Caleb

Caleb, son of Jephunneh, was from the tribe of Judah and was one of the twelve spies sent to scout the Promised Land. While ten spies returned with fearful reports about giants and fortified cities, Caleb and Joshua stood apart. Caleb silenced the people and declared, "Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it."

The people's unbelief led to forty years of wilderness wandering, during which an entire generation died. But God promised that Caleb, because he "wholly followed the Lord," would enter the land and his descendants would possess it. For forty-five years, Caleb held onto this promise.

When the conquest of Canaan was underway and the land was being divided, Caleb approached Joshua to claim his inheritance. At eighty-five years old, he declared himself as strong for war as he had been at forty. He requested the hill country of Hebron, where the giants still dwelt: "If so be the Lord will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the Lord said."

Joshua blessed Caleb and gave him Hebron. Caleb drove out the three sons of Anak—the very giants that had terrified the other spies forty-five years earlier. His story demonstrates that faith doesn't diminish with age and that God's promises, however long delayed, are always fulfilled for those who wholly follow Him.