AGE IS JUST A NUMBER (JOSHUA 14:6-15)
Three old ladies are sitting in a diner, chatting about various things. One lady says, “You know, I’m getting really forgetful. This morning, I was standing at the top of the stairs, and I couldn’t remember whether I had just come up or was about to go down.”
The second lady says, “You think that’s bad? The other day, I was sitting on the edge of my bed, and I couldn’t remember whether I was going to bed or had just woken up!”
The third lady smiles smugly. “Well, my memory’s just as good as it’s always been, knock on wood.” She raps the table. Then, with a startled look on her face, she asks, “Who’s there?”
The eye-opening Time magazine article “How to Live to be 100,” (8/30/04) offers hope for the aging. Researchers have long asked why 30% of those who reach 100 have satisfactory mental and physical health. Dr. Thomas Perls, a geriatrician at Boston University, supplied the answer. He made this interesting observation on why as high as 90% of centenarians remain functionally independent up to age 92: “The advantage of living to 100 is not so much how you are at 100 but how you got there. I strongly believe that with some changes in health-related behavior, each of us can earn the right to have at least 25 years beyond the age of 60 – years of healthy life at good function. The bad news is that it requires work and willpower.”
Swedish scientists made a breakthrough in 1998 in analyzing why one of the siblings from twin siblings lives longer than the other. They concluded that only about 20-30% of how long people live is genetically determined, but the dominant factor is lifestyle, not genes. Dr. Bradley Wilcox, of the Pacific Health Research Institute in Honolulu, said, “You could have Mercedes-Benz genes, but if you never change the oil, you are not going to last as long as a Ford Escort that you take good care of.”
How are you going to live your life if you are 95? What type of attitude would help you whether you are 85 or 75? One of the most admirable aged men in the Bible was old in age but young at heart. After Israel had completed the conquest and division of the land, an 85-year old Caleb approached Joshua for a share of the land. He asked for it with spunk and backed it up with action. Most of all, Caleb was a man who committed himself without reservation to follow the Lord. The word determination comes to mind when Caleb is mentioned. He was determined to do what was right, determined to enjoy the challenges of life and determined to complete his mission on earth.
Previous Participation Can Inspire Present Pursuits
6 Now the men of Judah approached Joshua at Gilgal, and Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You know what the LORD said to Moses the man of God at Kadesh Barnea about you and me. 7 I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadesh Barnea to explore the land. And I brought him back a report according to my convictions, 8 but my brothers who went up with me made the hearts of the people melt with fear. I, however, followed the LORD my God wholeheartedly. (Josh 14:6-8)
A team at the University of Toronto’s Rotman Research Institute used brain imaging to analyze the relationship between higher education and mental powers in older people. To investigate the relationship between education and brain activity among the elderly, the researchers conducted memory tests using a functional magnetic resonance imaging scanner, which records the changes in blood flow associated with mental activity. They tested 14 people between 18 and 30 years old who had between 11 and 20 years of formal schooling and 19 people over 65 who had between eight and 21 years of education. The scientists correlated brain activity to each volunteer’s age and education level.
After the investigation, the team announced their findings and concluded that higher education may protect older people from faltering mental powers by building up alternate neural networks absent in less-educated people. Elderly volunteers who had a higher education not only performed better on a series of memory tests than their less-educated peers but also used different parts of their brains, the study showed. The better-schooled volunteers were able to work around the memory problems common among the aged by drawing on mental reserves.
“We found that the older adults who were more educated tend to recruit these frontal areas of the brain,” said lead researcher Mellanie Springer at the Rotman Institute. The elderly who had been less educated did not have such extra neural capability, nor did the younger educated volunteers, Springer said. The young brains had not yet developed the need to draw on such neural reserves (Los Angeles Times, 3/14/05 “College May Buff Up Aging Brains”).
Caleb did not appear out of the blue. His credentials and foundations were built to last. He had a tried and true record from a tough and thankless task 45 years ago (v 10). Then, the people’s hearts melted, dissolved or flowed like water (Ps 6:6, 147:18) hearing the negative report from the ten spies. The report was getting worse by the second: the people were big and strong, the cities were fortified and guarded, the tribes were numerous and fierce. However, Caleb was the first one to counter the report, silence the people and appeal for calm, saying, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it” (Num 13:30).
As a younger partner to Moses, Caleb was known as a man with another spirit or attitude or perspective (Num 14:24). He thought (Prov 29:11, Hab 1:11), felt and spoke differently. The optimistic man did not allow negative people, pessimistic thoughts or gloomy forecast get in the way of God’s words and promises. He confronted, corrected and charged the people, even though to no avail, standing up and facing up to the majority when he clearly knew he was right. Caleb did not allow the threat from the crowd, the intensity of their claim and the fear of their persecution to drown his voice. He was shaken but steadfast, tried but triumphant, uneasy but unflinching.
Caleb was his own man and yet the Lord’s man. He was a leader in his own right. In fact, Caleb’s name was just as outstanding as Joshua. His name was listed ahead of Joshua by a three-to-two margin when their names were mentioned in the same breath or verse (Num 14:6, 14:30, 14:38, 26:65, 32:12). The duo was the Caleb and Joshua tandem, and not the Joshua and Caleb twosome. He was willing to follow the Lord even if the crowd, the whole world or even Joshua was not with him.
Proven Promises Can Inspire Present Poise
9 So on that day Moses swore to me, ’The land on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance and that of your children forever, because you have followed the LORD my God wholeheartedly.’ (Josh 14:9)
A friend sent me an email (4/15/02) that a series of one-liners sayings with the title “The Positive Side of Life.”
Living on earth is expensive, but it does include a free trip around the sun every year.
Birthdays are good for you; the more you have, the longer you live.
Happiness comes through doors you didn’t even know you left open.
Most of us go to our grave with our music still inside of us.
You may be only one person in the world, but you may also be the world to one person.
Don’t cry because it’s over; smile because it happened.
A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.
God doesn’t call the qualified; He qualifies the called.
God promises a safe landing, not a calm passage.
Most people want to serve God, but only in an advisory capacity.
The clause “follow wholeheartedly” fits Caleb like a glove, more than anyone. In fact, more passages allude to Caleb’s wholehearted devotion (Num 14:24, Deut 1:36) to God in the Bible than any other person, even more than Joshua or David. Compared to merely one designation each covering the wholehearted devotion of David (1 Kings 11:6) and Joshua (Num 32:12), six verses spoke volumes of Caleb’s devotion - three times in this passage (Josh 14:8, 9, 14) and three times verified by God - twice spoken through Moses and once a summary of Caleb’s deeds:
Caleb’s testimony: “I, however, followed the LORD my God wholeheartedly.” (Josh 14:8)
Caleb’s citation of Moses’ words: “You have followed the LORD my God wholeheartedly.” (Josh 14:9)
The final verdict on Caleb: “So Hebron has belonged to Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite ever since, because he followed the LORD, the God of Israel, wholeheartedly.” (Josh 14:14)
God spoke when the rebellion occurred: “Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly.” (Num 14:24)
Moses’ first verification of God’s words: “They followed the LORD wholeheartedly.” (Num 32:12)
Moses’ second verification of God’s promise: “He (Caleb) followed the LORD wholeheartedly.” (Deut 1:36)
From young, Caleb dwelt on the positive of the equation. He did not know any other. The octogenarian looked at the bright side, the sunny side, or the upside of life, even in his old age. He loved an adventure, a challenge and a goal. When faced with new challenges, he did not howl in protest, scream his head off, sulk with displeasure, lament his lot in life or whimper like a dog.
Caleb jumped, leapt and shouted for joy for the opportunity to meet the huge challenge. Things were never unfeasible or unachievable; they were just untried and untested to him. He bounced up and down, sprang to his feet and burst forth with excitement to tackle the thankless task. Caleb lived life bursting with energy and not bankrupt in spirit. Life was always on the bubble, never flat. The ageless warrior was never a halfhearted, feeble-minded or thin-skinned follower. He liked the odds in his favor, the sponsorship in his corner and the target in plain view.
Physical Preparation Can Improve Present Perspective
10 “Now then, just as the LORD promised, he has kept me alive for forty-five years since the time he said this to Moses, while Israel moved about in the desert. So here I am today, eighty-five years old! 11 I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I’m just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then. 12 Now give me this hill country that the LORD promised me that day. You yourself heard then that the Anakites were there and their cities were large and fortified, but, the LORD helping me, I will drive them out just as he said.” (Josh 14:10-12)
Charlie Brown and Lucy were having a big argument witnessed by Schroeder and Linus. Charlie Brown put his hands on his hips in exasperation and said to the feisty Lucy, “Boy, you sure talk a lot!” Lucy raised her two fists to Charlie Brown and replied, “Yeah? Well, I’m not all talk like some people I know. C’mon Charlie Brown, Let’s see what you’re sure made of!”
A frustrated Charlie Brown backed off, turned around and looked to the ground as Lucy continued heckling him: “C’mon, put ‘em up here! What’s the matter with you? Put ‘em up!” Finally Charlie Brown sat on the ground with his hands holding up his head and a gloom on his face while Lucy walked away triumphantly.
Linus, Lucy’s sibling, yelled in the direction of Lucy, who had left by then: “You shoulda slugged her, Charlie Brown. Even if she is my sister I say you should have slugged her!” Schroeder explained to Linus, “You don’t understand. Charlie Brown did a very admirable thing. He would never think of hitting a girl, so he deliberately humiliated himself to hold to his high moral standards!” Schroeder then asked Charlie Brown, “Isn’t that right, Charlie Brown?” Charlie Brown said, “No, I was just afraid of getting beat up!”
A Harvard psychologist and his team examined 1,000 doctors between the ages 30-80. In one test the subjects were seated in front of computers and asked to read stories crammed with details, such as street addresses. A few minutes later they took a multiple-choice test. On the average, people in their 80s could remember only half as much as those who were in the 30s.
The consensus is that neurons age at the rate of 100,000 a day. By the time someone reaches 65 0r 70, he may have lost 20% of his 100 billion. Still experts say that 80 billion remaining neurons are a lot! The neurons send signals to neighboring neurons (Fortune 4/17/95 “Memory”).
The good news is that (USA Today, 8/22/02) research by University of Arizona psychologist David Almeida indicated that men and women over 60 enjoy a sharp drop in daily hassles after they’re 60. Older adults cope better with stress, not allowing it to sour their mood or provoke physical symptoms.
At 85, Caleb did not ask for a favor, apply for a handout or depend on his relatives. His head was clear as day, his body fit as a fiddle and his vision was sharp as a knife. He did not miss or skip a beat. His words were not blurred, his vigor was not dimmed and his memory was not dulled, sluggish or lost. A blunted mind might get lost following his speech. He was logical, profound and astute. The words he emphasized in Hebrew ranged from numbers 40 (v 7) to 45 and 85 (v 10); from personal pronouns “I” to “you”: “I followed the Lord” (v 8) to “you have followed the Lord (v9)”; from tenses “then” to “now”: Caleb said, “So on ‘that day’ Moses swore to me” (v 9)… so here I am ‘today,’ eighty-five years old! and I am still as strong ‘today’ as the day Moses sent me out (v 11)…Now give me this hill country that the LORD promised me that day (v 12). You yourself heard ‘then’ (or Hebrew, in that day).”
The never-say-die Caleb even asked for the toughest task. He was strong as an ox, as fit as or even fitter than any young man and as strong as he was at 40. He refused to act his age, ride into the sunset or dwell in the past. 45 years ago, the ten spies glorified the enemies, “They are ‘stronger’ than we are” (Num 13:31). Now the ageless wonder took those same words and said, “I am still as ‘strong’ today as the day Moses sent me out; I’m just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then” (v 11).
Caleb asked for Hebron, Israel’s most precious and nostalgic real estate, the place where Abraham had built an altar to the Lord (Gen 13:18), buried his beloved Sarah (Gen 23:2, 19) and sojourned with his son Isaac (Gen 35:27), who was also buried in Hebron (Gen 35:29). One more thing about Caleb the Kennizite that may shock you: he was a Gentile. His tribal roots were traced to Esau, not Isaac. Kenaz was the grandson of Esau (Gen 36:10-11). The Edomites, descendants of Esau, was one of Israel’s most hated enemies. Caleb the alien resident knew Hebron was symbolical to the Israelites, priceless to his descendants and hard to take over. The sons of Anak who terrified both generations were still there. Although Joshua had cut off the Anakims from the mountains and destroyed the cities previously (Josh 11:21), the job was undone. Caleb had to finish the job, driving out the three pesky sons of Anak (Josh 15:13-14) and doing what the ten spies said was impossible. From then on Caleb occupied the fields of the city, and the villages of Hebron (Josh 21:11-12), sinking down his foreign roots and cementing his legacy in Israel. The Chinese have a saying for this spirit, “Trekking the mountains knowing tigers are there.” Joshua wasn’t going to stand still, stay put, turn around or back down.
Conclusion: Old age is not the end of fresh faith. Are you richly adjusted in life? Do you have a right attitude in life? Have you a resolute aim in life? Someone once said, “It is not the years in a life that counts; it’s the life in the years.” It’s been said, “Some succeed because they are destined to. Some because they are determined to.” Are you determined to serve, glorify or experience God for another day, week, month, year or decade? For as long as you live, for as long as God gives you life and as the world turns?
