(Judges 3:12-30 NIV) {12} Once again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD, and because they did this evil the LORD gave Eglon king of Moab power over Israel. {13} Getting the Ammonites and Amalekites to join him, Eglon came and attacked Israel, and they took possession of the City of Palms. {14} The Israelites were subject to Eglon king of Moab for eighteen years. {15} Again the Israelites cried out to the LORD, and he gave them a deliverer-- Ehud, a left-handed man, the son of Gera the Benjamite. The Israelites sent him with tribute to Eglon king of Moab. {16} Now Ehud had made a double-edged sword about a foot and a half long, which he strapped to his right thigh under his clothing. {17} He presented the tribute to Eglon king of Moab, who was a very fat man. {18} After Ehud had presented the tribute, he sent on their way the men who had carried it. {19} At the idols near Gilgal he himself turned back and said, "I have a secret message for you, O king." The king said, "Quiet!" And all his attendants left him. {20} Ehud then approached him while he was sitting alone in the upper room of his summer palace and said, "I have a message from God for you." As the king rose from his seat, {21} Ehud reached with his left hand, drew the sword from his right thigh and plunged it into the king's belly. {22} Even the handle sank in after the blade, which came out his back. Ehud did not pull the sword out, and the fat closed in over it. {23} Then Ehud went out to the porch ; he shut the doors of the upper room behind him and locked them. {24} After he had gone, the servants came and found the doors of the upper room locked. They said, "He must be relieving himself in the inner room of the house." {25} They waited to the point of embarrassment, but when he did not open the doors of the room, they took a key and unlocked them. There they saw their lord fallen to the floor, dead. {26} While they waited, Ehud got away. He passed by the idols and escaped to Seirah. {27} When he arrived there, he blew a trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites went down with him from the hills, with him leading them. {28} "Follow me," he ordered, "for the LORD has given Moab, your enemy, into your hands." So they followed him down and, taking possession of the fords of the Jordan that led to Moab, they allowed no one to cross over. {29} At that time they struck down about ten thousand Moabites, all vigorous and strong; not a man escaped. {30} That day Moab was made subject to Israel, and the land had peace for eighty years.

To be bound is to be confined or placed under restraint. One who is in bondage is under the controll of someone or something other than their own will. They are being held against their will or in spite of their will. Webster says it is a state of being bound usually by compulsion or servitude or subjugation to a controlling person or force.

In the book of Luke, Chapter thirteen, we are told of a bound woman.

(Luke 13:10-16 KJV) And he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. {11} And, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself. {12} And when Jesus saw her, he called her to him, and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity. {13} And he laid his hands on her: and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God. {14} And the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because that Jesus had healed on the Sabbath day, and said unto the people, There are six days in which men ought to work: in them therefore come and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day. {15} The Lord then answered him, and said, Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering? {16} And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?

According to Jesus, this woman was bound. Her's was not a problem of desire, but of ability she "could in no wise lift up herself" (v.11). An external force prevented her from straightening up and she did not have the power to overcome it. Simply put, she was in bondage.

Likewise, the children of Israel were in bondage to Eglon. Wether we like it or not, whether we agree or not, it was God who gave Israel into the hand of Eglon.

Eglon, whose name describes a adolescent male calf, king of Moab (Lot's son by incest), allied himself with the people of Ammon (descendants of Lot) and Amalek (descendants of Esau). Together, they defeated and took possession of "the City of Palms" or Jericho (Dt. 34:3). His tyranny lasted for 18 long years. For eighteen years the people of Israel lived under the control of this fat bull from the flesh pots of Moab.

Scripture describes him as being "very fat." It is my opinion that this was his condition after eighteen years of ruling over Israel. He had grown obese at the expense of Israel. A major portion of the harvest they worked so hard to raise and gather was paid as tribute to Eglon. He had no calluses on his hands from holding a plow. His back did not ache from hard work. No! He sat in luxury and grew fat off the back breaking labor of his captives.

Eglon, after conquering Israel, would have striped Israel of her weapons and thereby negated any threat of reprisal. He did not know that God was stirring the heart of a Benjamite by the name of Ehud. The writer tells us four important things about Ehud, the deliverer.

First, his name means "he that praises." While others were worshipping Baal, Ehud was praising God. Here was a devout man living in the midst of an evil people. He was a worshipper when worship wasn't in style.

Second, Ehud was a left-handed man or more literally "was hindered in his right hand." The Hebrew term seems to suggest an inability to use his right hand, as though he were cripple. He was a man whose natural ability and strength was incapacitated.

When God chooses a man to do His work, He usually selects one who must rely upon Him. Gideon was the least of his brethren. David wasn't even called in from the fields when Samuel came to anoint a king. Peter was an unlearned ignorant fisherman. Those who would be used of God as deliverers must learn to rely upon the Lord.

Thirdly, while others learned to live with their situation, Ehud made a dagger. In some secluded location an unseen work was taking place. "He that praises" was crafting a double-edged dagger. A trinket for the mantle of his home? Not this piece of metal. As he sharpened the blade on the stone, he meditated on the reason for its existence. In a hidden location he practiced until he could move the dagger from its position on his right thigh to its imaginary target.

Ehud was assigned the responsibility of bringing the tribute to Eglon's summer parlor. After all, a man who is hindered in his right hand is less likely to be a serious threat. Once the tribute had been presented to Eglon, Ehud and his companions left for home. After journying a short piece with them, Ehud bid them goodbye and turned back toward Eglon's summer house. Through intermediaries he gained a audience with Eglon. Quietly he explained to the king, "I have a secret message for you." Eglon replied, "Keep silent" and sent everyone out of the room until he and Ehud were alone in the coolness of the parlor. Ehud arose from his seat and spoke in tones that suggested the message needed to be whispered into Eglon's ear. As Ehud walked to the seated king, he whispered, "I have a message from God for you." As he bent to speak this private word to the king, Eglon did not see the flash of light on the blade as Ehud with one swift motion thrust it into the king's massive body. The force of the blow was so great that even the handle of the dagger disappeared into Eglon's belly. Immediately, a stench filled the room as the king's intestines and their content gushed through the open wound and fell to the floor. With Eglon lying dead in his own blood and filth, Ehud calmly moved from the room, locked the door, and departed from the palace without raising the slightest suspicion.

When Eglon's servants found the doors to his chamber locked, they reasoned that he was probably relieving himself and did not want to be disturbed. After a reasonable amount of time, they unlocked the doors to the upper room and found their master fallen dead on the floor.

While the king's servants waited, Ehud escaped and made his way to the mountains of Ephraim. There he rallied the children of Israel and led them in victory against the Moabites. In one day they killed about 10,000 Moabite warriors. Not one man escaped the sword of Ehud. Eighteen years of bondage came to an end in one day. Scripture says:

"So Moab was subdued that day in the hand of Israel. And the land had rest for eighty years." (Judges. 3:30).

Ehud's act of violence against Eglon had been premeditated. It was the final act in a well rehearsed drama. Ehud had spent hours in preparation for that one moment when he would carry out his well planned move on Eglon. Even so, Ehud himself declared, "The Lord has delivered."

Our world desperately needs deliverers. Are you aware of would be Christians who can't get free from their addictions. They've lived at the threshold of religion, but are no better for it. They need a deliverer. I don't want to destroy any long held illusions, but bondage is not unique to the worldling. Do you know a believer that is bound by some habit or a struggling child of God that is laboring under a cloud of depression they can't seem to throw off. Do you know of families that are being devasted by Eglon. Perhaps it is a faithful Christian wife who has poured herself in to a oneway relationship with an insensitive Church going husband. The harvest that should be theirs is being stolen at the time of ingathering.

Lest you become discouraged, let me ask you to set your ear t to the wind. It carries a sound. It is the sound that comes from the secret place. The sound of Ehuds working on double-edged daggers. These are the hidden ones in whom God has been doing a secret work. They are people who will speak an anointed Word from God that will gut the enemy and bring liberty to the captive. They are people who are aware of their "hindered right hand" and have come to lean on the Lord. Yes, these are brave men and woman who love God and the freedom of His people more than they love life and its immediate pleasures. These are willing to give God the glory and rally the household of faith behind His banner.

Yes, there is a sound in the land. Do you hear it? Listen! It is the ringing of metal against metal. A deliverer is fashioning and sharpening his weapon. He is being raised up for the deliverance of those in bondage. Soon he will confront Eglon and the system he controls. Until then, he will continue his hidden work in the secret place.

Father, see the anguish of my heart. I am living a hindered life, yet there is something stirring within me. I have been given a desire to rid us of this enemy who has grown fat on the labor of your people. He has eaten what belongs to You, to us and to our children. He does as he pleases and there is no one to question him. I acknowledge and ask you to forgive our sinfulness. I ask you to put a word in my mouth that will come forth with such power that it will bring death to this fattened bull of Moab. My vision is of bound men being set free. It is one of victory over the flesh and the hordes of hell. God work in us until your enemies have been subdued and liberty has been returned to your children. Help us to wait before you until the two- edged sword of your word is in our mouth. Then and only then, we will throw off the chains of our oppressor and bring rest to Your land and glory to Your name.

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