Waiting: 3. Joshua and Caleb

Joshua and Caleb were among the children of Israel who left Egypt for the promised land, they were amongst the spies who went into the land when Moses sent them in to see what Canaan was like, and they were the only two who brought back a good report, yet because the rest of Israel feared the inhabitants of the land, fear and unbelief kept them in the wilderness for another forty years until that generation had died and another was raised up. The only ones left were Joshua and Caleb who set foot on the Promised Land from the previous generation. Read Numbers 13 & 14 and Joshua 1 for the full story.

There is much to find in these verses and much to learn, but one thing in particular struck me. The journey to Canaan was an eleven day trek so the area that the Israelites stayed in for forty years was not so big that they were lost but God with His guiding pillar caused them to stay there. Joshua and Caleb though during those forty years surely must have toyed with the idea of going to the Promised Land anyway – yet they waited until God gave them the order. They knew God had promised them the land, it would be easy to talk themselves into going and taking the land and hoping, thinking that God would tag along and help them but they waited. Imagine waiting forty years for something you had almost had your hands on. Joshua and Caleb knew something that Moses knew too though, that if God was not with them, there was no point in being there.

“Then he said to Him, ‘If Your presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here.’” Exodus 33:15

They waited for God to go with them because they knew that without Him there was no point in being anywhere. Wait for God to move you on, don’t try rushing on in front of Him, even if you know where He wants you to go.

Sara Jukes

2006-01-04