A MAN TO MATCH THE MOUNTAIN

Old men ought to be explorers

--T. S. Eliot

I keep wondering why there are so few men and women over fifty who are still on the cutting edge. It seems to me that most old folks don't just get old. They get outdated and obsolete.

Fortunately, there are happy exceptions---Caleb being one. At 85 years of age, when most people would have retired to their condos by the Red Sea, Caleb stormed the heights---Mount Hebron where the Anakim lived.

The beginning of the story

We first meet Caleb at Kadesh, Israel's staging point for their longp;awaited campaign against the Canaanites. There, they made their first mistake: they sent spies into the land to gather intelligence.

It's true the impulse seems to have come from God, but that was his concession to their unbelief. Forty years later Moses would say, "All of you came to me and said, 'Let us send men ahead to spy out the land for us and bring back a report about the route we are to take and the towns we will come to," (Deuteronomy 1:22).

It was a profound mistake. God had promised to give them the land. He know Canaan like the back of his hand. Why did Israel need to gather intelligence? Why were they so anxious to make their own assessment? Couldn't they trust his judgment? It was bad decision based on the old assumption that we know better then God.

And so, because God gives everyone the right to be wrong, he let Israel have what they wanted. He said to Moses, "Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. From each ancestral tribe send one of its leaders" (Numbers 13:2).

Moses selected twelve choice young men. Their names are supplied in the verses that follow (13:4p;16). Of the twelve only two are memorable: Hoshea (whom Moses renamed Joshua) and Caleb. All the rest were unremarkable, easily forgotten men.

What's in a name?

Joshua we know well. Caleb is less well known. He was an unusual fellow.
First off, his name means, "dog"---a nickname, most likely. Dogs back then were not pets, but wild, feral creatures noted more for their ferocity than for being man's best friend. Caleb's name suggests that, at least in one point of his life, he was as mean as a junkyard dog.

The other thing about Caleb is that he was a nonp;Israelite---a Kenizzite. The Kennizites were a wild, Bedouin tribe of nomads that ranged throughout the Sinai and southern Palestine. Caleb was a pariah, an outsider who, by God's grace, had been brought in from the cold.

The expedition

Moses sent out twelve spies with these instructions:

"Go up through the Negev and on into the hill country. See what the land is like and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many. What kind of land do they live in? Is it good or bad? What kind of towns do they live in? Are they unwalled or fortified? How is the soil? Is it fertile or poor? Are there trees on it or not? Do your best to bring back some of the fruit of the land" (Numbers 13:17-20).

The spies explored the land from the Wilderness of Zin in the south to Rehob at Lebop;hamath, 250 miles to the north. They discovered that Canaan was, as God had said, a land flowing with milk and honey, but the Canaanites were there, their cities were strongly fortified.

Also, the Anakim were there, the Titans of Mount Hebron whose stature and strength were legendary. These were the gigantic men of whom the proverb was written, "Who can stand up against the Anakites?" (Deuteronomy 9:2).

The evil report

The spies spent forty days reconnoitering Canaan at the end of which they returned to Israel's encampment and made their report:

"We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan" (Numbers 13:27-29).

Up to this point all twelve spies were in perfect agreement. This was an accurate portrayal of the situation. Then the ten said.

"We can't attack those people; they are stronger than we are. The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them." (Numbers 13:30-33).

The people sided with the ten and Moses had a mutiny on his hands

"That night all the people of the community raised their voices and wept aloud. All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, "If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this desert! Why is the LORD bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn't it be better for us to go back to Egypt?" (Numbers 14:1-3).

Moses and Aaron fell on their faces, but Joshua and Caleb rose to the occasion:

"The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. If the LORD is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone, but the LORD is with us. Do not be afraid of them.(Numbers 14:7-9).

There's a lot of talk in this chapter about giant people and impossible places. All twelve of the spies had seen the strength of the Canaanites and the size of their walled cities, but Caleb and Joshua had a different way of looking at things. The ten said: "We can't attack these people!" The two said, "We can!" We can't! We can! All the difference in the world.

What made the difference? It lay in this: the ten compared the giants with themselves and the giants loomed large; the two compared the giants with God and the giants were cut down to size. "The LORD is with us," they said. "We have no reason to be afraid!"

Unbelief never gets beyond the difficulties---the impregnable cities and the impossible giants. It preoccupies itself with them---brooding over them, pitting them against mere human resources.

Faith, on the other hand, though it never minimizes the dangers and difficulties of any circumstance, looks away from them to God and counts on his invisible presence. "The LORD is with us," Caleb insisted, "Do not be afraid of the giants."

The book of Hebrews echoes the same sentiment: "God has said, 'I will never leave you; I will never forsake you.' So we say with confidence, 'The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?'" (Hebrews 13:5,6).

What are your "giants"? A habit you cannot break? A temptation you cannot resist? A difficult marriage from which there is no escape? A drug abusing teenager for whom there are no answers?

If we compare ourselves with our difficulties we will always be overwhelmed. But if we compare themwith God there is nothing we cannot do. Faith looks away from the greatness of the undertaking to the greatness of an everp;present, allp;powerful God. As the poem puts it,

Got any rivers you think are uncrossable?
Got any mountains you can't tunnel through?
God specializes in things thought impossible;
And He can do what no other power can do.

We can't; he can. Therefore, we can. We can't, then, becomes blasphemy. "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!"

The promise

Despite Caleb's counsel of faith the people picked up stones to stone him, but God intervened and in wrath God swore to himself that not one of that generation would enter the land. The writer of Hebrews concludes, "We see that they could not enter in because of unbelief" (Hebrews 3:19).

But there were two notable exceptions: Joshua, the son of Nun and Caleb, the son of Jephunneh.

"Because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it" (14:24).

The vow and its exception is repeated later:"Because they (the Israelites) have not followed me wholeheartedly, not one of the men twenty years old or more who came up out of Egypt will see the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob---not one except Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua son of Nun, for they followed the LORD wholeheartedly" (Numbers 32:10-12).

The spies who brought the discouraging word died in the wilderness, but "Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh survived" (14:38).

For forty years Caleb waited while that generation died off. For forty years he counted the days, counting on the promise, waiting for his chance. Like Milton's Abdiel: "Faithful among the faithless, only faithful he."

Caleb's inheritance

Forty five years later, Caleb got his chance. The story is told in the Book of Joshua (Chapter 14).

Under Joshua's leadership Israel invaded Canaan and in a series of lightning strikes conquered the major strongholds in the land. The back of Canaanite resistance was broken, but there were still large areas of the land to be claimed.

All Israel gathered at Gilgal to determine which tribes would secure those unconquered regions, but before the first lot was drawn, Caleb stepped forward to claim his piece of ground:

You know what the LORD said to Moses the man of God at Kadesh Barnea about you and me. I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadesh Barnea to explore the land. And I brought him back a report according to my convictions, but my brothers who went up with me made the hearts of the people sink. I, however, followed the LORD my God wholeheartedly. So on that day Moses swore to me, 'The land on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance and that of your children for ever, because you have followed the LORD my God wholeheartedly.'

Now then, just as the LORD promised, he has kept me alive for forty-five years since the time he said this to Moses, while Israel moved about in the desert. So here I am today, eighty-five years old! I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I'm just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then.

Now give me this hill country that the LORD promised me that day. You yourself heard then that the Anakites were there and their cities were large and fortified, but, the LORD helping me, I will drive them out just as he said. Then Joshua blessed Caleb son of Jephunneh and gave him Hebron as his inheritance. So Hebron has belonged to Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite ever since, because he followed the LORD, the God of Israel, wholeheartedly. (Hebron used to be called Kiriath Arba after Arba, who was the greatest man among the Anakites.) Then the land had rest from war (Joshua 14:6-15).

We can infer from Caleb's speech that the spies did not travel together, but were distributed individually throughout Canaan, each one searching a particular portion of the land. Caleb's portion was Hebron, the haunt of the dreadful Anakim.

If this is true it gives a special flair and audacity to Caleb's faith. He had personally reconoitered Hebron, the habitat of the giants, and had seen them in their natural setting and strength. And yet he longed for that land.

It also gives special meaning to the landp;grant made to him then and there: "On that day," he said, "Moses swore to me, 'The land on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance and that of your children for ever'" (Joshua 14:9). This was a promise that by God's grace he would take the high ground.

Caleb asked for no soft spot on which to retire, but the rugged places where the fierce and terrible Anakim dwelled. When most men would have sought retirement, old Caleb kept on truckin'.

We ask, "What made this ancient veteran so aggressive and young at heart? What kept him on the cutting edge?" Six times we're told, "He followed the LORD, the God of Israel, wholeheartedly."

He wholly followed the LORD

The expression "follow the LORD wholeheartedly" is simply to be a disciple. It means walking with him, worshipping him, practicing his presence, giving oneself over and over to him, loving him, listening to him, "trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord," as Paul would say.

When we follow the Lord in that way he will let us know what we are to do. We don't have to worry about worry about being useful. Our usefulness is God's business not ours. He doesn't ask us to originate, initiate, make farp;reaching plans or execute them, but rather to follow him.

The world has yet to see what God will do through you and me. Our task is pray and wait and see what that will be. God will not allow you to waste your life. He will tell you what to do and he will see to it that you bear fruit for him.

It's especially important to remember this truth as we grow older. We tend to lose heart as we age. Our physical strength abates; our health deteriorates; our memory gets cloudy; our mind become less clear. (As someone has said, just about the time our face clears up, ours minds begin to go.) But Paul assures us, we need not lose heart. "Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day" (2 Corinthians 4:16).

The drain of the years is amply met by spring of God's grace that flows within. There is no reason why we should decline in usefulness as we age. "The last sheaves that fall beneath thy sickle shall be the heaviest; the width of thy swath shall be the greatest as you turn toward home," F. B. Meyer said.

Getting older doesn't necessarily mean getting obsolete. It can mean growing, maturing, serving, ministering, venturing, enjoying ourselves to the end of our days. There is still service to be rendered and there are victories to be won. "Have a blast while you last," as a friend of mine says.

Those who make retirement the chief end of man wither and die before their time. You see them around town---dull, dreary old people with nothing to do, sitting on park benches or living on Park Avenue, with that dead look in their eyes.

A friend of mine, Ron Ritchie, claims that more people die in Winabegos than any other vehicle. I think he has something there. Most people when they retire soon after die---if not in their bodies at least in their souls. "A lot of people my age are dead at the present time," Yogi Berra said.

Not so Caleb. There was no stasis or stagnation in him. "What he greatly thought he nobly dared." Caleb thrashed the giants---Sheshai, Ahiman and Talmai---and drove them from the summit. He did what the rest of Israel could not do and he did it at age 85 because "he wholly followed the Lord."

I keep thinking of those lines from Alfred Lord Tennyson

We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved heaven and earth; but that which we are, we are:
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

"To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield"---a fitting epitaph for Caleb and for us. Everything in us may beg, "Go slow." "Take it easy." "Stay within your comfort zone." "Don't rock the boat." "Leave well enough alone." "Back off." "Why run the risk?" But that's old folks talk. Those whose who walk with God stay perennially young. Though the outward is perishing the inward is being renewed day by day. They strive and seek and find and never yield.

A footnote

Hebron is not the end of the story. From there Caleb soldiered on

(Caleb) marched against the people living in Debir (formerly called Kiriath Sepher). And Caleb said, "I will give my daughter Acsah in marriage to the man who attacks and captures Kiriath Sepher." Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb's brother, took it; so Caleb gave his daughter Acsah to him in marriage.

One day when she came to Othniel, she urged him to ask her father for a field. When she got off her donkey, Caleb asked her, "What can I do for you?" She replied, "Do me a special favor. Since you have given me land in the Negev, give me also springs of water." So Caleb gave her the upper and lower springs (Joshua 15:15-19).

Debir, we're told, was originally called Kiriath Sepher, the "City of Books," so called because it was a depository of the books and learning of the Anakim, the fountainhead of that degraded, dangerous culture.

Debir had been conquered once before but had fallen again into Canaanite hands (cf., Joshua 10:39). Caleb was determined to wrest it once for all from their control.

He did not himself engage in the struggle; he rather stirred up his younger brother: It was "Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb's brother, (who) took it" (Joshua 15:17)---the same Othniel who later became the first "judge" of Israel---the brave champion who saved Israel from Cushan-Rishathaim, the king of Aram (Judges 3:9,10). It was Caleb's gop;forp;broke faith that moved Othniel to be the man that God intended him to be.

We can pass our faith on to the next generation. Even when "old and gray," as the psalmist said, we can declare "God's power to the next generation, his might to all who are to come" (Psalm 71:18).

Older folks may not have the energy for frontp;line leadership but they can still make productive use of their knowledge and faith by passing it on to others. No one yet has ever outlived their usefulness.

David Roper