Judges 3
McGeeCHAPTER 3THEME: First and second apostasy; God delivers Israel from servitude through her judges: Othniel, Ehud, and ShamgarThe children of Israel intermarried with the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites among whom they lived. Israel did evil, forgot God, and served Baalim. God delivered them into slavery. Othniel, the first judge, was raised up to deliver them. His only qualification seems to be that he was the nephew of Caleb and married his daughter. Ehud, the second judge, was raised up to deliver Israel from the servitude of Eglon, king of Moab. His qualification was his being left-handed, which enabled him to gain the presence of the king without his concealed dagger being discovered. Shamgar was the third judge, who was an expert with an ox goad. He used it as an instrument of war against the Philistines to deliver Israel. All of the judges had some defect, some odd characteristic, or handicap which God used. The judges reveal that God can use any man who is willing to be used.
Judges 3:1
THE IDOLATRY OF ISRAEL BRINGS SERVITUDEWe find here that the Israelites had intermarried with the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. They married into all the tribes, even though God had strictly forbidden it. The five lords of the Philistines and the other tribes mentioned in this passage were enemies of the Israelites. As we proceed through the Old Testament, these enemies will appear time and time again. They were indeed a thorn in the flesh of the nation Israel.
Judges 3:5
Instead of driving the Canaanites from the land, Israel shared it with them. Instead of maintaining their own beliefs and worship of God, they intermarried with the Canaanites and adopted their religious beliefs. The children of Israel lapsed into a period of apostasy.
Judges 3:8
Israel’s idolatry resulted in chastisement. God sold them into slavery for eight years. They were oppressed to the point that they cried out to the Lord for help.
Judges 3:9
OTHNIEL, THE FIRST JUDGEHow gracious and compassionate the Lord is! When the children of Israel cried unto Him for deliverance, He raised up Othniel to be the first judge.
Judges 3:10
Othniel was the first and one of the better judges. There is no great criticism leveled against him. He saved his people from the oppression of Chushan-rishathaim. The only thing is that he was not capable in himself. He did not become leader of Israel because of his outstanding ability but because he was Caleb’s nephew and had married Caleb’s daughter. And yet God used him. It is amazing what kind of men God will use. Maybe that is the reason He can use you and me. This book should certainly encourage us, friend. All of the judges were “little men.” There was not a big one in the lot. These men were used of God because they wereand I have to say itodd characters. Their very oddness caused God to use them. The biography of Othniel was that he was the son of Kenaz, who was Caleb’s brother. The Spirit of God came upon him, and he delivered the children of Israel from oppression. He died. In a very few verses we have the life and death of this man. He had a lot going for him, but there was no glamour or anything spectacular connected with his life. Most biographies are much like this. I met a man on the streets of Los Angeles, California, years ago who had written several fine biographies of Christian leaders of the past. He was working on a book about a present-day Christian leader, and I asked him how the work was coming along. He told me that he was having difficulty keeping the front page from rubbing against the back page. Apart from the birth and death of the man, there was little to say about him. Engraved on the tombstone of a dentist were the words: “Dr. John Smith filling his last cavity.” That not only applies to dentists but to the rest of us as well. Othniel was an ordinary man, but God came upon his simple life and made it something worthwhile. God can also touch our ordinary lives and make them worthwhile.
Judges 3:12
EHUD, THE SECOND JUDGEHere goes the hoop rolling down through history again. The Israelites were serving God for awhile, then they turned their backs on Him and did evil in His sight. Ehud was one of the judges God raised up to deliver Israel. He had very little ability. I cannot find that he did anything other than kill Eglon. He just happened to be left-handed, which gave him a marvelous opportunity to get rid of a man who was bringing all kinds of tragedy into the lives of the Israelites. Ehud was the instrument God used. His act of killing Eglon accomplished the purpose. God many times uses this method to cut out a cancer of sin in order to save the body of the people. Thousands of lives were saved because of what Ehud did. Many people will say, “Well, our civilization would not permit something like this.” No one can say this honestly, however, because we dropped an atomic bomb which killed men, women, and children. War is a terrible thing. The remarkable fact is that the only advantage Ehud had was that he was left-handed. Friend, we don’t have to have unusual ability to be used of God. Do you remember William Carey? He was a humble cobbler. Dwight L. Moody had little formal education.
A friend gave me a cassette tape of Dwight L. Moody’s voice, taken from a record. I had never realized what a wonderful voice he hadI would not have associated such a voice with the pictures I have seen of him. Although he did not have much of an education, he certainly sounded as though he did. Also I am reminded of G. Campbell Morgan.
When he preached his first sermon in a particular church, he was turned down by the pulpit committee. They told him they did not think he could ever become a preacher. I certainly would have hated to have been responsible for that judgment because Dr. Morgan became one of the truly great Bible expositors of his time. All three of these menCarey, Moody, Morganunpromising though they seemed, were mightily used by God. Also there have been many men, humble men, who have been used by God in other capacities. J. C. Penney was the son of a preacher. When his father died, his mother was left without support because the church in that day did not provide a pension for a pastor’s widow. He and his mother had to take in washing to exist. He resolved that some day he would make money to take care of his mother and also take care of poor preachers and their widows. Well, there is a place down in Florida named for Penney at which only retired preachers and their widows can live. God has used him in that way. There is another man, a rancher, with whom I used to hunt down on the Brazos River. He told me that as a young fellow he had staked a claim way out in west Texas on land that was so bad nobody wanted it. The weather was so rough he had to move his family into town, and he would sleep at night on his saddle blanket with a slicker over him and a trench around him to let the water drain off. He said, “People think I was lucky to hit oil on that land, but I prayed that if God would enable me to keep it and make money, I’d use it for Him.” He did just that. He established a fund that has supported many a missionary in South America.
Judges 3:13
When the Israelites went against God’s will, He delivered them into servitude. Then what happened?
Judges 3:14
Here we go again. The hoop is rolling. Israel cried unto the Lord and He raised up a deliverer. Who was he? He was Ehud, the son of Gera, a Benjamite, a left-handed man. This is a good one for you, friends. The only thing that this man had going for him was that he was left-handed, a southpaw!
Judges 3:16
This is a brutal thing that took place. It certainly lacks the heroic or romantic. His name means “red hair” and he was left-handed. He made a dagger which had two edges, and he hid it under his clothes on his right side. Now don’t miss that. He was left-handed and would have to reach over on his right side to pull out the dagger.
In that day almost everybody was right-handed, and they were searched on the left side to see if they carried a weapon. The king’s Secret Service agents searched Ehud on the wrong side. He gained entrance by bringing a “present,” which was probably the tribute. Eglon was a big fat king. After Ehud had given him the present, he pretended he had a secret to tell him. The king sent everyone else out of the room, thinking he was going to hear a very secret message.
Instead, a bloody thing was about to happen. At a convenient moment, Ehud took out the dagger and plunged it into the king. He stuck him like you would a pig. The dagger was covered by the king’s fat. Then Ehud locked the doors and left. Ehud’s act was not a cowardly one. It took courage to do what he did.
Judges 3:24
The servants of Eglon, king of Moab, waited around outside of the king’s door. They saw that the parlor doors were locked and thought the king was asleep. They did not wish to disturb him. They kept thinking he would wake up. They waited so long they were very embarrassed. What happened? They finally opened the doors with a key and found Eglon dead.
Judges 3:26
All of the time the servants were waiting for their king to awaken, Ehud had an opportunity to escape. He left the land of Moab and went to another place, Seirath by name, where they could not find him.
Judges 3:31
SHAMGAR, THE THIRD JUDGEAs in the days of the judges, God still uses ordinary men who want to be used to accomplish His great purposes. God can use you if you want to be used, friends. Now here is the third judge, Shamgar. In this case, it is not the man, it is the method that is remarkable. He used an ox goad, which is a very crude instrument. The Israelites just didn’t have iron weapons; so he used that which he had. I hear people say today, “Oh, we must have the best and the latest methods.” It is fine to have good methods, but what about the message? It is wonderful to have airplanes that transport missionaries, but when the missionary gets to his field, is he giving out the Word of God? That’s what I want to know. Television is great, but notice how it is prostituted today. The important thing is not the method, but the message. An ox goad can be dedicated to God if it is in the right hands. Remember that God used the rod of Moses. He used a stone from the slingshot of David. And all Dorcas had was a needle and thread. Also there was a boy who had only five loaves and a few fishes. All of these things were given to God. Whatever you have, friend, if you will put it in His hand, He will use it. Think of these three judges who are mentioned in this chapter. They are three little menplus God.