Children Bible Overview 37 16/12/07

WHILE OTHERS SAW GIANTS, CALEB SAW THE LORD

Teachers to read bible scripture: <Jos 14:6-15>

Children to memorize bible scripture: <Rom 8:37>

Recap
Last week, we saw how Joshua led the Israelites to conquer the city of Jericho.
Introduction
Thereafter, they also conquered 7 tribes and 31 kings in the land of Canaan. Because God was with
the Israelites, they enjoyed great victory. In the last battle, the Israelites arrived at a place called
Hebron. In the land of Canaan, Hebron was the best as well as the most beautiful and abundant place.
However, living in Hebron were the Anakites, who were the hugest in the land of Canaan. The city in
which they lived was also large and fortified. Therefore, it was most difficult to attack that city.
However, among the Israelites was a man called Caleb. He was the same person who went to
explore the land of Canaan together with Joshua initially. All those while, he followed the Lord
Jehovah whole-heartedly, and believed and obeyed the promises God gave him. (At that time, all the
Israelites disbelieved; only Caleb and Joshua believed.) Moreover, during the 40 years in the
wilderness, Caleb followed closely to God’s Tent of Meeting and also followed the instructions of the
Lord’s servant, Moses. Therefore, God promised Caleb and said, “I will surely be with you, and help
you triumph over all the enemies in the land of Canaan, so that you and your descendents will inherit
the best and most beautiful land.” Hence, Joshua blessed Caleb and Caleb then led the Israelite army
to attack Hebron, driving out all the enemies there.

1. The Israelites definitely had to meet the strongest enemies in the land of Canaan,
i.e. the Anakites
1) The devil, Satan often used very strong enemies to frighten the Israelites, causing
them to be afraid and discouraged. As a result, they did not have the faith and
courage to fight the battle. Today, Satan used the Anakites (giants) to cause the
Israelites to lose faith.
2) Why did God bring the Israelites before the strongest enemies? This is because God
wanted the Israelites to know that regardless of how strong the enemies were, He
was the all-powerful God who could help them to overcome! Therefore, when the
problem is bigger, God’s greater power will be displayed!
3) Therefore, in our lives, we will also sometimes meet with very big problems (quarrel
with others, no money, fall sick, being misunderstood by parents or teachers,
stressed over exams, etc). The devil, Satan, often uses these problems to cause us
to be very unhappy, fearful and helpless. However, by relying on God, all these are
no longer problems! This is because God is all-powerful!

2. No matter how powerful the enemies are, we can drive them out by relying on God
Jehovah (i.e. Jesus Christ)
1) No matter how powerful the enemies are (or how big our problems are), God has
already solved all our problems through Jesus Christ. Because Jesus Christ had bled
and died for us (just like the blood of the lamb that was put on the door frames), He
had already shattered the head of the devil, Satan. Therefore, the devil, Satan can
only use problems to scare us but he cannot triumph over us!
2) Therefore, do not be deceived by problems! Problems are only what Satan uses to
deceive us. There is no problem that can overcome us, who are children of God! The
greater the problem, the greater God’s power will be displayed; the greater the
problem, the greater is the victory God’s people will receive!
 3) Therefore, whenever we, the children of God, encounter problems, we should in our
prayers ask God to give us greater victory. E.g. Not enough money
receive
something better than money; lose a friend
receive 10 friends who love me even
more; results in school are not good
receive God’s wisdom so that results in
everything would get better in future,; fall sick
receive a healthier body after
recovery [In particular, teach more on: It is only right for God’s children to believe and
pray in this way.]

3. God had already prepared Caleb to drive all the Anakites out.
1) Although the Anakites were very powerful, God already prepared Caleb to triumph
over them and drive them out.
2) Why was Caleb able to triumph over and drive out the Anakites? This was because
Caleb believed in the 4 Gospelization which God promised him. Therefore, he often
saw that God was with him. Hence, in front of the strongest enemies, he did not rely
on himself but relied totally on God’s power to triumph over the Anakites. [Today,
God is also with us. So, if we rely completely on God’s power, we too can similarly
overcome the greatest problem.]
3) Why did Caleb have such great faith to rely on God? This was because during the 40
years in the wilderness, he followed the Tent of Meeting daily and listened to the
instructions of God’s servant, Moses. Therefore, when fighting the biggest battle, he
also had the faith to rely on God. [Therefore, when we attend Sunday school every
week, and listen to God’s words frequently, we will receive the faith that Caleb had.]