“GIVE ME THIS MOUNTAIN”

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“GIVE ME THIS MOUNTAIN”
by Philip Owen

By rights, Caleb might have requested some rest and relaxation if not outright retirement. He and Joshua had been the only ones of the twelve spies sent into Canaan to come back with a positive report and a vote to go right up and conquer the land that the Lord had promised to give His people. The other ten had gone as far as Hebron, where they had encountered the sons of Anak, all giants.

So the ten had “brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, the land through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of great stature. And there we saw giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so were we in their sight” (Num. 13:32, 33).

The fear and unbelief of the ten spies provoked the people to murmur against the Lord, and, as a consequence, the Lord declared: “all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles . . . shall not see the land which I sware unto their father . . . But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and that followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it” (Num. 14:22-24).

There followed forty years of wandering in the wilderness by which time only Caleb and Joshua remained out of the original adult population. And when they finally had entered Canaan, Caleb had been eighty years old. Nevertheless, he had entered the fray alongside Joshua with gusto and had defeated many of the inhabitants and conquered much territory.

Now he was eighty-five years old and surely deserving of rest and the opportunity to enjoy the spoils of war for a brief period before he died. But it was not in Caleb’s heart to rest when there were still battles to be fought and ground to be won. He turned to Joshua and demanded: “give me this mountain, whereof the Lord spake in that day; for thou heardest in that day how the Anakims were there, and that the cities were great and fenced: if so be the Lord will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the Lord said” (Josh. 14:12).

What was “this mountain” that he asked for? Did he want it because it presented beautiful vistas to enjoy during his golden years? Had he learned of a vein of gold that he wanted to prospect? No. It was Hebron, the citadel of the giants. Caleb asked for the hard place.

Martin Luther shared Caleb’s spirit. Nearly five hundred years ago, he wrote: “If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest expression every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ. Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved, and to be steady on all the battlefield besides, is mere flight and disgrace, if he flinches at that point.”

From what quarter is the attack against the truth of God coming today? It is just there that godly men are called to stand and to fight against sin and error. So, what will we do? Will we compromise the truth, or will we be the Caleb’s and Luther’s of our generation?

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“GIVE ME THIS MOUNTAIN” by Philip Owen

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“GIVE ME THIS MOUNTAIN”
by Philip Owen