We have all been in situations where we knew we were right in suggesting an idea or a change of policy, but no one would listen to us. What do we do then? It happened to one of my favorite biblical characters, Caleb, too.
The occasion was the arrival of Moses and the twelve tribes at the southern border of Canaan, a few months after their leaving Egypt. Moses, remembering the lessons he has learned along the way, sends spies to check out the land, asking each of the tribes to volunteer one person. Most of the names mean nothing to us: Shammua, Shaphat, Igal, Gaddiel... but two Joshua and Caleb, have a resonance.
This volunteer group goes into the land, spends forty days inspecting the terrain, and comes back bearing a sampling of the land's fruits: pomegranates, figs, and a huge bunch of grapes. Their report speaks of the riches of this land that "flows with milk and honey" but whose inhabitants are giants. The Canaanites get bigger and bigger in the telling, until they are the size of a mythical race of giants, the Anakim. The report concludes with a telling phrase: "To ourselves we seemed like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them."
Caleb tries to present a different picture, but his voice is not heard. A revolt ensues, with the people plotting to kill Moses for bringing them to such a place. Their resolve is to choose a new leader and return to slavery in Egypt. When Caleb and Joshua speak up a second time, the people threaten to stone them too (Numbers 18-19).
It isn't a pretty picture. God is forced to say he will wait until a new generation is ready, one forged in desert privations and in total dependence on him. Of the generation of rebels only Caleb and Joshua will live to call the land of Canaan home. Caleb's portion is in the Negrev, the same region he had explored with the other spies years before.
Did he grow pomegranates and figs there? Did he sit under his grape arbor and remember: "I was right, but no one would listen. But I stayed with the group through thick and thin, and now I am home to stay."
Was the biggest giant slain his own fears that we was not enough? |