articlesforchristians

Ehud was born around 1318 BC and around died 1217 BC. He was the second judge of Israel. He rose after Israel had fallen into sin.

Judges 3:12-14

• Now the Israelites again did evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord strengthened Eglon king of Moab against Israel, since they had done what was evil in the sight of the Lord. 
• And Eglon gathered to him the sons of Ammon and Amalek, and went and struck down Israel [in defeat], and they took possession of the City of Palm Trees (Jericho). 
• And the Israelites served Eglon king of Moab eighteen years.

Ehud Rescues Israel from Moab
 Judges 3:15

• But when the Israelites cried out to the Lord [for help], the Lord raised up a man to rescue them, Ehud the son of Gera, a Benjamite, a left-handed man. And the Israelites sent a gift of tribute by him to Eglon king of Moab. 

From this verse we learn a few things about Ehud.

• Ehud was the son of Gera.
• Ehud was from the tribe of Benjamin.
• Ehud was left-handed.

What Ehud did as recorded in Judges 3:16-30

• Ehud made himself a double-edged sword eighteen inches long.
• He strapped it to his right thigh under his clothes and brought the tribute to King Eglon of Moab, who was an extremely fat man. 
• When Ehud had finished presenting the tribute, he dismissed the people who had carried it. 
• At the carved images near Gilgal he returned and said, “King Eglon, I have a secret message for you.”
  • The king said, “Silence!” and all his attendants left him. 
• Then Ehud approached him while he was sitting alone in his upstairs room where it was cool. Ehud said, “I have a message from God for you,” and the king stood up from his throne. 
• Ehud reached with his left hand, took the sword from his right thigh, and plunged it into Eglon’s belly. 
  • Even the handle went in after the blade, and Eglon’s fat closed in over it, so that Ehud did not withdraw the sword from his belly. And the waste came out.
• Ehud escaped by way of the porch, closing and locking the doors of the upstairs room behind him.
  • Ehud was gone when Eglon’s servants came in. They looked and found the doors of the upstairs room locked and thought he was relieving himself in the cool room. The servants waited until they became embarrassed and saw that he had still not opened the doors of the upstairs room. So, they took the key and opened the doors—and there was their lord lying dead on the floor!
• Ehud escaped while the servants waited. He passed the Jordan near the carved images and reached Seirah. 
• After he arrived, he sounded the ram’s horn throughout the hill country of Ephraim. The Israelites came down with him from the hill country, and he became their leader. 
• He told them, “Follow me, because the Lord has handed over your enemies, the Moabites, to you.” So, they followed him, captured the fords of the Jordan leading to Moab, and did not allow anyone to cross over. 
  • At that time, they struck down about ten thousand Moabites, all stout and able-bodied men. Not one of them escaped.  Moab became subject to Israel that day, and the land had peace for eighty years.

However, some of the traditions has more to do with history than the Law of God. This is the tradition that they have about family linage. Also, some parts of this tradition can be proven with scripture. I am adding all of it here because it brings up an interesting thought.

Notes: If this Goliath was the same Goliath as Orpah’s son, then Goliath had to be at least 120 years old. If the tradition about Orpah having a son named Goliath is true, then 1 of 3 possibilities happened:

1. The Goliah that David killed was really a descendant of Orpah’s son who was named after Orpah’s son.
2. Goliah had superhuman abilities because of his father being a fallen angel that allowed him to have incredibly long life.
3. This Goliath was a totally different Goliath with no direct connection to Orpah.