Judges

Judges 3:1-6

Some of the nations were left in the land after Joshua was gone and the next generation rose to prominence.  These folks broke covenant with the Lord (2:20) so the Lord would no longer drive them out.  This served two purposes for God:

1. To test Israel, whether they would keep the ways of the Lord, walk in them or not (2:22).
   1. Could they keep their spiritual commitment?
2. To test the children of Israel who had not known war.  They would have to know war.  It was a tool God would use to maintain His elect in a hostile, godless world.
   1. Could they keep the physical aspect of the spiritual commitment?

 To be God's elect was to know war and be trained in war.  The might and willingness to fight for their nation is the greatest deterrent to war. The bully never picks a fight with someone that fights back.  Having weapons was not enough; having the will was not enough.  They needed the might of Almighty God with the fortitude to maintain faith and bear arms. 

"The truth is that if Israel were to put down its arms there would be no more Israel.  If the Arabs were to put down their arms there would be no more war."  (Benjamin Netanyahu)

"But our strategy for peace with freedom must also be based on strength – economic strength and military strength."  (Ronald Reagan)

Israel's greatest enemy was not those around them – it was the apostasy of the nation.  It was their own rebellious hearts that turned from God to just about anything else.  The temptations of idolatry combined with their lack of trust.  They forgot God.  He used the nations around them to judge them. 

The nations left for God's purpose:

• The Philistines, originally sea people that settled in the land.  The five lords were leaders settled int 5 major cities of the coastal plain; Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Gath and Ekron.
• The Canaanites is a generic term used to refer to the inhabitants of Canaan; in Judges it is used to refer to the Philistines, Hivites, Phoenicians (Sidonians).
• Sidonians were the inhabitants of Sidon, the coastal city often mentioned with Tyre.  This city became a nation state.  The people of Lebanon and Syria were Sidonians.
• Hivites.  Not much is known about them.  The Gibeonites that deceived Joshua and Israel into forming a treaty were Hivites. 

See in Exodus 34:15-17; Deuteronomy 7:1-4 and 28:15.  The Israelites weren't to dabble with these other gods in any way.  They weren't to compromise or show consideration or understanding to their circumstances.  They weren't to intermarry with the people of the land who worshiped other gods. 

Israel entered into a time of testing before God.  They had a chance to grasp faith, be firmly committed to following the Lord.  They could have held each other firm in the ways of the Lord, remembering all the many warnings.  They were not to dwell among the inhabitants of the land, they were to removed them from the land.  Their failure to purge the enemy from the land meant they had allowed the enemy to live next door.  This probably seemed humane, considerate and sensitive to the needs of their neighbors.  Maybe they saw themselves as kind and considerate.  It wasn't long before they began to intermarry.  Then it was just a matter of time before they served the gods of those nations. 

Israel woefully failed the test.

These folks didn't wake up one day and decide to part from the Lord.  Spiritual breakdown comes slowly in little compromises over time.  To say that another way, faithfulness to the Lord and spiritual growth happens in a thousand little decisions every day, over time.  When we befriend unbelievers and we want to be accepted by them we tend to make compromises that lead us away from God.  When we don't want to be seen as close minded or difficult, we set aside God's law and precepts and compromise our values. 

Judges 3:7-11

The cycle of Judges was established in chapters 1 and two.

1. Israel forgets God and does their own thing.
   1. Apostasy results in idolatry, immorality and evil in God's sight.
2. Israel is judges.
   1. God uses the nations and gods that lead them away to oppress them.
3. The people finally cry out to God. 
   1. Why does it take so long?  It was never established in their life, their culture and passed through from generation to generation.
4. God sends a judge to deliver them.

This is the outline of the cycle, then the names and locations and specifics are the flesh hung on these bones.  The first cycle starts with the verse 7 stating:

1. They did evil
2. They forgot God
3. They served the Baals and Asherahs.

God's anger burned and he gave them over to Cushan-Rishathaim, a king in Mesopotamia.  His name as given is probably a play on words because it means 'dark, doubly wicked.'  Parents don't typically name their kids these kinds of things.  This area was known as Aram-Naharaim and translated eastern Syria or Mesopotamia.  It means 'Aram of the rivers' and means the land between the rivers.  It refers to the area by the upper Euphrates and Habur rivers.   

• Haran was in this area; where a servant of Abram went to seek a wife for Isaac (Gen 24:1-10).
• This is where Jacob returned to seek a wife (Gen 28:1–5) It is call Paddan-aram in Genesis – this is a synonym of Aram-Naharaim.
• This was also the home of Balaam, son of Beor, the pagan prophet (Deut 23:4).

God sold His children into the hands of this king for 8 years.  It took them this long to come to the realization that worshiping other gods wasn't working out too good for them.  They began to cry out to the God they knew loved them and held covenant with them. The Lord would send a deliverer; it's what He did.  In fact, the deliverer was among them.  He had raised up Othniel for this purpose.

We met Othniel in Judges 1 when Caleb offered his daughter to the man who conquered Kirjath Sepher.  Othniel went and took it and married Caleb's daughter.   Caleb called him a brother, but it was most likely a brother in arms or distant relative.  There is no known family line between them.  Othniel certainly showed himself to be a brave warrior who stepped up and acted at the challenge of Caleb.  He had been prepared and put in place.  The Spirit of the Lord came on him and he judged Israel.  Nothing had changed in the situation other than God called a man to step into a role of leadership and act with courage to perform a divinely inspired task.  One person filled with the Spirit of God can make quite an impact.  The way out of oppression had always been available to them; but only by obedience to the Lord and the power of His Spirit.

The Lord delivered Cushan-Rishathaim into his hand.  Othniel defeated the king and his army.  The rest of the land is a rest from no foreign oppressor.  I wonder if this rest also is a rest from the defilement and uncleanness resulting from the idols and worship of foreign gods.  Israel had peace for 40 years. 

Judges 3:12-15

Forty years brought Othniel to the end of his life.  There would have been a void in the leadership.  They were quite possibly trusting in Othniel and not the Lord.  I say this because after the death of Othniel, the cycle started again.  The children did evil in the sight of God.  This time He strengthened a Moabite king to humble and correct His children.  These are a people that had given them problems before (see Numbers 25:1).  They were to have been expelled from the land.  Their failure to do so was now coming back on the next generation.  The Moabite king created a coalition with the Ammonites and Amalekites.  They went to war against Israel and set up a stronghold at the former site of Jericho.  This was a natural stronghold, an oasis and had access to the routes into the central part of Israel.  Israel served the king them for 18 years.

It took a little longer this time for them to see their situation for what it was.  They had played the victim long enough and they remembered the way out.  They cried out to Yahweh and He had a man prepared for this purpose.  Ehud was a Benjaminite, an unlikely place which a deliverer might come.    Benjamin means son of the right hand; Ehud was left-handed man, maybe showing him as a different Benjaminite.  Some believe this 'left-hand' designation means that tribe taught their warriors to be ambidextrous (1 Chron 12:2).  It is fascinating that this man was the one to deliver tribute to the king while the Lord was changing his heart and preparing him for a coming season of to perform a great work. 

Judges 3:16-19

The dagger Ehud made would have been about 15-18 inches long with a double edge.  He sheathed this dagger and fastened it to his right thigh.  We can imagine Eglon's guards checked for weapons of anyone approaching the king – or he wouldn't be king too long.  A weapon would have normally been carried on the left side for a right-handed man to draw.  In addition, Ehud had been delivering tribute for some time.  The guard's familiarity to Ehud may have become complacency in watching for weapons.  The left-handed Ehud had become the perfect assassin. 

Ehud brought the tribute the very fat Eglon and then sent away those who accompanied him.  As he sent them on their way, Ehud turned back.  The stone images were boundary stones for the stronghold of Eglon.  They would have been carved with images of the gods they served; Chemosh of the Moabites, Molech of the Ammonites and Baal.  To enter into the stronghold and deliver tribute was to do so in the sight of these false gods and show submission to the king and his gods.  The placement of these stones would have very near to the placement of the 12 memorial stones set by Joshua.  The stones were placed for the coming ages:

"That all the peoples of the earth may know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty, that you may fear the Lord your God forever."

I believe Eglon's turning back was turning his back to the gods of Moab, Ammon and Amelek.  It was turning back to the memorial of the past.  It was a sacred act of the first step back to God for a man that would lead his people. 

God's final act of setting the stage came by the pride and paranoia of the fat king.  He didn't want anyone to hear a secret intended for him.  He thought the secret to be an additional gift of information from the God of the Israelites who had submitted to him and his gods.  The stage was set.

Judges 3:20-23

Ehud was alone with Eglon in his private room.  Eglon arose from his throne as Ehud approached.  I imagine that the drawing of his dagger had been practiced a thousand times, at least in his mind if not also practiced physically.  His life was on the line; he was all-in for the deliverance of his people.  There was no turning back.  The dagger was drawn and he thrust it into the large target of Eglon's belly.  The message of rebellion was delivered and Eglon quite literally got the point!  The blade, hilt and all disappear into the belly of Eglon.  The King James politely proclaims that the 'dirt came out'; the NASB uses the term refuse; The word 'entrails' in the NKJV, along with all the other translations cover what the ESV said correctly, "dung came out."  The blade apparently severed the large intestine emptying the contents before the king.

 Ehud left by the porch, locked the doors behind him. 

Judges 3:24-30

Eglon's servants came to check on the king.  They found the doors locked.  The locked doors and probably the smell made them think that the king must be going to the bathroom.  Several translations use the term 'relieving himself' while the King James says 'covereth his feet' which was a polite term for a bowel movement.  The servants waited and waited.  We can imagine their conversation about should they enter or not.  Disturbing the king could cause you to lose your life.  They finally used their key and opened the door to find their king dead, fallen in his own waste. 

Ehud escaped passing beyond the stone images.  The gods were powerless to defend the king and they were now powerless to stop the assassin.  Ehud went to Seirah, a safe place to muster the troops of Israel and excise the intruders from their land.  Ehud blew a trumpet in the hill country and rallied the people.  They went down to the fords to keep the Moabites from getting reinforcements and killed 10,000 soldiers.  No one escaped.  They were at peace for 80 years. 

Victory over their oppressor came that day.  The army was not stronger or larger, it was simply led.  The Moabites were 'stout men of valor' who once struck fear in Israel and cowered them in fear.  When they cried out to God, the Lord sent a man to lead them.  The faith, bravery and obedience of one man made all the difference.  The army once silenced was emboldened to rise up.  In doing so, the Lord delivered their enemies. 

Make no mistake that this was God's work.  He uses men to lead and armies born of faith.  All this comes about from people who seek Him; people who cry out to Him; people who turn back from other gods, other ways and return to Him.  This was done, not for the glory of Ehud or the fame of the army but so that all people would "know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty, that you may fear the Lord your God forever."

The land rested from oppressors and defilement for 80 years.  Then, the people had one again forgotten.

Judges 3:24-30

The cycle was once again repeated.  The outline was the same, the name of the oppressor changed, the name of the judge changed, the weapon of deliverance was different.  The cause was the same and the avenue of deliverance was a people remembering and crying out to God.

Shamgar was almost definitely not an Israelite.  Anath was a Canaanite goddess of war.  Shamgar is associated with this goddess.  He was certainly not a man of God, but a man used by God.  There are indications that the Philistines were moving south and expanding toward Egypt.  Some think Shamgar was an Egyptian that checked the Philistine conquest.  This warrior killed 600 Philistines with an ox goad.  An ox goad is a 7-foot-long pole with a metal tip to goad animals, sometimes there was a spade on the other end.  His action weakened the grip of the Israelites delivering them.

J. Vernon McGee summarizes this chapter, "They are three little men—plus God."^[1]

© 2015, 2022 Doug Ford, Calvary Chapel Sweetwater