GIVE ME THIS MOUNTAIN

A “promise” is an assurance that one will do or give something. Have you ever experienced waiting for something promised to you to be fulfilled? What if it will take 45 years for that promise to come to pass? Will you be willing to wait that long?

Caleb was a man of God who was able to do exactly that. God promised to give him Mount Hebron as an inheritance but he had to wait 45 years before it finally became his.

Mount Hebron was a mountain in Canaan, the land that God promised to the Israelites. But before they could possess Canaan, they needed to face enemies who were dwelling in that land. To conquer Mount Hebron itself, they needed to defeat the descendants of Anak - strong giants whom the people feared.

Caleb first saw Mount Hebron when he was sent by Moses to spy out Canaan with 11 others. After spying the land, 10 of them got so afraid of the enemies they discouraged the Israelites from conquering Canaan.

But Caleb was not one of the 10. He had a very different response. He was not intimidated by their enemies. Instead, he proclaimed that they can conquer the Promise Land because God was with them (Numbers 13:30, 14:7-9). Because of his good report, God promised to give Caleb the land on which he walked (Deuteronomy 1:36).

However, Mount Hebron was not instantly given to Caleb. He had to bear going through the wilderness for 45 years before he could finally go up to claim Mount Hebron as his inheritance.

It makes one wonder: how could Caleb have endured all those years of waiting to receive God’s promised mountain?

Caleb held on to the Word of God.

“You know the word which the Lord said to Moses the man of God concerning you and me in Kadesh Barnea.” Joshua 14:6b

After 45 years, Caleb still did not forget God’s promise to him. He kept it in his heart. His fire for the vision of the Lord never died. This is what makes a man a man of vision.

He holds on tightly to the Word of the Lord and lives for it.

Are we like Caleb who gave profound importance to God’s promises? Or do we easily forget and move on without seeing the promises come to pass?

We must value the Word of the Lord to us. We must learn to journal what God speaks to us personally, review them, and take them to heart (True Christianity, p. 88).

He had a right heart.

“I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh Barnea to spy out the land, and I brought back word to him as it was in my heart.” (Joshua 14:7)

When Caleb was sent to Canaan to assess the situation, he came back and said what was in his heart. He said the right words because he was convinced by it. He meant what he said.

“If the Lord delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us…Only do not rebel against the Lord, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread; their protection has departed from them, and the Lord is with us...” (Numbers 14:7-9)

God has a way of exposing what is in our hearts. He uses pressures and tests to surface what we really have in our hearts. He uses difficulties to draw the line between those who trust in Him and those who do not.

God tested the hearts of the 12 spies. They entered the Promise Land all the same. They were leaders. But they came out of Canaan distinguished. The experience revealed who was truly for God and who was not. Their hearts were exposed by the test.

We may all profess faith in Jesus in our worship services and other Christian gatherings but what is really in our hearts is uncovered by tests and trials. When God tests us, what will our hearts be shown to contain?

He wholly followed the Lord.

“…Surely the land where your foot has trodden shall be your inheritance and your children’s forever, because you have wholly followed the Lord my God.” (Joshua 14:9)

Caleb was given his inheritance because he fully followed the Lord. Thus, the requirement for entering into the promises of God is obeying the Lord wholeheartedly.

What are the things that keep us from completely following God?

Do we still have wrong desires and attachments that keep us from obeying God?

“Wholly” in Hebrew means “to be filled.” It was used to describe the Jordan River when the Israelites were about to cross it. It was overflowing. This accurately describes Caleb. Because he fully obeyed God, he was filled to overflowing.

The Lord preserved him.

“And now, behold, the Lord has kept me alive, as He said, these forty-five years, ever since the Lord spoke this word to Moses…” (Joshua 14:10)

The Lord preserves us for the promises He has given us. He makes it possible for us to be kept until we receive the fullness of His promises. The journey through the wilderness was hard. So much so that the rest of Caleb’s generation was unable to endure it. Yet, Caleb was kept. He lived to reach Canaan and inherit the Promise Land.

He set his sights on a higher inheritance. 

"Now therefore, give me this mountain of which the Lord spoke in that day” (Joshua 14:12)

Caleb did not settle for the plains. He did not settle for an inheritance that was easy to conquer. He set his sights on the mountain. Mountains can speak of the high calling or destiny that God has meant for our lives (Phil.3:14). Are we like Caleb who was determined to conquer his mountain? Or are we settling for the easy way instead of the highest call that God has for us?

Caleb was set on fighting the battles of the Lord. 

Are we fighting the battles of the Lord or are we exhausting ourselves fighting the wrong battles? Caleb was not only in a battle for his inheritance but for the very inheritance of God (Deut. 32:9). He knew the desire of God and set his heart on the same thing.

Let us be like Caleb who aimed for the mountain of God. Let us allow God to help us to have a firm grip of His promise, His high call for us. Let us cry out to God that He will give us the same perseverance as Caleb, who did not rest until he received the portion of the Lord.

Let us not allow mediocrity, partial obedience, and partial dependence to rob us of what God has already promised to give us.

“Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.”
Hebrews 10:23 (NLT)