10/18/26 Weekly Bible Lessons: God Works Through Ehud

Judges 3:15–23, 30 (NASB) 

Background — One time on a family camping trip growing up, my dad asked me for a “left-handed fire starter.” After looking at my confused face and laughing for a moment, he would go on to explain that a “left-handed fire starter” is just a paper plate that he would fan the embers with to ignite a flame. It was just an ordinary camping utensil that my father used for a specific purpose. 

The book of Judges is full of regular and unlikely people who go on to do great things for the Lord and His people. One of the most interesting of these people was a man named Ehud who was like my dad’s fire starters—left-handed. 

3:15-16 — Israel needed a deliverer. Earlier in the chapter, the first cycle of oppression and deliverance plays out. God raised Othniel to judge Israel, and he defeated the king of Mesopotamia. There was then a forty-year period of peace for the people of Israel. Sadly, during this time of peace, the Israelites turned away from the Lord and did evil in His sight. Because of their sin, the king of Moab, along with the Ammonites and Amalekites, invaded, defeated, and even possessed the city of Palm Trees. Israel was forced to serve Eglon the king of Moab for eighteen years. 

Notice how the people cried out to God and He answered. God loves and cares for His people. Even though Israel’s suffering was caused by their own disobedience, when they cried out to the Lord, He answered. God has always loved His creation enough to make a way for those who are living in disobedience to turn back to Him and find forgiveness. 

I love the order of this text. The people cried to God, God raised a deliverer named Ehud, then Ehud got on to making his swords. Ehud was one of the leaders who was tasked with bringing Israel’s tribute to King Eglon. It seems that Ehud saw the oppression of his people, knew something had to change, and decided to act, knowing the Lord was on his side! How many times do we see a need and convince ourselves it is someone else’s responsibility? If we see opportunities to share Christ and lift His Church, we must make it our personal responsibility to do so. Ehud saw oppression at the hands of a wicked King and knew God would be on his side to make a change. 

The text also tells us that Ehud was a left-handed man. Back then, some armies would train groups of men to strengthen their left hand because of the advantages they would have in hand-to-hand combat. This is clearly seen in the account of Ehud. 

3:17-23, 30 — God used Ehud. This is one of my favorite texts to teach or describe to those who are not familiar with the Bible. I will ask: “Do you know there was once a left-handed man who snuck into a palace and killed an overweight king while he was on the commode?” Usually a person will respond, “There’s no way that’s in the Bible.” But that is exactly what happened. Ehud was bringing his tribute to the king and snuck his sword on his right side. The guards patted him down on the left leg and not the right. This was because it was uncommon to be left-handed, so swords were always on the left side. This would be like carrying your car keys in your back pocket. It is weird, and no one would expect you to do that. 

Ehud said he had a secret message for the king so he could get him alone. He was not lying, because, when alone, he announced he had a message from God and stuck the dagger into the king’s belly. It then tells us the king was so overweight that fat closed over the blade, and Ehud was unable to pull it out. He then closed the doors and escaped because it took a while for the king’s servants to find the king dead. Ehud went back to his people, raised the army, and killed ten thousand Moabites. The account ends with “So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land was undisturbed for eighty years.” 

This account strikes our modern ears as odd. It’s graphic, violent, and a little gross, but we must understand that Ehud was chosen by God to save Israel from this oppression. He was not acting out of selfish motives. 

We learn from Ehud that God uses unlikely and even unfit people to do His perfect will. Paul told the church in Corinth (1 Corinthians 1:27-29) that “God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God.” 

Instead of doubting if you are good enough to serve Him, what things can you do to bring God glory right now?