3:1 These were the nations the Lord permitted to remain so he could use them to test Israel – he wanted to test all those who had not experienced battle against the Canaanites.
This new generation had received the benefits of the land without spilling blood. They did not understand the concepts of a holy war.
3:2 He left those nations simply because he wanted to teach the subsequent generations of Israelites, who had not experienced the earlier battles, how to conduct holy war.
The concept of the holy war was that man must attack and allow God to win the battle for him. Genocide of the enemy must occur, or the enemy will seduce the nation into idolatry.
3:3 These were the nations: the five lords of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites living in Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal Hermon to Lebo-Hamath.
The Philistines were of Greek-Aegean origin. The Canaanites came from the cursed son of Ham. The Sidonians were the Phoenicians who controlled the Tyre and Sidon shipping industry. The Hivites controlled the high grounds of Mount Lebanon. These were four very evil and dangerous nations.
3:4 They were left to test Israel, so the Lord would know if his people would obey the commands he gave their ancestors through Moses.
The test was not for God, because He knew what was in their hearts. The test was for Israel to see themselves under the microscope. These nations would put so much pressure on Israel, that Israel would eventually have to live under the Mosaic Law.
3:5 The Israelites lived among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.
Notice that now the Canaanites outnumber Israel.
3:6 They took the Canaanites’ daughters as wives and gave their daughters to the Canaanites; they worshiped their gods as well.
intermarrying with the Canaanites was a violation of the Mosaic Law. The theme of the Book of Joshua is the Canaanization of Israelite society in the areas of religion, ethics, and morality. Israel was becoming worse than the Canaanites. However, God had to work with and save the nation, because of the promises He made in the Abrahamic Covenant.
Othniel: A Model Leader
3:7 The Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight. They forgot the Lord their God and worshiped the Baals and the Asherahs.
The cycle begins with Israel moving into sin. The Baals and Asherahs were plural, meaning that Israel was worshiping the Canaanite gods and goddesses. Asherah poles were wooden poles of an erect male organ coming out of the earth. These were very similar to the totem poles of the American Indians. Prostitution and sexual rituals were prevalent in both of these cults.
3:8 The Lord was furious with Israel and turned them over to King Cushan-Rishathaim of Aram-Naharaim. They were Cushan-Rishathaim’s subjects for eight years.
The second part of the cycle is that God judges Israel by bringing in a foreign enemy to oppress them. The name, Cushan-Rishathaim means “doubly-wicked Cushan.” Aram-Naharaim means “Syria of the two rivers”. This evil king was a Cushite from the Tigris-Euphrates region of Mesopotamia. Israel was forced to pay tribute to this evil king for eight years.
3:9 When the Israelites cried out for help to the Lord, he raised up a deliverer for the Israelites who rescued them. His name was Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother.
The third part of the cycle was Israel calling for a deliverer to save them from the persecution. After eight years of worshiping and praying to the Baals, Israel was ready to give up on these false gods. They prayed to Jehovah instead.
Jehovah raised up a “deliverer.” The Hebrew name for “deliverer” is מוֹשִׁ֛יעַ (moshia), which is used in three different ways. First, it is used of those who deliver or save Israel from their enemies. Second, it was used of God. Third, it was used of the Messiah.
The first מוֹשִׁ֛יעַ (moshia) of Israel was Othniel, who was the younger brother of Caleb. Caleb was one of the original 12 spies who gave a good report to Israel. He took land in Judah and killed the giants in the area. Caleb was a national hero of Israel.
3:10 The Lord’s spirit empowered him and he led Israel. When he went to do battle, the Lord handed over to him King Cushan-Rishathaim of Aram and he overpowered him.
The only reason that Othniel would be able to accomplish this task was because the spirit of the Lord came upon him. The Holy Spirit did not indwell in every believer of the Old Testament. It came upon certain believers to perform certain tasks for God.
Very little is said about Othniel. He went to battle and the Lord defeated the evil Mesopotamian king.
3:11 The land had rest for forty years; then Othniel son of Kenaz died.
The cycle continues. As long as the judge is alive, then Israel remains obedient and prospers. Once the leader dies, then apostasy returns.
Deceit, Assassination, and Deliverance
3:12 The Israelites again did evil in the Lord’s sight. The Lord gave King Eglon of Moab control over Israel because they had done evil in the Lord’s sight.
The cycle begins again. The new generation did not learn from the prior generation. They fell back into idolatry. God raised up King Eglon of Moab to oppress Israel. King Eglon was energized by God Himself. All kings are simply puppets in the Lord’s hands. Kings exist as divine paddles to spank God’s rebellious children.
3:13 Eglon formed alliances with the Ammonites and Amalekites. He came and defeated Israel, and they seized the City of Date Palm Trees.
The Moabites. Ammonites, and Amalekites combined and took Jericho. Jericho was rebuilt at this time, but not as a fortified city. Therefore, it did not violate Joshua’s curse.
3:14 The Israelites were subject to King Eglon of Moab for eighteen years.
Israel prayed to their foreign gods for eighteen years, but received no answer.
3:15 When the Israelites cried out for help to the Lord, he raised up a deliverer for them. His name was Ehud son of Gera the Benjaminite, a left-handed man. The Israelites sent him to King Eglon of Moab with their tribute payment.
The cycle continues. Since the false gods never answered, Israel cried out to Jehovah instead. Jehovah brought in a new מוֹשִׁ֛יעַ (moshia) named Ehud. Ehud was a Benjamite. The Benjamites had been a tribe who never had enough faith in God to remove the Canaanites from their tribal area. In Hebrew, “a left-handed man” should be translated as “a man bound in his right hand,” meaning that Ehud could only use his left hand. Benjamin means “son of the right hand,” but most Benjamites were left-handed. Ehud was from the tribe of “the son of the right hand,” but he could not even use his right hand. According to 1 Chronicles 12:2, most Benjamites were ambidextrous, meaning that they could use both hands very well.
3:16 Ehud made himself a sword – it had two edges and was eighteen inches long. He strapped it under his coat on his right thigh.
Since Ehud was left-handed, his sword would be concealed on the opposite side.
3:17 He brought the tribute payment to King Eglon of Moab. (Now Eglon was a very fat man.)
Ehud was allowed into camp as a stranger, because he was paying tribute money to King Eglon. King Eglon’s description was given as a very fat man.
3:18 After Ehud brought the tribute payment, he dismissed the people who had carried it.
Ehud sent his armed guard away, leaving him alone to face King Eglon.
3:19 But he went back once he reached the carved images at Gilgal. He said to Eglon, “I have a secret message for you, O king.” Eglon said, “Be quiet!” All his attendants left.
Ehud traveled back home alone. Once he reached Gilgal, he saw carved images of Canaanite gods. This was the same place that Joshua had erected the memorial stones in honor of what the true God had done for Israel. This was also the place where the Angel of Jehovah (the preincarnate Christ) had visited. The memorials of Israel had been turned into worship centers of the Canaanite gods. Ehud turned from this center of idolatry and returned back to King Eglon’s camp. Ehud told King Eglon that he had a secret message for him. Curious, King Eglon asked his body guards to leave.
3:20 When Ehud approached him, he was sitting in his well-ventilated upper room all by himself. Ehud said, “I have a message from God for you.” When Eglon rose up from his seat,
The Hebrew word for “well-ventilated room” is עֲלִיָּה (aliyah), meaning a patio room on the roof. This was a higher room which would allow in the breezes of the afternoon.
Ehud told King Eglon that he had a message from אֱלֹהִ֥ים (elohim), meaning the Jewish triune Creator God. To a Canaanite, אֱלֹהִ֥ים (elohim) meant “gods”. King Eglon rose from his seat, thinking that he was going to hear a message from the plural Canaanite gods, but he was actually going to hear a message from the one true triune Creator God.
3:21 Ehud reached with his left hand, pulled the sword from his right thigh, and drove it into Eglon’s belly.
Ehud was led by the Spirit of God to execute this pagan king.
3:22 The handle went in after the blade, and the fat closed around the blade, for Ehud did not pull the sword out of his belly.
The sword went all the way through the anus of King Eglon. The king who had terrorized Israel had now become nothing but fat and excrement.
3:23 As Ehud went out into the vestibule, he closed the doors of the upper room behind him and locked them.
The doors were locked from the inside.
3:24 When Ehud had left, Eglon’s servants came and saw the locked doors of the upper room. They said, “He must be relieving himself in the well-ventilated inner room.”
The servants thought that their King was using the bathroom. This delay gave Ehud time to escape.
3:25 They waited so long they were embarrassed, but he still did not open the doors of the upper room. Finally they took the key and opened the doors. Right before their eyes was their master, sprawled out dead on the floor!
After waiting a while, they figured that something was wrong. They found that their King had been assassinated.
3:26 Now Ehud had escaped while they were delaying. When he passed the carved images, he escaped to Seirah.
Ehud returned back on the same path, but he went beyond the carved images.
3:27 When he reached Seirah, he blew a trumpet in the Ephraimite hill country. The Israelites went down with him from the hill country, with Ehud in the lead.
Ehud blew the shofar as a call to arms. The shofar was the ram’s horn.
3:28 He said to them, “Follow me, for the Lord is about to defeat your enemies, the Moabites!” They followed him, captured the fords of the Jordan River opposite Moab, and did not let anyone cross.
Israel recognized the divine leadership of Ehud. They followed him and captured the forts of the Jordan River, which were opposite of Moab. The capture of these forts gave Israel two major military advantages. First, Moab could not escape back to their homeland. Second, Moab could not receive reinforcements or supplies.
3:29 That day they killed about ten thousand Moabites – all strong, capable warriors; not one escaped.
Moab had broken the Abrahamic Covenant, so every single Moabite soldier was killed. The message of the Abrahamic Covenant is do not mess with Israel!
3:30 Israel humiliated Moab that day, and the land had rest for eighty years.
This time span of peace and prosperity lasted for two generations. It was the longest span of peace in Israel’s history.
3:31 After Ehud came Shamgar son of Anath; he killed six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad and, like Ehud, delivered Israel.
Shamgar was a Hurrian name, demonstrating that the Jews were beginning to intermarry with the Canaanites. Anath was the name of a Canaanite goddess of sex and war. Therefore, the Jews were beginning to name their children after Canaanite deities.
Shamgar killed 600 Philistines. This could have been his lifetime total, not just the total of one battle. He may have killed them one-by-one in individual combat.
Shamgar killed the Philistines with an ox-goad. An ox-goad was used to urge oxen to move forward. It was an eight-foot long pole with a metal tip. It could be used as a very effective spear. It is important to note that the Philistines would have been carrying iron swords.
Shamgar delivered Israel, but he did not judge them. Therefore, Shamgar may have delivered Israel during the judgeship of Ehud.