Caleb the Spy

The children of Israel were ready to enter the land God had promised them when they left Egypt. They had experienced the power of God in the exodus from Egypt and had found God faithful in everything He promised them. God promised they would enter and take the land before them (Num. 13:1–2), and commanded Moses to send in men to see what God was giving them, not to see if they could defeat the people living there.

Moses obeyed God and chose one man from each tribe to go and see the land of promise (Num. 13:3–16). The land was described as “flowing with milk and honey.” But ten of the spies said it would be suicide to go into such a lopsided situation (Num. 13: 28–29). Caleb, one of the twelve who went to assess the land, stepped up and told the people that with God’s help they could take the land (Num. 13:30). The ten in opposition held their ground and incited the rest of the Israelites to refuse to enter the land (Num. 13:31–33).

Caleb and Joshua tried once more to convince the people to trust God’s promise. When the people would not change their minds, God appeared to Moses at the Tent of Meeting or the tabernacle (Num. 14:10). God said He would strike them down with a plague as He had stricken the Egyptians, and start over with Moses (Num. 14:11–12). While the people were convinced of their inability to enter the land, God’s power was unshaken. Speaking to Moses, God referred back to the way He delivered His people from Egypt. He mightily displayed His power against the Egyptians who kept His people in bondage. Now, the Israelites were set against Him, and He affirmed His righteousness and power. Moses pleaded with God to show His love and forgiveness and to not destroy the people (Num. 14:13–19). What follows is God’s response to Moses’ prayer and His special care given to Caleb for his faith. 

How can anyone be sure that The Future is in God's Hands? Passages like this one convince people of that truth because of God’s actions in the past. When people believe what He says about Himself in His Word, they can rely on His actions recorded in Scripture to give them present and future truth.

Caleb knew the future belonged to God and lived like it. Twelve spies saw the giants in the land. Ten did not believe God would give them power to overtake them. But two did—Caleb and Joshua. Caleb saw the incredible opposition, but His faith in God’s promises and power did not waver. He foretold what would happen to the disobedient spies and those who grumbled against Him: they would die in the desert. God said, “Not one of you will enter the land I swore with uplifted hand to make your home, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun” (Num. 14:30). Caleb and Joshua believed the future is in God’s hands. The others did not. Faith in God’s power is essential to an obedient walk with Him. God proved Himself faithful; He rewarded Caleb’s faith by giving him and his descendants part of the Promised Land.

By studying the way Caleb believed God held the future, believers realize the magnitude of Caleb’s faith in God and God’s ability to prove His strength.

This passage also touches on other key truths: The Bible is God's Word and People are God's Treasure.

Numbers 14:20 God heard Moses’ prayer and forgave the people by not destroying them. God’s action was consistent with His character. Moses quoted God’s own description of His character from their encounter on Mount Sinai (Num. 14:18; Ex. 34:6). God is “slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion.” God had revealed His character to Moses with these words. Moses offered those words to God in prayer. God does forgive sin. He longs to be gracious and compassionate to His people. Yet forgiveness does not remove consequences. God is the One who ordained consequences to rebellion and sin. His character consists of both mercy and justice.

Numbers 14:21–23 God forgave the people, restoring their relationship with Him and showing them His mercy. But while God forgave the people, He also executed justice. God told Moses He would forgive the people, but not one of them who “treated God with contempt” would enter the land He had promised them. God’s mercy and justice are the two sides of the coin for God’s character. God’s actions are similar to a parent’s discipline of a child. The parent will forgive the trespass but disciplines the child to teach him or her that disobedient actions have consequences.

Numbers 14:24 God recognized Caleb’s faith in His judgment. Caleb, whose name meant “dog,” was one who had a “different spirit” and followed God “wholeheartedly.” God said this faithful spy would enter the land. God contrasted Caleb’s spirit with that of the others who saw the land and did not trust God to overcome their enemies. Caleb was different because he trusted God’s words and called the people to obedience doing what God told them to do. “Wholeheartedly” means Caleb had no reservations in following God. God rewarded Caleb’s faith by promising him and his descendants a portion of the land he had seen firsthand. God honored Caleb’s unquestioning trust in Him.

Numbers 14:25–35 God’s instructions to Moses were as clear as when He told him to go to Pharaoh and tell him to let God’s people go (Ex. 3:10). God told Moses to turn the people back toward the Red Sea the next morning. He said, “Since the Amalekites and the Canaanites are living in the valleys, turn back . . .” (v. 25). God did not fear these people. But the Israelites did, and God directed them away from those they feared. Then God explained why He was sending the people into the wilderness. They grumbled against God rather than obeying Him. So God allowed them to experience what they had grumbled about: They would turn back toward Egypt and not go into the land (vv. 26–28).

God allows people to make choices, and gives each person freedom to trust Him or not. God allowed the Israelites to have what they wanted, but they would not make it to Egypt. God said every adult twenty years of age and older would die in the desert, except Caleb and Joshua (v. 29–30). God would allow the children of the unfaithful to enter the country He had promised them (v. 33). The parents thought their children would be plunder for their enemies, but God let them have what their parents refused. God determined the people would wander in the desert for forty years—one year for every day the spies explored the land (v. 34). God’s word of judgment was as certain as His word of promise for the land (v. 35).

Numbers 14:36–38 What about the ten who stirred the people up not to follow God? God struck them down with a plague even before the rest of the people turned back to wander in the wilderness. Of the twelve sent in to see what God had given to Israel, only Caleb and Joshua survived to see the Promised Land.

A footnote to this story is that the people confessed their sin but tried to make things right on their own by attacking the Amalekites and Canaanites living in the hill country (Num. 14:39–45). They were soundly defeated because God was not with them.

God was true to His word to Caleb. After Joshua led the people to defeat their enemies, Caleb came forward to remind his fellow spies what God had promised him (Josh. 14). He reminded Joshua of God’s promise to him at Kadesh Barnea after he had remained faithful to God’s command and the other spies had caused the people’s hearts to “melt with fear” (Josh. 14:8). The people had false expectations about the reality of the situation. God was more powerful than the giants in the land, but they had chosen not to believe this truth.

Caleb had survived the forty years in the wilderness and was 85 years old when he finally received the land of God’s promise. He had to live with the sins of his peers, but he received God’s reward for his faithfulness (Josh. 14:7–12). Joshua gave him the choice land of Hebron. Caleb accepted the responsibility for taking the land and defeated the “three sons of Anak” (Judg. 1:19–20), those whom the ten spies had feared when they gave their report to the people (Num. 13:28). 

This passage has special implications for believers who struggle with understanding how God’s mercy and justice fit together. God is both merciful and just. In this passage, God showed mercy when He forgave the people for their rebellion, and He showed justice by sentencing them to forty years wandering in the wilderness. God is slow to anger and forgives those who oppose Him, but He also executes justice so that those who belong to Him can be instruments of His will. Forgiveness of sin does not mean consequences disappear. This example of the disbelieving Israelites contrasts sharply with Caleb’s faith. The people showed time after time that they did not trust God and were ungrateful for His provisions, and His righteous justice meant punishment.

Caleb demonstrated his faith by standing for God’s Word when the majority refused to do what God said. Kingdom-minded life looks radically different from earth-minded living. God calls His people to believe The Future is in God's Hands and act on it. Believers living in light of God’s promises for the future are willing to take bold steps to follow God because His promises are always reliable.