Unsung Heroes of the BibleSample

What Makes Ehud a Hero?

In the Old Testament, the nation of Israel repeatedly had problems with its neighbors, because they would take over parts of their land. While occupying those areas, they would charge large sums of money to these towns and attempt to influence what the Israelites worshiped and how they conducted business.

Over time, the areas would muster a loosely-bound group militia to free themselves of this foreign influence and drive them back. The place would be free again (until a different country would do the same somewhere else in Israel). It was a continual cycle of cat-and-mouse on a regional scale.

Moab's neighboring country had an evil (and tremendously overweight) king named Eglon, who made life miserable for the Israelites. Moab was particularly evil because they worshipped a god named “Chemos,” who demanded infant sacrifice.

Eager to eliminate this influence, Ehud got tired of Eglon and Moab. So he walked up to the royal palace and hid a 1'’ knife on his right leg (most people were right-handed so they would have hidden weapons on their left leg). He told Eglon officers he had a ‘secret’ for the king and was granted entry to his inner chamber. Ehud delivered his' secret,’ buried the entire knife length into Eglon, locked the doors, and escaped to rouse the local troops to revolt against this evil nation's influence. They were successful in throwing off the oppressive power of the Moabites.

Takeaway:

Ehud took action. Sometimes, you have to stand up in the face of evil and do something to inspire others to do or say what is right.