Free The Warrior: Caleb by Francine Rivers Page A

Egypt.”
    Moses went down on his face before the Lord, and there was silence, such a silence that Caleb’s ears rang with it. And then he thought he heard a still, quiet Voice whisper his name like a breath of warm, life-giving air. He strained mentally toward that Voice, listening intently, yearning to hear it again, so soft and loving but with the power of Almighty God behind it. But it was not for him to hear more. Not yet. Not now.
    Stretching out his arms on the ground, his face in the dust, Caleb prayed. Lord, Lord, if You slay me now because I failed to convince these people of what I saw, I will die happy because it is by Your hand my life ends .
    The glorious presence of the Lord lifted. Moses sobbed in relief.
    Caleb raised his head as the old man rose slowly to his feet, trembling, tears running into his white beard. But when Moses looked out at the people, his eyes blazed. Caleb felt fear then, a fear that welled up inside him and made his stomach quiver, sweat bead, his mouth go dry.
    “Listen, all of you, and hear the Word of the Lord!” The power of the Lord was behind Moses’ voice and it carried like a storm.
    Caleb moved quickly so that he was standing beside Joshua again. The other ten scouts did not join them, but remained among the elders of their tribes. There might as well have been a chasm between them. On one side stood six hundred thousand men who had chosen to fear the enemy rather than follow their trusted Friend. They had chosen to speak against the One who had saved them and provided for them every day since they had been rescued from slavery. On the other side stood Caleb and Joshua, two strong voices of reason not heeded.
    The people came closer, but rebellion still shone in their eyes. The elders of each tribe came to the front with their scout. Caleb looked out at them and wondered how they could think the threat was past, that the Lord would do whatever Moses asked.
    We deserve nothing, Lord. After all You have done for us, and this is what the people decide .
    “Hear the Word of the Lord!” Moses’ voice went forth like fire. “‘I will pardon them as you have requested. But as surely as I live, and as surely as the earth is filled with the Lord’s glory, not one of these people will ever enter that land.’”
    The Promised Land was lost to them. While many cried out in relief, Caleb cried out in grief and fell upon his face again. He drew his knees up under his body and threw dust on his head. Imagining the ten scouts, he pounded the earth with his fists and wept bitterly.
    Moses’ voice rose, hot with anger, weighed with grief.
    “‘They have seen My glorious presence and the miraculous signs I performed both in Egypt and in the wilderness, but again and again they tested Me by refusing to listen. They will never even see the land I swore to give their ancestors. None of those who have treated Me with contempt will enter it.’”
    Moses paused and then spoke tenderly. “‘But my servant Caleb . . .’”
    My servant Caleb . . . The Voice again, so tenderly calling him. Caleb, My servant . . .
    Caleb raised his face to the heavens. Moses spoke, but it was the Lord’s voice Caleb heard. Caleb is different from the others. He has remained loyal to Me, and I will bring him into the land he explored. His descendants will receive their full share of that land .
    Caleb bowed his face to the ground. Unworthy, Lord, I am an unworthy dog.
    What of Joshua?
    “‘Now, turn around,’ ” Moses said in the power of the Spirit, “‘and don’t go on toward the land where the Amalekites and Canaanites live. Tomorrow you must set out for the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea.’”
    The people wailed, but some stood their ground.
    “No. We want our land.”
    Caleb covered his head. It was never their land. It had always been the Lord’s land. And it was the Lord who would have placed them there as He had placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Why do men always