Ehud

Ehud

Joshua 3:15-30 - 12 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.[a] 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. 16 Now Ehud had made a double-edged sword about a cubit[b] 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 those who had carried it.19 But on reaching the stone images near Gilgal he himself went back to Eglon and said, “Your Majesty, I have a secret message for you.”

The king said to his attendants, “Leave us!” And they all left.

20 Ehud then approached him while he was sitting alone in the upper room of his palace[c] 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, and his bowels discharged. Ehud did not pull the sword out, and the fat closed in over it.23 Then Ehud went out to the porch[d]; 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 palace.”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 stone images 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 took 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 one escaped.30 That day Moab was made subject to Israel, and the land had peace for eighty years.

There are two things I want us to take from today’s reading. And neither of them is how to kill a fat king. So, if that’s what you were hoping for, I’m sorry you’ll be disappointed.

The first thing I want us to understand is that when we allow Him to, God can enter into our own scenario, so that we can be delivered.

You will notice that this passage opens up with “again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD.” This was a recurring pattern for the Israelites. God would save the Israelites, they would be faithful for a while, and then they would go their own way and desert the God who had delivered them.

From the very beginning. The Israelites were delivered from slavery in Egypt. They rejoiced at God’s work. Then Moses went up on a mountain side to have a little chat with God, and what did the Israelites do? They decided that they were going to put together a nice little idol to worship, instead of the God who had delivered them.

Throughout the book of Judges, again and again, passages start out, “and the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD.” Again and again the Israelites would fall back into their old ways and abandon the God who delivered them.

How often do we do that? We get into trouble, and we cry out to God to save us or deliver us. You know, things start to go right for us, and we’re living a good life for a while.

Just before this particular passage, in verses 7 through 11 of Judges Chapter 2, Israel had fallen again into sin, doing evil in the eyes of the LORD. Because of their sin they had been subject to servitude of the King of Mesopotamia. For eight years, they served Cushan-rishathaim, the king of Mesopotamia. When they cried out to the LORD, he raised up for them a Judge named Othniel. He is described as a “deliverer,” in verse 9. Othniel saved the Israelites. He led them in war against Cushan-rishathaim and prevailed.