Joshua 14

THE two and a half tribes. get heaven; they suffer for heaven; but they never enjoy heaven. They are within the inheritance-the Euphrates -but they have not crossed the Jordan. All the fighting men had to suffer, but these never knew what it was to take a direct heavenly position.
But now we get in Caleb the character of the man, and the privileges and advantages of the man who walks in simple faith towards God. There is such a thing as general blessing and particular blessing. For instance, in John 20, " peace " is a general blessing; but He teaches Mary Magdalene individually; He says to her, "Go to my brethren and say unto them;" she has got this before they have it. The faithful one always gets the advantage; there is no such thing as any one losing in this world for Christ; he loses temporarily, but on the whole he does not, because " Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred therewith;" there is manifold more even in this present time, So here Caleb. He was faithful all through; he was sent to spy out the land, and the very spot that discouraged the other spies was the one that fell to his share. He gives us a picture of the privileged position of one who does not decline. God always gives us a sample in His word of what a man can be.
I look upon Hebron as a contrast to Gilgal You start to fight from Gilgal; but Hebron is the place of rest. It is the place of rest, the place of rendezvous, and the place of the throne. Abraham was the heavenly man, traveling a pilgrim and a stranger through the earth, and there he finds a grave; it is there Sarah dies and is buried. For the heavenly man on earth there is only a grave.
But what is very remarkable is that Hebron also was the city that frightened all Israel and prevented their going up to possess the promised land. And it was " built seven years before Zoan in Egypt;" it was a very old city. Looked at in connection with Satan it is the -place of fear-of " wicked spirits in heavenly places," as Ephesians tells us. And this gives us a wonderful moral lesson: the place of the greatest difficulty becomes' the place of the greatest victory; the place that was the stronghold of the enemy becomes the 'place the most distinguished by the power of Christ: " O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" I die at Hebron as a natural man; it is the only way I can- get rid of the enemy; and there where the grave was, is for the saints the rendezvous after battle; there faith triumphs. Where I die there I get the victory.
And not only this, but, if I overcome there, I shall also reign there. Hebron is, lastly, the throne; David was crowned there.
Thus we get these two things in Hebron: there is the heavenly man walking on earth by faith, and to him there is a burying place here; I am a man on earth with heavenly hopes going on to heaven. But I am also a king and a priest, and I know what a wonderful thing it is to be superior to everything here that opposes my possession of that place that is given me in heaven. Every saint ought to be both an Abraham and a Caleb. Stephen is both: he finds a burying place here, and he goes to glory; in him also it comes out that the hope of Israel is over-that Sarah is buried.
But in connection with the law of the battle there is a point that we may do well to notice. You will find it in Num. 31. The blessing at first sight appears to be general, but there is really a difference between those who took an active part in the battle and those who did not, though it says that those who stayed at home and those who went to war were to share and share alike. If they went to war and brought back as spoil a thousand head of cattle, they divided with those who remained at home, five hundred to each. But has the man who went to war then no advantage? Yes, he has. He gives only one out of his five hundred, and that, too, direct to the Lord; it is the priest's portion. But the others had to give one out of every fifty, and that to the Levites.
I believe this explains what abounds in the church now; people holding truth which they have never fought for themselves. " The sixpence you make, wears like steel." It is a very solemn thing if the truth you have gained has not brought you nearer to God. I do not object to Levitical service, but I say, Do we know anything of priestly? What you have won in battle brings you into communion with God in a way that non-fighters never know. No person is able to maintain the truth who is not a living example of it; you cannot put any one higher than you are yourself. And I think it is a very low condition of things when people will suffer for service and not for truth. I ought to feel that I have Satan to do with, and that I mean to get this place which our Father's counsel has for me.
I see four things leading me on to the highest point: first, the Father's counsel; second, the Son has accomplished it for me; third, the Holy Ghost is working it in me; and fourth, the servant's duty is to lead me to it. So we are all set for the top; and I believe Satan is determinately set against any one who is determined to reach it; -he will bring all his forces to bear upon that one. It is the place where you are assailed most, but it is the path of power. Whenever Satan sees a person going on well, he always lays a Snare for him, and a snare is a thing that it is easy to get into, and difficult to get out of. When you have been going on well is just the time for him; as we have been seeing, it was after the victory of Jericho came the defeat. -If you set yourself for possession, I doubt not you will get plenty., of trouble; but I would sooner- have power on my side and plenty of enemies, than I would have no enemies and no power.
So Caleb; this faithful man, if you ask what advantage he got over the rest, I answer, he got the great stronghold Hebron. We might think that one who did not go through so much was quite as well off; but he was not. The point is to see what a much better thing it is to folio the Lord fully.
There is a very beautiful thing in 1 Sam. 30, in connection with this, as to whether we are sit for it. Here David's men were quite ready to go with him; they set out to go, but David would not hear of it: "they were so faint that they could not follow." And when they returned with the spoil he made all " part alike." His men were worn out, they were faint; it was not a matter of indifference with them as to whether they went with him or not. And thus it is a very comforting passage to us, for some may not be able to proceed, still they have purpose of heart, and this will not be forgotten.