King Eglon Dead, Peace for B’nai Israel
While I was looking through some files, I came across a juicy story that had
somehow escaped the press. Now, thanks to me, you can read the story of
Ehud.
It begins, as usual, with B’nai Israel doing what is wicked in the eyes of
the lord. They worshiped idols and intermarried, neglecting their one
and only God. But wait, the begining may be cliche, but the rest is
completely new, interesting, and unheard of.
Next, God has King Eglon of Moab oppress the Israelites for eighteen, long, hard years.
The Israelites, sick and tired of their oppression at the hands of the evil
King Eglon, cry out to God to save them. So, seeing that they are
sorry, God sends them a Shofet, Ehud.
Now, Ehud is a Shofet like no other.
For one thing, He is left handed. This may sound to you like an unimportant, irrelevant fact. But no, it most certainly isn’t. He would never have been able to come near achieving what he did to save the Israelites, had he been right handed. He kept his sword on the right side of his belt so that he could easily draw it. Since most people use their right hand and keep their sword on the left, guards never think to check the left side.
Now, what did Ehud achieve that was so great? Ehud decided that in order to save B’nai Israel, he must kill the evil King Eglon, oppressor of the Israelites. Ehud brings a tribute to the king. When he sees King Eglon, he tells him that he has a secret message from him. The king dismisses the guards, leaving himself alone with Ehud.Next, Ehud tells him that the message is from God. King Eglon stands up in order to receive the message, out of respect for God. This is where it gets interesting. “And Ehud put forth his left hand, and took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly.” (Judges 3:21) King Eglon then fell to the floor, dead.
But wait, the story isn’t over yet! Ehud then hides the body in the bathroom so that the guards assume that he is doing his business and escapes. He then gathered an army of Israelites, and defeated the Moabs. “So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest fourscore years.” (Judges 3:30) Ehud had achieved what he had set out to do, and because of him, the land was at peace for eighty years.
Happy endings are the best. It’s all because of me that you could read this wonderful story. It was most fortunate that I found that file.
