"Like Caleb who has a different spirit, will you stand firm in Me when many others do not believe? Like Caleb who has a different spirit, will you stand firm in Me when many others fall away in this end-time?"
I then heard further:
"This is a time I am raising up a people who are like Caleb, a people who will not go with the worldly flow, but the Holy Spirit flow! This is a time I am raising up a people who dare to be different!"
The key chapters to read in this time and season are Numbers chapters 13 and 14. Here, the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, "Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel; from each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a leader among them." So Moses sent them according to the command of the Lord... Now these were their names: from the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur; from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori; from the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh.... the list goes on; and in total, all twelve of them.
Interestingly, the word 'Caleb' in Hebrew means 'attacking force'; whereas 'Jephunneh' in Hebrew means 'he will be prepared'. Indeed, the time has come for a people who are like the 'Calebs' of today to be prepared - a people who will stand firm in the Lord, and not go with the worldly flow, but the Holy Spirit flow!
As the people those days returned from searching out the land promised to them, ten of them gave bad report. Only Caleb and Joshua gave good report. And here's what those ten said, "We went to the land where you sent us. It truly flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. Nevertheless the people who dwell in the land are strong; the cities are fortified and very large; moreover we saw the descendants of Anak (giants) there." (Numbers 13:27-28)
By the way, the word 'Anak' ('anaq' in Hebrew) literally means 'like a collar (or chain) to choke or to strangle'.
It was then that Caleb quieted the people and said, "Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it." But the majority (the ten men) said, "We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we... There we saw the giants; and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight." (Numbers 13:30-33) So all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and all the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron, and said, "If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or if only we had died in this wilderness!... Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?" (Numbers 14:1-3) Alas, because the word 'Egypt' ('Mizraim' in Hebrew) speaks of 'bondage, besieged, distress'.
But Caleb and Joshua spoke to all the congregation, saying, "The land we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. If the Lord delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us... Only do not rebel against the Lord, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread; their protection has departed from them, and the Lord is with us. Do not fear them." And as the congregation said to stone them with stones, the glory of the Lord appeared in the tabernacle of meeting then and there! (Numbers 14:6-10) In other words, the glory of the Lord came as a sign from heaven, and intervened against the stoning! You know what? The Lord will back you up when you stand firm in Him, and what He says!
People of God, like Caleb, will you stand firm in the Lord even when many do not believe, or many are 'falling away' from the truth that sets free? See 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3. Or will you bow down to the 'ten spies' (i.e. the popular/majority voices against the Lord)?
In this end-time, when the spirit of anti-Christ is trying to swarm the people of the world, turning many believers away from the truth in Christ, and darkening their spiritual eyes, will you still stand firm in the Lord and say 'no' to anything that compromises you, or your God-given calling? That's exactly what Caleb and Joshua did, in spite of the 'overwhelming majority' that came against them! They dared to be different! Not because they wanted to be different for the sake of being different, or they had nothing better to do; but rather they knew the Lord had spoken!
In the end, those who disbelieved died in a plague, and could not enter the land promised to them (Numbers 14:37); but as for Caleb, the Lord said, "But My servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit in him and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land where he went, and his descendants shall inherit it." (Numbers 14:23-24)
People of God, the Lord is indeed raising up the 'Calebs' of today - a fearless generation, a people who will not be 'shaken' by whatever they see in the world, but a people who see with the eyes of faith! This is your time to receive the oil of the Holy Spirit on your head, and let it flow right to your robe; just as a priest was anointed those days! You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9).
In 2 Thessalonians 2:15-17, the apostle Paul wrote, 'With all these things in mind, dear brothers and sisters, stand firm and keep a strong grip on the teaching we passed on to you both in person and by letter. Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who loved us and by His grace gave us eternal comfort and a wonderful hope, comfort you and strengthen you'. In Jesus' name. Amen!
In 2 Thessalonians 2:15-17, the apostle Paul wrote, 'With all these things in mind, dear brothers and sisters, stand firm and keep a strong grip on the teaching we passed on to you both in person and by letter. Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who loved us and by His grace gave us eternal comfort and a wonderful hope, comfort you and strengthen you'. In Jesus' name. Amen!
