It
is a joy to turn to Caleb, and his daughter Achsah. We all know the story of
Caleb and how he went to spy out the land with Joshua and ten others. The ten
brought an evil report of the land, but Caleb and Joshua brought up a good
report, and urged that Israel go up to possess Canaan immediately “for we be
well able.”
We
know the rest of the story and how all Israel refused to hearken, and had to
turn back into the wilderness for forty years. And Caleb had to turn back with
them, but I believe that Caleb’s heart was in Canaan through all those years.
And I think that many an evening through those forty years, when the camp was
pitched in that great and terrible wilderness, with those vast mountain peaks,
red and bare, towering up to the sky, then little Achsah would sit with her
brothers (1 Chronicles 4:15), close up to their father; I expect Achsah was on
his knee, with his arms around her, and may be they had a bit of camp fire, and
then Caleb would tell them a story, and I can just see them listening with
breathless interest. There were stories of giants: real, true giant stories,
giants that her own father had seen with his own eyes, and then he would tell
about their castles, and the cities with walls up to heaven; and he would tell
of the fruit, one bunch of grapes that had to be carried on a staff by two men;
and the best part of all, he would end up that story by telling the children
that through their God they were well able to overcome them, and that these
cities and castles would one day soon belong to Israel. But perhaps the
favorite story would be the story of Hebron. I suppose the story would start
away back in the days of Abraham when his nephew Lot had taken first choice of
the land, and gone to live near Sodom; then it was Abraham went and pitched his
tent at Hebron, and built an altar there. And it was there Abraham bought the
Cave of Machpelah, to bury Sarah. In that same cave Isaac and Ishmael buried
Abraham their father, and there Isaac and Rebekah were buried, and there Jacob buried
Leah his wife, and to the same cave was Jacob’s body brought from Egypt.
And
sure I am that Caleb would tell the story of how Jacob sent Joseph his beloved
child out from the Vale of Hebron; and all the lovely story that you children
loved so well when you were little ones, would be told again to Achsah and her
brothers. And the father would end the story by saying: And that is our
inheritance. Hebron, the dearest spot in all the land of Canaan is for us! It
is ours! It belongs to you children and to me! And he would tell how Moses
swore on that day, saying, “Surely the land whereon thy feet have trodden shall
be thine inheritance, and thy children’s forever, because thou hast wholly
followed the Lord my God.” Yes, he would say, Hebron is for me and for my
children! That land is yours. And I can see little Achsah’s eyes glisten as she
takes it all in, and makes it all her own, She would know all about that bunch
of grapes that had to be borne of two and she had heard all about the fruits of
the land of Canaan. Yes, very likely she had had a taste of some of them.
And
so, long before ever her eyes had seen the land of Canaan, her heart had
learned to love its hills and valleys, its fruits and its pastures; and she had
learned to value it at its true worth. For we learn best to love our own
Country when we are children.
Ah,
you dear young parents, how little we are apt to value those evenings, perhaps
with the children on our knees, or at our feet, in front of the fire, -or maybe
after they are in bed, and they say, “Tell us a story!” That is a chance you
would give all you possess, later on, to have once more. Now it is yours. Now
you may teach them to love that Heavenly Land towards which you are traveling.
Now is your chance to teach them the true worth of the Heavenly Country. The
hearts are young, and the love is fresh and warm, now is your chance; a chance
you will never have again. I know the day has been ever so full; I know you are
tired, I know how much easier it is to sing “Jesus, Tender Shepherd hear me”,
and kiss them goodnight, but it is a golden opportunity lost, worth more than
all the gold in this world.
How
often do we only discover the marvelous opportunities we have had when those
opportunities have fled, and the sweet stories of old have lost their charm
from contact with the sordid stories of this world.
But
it was not his own child alone whose heart was won by these stories; his nephew
Othniel, who was but a boy in those days, was also won. Perhaps Othniel learned
to love not only the fields of Canaan, but also his fair young cousin Achsah,
in those weary wilderness days: for we find that when they reached the promised
land, and the fight for it had come in earnest, his Uncle Caleb says: “He that
smiteth Kirjathsepher, and taketh it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter to
wife:” then Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, took it: and he
gave him Achsah his daughter to wife.
I
think Othniel and Achsah were of one mind about the Land of Canaan, and when
she came to him, she moved him to ask of her father a field: but there was no
need for Othniel to ask on her behalf, for the father himself loved her: and it
was an unmixed joy to him that he had a daughter who loved the Land that he
loved.
Little
wonder with such a father that Achsah wanted all she could get of that beloved
inheritance. And I am sure it gladdened old Caleb’s heart to see his dear child
get down off her ass, as she came up to him. He could see she wanted something,
and so the question, “What wouldest thou?” Do you think he was vexed with the
boldness of her request, “Give me a blessing; for thou hast given me a south
land; give me also springs of water.” Did he reply, “I’ve given you a south
land already; is that not enough? Why should I give you any more?” No, no;
Achsah was a daughter after his own heart, she valued the land of Canaan, and
she wanted some of the springs of Canaan, and he gave her double as much as she
asked for! That is just like our own Lord! “I have also given thee that which thou
hast not asked.” (I Kings 3:13).
What
a joy to the old uncle’s heart must that nephew have been! He was a man after
his own heart: one worthy of the daughter he loved so well. Nor was this all.
As the years rolled by, and Israel departed from the Lord, so that His anger
was hot against His people, and He sold them into the hands of their enemies,
when they cried unto the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer to the children
of Israel, even Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother. Yes, Othniel
was the first of that line of deliverers, those judges, that God raised up for
Israel in their distress. I like to think that Othniel and Achsah were prepared
for these honorable mentions in the Word of God, through the stories they had
heard in the wilderness of the Land that not having seen they loved.
Lord,
help us so to win the hearts of our children!
They tell us that the name ‘Caleb’ means ‘A Dog’, and we know that Caleb was famous above all else, because he wholly followed the Lord his God. See Numbers 14:24; Joshua 14:8. A good dog wholly follows his master, and is absolutely loyal to him. Perhaps it was this “spirit” (Numbers 14:24) in Caleb that so greatly influenced his daughter. But godliness is not inherited, and, sad to say, we find Nabal, a man who was churlish and evil in his doings, of the “house of Caleb”. (I Samuel 25:3).