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Introduction
A little boy was afraid of the dark. One night his mother told him to go
out to the back porch and bring her the broom. The little boy turned to
his mother and said, “Mama, I don’t want to go out there. It’s dark.”
The mother smiled reassuringly at her son. “You don’t have to be afraid
of the dark,” she explained. “Jesus is out there. He’ll look after you and
protect you.” The little boy looked at his mother real hard and asked,
“Are you sure he’s out there?” “Yes, I’m sure.
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Someone has said it’s not the size of your faith that makes the
difference, but the size of God that we put our faith in.
Jesus said if you have faith the size of a mustard seed you can
move mountains. And as we look at the story of Caleb today, we
will see him asking in faith “GIVE ME THE MOUNTAIN” In your life
of faith you too face giants, walled fortresses, and
discouragement. As we look at the life of Caleb we discover what
mustard seed faith does in such circumstances. And it is my hope
that you might respond like Caleb “Give me the Mountain.”
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Background
We first read of Caleb in Numbers chapters 13-14. We read that
the people of Israel are encamped at Kadesh Barnea, an oasis in
the Negev desert south of the Promised Land. It has been only a
year or so since they have come out of Egypt. The people have
seen many miracles in that time:
– the Red Sea opening,
– water from the rock,
– daily manna and quail.
– A pillar of smoke by day and fire by night
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And having their faith built through these events and many more
in their journey, the time has now arrived for them to enter the
Promised Land. And Caleb is one of those chosen to enter it
ahead of the 2 million Israelites.
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Outline
Today as we look at the life of Caleb, we’ll look at three tests of
your faith:
1. Faith focuses on the possibilities, the potential, not the
problems
2. Faith relies on God’s abilities, not our own abilities
3. Faith is not content with the minimum, the past of least
resistance, but asks for the
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Later in Joshua 2, the second Hebrew word for spy – “seeking out
weaknesses” is used, when Joshua prepares to invade Canaan after
Moses’ death. Two spies are sent out, who stay with Rahab the
prostitute as they seek out weaknesses in preparation for conquest.
But that is not the task of the 12. They are not there to spy out the
problems. They are to first examine the potential, the possibilities,
the abundance the land has to offer. God commands Moses to
appoint a team to spy out the good
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And so Caleb and eleven of his peers are sent to assess the
potential of Canaan. They go north along the ridge of mountains
that provide the backbone of the country, through Hebron in the
south all the way to Rehob at the north end of the land. Perhaps
they are posing as traders, we don’t know, but along the way
they observe carefully what they see: the nature of the cities
and villages, the produce of the land and its potential.
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And the land does have great potential. When the spies return,
they carry a huge cluster of grapes so huge it took two men to carry
it– the fruit of the land — on a pole between them. In the desert
they’d probably never seen grapes. In their wildest imagination
they hadn’t conceived of grapes like these.
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Let’s read what they said. Look at Numbers 13: verses 27-29,
“They gave Moses this account: ‘We went into the land to which
you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its
fruit. (and I am sure they held up the cluster of grapes for all to
see) 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 along the Jordan.”
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Their report started out great but then they lost their focus. When
it comes to matters of faith, too often we shift our focus and lose
sight of God. Remember when Peter tried walking on the water?
At first, when he kept his eyes on Jesus, he was fine (showing off
and smiling). But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and began
to sink. When Peter shifted his focus from Jesus to the wind, then
fear melted his heart– and he sank. That’s what happened to
these ten spies. They shifted their focus. They took their eyes off
of God and fixed their eyes on the Giants occupying the land.
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Once when Martin Luther was feeling depressed, his wife asked if
he’d heard God had died. Luther replied angrily that she was
blaspheming. She retorted that if God had indeed not died what
right had he to be without hope! But this is the same thing that
happened with the Isrealites…
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As the ten spies continue to report their fear increases and their
faith decreases. You can almost see their faith shrinking as they
speak in verse 31-33: “We can’t attack these people; they are
stronger than we are.’ They said, the land we explored devours
those living in it. (Now they think the land will devour them.) And
then they concluded in the first part of verse 33,”We seemed like
grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.
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For the Isrealites, I would say that giants in the land are a
legitimate concern. But their focus became a magnification of
the problem instead of searching for a solution. These ten
should have pulled Moses off to the side and said look, we
have to talk. But instead their unbelief and bad report was
devastating.
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The pessimism of the ten men, their lack of faith was devastating.
Imagine the scene. We read in (Numbers 1:46) that a census taken
at Sinai several weeks earlier that recorded that the number of men
over 20 years of age able to fight was 603,550. Add the women and
those under 20 years of age and you are looking at close to 2 million
people. By nightfall their report has spread throughout the people,
and with it the infectious fear of spies.
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“That night all the people of the community raised their voices
and wept aloud” (Numbers 14:1). Women were sobbing that
their husbands would be killed in battle and their children left
fatherless. Across the camp that night you could hear the sound
of weeping and anguish. By the next morning everyone was
grumbling against Moses and ready to go back to slavery. They
were ready to give up.
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Caleb measured the giants, not against themselves, but against God.
To a great God those giants were very puny. The next day, Caleb and
Joshua try to sway the gathered Israelite crowds with their faith: “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’” (14:7-9).
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Notice the positive attitude – look at the hope, the faith. Caleb at
this point was a man in his prime, aged forty-five. ‘Yeah, we can do
it! Let’s go! The Lord is with us – that’s all that matters!’ Notice the
explicit mention of the LORD in their words. The 10 spies don’t
even mention the LORD, only what they have seen that terrifies
them. Joshua and Caleb have seen the same giants and the same
heavily fortified cities, but they are not comparing themselves to
the task, but God! They see the LORD enabling them to conquer
these people.
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Test #2 Applied
Ask yourself these questions: When I am asked to serve God in a task, do
I compare myself to the task before accepting it or do I compare God to
the task? When you are asked to serve in the church council, in Sunday
School, in training, in the youth ministry, and the multitude of other
needs we have as a church in reaching our goals, do you make your
decision by looking at your own abilities or at Gods? Do you evaluate
what you are capable or what God is capable of? The question should
never be “CAN I DO IT?” but “Am I willing to let GOD DO IT through me?”
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Lets jump to Joshua 14:6-15. This is scene 2 of Caleb’s life. After being
forced to wonder 40 years in the desert because of a lack of faith of the
others, Caleb could have been VERY discouraged. Yet here there was no
hint that he was discouraged. Instead he seems ambitious for God! He
could have thrown up his hands in angry despair and adopted a ‘What’s
the use, with this mob?’ or ‘I told you so’ attitude. He could have sulked
and let his anger and frustration at the situation simmer. He could have
said, “You got yourselves into this mess, you can get yourselves out.”
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4. “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” (12b).
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Test #3 Applied
Ask yourself these questions: Am I content to do the minimum in
my service to God? Am I content to sit back and watch others
work? Am I looking for the easy way out in my Christian service?
Or am I asking God to give me his toughest! Give me the
mountain! God USE me! Here I am.. I’m ready…
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Conclusion
Caleb’s faith was mustard seed faith to move mountains. When it
came time to be a leader he said – Give me the mountain.
In the upcoming months before the new year your faith also will
be tested. People are going to ask you to do things that may
terrify you. And you’ll either respond as a grasshopper or a Caleb.
You may be asked to teach Sunday School, to help out in worship
services, to help with Children’s worship, and many other tasks.
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