Ehud: The Left-Handed Assassin. Judges 3:12-30
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.13 And he gathered unto him the children of Ammon and Amalek, and went and smote Israel, and possessed the city of palm trees.14 So the children of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years.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.ss16 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.
17 And he brought the present unto Eglon king of Moab: and Eglon was a very fat man.18 And when he had made an end to offer the present, he sent away the people that bare the present.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.
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.s21 And Ehud put forth his left hand, and took the dagger from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly: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.
23 Then Ehud went forth through the porch, and shut the doors of the parlour upon him, and locked them.
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 his summer chamber.
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.26 And Ehud escaped while they tarried, and passed beyond the quarries, and escaped unto Seirath.
27 And it came to pass, when he was come, that he blew a trumpet in the mountain of Ephraim, and the children of Israel went down with him from the mount, and he before them.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.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. 30 So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest fourscore years.
Isn’t that an incredible story?
You thought the BIble was boring. Yeah right!
Elements in this story:
A left handed judge- When the guards checked Ehud for a dagger, they probably checked him as if he was right handed. It allowed him to get past the guards to take out the king.
A really fat king- Eglon had subdued the children of Israel. Once they repented, God chose Ehud to take out this leader.
Life Step: Think about it…
One of the things you might be wondering is “Why would God command someone to kill someone else? Isn’t it wrong to kill?”
Instead of just giving you my answer, I’d like to hear your answer first.
- Why would God ask someone to kill someone else? Would it be a sin?
- Also, what are some ways you can apply some of this story to your life?
Study the Scriptures with Ben Jennings 
I think God used him to kill because it’s something bigger than killing someone. An example would be somebody was keeping people prison and he wouldin’t stop and he was warned but adventually somebody had to do something about it. Thsat’s not a great example but that’s the best I could come up with.
i think God would ask someone to kill somebody to kill someone else because he would be doing it for a reason cuz he does EVERYTHING for a reason.i dont think it would be a sin cuz it was something he told you to do and you have to obey that.this can apply to my life cuz we need to obey what God tells us to do even if we have to go out of our way to do it.nobody does this ALL the time.we’re not perfect.but we can still obey him.thats how i can apply this to my life 🙂