And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
Caleb’s Faith Built On God's Will
This passage is first heard by Moses during his experience at the burning bush. He had fled Egypt for killing a slaver overseer, who was beating his kinsmen. It has been 40 years since he ran away that day. He had a new life, a new family a new outlook. He is now 80 years old and suddenly, God is commanding him to return to Egypt to the old life and challenge the Pharaoh to “Let my people go.”
This statement in Exodus 3:8, is Moses’ commission and when the Hebrews are told this is what Jehovah has said, this is the will of God, then it becomes the foundation of their faith. For Moses, Joshua and Caleb, everything they will do from this point forward, is based upon what God had spoken through Moses.
Caleb also had God’s promise through Moses to him personally. He had moved from general faith for all the people of God to that which was specific to him.
In Numbers 14:24 The Lord spoke through Moses and said, “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.
This was the promise, the foundation Caleb now stood upon as he came before Joshua to claim his mountain. It was the reason he believed that if God was with him, then he could take a mountain filled with giants protected behind fortified city walls.
This bring us to our next application about faith. …
People of Faith Know God's Will
You can’t have faith, real mountain moving, mountain claiming, mountains conquering faith, unless that faith is based upon God’s will.
Now God’s will is not vague or hard to comprehend. It is not an emotional feeling or a dream or a vision. Nor is God’s will determined by circumstances you encounter in your life. Let me go a little further and state that we are to pray for God’s will to be done but we are not instructed to prayer for God’s will to be revealed because it has already been revealed here in God's written word.
Not it is true that many people believe that God leads us by the signs, circumstance, open and closed doors of life or feelings and emotions.
But I think they are a little like the country boy who was out plowing on his daddy’s farm. He stopped in the middle of the field and was overheard praying, “Oh, Lord. This cotton field is big and so full of rocks, it’s hot , this ol’ tractor ain’t got no air-conditioned and I am so tired. Lord, I think I’ve been called to preach.”
To be able to claim mountains climb mountains, and conquer mountains, you must know and believe that God’s will is revealed in His Word.
Deut 29:29 The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.
Romans 16:26 But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith:
Deut 30:11-14 For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.
So, what was God's will for Israel? Go, conquer the land, and possess it. That is what Caleb knew and that is what he did. That is what his faith was founded upon.
Then what is God’s will for the Church? It is not any harder to know than what God told Moses. Matthew 28:19-20 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
It is simply “Go, make disciples, baptize, and teach.
What about God's will for me? Still simple. Here is a quick list from 1 Timothy, that we can spend a lifetime trying to fulfill. Here are the 4 S's of God’s Will from the epistles to Timothy)
Be Saved 1 Tim 2:4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
Be Strong 2 Tim 1:7-8 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God;
Be Separate 2 Tim 2:3-4 Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.
Be Studious 2 Tim 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
What we see is that God’s will is revealed in God’s Word, when I know God’s Word, then I know God’s Will and when I know God’s will, I have a sure foundation for my faith. God’s Word must be the foundation of my faith or it will not stand.
