11. The Work of Ehud in Delivering the Nation

The Work of Ehud in Delivering the Nation

"And he brought the present unto Eglon king of Moab: ...... And when he had made an end to offer the present, he sent away the people that bare the present. 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. 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. And Ehud put forth his left hand, and took the dagger from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly: 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. Then Ehud went forth through the porch, and shut the doors of the parlour upon him, and locked them. 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. 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. And Ehud escaped while they tarried, and passed beyond the quarries, and escaped unto Seirath. 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. 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. 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. So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest fourscore years." (Judges 3:17-30)

We might feel as we read this narrative what a cruel, violent and deceitful thing Ehud did. Is this the kind of thing God commends, that a man should make himself a dagger (or a ’two edged sword’) and use it against this seemingly defenceless man? Is this the kind of thing that God approves of? The first thing we have to remember is, what kind of man was he? He was the determined enemy of God. He was subjugating the people of God. There was no worship, there was no response to God as long as this man was in control, and he had to be dealt with, and in a very definite way. ’Oh’, we might say, ’this is not the spirit of Christianity’; but we must be careful before saying this. The Lord said, "So hast thou them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes, which thing I hate" (Revelation 2:15), and is this not the language of Christianity? "If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14:26) and "mortify (kill) the deeds of the body" (Romans 8:13) are similar passages. This applies to us personally. It may not be dealing with people violently, it is not killing people, but the principle of ruthlessness in relation to that which is against God still applies to us today.

There is no love to be shown to Moab, not the slightest. God has declared him to be an enemy, and an enemy must be dealt with with the utmost ruthlessness. So it is with us who are Christians. Paul says that he wished that those who were opposing the Galatians were accursed (Galatians 1:8-9). Oh, we may say, this is not the spirit of Christianity, but this is what Paul says, and Paul was the greatest exponent of Christianity, and he states very definitely that he wished those who opposed the truth and led the people of God astray accursed, "If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha [accursed until the Lord comes]" (1 Corinthians 16:22). This is ruthless language, very stern language, but along with this goes the grace, kindness and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to those who are in need.

Christians should always be ready to show help and sympathy to those who require it; but there should also be that determination to oppose anything that is contrary to the claims of Christ. This is seen in John’s epistle when he says to the elder lady, ’If those professing the name of Christ do not come with the truth, if they come with another gospel, a perversion of the truth, do not show them the slightest courtesy or hospitality, do not let them into your home, do not even bid them God speed or you will become a partaker of their evil deeds’ (2 John 1:7-11). These are very stern words, not our own words, they are the words of Scripture, and all through the New Testament we will find this very stern and ruthless teaching in relation to evil in ourselves, or in other people, or wherever it is found.

It says of the Lord Jesus that He "loved righteousness, and hated iniquity" (Hebrews 1:9). It is very difficult for us to hate as Christians, and hate in a righteous spiritual matter. The Lord could hate as perfectly as He loved. He loved with perfection, and He hated with perfection. It is often very difficult for us to do this, because of some personal matter involved that may arouse our hatred and our anger, but the Lord Jesus hated things because they were in opposition to His God and we also have to have those features. In the Proverbs there are seven things the Lord hates: "These six things doth the Lord hate; yea, seven are an abomination unto him: a proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, an heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, a false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren" (Proverbs 6:16-19). God expects His people to hate them too, and to make sure that first of all they are eradicated from our own lives, and to make sure that we do not give any permissiveness in relation to them in others. So Ehud had a two edged sword, and it is to the New Testament that we turn to interpret this. In relation to the Lord Jesus’ place amongst the assemblies, it says, "out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword" (Revelation 1:16). This is the application of the Word of God in exposing and condemning, and also encouraging the things that He finds amongst His people. Also in Revelation 19:15 it says ,"Out of His mouth goes forth a sharp two-edged sword, that with it he should smite the [Gentile] nations", the opponents of Israel at the end of the time of tribulation. Turning to Hebrews 4:12 we find that "the Word of God is..... sharper than any two-edged sword"; we also read in Ephesians 6:17 that we are to take "the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God". For Ehud it meant literally using this violent weapon to overcome this enemy of Israel; for us it means the application of the Word of God to everything that we know is opposing God. Dear brethren, it is the best weapon we have, we can use all sorts of considerations in dealing with those who oppose God, but the best thing to do is to quote the appropriate part of the Word of God that deals with the matter in question. This is always the means that God uses to overcome the enemies of the truth.

Martin Luther, John Wesley, William Tyndale, John Wycliffe and many others all used the Word of God effectively to deal with the problems of their day. It has been well said, that in using this two-edged sword, we begin by using one edge against ourselves, and then we can use the other edge against other persons or principles. This is very good advice. If we can overcome evil in ourselves, we have every right to attempt to overcome it in others; but if we have not begun to deal with the problems in our own lives, we have no moral authority in trying to deal with it in others or elsewhere. The application of the Word of God to ourselves is an extremely important matter; Paul used it to great effect in His arguments; Apollos used it, being mighty in the Scriptures (Acts 18:24), and he reasoned that Jesus was the Christ; the Lord Himself did it dealing with Satan (Matthew 4:4; Matthew 4:7; Matthew 4:10); all said, "It is written.....". And down through the ages in the Christian testimony, again and again it has been the same, the effectiveness of one’s testimony in dealing with that which opposes God is to be found in the ability to handle the Word of God correctly. So in ’2 Timothy days’, when there is so much opposition to God, we are reminded that every word of God is inspired and is profitable for the man of God for all things (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

There is another thing that Ehud had that has some meaning for us today. First of all he was a confessor, secondly he was a member of a famous tribe and showed the proper feature connected with it, thirdly he had a sword and he used it effectively, and then after he dealt with this enemy he blew a trumpet, he gave a clear note. This is what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 14:8, "For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?" This is what Ehud did, he blew the trumpet, he assembled the people, he asked them to follow him, which they did, and a great victory was secured. There is a crying need for this kind of ministry today, a ministry which strikes a clear note as to certain conditions that prevail. Paul did not beat about the bush, he did not say ambiguous things that might be interpreted according to the wish of the people. If there were things that were wrong, he spoke out clearly and distinctly, he named the things so that people could take account of them and adjust themselves in the light of God. We read in the epistle to the Corinthians again and again, Paul naming the things that were wrong, he did not make statements that might be misunderstood, he spoke plainly about the things he understood were wrong; and of course as the people applied themselves to that they adjusted themselves in the light of God, and triumphed, and blessings were secured. So Ehud blew the trumpet, he assembled the people, and he said, "Follow after me" (v.28). What right had he to say that? Morally he had the right because he himself had showed courage in entering into the very presence of the leader of the enslaving enemy, and he, by his personal courage and energy, had killed the king. Now he was asking the people to follow him. Had Paul any right to say to the people, "Be ye followers of me"? (1 Corinthians 11:1) Certainly he had, because he went on to say ".....even as I also am [a follower] of Christ". He had the moral right to say to the people of God ,"Follow after me". Only in the measure that we ourselves have been successful in combating evil, will we be able to induce others to follow us. Oh, how we would desire to be like Ehud in this respect, to be able to encourage the people of God to walk in this pathway of overcoming. He was very, very successful "the Lord hath delivered your enemies, the Moabites, into your hands" (v.28). The end of the chapter tells us that for eighty years the nation had rest. What a wonderful blessing. It did not begin very auspiciously, one man being raised up, but because of his courage, his energy, his ability and his initiative, the victory was secured, and the people of Israel had rest for eighty years.