God’s Surprising Deliverer: Ehud

“God’s Surprising Deliverer: Ehud”

Big Idea: God disciplines His people to draw them back, and He often delivers through the least expected person with the most unexpected plan.

Aim: See the cycle (sin → servitude → supplication → salvation → shalom), admire Ehud’s courage and God’s sovereignty, and learn to trust God’s surprising strategies in our own battles.

0. Opening (2 min)

Pray.

Invite folks to keep Bibles open to Judges 3:12–30.

1) Historical hook (Intro, 5 min)

Historical Hook: The WWII “Ghost Army”

During World War II, the U.S. deployed a top-secret unit known as the “Ghost Army.”

This was not a conventional fighting force, but a group of artists, sound engineers, and stage designers.

They used inflatable tanks, recorded battle sounds, and clever radio deception to convince German forces that entire divisions were in places they were not.

Their work drew enemy troops away from the real Allied advances and saved thousands of lives.

For decades the operation remained classified; only later did the world learn how a handful of creative minds turned the tide with misdirection and courage.

Tie-in: God’s deliverance through Ehud works like the Ghost Army’s operation—strategic, hidden, and surprising. The Lord used a left-handed Benjamite with a concealed weapon and an unexpected plan to defeat Moab and give His people rest. Just as the Ghost Army’s unconventional tactics proved decisive, God delights to win His victories in ways no one anticipates—so that the glory belongs unmistakably to Him.

2) Text overview (1 min)

Read Judges 3:12–30 aloud (or assign readers by section below).

3) Verse-by-verse under four movements (40 min)

I. Rebellion → Retribution → (vv. 12–14) — “Strengthened against them”

Read 3:12–14

v.12a Rebellion: “Again/continued” to do evil—same covenant breach (spiritual adultery). Not a blip; a pattern (Phillips).

v.12b Retribution: “The LORD strengthened Eglon.” God is sovereign over geopolitics (Dan 4:17); the oppressor is God’s rod, not an accident (Guzik; Phillips).

v.13 Geography/Theater: Eglon allies with Ammon & Amalek, seizes the City of Palms (Jericho). Controlling Jericho controls three ascent routes up to Benjamin’s plateau; it pins Benjamin between Philistines west and Moab east (Stone).

v.14 Duration: 18 years. Long enough for desperation to mature.

Eglon’s name means “calflike one”—ANET usage links calves/bulls with deity; don’t overdo “fat jokes” (Stone).

Discussion (2–3 min)

Where do we confuse discipline with abandonment? How does vv.12–14 correct that?

Application

When God “strengthens” a hardship, He’s not quitting on us; He’s calling us back.

II. Supplication → Savior (vv. 15–18) — “A left-handed right-hander”

Read 3:15–18

v.15a Cry: The verb is “cry out,” not necessarily full repentance—desperation precedes deliverance (Stone).

v.15b “Raised up a rescuer” (moshiaʿ): Only Othniel & Ehud get this exact badge (Stone). Salvation is grace, not wages.

Identity/Irony: Benjamite = “son of the right hand.” Ehud is “bound in the right hand” (idiom), i.e., trained left-handed (Stone). Benjamin produced ambidextrous elites (Judg 20:16; 1 Chr 12:2). Left-hand carry gives tactical edge: sword on right thigh avoids typical guard checks.

Left-handedness likely trained (right hand bound when young); elite Benjamite skillset (Judg 20:16; 1 Chr 12:2).

Judges 20:16 NKJV

16 Among all this people were seven hundred select men who were left-handed; every one could sling a stone at a hair’s breadth and not miss.

1 Chronicles 12:2 NKJV

2 armed with bows, using both the right hand and the left in hurling stones and shooting arrows with the bow. They were of Benjamin, Saul’s brethren.

v.16 Weapon: A double-edged combat sword (Stone’s Naue Type II note): short enough to conceal, stiff enough to pierce deeply; not a bent khopesh.

v.17 Tribute courier: Ehud likely leads a team (v.18). He appears cooperative—perfect cover.

Discussion (2–3 min)

Where might your “limitation” (left-handedness) actually be God’s design for usefulness?

Application

God uses “oddities” and “outsiders.” Offer Him your exact wiring; stop waiting until you feel “standard issue.”

III. The Strike & the Escape (vv. 19–26) — “I have a message from God for you”

Read 3:19–26

A. Setup (vv.19–20)

“Turned back from the stone idols at Gilgal”—the narrative brackets the scene with idols (vv.19, 26). The wording subtly evokes turning from idols and crossing over them (Stone)—a literary wink at repentance and transgressing idolatry.

“Secret message” → “message from God” (Heb. dabar can mean “word” or “thing”). Double entendre: a word of judgment embodied as a blade (Phillips; Stone).

 F.B. Meyer set forth some thoughts from Judges 3:20, and Ehud’s statement to Eglon, I have a message from God for you.

God’s messages are often secret

God’s messages must be received with reverence.

.God’s messages leap out from unexpected quarters

.God’s messages are sharp as a two-edged sword, and cause death

“God’s Word pierces as a two-edged sword to the dividing of soul and spirit in the recesses of the being, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. When the Eglon of self has received its death-wound, the glad trumpet of freedom is blown on the hills.” (Meyer)

God uses many messengers to speak to us, including death.

“Ehud said, ‘I have a message from God for thee.’ It was a dagger which found its way to Eglon’s heart, and he fell dead. So shall death deliver his message to you. ‘I have a message from God unto thee,’ he will say, and ere you shall have time to answer, you shall find that this was the message, ‘Because I the Lord will do this, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel; thus saith the Lord, cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground! Set thy house in order, for thou shalt die and not live.’ Oh! may you hear the other messengers of God before he sends this last most potent one, from which ye cannot turn away.” (Spurgeon)

The preacher should also present the word of God with the sense that he has a message from God.

“I am afraid, there are some ministers who hardly think that the gospel is intended to come personally home to the people. They talk, as I read of one the other day, who said that when he preached to sinners he did not like to look the congregation in the face, for fear they should think he meant to be personal; so he looked up at the ventilator, because there was no fear then of any individual catching his eye. Oh! That fear of man has been the ruin of many ministers. They never dared to preach right at the people.” (Spurgeon)

Eglon dismisses guards—assuming collaboration and perhaps a revelation from Chemosh (Stone).

B. The thrust (vv.21–22)

Left-hand draw from right thigh; violent thrust (Heb. taqa‘ = ram through) (Stone).

Realistic detail: the grip disappears as the fat closes; bowels evacuate—consistent with massive trauma (Stone cites medical corroboration). Not slapstick—this is grim, efficient judgment.

C. The escape (vv.23–26)

Ehud locks the upper room and escapes down the latrine shaft into the ground floor—fits known Iron Age palace design (Stone summarizing Halpern).

Guards delay out of shame/fear (“He must be relieving himself”). By the time the key arrives, the assassin is gone.

Tone of the text: Not satire; Eglon and troops are “men of substance/valor.” The victory is Yahweh’s, through Ehud’s courage and Israel’s obedience (Stone).

Discussion (2–3 min)

What assumptions did Eglon make that blinded him?

Where do our assumptions keep us from hearing God’s hard “messages”?

Application

God’s “words” often come embodied—in a person, a providence, a crisis. Don’t dismiss the messenger because the method surprises you.

IV. The Rally & the Rout (vv. 27–30) — “Follow me… the LORD has given”

Read 3:27–30

v.27–28 Trumpet at Ephraim’s hills: Ehud shifts from commando to commander. “Follow me, for the LORD has given Moab into your hands.” First time in Judges a man speaks the covenant name in a battle cry (Phillips). He takes no glory; Yahweh is the Giver.

Strategy: Seize the Jordan fords—not just to expel, but to end tyranny; 10,000 “robust men of valor” (not buffoons) fall (Stone).

v.30 Shalom: 80 years—longest rest in the book; wordplay from 18 to 80 signals satisfying reversal (Stone).

Discussion (2–3 min)

Why is decisive obedience together (seizing the fords) crucial after a breakthrough?

Where do we stop short?

Application

Leaders say “Follow me,” not “Go.” But followers must rise. Courage is contagious; faith is communal.

4) Pulling the thread: Gospel & Us (7–8 min)

Cycle honesty: Israel “continued” in evil; God “again” raised a savior (Stone). Mercy keeps pace with misery.

Unexpected means: A left-handed man with a hidden sword; ultimately, a crucified Messiah—“the weakness of God is stronger than men” (1 Cor 1).

Killing the tyrant within: Guzik/Meyer: God’s “message” is a two-edged sword. In Christ, our greater Eglon—sin—must receive the fatal thrust (Rom 6). Don’t merely ease oppression; mortify the tyrant (Rom 8:13).

Concrete Practices

Name the Moabite: What enslaves you? (pattern, habit, lie)

Turn from the idols: Walk away from the “Gilgals” that normalize compromise.

Seize the fords: Put chokes on retreat paths (accountability, filters, schedule/rhythms).

Follow boldly: Step into roles God opens—even if you feel “left-handed.”

Closing Charge

Family, the story of Ehud reminds us that God is never limited by what others consider weakness or by what the world calls ordinary. He delights to work through surprising people and unexpected means so that His power and glory are unmistakable.

Just as Ehud’s courage and obedience turned the tide for Israel, your quiet faithfulness and bold obedience can be the very instruments God uses to bring freedom and life to others.

So here is the charge:

Be available—God does not need the strongest arm, He looks for the surrendered heart.

Be courageous—step forward when the Lord calls, even when His strategy seems unusual or when you feel unqualified.

Be faithful—trust that He is writing His story through you, and that no act of obedience is too small for Him to use in a mighty way.

“Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,” says the Lord of hosts (Zechariah 4:6).

Go into this week ready to follow the Lord’s leading, confident that the God who raised up Ehud still raises up His people today to display His deliverance and His glory.