Exodus: Bondage, Deliverance, and Passover: As Yet

As Yet - Part 2 of 3

Transcript: AI Transcript

Professor: John Weaver

Subject: Old Testament Studies

Genre: Sermon

Dictation Name:

Date: 2017-07-04

Synopsis: In this sermon, Pastor John Weaver explores the 'as yet' of promise through the life of Caleb in Joshua 14. Caleb, at 85 years old, testifies that God has kept him alive and as strong as he was at 40, ready to claim the mountain promised to him. The message emphasizes God's faithfulness in preserving His people, the importance of wholly following the Lord, and the truth that God provides strength for every season of life. Applications include remaining faithful in trials, honoring God to receive His honor, and relying on His power rather than our own weakness.

[John Weaver] Oh boy, well, all right Joshua chapter 14 Joshua chapter 14 and verse 11 Thank You Joshua 14 verse 11 Caleb is speaking and he says, as yet, I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me, as my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, both to go out and to come in. Last week I began looking through the Bible at this little phrase, as yet, and of course I pointed out the fact that we use that phrase frequently, but When it's used in the Bible, it does indeed have great significance because it's usually used in a sense of expectation and anticipation. And last week in that first message, I covered basically two points. The first one was the as yet of presumption based on Exodus chapter 9 and verse 17, where it is said of Pharaoh, as yet exalted thou thyself against my people that thou wilt not let them go." And I pointed out that the word presumption that I was using to convey the idea was that which is unwarrantable, that which is unbecoming, that which expresses impertinent boldness.

[John Weaver] And the Hebrew word actually means to lift oneself up and to act as a superior. And so Pharaoh then was refusing to acknowledge God, refusing to acknowledge His Word, or His servants, or Israel. And thus he was acting literally as God's superior. And of course he elevated himself above God and it ended up destroying him. The Bible says in Proverbs 16 and verse 18, pride goeth before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. And Pharaoh of course as I pointed out was not interested obeying God, but he was interested in trying to bargain with God and set the limits and set the bounds which of course God refused to allow him to do. And so the as yet here then refers to the fact that God expected and anticipated on bringing Pharaoh low and that is exactly what he did. The second as yet that we looked at was based upon Deuteronomy 12 and verse 9. and that was the as yet of preparation. In other words the people had not as yet entered into their inheritance and basically God was telling them how to live, how to act then, and how they were to live and how they were to act once they got into the land.

[John Weaver] And I pointed out that likewise we personally have not come into our inheritance because the Bible tells us in the book of 1 Peter that we have an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for us. And so God also tells us how to live and how to act until we come into that heavenly Zion. And the Scripture tells us, by this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments, and His commandments are not grievous unto us. And then I ended with the applications of there are two times in a little while that has occurred in the Bible. One, the Bible says in a little while the wicked shall be no more. And then in a little while he that shall come will come. So we have not seen the wicked destroyed as yet, but our Lord said wait a little while. We have not entered into our inheritance as yet, but our Lord said just simply wait a little while.

[John Weaver] and we certainly shall. So today we're going to come to what I'm going to call the as yet of promise. So if you look at verse 11 again, Caleb says, as yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me. As my strength was then, even so it is my strength now for war, both to go out and to come in. Now, in order to grasp the absolute significance of what Caleb has said we need to look at it in the context. So I want us to read verses 6-13 and then I am going to try to place it together for you. In verse 6, Then the children of Judah came unto Joshua in Gilgal, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said unto him, Thou knowest a thing that the Lord said unto Moses the man of God concerning me and thee and Kadesh Barnea. Forty years old was I when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh Barnea to spy out the land, and I brought him word again as it was in mine heart.

[John Weaver] Nevertheless, my brethren that went up with me made the heart of the people melt, but I wholly followed the Lord my God. And Moses sware on that day, saying, Surely the land whereon thy feet have trodden shall be thine inheritance, and thy children's forever, because thou, has wholly followed the Lord my God. And now, behold, the Lord hath kept me alive, as he said, these forty and five years, even since the Lord spake this word unto Moses, while the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness. And now, lo, I am this day fourscored, five years old, eighty-five years old, and as yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me, as my strength was then even so is my strength now for war, both to go out and to come in. Now therefore, give me this mountain, wherever the Lord spake in that day, for thou heardest in that day how the Anacoms were there, and that the cities were great and fenced. If so be the Lord will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the Lord said.

[John Weaver] And Joshua blessed him, and gave unto Caleb the son of Jephunneh Hebron for an inheritance." Now, God basically had promised Caleb Hebron the mountain in which he delighted. Caleb was faithful, and he served the Lord truly with all of his heart. He was basically what you and I would call a truly faithful and trustworthy servant. Interestingly, the name Caleb literally means dog. Now, the question has to be asked, How could the name Caleb or dog be used of this man in a good sense?

[John Weaver] Well, let me show you. I want you to hold Joshua chapter 14, but look back to the book of Numbers chapter 14. Just back a few pages, Numbers chapter 14. And let's look at verses 23 and 24. Numbers chapter 14, verses 23 and 24. In this passage, God is speaking.

[John Weaver] he is speaking first of those faithless servants who brought up an evil report on the land. And he says in Numbers chapter 14 and verse 23, Surely they shall not see the land which I swear unto their fathers, not only the faithless servants but the faithless people. They shall not see the land which I swear unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoke me see it. Then he says, But my servant Caleb because he had another spirit within him, and followed me fully. Him will I bring into the land wherein he went, and his seed shall possess it." Now notice if you would please, the Bible said that he followed him fully, that Caleb followed the Lord fully. I don't know if you noticed it or not, but in Joshua chapter 14 he said twice that he wholly followed the Lord. So here's the word Caleb, which means dog, and thus Caleb, the little puppy dog, so to speak, faithfully followed his master everywhere he went.

[John Weaver] Now some of you have been to the house, and you have seen one of our pups whose name is Claiborne. Claiborne follows me everywhere. If I'm in my office studying, he's under the desk with his head my foot. If I go to the bedroom to change clothes he goes to the bedroom with me. If I go to the bathroom he goes to the bathroom with me. If I go to the barn he goes to the barn with me. Everywhere I go he goes as well.

[John Weaver] And this is the way the word Caleb is used. Caleb was trustworthy and obedient and he holy and faithfully followed the Lord.

[John Weaver] Now if you would turn to the book of Deuteronomy chapter 1 just over a few pages Deuteronomy chapter 1 and look at verses 35 and 36 where God says the same thing again. Now I don't know if you noticed it or not but God said specifically in verse 34 of Numbers 14 that He was going to bring Caleb into the land. So notice if you would Deuteronomy 1 verse 35 again God says, Surely there shall not one of these men of this evil generation see that good land which I swear to give unto your fathers. save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, he shall see it. And to him will I give the land that he hath trodden upon, and to his children, because he hath wholly followed the Lord." So notice if you would in this passage God says, I'm going to give him the land. And then He says He's going to see it. because he is wholly followed the Lord." Back in Numbers chapter 14 verse 24, don't turn back there, but notice what God said again concerning Caleb.

[John Weaver] Him will I bring into the land where into he went and his seed shall possess it. God is going to personally undertake and see that Caleb gets into the land, that he actually inherits Hebron, the mountain in which he delighted. And he's going to see that Caleb's seed will inherit this land.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to try to allow this to settle in your mind just for a moment. Here the sovereign God of heaven and earth is promising that he is going to undertake personally and make sure that Caleb gets into the land. God is sovereign, God is omnipotent, He's omniscient, He's omnipresent, and there is nothing too hard for the Lord. So let me just throw something out for your consideration. Do you realize that God at this point could have miraculously transported Caleb over into the land, but He did not? God also could have allowed Caleb at this point to just simply walk over into the land and go ahead and be there, but He did not. Caleb is still going to have to wait 45 years to inherit the land.

[John Weaver] Now the interesting thing is this, God is never late. God is always on time. And Caleb had to wait 45 years for God to fulfill this promise. So Caleb was 40 years old when Moses sent him to spy out the land. 45 years later he's now 85.

[John Weaver] Now I realize you'd normally say 40 years the children of Israel wandered in the desert. Actually it was 38 plus seven more years that followed after they went into the land, and then they had to wait, and then they had to conquer. So, time you add 38 plus seven, you've got 45 years. So, from the time Caleb went and searched it out until he actually got there and ready to possess it was 45 years.

[John Weaver] Now, according to Psalm 90 and verse 10, the average age, I suppose back then, and the average age today is what you and I would say 70 years old. Because in Psalm 90 and verse 10 the Bible says, the days of our years are threescore and ten, and if by reason of strength they be fourscore, that is 80, yet it is their strength and labor and sorrow for it is soon cut off and we fly away. So, he said the average is 70 if you make it to 80 or 85 It's usually labor and sorrow and you have all kind of problems, et cetera.

[John Weaver] But I want you to note that Caleb was absolutely different. 45 years usually makes a difference in a man. I can't even do what I used to do at 60. I can't do what I used to do at 50. And I certainly can't do what I used to do at 20 and 30. usually makes a big difference. But it did not make any difference in Caleb. Look back in Joshua 14 verse 11, look what he said, and yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me. As my strength was then even so is my strength now for war.

[John Weaver] Both to go out and to come in. James it would be kind of embarrassing to get beat up by an 85 year old man wouldn't it? But yet, you know, here's Caleb. He said, I can fight just as good at 85 as I could at 40. Wow.

[John Weaver] Now, the interesting thing is this. I want you to see his testimony. Look in verse 10. Let's start in verse 10 before we ever get to verse 11. Look in verse 10. He said, and now behold, the Lord hath kept me alive as he said. these 45 years. Even since the Lord spake this word unto Moses while the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness, and now, lo, I am this day fourscore and five years old." So notice the beginning of verse 10. He said, And now, behold, the Lord hath kept me alive. Do you realize that thousands died in the wilderness? They died from the curse of God. They died from disease, they died from old age, they died in battle.

[John Weaver] In fact the Bible tells us there were 36 who died as they tried to conquer Ai after Jericho had fallen. But God preserved Caleb in all of this so that Caleb might inherit that land and his seed might possess that land as well. And so Caleb is giving the Lord the praise in verse 10. And he said, Behold, the Lord has kept me alive as he said. Wow.

[John Weaver] Now, let me give you several things we should learn from this. First, we should learn that while we are alive, it is God's grace and God's mercy and God's power that keeps us alive and enables us to enjoy the life that he gives us. Have you ever stopped to think about this? One of my favorite verses, and I suppose I quote it every day, usually a couple times a day.

[John Weaver] It's Lamentations 3, 23 and 24, or 22 and 23 it is. It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions, they fail not. They are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness. One of my favorite hymns is, Great is thy faithfulness. And in the Bible, in Deuteronomy chapter 7 and verse 9, God is called the faithful God. The Scripture says, Know therefore that the Lord thy God, He is God, the faithful God, who keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love Him, and keepeth His commandments to a thousand generations. Did you know the Bible says in Psalm 66 in verse 9 concerning God, who holdeth our soul in life and suffereth not our feet to be moved.

[John Weaver] Now just stop and think about that. God holds our lives in his hand and he is the one that preserves us, protects us, and suffers not our feet to be moved. David said it again like this in Psalm 31 in verse 15. He said, my times are in thy hand, deliver me from the hand of my enemies and from them that persecute me. So not only is Jeremiah saying it is the Lord's mercy that we are not consumed, David is saying our soul is in His hand and our times are in His hand. He controls absolutely everything.

[John Weaver] You know what most of us have not realized? We have not realized the truth that David said to Jonathan in first Samuel chapter 20 in verse 3 you remember that Saul was after David and Jonathan and David had entered into a covenant and Jonathan was doing everything he could to protect David and Saul wanted David dead. That's all there was to it And David said this to Jonathan, and David swore him over and said, thy father certainly knoweth that I have found grace in thine eyes. And he said, let not Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved. But truly, as the Lord liveth, here's what David said, but truly as the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, there is but a step between me and death.

[John Weaver] Now you just stop and think about that. That is not just true with David. That's true with each of us. It's just a step. And how easily and how quickly that step could be taken. I can look back over my life, and I can see how God sovereignly and miraculously protected me when there were times I should have died and could have died. And yet, here it is, most people never understand, life passes so quickly and there's just a step. So it's God and God alone who preserves us and protects us and provides for each of us.

[John Weaver] So we have to learn exactly that which Caleb is saying, it is the Lord who's kept us alive. In fact, David said it like this in Psalm 92 and verse two, he says, to show forth our loving kindness every morning and thy faithfulness every night." So when you wake up in the mornings, you should think, it's the Lord's loving kindness, His tender mercies, and His compassions that allowed me to live through the night. And when you go to bed at night, you should say, it's the Lord's faithfulness in these things that has preserved me and kept me alive. So we should understand, as Caleb did, it is truly the Lord that has preserved us and protected us. The second thing we should learn, when he says, and now behold the Lord hath kept me alive as he said, we should learn that the longer we live, the more sensible we should be of God's goodness, of God's grace and mercy in keeping us alive, in prolonging our life, in giving us health and strength.

[John Weaver] Now everyone in this room just about can identify with what I'm about to say. I find it absolutely amusing at times that young people hardly ever think of death or dying. Have you ever noticed that? And you can think back upon your life, and when you were young, you just kind of thought you were gonna live forever. You had all kind of strength, you had all kind of energy, I have a young man who's staying at the house with me just for a little while, and he's nearly 18.

[John Weaver] And a couple mornings, we wake up about 5.30, okay? And just quick as it gets daylight, I'll be out feeding the animals and taking care of the animals. And last couple mornings, he kind of ambled out of bed late and came out and joined me. And I looked at him, I said, It's hard to play all day and court half the night and get up early the next morning, isn't it? And he just smiles.

[John Weaver] But you know, the truth of the matter is this. Since young people hardly ever think about death and dying, and since usually they think they've got all kind of strength and all kind of energy, they're going to live forever, they never really appreciate God's grace in sparing them and allowing them to live. never really appreciate the fact that God has given them strength and God has given them health. And the longer we live the more we are thankful for what we are able to do. I might not be able to do what I could do at 40 but I am thankful I can still at least do some things.

[John Weaver] Let me show you, I want you to hold Joshua 14 but I want you to turn in your Bibles to Isaiah 40 and Then hold the book of Isaiah because we will come back there But then I want you to turn to Psalm 71. We'll go to Isaiah 40 first and then to Psalm 71 I Want you to see this? so look if you would please in Isaiah chapter 40 and Look if you would at verse 29 Isaiah 40 verse 29 We're going to come right back here But notice if you would, in verse 29, he giveth power to the faint.

[John Weaver] And to them that have no might, he increases strength. Notice if you would, he giveth power to the faint. And to them that have no might, he increases strength. Verse 30, even the youth shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall. But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. So here it is. It is God who gives us strength. It is God who gives us might. It is God who basically keeps us going even in our old age.

[John Weaver] One of my favorite passages and I want you to look at it is Psalm 71. We are coming back to Isaiah so hold it. Look in Psalm 71 and verse 18. Psalm 71 and verse 18. Look what David said. Psalm 71 verse 18. I could change just one word there, but you'll understand in just a moment. David says, now also, when I am old and gray-headed, O God, forsake me not, until I have showed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to everyone that is come. I could change it and say, now also, when I am old and bald-headed, O God, forsake me not. So it doesn't matter When we are old, it is God that gives us strength.

[John Weaver] And I've got news for you. There are a lot of older people who have more strength and more character than younger people. So David says, Lord, now that I'm old and gray-headed, forsake me not until I have showed thy strength unto this generation and thy power to everyone that is to come. Then if you will look in Isaiah chapter 46, Isaiah 46 and notice if you would please verses 3 & 4 Look what God says Hearken unto me O house of Jacob and all the remnant of the house of Israel which are born by me from the belly which are carried from the womb I and even to your old age I am he and And even to whore hares will I carry you. I have made, I will bear, even I will carry and will deliver you." So God said, I'm the one that carries you from conception, from birth through youth. I'm the one that will carry you in old age. So it's Caleb then who said, the Lord has kept me alive these years as he said.

[John Weaver] As he said. And we need to recognize this. By the way, if you would turn right back in your Bibles to the book of Ecclesiastes. Go back right past the Song of Solomon to the book of Ecclesiastes chapter 12. And look at verses one through seven, because God does indeed speak to young people as well. Not just old people, but young people as well. Look what he says in Ecclesiastes chapter 12, verse 1.

[John Weaver] He says, remember now thy creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them. Wow. So he said, before you get old and sickly and frail, you better remember your creator in the days of your youth.

[John Weaver] Now look, verse 2, while the sun or the light or the moon or the stars be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain, in the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease, because there are few, and those that look out the windows be darkened, and the doors shall be shut in the streets, when the sound of the grinding is low, and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of music shall be brought low, and when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fear shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail. Why?

[John Weaver] Because man goeth to his long home, that is death, and the mourners go about the streets, or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern. And in fact, verse 6 is a picture of death at different stages of life. And then he says in verse 7, then shall the dust return into the earth as it was, and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

[John Weaver] So he tells young people, listen, you better indeed remember your Creator in your youth. And so it is a wise child that will remember the Lord and remember the Creator while he is young and serve Him with his whole heart. If one is sensible of death and dying and the mercies and the grace of God while he is young, undoubtedly that awareness should improve with age as well.

[John Weaver] Here's the third thing we're to learn from Caleb. He said, the Lord has kept me alive as he said. Do you realize that the deaths of all of those around us should make us more thankful to God who has spared our lives. Alice and I have lost six friends in just the last couple months and certainly not all of them were as old as we are. You can go to any cemetery and you can see small graves as well as large graves.

[John Weaver] I want you to look back to the book of Numbers chapter 14. I want you to see The emphasis, I believe, that is clearly on Caleb's mind when he said, the Lord hath kept me alive as he said. So if you look in Numbers chapter 14, and let's begin reading there with verse 28. Numbers 14, verse 28. Notice if you would what God says. Now God is speaking and he says, sin of them as truly as I live, saith the Lord, as you have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you."

[John Weaver] Now, let me just stop there. You remember the people now when they heard about all the giants in the land and all this kind of stuff and the evil report by the ten spies, what did they say? Would to God we had died in this wilderness. That's what they said. So God says in verse 28, as truly as I live, saith the Lord, as you have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you. Your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness, and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which you have murmured against Me, doubtless you shall not come into this land concerning which I swear to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.

[John Weaver] But your little ones which you said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which you have despised. But it is for you Your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness, and your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms until your carcasses be wasted in the wilderness. After the number of the days in which you have searched the land, even forty days each day for a year, shall you bear your iniquities even forty years, and you shall know my breach of promise. I, the Lord, have said, I will surely do it unto all this evil congregation that are gathered together against me in this wilderness, they shall be consumed, and there they shall die.

[John Weaver] Now, since you're in the book of Numbers, turn back to Numbers chapter two, because he said everyone that was numbered from 20 years old and upward is going to die in this wilderness. So, if you look in Numbers chapter two, and verse 32, you're going to find how many men of war were numbered. Numbers chapter 2 verse 32 These are those which were numbered by the children of Israel by the house of their fathers all those that were number of the camps throughout their host were six hundred thousand three thousand five hundred and fifty Now God has said every one of you going down the wilderness Six hundred and three thousand five hundred and 50. So if they wandered 38 years in the wilderness before they actually crossed the land they did not conquer the land at that time they were still under God's judgment.

[John Weaver] But if you take 38 and divide 38 into 603,550 you get 15,883 men that died per year.

[John Weaver] If you divide 15,833 by 12, you get 1,324 dying each month. If you divide 1,324 by 30, you get 44 men dying each day. These figures would not include the women that died, the children that died, the men that died in war, you know, later on. No, no, no.

[John Weaver] Can you imagine finding 44 men every day dead every day that you woke up? your neighbors your friends your relatives 44 day Don't you imagine? When Caleb said The Lord has kept me alive as he said I would imagine he was thinking about all these people that he saw die. And he was saying the Lord has kept His promise. Let me tell you, every time I drive down the road and I see a cross or crosses evidently where there's been a wreck and people have been killed. Every time I see those crosses the first thing I do is I thank the Lord for life and health. Every time I look into a coffin, a casket, I thank the Lord for life and health. Even when I pass a cemetery, I thank the Lord for life and health. We have to profit from the lives of those that God allows us to see as they live, but we also have to profit from the deaths of those that die. And this is exactly what Caleb is saying, the Lord hath kept me alive as he said.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to go back to Joshua chapter 14 and look at verse 11. That brings me to the verse that I want to deal with momentarily. So he said in verse 10, behold, the Lord has kept me alive as he said these 14 and five years. In spite of all the death and dying, God kept him alive. Now he's 85 years old. Now he's 85 years old. And look, if you would please, at verse 11.

[John Weaver] He said, and yet I'm as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me. As my strength was then, even so is my strength now for war, both to go out and to come in. We have to understand that it is God that gives us strength and it is God that enables us to continue.

[John Weaver] Now, stop and think about this. One of the biggest complaints of men, especially as they age, is they lose their strength. They lose their strength in numbers of ways, but they lose their strength. What I'm trying to tell you is this. God not only preserved Caleb and kept him alive, he preserved his strength and vitality as well. Everyone in this room has heard of what some people call a midlife crisis or a midlife fling where some stupid man or some woman decides all of a sudden they're going to leave their mate of 50 years or something and go run off with a younger woman or with a younger man or something like that. And, you know, you tend to think, well, that's normal. That's not normal. You see, people will look to two sources of power, and really and truly there's only one source of power. Psalm 62 says, Power belongs to the Lord. But some people will try to go to the occult and try to go into sin to reinvigorate themselves, which is absolutely stupid.

[John Weaver] But I'm going to show you someone who did it. I want you to look in your Bibles to 1 Kings 11. 1 Kings 11. I suppose that no one ever experienced power like Solomon. But yet Solomon, instead of looking to the Lord when he was old, looked to the occult and to false religions and idolatry. Notice, if you would, 1 Kings 11, beginning there with verse 4. For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom, the abomination of the Ammonites. And Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and went not fully after the Lord, as did David his father. Then did Solomon build on a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and in the hill that is before Jerusalem before Molech the abomination of the children of Ammon. Wow!

[John Weaver] And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burned incense and sacrificed unto their gods, And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned away from the Lord of Israel twice, which had appeared to him twice, and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods. But he kept not that which the Lord commanded. Wherefore the Lord said unto Solomon, Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant, my statutes, which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and give it to thy servant." Wow. So here is Solomon.

[John Weaver] who had all kind of money and power and might, when he gets old and he loses his power, his virility and everything, he turns now to the occult and to the false gods and to the idolatry. Caleb, on the other hand, stayed true to God. And at 85, he was fit for business. He was as strong and as lively at 85 as he was at 40. So this basically is the fruit of the promise. God even goes further than His promise because God had promised to keep Caleb alive to get him into the land and that his seed should inherit the land. But God not only kept him alive He kept him in perfect health. He kept him in strength. He kept him powerful. So God always gives more than His promise. In fact, you could say that His promise not only included life, but included comfort and strength as well.

[John Weaver] Now, let me make a statement. Listen to me carefully. Old men, by God's grace and by God's power, can be fit for fighting and war. You say, how in the world can you do that? I can't run and jump and climb over fences and stones and buildings like I could when I was 20. That's true. You may be weak, and you may be helpless, and you may be impotent enough yourself, but with the power of God, that's a totally different subject. The point I'm trying to make is this.

[John Weaver] We have to lay aside the thought of our weakness. We have to lay aside the thought of our loss of strength. We have to lay aside the thought of our helplessness. No, no, no. We have to say, we can do what we must do by the grace of God and we will do it. That's what you have to do. You have to come to the realization Wherever you are in your life, whatever God demands of you, whatever His providence calls upon you for, He will give you grace and He will give you strength to do it. It may be fighting. It may be war. It may be serving. It may be doing any number of things. But God's grace and strength and power can help you. So all I'm trying to say is this. If you look at Caleb, you're going to have to give up the idea of weakness and impotence. Look at it. Look in Joshua chapter 14. Go back there.

[John Weaver] I want you to see this. Look at verse 11. And now we're going to go to verse 12. I'm going to read verse 11 again. Look in verse 11. He said, I'm as strong this day as I was of the day that Moses sent me as my strength was then even so as my strength now for war both to go out and to come in now therefore Give me this mountain wherever the Lord spake in that day for thou heard us in that day how the Anacoms were there that is the Giants and That their cities were great and fenced if so be the Lord will be with me Then I shall be able to drive them out as the Lord said did you hear what he said? I'm 85. It doesn't matter. If the Lord is with me, I can do it." He knew that the Anacoms were there. He knew the giants were there. It didn't bother him. He knew the cities were fenced and walled up to heaven. It did not bother him.

[John Weaver] It was his great faith that cast out all of his fear. And he said, if the Lord's with me, I can do it. So we have to realize we can do whatever God calls us to do, whatever our age. And I still love Psalm 71. And now, Lord, when I'm old and gray-headed, forsake me not till I've showed thy strength and thy power to this generation.

[John Weaver] The applications of these, first of all, We must remain true and faithful, even in the most difficult and trying circumstances, as did both Joshua and Caleb. Consequently, they prevailed when the others failed." Joshua and Caleb were men. I've often said this, God uses men. He does not use committees. He does not use a majority. Usually he uses a minority, and he uses men. The second one is this.

[John Weaver] We have to understand that exceptional obedience and exceptional faithfulness is always crowned with exceptional blessings and favor. God said it like this in 1 Samuel 2 and verse 30. Them that honor me will I honor, saith the Lord, and those that despise me shall be lightly esteemed." So Caleb and Joshua honored the Lord, and the Lord honored Joshua and Caleb. Caleb has a tremendous testimony. He said, now behold, the Lord has kept me alive as he said. The Lord has enabled me to have the same strength and power at 85 as I did at 40.

[John Weaver] and I'm ready to fight. Give me this mountain." Wherever we are in our life, God is able to give us strength. He's able to give us power. And what we must do is look solely, totally, and completely at Him. We cannot look anywhere else. God alone is omnipotent. He has all power. Power belongeth unto the Lord, and it belongeth unto Him alone. Let's pray. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we ask for your grace and your mercy and your goodness and kindness.

[John Weaver] We thank you for the testimony of Caleb. We are thankful for the faithfulness of your promise that you not only kept him alive, but Lord, you've kept us alive. You've not only, Lord, crowned him with blessings, but you've crowned us with blessings. Help us, Lord, to be your little puppy dog and be faithful to Thee, and to follow Thee wholly, totally, and completely. Give us grace, Father, that we may serve Thee acceptably, with reverence and godly fear.

[John Weaver] In Thy name we pray, Amen.

[John Weaver] ♪

As Yet - Part 2 of 3

John Weaver | YouTube

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	YouTube
Media ID	LFPsbWHOpKM
Subject	Old Testament Studies
Course	Exodus: Bondage, Deliverance, and Passover: As Yet
Genre	Sermon
Date	2017-07-04
Dictation Name
Book	Book 098: As Yet — Chapter 2
Source Timed Segments	62

Formatted Transcript

Introduction and Review of Previous 'As Yet' Messages

Weaver reviews the first two 'as yet' messages: the 'as yet' of presumption from Pharaoh in Exodus 9, and the 'as yet' of preparation from Deuteronomy 12, where Israel had not yet entered their inheritance.

Oh boy, well, all right. Joshua chapter 14, Joshua chapter 14 and verse 11. Thank you. Joshua 14 verse 11, Caleb is speaking and he says,

Scripture Reading — Joshua 14:11

"As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, both to go out and to come in."

Last week I began looking through the Bible at this little phrase, "as yet," and of course I pointed out the fact that we use that phrase frequently, but when it's used in the Bible, it does indeed have great significance because it's usually used in a sense of expectation and anticipation. And last week in that first message, I covered basically two points. The first one was the "as yet" of presumption based on Exodus chapter 9 and verse 17, where it is said of Pharaoh, "As yet exaltest thou thyself against my people, that thou wilt not let them go." And I pointed out that the word "presumption" that I was using to convey the idea was that which is unwarrantable, that which is unbecoming, that which expresses impertinent boldness.

And the Hebrew word actually means to lift oneself up and to act as a superior. And so Pharaoh then was refusing to acknowledge God, refusing to acknowledge His Word, or His servants, or Israel. And thus he was acting literally as God's superior. And of course he elevated himself above God and it ended up destroying him. The Bible says in Proverbs 16 and verse 18, "Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall." And Pharaoh, of course, as I pointed out, was not interested in obeying God, but he was interested in trying to bargain with God and set the limits and set the bounds, which of course God refused to allow him to do. And so the "as yet" here then refers to the fact that God expected and anticipated on bringing Pharaoh low, and that is exactly what He did. The second "as yet" that we looked at was based upon Deuteronomy 12 and verse 9, and that was the "as yet" of preparation. In other words, the people had not as yet entered into their inheritance, and basically God was telling them how to live, how to act then, and how they were to live and how they were to act once they got into the land.

And I pointed out that likewise we personally have not come into our inheritance because the Bible tells us in the book of 1 Peter that we have an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for us. And so God also tells us how to live and how to act until we come into that heavenly Zion. And the Scripture tells us, "By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments, and His commandments are not grievous unto us." And then I ended with the applications of there are two times "in a little while" that has occurred in the Bible. One, the Bible says in a little while the wicked shall be no more. And then in a little while He that shall come will come. So we have not seen the wicked destroyed as yet, but our Lord said wait a little while. We have not entered into our inheritance as yet, but our Lord said just simply wait a little while.

Introduction to the 'As Yet' of Promise in Joshua 14:11

Caleb declares he is as strong at 85 as he was at 40 when Moses sent him to spy out the land, introducing the theme of God's promise and preservation.

And we certainly shall. So today we're going to come to what I'm going to call the "as yet" of promise. So if you look at verse 11 again, Caleb says, "As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me. As my strength was then, even so it is my strength now for war, both to go out and to come in." Now, in order to grasp the absolute significance of what Caleb has said, we need to look at it in the context. So I want us to read verses 6-13 and then I am going to try to place it together for you. In verse 6, "Then the children of Judah came unto Joshua in Gilgal, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said unto him, Thou knowest the thing that the Lord said unto Moses the man of God concerning me and thee in Kadesh Barnea. Forty years old was I when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh Barnea to spy out the land, and I brought him word again as it was in mine heart.

Context of Caleb's Testimony (Joshua 14:6-13)

Weaver reads the full passage, highlighting Caleb's faithfulness, God's promise of Hebron, and the 45-year wait for its fulfillment.

Nevertheless, my brethren that went up with me made the heart of the people melt, but I wholly followed the Lord my God. And Moses sware on that day, saying, Surely the land whereon thy feet have trodden shall be thine inheritance, and thy children's forever, because thou hast wholly followed the Lord my God. And now, behold, the Lord hath kept me alive, as he said, these forty and five years, even since the Lord spake this word unto Moses, while the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness. And now, lo, I am this day fourscore and five years old, eighty-five years old, and as yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me, as my strength was then even so is my strength now for war, both to go out and to come in. Now therefore, give me this mountain, whereof the Lord spake in that day, for thou heardest in that day how the Anakims were there, and that the cities were great and fenced. If so be the Lord will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the Lord said."

Scripture Reading — Joshua 14:6-13

And Joshua blessed him, and gave unto Caleb the son of Jephunneh Hebron for an inheritance."

Now, God basically had promised Caleb Hebron, the mountain in which he delighted. Caleb was faithful, and he served the Lord truly with all of his heart. He was basically what you and I would call a truly faithful and trustworthy servant. Interestingly, the name Caleb literally means "dog." Now, the question has to be asked, how could the name Caleb or "dog" be used of this man in a good sense?

Caleb's Name and Faithful Character

The name Caleb means 'dog,' illustrating his wholehearted, faithful following of the Lord, as seen in Numbers 14:24 and Deuteronomy 1:36.

Well, let me show you. I want you to hold Joshua chapter 14, but look back to the book of Numbers chapter 14. Just back a few pages, Numbers chapter 14. And let's look at verses 23 and 24. Numbers chapter 14, verses 23 and 24. In this passage, God is speaking.

He is speaking first of those faithless servants who brought up an evil report on the land. And he says in Numbers chapter 14 and verse 23,

Scripture Reading — Numbers 14:23-24

"Surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers,"

not only the faithless servants but the faithless people.

Scripture Reading — Numbers 14:23-24

"They shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoke me see it."

Then he says,

Scripture Reading — Numbers 14:23-24

"But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit within him, and followed me fully, him will I bring into the land wherein he went, and his seed shall possess it."

Now notice if you would please, the Bible said that he followed him fully, that Caleb followed the Lord fully. I don't know if you noticed it or not, but in Joshua chapter 14 he said twice that he wholly followed the Lord. So here's the word Caleb, which means dog, and thus Caleb, the little puppy dog, so to speak, faithfully followed his master everywhere he went.

Now some of you have been to the house, and you have seen one of our pups whose name is Claiborne. Claiborne follows me everywhere. If I'm in my office studying, he's under the desk with his head on my foot. If I go to the bedroom to change clothes, he goes to the bedroom with me. If I go to the bathroom, he goes to the bathroom with me. If I go to the barn, he goes to the barn with me. Everywhere I go, he goes as well.

And this is the way the word Caleb is used. Caleb was trustworthy and obedient and he wholly and faithfully followed the Lord. Now if you would turn to the book of Deuteronomy chapter 1, just over a few pages, Deuteronomy chapter 1, and look at verses 35 and 36 where God says the same thing again. Now I don't know if you noticed it or not, but God said specifically in verse 34 of Numbers 14 that He was going to bring Caleb into the land. So notice if you would Deuteronomy 1 verse 35, again God says,

Scripture Reading — Deuteronomy 1:35-36

"Surely there shall not one of these men of this evil generation see that good land which I sware to give unto your fathers, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, he shall see it. And to him will I give the land that he hath trodden upon, and to his children, because he hath wholly followed the Lord."

So notice if you would in this passage God says, "I'm going to give him the land." And then He says,

Scripture Reading — Deuteronomy 1:35-36

"He's going to see it, because he hath wholly followed the Lord."

Back in Numbers chapter 14 verse 24, don't turn back there, but notice what God said again concerning Caleb.

God's Sovereign Preservation of Caleb

God personally undertook to bring Caleb into the land, yet Caleb waited 45 years. Weaver emphasizes God's timing and preservation amid widespread death in the wilderness.

"Him will I bring into the land whereinto he went and his seed shall possess it." God is going to personally undertake and see that Caleb gets into the land, that he actually inherits Hebron, the mountain in which he delighted. And He's going to see that Caleb's seed will inherit this land. Now, I want you to try to allow this to settle in your mind just for a moment. Here the sovereign God of heaven and earth is promising that He is going to undertake personally and make sure that Caleb gets into the land. God is sovereign, God is omnipotent, He's omniscient, He's omnipresent, and there is nothing too hard for the Lord. So let me just throw something out for your consideration. Do you realize that God at this point could have miraculously transported Caleb over into the land, but He did not? God also could have allowed Caleb at this point to just simply walk over into the land and go ahead and be there, but He did not. Caleb is still going to have to wait 45 years to inherit the land.

Now the interesting thing is this, God is never late. God is always on time. And Caleb had to wait 45 years for God to fulfill this promise. So Caleb was 40 years old when Moses sent him to spy out the land. 45 years later he's now 85.

Now I realize you'd normally say 40 years the children of Israel wandered in the desert. Actually it was 38 plus seven more years that followed after they went into the land, and then they had to wait, and then they had to conquer. So, time you add 38 plus seven, you've got 45 years. So, from the time Caleb went and searched it out until he actually got there and ready to possess it was 45 years.

Now, according to Psalm 90 and verse 10, the average age, I suppose back then, and the average age today is what you and I would say 70 years old. Because in Psalm 90 and verse 10 the Bible says,

Scripture Reading — Psalm 90:10

"The days of our years are threescore and ten, and if by reason of strength they be fourscore,"

that is 80,

Scripture Reading — Psalm 90:10

"yet is their strength labour and sorrow, for it is soon cut off and we fly away."

So, he said the average is 70; if you make it to 80 or 85, it's usually labour and sorrow and you have all kind of problems, et cetera. But I want you to note that Caleb was absolutely different. 45 years usually makes a difference in a man. I can't even do what I used to do at 60. I can't do what I used to do at 50. And I certainly can't do what I used to do at 20 and 30. Usually makes a big difference. But it did not make any difference in Caleb. Look back in Joshua 14 verse 11, look what he said, "And yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me. As my strength was then even so is my strength now for war."

"Both to go out and to come in." James, it would be kind of embarrassing to get beat up by an 85-year-old man, wouldn't it? But yet, you know, here's Caleb. He said, "I can fight just as good at 85 as I could at 40." Wow. Now, the interesting thing is this. I want you to see his testimony. Look in verse 10. Let's start in verse 10 before we ever get to verse 11. Look in verse 10. He said, "And now, behold, the Lord hath kept me alive as he said, these 45 years. Even since the Lord spake this word unto Moses while the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness, and now, lo, I am this day fourscore and five years old." So notice the beginning of verse 10. He said, "And now, behold, the Lord hath kept me alive." Do you realize that thousands died in the wilderness? They died from the curse of God. They died from disease, they died from old age, they died in battle.

In fact the Bible tells us there were 36 who died as they tried to conquer Ai after Jericho had fallen. But God preserved Caleb in all of this so that Caleb might inherit that land and his seed might possess that land as well. And so Caleb is giving the Lord the praise in verse 10. And he said, "Behold, the Lord has kept me alive as he said." Wow.

Lessons from Caleb's Preservation

Three lessons: (1) God's grace keeps us alive; (2) the longer we live, the more we should be sensible of God's goodness; (3) the deaths of others should increase our thankfulness for God's sparing us.

Now, let me give you several things we should learn from this. First, we should learn that while we are alive, it is God's grace and God's mercy and God's power that keeps us alive and enables us to enjoy the life that He gives us. Have you ever stopped to think about this? One of my favorite verses, and I suppose I quote it every day, usually a couple times a day. It's Lamentations 3, 23 and 24, or 22 and 23 it is.

Scripture Reading — Lamentations 3:22-23

"It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions, they fail not. They are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness."

One of my favorite hymns is,

Scripture Reading — Lamentations 3:22-23

"Great is Thy Faithfulness."

And in the Bible, in Deuteronomy chapter 7 and verse 9, God is called the faithful God. The Scripture says, "Know therefore that the Lord thy God, He is God, the faithful God, who keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love Him, and keepeth His commandments to a thousand generations." Did you know the Bible says in Psalm 66 in verse 9 concerning God, "who holdeth our soul in life and suffereth not our feet to be moved"?

Now just stop and think about that. God holds our lives in His hand and He is the one that preserves us, protects us, and suffers not our feet to be moved. David said it again like this in Psalm 31 in verse 15. He said, "My times are in thy hand, deliver me from the hand of my enemies and from them that persecute me." So not only is Jeremiah saying it is the Lord's mercy that we are not consumed, David is saying our soul is in His hand and our times are in His hand. He controls absolutely everything. You know what most of us have not realized? We have not realized the truth that David said to Jonathan in 1 Samuel chapter 20 in verse 3. You remember that Saul was after David and Jonathan and David had entered into a covenant and Jonathan was doing everything he could to protect David and Saul wanted David dead. That's all there was to it. And David said this to Jonathan, and David sware moreover and said,

Scripture Reading — 1 Samuel 20:3

"Thy father certainly knoweth that I have found grace in thine eyes. And he said, Let not Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved. But truly, as the Lord liveth,"

here's what David said,

Scripture Reading — 1 Samuel 20:3

"but truly as the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, there is but a step between me and death."

Now you just stop and think about that. That is not just true with David. That's true with each of us. It's just a step. And how easily and how quickly that step could be taken. I can look back over my life, and I can see how God sovereignly and miraculously protected me when there were times I should have died and could have died. And yet, here it is, most people never understand, life passes so quickly and there's just a step. So it's God and God alone who preserves us and protects us and provides for each of us.

So we have to learn exactly that which Caleb is saying, it is the Lord who's kept us alive. In fact, David said it like this in Psalm 92 and verse two, he says, "To show forth thy lovingkindness every morning and thy faithfulness every night." So when you wake up in the mornings, you should think, it's the Lord's lovingkindness, His tender mercies, and His compassions that allowed me to live through the night. And when you go to bed at night, you should say, it's the Lord's faithfulness in these things that has preserved me and kept me alive. So we should understand, as Caleb did, it is truly the Lord that has preserved us and protected us. The second thing we should learn, when he says, "and now behold the Lord hath kept me alive as he said," we should learn that the longer we live, the more sensible we should be of God's goodness, of God's grace and mercy in keeping us alive, in prolonging our life, in giving us health and strength.

Now everyone in this room just about can identify with what I'm about to say. I find it absolutely amusing at times that young people hardly ever think of death or dying. Have you ever noticed that? And you can think back upon your life, and when you were young, you just kind of thought you were gonna live forever. You had all kind of strength, you had all kind of energy. I have a young man who's staying at the house with me just for a little while, and he's nearly 18. And a couple mornings, we wake up about 5:30, okay? And just as quick as it gets daylight, I'll be out feeding the animals and taking care of the animals. And last couple mornings, he kind of ambled out of bed late and came out and joined me. And I looked at him, I said, "It's hard to play all day and court half the night and get up early the next morning, isn't it?" And he just smiles.

But you know, the truth of the matter is this. Since young people hardly ever think about death and dying, and since usually they think they've got all kind of strength and all kind of energy, they're going to live forever, they never really appreciate God's grace in sparing them and allowing them to live. Never really appreciate the fact that God has given them strength and God has given them health. And the longer we live the more we are thankful for what we are able to do. I might not be able to do what I could do at 40 but I am thankful I can still at least do some things. Let me show you. I want you to hold Joshua 14 but I want you to turn in your Bibles to Isaiah 40 and then hold the book of Isaiah because we will come back there. But then I want you to turn to Psalm 71. We'll go to Isaiah 40 first and then to Psalm 71. I want you to see this. So look if you would please in Isaiah chapter 40 and look if you would at verse 29. Isaiah 40 verse 29. We're going to come right back here. But notice if you would, in verse 29, "He giveth power to the faint."

"And to them that have no might, he increaseth strength." Notice if you would, "He giveth power to the faint. And to them that have no might, he increaseth strength." Verse 30, "Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall. But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint." So here it is. It is God who gives us strength. It is God who gives us might. It is God who basically keeps us going even in our old age.

One of my favorite passages and I want you to look at it is Psalm 71. We are coming back to Isaiah so hold it. Look in Psalm 71 and verse 18. Psalm 71 and verse 18. Look what David said. Psalm 71 verse 18. I could change just one word there, but you'll understand in just a moment. David says,

Scripture Reading — Psalm 71:18

"Now also, when I am old and grayheaded, O God, forsake me not, until I have showed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to everyone that is to come."

I could change it and say,

Scripture Reading — Psalm 71:18

"Now also, when I am old and baldheaded, O God, forsake me not."

So it doesn't matter. When we are old, it is God that gives us strength.

And I've got news for you. There are a lot of older people who have more strength and more character than younger people. So David says, "Lord, now that I'm old and grayheaded, forsake me not until I have showed thy strength unto this generation and thy power to everyone that is to come." Then if you will look in Isaiah chapter 46, Isaiah 46 and notice if you would please verses 3 and 4. Isaiah 46 verses 3 and 4. Look what God says.

Scripture Reading — Isaiah 46:3-4

"Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, which are borne by me from the belly, which are carried from the womb. And even to your old age I am he, and even to hoar hairs will I carry you. I have made, I will bear, even I will carry and will deliver you."

So God said, "I'm the one that carries you from conception, from birth through youth. I'm the one that will carry you in old age." So it's Caleb then who said, "The Lord has kept me alive these years as he said."

"As he said." And we need to recognize this. By the way, if you would turn right back in your Bibles to the book of Ecclesiastes. Go back right past the Song of Solomon to the book of Ecclesiastes chapter 12. And look at verses one through seven, because God does indeed speak to young people as well. Not just old people, but young people as well. Look what he says in Ecclesiastes chapter 12, verse 1. He says, "Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them." Wow. So he said, before you get old and sickly and frail, you better remember your Creator in the days of your youth.

Now look, verse 2, "While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain: in the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out the windows be darkened, and the doors shall be shut in the streets, when the sound of the grinding is low, and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of music shall be brought low, and when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail." Why? Because man goeth to his long home, that is death, and the mourners go about the streets: or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern. And in fact, verse 6 is a picture of death at different stages of life. And then he says in verse 7, "Then shall the dust return into the earth as it was, and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it."

So he tells young people, listen, you better indeed remember your Creator in your youth. And so it is a wise child that will remember the Lord and remember the Creator while he is young and serve Him with his whole heart. If one is sensible of death and dying and the mercies and the grace of God while he is young, undoubtedly that awareness should improve with age as well. Here's the third thing we're to learn from Caleb. He said, "The Lord has kept me alive as he said." Do you realize that the deaths of all of those around us should make us more thankful to God who has spared our lives? Alice and I have lost six friends in just the last couple months and certainly not all of them were as old as we are. You can go to any cemetery and you can see small graves as well as large graves.

I want you to look back to the book of Numbers chapter 14. I want you to see the emphasis, I believe, that is clearly on Caleb's mind when he said, "The Lord hath kept me alive as he said." So if you look in Numbers chapter 14, and let's begin reading there with verse 28. Numbers 14, verse 28. Notice if you would what God says. Now God is speaking and he says, "Say unto them, As truly as I live, saith the Lord, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you."

Now, let me just stop there. You remember the people now when they heard about all the giants in the land and all this kind of stuff and the evil report by the ten spies, what did they say? "Would to God we had died in this wilderness." That's what they said. So God says in verse 28, "As truly as I live, saith the Lord, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you. Your carcases shall fall in this wilderness, and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which have murmured against me, doubtless ye shall not come into this land concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun."

"But your little ones which ye said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have despised. But as for you, your carcases shall fall in this wilderness, and your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms until your carcases be wasted in the wilderness. After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities even forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise. I, the Lord, have said, I will surely do it unto all this evil congregation that are gathered together against me in this wilderness, they shall be consumed, and there they shall die."

Now, since you're in the book of Numbers, turn back to Numbers chapter 2, because he said everyone that was numbered from 20 years old and upward is going to die in this wilderness. So, if you look in Numbers chapter 2, and verse 32, you're going to find how many men of war were numbered. Numbers chapter 2 verse 32, "These are those which were numbered by the children of Israel by the house of their fathers: all those that were numbered of the camps throughout their host were six hundred thousand three thousand five hundred and fifty." Now God has said every one of you going down the wilderness, six hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty. So if they wandered 38 years in the wilderness before they actually crossed the land, they did not conquer the land at that time, they were still under God's judgment.

But if you take 38 and divide 38 into 603,550 you get 15,883 men that died per year.

If you divide 15,883 by 12, you get 1,324 dying each month. If you divide 1,324 by 30, you get 44 men dying each day. These figures would not include the women that died, the children that died, the men that died in war, you know, later on. No, no, no.

Can you imagine finding 44 men every day dead? Every day that you woke up, your neighbors, your friends, your relatives, 44 a day. Don't you imagine when Caleb said, "The Lord has kept me alive as he said," I would imagine he was thinking about all these people that he saw die. And he was saying the Lord has kept His promise. Let me tell you, every time I drive down the road and I see a cross or crosses evidently where there's been a wreck and people have been killed, every time I see those crosses the first thing I do is I thank the Lord for life and health. Every time I look into a coffin, a casket, I thank the Lord for life and health. Even when I pass a cemetery, I thank the Lord for life and health. We have to profit from the lives of those that God allows us to see as they live, but we also have to profit from the deaths of those that die. And this is exactly what Caleb is saying, "The Lord hath kept me alive as he said."

Caleb's Strength at 85 and Reliance on God

Caleb's strength was preserved by God, contrasting with Solomon's turn to idolatry in old age. Caleb's faith overcame fear of giants and fortified cities.

Now, I want you to go back to Joshua chapter 14 and look at verse 11. That brings me to the verse that I want to deal with momentarily. So he said in verse 10, "Behold, the Lord has kept me alive as he said these forty and five years." In spite of all the death and dying, God kept him alive. Now he's 85 years old. Now he's 85 years old. And look, if you would please, at verse 11. He said, "And yet I'm as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me. As my strength was then, even so is my strength now for war, both to go out and to come in." We have to understand that it is God that gives us strength and it is God that enables us to continue.

Now, stop and think about this. One of the biggest complaints of men, especially as they age, is they lose their strength. They lose their strength in numbers of ways, but they lose their strength. What I'm trying to tell you is this. God not only preserved Caleb and kept him alive, He preserved his strength and vitality as well. Everyone in this room has heard of what some people call a midlife crisis or a midlife fling where some stupid man or some woman decides all of a sudden they're going to leave their mate of 50 years or something and go run off with a younger woman or with a younger man or something like that. And, you know, you tend to think, well, that's normal. That's not normal. You see, people will look to two sources of power, and really and truly there's only one source of power. Psalm 62 says, "Power belongeth unto God." But some people will try to go to the occult and try to go into sin to reinvigorate themselves, which is absolutely stupid.

But I'm going to show you someone who did it. I want you to look in your Bibles to 1 Kings 11. 1 Kings 11. I suppose that no one ever experienced power like Solomon. But yet Solomon, instead of looking to the Lord when he was old, looked to the occult and to false religions and idolatry. Notice, if you would, 1 Kings 11, beginning there with verse 4.

Scripture Reading — 1 Kings 11:4-11

"For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom, the abomination of the Ammonites. And Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and went not fully after the Lord, as did David his father. Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon."

Wow!

"And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods. And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned away from the Lord God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice, and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods. But he kept not that which the Lord commanded. Wherefore the Lord said unto Solomon, Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and give it to thy servant." Wow. So here is Solomon. Who had all kind of money and power and might, when he gets old and he loses his power, his virility and everything, he turns now to the occult and to the false gods and to the idolatry. Caleb, on the other hand, stayed true to God. And at 85, he was fit for business. He was as strong and as lively at 85 as he was at 40. So this basically is the fruit of the promise. God even goes further than His promise because God had promised to keep Caleb alive to get him into the land and that his seed should inherit the land. But God not only kept him alive, He kept him in perfect health. He kept him in strength. He kept him powerful. So God always gives more than His promise. In fact, you could say that His promise not only included life, but included comfort and strength as well.

Now, let me make a statement. Listen to me carefully. Old men, by God's grace and by God's power, can be fit for fighting and war. You say, "How in the world can you do that? I can't run and jump and climb over fences and stones and buildings like I could when I was 20." That's true. You may be weak, and you may be helpless, and you may be impotent enough yourself, but with the power of God, that's a totally different subject. The point I'm trying to make is this.

We have to lay aside the thought of our weakness. We have to lay aside the thought of our loss of strength. We have to lay aside the thought of our helplessness. No, no, no. We have to say, we can do what we must do by the grace of God and we will do it. That's what you have to do. You have to come to the realization wherever you are in your life, whatever God demands of you, whatever His providence calls upon you for, He will give you grace and He will give you strength to do it. It may be fighting. It may be war. It may be serving. It may be doing any number of things. But God's grace and strength and power can help you. So all I'm trying to say is this. If you look at Caleb, you're going to have to give up the idea of weakness and impotence. Look at it. Look in Joshua chapter 14. Go back there.

I want you to see this. Look at verse 11. And now we're going to go to verse 12. I'm going to read verse 11 again. Look in verse 11. He said, "I'm as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me. As my strength was then, even so is my strength now for war, both to go out and to come in. Now therefore, give me this mountain, whereof the Lord spake in that day, for thou heardest in that day how the Anakims were there," that is the giants, "and that their cities were great and fenced. If so be the Lord will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the Lord said." Did you hear what he said? "I'm 85. It doesn't matter. If the Lord is with me, I can do it." He knew that the Anakims were there. He knew the giants were there. It didn't bother him. He knew the cities were fenced and walled up to heaven. It did not bother him.

It was his great faith that cast out all of his fear. And he said, "If the Lord's with me, I can do it." So we have to realize we can do whatever God calls us to do, whatever our age. And I still love Psalm 71. "And now, Lord, when I'm old and grayheaded, forsake me not till I've showed thy strength and thy power to this generation."

Applications: Faithfulness, Honor, and Divine Strength

We must remain faithful in trials, knowing exceptional obedience brings exceptional blessing. God honors those who honor Him, and He provides strength for every calling.

The applications of these, first of all, we must remain true and faithful, even in the most difficult and trying circumstances, as did both Joshua and Caleb. Consequently, they prevailed when the others failed. Joshua and Caleb were men. I've often said this, God uses men. He does not use committees. He does not use a majority. Usually he uses a minority, and he uses men. The second one is this.

We have to understand that exceptional obedience and exceptional faithfulness is always crowned with exceptional blessings and favor. God said it like this in 1 Samuel 2 and verse 30, "Them that honour me I will honour, saith the Lord, and those that despise me shall be lightly esteemed." So Caleb and Joshua honoured the Lord, and the Lord honoured Joshua and Caleb. Caleb has a tremendous testimony. He said, "Now behold, the Lord has kept me alive as he said. The Lord has enabled me to have the same strength and power at 85 as I did at 40." "And I'm ready to fight. Give me this mountain." Wherever we are in our life, God is able to give us strength. He's able to give us power. And what we must do is look solely, totally, and completely at Him. We cannot look anywhere else. God alone is omnipotent. He has all power. Power belongeth unto the Lord, and it belongeth unto Him alone. Let's pray. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we ask for your grace and your mercy and your goodness and kindness.

Study Guide

Major Themes

God's Faithfulness to His Promises

Summary: God promised Caleb the land of Hebron and preserved him for 45 years to fulfill that promise, demonstrating His unwavering faithfulness.

Evidence: Caleb says, 'The Lord hath kept me alive, as he said, these forty and five years' (Joshua 14:10). Weaver emphasizes that God is never late and always keeps His word.

Wholehearted Obedience and Faithfulness

Summary: Caleb wholly followed the Lord, and his name ('dog') symbolizes his loyal, faithful following. This obedience is crowned with exceptional blessings.

Evidence: Numbers 14:24 says Caleb 'had another spirit within him, and followed me fully.' Weaver states, 'Exceptional obedience and exceptional faithfulness is always crowned with exceptional blessings and favor.'

Divine Preservation and Strength in Old Age

Summary: God not only kept Caleb alive but preserved his strength and vitality, enabling him to fight at 85 as at 40. This illustrates God's power to sustain His people in every season.

Evidence: Caleb declares, 'As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me' (Joshua 14:11). Weaver notes, 'God not only kept him alive, He kept him in perfect health.'

Reliance on God's Power, Not Human Weakness

Summary: Caleb's confidence was not in his own strength but in the Lord's presence: 'If so be the Lord will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out.' Believers must rely on God's grace.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'We have to lay aside the thought of our weakness... We have to say, we can do what we must do by the grace of God and we will do it.'

The Brevity of Life and Gratitude for God's Mercy

Summary: Life is fragile ('there is but a step between me and death'), and we should daily thank God for His preserving mercies, especially as we age.

Evidence: Weaver quotes Lamentations 3:22-23 and Psalm 66:9, and says, 'When you wake up in the mornings, you should think, it's the Lord's lovingkindness... that allowed me to live through the night.'

Key Arguments

God's promises include more than we expect

Summary: God promised Caleb life and inheritance, but He also gave him preserved strength and vitality, showing that God's blessings exceed the bare promise.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'God always gives more than His promise. In fact, you could say that His promise not only included life, but included comfort and strength as well.'

Old age does not disqualify from God's service

Summary: Caleb at 85 was fit for war, proving that with God's power, age is no barrier to fulfilling God's calling.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'Old men, by God's grace and by God's power, can be fit for fighting and war.'

Faith overcomes fear of obstacles

Summary: Caleb knew about the giants and fortified cities but was not afraid because he trusted in the Lord's presence.

Evidence: Weaver notes, 'It was his great faith that cast out all of his fear. And he said, If the Lord's with me, I can do it.'

God uses faithful individuals, not majorities

Summary: Joshua and Caleb were the minority among the spies, yet they prevailed because they honored God.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'God uses men. He does not use committees. He does not use a majority. Usually he uses a minority, and he uses men.'

Scripture References

Joshua 14:11

Context: Caleb's declaration of strength at 85, the central text of the sermon.

Exodus 9:17

Context: Referenced in review of the 'as yet' of presumption regarding Pharaoh.

Proverbs 16:18

Context: Quoted to illustrate Pharaoh's pride leading to destruction.

Deuteronomy 12:9

Context: Referenced in review of the 'as yet' of preparation.

1 Peter (implied inheritance passage)

Context: Mentioned regarding our incorruptible inheritance reserved in heaven.

Joshua 14:6-13

Context: The full context of Caleb's request and testimony, read and expounded.

Numbers 14:23-24

Context: God's commendation of Caleb for having another spirit and following fully.

Deuteronomy 1:35-36

Context: God's promise that Caleb would see the land and inherit it because he wholly followed the Lord.

Psalm 90:10

Context: Cited to show the average lifespan of 70-80 years, contrasting with Caleb's vigor at 85.

Lamentations 3:22-23

Context: Quoted to emphasize God's daily mercies and faithfulness in preserving life.

Deuteronomy 7:9

Context: God is called the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy.

Psalm 66:9

Context: God holds our soul in life and does not let our feet be moved.

Psalm 31:15

Context: David's declaration that his times are in God's hand.

1 Samuel 20:3

Context: David's statement to Jonathan that there is but a step between him and death.

Psalm 92:2

Context: Showing forth God's lovingkindness every morning and faithfulness every night.

Isaiah 40:29-31

Context: God gives power to the faint and renews strength for those who wait on Him.

Psalm 71:18

Context: David's prayer to show God's strength to the next generation even in old age.

Isaiah 46:3-4

Context: God carries His people from birth to old age.

Ecclesiastes 12:1-7

Context: Exhortation to remember the Creator in youth before old age and death come.

1 Kings 11:4-11

Context: Solomon's turn to idolatry in old age, contrasting with Caleb's faithfulness.

Historical References

Pharaoh's presumption in Exodus

Context: Used in the review of the first 'as yet' message, illustrating pride and God's judgment.

Israel's wilderness wanderings and death of 603,550 men

Context: Weaver calculates the daily death toll to emphasize God's preservation of Caleb amid widespread judgment.

Solomon's idolatry in old age

Context: Contrasted with Caleb's faithfulness; Solomon turned to false gods when old, while Caleb relied on the Lord.

Important Quotes

As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, both to go out and to come in.

Significance: This is the central verse of the sermon, highlighting Caleb's preserved strength and God's faithfulness.

The Lord hath kept me alive, as he said, these forty and five years.

Significance: Caleb's testimony of God's preservation, emphasizing divine faithfulness over decades.

But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit within him, and followed me fully, him will I bring into the land wherein he went, and his seed shall possess it.

Significance: God's commendation of Caleb's wholehearted devotion, which is the basis for the promise.

If so be the Lord will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the Lord said.

Significance: Caleb's expression of faith and reliance on God's presence rather than his own strength.

It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions, they fail not. They are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness.

Significance: Quoted to underscore that life and preservation are due to God's daily mercies.

There is but a step between me and death.

Significance: David's words used to illustrate the fragility of life and the need for gratitude for God's protection.

Now also, when I am old and grayheaded, O God, forsake me not, until I have showed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to everyone that is to come.

Significance: David's prayer that Weaver applies to the desire to demonstrate God's power even in old age.

Them that honour me I will honour, saith the Lord, and those that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.

Significance: The principle that God rewards faithfulness, as seen in Caleb's life.

Discussion Questions

How does Caleb's testimony in Joshua 14:11 challenge our culture's view of aging and usefulness?

Context: Weaver emphasizes that Caleb was as strong at 85 as at 40, showing that God can use people at any age.

In what ways can we 'wholly follow the Lord' as Caleb did, especially when facing opposition or delay?

Context: Caleb's faithfulness is highlighted by his name meaning 'dog' and his complete devotion despite the majority's unbelief.

Why is it important to recognize that God's preservation of our lives is an act of daily mercy?

Context: Weaver uses Lamentations 3:22-23 and Psalm 66:9 to stress that we should thank God each morning and evening for life.

How can the deaths of others around us increase our thankfulness to God for sparing our lives?

Context: Weaver notes that Caleb likely thought of the thousands who died in the wilderness, and we should profit from the deaths we witness.

What does Caleb's statement 'If so be the Lord will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out' teach us about facing our own 'giants'?

Context: Caleb's confidence was not in his strength but in God's presence, a model for believers facing daunting challenges.

How does Solomon's failure in old age (1 Kings 11) serve as a warning compared to Caleb's example?

Context: Solomon turned to idolatry when old, while Caleb remained faithful; Weaver contrasts their sources of strength.

What practical steps can we take to rely on God's strength rather than our own, especially as we age?

Context: Weaver urges believers to lay aside thoughts of weakness and trust God's grace for whatever He calls them to do.

Applications

Remain faithful in difficult circumstances

Summary: Like Joshua and Caleb, we must stay true to God even when others around us fail or when trials are prolonged.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'We must remain true and faithful, even in the most difficult and trying circumstances, as did both Joshua and Caleb.'

Honor God to receive His honor

Summary: Exceptional obedience and faithfulness are crowned with exceptional blessings; God honors those who honor Him.

Evidence: Weaver quotes 1 Samuel 2:30 and states, 'Exceptional obedience and exceptional faithfulness is always crowned with exceptional blessings and favor.'

Rely on God's strength, not your own

Summary: Whatever our age or weakness, we must trust that God will provide the grace and power needed to fulfill His calling.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'We have to lay aside the thought of our weakness... We have to say, we can do what we must do by the grace of God and we will do it.'

Cultivate daily gratitude for God's preservation

Summary: Recognize that each day is a gift of God's mercy, and thank Him morning and evening for life and health.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'When you wake up in the mornings, you should think, it's the Lord's lovingkindness... that allowed me to live through the night.'

Profit from the deaths of others

Summary: The deaths of those around us should increase our thankfulness for God's sparing our lives and remind us of life's brevity.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'Every time I look into a coffin, a casket, I thank the Lord for life and health... We have to profit from the deaths of those that die.'

Remember your Creator in youth

Summary: Young people should not presume upon long life but should serve God wholeheartedly while they have strength.

Evidence: Weaver expounds Ecclesiastes 12:1, urging youth to remember God before old age and death come.

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-04T18:40:06Z

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-05T20:48:02Z

Clean Transcript

As Yet - Part 2 of 3

Clean readable transcript. This view follows the Commentary.net cleaned segment text while preserving timestamps for audio follow-along.

Oh boy, well, all right. Joshua chapter 14, Joshua chapter 14 and verse 11. Thank you. Joshua 14 verse 11, Caleb is speaking and he says, "As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, both to go out and to come in." Last week I began looking through the Bible at this little phrase, "as yet," and of course I pointed out the fact that we use that phrase frequently, but when it's used in the Bible, it does indeed have great significance because it's usually used in a sense of expectation and anticipation. And last week in that first message, I covered basically two points. The first one was the "as yet" of presumption based on Exodus chapter 9 and verse 17, where it is said of Pharaoh, "As yet exaltest thou thyself against my people, that thou wilt not let them go." And I pointed out that the word "presumption" that I was using to convey the idea was that which is unwarrantable, that which is unbecoming, that which expresses impertinent boldness.
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And the Hebrew word actually means to lift oneself up and to act as a superior. And so Pharaoh then was refusing to acknowledge God, refusing to acknowledge His Word, or His servants, or Israel. And thus he was acting literally as God's superior. And of course he elevated himself above God and it ended up destroying him. The Bible says in Proverbs 16 and verse 18, "Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall." And Pharaoh, of course, as I pointed out, was not interested in obeying God, but he was interested in trying to bargain with God and set the limits and set the bounds, which of course God refused to allow him to do. And so the "as yet" here then refers to the fact that God expected and anticipated on bringing Pharaoh low, and that is exactly what He did. The second "as yet" that we looked at was based upon Deuteronomy 12 and verse 9, and that was the "as yet" of preparation. In other words, the people had not as yet entered into their inheritance, and basically God was telling them how to live, how to act then, and how they were to live and how they were to act once they got into the land.
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And I pointed out that likewise we personally have not come into our inheritance because the Bible tells us in the book of 1 Peter that we have an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for us. And so God also tells us how to live and how to act until we come into that heavenly Zion. And the Scripture tells us, "By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments, and His commandments are not grievous unto us." And then I ended with the applications of there are two times "in a little while" that has occurred in the Bible. One, the Bible says in a little while the wicked shall be no more. And then in a little while He that shall come will come. So we have not seen the wicked destroyed as yet, but our Lord said wait a little while. We have not entered into our inheritance as yet, but our Lord said just simply wait a little while.
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And we certainly shall. So today we're going to come to what I'm going to call the "as yet" of promise. So if you look at verse 11 again, Caleb says, "As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me. As my strength was then, even so it is my strength now for war, both to go out and to come in." Now, in order to grasp the absolute significance of what Caleb has said, we need to look at it in the context. So I want us to read verses 6-13 and then I am going to try to place it together for you. In verse 6, "Then the children of Judah came unto Joshua in Gilgal, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said unto him, Thou knowest the thing that the Lord said unto Moses the man of God concerning me and thee in Kadesh Barnea. Forty years old was I when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh Barnea to spy out the land, and I brought him word again as it was in mine heart.
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Nevertheless, my brethren that went up with me made the heart of the people melt, but I wholly followed the Lord my God. And Moses sware on that day, saying, Surely the land whereon thy feet have trodden shall be thine inheritance, and thy children's forever, because thou hast wholly followed the Lord my God. And now, behold, the Lord hath kept me alive, as he said, these forty and five years, even since the Lord spake this word unto Moses, while the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness. And now, lo, I am this day fourscore and five years old, eighty-five years old, and as yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me, as my strength was then even so is my strength now for war, both to go out and to come in. Now therefore, give me this mountain, whereof the Lord spake in that day, for thou heardest in that day how the Anakims were there, and that the cities were great and fenced. If so be the Lord will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the Lord said."
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And Joshua blessed him, and gave unto Caleb the son of Jephunneh Hebron for an inheritance." Now, God basically had promised Caleb Hebron, the mountain in which he delighted. Caleb was faithful, and he served the Lord truly with all of his heart. He was basically what you and I would call a truly faithful and trustworthy servant. Interestingly, the name Caleb literally means "dog." Now, the question has to be asked, how could the name Caleb or "dog" be used of this man in a good sense?
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Well, let me show you. I want you to hold Joshua chapter 14, but look back to the book of Numbers chapter 14. Just back a few pages, Numbers chapter 14. And let's look at verses 23 and 24. Numbers chapter 14, verses 23 and 24. In this passage, God is speaking.
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He is speaking first of those faithless servants who brought up an evil report on the land. And he says in Numbers chapter 14 and verse 23, "Surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers," not only the faithless servants but the faithless people. "They shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoke me see it." Then he says, "But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit within him, and followed me fully, him will I bring into the land wherein he went, and his seed shall possess it." Now notice if you would please, the Bible said that he followed him fully, that Caleb followed the Lord fully. I don't know if you noticed it or not, but in Joshua chapter 14 he said twice that he wholly followed the Lord. So here's the word Caleb, which means dog, and thus Caleb, the little puppy dog, so to speak, faithfully followed his master everywhere he went.
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Now some of you have been to the house, and you have seen one of our pups whose name is Claiborne. Claiborne follows me everywhere. If I'm in my office studying, he's under the desk with his head on my foot. If I go to the bedroom to change clothes, he goes to the bedroom with me. If I go to the bathroom, he goes to the bathroom with me. If I go to the barn, he goes to the barn with me. Everywhere I go, he goes as well.
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And this is the way the word Caleb is used. Caleb was trustworthy and obedient and he wholly and faithfully followed the Lord.
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Now if you would turn to the book of Deuteronomy chapter 1, just over a few pages, Deuteronomy chapter 1, and look at verses 35 and 36 where God says the same thing again. Now I don't know if you noticed it or not, but God said specifically in verse 34 of Numbers 14 that He was going to bring Caleb into the land. So notice if you would Deuteronomy 1 verse 35, again God says, "Surely there shall not one of these men of this evil generation see that good land which I sware to give unto your fathers, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, he shall see it. And to him will I give the land that he hath trodden upon, and to his children, because he hath wholly followed the Lord." So notice if you would in this passage God says, "I'm going to give him the land." And then He says, "He's going to see it, because he hath wholly followed the Lord." Back in Numbers chapter 14 verse 24, don't turn back there, but notice what God said again concerning Caleb.
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"Him will I bring into the land whereinto he went and his seed shall possess it." God is going to personally undertake and see that Caleb gets into the land, that he actually inherits Hebron, the mountain in which he delighted. And He's going to see that Caleb's seed will inherit this land.
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Now, I want you to try to allow this to settle in your mind just for a moment. Here the sovereign God of heaven and earth is promising that He is going to undertake personally and make sure that Caleb gets into the land. God is sovereign, God is omnipotent, He's omniscient, He's omnipresent, and there is nothing too hard for the Lord. So let me just throw something out for your consideration. Do you realize that God at this point could have miraculously transported Caleb over into the land, but He did not? God also could have allowed Caleb at this point to just simply walk over into the land and go ahead and be there, but He did not. Caleb is still going to have to wait 45 years to inherit the land.
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Now the interesting thing is this, God is never late. God is always on time. And Caleb had to wait 45 years for God to fulfill this promise. So Caleb was 40 years old when Moses sent him to spy out the land. 45 years later he's now 85.
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Now I realize you'd normally say 40 years the children of Israel wandered in the desert. Actually it was 38 plus seven more years that followed after they went into the land, and then they had to wait, and then they had to conquer. So, time you add 38 plus seven, you've got 45 years. So, from the time Caleb went and searched it out until he actually got there and ready to possess it was 45 years.
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Now, according to Psalm 90 and verse 10, the average age, I suppose back then, and the average age today is what you and I would say 70 years old. Because in Psalm 90 and verse 10 the Bible says, "The days of our years are threescore and ten, and if by reason of strength they be fourscore," that is 80, "yet is their strength labour and sorrow, for it is soon cut off and we fly away." So, he said the average is 70; if you make it to 80 or 85, it's usually labour and sorrow and you have all kind of problems, et cetera.
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But I want you to note that Caleb was absolutely different. 45 years usually makes a difference in a man. I can't even do what I used to do at 60. I can't do what I used to do at 50. And I certainly can't do what I used to do at 20 and 30. Usually makes a big difference. But it did not make any difference in Caleb. Look back in Joshua 14 verse 11, look what he said, "And yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me. As my strength was then even so is my strength now for war."
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"Both to go out and to come in." James, it would be kind of embarrassing to get beat up by an 85-year-old man, wouldn't it? But yet, you know, here's Caleb. He said, "I can fight just as good at 85 as I could at 40." Wow.
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Now, the interesting thing is this. I want you to see his testimony. Look in verse 10. Let's start in verse 10 before we ever get to verse 11. Look in verse 10. He said, "And now, behold, the Lord hath kept me alive as he said, these 45 years. Even since the Lord spake this word unto Moses while the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness, and now, lo, I am this day fourscore and five years old." So notice the beginning of verse 10. He said, "And now, behold, the Lord hath kept me alive." Do you realize that thousands died in the wilderness? They died from the curse of God. They died from disease, they died from old age, they died in battle.
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In fact the Bible tells us there were 36 who died as they tried to conquer Ai after Jericho had fallen. But God preserved Caleb in all of this so that Caleb might inherit that land and his seed might possess that land as well. And so Caleb is giving the Lord the praise in verse 10. And he said, "Behold, the Lord has kept me alive as he said." Wow.
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Now, let me give you several things we should learn from this. First, we should learn that while we are alive, it is God's grace and God's mercy and God's power that keeps us alive and enables us to enjoy the life that He gives us. Have you ever stopped to think about this? One of my favorite verses, and I suppose I quote it every day, usually a couple times a day.
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It's Lamentations 3, 23 and 24, or 22 and 23 it is. "It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions, they fail not. They are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness." One of my favorite hymns is, "Great is Thy Faithfulness." And in the Bible, in Deuteronomy chapter 7 and verse 9, God is called the faithful God. The Scripture says, "Know therefore that the Lord thy God, He is God, the faithful God, who keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love Him, and keepeth His commandments to a thousand generations." Did you know the Bible says in Psalm 66 in verse 9 concerning God, "who holdeth our soul in life and suffereth not our feet to be moved"?
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Now just stop and think about that. God holds our lives in His hand and He is the one that preserves us, protects us, and suffers not our feet to be moved. David said it again like this in Psalm 31 in verse 15. He said, "My times are in thy hand, deliver me from the hand of my enemies and from them that persecute me." So not only is Jeremiah saying it is the Lord's mercy that we are not consumed, David is saying our soul is in His hand and our times are in His hand. He controls absolutely everything.
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You know what most of us have not realized? We have not realized the truth that David said to Jonathan in 1 Samuel chapter 20 in verse 3. You remember that Saul was after David and Jonathan and David had entered into a covenant and Jonathan was doing everything he could to protect David and Saul wanted David dead. That's all there was to it. And David said this to Jonathan, and David sware moreover and said, "Thy father certainly knoweth that I have found grace in thine eyes. And he said, Let not Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved. But truly, as the Lord liveth," here's what David said, "but truly as the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, there is but a step between me and death."
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Now you just stop and think about that. That is not just true with David. That's true with each of us. It's just a step. And how easily and how quickly that step could be taken. I can look back over my life, and I can see how God sovereignly and miraculously protected me when there were times I should have died and could have died. And yet, here it is, most people never understand, life passes so quickly and there's just a step. So it's God and God alone who preserves us and protects us and provides for each of us.
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So we have to learn exactly that which Caleb is saying, it is the Lord who's kept us alive. In fact, David said it like this in Psalm 92 and verse two, he says, "To show forth thy lovingkindness every morning and thy faithfulness every night." So when you wake up in the mornings, you should think, it's the Lord's lovingkindness, His tender mercies, and His compassions that allowed me to live through the night. And when you go to bed at night, you should say, it's the Lord's faithfulness in these things that has preserved me and kept me alive. So we should understand, as Caleb did, it is truly the Lord that has preserved us and protected us. The second thing we should learn, when he says, "and now behold the Lord hath kept me alive as he said," we should learn that the longer we live, the more sensible we should be of God's goodness, of God's grace and mercy in keeping us alive, in prolonging our life, in giving us health and strength.
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Now everyone in this room just about can identify with what I'm about to say. I find it absolutely amusing at times that young people hardly ever think of death or dying. Have you ever noticed that? And you can think back upon your life, and when you were young, you just kind of thought you were gonna live forever. You had all kind of strength, you had all kind of energy. I have a young man who's staying at the house with me just for a little while, and he's nearly 18.
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And a couple mornings, we wake up about 5:30, okay? And just as quick as it gets daylight, I'll be out feeding the animals and taking care of the animals. And last couple mornings, he kind of ambled out of bed late and came out and joined me. And I looked at him, I said, "It's hard to play all day and court half the night and get up early the next morning, isn't it?" And he just smiles.
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But you know, the truth of the matter is this. Since young people hardly ever think about death and dying, and since usually they think they've got all kind of strength and all kind of energy, they're going to live forever, they never really appreciate God's grace in sparing them and allowing them to live. Never really appreciate the fact that God has given them strength and God has given them health. And the longer we live the more we are thankful for what we are able to do. I might not be able to do what I could do at 40 but I am thankful I can still at least do some things.
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Let me show you. I want you to hold Joshua 14 but I want you to turn in your Bibles to Isaiah 40 and then hold the book of Isaiah because we will come back there. But then I want you to turn to Psalm 71. We'll go to Isaiah 40 first and then to Psalm 71. I want you to see this. So look if you would please in Isaiah chapter 40 and look if you would at verse 29. Isaiah 40 verse 29. We're going to come right back here. But notice if you would, in verse 29, "He giveth power to the faint."
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"And to them that have no might, he increaseth strength." Notice if you would, "He giveth power to the faint. And to them that have no might, he increaseth strength." Verse 30, "Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall. But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint." So here it is. It is God who gives us strength. It is God who gives us might. It is God who basically keeps us going even in our old age.
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One of my favorite passages and I want you to look at it is Psalm 71. We are coming back to Isaiah so hold it. Look in Psalm 71 and verse 18. Psalm 71 and verse 18. Look what David said. Psalm 71 verse 18. I could change just one word there, but you'll understand in just a moment. David says, "Now also, when I am old and grayheaded, O God, forsake me not, until I have showed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to everyone that is to come." I could change it and say, "Now also, when I am old and baldheaded, O God, forsake me not." So it doesn't matter. When we are old, it is God that gives us strength.
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And I've got news for you. There are a lot of older people who have more strength and more character than younger people. So David says, "Lord, now that I'm old and grayheaded, forsake me not until I have showed thy strength unto this generation and thy power to everyone that is to come." Then if you will look in Isaiah chapter 46, Isaiah 46 and notice if you would please verses 3 and 4. Isaiah 46 verses 3 and 4. Look what God says. "Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, which are borne by me from the belly, which are carried from the womb. And even to your old age I am he, and even to hoar hairs will I carry you. I have made, I will bear, even I will carry and will deliver you." So God said, "I'm the one that carries you from conception, from birth through youth. I'm the one that will carry you in old age." So it's Caleb then who said, "The Lord has kept me alive these years as he said."
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"As he said." And we need to recognize this. By the way, if you would turn right back in your Bibles to the book of Ecclesiastes. Go back right past the Song of Solomon to the book of Ecclesiastes chapter 12. And look at verses one through seven, because God does indeed speak to young people as well. Not just old people, but young people as well. Look what he says in Ecclesiastes chapter 12, verse 1.
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He says, "Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them." Wow. So he said, before you get old and sickly and frail, you better remember your Creator in the days of your youth.
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Now look, verse 2, "While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain: in the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out the windows be darkened, and the doors shall be shut in the streets, when the sound of the grinding is low, and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of music shall be brought low, and when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail." Why?
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Because man goeth to his long home, that is death, and the mourners go about the streets: or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern. And in fact, verse 6 is a picture of death at different stages of life. And then he says in verse 7, "Then shall the dust return into the earth as it was, and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it."
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So he tells young people, listen, you better indeed remember your Creator in your youth. And so it is a wise child that will remember the Lord and remember the Creator while he is young and serve Him with his whole heart. If one is sensible of death and dying and the mercies and the grace of God while he is young, undoubtedly that awareness should improve with age as well.
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Here's the third thing we're to learn from Caleb. He said, "The Lord has kept me alive as he said." Do you realize that the deaths of all of those around us should make us more thankful to God who has spared our lives? Alice and I have lost six friends in just the last couple months and certainly not all of them were as old as we are. You can go to any cemetery and you can see small graves as well as large graves.
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I want you to look back to the book of Numbers chapter 14. I want you to see the emphasis, I believe, that is clearly on Caleb's mind when he said, "The Lord hath kept me alive as he said." So if you look in Numbers chapter 14, and let's begin reading there with verse 28. Numbers 14, verse 28. Notice if you would what God says. Now God is speaking and he says, "Say unto them, As truly as I live, saith the Lord, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you."
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Now, let me just stop there. You remember the people now when they heard about all the giants in the land and all this kind of stuff and the evil report by the ten spies, what did they say? "Would to God we had died in this wilderness." That's what they said. So God says in verse 28, "As truly as I live, saith the Lord, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you. Your carcases shall fall in this wilderness, and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which have murmured against me, doubtless ye shall not come into this land concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun."
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"But your little ones which ye said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have despised. But as for you, your carcases shall fall in this wilderness, and your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms until your carcases be wasted in the wilderness. After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities even forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise. I, the Lord, have said, I will surely do it unto all this evil congregation that are gathered together against me in this wilderness, they shall be consumed, and there they shall die."
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Now, since you're in the book of Numbers, turn back to Numbers chapter 2, because he said everyone that was numbered from 20 years old and upward is going to die in this wilderness. So, if you look in Numbers chapter 2, and verse 32, you're going to find how many men of war were numbered. Numbers chapter 2 verse 32, "These are those which were numbered by the children of Israel by the house of their fathers: all those that were numbered of the camps throughout their host were six hundred thousand three thousand five hundred and fifty." Now God has said every one of you going down the wilderness, six hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty. So if they wandered 38 years in the wilderness before they actually crossed the land, they did not conquer the land at that time, they were still under God's judgment.
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But if you take 38 and divide 38 into 603,550 you get 15,883 men that died per year.
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If you divide 15,883 by 12, you get 1,324 dying each month. If you divide 1,324 by 30, you get 44 men dying each day. These figures would not include the women that died, the children that died, the men that died in war, you know, later on. No, no, no.
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Can you imagine finding 44 men every day dead? Every day that you woke up, your neighbors, your friends, your relatives, 44 a day. Don't you imagine when Caleb said, "The Lord has kept me alive as he said," I would imagine he was thinking about all these people that he saw die. And he was saying the Lord has kept His promise. Let me tell you, every time I drive down the road and I see a cross or crosses evidently where there's been a wreck and people have been killed, every time I see those crosses the first thing I do is I thank the Lord for life and health. Every time I look into a coffin, a casket, I thank the Lord for life and health. Even when I pass a cemetery, I thank the Lord for life and health. We have to profit from the lives of those that God allows us to see as they live, but we also have to profit from the deaths of those that die. And this is exactly what Caleb is saying, "The Lord hath kept me alive as he said."
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Now, I want you to go back to Joshua chapter 14 and look at verse 11. That brings me to the verse that I want to deal with momentarily. So he said in verse 10, "Behold, the Lord has kept me alive as he said these forty and five years." In spite of all the death and dying, God kept him alive. Now he's 85 years old. Now he's 85 years old. And look, if you would please, at verse 11.
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He said, "And yet I'm as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me. As my strength was then, even so is my strength now for war, both to go out and to come in." We have to understand that it is God that gives us strength and it is God that enables us to continue.
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Now, stop and think about this. One of the biggest complaints of men, especially as they age, is they lose their strength. They lose their strength in numbers of ways, but they lose their strength. What I'm trying to tell you is this. God not only preserved Caleb and kept him alive, He preserved his strength and vitality as well. Everyone in this room has heard of what some people call a midlife crisis or a midlife fling where some stupid man or some woman decides all of a sudden they're going to leave their mate of 50 years or something and go run off with a younger woman or with a younger man or something like that. And, you know, you tend to think, well, that's normal. That's not normal. You see, people will look to two sources of power, and really and truly there's only one source of power. Psalm 62 says, "Power belongeth unto God." But some people will try to go to the occult and try to go into sin to reinvigorate themselves, which is absolutely stupid.
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But I'm going to show you someone who did it. I want you to look in your Bibles to 1 Kings 11. 1 Kings 11. I suppose that no one ever experienced power like Solomon. But yet Solomon, instead of looking to the Lord when he was old, looked to the occult and to false religions and idolatry. Notice, if you would, 1 Kings 11, beginning there with verse 4. "For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom, the abomination of the Ammonites. And Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and went not fully after the Lord, as did David his father. Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon." Wow!
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"And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods. And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned away from the Lord God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice, and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods. But he kept not that which the Lord commanded. Wherefore the Lord said unto Solomon, Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and give it to thy servant." Wow. So here is Solomon.
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Who had all kind of money and power and might, when he gets old and he loses his power, his virility and everything, he turns now to the occult and to the false gods and to the idolatry. Caleb, on the other hand, stayed true to God. And at 85, he was fit for business. He was as strong and as lively at 85 as he was at 40. So this basically is the fruit of the promise. God even goes further than His promise because God had promised to keep Caleb alive to get him into the land and that his seed should inherit the land. But God not only kept him alive, He kept him in perfect health. He kept him in strength. He kept him powerful. So God always gives more than His promise. In fact, you could say that His promise not only included life, but included comfort and strength as well.
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Now, let me make a statement. Listen to me carefully. Old men, by God's grace and by God's power, can be fit for fighting and war. You say, "How in the world can you do that? I can't run and jump and climb over fences and stones and buildings like I could when I was 20." That's true. You may be weak, and you may be helpless, and you may be impotent enough yourself, but with the power of God, that's a totally different subject. The point I'm trying to make is this.
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We have to lay aside the thought of our weakness. We have to lay aside the thought of our loss of strength. We have to lay aside the thought of our helplessness. No, no, no. We have to say, we can do what we must do by the grace of God and we will do it. That's what you have to do. You have to come to the realization wherever you are in your life, whatever God demands of you, whatever His providence calls upon you for, He will give you grace and He will give you strength to do it. It may be fighting. It may be war. It may be serving. It may be doing any number of things. But God's grace and strength and power can help you. So all I'm trying to say is this. If you look at Caleb, you're going to have to give up the idea of weakness and impotence. Look at it. Look in Joshua chapter 14. Go back there.
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I want you to see this. Look at verse 11. And now we're going to go to verse 12. I'm going to read verse 11 again. Look in verse 11. He said, "I'm as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me. As my strength was then, even so is my strength now for war, both to go out and to come in. Now therefore, give me this mountain, whereof the Lord spake in that day, for thou heardest in that day how the Anakims were there," that is the giants, "and that their cities were great and fenced. If so be the Lord will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the Lord said." Did you hear what he said? "I'm 85. It doesn't matter. If the Lord is with me, I can do it." He knew that the Anakims were there. He knew the giants were there. It didn't bother him. He knew the cities were fenced and walled up to heaven. It did not bother him.
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It was his great faith that cast out all of his fear. And he said, "If the Lord's with me, I can do it." So we have to realize we can do whatever God calls us to do, whatever our age. And I still love Psalm 71. "And now, Lord, when I'm old and grayheaded, forsake me not till I've showed thy strength and thy power to this generation."
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The applications of these, first of all, we must remain true and faithful, even in the most difficult and trying circumstances, as did both Joshua and Caleb. Consequently, they prevailed when the others failed. Joshua and Caleb were men. I've often said this, God uses men. He does not use committees. He does not use a majority. Usually he uses a minority, and he uses men. The second one is this.
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We have to understand that exceptional obedience and exceptional faithfulness is always crowned with exceptional blessings and favor. God said it like this in 1 Samuel 2 and verse 30, "Them that honour me I will honour, saith the Lord, and those that despise me shall be lightly esteemed." So Caleb and Joshua honoured the Lord, and the Lord honoured Joshua and Caleb. Caleb has a tremendous testimony. He said, "Now behold, the Lord has kept me alive as he said. The Lord has enabled me to have the same strength and power at 85 as I did at 40."
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"And I'm ready to fight. Give me this mountain." Wherever we are in our life, God is able to give us strength. He's able to give us power. And what we must do is look solely, totally, and completely at Him. We cannot look anywhere else. God alone is omnipotent. He has all power. Power belongeth unto the Lord, and it belongeth unto Him alone. Let's pray. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we ask for your grace and your mercy and your goodness and kindness.
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We thank you for the testimony of Caleb. We are thankful for the faithfulness of your promise that you not only kept him alive, but Lord, you've kept us alive. You've not only, Lord, crowned him with blessings, but you've crowned us with blessings. Help us, Lord, to be your little puppy dog and be faithful to Thee, and to follow Thee wholly, totally, and completely. Give us grace, Father, that we may serve Thee acceptably, with reverence and godly fear.
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In Thy name we pray, Amen.
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♪
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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-04T18:40:06Z

As Yet - Part 2 of 3

John Weaver | Freedom Ministries

In this sermon, Pastor John Weaver explores the 'as yet' of promise through the life of Caleb in Joshua 14. Caleb, at 85 years old, testifies that God has kept him alive and as strong as he was at 40, ready to claim the mountain promised to him. The message emphasizes God's faithfulness in preserving His people, the importance of wholly following the Lord, and the truth that God provides strength for every season of life. Applications include remaining faithful in trials, honoring God to receive His honor, and relying on His power rather than our own weakness.

Introduction and Review of Previous 'As Yet' Messages

Oh boy, well, all right. Joshua chapter 14, Joshua chapter 14 and verse 11. Thank you. Joshua 14 verse 11, Caleb is speaking and he says,

Scripture Reading — Joshua 14:11

"As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, both to go out and to come in."

Introduction to the 'As Yet' of Promise in Joshua 14:11

Caleb declares he is as strong at 85 as he was at 40 when Moses sent him to spy out the land, introducing the theme of God's promise and preservation.

Context of Caleb's Testimony (Joshua 14:6-13)

Weaver reads the full passage, highlighting Caleb's faithfulness, God's promise of Hebron, and the 45-year wait for its fulfillment.

Scripture Reading — Joshua 14:6-13

And Joshua blessed him, and gave unto Caleb the son of Jephunneh Hebron for an inheritance."

Caleb's Name and Faithful Character

The name Caleb means 'dog,' illustrating his wholehearted, faithful following of the Lord, as seen in Numbers 14:24 and Deuteronomy 1:36.

He is speaking first of those faithless servants who brought up an evil report on the land. And he says in Numbers chapter 14 and verse 23,

Scripture Reading — Numbers 14:23-24

"Surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers,"

not only the faithless servants but the faithless people.

Scripture Reading — Numbers 14:23-24

"They shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoke me see it."

Then he says,

Scripture Reading — Numbers 14:23-24

"But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit within him, and followed me fully, him will I bring into the land wherein he went, and his seed shall possess it."

Scripture Reading — Deuteronomy 1:35-36

"Surely there shall not one of these men of this evil generation see that good land which I sware to give unto your fathers, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, he shall see it. And to him will I give the land that he hath trodden upon, and to his children, because he hath wholly followed the Lord."

So notice if you would in this passage God says, "I'm going to give him the land." And then He says,

Scripture Reading — Deuteronomy 1:35-36

"He's going to see it, because he hath wholly followed the Lord."

Back in Numbers chapter 14 verse 24, don't turn back there, but notice what God said again concerning Caleb.

God's Sovereign Preservation of Caleb

God personally undertook to bring Caleb into the land, yet Caleb waited 45 years. Weaver emphasizes God's timing and preservation amid widespread death in the wilderness.

Now, according to Psalm 90 and verse 10, the average age, I suppose back then, and the average age today is what you and I would say 70 years old. Because in Psalm 90 and verse 10 the Bible says,

Scripture Reading — Psalm 90:10

"The days of our years are threescore and ten, and if by reason of strength they be fourscore,"

that is 80,

Scripture Reading — Psalm 90:10

"yet is their strength labour and sorrow, for it is soon cut off and we fly away."

Lessons from Caleb's Preservation

Scripture Reading — Lamentations 3:22-23

"It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions, they fail not. They are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness."

One of my favorite hymns is,

Scripture Reading — Lamentations 3:22-23

"Great is Thy Faithfulness."

Scripture Reading — 1 Samuel 20:3

"Thy father certainly knoweth that I have found grace in thine eyes. And he said, Let not Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved. But truly, as the Lord liveth,"

here's what David said,

Scripture Reading — 1 Samuel 20:3

"but truly as the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, there is but a step between me and death."

Scripture Reading — Psalm 71:18

"Now also, when I am old and grayheaded, O God, forsake me not, until I have showed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to everyone that is to come."

I could change it and say,

Scripture Reading — Psalm 71:18

"Now also, when I am old and baldheaded, O God, forsake me not."

So it doesn't matter. When we are old, it is God that gives us strength.

Scripture Reading — Isaiah 46:3-4

"Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, which are borne by me from the belly, which are carried from the womb. And even to your old age I am he, and even to hoar hairs will I carry you. I have made, I will bear, even I will carry and will deliver you."

But if you take 38 and divide 38 into 603,550 you get 15,883 men that died per year.

Caleb's Strength at 85 and Reliance on God

Caleb's strength was preserved by God, contrasting with Solomon's turn to idolatry in old age. Caleb's faith overcame fear of giants and fortified cities.

Scripture Reading — 1 Kings 11:4-11

"For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom, the abomination of the Ammonites. And Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and went not fully after the Lord, as did David his father. Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon."

Wow!

Applications: Faithfulness, Honor, and Divine Strength

We must remain faithful in trials, knowing exceptional obedience brings exceptional blessing. God honors those who honor Him, and He provides strength for every calling.

As Yet - Part 2 of 3

John Weaver | YouTube

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	YouTube
Media ID	LFPsbWHOpKM
Subject	Old Testament Studies
Course	Exodus: Bondage, Deliverance, and Passover: As Yet
Genre	Sermon
Date	2017-07-04
Dictation Name
Book	Book 098: As Yet — Chapter 2
Source Timed Segments	62

Lecture Guide

Outline

Introduction and Review of Previous 'As Yet' Messages: Weaver reviews the first two 'as yet' messages: the 'as yet' of presumption from Pharaoh in Exodus 9, and the 'as yet' of preparation from Deuteronomy 12, where Israel had not yet entered their inheritance.
Introduction to the 'As Yet' of Promise in Joshua 14:11: Caleb declares he is as strong at 85 as he was at 40 when Moses sent him to spy out the land, introducing the theme of God's promise and preservation.
Context of Caleb's Testimony (Joshua 14:6-13): Weaver reads the full passage, highlighting Caleb's faithfulness, God's promise of Hebron, and the 45-year wait for its fulfillment.
Caleb's Name and Faithful Character: The name Caleb means 'dog,' illustrating his wholehearted, faithful following of the Lord, as seen in Numbers 14:24 and Deuteronomy 1:36.
God's Sovereign Preservation of Caleb: God personally undertook to bring Caleb into the land, yet Caleb waited 45 years. Weaver emphasizes God's timing and preservation amid widespread death in the wilderness.
Lessons from Caleb's Preservation: Three lessons: (1) God's grace keeps us alive; (2) the longer we live, the more we should be sensible of God's goodness; (3) the deaths of others should increase our thankfulness for God's sparing us.
Caleb's Strength at 85 and Reliance on God: Caleb's strength was preserved by God, contrasting with Solomon's turn to idolatry in old age. Caleb's faith overcame fear of giants and fortified cities.
Applications: Faithfulness, Honor, and Divine Strength: We must remain faithful in trials, knowing exceptional obedience brings exceptional blessing. God honors those who honor Him, and He provides strength for every calling.

Major Themes

Key Arguments

God's promises include more than we expect

God promised Caleb life and inheritance, but He also gave him preserved strength and vitality, showing that God's blessings exceed the bare promise.

Weaver states, 'God always gives more than His promise. In fact, you could say that His promise not only included life, but included comfort and strength as well.'

Old age does not disqualify from God's service

Caleb at 85 was fit for war, proving that with God's power, age is no barrier to fulfilling God's calling.

Weaver says, 'Old men, by God's grace and by God's power, can be fit for fighting and war.'

Faith overcomes fear of obstacles

Caleb knew about the giants and fortified cities but was not afraid because he trusted in the Lord's presence.

Weaver notes, 'It was his great faith that cast out all of his fear. And he said, If the Lord's with me, I can do it.'

God uses faithful individuals, not majorities

Joshua and Caleb were the minority among the spies, yet they prevailed because they honored God.

Weaver states, 'God uses men. He does not use committees. He does not use a majority. Usually he uses a minority, and he uses men.'

Scripture References

Joshua 14:11: Caleb's declaration of strength at 85, the central text of the sermon.
Exodus 9:17: Referenced in review of the 'as yet' of presumption regarding Pharaoh.
Proverbs 16:18: Quoted to illustrate Pharaoh's pride leading to destruction.
Deuteronomy 12:9: Referenced in review of the 'as yet' of preparation.
1 Peter (implied inheritance passage): Mentioned regarding our incorruptible inheritance reserved in heaven.
Joshua 14:6-13: The full context of Caleb's request and testimony, read and expounded.
Numbers 14:23-24: God's commendation of Caleb for having another spirit and following fully.
Deuteronomy 1:35-36: God's promise that Caleb would see the land and inherit it because he wholly followed the Lord.
Psalm 90:10: Cited to show the average lifespan of 70-80 years, contrasting with Caleb's vigor at 85.
Lamentations 3:22-23: Quoted to emphasize God's daily mercies and faithfulness in preserving life.
Deuteronomy 7:9: God is called the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy.
Psalm 66:9: God holds our soul in life and does not let our feet be moved.
Psalm 31:15: David's declaration that his times are in God's hand.
1 Samuel 20:3: David's statement to Jonathan that there is but a step between him and death.
Psalm 92:2: Showing forth God's lovingkindness every morning and faithfulness every night.
Isaiah 40:29-31: God gives power to the faint and renews strength for those who wait on Him.
Psalm 71:18: David's prayer to show God's strength to the next generation even in old age.
Isaiah 46:3-4: God carries His people from birth to old age.
Ecclesiastes 12:1-7: Exhortation to remember the Creator in youth before old age and death come.
1 Kings 11:4-11: Solomon's turn to idolatry in old age, contrasting with Caleb's faithfulness.

Historical References

Pharaoh's presumption in Exodus: Used in the review of the first 'as yet' message, illustrating pride and God's judgment.
Israel's wilderness wanderings and death of 603,550 men: Weaver calculates the daily death toll to emphasize God's preservation of Caleb amid widespread judgment.
Solomon's idolatry in old age: Contrasted with Caleb's faithfulness; Solomon turned to false gods when old, while Caleb relied on the Lord.

Important Quotes

As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, both to go out and to come in.

This is the central verse of the sermon, highlighting Caleb's preserved strength and God's faithfulness.

The Lord hath kept me alive, as he said, these forty and five years.

Caleb's testimony of God's preservation, emphasizing divine faithfulness over decades.

But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit within him, and followed me fully, him will I bring into the land wherein he went, and his seed shall possess it.

God's commendation of Caleb's wholehearted devotion, which is the basis for the promise.

If so be the Lord will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the Lord said.

Caleb's expression of faith and reliance on God's presence rather than his own strength.

It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions, they fail not. They are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness.

Quoted to underscore that life and preservation are due to God's daily mercies.

There is but a step between me and death.

David's words used to illustrate the fragility of life and the need for gratitude for God's protection.

Now also, when I am old and grayheaded, O God, forsake me not, until I have showed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to everyone that is to come.

David's prayer that Weaver applies to the desire to demonstrate God's power even in old age.

Them that honour me I will honour, saith the Lord, and those that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.

The principle that God rewards faithfulness, as seen in Caleb's life.

Discussion Questions

[Question]

How does Caleb's testimony in Joshua 14:11 challenge our culture's view of aging and usefulness?

[Context]

Weaver emphasizes that Caleb was as strong at 85 as at 40, showing that God can use people at any age.

[Question]

In what ways can we 'wholly follow the Lord' as Caleb did, especially when facing opposition or delay?

[Context]

Caleb's faithfulness is highlighted by his name meaning 'dog' and his complete devotion despite the majority's unbelief.

[Question]

Why is it important to recognize that God's preservation of our lives is an act of daily mercy?

[Context]

Weaver uses Lamentations 3:22-23 and Psalm 66:9 to stress that we should thank God each morning and evening for life.

[Question]

How can the deaths of others around us increase our thankfulness to God for sparing our lives?

[Context]

Weaver notes that Caleb likely thought of the thousands who died in the wilderness, and we should profit from the deaths we witness.

[Question]

What does Caleb's statement 'If so be the Lord will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out' teach us about facing our own 'giants'?

[Context]

Caleb's confidence was not in his strength but in God's presence, a model for believers facing daunting challenges.

[Question]

How does Solomon's failure in old age (1 Kings 11) serve as a warning compared to Caleb's example?

[Context]

Solomon turned to idolatry when old, while Caleb remained faithful; Weaver contrasts their sources of strength.

[Question]

What practical steps can we take to rely on God's strength rather than our own, especially as we age?

[Context]

Weaver urges believers to lay aside thoughts of weakness and trust God's grace for whatever He calls them to do.

Applications

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