Ben Lueder's Concert

Last night I went to a good friend's concert, where he performed a number of the songs he's written. It was really exciting due to the fact that he is not only a good musician, but also a great Godly man and his songs reflect that. I videoed the whole thing and will try upload it to youtube soon. (Some of his previous concerts I already have uploaded. Watch them! His name is Ben Lueders.)

Ehud, Resistance Leader.

Carefully planned assassination attempts... Militia resistance... the overthrow of military occupation... Sounds like a war documentary, doesn’t it? Often we do not visualize Bible stories as documented fact but rather almost as just a good story.
When it comes to Ehud one of the first judges in Israel, it's no different. We rarely consider him as a undercover agent or a general. Sometimes we almost forget he was an actual historical figure. So today, I would like to help you put the "story" in it's real perspective, I would like to dig a little deeper into the brilliant execution of his plot to assassinate Eglon king of Moab and overthrow the occupation forces in Israel.
Now as a background, in that day, the Moabites, in an alliance with Ammon and Amalek had penetrated Israel, set a garrison in Jericho, the City of Palms, and demanded tribute. This continued 18 years, till Israel called to God, and he raised up a leader.

Judges describes Ehud as "a left-handed man. By whom the children of Israel sent tribute to Eglon."
God's chosen judge, was a man of high regard, as it was he who was chosen to present Israel's tribute to Eglon.
Ehud was suited perfectly for the job of leading Israel, and he was a perfect assassin. He had access to the King and he was a man of resource, as he made his own weapons. he was also left handed. Now you might ask why being left-handed is a benefit to an assassin, or is even an important fact to document? I'll get there.
First he designed his weapon. Scripture says "(it was double-edged and a cubit in length)" The described weapon was a dagger approximately this long maybe a little longer (show 14 inch dagger.). His dagger really was a deadly weapon. It was double edged like this one. It was long enough to do a lot of damage, and yet small enough to conceal.
Now according to scripture, Ehud "fastened it under his clothes on his right thigh."
Why is this mentioned? Well as a left handed man, the side he drew his weapon from, was the opposite side of most men. The importance of this is that if King Eglon's security guards conducted quick searches on the tribute bearers, there was much less of a chance that the dagger be discovered. You might ask if the security could be that stupid, to search only the most probable side. I honestly believe so. The example I think of, to illustrate laid back security, is the Iowa State Capitol. Whenever people visit the capitol they are required to go through a metal detector, but there are many security loopholes. The deadly flaw in the system, is the laziness of the guards. I have literally walked through the machine with metal on me, all I had to do was explain to them that it was steel brackets on my shoes setting it off. My point is, lax security does the almost the bare minimum to check for weapons. Such is what I suspect was the case for Ehud. He was able, because of his left handedness, to put his weapon in an unsearched place, without compromising accessibility or speed.
So he brought the tribute to Eglon king of Moab. And when he had finished presenting the tribute, he went to Gilgal and he sent away the people who had carried it. But he himself turned back from the stone images that were at Gilgal. The most interesting thing about how Ehud acted in this situation is that he waited for the opportune moment to strike. Not only by waiting did he give himself a chance to "case the joint" so to speak, but also time to plan his escape route in relation to where ever the king was staying. Now if you consider a map of Israel in his day, you will realize he had some several miles between Jericho and Gilgal (and back) to do his planning.
When he came back to the King he said “I have a secret message for you, O king.”
Eglon said, “Keep silence!” And all who attended him went out from him."
Ehud's choice for the subterfuge was really the only way that he could ask the attendants to leave without actually doing so.
Now he must have been a good actor too, because he grabbed Eglon's attention with his words.
In fact the King stands up to meet him.
"So Ehud came to him and said, “I have a message from God for you.” So he arose from his seat. Then Ehud reached with his left hand, took the dagger from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly. 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 his entrails came out."
Eglon was obviously a very fat man for the entire knife to be absorbed in his stomach... But let's move on.
"Then Ehud went out and shut the doors of the upper room behind him and locked them."
He was careful enough, to exit the dead king's chamber and not arouse suspicion as he locked the door behind him. Now the servant's realized he had left but must not have seen him lock the door because they assumed Eglon is using the restroom. "When he had gone out, Eglon’s servants came to look, and to their surprise, the doors of the upper room were locked. So they said, “He is probably attending to his needs in the cool chamber.” So they waited till they were embarrassed, and still he had not opened the doors of the upper room."
Meanwhile Ehud headed Northeast to Gilgal and from there he headed Northwest to the Mountains of Ephraim. There he blew the trumpet, rallying Israel. Whether or not they were waiting for the signal is untold, but whatever the case, he was able to quickly mobilize the militia, and give them orders that strategically and effectively sealed the border. His battle plan was not an offensive one were he attacked Moabite garrisons, rather he took control of the fords of the Jordan, so that for the enemy to return to their country, or for their country to send reinforcements, with out the Israelites first being defeated was impossible. Because of these actions, Moab was routed, and every one of the 10,000 occupation forces were killed. So the land had rest.

This indeed was an astonishing feat. Ehud, a general and an assassin, almost single-left-handedly, overthrew the rule of a nation. A plot, as dangerous and complicated, as any other more modern wartime assassinations, was executed flawlessly. When you get home, re-read the tale of Ehud, read it not just as a Bible story but as history.

Disclaimer: I am not advocating all assassinations, only ones which are done in the right circumstances and right ways.