Monday: Give Me This Hill Country
Daily Lesson for Monday 17th of November 2025
Read Joshua 14:6-14, Numbers 14:24, Numbers 32:12, Deuteronomy 1:36, and Luke 6:45. How would you describe Caleb and Joshua’s attitude? What does it mean to follow the Lord fully?
Caleb never forgot the promise the Lord had given him through Moses: that he would enter the land where his feet had trodden (Numbers 14:24). Forty years later, he refers to his own report on the land as a word “as it was in my heart” (Joshua 14:7, NKJV). His report was based on his conviction that, with God’s guidance and help, Israel would be able to conquer the land.
Image © The Classic Bible Art Collection – Formerly Standard Publishing at Goodsalt.com
In contrast to the report of the other ten spies, who inspired fear among the Israelites, Caleb manifested a wholehearted trust and commitment to the promise of the Lord. The Hebrew phrase, which literally means “I was full after the Lord” (Joshua 14:8), is probably a short form of a longer idiom: “My heart was fully following the Lord,” or “I filled my heart to walk behind/after the Lord.” In contrast with others who walked after foreign gods and who did not follow the Lord fully, Caleb’s heart was wholly dedicated to the Lord.
The same expression later is repeated twice, emphasizing Caleb’s faithfulness (Joshua 14:9,14). His own characterization is in harmony with what the Lord Himself called a “different spirit” (Numbers 14:24, NKJV) that distinguished Caleb from the other ten spies. Even at the age of 85, he continued to be an example of what the Lord can achieve through people whose hearts are fully dedicated to Him and His cause.
Caleb understood that the territory each tribe would eventually possess was directly proportionate to the extent to which they dared to claim the promises of the Lord and how much land they were willing to tread upon by faith. God’s promises are not self-fulfilling, in the sense that they come true irrespective of our will. Rather, they require faith accompanied by resolute action. The Hebrew term ’ulay, “maybe” (Joshua 14:12), can express fear and doubt, but it usually denotes hope and the anticipation that something positive will take place (Genesis 16:2; Numbers 22:6,11; Numbers 23:3).
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What compromises, “small” compromises, are the kinds of things that can keep us from fully following the Lord? |
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Most of us have no idea how an electric motor works. We know it has a couple of wires at one end that need to be connected to the electricity and that there is an axle sticking out somewhere that can be attached to things to make them do work. What happens in the middle is a mystery, but we know it must work because we see the results. Fans blow air, kitchen whizzers turn a whole lot of stuff into a breakfast smoothie, trains run on tracks at high speed, and so on. The interplay of magnetic fields is, for most of us a mystery and the formulas used to describe those interactions, incomprehensible. (This illustration is very fresh in my memory because a week ago I was working with my grandson,preparing him for his HSC physics examination, and he had a question he could not answer; What role does back EMF play in electric motors?)
We do not see a lot of words in the Bible describing Caleb’s faith, but there is a lot of description about his actions. He was willing to get his hands dirty and the motivation for this was his faith. Faith was the interplay of spiritual “magnetic fields” that were the powerhouse for his actions.
James knew this when he wrote:
We may not be able to describe faith, or love, or even the working of the Holy Spirit in glowing, erudite, convincing terms. But if we have that faith, love, influence of the Holy Spirit, our actions will show where we get the power from. Some of the people of faith in my own life were persons of few words.
Some of the most influential people of faith are not the loudest or most eloquent. Like Caleb, they quietly act out their devotion, letting their lives demonstrate the power behind their beliefs.
Isaiah 30:21 says, "Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” Whenever you turn to the right hand Or whenever you turn to the left." The bible repeats this in Proverbs 3:5 when it says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths."
True faith is hungering and thirsting for the Holy Spirit to control our lives as he chooses. This is what happened to Caleb. God had an assignment for him, and he allowed God to use him to fulfill that assignment.
Maurice – I have a saying: “Life takes place between the atoms and molecules.” I see the atoms as the basic building blocks from which matter is formed. But that which brings them together - organizes them to form what we can observe as intelligent expressions of assembled molecules -, is that which I consider the ‘life-forming-essence' inhabiting the space between the atoms and molecules.
If I were an astrophysicist, my research would squarely focus on finding 'what inspires matter to form and then to hold it in place'. To me it seems that God's spirit/inspiration assembles molecules and forms it into matter.
Love - believe - faith – are inspirational influences which the Holy Spirit brings to bear on the spirit of man to ‘transform it’ into its original design - alligning the purose for the spirit to reflect its 'Designer/Owner', so enabling us to do that which we were designed to do from the beginning – Eph.2:10.
Caleb’s bold request, “Give me this hilly country,” stands as a powerful testimony about trusting God’s promises even when the task seems impossible (Joshua 14:12). At an age when most people slow down, Caleb looked at the giants and the fortified city of Hebron and still believed God would deliver what He had promised. He had survived the desert years and had witnessed God’s mighty works, the parting of the Red Sea (Exodus 14:21-22), the fall of Jericho (Joshua 6:20), and the victory at Ai (Joshua 8:18-26). These difficult days had shaped in him an unparalleled strength, not because of his age or ability, but because he had learned to anchor his courage in the Lord. His example teaches us that when God makes a promise, we can face any “giant” without fear.
We are called to stand in the strength of our God,remembering the victories He has already brought us through. Difficult seasons become testimonies of God’s faithfulness, strengthening us to face the next challenge with confidence. Caleb’s request was not for ease or comfort, but for an opportunity to see God work again through him. In the same way, when we walk with the Lord, we can say with Caleb, “The Lord helping me, I will drive them out” (Joshua 14:12). Caleb life demonstrates that faith does not retire; it rises, climbs, and conquers because it trusts in the God who has never failed.
Faith does not retire. So long as we have breath in us, we can do something, anything, that the Spirit of God inspired us to do, by faith.
Numbers 14v24 'But My servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit in him and has followed Me fully,...
How did Caleb get to have a different spirit in him and how was he able to follow God fully; what is it that he did??
Joshua and Caleb lived through the plagues in Egypt, witnessed the Passover, and walked through the Red Sea. From their youth, they saw God’s power with their own eyes. Those early experiences shaped their hearts, producing the deep trust and unshakable faith we later see when they spied out the Promised Land.
Caleb, especially, left a mark of faithful character to be admired.
While others allowed fear to silence their faith, Caleb held firmly to God’s word. His courage, loyalty, and conviction show us that true faith stands strong even when the majority chooses doubt. Caleb’s life remains a model of steady, courageous obedience for every believer today.
Other than Joshua, in the journey to and settlement in Canaan, if there are any others with great fervor, devotion, and faith in God, it will be Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite and even Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest (it's so lovely how the Bible describes them by genealogy). The three were young when their zeal and faith in God were shown. Their eagerness to do what is right in God's sight was amazement to behold. Young, decisive, and loyal.
It is no wonder that even at 85 years, Caleb was still lit with God's fire. Wow! I loved this:
(Joshua 14:10-12).
Take home: 85 years but still strong as before, ready for war; give me the mountain; give me the giant - Anakim - and his fortified city; I will drive them out as the Lord said. Wow! This is zeal extraordinaire, devotion, faith in God, and commitment like no other. It's no surprise that his name originates from the Hebrew words "kel" meaning "whole" and "lev" meaning 'hearted'. A name that means "whole-hearted" shows his loyalty and devotion. One thing we should remember is that the Kenezite, his tribe of origin, was assimilated into Israel, which says a lot. Caleb's name is mentioned a few times from Exodus to Joshua, but when mentioned, God is exalted with a bang! Wow! I don't know if you, all, are seeing what am seeing? Wow! I pray to God for this spirit of Caleb.
When I read that God's promises are not selffulfilling, that they must be followed up with action, I was awakened!
Caleb and Joshua stood out because their hearts were fully surrendered to God. While the other spies saw giants, they saw God’s promise. Caleb “followed the Lord fully” because his heart was filled with trust, courage, and an unwavering memory of God’s word (Num. 14:24; Josh. 14:6–14). What was in his heart shaped his words (Luke 6:45) and produced bold obedience.
The disciples, after Jesus ascended, revealed the same spirit of fearless faith. Filled with the Holy Spirit, they trusted God’s promises and acted with courageous obedience just as Caleb did.
The lesson is simple:
The same Spirit that made Caleb loyal and the disciples bold is available to us today. When the heart is fully yielded, God fills it with faith, courage, and power to obey.
Ellen White writes, “Wholehearted purpose, earnest faith, and unreserved surrender to God are essential for success in the Christian life. Caleb and Joshua had this spirit” (Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 512). She also says that the disciples received power because “they gave themselves fully to Christ and to His service” (Acts of the Apostles, p. 36).
I’m always inspired by the fact that Caleb—the hero who stood with Joshua—was a Kenizzite, not an Israelite by birth. His people came from outside the covenant line, yet by faith he became a leader in Judah and a shining example of wholehearted trust in God.
When others saw giants, Caleb saw God’s promises. When the crowd feared, he stood firm. His life reminds us that it’s not our background that defines us—it’s our faith in God.
No one is an outsider in God’s family. Like Caleb, anyone who chooses to trust God fully can claim the mountain He has prepared for them.
“... As it was in my heart”, or, “I speak to this from my heart”, shows that the ‘heart’ is composed of all the inner workings of what it means to be ‘human’. Considering the heart to be the place were feelings and thoughts are formed and what we accept and reject in life, we ought to guard it with the love for our heavenly Father; carefully questioning what enters our mind, eyes, ears, and mouth, as our character and desires are formed by them - Matt.15:10-12.
Our alienation from our Creator caused chaos in the life of man. Still harboring dishonesty, holding grudges and unforgiveness, opening oneself up to viewing graphic violence for entertainment, using coarse language – all are remnants from the old nature. Following the Lord requires us to be dedicated to our new, born-again nature – John 3:1-7.
Scripture describes the heart as ‘deceitful’, but also assures us that the Holy Spirit can transform it to follow God’s Will and Way. Yes, ‘a heart fully dedicated to the Lord is a marvelous, wonderful thing!’- Col.3:12-13.
I feel like it would have been easy for Caleb to become bitter. He was faithful to God and had to wait 40 more years to receive what he knew God would do for Israel. Though he didn't die in the wilderness with his peers it was a long wait. But in Joshua we see that his joy and trust in the Lord never wanes. Oh to have that same trust.
God is a person detailed to the atom. However, most of the time, we are unable to comprehend His ways due to our limited knowledge. We may insist on our reality and forget Who is in control of every single reaction happening in our own bodies. May we be open to the blessings God has already bestowed upon us, stop complaining, and be grateful for the battles He has already won for us.
Chapter 2 in the book Satisfied by Mark Finely focuses on Caleb's winning attitude. The entire book is worth a read.