Mad Dog Obedience

May 11, 2014  (Mother’s Day)
Joshua:  Turning Obedience Into Blessing
Joshua 14                                                           NOTES NOT EDITED

SIS – Mountain-sized obedience leads to mountain-sized blessings.

As far as I can remember, this is the first time in 37 years of preaching I am not preaching a Mother’s Day sermon on Mother’s Day.  At least not directly.  I am indirectly preaching about the great faith of a mother by preaching on a “mother’s son” by the name of Mad Dog.  Caleb, comes from the root meaning “dog” and in Numbers 13 where we first meet him, he’s a “mad dog ready to start chewing on the giants in the Promised Land.”  Caleb is no “poodle” when it comes to faith—he’s a a Pit Bull!  His mother must have been a lady of great faith.  As Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “Men are what their mothers made them.”  I think that statement has a lot of truth in it.  Caleb’s mad dog obedience to the plan and purpose of God serves as a sterling example of what a follower of God should be.  His faithful obedience is the highest form of praise his mother could ever receive.  So, this is a Mother’s Day sermon—sort of.

Most Christians lead small lives because they practice small obedience.  Too many followers of Christ stop in the valley of salvation and never ascend the mountain of obedience.  I want to be careful to note at the start that our text today is not talking about the size of our “faith” but the size of our “obedience.”  There is a difference.  The power of faith comes from its object, not its size.  For example one can have an enormous faith that they can fly by flapping their arm, yet if they jump off a tall building they are likely to meet with a sudden, painful stop.  No matter how much faith one has in one’s ability to fly aided only by flapping arms, gravity will always prove faith in flapping arms to be “defective.”  Now, putting one’s faith in an airplane, though the airplane is not perfect, stands a much better chance of both a smooth flight and an uneventful landing.  Faith is judged by its object, not its size.  For example, one can have enormous faith in some religion, such as Buddhism, Hinduism, Mormonism, or a thousand other isms, and such faith no matter how large it is, will.  The only object of faith that saves is Jesus Christ.  Even the tiniest degree of faith placed in Jesus Christ is sufficient to save.  So, size does not apply in regard to faith.

In regard to obedience, the situation changes significantly.  One can have enough faith to be saved (for indeed, saving faith comes as a gift of God’s grace in the first place) but never put that faith into practice in a meaningful way.  Obedience is faith in practice, or faith in operation.  The size of one’s obedience does matter greatly in regard to the size of one’s blessings as we will see in our text, today.  Today we will meet an sterling example of mountain-sized obedience.  I call this:  “Mad Dog Obedience” because the nickname of the man we will meet today is “Mad Dog.”  You may know this man as “Caleb.”

When a person knows the Word of God, then obeys the Word of God, the result is always blessing.  The greater the act of obedience, the greater will be the blessing that results.  The Bible chronicles the life of many great men and women who exercised a large measure of obedience.  Noah built a big boat.  Abraham took a big journey.  David slayed a big giant.  In our text, we meet another hero of the faith, Caleb, who took on a big challenge. 

We are going to examine Mad Dog Obedience and how that relates to mountain-sized blessings.  But, perhaps we should start with a dog story to get us all in the right frame of mind.

In English we have an old saying that states, “A dog is man’s best friend.” The word that so often comes to mind when one thinks about a particular “four-legged friend,” is loyalty, or faithfulness. Most of us have had a four-legged friend in our lives, perhaps several.  The following story takes the virtue of faithfulness to a whole new level.  The story appeared in an Argentine newspaper in 2006.
One loyal dog hasn't moved from his master's side for the last six years -- refusing to let even death part them.  Shortly after his owner, Manuel Guzman died, Capitan, a German Shepherd ran away from home. A week later Guzman's family, who live in Cordoba, Argentina, found the heartbroken dog grieving at the gravesite.  "We had never taken him to the cemetery so it is a mystery how he managed to find the place," Veronica Guzman, Manuel's widow, told the local newspaper. Every Sunday, for the past six years, the Guzman family has gone to the cemetery to visit both Manuel and Capitán. Although the dog often leaves the cemetery to spend a short period of time with his family, he always returns to the gravesite before dark.  Cemetery director, Hector Baccega, said that staff at the cemetery in central Argentina are now feeding and taking care of the dog. “During the day he sometimes has a walk around the cemetery, but always rushes back to the grave. And every day, at six o’clock sharp, he lies down on top of the grave and stays there all night,” according to one newspaper article.

Caleb, God’s “Mad Dog,” provides us with a human counterpart of the faithfulness of Capitán.  Caleb’s obedience and fierce loyalty demonstrate a Pit Bull determination.  He definitely deserves the nickname, “Mad Dog.”  Three individual aspects related to faithful obedience spring from the text of Joshua 14.  When these aspects of faithful obedience are taken together we see clearly that mountain-sized obedience leads to mountain-sized blessings.

1.  First, believers have an INHERITANCE (1-5)

The idea of a “believer’s inheritance” figures prominently in the story of redemption, beginning in the O.T. and continuing through the N.T. Joshua, chapter 14, introduces a long section dealing with the tribal allotments, and the section does not end until chapter 19.  The idea of “inheritance” is obviously a very important matter.  The Hebrew word comes from the root meaning, “to give, or bestow.”  An inheritance is a gift of property that is bestowed upon an individual, usually through a family line or formal will or testament.  The O.T. had extensive laws for inheritance, such as that of a son of a slave girl, right of the first-born, rights of a daughter, rights of widows, and even the succession to the throne as king.  All of these laws of inheritance, and the idea of inheritance in general provide a picture of the believers inheritance, or the doctrine of spiritual inheritance.  Consider 1Pet.1:3

³ Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.  According to His great mercy, He has given us a new birth  into a living hope  through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead  ⁴ and into an inheritance that is imperishable,  uncorrupted, and unfading, kept in heaven  for you.

This verse makes it quite clear that every true believer will have a sure and certain part in the inheritance of the saints in glory.  This is the general allotment of salvation that comes to each and every believer by means of God’s grace.  Look back at Joshua 14:2:

² Their inheritance was by lot.

Each tribe received an allotment according to the tribes size (Nm. 33:54).  The inheritance was not arbitrary but directed by God to be exactly what each tribe needed.  The Bible tells us that God is not arbitrary in His grace and is “no respecter of persons” (Rom. 2:11). 

This general allotment of grace, however, does not exhaust the teaching of the doctrine of inheritance.  Beyond the inheritance of salvation to which God offers equally to all according to his or her need, is the issue of “rewards” or what the Bible calls “crowns.”  God will reward Christians beyond the foundation of salvation with rewards, or blessings, for obedience.  The greater one’s obedience, the greater will be one’s rewards in glory.  This is taught throughout the Bible.  It matters how one expresses one’s faith through sacrificial obedience.  Notice that while each tribe was distributed land by lot, Caleb received an inheritance by choice. Look at vs. 12:

Now give me this hill country the Lord promised me on that day.

We will look at this more closely in a minute.  But, let us establish beyond any doubt that every believer will receive an inheritance that begins with a foundation of salvation and is built up through faithful obedience.  A mountain-sized faith will lead to a mountain-sized obedience.  As Christians, we have an INHERITANCE.

2.  Second, we have a RESPONSIBILITY (3b-4)

But he gave no inheritance among them to the Levites. ⁴ The descendants of Joseph became two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim. No portion of the land was given to the Levites except cities to live in, along with pasturelands for their cattle and livestock.

As you remember from your Bible history, Jacob had 12 sons.  One of those sons was, Levi.  The Levites became the tribe from which the priests of Israel would come.  They were set aside for service to God in the temple.  As God’s special emissaries and servants they were completely dependent upon God’s people to provide for their needs as an act of worship.  This was the primary purpose of the tithe, or ten percent offering, of the Israelites.  The Book of Numbers teaches:

^18:21 “Look, I have given the Levites every tenth in Israel as an inheritance in return for the work they do, the work of the tent of meeting.

There is no direct counterpart in the N.T. for the Priests of the O.T.  The N.T. teaches that the congregation is a “kingdom of priests.”  Every believer has direct access to God and a direct responsibility to fulfill God’s mission on earth.  The Bible does, however, teach that in the same way Israel provided for the physical needs of the priests, the Church must provide for the physical (monetary) needs of those who have been called out by God for places of leadership and have dedicated themselves to caring for His flock.  The Bible says,

^{1Tim. 5:17} The elders who are good leaders should be considered worthy of an ample honorarium, especially those who work hard  at preaching and teaching. ¹⁸ For the Scripture says:  Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain, and, the worker is worthy of his wages.

Many church members, especially new believers, have no clue as to how a pastor makes a living.  Many people think that a pastor only works one day a week.  I know this is true because some have actually said it.  Many assume the pastor has some other way of paying his bills.  The fact is, if God’s people do not give generously God’s workers will not be provided for adequately. 

Here’s a summary of two important aspects of faith and obedience we have seen thusfar:  1) We as believers do in fact have an inheritance in heaven and the size of our obedience directly relates to the size of our blessings.  Mountain-sized obedience leads to mountain-sized blessings.  2)  We as believers have a responsibility to provide the financial support for God’s work and God’s workers.

3.  Third, we have an EXAMPLE (6-14)

Throughout God’s Word we have numerous examples of faithful obedience.  Here, the example is old Mad Dog.  Caleb (whose name can be translated, dog) exemplifies an adventurous, tenacious, fearless obedience to God.  Let’s go back 45 years to our first introduction to the Old Dog, and see why I call him the “Mad Dog.”  In the Book of Numbers we have Israel on the edge of the Promised Land but many of the people were afraid to move forward and fight because of the giants who inhabited the land in fortified cities.  But, not Joshua and Caleb.  Here’s what Caleb said in the face of the opposition:

^{Nm 13: 30} Then Caleb quieted the people in the presence of Moses and said, “We must go up and take possession of the land because we can certainly conquer it!”

Giants or no giants, walled cities or not, Caleb was chomping at the bit, or you might say as we stay with the dog analogy, “foaming at the mouth.”  Caleb determined that he was going to be obedient to God even if it meant being smashed by a giant!

Then, we come back to Joshua 14.  Caleb now is an old man of 85 years.  But, he still had the same Pit Bull, Mad Dog faith he had as a young man.  He says, and we’ll quote from the KJV:

Now therefore give me this mountain, whereof the Lord spoke in that day; for thou heardest in that day how the Anakims were there, and that the cities were great and fenced: if so be the Lord will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the Lord said.

85 years young and still up for a good fight.  Caleb could have picked the lush valley free of pesky giants and fortified cities.  Instead, he said, “Give me the mountain where the giants live!” Oh, glory to God that we would have some men rise up that wanted to face the giants of this world!  God didn’t call men to be prissy little poodles, but pugnacious pit bulls!  We need a few, good Mad Dogs!

I cannot spend a great deal of time on the life of Caleb, the Old Mad Dog, but I do want to at least touch on four qualities of Caleb’s faith that gave him a Mad Dog obedience.  One teacher remarked in regard to the challenge Caleb took on that it would be “like a junior high football team playing the Dallas Cowboys.”  I’m sure he meant to say Pittsburgh Steelers, but we’ll leave that for another day.  Caleb’s obedience stemmed from a faith that was fearless.  Here’ four characteristics of his faith that we should take as an example.

(1)  The Devotion of his faith (7-8)

⁸ My brothers who went with me caused the people’s hearts to melt with fear, but I remained loyal to the Lord my God.

Even in the face of great opposition from his own countrymen, Caleb was willing to swim upstream against the flow of public opinion.  He remained steadfastly loyal even when it was not political correct to do so.  In fact, he says three times, “but I remained loyal to the Lord” (8, 9, 14).

Mountain-sized obedience requires a steadfast devotion to God regardless of what the costs might be.

(2)  The Anchor of his faith (6, 10, 12)

vs 6 --You know what the Lord promised . . . vs 10-- as He promised. . . vs 12-- the Lord promised me

Three times Caleb drops the anchor of his faith, that is,  “the Lord’s promise!”  A ship’s anchor prevents the ship from drifting because of the wind or current, especially in a storm.  The anchor secures the ship to solid sea bottom.  Three times Caleb throws out the anchor for his mountain-sized faith.  It was:  the promises of the Lord.

If you want a mountain-sized obedience your faith must be anchored to the promises of God’s Word.  Get a word from God, and even the strongest storms of life will not blow you off course.

(3)  The Perspective of Faith (10, 11)

¹⁰ “As you see, the Lord has kept me alive these 45 years as He promised,  since the Lord spoke this word to Moses while Israel was journeying in the wilderness. Here I am today, 85 years old. ¹¹ I am still as strong today as I was the day Moses sent me out. My strength for battle and for daily tasks  is now as it was then.

Related to understanding God’s promises, is getting a God’s perspective.  Caleb realized it was “As you see Yahweh who has kept me alive.”  But, don’t miss the second half of verse 10, “these 45 years.”  Forty-five years wandering in a dry, lifeless desert had not diminished Caleb’s faith because he had a God-sized perspective.  God is not in a hurry.  God is still God whether in a time of feast or a time of famine, a time of peace or a time of war, a time of light or a time of darkness.  Caleb remained obedient throughout his life because He had God’s perspective on the matter, not his.  He didn’t care whether he was 45 or 85 because his strength came from the Lord.  Too many people evaluate their circumstances by the size of their problem instead of the size of their God!

(4)  The Adventure of his faith (12)

¹² Now give me this hill country the Lord promised me on that day, because you heard then that the Anakim are there,  as well as large fortified cities.  Perhaps the Lord will be with me and I will drive them out as the Lord promised.”

How many of us if given the chance would choose a life of meaningless ease instead of a life of adventurous struggle?  I know I sure like nice things and easy times.  It is human nature to “go with the flow.”  But, we must be reminded that only dead salmon swim down stream!  Caleb cried out with a ferocious, mad dog howl:  “Lord, give me this mountain where the giants live.  I’ve got some more fight in me!”

Caleb was as fierce as a Mad Dog when he was pursuing God’s purpose for his life.  He is an example of “mountain-sized faith expressed in mountain-sized obedience and resulting in mountain-sized blessing.”  He was an example of true devotion.  He had a solidly anchored faith.  He lived according to God’s perspective, and he had a sense of adventure.  We need to follow his example, today.

Eugene Peterson in A Long Obedience in the Same Direction writes, “It is not difficult in our world to get a person interested in the message of the Gospel; it is terrifically difficult to sustain the interest. Millions of people in our culture make decisions for Christ, but there is a dreadful attrition rate. Many claim to have been born again, but the evidence for mature Christian discipleship is slim. In our kind of culture anything, even news about God, can be sold if it is packaged freshly; but when it loses its novelty, it goes on the garbage heap. There is a great market for religious experience in our world; there is little enthusiasm for the patient acquisition of virtue, little inclination to sign up for a long apprenticeship in what earlier Christians called holiness.”

I read something once that I can modify here that restates what Dr. Peterson has noted:  “little inclination for real obedience to God.”  Someone has noted:  NO OBEDIENCE-NO BLESSING. LITTLE OBEDIENCE-LITTLE BLESSING.  GREAT OBEDIENCE-GREAT BLESSING.

Today, consider following Mad Dog’s example and set out on an adventure with a big, ferocious, mad-dog obedience.

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