“But while they were delaying, Ehud escaped — he passed beyond the quarries and arrived safely in Se‘irah. Upon arrival in the hills of Efrayim, he began sounding the call on the shofar; and the people of Israel went down with him from the hill-country; he himself took the lead.”-Judges 3:26-27
After killing King Eglon, Ehud escaped by traveling back along the same route he took to arrive.
In other words, he passed by the “quarries” which in Hebrew is PSILLIM.
These were the pagan god statues King Eglon had erected when he conquered the Hebrews.
A reign that had now just been put to an end.
I’m sure Ehud gloated over those pagan deities when he passed by them knowing they had utterly failed to protect the gentile king who had worshipped them.
We’re told Ehud crossed over to SE’IRAH which led him straight into Ephraim territory.
He was now safe back inside the Promised Land.
What did he do once he arrived?
He grabbed a shofar and began blowing it to rally the troops to battle.
Ehud knew the timing would never be better to launch an attack against the Moabites since their king had just been slain and there was confusion and panic in the air.
Volunteers answered Ehud’s call to war in droves.
The time for action was NOW.
The army’s first move was to take control of the fording points located along the Jordan River.
This served two purposes.
It served to stop the enemy from coming into Israel.
And it stopped enemy soldiers who were already inside Israel from leaving.
What happened next was certainly one of the biggest landslide military victories in history.
Ehud and his men slaughtered 10,000 allied troops from Moab, Ammon and Amalek.
In one fell stroke, Moab’s 18 year oppression over Israel ended like a bad nightmare that seemed like it would end.
As a result, the children of Israel were given rest from their enemies for two generations (a total of 80 years).
If the pattern established in Scripture that a judge’s period lasted during his or her lifetime is true, Ehud must have been a really young man when God’s Spirit came upon him and gave him the courage to assassinate a king who had been harassing Israel for close to two decades.
In fact, compared to all the other judges, Ehud’s period of rest was the longest.
So what interesting takeaways can we glean from today’s post?
I’m discerning two.
FIRST, just as Ehud began blowing his shofar to rally the troops for battle, the time is coming, possibly soon, when Messiah will return and blow his shofar to rally all of his followers to battle.
The question is are you going to answer the call to battle?
Or are you going remain handcuffed by an impotent theology that says the Bible and God are only about maple syrupy love and peace that would never hurt a fly?
SECOND, I find Ehud’s speedy action taking to be quite impressive.
After killing King Eglon, he made his escape and then wasted no time in rallying the troops to battle.
He might have had a Kosher burger or two before calling the troops to battle but boy he sure didn’t waste any time.
He knew the Lord had given him an opportunity to kick some serious a%$ and he wasn’t about to waste it dilly dallying.
There’s a lesson in this for all of us.
How much time do we waste procrastinating in prayer when what the Lord really wants from us is vigorous action?
When God has made the path clear, you don’t waste time praying.
You grab your sword and go man.
And this principle can be applied to all areas of life.
You see that girl you’re attracted to, go ask her out NOW.
Who knows?
She may be the one God has chosen for you.
You see a job you’ve been thinking about applying to suddenly become available.
For crying out loud, apply now.
And forget all these ridiculous excuses that you’re not ready.
Remember Noah and his ark.
There was only a small window of opportunity to get your butt inside that ark and be saved.
Either you took it when the door to the ark was opened, or you perished.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“Don’t suppose that I have come
to bring peace to the Land.
It is not peace I have come to bring,
but a sword!”
-Matthew 10:34
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