Judges 3:12-31.  This is one of my favorite Old Testament stories.  It’s pretty gross.  It seems interesting to me that Ehud was left handed.  In medieval times left handed people were considered evil but in this case it was Ehud’s left-handedness that was  key in the victory. There is some evidence that he was trained to be left handed and could actually use both hands.  The left hand was still considered evil by some in the past so it doesn’t change the idea.  God made both hands and is not restricted by superstitions.  In verses 19 we see Ehud heading back toward the Israelite territory when he comes to the town of Gilgal.  In Joshua 4 you can read the story of Joshua leading the people of Israel across the Jordan river into the land promised to them by God.  Although it was a time when the river was extremely high God stopped the water and the people crossed on dry land.  It was very similar to the crossing of the Red Sea by Moses 40 years earlier.  This was a sign to the people that God was now leading them through Joshua.  The people camped that night between the river and the city of Jericho in an area called Gilgal.  They also built a monument of twelve large stones in Gilgal as a memorial for the generations to come of God’s presence in their lives.  Now Ehud gets to Gilgal and what does he see, idols.  What a contrast.  According to the author of Joshua the stones were still there in his day.  Joshua was written no earlier than the time of Othniel, the first Judge we read about (compare Joshua 15:17 with Judges 1:11-13, 3:9) who ruled for 40 years.  So the stones were probably still there in Ehud’s day.  For a man serving God seeing idols in Gilgal would have been quite offensive.  Gilgal was supposed to be a monument to God’s presence with Israel.  Now it was filled with idols that would have represented the gods of the Moabites and others around and within Israel’s land.

The idols, it seems, provoke Ehud to return and finish the task God has given him.  It is also interesting that after he kills Eglon that he walks right past these idols; they have no power to stop him.  He then leads the people in a battle which makes the Moabites subjects of the Israelites and there is peace for 80 years.  Unfortunately this is not the end of the cycles of rebellion.  LIving for God is about  more than one leader and more than one battle.  It is a day by day thing and each generation needs to make the choice to follow God.  God destroyed Jericho in the first battle under Joshua.  Now maybe 60 years later the place where it all started is filled with idols.  We need to be careful too.  We need to work on our relationship day by day and be careful that we do not accumulate idols that block our view of God’s work in our lives.  Hopefully this blog is helpful in keeping God in the front of your lives.

Lord help me not allow idols to block my view of your work in my live.  Let me set up memorial stones to what you have done in my life and keep a clear view of them.  Let me have no other God besides you.