The Dark Days of Israel’s Judges A Study of the Book of Judges The Dark Days of Israel’s Judges A Study of the Book of Judges Lesson 4 Judges 3:5-11 Ehud’s “Gut Reaction” or No Guts, No Glory September 6, 2009

I.Introduction – Dealing with Difficult Texts A.Our text has its challenges: 1.It seems far removed from us (ox goad?). 2.It seems to contain excessive violence. 3.The dots (stories) don’t appear to connect. 4.Apparent inconsistency – Ehud’s story (3:12-30) has too much detail; Shamgar’s story (3:31) is too brief. B.Our presuppositions are crucial. 1.Our text is inspired, inerrant, profitable. 2.Our job: deal with the text as it is 3.The key: answer the questions it raises 4.This text is a test case for inspiration. C.Our goal: Find the meaning and the message

II.Israel’s sin and God’s Deliverer (3:5-11) A.Marriage and morality: Apostasy is a matter of “give and take” (3:5-7). B.God is angry, and gives Israel over to Cushan- rishathaim, king of Aram-naharaim (3:8). C.Israel cries out in her affliction (3:9a) D.God raises up Othniel as deliverer (3:9b-11). 1. There is a connection to vss The Spirit of God came upon him (vs. 10) 3. He judged Israel, went to war, and won 4. Israel has rest for 40 years, till Othniel dies. E.What we know and don’t know of Othniel 1. We know of his past, Caleb and Achsah. 2. We know what we have just read of him. 3. We are given no details of wars, victories.

III.Ehud’s Gut Reaction (3:12-30) A.Note the size of this account (19 verses) – the author has chosen to place the emphasis here. Our task is to discover why. B.The Israelites sin again (v. 12). C.God deals with sin by strengthening Eglon, the king of Moab, against Israel (vss ).* D.Israel cries out and the Lord raises up Ehud 1. He is a Benjamite 2. He is left-handed (see Judges 20:14-16). 3. He is Israel’s “bag man” (to pay Eglon) 4. He is “packing heat” – a custom made sword, carried as a concealed weapon. 5. Nothing is said of the Spirit of the Lord

E.Let’s walk through the events of this story. What does the author want us to see? 1. The details already mentioned. 2. Eglon’s girth 3. Eglon’s unwitting cooperation 4. Details about palace architecture (the “cool room”) 5. The sword’s successful slice 6. The idols on the way (vss. 19, 26) 7. Gilgal’s location near Jericho & Jordan 8. Details of Ehud’s successful mission, including his escape. F.So what does all this mean? Be patient!

IV.Shamgar goads the enemy (3:31) A.One verse, one sentence, devoted to him. B.What we know 1. His name and his father’s name 2. He is God’s deliverer 3. He killed 600 Philistines 4. His weapon was an ox goad C.What we don’t know (for some this is perplexing, and purposefully so). 1. Origin: Which tribe? Was he even a Jew? 2. One battle or many? 3. Did he judge and for how long? 4. What happened in the battle? 5. How could he kill 600 with an ox goad? 6. Why story is told here with such brevity?

V.Conclusion A.Why so little detail concerning Othniel? 1.We’ve read of him earlier. 2.Othniel is the ideal deliverer, a benchmark for all the rest. The really important thing is told to us: God raised him up, and He empowered him with the Spirit of the Lord. The details here are of secondary importance to the author. 3.There is no magic method taught here, for all to follow. Where God’s Spirit is there is power and victory. Consider the Book of Acts.

B.Why the emphasis here on Ehud and Eglon? 1.Nothing said here of the Spirit of the Lord. 2.God disciplined Israel by strengthening Eglon and Moab. 3.God raised up Ehud (v. 15, cf. v. 9) 4.God’s hand was not readily apparent here. Eglon didn’t see it (till the end), and neither would others, unless they were told, and then believed it by faith. 5.God sometimes deals with men in a very open and dramatic way; but much of the time God is at work providentially. He is every bit as much in control, but it not as evident to the natural eye.

6.The execution of Eglon and the defeat of the Moabites required many things to “fall into place,” and they did. These were not coincidences, but the hand of a sovereign God, achieving His eternal purposes. 7.Many desire for God to work openly today, in very dramatic ways. But He is always at work providentially, just as He was in achieving salvation through Ehud. 8.The things about which we could “wring our hands” today are the details of which God is in control, and which He is using.

C.Why all the gory details of Eglon’s death? Is this not inappropriate? 1.This is the salvation of God’s people. 2.This is also divine judgment on Eglon. 3.Don’t underestimate the cruelty of the Canaanites, and thus the severity of just punishment (e.g. release of Lockerbie bomber, who killed a total of 270 people). 4.Don’t underestimate the magnitude of man’s sin, or of what constitutes just punishment. 5.The measure of our sin, judgment, and salvation is the cross of Calvary. 6.Hell is not a cushy place.

D.Why is so little said of Shamgar? 1.God narrowed down the details so that we might get the point. 2.The focus here is not on Shamgar, his origin, or his methods. 3.The focus here is on the weapon that killed 600 Philistines -- an ox goad. 4.Think of the weapons we find in Judges that are employed to achieve victory: a hidden sword and an ox goad (here), a tent peg, horns and torches, a millstone, the jawbone of a donkey, a collapsing building. 5.Think of the “warriors” God uses in Judges..

6.Conclusion: It isn’t “having the right weapon” or warrior that counts; it is trusting in the right God. “See here, (1.) That God can make those eminently serviceable to his glory and his church’s good whose extraction, education, and employment, are very mean and obscure. He that has the residue of the Spirit could, when he pleased, make ploughmen judges and generals, and fishermen apostles. (2.) It is no matter how weak the weapon is if God direct and strengthen the arm. An ox-goad when God pleases, shall do more than Goliath’s sword. And sometimes he chooses to work by such unlikely means, that the excellency of the power may appear to be of God.” Matthew Henry, cited by Dale Ralph Davis, Such a Great Salvation, p. 67.

Copyright © 2009 by Robert L. Deffinbaugh. This is the edited PowerPoint presentation of Lesson 4 in the series, The Dark Days of Israel’s Judges, prepared by Robert L. Deffinbaugh for September 6, Anyone is at liberty to use this lesson for educational purposes only, with or without credit.