5 Amazing Lessons from Ehud that will Make You a Better Christian

Discover the man they call Ehud in the Bible and see the powerful lessons you can learn from his life.

5 Amazing Lessons from Ehud that will Make You a Better Christian

Who was Ehud?

Do you know what his life is all about?

Most importantly, what are the lessons we can learn from his story?

In this post, let us take a look at the life of Ehud in the Bible and learn its lessons.

Who is Ehud?

Ehud was the second judge of Israel.

He is the son of Gera and is part of the tribe of Benjamin.

It is worth noting that the Bible didn’t call Ehud a judge, but rather a deliverer.

However, all judges of Israel are also deliverers who have helped their nation to overcome their enemies.

Ehud killing eglon

The story of Ehud can be read in Judges 3:12 to 4:1.

In just a few verses, we read about the facts about Ehud and how God used Him to deliver the nation of Israel from the Moabites.

With that being said, let us now proceed and discover the amazing lessons from Ehud, the judge and deliverer of Israel in this Judges 3 commentary.

Lesson no. 1: Sin comes with negative consequences

We read in the introduction of Ehud sermon story how the Israelites stubbornly returned to their evil ways after just 40 years.

“And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of YAHWEH” (Judges 3:12).

Once Othniel died, the previous judge, Israel was quick to go back to idolatry and rebellion against God.

As a result, we read:

“So the LORD strengthened Eglon king of Moab against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the LORD.”

Because of the evil Israel committed, God strengthened Eglon, the king of Moab.

In turn, Eglon “gathered to himself the people of Ammon and Amalek, went and defeated Israel, and took possession of the City of Palms” (verse 13).

As a result, the children of Israel were conquered by a pagan king and they served him for 18 years until God raised Ehud to deliver them.

Because Israel doesn’t want to serve God, they are now forced to serve a human king.

A lot of us go on with our lives thinking that sin does not have negative consequences.

Well, most of us, know that sin comes with negative consequences, but we sin nevertheless.

We still go ahead and commit sin and ignore its deadly effects.

The Israelites of old knew very well what happens to them when they start going after foreign gods and rebelling against God.

They bring to themselves a lot of pain and suffering.

Because the pagans worship their gods with child sacrifice, temple prostitution, and a lot of unspeakable evil, they end up hurting themselves.

God does not want that.

When we are hurt, God is also hurt.

That’s why, before it is too late, God intervened by using a Moabite king to punish Israel and bring them back to their senses.

The consequences of our sin are a constant reminder that we are treading the wrong path.

God does not enforce the spiritual law because he hates us.

Instead, He made it so we can be reminded that we are going the wrong direction.

In the same way, the Israelites were making a huge mistake.

They are digging their own graves by rebelling against God and adopting the pagan customs of the people around them.

God has to correct them and thus, they were subdued by their enemies.

Let us not forget that sin has negative consequences.

No matter how small a sin might be, you can never escape the fact that it has a negative effect on your life.

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Lesson no. 2: God answers His people

When the Israelites saw that they are being overcome by their enemies, what did they do?

But when the children of Israel cried out to the LORD, the LORD raised up a deliverer for them: Ehud the son of Gera, the Benjamite, a left-handed man. By him the children of Israel sent tribute to Eglon king of Moab.

Again, God does not punish people for His pleasure.

In fact, He does not get any pleasure when He sees His children suffer.

Like a father who sees his children in distress, our Heavenly Father is eager to help us.

Thus, when the Israelites cried out to God, He answered them.

Sadly, it took 18 years for the children of Israel to realize that they need God.

It took a lot of suffering for them to see that they have been doing evil and their actions were leading them to total destruction.

Unless God would intervene, they would continually be slaves to the Moabites.

When we are in our hour of trial, don’t hesitate to call on God.

Don’t let Him be your last option.

A constant connection with our Heavenly Father allows us to be close to Him.

We need to get in touch with our Father not just during the bad times, but also in the good times.

Don’t ever hesitate to call on God.

He always answers prayers.

But sometimes, He answers it in a way that we don’t expect it to be.

However, we have the full assurance that whatever is God’s answer to our prayer, it is always for our good.

Overview of the Judges

Lesson no. 3: Success should keep us humble

Eglon, the Moabite king, has become successful.

The problem with Eglon is that he let success puff up his ego and become an extremely proud man.

It is important to note that it was God who strengthened Eglon.

There is an indication as well that Eglon knew about it.

When Ehud left handed said, “I have a message from God for you” in verse 20, Eglon rose from his seat.

This shows us that Eglon has a certain level of respect for the God of Israel.

The problem with Eglon is that pride got the best of him.

Instead of glorying God and crediting Him for all that he has, he didn’t.

Not only that but because of the uninterrupted chain of successes he enjoyed, he lived in a life of worldly pleasure.

So much more that he grew obese and extremely overweight.

Describing him as a “fat man” in the Bible is an understatement.

In fact, when Ehud stabbed him later, you will read that the full length of the dagger went straight in Eglon’s belly.

Ehud didn’t draw the dagger out.

Instead, the fat of Eglon swallowed up the dagger.

The pride of Eglon led him to be too complacent.

Eglon should have known better not to let his servants leave him alone with Ehud.

Because of much complacency and confidence in his power, Eglon let his guard down.

Eglon is too fat to defend himself and too proud to see the danger in his presence.

Power truly corrupts.

Why?

Because of pride.

Proverbs 16:18 has this to say about pride:

Pride goes before destruction,
And a haughty spirit before a fall.

There is danger in pride.

It is so easy to feel proud of all our accomplishments without giving God glory.

It is so easy to fall prey to the thinking that we are someone who is better than anyone.

Don’t let success feed your ego.

Instead, let success lead you to give credit to God.

Be humble enough to admit that you are nothing without our Heavenly Father.

Success won't come one day and knock on your door because it is you who should knock on the door of success.

Lesson no. 4: God is silently helping you

Sometimes, you don’t see God’s intervention.

That’s what we can learn from Judges 3 22 commentary.

It is not that God is not doing anything, but most of the time, you just don’t see it.

Without knowing it, God is setting up the stage for you.

If you look at the story of Ehud, everything fell down to its right place.

Notice, if there were just small details that were different at the time when Ehud planned to kill Eglon, his plans can easily fail.

For example, if Eglon’s pride didn’t cause him to command his servants to leave the room, Ehud could have failed.

If the hidden dagger of Ehud had been discovered before his assassination attempt, he would have not have the chance to get near the enemy king.

If Eglon made a great noise when he was killed by Ehud, the soldiers could easily hear it and Ehud is in danger as well.

If Eglon’s servants immediately opened the upper room, they could have captured Ehud and kill him.

There are a hundred things that could go wrong that day.

Yet, there are a hundred things that happened right.

That’s all because of God’s providence and divine intervention.

In your life, there are a lot of times when God has saved you.

There are a lot of times when God prevented an accident to happen.

There are times when God gave you something that you didn’t even ask for.

There are times when you think something is a problem, but in reality, they are blessings in disguise.

There are just so many things in this life that we didn’t recognize as God’s way of helping, protecting, caring, and loving us.

Indeed, we can all have the confidence in this verse:

“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).

The best helping hands is at the end of your arms. So if you can't handle things, put your hands together and pray.

Lesson no. 5: God will fight your battles for you

When Ehud finally killed Eglon, he blew a trumpet in the mountains of Ephraim and gathered an army to fight with him.

Ehud led them and said with confidence and faith:

“Follow me, for the LORD has delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hand” (Judges 3:28).

On that day, about ten thousand men of Moab fell.

They are not simply men, but they are described as stout men of valor.

They are the best of the Moabite army.

Notice that Moab just lost their king, but not their generals.

They are still the same army that has defeated them 18 years ago.

They are still the same force that has subdued them for almost two decades.

What was the difference?

The difference lies in the fact that God is now with them.

God was fighting their battles.

Now, here’s the best part:

God never loses a battle!

The question is, “Which side are you on?”

When the dust finally settles, make sure that you are standing on the side of God.

If you find yourself today, fighting and struggling.

Know that help is available.

All you need to do is get down on your knees and pray.

Surrender everything to God.

Nobody said that you have to fight alone.

God has your back.

Let Him fight your battles for you.

Once you have done your part, surrender everything in His loving and powerful hands.

When you do, you will never lose a battle.

Why?

Because God is with you.

Don’t give up! Never give up!

Final words

These are just some of the best moral lessons in the book of Judges, particularly in the life of Ehud.

I hope you learned a lot by reading this blog.

How about you?

Do you have other lessons from Ehud that you want to share?

If yes, leave a comment below!

I would love to hear from you. 🙂

Fearless by max lucado footnote

4 thoughts on “5 Amazing Lessons from Ehud that will Make You a Better Christian

  1. Thank you so much for the overview video of Judges. God is powerfully using your messages to reach many people.

  2. Last week our pastor ask us if we knew the story of Enid. I knew the general details of the story, but upon rereading it, I found your your commentary. Gods word is written to us for our daily lives. Thank you for your insight and plan to share this with my class next Sunday. God bless you for sharing!lra

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