Ehud & Shamgar

Take your Bibles tonight, open them to the book of Judges.

! Judges and find chapter 3.! And tonight we're going to be looking at the second and third of the judges.

Those judges or deliverers really is the idea here behind the word. Delivers that God raised up to deliver Israel from the oppression of their enemies.

And we're going to see as we make our way through the book of Judges that Israel is going to face a number of enemies, a number of oppressors. Many of them are going to come from the very people that they allowed to stay in the land, the land that they were to conquer, and the people that they were to destroy by God's judgment.

All right, so two judges tonight. The first one will be Ehud. And as soon as we begin to read the text, you're going to remember something about Ehud and the circumstances there.

Rather interesting. Some of it rather graphic, actually. And then the second one is Shamgar. Shamgar. And it's interesting to note, though you probably already know this, that the Bible devotes 19 verses to Ehud and only one single verse to Shamgar.

Shamgar. And so we might be thinking that Ehud is more important than Shamgar. But really that's not the case. And we'll get to Shamgar at the last.

All right, so let me go ahead and read the text. I thought about maybe just not reading it and then working our way through it. But I think I'll read the entire passage and then we'll go through it step by step.

So starting with chapter 3, verse 12. And the children of Israel again, you'll have to mark that word, again did evil in the sight of the Lord.

So the Lord strengthened Eglon, king of Moab, against Israel. Because they had done evil in the sight of the Lord. Then he gathered to himself the people of Ammon, that is, Eglon gathered to himself.

The people of Ammon and Amalek went and defeated Israel and took possession of the city of Palms. So the children of Israel served Eglon, king of Moab, 18 years.

But when the children of Israel cried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer for them, a judge, Ehud, the son of Gerah, the Benjamite, a left-handed man.

By him the children of Israel sent tribute to Eglon, king of Moab. Now Ehud made himself a dagger. It was double-edged and a cubit in length and fastened it under his clothes on his right thigh.

So he brought the tribute to Eglon, king of Moab. Now Eglon was a very fat man. Now that's how it's translated here in the New King James.

And when he had finished presenting the tribute, he sent away the people who had carried the tribute. But he himself turned back from the stone images that were at Gilgal and said, I have a secret message for you, O king.

He said, Eglon said, Keep silence. And all who attended him went out from him. So Ehud came to him, that is to Eglon.

Now he was sitting upstairs in his cool private chamber. Then Ehud said, I have a message from God for you. So he arose from his seat. Then Ehud reached with his left hand, took the dagger from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly.

Even the hilt went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade, for he did not draw the dagger out of his belly, and his entrails came out.

I told you this was very graphic. When you begin to explain some of the graphic nature, it gets even worse. All right, we'll get to that. Then Ehud went out through the porch, and shut the doors of the upper room behind him, and locked them.

When he had gone out, Eglon's servants came to look, and to their surprise, the doors of the upper room were locked. So they said, He is probably attending to his needs in the cool chamber.

So they waited, till they were embarrassed. And still, he had not opened the doors of the upper room. I mean, how could he? He's dead. Okay, but they didn't know that. Therefore they took the key, and opened them, and there was their master, fallen dead on the floor.

But Ehud had escaped while they delayed, and passed beyond the stone images, and escaped to Saraiah. Sarah. Sarah, probably, something like that.

And it happened when he arrived, that he blew the trumpet in the mountains of Ephraim, and the children of Israel went down with him from the mountains, and he led them.

Then he said to them, Follow me, for the Lord has delivered your enemies, the Moabites, into your hand. So they went down after him, seized the fords of the Jordan leading to Moab, and did not allow anyone to cross over.

And at that time, they killed about 10,000 men of Moab, all stout men of valor, not a man escaped. So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel, and the land had rest for 80 years.

After him was Shamgar, the son of Anath, who killed 600 men of the Philistines with an ox goad, and he also delivered Israel.

So you can see, kind of tag on to the end of that. Shamgar, and, you know, the description there, compared to Ehud, is pretty anticlimactic. But, so here are the two, two judges we're going to talk about tonight, or consider tonight, as we look at this text.

And, we'll take Ehud first, of course. And I read, by the way, this past week, a rather creative title, a title of a sermon, on Ehud, that went kind of like this, When Lefty Killed Hefty.

Because I thought I might, you know, I might just use that title for, I just, I couldn't resist. I read that, I had to share that with you.

Alright, now, as I try to compose myself, as we focus on, this second of Israel's judges, Ehud, first thing that we want to see here, is, what I've called, a shocking departure.

A shocking departure. And, and really, though I didn't read verse 11, really need to go back to verse 11, and get the, kind of the full import, of what's going on here.

Verse 11 says, So the land had rest for 40 years, then Ophniel, the son of Canaz, died. I remember, we, we looked at Ophniel last week.

And, we, you know, mentioned, I think, I did, at the beginning of it, in fact, I think, a couple of times, I've mentioned, kind of the formula, that, that, that, that we follow, or really, Israel kind of, followed, throughout the book of Judges, where, they would, you know, rebel against God, and God then would judge them, and then God would, they would cry out to him, and then God would raise up a deliverer, and he would deliver them, and as long as the deliverer was alive, there would be peace, everything would be fine, and then when the deliverer died, then, Israel would revert back, to their old ways, and that's exactly what, has happened here.

So, Ophniel, a deliverer, he delivered them, and they had rest, from their oppressors, for 40 years, doesn't mean that they, then, were free of sin, all those 40 years, doesn't, doesn't mean that, you know, now they're flying straight, and everything's great, for 40 years, and then, you know, that quickly, they turn, now they've begun, very quickly, were beginning to turn away, from the Lord anyway, but they had rest, as long as Ophniel was alive, but then he died, and so then comes verse 12, and the children of Israel, and here's that word, I told you to mark, again, did evil, in the sight of the Lord, now, it begs the question, what had they learned, from, you know, 40 years earlier, you know, God had showed mercy, upon them, he certainly didn't have to do that, he showed mercy, and grace, and God raised up Ophniel, and Ophniel, delivered the people, and he used Ophniel, to, to remove the oppression, and God allowed them, to experience relative peace, for 40 years, so what happened,

I guess, you know, maybe, 40 years is kind of the, you know, the standard number, for a generation, and so maybe, the memory, of what God had done, and the memory, of what God had commanded, had passed away, with that generation, of adults, you know, perhaps that's the answer, perhaps, also that generation, under Ophniel, died when Ophniel died, and perhaps they failed, as many generations do, to pass on, God's word, and not only, to pass on God's word, but also to pass on, the great, and wondrous, and gracious things, things that God has done, in behalf of his people, maybe they just didn't pass that on, and I think that's very likely, but really, no matter how you try, to explain it, this is still, you know, shocking, when you read it, and this is not the only place, we find that, we find it all the way, through judging, we find it in so many, other places, in the Old Testament, you know, even before judges,

I mean, this shocking behavior, this shocking rebellion, departure, from God, and his word, in spite of the fact, that he revealed himself, in astounding ways, his might, and his supernatural power, and his grace, and deliverance, in spite of that, they departed from him, and it's shocking, the children of Israel, again, did evil, in the sight, of the Lord, now what is God's response, well, we already know, and again, this pattern, is repeated, all the way through, the book of Judges, verse 12, it says here, and I want you, to understand, it's because God loves them, because if God did not love them, then, he would have taken no action, other than the maybe, to utterly destroy them, but it's because of his grace, and mercy, his love for them, that we have verse 12, so the Lord strengthened, and this is important to note, the Lord strengthened Eglon, the king of Moab, he actually put strength, in this pagan king, the king of Moab, strengthened him, against Israel, because, again, they had done evil, in the sight of the Lord, now, who were the Moabites, we might know, a little bit of, biblical history, about the Moabites, well,

I mean, just from, judges, we understand, that the Moabites, were, God's chosen instruments, to bring judgment, upon God's rebellious people, all right, and that's, that's exactly what, what, how they served God, in this way, but it's interesting, that they were, surely you remember, you know, your biblical history, history of the Jews, they, they were, close relatives, to the Jews, to the Israelites, they were the descendants, of Abraham's nephew, Lot, so they were, connected in a sense, all right, though they, really were not, connected in any other way, but, so that, that's interesting, and this is actually, the second time, that the Moabites, attempted to conquer Israel, and, you might remember, that famous story, back in Numbers, 22 to 24, that, those chapters, contain the story, about Balak, king of, of the Moabites, and how he, tried to use,

Balaam, remember, to, curse, Israel, and every time, he tried to curse him, he, you know, blessings came out, and so you know, a little bit about that story, that was, that was, the Moabites there, so here they are again, attempting to conquer, Israel, and at least, a portion of it, there's nothing in the text, that suggests, that they had actually, conquered the entire, land of Canaan, but, but usually, the, the oppression, comes in pockets, or in particular locations, within, the promised land, and so here they are again, though, conquering Israel, and, and, defeating them, and so now, Eglon is the king, this time, not Balak, this is, this is centuries later, and, or decades later, and, and he's the king of the Moabites, and he forms an alliance, the Bible says here, with a couple of other nations, who were also enemies, of Israel, and nations that were allowed, to exist in, in the land of Canaan, he, verse 13 says, he gathered to himself, the people of Ammon, that would be the Ammonites, and, the people of Amalek,

Amalek is, you know, just the name of the, kind of the patriarch, of the Amalekites, and, went and defeated Israel, so this alliance comes together, led by Eglon, king of Moab, the Ammonites, and the Amalekites, and they defeat Israel, and, took possession, of, it says here, the city of Palms, a lot of, question about that, and I thought, I'd just throw this in here, just might be interesting to you, and yet, most, even though there's some question, most scholars, agree, that the city of Palms, is a reference to Jericho, reference to Jericho, the ancient city of Jericho, and, you know what happened to Jericho, when God's people, came into the land, and, they were utterly, utterly destroyed, and cursed, by Joshua, and, but, apparently, were rebuilt, to a point, and, we know later, there was a Jericho, and so here, he takes Jericho, or a rebuilt Jericho, and,

I think the idea is, that this is his base of operation, he chose this very prominent, very well known city, very key city, in the land of Canaan, and, either Eglon, knew nothing of Joshua's curse, on Jericho, which, which is somewhat likely, that curse you can find, in Joshua 6, 26, or, Eglon, selected, that particular location, as his base of operation, as an act of defiance, against Israel, and against God, because God had cursed, that, that city, and so he just, you know, just, picks that in, in your face God, this is going to be my, my city, my base of operation, my headquarters, alright now, remember, God, though, and this is what we need, to keep in our minds, God was the one, that strengthened Eglon, this, this was God's doing, God brought, brought Eglon to power, he's a pagan king, pagan people, haters of Israel, and God, brought him to power, and God, enabled Eglon, to build, a conquering army, and to form, this alliance, all,

God is all behind this, alright, and, and God then, I guess we could say, and, I think, rightly say, that God was the one, who conquered Israel, conquered them, using, Eglon, and his alliance, verse 14 says, the children of Israel, served Eglon, king of Moab, 18 years, you see, here's the point, God can chastise, his people, any way he chooses, even in ways, that don't, don't seem, or rather, do seem, to be a contradiction, to a holy God, I mean, he had, God has at his disposal, every kingdom, of this world, he does, they're under his sovereignty, and always have been, always will be, he, Paul said in Acts 17, he's the one, that determines, their existence, and determines, their borders, you know, even, even though, nations have warred, against nations, and, and empires, have been, you know, have conquered nations, and expanded their territories, and expanded their boundaries, and yet, the Bible says,

Paul says, that's God's doing, he's the one, that determines, their boundaries, God is sovereign, and he can use, then, unbelievers, to do his bidding, and that's true, of nations, that can be true, of our nation, that is also true, obviously, for the individual believer, God can even use, pagans, unbelievers, and often does, to discipline, his people, and that's, what he did here, and that's really, the story, all the way, through Judges, now, how did Israel, respond to this, well, like they always did, they started crying, big cry babies, well, crying out, crying out, to the Lord, or it doesn't say, what they said, but we know, the gist, the substance of it, help, we're sorry, God, please forgive us, you know, come to our rescue,

I know, for the last 40 years, we haven't exactly, you know, been what we ought to be, but, but God help us, and so they cried out, in verse 15, and God had mercy upon them, and that was his plan, all along, to have mercy upon them, to deliver them, and to restore them, and to reconcile them, all right, now, he didn't do it right away, he let them suffer, for 18 years, under Eglon, now, you know, I don't know, if it was that, they didn't start crying, until after the 18 years, was nearly up, you know, finally got it, finally clicked, or whether they were crying, for 18 years, and God, in his long, his patience, and, and in his own, providential timing, he did not come, to their delivery, until the end of that 18 years, I don't know, I don't know, either way, makes sense, maybe more so, that God waited, and, and let them stew, let them suffer, as a part of his chest, tithesment, and so verse 15 says, and the Lord raised up a deliverer, again, a judge, for them, and that leads, to the second point, a stealthy, deliverer, and very stealthy, in verse 15, we're introduced, to an Israelite, by the name of Ehud,

Ehud, is his name, and who was he, who was Ehud, well, we can learn a few things, from just this, this one verse, this, this first verse, that introduces him, first place he was, it says, the son of Gera, and, little is known about that, but he was a Benjamite, alright, so we know he's a Benjamite, and I'll say more about that, here in just a moment, so let's move to the second thing, it says about him, second thing we can know about him, and it's interesting, his name, means, where is the majesty, where is, or where is the splendor, that's what his name means, and very much like, the name Ichabod, remember the name Ichabod, which literally means, where is the glory, but the idea is, that the glory has departed, and that's the idea, behind the name of Ehud, the majesty has departed, the splendor, the splendor of Yahweh God, has departed, and so there were probably, a number of young people, named during this period of time, named with names, that had similar meanings, and this is what Ehud's name meant, you know, where is the majesty, where is the splendor, and so his name, points to the spiritual confusion, of the time, the spiritual discouragement, and emptiness, of this particular time, in Israel's life, third, and this is very interesting, he is a left-handed man, now there had to be a reason, why God put that in there, that he was a left-handed man, and it's a little confusing, much debate about what it means,

I mean not hard debate, I mean it's not a biggie, is it, and yet there's, you know, there's some differences of opinion, about what that means, left-handed man, and first of all, going back to the fact, that he was a Benjamite, of the tribe of Benjamin, the name Benjamite, means son of the right hand, now that's interesting, and Ehud, it says, is left-handed, so, a bit of irony, if nothing else, so I guess we could leave it there, it's just, kind of ironical, you know, of Benjamin, son of the right hand, and yet he's left-handed, or, maybe there's something else here, and this is just, kind of interesting, and I'll just, you know, let you decide, what you want to think about it all, but the root of the word, left-handed, the root of that word, that Hebrew word, is also used, in other places, to refer to a handicap, a handicap, and it can possibly, be translated, restricted, restricted in the right hand, kind of an expanded meaning, of the root word, that is used here in the text, restricted in the right hand, so Ehud may have been handicapped, they've been handicapped, by possibly some deformity, in his right hand, you know, or even, some have suggested, even to some extent, the right side of his body, though I really think, he had use of his legs, because he had to really book it, when he, you know, took out Eglon, but it could be, that it was a handicap, and so that's, that's why it's translated, you know, he was left-handed, that is, he was dominant left hand, because his right hand, was of little use, or we could go even further, it could refer, to, to his abilities, this could possibly, be a reference, to his unique ability, as a warrior, as a soldier,

I know, I mean, I've just given you, several things that it could mean, and you'll just have to decide, I don't know that it, matters a whole lot, it's difficult, for a preacher to say, that some part of scripture, doesn't matter a whole lot, but I mean, it's difficult to know, what it means, so you just have to take your guess, but it could mean that, Judges 20, for example, Judges 20, verses 15 through 16, in fact, I'll read it to you, you can jot it down, read it on your own, but in Judges 20, verses 15 to 16, it speaks of an entire, kind of contingent, of exceptionally, skilled, Benjamite soldiers, and this is what the, what the text says, in verse 15, and from their cities, at that time, the children of Benjamin, numbered 26,000 men, who drew the sword, besides the inhabitants of Gibeah, who numbered 700 select men, among all this people, he's talking about the Benjamites, were 700 select men, who were left handed, that's interesting, they were left handed, everyone could sling a stone, at a hair's breadth, at just a hair, and not miss, so they were extremely skilled, they were all left handed, and they could throw, you know, throw a rock with a sling, and hit just a hair, and never miss, and so, you know, the idea is, that they were exceptional, exceptionally skilled, as warriors, as soldiers, and so it could be that, that this is the idea with Ehud, just a very skilled soldier, warrior, and then, there is the reference, in 1st Chronicles 12, 2, let me read that to you, 1st Chronicles 12, 2,

I'll start with verse 1, and these were the men, who came to David, in Ziklag, while he was still a fugitive, from Saul, the son of Kish, and they were among, the mighty men, helpers in the war, armed with bows, using both the right hand, and the left hand, in hurling stones, and shooting arrows, with the bow, they were of Benjamin, Saul's brethren, so, again, the idea is, very skilled, and yet, they could use, the left or the right, so the idea there, is that they were ambidextrous, and so it could be, that, Ehud was, not only a skilled warrior, but ambidextrous, he could use the left, or the right, and a little bit later, in the story, you know, that he says, he's left handed, and where does he put the dagger, on his right thigh, you know, now, you know, maybe, it's just easier, to reach there, and, you know, do your thing, or it's, again, just a reference, to the fact, that he was ambidextrous,

I don't know, all right, so, you pick, but it's interesting, God, put that little bit, of information in there, and it must have been important, and, and if I were to say, you know, what makes sense here, and based upon, some of the other, scriptural evidence, I think it's a, it is a word, about, Ehud's abilities, he was, he was skilled, very skilled, and possibly ambidextrous, and, he was just the right man, that God, had raised up, and trained, for this particular task, to deliver his people, all right, now, what was Ehud's plan, well, it seemed, a pretty simple plan, actually, though it, reads like, the script of a movie, you know, an action movie, and, though, I want to say, that for this to work, I mean, you read through this, the description, of what, Ehud did, his plan, and, and, and how all that unfolded, for all of this to work, Eglon, and his bodyguards, and attendants, had to have been, extremely slow witted, you know, at no time, did it dawn on them, what Ehud was up to, you know, verse 15, and maybe God, just simply clouded, their judgment, that might be the best, conclusion to come to, verse 15, by him, the children of Israel, sent tribute, to Eglon, king of Moab, so this is the beginning, of the plan,

Israel, they're under the control, of, of Moab, and Eglon, and so, generally, what would be required, of a conquered nation, they would pay taxes, maybe it would be, in the form of gold, silver, maybe, commodities, other things, and so, Ehud, is leading a contingent, from, from Israel, with, uh, you know, their, their, their tribute, maybe brought it in boxes, or bags, or whatever, all right, so this is, this is his way, obviously, uh, of getting in, to meet the king, verse 16, now, Ehud, made himself a dagger, now, this is what he had done, in preparation, he made himself a dagger, and, uh, it was double-edged, the Bible says, parenthetically here, double-edged dagger, perfect for what he was, going to use it for, and, a cubit in length, or, probably, 18 inches long, that's pretty, pretty long dagger,

I'd call that a short sword, 18 inches, perfect type of blade, for the job, and fastened it under his clothes, on his right thigh, which again, may be a clue, that he, uh, was ambidextrous, verse 17, so he brought the tribute, to Eglon king of Moab, now, Eglon was a very fat man, and that's also put in there, parenthetically, and, uh, there's a reason for that, because of what's going to happen, a little bit, uh, here in just a bit, and when he had finished, presenting the tribute, done what he had come to do, he sent away the people, who had carried the tribute, so he had a contingent with him, and they carried all of that, and so he dismisses them, and, it appears that he is also, turning to leave, but, says in verse 19, he, or he, Ehud, turned back, from the stone images, that were at Gilgal, a lot of debate, about what, that's about, he's inside a place here, uh, a, a palace, or a building of some sort, where,

Eglon's throne is, uh, uh, perhaps, and so, I think the idea is, that either the stones, came from Gilgal, and these stones were carved, into the images, of Cainite gods, and they were, very likely, erected right there, at the entrance, of this, uh, uh, chamber, uh, where, uh, where, uh, Ehud is meeting with Eglon, and so, he says to him, I have a secret message for you, wow, Eglon, ears are perked up, a secret message, okay, king, and he said, Eglon said, keep silence, or, shh, shh, now, that was evidently, a signal for, everyone else in the room, to leave, all right, I've got a secret message for you, and it's like the king saying, shh, don't tell me yet, and he looks to all of his attendants, and they get the message, they know, oh, time to get out of here, this is a secret message, a private message, only for the king's ears, and so,

King Eglon says, keep silence, shh, and his attendants and guards, took, again, took that as a signal, and all who attended him, went out from him, so, here's Eglon, and he had, they're all alone, inside the, the chamber, and it doesn't dawn on Eglon, that this is probably, not, a good situation, not safe, apparently doesn't dawn, on his guards, either, I mean, they're at the door, presumably outside the door, guarding the entrance, and all of, Eglon's attendants, are in there, and he would have, quite an entourage, take care of his needs, and so, the guards see, everybody leaving, except for Ehud, and, it just didn't dawn on them, or maybe they just, feared the king too much, to question it, and so, it's pretty clear, obviously, now, what Ehud's plan is, right, now, we've already read, the rest of the story, so we know, what's coming next, the secret dagger, strapped to his thigh, under his clothes, and it's hidden, you know, before he was able, to come into the presence, of the king, all of his, his weaponry, would have to be turned over, if he had any, they may not have even, allowed, you know, there, this vassal nation,

Israel, the people of Israel, even have weapons, and so, the private audience, with the Moabite king, no one there present, you know, to protect the king, we know, what's, what the setup is here, and how did it turn out, verse 20, and Ehud came to him, now, he was sitting upstairs, that is, the egg line, was sitting upstairs, in his cool, private chamber, and, we don't really know, what that means, some have thought, it was, he was sitting, in the bathroom, that may be, the case, as we, will see, a little bit later, but, but it could be, that he was just, in a cool chamber, he would be, up above, near the roof, where it would be open, and so, some scholars, say, and apparently, they have found, archeological evidence, of this, that, that those who would come, and have an audience, with the king, during certain times, of the year, when it was hot, and if you're, pretty big fellow, hot is a difficult, thing for you, and so, so they're on, the floor here, and there's a stairway, leading up, to the throne, or the seat, where the king would be, in his kind of, cool area, and so, it could be, just simply that, alright, so, where am I, then Ehud, reached, or excuse me, and Ehud, came to him, now he was sitting upstairs, in a cool, private chamber, then Ehud said,

I have a message, from God, for you, so he repeats that, so he arose, from his seat, so King Eglon, he gets up, and he's a really big fellow, and he gets up, and he's getting into, the perfect position, for, for, Ehud, to do his thing, and he gets up, because he wants to come close, to hear, so that no one else, can hear, it's a secret message, and it's from Yahweh God, and so he gets up, and then Ehud, reaches with his hand, takes the dagger, took the dagger, from his right thigh, and thrust it, into the belly, of Eglon, Ehud, took full advantage, of this situation, here's the king, he's getting up, he's crouching forward, perhaps, though it doesn't say, that Ehud, came up the steps, so that he could, whisper in the ear, this secret message, and he takes advantage, of that, and thrusts that dagger, into the belly, apparently, the lower belly, part of his belly, and, it went all the way in, even the hilt, it says here, went in, after the blade, apparently, you know, this dagger, was crafted, with a hilt, but very small, and would not protrude, out further, than the blade, and handle, so, the whole thing, could just slide, right in there, 18 inches, of it,

I'm not trying, to gross you out, we begin, to imagine that, picture that, in our minds, and, you know, it's, pretty, pretty appalling, and, and it gets worse, and the fat, closed over the blade, for he did not, draw the dagger, out of the belly, and so, full 18 inches, sunk, into, Eglon's, large body, and it says, nothing about it, coming out, on the other side, so, the big guy, really big guy, and, and this is the disgusting part, his entrails, came out, now, the word there, is, actually, the word for, excrement, I told you, this is, this is gross, or, feces, do I have to say, anymore, that's enough, if it, said too much, what's that, oh yeah,

I'm just teaching, the scripture, all right, just teaching, what the bible says, all right, verse 23, then, Ehud, went out, through the porch, and shut the doors, of the upper room, behind him, and locked them, so, it's a stroke, of genius, and so, he left, Eglon's dead body, there on the floor, and, and, other parts of him, and, left his dagger, in the body, he's certainly not going, to try to get that out, and he locked the door, behind him, to buy him some time, and so, it really is a great plan, isn't it, did it work, yes, verse 24, when he had gone out, Eglon's servants, came to look, as came to the door, they didn't go in, they came to look, and to their surprise, the doors of the upper room, were locked, locked from the inside, so, they said, well, he's probably, attending to his needs, in the cool chamber, NASB, and ESV, take very literal, translation, or produce, a very literal translation, and it says, that he is, relieving himself, in the cool room, or in the closet, of the cool chamber, excuse me, but,

I think, the smell, was a tip off, that Eglon, was relieving himself, in the royal privy, all right, let's go on, now, this then, brought, Ehud, or bought, Ehud, the time, that he needed, right, he needed to get away, to escape, and, and it worked, verse 25, so they waited, till they were embarrassed, I mean, they just kept waiting, on the outside, and they didn't dare, go in, and, of course, the King James, New King James, used the word, embarrassed, it really, they became, very nervous, some versions, use the word, anxious, and, they don't know, what's going on, and, and, he'd been in there, a long time, and, still, he had not opened, the doors, of the upper room, therefore, they took the key, and opened them, and there was their master, fallen dead, on the floor, and,

I really would imagine, that it took some time, to figure out, what had happened, you know, I mean, there's no knife, visible, and, I don't, you know, I, and so, this, this bought the time, is a stroke of genius, verse 26, but Ehud, had escaped, while they delayed, it's all a part, of God's, sovereign working, and, and direction, and, allowing Ehud, to develop, a perfect plan, and then God, of course, working outside, of that plan, to make everything, work, just perfectly, so that it could be done, and Ehud, could escape, so, then a shocking departure, a stealthy deliverer, and then one final thing, with Ehud, a stunning defeat, stunning defeat, of the enemy, Israel, utterly, destroyed, Eglon's, kind of, forces, that he used, to keep Israel, in check, alright, and so, let's just, look at the rest, of it real quickly,

I know I read it, a moment ago, but we just kind of, ended here, with the rest, of the passage, starting with verse 27, and it happened, when he arrived, he escaped, and he arrived, back to his people, that he blew the trumpet, in the mountains, of Ephraim, so they alert, and the children of Israel, went down with him, from the mountains, and he led them, then he said to them, follow me, for the Lord, has delivered your enemies, the Moabites, into your hands, so they went down, after him, seized the fords, of the Jordan, leading to Moab, why would they do that, they didn't want any more, of Eglon's people, coming in, or soldiers, coming in, so they blocked that way, and did not allow, anyone to cross over, and at that time, they killed about, ten thousand men, of Moab, all stout men, of valor, not a man escaped, so Moab, was subdued, that day, under the hand of Israel, and the land, had rest, for 80 years, 80 years, and just a, few things, just to note here, kind of application, first of all,

Israel had to follow, their God-given deliverer, just the fact, that, that Ehud, was successful, in assassinating, the king, of Moab, was not going to be enough, to deliver them, Israel had to follow, his leadership, and so, verse 28 says, Ehud said, follow after me, and that's exactly, what they did, they went down with him, second, Israel must fight, the enemy, they couldn't just sit back, and, and leave it at that, they had to fight the enemy, that God had, actually delivered, into their hands, there's not, just, you know, the Christian life, never is just simply, a let, just let go, and let God, and, God expects us, to participate with him, God expects us, to use the talents, he's given us, and gifts, he's using us, God expects us, to do, to be active, in our faith, and this, this is the lesson, from this, and then one final thing,

Israel must finish the task, they had to finish it, so they went, all the way through, see it all the way through, verse 29, and no one escaped, so Moab was subdued, that day, under the hand of Israel, and the land had rest, for 80 years, that's Ehud, interesting story, the second judge, second deliverer, and now very quickly, let's say a few things, about the third judge, Shamgar, and we can't say, very many more, than a few things, about a description, that really is contained, in one single verse, one single verse, and yet we can learn, some things, from Shamgar, so I want you, to look at verse 31, after him, after Ehud, and there's no reference, to how long after, was Shamgar, Shamgar, the son of Anath, who, and this is astounding, he killed, 600 men, single handedly, killed 600 men, of the Philistines, so, the Moabites, were the enemies, the oppressors, under Ehud, the Philistines, are the bad guys here, and he killed, 600 men, of the Philistines, with an ox goad, and he also, delivered Israel, and that's all, it says about him, now, very quickly, what can we learn, about him, just several things, first, he was a man, who obeyed God, he obeyed God, why do we know that, if we don't know, anything else, he obeyed God,

God had raised him, to be a deliverer, and he went out, to do what God, called him to do, he obeyed God, second, here's a man, who obeyed God, with what he had, and what did he have, an ox goad, he killed, 600 Philistines, with a farmer's tool, that's what an ox goad is, an ox goad, is a pole, or staff, about eight feet long, on one end, is a metal pointy thing, they would use that, to goad the ox, to make them go, and turn, or whatever, on the other end, was a kind of, a little trowel, or a little spade, and it was used, to get the dirt, off of the plow, that the ox was pulling, very handy tool, that's all he had, you know, to take on, 600 Philistines, and he was successful, in that, that's all they had, a farmer's tool, and by the way, the enemy, was the Philistines again, and it was, apparently, the strategy, of the Philistines, to disarm, those, that they had conquered, they didn't allow, any kind of weapons, to, to, to be possessed, by those, they had conquered, make, you know, and also, they made sure, there was no possible way, for them to, even, fashion weapons, and develop, metal weapons, for example, we know this, from 1st Samuel 13, 19, and listen to what, it says, now there was, no blacksmith, to be found, throughout all, of the land of Israel, for the Philistines said, lest the Hebrews, make swords, or spears, so they just, did away with, all the blacksmiths, as well, so they could not, develop weapons, but all the Israelites, would go down, to the Philistines, to sharpen, each man's, plowshare, his madoc, his axe, his sickle, and we could add, ox goad, because that's what, that's what,

Shamgar had, an ox goad, and it was very sharp, and he could keep that sharp, but he was not allowed, to have any other, kind of weaponry, and that's all he had, and so, here, here's Shamgar, he was a man, who gave, God, all that he had, and put all that he had, into the service, of the Lord, and God used it, God used it, that's a lesson, we can learn from Shamgar, third, here's a man, of courage, bravery, he had to be, there's no, no other conclusion, he could come to, he was a courageous man, he took, a stand, against, the enemy, with just a farmer's tool, 600, Philistines, this is amazing, fourth, here was a man, who saw, the victory, of the Lord, he experienced, the victory, of the Lord, 600 Philistines, single-handed, the story is told,

I'll end with this, of Charles Haddon Spurgeon, one of my, favorite, preachers, of that era, and, he had, given a lecture, to his pastor's, college, and, it was on the text, of Shamgar, and the lecture, was entitled, to workers, with slender apparatus, that's how it was worded, we understand, the point of it, and Spurgeon said, Shamgar, did not, hear this lecture, but I'm sure, he could have delivered it, and, I suspect, he would have, closed his lecture, by saying, give whatever tools, you have to the Lord, stand your ground, courageously, and trust God, to use, what is in your hand, to accomplish, great things, for his glory, that's the lesson, Shamgar, and to extent, we can find, that same lesson, in many of the judges, perhaps even all of them, and it's a great application, for us, because we have, what we have,

God has given us, what we have, and we are to give it to him, and see God use them, and accomplish great things, for his king.