Throwback Thursday is a common theme on sites and blogs where you hearken back to something interesting or random from the past. On Land of Redemption, our current Throwback Thursday trend is re-posts of preview articles from years and sets past.
This week we continue with the Faith of Our Fathers articles. Enjoy!
Originally Posted By: Bryon | Date: 2007
Baby name books are fascinating but flawed. Having named four kids of our own, my wife and I have some experience with such books. They are great for ideas, and the included name meanings can be helpful. Unfortunately, the meaning of a name can vary quite a bit from one book to the next. For example, one book says Bryon means strong, another says it’s Celtic for brave and virtuous, another says it’s English for bear, and others say it’s Greek for cottage or moss!
If you look up Caleb in a baby name book, you get similar variance. They agree it is a Hebrew name, but they disagree on its meaning. Some say “dog,” others say “faithful” or “heart” or “whole-hearted.” In the Bible, Caleb seemed to fulfill all these meanings of his name.
Moses selected one man from each tribe to spy out the Promised Land. Caleb represented Judah. He and Joshua and the other 10 spies scoped the land and its fortified cities, including Hebron, which was held by some very large men. They returned with their reports. While the 10 other spies were whining like little scaredy-cats, Caleb had heart. He knew God could give them the land. When the others lacked faith and rebelled against Moses and against God, Caleb remained faithful. When the whining infected the assembly, Caleb silenced the people and proclaimed his whole-hearted confidence that God would give them victory. He was ready to run with the big dogs.
The others weren’t.
Forty years of wilderness wandering later, Caleb and Joshua became the oldest surviving Israelites. It was finally time to take the land. But Caleb was 85 years old. Could his old body do what his big faith compelled?
As they began to take the land, Caleb could have settled in the plains, where it was easy to walk. Being older, he could have retired in an easy place that was already secured by Israel’s army. But Caleb’s big faith demanded bigger action. Even at 85, his old frame was still ready to run with the big dogs. Caleb requested the hill country. And not just any hill county. He wanted Hebron, where the giants lived. He wanted to take that city – the fortified city with the three giants that had made the faithless spies whine. He was ready to show that his faith had been justified all along – that God would give them even Hebron.
So, Caleb called together the men of Judah, the tribe he’d represented decades earlier, and they attacked Hebron. With God’s help, they drove out the inhabitants, including the three giants, and took the fortified city and the surrounding land.
Caleb’s new card is a great representation of his story. He is still ready to access sites, but this new version of Caleb differs from his prior version in a few ways. He has gained warrior-class, switched to red brigade, and takes more aggressive action against giants, clearing the way for your other heroes for later in the game. He bands to the Men of Judah, a red brigade 12/12 – the highest stats of any hero in the game (this tin could be called “The Big Dogs Tin”). Put Caleb’s Sword on Caleb and, with name-on-name bonus, those two heroes are 16/11 + 12/12 = 28/23. Not bad for two heroes and a weapon. This is huge in booster draft! Believe it or not, it gets better than that, but I don’t want to let the cat…er…dog out of the bag.
Caleb is one of only two reprinted heroes in the Faith of Our Fathers set. All the other heroes are new. Caleb and Caleb’s Sword are nice cards, especially against certain decks (more decks than you think). However, there are eight other red brigade cards in this set, and many of those cards are even better than these!
I’m looking forward to building a deck with this new version of Caleb – a hero with whole-hearted faith.
To buy singles, sealed product, and other gaming supplies mentioned, please visit Three Lions Gaming!
