Eglon Bible Study

The Book of Judges

Chapter 3

It's always a brighter day when we share Daily Bread! At the end of our last study time, we learned that because Israel had broken the Covenant that the Lord made with their ancestors, God decided not to drive out any more of the heathen nations that were left in the Promised Land, but by leaving them there, He would test the children of Israel; whether they would follow the way of the Lord, or not.

What do you suppose happened next? Well, the people of Israel took heathen daughters to be their wives and gave their daughters to be wives to the heathen. They forgot about God and instead served other gods and idols.

So, God did exactly as He promised and Chushanrishathaim, the king of Mesopotamia was the thorn in Israel's side, and he ruled over them, oppressing them for eight years. Then Israel cried out to God for help and the Lord raised up a deliverer, which was Caleb's nephew, named Othniel.

He led Israel in war, defeating Chushanrishathaim, and then judged Israel, which was then in peace for 40 years. And this was the first cycle of sin to deliverance during the time of the judges in Israel.

Forty years ... And another generation developing their own ideas. You guessed it, again the children of Israel did evil in the sight of God. So God gave Eglon, the king of Moab the power to defeat Israel and the Hebrews served under his rule for eighteen years. And again, the Lord raised up a deliverer named Ehud.

Now, Ehud was left handed and quite cleverly, on one occasion when he was bringing a gift (probably a tribute) from the children of Israel to king Eglon, who by the way, was an extremely portly man, Ehud concealed a two edged dagger on his right thigh. When he had finished presenting the king with the gift, Ehud told him that he had a secret to tell him.

The king then sent his servants away and went into his summer parlor alone with Ehud, and sat down. Ehud then told him that the secret was a message from God! Well, this brought Eglon to his feet, and Ehud grasped the dagger and plunged it into Eglon's belly ... Probably not the message Eglon was anticipating, huh?

So fat was Eglon that the handle of the dagger disappeared in his belly and Ehud couldn't retract it! So, leaving the dagger and the dead king, Ehud left, locking the doors behind him.

Eglon's servants, supposing that the king was asleep, didn't disturb him, and waited until they became concerned that perhaps something was amiss before they tried to enter the parlor. Finding the doors locked, they took a key and opened the doors, discovering the king, fallen dead on the ground.

Meanwhile, Ehud easily escaped, and he then led the children of Israel in defeating Moab. And the land rested for 80 years.

After the death of Ehud, Israel was delivered by a man named Shamgar, but very little is written concerning this judge, other than that he killed 600 Philistines with an ox goad.

And this ended the second cycle of sin to deliverance during the time of the judges in Israel.