The Left-Handed Deliverer

The Story

For eighteen years, Israel served Eglon, the king of Moab. He was a very large man and a very powerful one. Every year, Israel had to send him tribute.

When the people finally cried out to God, God raised up a deliverer, and the Bible makes a point of telling us one detail about him: Ehud was left-handed.

Ehud made himself a short, two-edged dagger and strapped it to his right thigh, under his clothes. Guards checked for weapons on the left side, where a right-handed man would carry them. No one checked Ehud’s right side.

He delivered the tribute to Eglon, sent the other men home, and then came back alone. “I have a secret errand unto thee, O king,” he said. Eglon sent everyone out of the room.

“I have a message from God unto thee,” Ehud said. And with his left hand, he struck. Then he locked the doors and slipped away. The king’s servants waited outside for a long time, assuming the king wanted privacy.

By the time they found out what had happened, Ehud had escaped. He blew a trumpet in the hill country, Israel rallied behind him, and the land had peace for eighty years.

Reflection