The conquest and the judges · Judges 3
Ehud, the Left-Handed Judge
Israel once again does evil in the sight of the LORD, who strengthens Eglon, king of Moab, against them. Joined by the Ammonites and the Amalekites, Eglon captures the City of Palms, and Israel is enslaved for eighteen years. When the people cry out to the LORD, God raises up a deliverer: Ehud, a Benjamite who was left-handed. He is the one chosen to carry Israel’s tribute to Eglon, a very fat man. He has made himself a double-edged sword, a cubit long, and hidden it under his clothes on his right thigh. Alone with the king in his cool upper room, he says, “I have a message from God for you,” and drives the sword into the king’s belly with his left hand. He locks the doors, escapes, and blows the trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim: Israel seizes the fords of the Jordan and kills about ten thousand Moabites. The land has rest for eighty years.
What happens
- Israel is enslaved for eighteen years to Eglon, king of Moab Judges 3:12–14
- The LORD raises up Ehud, a left-handed Benjamite Judges 3:15
- Ehud makes a double-edged sword and hides it under his clothes Judges 3:16
- “I have a message from God for you”: Eglon is struck down in his upper room Judges 3:20–21
- Ehud locks the doors; the servants wait a long time Judges 3:23–25
- “Follow me”: Israel seizes the fords of the Jordan, and the land has rest for eighty years Judges 3:27–30
The lesson
Sin leads to oppression, but when the people cry out to the LORD, he hears and raises up a deliverer, often from where no one expects. Victory comes from God alone: “The LORD hath delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hand” (3:28).
But when the children of Israel cried unto the Lord, the Lord raised them up a deliverer, Ehud the son of Gera, a Benjamite, a man lefthanded: and by him the children of Israel sent a present unto Eglon the king of Moab.
Quick quiz on this story
For how many years is Israel enslaved to Eglon, king of Moab?
“The children of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years.” The eight years of servitude were under Cushan-rishathaim, before Othniel. Judges 3:14
Which tribe does Ehud, the deliverer the LORD raises up, belong to?
Ehud is introduced as “the son of Gera, a Benjamite, a left-handed man.” Judges 3:15
What do Eglon’s servants do when they find the doors of the room locked?
Thinking the king “covereth his feet in his summer chamber,” they wait a long time, then take the key and find their master dead on the floor. Judges 3:24–25
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