Unlikely Heros –
Ehud, Shamgar, Ibzan, Elon, Abidon
Judges 3:12-31 Judges 12:8-15
November 8, 2009
INTRODUCTION
After 5 weeks of looking at some obscure names in our sermon series in Judges, we need to have a little "phun" with the Judges. - We’re "phinally almost phinished" with this series.
Today we will take a brief look at 5 of the more obscure Judges found in the book of Judges. They include Ehud, Shamgar, Ibzan, Elon, and Abidon. You know these judges are obscure because no one ever made up a Sunday School song about them, Looking in our Sunday School archives, I can’t find any flannel board figures to put up on my flannel board, no film strips for the film strip projector, no one parodied them on Youtube, and even my 12 volume commentary has almost nothing to say about them. Now that’s obscure! But will I let that stop me? No way!
At least Ehud has an invigorating story to tell, one that any middle school boy would find exciting. This account has a genuine villain in it, and this one was really really fat, or should I say phat? Eglan, the bad guy, was very very phat. In fact, Eglan may have been the inspiration for a Star War’s character, known as Jabba the Hut. (show photo of Jabba the Hut from Star Wars episode 5)
1. Lack of Physical Strength - Ehud
Ehud, the hero, was a lefty from the tribe of Benjamin (son of my right hand) Ironically the tribe of Benjamin was known for it’s “lefties.”
Literally the description of Ehud says “Ehud was a man restricted in his right hand.” So It’s possible that the had a withered or injured right hand. In any case, left-handedness in ancient times was considered strange and unnatural. Even a couple of generations back, teachers in school tried to teach left-handed children to write with their right hands. Naturally, I’ve always known that lefty’s tend to be smart, and talented, not to mention, “right brained” which means they are in their right mind.
But I found out, when visiting India, that being a lefty was a disadvantage because the left hand was defiled, therefore, I had to eat with my right hand in-spite of how unnatural that was for me, and to reach for things with my right hand, and touch people with only my right hand. This was a definite disadvantage for me.
The brief story of Ehud follows the recounting of Israel’s next sin cycle. And because of that Israel was oppressed for 18 years by king Eglon of the Moabites, who had crossed over the Jordan river and had re-inhabited the ruins of Jericho (city of Palms). From this place, Eglon could torment the Benjamites and Ephriamites, having already subdued the Giliadites and Reubenites on the east side of the Jordan. This evil king set up shop in the heart of Israeli territory where he could inflict the most harm, and he brought thousands of his crack troops with him.
Ehud was sent to Jericho, to the king’s summer palace with that year’s tribute from his tribe (Benjamin), tribute amounted to a portion of what his people produced which was likely either food or wool. He brought several others with him to carry the produce, and after leaving the king’s presence, he sent the others in his group on their way, and went back to the presence of King Eglon with a secret message for the king. The king was intrigued and sent everyone out of the room. When the two of them were alone, Ehud told the king, “I have a message from God for you.” The king stood thinking he was about to receive an oracle from a prophet. Ehud pulled out a short double edged sword from a hidden scabbard with his left hand, and thrust it into the king’s belly. The blade came out of the king’s back, and the belly fat closed over the handle covering it up. Leaving the blade in the king, Ehud left the room locking the doors leading in from the porch and made his get-away. The servants returned finding the doors locked, and assumed their leader was taking care of personal business, so they left him alone for a while. Finally they recovered a key and opened the doors to find their leader had been assassinated.
Meanwhile, Ehud got out a trumpet and called out to his kinsmen in Ephriam to follow him to the fords of the Jordan river leading to Moab where they managed to kill 10,000 soldiers of Moab and subdued the Moabites. This ushered in 80 years of peace which was the longest period of peace enjoyed by the Israelites during the time of the Judges.
Eglan shows the excess of sin --- unchecked it grows to an obsessive state. Note that we live in peaceful times, so this story may seem too graphic to us. It’s not the stuff of normal Sunday school classes, though any middle school boy would love to hear such a story in class and would gleefully retell it among his peers. Those days were full of violence. When you read about Eglan, you have to picture the most violent and cruel of today’s dictators. If we ever had to live under the regime of men like Cezar Chavez or Achmidinijad, or Kim Jung Il, and … --- if we’d had our houses and businesses confiscated or our children arrested and killed --- then we’d understand the need for tough, unflinching warriors.
N.T. Application – Don’t think God can’t use you because of your weaknesses or disabilities. Ehud was able to be used by God to deliver Israel from Eglon’s cruelty, even though some might have considered him too weak to take care of such hard business. He was able to use what he had to get the job done.
Example of Paul:
II Cor. 12:7 To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Application: God turns our disadvantage to His advantage. In this case, Ehud was able to turn the tide all by himself, and no one else had to risk his life to deal with this evil king.
You don’t have to be
1. young, physically strong or beautiful
2. financially strong, successful
to be a hero in God’s Kingdom.
Everyone has weaknesses. If you don’t have physical handicaps now, all you have to do is live long enough and you WILL.
Ehud had a physical disadvantage, and the judge who came after him had a material disadvantage. All Ehud had to fight with was a double-edged dagger. But Shamgar didn’t even have that.
Judges 3:31 After Ehud came Shamgar son of Anath, who struck down six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad. He too saved Israel.
2. Lack of "Phortune" - Shamgar
The reason I’m saying Shamgar had lack of "phortune" is that he evidently couldn’t even afford a sword or dagger. His only weapon was an ox goad. Most likely, the Moabites had gone through the land taking away any weapons the Israelites might have used against them.
An Ox goad not exactly on the list of weapons of mass destruction. But God often used people who had very few resources:
* Moses had a rod
* David had a sling
* Shamgar had an ox goad
Ox goad – a 6 to 8 foot long wooden stick with a sharp blade on the end of it. Used to prod the ox pulling a wagon or plough. This is not exactly the kind of weapon you might choose to use to kill 600 Philistines. But somehow Shamgar made it work just fine.
Application: You don’t have to have great resources in order to be a hero in God’s Kingdom. Just do like Shamgar. Use what you have and stand your ground!
Have you ever thought, “If I could just win the lottery, I’d do some great things for God!” If you aren’t being generous with whatever you have now, chances are you won’t be generous when you have more.
Economics go up and down. But a generous giver will give in good times and in bad because they love to share whatever they have.
Our church doesn’t need to wait until we have perfect finances and facilities before God can use us to build His kingdom.
Let us review the Judges we’ve talked about so far.
Othniel
Ehud
Shamgar
Deborah & Barak
Gideon
Tola
Jair
Jepthah
I’m going to briefly talk about 3 more in this sermon:
Ibzan
Elon
Abidon
And then next week Ronnie will finish off the series on Judges with:
Samson
Notice how many of these Judges you’ve never heard of before How many of you have heard a sermon preached about Ibzan, Elon, or Abidon?
3. Lack of "Phame" - Ibzan, Elon, Abidon
Judges 12:8-15 (New International Version)
8 After him, Ibzan of Bethlehem led Israel. 9 He had thirty sons and thirty daughters. He gave his daughters away in marriage to those outside his clan, and for his sons he brought in thirty young women as wives from outside his clan. Ibzan led Israel seven years. 10 Then Ibzan died, and was buried in Bethlehem.
11 After him, Elon the Zebulunite led Israel ten years. 12 Then Elon died, and was buried in Aijalon in the land of Zebulun.
13 After him, Abdon son of Hillel, from Pirathon, led Israel. 14 He had forty sons and thirty grandsons, who rode on seventy donkeys. He led Israel eight years. 15 Then Abdon son of Hillel died, and was buried at Pirathon in Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites.
We are told very little about these 3 Judges.
Ibzan was known for his 30 sons and 30 daughters and for the fact that he arranged marriages outside his own clan. He was probably a man who worked for unity among the tribes and used marriage as a way of building that unity.
Elon was known for leading Israel 10 years, then dying. He was probably a conservative leader who tried to maintain the traditions and values during difficult times.
Abdon was known for his 40 sons and 30 grandsons who rode on 70 donkeys. This probably indicates that Abdon was big on communication between the tribes. Horses in that day were expensive and were used primarily for warfare. Donkeys were used for travel. So the idea you get is of a family who got around. They found out what was going on in one place and spread the news to the next place.
We live in a world today where success is measured by appearance, strength, by degrees, credentials, climbing the ladder, by financial wealth, or popularity and fame. This is where the world looks for heros. But this is not what God looks for in His potential heros.
I Cor. 1:26 Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29so that no one may boast before him. 30It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31Therefore, as it is written: "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.".”
Our three obscure judges, Ibzan, Elon, and Abidon, let us know that when God chooses to use someone, he rarely shows up in an Ivy League school to pick them out. He often bypasses corporate CEOS, bank presidents, prestigious law firms, Hollywood stars, exclusive country clubs, fraternities, and sororities. In fact, just like Jesus chose blue-collar Galileans for his disciples, God is looking for hero’s in extremely ordinary places today. He picks guys who say they are the “least in their family” (like Gideon), or 80 year old has been’s (like Moses), or abandoned people (like Jephthah), or total unknown’s (like Elon). God doesn’t need the high and mighty to do the work he wants done. He chooses the weak and ignoble so that in the end people will know for certain that it was God who made it happen, and not any puny human. And if God picks you for something, you will be able to do it precisely because God himself will be with you. He will enable you to succeed. That’s all you need.
CONCLUSION:
Like many of the heroes of Judges, Jesus was an Unlikely Hero. Jesus didn’t have fame, fortune, or physical perfection.
Isaiah 53:2-3 2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.
Like one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
there was nothing about Jesus to make people think He would have the power to change the world. But he had a greater impact on the world than any other human who has lived in it. All because, as he said, “I never do anything independent of the father, What I see him doing I do.”(John 5:19)
