seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Judges 3:12 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 cubit 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 those who had carried it. 19 But on reaching the stone images near Gilgal he himself went back to Eglon and said, “Your Majesty, I have a secret message for you.”
The king said to his attendants, “Leave us!” And they all left.
20 Ehud then approached him while he was sitting alone in the upper room of his 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, and his bowels discharged. 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 palace.” 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 stone images 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 took 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 one escaped. 30 That day Moab was made subject to Israel, and the land had peace for eighty years.
Here's a link to the commentary I use.Ehud… a left-handed man: In the ancient world left-handed people were often forced to become right-handed. This made Ehud’s standing as a left-handed man more unusual.
I've skipped chapters again. After Joshua and the Israelites murdered everyone while the earth stood still, they divided up the land. With God's help, and reputation, Joshua went on to conquer the Promised Land. I skipped all the chapters about those battles and the division of the land. Point is... It all went according to plan. Joshua passed away and he was buried in the Promised Land. Then the Israelites were at peace.
When the Israelites got bored, they started doing their own thing... and they forgot about God.
The things God did for them... like making the sun stand still... or letting them walk across the Jordan while it was at flood stage [on dry ground] ... or making the walls of Jericho fall when Joshua and company shouted.... all those seemed too cool for school... so, they put them in the "fantasy characters" category and went on being the best men in the world.
As the last lesson posted in these forums showed [check the comments] humans started naysaying all those stories about God. Well, they said it was all fantasy, fake news, made up... a fairytale. When they said "God help us all" they didn't mean it.
And then along came Ehud! Ehud is one of my favorite characters in the Bible. I like him because of the ingenious way he made his getaway!!!
Ehud killed the king of Moab... and left him to die with an 18" dagger in his fat old body. Think Jabba the Hud.... with a bloody dagger just peeking out from in between two huge folds of fat.
Then to make his escape... He told the guard to give the king a few minutes, like he was having a healthy poop.
When the guard had waited and embarrassingly long time... They found their king dead on the throne!
Ehud left the king of Moab....
Stuck on the throne!
