Beginning of the End - Ellen G. White

believed God's promise that He would give His people possession of
Canaan. He had endured the long wandering in the wilderness,
sharing the disappointments and burdens of the guilty. Yet he did
not complain, but praised the mercy of God that preserved him in
the wilderness when his fellow Israelites were claimed by death. He
did not ask for a land already conquered, but the place that, more
than all others, the spies had thought impossible to subdue. The
brave old warrior wanted to give the people an example that would
honor God and encourage the tribes to conquer the land that the
earlier generation had considered unconquerable.
Trusting in God to be with him, he "drove out the three sons of
Anak." Then, having secured the land for himself and his family, he
did not settle down to enjoy his inheritance but pushed on to further
conquests for the benefit of the nation and the glory of God.
The cowards and rebels had perished in the wilderness, but the
righteous spies ate the grapes of Eshcol.1 Those who did not believe
had seen their fears fulfilled--they had declared it impossible to
inherit Canaan, and they did not possess it. But those who trusted in
the strength of their Almighty Helper entered the beautiful land.
Through faith the ancient faithful ones "subdued kingdoms, ...
escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong,
became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens."
"This is the victory that has overcome the world--our faith."
(Hebrews 11:33, 34; 1 John 5:4).
Another claim revealed a spirit very different from Caleb's. The
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