Jdg 3:12 -31  The Lord Raised Them up a Deliverer, Ehud

[Study Aired March 8, 2021]

Jdg 3:12   And 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. 

Jdg 3:13   And he gathered unto him the children of Ammon and Amalek, and went and smote Israel, and possessed the city of palm trees. 

Jdg 3:14   So the children of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years. 

Jdg 3:15   But when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD, the LORD raised them up a deliverer, Ehud the son of Gera, a Benjamite, a man lefthanded: and by him the children of Israel sent a present unto Eglon the king of Moab. 

Jdg 3:16   But Ehud made him a dagger which had two edges, of a cubit length; and he did gird it under his raiment upon his right thigh. 

Jdg 3:17   And he brought the present unto Eglon king of Moab: and Eglon was a very fat man. 

Jdg 3:18   And when he had made an end to offer the present, he sent away the people that bare the present. 

Jdg 3:19   But he himself turned again from the quarries that were by Gilgal, and said, I have a secret errand unto thee, O king: who said, Keep silence. And all that stood by him went out from him. 

Jdg 3:20   And Ehud came unto him; and he was sitting in a summer parlour, which he had for himself alone. And Ehud said, I have a message from God unto thee. And he arose out of his seat. 

Jdg 3:21   And Ehud put forth his left hand, and took the dagger from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly: 

Jdg 3:22   And the haft also went in after the blade; and the fat closed upon the blade, so that he could not draw the dagger out of his belly; and the dirt came out. 

Jdg 3:23   Then Ehud went forth through the porch, and shut the doors of the parlour upon him, and locked them. 

Jdg 3:24   When he was gone out, his servants came; and when they saw that, behold, the doors of the parlour were locked, they said, Surely he covereth his feet in his summer chamber. 

Jdg 3:25   And they tarried till they were ashamed: and, behold, he opened not the doors of the parlour; therefore they took a key, and opened them: and, behold, their lord was fallen down dead on the earth. 

Jdg 3:26   And Ehud escaped while they tarried, and passed beyond the quarries, and escaped unto Seirath. 

Jdg 3:27   And it came to pass, when he was come, that he blew a trumpet in the mountain of Ephraim, and the children of Israel went down with him from the mount, and he before them. 

Jdg 3:28   And he said unto them, Follow after me: for the LORD hath delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hand. And they went down after him, and took the fords of Jordan toward Moab, and suffered not a man to pass over. 

Jdg 3:29   And they slew of Moab at that time about ten thousand men, all lusty, and all men of valour; and there escaped not a man. 

Jdg 3:30   So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest fourscore years. 

Jdg 3:31   And after him was Shamgar the son of Anath, which slew of the Philistines six hundred men with an ox goad: and he also delivered Israel. 

As shown in the review of verse 11, the rest that the Israelites had under various judges is a period where the enemies are restrained from attacking Israel. This rest is therefore absence of war.  It is therefore physical and is not the spiritual rest for God’s people that we are looking forward to. This spiritual rest is ceasing from our own works. That is, coming to see that it is not what we do by our own strength that matters, but what God does through us (His handiworks) is what is important. So then, our rest in Him does not depend on human will or exertion, but of God who shows mercy.

Heb 4:8  For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day.

Heb 4:9  There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.

Heb 4:10   For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.

Heb 4:11   Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.

Rom 9:16   So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. (ESV)

Jdg 3:12   And 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. 

Jdg 3:13   And he gathered unto him the children of Ammon and Amalek, and went and smote Israel, and possessed the city of palm trees. 

As indicated in the last review, the forty years of rest with Othniel as judge (verses 9–11) is not a period to be clothed with the Lord’s righteousness as the Israelites’ raiment never waxed old meaning they had their own standard of righteousness which is the law.  It was therefore just a matter of time for the Israelites to be under bondage to sin again. In this case, they were oppressed by the Moabites who were descendants of Lot’s son Moab. So the Moabites were fleshly related to the Israelites. This is to confirm to us that the enemy we are dealing with is our own flesh.

The enemies possessed the city of palm trees which was Jericho. Jericho was the first city that the Israelites possessed when they crossed the Jordan River. So the Israelites being dispossessed of the city of palm trees is another way of saying that we end up going back to our vomit at certain stages of our walk with Christ. Peter gave us the synopsis of how we end up going back to our vomit. It all starts when we pay more attention to the great swelling words of vanity perpetuated by our leaders in Babylon than the true word of God. As a result, we are lured through the lusts of the flesh to follow the way of Balaam who loved the wages of unrighteousness and therefore we end up becoming entangled in sins which we had escaped.

Deu 34:3  And the south, and the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, unto Zoar.

2Pe 2:18   For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error.

2Pe 2:19   While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.

2Pe 2:20   For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.

2Pe 2:21   For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.

2Pe 2:22   But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.

Jdg 3:14   So the children of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years. 

In verse 14, the Israelites served Eglon, the king of the Moabites for eighteen years. This is insightful as the number eighteen signifies a period in our lives when we are under satanic oppression resulting in us being powerless before the enemies within and wallowing in our own vomit. Remember that there was a woman in Jesus’ time who had the spirit of infirmity for eighteen years. Surprisingly, it was Jesus who saw her and came to her aid. In like manner, Jesus sees our situations and will not leave us alone to be oppressed by our enemies if we are destined to overcome them.

Jdg 10:8  And that year they vexed and oppressed the children of Israel: eighteen years, all the children of Israel that were on the other side Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead.

Luk 13:10   And he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath.

Luk 13:11   And, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself.

Luk 13:12   And when Jesus saw her, he called her to him, and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity.

Luk 13:13   And he laid his hands on her: and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God.

Luk 13:16   And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day?

Jdg 3:15   But when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD, the LORD raised them up a deliverer, Ehud the son of Gera, a Benjamite, a man lefthanded: and by him the children of Israel sent a present unto Eglon the king of Moab. </p