Daily Thought

The New Testament reminds us that ‘whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap’, Gal. 6. 7. This principle was certainly true for the nation of Israel, for they committed evil against the Lord and paid a heavy price for it. Their evil consisted of forgetting the Lord and serving useless idols. It seems incredible that they should so quickly forget the mighty miracles and victories which God had brought about for them. However, we should not stand in judgement as we can easily forget what our Saviour has done for us, and that is why we need to affirm regularly our focus on Calvary through breaking bread and drinking wine.

The consequence of the nation’s evil was that ‘the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel’ and he allowed the land to be invaded and oppressed for eight years under Cushan-rishathaim with his Mesopotamian forces, v. 8. This was the Lord’s hand of discipline upon His beloved and chosen people, which enabled them to learn the lesson of dependence upon God as they returned to the Lord in prayer, seeking His deliverance. The Lord heard their prayer and brought deliverance through a famous family in Judah. Caleb’s younger brother, Othniel, with the Spirit of the Lord upon him, v. 10, led Israel to victory over the invasion force.

Later, God brought about another invasion to discipline His people. This time it was a confederacy of Moab, Ammon and Amalek under the leadership of Eglon, king of Moab. It was a partial invasion which centred upon the city of Jericho in the tribal area of Benjamin and lasted for eighteen years. Again, the people raised up their cries of prayer to the Lord for deliverance, and He raised up a deliverer in the form of a left-handed assassin known as Ehud.

Ehud was chosen by God, being enabled to kill king Eglon, and then he led the army of Israel to a great victory over the forces of Moab. His weapon was a two-edged sword, reminding us that our evangelistic thrust is with ‘the word of God’ which is ‘sharper than any twoedged sword’, Heb. 4. 12.