EHUD, THE LEFT HANDED WARRIOR
EHUD, THE LEFT HANDED WARRIOR
Sunday Evening Service
October 25, 2014, the Year of Our Lord
Pastor Carolyn Sissom
The background of the book of Judges is the “iron Age” or the “war Age” of Palestine. As Christians we regard with horror their tortuous ways. We must judge them by another standard from that by which we judge those of our own age. Although it seems the world is spinning backward without a moral compass in the 21st century.
In the time of the judges, they lived in a dark and corrupt period---even the light of truth which Israel had enjoyed in a previous century was sadly dimmed.
No great prophet had for a long time been raised up to teach them their duty to Jehovah and to one another. They got so accustomed to war and cruelty that survival by this means was second nature to them.
There was no strong leadership.
- The great soldier, Joshua was dead.
- The great statesman, Joseph was dead.
- The great religious leader, Eleazar was dead.
Thus we see the state of the commonwealth of Israel. It was wretched, corrupt and oppressed with anarchy.
We cannot shudder at their ways, unless we first condemn ourselves and the rulers of our age for our sins against God and our fellows, with all our superior advantages. Human nature without God reverts to barbarism.
The age of the Judges corresponded with the first part of the Prophet Elijah’s vision on Horeb---when he saw the wind, the earthquake and the fire breaking the mountains and rending the rocks. They had not heard, as we have, the still small voice of the Gospel of love, peace and forgiveness.
Judges 3:12- 30
After the death of Othniel, “the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord; and the Lord strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the Lord. Eglon gathered to him the children of Ammon and Amalek. He smote Israel, and possessed the city of palm trees. So the children of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years.”
The City of Palm Trees was once the site of the city of Jericho. That old Canaanite town, “fenced up to heaven,” It had been burned and destroyed by Joshua. The Canaanite spirit is all aspects of sexual perversion. The city’s walls were leveled with the ground, and a curse uttered against any one who should attempt to rebuild it. From this narrative, it appears to be considerably restored a hundred years afterward, at which time the story of Ehud begins.
The area was surrounded with a huge palm forest, eight miles in length and two in width. It was covered with fields of corn, and gardens containing balsam, olive, vine, fig, palm and pomegranate trees. In addition to the “border river” at its eastern extremity, this vast plain was watered by other streams.
Joshua saw at a glance that this City of Palms, which was called the “capital of the Jordan Valley,” was the key to the new conquest of the Promised Land. Although at the time of Ehud, its grandeur as a city was gone.
King Eglon was the monarch of Moab. He formed a confederacy of the western tribes, Ammon and “wild Amalek.” He crossed Jordan with his troops, marched through the dense palm forest, and took possession of the city of Palm trees.
He was a giant of a man described by Josephus as so fat and unwieldy as to not be suited for the art of war. As a descendent of the giant cities of the desert, it is believed by some he was a descendant of the old race of giants, the Rephaim. The Word of God says the Lord strengthened him. He made a successful attack on the fenced city of the plains.
Eglon built for himself a summer palace or pavilion. For eighteen years, he bullied tribute from the new settlers, and from the tribe of Benjamin. Like all old-world and present day tyrants, he would take every means to enforce the “insolence of power.” “He omitted no method whereby he might distress them.”
How could they mange to break the yoke, conquer the invader and recover the Eden of Palestine? Ever since Joshua’s death they had fallen away from the worship of the true God, and given themselves over to idolatry. The God they had dishonored left them very much to the fruit of their own ways. The land was in a state of disorder. They had no king, no head, no chiefs or leaders to rely upon in the hour of danger. They formed little more than an army of occupation in Palestine.
God was moved to compassion by their supplications put up to Him. There was a remnant of faithful, loyal hearts who did not cease to utter the old wilderness prayer, “Arise, O Lord, and let your enemies be scattered.”
3:15: “But when the children of Israel cried to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer, Ehud the son of Gera, a Benjamite, a man left-handed; and by him the children of Israel sent a present to Eglon and king of Moab.”
Again the blow was to be struck by one brave hand. His name is not mentioned along with others in the heroes of faith in Hebrews, or in the future warrior songs.
Our hero of this story, a Benjamite was apparently a youth. We might draw an image of him as muscular, wiry, and nimble like a gazelle on the mountains. Josephus speaks of him as “a man of a very strong body, fit for hard labor, but best skilled in using his left hand, in which was his whole strength.” This left-hand power seems strangely enough to have belonged to his tribe; for Josephus in another place described a great pitched battle some years before, between the Benjamites and the other Israelites. He specially mentions that “five hundred of the archers slung stones with their left hand.” Later in Judges, it is recorded that a greater number of the tribe of Benjamin, who, as slingers, had this peculiarity. So perfect were they in the warlike art, as to be able to throw stones at a hair and not miss. (Jdg. 20:16).
This is all the more remarkable as “Benjamin” signifies “the son of the right hand”.
Alike in soul, body heroic bravery and physical strength, Ehud seems to have been well suited for his desperate mission.
“By him the children of Israel sent a present to the King of Moab.” By personally carrying gifts to the summer palace, this would place him in good graces with Eglon, his courtiers, and servants. It is obvious he was the selected representative to convey the yearly tribute from the tribe. The tribute would have been borne by a great number of persons, who, marching in processions delivered the valuable to the king.
3: 16-18: “But Ehud made a dagger which had two edges, of a cubit length (18 inches). He gird it under his cloak upon his right thigh. He brought the present to Eglon, king of Moab; and Eglon was a very fat man. When he had made an end to offer the present, he sent away the people that bare the present.”
In view of his plan and following verse, I believe we can assume he sent them to meet him at Gilgal once his mission was completed.
3:19: “But he himself turned again from the quarries that were by Gilgal; and said, I have a secret errand to you, o king; who said, keep silence. All that stood by him went out from him.”
The word “quarries”
signifies to “cut” or “carve”.
We can propose the reference may be to some graven images that had been carved
and set up in this place by the invading Moabites. Gilgal was holy ground. In this same place after crossing Jordan, the
Hebrew tribes set up their twelve memorial stones taken out of the bed of the
river. The images of heathen deities may
have been purposely erected to profane one of the “holy places” of the
Israelites. It is considered that one of
the most hallowed spots in Israel’s
memory was desecrated and profaned by the idols of the conquerors.
Why would Ehud visit there? Gilgal would have been recognized as holy ground being a far distance from Shiloh (the recognized sanctuary, where the Ark now was). In this place, Joshua had seen the Captain of the Lord’s host with the sword drawn in his hand, and was pronounced by the Lord as holy ground (Josh. 5: 10-15). Gilgal was a gathering place for the tribes. Jos. 10:7: “Joshua ascended from Gilgal”.
That it was a place visitation and habitation of the Lord of Hosts. Our terminology of an “open heaven”, is affirmed in Judges 2:1-5: “An angel of the Lord came up from Gilgal to Bochim and spoke to the children of Israel, confirming his covenant with them, admonishing them to tear down the altars of the heathen; then rebuking them for disobedience, with the judgment that the inhabitants would be thorns in their sides and their gods a snare to them. The people lifted up their voice and wept.
Ehud had the reputation in his tribe of being a prophet---gifted with the power of the Lord. “He turned himself again from the Quarries,” and hastened once more to the fortress. He is soon standing in the presence of the king. Since visiting Gilgal, known by history to be a place of habitation and visitation of the Lord, he would be able to tell his unsuspecting victim that he had just been at the place recognized as “holy” by the religion of the Moabites and Israelites. As a prophet of God, he had a message from God for Eglon.
16:20: “Ehud came to the king. Eglon was sitting in a summer parlor, which he had for himself alone. Ehud, said, I have a message from God to you. Eglon rose out of his seat.”
The summer parlor was a “parlor of cooling”. On a divan in the upper end would be seated the portly king of Moab. The season was summer. Josephus further notes, that the hero purposely selected the middle of the day, when the main body-guards of the king had gone to their noontide rest or meal.
By the fact that Eglon rose out of his seat at the possibility of “a message from God” indicates to me that Ehud’s reputation had preceded him. The King knew he was a man who was anointed by the Lord; and that he had just visited Gilgal where it was known the Lord had spoken in times past to the children of Israel.
Assassinations among these Eastern tribes were frequent. We can consider Ehud would have been scrutinized by Eglon’s body-guard. The left thigh would be the most likely place for a weapon for a right handed man. They would not suspect that a dagger was hidden under the folds of the cloak at the right side.
At the prospect of hearing a message from God, it is likely Eglon cleared the room of any servants. Although the word reads that the summer parlor was his alone.
The Apostle Paul said that being crafty he had caught the evil doers with guile. Well, we can say that Ehud was crafty and caught the king with guile.
3:21-22: “Ehud put forth his left hand, and took the dagger from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly. The handle also went in after the blade; and the fat closed upon the blade, so that he couldn’t draw the dagger out of his belly…”
(Postscript: The blade was 18 inches long. The handle of the dagger also went into the belly. I asked Mark West (a good authority) how long a handle would be on an 18 inch dagger. He suggested 7 inches. So the full length of the dagger would have been 25 inches). I purposely left out the closing words of verse 22---too gross for me---read it yourself.
Ehud finishes the deed as deliberately as he began. He calmly walks out on the porch, shuts the doors of the parlor upon the corpse and locked the doors. After Ehud left, Eglon’s servants came; and when they saw the doors of the parlor were locked, they said, surely he covers his feet in his summer chamber”
They listen---all is still. They imagine that Eglon having finished with the Israelite has gone to his “siesta”. 3:23: “They tarried until they were ashamed and behold, Ehud did not open the doors of the parlor. They took a key and opened the doors. Behold, their lord was fallen down dead on the earth.”
The mention of them being “ashamed” indicates they were sleeping or playing around.
Meanwhile Ehud made good his escape. He seems to have gone out of his way that he might pause again for a moment at “the Quarries” at Gilgal.
3:26: “Ehud escaped while they tarried, and passed beyond the quarries, and escaped to Seirath.”
Seirath is the wild, mountainous country of Ephraim.
3: 27-29 It came to pass, when he arrived, that he blew a trumpet in the mountain of Ephraim, and the children and the children of Israel went down with him from the mount, and he before them. He said to them; follow after me; for the Lord has delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hand. They went down after him and took the fords of Jordan toward Moab, and did not allow any man to pass over. They slew of Moab at the time about then thousand men, all lusty, and all men of valor; and there escaped not a man.”
Shofars were used to summon the tribes in the hour of danger, assemble the people, or to prepare for battle. I will presume the Israelites knew his mission. The people who went with him had already returned and they were ready and waiting for the sound of the trumpet to send the message that he had been victorious.
They well understood the sound of the rallying notes which were speedily answered. In a few hours, a resolute army composed of that powerful tribe, were on march to the Jericho fortress under the leadership of Ehud.
His battle cry, “Follow after me, for the Lord has delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hand.” A monarch’s violent death, in these times, seemed invariably to have the effect of striking terror among the soldiers and people.
No sooner was the assassination discovered, than dismay and disorder spread from the palace to the city. The barracks contained “men of valor” to the number of ten thousand. But these troops of the king were the first to flee from the death-stricken fortress. Their strategy for retreat was to cross the passage of Jordan to their own territory in Moab. Ehud and his brave band were before them prepared to intercept them at the fords of the Jordan.
Josephus tells us that “not so much as one of them escaped.”
3:30: “So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest eighty years.
There were no more attacks by the fierce Arabs of Moab, Ammon or Amalek, for nearly a century. The blessings of peace were happily secured---“the land had rest for eighty years”.
Judges 5:11: “They who are delivered from the noise of archers in the places of drawing water; there shall they rehearse the righteous acts of the Lord, even the righteous acts of the Lord, even the righteous acts toward the inhabitants of His villages in Israel.”
Ehud’s death blow to Eglon typifies Jesus’ total defeat of the prince of this world.
That which separates any nation from living in rest and peace is sin and rejection of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
Postscript:
Moabites: descendants of Lot, land east of the Dead Sea ---their god Cehnmosh was worshiped by human sacrifice.
Ammonites – descendants of Lot, whose territory joined Moab, about 30 miles east of the Jordan – their god Moloch was worshipped by the burning of little children.
Amalekites – descendants of Esau, a wandering tribe centering mainly in the north part of the Sinai Peninsula, but roaming in wide circle.
Ehud means united, to unify; union; strong.
Carolyn Sissom, Pastor
Eastgate Ministries Church
Scripture from K.J.V. – I entered into the labors of John Ross MacDuff – Tales of the Warrior Judges. Comments and conclusions are my own and not meant to reflect the views of Rev. MacDuff.