The Cities of Refuge - Part Two
Now what makes these cities of refuge so important? Well in order to understand why they were important, you have to understand something about the way in which justice was practiced in this society. If somebody would kill another person, whether accidentally or intentionally, the family of the one who was killed would get together and select one member of that family to be what was termed an “avenger of blood.” It became the sacred duty of that person so selected to pursue the one who had killed their relative and retaliate by killing the killer.
The Cities of Refuge - Part One

I suppose it’s true to say that in some way or another, everyone is proud of the city or town in which he or she grew up, which is a way of saying that from the point of view of the native, every place is special in some way. I grew up in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, which is a mill town out in the western part of the state on the junction of the Monongahela and Youghiogheny rivers. Living in the shadow of the big city of Pittsburgh, McKeesport maybe was not known for a whole lot.  But we were proud of our football team, and every fall, everybody used to go over to watch the games. I have a very good feeling for the way Garrison Keillor feels when he writes about his mythical hometown of Lake Wobegon, the little town where “all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average.”
That Magnificent Old Man - Part Five

There’s a great contrast here in this story, and I’m sure it’s why it’s told at this point, right in the middle of this account of the division of the land. It’s the contrast between Caleb, who followed the Lord wholeheartedly to the very end and took the land that he’d been promised so many years before, and the people who, for the most part, failed to fully possess these possessions. Oh, they had the land. They were there. The power of the Canaanites was broken during the seven years of military conquest. All of the great cities had been overthrown. But when the land was divided up, they were to go into their individual portions of the land, subdue it, and drive the inhabitants out. And we’re told again and again in these chapters that they didn't quite do it. They settled down, and instead enjoyed the conquest without carrying it through to completion.
That Magnificent Old Man - Part Four

Yesterday we began to look at the first reason for Caleb’s greatness, which was his complete trust in God. One of the great commentators on this particular story, Alan Redpath, wrote of Caleb and Joshua’s faith: “The majority measured the giants against their own strength; Caleb and Joshua measured the giants against God. The majority trembled; the two triumphed. The majority had great giants but a little God. Caleb had a great God and little giants.”
That Magnificent Old Man - Part Three

Now it’s worth asking at this point what the secret of this man’s greatness was. In fact, it was no great secret. Caleb had total faith in God, and he gave himself to God utterly. It’s not hard to see his faith. That comes out very simply in this matter of the spies' initial report. You know, it’s the case that real greatness is not complicated. Great people are not complicated. It’s generally the weak people who are complicated. They always have dozens of mutually contradictory ideas floating around in their minds and dozens of mutually contradictory courses of action. They see that this might be something that would be worth doing. But then again, they’re not quite sure about it. It might be more valuable to do something else. Perhaps they could go about the task this way, and that might work. But then again, there might be another way that would be better.