Caleb is a good name; a really good name. Not everyone named Caleb was named after the Biblical character found in Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua and Judges. Not every person named Caleb is like the Bible character. But one characteristic of this Caleb is that “he wholeheartedly followed the Lord.” That’s what we want for our sons and daughters. It’s what we aspire to ourselves.
“Wholehearted” is the Revised Standard translation. New American Standard has “followed .. fully.” It is an easy understand, though it is not easy to live that way. Sometimes we best understand a term by thinking about its opposite. We might think of “half-hearted” as a possibility. In the New Testament, we find the term “double-minded.” “Wholehearted” is amplified in the Great Commandment: Deut. 6:5 “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” It makes clear that there must be no distraction from devotion to God; no diversion in our first love. It is rare. Caleb had it. Most don’t.
We find this description of Caleb 3 times in Joshua 14. We will find in these three instances three applications.
First, in Joshua 14:8, we find that Caleb’s wholeheartedness was in contrast to the majority of the other spies who were sent in to spy out the land, and thus, he had to stand alone, except for Joshua, against all the rest of the people. Wholeheartedness comes from one’s own commitment to God, and does not find its strength by going along with the crowd. If we cannot stand for God alone, then we most likely will not stand for God at all. We need more Caleb’s.
But my companions who went up with me made the heart of the people melt; yet I wholeheartedly followed the Lord my God. Joshua 14:8
Second, in Joshua 14:9, wholeheartedness is rewarded. God will bless in an unusual way those who are wholehearted. And yet, this blessing, a gift, is earned. That’s a little confusing, because we don’t “earn” gifts. But God fills the wholehearted person with a delight in exercising his faith in laying hold of the promise. Caleb was not a passive man. Nor was he self-sufficient. He was excited to go forward in the strength of the Lord to secure his inheritance. Our inheritance today is not physical, but spiritual. But one who would be a Caleb needs to exercise this same faith-initiative.
And Moses swore on that day, saying, ‘Surely the land on which your foot has trodden shall be an inheritance for you and your children forever, because you have wholeheartedly followed the Lord my God.’ Joshua 14:9
And third, in Joshuas 14:14, Caleb the wholehearted was able to rest in his inheritance. He was able to secure it, order it according to his design and plans, and fill it with his family. He was able to share it. He was able to enjoy its fruit. It was his home. Again, we experience these things in spiritual ways, and they may be reserved for the future, but they are even more real, and more valuable than what the Bible’s Caleb experienced.
So Hebron became the inheritance of Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite to this day, because he wholeheartedly followed the Lord, the God of Israel. Joshua 14:14
May God give us more “Caleb’s.” May he surround us with more who are wholehearted. May God develop in each of us this wonderful and rare quality - those who can say along with Caleb, “I wholeheartedly followed the Lord my God.”
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