Judges 3:1-26
The Lord did not drive out Israel’s enemies any more, as He had done at first, but left certain ones to prove His people whether they would walk in His ways. Instead of feeling the hand of God in this, as they ought to have done, and being cast upon the Lord, they began to marry among these nations and worshiped their gods.
This brought down the government of God upon His people, and we now come to the record of their conflicts, and of the judges whom God used for their deliverance. As we trace it through, we can see the utter weakness of the flesh. Things became weaker and weaker, until at the end of the book we read, “Every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” Judges 21:25. Such is man! Such are our hearts too, by nature. How little we respond to the unfailing grace of God. And yet if it had not been for this unfailing grace of God, Israel would have been cut off altogether. Nor has the history of the professing Church been any better, for if it had not been for those whom God graciously raised up, the dark ages would have continued to this day, and with ever-increasing spiritual darkness. Man’s so-called progress, morally, has been away from God and not to Him, as we well know.
The first judge of whom we read is Othniel. The Lord delivered His people into the hand of the king of Mesopotamia because of their idolatry, and they served him for eight years. At last his bondage became so unbearable that they cried unto the Lord, who heard them and raised up Othniel to be their deliverer. He gathered together an army and went out to battle against the king of Mespotamia and defeated him. Thus the Lord used him to save His people from their enemies. After this they had rest and liberty for forty years until the death of Othniel. But they did not appreciate what the Lord had done for them, and as soon as Othniel died they departed from the Lord again, forgetting all His goodness to them.
Then the Lord strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel and he gathered together the Ammonites and the Amalekites to battle. The Lord did not come to the help of His people who had departed from Him, and on this occasion He allowed Israel to be utterly defeated before their enemies, and so they had to serve king Eglon for eighteen years. Oh, what unhappy years they were!
At last, when they turned to the Lord again, He raised up another deliverer. He was not, however, of the same character as Othniel, for Ehud was a left-handed man (the right hand is the hand of strength in Scripture), and he did not have the boldness against the enemy as Othniel had. The children of Israel did not wish to provoke war against King Eglon, but instead they planned to send him a present to keep peace at any price. But this was not God’s peace, as Ehud knew, and so he made a dagger instead. He had been chosen to bring this present to King Eglon and so when he had given it to him he asked that everyone be sent away, for he had a secret errand from the Lord. He then killed King Eglon with his dagger and fled for his life. Although we, as Christians, do not carry real swords or daggers, we ought to carry “the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God” (Ephesians 6:17), and we ought to use it too.
ML 08/16/1953