EHUD - AN UNLIKELY JUDGE - PART 1
INTRODUCTION:
After Othniel’s death we meet a new judge, an unlikely judge by human standards, Ehud comes as quite a shock after Othniel. Othniel was a model judge, he was well-connected, brave, and heroic, upright, and not weighed down by the sin of intermarriage; he was the kind of man that we would expect God to raise up as a deliverer and judge for His people. The judge and deliverer who follows Othniel is a devious assassin, also chosen and raised up by God to save Israel. If that doesn’t disturb you, it should. But it will not be the only disturbing thing in this book. To put it mildly, the whole book of Judges is disturbing. For one thing, it is a very violent book, it is a book about Israel doing evil in the sight of the Lord again and again and suffering the consequences of their behavior. This book covers a very dark period in the nation of Israel and because of this it should make us uncomfortable when we read it. Understand that it is not a bad thing to be disturbed by what happens in this book, the fact is we should be disturbed when we read of people doing evil, this is especially so when the people doing the evil are God’s people. Understand that within the nation of Israel there were some who did not give into the evil and apostasy that the majority of the nation had chosen to do. There were others like Caleb and Othniel, but they were certainly the minority, these two had proven themselves as godly leaders and had been exemplary in their leadership roles. Now we have a leader, a judge who is devious whom God raised up and apparently approves of, for me that is even more disturbing, does this judge not bring God’s own integrity into question? This will not be unique to the Ehud’s history, from here on through the rest of the book of Judges, most of the people that God uses to deliver His people will use methods that are morally questionable. As we look at the history of Ehud, we will see that there is something uniquely disturbing about it that we will become aware of as the history unfolds before us. We might even find ourselves laughing but feeling uncomfortable in doing so. Look for the humor in this telling of Ehud’s judgeship, it is especially disturbing. Let’s pray and then we will begin where this history begins with something that is not funny at all, Israel’s descent back into apostasy, defeat, and misery.
--PRAY--
SCRIPTURE:
Turn in your Bibles again this morning to Judges 3, verses 12-30. I know this is a lot of verses, we will not get through all of them this morning. If you are able, please stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word and follow along while I read.
Judges 3:12-30,
“Now the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord. So the Lord strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the Lord. And he gathered to himself the sons of Ammon and Amalek; and he went and defeated Israel, and they possessed the city of the palm trees. The sons of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years. But when the sons of Israel cried to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer for them, Ehud the son of Gera, the Benjamite, a left-handed man. And the sons of Israel sent tribute by him to Eglon the king of Moab. Ehud made himself a sword which had two edges, a cubit in length, and he bound it on his right thigh under his cloak. He presented the tribute to Eglon king of Moab. Now Eglon was a very fat man. It came about when he had finished presenting the tribute, that he sent away the people who had carried the tribute. But he himself turned back from the idols which were at Gilgal, and said, ‘I have a secret message for you, O king.’ And he said, ‘Keep silence.’ And all who attended him left him. Ehud came to him while 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. Ehud stretched out his left hand, took the sword from his right thigh and thrust it into his belly. The handle also went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade, for he did not draw the sword out of his belly; and the refuse came out. Then Ehud went out into the vestibule and shut the doors of the roof chamber behind him, and locked them. When he had gone out, his servants came and looked, and behold, the doors of the roof chamber were locked; and they said, ‘He is only relieving himself in the cool room.’ They waited until they became anxious; but behold, he did not open the doors of the roof chamber. Therefore they took the key and opened them, and behold, their master had fallen to the floor dead. Now Ehud escaped while they were delaying, and he passed by the idols and escaped to Seirah. It came about when he had arrived, that he blew the trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim; and the sons of Israel went down with him from the hill country, and he was in front of them. He said to them, ‘Pursue them, for the Lord has given your enemies the Moabites into your hands.’ So they went down after him and seized the fords of the Jordan opposite Moab, and did not allow anyone to cross. They struck down at that time about ten thousand Moabites, all robust and valiant men; and no one escaped. So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land was undisturbed for eighty years.” (Judges 3:12–30, NASB95)[1]
SIN AND ITS CONSEQUENCES (Judges 3:12-14)
We briefly looked at the first part of verse 12 last week which says, “Now the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord.” (Judges 3:12a, NASB95)[2] After 40 years of rest from oppression the first judge Othniel died. As I mentioned last week, this rest did not need to end at his death, if the people would have been faithful to the LORD and kept His covenant with them, this rest promised by Him would have continued. Instead, they continued in that downward spiral and again did evil in the sight of the LORD by forgetting Him and turning again to worship and serve the gods of the Canaanites. We have read this statement before, and we will read it again many more times in this book. This statement needs to be a warning to us, but the danger is that we will hear it so often that we get used to it, and it will no longer shock us. But from the repetition of this statement, we learn three important truths. First, sin is boring. What I mean by this is that it happens over and over and there is nothing specifically creative or original about it. Israel returns to the same thing again and again. Second, the fact that it always follows something for which Israel should be grateful, in this case the 40 years of rest, shows us that sin is perverse. At the heart of the matter, it is unthankfulness to God, the One to whom we owe everything. Paul made a powerful point concerning the ingratitude of rebellious human beings in the beginning of Romans, he wrote in Romans 1:21, “For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.” (Romans 1:21, NASB95)[3] Third, it shows us that sin is an addiction. There are sometimes in Judges when Israel seems to break free from sin’s grasp, but sooner or later they are back in that downward spiral. It is the same today, it is as addictive as any of the substances that enslave people today, and just as destructive. Sin is a master drug that everyone is addicted to at birth, the addiction can only be broken and overcome in Christ.
We are not told again that God’s anger was kindled by Israel’s evil, the author instead just launches into the discipline, the judgment, the consequences of Israel’s sin. Again, it is a man, the king of a nation that Israel is enslaved to for their sin. The man is Eglon, king of Moab and he enslaves Israel for 18 years. First, we learn of him in terms of God’s response to Israel’s sin. The end of verse 12 says, “So the Lord strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the Lord.” (Judges 3:12b, NASB95)[4] Then in verse 13 we learn about it in terms of Eglon’s own actions. Verse 13 says, “And he gathered to himself the sons of Ammon and Amalek; and he went and defeated Israel, and they possessed the city of the palm trees.” (Judges 3:13, NASB95)[5] Here we have what Eglon did by making an agreement with the sons of Ammon and Amalek, but this was possible because the LORD strengthened Eglon to do this. It is interesting to note that Moab, Ammon, and Amalek are all relatives of the Israelites. The LORD did not let Israel fight against them and take their land on their way to the promised land. Moab and Ammon are the sons of Lot, Abraham’s nephew, through the incest with his two daughters. Amalek is a descendant of Esau, the brother of Jacob. God now uses these three relatives to discipline the children of Israel. What must be understood from verses 12 and 13 is that the consequences of sin are neither simply natural nor simply supernatural. Sin weakens people and nations and makes them vulnerable to collapse or conquest. In part this is how God set the world up, and in some cases, like this one the collapse or conquest are specific acts of judgment. For the most part we do not know how God is involved, but when this happens it should cause us to humble ourselves before the Lord and seek His forgiveness in every way that we have offended Him and contributed to the world’s condition. Look down through history, the world has paid a high price for its rebellion against God and so has the church for its failure to be faithful to God’s Word. At one level, Eglon’s conquest of Israel was like the conquests of similar tyrants throughout history and could be explained in terms of simple opportunity, ambition, military prowess, and expansionism. But in this instance, the veil is pulled back for us, and we are allowed to see that this is a specific act of God used to discipline His people. Israel had to learn that their special relationship with God did not give them license to sin without thought of consequences, truth be told, their relationship with God put them under greater obligation than others to respect and obey God’s just requirements given to them in the Law, and to fail to do this as spelled out in the Law made them liable to more severe discipline. Amos made this clear years later by reminding the Israelites of this truth when he wrote in Amos 3:2, “You only have I chosen among all the families of the earth; Therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.” (Amos 3:2, NASB95)[6] It was a hard lesson for Israel to learn and eventually they had to be taught it through the bitter experience of exile. Sin has consequences, especially for God’s own people, and in our passage for today Eglon is God’s means of teaching Israel this lesson. Sin and its consequences are both deadly serious matters, they are no laughing matter.
AMAZING GRACE (Judges 3:15-16)
After 18 years of being enslaved to Eglon, king of Moab we see God’s grace poured out again on His people. We read in the beginning of verse 15, “But when the sons of Israel cried to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer for them.” (Judges 3:15a, NASB95)[7] We have heard this before too and how God does this will vary, we will see this happen several more times in this book and every time that He raises up a judge it is with the same end in view, to deliver His people, to save them from the oppression of their enemies. And He will do this even when they don’t cry out to Him. This is not at all boring in the same way that the repetition of sin is. But because of its frequency it carries with it the same danger. The danger is that we will become used to it and lose our awe and fail to recognize the importance of it. We should be astonished that God keeps saving His people even though they keep sinning against Him, forgetting Him and doing evil in His sight. Every time we see God pour out His grace on Israel and raise up a deliverer to save them should cause us to stop and give our thanks to God. Without this we would all be lost because we cannot escape the fact that this side of heaven, we will keep on sinning, even though that is not our intention. If God should ever abandon us to the full consequences of our sin all hope would be gone. We must be always grateful for God’s grace and salvation. There are two amazing things in the book of Judges: Israel’s persistence in sin and God’s persistence in saving them, and it is God’s persistence in saving them that is most astonishing by far.
Verse 15 continues and introduces us to the deliverer that God chose to save Israel. The second part of verse 15 says, “Ehud the son of Gera, the Benjamite, a left-handed man.” (Judges 3:15b, NASB95)[8] It was easy to understand why God chose Othniel. But why Ehud the Benjamite. Othniel came from the tribe of Judah, the tribe destined for leadership since the days of Jacob. The opening verses of this book designated them as the leading tribe and their performance as the tribe who would go out first was commendable in the first chapter. In contrast, Benjamin’s record was bad. The tribe of Benjamin is only mentioned one time in chapter one, and it is not for victory that they are mentioned but their failure to drive the Jebusites out of Jerusalem. At this point in time, Benjamin has nothing to be commended for, which makes Ehud, the son of Gera, the Benjamite a most unlikely deliverer, yet this is who was chosen by God to deliver Israel. The mention of who he is and where he is from reminds me of the response of Nathaniel to Philip in John 1 when Philip told him that they had found the Messiah, the one spoken of by Moses and the prophets, He is Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. Nathaniel responded with, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46b, NASB95)[9] The similar question could be asked here, “Can anything good come from Benjamin?”
Not only from a human point of view is Ehud from the wrong tribe, but he is also wrong physically, he is left-handed. Now understand I am not prejudice against those who are left-handed, I have some in my own family. This word translated left-handed literally translated is a man who was bound up or restricted in his right hand. It is not known if this is simply an expression used in Hebrew for left-handedness or whether Ehud had a literal deformity that made his right hand useless. Whatever the case, from a human point of view it makes him particularly unsuited to be Israel’s deliverer because a strong right hand or arm was considered a warrior’s greatest asset. It was the sword bearing arm, symbolic of military might. This often describes God’s power in the Old Testament, listen to what the LORD says through Isaiah the prophet in Isaiah 62:8, “The Lord has sworn by His right hand and by His strong arm, ‘I will never again give your grain as food for your enemies; Nor will foreigners drink your new wine for which you have labored.’” (Isaiah 62:8, NASB95)[10] God declares His might and power in His right hand and arm to do what He promises to do in this verse. This way of declaring one’s might makes Ehud seem to be weak at the very point where a warrior was to be strong. God’s choice of this man for a deliverer is surprising, but God’s understanding and choice is far beyond our understanding.
Even though God is the One who has raised up Ehud as the deliverer of Israel, God is strangely absent from the end of verse 15-27. It is not even clear in these verses whether anyone, including Ehud himself, is aware that God has raised him up to deliver Israel. The only conscious actors in these verses are human beings. Ehud is chosen by the people of Israel, not to be their deliverer, as he was chosen by the LORD, but instead to carry the tribute they owe to Eglon, the king of Moab. From a Biblical point of view things are never as simple as that. Events can never be neatly and simply divided into things human beings do and things that God does, as though we control parts of the world and God others. Remember when we were in Genesis and studied the life of Joseph, his history shows very clearly that God is involved in everything that happens in our lives, what Joseph’s brothers meant for evil God used to advance His purposes in the world and it turned out to be the saving of many people during the famine. The crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ is another example and shows even more so that God is intimately involved in the affairs of this world. The crucifixion was both a dreadful deed done by men and a most gracious and sovereign act of God. So, in this passage also the human beings do contribute to God raising up Ehud though they were most likely unaware of it. What the Israelites were aware of was that they were enslaved to Eglon and their necessity to send tribute to him. But why did they choose Ehud to be the one to present the tribute? Possibly because he was left-handed, he would not be mistaken as a warrior and seen as a threat. The people of Israel have cried out to the LORD for deliverance, but they see no evidence of a response on the LORD’s part. The Israelites do what must be done. By choosing Ehud to deliver the tribute shows that they have no expectation of deliverance in the near future.
Ehud, on the other hand sees thing quite differently. He realizes that he is being given a rare opportunity to get close to this king that has enslaved them. His handicap may even be an asset to him. So, he prepares to make the most of this one chance he may have to strike a blow for freedom. He makes himself a two-edged sword a cubit long, about 18 inches and he fastens it to his right thigh under his cloak. The fact that no other Israelite is mentioned in the making of the sword at this point confirms for us that the idea is entirely Ehud’s own. Those who chose him to present the tribute have no idea what he is planning. The sword is custom-made, double-edged for maximum effect, and short enough to be concealed on Ehud’s right thigh for easy access with his left hand. Soldiers carried their swords on their left side to be drawn by the right hand reaching across the body. Ehud knew he would only have one chance to strike, so surprise and having the right weapon was absolutely necessary. Ehud is a smooth and daring, he is a trickster, and has mastered the art of concealment. This is what sets him apart from the other judges and as we will see next time the seed used by the author to bring the distinctive humor of this event out as he develops the event for us.
CONCLUSION:
I am going to stop here this morning. We have seen Israel’s sin and the consequences of their sin, again they are enslaved by a foreign power, a man strengthened by God for the purpose of disciplining Israel. After 18 years of enslavement and paying tribute to this tyrant, the LORD relents and raises up a very unlikely judge to deliver His people. Ehud is from the wrong tribe; he does not fit the picture of a mighty warrior who can deliver Israel. Instead of immediately leading the people to war he is chosen to present the required tribute to the king of Moab. Ehud makes a plan to kill the king of Moab, to assassinate him.
What do we learn from this passage? First, we are warned again of the danger of sin, sin that is boring, perverse and addicting, avoid it at all costs. Paul commanded Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:22, “Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.” (2 Timothy 2:22, NASB95)[11] If we get stuck in a cycle of sin, we can be sure that their will be consequences, the Lord disciplines us as His children so that we might be trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness the author of Hebrews tells us (Hebrews 12:11). Second, never get over your astonishment and gratitude for God’s grace made available to us through Jesus Christ. If there were no grace, there would be no hope in this world or in the life to come. We would all be dead in our trespasses and sin having no hope and without God in the world. Paul’s words in Ephesians 2, but he also says in that same chapter in verses 4-10, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:4–10, NASB95)[12] Never, ever lose your astonishment and gratitude for God’s grace in your life, God giving undeserving sinners what they do not deserve, deliverance, forgiveness, salvation, righteousness in Christ, eternal life and the list goes on. Never stop being astonished or thankful for God’s grace.
[1]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[2]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[3]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[4]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[5]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[6]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[7]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[8]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[9]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[10]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[11]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[12]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.