This is a part of a sermon series on the book of Judges. You can watch more here.
Sermon Manuscript
Last Sunday we introduced a chart that we will be repeated over and over throughout the book of Judges. Throughout the history of Israel we see the people of Israel fall into habitual patterns of sin (#1). It’s important to understand sin is anything we think, say or do that doesn’t line up with God’s glory, so this isn’t one and done type of sin this is a habit of life that has been fully embraced over a period of time, so that in those moments the Lord will bring some type of judgment (#2.)
It’s common in our culture today to see God’s judgment as mean but it would be better to understand God’s judgment as discipline or training to help us know the Lord and walk with the Lord. We touched on this last Sunday:
Judges 2:10-11, “10 All that generation also were gathered to their fathers; and there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord, nor yet the work which He had done for Israel.”
The word “know” in verse 10 is describing “intimate” knowledge of the Lord, so that a generation grew up in Israel that knew “informational” things about the Lord but they didn’t know the Lord “intimately”, so that sometimes the Lord needs to bring judgment or training through the challenges of life, so that we turn to Him, trust Him, know Him, and walk with Him.
This is why in the (#3) step we see repentance. Repentance is a bible word that means to turn, so that we are turning from trusting in ourselves and turning to trusting in the Lord.
This is important, as a follower of Jesus we don’t have to go through (#2.) We can always skip (#2) and go straight to repentance. That’s the good news of Jesus. That’s the invitation of God’s Word. That’s our focus every time we come to the Lord.
In our passage this morning we will (#4-Judge brings rescue) with two different judges, so that we will see the fruit of (#5) until those judges die and the process starts all over again. Let’s look at Judges 3:7-8:
Judges 3:7-8, “7 And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. They forgot the Lord their God and served the Baals and the Asheroth. 8 Therefore the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia. And the people of Israel served Cushan-rishathaim eight years.”
It’s possible some of us are new to the Bible, so big picture is everything starts off great in Genesis 1, but in Genesis 3 we see our sin distorts everything God created to be good, so that all of life is chaotic.
It’s possible you thought it was just your life that was chaotic. No. It’s everyone! It’s possible you thought God created life to be chaotic. No. He created life to be perfect, but our sin makes life complicated, so that when you read about Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph you are going to see stories of chaos.
We just studied the book of Joshua; chaos! We are 3 chapters into the book of Judges and we still see chaos but throughout all those stories we see God’s faithful hand and faithful plan guiding us through the chaos. Even in our cycle you don’t see (#82) where the Lord quits and gives up on everyone. No. He’s involved in the whole process.
In the same way, He’s involved in our lives today. Sometimes we don’t see it, sometimes we call it coincidence, luck, karma or a good night’s rest but through the Scriptures we see it is the faithful hand of the Lord that is at work.
In verses 7 and 8 we see these same patterns. The people of Israel are doing evil in the sight of the Lord (#1), so the Lord raises up a foreign king named Cushan-rishathaim (#2), whose name means double wickedness, so that the Lord brings judgment for 8-years. Look at verses 9-11:
Judges 3:9-11, “9 But when the people of Israel cried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer for the people of Israel, who saved them, Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother. 10 The Spirit of the Lord was upon him, and he judged Israel. He went out to war, and the Lord gave Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand. And his hand prevailed over Cushan-rishathaim. 11 So the land had rest forty years. Then Othniel the son of Kenaz died.”
Just like we see in our chart. The people turn from the Lord (#1). Judgment from the Lord comes (#2). The people cry out in repentance (#3) and the Lord raises up a spiritual leader named Othniel (#4).
We met Othniel in chapter 2 as a mighty warrior and Othniel leads the people of Israel to a place of rest and peace for 40 years (#5) but eventually Othniel dies, so that the pattern starts over again (#1). Look at verses 12-14:
Judges 3:12-14, “12 Now the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord. So the Lord strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the Lord. 13 And he gathered to himself the sons of Ammon and Amalek; and he went and defeated Israel, and they possessed the city of the palm trees. 14 The sons of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years.”
King Eglon is an enemy king of Israel. He brings oppression upon the people of Israel for 18 years. The “City of Palm Trees” at the end of verse 13 is a reference to Jericho, which was the first city taken in the book of Joshua as the walls come tumbling down, but because of the people of Israel are rebellious toward the Lord we see the city is lost, and the people of Israel are oppressed for 18 years. Do you see the cycle?
I am guessing that some of us are seeing these phrases “at the hand of the Lord” in verse 12 or “the anger of the Lord” back in verse 8 and we could think to ourselves, “How can the Lord do these things?”
But, you need to remember the context of our passage. The people of Israel are consistently, willfully, and habitually turning away from the Lord, so that the most loving responses from the Lord is to bring judgment through discipline. Write this in your notes, “When we consistently, willfully and habitually turn from the Lord the Lord will bring discipline.”
I can’t say this enough, we assume God is there to help us, serve us and meet our needs. Pastors online will tell you God exist to make you happy and rich, but His primary focus is about us “knowing Him and His glory intimately”, and sometimes He will bring discipline to help lead us to that place. Look at verse 15:
Judges 3:15, “15 But when the sons of Israel cried to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer for them, Ehud the son of Gera, the Benjamite, a left-handed man. And the sons of Israel sent tribute by him to Eglon the king of Moab.”
In verse 15 the Israelites cries out (#3-repentance). Keep in mind Israel was in judgment (#2) for 18 years, which means Israel is spiritually stubborn, spiritually defiant, spiritually committed to doing what is right in their own eyes until finally their hearts soften and they turn to the Lord, so that in verse 15 the Lord raises up a deliverer.
His name is Ehud! And in verse 15 we see that Ehud is a left-handed man, which is really important to our passage. We don’t know why Ehud is left-handed but it is likely that something happened to his right hand in battle or at birth, so that his right hand is disabled.
In addition, the “tribe of Benjamin” means “the sons of right-handed men” which is a little funny because the right hand was a symbol of strength and power, but this “right handed Benjamite” is physically disabled. Does that make sense? It means we are to read verse 15 and see that Ehud is an unlikely deliverer. Ehud is physically unimpressive. Write that in your notes. Look at verses 16-17:
Judges 3:16-17, “16 Ehud made himself a sword which had two edges, a cubit in length, and he bound it on his right thigh under his cloak. 17 He presented the tribute to Eglon king of Moab. Now Eglon was a very fat man.”
In verse 16 we see a two-edged sword is hidden under Ehud’s clothes, bound to his right thigh. A “cubit in length” was about 18 inches, so that verse 16 shows us Ehud’s physical appearances and disabilities were so severe that the guards wouldn’t even think to check Ehud for a weapon on his right side. Does that make sense?
In addition, Ehud has come to present King Eglon with a “tribute” which was a type of agricultural tax for King Eglon from the Israelite people, and the tax was so great that King Eglon had become a very fat man. (Hunger Games vibes?)
The reference to “very fat man” isn’t “body-shaming.” The passage is describing an oppressor that has become overweight living off the oppression of others. Does that make sense? Look at verses 18-19:
Judges 3:18-19, “18 It came about when he had finished presenting the tribute, that he sent away the people who had carried the tribute. 19 But he himself turned back from the idols which were at Gilgal, and said, “I have a secret message for you, O king.” And he said, “Keep silence.” And all who attended him left him.”
In verses 18-19 Ehud presents the tribute, sends away the people who had carried the tribute and then says, “O, king, I have a secret message for you.” Now, it’s a little difficult to see from the text but the phrase “keep silence” is the king excusing himself to use the restroom. Look at verses 20-21:
Judges 3:20-21, “20 Ehud came to him while 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 Ehud stretched out his left hand, took the sword from his right thigh and thrust it into his belly.”
The phrase “cool roof chamber” is a reference to the toilet, and Ehud comes upon the king as he sits upon the toilet, surprises the king, and takes the double-edged sword with his left hand from his right thigh and thrusts the sword into the king’s belly. Look at verses 22-23:
Judges 3:22-23, “22 The handle also went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade, for he did not draw the sword out of his belly; and the refuse came out. 23 Then Ehud went out into the vestibule and shut the doors of the roof chamber behind him, and locked them.”
In verse 22 we see the handle of the sword is thrust so far into the king that the fat closes in over the blade, the sword goes missing, and refuse, or literally feces comes out, and Ehud shuts the door to the restroom, and walks out like a boss. Look verses 24-25:
Judges 3:24-25, “24 When he had gone out, his servants came and looked, and behold, the doors of the roof chamber were locked; and they said, “He is only relieving himself in the cool room.” 25 They waited until they became anxious; but behold, he did not open the doors of the roof chamber. Therefore, they took the key and opened them, and behold, their master had fallen to the floor dead.”
In verses 24-25 the guards just assume their king is in the restroom for a really long time! Remember feces came out of him when he is stabbed, which means there is an odor in the air, until the guards open the door to find their king is dead.
I think this passage is also where bathroom humor was started. Those guards waited a long time! How long is he going to be in there? And this was before smartphones! I think this is where they got the phrase, “Smells like something died in there!” That’s stupid! Look at verses 26-30:
Judges 3:26-27, “26 Now Ehud escaped while they were delaying, and he passed by the idols and escaped to Seirah. 27 It came about when he had arrived, that he blew the trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim; and the sons of Israel went down with him from the hill country, and he was in front of them.”
Judges 3:28-30, “ 28 He said to them, “Pursue them, for the Lord has given your enemies the Moabites into your hands.” So they went down after him and seized the fords of the Jordan opposite Moab, and did not allow anyone to cross. 29 They struck down at that time about ten thousand Moabites, all robust and valiant men; and no one escaped. 30 So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land was undisturbed for eighty years.”
In verse 26 Ehud rallies the people of Israel to follow him and take on their oppressors, and in verse 28 we see 10,000 Moabites are killed, the tables are turned, and in verse 30 there is peace in the land for 80 years, which I think is twice as long than any other judge throughout the book of Judges.
Listen, we need to be clear. This passage isn’t about using God’s Word to justify violence toward other people. In Joshua and Judges we see this is all focused on a promise in Genesis to raise up a people who will birth a Savior that will bring blessing to the nations, so that this is describing a specific plan for a specific purpose for a specific people at a specific point in history. Does that make sense?
What we are reading in Judges 3 is a micro-description of what is taking place as the people of Israel are struggling to know the Lord and trust in the Lord, so that in a similar way we too will struggle to know the Lord and trust in the Lord and follow Him. Does that make sense?
Therefore, we aren’t just reading historical information about Israel but we are learning about a pattern that is repeated over and over throughout humanity, so that we want to ask ourselves, “What do we take away from our passage this morning?”
There are two common distractions when we read biblical stories like Judges 3 that we want to be on guard against. One is Metaphorical Application and the other is Behavioral Application.
Let’s describe Metaphorical Application first. It would be easy to take our passage this morning and draw out metaphors, like the hidden sword on Ehud’s leg is symbolic of God’s Word, because Hebrews 4 refers to God’s Word as a two-edged sword, and we must use God’s Word to defend ourselves against the oppressors.
When we apply God’s Word metaphorically it isn’t horrible, but when Scripture becomes metaphorical it becomes a slippery slope because who gets to decide the symbolic meaning of the passage, therefore, we want to assume God’s Word is literal unless it’s obvious.
The second distraction is that we can make our passage Behavioral Application. Wouldn’t it be easy to make Ehud the hero of the story? Wouldn’t it be easy to call one another to, “Be like Ehud!”
He is disabled. He is unassuming! He is representing the people who are oppressed for 18 years by an overweight oppressor until Ehud shows up to bring peace for the people for 80 years. Yes! We could write books about Ehud, t-shirts and bumper stickers about Ehud.
But the slippery slope of Behavioral Application is that we are inadvertently placing ourselves as the savior by trying to be like Ehud. That is called self-righteousness. When we place ourselves as the hero we become our own savior, and the purpose of God’s Word, even in the Old Testament, is always to point us to a Savior that is ultimately fulfilled in Jesus, so that we want to read Judges 3 through Gospel Application.
In our devotional we ask the question, “How does the passage point us to our hope in Jesus?” Do we not long for a judge like Othniel or Ehud who will come and defeat the enemies of our day?
Do we not long for someone to come and bring rest into our soul? Maybe we feel exhausted by all the pollical rhetoric of our day? Maybe we are fearful about what will happen in the future? Maybe we are angry about what the Lord is or isn’t doing?
Maybe we feel overwhelmed by the chaos of life? Maybe we are struggling to trust people? Maybe we beat down for our faith as a follower of Jesus? Maybe we are here one last time to see if God’s Word will speak to us? I am sure we are all at different places.
This year we are rallying around this phrase “Immovable: Standing firm in our faith.” Maybe there is a part of us that looks at the title on our devotional and thinks, “Our faith isn’t even close to immovable?”
I want to be gentle here, but those types of longings are giving us insight into the things we worship; our hopes, dreams, fears, and security. If the cry of our heart is, “If this PERSON could just become president, if this THING could just happen, if the LORD would just DO this or that, if my CIRCUMSTANCES would just, if our ECONOMY would just…it’s giving us insight into the things, places, or people we are putting our trust. You need know, like Israel of old, it is idolatry.
So that Judges 3 gives us a Gospel Application that lifts our eyes to the need for a rescuer. We don’t want to Metaphorically bounce out of this passage to something else. We don’t want to put this weight on our back to be like Ehud. We want to see our eyes lifted up for a Rescuer that is to come.
A Rescuer who is like Othniel as a powerful warrior but a Rescuer who is also like Ehud with no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we would desire him. A Rescuer like Ehud who is despised and overlooked by men, a Rescuer who is a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief, so that men hid their faces from him. (Isaiah 53)
Judges 3 isn’t calling us to be like Ehud but to long for someone like Ehud who would bring rescue to our soul but how could Jesus possibly be that person? Our culture today looks at Jesus like that disfigured person who couldn’t possible help us in life or defeat the enemies of our day or overcome the oppressor of our soul.
But isn’t Jesus who speaks to the rich young ruler in Matthew 19 and tells the rich young ruler to sell everything and follow Him? It’s Judges 3. Where is your heart? In what are you trusting? Turn from those things and follow Him!
In John 4 Jesus speaks to the woman at the well and says, “Stop pouring your life into romantic relationships over and over and over.” It is a well of romance that will never satisfy, but instead turn from those things and follow Him!
It is Jesus who satisfies every longing. It is Jesus who brings lasting security. It is Jesus who calms the anxious heart. It is Jesus who overcomes every fear. It is Jesus that puts to shame every idol. And it is Jesus who says, “Turn from those things and follow Him!”
North Village Church
This sermon is brought to you by North Village Church, a non-denominational church in Austin. established in 2009 and built around Jesus and Bible teaching.
Are you looking for a church in Austin? At North Village Church we put Jesus at the center of our church family. We worship together every Sunday at 10:30am, encourage Christ centered fellowship through groups, and host special events such as Bible studies and Theological Training, to ensure that we are rooted in in God’s Word. We also serve our local community in association with several Austin based organizations.
North Village Church is made up of professionals, married couples, singles, and families who are wanting to experience the life-transforming power of Jesus. If you are a family with children or teens, we can support you with either or both our Kids Ministry and Youth Ministry.
You are welcome to contact us if you would like more information.
NVC Online
Unable to attend this Christian Church in Austin? Don’t worry, because, through God’s provision, we have created NVC online, an Online Church streaming a worship service every Sunday from 10:30am Central Time. You can also watch our short, powerful sermons on demand and follow us on Instagram for daily Christ centered content.