The Chosen Key Word in this Chapter is “Sold” it comes from the Hebrew Word “makar” which means “to sell, to hand over.”
Israel’s first three judges show three very different ways God raises up rescue. Welcome to Bible Life Basics Chapter Reviews, I am Chris and this is Judges 3.
God leaves certain nations in the land specifically to test Israel and to teach warfare to the generations who had not experienced the earlier conquests. Israel, however, intermarries with these peoples and serves their gods, forgetting the Lord, so God “sells,” “makar” in Hebrew, them into the hand of Chushanrishathaim, king of Mesopotamia, for eight years. When Israel cries out, God raises up Othniel, Caleb’s nephew, who defeats this oppressor, and the land rests forty years until Othniel dies.
Israel again does evil, and God strengthens Eglon, king of Moab, against them for eighteen years. When Israel cries out again, God raises up Ehud, a left-handed man, who crafts a special two-edged dagger, straps it to his right thigh where it would not be expected, and gains a private audience with the extremely obese Eglon by claiming to have a secret message from God. Ehud plunges the dagger into Eglon’s belly, escapes, and rallies Israel to defeat the leaderless Moabites, giving the land rest for eighty years.
The chapter closes briefly mentioning Shamgar, who kills six hundred Philistines with an ox goad, delivering Israel as well. These first three judges, an unassuming nephew, a clever left-handed assassin, and a farmer with a makeshift weapon, establish an early pattern in the book, that God consistently uses unexpected people and unconventional means to accomplish deliverance for His people.
None of these first three deliverers fit the mold of an obvious military hero, a left-handed man exploiting an overlooked advantage, a farmer wielding a farm tool as a weapon. God’s rescue throughout this book rarely comes through the most impressive or expected candidate, a pattern that continues shaping the rest of Judges’ unlikely heroes.
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