45.

Ehud delivers a message from God

Remember how in his last killing, God was so angry at the Israelites for worshiping other gods that he sold them as slaves to King Chushy?

Yeah, well, pretty much the same thing happens here, except the names, places, and times change.

The Israelites do evil in the sight of the Lord.

The children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD. Judges 3:12a

God gives or sells them to somebody else (Eglon, the king of Moab, this time around).

The LORD strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel ... So the children of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years. 3:12b-14

The Israelites cried out to God again ("Yahweh!, Yahweh!").

But when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD 3:15a

God raised up a hero for them, a left-handed guy named Ehud.

The LORD raised them up a deliverer, Ehud ... a man lefthanded. 3:15b

Whom God sent to deliver a present to Eglon.

And by him the children of Israel sent a present unto Eglon. 3:15c

Ehud's present was a message from God: a knife blade in his belly pushed in so far that "the dirt came out."

Ehud made him a dagger which had two edges, of a cubit length; and he did gird it under his raiment upon his right thigh. And he brought the present unto Eglon king of Moab: and Eglon was a very fat man ... And Ehud said, I have a message from God unto thee. ... And Ehud put forth his left hand, and took the dagger from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly: And the haft also went in after the blade; and the fat closed upon the blade, so that he could not draw the dagger out of his belly; and the dirt came out. 3:16-22

God has a funny way of communicating, doesn't he?