More than Superheroes

Heroes of Faith – Ehud

My next Hero of Faith is another Judge. Like Samson, this hero delivered the Israelites from oppressive armies that had conquered the land. Unlike Samson, you usually don’t hear about this Judge in Sunday School or children’s Bible books. The first time I heard about the Judge named Ehud, I was at a Christian summer camp called Camp Phillip. I think I was about 11 or 12 at the time. Our counselor in our cabin was doing activities to help us get to know each other as we started our week at camp. He had a group of young boys and he knew how to get our attention. He asked us if we wanted to hear a Bible story with deception, assassination, and a bit of gore. We all enthusiastically said yes.

We listened very attentively as he read to us from Judges chapter 3. If you are not familiar with the account, I will summarize. Following the typical theme of the book of Judges, the Israelites had done evil in the Lord’s eyes and he sent a conquering army to lead them to repentance. King Eglon from Moab conquered the Israelites with the help of the Ammonites and Amalekites. After 18 years, the Israelites repented and he sent Ehud to deliver them. Ehud was a left handed man and this helped with his plot to kill King Eglon. He made a small sword about a foot and a half long. He hid the sword on his right thigh under his clothing. He then volunteered to be the one to take the tribute to the King.

When he was in the presence of the King, he said that he had a secret message for the King. King Eglon told everyone else to leave. Judges 3:20, 21 says, “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, Ehud reached with his left hand, drew the sword from his right thigh and plunged it into the king’s belly.” After Ehud plunged the sword into Eglon’s belly, there is a gory description. King Eglon was a large man. The entire sword sank into the King’s belly and came out his back. The King’s fat closed over the blade. You can imagine how a group of young boys would react to this story. There were a few people who made a loud “EWWWWW.”

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My superhero for Ehud is actually two superheroes. That is a little odd since I like to do a one to one comparison. Perhaps this idea came into my head because Avengers Infinity War is the next big movie that will be coming to theaters. For Ehud I picked Black Widow and Hawkeye. Black Widow is the assassin who would feel comfortable deceiving her target. Ehud assassinated Eglon and did so by hiding the sword and claiming that he had a secret message. Hawkeye is an expert marksman who can take down his opponent with a single shot. Ehud killed Eglon with a single stab. Naturally Hawkeye would have used a bow and arrow but I think it is a good connection.

(Bible story images are produced by Robert Gunther and were found on freebibleimages.org)

I am a Lutheran pastor who is currently serving at Trinity in Belle Plaine, MN. My wife is Megan and my daughter is Elizabeth "Libby". I have two dogs (Labradors) - Samson and Charlie. In my spare time, I train for and run in marathons, I cheer for the Green Bay Packers, and I love the Comic Book genre of entertainment.

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