Caleb

I have come to one of my favourite Bible characters – Caleb. Oh dear! In looking up Caleb's history, I found there are 11 entries in my Bible Dictionary. They look interesting, so I will have to check them all, won't I?

Caleb was of the tribe of Judah. Now Judah is listed in the Glossary of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures (by Mary Baker Eddy) as: "A corporeal material belief progressing and disappearing; the spiritual understanding of God and man appearing" (p. 589:23). A good line to be in!

There were twelve men sent to check out the land of Canaan from the wilderness of Paran, on the east side of the Sinai Peninsula. Two of the twelve gave the enterprise the go-ahead – they could see that it was possible to take the land. 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” (Numbers 13: 30). However, the men who went with him thought they were not strong enough to do the job. So the journey to the Promised Land had to take the longer route.

Caleb and Joshua were the only ones of the group to enter the Promised Land – the others died in the wilderness.

But Joshua forgot that God's promise included Caleb, and he was ignored when the land was divided up. Really the whole of Caleb's story is encapsulated in Joshua Chapter 14. He put his case to Joshua and received what was due to him. Hebron was his inheritance.

Joyce Voysey