The Left-Handed Man

Order of Service

• Call to Worship — Psalm 92:1-4
• Hymn — It Is Good to Sing Your Praises (#92b)
• Prayer of Invocation
• Confession of Sin
• Assurance of Pardon — Titus 3:5-6
• Hymn — How Marvelous, How Wise, How Great (#437)
• Pastoral Prayer
• Scripture Reading — Judges 3:7-31
• Sermon
• Hymn — O God, Our Help in Ages Past (#722)
• Benediction

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Sermon Title: The Left-Handed Man

Scripture: Judges 3:7-31

I. A Familiar Bondage

A. Israel's sin brings a reversal of fortunes (Judges 3:12)

1. The Lord "strengthens" (hardens) Eglon king of Moab against Israel, as he hardened Pharaoh in the Exodus
2. Eglon allied with the Ammonites and Amalekites — all old foes from the wilderness wanderings
3. They seized the city of Palms (Jericho), the first city Joshua conquered — the Exodus in reverse

B. Israel cries out, and the Lord raises up a deliverer (Judges 3:15), echoing Exodus 1

C. Sin is always regression, never progress

1. Adam: the ground turns from fruitful to thorns and thistles
2. The flood: creation unravels back to formless chaos
3. Israel: returns to bondage under a new Pharaoh
4. Paul warns against returning to former ways; the writer of Hebrews urges clinging to the New Covenant (Galatians 5:1)

D. God's mercy in sending oppression is meant to drive his people forward in righteousness, not backward into sin

II. A Fooling Savior

A. Ehud is introduced with layers of irony

1. He is a Benjaminite — "son of the right hand" — yet he is left-handed
2. The Hebrew literally reads he was "restricted in his right hand" — lame, crooked
3. God delivers Israel through a one-armed, weak man, mocking Israel's enemies

B. Wordplay on "hand" runs throughout the passage

1. Judges 3:15: tribute sent "by his hand" (singular)
2. Judges 3:30: Moab subdued "under the hand" (singular) of Israel
3. God defeats Moab with one lame hand — similar to Gideon defeating Midian with only 300 troops (Judges 7)

C. Ehud's deception employs deliberate double meaning

1. "Secret message" (Judges 3:19) — the Hebrew davar means both "word" and "object/thing," pointing to both a message and the sword
2. "Message from God" (Judges 3:20) — Elohim means the one true God to Ehud but the pagan pantheon to Eglon; Eglon is fooled by the pun
3. Eglon expects a right-handed man and does not suspect the sword on the right thigh, drawn with the left hand

D. God delights in making his enemies a laughing stock; the supreme example is the cross, which is folly to both Jews and Gentiles

III. A Fat Defeat

A. Eglon's name in Hebrew means "fattened calf" — one ready for slaughter

1. His great size reinforces the mockery embedded in his name
2. Similarly, Cushan-Rishathaim means "man of double wickedness" — a name of mockery ascribed by Israel

B. The servants' embarrassment adds to the humiliation of Israel's enemy (Judges 3:24-25)

C. The 10,000 Moabites slain are described as "fat and strong" — like their king, fattened calves ready for slaughter (Judges 3:29)

D. Eglon is a warning about the danger of success without acknowledging God

1. God sovereignly gave Eglon victory over Israel, yet Eglon did not recognize the Sovereign Lord
2. Deuteronomy 8:17-19: "Beware lest you say in your heart, 'My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth'"
3. Success blinds us to our dependence on God; a thankful heart remembers the source of all blessing
4. 1 Thessalonians 5:18: "Give thanks in all circumstances"

IV. A Fleeting Peace

A. The land rests 80 years, but the cycle resumes after Ehud dies (Judges 3:30)

1. The haunting refrain of Genesis 5 — "and then he died" — echoes throughout Judges
2. Peace lasts only as long as the judge lives; when he dies, idolatry returns

B. The judges' role combines military deliverance and governing authority — they keep the law of Yahweh in the land

C. The repeated death of judges is not merely a cry for a permanent military general but for an everlasting governing authority ruling in the ways of Yahweh — an everlasting Father whose government will never end (Isaiah 9:6-7)

D. Jesus Christ is the answer to Judges' cry

1. He is Prophet, Priest, and King — the judge of all judges who never dies
2. When the church forgets Christ as its sole governing authority, peace becomes as fleeting as Israel's rest in Judges
3. Christ rules and defends his people now from his heavenly throne, applying his benefits by the Holy Spirit, until the new heavens and new earth dawn at his return