An Outsider Welcomed In

Jan. 12

Read: Joshua 15:13-19

An Outsider Welcomed In

“According to the commandment of the LORD to Joshua, he gave to Caleb the son of Jephunneh a portion among the people of Judah…” (v.13)

Most people don’t realize that according to the scriptures, Israel does not begin as a “nation”. (cf. Genesis 10; the table of nations) When God Most High divided humanity into a series of nations and set their boundaries, at that moment Israel was not a nation. (cf. Debt 32:8,9)  This is obvious, right? I mean Abraham had not even been born… nor Isaac… nor Jacob - the very person whose name would be changed to Israel! The picture is clear from Genesis: God was going to form a “new nation” from the people who previously belonged to all those other nations. When we read verses about God calling a people from “every tribe, tongue, and nation…” this is what it is talking about. (Rev. 5:9-10)

God did not form 70 nations, and then pick one of those nations as his favorite; God set the nations and began to call people out of them all to make one new nation whose origins and foundations are not of this world… it is a supernatural “nation” because it finds it identity in God Most High. Likewise, we lose sight of this truth when we begin to think that the “people of God” are primarily some sort of genetic equation. This is also not primarily the case. In the book of Joshua, we have seen this with Rahab, the Gideonites, and now we see it with Caleb.

Caleb was “given a portion” among the “people of Judah” by God himself. This faithful man, Caleb… the only spy who trusted God… the one who the Lord kept supernaturally strong at the age 85… this giant-slayer of an Israelite… did not start as an “Israelite”. Caleb was a Kenizzite… and the Kenizzites were listed with Abraham as one of the Canaanite tribes. (cf. Gen. 15:18-21) Caleb began his story as a “Canaanite” which is shocking because he was the spy who trusted God’s defeat of the Canaanites. He was advocating for the dismantling of his “old self”… the nation of his ancestors and the gods they worshipped. Those “old ways” - his ancestors “old ways” were being “put to death” as his faith and trust was squarely rooted in YHWH, God Most High.

This is the transformative work of God in us as his people. This is what YHWH, God Most High does. He is making a new nation… HIS nation… made up of those who were once outsiders… those who were once enemies of God… made up of those people who once worshipped other gods but now they worship YHWH, God Most High. We are the people of God - called to him in Christ Jesus, and made up of every tribe, tongue, and nation. God is strengthening us as his people… just as he did Caleb. He has given us great promises in Christ… just as he did Caleb. He is calling us to face giants… just like Caleb. The Lord is putting to death our old self and freeing us from the former gods we once worshipped… just like Caleb. Praise the Lord that YHWH God is the one who brings the outsider in, makes us a true member of his family, and calls us to bravely enter into battle and follow him. Love you guys! - JDP