Now that the Lord has given the land to Israel, and taken Joshua off of the battleground, the rest of the book (chapters 13-24) focuses on Joshua’s leadership as he establishes the house of Israel.  His role shifts from Patriot to Papa, and he does it brilliantly.

2 of 7:

18:2 There remained among the people of Israel seven tribes whose inheritance had not yet been apportioned. 3 So Joshua said to the people of Israel, “How long will you put off going in to take possession of the land, which the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you? 4 Provide three men from each tribe, and I will send them out that they may set out and go up and down the land. They shall write a description of it with a view to their inheritances, and then come to me. 5 They shall divide it into seven portions. Judah shall continue in his territory on the south, and the house of Joseph shall continue in their territory on the north. 6 And you shall describe the land in seven divisions and bring the description here to me. And I will cast lots for you here before the Lord our God.

Go there with me:
Elementary school.  Lunchtime.  You’ve negotiated a trade.  Your pudding, for half of his brownie.  But how do we guarantee that the brownie is split fairly? Do you remember what you did?

Well, if you were experienced in the ways of cafeteria bartering, then you had one kid do the splitting, and the other kid do the choosing.  Basic accountability.  If you don’t cut it evenly, you’re going to get hosed (b/c the larger half will be chosen by the other kid every time)!  If such precision had been directed toward our studies, we all would have been straight A students, ‘cuz that brownie got split right down the middle!

This is essentially Joshua’s approach.  “You split, I’ll pick.” Brilliant.

In fact, all of Joshua’s fatherly leadership in this text is brilliant.

1. He challenges, and corrects the laziness of the 7 tribes.
2. He gives clear directions, with measurable results.  There is no, “just go and do better.”  That’s responding to laziness with lazy leadership.  Instead, he gives them a plan with clear steps and something specific to report upon completion.  It’s lazy and counterproductive for a leader/parent to say, “This is wrong!”, without offering insight into how it can be done right.
3. He took deliberate and preemptive efforts to make sure that he wouldn’t be guilty of playing favorites, or accused of playing favorites.  “These are the rules, in advance: we’re casting lots, and leaving it up to God.”

What about you? Are you constantly telling your kids or the people you lead to “do better” without giving them clear and measurable steps by which they can carry that out? Are you being fair? Are you avoiding even the appearance of evil as the Bible says?  Are you being strategic and intentional, or haphazard and emotional?