Speaking of battles to be fought even after a lot of victories, we would be remiss if we didn’t honor Caleb, the other dissenter with Joshua in Numbers 13 and 14:

But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.”… And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, …said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, “The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land. If the LORD delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey. Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the LORD is with us; do not fear them.” (Numbers 13.30, 14.6 – 9, ESV)

So does Caleb still have faith and fire?

Caleb…said to him: “You know the word which the LORD said to Moses the man of God concerning you and me in Kadesh Barnea. I was forty years old when Moses…sent me…to spy out the land, and I brought back word to him as it was in my heart…Moses swore on that day, saying, ‘Surely the land where your foot has trodden shall be your inheritance and your children’s forever, because you have wholly followed the LORD my God.’ And now, behold, the LORD has kept me alive, as He said, these forty-five years, ever since the LORD spoke this word to Moses while Israel wandered in the wilderness; and now, here I am this day, eighty-five years old. As yet I am as strong this day as on the day that Moses sent me…Now therefore, give me this mountain…” (Joshua 14.6 – 12, NKJV, emphasis mine)

“I am as strong this day…Give me this mountain!” And it’s not all talk:

Caleb drove out three Anakim from Hebron: Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai, all descendants of Anak. (Joshua 15.14, MSG)

Caleb drove out the Anakim, sons of Anak. Remember them? They were the giants that the other 10 spies feared. Gone. Just as Caleb predicted 40 years before: “Their protection has been removed from them.”

¹²  The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
¹³  Those who are planted in the house of the LORD Shall flourish in the courts of our God.
¹⁴  They shall still bear fruit in old age; They shall be fresh and flourishing,
¹⁵  To declare that the LORD is upright; He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him. (Psalm 92.12 – 15, NKJV, emphasis mine)

God is strong, and he wants you strong…This is no afternoon athletic contest that we’ll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels. (Ephesians 6.10, 12, MSG)