{"id":27295,"date":"2023-07-24T22:00:48","date_gmt":"2023-07-25T05:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/judges-3_1-11-copy\/"},"modified":"2023-07-11T14:06:54","modified_gmt":"2023-07-11T21:06:54","slug":"judges-3_12-31","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/judges-3_12-31\/","title":{"rendered":"Don\u2019t Underestimate the Unsung"},"content":{"rendered":"

Judges 3:12-31 \u00a0<\/strong>Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Judges 3:12-31.\u00a0 Let’s go!<\/p>\n

Judges 3:12-15 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n12\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Once again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the\u00a0LORD, and because they did this evil the\u00a0LORD\u00a0gave Eglon king of Moab power over Israel.
\n13\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Getting the Ammonites and Amalekites to join him, Eglon came and attacked Israel, and they took possession of the City of Palms.
\n14\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The Israelites were subject to Eglon king of Moab for eighteen years.
\n15\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Again the Israelites cried out to the\u00a0LORD, 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.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 12-15:\u00a0 Consistent with the pattern that we\u2019ll 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).\u00a0 The Israelites cry out to the LORD for help (v15), and God sends them a deliverer who, in this case, is Ehud (v15).\u00a0 Ehud is from the tribe of Benjamin (which literally means \u201cson at my right hand\u201d) and yet, ironically, Ehud is left-handed (v15).\u00a0 Some scholars say that Ehud\u2019s left-handedness (or, literally, \u201cbound in the right hand\u201d) was considered a handicap, a disability, in Ehud\u2019s time.\u00a0 Other scholars believe that Ehud\u2019s 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.\u00a0 So which one is it?\u00a0 Was Ehud\u2019s left-handedness a disability or a skill?\u00a0 I tend to favour the skill position, but it could be that both are correct.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 In any event, the fact that Ehud is left-handed will play a significant part in how Ehud will end up delivering Israel.\u00a0 It goes to show that God uses our unique shape (including both our natural and learned abilities) to accomplish His purposes.<\/p>\n

Judges 3:16-22 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n16\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Now Ehud had made a double-edged sword about a foot and a half long, which he strapped to his right thigh under his clothing.
\n17\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0He presented the tribute to Eglon king of Moab, who was a very fat man.
\n18\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0After Ehud had presented the tribute, he sent on their way the men who had carried it.
\n19\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0At 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.
\n20\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Ehud 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,
\n21\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Ehud\u00a0reached with his left hand<\/strong>, drew the sword from his right thigh and plunged it into the king’s belly.
\n22\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Even 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.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 16-22:\u00a0 Ehud used a double-edged sword hidden beneath his clothing to kill Eglon king of Moab.\u00a0 Likewise, the word of God is described as \u201csharper than any double-edged sword\u201d and\u00a0\u201cpenetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.\u201d\u00a0(Hebrews 4:12)\u00a0 Ephesians 6:17 calls the word of God \u201cthe sword of the Spirit\u201d and, interestingly, the word \u201csword\u201d there refers to a knife similar to the one Ehud used, not a long samurai sword but a short knife used in close combat.\u00a0 In our fight against our enemy Satan, like a dagger hidden beneath Ehud\u2019s clothes, God wants us to hide God\u2019s Word in our heart and use it as our weapon to fight the lies and discouragement that the enemy would throw at us.<\/p>\n

Judges 3:23-30 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n23\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then Ehud went out to the porch; he shut the doors of the upper room behind him and locked them.
\n24\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0After 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.”
\n25\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0They 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.
\n26\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0While they waited, Ehud got away. He passed by the idols and escaped to Seirah.
\n27\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0When 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.
\n28\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“Follow me,” he ordered, “for the\u00a0LORD\u00a0has 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.
\n29\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0At that time they struck down about ten thousand Moabites, all vigorous and strong; not a man escaped.
\n30\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0That day Moab was made subject to Israel, and the land had peace for eighty years.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 23-30:\u00a0 Ehud was not only physically capable, using his left hand to slay Eglon.\u00a0 Even more, Ehud was mentally cunning and shrewd.\u00a0 Ehud didn\u2019t just use brute strength to defeat his enemy; he used a carefully orchestrated plan.\u00a0 On the flipside, learning from the king of Moab\u2019s mistake, be careful whom you trust and let into your upper room.<\/p>\n

Judges 3:31 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n31\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0After Ehud came Shamgar son of Anath, who struck down six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad. He too saved Israel.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 31: \u00a0Little is known about this next deliverer Shamgar.\u00a0 Some scholars speculate that based on his name Shamgar may have been a non-Israelite.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

Thank You Father for Your Word, which is my weapon against the enemy.\u00a0 I pray that I would learn to use it well.\u00a0 Thank You that You use people from unsung backgrounds and skills to accomplish Your purposes.\u00a0 Thank You that You can and will use me for Your purposes too.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n

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Copyright \u00a9 2021 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Judges 3:12-31.\u00a0 Let’s go!<\/p>\n

Judges 3:12-15 (NIV)
\n12\u00a0\u00a0Once again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the\u00a0LORD, and because they did this evil the\u00a0LORD\u00a0gave Eglon king of Moab power over Israel.
\n13\u00a0\u00a0Getting the Ammonites and Amalekites to join him, Eglon came and attacked Israel, and they took possession of the City of Palms.
\n14\u00a0\u00a0The Israelites were subject to Eglon king of Moab for eighteen years.
\n15\u00a0\u00a0Again the Israelites cried out to the\u00a0LORD, 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.
\n\u00a0
\nOn verses 12-15:\u00a0 Consistent with the pattern that we\u2019ll 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).\u00a0 The Israelites cry out to the LORD for help (v15), and God sends them a deliverer who, in this case, is Ehud (v15).\u00a0 Ehud is from the tribe of Benjamin (which literally means \u201cson at my right hand\u201d) and yet, ironically, Ehud is left-handed (v15).\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27297,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27295","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27295","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27295"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27295\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27298,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27295\/revisions\/27298"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27297"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}