Caleb – La Vista Church of Christ

Being Different

Jeffrey Hamilton — Sat, 17 Oct 2026 18:34:00 +0000

by David Gibson

Has anyone ever told you that you are different? If so, was it a compliment, a criticism, or simply an observation?

Jesus told us we should be salt and light (Matthew 5:13-16). Because light is different from darkness, and salt from its surroundings, they are useful and beneficial. When we dare to be different, we are then in a position to make a positive difference in our dark and decaying society (Philippians 2:15).

But because Christians stand out from the crowd, they are often shunned and even persecuted for it (I Peter 4:3-5). Faithful Christians are always in the minority (Matthew 7:13-14). Christians who blend in with the world are not faithful (II Timothy 4:10). “If you were of the world,” Jesus told His disciples, “the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but because I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you” (John 15:19; see John 7:7).

The Man Who Stood Out

God said of Caleb that he had “a different spirit” (Numbers 14:24). Different from whom and in what way?

Six times in three books of the Old Testament it says that Caleb followed the Lord fully (Numbers 14:22-24; 32:11-12; Deuteronomy 1:35-36; Joshua 14:8-9, 13-14). Because this is mentioned so often, obviously God does not want us to miss it. His full obedience to the Lord explains what made Caleb different.

Of the twelve spies who reported on their exploratory expedition into Canaan, only Caleb and Joshua said Israel could take the land as God directed. The others, God said, “did not follow Me fully” (Numbers 32:11). Their complete trust in God enabled Caleb and Joshua to follow the Lord fully. The others who did not trust fully did not follow fully. Because Joshua and Caleb stood firm against the naysayers, who even threatened to stone them, they hold a place of high honor in Scripture.

Warning and Encouragement

Being different comes at a high cost. There is a great reward for being different.

Some people are spiritually strong for a time, but as the years go by, they drift from their initial commitment, as Solomon and the Christians addressed in Galatians and Hebrews did.

In sharp contrast, Caleb followed the Lord fully at age 40, and at 85 he was still following the Lord fully (Joshua 14:6-14). How pleased God is with consistent, unwavering, lifelong commitment!

Caleb set the pace for us to follow!

The Ancestry of Caleb

Jeffrey Hamilton — Fri, 11 Apr 2025 21:07:25 +0000

by Doy Moyer

One interesting rabbit hole is found in this little conundrum: Was Caleb of the tribe of Judah, or was he a descendant of the Edomites? Hang on because there is an important point to be made here that is more than just a question of interest.

Caleb is known for his strong faith, unlike the spies who were too afraid to go up and possess the land (Numbers 13-14). His obedience to the Lord resulted in the area of Hebron, in what became Judah, being given to him and his family (Joshua 15:13; 21:12; Deut 1:36). Ultimately, his faithfulness is the example we ought to consider “because he wholly followed the LORD, the God of Israel” (Joshua 14:14).

Yet, the following pieces of information about his family are couched within the story of Caleb. He is listed as “the son of Jephunneh” and given a portion of land “among the people of Judah” (Joshua 15:13). Numbers 13:6 lists Caleb as being “from the tribe of Judah.” That seems cut and dry until we run into the fact that his father, Jephunneh, was a Kenizzite (Numbers 32:11; Joshua 14:6). Othniel, Caleb’s brother and the first of the judges, was said to be the son of Kenaz (Joshua 15:17; Judges 1:13; 3:9).

Here’s the issue: what we know of the Kenizzites is that they were part of the Edomites, descendants of Esau, and people who would be dispossessed of the land (Genesis 15:19). A Kenizzite would be a descendant of Kenaz, a name listed as one of the chiefs of the sons of Esau (Genesis 36:15).

One possibility is that there was another man from Judah named Kenaz and unrelated to the Kenaz of Esau’s line (Othniel’s father?). Caleb later had a grandson named Kenaz (I Chronicles 4:15). This may be the simplest explanation, but is it correct? All we have to go on is that someone might be named Kenaz in the line of Judah from whom Caleb descended. Maybe. We have no particular record of it, so that is not certain.

A second, perhaps stronger, possibility is that Caleb comes from a branch of the Kenizzites who were, at some point, grafted into the family of Judah. The use of Kenizzites is only previously used of the line from Esau, and some will point out that the text does not try to hide Caleb’s Kenizzite status (although “son of Jephunneh” is used more). If this is the case, then Caleb is an example, not only of faithfulness to God generally, but specifically to the mixed people who were following Israel in the wilderness and desiring to be part of God’s covenant (see Exodus 12:38; Numbers 11:4). Caleb would be a bridge between the people of Israel and those outside of Israel who converted to follow Yahweh. This shouldn’t surprise us if we are familiar with other such examples like Rahab and Ruth, or even Uriah the Hittite. In this scenario, the answer to the original question is “both.”

Further, if Caleb’s ancestry included those from Esau, the lesson is an even stronger pointer to the nature of the Gospel message and what God would do for the faithful, whether Jew or Gentile. From the beginning, God intended to graft the nations into the tree of His people (Romans 11), and He preserved several accounts of this happening long before Jesus came into the world. Why would God accept a Caleb, a Rahab, or a Ruth? Because of their faith. Indeed, their faith often outshone the Israelites when faced with difficult decisions.

When Jesus came, He worked miracles that impacted both Jew and Gentile. He healed a centurion’s servant and a Gentile woman’s daughter (Luke 7:1-10; Mark 7:24-30). He marveled at their faith. He offered the water of life to a Samaritan woman (John 4). His message went beyond the Jews to encompass the Gentiles, and this message was foreshadowed in the lives of the faithful who themselves had some Gentile blood relatives. It’s a powerful reminder that God intends to invite all nations to His table so that He will be glorified (Revelation 4:9).

Let the faith of such people show us how to act today in a world antagonistic to God and His people.

What does Calebite refer to?

Jeffrey Hamilton — Sun, 09 Jun 2024 20:20:51 +0000

Question:

Could the term 'Calebite' in I Samuel 25, which refers to Nabal, refer to those descended from the Caleb in Joshua?

Answer:

"Now the man's name was Nabal, and his wife's name was Abigail. And the woman was intelligent and beautiful in appearance, but the man was harsh and evil in his dealings, and he was a Calebite" (I Samuel 25:3).

The last phrase in the verse is written as wehu khalevo in the Masoretic Manuscript, which means "and he like his heart." However, the Masoretic text had a vowel-pointing system added to the text in the seventh or eighth centuries A.D.

"The written text has, "he was according to his heart," celibbo, i.e. a self-willed man, or one whose rude exterior answered to his inner nature; but there are linguistic difficulties in the way of this reading, and the Kri is probably right in correcting calibbi, a Calebite, a descendant of Caleb, who had large possessions assigned him in the neighborhood of Hebron (Joshua 15:13-19), which is only ten miles northwest of Carmel" [Pulpit Commentary].

It is almost universally believed that the person adding the vowel points made a mistake.

Response:

Thanks!

Where is the Scripture that states Abraham’s strength did not diminish?

Jeffrey Hamilton — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 23:04:00 +0000

Question:

Where is the Scripture that states Abraham's strength did not diminish?

Answer:

I believe you are confusing Abraham with Moses.

Regarding Abraham's life, the Bible says, "This is the sum of the years of Abraham's life which he lived: one hundred and seventy-five years. Then Abraham breathed his last and died in a good old age, an old man and full of years, and was gathered to his people" (Genesis 25:7-8).

Regarding Moses' life, we read, "Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died. His eyes were not dim nor his natural vigor diminished" (Deuteronomy 34:7).

The only other which mentions remaining strong into old age was Caleb. "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" (Joshua 14:10-11).

What saved Joshua and Caleb?

Jeffrey Hamilton — Sat, 02 Dec 2006 16:30:40 +0000

Question:

While teaching then the book of Numbers last evening all went pretty well until we arrived at chapter 14. The question was asked: "Apparently, what saved Joshua and Caleb?"

I said that it was Moses because he was their mediator and interceded for the people. Several in the class disagreed and said it was "God" citing verse 10. I cited verses 13-19 and also argued that verse 20 shows that it was the Lord alright but because of "Moses" who was acting as mediator. They did not accept my answer. Am I wrong?

Yesterday I did some more studying on this issue and have come up with a couple more thoughts.

It was God through Moses, their mediator. (I Corinthians 10:1-4)
It was their faith because the question asks "what" not "who" saved Joshua and Caleb. They were the only two of the twelve spies who believed God would deliver the land of giants into their hands. The other ten were lost because of their unbelief. Joshua and Caleb were saved because of their belief. (Hebrews 3:7-8,12).
Or, another thought, the question could be asking what "event" saved them?

Answer:

First, you must decide from what Joshua and Caleb were being saved.

"But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes; and they spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying: "The land we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. If the LORD delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, 'a land which flows with milk and honey.' Only do not rebel against the LORD, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread; their protection has departed from them, and the LORD is with us. Do not fear them." And all the congregation said to stone them with stones. Now the glory of the LORD appeared in the tabernacle of meeting before all the children of Israel" (Numbers 14:6-10).

Here the people were ready to stone Joshua and Caleb because they disagreed with them. Because the Lord interfered, they were saved from the wrath of the people.

But God was so upset with the people that He was ready to wipe them all out and start over with Moses and his descendants. The implication is that Joshua and Caleb would be caught up in the destruction as well.

"Then the LORD said to Moses: "How long will these people reject Me? And how long will they not believe Me, with all the signs which I have performed among them? I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they." And Moses said to the LORD: "Then the Egyptians will hear it, for by Your might You brought these people up from among them, and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that You, LORD, are among these people; that You, LORD, are seen face to face and Your cloud stands above them, and You go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night. Now if You kill these people as one man, then the nations which have heard of Your fame will speak, saying, 'Because the LORD was not able to bring this people to the land which He swore to give them, therefore He killed them in the wilderness.' And now, I pray, let the power of my Lord be great, just as You have spoken, saying, 'The LORD is longsuffering and abundant in mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He by no means clears the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation.' Pardon the iniquity of this people, I pray, according to the greatness of Your mercy, just as You have forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now." Then the LORD said: "I have pardoned, according to your word" (Numbers 14:11-20).

Because Moses was willing to stand between the people and the Lord, pleading on the people's behalf, they all were saved from destruction. Thus Joshua and Caleb, by implication, were saved from this purging of Israel by Moses' prompt action.

"But truly, as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD - because all these men who have seen My glory and the signs which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have put Me to the test now these ten times, and have not heeded My voice, they certainly shall not see the land of which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who rejected Me see it. But My servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit in him and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land where he went, and his descendants shall inherit it" (Numbers 14:21-24).

Justice required that punishment still be dealt to the people who rejected God. This led to the condemnation of the people to wander in the wilderness for forty years until that generation died out. But an exception was made for Caleb, and for Joshua (Numbers 14:30). Caleb was saved from death in the wilderness because of his complete obedience to the Lord. This is verified later. "Surely none of the men who came up from Egypt, from twenty years old and above, shall see the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, because they have not wholly followed Me, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh, the Kenizzite, and Joshua the son of Nun, for they have wholly followed the LORD" (Numbers 32:11-12, see also Deuteronomy 1:35-38).

Dying in the wilderness was too good for the men who brought the bad report.

"Now the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, who returned and made all the congregation complain against him by bringing a bad report of the land, those very men who brought the evil report about the land, died by the plague before the LORD. But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive, of the men who went to spy out the land" (Numbers 14:36-38).

Thus Joshua and Caleb were saved from dying with the rest of the spies because of their deed -- bringing a good report to the people and stating that God would give them the land.

Obviously, Joshua and Caleb's deed cannot be separated from their faith (James 2:14-28). Their good report and their willingness to stand against the people demonstrated the strength of their faith. But what we notice and what we are told is what they did. "Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure" (Philippians 2:12-13).