Tuesday, February 16, 2010

THOUGHTS ON CALEB 9

Note: If you have not yet read the previous posts of “Thoughts on Caleb,” doing so will help you understand this installment better. Thanks!



Part 9: Was it worth it?

This may seem like a strange question to ask, but think about it for a minute. Caleb paid a pretty hefty price before he could have his own personal inheritance in the Promised Land, and by the time he got it, he was 85 years old! Once he built his house, planted his crops, gathered his livestock, or whatever else he may have done, he probably didn’t have very many years left to enjoy it! It almost seems unfair!


But before we determine whether or not it was worth it, let’s take a closer look at Hebron (the city and surrounding land that was given to Caleb):


• After Lot chose the land around Sodom, and after God then promised all of the land to Abraham and his descendents, Hebron is where he and Sarah settled.


• It’s the first place in this new land to which God sent him where Abraham built an altar to the Lord.


• It’s where both Abraham and Sarah died and were buried, and then Isaac; and later on Jacob was carried out of Egypt to be buried there.


• It’s where Isaac and Jacob also lived and raised their families.


• It’s where the spies found the cluster of grapes so large it had to be carried on a pole between two men.


• It was designated as one of the cities of refuge when Joshua divided up the land.


• The city, itself, was later given to the Levites as part of their inheritance, but the surrounding land stayed with Caleb and his descendents.


• It’s where David was anointed as king over Judah and where he reigned for seven and a half years.


• It’s where all Israel came at the end of that time and anointed him as king before he moved his throne to Jerusalem.


Pretty significant place, it seems! And while I’m sure that Caleb knew its history, there’s no way that he could have known ahead of time that it would be one of the cities of refuge and part of the Levites’ inheritance; or that it would one day be so important to a future king by the name of David. Yet, it is obvious that he sensed something special about that specific area, and that “something” drove him to pay the price he did and to settle for nothing less. It didn’t really seem to matter to Caleb how much time he would be able to enjoy it; he was doing it for something far more important than what he would get out of it --- he was doing it for his descendents and for the Kingdom of God! If you could go to Heaven and ask him right now if it was worth it, I’m sure he would answer that it was; but I also believe that if you had asked him that question when he was on his deathbed, even then he would have said, “It was worth everything I paid and much, much more!”


Let us not become disheartened when we find ourselves paying a bigger price than we expected before we are able to inherit our promises. It always seems to hold true --- the bigger the price, the better the prize! I find it interesting that the gestation time for a rabbit is only about four weeks, while for an elephant it is almost two years! The elephant DEFINITELY pays a greater price than the rabbit, but look at the difference in the size of the babies!! I don’t know about you, but I’m holding out for “elephants!” So, will it be worth it? ABSOLUTELY!!!


Note: This is the last installment of Thoughts on Caleb. I trust that you found something in there somewhere that somehow encouraged you. If you did, thank the Lord; if not, feel free to erase it from your memory. Blessings!






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