This morning we’re going to take a little time to look at one of the minor heroes from the Old Testament, a minor hero in terms of the overall scope of the Bible, but to the Israelites of his time he was very important to them as well as to Jehovah.
We turn to a remarkable passage — Judges 3:12-30 — the story of Ehud, a left-handed deliverer who was raised up by God to rescue Israel.
This story is rich with themes of sin and bondage, crying out for deliverance, weakness and unlikely victory. It reminds us that God often works in ways we don’t expect, through people we wouldn’t first pick — so that the glory goes to Him.
We don’t often hear sermons about Ehud, in fact I don’t believe I’ve ever heard one. Now Ehud was the second judge of Israel in about the year 1320 BC and he is mentioned about 12 times in the Bible principally in Judges 3:12-30 which will be our main scripture reference this morning, and also I Chronicles 8:6 where he is listed as a descendent of Benjamin under the name Ehi.
Ehud’s story is graphic, strange and even has an element of dark humor in it.
I – The problem of rebellion, and bondage (Judges 3:11-14)
The Israelites story is one of a repetitive cycle in Judges. In fact this story begins with the word “again” in Judges 3:12. The Israelites would turn their back on Jehovah and indulge in evil ways then He would allow them to be conquered. And when they repented and prayed to God the Lord delivered them and then there was peace for a time until the Israelites fell away from Jehovah again and the Lord would give them over to conquerors… again. The cycle was always the same in the book of Judges – rebellion, oppression, repentance and deliverance. They face sin, they face oppression, then they cry out to Jehovah to deliver them from their captivity, their oppression, and the Lord hears them and ultimately delivers them out of bondage
We see this pattern repeating in chapter 3 verses 11-14. The Israelites had once again fallen into the same pattern after forty years of peace.
“11 And the land had rest for forty years. And Othniel the son of Kenaz died. 12 Again the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord: and the Lord strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the Lord. 13 And he gathered unto him the children of Ammon and Amalek, and went and smote Israel, and possessed the city of palm trees. (what we know as Jericho) 14 So the children of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab for eighteen years.”
If forty years of peace sounds like a long time then I imagine just eighteen years of bondage and servitude probably felt quite a bit longer, don’t you think?
Because of the Israelites rebellion Jehovah “strengthened Eglon” the Moabite king. The Lord allowed for a stronger enemy to rise up and overcome Israel because of their transgressions.
Sin will always lead to bondage. When we turn from what Jehovah would have us do we inevitably find ourselves becoming enslaved to something, be it something seemingly simple such as opting to stay in bed on Sunday morning and miss worship, or something more serious such as addiction to porn, lying, stealing or other bad behaviors. This is the destructive cycle the Israelites were caught up in. Eighteen years of bondage – that’s a long time. I moved to Burlington in 2005 so I’ve been here 20 years and that seems like a very long time to me and it’s only two years longer than the time Israel was in bondage this go round. Think about the deep, heavy suffering, the wearing down of body and spirit under those long years of oppression. I suppose some of them possibly just became used to it – that is the routine suffering and the loss of hope. They became a picture of what happens when people cease to cry out to Jehovah for help, when they cease to approach the Father in prayer. They just resign themselves to a worse standard of living.
You see, being oppressed in such a way isn’t just a political problem for the Israelites… it’s a SPIRITUAL CONSEQUENCE.
Finally though we see in verse 15 that the people realized they needed the Lord so
“they cried out to the Lord, and he gave them a deliverer – Ehud…”
So, we come to the principle character in the story -a Judge of the Israelites named Ehud. Now Ehud was an unlikely selection to deliver the nation of Israel from the cruelness of King Eglon of Moab, yet Jehovah saw a special quality in Ehud to use him as the tool with which the Lord would deliver Israel. Now Ehud, a man of God from the tribe of Benjamin, had one quality which would serve him well and we’ll see how in a minute. That special quality was he - was left-handed.
Now in those times just as today being left-handed was not common, except it seems for the tribe of Benjamin. Sometimes in history being left-handed was considered a sign of weakness or a defect, but that did not come about until the dark ages. We see in the Bible, just a few chapters later in Judges, that left-handedness is spoken of positively when it talks about the 700 left-handed warriors – can you imagine that? 700 men, 700 warriors and every single one of them were left handed. They were all from the tribe of Benjamin. There must have been something in the water they drank back then that they, the 700, were all, to a man, expert slingers, able to hit a target the size of a hair without missing. Now that’s some pretty good stone slinging if you ask me.
Sometimes we find ourselves in bondage—not just because of outside forces, but because we’ve strayed from God.
The Lord’s goal though is not for our destruction, but restoration. He yearns for His people to be restored to him. I Timothy 2:3-4 verifies this:
3 “This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants all people to be saved.”
Even in our failure, God hears our cries. It is always encouraging to know our distress, our cry is not unnoticed. Hebrews 4:16 reminds us:
“Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
II – The Unlikely Deliverer (Judges 3:15-23)
We continue on with verse 15 -
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 (Ehud) to Eglon the king of Moab. 16 And Ehud made for himself a sword with two edges, a cubit in length (about 18”) 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.
King Eglon is described here as being very fat, obese even. So much so that the fat of his belly probably folded over on itself. I was reading this the first time my mind immediately visualized Jabba the Hut from the Star Wars movies, who was so large he couldn’t move himself. Eglon probably wasn’t quite so big as that but the point is he was a huge fat man. This is likely pointed out here in Judges because in those days being so large was a symbol of over-indulgence and corruption.
Continuing on:
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 (Eglon) 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.
Now scholars who are much smart than I, seem to believe the one who “arose from his seat” is talking about Eglon. And this makes perfect sense to me. Being such a large man Eglon probably had to shuffle is body close to the edge of the seat then bend forward in order to get the momentum to lift his huge frame and stand. Now that part is just my opinion but it’s based on experience.
After my back surgery in 2019 when I was in rehabilitation and trying to learn how to move about, the therapists had one saying they always repeated to help me remember – “Nose over toes!” – in other words when getting up aim to get your head over your toes for momentum and maintaining your center of gravity so you don’t fall. I myself being a large man I can tell you from experience that when a large person is seated and needs to rise they mostly will scoot forward in their seat, lean forward and face down to watch where your feet are going and to help gain momentum to stand or transfer to another seat or the bed. When you are in such a position with your face turned toward the floor, making what happens next a much easier task on Ehud’s part, because I don’t believe King Eglon ever saw it coming.
21 And Ehud reached with his left hand, took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into his (Elgon’s) belly. 22 And the hilt also went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade, for he (Ehud) did not pull the sword out of his belly; and the dung(entrails or intestines) came out. 23 Then Ehud went out in the porch and closed the doors of the roof chamber behind him and locked them.”
So being left-handed Ehud was likely more practiced at drawing a sword by reaching his left hand across his waist to the right side to grab it, making that movement one which was swift and easy. As I was studying this I was reminded of the old westerns I used to watch, and still do when I get a chance, and how many of the movie gunslingers preferred that same movement when drawing their gun in the middle of a western street.
With Eglon likely bent forward, Ehud drew his sword and struck the king down.
But why is this important? Why is a man who is left-handed so important that the Lord made a point of pointing it out in the scriptures? I believe it is important because God uses what others might very well overlook. King Eglon’s guards evidently did not consider that Ehud was left handed so likely they didn’t bother searching his right side under his robe (or whatever he wore) before letting him see King Eglon.
Now this too sent my mind a-wondering, Is there something about you which other’s overlook? Do I have something about me which Jehovah can put to use for good? For his kingdom, for seeking the lost, for the benefit of others somehow? I mean, I’m over 60 years old, my body is broken and I live in a wheelchair most of the time. I constantly fight being led back into the ways of the world again. About my only talent is I have the gumption to get up in front of people to lead a song even though I don’t have a good voice but He found a way to put me to use leading singing for a while. I’m not well versed enough in the scriptures to speak on them I thought but He knew I had the willingness to try, even though I didn’t know it myself.
Other’s may overlook me, others may overlook you… but Jehovah doesn’t. My disability could have led me to retreat from serving the Lord, but He saw something in me which I myself overlooked. Your “weakness” or your hidden talent which others don’t see or which you may very well not see, might well be the very thing Jehovah can make use of for His glory. Don’t ever count yourself out.
I’d like to read a list, an incomplete list, of men and women in the Bible who despite their flaws and/or brokenness, God used them to accomplish His plans:
• Noah – drank too much • Abraham – Dishonest about his wife
• Jacob – Lied • Joseph – abused by his own brothers
• Moses – Stuttered • Gideon – had fear
• Rahab – was a postitute • Timothy – was pretty young
• David – involved in adultey • Jonah – was disobedient to God
• Job – went bankrupt • Peter – Denied Jesus 3 times
• Martha – was a worrier • Samaritan Woman – man not husband
• Zacchaeus – small of stature • Paul – condoned murder
Jehovah often chooses the flawed, the weak, the overlooked to do the unimaginable.
If the Lord can use a bunch of flawed or little-known persons in their time to turn the world upside down shouldn’t that encourage us that He can use a bunch of ordinary men and women today as well? Men and women with talents of their own which Jehovah can magnify for His plan and His glory – Just like Ehud.
Comments