“The LORD was with the men of Judah. They took possession of the hill country, but they were unable to drive the people from the plains, because they had iron chariots.”
~ Judges 1:19
Hi James and Ellen,
Do you know what succession is? Succession means that something is being repeated. Succession in leadership is to have a guy or gal who has been enabled from being taught and through experiential life lessons replace a guy or gal who is in a leadership role or position when the guy or gal has his or her predetermined length of term or time in his or her role or position come to an end or is fired or dies. What do you think will happen if there is no guy or gal who has been enabled and in place to replace a guy or gal who has been in leadership whose predetermined length of term or time in his or her role or position has come to an end? What do you think will happen if there is no guy or gal who has been enabled and in place to replace a guy or gal who has been in a leadership role or position and who has been fired? What do you think will happen if there is no guy or gal who has been enabled and in place to replace a guy or gal who has been in a leadership role or position and who dies? A recognized succession process is in place to replace a guy or gal who has been elected by guys and gals to fill a leadership role or position – such as President, Governor, Mayor or . . . when his or her predetermined length of term in his or her leadership role or position comes to an end. When a leader – such as a principal, coach, pastor or . . . is documented to be inept, unsuitable, dishonest and/or . . . while he or she is in his or her leadership role or position, the guy or gal is oftentimes fired without first having a replacement guy or gal in place to replace the principal, coach, pastor or . . . who was fired. When a guy or gal is fired because of one reason or another, there will invariably be a desire among most guys and gals to move ahead expeditiously to replace a fired principal, coach, pastor or . . . with another guy or gal who may not have experienced and/or internalized the ethos and/or underlying ambience of the school, sport, church or . . . and not do well. When a leader – such as a dictator, tycoon or icon dies, the death of the guy or gal will leave a vacuum which will make replacing the deceased dictator, tycoon or icon an almost impossible task to do. Your grandpaa calls this the Joshua syndrome. Your grandpaa believes today that guys who were born between 1946 and 1964 – which is the boomer generation, did very little – because of their thinking that they could fix and do everything, to prepare guys to be leaders in the next generation – the buster generation, as they perceived this generation of guys to be feckless.
Joshua really was a good guy. Joshua stood for what he believed even when what he believed – such as when he returned from spying out the land area of Canaan, was contrary to the majority of the twelve spies. Joshua was loyal to Moses. Joshua led the Israelite people group guys, gals and kids – God’s specially chosen guys, gals, and kids, through the Jordan River’s dried up river bed after God had divinely dammed up the river’s fast moving water and into the land area of Canaan that God was giving to His specially chosen guys and gals to always to have to live in as their very own land if . . . after crossing into the land area of Canaan, Joshua oversaw the beginning of the purging of the different people groups of guys, gals and kids who were living in the land of Canaan. Even though Joshua had a walking/talking relationship with God, it may not have been in Joshua’s personal psyche or hardwiring to brutally eliminate all the different people groups guys, gals and kids who were living in the land area of Canaan. Under Joshua’s leadership, not all the enemy people groups of guys, gals and kids were totally wiped out by God’s specially chosen guys – which God had clearly mandated was to happen, before Joshua oversaw – using lots, the dividing up between the twelve Israelite people group tribal clans of guys, gals and kids the land area of Canaan that had been captured.
Even though Moses had spent forty years enabling Joshua to succeed him after he died, Joshua had not enabled another guy to succeed him when died. Judges 1 reports the death of Joshua. When God’s specially chosen guys and gals – the Israelite people group guys and gals, asked God – after Joshua died, what they were to do next, God told the Israelite people group guys and gals that they were to continue to expunge the people groups of guys, gals and kids from the land area of Canaan – including the Canaanite people group guys, gals and kids. God explicitly told the Judah tribal clan guys that they were to lead out eliminating the enemy people groups of guys, gals and kids who were still living in the land area of Canaan. The Judah tribal clan guys – with the help of the Simeon tribal clan guys, killed 10,000 Canaanite and Perizzite guys at Bezek. When Adoni-Bezek – who was Bezek’s king, was captured, the Judah and Simeon tribal clan guys cut off the guy’s thumbs and big toes to humiliate him. This was something that Adoni-Bezek did to the kings who he and his guys captured. Your grandpaa thinks that Caleb – who was from the Judah tribal clan, was right in the middle of all this action. Caleb did not seem to have an issue with exterminating the opposition. Caleb had been Joshua’s contemporary and a fellow spy. When Othniel – who was Caleb’s nephew, captured Kiriath Sepher, he got to marry Acsah – who was Caleb’s daughter. Verse 19 says, “The LORD was with the men of Judah. They took possession of the hill country, but they were unable to drive the people from the plains, because they had iron chariots.” Othniel would become an Israelite people group judge. Caleb enabled succession; Joshua did not. Caleb seems to be a guy who was willing to do whatever but who stayed in the background – kind of like your grandpaa. God’s kingdom can only grow when there are guys enabling other guys who are in turn are . . .
Judges 1 (844)