In the Old Testament, God appointed a handful of Judges to rule over Israel prior to when the kings took charge. Fifteen in all, they appeared to degrade in morality from start to the finish of their reign—with the exception of Samuel, the last judge (1 Samuel 2:18-4:1).
The second judge’s story plays out like a Mission Impossible story with an absurd ending. This article will dive into why Israel needed judges in the first place, who Ehud was and his story, and why it matters.
Why Did Israel Need Judges in the Bible?
Per the typical Israelite Old Testament pattern, they chased after other gods, a lot. They would lose sight of God and do evil in the sight of the Lord (Judges 3:12).
Whenever this would happen, God would give them over to the hands of their enemies. We can see a similar sentiment in Romans 1:24 when God allows people to have the desires of their hearts. In the time of the judges, the Lord would let the Israelites know who exactly they were chasing, by letting the enemy they worshipped take over.
In the case of Ehud’s story, God lets the Moabites, a group of people that descended from an incestuous relationship from Abraham’s nephew Lot (Genesis 19:37) rule over them for a short while.
When the Israelites would realize the error of their ways and cry out to God to release them from their oppressors, God would send a judge to save them and rule over them for a short period of time.
Once the judge no longer ruled Israel, they chased after other gods, and the pattern began again.
The Odd Story of Ehud in the Bible
Right off the bat, we get an odd fact about this judge: he’s left-handed (Judges 3:15).
Not only does stick out as a rarity in any time, but Ehud’s left-handed-ness will help him take down the king of Moab, Eglon, later in the story. He stashes a one and a half sword on his righthand side and pretends to pay tribute to the Moabite king. When the guards check his left-hand side (assuming he’s righthanded), they see no weapon and allow him to proceed to the king.
Ehud claims to have a secret message for the king. King Eglon likes knowing he has a message all to himself and tells his other guards to leave him so he can hear it in private. The “message” turns out to be a sword plunged into Eglon’s gut (Judges 3:20-21). Judges 3:17 describes King Eglon as, “a very fat man.” Ehud plunges the entire blade into the king, and his belly closes over the hilt.
The judge makes his escape after he locks the doors. When the servants see the doors, they assume the king has gone to relieve himself (Judges 3:24). But after a while, they start to get antsy and decide to check in on the king. They find him dead.
What Can We Lean from Ehud?
Not only can readers find this story somewhat fast-paced and entertaining, like an espionage thriller, but believers today can pluck a number of truths from Ehud and the judges in general.
1. God can use quirks.
Christians may possess a quirk that may seem useless for the time being, but God can use anything to carry out his will. Ehud’s dominant use of his left hand proved essential to taking down the Moabite king. Otherwise, the guards would’ve found his weapon and probably put him to death for trying to assassinate their ruler.
2. God can do incredible works through a single person.
After Ehud kills the king, and the Israelites battle the Moabites, they experience 80 years of peace. No one could’ve guessed a single person could’ve changed the history of the Israelite nation in a single day.
To add to this, Ehud came from the smallest tribe of Israel: the tribe of Benjamin. This also adds to the unlikelihood of this judge taking on the king of a powerful warrior country. But God still moves through him.
3. The judges show us our need to turn back to God.
Not everyone lives under the oppression of a foreign nation, but we do have a vicious entity we often turn to – sin. It oppresses us and takes us captive, and we need a judge to save us from its unyielding grip.
The New Testament refers to Jesus as a judge (John 5:22, James 5:9). He saves us from the ultimate enemy, Satan, and brings us back to him.
Hope Bolinger is a literary agent at C.Y.L.E. and a recent graduate of Taylor University's professional writing program. More than 400 of her works have been featured in various publications ranging from Writer's Digest to Keys for Kids. She has worked for various publishing companies, magazines, newspapers, and literary agencies and has edited the work of authors such as Jerry B. Jenkins and Michelle Medlock Adams. Her column "Hope's Hacks," tips and tricks to avoid writer's block, reaches 6,000+ readers weekly and is featured monthly on Cyle Young's blog. Her modern-day Daniel, “Blaze,” (Illuminate YA) just released, and they contracted the sequel for 2020. Find out more about her here.
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