“Glory to the Precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ”

Psalms 26: 1 Vindicate me, O Lord, for I have walked in my integrity. I have also trusted in the Lord; I shall not slip.

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen

Hallelujah 

If we, the bride, the church follow God wholly with an upright heart, God’s strength will not decrease in us.

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, in the portion of the Bible that we meditated upon in the past days, we meditated with patterns that we, the bride, the church have become one within Christ Jesus by baptism.

Next, what we are meditating is that Joshua 14: 6 – 15 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. 

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. 

Nevertheless my brethren who went up with me made the heart of the people melt, but I wholly followed the Lord my God. 

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 wholly followed the Lord my God.’ 

And now, behold, the Lord has kept me alive, as He said, these forty-five years, ever since the Lord spoke this word to Moses while Israel wandered in the wilderness; and now, here I am this day, eighty-five years old. 

As yet I am as strong this day as 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. 

Hebron therefore became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite to this day, because he wholly followed the Lord God of Israel. 

And the name of Hebron formerly was Kirjath Arba (Arba was the greatest man among the Anakim). Then the land had rest from war.

In the above-mentioned verses, 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. 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. Nevertheless my brethren who went up with me made the heart of the people melt, but I wholly followed the Lord my God.

But what the servant of the Lord, Moses told was that surely the land where your foot has trodden shall be your inheritance and your children’s forever, because you have wholly followed the Lord my God and he swore this. In this manner, the Lord has kept me alive. These forty-five years, ever since the Lord spoke this word to Moses while Israel wandered in the wilderness; and now, here I am this day, eighty-five years old. As yet I am as strong this day as 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.” Then Joshua blessed Caleb and gave Hebron as an inheritance to him.

My dear people, the explanation of what is written above is that Caleb coming to Gilgal, God is showing as a pattern to salvation.  That is, the place where the reproaches of Israel were removed is Gilgal. That Israel, the church in their journey of faith became free from the bondage of Egypt and God redeemed and took them by his servant and when they crossed Jordan and were coming they were without circumcision and because their children who were born on the way in the wilderness were without circumcision, according to what the Lord said they circumcised them.

Then till they were healed they stayed in their own camp. So the Lord in that place told Joshua that because the reproach of Egypt has been removed from among your midst, that place will be called Gilgal says the Lord.  Therefore, when we have been delivered from the bondage of sin and redeemed by the blood of Christ and the place where we take a covenant with Him and when spiritual worship is manifested in our soul, the reproach of Egypt is being removed from us. Not only that, but we will be filled with the spirit of God and we will be worshipping and with a holy soul we must wholly follow God with a upright heart. Then God will fill our soul with his strength.

This is what happened in the life of Caleb. The promise that God gave him in his fortieth year he held on to it firmly. The reason for that is his upright heart. Therefore even in his eighty fifth year his strength was not decreased. Because his strength was not decreased, he said to Joshua that we will do the spiritual fight and will inherit the mountain land of Anakim the giants. Why the Lord is showing this as a pattern is that God’s strength is enough to gain the souls in which any type of deeds of giants may be there and if we want to receive such kind of strength, he is saying that we must serve God wholly with a upright heart. Such kind of people he said will do the spiritual fight and will be able to overcome. Even in our old age our strength will not decreased and this he is showing as a pattern using Caleb.

In this manner, Hebron is being made as an inheritance for Caleb. Hebron means it has become peace for us. That peace is our Lord Jesus Christ. Before its name was Kirjath Arba. Arba was the greatest man among the Anakim. Then the land had rest from war.

The reason for this is that when we are saved by God and when we put on the strength of God and that strength is the word of God, then that is a fortress, protection, fort, refuge for us. Also by his word we can overcome the spirit of the giant. In this manner, when we put on the strength of God and overcome the spirit of the giant, we will get the peace of God. Let us submit in this manner to receive victory.

Let us pray. May the Lord bless you all abundantly. 

- To be continued