"Twelve men went to spy out Canaan, ten were bad and two were good." Do you remember hearing that old Sunday School tune? One of the "good" spies was, of course, Joshua who is now leading the people in Moses' stead. The other spy who was "good" is a man named Caleb.
Caleb is 85 years old in Joshua 14, which means 45 years had rolled by since he was sent to spy out the land. During that time, all the other men of his generation had passed away as a result of their disobedience. But Caleb had been honest and obedient and faithful. As a result, he lived to enter the Promised Land and receive his inheritance. In fact, he maintained that he was just as strong and robust as at the time of his spying days 45 years earlier (vs. 11).
Because Caleb had been one of the good spies, Moses made him a special promise - everywhere that he had walked in the Promised Land would be his possession (vs. 9) With the time drawing near for the apportionment of the land by Joshua and Eleazar the priest, Caleb comes forward to claim the area known as Hebron. Hebron is an important city in the Bible, having been the land Abraham purchased for a burial site (Genesis 23:2, 19) as well as the future capital city under King David before Jerusalem is conquered.
The assignment of the land to Caleb and his family is another promise being kept!
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