Judges 3:12-31 Click here for Bible Verses
Hi GAMErs!
Today’s passage is Judges 3:12-31. Let’s go!
Judges 3:12-15 (NIV)
12 Once again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD, and because they did this evil the LORD gave Eglon king of Moab power over Israel.
13 Getting the Ammonites and Amalekites to join him, Eglon came and attacked Israel, and they took possession of the City of Palms.
14 The Israelites were subject to Eglon king of Moab for eighteen years.
15 Again the Israelites cried out to the LORD, and he gave them a deliverer–Ehud, a left-handed man, the son of Gera the Benjamite. The Israelites sent him with tribute to Eglon king of Moab.
On verses 12-15: Consistent with the pattern that we’ll see repeatedly in Judges, the Israelites forsake the LORD (v12) and are subjected to another nation for many years (in this case, Moab with the help of the Ammonites and Amelekites) (v12-14). The Israelites cry out to the LORD for help (v15), and God sends them a deliverer who, in this case, is Ehud (v15). Ehud is from the tribe of Benjamin (which literally means “son at my right hand”) and yet, ironically, Ehud is left-handed (v15). Some scholars say that Ehud’s left-handedness (or, literally, “bound in the right hand”) was considered a handicap, a disability, in Ehud’s time. Other scholars believe that Ehud’s left-handedness was a learned skill and that, as with 700 other Benjamites mentioned in Judges 20:16, Ehud was part of a specially trained group that had learned to fight with both their right hand and their left. So which one is it? Was Ehud’s left-handedness a disability or a skill? I tend to favour the skill position, but it could be that both are correct. That is, in a time when left-handed people were looked down upon, Ehud learned to use his left hand as well as his right. In any event, the fact that Ehud is left-handed will play a significant part in how Ehud will end up delivering Israel. It goes to show that God uses our unique shape (including both our natural and learned abilities) to accomplish His purposes.
Judges 3:16-22 (NIV)
16 Now Ehud had made a double-edged sword about a foot and a half long, which he strapped to his right thigh under his clothing.
17 He presented the tribute to Eglon king of Moab, who was a very fat man.
18 After Ehud had presented the tribute, he sent on their way the men who had carried it.
19 At the idols near Gilgal he himself turned back and said, “I have a secret message for you, O king.” The king said, “Quiet!” And all his attendants left him.
20 Ehud then approached him while he was sitting alone in the upper room of his summer palace and said, “I have a message from God for you.” As the king rose from his seat,
21 Ehud reached with his left hand, drew the sword from his right thigh and plunged it into the king’s belly.
22 Even the handle sank in after the blade, which came out his back. Ehud did not pull the sword out, and the fat closed in over it.
On verses 16-22: Ehud used a double-edged sword hidden beneath his clothing to kill Eglon king of Moab. Likewise, the word of God is described as “sharper than any double-edged sword” and “penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12) Ephesians 6:17 calls the word of God “the sword of the Spirit” and, interestingly, the word “sword” there refers to a knife similar to the one Ehud used, not a long samurai sword but a short knife used in close combat. In our fight against our enemy Satan, like a dagger hidden beneath Ehud’s clothes, God wants us to hide God’s Word in our heart and use it as our weapon to fight the lies and discouragement that the enemy would throw at us.
Judges 3:23-30 (NIV)
23 Then Ehud went out to the porch; he shut the doors of the upper room behind him and locked them.
24 After he had gone, the servants came and found the doors of the upper room locked. They said, “He must be relieving himself in the inner room of the house.”
25 They waited to the point of embarrassment, but when he did not open the doors of the room, they took a key and unlocked them. There they saw their lord fallen to the floor, dead.
26 While they waited, Ehud got away. He passed by the idols and escaped to Seirah.
27 When he arrived there, he blew a trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites went down with him from the hills, with him leading them.
28 “Follow me,” he ordered, “for the LORD has given Moab, your enemy, into your hands.” So they followed him down and, taking possession of the fords of the Jordan that led to Moab, they allowed no one to cross over.
29 At that time they struck down about ten thousand Moabites, all vigorous and strong; not a man escaped.
30 That day Moab was made subject to Israel, and the land had peace for eighty years.
On verses 23-30: Ehud was not only physically capable, using his left hand to slay Eglon. Even more, Ehud was mentally cunning and shrewd. Ehud didn’t just use brute strength to defeat his enemy; he used a carefully orchestrated plan. On the flipside, learning from the king of Moab’s mistake, be careful whom you trust and let into your upper room.
Judges 3:31 (NIV)
31 After Ehud came Shamgar son of Anath, who struck down six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad. He too saved Israel.
On verse 31: Little is known about this next deliverer Shamgar. Some scholars speculate that based on his name Shamgar may have been a non-Israelite. The fact that he used an oxgoad, which is a sharp stick used to direct cattle, to strike down 600 hundred Philistines shows that once again God can use people with unconventional skills and an unsung background to serve His purposes.
Thank You Father for Your Word, which is my weapon against the enemy. I pray that I would learn to use it well. Thank You that You use people from unsung backgrounds and skills to accomplish Your purposes. Thank You that You can and will use me for Your purposes too. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
Copyright © 2021 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.
