Cycles in history refer to the idea that patterns, events, and societal moods recur over time. It’s usually described as repeating rhythms of growth, stability, decline, and crisis, most famously theorized by Strauss-Howe in their "Fourth Turning" model. These cycles are said to recur every 80-100 years. They are driven by generational shifts and culminate in societal upheavals.
A theory of long-term economic cycles known as Kondratieff Waves recur about every 50-60 years, and are characterized by periods of economic expansion and contraction, linked to technological innovation.
At this point, this is probably more than you might care to know about general cycles.
But, there is one more that I want to mention.
This is called: The Cycle of the Shophetim
Has anyone ever heard of this?
The Book of Judges, in Hebrew, is also called (the Shophetim) Shophetim (?????????)
It is the Hebrew title for the Book of Judges, meaning "Judges," "Rulers," or "Deliverers," referring to the leaders who governed Israel.
The book of Judges serves as a theological bridge between the conquest of Canaan and the establishment of the Monarchy.
It is characterized by a "downward spiral"—a repetitive cycle of rebellion, retribution, repentance, and rescue.
Within this cycle, you'll find two individuals who truly stand out as some of the most important contributors.
Of course, I’m talking about Ehud and Gideon.
Their stories are very important, but also very different.
While both guys were "raised up" by God to secure national freedoms, their methods, temperaments, and legacies offer a profound example of how God uses different individuals for various jobs in a variety of ways.
It’s interesting that when you and I consider that God might use us to do His work, one of the first things that we might think is that we are not worthy to do His work.
We really come down on ourselves pretty hard at times. The reality is that God can use us for a wide variety of jobs as long as we submit to Him.
Notice what Paul said in 2 Corinthians 12:9: "But 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."
The point is that God can use all of us to do His will as long as we have the right heart, as long as we give the credit and glory to God.
Look at another scripture with me in Ephesians 2:10: "For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."
All of us have the responsibility to answer God’s calling in a concise way that will show Him that, without a doubt, we are humble, dedicated, and 100% committed to that precious calling.
When we look at the stories of Ehud and Gideon, we see some things that we can learn from.
"The Book of Judges tells a story of a nation slowly losing its way, where the leaders God chooses reflect the rising and falling spiritual health of the people.
These two men, Ehud and Gideon, show us exactly how this shift happened.
While Ehud represents a time of powerful victory over outside enemies, Gideon’s story shows the beginning of a quiet struggle within Israel’s own heart.
Ehud was like a surgical strike—quick, effective, and followed by eighty years of peace. Gideon, on the other hand, started with a great miracle but ended his life in a mess of family drama and religious confusion.
By looking at these two men, we see a clear lesson: it’s one thing to win a battle against an enemy, but it’s much harder to win the battle for your own salvation.
So, let’s break their stories down just a bit.
The primary difference between these two men lies in their response to the divine call from God.
In thinking about that, how do you remember your calling when God first introduced you to His truth? Did you get on board right away, or did you set out to prove God wrong? Or at least some of His ways wrong?
Let’s look at a few biblical examples of individuals who seemed to do just that.
Here is just one of the most notable figures who resisted God's truth until he was confronted with an undeniable reality.
1. Saul of Tarsus (The Intellectual/Religious Opponent)
Saul is possibly one of the most famous examples of someone trying to prove God's "new truth" (Christianity) wrong.
He was a Pharisee who believed he was serving God by destroying the church. He viewed the claim of Jesus’ resurrection as a blasphemous lie that needed to be erased.
Turn with me to Acts 26:9, Paul is defending himself before King Agrippa and explains his original mindset: (NIV)
"I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth."
Most of us are familiar with the story. On the road to Damascus, Jesus appeared to him, Acts 9:4.
Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”
Saul went from trying to prove the gospel was a hoax to becoming its greatest advocate.
Another example:
2. Jonah (The Moral Opponent)
Turn with me to Jonah 2:9. After three days in the belly of a great fish and witnessing the genuine repentance of Nineveh, Jonah had to confront the truth: 9 But I will sacrifice to You with the voice of thanksgiving, I will pay what I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord.”
This is the end of his prayer to God from the belly of the fish. The fish vomited him out on dry land, and a short while later, Jonah was back at it.
Jonah tried to prove God’s mercy was "wrong." (Jonah 4) He knew God wanted to save the city of Nineveh, but Jonah believed they deserved destruction. By previously fleeing to Tarshish, he was essentially saying, "Your plan to show them grace is a mistake, and I won't participate in it."
We know the rest of the story.
There are other examples throughout the bible of these misunderstandings of individuals trying to prove that God’s way is not the right way to go.
But let’s get back to Gideon; he seems to fit this list perfectly.
He tried to prove God's calling wrong by pointing out his family's poverty and his own insignificance (Judges 6:15).
15 So he said to Him, “O [d]my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.”
Then shortly after, he used the fleece to essentially ask God to "prove it" because he didn't believe the truth of his own calling yet. At the very least, he needed to be reassured of God’s plan for him.
If we back up a few verses to Judges 6:13, we see Gideon’s conversation with the Angel of the Lord, and it is essentially one long argument where Gideon attempts to disqualify himself and prove that God’s assessment of the situation is incorrect.
This was The Argument of Abandonment
13 Gideon said to Him, “O [c]my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.”
Gideon is arguing that the current circumstances (oppression by Midian) prove that God is not with them.
Gideon is using visible evidence to contradict God's spiritual truth.
Notice Judges 6:14-15
The Argument of Inadequacy
14 Then the LORD turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?”
15 So he said to Him, “O [d]my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.”
So, what we see here is that after God calls him a "mighty warrior," in Judges 6:12, Gideon points to his social status and genealogy to prove God has chosen the wrong person. He is arguing that God is making a clerical error in judgment.
Now we can move forward to Judges 6:36-37, where we see Gideon's need for proof from God.
The Argument for Physical Proof (The Fleece)
“36 So Gideon said to God, “If You will save Israel by my hand as You have said— 37 look, I shall put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor; if there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that You will save Israel by my hand, as You have said.”
Even after seeing fire consume an offering in verses 20-21, Gideon still doesn’t seem to be convinced. The very next thing he does is ask for more signs.
How many of us are just like Gideon in this regard?
Let’s go back to Judges 3:15, the text is remarkably concise:
“But when the children of Israel cried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer for them: Ehud the son of Gera."
Notice here, there is no recorded dialogue, no hesitation, and no demand for proof.
Ehud appears as a man of immediate action; he’s like a "surgical" tool prepared for a specific moment in history.
Contrast this with the calling of Gideon in Judges 6.
Gideon is first found in a winepress—a place of hiding—rather than a threshing floor.
Even when addressed by the Angel of the Lord as a "mighty man of valor" (Judges 6:12), Gideon’s response is one of cynical questioning: "If the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us?" (6:13).
Gideon didn’t seem to have a problem questioning God!
Ehud illustrates the sovereignty of God in preparing a man for a moment, while Gideon illustrates the patience of God in transforming a man of fear into a man of faith.
Gideon’s "fleeces" (6:36-40) are often seen as a lack of faith, yet they highlight a shift in the Book of Judges: the leaders are becoming increasingly disconnected from the voice of God and require more external "signs" to move forward. If we don’t keep a close relationship with God, this can be us as well.
The Weaponry: Left-Handedness and the 300
Both stories, Ehud and Gideon, center on a "limitation" that God turns into a victory, but the nature of these limitations differs significantly.
Ehud’s Tactical Advantage:
Ehud was it?er yad-yemînô, literally "restricted in his right hand" (Judges 3:15). In a culture that prized right-handed warriors, this was a perceived weakness.
But, this was the very thing that allowed him to hide an eighteen-inch dagger on his right thigh, which was the opposite side of where guards would traditionally search. Ehud’s story teaches that God sanctifies our natural "uniqueness" or "differences" to accomplish His will. In other words, nothing is too hard for God to do.
Judges 3:16-30
16 Now Ehud made himself a dagger (it was double-edged and a cubit in length) and fastened it under his clothes on his right thigh. 17 So he brought the tribute to Eglon king of Moab. (Now Eglon was a very fat man.) 18 And when he had finished presenting the tribute, he sent away the people who had carried the tribute. 19 But he himself turned back from the [e]stone images that were at Gilgal, and said, “I have a secret message for you, O king.”
He said, “Keep silence!” And all who attended him went out from him.
20 So Ehud came to him (now he was sitting upstairs in his cool private chamber). Then Ehud said, “I have a message from God for you.” So he arose from his seat. 21 Then Ehud reached with his left hand, took the dagger from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly. 22 Even the [f]hilt went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade, for he did not draw the dagger out of his belly; and his entrails came out. 23 Then Ehud went out through the porch and shut the doors of the upper room behind him and locked them.
24 When he had gone out, [g]Eglon’s servants came to look, and to their surprise, the doors of the upper room were locked. So they said, “He is probably attending[h] to his needs in the cool chamber.” 25 So they waited till they were embarrassed, and still he had not opened the doors of the upper room. Therefore they took the key and opened them. And there was their master, fallen dead on the floor.
26 But Ehud had escaped while they delayed, and passed beyond the [i]stone images and escaped to Seirah. 27 And it happened, when he arrived, that he blew the trumpet in the mountains of Ephraim, and the children of Israel went down with him from the mountains; and [j]he led them. 28 Then he said to them, “Follow me, for the Lord has delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hand.” So they went down after him, seized the fords of the Jordan leading to Moab, and did not allow anyone to cross over. 29 And at that time they killed about ten thousand men of Moab, all stout men of valor; not a man escaped. 30 So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest for eighty years.
Gideon’s Numerical Reduction:
Unlike Ehud, who worked alone, Gideon’s story is about the removal of human strength.
In Judges 7:2, God explicitly states: The people who are with you are too many for Me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel claim glory for itself against Me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’
By reducing the army to 300 men who lapped water like dogs, God removed any possibility of a military explanation for the victory.
IV. The Aftermath: Sustained Peace vs. Spiritual Compromise
The most profound theological distinction between Ehud and Gideon lies not in how they began their work, but in the legacy they left behind.
The Silence of Ehud’s Success
After the assassination of Eglon, the narrative of Ehud concludes with a striking statistic: "So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest for eighty years" (Judges 3:30).
In terms of pure effectiveness, Ehud would seem to have been the most successful Judge in the entire book. His 80-year period of "rest" is the longest recorded in the era of the Judges.
The text records no personal scandals, no pursuit of power, and no religious deviations following his victory.
Ehud’s time in power was a 'surgical' success. He entered the scene, removed the threat, and left behind a legacy of peace that wasn't messy or spiritually compromised —he did what was required, redirected the focus to God's deliverance, and stepped back into the fabric of the nation.
Ehud represents the ideal Judge: a man whose ego doesn’t get in the way of the mission.
The Complexity of Gideon’s Legacy
Gideon’s story occupies more space in the Bible, most likely because it is more problematic.
While he initially refuses the offer to rule over the Israelites—stating, "The Lord shall rule over you" (Judges 8:23)—Gideon gave a great speech (Judges 8:23), but then he took the people's gold and made an idol (Judges 8:27).
Unlike Ehud, who unified the people against a common foe, Gideon’s victory is immediately followed by internal conflict.
He is forced to appease the jealous tribe of Ephraim (8:1-3) and brutally punishes the Israelite men of Succoth and Penuel for failing to provide his army with bread (8:13-17).
This marks a shift in the book where the "deliverers" begin to use their power against their own kin.
1. The Golden Ephod: The most tragic element of Gideon’s legacy is found in Judges 8:24-27. He takes the gold jewelry from the Midianite spoils and fashions an "ephod"—a priestly garment—which he sets up in his city of Ophrah. The scripture records that "all Israel played the harlot with it there," and it became a "snare to Gideon and to his house."
Just a final thought about Gideon.
Gideon’s life follows a "tragic hero" arc.
While he started with great humility, the fame of his victory led to a form of spiritual pride.
He named his son Abimelech, which means "My Father is King" (8:31).
This suggests that while Gideon publicly refused the title of king, he lived with the mindset and luxuries of one.
The Ultimate Argument:
So, let’s wrap this all up. Both men were necessary, but both were incomplete.
Ehud gave 80 years of peace, but it eventually ended.
Gideon gave victory, but it led to idolatry.
This "longing for a better Judge" is what prepares the reader for the eventual arrival of the Davidic kingdom and, ultimately, the "Good Judge" in the New Testament who would not only deliver the people from physical enemies but from the internal "snare" of sin itself.
I find it fascinating how these characters are viewed by later biblical authors.
This provides a bridge between the Old and New Testaments and offers a more complete picture of their spiritual standing.
The Inclusion of Gideon
When we turn to Hebrews 11, the famous "Hall of Faith," we find a list of names.
In Hebrews 11:32-33, we read this: "32 And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets: 33 who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,"
It is significant that Gideon is included, while Ehud is not.
1. Faith as a Process: Gideon’s story is a journey of faith. He moved from hiding in a winepress to destroying his father’s idols, to leading an army. The New Testament highlights him not because he was perfect, but because he was a man who wrestled with God and ultimately believed His word.
2. The Victory of Weakness: Gideon’s victory with 300 men perfectly aligns with the New Testament theme that "God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty" (1 Corinthians 1:27).
The Omission of Ehud
The absence of Ehud from the Hebrews 11 list does not necessarily mean he lacked faith, but his story is focused more on providence and tactics than on the internal struggle of belief. Ehud is a man of "hidden" work. His faith is demonstrated through his works, whereas Gideon’s faith is demonstrated through his transformation from a coward to a conqueror.
These examples show us that God is more interested in our availability than our ability. Whether we feel as ready and decisive as Ehud or as fearful and full of questions as Gideon, God’s purpose for our life is not sidelined by our human limitations.
He specializes in turning "left-handed" weaknesses and "small" reputations into the very tools that bring about national deliverance. The most encouraging truth is that God doesn't wait for us to be perfect to call us a "mighty warrior"—He gives us that identity first and then patiently walks with us as we grow into it. By shifting our focus from our own inadequacies to His sufficient grace, we can find the courage to step out of our "winepresses" and into the "good works" He prepared for us long ago.
