Caleb, transmitter of faith

"[Caleb] went up against the inhabitants of Debir : Debir was formerly called Kirjath-Sepher. Caleb said : I will give my daughter Acsa in marriage to him who will defeat Kirjathsepher and take it. Othniel [...] took it ; Caleb gave him his daughter Acsa as his wife. When she entered Othniel's house, she asked him to ask his father for a field. She came down from her donkey, and Caleb said to him : What have you got ? And she said : Give me a present, for you have given me a land of the south ; give me water sources too. He gave him the upper springs and the lower springs." Joshua 15. 15-19

Joshua and Caleb had to wait almost 40 years in the desert before entering Canaan, because of the unbelief of the people (Numbers 13 and 14). At age 85, Caleb can finally put his faith into action : he conquers Kiriath-Arba, the city of giants. He then arrives in front of Kirjath-Sepher : no giants in sight ! Less well defended, the city will be more easily taken ! Will Caleb also conquer her ? He has the ability, he always has the desire to take possession of what God has given. Yet he stops in his tracks. What purpose ? He proposes that someone else take it ! This is an opportunity for a certain Othniel to go to the front line, to affirm his faith in the promises, to test the strength that God gives him, to become a "leader". This experience will enable him later to become a savior, a liberator of the people (Jug 3. 9). Caleb's humility leads him to retire to make way for a new strong man. At the same time, he finds the man he dreamed of to be the husband of his daughter !

Acsa urges her husband to ask Caleb for a field. She observed the strong and daring faith of her father who asked Joshua for a specific inheritance ; in turn, she suggests to her husband to ask for a field, a property that belongs to them in their own, which allows them to have their own resources. Caleb gives them a field well exposed to the south, but without water ! Will Acsa be satisfied ? This response from his father leads him to ask what is needed to make the field really profitable : a source of water on the spot. Caleb gave him an example of faith and now he is boosting his daughter's faith !

Source (Pleasing the Lord)