Adventures in the Land of CanaanBerry, R. L. (Robert Lee)
Religion
Adventures in the Land of Canaan
Berry, R. L. (Robert Lee)
Christian life
Suppose we imagine we have an invitation to visit Caleb today (Numbers
13:30; Joshua 14:6-14), and we embrace the opportunity.
We should expect to find the old warrior at home on such a day because
it is bright and fair; he did the most of his fighting in bad weather.
It is not far to Hebron, where he makes his home. See, we are there now!
Isn't the prospect from here beautiful and inspiring! To the north along
the ridge is Bethlehem and Jerusalem; to the east the silvery waters of
the Dead Sea glitter in the sun; westward is Gath, where Goliath the
giant came from; and to the south is Beersheba.
Tell us, Caleb, some of your experiences in Canaan.
"Forty and five years ago I first saw Hebron. It was when Moses had sent
twelve spies, of whom I was one, to determine the character of the people
and land of Canaan. Long ago our father Abraham trod this soil, and God
Almighty promised to give it to him and his seed for an everlasting
inheritance. When I first heard of Canaan, down in Egypt, my faith was
strong that it was a good land, flowing with milk and honey, as God said,
and I longed to set foot upon it.
"When we twelve first left Kadesh-barnea for Canaan [Numbers 13:1-3,
17-33], I noticed that ten of the spies kept close together; but Joshua
and I were eager to see all that we could of the land, and we ranged as
far and wide as we could. Not far from where your feet rest now we got
our first sight of the Anakims, giants of Canaan. They were giants indeed.
Their legs looked like tree-trunks, and covering their faces was a dense
growth of beard out of which their eyes gleamed like crystals in a
haystack. The sight of them set my heart all aflutter, because I knew
at once that they were very dangerous foes, not easily reckoned with.
We were very cautious that they should not see us, and I must say that
part of our company trembled violently with fear and, as soon as we got
away a little distance, they ran with all their might.
"But something in my heart said that if God gave this land to Israel,
then God would give us power over the Anakims, no matter how many or how
strong they were.
"By and by we came to the walled cities. Joshua and I talked over the
matter of taking them. While we could not see just how we were to do it,
we decided that, since God had unmistakably promised the land to Abraham,
and since He had already marvelously delivered us from the hand of
Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and his dark bondage, and since He had helped
us along through the wilderness and now had brought us to the very borders
of the land, surely He expected us to have Canaan. And this I told to
the others.
"'We can never take it,' they said, 'never in the world. Let us get out
of here and back into Egypt as quickly as we can. We feel so faint. We
can not conquer such a country. Why, see those giants, we are no bigger
than grasshoppers by the side of them! And look at those walls, reaching
almost to the sky! Let us get back.'
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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