God Raises Up Ehud To Deliver Israel- Judges 3:12-30

Summary of Judges 3:12-30:After the death of Israel’s first judge, Othniel, (7-11) Israel began to stray from God and His word. (Proverbs 19:27) Therefore, God strengthened Israel’s enemies and brought severe discipline upon His people until they repented. (Proverbs 19:29) When this happened the LORD raised up a deliverer (judge, savior) for His people- Ehud. (15)

Our text summarizes what Christian discipline looks like and how effective it is: In Christian discipline...

1. The child has been taught what the expectation is regarding their behavior. (12a)

2. When a child sins the sin is confronted and the child is disciplined. (12b)

3. When the child is disciplined the sin committed is explained (12c) so that the child is given an opportunity to repent and be restored (15).

4. After repenting the child learns to depend upon the grace of God to obey the LORD.

5. When this is done they experience peace, rest, and restoration. (30)

6. However, if the child sins again they will be disciplined again for their good. (4:1; Hebrews 12:3-11)

Our text this morning is Judges 3:12-30 which states, “And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done what was evil in the sight of the Lord. He gathered to himself the Ammonites and theAmalekites, and went and defeated Israel. And they took possession of the city of palms. And the people of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years.

Then the people of Israel cried out to the Lord, and the Lord raised up for them a deliverer, Ehud, the son of Gera, the Benjaminite, a left-handed man. The people of Israel sent tribute by him to Eglon the king of Moab. And Ehud made for himself a sword with two edges, a cubit in length, and he bound it on his right thigh under his clothes. And he presented the tribute to Eglon king of Moab. Now Eglon was a very fat man. And when Ehud had finished presenting the tribute, he sent away the people who carried the tribute. But he himself turned back at the idols near Gilgal and said, “I have a secret message for you, O king.” And he commanded, “Silence.” And all his attendants went out from his presence. And Ehud came to him as he was sitting alone in his cool roof chamber. And Ehud said, “I have a message from God for you.” And he arose from his seat. And Ehud reached with his left hand, took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly. And the hilt also went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade, for he did not pull the sword out of his belly; and the dung came out. Then Ehud went out into the porch and closed the doors of the roof chamber behind him and locked them.

When he had gone, the servants came, and when they saw that the doors of the roof chamber were locked, they thought, “Surely he is relieving himself in the closet of the cool chamber.” And they waited till they were embarrassed. But when he still did not open the doors of the roof chamber, they took the key and opened them, and there lay their lord dead on the floor.

Ehud escaped while they delayed, and he passed beyond the idols and escaped to Seirah. When he arrived, he sounded the trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim. Then the people of Israel went down with him from the hill country, and he was their leader. And he said to them, “Follow after me, for the Lord has given your enemies the Moabites into your hand.” So they went down after him and seized the fords of the Jordan against the Moabites and did not allow anyone to pass over. And they killed at that time about 10,000 of the Moabites, all strong, able-bodied men; not a man escaped. So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest for eighty years.

After him was Shamgar the son of Anath, who killed 600 of the Philistines with an oxgoad, and he also saved Israel.

Two main points to consider. First, When Israel sins they are weakened while simultaneously God strengthens their enemies to accomplish His good, wise, and righteous purposes. (12) Secondly, when Israel repents the LORD responds and raises up a deliverer to save them. (15)

Consider verse 12, “And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done what was evil in the sight of the Lord.” This verse has three parts.

1. It begins by speaking about how Israel had sinned ‘again’ and had done what was evil in the sight of the LORD.

2. Then in the middle we read about the LORD’s response, “...He strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel”.

3. At the end of verse 12 we are told once again why this has happened, “...because they had done what was evil in the sight of the LORD.” They must know this if they are to repent.

At the beginning of verse 12 the word ‘again’ speaks about the fact that Israel has repeated the same sins that previous generations had done. (2:10-11, 3:7) ‘Again’ stresses that Israel added to those previous sins by doing even more evil in the sight of the LORD. This is a Hiphil Verb which speaks of the fact that Israel added, increased, and did even more evil than those who preceded them. Finally, the word ‘again’ is a reminder that this book is showing us the decline of God’s people into increasing faithlessness, disobedience, and apostasy. (4:1, 10:6, 13:1)

Because of this Israel is not pleasing God and bringing joy to the heart of God. (Colossians 1:10) No, they are provoking Him to anger. (2:12, 14; 3:8; 10:7) We were told this was going to happen in Judges 2:19, “But it came about, when the judge died, that they would turn back and act more corruptly than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them and bowing down to them; they did not abandon their practices or their obstinate ways.” (stubborn, stiff-necked, hard-hearted ways)

In response to Israel’s sin we are told that “...God strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel”. Israel’s sin had made Israel sickly, weak, and unhealthy. I wonder if Israel realized their true condition? Or were they like the church in Laodicea in Revelation 3 who said, “I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing…”? The Laodicean’s did not realize that they had become “wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.” (3:17) Because of this God’s people did not repent so the LORD brought an external form of discipline upon them through the Moabites, Ammonites, and the Amalekites. (13)

King Eglon went to war with Israel and they were defeated (14), the land Israel once possessed was taken and occupied by the enemy (14), and they were forced to serve and pay tribute to a foreign king (14). Despite all of this it took Israel 18 years of misery to be humbled so that they would cry out to the LORD as the psalmist did, “I am poor and needy; hasten to me, O God! You are my help and my deliverer; O LORD, do not delay!” (Psalm 70:5)

Are you struggling with the fact that God ‘strengthened’ the hand of Israel’s enemies so that they overpowered them, defeated them, and subjected them to harsh service and misery. (13) I found myself wrestling with this in the way that Habakkuk must have wrestled with what the LORD had said to him, “Look among the nations, and see; wonder and be astounded. For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if I told. For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, who march through the breadth of the earth, to seize dwellings not their own. They are dreaded and fearsome; their justice and dignity go forth from themselves...They all come for violence, all their faces forward. They gather captives like sand.” (1:5-7&9)

These things should not have surprised me because we were told in Judges 2:14-15 that these things were going to happen with even more graphic language and a stronger emphasis, “The anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and He gave them over to plunderers, who plundered them. And He sold them into the hand of their surrounding enemies, so that they could no longer withstand their enemies. Whenever they marched out, the hand of the LORD was against them for harm, as the LORD had warned, and as the LORD had sworn to them.” The end result of this, “And they were in great distress.” (14-15)

It is one thing to have read that this in the introduction of Judges but it is another thing to witness these things happening. When we considered Judges 2 I was detached and was like King Hezekiah who said to Isaiah regarding the future judgment, “‘The word of the LORD that you have spoken is good.’ For he thought, ‘Why not, if there will be peace and security in my days?’” (2 Kings 20:19)

Perhaps the LORD knew that we might have this reaction at the middle of verse 12 so He emphasizes again at the end of verse 12 why these things were happening. We are reminded again that this was happening “because they had done what was evil in the sight of the LORD”. Israel has sinned, transgressed, and committed iniquity before the LORD. Therefore, the LORD raised up an enemy against them to discipline them.

In virtually all of the penitent psalms the psalmist repents of his sin and he also asks that God would deliver him from his enemies which had probably been part of his discipline.

• David prays in Psalm 6:6-10, “My eye wastes away because of grief. It grows weak because of all my foes. Depart from me, all you workers of evil, for the LORD has heard the sound of my weeping. The LORD has heard my plea; the LORD accepts my prayer. All my enemies shall be ashamed and greatly troubled; they shall turn back and be put to shame in a moment.”

• In Psalm 38:12 David says, “Those who seek my life lay their snares; those who seek my hurt speak of ruin and meditate treachery all day long.” He continues in v. 19-20, “My foes are vigorous, they are mighty, and many are those who hate me wrongfully. Those who render me evil for good accuse me because I follow after good.”

• The psalmist says in Psalm 102:8, “All the day my enemies taunt me; those who deride me use my name for a curse.”

The implication of these things is that when the psalmist sinned the LORD used enemies to discipline him so that he would repent. When the psalmist repented he also asked the LORD to deliver him from the instrument that had been raised up to humble him.

It took Israel eighteen years for Israel to call out to the LORD, “Then the people of Israel cried out to the LORD, and the LORD raised up for them a deliverer.” (15)

Notice: Israel’s cry was a cry of repentance and not simply a demand that God deliver them apart from true repentance as we will see in Judges 10:6-18. How easy our prayers can become one sided as we demand that God deliver us according to our instructions. When this happens our petitions, supplications, and intercessions are not coming from a humble heart of repentance. True repentance comes first and then the discipline can stop as God sees fit.

Last week we saw in Judges 3:8 that it took Israel 8 years to repent. In Judges 3:14 we see that it took Israel 18 years to do this. The process of repentance has not become harder. No, as soon as the people call out to Him in repentance the LORD acts just as He had previously. (Compare 3:9 & 3:15) Nor is it that Israel’s suffering under the king of Mesopotamia was so much worse so that Israel cried out sooner in Judges 3:9. No, this is an indication of how much more calloused and hardened Israel had become. We are witnessing their decline of Israel into apostasy.

However, after 18 years Israel calls out to the LORD and notice how quickly the LORD responds to their prayer, “Then the people of Israel cried out to the LORD, and the LORD raised up for them a deliverer.”. (15) We are often so slow to turn to the LORD but He is quick to respond when we repent sincerely, honestly, and genuinely.

One of those individuals who had been seeking the LORD at this time, maybe throughout this whole time as Othniel had, was Ehud. This is the man that God had chosen to deliver His people. (15) Just as the LORD had strengthened Eglon in verse 12 the LORD is now ‘raising’ up Ehud. (15)

I wonder, was Ehud the person that the people would have chosen for this job? The people may not have chosen Ehud because his right arm may have been lame in some way. (15) Ehud may not have been described in the same way that Eglon’s soldiers were as ‘strong and able bodied’. (29)

Another reason that the people may not have chosen Ehud was because he was from the tribe of Benjamin which was the smallest and most insignificant of the tribes among God’s people. (15) Yet, in all of these ways Ehud reflects Jesus.

• God’s Messiah, Jesus Christ, was not at all what God’s people were looking for. (John 1:11)

• He had not beauty that drew men to Himself so He was despised and rejected. (Isaiah 53:1-3)

• Jesus was from Nazareth where no one thought anything good could come from. (John 1:46)

• People grumbled against Jesus in unbelief saying, “Is not his Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know?” (John 6:42)

• Yet, God has raised Jesus up and exalted Him above all things (Philippians 2:0-11) and in His name alone is there salvation. (4:12)

The word ‘raised’ in verse 15 emphasizes that the LORD was doing this in Ehud. This was the man that God had chosen to deliver His people and Ehud was not appointing himself to this role. The word ‘raised’ implies that the LORD gave Ehud the wisdom, ability, constitution, and disposition to carry out this mission. (3:16-23)

The word ‘raised’ not only speaks of what Ehud needed to do alone in vv. 15-23, but it also speaks of the fact that it was God who would begin to ‘raise’ Ehud up in the sight of the people. After Ehud killed Eglon and escaped the people gathered around him and Ehud said to them, “Follow after me, for the LORD has given your enemies the Moabites into your hand”. (28)

When the people heard Ehud’s words they responded in faith and did not hesitate to follow him into battle. Israel was not like the faithless and worthless fellows in 1 Samuel 10:27 in the day of battle who said, “How can this man save us? And they despised him…”. No, Israel is like those who are described in 1 Samuel 11:7 who followed Ehud as ‘one man’. God strengthens individuals into one group of faithful people who walk by faith and achieve victory by His grace.

How quickly things change when Israel cried out to the LORD. (15) Israel has faith and is unified under the man God has raised up to deliver them. As God did this He ceases to strengthen Israel’s enemies. At this time Israel is moving fast towards victory (26-29) but Eglon’s men are responding to what God is doing very slowly which will lead to their defeat, “When he (Ehud) had gone, the servants came, and when they saw that the doors of the roof chamber were locked, they thought, ‘Surely he is relieving himself in the closet of the cool chamber.’ And they waited till they were embarrassed. But when he still did not open the doors of the roof chamber, they took the key and opened them, and they lay their lord dead on the floor.’ Ehud escaped while they delayed…”. (24-26)

The LORD is sovereign over all of the details that we can read about in this story. And in the end, verses 29-30, God’s people are victorious., “And Israel killed at that time about 10,000 of the Moabites, all strong, able-bodied men; not a man escaped. So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest for eighty years.”

Application: Our enemies (indwelling sin, sin in the world, and Satan) are strong and able enemies but they have all been defeated by the work of Jesus Christ. (Colossians 2:15- “He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame by triumphing over them in Him.”) When we repent God subdues our enemies and empowers us by His Spirit and His Word to live victorious lives of faith obedience through His gracious power. (James 4:6-10)

A person is free from past sins by knowing who they are in Christ.

• A person is set free from past, present and future sins by repenting and believing the gospel. (Mark 1:15, 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, Romans 10:9, Ephesians 1:13-14, Hebrews 7:22-25, Hebrews 10:9-10)

• A person is set free from past, present and future sins when they are crucified with Christ and have become a new creation. (2 Corinthians 5:17, Galatians 6:15)

• A person is set free from past, present and future sins by repenting of sin and confessing them to God. (Psalm 32, Hebrews 6:1, 1 John 1:9)

• A person is set free from Satan’s influence and power when he is crucified with Christ. (Hebrews 2:14-15)

A person has a new start in Christ. (Galatians 6:15, 2 Corinthians 5:17)

A person has all the resources needed to overcome past sins. (Ezekiel 36:26-27, Ephesians 1:3,18-20, Galatians 5:22-23, 2 Peter 1:3-4. Galatians 2:20)

A person can not be enslaved by what lies behind but move ahead in their calling in Christ. (Philippians 3:13-14)