Revering the Word
Joshua 14 God is a rewarder of faithfulness.
Good morning, everyone. This morning, we are in Joshua, chapter 14. And they are now specifically Joshua is, that is, a lot in the land. And we're going to begin with Caleb, which is appropriate. You may recall that when they sent out spies to spy out the land before they came into the Promised Land, many years earlier, Joshua and Caleb were the only two spies who said, you know what, God is with us, we can take this land. The rest of the spies came back and scared Israel about the giants in the land and made the people fear so that they didn't want to go. And God was very displeased. And that generation needed to die out in the desert. And the only two that were allowed to survive that season of waiting in the desert were Joshua and Caleb because they were faithful to God. Let's pick up the story and see the reward for Caleb's faithfulness. Now, these are the territories, which the sons of Israel and Herod in the land of Canaan, which Eliezer, the priest, and Joshua, the son of none, and the heads of the households of the tribes of the sons of Israel, apportioned to them or in inheritance by the lot of their inheritance as the Lord commanded through Moses, for the nine tribes and the half tribe, for Moses had given the inheritance of the two tribes and the half tribe beyond the Jordan, but he did not give an inheritance to the Levites among them. For the sons of Joseph were two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim, and they did not give a portion to the Levites in the land except cities to live in with their pasture lands for their livestock and for their property. So it's very interesting. The ones who served at the tabernacle of the Levites, they weren't given land, but they were given pasture land and cities to live in, but they weren't allotted land like the rest of the tribes. Thus, the sons of Israel did just as the Lord had commanded Moses and they divided the land. And they echo that a lot as we've seen throughout the book of Joshua that they were obeying what God had commanded through Moses. Then the sons of Judah drew near to Joshua in Gilgal and Caleb, the son of Japunah, the kenazite said to him, you know the word, which the Lord spoke to Moses, the man of God, concerning you and me in Kaddish, Burnia. I was 40 years old when Moses, the servant of the Lord sent me from Kaddish Burnia to spy out the land and I brought word back to him as it was in my heart. Nevertheless, my brothers who went up with me made the heart of the people mount with fear, but I followed the Lord, my God, fully. So Moses sworn on that day saying surely the land on which your foot has trodden will be an inheritance to you and to your children forever because you have followed the Lord, my God, fully. Now behold, the Lord has let me live just as he spoke these 45 years from the time that the Lord spoke the word to Moses, one Israel walked in the wilderness and now behold, I am 85 years old today. I am still as strong today as I was in the day of Moses sent me as my strength was then so my strength is now for war and for going out and coming in. Now then give me the hill country about which the Lord spoke on that day. For you heard on that day that Anakin were there with great fortified cities. Perhaps the Lord will be with me and I will drive them out as the Lord has spoken. Let's just finish and then we'll reflect on what we've read. So Joshua blessed him and gave Hebrew and to Caleb, the son of Japunah for inheritance. Therefore, Hebrew became the inheritance of Caleb, the son of Japunah that can reside until this day because he followed the Lord God of Israel fully. Now, the name of Hebrew was formerly curious Arba for Arba was the greatest man among the Anakin, then the land had rest from war. You might recall that Anakin were known as giants. There was a people living in the land that were larger people, maybe long-necked people, but Joshua or excuse me, Caleb had no fear and God was with him. And Caleb was blessed. He got the land that he desired to get, that the Lord God promised him because of his faithfulness and because he followed the Lord God fully. That's an interesting word following the Lord God fully. You know, I think that you listening today, you are people that really do want to follow the Lord God fully. And as do I, but when I say those words, like if we were to say, did you follow the Lord, you're God fully? I think, oh boy, you know, that's a weighty statement, right? Did we always fully every single time, you know, faithful to God? And yet I would say I would hope, and perhaps you'd say this for you too, that, you know, when the Lord looks at my life, that he would say, you know what? That is someone who desired to follow me and did follow me. He knows our innermost being. He knows we're not perfect, but yet the evidence Lord willing of our lives is that we were faithful to God. Praise God that in this dispensation of Jesus Christ and the grace we've been given through faith in him and the cross, that he overlooks our sins. He remembers our sins no more because we have been forgiven through Jesus who took our sin, but may we as a result of our gratefulness and faithfulness to God say, Lord, thank you for what you've done for me. Now I want to live to honor you. And I believe that there is going to be reward in heaven for following Jesus. I, a verse that comes to my end that I would enjoy reading in second Timothy chapter four, when the Apostle Paul says this, and he knows he's about to die, but he says, for I am already, this is a second Timothy four, six through eight. For I am already being poured out as a drink offering and the time of my departure has come, I have fought the good fight. I have finished the course. I have kept the faith in the future. There is laid up for me, the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge will award to me on that day. And not only to me, but also to all who have loved his appearing. Have you loved his appearing? Are you longing for the day that Jesus will come back and ruin rain? Are you motivated to honor God, to live for him? I believe you are. I believe that's one of the reasons that you're listening. And I do believe God, excuse me, I do believe that God knows. God, God knows that's a humbling thought too, to know that God knows all things. There's a concept about living for the audience of one that, you know, God has always in our audience, whenever we're doing whatever we're doing, that God is in our audience and that really that's the audience we should be living for. Sometimes, you know, it could have an athletic connotation where, you know, you're you're in a stadium and there's people and there's fans and and everyone's watching, but yet really the only audience that matters is the audience of one and that being the Lord. It's a beautiful concept, whether you're alone or whether there's a crowd around you, whether you're with your wife or your family or your church, that we would live for the audience of one, knowing that there is reward for living for the Lord. You know, it's not just in this passage in Second Timothy chapter four. It's in many passages that one day we're going to be judge. Are we are we building with valued stones instead of just with wood, hay or straw? And, you know, part of that reward in this passage here in Second Timothy four was those who have longed for his appearing. It makes me think of Hebrews chapter 11 talking about faith. Listen to what it says, because ultimately, what we're going to be rewarded for is being people of God, people of faith. And what it says here in the chapter of heroes of the faith, Hebrews 11 verse six, and without faith, it is impossible to please him. For he who draws near to God must believe that he is, first of all, believe that God is that he exists and that he is a rewarder of those who seek him, he's a rewarder of those who seek him. And in this case here, Caleb was faithful, Caleb trusted God, Caleb helped build confidence that they could take the land and trust God to do so. He gave an accurate report on in honor of the Lord. And he had even in his faith, he had to be in opposition to those who were faithless. And that's something, isn't it? I mean, we live in a faithless world. Are you going to represent God and be people of faith in a faithless world and a faithless family, whatever the situation that you're dealt with, will you be a person of faith, even those around, even when those around your faithless? That's what Caleb did and ultimately God rewarded him. And he is a rewarder of those who seek him, Hallelujah. So, you know, I think about that. I think about the fact that one day we're going to give an account and one day there is a reward and I want to be faithful to God. I want to believe that God is getting his watching, that God knows. And let's live lives that honor him and thank you, God, for your grace when we have not always been fully devoted to you. Help us, Lord, as we continue to be sanctified, become more holy, become more like you, help us, God, to live for you and to live for the reward. And Hallelujah, 45 years later, God blessed Caleb and God knows. Let's be faithful to him together. God bless you all.