Tola Judged Twenty-Three Years - Judges 10:2

In the book of Judges we learned, “after Abimelech there arose to defend Israel Tola the son of Puah, the son of Dodo, a man of Issachar; and he dwelt in Shamir in mount Ephraim”, and in chapter ten and verse two of Judges, we learn how Tola, “judged Israel twenty and three years, and died”  where we read,

And he judged Israel twenty and three years, and died, and was buried in Shamir.

The verse reads, “And he judged Israel twenty and three years, …” The writer began with the words, “and he judged Israel” whose name means “and he, Tola, governed and ruled over Israel whose name means ‘God prevails’ and is the name of the descendants and the nation of the descendants of Jacob” “twenty and three years” which means ”for the length of twenty-three annual sets of days”.  The writer shared how “Tola” ruled over the people of “Israel” for the length of “twenty-three years”.

The verse continues, “… and died, and was buried in Shamir.” The writer added the words, “and died” which means “and became inanimate, lifeless, expired and without breath” “and was buried” or “and was entombed” “in Shamir” which means “within Shamir whose name means ‘a point or thorn’ and was a town in Ephraim where the judge Tola lived and was buried”. The writer shared how “Tola” became inanimate and without breath and was entombed within the city of “Shamir”.

When we meditate upon the words in this verse, we learn about the span of time that “Tola” served as the ruler over “Israel”. For “twenty-three years” “Tola” oversaw the people of “Israel”, and after his time, he “died”. He was entombed within his own city “Shamir”, and God’s time for him to live and serve was over. God knows the time on earth for all our lives, and His desire is that we live in Heaven with Him forever. (See Psalm 90:12; 139:16) When we receive His Son Jesus who died on the cross for the sins of all mankind and was raised from the dead after three days as our “Savior and Lord”, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and give us His Holy Spirit who will guide us into all truth and assign us to our tasks within His Kingdom until our lives on earth are over and we go to be with Him. (See 2 Corinthians 5:8)

Next time we learn, “after him arose Jair, a Gileadite”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance”.