Judges Chapter 3 "Oppressors and deliverers" "Chushan-Rishathaim, and Othniel [5-11]." "Eglon, and Ehud [12-30]." This Bible
Study is written by Roger Christopherson, and it's
transcription is provided by theseason.org In time people will drift away from God, and they will pick up the actions and doctrines from the heathen around them. In fact it takes very little time to where they don't even know the difference between what is from God, and the traditions of men. As we saw in chapter two, our heavenly Father was very angry because His children did not drive out the heathen that were in the land, and do as He commanded them. The falling away of apostasy of today is caused by the same thing and brings about the same results, no matter what generation you live in. When the young people see heathen and their own parents believing and acting a certain way, they pick up on those traditions and carry them into their adult lives. When the first generation of the children of Israel refuse to do as God commanded them to do, by ousting the heathens in the land and destroying their idols, God then said He was going to leave them there and prove or test His people. This testing was done by their acting and interacting with those heathen nations that were living amongst them. The point here is, "Do you know the difference between what is of God, and man's traditions?" Though it was a matter of race in the time of the Judges, much later, after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ all the races have the same choice of accepting Christ as their Savior, and entering into the family of God. However many of those heathen religious practices and forms brought in during the time of the Judges still linger to our day, and are part of many church systems. The problem is that even their leaders don't know the difference, nor do they care. They are content in hanging on to their traditions, for they have accepted those doctrines as their way of life. Their mind-set is if it was good enough for mom and dad, it's good enough for me. God has given us His Word and His Holy Spirit to direct us in our studying of His Word, and if you desire to learn of Him, His Spirit will reveal those truths to you. However, if you close your mind to the plan of God, He will not force you but by your own free will, allow you to chose the ways of the wicked. It is your choice. Judges 3:1 "Now these are the nations which the Lord left, to prove Israel by them, even as many of Israel as had not known all the wars of Canaan;" The "wars of Canaan" were the wars that were suppose to cleanse the land. Those wars did not take place because of agreements and covenants that left the children of Israel the heathen's neighbors. The Canaan wars were to have given the Israelites sole possession of the land. God promised the victory, but the people refused the help that God offered, and God did not force them into war. The children of Israel, of all the tribes, thought that they could use these heathen and profit from them and tax them, however in a very short time they found that these heathen not only shared their wealth, but their religious forms of worship, and even gave their daughter to marry the sons of Israel, and their son to take the daughters of the heathen nations. So this is the results of not obeying God's laws and commandments. Judges 3:2 "Only that the generations of the children of Israel might know, to teach them war, at the least such as before knew nothing thereof;" This is a very strange statement as it is translated into the English, for it is stating that God wanted to teach the Israelites war. That is right, and there is only one way to war, for there is only one way to win any war and that is through prayers to God for His help. The Children of Israel had the enemy mixed amongst them, as their neighbors and even their in-laws, and these heathen were completely smothering the Israelites with their heathen customs and religious thought. So the lesson that God will give His people through these trials in warfare is KNOWLEDGE. The start of that wisdom is when His children learn the first step, and that is to cry out to Him in prayer. After the prayer for intercession, God would then intercede and give the enemy over into the hands of hands of His people. We will see through this entire book of Judges that before God would intercede for His people, they would have to hit the very bottom. Then when they would cry out to God, the intercession would come. This is just as true in our wars today as it was back then. Even general Patton knew the power of Prayer, and had the chaplains write a prayer for good weather, and guidance of the troops each day. Before President Bush moved in the Iraq war, there were days of prayer, by both the national leaders and the generals for wisdom and direction. Prayer is the first step in going to battle. and in the case of the Israelites they had to hit the very bottom before they turned to God and war would be possible. God is in control of all events that happen in this earth age, and it is strange that the heathen do not recognize this as a fact, but they scoff and make light of God as they go down to defeat. This is how you even make war in your daily life, you pray for those enemies that are against you, and then turn them over to God to have at them. Our end generation is not the time to play church, but to recognize who the enemy is, and prepare yourself for the battle that is coming upon us. We are entering into a time of the most fierce spiritual battle that has ever been fought, and shortly even Satan and all his army of angelic forces will be here in person doing battle against the forces of God. If you don't recognize the fact that the only way that you can survive in this war, is by God giving the enemy into your hands, then you will lose. The only way that we win is by the power of God. This is why even those little battles in your daily lives can be won by the power of God. This is why it is important that each member of your church be taught the Word of God as it should be taught; chapter by chapter and verse by verse, to prepare the people for this spiritual warfare that shall come upon our generation. So the first step in warfare is to seek God's help through prayer, and next is also vital. The second point is that you learn who your enemy is, and God is going to name them. The enemies of today are Satan and his children the Kenites. However even the Kenites themselves will cease to be your enemy when the accept Jesus Christ by faith and repent of their sins in Jesus name. Then by adoption, they are no longer in the family of Satan, but become the sons of the living God. God teaches people to make war through prayer and His Word. However the warfare that our generation is entering war not with guns, but with words and evil spiritual forces. Paul has instructed us what armor we should have on and in place, and what we should do, in Ephesians 6:10-20. Paul also told us that when we walk into these battles, "For we walk by faith, not by sight". [II Cointhians 5:7] Judges 3:3 Namely, five lords of the Philistines, and all the Canaanites, and the Sidonians, and the Hivites that dwelt in mount Lebanon, from mount Baal-hermon unto the entering in of Hamath." "Hamath" is the land and home of the Kenites. We read in I Chronicles 2:55 that Racheb, the father of the Kenites, came from Hamath. God warned us in Amos 6:14 that in the end times He would raise up a nation within the house of Israel that would afflict us. Amos 6:14 "But, "Behold, I will raise up against you a nation, O house of Israel, saith the Lord the God of hosts; and they shall afflict you from the entering in of Hamath unto the river of the wilderness." " The reason that this affliction is coming upon us is the fact that our people do not know how to war. They don't know the power of God from His Word, nor do they even know who their enemies are. They do not know how to defend themselves with the power of God, in the spiritual battles that are taking place. This is exactly as it was in the days of the Judges when these heathens were scattered amongst God's people. They simply did not know the difference of what was from God, and what was the from the traditions of these heathen nations. Judges 3:4 "And they were to prove Israel by them, to know whether they would hearken unto the commandments of the Lord, which He commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses." These heathen nations were placed amongst the Israelites not only to test Israel, but as an educating factor. Would God's people listen to the laws and commandments of God that were given to the people by Moses. Which way would the Israelites turn? To the traditions of these heathens, or to the laws and commandments given by Moses? The test or proof is up to those doing the listening; they are the ones to chose which way they will follow. Judges 3:5 And the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, Hittites, and Amorites, and Perizzites, and Hivites, and Jebusites:" The Jebusites are the people that founded Jebez, the city that was later changed to Jerusalem when David conquered it. The children of Israel chose to do just the opposite that God commanded them to do. Judges 3:6 And they took their daughter to be their wives, and gave their daughters to their sons, and served their gods." When the Israelites mixed with the heathen nations, their families intermarried, and this was an abomination to the Lord. God created us by races the way that He wanted us, and He is proud of all the races the way that they were. Moses warned them that this would happen and it did. The Israelites even took pleasure in serving their heathen gods. Judges 3:7 And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and forget the Lord their God, and served Baalim and the groves." Remember that "grove" worship is the fertility rites, and all those things that went with the feast of Ishtar [Easter]. It was from these rites that the rolling of the eggs came, and each year at the festival the parents would take part in their sex orgies. The purpose was to blend the families so parents would not know who's son was who's, and with what tribe each belong to. This traditions of the grove worship stems from way back in ancient times, and went directly against what God's Word commanded through His laws. Judges 3:8 "Therefore the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and He sold them into the hand of Chushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia: and the children of Israel served Chushan-rishathaim eight years." In just one generation the tables were changed. Remember that when the Israelites first took over the land, the reason that they did not rid the land was so that they could profit from them, tax them and use them as slaves. Well in the same generation we find that the Israelites now are the slaves to the same people that they were to have kicked out of the land. Judges 3:9 And when the children of Israel cried unto the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer to the children of Israel, who delivered them, even Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother." Notice that the tables are reversed and now king Chushan-rishathaim that has the upper hand, and puts his rod of iron on the Israelites necks. It happens every time; they go against God's commandments and when things go bad, they cry out for help from God. When God allows them to chose their ways, they sink to the bottom their their traditions. When they finally cried out to the Lord, then God raised up a savior for them. In a way this is a prophecy of Jesus Christ's coming, for "Othniel" means "the lion of God". Judges 3:10 "And the spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he judged Israel, and went out to war: and the Lord delivered Chushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand; and his hand prevailed against Chushan-rishathaim." This tells us exactly how victory came upon Othniel, "the Spirit of the Lord came upon him". This is the way that you begin to fight wars, physical or spiritual wars. Remember from the first paragraph of this book what the word "Judges" meant? The Hebrew word is "Shophetim" and it means "to put right and then rule". Othniel, in the Spirit of God first put his own self right before God, and then went to the people and they put their lives in order with God's Word, and then they went to war. Now don't lose sight who gets the praise and the glory for the victory in the war that took place. "And the Lord delivered Chushan-rishathaim into his hand." You make war when you are right with God, then He does the delivering from the enemy. Judges 3:11 "And the land had rest forty years. And Othniel the son of Kenaz died." Forty years is the biblical number for probation. At the end of that forty years, Othniel and all the men and women that lived through that last bondage had died off, and a new generation comes along that has not seen for their own eye the way that things once were. How soon we forget, and then have to learn the lessons of life for ourselves. Othniel was a good leader and he was in touch with the Spirit of God. Even to this day, all the good leaders pray to God and seek His guidance. Judges 3:12 "And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord. And the Lord strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the Lord." Did you get that? When the people of Israel went right back into the same heathen custom and religious activity that they were once in, God strengthened Israel's enemies. "The Lord strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel". The power of God built up the enemies arms against His people because they forgot who they were, and Gods laws and commandants that He gave to them. They drifted off into the ways that they had just came out of. The point here is that you had better follow God or you are going to lose, because it is God that will see to it. Eglon was a distant cousin to the Israelites, being from Lot's kids, and a relative of Abraham. However it was Eglon that God gave the victory, and the Israelites were once again in bondage. Judges 3:13 "And he gathered unto him the children of Ammon and Amalek, and went and smote Israel, and possessed the city of palm trees." Ammon and Moab were brothers, the sons of Abraham's nephew Lot. Judges 3:14 "So the children of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years." The first time of bondage was for eight years, and here the Israelites were in bondage for eighteen years, and God gave Eglon the power to rule over them. It seems that after forty years of peace and doing it God's Way, they became fat and sassy, and turned to something new and different. They turned away from God, so God had to straighten their minds out, and get them thinking again. When you drift away from studying God's Word, He will do this to you also. It is a method of getting your attention. Sometimes it is the loosing of all your earthly wealth and goods, and maybe it is even attacking your health, however, in time God will get your attention and you will be drawn back to the Word of God. Judges 3:15 "But when the children of Israel cried unto the Lord, the Lord raised them up a deliverer, Ehud the son of Gera, a Benjamite, a man lefthanded: and by him the children of Israel sent a present unto Eglon the king of Moab." Here is the second savior of the Israelites, and the word "Ehud" in the Hebrew means "union". The word "left-handed" is actually three Hebrew words. In the Strong's Hebrew dictionary these numbers are # 334, 3027, and 3325. # 334; "itter, it-tare'; from 332 (maimed), shut up, or altered." # 3027; "Yad, yawd; a prime word; an open hand, indicating power, means, and direction. Indicates a creditor, custody, dominion, and force with the power to stay." Then # 3325; "Yitshariy, yaw-tzoo-ree'; comes from 3324 and from 3323, a Jetsharite of descendant of Jitshar." # 3323; "yitshar, oil, as producing light, oil, anointing." This is saying that Ehud right hand didn't do to good, and God picked a weak person to do the task and free His people. If this isn't bad enough, later when the people fall back into their sins, God will even pick a woman to defeat the toughest of their enemies. The point that we should get from this, is that God will pick and chose those that man thinks as weak and unable, to do the task. Man seems to forget that the victory is not man's, but it is God's. God does the delivering with what ever means He desires. The right hand always indicates the strength, the power and the victory. This is why Jesus warned against taking the mark of the beast in the right hand in Revelation 13:16; And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:" The mark is not a marking as many teach today, but it is what you give service to. You do what you do because you believe that what you do is right. Your mind is in your forehead, and it is what you think that causes you to react to your beliefs. Do you get it? The mark of the beast is what you believe to be true, and the works that you give in that effort. If you believe Satan to be Christ, you will serve him faithfully. That is the taking of the mark of the beast. Remember that we have a one armed man here, his right arm is no good to him. Judges 3:16 "But Ehud made him a dagger which had two edges, of a cubit length; and he did gird it under his raiment upon his right thigh." So Ehud is left-handed because his right hand is gone, and he place this dagger under his right thigh. This way it is right there where he can reach for it easily. Ehud has himself a good little tool for getting God's Word over to Eglon. It is his preaching tool. Spiritually speaking, the sword is the symbol for the Word of God. Ehud was fulfilling God's instructions and Words to him. It is an analogy. Judges 3:17 "And he brought the present unto Eglon know of Moab: and Eglon was a very fat man." This present is part of the tribute that Eglon charged the Israelites. Judges 3:18 "And when he had made an end to offer the present, he sent away the people that bare the present." Ehud asked that the tribute or present be given in secret, so Eglon sent away those servants and leaders that were in their presence. Judges 3:19 "But he himself turned again from the quarries that were by Gilgal, and said, "I have a secret errand unto thee, O king:" who said, "Keep silence." And all that stood by him went out from him." Ehud turned in his heart from the "quarries" were the graven images, or idols that were at Gilgal. Today these quarries would be the traditions and false doctrines that had been accepted as the truth from God, when in fact they were lies and forms of idolatry that is called "of God". Ehud purged his mind of those heathen customs and religions before he entered in to do service to the king. Ehud is using a little psychology here, this old fat king thinks that this is something really special that the Israelites are sending to him. When Ehud tells him that he is on an secret errand to the king, you can just see this old fat king leaning over and telling Ehud, "sh....Keep silent", as he turn and ushers those in the room to leave. We know that this special gift is a dagger, sharp and long, that reached from the elbow to the tip of the finger of a grown man. We also know how that digger will be deposited to the king, in his belly. Judges 3:20 "And Ehud came unto him; and he was sitting in a summer parlour, which he had for himself alone. And Ehud said, "I have a message from God unto thee." And he arose out of his seat." The bottom line here is that Eglon's pride has allow himself to be all wrapped up in his own pride. He thought that Ehud is going to give him a message telling him of how great a person he is, and he just can't wait to hear the words as he leads Ehud into his summer parlor. This was probably a cool place that was separated from the rest of the house, and when the two men sat in the parlor, Ehud told Eglon, "I have a message from God unto thee", and the message was from God. Judges 3:21 "And Ehud put forth his left hand, and took the dagger from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly:" Remember that Ehud is a handicapped individual, and as he stood to his feet, he leaned over and took the dagger from his right thigh, and approached king Eglon. You can see his eyes open wide, as he thinks that the knife is the gift to him. However it is the way that the knife is given to him that make the whole thing final. The digger is about eighteen inches long, and Ehud thrust the entire blade into the king's belly. Judges 3:22 "And the haft also went in after the blade; and the fat closed upon the blade, so that he could not draw the dagger out of his belly; and the dirt came out. Ehud thrust the digger so deep into the belly of this fat king, that even the handle was submerged into the fat that oozed around it. Ehud cast the knife so deep into the belly of Eglon, that he lost his grip of the knife. We will leave off the detail of all that came out of the wound. However the fat is boiling and the knife is in the fire, so to speak. Spiritually speaking, the fat and the dirt is that which symbolizes the cleansing by the Word of God. The sword, or the Word of God went inside and brought out the dirt. It is the sword that did the cleansing. It is God that selected the person to carry the sword or Word to do the cleansing that He desires to take place. God doesn't really need much help from man, if he will just stay out of God's way. Judges 3:23 "Then Ehud went forth through the porch, and shut the doors of the parlour upon him, and locked them." God revealed to Ehud exactly what to do, and Ehud carried out this covert action as instructed. Judges 3:24 "When he was gone out, his servants came; and when they saw that, behold, the doors of the parlour were locked, they said, "Surely he covereth his feet in this summer chamber." When the servants came to see the King, and the door was locked, or course the first thought was that the king was resting and not to be disturbed. . Judges 3:25 "And they tarried till they were ashamed: and, behold, he opened not the doors of the parlour; therefore they took a key, and opened them: and, behold their lord was fallen down dead on the earth." They waited so long that they became worried that something had happened to Eglon. When they finally got a key to open the door and went in, they saw their king was flat on the ground dead. At first they did not know why the king was dead, but we know that it was because of the eighteen inch digger that was buried in his belly. Judges 3:26 "And Ehud escaped while they tarried, and passed beyond the quarries, and escaped unto Serath." While the servants are sitting around wondering what to do, Ehud is making tracks out of the area, beyond the quarries, through the area of their idols and off to Serath. Ehud may have had a whithered right hand, but he had two real good legs, and they were being used real good in putting distance between Ehud and the king. Judges 3:27 "And it came to pass, when he was come, that he blew the trumpet in the mountain of Ehpraim, and the children of Israel went down with him from the mount, and he before them." Did Ehud run and hide from the Moabites after he killed the king? Absolutely not, for he headed right back to the Israelites and sounded the trumpet, and rounded up the people to make them ready for battle. Judges 3:28 "And he said unto them, "Follow after me: for the Lord hath delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hand." And they went down after him, and took the fords of Jordan toward Moab, and suffered not a man to pass over." Notice that Ehud never even hinted at a victory on his part, but gave the Lord all the glory and credit. He knew that God caused everything that happened. God set the time to allow him to place the digger in the king's belly, and He allowed the diversion for him to escape. Ehud sounded the trumpet, and shouted to the people to follow after him, "for the Lord hath delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hands." No, Ehud did not say, I did it. He said "The Lord shall give us the victory". Notice that not one of the Israelites lost their life when God was the one to do battle. There is a great lesson to be learned here. When you allow God to do your battles for you, then you have the victory. First you get yourself right with God, and then you talk to Him and tell Him your problems. You have to learn that what ever you do, you are to do it in and with the Spirit of God. We have to learn to discern the Words of God, to have His power and blessings. Judges 3:29 "And they slew of Moab at that time about ten thousand men, all lusty, and all men of valour; and there escaped not a man." When the Israelites went against these ten thousand men, they were all fat [lusty] just like their king Eglon, even their best men of war. This army of the Moabites had been living good on their reputations over the past eighteen years, and the thought of going to war was far in the back of their minds. They just were not prepared for this army of the Israelites coming against them. They were made fat off the usury of God's people. It is also our people, the offspring of Israel, the house of Israel that today is making these Kenites fat off from the usury and labor of our people. Judges 3:30 "So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest fourscore years." So after this conflict, God will give rest for eighty years and this is two times probation. Do you think that the Israelites had learned a lesson by this time? Judges 3:31 And after him was Shamgar the son of Anath, which slew of the Philistines six hundred men with an ox goad: and he also delivered Israel." At the close of this third chapter, God is giving us a little pop test. Do you know what an "ox goad" is? We saw in this chapter that God used a man with a withered arm, and now He is using a man with "just a dull nail on a stick" [ox goad] to deliver all of Israel from their enemies. It is a sharp instrument on the end of a stick about six to eight feet long. It would be on the order of a spear, but it is what you punch a cow with to get old bessy to move along. God is not particular what He uses, but what ever it is you know for a fact that God will have His victory. So now ask yourself, How is your life doing today? Have you turned your problems over to Him, or are you still hanging on to them? Have you sought your guidance from God's Word, or are you allowing the Kenites, the Canaanites or any other heathen idea to have control over your mind? I can't answer this for you, but until you come to terms with God, He will not send His Spirit to intercede on your behalf. Its your choice, and God will allow you to bottom out both physically and spiritually until you turn back to him. Every time the Children of Israel fell to the bottom in sin and cried out to God, He heard them and came to their defense. You don't have to ever bottom out, when you stay in God's Word, and seek to do things in your life as God instructs you.
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