Exodus 1:13 “And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigour: [14] And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in morter, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigour.”
A Slave’s Life
Caleb’s past was certainly not a pleasant one by any means. We must remember (from the Exodus account) that Caleb grew up as a slave, living in the home of slaves as a citizen of an enslaved people in the land of Egypt.
This period of enslavement began after Joseph and the generations of the patriarchs had passed from the scene, and a “new king” came to power in Egypt “which knew not Joseph” (Exodus 1:8).
We are told in Exodus 12:40 that the Hebrew people lived in Egypt for “four hundred and thirty years,” and the greater portion of those years were spent in Egyptian bondage.
A Dog’s Name
Caleb’s name in the Hebrew language literally meant “dog.” Perhaps his father, Jephunneh, named him this because of the miserable existence into which his son was being born - the life, or better yet, the living death of a slave. No doubt, living as a Hebrew slave in the ghettos of Goshen was the closest thing imaginable to a “dog’s life” in Caleb’s day.
From a very young age, Caleb would have learned to fear the crack of the task master’s whip and knew all too well the pain of its sting! For years on end, Caleb joined the hundreds of thousands of other Hebrew slaves, in their toilsome work of making bricks for Pharaoh.
According to the Biblical record of his life (provided in the Old Testament books of Exodus, Numbers, and Joshua), Caleb spent the first 38 years living in Egyptian slavery.
A Timely Deliverance
Caleb, as we have seen, had an awful past. However, all of this changed the day God sent His people a deliverer named Moses.
After 38 years of bondage, Caleb witnessed the power of God as the LORD used His servant, Moses, to deliver the Children of Israel from the power of Pharoah with a “strong” and “mighty” hand.
After displaying His power to Pharaoh and defeating the false gods of Egypt through ten supernatural plagues, the LORD used Moses to lead His people out of bondage, through the Red Sea, across the wilderness, and eventually into the promised land (though Moses would not get to make the final stage of the journey).
Caleb was privileged to be a part of the Exodus generation who experienced this great outpouring of God’s power first-hand; and without doubt, Caleb would give witness to the fact that his life was forever changed after God’s deliverer had come.
An Illustration of Salvation
Just like Caleb, you and I were born into bondage - the bondage of sin. In Psalms 51:5 the psalmist testifies, “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.”
Our taskmaster, the Devil, was brutal and cruel; and our existence was a mere prelude to the grave and eternal death and hell.
Our souls were chained in the bondage of sin; but then one day - God in His love sent us a Deliverer named Jesus Christ. I John 4:9 “In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.”
Speaking of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit in II Corinthians 1:10 states that He has “delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us.”
Christ Jesus, our great Deliverer, has paid the price for our sins; and He has promised to lead us safely on through this life and give us an eternal home in Heaven one day.
A Past to Learn From
Caleb’s past did not keep him from serving the LORD. In fact, it could be argued that Caleb’s past helped to prepare him for his future.
Caleb knew that if God could deliver him from Pharaoh’s hand and from all the might of Egypt, then God could surely give him the strength he needed to climb and conquer his mountain (even at the advanced age of 85). Caleb’s past caused him to develop an unwavering confidence in God which served him well both in the present and in the future.
Application
When Satan, the old accuser, tries to bring up our past and cause us to live in defeat, we must remind him that he is a liar and the father of lies (John 8:44).
We cannot live defeated lives, constantly rehashing sins that God (once they are confessed and forgiven) no longer remembers (Hebrews 8:12). Instead, we must choose to press on and move forward in conquering the mountain that God has given each of us to climb in life.
It has been said that “we will never begin the next chapter of our lives if we are constantly re-reading the previous one.” Certainly, the Christian can and should learn from the past; but we cannot and must not live in the past.
The Apostle Paul (a man who certainly had a difficult past) said it best in Philippians 3:13-14: “…forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”
God has given each of us a new day in which to serve Him. As we “forget” those things which are behind us, let us “reach forth” to those things which God has set before us as we move forward in the power of the LORD.
Caleb’s past, though sometimes unpleasant, was used by the LORD to prepare him. He knew that the same God Who had brought him out of slavery in Egypt could one day bring him to the summit of his mountain in total victory. Until then, Caleb would climb on!
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