February 8 – Judges 3:15-31
February 8 – Judges 3:15-31
15 Then the
people of Israel cried out to the Lord,
and the Lord raised up
for them a deliverer, Ehud, the son of Gera, the Benjaminite, a
left-handed man. The people of Israel sent tribute by him to Eglon the king of
Moab. 16 And Ehud made for himself a sword with two
edges, a cubit in length, and he bound it on his right thigh under his
clothes. 17 And he presented the tribute to Eglon
king of Moab. Now Eglon was a very fat man. 18 And
when Ehud had finished presenting the tribute, he sent away the people who
carried the tribute. 19 But he himself turned
back at the idols near Gilgal and said, “I have a secret message for you,
O king.” And he commanded, “Silence.” And all his attendants went out from his
presence. 20 And Ehud came to him as he was sitting
alone in his cool roof chamber. And Ehud said, “I have a message from
God for you.” And he arose from his seat. 21 And
Ehud reached with his left hand, took the sword from his right thigh, and
thrust it into his belly. 22 And the hilt also went
in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade, for he did not pull the
sword out of his belly; and the dung came out. 23 Then
Ehud went out into the porch and closed the doors of the roof chamber
behind him and locked them.
24 When he
had gone, the servants came, and when they saw that the doors of the roof
chamber were locked, they thought, “Surely he is relieving himself in the
closet of the cool chamber.” 25 And they waited
till they were embarrassed. But when he still did not open the doors of the
roof chamber, they took the key and opened them, and there lay their lord dead
on the floor.
26 Ehud
escaped while they delayed, and he passed beyond the idols and escaped to
Seirah. 27 When he arrived, he sounded the
trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim. Then the people of Israel went
down with him from the hill country, and he was their leader. 28 And
he said to them, “Follow after me, for the Lord has given your enemies the Moabites into your
hand.” So they went down after him and seized the fords of the Jordan
against the Moabites and did not allow anyone to pass over. 29 And
they killed at that time about 10,000 of the Moabites, all strong, able-bodied
men; not a man escaped. 30 So Moab was subdued that
day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest for eighty years.
31 After
him was Shamgar the son of Anath, who killed 600 of the
Philistines with an oxgoad, and he also saved Israel.
This passage provides
another example of God’s provisions. Israel had once again turned their back on
God. Realizing their need of God, they cried out and God had another leader
ready to do His work. Once done, they rested in peace for eighty years. There
seems to be a pattern of evil, disobedience and idol worship before they
realize again how good God is to them. They cry out and he delivers them. He
does this for us as well. I lose my temper, I say words that are hurtful, I
think thoughts that do not honor God. Am I really any different than the
Israelites? How about you? Have you thought about how sin has impacted your
life? Take it to God and ask forgiveness and repent. Turn from your sin. He
will lead.
Heavenly Father, these
verses show us not only do You always provide a way, but You know how to take
care of evil men. You always seem to have
such a interesting way to take care of those especially evil. I think of how Goliath was taken down by a
young boy, when all those who were fighting men were too scared to fight
him. David drew out five smooth stones
to use. I assume smooth stones because
they take a more sure way and are more predictable. I always wondered why he took 5 stones when
he knew You were on his side. It only
took one because You directed that stone right where it needed to go. David just needed the courage.
I just need the courage to
stand up for You. You will give me the
words and allow those words to be seeds or harvest. That is Your choice. My choice is standing up for You, or sitting
with the world and staying silent. Help me
Father be willing to stand up for You when You call on me.
In Jesus’ name.
Amen!
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