Christian fellowship is a marvelous thing. Sometimes we shortchange this concept. We often think that fellowship is eating, drinking, and being merry. Surely it can be, but certainly that is not all. When I think back over my life considering those upon whom I would call on in time of need, those I would count as my closest friends, my mind gravitates toward those with whom I toiled in sacrificial labor in advancing the gospel of Christ. A husband and wife experience the closest bond on earth because they have “become one flesh”. In my opinion, the next closest human bond would not be family but rather Christians who have sacrificed together and toiled together in selfless service to God. The bond that is created is a thing of great strength and beauty.
If ever the lives of two human beings were intertwined in an unbreakable bond, surely never were more so than Caleb and Joshua. They both grew up as slaves in Egypt. They both passed from Egypt through the Red Sea with Moses. They both were members of the very select group of twelve spies sent to bring back a report from the Promised Land that none of the children of Israel had ever seen. Caleb and Joshua were the only two spies who showed faith in the Lord’s goodness and ability. They were the only two of the approximately two million adult Hebrews who had left Egypt that God allowed to survive the wilderness wanderings to cross over the Jordan and enter the Promised Land. Thus, Caleb and Joshua were the only two who remembered slavery in Egypt who got to participate in the conquest of Canaan thus fulfilling the covenant God made with Abraham in Genesis 12.
These two men had seen the repeated faithfulness of God as He supplied their every need in spite of the unfaithfulness of the people. They had seen the unmatched power of God for salvation in the plagues. They had experienced the very first Passover lamb sacrifice. They had seen the marvelous manifestation of God’s guiding presence in the pillar of fire and the cloud. They had seen God’s miraculous provision of Egyptian livestock, gold, and silver as well as manna, quail, and water for millions of helpless former slaves. They had seen unmistakable evidence of God’s awesome holiness and discipline at Mt. Sinai. They had seen God’s judgment for disobedience in His dealing with the people, Korah, and even Moses. They had seen God’s mercy in the red heifer, the bronze serpent, etc. Because of their awesome experiences in knowing God, Caleb and Joshua must have had an unbelievable rapport. This is Christian fellowship.
The 85 year old Caleb’s words to Joshua in Joshua 14:6-12 is an incredibly moving passage to me. Verses 11 and 12 are the punch line, “I am still as strong today as I was in the day Moses sent me; as my strength was then, so my strength is now, for war and for going out and coming in. Now then, give me this hill country about which the Lord spoke on that day, for you heard on that day that Anakim were there, with great fortified cities; perhaps the Lord will be with me, and I will drive them out as the Lord has spoken.”(NASU) In the continuing war to possess Promised Land, Caleb wants to be assigned the toughest section. Can you hear the sarcasm in his voice as he says, “Perhaps the Lord will be with me”? Even if no one else understood, surely Joshua did. God is always and ever faithful. That is what connects Christian brothers and sisters.
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