Give Me This Mountain

"Now therefore give me this mountain, whereof the LORD spake in that day; for thou heardest in that day how the Anakims werethere, 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." (Joshua 14:12)

Text: Joshua 14: 6-15

Probably the first thing a person learns when they make a quality decision to live by faith is that the answer to their prayers is almost never manifested immediately. The Bible says that it is through faith and patience that we inherit the promises of God (Heb. 6:12).

Timing is of the utmost importance when it comes to receiving from God. All believers need the confident assurance that God is never late when it comes to answering their prayers. On the other hand, neither is He early. Patience, therefore, is what God uses to keep us in His perfect timing and faith is our positive response to His ability to perform what He has promised (Rom. 4:21).

Jesus, when informed of the sickness of His friend Lazarus, stayed two more days in the place where He was at. His explanation for His delay in going to the scene of His friend’s eventual death is found in John 11:14, 15a: “Then Jesus said to them plainly, ‘Lazarus is dead. And I am glad for your sake that I was not there, that you may believe.’” Going through a phase of waiting from the time you first believe to the time of manifestation will build your faith and help you to believe to a greater degree. It is during this time of waiting that persistence and tenacity needs to be built up in the life of all believers who sincerely wish to walk by faith.

Faith that is persistent is faith that gets the job done. It is a quality of faith that forces its way into the kingdom, takes it by storm, and remains there and does not rest satisfied until it receives what it is believing for. Persistence is the power of continuing in some effort or course of action in spite of difficulty or opposition. It means to be steadfast in purpose, to pursue to an end, to go on stubbornly, to remain unchanged or fixed on a character. Persistent and tenacious faith doesn't look at the failures of the past but at the promises of the Word of God. It is a faith that refuses to be denied.

The story of Caleb going into the Promised Land is a tale of a man who did not let go of a promise made to him many years before. With possessive boldness the old man Caleb stood before his long time friend, Joshua, who was now leader of the Israelites and made the proclamation, “Give me this mountain!”

Like Joshua, Caleb had been one of the twelve spies Moses sent into the Promised Land to spy out the Land of Canaan. Caleb reminds Joshua of this in Joshua 14:7, “I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh Barnea to spy out the land, and I brought back word to him as it was in my heart.” Ten of the twelve spies brought back an evil report saying, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we” (Num. 13:31). They later said in vs. 33, “We were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”

Caleb and Joshua, however, came back with a good report. “Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, ‘Let us go up at once and take possession for we are well able to overcome it” (Num. 13:30). Because of his good report, Caleb now reminds Joshua of a promise made to him by Moses, “So Moses swore on that day saying, “Surely the land where your foot has trodden shall be your inheritance and your children’s forever because you have fully followed the Lord my God” (Joshua 14:9).

The old generation of murmuring and disbelieving Israelites had died off in the wilderness and now the new generation, along with Joshua and Caleb, were ready to take possession of the Promised Land. Caleb was now eighty-five years old and he felt he was still just as strong as he had been when he went into Canaan as a spy. The land now had rest from war and Caleb was ready to go on with his life.

Before Joshua divided the Promised Land among the other tribes he would give his faithful friend first choice of what land he wanted. As his inheritance Caleb had chosen Mount Hebron where a race of giants called the Anakims still had control of the land. Moses had promised him a place of his own and now he wanted to take over that land.

Joshua 14 tells us, “Then the children of Judah came to Joshua in Gilgal and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, the Kenizzite said to him, “You know the word which the Lord said to Moses the man of God concerning you and me in Kadesh Barnea. As yet, I am as strong this day as I was on the day that Moses sent me; just as my strength was then, so now is my strength for war, both for going out and for coming in.

“Now therefore, give me this mountain of which the Lord spoke in that day; for you heard in that day how the Anakim were there, and that the cities were great and fortified. It may be that the Lord will be with me, and I shall be able to drive them out as the Lord said.’ And Joshua blessed him and gave Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephunneh as an inheritance” (vs. 6,11-13).

In order for Caleb to take possession of his inheritance he would have to once again go to war and risk his life and those of his men. To gain what was rightfully his, Caleb would have to force his way onto the mountain and take it by storm. Joshua chapter fifteen goes on to tell us that this is precisely what he did. For those of us living today under the new covenant, Mount Hebron might symbolize any one of the many blessings God promises us in His Word. The promises available to us today are greater than those in the day of Joshua and Caleb. 2 Peter 1:4a says, “…by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises.”

We may not be living in the Promised Land but we are in the land of promises. The good news is found in 2 Corinthians 1:20 which says, “For all the promises of God in Him are yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.” Because of this verse and our relationship with Jesus Christ, we can boldly go before the throne of God and say, “Give me this mountain! It’s mine! Your Word promised it to me and I take possession of it now! In the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, I believe, I receive! So be it!” All faith needs is “Thus saith the Lord…”

Caleb held on to the promise of God and waited forty-five years to receive his inheritance. Sad to say, most people give up if they have to wait forty-five days or, for that matter, forty-five hours. Like Caleb, we must all learn Paul’s message in Galatians 6:9, “And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we will reap if we do not lose heart.”

The mountain is yours! Do not lose possession of it because of a simple thing called ‘time.’ Be like David who said in Ps. 31:14,15a, “But as for me, I trust in You, O Lord; I say, You are my God. My times are in Your hand…” If you have made Jesus the Lord of your life, then also make Him the Lord of your time.

You can trust Him. He will not let you down. And if you do not lose heart, you can count on Him to give you your mountain. Receive it today in Jesus name! Amen.

*** Written by Randall J. Brewer ***

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