The Chronicles of Caleb
Joshua 15:14-15a
And Caleb drove out from there the three sons of Anak, Sheshai and Ahiman and Talmai, the descendants of Anak. And he went up from there against the inhabitants of Debir.
The word ‘foreshadowing’ is a literary term that refers to some event or narrative clue that happens early on in a character’s story that gets fulfilled later on down the road, often in a negative sense as the word ‘shadow’ implies. Yet we shouldn’t think of foreshadowing as a strictly negative concept. For example, in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, as the fires of Mordor continue to swallow up the world in a suffocating darkness, Tolkien continues to sprinkle the narrative with sparkles of hope, sometimes through the appearance of angelic eagles that rescue the heroes from peril, sometimes through the consoling words of companions who never lose heart, and sometimes through visions like the one an elvish princess receives of a coming throne and a newborn son right when the world is at its darkest.
I believe the reason human authors love to give hints like these throughout their stories is because we’re made in the image of the Author of life Who does the same throughout His. Haven’t we already seen the LORD do this over and over again in just the first five books of His Revelation? Like the promise He gave to Abraham of a great nation that would come from his offspring, or the dream He gave to Joseph as a young man of his brothers bowing down to him, or the desire He placed in the boy Moses’ heart to deliver the Jewish people from Egyptian bondage. Yet, Caleb’s chronicle of faithfulness is probably my favorite thus far. How fitting it is to witness him here, half a century after we last saw him, charging through the very hills he’d once spied with his young eyes, finally fighting the battles against those giants. It just had to be Caleb, didn’t it? As soon as he stood with Joshua against that booing, bleating congregation to implore them to fight, we should’ve known he’d be the one God would use years later to seal the victory.
Friend, God loves to give great visions to faithful youths; but, often, He waits till we’re advanced in years and seasoned in faith before turning those visions into victories.