Othniel and Ehud

Judges 3

            The story of the first judge (the only one ever actually called a judge) is brief, but it shows the pattern of the rest of the judges: Israel falls into idolatry; the Lord brings in a foreign power to oppress them and bring them to repentance; the Israelites cry out to the Lord; the Lord sends a deliverer; and there is a period of peace. There are couple of interesting things. First, Othniel is the son-in-law of Caleb, who had lived in the Exodus generation. So, there is a connection to the previous generation. Second, Cushan-Rishathaim may mean “Cushan the twice-evil.” I’m not sure that’s important, but it’s a heck of a nickname. Third, Aram Naharaim seems to be very far from Israel, like several hundred miles, so what we likely have are raiding parties. Fourth, Genesis 24:10 notes Aram Naharaim as the homeland of Abraham, so there’s some family connections, too.

            With Ehud we have a fuller story. Moab was a neighbor of Israel, so the oppression makes sense. The deliverer is Ehud, who is described as left-handed. Now, with all respect to lefties, in the ancient world for literally centuries, left-handed meant shady, untrustworthy, suspect. As a matter of fact, the Latin word for “left-handed” is “sinister,” and we know how that word has come over into English! And he achieves his purposes through trickery: smuggling in a sword, getting the king alone, and locking the door behind him. In some ways, it’s quite a funny story, with the fat king, and the disappearing sword, the stench of the king soiling himself, and his servants’ embarrassment that the king seemed to be taking his time on the toilet. We shouldn’t let that distract us from realizing that the Lord’s instrument was in some ways a very flawed man, who resorted to assassination to accomplish his mission.

            As I said in my Facebook video this week, we’re going to see a lot of flawed people in this book. The good news, I suppose, is that no matter our weaknesses, the Lord can still accomplish his purposes through us. And in a way these flawed instruments draw us forward to Jesus. Reading through the Old Testament we might find ourselves wondering, “Are there any heroes in here without feet of clay?” The answer is, “No.” But the story of Jesus is still in the future, and He is the perfect one who provides ultimate and eternal deliverance!