1. OVERCOMING
STRONGHOLDS!
Judges 3:12-31

2. How do you overcome
strongholds in your life?
How do you overcome
oppression in work, the home or
in your life in general?
How do you overcome LARGE
DIFFICULTIES?

3. The Bible always has the answer,
it is by FAITH and PRAYER “Faith
comes by hearing, and hearing by
the word of God Romans 10:17.
This message may help you and
later I would like offer you the
prayer time.
SEE UNLESS WE DEAL WITH THESE
THINGS, WE CANNOT BE FULLY
USED OF THE LORD.

4. Turn to Judges 3:12-31.
Verse 12 “And the children of Israel again did
evil in the sight of the Lord. So the Lord
strengthened Eglon (EG-LAWN) king of Moab
(MOW’AB) against Israel, because they had
done evil in the sight of the Lord.
Verse 13 “Then he gathered to himself the
people of Ammon (AM-MONE) and Amalek
(AM-AW-LAKE), went and defeated Israel, and
took possession of the City of Palms (Jericho).
Verse 14 so the children of Israel served Eglon
(EG-LAWN) king of Moab (MOW’AB) eighteen
years.”

5. Do you remember the woman Jesus healed on the Sabbath day found in
Luke 13:11-16?
11 And behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen
years, and was bent over and could in no way raise herself up.
12 But when Jesus saw her, He called her to Him and said to her, “Woman,
you are loosed from your infirmity.”
13 And He laid His hands on her, and immediately she was made straight,
and glorified God.
14 But the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because Jesus
had healed on the Sabbath; and he said to the crowd, “There are six days on
which men ought to work; therefore come and be healed on them, and not
on the Sabbath day.”
15 The Lord then answered him and said, “Hypocrite! Does not each one of
you on the Sabbath loose his ox or donkey from the stall, and lead it away
to water it?
16 So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has
bound--think of it--for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the
Sabbath?”

6. Both are for 18 YEARS! How long have you
been hurting and troubled?
Eglon (EG-LAWN) (means calf-like). A king
of the Moabites (MOA-A-BITES), crossed
the Jordan and took “the city of palm
trees” Jericho in (1359 b.c.), according to
Josephus, he built himself a palace there,
and continued for eighteen years to
oppress the children of Israel, who paid
him tribute.

7. See when the “children of God did
evil in the sight of the Lord” God
lifts His hand of protection off
them.
When we are living in sin, that sin
MUST be dealt with, or we will be
overcome by it, and God’s hand
and blessing will be lost!
Notice what happens next!

8. Verse 15 “BUT when the children
of Israel cried out (crying in
repentance) to the Lord, the Lord
raised up a deliverer for them:
Ehud (AY-HOOD) the son of Gera
(Ge'ra), the Benjamite, a left-
handed man. By him the children
of Israel sent tribute to Eglon (EG-
LAWN) king of Moab.”

9. Ehud (AY-HOOD), meaning he that
praises, of the tribe of Benjamin.
As a Benjamite he was specially
chosen to destroy Eglon (EG-
LAWN), who had established
himself in Jericho, which was
included in the boundaries of that
tribe.
He was very strong, but left-
handed.

10. Benjamin signifies the son of the
right hand, yet men’s natures do not
always answer their names.
The only thing that this man had
going for him was that he was left-
handed as we will see soon.
For God chose this left-handed man
to be the man of His right hand.
GOD WANTS YOU AS HIS RIGHT
HAND MAN OR WOMAN ALSO!

11. Remember Joshua “After the death of
Moses the servant of the Lord, it came
to pass that the Lord spoke to Joshua
the son of Nun, Moses' assistant”
Joshua 1:1.
Joshua had to live with the fact that
he was the son of Nun, sounds likes
“nobodies child.”
He must have felt at times that he
wanted to be the son of a somebody.

12. Ehud (AY-HOOD), must have
felt the same at times, he was
left-handed, of the tribe of
right-handed men.
But God never uses the men or
women you expect at times.
GOD HAS A CALLING AND
WORK FOR YOU TO DO!

13. Verse 16 “Now Ehud (AY-
HOOD) made himself a
dagger (it was double-
edged and a cubit in length)
and fastened it under his
clothes on his right thigh.”

14. Note a two edged sword was made by him.
Double-edge sword must speak of the “Word of
God.”
Ephesians 6:17 “And take the helmet of
salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is
the word of God.”
Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is living
and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged
sword, piercing even to the division of soul and
spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a
discerner of the thoughts and intents of the
heart.”

15. The sword was usually worn on the left
side; so that Ehud's (AY-HOOD) was the
more likely to escape detection.
Now do not miss that. He was left-handed
and would have to reach over on his right
side to pull out the dagger.
In that day almost everybody was right-
handed, (more so a Benjamite) and they
were searched on the left side to see if
they carried a weapon.
The king’s Secret Service agents searched
Ehud (AY-HOOD) on the wrong side.

16. Verse 17 “So he brought the tribute to Eglon (EG-
LAWN) king of Moab. (Now Eglon (EG-LAWN) was a
very fat man.)
Verse 18 And when he had finished presenting the
tribute, he sent away the people who had carried the
tribute.
Verse 19 But he himself turned back from the stone
images that were at Gilgal (GIL’GAL), and said, “I have
a secret message for you, O king.” He said, “Keep
silence!” And all who attended him went out from
him.
Verse 20 And Ehud (AY-HOOD) came to him (now he
was sitting upstairs in his cool private chamber). Then
Ehud (AY-HOOD), said, “I have a message from God for
you.” So he arose from his seat.”

17. In a clever move, Ehud (AY-HOOD), was
selected to bring a “present” of the tribute
money, (maybe with a large among of
food also) demanded of Israel by the
Moabite king. Ehud (AY-HOOD), decided
to use it as an opportunity to assassinate
the Moabite king.
In order to carry out the assassination
attempt, after the official presentation of
the tribute, Ehud (AY-HOOD) dismissed
the entourage and requested a private
audience with the king himself.

18. Perhaps Eglon (EG-LAWN) thought that
Ehud (AY-HOOD), had come to deliver a
new recipe for a triple chocolate cake etc.
or perhaps he thought Ehud (AY-HOOD),
was prepared to bring a special bribe to
him personally in addition to the tribute.
The fact that the king responded to his
secret errand with the statement “Keep
silence” further suggests that he expected
something of a personal nature that he
did not want the others to know about,
thus, he sent them out.

19. His summer parlour, where he
used to indulge himself in ease
and luxury food, was soon to be
the place of his execution.
Ehud (AY-HOOD), demands his
attention to a message from God
(verse 20), and that message was
a dagger of judgment and death
to Eglon (EG-LAWN).

20. Though a heathen king,
though rich and powerful,
when he expected to
receive orders form heaven,
he rose out of his seat; he
stood up when God was
about to speak to him.

21. Verse 21 “Then Ehud (AY-HOOD),
reached with his left hand, took
the dagger from his right thigh,
and thrust it into his belly.
Verse 22 Even the hilt went in
after the blade, and the fat closed
over the blade, for he did not
draw the dagger out of his belly;
and DIRT (his entrails) came out.”

22. At a convenient moment, Ehud (ay-
hood), grabbing the dagger with his
left hand from his right thigh as he
ran, and thrust it into his belly and
plunged it into the king.
He stuck him like you would a pig.
The dagger was covered by the king’s
fat.
The story of Eglon’s (EG-LAWN) death
is both graphic and hair-raising.

23. Eglon (EG-LAWN) signifies a calf, and
he fell like a fatted calf, by the knife,
an acceptable sacrifice to divine
justice.
Notice “As the sword went in the dirt
came out” the coming out of the dirt
or dung, he that had been so very
nice and curious about his own body,
to keep it easy and clean, now he will
be found wallowing in his own blood
and guts (excrements).

24. Ehud (AY-HOOD), having
slain the king of Moab,
assembled the men of
Israel, marched against
Moab, and killed about ten
thousand retreating
soldiers. Israel then enjoyed
rest for eighty years.

25. It is the sword of the Lord that needs
to be taken to those things in your
life, for when the sword goes in the
dirt comes out!
“Faith comes by hearing, and hearing
by the word of God Romans 10:17.
TOO BE USED OF THE LORD WE NEED
TO DEAL WITH THOSE THINGS IN OUR
LIVES THAT TROUBLE US!