When I played little league baseball. I used to play with this boy named Dan. Dan was kind of an eccentric kid, very hyper and fun to be around. He used to play centerfield and he was like a little Speedy Gonzales out there. At one point the coach tried to bring him into the infield to play third base or catcher because he had such a powerful arm.
The problem was, he didn’t have the control for those positions. From outfield he could launch the ball and there was enough room for it to lose speed and bounce. But in the infield, he’d just launch it and it would go over the first base or second base, depending on where he was. When the coach couldn’t get his accuracy under control, they stuck him back in the outfield where he thrived.
Dan had a gift for playing the outfield, and when he tried anything else, it just didn’t work as well. And as a pitcher who really didn’t trust his team at that time, Dan was one of the few players I could count on, when he was where he was best suited. Dan’s gift, when utilized properly, won us a few games.
And it’s this idea of utilizing gifts, that brings us back into our summer series in the book of Judges, where we’ll be picking it up in Judges chapter 3 starting in verse 12. And as we open up to Judges 3:12, let’s see where we are so far.
In our first week, we looked at the unique introduction of Judges. Where we saw both the cycle of sin, consequence, repentance, saving act, and rest laid out. A cycle that we said was more like a whirlpool going down, than just a circle returning to the same place. In addition to the cycle, we saw the overarching theme, that though Israel turns their back on God, God doesn’t turn his back on them. This connects to the overarching theme of Scripture that God seeks to return humanity to himself, so he pursues us, until the day when he proceeds with his final judgement. But until that day, God doesn’t turn his back on us.
With the cycle and theme established, we then moved into the first judge, Othniel. Through his story we were introduced to who God’s ideal judge would be. Othniel is an obedient follower of God. Someone who sees the opportunities that God has given, and steps into them with trust. This is who God wants us to be, people of trust and obedience. It’s from Othniel that we begin to walk through the other judges as we move further and further away from the ideal, to the wicked.
This is where we pick up in Judges 3:12, let’s read together.
“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. 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. 17 And he presented the tribute to Eglon king of Moab. Now Eglon was a very fat man. 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 and said, ‘I have a secret message for you, O king.’ And he commanded, ‘Silence.’ And all his attendants went out from his presence. 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. 21 And Ehud reached with his left hand, took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into his 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. 23 Then Ehud went out into the porch and closed the doors of the roof chamber behind him and locked them.
“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.’ 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. 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. 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. 29 And they killed at that time about 10,000 of the Moabites, all strong, able-bodied men; not a man escaped. 30 So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest for eighty years.”
This is the first of the gruesome deaths that become commonplace within the book of Judges. And as I have said before, it just gets worse from here.
Now the story starts off with what will become a common statement, “And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD (v.12).” This brings us back into the cycle of downward spiral in the book of Judges.
Again Israel sinned, and again they fall under the rule of a king. But instead of the Mesopotamian king of Othniel in the south, we’re given Eglon the Moabite king, just northeast of Othniel’s location. We’re told that Eglon is an extremely large person; this tells us that he has great wealth in order to eat so well, and that he feels secure in his military because he more than likely no longer goes out to battle with any foes.
The Moabites themselves are distant cousins of the Israelites, through Abraham’s nephew Lot. They were also the ones back in the book of Numbers chapter 22 that commissioned Balaam to curse the Israelite people, but God turned the tables, and instead had blessings come out of Balaam’s mouth.
Yet, just the fact that the Moabites are here is another example of a small disobedient act that had consequences down the road. See in Genesis 12:1, God tells Abraham, “….Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you.” In Abraham’s call, God told him to leave his kindred, which were his relatives, yet in verse 4 we read, “So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him.” Abraham, taking Lot with him when God told him to leave his kindred behind, provides a space for Lot’s descendants to conquer the Israelites in the era of Judges. This is one of those situations where a small disobedient act, can have ramifications many generations later. So now, with Abraham’s small act of disobedience, coupled with the disobedience of the Israelites of the judges’ era, we get bondage once again, this time under Moabite rule. Two of the phases of the cycle are complete: sin and consequence.
But in verse 15, the Israelites call out and turn to God for help; step three of the cycle is complete, the turning back to God. God then responds by using Ehud.
Now, unlike Othniel, who we have information on in the book of Joshua and in the first chapter of Judges, Ehud is an unknown, so we’re given more information about him.
One of the first things we learn is that he is a left handed man, but the text is ambiguous as to why or how Ehud is left-handed. The text can lend itself to the idea that, for some reason, Ehud’s right hand is not usable. It could be that he is left-handed by birth either a true lefty or through a disability, or he might be ambidextrous or purposefully trained that way. I lean more to some sort of disability, because of how it works in the situation. Not necessarily enough of a disability, as to raise suspicion, but enough to where he has had to use his left hand as his dominate one. However he is left handed though, there is a bit of irony in the text. See Ehud comes from the tribe of Benjamin who’s name literally translates to “son of my right hand,” A left handed man, from a tribe known as the right hand son, plays into this unlikely person scenario that develops in this story. If there is a disability of some kind, it paints Ehud as the least expected person to be brought up by God as a Judge; because disabilities in the ancient world, were seen more as curses than anything else. Deities didn’t usually use the disabled for great things. Yet in Ehud’s case it might be the opposite.
In any case, this left-handedness gives Ehud the edge, to where the soldiers do not check his right side for a sword. Through this we can see Ehud’s intelligence. He tests the idea that the soldiers would not check his right side, because right handers kept their swords on the left. If his tribe is known as the right hand son, that might make people think that everyone in the tribe was right-handed. In all this wee see an intelligence in Ehud, not simply fighting power. And intelligence is another trait that God desires of his people. This is why Jesus states in Matthew 10:16, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” God’s people need to use their intellects when God calls them to his work. And we see this intelligence even more as the story progresses.
After Ehud tests the soldiers, he leaves with the people he came with. But soon after Ehud turns back from the tribute caravan.
When Ehud turns from the caravan two things should be noticed: First, Ehud waits until his people reached the idols, these are probably boundary markers for the Moabite land. Then Ehud turns back without his traveling companions and it’s here that Ehud sends word to the king that he had a secret message. The fact that Ehud waits until they reach the Moabite boundary, a place where he might have departed from his group anyways, gives credibility to his message being a secret. This would seem to the king that Ehud didn’t want his fellow Israelites to know, that he turned back. To the king, Ehud might be a person who has decided to betray his fellow Israelites; maybe Ehud will tell him of a rebellion. The secretive nature and Ehud already passing a security check, probably gave Eglon reason to listen to the message.
But, Ehud’s “secret message” language, like his left-handedness, is ambiguous. The word “message” in Hebrew (debar [daw-baw]) can mean an account or report, a secret message, if you will, but it also can mean an action, trouble, and even a threat. So where everything about Ehud says to the king, a secret message about the Israelites, maybe a planned attack, what really is happening is that Ehud has conducted himself in such a way as to be unassuming and get the king alone to be assassinated.
Ehud’s non-threatening appearance, his previous screening, coupled with his turning back with a secrete message, all lulls the king into a false sense of security. And it’s when Ehud gets the king alone that all of the work thus far pays off. Ehud takes out his sword and stabs the king.
The whole description of the sword being enveloped in Eglon’s fat and piercing his bowels to where feces comes out, is all to show us how Eglon had become so satisfied in himself, that he had no worries of being overthrown.
The feces also gives us a reason why the guards were hesitant to come in. The smell lended itself to their thinking that Eglon was relieving himself in the bathroom. This gave Ehud time to escape and call Israel to come out to fight.
This is where we come to the finally part of the story. Ehud escapes and calls his fellow Israelites to battle.
Now through all of this, there hasn’t been any mention of God since verse 15. But even so, we’ve seen God’s work through Ehud; we’ve seen it in Ehud’s intelligence, through the lack of security, and the carelessness of the king. So when Ehud calls Israel together, we see that Ehud gives the glory to God; that it is God who gives the Moabites into the hands of the Israel that day. We are quickly moved passed the battle,, because it isn’t as important as the judge that followed God’s call. And so like Othniel before him, this judge, though not someone’s first pick, accomplishes what God sets him out to do.
The final step of rest now occurs. Where in Othniel’s time the Israelites knew 40 years of peace in that region, in Ehud’s area, they know 80 years. And it seems like things are on the upward swing for the nation.
And this seeming upswing is when we are given a brief mention of another judge named Shamgar way up north in verse 31, “31 After him was Shamgar the son of Anath, who killed 600 of the Philistines with an oxgoad, and he also saved Israel.”
Unlike the major judges who are more flushed out, Shamgar is one of several minor judges who’s details don’t necessarily follow the cycle, but give us insight. Shamgar is a part of the block of judges who didn’t have any deficiencies in their obedient response to God. Shamgar’s brief story let’s us know that obedient judges were not just in the south, but were also in the north. And with his brief mention, we come to the end of the first section of straight forward obedient judges.
So at the end of the first three judges, Israel seems to being going in a good direction. This leaves us on a high note for the future of Israel, a high note that will quickly be dissolved.
But what should we take away from these obedient judges? First it’s obedience. When God calls, we say yes. But what we see in Ehud’s case is that no matter our physical situation, God has created us with purpose and tools to utilize for his kingdom work.
Let’s say Ehud’s lefthand-ness was from birth; whether left-handed with both hands strong, or left-handed out of necessity because his right hand disability, God used Ehud’s situation to bring about judgment on the Moabites and freedom for Israel. But Ehud also used the intelligence that God gave him. By testing the soldiers to see if they would check his right side for a sword, to waiting until he reached the boundary of the kings domain, to using language that was truthful but implied different meanings, Ehud used the mind that God gave him to do the work that God called him to.
Too often we say that we are unprepared for what God has for us. There is a truth to this, because God brings us into situations to grow us. But God doesn’t just haphazardly throw us into any situation. He throws us into situations that expand what he has already been doing in our lives.
Joseph was throw into a prison, yet God already gifted him with dreams and interpretations. David was put up against a giant, but he had already battled lions. Daniel was thrown into a lions den, yet he had already demonstrated faith. God allows us to go into situations to expand those things he is doing in us beforehand. And when his bestowed talents and gifts are coupled with the work of the Holy Spirit, that’s when we see extraordinary things happen.
My challenge for you this week is to re-read Ehud’s story, then seek the Holy Spirit to reveal those gifts and talents he has bestowed on you, that he wants to grow and utilize in whatever situation you find yourself in today. Trust God that he has purpose and lean into the Holy Spirit to grow you as a child of God, giving the credit back to God for all that he does.
Let us use what God has given us already, to accomplish the work that God has set before us. Amen.
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