Caleb got the chance to fight the giants that the 10 spies were afraid of 40 years earlier at Kadesh Barnea. Chapter 15, verse 14, of Joshua tells us that “Caleb drove out the three sons of Anak.” The Anakim, as you remember, were the giants who dwelled in the land. He was 85 years old at this time. What a remarkable man.
His secret of success was simple. He was totally devoted to God. Like a later descendant of Judah, David, God was always bigger than the problem. I really like what Boice says about him and his simple faith. He said, “Great men are never really complicated. The complicated people are the weak ones, beset by dozens of conflicting causes and motives, never quite knowing how to get it all together. They see one side of an issue, but they also see the other side. They see the advantage of one course of action, but they recognize that it might be better to do something else. Great men are not like this. They are not naive. They know that issues are sometimes complicated and that there are often different paths that can be taken, but they see the important cause and the best path and then follow it consistently.”
Boice goes on to explain: “Why did Caleb have such faith in God? Again the answer is simple: because he had his eyes on God and not on the vacillating or terrifying things around him. This is the significance of that almost humorous report of the ten spies recorded in Numbers 13 and its contrast with the report of Caleb and Joshua. Not one of the spies disagreed on the value of the land of Canaan. It was indeed a land “flowing with milk and honey,” as God said. Nor did they differ on their description of the people and their cities. The cities were large and well fortified. The people were numerous, and there were giants in the land. The point at which they differed was in their awareness of God. The ten looked at themselves and the giants and concluded that a conquest of those people was impossible. Compared to the giants, the Jews seemed like grasshoppers. Caleb and Joshua looked at God rather than circumstances, and when compared to God, the giants were grasshoppers. That is why they said, “Do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone, but the Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of them” (Num. 14:9).”
Much of the time I measure the giants in my life against my own strengths and abilities. I always come up short. Caleb measured the giants against God’s strengths and abilities. I am often overwhelmed with the greatness of my problems. Caleb had a great God and little giants. I wish I could be more like Caleb.