EHUD

Judges 3:12-30

Prelude to Ehud (selected verses from Judges 1:1-3:11):

Now after the death of Joshua it came to pass that the Children of Israel asked the Lord saying, "Who shall be first to go up for us against the Canaanites to fight against them?". . . the Lord delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand…but the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who inhabited Jerusalem, so the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day. . .However, Manasseh did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth Shean and its villages or Taanach and its villages, or the inhabitants of Dor and its villages, or the inhabitants of Ibleam and its villages, or the inhabitants of Megiddo and its villages…and it came to pass, when Israel was strong, that they put the Canaanites under tribute, but did not completely drive them out…Then the Angel of the Lord came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said: "I led you up from Egypt and brought you to the land of which I swore to your fathers; and I said, I will never break My covenant with you. And you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land: you shall tear down their altars. But you have not obeyed My voice. Why have you done this? Therefore, I also said, ‘I will not drive them out before you; but they shall be thorns in your side, and their gods shall be a snare to you. ¹’"…so the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the Lord which He had done for Israel…when all that generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who did not know the Lord nor the work which He had done for Israel. Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals; and they forsook the Lord God of their fathers. . .and the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel. So He delivered them into the hands of plunderers who despoiled them; and He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, so that they could no longer stand before their enemies. Wherever they went out, the hand of the Lord was against them for calamity, as the Lord had said, and as the Lord had sworn to them. And they were greatly distressed. Nevertheless, the Lord raised up judges who delivered them out of the hand of those who plundered them. ² Yet they would not listen to their judges, but they played the harlot with other gods, and bowed down to them. They turned quickly from the way in which their fathers walked, in obeying the commandments of the Lord; they do not do so. And when the Lord raised up judges for them, the Lord was with the judge and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; for the Lord was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who oppressed them and harassed them.³ And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they reverted and behaved more corruptly than their fathers, by following other gods, to serve them and bow down to them. They did not cease from their own doings nor from their stubborn way.⁴ Then the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel; and He said, "Because this nation has transgressed My covenant which I commanded their fathers, and has not heeded My voice, "I also will no longer drive out before them any of the nations which Joshua left when he died, "so that through them I may test Israel, whether they will keep the ways of the Lord, to walk in them as their fathers kept them, or not." Therefore the Lord left those nations, without driving them out immediately; nor did He deliver them into the hand of Joshua. . . the children of Israel served Cushan-Rishathaim eight years. When the children of Israel cried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer for the children of Israel, who delivered them: Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother…He went out to war, and the Lord delivered Cushan-Rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand…So the land had rest for forty years. Then Othniel the son of Kenaz died.

vv.12-14

• MOAB was the son of Lot and his older daughter (Genesis 19:33)
• The BEN-AMMI (Ammonites) was the son of Lot and his younger daughter (Genesis 19:33
• The AMALEK were descendants of Esau’s son and his concubine (Genesis 36:12)
• King Balak (Balaam, donkey, cf: Numbers 22ff) was Moabite. Ruth was Moabite
• "City of Palms" is used for Jericho (Deuteronomy 34:3, 2 Chronicles 28:15). Here perhaps only the area of the destroyed city (see Joshua 6:26 & 1 Kings 16:34)

v.15-16

• Ehud was left-handed: "shut up/closed/bound/restricted of right hand" (LXX = ambidextrous)
• Benjamites known for warriors and being left-handed: Judges 20:14-16 (left-handedness associated with marksmanship), 1 Chronicles 8:40, 12:1-2; 2 Chronicles 14:8; Genesis 49:27
• Irony: "Benjamin" = "Son of the/my right hand" (Genesis 35:18)
• Sword/dagger = 1 cubit. A cubit customarily 18 inches (elbow to top finger), here literally a "gomed" which was probably a measurement slightly less, about 13 inches (elbow to knuckles of a clenched fist).
• Weapon under clothes on right vs. outside in sheath on left

v.17-18

• "Israel" in this case may signify the limited area of Benjamin and Ephraim
• tribute like that which Israel had once charged its neighbors (and would again, see 2 Kings 3:4). Cf: "prelude to Ehud" above
• A great number of "gift-bearers" signified a special respect ~ based on Eglon’s willingness to allow Ehud a private audience (v.19), Ehud must have given the impression of being a very dedicated servant to the king.

vv.18-26

• Stone "graven images" at Gilgal were they the 12 memorial stones from Joshua 4:20)
• These graven images were of the type God commanded should be destroyed: Deuteronomy 7:5,25; 12:3; Isaiah 42:8
• Ehud went as far as the stone images at Gilgal then turned back; the king, now in an upper (likely roof-top) chamber was apparently delighted to be receiving a special message.
• "entrails came out" (v.22) = KJV—"dirt," i.e. excrement; or the blade came out behind
• "attending to his needs" (v.24) = literally: "covering his feet"

Epilogue to Ehud:

"When Ehud was dead, the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord."

QUESTIONS & OBSERVATIONS:

• Was Ehud’s method of deliverance God’s or his own? (cf: Judges 3:10 and Judges 4:16, etc.)
• Is God anti-war? (God used battles and wars to bring chastisement on His people, to judge heathen people, later to bring judgment on Israel.)
• Notice the details of Scripture…left-handed, under clothes on right thigh, fat king, handle drawn inward, etc.
• Discuss the importance of quality leadership (cf: earlier and later history of Israel)
• At what cost had Israel gone its own way? What about ourselves?
• What do we learn about our Lord do we receive from the period of the Judges? How consistent is this with the rest of Scripture.

--Pastor Wayne C. Eichstadt