THE HERALDS DEVOTIONAL

EHUD: THE LEFT-HANDED WARRIOR AND JUDGE PART 6: THE SECRET MESSAGE FROM GOD Judges 3:20 (NLT) "Ehud walked over to Eglon, who was sitting alone in a cool upstairs room, and Ehud said, 'I have a message from God for you!' As King Eglon rose from his seat..." In Part 5, we saw Ehud dismiss his companions, return alone to King Eglon, and request a private audience by saying, "I have a secret message for you. " The king immediately dismissed his attendants, believing he was about to receive confidential information. But once the room was empty, Ehud's words changed. He no longer spoke of a secret message. He declared, "I have a message from God for you." That single statement transformed the atmosphere. This was no longer a private conversation between two men. It became a divine appointment between a holy God and a rebellious king. A Secret To Man, But Not To God To Eglon, the message was secret because no one else knew it. But to God, it was neve...

EHUD: THE LEFT-HANDED WARRIOR AND JUDGE PART 5: NOT EVERY BATTLE REQUIRES A CROWD   Judges 3:17–19 (NLT) "He brought the tribute to Eglon, who was very fat. After delivering the payment, Ehud started home with those who had helped carry the tribute. But when Ehud reached the stone idols near Gilgal, he turned back. He came to Eglon and said, 'I have a secret message for you.' So the king commanded his servants, 'Be quiet!' and sent them all out of the room." In Part 4, we discovered that before Ehud confronted King Eglon, he secretly prepared a double-edged dagger and hid it under his clothing. We learned that God often prepares His servants in private before revealing them in public, and that the greatest weapons are often the ones the world cannot see. Now the story takes another remarkable turn. Before Ehud carried out his assignment, he first sent the people who had accompanied him away. This was not an act of fear. It was an act of wisdom. Sometimes, the ...

EHUD: THE LEFT-HANDED WARRIOR AND JUDGE PART 4: THE HIDDEN WEAPON Judges 3:16 (NLT) "So Ehud made a double-edged dagger that was about a foot long, and he strapped it to his right thigh, keeping it hidden under his clothing." In Part 3, we discovered that God intentionally chose Ehud, a left-handed man from the tribe of Benjamin, to deliver Israel from the oppression of Moab. What people may have considered unusual, God considered useful. Ehud's left hand was not a disadvantage; it was part of God's strategy. But before Ehud ever stood before King Eglon, before he entered the palace, and before he became known as a deliverer, there was something that had to happen first. A weapon had to be prepared. The victory Israel would experience publicly began with preparation that happened privately. The Weapon That Was Made Before The Battle The Bible says: " So Ehud made a double-edged dagger..." Notice something important. The Scripture does not say Ehud found a w...

EHUD: THE LEFT-HANDED WARRIOR AND JUDGE PART 3: THE HAND GOD CHOSE Judges 3:15 (NLT) "...His name was Ehud son of Gera, a left-handed man of the tribe of Benjamin..." In Part 2, we saw that after eighteen years of oppression, Israel finally cried out to the Lord. Their cry reached heaven, and God responded—not because they deserved deliverance, but because of His unfailing mercy. God raised an unexpected deliverer named Ehud . Before he became Israel's rescuer, he was simply entrusted with the ordinary task of delivering tribute to King Eglon . What appeared to be an ordinary assignment was actually God's divine positioning for an extraordinary purpose. Now, we turn our attention to a detail that many people overlook but God intentionally included in Scripture. A Detail That Was Never Meant To Be Ignored The Bible could have introduced Ehud simply by giving us his name. Instead, Scripture deliberately tells us that he was left-handed . God wastes no words. Whenever th...

EHUD: THE LEFT-HANDED WARRIOR AND JUDGE PART 2: THE CRY THAT REACHED HEAVEN Judges 3:15 (NLT) "But when the people of Israel cried out to the LORD for help, the LORD again raised up a rescuer to save them. His name was Ehud son of Gera, a left-handed man of the tribe of Benjamin. The Israelites sent Ehud to deliver their tribute money to King Eglon of Moab." In Part 1, we discovered how Israel slowly drifted away from God. Though they had experienced His miracles, provision, and faithfulness, they allowed familiarity with God's blessings to replace intimacy with God Himself. As a result of their disobedience, God allowed King Eglon of Moab to oppress Israel for eighteen years. They found themselves serving a ruler who had no rightful place over them—a picture of how sin and misplaced devotion can bring spiritual bondage. Yet even in the midst of Israel's failure, God had not abandoned His people. While they were living under oppression, heaven was already preparing a ...

EHUD: THE LEFT-HANDED WARRIOR AND JUDGE PART 1: WHEN GOD'S PEOPLE LOSE THEIR WAY Judges 3:12–14 (NLT) "Once again the Israelites did evil in the LORD’s sight, and the LORD gave King Eglon of Moab control over Israel because of their evil. Eglon enlisted the armies of the Ammonites and Amalekites, then defeated Israel and took possession of Jericho, the city of palms. And the Israelites served Eglon, king of Moab, for eighteen years." The story of Ehud begins with a painful picture of a nation that had lost its way. Israel was a people who had experienced the mighty hand of God. They had witnessed the miracles of Egypt, crossed the Red Sea on dry ground, received provision in the wilderness, and entered into a land God had promised to give them. They were not a people who did not know God. They were a people who had forgotten the God they knew. Over time, their hearts slowly drifted away from the One who had delivered them. They began to embrace the ways of the nations aro...