Saturday, August 19, 2017

THE 3:16 VERSES OF THE BIBLE: PART 5: "...AND ON THE OTHER HAND....."

15 But when the sons of Israel cried to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer for them, Ehud the son of Gera, the Benjamite, a left-handed man. And the sons of Israel sent tribute by him to Eglon the king of Moab. 16 Ehud made himself a sword which had two edges, a cubit in length, and he bound it on his right thigh under his cloak. (Judges 3:15-16)
Life is not a pleasant experience sometimes, to which we can personally testify. All that is needed is for us to turn on the TV News or visit our favorite news website for ever-increasing, disturbing evidence. The thing is – there is nothing new under the sun.  People have always been the same. They had the same proclivities, sin nature and every human trait currently noticeable 3500 years ago, as we have now. The main difference is the fact that we live in the information age, and everything is immediately available at a moment’s notice.

So when we read in Judges 3:16 (above) about this leader of the people of God named Ehud, it is easy to just run past the account there of an armed leader of a nation. There is nothing, heretofore, unusual. That is, until we read just a few verses before that Ehud was the God-appointed rescuer of Israel which committed pagan idolatry against the Lord. God had Eglon, the King of Moab take Israel captive. For 18 years, Israel’s worse enemies oppressed them and they cried out to Him, in distress. 

The left-handed Ehud was well, left-handed for a reason.  God created him left-handed.  There is some thinking where being a “south-paw” is not a good thing or even a curse. This comes from the highly exalted position associated with “The Right Hand”.

For instance, being on the right hand of God denotes power. This pertains to only One Person – the Lord Jesus Christ. Since bible days, the right hand denotes influence and more!  We have all heard the term “right-hand man (or woman)” being used to describe someone who has the error of a president, CEO or even a pastor. 

Being left-handed is nothing to sneeze at either. God made both. In baseball, southpaw pitchers are some of the hardest to hit, which is a good thing for their teams. In bible terms, apart from Ehud, this particular, some heroic warriors were all left-handers. Judges 20:15-16 tell us: “15 From the cities on that day the sons of Benjamin were numbered, 26,000 men who draw the sword, besides the inhabitants of Gibeah who were numbered, 700 choice men. 16 Out of all these people 700 choice men were left-handed; each one could sling a stone at a hair and not miss.

So this is all normal, as the Lord made both the left and right hands. However, in pagan “religions” and cults, all kinds of made up nefarious things are concocted by these people. A certain eastern religion says “left handed witchcraft” is dark and evil, while “right handed” is “good”! Eglun, the king of Moab lived in a region which was steeped in all kinds of such evil and human sacrifice.

God sent Ehud into his (Eglun’s) chamber to begin the rescue of Israel and the king’s guards searched only his right side as no one suspected the Judge of Israel would be a southpaw. The results are found in the following verses of Judges Chapter 3:26-28a "26 Now Ehud escaped while they were delaying, and he passed by the idols and escaped to Seirah. 27 It came about when he had arrived, that he blew the trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim; and the sons of Israel went down with him from the hill country, and he was in front of them. 28 He said to them, “Pursue them, for the Lord has given your enemies the Moabites into your hands.” 

God’s plans for deliverance are set up, even before the day of our birth. They will always be accomplished.

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