I can remember several times through my growing up years when I have been punished for something others did. Once as a child when one of my siblings did something and wouldn’t confess, we all sat on chairs for a couple of hours and when no confession came, we were all punished. Another time in high school, a fellow classmate did something and the teacher kept the entire class after the bell had rung waiting for a confession that never came. And once in college, a student in the class stole the professor’s notebook early in the semester. The professor punished the entire class the whole semester by refusing to teach well and giving tests that covered material not taught. That was the longest ‘community punishment’ I ever endured. But some people sit in prison for many years of their lives because the courts were unable to sort out the truth from the lies only to find out 5 or 10 years later that they were innocent.
God had already shown the Israelites he was looking out for them. First there were the plagues in Egypt that they did not suffer though Pharaoh and the Egyptians did, the final plague being the most devastating when the first born all died. Then he parted the Red Sea for them to cross and gave them light while causing darkness over the Egyptians and finally closing the Sea over them when they kept coming after the Israelites. God provided manna and quail and water for them on their journey and their clothes and sandals did not wear out. Yet, when 12 spies were sent out (one from each tribe), only Joshua and Caleb returned with a good encouraging report that God would be with them and they could take over the land that was promised to them. The other 10 saw the descendants of Anak and how big they were, they panicked and caused the people to panic and they refused to go on. Joshua and Caleb endured 40 years of wandering in the desert for something the others did. That is a long time to be punished for someone else’s wrongdoing.
Joshua became Moses’ assistant and while we don’t hear much about Caleb during those years of wandering, I can’t help but believe he was close by. When it came time for Moses to die, God put Joshua in leadership to take the Israelites into the Promised Land. God made sure the Israelites knew that Joshua was his chosen leader for them. And he made sure Joshua knew he, God, was with him all the way. “As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you or forsake you.” Joshua 1:5 And then, over and over throughout his time of leadership, God said to him, “Be strong and courageous,” and Joshua was. As they began their journey into the Promised Land, God told Joshua, “Today I will begin to exalt you in the eyes of all Israel, so they may know that I am with you as I was with Moses.” Joshua 3:7 And that is exactly what happened. This time it was the Jordan that God parted for them.
When it came time to divide the land, Caleb got the choice land of Hebron. Moses had promised him, “He will see it, and I will give him and his descendants the land he set his feet on, because he followed the Lord wholeheartedly." Deuteronomy 1:36 Caleb was over 80 years old when he finally got there. But he was no more intimidated by the descendants of Anak than when he was 40. He understood God was with them and would go before them. He drove out the descendants of Anak and took the land and settled there. What a wonderful gift God had given him because he followed God with his whole heart.
When I try to put myself in the place of Joshua and Caleb, I wonder if I would have had the patience with the people who were rebelling and not ‘coming along’ with the plan – God’s plan – or if I would have walked away. As far as we know, once the spies returned only Moses, Joshua and Caleb believed God would give them the land. The people rebelled. And their punishment was 40 years in the desert until the generation that rebelled died off and their children would be the ones to go on. Joshua and Caleb had to wait (and endure the punishment of the others) for 40 years before the promise was fulfilled to them. It took 40 years for the people of Israel to get with the plan.
This seems to be a good study of leadership in the church. If the leadership in the church is very sure where God is leading, we need to not give up and give in to the people, but continue to lead. Maybe God is waiting for a stubborn, rebellious generation to die off before he will take the church where he is headed with them. If we are wholeheartedly seeking after God, he will lead us and stick with us the whole way. God doesn’t do everything in one generation. He works from generation to generation.
Unfortunately, people often do not respect God’s calling and if the leaders are not giving them what they want, they ‘fire’ them. What a messed up church we have become! It is so important for leaders to stay whole-hearted and steadfastly seeking after God. Leadership today, as always, calls for great wisdom and that wisdom comes only from God. And maybe we don’t have many church leaders who have parted seas or rivers, but if we are seeking whole-heartedly after God, we will see when God has ordained someone to lead. They will not fear the 'giants' of this land and they will move forward with courage following God as he goes before them showing them the way. Very likely, they will end up suffering for the sins of others as they wait patiently for people to get past their rebellion or give the next generation a try at trusting God with their lives.
I wonder where I fit into this… Leader? Encourager? Rebellious one? Maybe in different situations I fall into various places. I think I have a lot to learn from Moses, Joshua, and Caleb. I’ll be pondering this one for a while.
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