Judges 3:12 - Meaning and Application

Ehud is the next judge whose work is told in this history, and here is the account of what he did. When Israel sinned again, God raised up a new oppressor, Eglon king of Moab. It was a serious evil that they did wrong again after suffering so long for their former sin, after promising so well under Othniel, and after receiving such mercy from God in their rescue.

What, after all that, they still broke his commandments again? Their stubbornness seemed beyond cure, like a disease that would not respond to either harsh medicine or gentle care. Perhaps they thought they could be bolder with their old sins because their old enemy no longer seemed a threat. Moab’s power had weakened, but God showed that he had many rods to punish them with, and he strengthened Eglon against them.

This enemy was closer to them than the former one, so he could do more damage. In this way, God’s judgments came near by degrees, to move them toward repentance. When Israel lived in tents and still kept their integrity, Balak king of Moab had tried and failed to overcome them. But now that they had left God and followed the gods of the nations around them, God raised up another king of Moab and put power in his hands, even though he was wicked, so that he could be a scourge to Israel.

The rod in Eglon’s hand was really God’s anger, though Eglon did not mean that and did not understand it (Isaiah 10:6-7). Israel was doing evil, and Moab was likely doing even worse. Yet because God often punishes the sins of his own people in this world, so that the flesh may be destroyed and the spirit saved, Israel was weakened and Moab was strengthened against them.

God had not allowed Israel, when they were stronger, to trouble the Moabites or even disturb them, though the Moabites were idolaters (Deuteronomy 2:9). But now he allowed the Moabites to trouble Israel, and strengthened them on purpose so they could do it. God’s judgments are very deep.

Eglon king of Moab also took the Ammonites and Amalekites as allies, and that made him stronger. They went out and struck Israel in battle. This was not only the tribes east of the Jordan, who lived closest to Moab and were therefore attacked first, but also those within the Jordan. The Moabites even took the city of palm trees, probably a stronghold near where Jericho had once stood, and placed a garrison there to control Israel and guard the crossings of the Jordan.

It was a mercy that the Kenites had already left that city before it fell into enemy hands (Judges 1:16). See how quickly Israel lost by their own sin what they had gained by God’s miracles. They also made Israel serve them, which means they demanded tribute, either crops or money in place of crops.

Israel had neglected the service of God and had not paid him his due. So God took back from them the wine, oil, silver, and gold they had offered to Baal (Hosea 2:8). What should have been given to divine grace, but was withheld, was instead collected by divine justice. The first time Israel was oppressed, the servitude lasted eight years (Judges 3:8). This time it lasted eighteen, because if lighter troubles do not lead people to change, God may send heavier ones.

When Israel prayed again, God raised up a new deliverer, named Ehud. He was a Benjamite, from the tribe of Benjamin. The city of palm trees lay in Benjamin’s territory, so that tribe probably suffered most and was the first to feel the pressure of the enemy. Some writers think the war against Benjamin over the wickedness of Gibeah happened before this, leaving Benjamin reduced to only 600 men, so that this tribe was now the weakest of all. Yet God raised the deliverer from that very tribe, showing that he was fully reconciled to them and that he can give strength out of weakness, giving more honor to the part that lacked it (1 Corinthians 12:24).

We are also told that Ehud was left-handed, as many of that tribe seem to have been (Judges 20:16). Benjamin means “son of the right hand,” yet many Benjamites were left-handed, because people’s natures do not always match their names. Some Greek translators said he could use both hands equally, which would have helped in the work he was called to do. But the Hebrew wording suggests he did not really use his right hand, perhaps through injury or habit, and used his left hand instead.

That made him less suited for war, since he would have handled a sword awkwardly. Yet God chose this left-handed man to be the man of his right hand, the one he would make strong for himself (Psalm 80:17). It was God’s right hand that won the victory for Israel (Psalm 44:3), not the natural strength of the people he used.

We are then told what Ehud did to rescue Israel from the Moabites. He saved the oppressed by destroying the oppressors, when their sin had reached its limit and the time had come for God to show favor to Israel. He killed Eglon king of Moab. That is, he did not murder or assassinate him in a sinful way, but acted as a judge, carrying out God’s judgment on a man who was an enemy of God and Israel.

This story is told in detail. Ehud had a good chance to approach the king. He was clever, active, and fit to stand before kings, so his people chose him to carry a gift in Israel’s name, beyond their regular tribute, to the king of Moab, hoping to win his favor (Judges 3:15). The gift is called a mincha in Hebrew, the same word used in the law for offerings brought to God to seek his favor. Israel had not brought their offerings in due time to the God who loved them, so now, as punishment for that neglect, they were forced to bring gifts to a pagan ruler who hated them.

Ehud went to Eglon, presented the gift with the usual ceremony, and showed the proper respect, in order to hide what he meant to do and keep suspicion away. From the start, it seems he had planned to kill Eglon, with God putting the idea in his heart and also letting him know it came from the Spirit. That inward leading gave him confidence about both the rightness of the act and its success, though he would otherwise have had good reason to question both.

If Ehud was sure that God told him to do this, then he was sure he could do it and would succeed. A command from God was enough to support him, even if his conscience or the whole world opposed him. That he planned the death of this tyrant shows in the weapon he made for the purpose, a short dagger about half a yard long, like a bayonet, which could be hidden under his clothes (Judges 3:16). He likely wore it on his right thigh so it would be easier for his left hand to reach and less likely to be noticed.

He also planned how to be alone with the king. He had already made himself known to him and likely won his favor through the gift and the respectful words he had used. He first hid his plan from even his own attendants, bringing them part of the way and then sending them on home while he turned back, as if he had forgotten something, to the king of Moab's court (Judges 3:18). Only one hand was needed for the killing, and if others had been involved, they could not have kept the secret so well or escaped as easily.

Second, he came back from the quarries by Gilgal (Judges 3:19), from the carved images, as the margin says, that were there near Gilgal. These may have been set up by the Moabites beside the twelve stones Joshua had placed there. Some think the sight of these idols stirred him with anger against the king of Moab and pushed him to carry out a plan he might otherwise have delayed. Or perhaps he came that way so he could tell the king where he had returned from, making it easier for the king to believe he had a message from God.

Third, he asked for a private meeting and got one in an inner room, here called a summer parlor. He told the king he had a secret message for him, and the king then sent all his servants out of the room (Judges 3:19). Whether the king expected a private oracle or private news about Israel, as if Ehud were betraying his own people, it was foolish to be alone with a stronger man whom he had reason to see as an enemy. But those marked for ruin lose good judgment, and God leaves them without sense.

When Ehud had the king alone, he quickly carried out the deed. The summer parlor, where the king enjoyed comfort and luxury, became the place of his death. First, Ehud asked for his attention to a message from God (Judges 3:20), and that message was a dagger. God speaks to us by the judgments of his hand as well as by the judgments of his words.

Second, Eglon honored the message from God. Though he was a king, a pagan king, wealthy and powerful, and at that moment oppressing God’s people, he also was a very fat man who could hardly rise or stand long. Yet when he expected words from heaven, he rose from his seat. Whether the seat was low and easy or high and grand, he left it and stood up as God was about to speak, showing that he recognized God as greater than himself. This puts to shame the carelessness of many who call themselves Christians and still show, by every sign of indifference, how little they value a message from God.

By calling what he was about to do a message from God, Ehud clearly claimed a divine commission. God’s moving Eglon to stand up both confirmed that commission and helped Ehud carry it out. Third, the message was delivered not to Eglon’s ear, but straight to his heart, when the fatal knife was thrust in and left there (Judges 3:21, 3:22). His great fatness kept him from resisting or helping himself. It may have been the result of luxury and excess, and when the fat closed over the blade, God was showing how those who pamper the body are only preparing sorrow for themselves. It also pictured Eglon’s worldly security and deadness of heart. His heart was as fat as grease, and there he thought himself safe. See (Psalm 119:70; Psalm 17:10). Eglon means “calf,” and he fell like a fattened calf, cut down by the knife, a fitting offering to divine justice.

The account also mentions what came out, so that the death of this proud tyrant appears more humiliating and shameful. He who had been so careful about his own body, keeping it comfortable and clean, was now found covered in his own blood and waste. This is how God brings down princes. Ehud’s act can be justified only because he had a special command from God, and because it fit the way God often dealt with enemies and showed his justice under that time. But that gives no support to anyone doing the same now. No such commands are given today, and pretending to have them is to blaspheme God and make him approve the worst crimes. Christ told Peter to put away his sword, and we do not find him telling Peter to draw it again.

Providence also helped Ehud escape in a remarkable way after the killing. First, the tyrant died quietly, without a cry that could be heard by the servants outside. How silently he went down to the grave, perhaps choked by his own fat, which stifled his last groans, though he had made so much noise in the world and had once terrified the mighty of the earth!

Second, the brave man who carried out this judgment showed great calm and self-control. He shut the doors behind him, took the key, and walked past the guards with such confidence, innocence, and calmness that they suspected nothing wrong. Third, the servants waiting in the outer room came to the inner door after Ehud had gone, wanting to know their master’s will. Finding it locked and quiet, they thought he had gone to sleep, covering his feet on the couch and resting after the message he had received (Judges 3:24). So they did not try to open the door. By being careful not to disturb his sleep, they lost the chance to avenge his death. See what comes from people placing too much importance on rank and making those around them keep their distance. In time, that can turn against them more than they expect.

Fourth, at last the servants opened the door and found that their master had indeed slept his long sleep, (Judges 3:25).

The shock of that terrible sight, and the confusion it caused, kept the servants from thinking clearly. They were too startled to remember that they should have opened the door sooner, and they gave up any idea of chasing after Ehud, who had done the deed. By then, he had escaped to Sierath, a thick wood, as some understand Judges 3:26.

The text does not clearly say where Eglon was living at the time. Since there is no mention of Ehud crossing the Jordan and coming back, it seems likely that Eglon, king of Moab, had left his own land east of the Jordan and made his main home in the city of palm trees, inside Canaan. That would have been a richer place than his own country. There, in the very place where he had settled down and thought himself secure enough to rule over God’s people, he was struck down. He proved to be like a lamb fattened for slaughter, safe only in appearance.

After killing the king of Moab, Ehud also completely broke the power of the Moabite troops who were among the Israelites, and so he threw off their oppression. He immediately raised an army in Mount Ephraim, some distance from the Moabites’ main camp, and he led them himself (Judges 3:27). The trumpet he blew was like a trumpet of freedom, a joyful sound to the oppressed Israelites, who had long heard only the trumpets of their enemies.

As a godly man, and as one who acted in faith, Ehud encouraged both himself and his soldiers by trusting in God’s power (Judges 3:28). He said, “Follow me, for the Lord has handed your enemies over to you.” Since God was with them, they could move ahead boldly, and they would win.

As a wise commander, he first secured the Jordan River crossings. He placed strong guards at the fords so the Moabites in Israel could not escape back to their own country east of the Jordan, and could not get help from there either. If they tried to flee, he cut off their escape. If they tried to fight, he cut off their support. In that way, he shut them up in the land where they had acted like it was their palace and their paradise, but where it became their prison.

Then he attacked them and killed 10,000 men, and none escaped (Judges 3:29). These were the best and strongest of Moab’s forces, stout men of body, brave men, and men of war. But their strength and courage were useless when God’s appointed time came for Israel to be delivered into their hands.

The result was that Moab’s power in Israel was completely broken. The land was cleared of these oppressors, and it had rest for eighty years (Judges 3:30). We may hope that there was also some reform among the people, and that Ehud’s influence helped restrain idolatry for much of that time. It was a long rest for the land, eighty years. Yet even that is small compared with the saints’ endless rest in the heavenly Canaan.