‘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  Benjamite, a left-handed man’ (Judges 3:15 a).

Last month we took a look at Othniel who was every inch a hero. He was a brave and mighty warrior, and no doubt had an impressive physique to go with it. But now we come to a man who was probably the polar opposite of that.

Once again: ‘the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD.’  The pattern is familiar, Israel rebels against the Lord who then sends judgement, the people cry out and the Lord raises up a deliverer. But this time Eglon, king of Moab, has formed an alliance with both the Ammonites and the Amalekites. Put simply, Israel is in big trouble again! So, after 18 years of oppression, the people cry out to the Lord and he raises up an unlikely candidate to save them.

But why was Ehud an unlikely deliverer of God’s people? After all, the Benjaminite’s were formidable fighters with an emphasis of them being able to use their left hands (see 20:16). So you might be thinking, “hold on a minute, this guy the perfect candidate for delivering the Lord’s people.” However, the original Hebrew text emphasises Ehud’s left handedness in the negative![1] Why? The most likely explanation is that he was handicapped and unable to use his right hand!

Eglon, and his lackeys are in the business of bleeding the country dry. But the Lord has other ideas. Who better to bring the tribute to Eglon than the apparently harmless Ehud? This is emphasised by others carrying the tribute. But after delivering the tribute Ehud sends them away and then turns back. Eglon’s bodyguards don’t suspect that Ehud is carrying a small sword strapped to his: ‘right thigh under his clothes’ (v16). If they’d searched him they’d probably missed it due to his left handedness! He claims to have a secret message from God for the King, so Eglon sends out all of his attendants. After all, this is a message from God, and Eglon, his vanity stimulated, is vulnerable!

The narrative takes on a darkly comic tone as Ehud, the perfect assassin, locks the doors and calmly walks out. The guards, unaware anything untoward has taken place, wait to the point of embarrassment thinking the king is taking a comfort break. Eventually they open the door and find the king assassinated in the most humiliating circumstances! Some people might have a problem with Ehud’s message from God. But Eglon was undoubtedly guilty of exploiting God’s people in ways described later in Deborah’s and Barak’s victory song (5:30). So this would have been seen, if you were an Israelite, as a suitable comeuppance! The rest, as they say, is history, Ehud’s leads the Israelites to an overwhelming victory and the land is blessed with 80 years of peace!

So what can we learn from this? First of all what was God’s message to Eglon? Quite simply, I think it could be paraphrase as: “You may think your gods have giving you victory over Israel, but you mess with my people, you mess with me!” So, the Lord was gracious towards his people when they came to him in an attitude of repentance, but this also illustrates that God’s judgement will come against those who oppose his purposes and people. Secondly, the Lord uses the most unlikely people and people in different ways. Ehud was an unlikely military commander compared to Othniel and nowhere do we read about the ‘Spirit of the Lord’ coming upon him as it did Othniel. But the Lord used his ingenuity and even his supposed disadvantage. Lastly, he attributes this incredible military victory to the Lord (v28).

Very often when we do things in the Lord’s service, we give ourselves a pat on the back and feel we’ve done well. But that’s not Ehud’s attitude in any shape or form. If he wasn’t a Judge already I suspect he was made one very quickly. But I suspect it didn’t go to his head, and that’s possibly why the land had peace for such a long time as Ehud proved to be a humble leader and that legacy continued for a while after he died. As such he stands as a good example to the Lord’s people in any day in age.

[1] Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Available, Judges (Eastbourne, Kingsway Communications, 1994) 30.