"GIVE ME THIS MOUNTAIN" (1):
The Requester Typified Christ
Joshua 14:12

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Our text is in the account describing Caleb making his request to Joshua for the inheritance he had been promised forty-five years earlier by Moses at Kadesh Barnea (vv.6-15).

1. Caleb was true to his name (v.6). The name Caleb means "dog". Although "dog" often is a derogatory term in Scriptures, as signifying a worthless one (1 Samuel 17:43) and a fool (Proverbs 26:11), such is not the case here. The name "dog" is here used as a term of affection, stressing the quality of obedience and faithfulness, as a dog has to his master. Caleb was indeed as faithful and as obedient as a dog should be. He therefore was not ashamed to be identified by this term.

Likewise, Christ is true to His name. Like Caleb the dog, He was faithful and obedient to His Master. Christ was true also to His name "Jesus". He was given this name at His birth "for He will save His people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21). He was true to His mission, and has fully accomplished it. He was given a people by God His Father before the foundation of the world, and in His earthly ministry He saved and preserved every one of them (John 17:6-12). He therefore will at the final day present to His Father all that had been given to Him, saying, "Here am I and the children whom God has given Me" (Hebrews 2:13).

It is therefore self-evident that we here are not speaking of that one Paul identifies as "another Jesus" of "a different gospel" (2 Corinthians 11:4). For example, some speak of a Jesus who tried to save everyone through making an atonement for all without exception, but who will fail to save any who do not make his atonement effectual through some work of righteousness (e.g., faith or baptism), and who therefore in and of himself will save none. Such a "Jesus" is not true to his name.

2. Caleb was identified with the tribe of Judah (v.6). Caleb was with "the children of Judah [who] came to Joshua in Gilgal". He is identified with Judah also when he is first introduced, as the representative of that tribe among the men sent by Moses from Kadesh Barnea to spy out the land of Canaan (Numbers 13:6).

Likewise, Christ is identified with Judah. "For it is evident that our Lord arose from Judah" (Hebrews 7:14). Judah is in both His genealogies (Matthew 1:1ff; Luke 3:23ff). He is the fulfillment of the Messianic prophecy of His patriarch Jacob in saying, "The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh comes; and to Him shall be the obedience of the people" (Genesis 49:10). He was born "in Bethlehem of Judea, ... in the land of Judah" (Matthew 2:5f / Micah 5:2). He is "the Lion of the tribe of Judah" (Revelation 5:4) who alone can loosen the seals that open the scroll revealing God's complete decree and purpose for the entire world throughout all ages from beginning to end.

3. Caleb came to his lord at the place where Jehovah had removed reproach from Israel (v.6). The name of the place was "Gilgal". This was the place in Canaan where the Israelites crossed the Jordan River. Immediately upon doing so, Jehovah required all the Israelite males to be circumcised, because they had been born in the wilderness where the circumcisions required by the law of God had not been performed. "Then the LORD said to Joshua, 'This day I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.' Therefore the name of the place is called Gilgal to this day" (Joshua 5:2-9). This means either: i) no longer would the Egyptians reproach them as people who would never occupy the land they claimed their God had promised them (see Numbers 13:14-16); ii) or no longer would they bear the reproach of being a nation of slaves in an idolatrous land, but rather as freemen in their own land serving Jehovah. Or perhaps it means both!

Likewise Christ came to a place where He removed the reproach of His people. This He did in His death on Mount Calvary. Christ's people are therefore assured "In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ" (Colossians 2:11). Consequently, all reproaches against them have been removed (vv.13f): "And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross." Christ's people are therefore those whose "circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God" (Romans 2:29). God will not reproach those who have been circumcised by Christ.

4. Caleb was whole-heartedly faithful to Jehovah even when all others forsook Him (v.8). He said, "Nevertheless my brethren who went up with me made the heart of the people melt, but I wholly followed the LORD my God." Caleb here refers to the incident at Kadesh Barnea. Even when others rebelled against Jehovah, Cable whole-heartedly believed and followed Him.

Likewise Christ was whole-heartedly faithful to Jehovah even when all others forsook Him. "There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside" (Romans 3:11f). Christ is the lone exception among those born of woman. He is the only son of man who ever exercised perfect faith in God and rendered perfect obedience Him. And He did so from the womb to the tomb, and even when men mocked Him for doing so (Psalm 22:7-10).

5. Caleb reminded his lord of the inheritance he had been promised earlier as the reward for his faithfulness (vv.6-9). This promise was of the land he had personally espied, and was made by Moses at Kadesh Barnea (Numbers 14:24).

Likewise Christ reminded His Lord of the inheritance He had been promised before as the reward for His faithfulness. Jehovah the Father in eternity decreed that if His Son were faithful to the terms of the Covenant of Redemption, Christ would receive a people from all the nations for His reward. Jehovah therefore declares to His Son in the days of His incarnation, "Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession" (Psalm 2:8). Christ has done so!

6. Caleb had been kept alive by God ever since the promise had been made to him (v.10). "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."

Likewise Christ was kept alive by the power of God. Even when He stared death in the face, Jehovah said of Him, "I have given help to one who is mighty; I have exalted one chosen from the people" (Psalm 89:19).

7. Caleb was as strong in his old age as he was in his youth (v.11). "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." Such vigor in old age is ordinarily the decreed reward for exercising virtue and temperance in youthful years (e.g., Exodus 20:12).

Likewise Christ was as strong at the end of His life as He was in His youth. "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever" (Hebrews 13:8) - "the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, ... who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty" (Revelation 13:8).

8. Caleb desired his inheritance even though well-fortified giants had to be defeated in overtaking it (v.12): "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" (cp. Numbers 14:32f).

Likewise Christ desired His inheritance even though the well-fortified giant had to be defeated in overtaking it. Christ's inheritance was "in the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will" (2 Timothy 2:26). Christ therefore had to enter the strong man's house and bind him before He could take His inheritance from him (Matthew 12:29), and in order to prevent the giant from further deceiving them (Revelation 20:1-3).

9. Caleb was convinced he would drive his enemies from his inheritance if Jehovah would enable him (v.12): "It may be that the LORD will be with me, and I shall be able to drive them out as the LORD said."

Likewise Christ was convinced He would drive His enemy from His inheritance if Jehovah would enable Him. Jehovah has done so! Christ acknowledged "a body You have prepared for Me" (Hebrews 10:5) so that He could die in the flesh to redeem His inheritance. Jehovah further promised, "Behold! My Servant whom I uphold, My Elect One in whom My soul delights! I have put My Spirit upon Him; ... He will not fail nor be discouraged, till He has established justice in the earth" (Isaiah 42:1-4):

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