9And Moses sware on that day, saying, Surely the land whereon thy feet have trodden shall be thine inheritance, and thy children’s for ever, because thou hast wholly followed the LORD my God. 10And 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. 11As 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. Joshua 14:9-11

Joshua and Caleb are fascinating character in the Bible. I often thing how my grandfather who was born in 1919 saw so many changes in his nearly 90 years of life. Joshua and Caleb definitely saw many changes going from Egypt, through the wilderness, and now in this passage to the Promised Land. I think it is funny how Joshua 13:1 reads “Now Joshua was old and stricken in years; and the LORD said unto him, Thou art old and stricken in years, and there remaineth yet very much land to be possessed. ” Basically preserved the fact that Joshua was “old and stricken in years” but then He goes ahead and records Himself telling Joshua “thou art old and stricken in years”. We certainly get the point here that Joshua was old. In a couple chapters we will learn that his buddy Caleb is 85 years old.

In Joshua 14:11 we have Caleb giving himself a good medical report. 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.”. We must note here that we have recorded Caleb’s opinion of his own health not God’s or a doctor giving him a medical exam. We already know how Joshua is doing and there is not much reason to think that Caleb would not also be “old and stricken in years” himself. (If there is something I am overlooking where God or Joshua says Caleb is “strong as an ox” please let me know).

I would have loved to seen the conversation between these two” Saintly Senior Citizens”. The dream was still alive! They did not let obstacles take their focus off of it! They did not let present circumstances choke out the dream! Caleb simply told Joshua, “now back to that mountain we were talking about 45 years ago..”.

The older generation is advised to do cross word puzzles, play shuffle board, or play BINGO to stay young. It seems hear that nothing will make you feel as strong as you were at the age of 40 more than never letting a God given dream die in your heart!

Share on Facebook