Joshua 14:11 –
I am as strong now as I was when Moses sent me on that journey, and I can still travel and fight as well as I could then.
This was Caleb speaking to Joshua asking for his allotment of land. As we study the Bible one often wonders how the Israelites only could wander the wilderness for 40 years in order to lose the generation who lost faith. We find Caleb is 85 when he makes this request. We also remember one of the original 12 scouts who brought back the report of giants and caused the people to lose faith God would provide safe passage was Caleb. Caleb and Joshua both brought back positive reports and were ready to follow God, hence why they were spared in the 40 years and allowed to lead the people.
I wonder if at 85 he could travel and fight just the same as when he was 40. Being closer to 40 than 85 in my life I could still say this statement, but in another 35 more years I wonder. Was this an old man boasting, or was he stating fact? That is one of those we may never know the true answer, but one thing for sure at 85 Caleb has not gone into retirement. Moses worked right up to the day he died at 120, so 85 is still young in that respect.
We can go on and on while studying the stories in the Bible and read in amazement about the age some of these people were. I wonder if toxins in our world limit our life or could it be what we are eating? People who eat Kosher appear to age about the same rate, so maybe it is the toxins. Or maybe it’s our mental outlook since we have placed 65 as the “retirement” age. Which by the way came about because that was the life expectancy of people at the time it became “standard”? God wants us to live life to the full, that may not mean retire.