Ehud and King Eglon Judges 3:12-30

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1 You may think there is

not much good to say
about war, but the book
of Judges, chapter 3,
explains that out of
something that is so
awful there can be a
positive side.

2 The people of Israel had

sunk into many sinful
ways so God allowed
different nations to
invade, rob and rule
over them as a
punishment.

3 But at the same time,

God still loved the
people of Israel and
raised up different
warriors and leaders
known as judges to lead
the nation back to Him.
4 One of these warriors
was a man called Ehud.

5 The Moabites had been

oppressing the Israelites
for 18 long years when
Ehud came on the
scene.

6 The Bible says Ehud was

raised up to be a
deliverer. He was from
the tribe of Benjamin
and stood out from the
crowd as he was left-
handed.

7 One day, Ehud, devised

a plan to help his people
be delivered from the
cruel Moabites. So he
set off with the tribute
gifts demanded each
year by Eglon, the King
of the Moabites. The
king had feasted so
much he was very
overweight.

8 As Ehud was left-handed

he wore his double-
edged sword on the
right hand side so he
could draw it quickly.
Before he met the king
he hid the sword under
his garments so no-one
would see it.
9 Ehud arranged to see
the king out in the open
by some quarries. King
Eglon was suspicious but
he saw no sign of a
sword on Ehud’s left side
so he was happy to
come closer.

10 Ehud revealed the

tribute gifts for the king
who was delighted to
see the treasures.

11 The king thanked Ehud

for the tribute and was
about to depart when
Ehud called to him. ‘I
have a secret message
for you,’ said Ehud.
‘Meet me at my Summer
palace,’ King Eglon
replied.

12 Ehud walked into the

King’s summer palace
on his own. The king was
in his own private room.
‘Everyone leave the
room,’ the king
commanded. The door
was closed leaving just
Ehud and King Eglon to
share the secret.

13 Suddenly Ehud pulled

the sword out from his
right side. ‘ I have a
message for you!’ he
announced. ‘A message
from God.’
14 Before Eglon could
summon help, Ehud
stabbed the sword into
the King’s big fat belly.
The sword went in right
up to the hilt. In fact it
went in so far, Ehud
could not pull it out.

15 The wicked king dropped

to the floor. Ehud went
to the doors and locked
them from the outside,
then made his escape.

16 Some of the King’s

servants began
wondering why he was
spending so long in his
room. They checked the
doors and found them
locked. ‘He must be
having a rest,’ they
concluded.

17 The servants came back

later and used their key
to unlock the doors.
They just wanted to
check the king was
alright but he wasn’t.

18 They were too late. Ehud

was long gone and his
daring plan had
succeeded.
19 As soon as he returned
to his own territory, he
blew a trumpet to
summon fighters to
gather. A small army
was quickly assembled.

20 ‘Follow me!’ cried Ehud.

‘The Lord has delivered
the Moabites into our
hands.’

21 In the battle that

followed, over 10,000
Moabites who had been
oppressing the Israelites
were killed. Some of the
biggest, strongest and
bravest soldiers in King
Eglon’s army were cut
down. God gave His
people a great victory
over their enemies.

22 Without their big leader

Eglon, the Moabites
were easy to defeat.
They retreated and left
the Israelites alone.

23 Thanks to the Lord and

Ehud’s leadership, Israel
was not bothered by the
Moabites for 80 years.
24