Judges
Chapter 3

7 2 Because the Israelites had offended the LORD by forgetting the LORD, their God, and serving the Baals and the Asherahs,
8 the anger of the LORD flared up against them, and he allowed them to fall into the power of Cushan-rishathaim, king of Aram Naharaim, whom they served for eight years.
9 But when the Israelites cried out to the LORD, he raised up for them a savior, Othniel, son of Caleb's younger brother Kenaz, who rescued them.
10 The spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he judged Israel. When he went out to war, the LORD delivered Cushan-risha-thaim, king of Aram, into his power, so that he made him subject.
11 The land then was at rest for forty years, until Othniel, son of Kenaz, died.
12 Again the Israelites offended the LORD, who because of this offense strengthened Eglon, king of Moab, against Israel.
13 In alliance with the Ammonites and Amalekites, he attacked and defeated Israel, taking possession of the city of palms.
14 The Israelites then served Eglon, king of Moab, for eighteen years.
15 But when the Israelites cried out to the LORD, he raised up for them a savior, the Benjaminite Ehud, son of Gera, who was left-handed. It was by him that the Israelites sent their tribute to Eglon, king of Moab.
16 Ehud made himself a two-edged dagger a foot long, and wore it under his clothes over his right thigh.
17 He presented the tribute to Eglon, king of Moab, who was very fat,
18 and after the presentation went off with the tribute bearers.
19 He returned, however, from where the idols are, near Gilgal, and said, "I have a private message for you, O king." And the king said, "Silence!" Then when all his attendants had left his presence,
20 and Ehud went in to him where he sat alone in his cool upper room, Ehud said, "I have a message from God for you." So the king rose from his chair,
21 and then Ehud with his left hand drew the dagger from his right thigh, and thrust it into Eglon's belly.
22 The hilt also went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade because he did not withdraw the dagger from his body.
23 Then Ehud went out into the hall, shutting the doors of the upper room on him and locking them.
24 When Ehud had left and the servants came, they saw that the doors of the upper room were locked, and thought, "He must be easing himself in the cool chamber."
25 They waited until they finally grew suspicious. Since he did not open the doors of the upper room, they took the key and opened them. There on the floor, dead, lay their lord!
26 During their delay Ehud made good his escape and, passing the idols, took refuge in Seirah.
27 On his arrival he sounded the horn in the mountain region of Ephraim, and the Israelites went down from the mountains with him as their leader.
28 "Follow me," he said to them, "for the LORD has delivered your enemies the Moabites into your power." So they followed him down and seized the fords of the Jordan leading to Moab, permitting no one to cross.
29 On that occasion they slew about ten thousand Moabites, all of them strong and valiant men. Not a man escaped.
30 Thus was Moab brought under the power of Israel at that time; and the land had rest for eighty years.
31 After him there was Shamgar, son of Anath, who slew six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad. He, too, rescued Israel.

Footnotes
2 [7] Asherahs: elsewhere rendered "sacred poles." See note on Exodus 34:13 and on Deut 7:5. Here the word seems to mean "goddesses."

Reflection
From this small little tid bit, you can see why some people thought Jesus was suppose to be a military leader. When the people were in need, God would send a strong leader that would lead an uprising and save them. How were the Jews suppose to think any differently when this had been the plan in the past. It reminds me of the that song, "Strange Way to Save the World." The people around Jesus must of thought the same thing. If you want an interesting view on this area, you should rent "Last Temptation of Jesus." It has to deal with Jesus struggling between being a miliary leader and a "Ghandi" type leader. Very interesting to think what may have happened if He had decided the other way. Watched the new movie "Kingdom of Heaven" last week. It is about the Crusades and I thought it was pretty good. It deals with the idea of fighting for what you believe in with the use of force. There have been so many wars fought over this idea both before and after Jesus that it makes you wonder why He was not convinced that was His destiny too.
Anyway, we will see how the new system works. My hope is that this method may get more discussion going. I am now a law school graduate. It doesn't feel any different, well maybe a little since it is a Monday morning and I don't have anything to worry about. But, we will see how things change. I will put some graduation pictures up later if can.

MILK