Heroes

O. T. #512  "Heroes"
May 5, 2015
Judges 3-Part 3
And Ehud put forth his left hand, and took the dagger from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly. (referring to the king of their enemy)  Judges 3:21

LET IT GLOW

How many books and stories have we read, even movies have we seen where the hero kills the villain, the bad guy, and rescues a damsel or people in distress? Today's reading is a perfect example of such a plot. (The only difference is it actually happened in Israel.)

After 8 years of oppression, God used Judge Othniel to teach Israel about His ways. The Lord delivered them and gave 40 years of rest from their enemies. Then they did it again-backsliding a idolatry.
What happened?
According to Liberty Bible Commentary:

• For 18 years, mind you, Israel sinned and strayed away from God.  So God raised up another enemy nation as a way of judgment on His people.
• Eglon, the king of Moab, brought on the oppression. It was because Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD.
• Eglon gathered a confederacy of men of Moab, Ammon, and Amalek so they could defeat Israel. These tribes had harassed Israel generations earlier in the wilderness.
• This confederacy followed the same route that Israel had taken earlier and captured the city of palm tree, Jericho. Archaeologists have concluded that Jericho was actually built, destroyed, and rebuilt several times, due to the various levels of rubble.

LET IT GROW

So Israel cried to the Lord again, and He raised up a deliverer, another judge, the Judge Ehud. After 18 years of Eglon ruling them, Israel was delivered by a Benjamite, a man lefthanded. Evidently, this tribe was known for being lefthanded (20:l16) , and even ambidextrous (1 Chron.12:2).
The plot thickens:

• Ehud was selected to take Israel's tribute money, maybe in the form of produce, to Jericho.
• He secretly armed himself with a dagger (12-14 inches long) under his clothing.
• Ehud took this present to the king of Moab.
• Now King Eglon was a fat man, a very fat man, the Scripture describes.
• Ehud requested a private meeting after giving the tribute to the king, so the entourage was dismissed.
• When alone, Ehud told the king that he had a message from God-Ehud used his left hand to grab his dagger from his right thigh and as he ran, Ehud  thrust it into the king's belly.
• The blow to the abdomen was so quick and powerful that the blade went in entirely, with the fat closing up around it. It went plum through, folks. It was sufficient to kill King Eglon immediately, without a call of help to his servants. 
• Ehud left through the parlor doors after locking the entrance doors so no one could enter and find out what had just occurred.
• Ehud wasted no time rallying the people of Israel to attack the confused Moabites who were now without a leader. He blew the trumpet and they came running to Ehud's aid.
• There were 10,000 Moabites killed when trapped on the west bank of Jordan.
• Thus ended the 8 year oppression and began the longest period of peace during the turmoil of the era of the judges-80 years.

Wow! What a story! A real-life story, which actually happened, written in not just a book, but the Word of God, the Truth.

Do we see what God can do with one person who obeys Him? He can use them to deliver people out of their sin and give them peace. Oh, by the way, there is one person who did that-Jesus Christ. When we allow Him to use us to bring others to Him, Jesus can deliver them from their sins and give them peace in their hearts.
When God speaks-I obey.

LET IT GO

Be a hero in someone's life-bring them to Jesus for salvation.

When God speaks, I obey.

*Thank ya'll for your prayers for my husband. He is recovering fine. Come Saturday, he gets to eat normal food, requesting fried chicken and the trimmin's. He sees the doctor on Tuesday. Praise be to the Lord for all he does!