KEY TEXT
Judges 3:12-30 (NKJV)
Vese 12- And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD. So the LORD strengthened Eglon king of Moab against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the LORD.
Verse 13- Then he gathered to himself the people of Ammon and Amalek, went and defeated Israel, and took possession of the City of Palms.
Verse 14- So the children of Israel served Eglon king of Moab eighteen years.
Verse 15- But when the children of Israel cried out to the LORD, the LORD raised up a deliverer for them: Ehud the son of Gera, the Benjamite, a left-handed man. By him the children of Israel sent tribute to Eglon king of Moab.
Verse 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.
Verse 17- So he brought the tribute to Eglon king of Moab. (Now Eglon was a very fat man.)
Verse 18- And when he had finished presenting the tribute, he sent away the people who had carried the tribute.
Verse 19- But he himself turned back from the 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.
Verse 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.
Verse 21 – Then Ehud reached with his left hand, took the dagger from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly.
Verse 22 – Even the 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 come out.
Verse 23- Then Ehud went out through the porch and shut the doors of the upper room behind him and locked them.
Verse 24- When he had gone out, 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 to his needs in the cool chamber.”
Verse 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.
Verse 26- But Ehud had escaped while they delayed, and passed beyond the stone images and escaped to Seirah.
Verse 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 he led them.
V28-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.
V29- And at that time they killed about ten thousand men of Moab, all stout men of valor; not a man escaped.
V30- So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. and the land had rest for eighty years.
INTRODUCTION
- Survival of the fittest
- Background of our Key text
“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” – Martin Luther King Jr
- Title
“EHUD – WHEN BEING DEFECTIVE WAS EFFECTIVE.”
Outline:
- The Cause of the Threats
- The Defective Savior
- The Deliverance
- Our Greater Ehud
MAIN POINTS
I. THE CAUSE OF THE THREATS
How did Israel get in the state that they are in Ehud’s days?
THEY CHOSE FLESH OVER THE SPIRIT (1 whole page)
In verse 11, when Othniel died, we see this cycle again: the people chose flesh, and they began to worship Baal again.
Verse 13- Then he gathered to himself the people of Ammon and Amalek, went and defeated Israel, and took possession of the City of Palms.
The City of Palms is actually JERICHO.
For 18 years they were under the iron fist of Eglon.
What is Jericho? How did they get into the mess that they are in? What was the present threat?
Not only did they choose flesh rather than the spirit but that Jericho was the place where that was the FIRST VICTORY IN THEIR CONQUER OF THE LAND.
But what is happening to Jericho now?
Jericho since then had become cursed and now Eglon was using it as his military headquarters to oppress God’s people.
In other words – THE PLACE OF THEIR INITIAL VICTORY HAD NOW BEEN CONQUERED BY THE ENEMY. THE FLESH WAS REIGNING IN A PLACE WHERE THE SPIRIT ONCE HAD SWAY.
What does Eglon symbolize?
THE FLESH(1 whole page)
What can we learn about THE FLESH?
- Eglon was obese
Verse 17- So he brought the tribute to Eglon king of Moab. (Now Eglon was a very fat man.)
His obesity implies INDULGENCE.
To look at Eglon, he was not admirable. That is what the flesh does to us.
Application:Our INDULGENT old nature is not admirable.
To indulge means to keep feeding.
When we indulge in food- when we keep feeding our physical body, we become obese which is not pretty.
Similarly, when we indulge in our lust, we become pregnant out of wedlock, which is not admirable but shameful.
- Eglon built for himself a cool private chamber
Verse 20 – So Ehud came to him (now he was sitting upstairs in his cool private chamber).
Eglon built his own private chamber that he sat in the summer and he was LAZY.
He PAMPERED HIS SENSES.
Application:When you feed the flesh, you begin to pamper yourself and you become lethargic.
When you keep pampering your flesh by avoiding inconvenience and hard work, you become lazy to read the bible and pray.
- Filth came out when Eglon was stabbed with the dagger
Verse 21 – Then Ehud reached with his left hand, took the dagger from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly.
Verse 22 – Even the 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 come out.
When Ehud stuck his dagger into Eglon, “his entrails come out”.
ESV says “the dung came out”.
RSV says “the dirt came out.”
Eglon was filthy.
That is what flesh results in – not only pampering the senses and indulging your desires and passions but it manifests itself in FILTHINESS THAT OTHERS CAN SEE.
The stab point was the belly – the bowel area of Eglon.
All the filth and the entrails =INNER CORRUPTIONS THAT IS IN OUR HEARTS AND IN OUR SINFUL NATURE.
Paul says “In my flesh dwelleth no good thing” (Romans 7:18).
The works of the flesh is plainly listed in Galatians 5:19-adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outburst of wrath, selfish ambition, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries.
Lesson: When you keep indulging and pampering your flesh (old nature), you become lazy and what comes out of you is not admirable but filthy and smelly. Dung will result in your life.
The root cause of the threat is the children of Israel had been indulging in their flesh and not living by the spirit.
Filth and dung became the lot of their lives.
Verse 17- So he brought the tribute to Eglon king of Moab. (Now Eglon was a very fat man.)
Israel had to pay tribute to Eglon, the king of Moah.
And Ehud was the one to carry the tribute to Eglon.
The word “tribute” here means:
- EXPECTED OFFERING DUE TO THE LORD DURING THEIR WORSHIP OF GOD.
- The CUSTOMARY TITHE given to God
- God’s tithe
The children of Israel had for some time withheld the tithes from God.
They thought that would help them get ahead.
But NOW THEIR TITHES HAD TO BE GIVEN UNDER COMPULSION TO AN UNGOLDY KING.
God would not allow them to keep their tithes, even if it means teaching them this in another way.
Look at what happens to Israel when they kept indulging in their flesh and withholding tithes from God?
- They didn’t end up ahead after all.
- What was once voluntary became compulsory.
- They ended up giving their tithes anyway and they had no choice now as to where it went.
Application: Sometimes God brings us to a place of no choice but to pay our tithes that we withhold from Him to our enemies like hospital bills, accidents, inflation, government tax, price hikes, tuition hikes, plunder and scams.
The cause of the threat is the children of Israel didn’t walk in the spirit.
They walked in the flesh; they indulged in it; they pampered their flesh- they are dominated by Eglon – a symbol of the FLESH.
II. THE DEFECTIVE SAVIOR
For 18 years, Israel was oppressed by Eglon and they cried out to the Lord.
Verse 15- But when the children of Israel cried out to the LORD, the LORD raised up a deliverer for them: Ehud the son of Gera, the Benjamite, a left-handed man. By him the children of Israel sent tribute to Eglon king of Moab.
The LORD responded to the cry of Israel by raising a savior we would never have chosen.
God does not choose the saviors that we would like.
He chooses the saviors in His wisdom that He knows we need.
He chooses a plan of salvation that is the only plan and is the plan necessary for the hour.
Why does God do that?
God does it so that no flesh should glory in His sight. (1 whole page)
The savior God chose for Israel was not mighty in his own flesh.
That savior is Ehud, the son of Gera, a Benjamite, a left-handed man.
Benjamin means “Son of my right hand.”
But in 1 Chronicles 12:2, the tribe of Benjamin was AMBIDEXTROUS- they could use either the right or their left hands.
But not Ehud.
Ehud could only use his left hand and not the right hand.
So, verse 15 could be translated as Ehud as “A MAN HANDICAPPED IN HIS RIGHT HAND.”
Often in the ancient world, someone who was lefthanded was frowned upon.
In the ancient times, to be left-handed is:
- SUB-STANDARD
- DISABLED
- DEFECTIVE
The word “sinister” =“wicked” = In Latin word that means “left-handed”.
The word “dexterous” = in Latin word means “right-handed.”
So, you can see how, in the ancient world, this man Ehud would have been seen as DEFICIENT in some sense.
Ehud had a HANDICAP that in many people’s eyes would have DISQUALIFED HIM FROM BEING USED OF GOD.
But that was the very reason that God chose to use him.
Why?
THAT NO FLESH SHOULD GLORY IN HIS PRESENCE.
Application: The type of men that God chooses are those who accept themselves as they are -those who know their weaknesses and their own limitations and are willing to let God use them regardless of those things.
There is a work for Jesus ready at your hand.
Ehud ACCEPTED HIS WEAKNESS – HIS LEFTHANDEDNESS but he used his weakness for the Lord.
Application: Are you weak enough? Some of you are too strong, too headstrong, too smart for God to use.
What is that in thy hand?
Little is much when God is in it. ( 1 whole page)
By the standards of that day, Ehud was defective…. but not in his heart.
Thus, a LEFTHANDED MAN BECOMES GOD’S RIGHT-HAND MAN
Ehud was a defective leader and yet so effective for the cause of Israel.
When God is looking for a man or a woman to do a job, He doesn’t always pick the one that seems to have the perfect outward attributes.
He looks on the heart.
God often brings victory from defects and defeats, from what the world considers as failures, God brings success.
III. THE DELIVERANCE
Apparently, Ehud couldn’t gather together a band of men to join him and so he went to the king alone.
Ehud risked his own life.
What an undeniable COURAGE!
But Ehud also used STRATEGY.
He put great planning and ingenuity into this.
How?
He made himself the leader of the commission that brought the tribute of the people to Eglon.
He then secured a private audience by returning to Eglon, claiming he had a message from God for him.
Verse 18- And when he had finished presenting the tribute, he sent away the people who had carried the tribute.
Verse 19- But he himself turned back from the stone images that were at Gilgal, and said, “I have secret message for you, O king.” He said, “Keep silence!” And all who attended him went out from him.
The “secret message” Ehud had for Eglon was the secret dagger he hid on his right thigh.
How did he strategize his escape?
He locked Eglon in his private chamber to delay the discovery of the dead body.
Three times we read in verse 24, verse 25 and verse 26, “Behold, Behold, Behold”:
Verse 24 (ASV) – Now when he was gone out, his servants came; and they saw, and, behold, the doors of the upper room were locked; and they said, Surely, he is covering his feet in the upper chambers.
Verse 25 (ASV) – And they tarried till they were ashamed; and behold, he opened not the doors of the upper room: therefore they took the key and opened them; and behold, their lord was fallen down dead on the earth.
The three “beholds” give us a SENSE OF SURPRISE.
Look at the courage and strategy of Ehud.
Also look at his CONCENTRATED EFFORT – HIS FOCUSED EFFORT.
Ehud dealt with the CAUSE of all the problems.
Ehud went to the SOURCE OF ALL THEIR SUFFERING – THE MAN WHO WAS ON THE THRONE.
Application: Who is on the throne of your life now? Is it the flesh or is it the Spirit of the Lord?
Often, the cause of our problem is the one that is on the throne – the old man, our old nature, our flesh and we are FEEDING HIM.
We are bringing our tributes and obeisance (homage) to him rather than to Christ.
Whereas the cry of the Christian ought to be, as Paul, “I am crucified with Christ; I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life which I now live, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me, and give himself for me.”
This period of time gave opportunity for Ehud to not only escape but organized a small army.
Verse 26- But Ehud had escaped while they delayed, and passed beyond the stone images and escaped to Seirah.
Verse 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 he led them.
V28-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.
Once the truth was out on King Eglon’s death, the Moabites were thrown into a state of confusion. They were leaderless and this became the advantage God’s people needed to route the enemy. And they overcame the strong Moabites by striking down 10,000 men with not a single one being able to escape.
V29- And at that time they killed about ten thousand men of Moab, all stout men of valor; not a man escaped.
What was the result?
V30- So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. and the land had rest for eighty years.
Ehud was the only judge who brought the longest years of peace to Israel – 80 years – two generations.
IV. OUR GREATER EHUD
Ehud triumphed over Eglon – a picture of our indulgent flesh or old nature by striking a dagger into his belly, thus killing him.
The answer to the victory of the flesh in a Christian’s life is the CROSS OF JESUS, where Christ has put to death our flesh.
“No left-handed savior can break us free from our tyrant of the flesh but there is One with nail-scarred hands who can and who does.”
The only tragedy is we so seldom cry to Him and depend upon Him and live in Him.
The similarity between Ehud and our Greater Ehud, Christ is this – God chooses to save His people where they are, IN THE MIDST OF THEIR OWN MESS.
God is a God who delights to deliver His people EVEN IN THEIR MESSES, THEIR FILTH AND DUNG and likes to make them rejoice again.
Our flesh is messy, filthy, smelly and “shitty”.
Ehud as a Judge and Deliverer reminds us of the Captain of our Salvation: Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Christ waxed valiant in His fight against one of our toughest enemies – our flesh – on the cross.
Our flesh needs to have a dagger plunged through it.
Jesus, whose body and spirit was sinless, allowed cruel men to nail His sinless hands and feet.
He let his body became the dung so that we can become the righteousness of Christ.
The way He overcame it was in weakness.
Jesus truly was our Left-handed Deliverer. He came in weakness, lived in obscurity, ministered in humility, and died in weakness. He didn’t conform to the Jewish’s expectation of a valiant Messiah.
If you were to be at Calvary 2000 years ago and saw what the Lord Jesus would have endured, you wouldn’t have seen anything SPECTACULAR in it.
It was an awful sight! In one sense, in that day and age, it was an ORDINARY SIGHT – but it was through that ORDINARY AND UNSPECTACULAR MEANS that God would redeem His people.
God’s men and God’s methods are not men’s men and methods.
The victory of Ehud is an example of the end of time when Christ comes again to deliver His church from the hands of her enemies.
The Captain of our Salvation, our Lord Jesus will at that time usher in our eternal rest. This rest will last until all eternity.
In verse 30, it says the land had rest for 80 years after the victory of Ehud over Eglon.
The rest that awaits us in heaven will never end because there will be no more sin.
Christ the Deliverer of the Covenant will have overcome sin in us and will make all things new. We look for that rest as God’s people. And we can be sure that it awaits us. God never forsakes His church, the people of His covenant. For Christ’s sake we too receive the victory.
CONCLUSION
Christ was crucified in weakness.
He was raised in power.
Ehud though defective was filled with courage, wisdom (strategy) and focus and these are qualities only the Holy Spirit can give.
God is able to raise from my group of defective leaders and workers to become effective not by might nor by power but by God’s Spirit.
Instead of just being lefthanded and defective, the Holy Spirit is able to transform all of us into the sons and daughters of God’s right hand.
From a left-handed leader or worker to the right hand of God.
From a defective one to an effective one for the Lord.
Come and let the Spirit of the Jesus use our weakness for His glory so that when there is victory, we know it is all of God so that none of us can boast.
