Underwhelming Epitaph (Judges 10:1-2)
"[Tola] was from the tribe of Issachar but lived in the town of Shamir in the hill country of Ephraim. 2 He judged Israel for twenty-three years. When he died, he was buried in Shamir." Judges 10:1-2 As we read through this era of Israel's history known as the time of the Judges, we see the rise and fall of many illustrious, and sometimes unscrupulous leaders of the nation. One of the lesser known rulers was a man named Tola. You've probably never heard of him and there's a perfectly good explanation as to why found right here in this passage. This particular leader was allotted exactly 2 whole verses in Scripture. During his rule (23 years to be exact), we are told volumes about his leadership by the deafening silence surrounding it. What was his lasting legacy? Nada. Surely in 23 years he managed to accomplish something significant, right? Nope. Between the time of his birth and his death we known nothing more than his ...