bad news shuts down hope and makes people believe that they have come to a dead end.

  Not all of the spies were like this—Joshua and Caleb were optimistic. It wasn’t so much that they were upbeat guys who saw a silver lining behind every cloud, it had to do with their faith. They believed God. They knew what God had done in the past. God had promised them that land so they knew it could be taken. God would be their help.

  Our passage says, “Caleb quieted the people.” I like that. We need people like that. People of reason in the midst of a storm. People who have a level head when the mob mentality takes over. People of faith. Caleb quieted the people. Now our study of this context shows that the ten spies gave a negative report and they won over the crowd. The people do what most do in those situations, they complain and wish things had been different. They wished they never left Egypt. Really? It was their cries that reached God. They wished that they had died in the wilderness. Really? Gloom and doom will do that every time. It makes people give up and become discouraged.

• Maybe you are the Caleb in your family—quieting the family when bad news arrives. A voice of faith…a voice of reason…a voice that keeps people on course. That’s needed.

• Maybe you are the Caleb in your congregation. We’d think the elders ought to be, but that’s not always the case. People start bailing out, giving up and thinking the worst, that voice that quiets everyone down is needed.

  Like Caleb, the people around you may not listen. There may be more people delivering bad news than good. Still speak out. Still quiet people down. Still believe in the word of God. That’s what’s needed. Fear and panic run together, like a couple of dogs. Where one goes, the other goes. Loss of job, failing health, unsafe schools, neighbors that are not decent nor kind, church that is losing it’s young people, those are all reasons to be scared. Fortified cities and strong inhabitants—Caleb saw them, just as the ten spies saw them. They had no solution. Caleb did, let’s take it. Some only see problems. They talk about problems. They tell others of problems but they rarely see solutions.

  Caleb did. His hope was in God. When the 10 spies were looking down at the fortified cities, Caleb had his eyes on the God of Heaven and earth. With God on your side, you can do anything. Faith conquers, fear defeats.

  Each of us have our own fortified cities that we are looking at—problems. They can be huge. Fear and panic will arrive with the sunrise. We can walk by faith or live in fear.

  Caleb quieted the people…

Roger