Caleb's Mountain

We have enjoyed a wonderful trip this past summer watching the children of Israel enter into the Promised Land – the land we have dubbed ‘the land of rest’ or ‘the land of revival’. Because we realize that they are a type and shadow of us, the church, entering into all that God has purchased for us through Christ Jesus. And if we will tear down the strongholds and drive out the inhabitants then we too can enjoy the abundance of this land flowing with milk and honey. We too can experience the fruit of this land and be free to share this fruit with those who are needy. We can share the fruit of this land of revival with the lame, the blind, the maimed and poor.

So we have had a pleasant journey this year as we’ve watched the Israelites take possession of their land. We’ve seen them get their butts kicked when they didn’t do things God’s way – we’ve seen them be defeated when they didn’t allow God to fight for them. And discovered that his promise to them is the same to us. “I will fight for you.” We’ve seen it is “not by might nor by power, but by My spirit says the Lord of hosts.” And when the Israelites trusted in their God, he proved himself strong in battle. So we’ve observed them conquer and destroy those whose lease on the land had expired.

But we are not finished on this pilgrimage. We are going to hop back on the bus and take a trip through the autumn foliage. Have you ever driven through an area like northern Arkansas while the leaves of the trees were turning color? Have you been delighted while gazing at the golds, the browns, oranges, red and yellows? We too need to continue our bus ride as we discover the types and shadows found in Joshua 14.

Caleb was one of the two spies that had come to the land 40 years earlier with Moses. He was one of the two spies that had given a good report – a report that drew a conclusion based on the promises God had made. It wasn’t that Caleb had not seen the fearsome giants that lived there. Oh, contrary. He had gone to the very heart of their territory! He had traveled to Mt. Hebron where they crawled upon that land like ants on an ant hill! He knew the opposition that he faced. Yet he was fully persuaded that what God had promised, He was also able to perform.

So in Joshua 14, we discover that Caleb came to Gilgal to request of Joshua that Mt. Hebron be given to him as his inheritance. He reminded Joshua of the word spoken to him from the Lord through Moses. And declared, “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. Now therefore…the Lord will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the Lord said.”

Friends, the Lord changes not. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. And His grace toward us is just as strong today as it was the day you were first born again! That grace – that strength is for you to do war, because “greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world”!!

But it is the violent that take the kingdom of God by force! (Mt.11:12) By the way, Caleb’s name means forceful. He is a type and shadow of those who are determined to take possession of “all the promises of God are yes and amen in Christ” – and since “God is for us who can be against us. He that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” For in all these things “we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.”

In the words of Zechariah 4, “Who art thou, O great mountain? Before Zerrubbabel (type and shadow of Christ – we are his body) thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto [this mountain].” Be encouraged…any stronghold – any mountain of offense – any rock of unbelief – any stone of stumbling can be destroyed by that same grace whereby we were first set free (see Gal.3:3) – if we will receive his word by faith.

But if you say: Bro. Charles, I wish that I could muster the effort to rise up and take what’s mine. All I feel I can do is drag myself home, flop on the couch and take a nap. I feel no life – no inspiration – no strength within me. I feel tired; my body weak and my heart numb.

Well I understand that in the midst of a battle where the skies are gray and clouded with smoke; craters are all around from the bombs and shells, mortars and grenades; carnage and stench are at every turn; noisy explosions and shouting increase confusion; concertina wire and shrapnel are strewn haphazardly – in the middle of that atmosphere, it IS very difficult to not become weary in well doing.

When I was in the Marine Corps we would travel to 29 Palms, CA to participate in a live impact zone training. This was in the middle of the desert, surrounded by shrubs, and sand, and lots of heat. We would exit the plane upon arrival, walk down the flight of stairs to the tarmac, and soon begin to feel our boots stick to the pavement as they melted from the heat. So while we were on this base – sweating and fighting for shade, I noticed in the distance a mountain. And what struck me as absurd in the middle of this hot environment was that the top of that mountain was covered in snow and ice!!

My friends, Jesus said that the love of the many shall wax cold (Mt.24:12). The word used here for love is the Greek word agape. The church is the only group of people capable of that type love. Therefore if our hearts have grown cold – if our hearts have become ice encrusted, there is only one thing that can melt snow capped mountain. There is only one thing that can warm the offended heart. And that is His love. If our love has grown cold, we have forgotten how much he loves us. “We love him because he first loved us.”

“But God commends his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Rm.5:8

So be inspired by his love. Meditate on how much he loves you till you begin to feel a flicker of warmth within your soul. He will never leave you nor forsake you. And he has not left you without means of comfort. The Spirit of Love… “shall give thee light.” Then you too can rise up like Caleb and say, "Give me this mountain."