Judges
3:12-30
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. 13 He
gathered to himself the Ammonites and the Amalekites, and went and defeated
Israel. And they took possession of the city of palms. 14 And
the people of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years.
15 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. 16 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. 17 And
he presented the tribute to Eglon king of Moab. Now Eglon was a very fat man. 18 And when Ehud
had finished presenting the tribute, he sent away the people who carried the
tribute. 19 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. 20 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. 21 And Ehud
reached with his left hand, took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it
into his belly. 22 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. 23 Then Ehud went
out into the porch and closed the doors of the roof chamber behind him and
locked them.
24 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.” 25 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.
26 Ehud
escaped while they delayed, and he passed beyond the idols and escaped to
Seirah. 27 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. 28 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. 29 And
they killed at that time about 10,000 of the Moabites, all strong, able-bodied
men; not a man escaped. 30 So
Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest for
eighty years.
The
people do what is evil in the sight of the Lord. The Lord brings judgment upon
the people through foreign authority. The people call upon the name of the Lord
for him to raise up a hero for his people, or a Judge. Ehud the great lefty
brings the sword of the Lord and judgment on the foreign leader.
There are
many times when people do things that are evil in the sight of the Lord. There
are many deeds that we do continually that are evil. But think about the idols
that are brought into the land. The foreign images! It would be easy for me to
make a parallel to foreign traditions and diversity that is claimed in the
United States and around the World. But there are many things that we can add
to our lifestyle that is an abomination in the sight of the Lord.
God does
not have his own nation today. But God does use his servant to bring judgment
upon the leaders of the nation, by assassination. I do not urge anyone to act
in this manner. But the death of the King, leads to the freedom of the people.
It is the sword that will be used to strike down our savior, our King. It is
through the death of that King that will bring freedom to the people of God.
Christ frees us from our sin. He frees us from our Satanic oppression.
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