Números 13
Charles Spurgeon · Citado em PreceptAustin
Números 13
Spurgeon - they despised the pleasant land. They spoke lightly of it, though it was the joy of all lands: they did not think it worth the trouble of seeking and conquering; they even spoke of Egypt, the land of their iron bondage, as though they preferred it to Canaan, the land which floweth with milk and honey. It is an ill sign with a Christian when he begins to think lightly of heaven and heavenly things; it indicates a perverted mind, and it is, moreover, a high offence to the Lord to despise that which he esteems so highly that he in infinite love reserves it for his own chosen. To prefer earthly things to heavenly blessings is to prefer Egypt to Canaan, the house of bondage to the land of promise. They believed not his word. This is the root sin. If we do not believe the Lord's word, we shall think lightly of his promised gifts. "They could not enter in because of unbelief" —this was the key which turned the lock against them. When pilgrims to the Celestial City begin to doubt the Lord of the way, they soon come to think little of the rest at the journey's end, and this is the surest way to make them bad travellers. Israel's unbelief demanded spies to see the land; the report of those spies was of a mingled character, and so a fresh crop of unbelief sprang up, with consequences most deplorable.
Números 13
Spurgeon - The report of the spies Every unguarded word you use, every inconsistent act, puts a slur on Christ. The world, you know, does not find fault with you—they lay it all to your Master. If you make a slip tomorrow, they will not say, “That is John Smith’s human nature;” they will say, “That is John Smith’s religion.” They know better, but they will be sure to say it; they will be sure to put all the mischief at the door of Christ. Now, if you could bear the blame yourself you might bear it manfully; but do not allow Christ to bear the blame—do not suffer his reputation to be tarnished—do not permit his banner to be trampled in the dust. Then there is another consideration. You must remember, if you do wrong, the world will be quite sure to notice you. The world carries two bags: in the bag at the back they put all the Christian’s virtues—in the bag in front they put all our mistakes and sins. They never think of looking at the virtues of holy men; all the courage of martyrs, all the fidelity of confessors, and all the holiness of saints, is nothing to them; but our iniquities are ever before them. Please do recollect, that wherever you are, as a Christian, the eyes of the world are upon you; the Argus eyes of an evil generation follow you everywhere. If a church is blind the world is not. It is a common proverb, “As sound asleep as a church,” and a very true one, for most churches are sound asleep; but it would be a great falsehood if anyone were to say, “As sound asleep as the world,” for the world is never asleep. Sleeping is left to the church. And remember, too, that the world always wears magnifying glasses to look at Christians’ faults. Rod Mattoon - If the eyes of the people were on the Lord, their enemies would have looked like grasshoppers. Their doubts are going to rob them of blessings, victories, joy, peace, and security. Our doubts affect us the same way today. Doubt in the Lord disables the Christian from doing what the Lord wants him to do. What Causes Doubt? 1. Satan— Genesis 3:4—And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 2. Skepticism— Luke 1:20—And, behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season. Zacharias was skeptical of God's message from the angel. 3. Society's wisdom and reasoning— 1 Corinthians 1:18-19—For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. [19] For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. 4. Spiritual Instability— James 1:6-8—But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. [7] For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. [8] A double minded man is unstable in all his ways. 5. Small Faith— Matthew 14:31—And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? How Does One Deal With Doubt? How do You Keep From Being a Fly in the Ointment? 1. Search the Scriptures— Acts 17:11—These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. Romans 10:17—So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. 2. Serve the Lord— John 7:17—If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself 3. Substantiate the Lord's Power— Malachi 3:10—Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. 4. Supplications should be Made to the Lord-(pray) 1 Timothy 2:8—I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting. 5. Surrender Your Will to the Lord-(yield to Him) Psalm 37:5—Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. Question - Who / what were the Nephilim? Answer - The Nephilim (“fallen ones, giants”) were the offspring of sexual relationships between the sons of God and daughters of men in Genesis 6:1–4. There is much debate as to the identity of the “sons of God.” It is our opinion that the “sons of God” were fallen angels (demons) who mated with human females or possessed human males who then mated with human females. These unions resulted in offspring, the Nephilim, who were “heroes of old, men of renown” (Genesis 6:4). For a discussion of the various interpretations, please read our article on identity of the sons of God and daughters of men. Play Video Why would the demons do such a thing? The Bible does not specifically give us the answer. Demons are evil, twisted beings—so nothing they do should surprise us. As to a distinct motivation, one speculation is that the demons were attempting to pollute the human bloodline in order to prevent the coming of the Messiah. God had promised that the Messiah would one day crush the head of the serpent, Satan (Genesis 3:15). The demons in Genesis 6 were possibly attempting to prevent the crushing of the serpent and make it impossible for a sinless “seed of the woman” to be born. Again, this is not a specifically biblical answer, but it is biblically plausible. What were the Nephilim? According to Hebraic and other legends (the Book of Enoch and other non-biblical writings), they were a race of giants and super-heroes who did acts of great evil. Their great size and power likely came from the mixture of demonic “DNA” with human genetics. According to the movie Noah, starring Russell Crowe (reviewed by us here), the Nephilim were fallen angels encased in rock. All that the Bible directly says about them is that they were “heroes of old, men of renown” (Genesis 6:4). The Nephilim were not aliens, angels, “Watchers,” or rock monsters; they were literal, physical beings produced from the union of the sons of God and the daughters of men (Genesis 6:1–4). What happened to the Nephilim? The Nephilim were one of the primary reasons for the great flood in Noah’s time. Immediately after the mention of Nephilim, God’s Word says, “The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. So the LORD said, ‘I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air—for I am grieved that I have made them’” (Genesis 6:5–7). God proceeded to flood the entire earth, killing everyone and everything other than Noah, his family, and the animals on the ark. All else perished, including the Nephilim (Genesis 6:11–22). Were there Nephilim after the flood? Genesis 6:4 tells us, “The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward.” It seems that the demons repeated their sin sometime after the flood as well. However, it likely took place to a much lesser extent than it did prior to the flood. When the Israelites spied out the land of Canaan, they reported back to Moses: “We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them” (Numbers 13:33). This passage does not say the Nephilim were genuinely there, only that the spies thought they saw the Nephilim. It is more likely that the spies witnessed very large people in Canaan and in their fear believed them to be the Nephilim. Or it is possible that after the flood the demons again mated with human females, producing more Nephilim. It is even possible that some traits of the Nephilim were passed on through the heredity of one of Noah’s daughters-in-law. Whatever the case, these “giants” were destroyed by the Israelites during their invasion of Canaan (Joshua 11:21–22) and later in their history (Deuteronomy 3:11; 1 Samuel 17). What prevents the demons from producing more Nephilim today? It seems that God put an end to demons mating with humans by placing all the demons who committed such an act in isolation. Jude verse 6 tells us, “The angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day.” Obviously, not all demons are in “prison” today, so there must have been a group of demons who committed further grievous sin beyond the original fall. Presumably, the demons who mated with human females are the ones who are “bound with everlasting chains.” This would prevent any more demons from attempting such sin. GotQuestions.org Related Resources: Was Goliath one of the Nephilim? | GotQuestions.org Are there descendants of the Nephilim in the world today? | GotQuestions.org Are the demons the disembodied spirits of the Nephilim? | GotQuestions.org Are the Anunnaki in the Epic of Gilgamesh the Nephilim mentioned in the Bible? | GotQuestions.org Streams in the Desert - “There we saw the giants.” (Num. 13:33.) YES, they saw the giants, but Caleb and Joshua saw God! Those who doubt say, “We be not able to go up.” Those who believe say, “Let us go up at once and possess it, for we are well able.” Giants stand for great difficulties; and giants are stalking everywhere. They are in our families, in our churches, in our social life, in our own hearts; and we must overcome them or they will eat us up, as these men of old said of the giants of Canaan. The men of faith said, “They are bread for us; we will eat them up.” In other words, “We will be stronger by overcoming them than if there had been no giants to overcome.” Now the fact is, unless we have the overcoming faith we shall be eaten up, consumed by the giants in our path. Let us have the spirit of faith that these men of faith had, and see God, and He will take care of the difficulties.—Selected. It is when we are in the way of duty that we find giants. It was when Israel was going forward that the giants appeared. When they turned back into the wilderness they found none. There is a prevalent idea that the power of God in a human life should lift us above all trials and conflicts. The fact is, the power of God always brings a conflict and a struggle. One would have thought that on his great missionary journey to Rome, Paul would have been carried by some mighty providence above the power of storms and tempests and enemies. But, on the contrary, it was one long, hard fight with persecuting Jews, with wild tempests, with venomous vipers and all the powers of earth and hell, and at last he was saved, as it seemed, by the narrowest margin, and had to swim ashore at Malta on a piece of wreckage and barely escape a watery grave. Was that like a God of infinite power? Yes, just like Him. And so Paul tells us that when he took the Lord Jesus Christ as the life of his body, a severe conflict immediately came; indeed, a conflict that never ended, a pressure that was persistent, but out of which he always emerged victorious through the strength of Jesus Christ. The language in which he describes this is most graphic. “We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed, always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be manifested in our body.” What a ceaseless, strenuous struggle! It is impossible to express in English the forcible language of the original. There are five pictures in succession. In the first, the idea is crowding enemies pressing in from every side, and yet not crushing him because the police of heaven cleared the way just wide enough for him to get through. The literal translation would be, “We are crowded on every side, but not crushed.” The second picture is that of one whose way seems utterly closed and yet he has pressed through; there is light enough to show him the next step. The Revised Version translates it, “Perplexed but not unto despair.” Rotherham still more literally renders it, “Without a way, but not without a by-way.” The third figure is that of an enemy in hot pursuit while the divine Defender still stands by, and he is not left alone. Again we adopt the fine rendering of Rotherham, “Pursued but not abandoned.” The fourth figure is still more vivid and dramatic. The enemy has overtaken him, has struck him, has knocked him down. But it is not a fatal blow; he is able to rise again. It might be translated, “Overthrown but not overcome.” Once more the figure advances, and now it seems to be even death itself, “Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus.” But he does not die, for “the life also of Jesus” now comes to his aid and he lives in the life of another until his life work is done. The reason so many fail in this experience of divine healing is because they expect to have it all without a struggle, and when the conflict comes and the battle wages long, they become discouraged and surrender. God has nothing worth having that is easy. There are no cheap goods in the heavenly market. Our redemption cost all that God had to give, and everything worth having is expensive. Hard places are the very school of faith and character, and if we are to rise over mere human strength and prove the power of life divine in these mortal bodies, it must be through a process of conflict that may well be called the birth travail of a new life. It is the old figure of the bush that burned, but was not consumed, or of the Vision in the house of the Interpreter of the flame that would not expire, notwithstanding the fact that the demon ceaselessly poured water on it, because in the background stood an angel ever pouring oil and keeping the flame aglow. No, dear suffering child of God, you cannot fail if only you dare to believe, to stand fast and refuse to be overcome.—Tract. Caleb James Hastings My servant Caleb, because he … hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went.—Num. 14:24. CALEB is one of the finest characters in the Bible. He is a stalwart, honest character, a man who obeyed God without question, who never feared to do his duty, and never turned his back on an enemy. His father, Jephunneh, is described as “the Kenezite.” The Kenezites were outside the pale of the chosen people. Thus Caleb was not of Israelitish birth or descent. He was of an alien people. He was one of the first-fruits of the Gentile harvest of which Jethro, Rahab, Ruth, Naaman, and many others were samples and signs. Yet this man, a stranger to Israel by birth, became one of Israel’s most illustrious ornaments. In spirit and service he was “an Israelite indeed.” The son of the Kenezite was a true son of God. I THE WITNESS And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.—Num. 13:30. 1. The year that followed the Exodus was a wonderful one for the children of Israel. It was spent at the foot of Mount Sinai, where measures were taken to organize them into a theocratic commonwealth. It was here that they received the Decalogue. It was here that Moses, as God’s viceroy, gathered about him the princes and the forty elders, the former of whom constituted the Upper and the latter the Lower House of Parliament. And it was here that an army of able-bodied men was mustered and mobilized under Joshua as commander-in-chief. Thus, in twelve months, the people who had escaped from Egypt a mere rabble of slaves were transformed into a well-organized and formidable nation. And now at length they stood facing the land towards which all hearts were yearning. The time was ripe. Everything hinged upon a concerted movement to take possession. But the people must deliberately choose. Moses could lead them only with their will. Accordingly, a committee was representatively appointed, one member from each tribe, through whose eyes the people might see the land and upon the basis of whose report they might act. 2. The men did their work thoroughly, traversing the valleys and climbing the hills, viewing the oliveyards and vineyards, and skirting the slopes of Hebron where the Anakim dwelt. After forty days’ search they returned, bringing with them a branch with one cluster of grapes, and also a specimen of the pomegranates and the figs. On the whole, their report was very gloomy. They had, of course, some good things to say about the productiveness of the land, but they gave a very alarming account of the people: “The people be strong that dwell in the land.” “All the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature;.… we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.” ¶ Thou camest to spy out the land of promise; go not back without one cluster of grapes to show thy brethren for their encouragement. Let them see that thou hast tasted of the wine, by the gladness of thy heart; and that thou hast been anointed with the oil, by the cheerfulness of thy countenance; and hast fed of the milk and honey, by the mildness of thy disposition, and the sweetness of thy conversation. This heavenly fire would melt thy frozen heart, and refine and spiritualize it, but it must have time to operate. Thus pursue the work till something be done, till thy grace be in exercise, thy affections raised, and thy soul refreshed with thy delights above. Blessed is that servant whom his Lord when He cometh shall find so doing. 3. The children of Israel, who had counted on an easy victory, gave way to a cowardly despair, even before the report was brought to its conclusion. They heard the words, “The people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great,” and there was an immediate outburst of panic and confusion. Caleb, and at this point in the history he alone, “stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.” His associates in the exploration, however, repeated their discouraging reports. The whole work of the Exodus and of Sinai seemed on the point of being frustrated: First, there was the despairing wish, “Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! Would God, we had died in this wilderness!” Then there was the natural result of that backward look, “Were it not better for us to return into Egypt?” Then the thought passed into a deliberate purpose, “Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.” And then the two who had not yielded to the first impulse of fear—Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun—stood forward against the madness of the people. They “rent their clothes” in passionate protest against the rebellious cowardice of the people. They testified once more that the land to which they had been sent was an exceedingly good land; that the Lord Jehovah was able to bring them into it, and give it them; that the people of the land would be as “bread” for them to devour. They ended with the watchword of all true hero-souls, “The Lord is with us: fear them not.” The others had measured themselves against the trained soldiers and giants, and were in despair. These two measured Amalekites and Anakim against God, and were jubilant. They do not dispute the facts, but they reverse the implied conclusion, because they add the governing fact of God’s help. ¶ Once Frederick the Great wrote to one of his generals, “I send you against the enemy with 60,000 men.” But, when the troops were numbered, it was found that there were only 50,000; and the officer was surprised and displeased. “There is no mistake,” Frederick replied, “I counted you for 10,000 men.” But who will say for how many God counts? 4 Caleb and Joshua saw two things. First, they saw and put prominently forward the greatness of the opportunity; and they saw also that behind the land’s strength there was a real weakness. It may have been that they detected the moral rottenness of the people among whom they had gone. But, whether or not, there was certainly in them the conviction that God was with Israel to carry through the purpose which He had begun—that astonishing conviction, one of the greatest of the world’s miracles, which went with Israel through its history, and which still binds into unity for us the whole of the Old Testament. With that conviction burning in them they gave their voice for the forward policy. But the heart had gone out of the people. They feared and trembled and refused to advance. It was in vain that Caleb pointed to the grapes he had gathered at Eshcol; it was in vain he tried to tempt his countrymen. There were even some who would have slain Caleb for his earnest exhortations. “Stone him! Stone him!” they cried; and there is no telling what would have happened, but for the fact that just then the cloud appeared above the tabernacle of the congregation to signify that God would speak with the people. And through Moses He delivered this message: “How long will this people despise me? and how long will they not believe in me?… Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my signs, which I wrought in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet have tempted me these ten times and have not hearkened to my voice; surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that despised me see it: but my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it.” ¶ If Mistrust and Timorous had been prepared to face the dangers of the way, they, like Christian, would have reached the Celestial City. “Now when he was got up to the top of the Hill, there came two men running to meet him amain; the name of the one was Timorous, and the other Mistrust. To whom Christian said, Sirs, what’s the matter you run the wrong way? Timorous answered, That they were going to the City of Zion, and had got up that difficult place; but said he, the further we go, the more danger we meet with, wherefore we turned, and are going back again. Yes, said Mistrust, for just before us lies a couple of Lyons in the way, (whether sleeping or waking we know not) and we could not think, if we came within reach but they would presently pull us in pieces. Chr. Then said Christian, Yon make me afraid, but whither shall I fly to be safe? If I go back to mine own Countrey, That is prepared for Fire and Brimstone, and I shall certainly perish there. If I can get to the Celestial City, I am sure to be in safety there, I must venture; To go back is nothing but death, to go forward is fear of death, and life everlasting beyond it. I will yet go forward. So Mistrust and Timorous ran down the Hill; and Christian went on his way.” 5. Caleb was an optimist. He dreamed dreams and saw visions. No wonder he possessed such a spirit, for he “wholly followed the Lord his God.” This is a striking expression. In the Hebrew it is a pictorial word, and describes a ship going out at full sail. This was the reason of his optimism: he flung every power of body and soul and spirit like a free sheet to the winds of God’s grace and God’s Spirit and God’s providence. He went in whole-heartedly for God and His cause, unhampered by any spirit of limitation. Caleb had something of Moses in him. He had an eye for the future. He was capable of Pisgah glimpses. His was one of those lives which seem always to be pitched upon a hill; he could see things afar off. He is the real hero of this enterprise; he has made the work of exploration his own. Joshua is the actual conqueror of Canaan; Caleb is the man who predicted the advantage of possessing it. But Caleb’s confidence that “we are well able to overcome” was more than natural optimism; it was religious trust, as is plain from God’s eulogium on him in Num. 14:24. ¶ We may compare Caleb, to use the metaphor of good old Gotthold, to a tree. The wind had been blowing—it was a dreadful hurricane, and Gotthold walked into a forest and saw many trees torn up by the roots; he marvelled much at one tree which stood alone and yet had been unmoved in the tempest. He said, “How is this? The trees that were together have fallen, and this alone stands fast!” He observed that when the trees grow too closely they cannot send their roots into the earth; they lean too much upon each other; but this tree, standing alone, had space to thrust its roots into the earth, and lay hold on the rock and stones; and so when the wind came it fell not. It was so with Caleb—he always would lay hold upon his God, not upon men; and so when the wind came he stood. ¶ The Rev. F. B. Meyer, in course of an appreciation of the life and work of Dr. Paton, wrote: An invincible optimist! For him, no good cause can ever be a lost cause. I question if he has ever been permanently disappointed, or ever absolutely failed. “Impossible” and “impracticable” are words for which he has no use; and though they have probably been hurled often enough at his schemes, when first announced, they have been found to be inappropriate and untrue. A visionary, whose visions have been realized; a dreamer, whose dreams have clothed themselves in fact! At an age when ninety-nine men out of a hundred leave the conduct of affairs to others, he is in the forefront and thick of the fight; and the rest of us gladly recognize that he is in his right place, and that years have not diminished but enhanced his competence to lead in all that makes for the betterment of the people. His optimism and enthusiasm are so contagious that statesmen, bishops, deans, ministers of every religious body, philanthropists, and shrewd business men are swept into his orbit and become inspired by his aims. His motives are absolutely selfless; his soul is simple and pure as a child’s; and the strength of his personality is fairly irresistible. When he begins to weave his web around you to secure your interest and co-operation, you may as well yield at once to his genial persuasiveness, for you will have to do so sooner or later. In fact, you would feel it mean to leave a load on those broad and burdened shoulders which you could lighten or remove. ¶ Florence Nightingale did many things herself, but she was also the inspirer and instigator of more things which were done by others. She was able of her own initiative to institute considerable reforms; but she was a reformer on a larger scale through the influence which she exercised. Though she was in truth no magician, there were men on the spot who, not being able to understand the secret and sources of her power, seemed to find something uncanny in it. Our good friend, Colonel Sterling, who hated the intrusion of petticoats into a campaign, was very much puzzled. The thing seemed to him “ludicrous,” as we have heard, but he had to admit that “Miss Nightingale queens it with absolute power”; and elsewhere he speaks of “the Nightingale power” as something mysterious and “fabulous.” The secret, however, is simple. “The Nightingale power” was due to causes of which some were inherent in herself and others were adventitious. The inherent strength of her influence lay in the masterful will and practical good sense which gave her dominion over the minds of men. The adventitious sources of her power were that she had both the ear and the confidence of Ministers, and the interest and sympathy of the Court. I have called this accession of influence “adventitious,” but it also accrued to her, in a secondary degree, from the inherent force of her character. II THE REWARD Now therefore give me this mountain.—Josh. 14:12. 1. Now followed a period of thirty-nine years in which the children of Israel wandered to and fro, entangled in the wilderness. The life of Caleb, during those weary years, is recorded in the single sentence, “He wholly followed the Lord.” In other words, he was doing his duty and biding his time. Not for a moment did he lose his confidence in the promise of God. Nor was he discontented or over-eager for action. He who “wholly follows the Lord,” knows how to labour and to wait. So Caleb kept his soul in patience. He acquiesced in the postponement of his own heaven. He concealed his aspiration. He hid his contempt for the sordid throng. He gave no hint that he was above their business. He joined them on their own level, in their own work. He took up his brothers’ cares—cares about inferior things. He put his hand to the duties of the desert when his heart was up in Canaan. He saw the people dropping out, one by one, until the entire generation that had come out of Egypt lay in graves along the way. He saw Moses climb to his lonely sepulchre, and heard his last farewell: “Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. Even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.” And still the faith of Caleb failed not. 2. Then came the crossing of the Jordan, the taking of Jericho, the driving out of the native tribes and the distribution of the land. The deadly plague which befell the ten, and the nearly forty years’ wandering which befell the people, the preservation of the lives of Caleb and Joshua only of all the nation above twenty years of age who came out of Egypt, followed by the ultimate conquest of the land, had been a sufficient vindication of the faithfulness of God and the truthfulness of Caleb and Joshua. Now, however, that the land was to be distributed among the conquerors, and there were still a few unconquered, although greatly weakened, districts—and notably the main stronghold of the Anakim of the south, within whose walls the last chief of the tribe held out against the conquerors—Caleb went to Joshua, his old comrade, repeated the story of forty years before, referred to the promise of Moses that he should possess this stronghold, and pleaded that the privilege might be given him to take it. His case was a very strong one, his record good and fair. He had been frank when truth was unpopular and hard to speak, and loyal when defection was widespread; he had experienced Providential help and deliverances; he had retained the capacity, and won the moral right, to essay the capture of Hebron; he was an efficient man, but he was in absolute dependence on the sufficiency of God. His estate that was to be was still occupied by the enemy. He was not about to enter upon a peaceful occupation; it was a conquest that lay before him. The Lord had preserved his life during these forty years—preserved it, as he believes, that he might be permitted to conquer the sons of Anak. 3. It makes the blood run fast in a man’s veins to read the courageous words of the grim old soldier. He stands there before Joshua and says: “I am this day fourscore and five years old. 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, and to go out and to come in. Now therefore give me this mountain, whereof the Lord spake in that day; for thou heardest in that day how the Anakim were there, and cities great and fenced: it may be that the Lord will be with me, and I shall drive them out, as the Lord spake.” There is nothing in the Bible more wonderful in its way than Caleb’s testimony at eighty-five years of age. Nor was this a mere boast. The old man was not self-deluded in the matter of his strength. He was ready for war, ready to storm the stronghold of Hebron. Jubilant in prospect of driving out the Anakim, Caleb had youth’s strength and valour and optimism in extreme old age. ¶ One day when Signor had ended a delightful talk with Sir William Richmond, as this sympathetic friend was leaving the studio he said to me that he found Signor’s interests and range of thought wider even than they were. “Well, to grow still at seventy-eight is youth,” he added. Sir James Knowles spoke in much the same terms, and gave me his interpretation of the saying, “Whom the Gods love die young”; which was, that in mind they never grew old. Of this Sir James Knowles wrote to me later: “I am so glad you like my interpretation of that old proverb. This is how I put it down:— ‘Whom the Gods love die young,’ the proverb told; The meaning is they never can grow old However long their list of labours past; God-given youth is with them to the last. You have the proof of this before your eyes every day, and long may it be so! I send him my best regards.” Once, speaking of his own feeling, Signor told me the only difference he found in himself as he grew older was this—“I am interested in more things, and I feel younger instead of older. I know I am quite as eager, quite as much striving for improvement in my work, as I was at the beginning of life.” Therefore I summon age To grant youth’s heritage, Life’s struggle having so far reached its term: Thence shall I pass, approved A man, for aye removed From the developed brute; a god though in the germ. And I shall thereupon Take rest, ere I be gone Once more on my adventure brave and new: Fearless and unperplexed When I wage battle next, What weapons to select, what armour to indue. 4. There is something very noble in Caleb’s conception of a possession worth the having as that which involves toil and heroism on our part. God’s best gifts are after all given on these conditions. It is “to him that overcometh” that the choicest blessings of the Apocalypse are given. The inheritance of the saints in light, like that of Caleb, is to be the inheritance of the conqueror. Caleb had caught this essential aspect of a noble life. The reward of the man who has done well is that he shall do more. The fire had been smouldering in the heart of this man for forty-five years; and now in sight of the mountain it flamed up. All that time he had been waiting for an opportunity to have at the giants; and now that the hour had come, he proved himself no idle boaster. He drove the giants from one town to another, and finally they seem to have made their last stand in a strong town called Kirjath-sepher. In his eagerness to gain this town he offered the hand of his daughter Achsah to any warrior who should obtain possession of it, and the prize was claimed by Othniel. It was followed, in the striking story, which breathes in every word the spirit of a remote antiquity, by the grant with it of the “upper and the nether springs,” that the city might not be, in any sense of the word, a barren and unfruitful heritage. Of all the Israelites who received their inheritance in the Land of Promise, Caleb appears to have been the only one who succeeded in entirely expelling the native occupiers of the country. The Israelites generally seem to have made but poor headway against their strong and mighty foes, with their chariots of iron and fenced walls. Repeatedly we encounter the sorrowful affirmation that they were not able to drive them out. But Caleb was a notable exception. What though Arba was the greatest man among the Anakim (Josh. 14:15), what though his three grandsons, Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai, the sons of Anak, were prepared to yield their lives rather than give up possession (15:14), Caleb drove them out—not he indeed, but the Lord, who was with him, and gave him a victory that must have otherwise eluded even his strong hands. The man who “wholly followed the Lord” was alone wholly victorious. ¶ Nowhere is thoroughness more needed than in religious work, nowhere is slackness more prevalent. There are Christians who serve Christ as diligently and faithfully as they do their earthly work, and they shall not miss their reward; but many of Christ’s servants would not be tolerated for a week by any other master. The poorest joint-stock company in the land is better served by its directors than many congregations are by their office-bearers. There are no teachers anywhere so ignorant and so casual as certain Sunday-school teachers; there is no clerk in a dry-goods store dare treat his duty as lightly as some of the voluntary officers of the Christian Church. They will absent themselves without leave and without excuse; they will never inquire how their work is being done or whether it is done at all; they will not take the trouble to prepare themselves to do it, and they are not concerned when it fails in their hands. They will place their pleasure and their fancies, and their social engagements, and their imaginary ailments before their Christian duty. And it would be difficult to say how little must be the burden, how short must be the time, that they would be willing to count an obligation upon them and would be prepared to face. One is sometimes inclined to propose a general resignation of the Christian staff, and then an invitation to all who are prepared to do Christ’s work as well as the work of the world is done, and it might be that three hundred thoroughgoing men like the Band of Gideon would do more for Christ than ten times the number of irresponsible casuals. 5. How much longer Caleb lived after he claimed Hebron for his inheritance we do not know; but the language he uttered in his eighty-fifth year is very remarkable. What a sublime retrospect! He can look back on the voyage of his life and say, “I wholly followed the Lord.” Such a retrospect can be won only by years of fighting the good fight. The people also acknowledged his faithful service. “Joshua blessed him,” we read of Caleb in his mellow old age (Josh. 14:13). Joshua prayed for the aged hero and saint. Joshua sought God’s anointing for the venerable soldier of Israel. Caleb reaped a harvest of sympathetic prayer. Joshua not only prayed for Caleb but commended him in the sight of Israel. He held him up to honour. He enthroned the brave veteran on the approbation of the people. So the man of complete devotion to God received honour of man. ¶ In February 1889, when he reached his seventieth birthday, Lowell was entertained to dinner by his friends in Boston. Describing the event in a letter to the wife of his English friend Leslie Stephen, Lowell says: “I was dined on my birthday, and praised to a degree that would have satisfied you, most partial even of your sex. But somehow I liked it, and indeed none but a pig could have helped liking the affectionate way it was done. I suppose it is a sign of weakness in me somewhere, but I can’t help it. I do like to be liked. It gives me a far better excuse for being about (and in everybody’s way) than having written a fine poem does. That’ll be all very well when one is under the mould. But I am not sure whether one will care for it much. So keep on liking me, won’t you?” ¶ 19th Feb. 1826.—J(ames) B(allantine) came and sat an hour. I led him to talk of Woodstock; and, to say truth, his approbation did me much good. I am aware it may—nay, must—be partial; yet is he Tom Telltruth, and totally unable to disguise his real feelings. I think I make no habit of feeding on praise, and despise those whom I see greedy for it, as much as I should an under-bred fellow, who, after eating a cherry-tart, proceeded to lick the plate. But when one is flagging, a little praise (if it can be had genuine and unadulterated by flattery, which is as difficult to come by as the genuine mountain-dew) is a cordial after all. 13th May 1826.—I think very lightly in general of praise; it costs men nothing, and is usually only lip-salve. They wish to please, and must suppose that flattery is the ready road to the good will of every professor of literature. Some praise, however, and from some people, does at once delight and strengthen the mind, and I insert in this place the quotation with which Lord Chief Baron Shepherd concluded a letter concerning me to the Chief Commissioner (Adam): “Magna etiam ilia laus et admirabilis videri solet tulisse casus sapienter adversos, non fractum esse fortunâ, retinuisse in rebus asperis dignitatem.” I record these words, not as meriting the high praise they imply, but to remind me that such an opinion being partially entertained of me by a man of character so eminent, it becomes me to make my conduct approach as much as possible to the standard at which he rates it.