Reflections on "A Left-Handed Judge" Judges 3: 12-20; I Corinthians 1: 18-25

I think this is a funny story, even with the bloody death of King Eglon and the war between the Israelites and the Moabites.  the first part of the sermon was supposed to be humorous.  I do not think I set it up as a funny story because the humor of the first part of the story did not seem to touch those listening.  I needed a lighter touch!

the challenge each week is to take the narrative and then figure out what we do with it.  Great stories; challenging to find a preachable theme, at least for me.  

The ongoing question of these stories is what do we do with all the violence in the stories.  I will make a better attempt at addressing that next week, or at least I will acknowledge it more openly.

 “A Left-handed Judge: Ehud” June 13, 2021; Judges 3: 12-30; Summer Judges series; SAPC, Denton

12 The Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord; and the Lord strengthened King Eglon of Moab against Israel, because they had done what was evil in the sight of the Lord. 13 In alliance with the Ammonites and the Amalekites, he went and defeated Israel; and they took possession of the city of palms. 14 So the Israelites served King Eglon of Moab eighteen years.

15 But when the Israelites cried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up for them a deliverer, Ehud son of Gera, the Benjaminite, a left-handed man. The Israelites sent tribute by him to King Eglon of Moab. 16 Ehud made for himself a sword with two edges, a cubit in length; and he fastened it on his right thigh under his clothes. 17 Then he presented the tribute to King Eglon of Moab. Now Eglon was a very fat man. 18 When Ehud had finished presenting the tribute, he sent the people who carried the tribute on their way. 19 But he himself turned back at the sculptured stones near Gilgal, and said, “I have a secret message for you, O king.” So the king said,[a] “Silence!” and all his attendants went out from his presence. 20 Ehud came to him, while he was sitting alone in his cool roof chamber, and said, “I have a message from God for you.” So he rose from his seat. 21 Then Ehud reached with his left hand, took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into Eglon’s[b] belly; 22 the hilt also went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade, for he did not draw the sword out of his belly; and the dirt came out.[c] 23 Then Ehud went out into the vestibule,[d] and closed the doors of the roof chamber on him, and locked them.

24 After he had gone, the servants came. When they saw that the doors of the roof chamber were locked, they thought, “He must be relieving himself[e] in the cool chamber.” 25 So they waited until they were embarrassed. When he still did not open the doors of the roof chamber, they took the key and opened them. There was their lord lying dead on the floor.

26 Ehud escaped while they delayed, and passed beyond the sculptured stones, and escaped to Seirah. 27 When he arrived, he sounded the trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim; and the Israelites went down with him from the hill country, having him at their head. 28 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 allowed no one to cross over. 29 At that time they killed about ten thousand of the Moabites, all strong, able-bodied men; no one escaped. 30 So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest eighty years.

Introduction: Overheard around the tents late one night as a group of Israelites chewed the fat  around the campfire.

Jethro, did you hear what happened to fat, old King Eglon.

You mean the Moabite king. I heard he was killed. Wha'ts up with that?

You got to hear this story. You remember Ehud, don't you?

Let's see. Wasn't he the left-handed guy from the tribe of Benjamin?

Yeah, he's the one. You know what they say about left-handed guys. Something not quite right about them. Anyway, Ehud was sick and tired of King Eglon getting fat on tributes we had to take to him.

And I heard that old king was really fat. But I guess when you've been getting tributes from us for the past 18 years, you'd gain a few pounds.

Ehud decided to do something about it. He arranged to go with the others to take Eglon the tribute. After they left, he surprised everyone by turning around and going back to see the king.

Why did he need to see the king?

Well, he said he a secret to tell the king. And boy did he have a secret to tell him, or you might say give him. Ehud had made himself a knife that would fit down the right side of his leg.

Surely the king's guards didn't let him see the king while carrying knife.

You know how dumb those Moabite guards are? They only checked his left-side where most men would hide a weapon. But not left-handed Ehud. He had the knife strapped to his right side where he could get to it easily.

So they him in to see the king?

Yep, and would you believe the king was in the bathroom, sitting on the throne, so to speak, all nice and cool.  It must be nice to be  rich king with a cool chamber.

So what did Ehud do?

He opened the door and pulled his knife out and shoved it into Eglon. They say his knife went in so far that Eglon's fat swallowed it up. And then Eglon kind of exploded!

Gross. That's not a very pretty image. How did Ehud get away?

He locked the door and left. The guards thought King Eglon was just taking a long time in the bathroom, so they waited and waited and waited. Finally, they busted down the door and found him dead. 

But it was too late to catch Ehud. He was long gone.

Then Ehud led us to victory over the Moabites.

Thank God for that left-handed Ehud.

Yep. Thank God.

A kind of crazy story of how God rescued the Israelites in their time of need.

What do we make of it?

Move 1: God calls us to repentance.

a. As the Israelites tell this story, it begins with the defeat of the Israelites by the Moabites because the Israelites have turned away from God.

1. Admittedly, we understand the world a little bit differently than the Israelites did in the time of Judges.
   
2. In our theological understanding, we do not see something bad happen like a natural disaster or some evil event and say the people deserved it as punishment for turning away from God.
   

b. But let's be clear – the emerging pattern we see in Judges of God's people crying out to be saved begins with the Israelites finding themselves separated from God by their unfaithfulness.

1. There are stories of Israelites worshiping other gods and building temples in tribute to other gods.
   
2. The people have forgotten whose they are as they turned away from God.

1. and part of what happens when God rescues the Israelites is that they return to right relationship with God.

4. an act of repentance.

c.  As we reflect on this odd story from Judges, we are reminded of our need for repentance.

1.  Repentance - not a very popular concept these days!

2. As we look to our world and see how people interact, how groups engage one another, howe we ourselves act, we are more likely to see the willingness to point out the sins of others than acknowledge our own.

3. how hard it is to acknowledge we have done something wrong.

3.  And even if we get to the point we acknowledge our sinfulness, we still do not always make it to repentance.

4.  Easier to rationalize or just admit we did something wrong and move on.

5. Repentance is the hard work of taking responsibility for our actions and changing our ways.

6. Repentance demands we turn to God and reset our lives as God would direct us.

7. Not an easy task.  

8.  Perhaps that is why these stories in Judges are do dramatic - to repent demands a lot of us and calls us to significant change.

9.  The stories not only speak of God’s saving actions, but also demand that Israel, that we turn and repent to be in right relationship with God and one another.

Move 2: In this story of Ehud, we also discover again the God who works in surprising ways turning things upside down.

a. For example, we are told that the Moabites have banded together with Ammonites and the Amalekites to conquer the city of palms, also known as Jericho.

1.  Remember the story of how Joshua defeated Jericho.

2.  God told Joshua to have the Israelites march around the city, then blow their trumpets, and then the city would be handed over to the Israelites.

4. Jericho became  a symbol of Joshua's leadership and God's presence with the Israelites in the Promised Land.

5. Jericho, the sign of hope and promise, has come under Moabite rule. God's gift of Jericho undone by the Israelites’ unfaithfulness.

6.  But God will turn reverse that.

7.Ehud will lead the Israelites to victory over the Moabites and things between God and the Israelites are made right again..

b. Part of the story-line builds on Ehud being left-handed.

1. In that time, right-handed was the norm. left-handed people were the odd ones. (sorry Mom!)
   
2. The position of power next to the king was to sit at the king's right hand.
   
3. A blessing was shared with someone by the laying on of the right hand.
   
4. So of course, in this dramatic story, the judge who saves the day is left-handed.
   
5. Not only is he left-handed, but his left-handedness is what gives him his advantage.
   
6. God uses the very attribute looked down on yb the world to rescue Israel.
   

c. We also see the contrast between King Eglon and Israel. 

1.  King Eglon represents the riches and worldly power. 

2.  he reigns in his cool palace eating the tribute provided him by the defeated Israelites.

2. His overweight physique a sign of his wealth.

3.  He even deals with his bodily functions in the confines of a cool chamber.

4. Eglon lives the life of luxury at the expense of and in contrast to the Israelites.

5. But, Eglon will become the sacrificial calf 

(his name actually derives from the Hebrew word for calf).

6.  In fact, as the story of his death is told, how he was stabbed and where he was stabbed, the language used is similar to how a sacrifice would have been described.

7.  The one who abuses Israel becomes the sacrifice.

d. God turning things upside down – sort of like what God does in the life, death and resurrection of Christ

1. the all-powerful God who decides to come as a human.

2. not coming and forcing everyone to submit to him, instead humbly submitting to the earthly powers.

3.  Ultimately, Jesus succumbs to earthly death, the sign of weakness and sin, but then God transforms death into resurrection and a sign of hope.

Move 3: what does it mean to follow a God who calls us to repentance and works in such surprising ways?

a. reminds us our continual need to assess what we are doing and where we are going.

1. To examine our relationship with God, but also with others and discover where we need to repent and change our ways. 

2. God not only desires to be in relationship with us, but God desires to be in right relationship with us.

b. Look for God in the unexpected places.

1. Think for a minute about your own faith journey - and the times you have known without a doubt that God was in your midst.

2. I bet a lot of those times have come when you least expected it or when God acted in ways that surprised you.

3.  We seldom get God to provide us with “aha” moments when we plan them; when God arrives and how God arrives in our lives and our world are at God's choosing, not ours.

4.  Be ready for God to surprise you.

c.  We discover God in our weakness.

1. When do the Israelites discover God in Judges? When they find themselves weak and crying out to God.

2. when do they get in trouble with God? When everything is going great and they are in control. Suddenly, they forget their relationship with God.

3. How does God save us?  By sending Christ to live among us and die on the cross.  Hardly a sign of power by the world’s standards.

4.  Paul tells the early church that God chooses what is foolish in the world and God chooses to be at work in our weakness so that we might not boast of what we can do, but instead boast of what God has done.

5.  when we look to the world and feel overwhelmed and do not know what to do, look for God to arrive in our time of weakness to use us to do a  new thing.

Conclusion: We read a bit of a silly story from Judges this morning. It makes you want to laugh.

But as we laugh, we are reminded that the one who laughed in the face of death and resurrected Christ, calls us to repentance and sends us into the world to find God in surprising ways.  Amen.