Ehud and Eglon part 1

EHUD and EGLON Judges 3:12-30 Read at beginning of service: Colossian 2:6-10 (NIV) 6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, 7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. 8 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. 9 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10 and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.

INTRODUCTION Today we’re going to look at the story of an underdog. I guess these kinds of stories tend to be popular don’t they? When an unknown, unlikely, and overmatched individual goes up against the big guys and wins, we all take pleasure in the accomplishment, don’t we? I think we love these stories because we see ourselves as underdogs. It gives us hope and motivation if someone like us has a great victory! Today we’re going to looking at one such underdog in the book of Judges. There is a negative side to this book. The verse found in Judges 17:6 kind of characterizes this: Judges 17:6 (NIV) 6 In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit. Joshua had led the nation of Israel into the land, defeating 31 kings in the process, but in Judges, Israel suffered great failure. The people did not drive the enemies out of the land. Another generation had arisen that "did not know the Lord nor the work He had done." The nation experienced this cycle of slavery time and time again. But there is a positive side to this book too. God raised up judges, men and women of faith, unknown and unlikely heroes, who led Israel out of bondage. Today, we’re going to examine the story of one of these people…

Judges 3:12-30 (NIV) 12 Once 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. 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 foot and a half 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 themen who had carried it. 19 At the idols near Gilgal he himself turned back and said, "I have a secret message for you, O king." The king said, "Quiet!" And all his attendants left him. 20 Ehud then approached him while he was sitting alone in the upper room of his summer palace 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, which came out his back. Ehud did not pull the sword out, and the fat closed in over it. 23 Then Ehud went out to the porch; 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 house." 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 idols 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, taking 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 a man escaped. 30 That day Moab was made subject to Israel, and the land had peace for eighty years. In this particular story we find a cycle that repeats itself throughout the book of Judges. It has been labeled by some, rightly so, as the cycle of sin.

1. Apostasy, is the first stage: the sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord (v.12). In other words they forgot God and turned away from Him to other fleshly and sinful pursuits. They replace their worship of God with worship of false idols and other false gods.

2. The second stage is servitude: God sold the Israelites into the hands of Eglon, king of Moab. In this stage of the cycle of sin Israel was under God’s judgement for their apostasy. If you remember from our study of Lot, Moab was his son by an incestuous relationship with his eldest daughter. (The Moabites lived across the Jordan to the south of Israel.) Israel served Eglon for 18 years.

3. Then, we see the third stage that is supplication (v.15). The Israelites cried out to the Lord.

4. And, finally came the last stage – salvation: God raised up a deliverer named Ehud. This deliverer came to Gilgal to present his tribute to Eglon, and killed him in the process. Ehud blew a trumpet, and all of Israel joined in the fight as he led a rout of the Moabites.

• At first look, Ehud does not seem like the kind of character you would want to emulate. And this particular passage of scripture is one that some people might not want their children studying in detail! But then as you look closer you begin to find that Ehud is really a tremendous character.

• He was the son of Gera, a Benjamite. We also know some things about his make-up. He must have been a prominent individual because he was given the responsibility of taking the tribute to present to Eglon. And he must have been courageous, because he was willing to go it alone. Unlike the Terminator or Rambo, he didn’t go in with a lot of heavy artillery. All he took was a double-edged, 13-inch dagger. Ehud was a military strategist. He plotted to kill Eglon, to get him alone, to tantalize him with something very special. And he had an escape route planned. Then, he was able to rally all of Israel. Instead of attacking the city he went down to the Jordan because he knew the Moabites were going to retreat across the river into their own country. There is where he headed them off, and the Israelites killed 10,000 Moabites, all robust, mighty men.

• Today, I want to make some observations about this man Ehud that I believe can be applied to our lives.

1. Ehud wasn’t afraid to confront the enemy (sin, flesh represented in Eglon). You can’t read the book of judges without talking about sin. For instance, sin can grow to an obese state. We see this in Eglon, the king of Moab. If you let sin go unchecked, it just grows, and it can become terribly fat. And sin is ugly. I think the story of Ehud has tremendous shock value. We can try to justify sin, we can paint it pretty colors, we can deny its importance or relevance, but when we look at it for what it is, its just plain ugly. And it is not easy to kill. It doesn’t go away by ignoring it. It must be faced head-on – like Ehud takes on Eglon – even if it is gory and disgusting.

• We cannot allow ourselves to consume preaching that teaches us that we can live a lifestyle of sin and that’s OK.

1. We also learn in this story that people are content to stay enslaved for a long period of time. It took Israel eighteen years before they cried out to the Lord.

• Why would someone continue to attend a church where:

• their pastor has proven, numerous times, that he is a false teacher, and is not interested in shepherding his flock (pastor originates in shepherd)

• their pastor attacks and slanders his members and easily dissolves long-term friendships.

• WE have to ask ourselves, why did they wait so long? Why do we wait so long when we become addicted to patterns of sin? Perhaps because we’re afraid or ashamed to face the reality or the ugliness of these patterns and addictions. Maybe we feel we’re going to lose something we enjoy too much. Or maybe we’re content to remain where we are and our misery becomes comfortable. But we have a Redeemer, a Savior, a Deliverer whose name is Jesus, and he saves us from the dominion and power of sin in our lives. Whether it’s been eight years or 18 years, we can cry out to the Lord today. We can turn away from sin and he will begin to free us from our enslavement to patterns and addictions.

• “As a Christian, we don’t have to give up any sin that we don’t want to give up. Christ changes our desires and we give up things we no longer want.”

1. Then we see the result of coming to Christ, of turning away from our idols and having him deliver us. The result is rest and peace. After Ehud judged Israel, there was rest in the land for 80 years. Paul writes that the wages of sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23). Sin makes us miserable; it robs us of our sense of joy and well-being. But God gives us new life in Christ and gives us rest from our enslavement to sin.

• Not rest from problems. We will still experience life, but we now have a “big brother” who fights for us.

• Ehud accepted his potential in God’s eyes. The second observation we can make about Ehud comes after noticing the number of references in the text to the fact that Ehud was left-handed. The literal translation of this particular phrase is "hindered in the right hand". Twice the text says that he put the sword on his right side because he was left-handed. Ehud, we know, came from the tribe of Benjamin, a name that means "son of my right hand" – a term of strength. But the text is clear: Ehud was left-handed. He was "hindered in the right hand," meaning, he was weak and physically limited. He was an awkward man – "gauche", as the French would say. I believe that this phrase isn’t merely pointing to the fact that Ehud used his left hand more than his right but that he couldn’t use his right hand for some unspecified reason.Ehud was an unlikely hero; a man who was handicapped and not well known. He was an underdog, an obscure person, a man whom God chose to use to his glory.

§ Christopher Duffley-blind and autistic 10-Year-Old Blind Autistic Boy Sings "Open the Eyes of my Heart" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPTMA7HIIyk