They wholly followed the Lord

“Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite, and Joshua the son of Nun: for they have wholly followed the LORD.” - Numbers 32v12

It is hard to imagine that out of all the men of Israel when they left Egypt only two would be permitted to enter the Promised Land. Here in chapter 32 God is giving a history of the wanderings in the wilderness and tells that all but two man would ide before seeing Canaan.

The reason they were permitted to see the land is telling. Joshua and Caleb “wholly followed the Lord.” This passage has already stood out to me and was the reason that our fourth child Caleb. The concept of wholly following the Lord challenges me every time I read it.

When we think of Joshua and Caleb and their report of Canaan we get a glimpse of what it means. When everyone else said there was no hope, they said “let’s go up, we are well able to take the land.” Caleb never wavered in that motivation and desire.

Wholly following the Lord means simply that we follow Him not matter what and no matter where. It means being content in whatever situation he places us. If our lusts and desires are allowed to reign we are not wholly following Him, but are trying to follow both Him and us. Oh to be a Caleb and have it one day said of me that “He wholly followed the Lord.”

We need to ask ourselves daily what we are following. If we are not wholly, totally, completely, and absolutely following the Lord we must lay aside the idols of our lives, whatever they are, and follow Him and Him alone.