Meet Me at Hebron
Joshua 14:12-14
“So now give me this hill country of which the LORD spoke on that day, … how the Anakim were there, with great fortified cities. It may be that the LORD will be with me, and I shall drive them out just as the LORD said.” Then Joshua blessed him, and he gave Hebron to Caleb … because he wholly followed the LORD, the God of Israel.
Ah, yes—the hill country! What a perfect resting place for a shepherd like Caleb. How magnificent it is to see him now, forty-five years after that decisive display of faith that nearly led to his martyrdom, effectively carrying a pouch of smooth stones to fit his sling, still looking for Goliaths. He’s part of that breed of unusual saints, like Abraham and Moses, who just seem to grow more vigorous the older they get. Content in his significant, finished work, yet still hungry for more, believing that the very same hand that raised him up at forty will give him victory again at eighty-five, or ninety, or one hundred, no matter how high the obstacles or how menacing the giants. Oh, and by the way, friend, to that point, Joshua specifies a bit later in chapter 14 that upon Caleb’s reception of this allotted real estate, the land’s name would change from Kiriath-Arba to Hebron, which is no trivial thing. The name Kiriath-arba was a reference to the great son of Anak, named Arba, who ruled these hills before the LORD’s armies overtook them, whereas Hebron means ‘community’ or ‘alliance’ or ‘fellowship’—a poignant description of the saint’s relationship to God by faith. So think of it: just yesterday, these hills stood like monuments to demon gods and hulking warlords. In years past, these crags were an outward expression of the stone-hearted, stiff-necked people who lived there. But not today! Today, a shepherd has come to raise a flock. Today, a true giant has emerged where grasshoppers once ruled.
Friend, I bid you to climb with me in the footsteps of our great forefather, Caleb, up those lofty but lowly hillsides. Pitch your tent at Hebron, in the sweet fellowship of our victorious Lord and Savior, seeing in these hills not merely a representation of that eternal state of rest in the Promised Land, but also a representation of the internal state of rest He gives us along the way.