Judges 3:12-30 - Ehud
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12 And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done what was evil in the sight of the Lord.
13 He gathered to himself the Ammonites and the Amalekites, and went and defeated Israel. And they took possession of the city of palms.
14 And the people of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years.
15 Then the people of Israel cried out to the Lord, and the Lord raised up for them a deliverer, Ehud, the son of Gera, the Benjaminite, a left-handed man. The people of Israel sent tribute by him to Eglon the king of Moab.
Last week we saw the story of Othniel, who in spite of coming from a family that did not descend from the 12 tribes of Israel, had more faith than the rest of the nation.
Today we’re looking at the second deliverer of the book of Judges, Ehud. A deliverer who used his apparent weakness as an opportunity to defeat the Moabites and bring another period of rest to the land...
Ehud, the Deliverer (12-15)
Ehud, the Deliverer (12-15)
12 And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done what was evil in the sight of the Lord.
ABA pattern - The Lord strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel NOT because Eglon was powerful (as will be shown in this story), but because Israel had done what was evil in the sigh of the Lord…again.
12a/c - The people of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord
12b - The Lord strengthened Eglon the King of Moab against Israel
13 He gathered to himself the Ammonites and the Amalekites, and went and defeated Israel. And they took possession of the city of palms.
14 And the people of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years.
The Moabites as well as the Ammonites were descendants of Abraham’s nephew LOT (Gen 19:36-38)…yikes.
13 - Eglon gathered the Ammonites/Amalekites and defeated Israel
Took possession of the City of Palms = Jericho
The place where the LORD so emphatically showed his strength has been taken over by Moab
14 - The people of Israel served Eglon for 18 YEARS
15 Then the people of Israel cried out to the Lord, and the Lord raised up for them a deliverer, Ehud, the son of Gera, the Benjaminite, a left-handed man. The people of Israel sent tribute by him to Eglon the king of Moab.
15a - The people of Israel CRIED out to the Lord
15b - The LORD raised up a DELIVERER,
Ehud, Everyone know their left hand from their right?
Son of Gera, the Benjaminite - which can be rendered son of my right hand
Left handed man - The word hear speaks more of his RIGHT hand being bound
Ehud is sent by Israel to escort the tribute to Eglon.
Operation: Tribute (16-26)
Operation: Tribute (16-26)
16 And Ehud made for himself a sword with two edges, a cubit in length, and he bound it on his right thigh under his clothes.
16 - Ehud’s sword - This was premeditated
Double edged...
6 Let the high praises of God be in their throats and two-edged swords in their hands,
4 but in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword.
12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
16 In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.
12 “And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: ‘The words of him who has the sharp two-edged sword.
Cubit length (18in)
Bound to right thigh
17 And he presented the tribute to Eglon king of Moab. Now Eglon was a very fat man.
17a - Ehud presented the tribute to Eglon
The tribute (likely in the form of food - grain or meat) was brought to Eglon
17b - Eglon was a fat man
(which in Hebrew is a form of the word bull/calf but can also recall the word, round)
He is a fat man who is KNOWN for his size… this is like the Bears Defensive Tackle in the eighties who went by the name “The Refrigerator” 335 lbs William Perry.
Judges 3:18–19 (ESV)
18 And when Ehud had finished presenting the tribute, he sent away the people who carried the tribute.
19 But he himself turned back at the idols near Gilgal
18 - After presenting it, Ehud sent away the tribute carriers
19a - Ehud turned back near GILGAL
(where the angel came in judgement from (Judges 2),
beginning of covenant renewal (Joshua), etc)
It’s clear from the beginning of this story that Ehud was looking for an opportunity to attack
But SOMETHING about walking past Gilgal when leaving Jericho stirred something in him
We have to speculate about what the idols were precisely
Were they the remains of the TWELVE STONES Joshua setup when the crossed the Jordan (Joshua 4:20)
OR were they the idols of Moab built in place of the stones
Either way Ehud felt the significance of the place and HAD TO turn back to finish what he came to do.
I don’t think it is far fetched to say that the Lord gave Ehud his plans in this moment and he went back obediently...
Judges 3:19 (ESV)
19 ...and said, “I have a secret message for you, O king.” And he commanded, “Silence.” And all his attendants went out from his presence.
19b - Went back (?) to Eglon and said “I have a secret message for you, O king”
19c - King silenced attendants and sent them away.
20 And Ehud came to him as he was sitting alone in his cool roof chamber. And Ehud said, “I have a message from God for you.” And he arose from his seat.
20a - Ehud came to the king while he was alone in the “cool roof chamber” MORE likely UPPER chamber
20b - Ehud said, “I have a message from God for you”
Blues Brothers (???)
20c - Eglon rose from his seat (maybe in honor of the message coming from God) (?)
21 And Ehud reached with his left hand, took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly.
21 - Ehud took the sword from his RIGHT thigh and thrust it into Eglon’s belly
22 And the hilt also went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade, for he did not pull the sword out of his belly; and the dung came out.
22 - The hilt went in after the blade,
the fat closed over the blade
He did not pull the sword out
Eglon’s dung came out
23 Then Ehud went out into the porch and closed the doors of the roof chamber behind him and locked them.
23 - Ehud locked the doors behind him left the upper chamber and LIKELY escaped through the sewer tower. YUCK!
24 When he had gone, the servants came, and when they saw that the doors of the roof chamber were locked, they thought, “Surely he is relieving himself in the closet of the cool chamber.”
24 - When Ehud left, servants thought Eglon was relieving himself…probably because it smelled. :(
25 And they waited till they were embarrassed. But when he still did not open the doors of the roof chamber, they took the key and opened them, and there lay their lord dead on the floor.
26 Ehud escaped while they delayed, and he passed beyond the idols and escaped to Seirah.
25a - They waited until they were embarrassed
25b - They finally opened the door
25c - Eglon lay dead on the floor
26 - While the Moabites were delayed, Ehud escaped beyond the idols to Seirah
Moabites Defeated (27-30)
Moabites Defeated (27-30)
27 When he arrived, he sounded the trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim. Then the people of Israel went down with him from the hill country, and he was their leader.
Ehud kind of went out of his way past the idols (at Gilgal) and then back to Ephraim
27a - Sounded the trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim
27b - The people rallied to go down with him
28 And he said to them, “Follow after me, for the Lord has given your enemies the Moabites into your hand.” So they went down after him and seized the fords of the Jordan against the Moabites and did not allow anyone to pass over.
28a - Follow me for the LORD has given your enemies the Moabites into your hand
EHUD gives the LORD GLORY for the victory after the assassination and BEFORE they go down to defeat the Moabites...
28b - They seized the fords of the Jordan against the Moabites
They go block the fords of the Jordan
29 And they killed at that time about 10,000 of the Moabites, all strong, able-bodied men; not a man escaped.
29 - They killed 10,000 Moabite soldiers
“strong, able-bodied men” >>> more likely “FAT soldiers.”
The word for strong here is used 10 times in the Bible and every other place except here it is translated “rich or fat”
30 So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest for eighty years.
30a - Moab was subdued by Israel that day
30b - The land had rest for EIGHTY YEARS.
GO WITH THIS...
Doing what is evil in the sight of the Lord...
If we aren’t serving the Lord, we are serving men and the spirit of man
When we SERVE MAN we are serving an entity which DESIRES power and authority but which is TREMENDOUSLY limited in capacity.
It spite of how it can feel in the moment, there is NO POWER that can stand before our God
The Moabites/Ammonites were NOT an impressive lot
From a human standpoint, Israel WAS NOT outmatched in strength to “fat soldiers” of Moab
Israel’s problem wasn’t physical strength, it was SPIRITUAL
Israel was defeated by Moab and didn’t even CRY OUT for 18 years of servitude.
When they finally did cry out, the LORD used a man who had been made crippled in his right arm to save them.
Are we being led in our calling BY our weakness or are we being led in our calling by the Lord THROUGH our weakness?
It is a testimony that ALL success in the Kingdom is by the LORD’s strength not ours
The Lord raised up Ehud, and Ehud was WILLING to be used in spite of his weakness for the glory of the Lord.
He was confident that despite how things seemed, the LORD had given Moab back into the hand of Israel.
God delights in using us in spite of our weakness.
27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;
10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
The LORD knows what our weaknesses are
The LORD works through our weaknesses
Let me point out one thing about this OUR WEAKNESS <> OUR SIN
I trust each of you who have accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior have the Holy Spirit…I beg you to listen to Holy Spirit.
God DOES advance His Kingdom through our WEAKNESS, but God DOES NOT advance His Kingdom through SIN
We can fool ourselves into thinking that our battle with sin doesn’t matter because God has given us grace and if He wants to use us for His glory he will do that in spite of our sin.
If we want to fight in the Kingdom of God, we have to start with letting the Lord search our hearts and purify oru motivations.
Only then will He give us eyes to see how great a work He desires to do through us.
This reminded me of someone and maybe you can guess...
____ serves as CEO of a Christian organization she founded which provides programs and services for thousands of special needs families around the world. President Reagan appointed HER to the National Council on Disability, then reappointed by President George H.W. Bush. During her tenure, the ADA was passed and signed into law. SHE served as advisor to Condoleezza Rice on the Disability Advisory Committee to the U.S. State Department. She served as Senior Associate for Disability Concerns for the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization. The Colson Center on Christian Worldview awarded HER its prestigious William Wilberforce Award, and she was also inducted into Indiana Wesleyan University’s Society of World Changers. SHE has been awarded several honorary degrees, including Doctor of Humanities from Gordon College and Doctor of Divinity from Westminster Theological Seminary. She is an effective communicator, sharing her inspirational message in books (~40), through artwork, radio, and other media. SHE served as General Editor of the Beyond Suffering Bible, a special edition published by Tyndale for people affected by disability. SHE and her husband Ken were married in 1982 and reside in Calabasas, California.
Anybody know who this is? SHE is Joni Eareckson Tada ...Although a 1967 diving accident left her a quadriplegic, she emerged from rehabilitation with a determination to help others with similar disabilities.
We take so much for granted in our lives. It is inspiring to see when someone goes through such a painful circumstance and comes through the other side of it praising God for His faithfulness and holding on to the eternal hope of Jesus IN SPITE of present challenges.