After Joshua died, people continued to serve
God. But eventually, another generation grew
up that didn’t know the Lord, and they started
worshiping Baal.
The Lord was angry with his people, so he
allowed a foreign king to come and rule over
them for eight years.
The people finally begged God for help, and
he had mercy on them. He sent them Othniel
to be their judge. The Spirit of the Lord was on
him, and he was able to go into battle and kill the
foreign king. God delivered his people and they
lived in peace for forty years.
After Othniel died, the people of Israel once
again made the Lord angry with all of their sin.
This time God gave them to Eglon, the king
of Moab who was extremely fat. He enlisted
the help of other nations, and together they
defeated Israel. Moab ruled over the people for
eighteen years.
Once again they begged the Lord to have
mercy and help them. This time God sent a judge
named Ehud, who was left-handed.
When it was time for the people of Israel to
send money to king Eglon, Ehud decided to
take it to him. He made a double-edged sword
that was only eighteen inches long. He strapped
it under his clothes on his right side. He took
several men with him and presented the money
to the king.
After making their presentation to the king,
they turned to leave. Ehud then told his men to
go on without him, and he returned to the court.
He said, “King Eglon, I have a secret message
for you.”
The king was pleased so he sent his guards
away and took Ehud up the stairs to an enclosed
porch where it was cool. There, he sat on his
throne.
Ehud said, “The message I am bringing you
is from the Lord.” The king stood up, and Ehud
reached his left hand into his clothes and pulled
the sword from his right side. He plunged it into
Eglon’s stomach. The king’s fat closed around
it, so Ehud wasn’t able to pull it out. As the king
fell to the ground, his stomach split open and his
insides spilled out.
Ehud went out of the door and locked it
behind him. When the servants came, they saw
that the door was locked, so they assumed that
the king had locked it so he could use the toilet.
They waited until they finally realized
something was wrong. They found a key and
opened the door and found their master dead on
the floor.
This delay gave Ehud time to escape. He
crossed over the Jordan River and sounded
the alarm. The Israelites came ready to fight.
He said, “Follow me! The Lord has given us the
Moabites.”
With Ehud in the lead, they attacked the
Moabites, killing over 10,000 warriors. Because
of that battle, the Moabites had to serve Israel,
and the people lived in peace for eighty years.
© God Child2