Joshua 14:12–13: “‘Now therefore, give me this mountain of which the LORD spoke in that day; for you heard in that day how the Anakim were there, and that the cities were great and fortified. It may be that the LORD will be with me, and I shall be able to drive them out as the LORD said.’ And Joshua blessed him, and gave Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephunneh as an inheritance.”

April 4th, 2023 by Pastor Ed in devotional

The background of Caleb’s name is probably important since we’ve seen before that people’s and place’s names usually have spiritual significance. Caleb simply means dog. Dogs were of no value in that culture, and so to call someone a dog was a terrible thing to say about them. One can’t help but wonder what kind of parents Caleb had that they would name their child that way.

If we trace Caleb’s lineage in 1 Chronicles, we find that he was adopted into a family within the tribe of Judah as a proselyte to Judaism. Gentile converts to the Jewish faith were folded directly into the nation and became members of one of the twelve tribes. It seems probable that Caleb was an abandoned, unwanted child who was providentially folded into the family of God. Before his adoption into Israel, he probably didn’t have a family that he could be proud of but God sovereignly placed him into the tribe of Judah, where he became a member of aristocracy, because it was from Judah that the great spiritual, political, and military leaders of the nation came.

Just as Caleb was adopted as an alien into the people of God, so also each one of us, through faith in Jesus, has been adopted into His spiritual family forever. There is a beautiful statement about Jesus in Hebrews 2:11 stating that Jesus is not ashamed to call us His brothers and sisters. When you consider Caleb’s origins and all the things he had going against him as a child, the fact that he lived out his faith with such gusto, vitality, enthusiasm, and whole-heartedness is inspiring. Caleb refused to be victimized by his past or to be a prisoner of his own life script. So in Joshua 14, at the age of 85, this tough, old warrior came to Joshua to claim his inheritance. He went from being adopted into the tribe to being the spokesman for the rest of the tribe Judah. He had become a prince of Judah, an honored leader in the largest, most prominent tribe in the nation.

“LORD, make us warriors for Your Kingdom this day. Thank You for adopting us into Your family.”

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Joshua 14 KJV

¹ And these are the countries which the children of Israel inherited in the land of Canaan, which Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel, distributed for inheritance to them. ² By lot was their inheritance, as the LORD commanded by the hand of Moses, for the nine tribes, and for the half tribe. ³ For Moses had given the inheritance of two tribes and an half tribe on the other side Jordan: but unto the Levites he gave none inheritance among them. ⁴ For the children of Joseph were two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim: therefore they gave no part unto the Levites in the land, save cities to dwell in , with their suburbs for their cattle and for their substance. ⁵ As the LORDcommanded Moses, so the children of Israel did, and they divided the land. ⁶ Then the children of Judah came unto Joshua in Gilgal: and Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite said unto him, Thou knowest the thing that the LORD said unto Moses the man of God concerning me and thee in Kadesh-barnea. ⁷ Forty years old was I when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadesh-barnea to espy out the land; and I brought him word again as it was in mine heart. ⁸ Nevertheless my brethren that went up with me made the heart of the people melt: but I wholly followed the LORD my God. ⁹ And Moses sware on that day, saying, Surely the land whereon thy feet have trodden shall be thine inheritance, and thy children’s for ever, because thou hast wholly followed the LORD my God. ¹⁰ And now, behold, the LORD hath kept me alive, as he said, these forty and five years, even since the LORD spake this word unto Moses, while the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness: and now, lo, I am this day fourscore and five years old.  ¹¹ As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, both to go out, and to come in. ¹² Now therefore give me this mountain, whereof the LORD spake in that day; for thou heardest in that day how the Anakims were there, and that the cities were great and fenced: if so be the LORD will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the LORD said. ¹³ And Joshua blessed him, and gave unto Caleb the son of Jephunneh Hebron for an inheritance. ¹⁴ Hebron therefore became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite unto this day, because that he wholly followed the LORD God of Israel. ¹⁵ And the name of Hebron before was Kirjath-arba; which Arba was a great man among the Anakims. And the land had rest from war.