The Geriatric Giant-Slayer
Introduction: Faith Has a Long Memory
We live in a sentimental, soft-handed age. Our culture, and sadly much of the church, views the latter years of a man's life as a time for comfortable retirement, for easing into a well-deserved rest, for putting one's feet up. The goal is to finish the race on cruise control, coasting across the line. But the Bible knows nothing of this. The Bible presents us with a faith that is robust, sinewy, and pugnacious to the very end. The kingdom of God is not advanced by men seeking a quiet life, but by men who, even with gray hair, still have an appetite for a good fight.
This is the story of Caleb. At eighty-five years old, when most men are thinking about their legacy, Caleb was thinking about his inheritance. And he understood that a biblical inheritance is not something that is passively received like a check in the mail. It is something that must be seized. It is a gift, yes, promised by God, but it is a gift that must be taken by the throat. Caleb's request here is a direct affront to our modern therapeutic sensibilities. He doesn't ask for a safe place, a quiet valley, or a pre-conquered piece of land. He asks for the hardest place, the most dangerous assignment, the place where the giants still live.
This passage is a case study in the nature of covenant faithfulness. It teaches us that faith is not a momentary decision but a long obedience in the same direction. It shows us that God's promises are not wishful thinking but are as solid as granite, the very ground upon which a man can stand and make his claim. And it demonstrates that the reward for long faithfulness is not an easy chair, but rather the opportunity for a greater, more glorious battle, with the assurance of God's presence in it. We have a generation of Christians whose hearts have melted, just like the ten spies. They see the giants of our secular culture, the Anakim of Washington D.C. and Hollywood, and they conclude that we cannot possibly take the land. Caleb stands before us as a permanent rebuke to all such cowardly calculations.
This is a story about a man who fully followed the Lord, and because he did, he was still ready for war at eighty-five. This is the kind of faith that takes ground, the kind of faith that builds civilizations, and the only kind of faith that will receive an inheritance worth having.
The Text
Then the sons of Judah drew near to Joshua in Gilgal, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, "You know the word which Yahweh spoke to Moses the man of God concerning you and me in Kadesh-barnea. I was forty years old when Moses the servant of Yahweh sent me from Kadesh-barnea to spy out the land, and I brought word back to him as it was in my heart. Nevertheless, my brothers who went up with me made the heart of the people melt with fear; but I followed Yahweh my God fully. So Moses swore on that day, saying, ‘Surely the land on which your foot has trodden will be an inheritance to you and to your children forever because you have followed Yahweh my God fully.’ So now behold, Yahweh has let me live, just as He spoke, these forty-five years, from the time that Yahweh spoke this word to Moses, when Israel walked in the wilderness; so now behold, I am eighty-five years old today. I am still as strong today as I was in the day Moses sent me; as my strength was then, so my strength is now, for war and for going out and coming in. So now, give me this hill country about which Yahweh spoke on that day, for you heard on that day that Anakim were there, with great fortified cities; perhaps Yahweh will be with me, and I will dispossess them as Yahweh has spoken."
So Joshua blessed him and gave Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephunneh for an inheritance. Therefore, Hebron became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite until this day because he fully followed Yahweh, the God of Israel. Now the name of Hebron was formerly Kiriath-arba; for Arba was the greatest man among the Anakim. Then the land was quiet from war.
(Joshua 14:6-15 LSB)
The Uncashed Check (vv. 6-9)
Caleb approaches Joshua not with a request based on his own merit, but with a claim based on a divine promise. He is coming to cash a forty-five-year-old check, and he knows the bank is good for it.
"You know the word which Yahweh spoke to Moses the man of God concerning you and me in Kadesh-barnea." (Joshua 14:6)
Faith has a long memory. Caleb remembers the exact place and the exact promise. This is not some vague, fuzzy feeling. It is a specific word from a specific God at a specific time. Our faith must be anchored in the objective promises of God's Word, not in our subjective emotional states. Caleb's confidence is not in himself, but in the God who spoke.
He then recounts the history. He reminds Joshua of the foundational moment of decision that separated him from his peers. "I brought word back to him as it was in my heart." His report was not doctored. It was not shaped by fear or a desire for popular approval. It was an honest report from a heart that trusted God. He saw the same giants the other ten spies saw, but he saw them through the lens of God's power. The other spies saw giants and saw themselves as grasshoppers. Caleb saw giants and saw them as grasshoppers before an omnipotent God.
The contrast is stark: "my brothers who went up with me made the heart of the people melt with fear; but I followed Yahweh my God fully." Unbelief is a solvent. It dissolves courage, resolve, and community. The ten spies spread their fear like a contagion, and the people's hearts turned to water. But Caleb's faith was a rock. The key phrase, which appears twice in this section and once more later, is the grounds for the entire claim: "I followed Yahweh my God fully." The Hebrew word means to be "wholly after" God. There were no reservations, no holding back, no plan B. This is the opposite of a divided heart. Because his heart was not divided, his report was not divided, and his obedience was not divided. And so, the promise was made, sworn by Moses himself, that the very land he walked on in faith would be his.
Supernatural Vigor (vv. 10-11)
Caleb now presents himself as exhibit A of God's faithfulness. He is a walking, breathing testimony to the promise-keeping character of God.
"So now behold, Yahweh has let me live, just as He spoke, these forty-five years... so now behold, I am eighty-five years old today. I am still as strong today as I was in the day Moses sent me..." (Joshua 14:10-11 LSB)
Caleb does not attribute his longevity or his strength to clean living or a good diet, though those things have their place. He attributes it directly to the sovereign hand of God. "Yahweh has let me live." An entire generation perished in the wilderness because of their unbelief. Caleb was preserved because of his belief. His life itself was a fulfillment of God's promise. God kept him alive and strong for this very day, for this very task.
His strength at eighty-five is not just a quaint fact. It is a supernatural endowment for the work ahead. "As my strength was then, so my strength is now, for war and for going out and coming in." He is not saying he feels pretty good for an old guy. He is declaring that he is as fit for battle as he was in his prime at forty. This is a miracle. God does not just give us promises; He gives us the strength to possess those promises. When God calls a man to take a mountain, He gives him mountain-taking strength, whether he is forty or eighty-five. This is a profound encouragement for the saints who have served long and faithfully. God does not discard His faithful servants. He re-commissions them.
Give Me This Mountain (v. 12)
Here we come to the heart of the matter, the audacious request that should shame our timid generation.
"So now, give me this hill country about which Yahweh spoke on that day, for you heard on that day that Anakim were there, with great fortified cities; perhaps Yahweh will be with me, and I will dispossess them as Yahweh has spoken." (Joshua 14:12 LSB)
Notice what he asks for. He asks for the trouble spot. He asks for the place where the sons of Anak, the literal giants, were entrenched. Hebron was their headquarters. He wants the dragon's lair. This is what robust faith does. It doesn't look for the path of least resistance. It looks for the biggest giants, because it knows that the bigger the giant, the greater the glory for God when it falls.
His faith is not blind to the obstacles. He is a realist. "Anakim were there, with great fortified cities." He doesn't downplay the threat. He looks it square in the eye. This is the difference between true faith and mere positive thinking. Positive thinking ignores the giants. Faith acknowledges the giants and then looks to God.
His statement, "perhaps Yahweh will be with me," is not an expression of doubt. It is an expression of profound humility and dependence. He knows that his eighty-five-year-old strength, divinely given as it is, is nothing without the presence of God. The victory does not depend on Caleb's arm, but on Yahweh's presence. He is saying, "If God is with me, as He has promised, then the outcome is certain. I will dispossess them." He is resting the entire enterprise on the character and presence of God. This is the posture of a true warrior of the covenant.
Possessing the Promise (vv. 13-15)
The conclusion is swift and decisive. Joshua, the covenant head of the nation, recognizes the legitimacy of Caleb's claim and grants it.
"So Joshua blessed him and gave Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephunneh for an inheritance." (Joshua 14:13 LSB)
The blessing is crucial. This is not just a real estate transaction. It is a covenantal act. Joshua, in his capacity as leader, bestows God's favor upon Caleb for the task. And then he gives him the land. Hebron, the place of giants, becomes the inheritance of the giant-slayer. The text then hammers the reason home one last time, lest we miss it: "because he fully followed Yahweh, the God of Israel." The inheritance is inextricably linked to the obedience of faith.
We are told that Hebron was formerly called Kiriath-arba, named after Arba, "the greatest man among the Anakim." This is a beautiful detail. The city named for the chief of the giants is conquered and renamed. The stronghold of the enemy becomes a possession for the people of God. This is what the gospel does. It goes into the darkest places, the strongholds of sin and Satan, and it conquers them, reclaims them, and re-names them for the glory of God.
And the result of this courageous, giant-killing faith?
"Then the land was quiet from war." (Joshua 14:15 LSB)
True peace, biblical shalom, is not the absence of conflict. It is the result of righteousness established through victory. Peace does not come from appeasing giants. It comes from defeating them. When faithful men rise up, take God at His word, and drive the enemy out of the high places, the result is rest. This is the postmillennial vision in miniature. The Church is called to be a giant-slaying, mountain-taking people. As we faithfully follow the Lord fully, dispossessing the enemies of Christ through the power of the gospel, we will increasingly see the land have rest from war. We are not fighting for a retreat, but for an inheritance.
Your Hill Country
The application for us is not complicated. Every Christian has been given an inheritance in Christ (Eph. 1:11). That inheritance includes promises of victory over sin and the establishment of Christ's righteousness in every area of our lives, our families, our churches, and our communities. But this inheritance must be possessed.
And in every inheritance, there is a hill country. There is a place where the giants live. It is that besetting sin you have coddled for years. It is that difficult relationship you have refused to address biblically. It is that area of cultural engagement you have deemed too scary, too fortified by the enemy. It is your Hebron.
God is calling us to be Calebs. He is calling us to have a long memory of His faithfulness, to look at our God-given strength, and to say, "Give me that mountain." Stop making excuses. Stop calculating the odds based on the size of the giants. Look to the promise of God, who has guaranteed victory in His Son.
The promise to Caleb was based on his having "fully followed" the Lord. This is the standard for us as well. Not sinless perfection, but a wholehearted, unreserved allegiance to King Jesus. When we follow Him in this way, we can lay claim to His promises. We can stand before the throne of grace and ask for our hill country, confident that He who preserved Caleb will be with us also, and that we too will dispossess our enemies. And as we do, we will find that the land, our own souls and the territory we influence for Christ, will begin to have rest from war.