Caleb: a type of believers in Christ.

Believers, did you know that the Hebrew name Caleb (Kelev) means "dog" in English? It was the name that the Jews used for non-Jews (Gentiles.) Remember our Saviour told the Syrophoenician woman in Matthew 15:26–

“It isn’t right to take food from the children and throw it to the dogs." 

Not to worry! He loved us so much that today, all non-Jews who believe are His bride! The name also symbolises devotion to the Lord. No insignificant details in His word. 

Caleb was one of the 12 men sent to do a recon of the land of Canaan. He was one of the two (with Joshua) who believed the report of the Lord concerning the possession of the Promised Land by the children of Israel. See his words upon their return from the mission in Numbers 13:

30 "Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, “Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.” 31 But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.” 32 And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. 33 There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight."

The Ten spies did not believe. How does this event apply to us today? Remember Hebrews 10:1 

"The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves." 

In Christ (Grace personified,) we live these "good things" realities everyday. For us believers today, our “Promised Land” is not a physical land but Rest in Christ based on our belief in Jesus Christ and Him crucified as the only basis for our acceptance into God’s Rest. That promise of Rest remains today— see Hebrews 4:

“God’s promise of enjoying His rest still stands. So be careful that none of you fails to receive it. 2 The good news was announced to our people of long ago. It has also been preached to us. The message they heard didn’t have any value for them. That’s because they didn’t share the faith of those who obeyed. 3 Now we who have believed enjoy that rest. God said,

“When I was angry, I made a promise.

    I said, ‘They will never enjoy the rest I planned for them.’ ” 

The quote about God’s anger is from Psalm 95:11 and refers to the time when Israel refused to enter the Promised Land/God’s Rest because of their UNBELIEF in the goodness of God — the same way many churchgoers today refuse to believe that in blessing them with every gift or blessing of God in Christ including eternal life in Christ Jesus, God is not demanding obedience to the law or good works or whatever from us. He only wants us to trust in His goodness towards us. Notice Caleb and Joshua “obeyed.” Under the New Covenant, our obedience is the obedience of faith: trusting in the goodness of God.

Also recall that we wrestle not against flesh and blood? While Israel’s enemies were flesh and blood “giants in the land,” our enemies today are not physical enemies but those sins, addictions, anxiety, depression, sickness, lack and our weaknesses in general that make us afraid and prevent us from entering the rest that is found in Christ. They are those issues which many see as obstacles to entering the Promised Land (Rest in Christ) — sins, weaknesses, etc.

But God is not giving us His Rest because we are good, just as He did not give the Promised Land to Israel because they were deserved it. In fact, Moses said to them in Deuteronomy 9–

 6 “Therefore understand that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stiff-necked people. 7 “Remember! Do not forget how you provoked the Lord your God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day that you departed from the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against the Lord.”

The ten spies (ten is the number of the law) represent churchgoers who are under Law and not under Grace, even in the church today. They gave an evil report on the land, parroting the weaknesses (a typology for sins today) of the people and other reasons why the children of Israel could not take the Promised Land which God had already freely GIVEN to them and which they did not deserve. 

Such religious people, usually church leaders, preach reliance not on the finished work of  Christ but on the strength and performance of men to get God's blessings and for victory over sins, addiction and the power of the enemy (typified by the giants in the land.) E.g. such realise their lack in certain areas and depend on their human effort/arm of flesh-driven fasts, seeds, obedience, etc. to give them victory over their giants of unemployment and generational curses. This when Romans 8:32 says of God:

"He who did not spare His own Son but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?"

Recall that upon their return from their spy mission, the Ten said: 

“We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.” 

They even gave the children of Israel a bad report about the land, like pastors who say to sinners:

"How can God help, deliver or save you when you are still committing xyz sins" or "Go and fast for 70 days so that you can get rest from the “giants” of lack, barrenness and the curses of your father's house."

The unbelieving Israelites even wanted to kill Joshua and Caleb for trusting in the Lord to give them the land!  See this in Numbers 14-

10" But all the people talked about killing Joshua and Caleb by throwing stones at them. Then the glory of the Lord appeared at the tent of meeting. All the Israelites saw it. 11 The Lord said to Moses, “How long will these people not respect Me? How long will they refuse to believe in Me? They refuse even though I have done many signs among them. 12 So I will strike them down with a plague. I will destroy them. But I will make you into a greater and stronger nation than they are.”

God was going to destroy them for their sin of UNBELIEF in His GOODNESS — the same sin which many churchgoers are committing today. Like the Ten (number the law) unbelieving spies, some church leaders put up your sins and weaknesses aka inability to keep the law and do its works as why you cannot enter the land (God’s rest) and worse, goad the flock to fast for 70 days to break curse or get a job, all because many just cannot believe that God gives us all things FREELY with Christ—

“He who did not spare His own Son but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” Romans 8:32.

Because of their unbelief in the goodness of God, God swore in His wrath: "They shall not enter My rest." See what is said of them in Hebrews 3:

18 "And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not OBEY? 19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief."

See the King James Version: 

18 “And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that BELIEVED not? 19  So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief."

Notice "OBEYED" and "BELIEVED" are used interchangeably in verse 18? Under the New Covenant, to OBEY Christ is to BELIEVE His word. It is not a matter of obedience to the Law. 

It is the obedience of Faith — trust and reliance on Christ's finished work for our salvation from sin and death, including death's symptoms of earthly ills such as debt, discouragement, depression, disease. The law is not of faith.

We are not called to be doers of the LAW, beloved. We are called to be doers of the WORD and not hearers alone. See God’s WORD that we are to be hearers and doers of in Romans 3–

21 “But now God has shown us a way to be made right with Him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. 22 We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.

23 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. 24 Yet God, in His grace, freely makes us right in His sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when He freed us from the penalty for our sins. 25 For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed His life, shedding His blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when He held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, 26 for He was looking ahead and including them in what He would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate His righteousness, for He Himself is fair and just, and He makes sinners right in His sight when they believe in Jesus. 

27 Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our ACQUITTAL is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith. 28 So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law.”

The Ten spies did not believe that the Lord HAD GIVEN them the Promised Land — just as many churchgoers are skeptical about receiving God’s blessings in Christ Jesus. They focused on the giants that they SAW and their own weaknesses and not on the Lord's WORD, STRENGTH and His FINISHED WORK, so they refused to go in and possess it. Remember Hebrews 11:1- 

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." 

• Law is whatever one must do or tries to do in his own strength in order to qualify for good or to become or receive any good thing. 

• Faith towards Christ is believing that we have every blessing of God, including eternal life in Jesus Christ, not because we worked for it but because of Christ’s finished work.

To “have faith” simply means believing that what God says is true. The Ten Spies did not believe the word of the Lord because they had not seen it manifest; they did not trust that what God said about giving them the Promised Land is true: they looked to themselves as being responsible for dealing with the giants in the land. They had no faith; "the Law is not of faith" and “without faith it is impossible to please God.” 

Thanks to false teaching by Ten Spies-type preachers, many churchgoers have that same orientation of the unbelieving Israelites. The descendants of the Ten Spies are in the church, manning pulpits, giving a false report about God’s Rest in Christ and telling churchgoers that they cannot enter His Rest because of their weaknesses aka their sins, addictions, shortcomings, the law that they cannot obey and their weaknesses in general. They even threaten you with “giants” of lack, poverty, sickness, generational curse and all sorts for your weaknesses! Beloved, let us take our cue from God’s word to the Israelites through Moses—

 6 “Therefore understand that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stiff-necked people. 7 “Remember! Do not forget how you provoked the Lord your God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day that you departed from the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against the Lord.” Deuteronomy 9.

Believers, you might not have it all together right now (especially concerning your sins, addictions and weaknesses) but this will never stop Jesus from loving or saving you and giving you Rest. No matter how vile your sins are, like the woman that was caught in adultery who was dragged to Jesus for punishment by her law-wielding "pastors" who condemned her yet could not cast the first stone, Christ's “neither do I condemn you" will make you "go and sin no more." 

Don't be deceived by the false report of Ten Spies-type "pastors" who say that you have to defeat your "weaknesses" of sins and addictions by yourself in order to enter the promised land (Christ's rest aka God's goodness) and fight giants of earthly ills that culminate in death by your own strength. Titus 2:14 says of our Saviour Jesus Christ: 

"He gave His life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us His very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds."

He came to transform us into who and what He wants us to be! Why would our Saviour use the very sins that He came to free us from as an excuse for not saving us? Can you imagine a lifeguard trying to save a drowning man who cannot swim by throwing him a book on "How to swim?" Bear in mind that "all have sinned" and by default are condemned to death without the Saviour; and no one can swim on their own—

“For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are.” Romans 3:20

The additional weight of the book of instruction (laws, rules and regulations) will cause the drowning to drown faster! No wonder 1 Corinthians 15:56-57 says: 

"The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

Trying to keep the Law in order to be godly or saved only strengthens the grip of sin  on the lives of those who attempt to do so. But Christ saves from sins. He loves a cheerful giver so He makes cheerful givers of His people by Grace. He is godliness-personified so He makes us bear the fruit of godliness. Without Him, we can do nothing. So call on Him and He will help you.

The Ten Spies and all who believed their report died in the wilderness. And the world continues to wonder even today—

“Why do bad things happen to good people?”

Religious folk who seem to be checking every box of what it means to be a good person are weak, sick and die. It is for unbelief in the finished work of Christ, beloved. People are doing all sorts of “righteous” deeds —fasting, depending on their obedience to the law, sowing seed and doing all sorts —.in order to get into God’s good books so as to merit His freely-given blessings which Christ died for us to freely have. ALL of man's righteous works which he thinks that God should take into consideration in keeping him blessed amounts to an abomination in the sight of God as it is written in Isaiah 64:6--

"We are all like one who is unclean, all our so-called righteous acts are like a menstrual rag in Your sight."

The letter kills, beloved. Only Joshua, Caleb who did not depend on their human strength or the knowledge of good and evil but trusted in God’s undeserved, unearned, unmerited favour (Grace) made it into God’s Rest (Deut. 1:39.) Remember the tree of same name in the Garden? Adam and Eve ate of it in order to be godly (be like God) and they died. This tree represents the Law (letter) which kills also tells what is good and what is evil.  Many try to do the good part in order to be godly (be like God) but no matter what part of the tree one eats of, good or evil, the result is death. The letter kills. 

The 10 spies' descendants in the church today are leaders who ask the drowning man (drowning in depression, oppression, sins, weaknesses, addictions, big sins or little sins,) who cannot even stay afloat much less swim, to do backstrokes and other swimming moves PERFECTLY and by their own power in order to be saved! If we could, we won't need Jesus to save us. He came for the entirely helpless...- 

"For when the time was right, the Anointed One came and died to demonstrate his love for sinners who were entirely helpless, weak, and powerless to save themselves." Romans 5:6 

In reality, this covers all of mankind. But like Peter, sometimes, we tend to think that we have some good in us enough to keep even a tittle of the law. Like Peter, many are unaware of the totally sinful nature of man in his default state (apart from Christ) and are yet to see that the only reason why all are not wallowing in heinous crimes, poverty and disease right now is because God did not allow Satan to sift them like wheat to the point of destruction. So like pre-denial Peter who eventually fell flat on his face three times after his God-challenging and self-righteous “I can never do that kind of thing” proclamation, many believe that they are doing good all by themselves. That kind of self-trust is what opens the door for Satan to sift a person like wheat for the good that he claims to be when Christ says—

“There is none good but God.” 

So let he that is standing take heed lest he falls.

Beloved, let’s not be found among those who do not believe that it is Christ's obedience that makes believers righteous as it is written in Romans 5:19 -

"For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous." 

Like the 10 spies, because such walk in the flesh (human effort at attaining godliness, victory over sin and so getting God to bless,) they cannot see the truth of righteousness by faith so they cannot enter God’s Rest. Such do not believe Romans 8:32: 

"He who did not spare His own Son but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?" 

So they give a false report to the church that it takes serious human effort at obedience and not Grace (undeserved, unearned, unmerited favour) for one to be godly (be like God,) to enter the “Promised Land” and to enjoy our Abba Father's freely-given gifts of salvation from “giants” of earthly ills such as lack and sickness. That is the same seemingly good but actually deathly doctrine that Satan preached to Eve in Eden. Beware of such preachers. As a believer, why attend "curse-breaking sessions" in order to break generational and other curses when "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law..."  (Galatians 3:13.) Do you see that these things are signs of unbelief after the pattern of the report of the ten spies? Hebrews 4:11 says -

"Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief."

Only one sin caused the Israelites to perish in the wilderness and it is the same one that is causing many to perish today: UNBELIEF IN THE GOODNESS OF GOD. Just as many churchgoers want to LABOUR TO EARN by human striving at obedience and fasting for 70 days the right to partake of God’s feast of good things and His freedom from earthly ills such as generational curse and death in hell which we have as gifts of Grace in Christ Jesus who is Grace-personified, they saw God’s Grace (undeserved, unearned, unmerited favour) in giving them the Promised Land which they did not deserve as being too good to be true. See this in Numbers 14-

10" But all the people talked about killing Joshua and Caleb by throwing stones at them. Then the glory of the Lord appeared at the tent of meeting. All the Israelites saw it. 11 The Lord said to Moses, “How long will these people not respect Me? How long will they refuse to believe in Me? They refuse even though I have done many signs among them. 12 So I will strike them down with a plague. I will destroy them. But I will make you into a greater and stronger nation than they are.”

Beloved, our only "labour" as believers in Christ is to believe in the goodness of God and this we do by Grace (unmerited favour) so ask God whose delight is to bless and who freely gives to show you. When your believing is right, right  living will follow. Christ does it all. Believers, let's not just be professors of Christ. Let us be doers of the WORD and not hearers alone. The word is GRACE— undeserved, unearned, unmerited favour. By His grace, believe His finished work of His saving you. In Christ, we have the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness. In Him, God sees us as righteous despite our many imperfections. Romans 5:16-17 says- 

"And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins. 17 For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and His gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one Man, Jesus Christ."

In Christ, God sees us as righteous, even though we are guilty of many sins. This is not so that we should go on sinning sprees as antichrist pastors who lack God's Wisdom which is foolishness to man love to imply. In God's Wisdom, this is the Way for us to live in triumph over sin and death.

The NKJV says: "...much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.)"

With Christ as our righteousness, we GET TO reign over all “giants in the land” — death, sins, addictions, weaknesses, sickness, oppression, generational and other curses, lack and every ill, right here on earth. Every good thing that man is running helter-skelter to acquire, including godly living, is added unto us when our trust is in Christ and not ourselves in our desire to enter His Rest and to defeat the giants in the land. This is the Rest. Christ died that we might enter His rest. There is nothing more for us to do. Christ did it all. 

Rest in Christ is not inactivity. Rest in Christ is Holy Spirit-directed activity.

Beloved of God, whenever those "pastors" who are descendants of the Ten Spies in their unbelief try to bring you under law again and tell you that it takes more than the blood of Jesus to be saved, labour to hold fast to the Truth that you confess- Ephesians 2:8-9:

"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast."

Caleb had a different spirit from those law-bound 10 spies, as do we who are in Christ who "...did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father."" 

In Christ, God is "Daddy" to us. Our loving Father whose heart's delight is to see us blessed. Just think what you would not do for your own children, even when they are terribly nasty. In fact, their good behaviour is a function of the training that they get from you. How much more we who have and trust our Abba Father in Christ who never fails as our Father and Trainer who trains us up in the way we should go. In Christ, path can only get brighter and brighter, beloved.

Beware of "pastors" who misrepresent God as a hard Taskmaster who will not help you His own child because of your weaknesses but will allow Satan to bite you His own child to death because of the same sins that He sent His own Son to save you from. Matthew 1:21 says of Christ:

"She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

Beloved, by Grace, watch what you are hearing in your local church.

Caleb's name means "dog," a term that the law-bound but God-beloved Jews used for Gentiles. This is a typology for we the bride of Christ (the church today comprises mostly non-Jews,) devoted to Him by His grace alone. 

It's no surprise that the children of Israel including the Ten Spies (those who are under LAW) wanted to stone Joshua (a type of Christ) and Caleb (a picture of Christ's bride: under GRACE) when Joshua and Caleb insisted that we enter the Lord's rest not through our own strength or qualifications but by God's Grace- undeserved, unearned, unmerited favour!  Beloved of God, the same thing is happening today! Ten Commandments-toting pastors who take pride in their human strength (arm of flesh) at being godly  go about telling people to “be careful about that Grace message.” But how can one be "careful" with Grace!!! Those "pastors" only expose their unbelief and lack of understanding about God's Grace. Beloved of God, God's Grace is a Person. His name is Jesus Christ. Titus 2:11 says of Him: 

"God’s marvelous grace has manifested in person, bringing salvation for everyone."

Verse 14 of the same Titus 2 says: "He gave His life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us His very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds."

Christ says to all:  “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." 

He gives rest from the yoke of the law that many try to keep in order to be godly (be like God) and the burden of guilt that holds many captive and condemned! His rest is not earned. It is given. It is a gift!

Wherever we find ourselves in this piece, beloved, hear this from Christ our Lord and Saviour Himself—

“For God did not send His Son to the world to condemn the world but that the world through Him might be saved.” John 3:17.

Christ will NEVER condemn you. He will save you from sins and every wrong belief and you will do exploits in His name. So trust Christ alone to save and transform you as He did the overly-religious Saul and the Samaritan woman at the well of Jacob— two sides of the same coin of unrighteousness, until they shed their self-efforts for the garment of Salvation (Yeshua.) Ask God now to open your eyes to see, know and believe GRACE- undeserved, unearned, unmerited favour. As He did the prodigal son who deserved nothing but death, He is waiting and eager to enfold you in His embrace of True Grace. 

Believers in Christ, Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today and forever is ALWAYS on our side. In Him, no matter how big the giants (sins, addictions, anxiety, depression, lack, weaknesses, all earthly ills) that we worry about are, in Christ, we have overcome. Why? Because the battle is the Lord's! So let's not be like the Israelites who refused to enter God's rest because of their weaknesses and shortcomings. Those same weaknesses, Christ came to save us from them all. Let's trust and see the manifestation of His Rest in our lives because He has given us His word: "I will help you."

None of us have arrived yet. The church is made up of imperfect people standing in the perfection of and being transformed by the Perfect Man— Jesus Christ. We stand—

“being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;” Philippians‬ ‭1:6‬ ‭‬‬

God bless us all believers in Christ and keep us in His unending Grace.

The Holy Spirit will teach you all things. 

Believe Right and you will Live Right.