Today, we’re going to continue looking at Judges to see what surprising things this part of God’s Word has in store for us. We’re continuing to look at this pattern that the ancient Israelites got into that is expanded upon in the book of Judges where the people would sin, cry out to God because of the consequences of their sin, God would raise up a judge (a leader) to deliver them, the people would repent and serve the Lord, and then have a time of peace before returning back to sin. We’ve learned that God calls us to obedience, just as He has always called His people to live in obedience to Him, to worship Him only, to serve Him with our lives, and He does let us suffer the consequences when we don’t do that, yes. But, even when we break the covenant relationship with God, He is still faithful. He is still good. He still follows through with His promises, and He provided a way for His people to be delivered from the consequences of their sins, just as He provided a way for us to be delivered from our sins through the shed blood of Christ! We’ve seen God work through grace, even and especially when the people didn’t deserve it.
So Judges 3 holds three interesting stories for us today about 3 judges God raised up to deliver His people. I want to look a little at the details of these judges stories, but I mostly one to focus on one important aspect of what happened through two of these judges as they were empowered by God to deliver His people.
Let’s jump right in!
The first judge we meet in the book of Judges is Othniel. We read about his story in Judges 3:9-14. As we saw last week, the people turned their hearts from the Lord and served Baal and Asheroth after Joshua died.
We’re told in Judges 3:8, that a Mesopotamian king was allowed to enslave the Israelites for eight years. This king’s name was Cushan-Rishathaim. There’s something that’s actually really funny about the book of Judges, as dark and violent and disturbing as it can be, there’s also a tone of irony and mocking in the book of Judges that adds some levity to the book.
I find this interestingly timely right now, with the state of semi-panic that our world is in right now, one of the responses that we’ve had to the uncertainty of the spread of coronavirus is to make fun of the panic and to try to make light of how crazy things feel right now.
When the book of Judges was written down, we find that the Israelite people did the same thing. They tried to make light of their situation by making fun of the oppressive leaders and kings that took over the nation.
This king, this Mesopotamian king that was the first to enslave the people during this time, we’re told that his name was Cushan-Rishathaim. Now, Cushan was a name, for sure, but Rishathaim actually seems to be a sort of nickname that the people gave him, which means double-wickedness. So, the people called him Cushan the doubly wicked. Even though they were being subjugated by him, they still found ways to make fun of this foreign king, to mock him.
So the Israelite people were slaves to this doubly wicked king for 8 years before they cried out to God because of their oppression. We know that God’s response was to raise up a judge to deliver them; Othniel was his name. Othniel, we’re told was Caleb’s younger brother. So we need to understand that he probably grew up with first-hand knowledge of all that God had done during Joshua’s conquest of the Promised Land. He probably knew a lot about what God had done for His people. He was an appropriate choice to be the first judge.
Let’s look briefly at the second judge in Judges 3:15-30. Though the people were delivered by Othniel and lived in peace for 40 years, after Othniel died, they turned back to their worship of Baal. They were once again allowed to suffer the consequences of their sin, and the country was taken over by the Moabites led by King Eglon.
Now, just like we saw with Cushan-Rishathaim, with the people making fun of the king to try to bring some levity to their situation, they did the same thing with King Eglon, so we know it’s not coincidental. Eglon’s name is similar to Hebrew words for “calf” or “heifer” which in turn comes from a root word that means “be round”. This is an appropriate name for him, and I want you to see why.
Look at the description of King Eglon in verse 17, “Now Eglon was a very fat man.” He was so large in fact, that when he is killed by the second judge, Ehud, by a dagger or a sword, his fat completely closes in around the entire weapon. He was a very large man.
Now, his name may have actually been Eglon, but, it’s just as likely that the Israelites, in an attempt to make light of their situation, gave him the name Eglon as a way of making fun of him, just as they did with Cushan-Rishathaim. They were making fun of his largeness.
We’re told a few things about this second judge as well, whose name was Ehud. We’re told that he was from the tribe of Benjamin, and we’re told he was left-handed. We know that he made the sword or dagger that he used to kill King Eglon, and we know that his left-handedness had a big role to play in his calling as judge.
But, I want to go back to Othniel, the first judge for a moment. I want us to look at Judges 3:9-10, “When the sons of Israel cried to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer for the sons of Israel to deliver them, Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother. The Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he judged Israel. When he went out to war, the Lord gave Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand, so that he prevailed over Cushan-rishathaim.”
There’s something very significant about what is said here, particularly verse 10 when we’re told that the Spirit of the Lord came upon Othniel. Now, we know that this means that the Holy Spirit was with Othniel, came over him, into him, was working in him in some way, but we have to be careful to not compare this to what New Testament believers experienced on the Day of Pentecost. This is not a guaranteed indwelling of the Holy Spirit, this is not a guarantee of the gifts of the Spirit or of the fruit of the Spirit. This is simply the Spirit of the Lord coming upon one person, the person God has chosen to be the judge to deliver His people, and enabling that person to act on what God wants them to do. That looked differently for each judge.
For the first judge, Othniel, all we’re told in verse 10 is that he prevailed over Cushan-rishathaim. We don’t know the details of that story. We can try to imagine and use our “sanctified imaginations”, if you will. We can probably correctly assume that the Mesopotamian king was strong in some way, strong enough to oppress the Israelites. Maybe he had a great army, maybe he had very skilled fighters, maybe he was even a skilled fighter. We don’t know for sure, but we can also probably correctly assume that it would not have just been an easy thing to go and prevail over a king.
If it was going to be an easy thing, then there would be no need for the Spirit of the Lord to come upon Othniel. If it was something he could have done in his own humanness, then God wouldn’t have needed to empower Othniel with the Spirit. The task of prevailing against Cushan, the doubly wicked, required supernatural, divine intervention. It was not possible, for whatever reason, by Othniel alone.
That’s the point. The people were oppressed and enslaved and couldn’t pull themselves free of the wicked king’s oppression. They needed the help of the Lord, and He empowered Othniel to do something impossible. Humans alone couldn’t do it, but God can!
The people had forty years of peace before the second king, the large king, King Eglon rose up and oppressed the Israelites. The people were slaves to him and his forces for eighteen years before they cried out to be delivered.
God raised up the second judge, whom we’ve already sort of introduced, Ehud, the Benjamite, who was left-handed. Now, with this judge, we’re not told that the Spirit of the Lord came upon him. What we get is a longer detailed story of how he went before the very fat king and was able to slip past the guards with a weapon, get the king isolated, and then kill him and seal him off in his room, then escape without raising alarm.
I do want us to read a few verses here, verses 16-26.
(16-18) “Ehud made himself a sword which had two edges, a cubit in length, and he bound it on his right thigh under his cloak. He presented the tribute to Eglon king of Moab. Now Eglon was a very fat man. It came about when he had finished presenting the tribute, that he sent away the people who had carried the tribute.”
This first step alone in Ehud’s plan would have been incredibly tricky and risky to carry out. He’s left-handed, so in order to be able to quickly pull his sword/dagger out to kill the king, he binds it to his right thigh. He conceals it under his cloak. Why? Because if he doesn’t he won’t get close to the king. If they find a weapon on him, they will kill him. However, those who were guarding the king would have been looking for weapons concealed on a person’s left side where it would be easier reached by someone who was right-handed. But Ehud is left-handed, so those who search him to let him get close to the king, don’t find his weapon. Coincidence, or divine intervention?
He brings a tribute to King Eglon as ruse to get close to him, then he sends those who had helped bring the tribute away. So far, so good. He’s managed to keep his weapon concealed and get close to the king.
(19-20) “But he himself turned back from the idols which were at Gilgal, and said, “I have a secret message for you, O king.” And he said, “Keep silence.” And all who attended him left him. Ehud came to him while he was sitting alone in his cool roof chamber. And Ehud said, “I have a message from God for you.” And he arose from his seat.”
The judge, Ehud, tells the king he has a secret message for him, so the king, for some strange reason, sends all of those in the room out of the room. All of those who were attending on him, all those in his court, all those who were responsible for guarding him and keeping him safe…and he sent them all out of the room to hear this secret message from a member of the enemy country he was occupying and enslaving.
Now, we know that King Eglon was a very fat man, but it seems to me that maybe he wasn’t very smart either! He let himself be alone in a room with someone he should’ve considered an enemy. Again, coincidence, or divine intervention?
(21-23) “Ehud stretched out his left hand, took the sword from his right thigh and thrust it into his belly. The handle also went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade, for he did not draw the sword out of his belly; and the refuse came out. Then Ehud went out into the vestibule and shut the doors of the roof chamber behind him, and locked them.”
When the king rose to hear this secret message from God, Ehud struck and killed the oppressive king. The details are disturbing and gross. But, as disturbing as this is, we have to view it for the near impossible task that it was, to get close enough to a king, alone, long enough to kill him without raising any suspicion. Again, coincidence, or divine intervention? The judge, Ehud, then left the dead king and locked the door behind him to delay the finding of the body.
(24-26) “When he had gone out, his servants came and looked, and behold, the doors of the roof chamber were locked; and they said, “He is only relieving himself in the cool room.” They waited until they became anxious; but behold, he did not open the doors of the roof chamber. Therefore they took the key and opened them, and behold, their master had fallen to the floor dead. Now Ehud escaped while they were delaying, and he passed by the idols and escaped to Seirah.”
The locking of the chamber door does indeed delay the finding of the dead king, and as a result Ehud is able to get away and if you read on, you see Ehud declaring to the Israelites that the Lord had given the Moabites, the enemy, into their hands, so they pursued them and struck them down and drove them out of the land and had 80 years of peace.
We don’t once get the phrase “the Spirit of the Lord came upon Ehud”, but I think from the circumstances of this story, when we carefully consider all that happened and how impossible it would have been for an enemy to sneak a weapon into the king’s presence and convince the king to send everyone else out of the room, and kill the king and escape the home without raising suspicion, I would say that it is unlikely that any of this would have happened without the Spirit working in or through Ehud in some way. This was an impossible task, and I don’t think a mere human could’ve pulled it off…but God can!
Look briefly at the third judge in this chapter in verse 31, “After him came Shamgar the son of Anath, who struck down six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad; and he also saved Israel.” He struck down SIX HUNDRED PHILISTINES WITH A HAND TOOL! That’s all an oxgoad is. It’s a long stick with a hook at one end, and with that he killed 600 people. Don’t tell me that wasn’t a Spirit empowered victory! Impossible by human standards…but God can!
The point this morning through these stories of the three judges in Judges 3 is that God can do the impossible. He can do the improbable. He can work miracles. He can heal the sick. He can stem the spread of diseases. He can work to give us Resurrection Sunday together. Now, He might not, and that’s okay too, but in this time of just plain uncertainty, He must cling to the hope that we have that our God is capable of anything. That He is all powerful. That He is sovereign and still in control and none of this is out of His control.
I want to encourage you this morning. I want you to understand that not only is God capable of handling the current events of our world, but just as importantly, He is capable of doing the impossible in you! He is capable of forgiving your sins. He is capable of freeing you from patterns of sin that hold you tight and won’t let go. He is capable of giving you a new life and a new purpose. He is capable of giving you hope. He is capable of empowering you to do the impossible in this world.
1. God was clearly at work through all three of the judges we’ve looked at today. How many other stories can you think of in the Bible where God worked supernaturally through humans to accomplish the “impossible”?
2. What “impossible” things do you need to pray about? Things God can do that you can’t. Be specific and write them down. Are you facing financial difficulties? Are you struggling with sin or an addiction? Are you battling dark thoughts? After you’ve identified the impossible in your life, pray this week for God to do the impossible!