Judges 3:26

THE DEFEAT AND EXPULSION OF MOAB

"And Ehud escaped while they tarried, and passed beyond the quarries, and escaped unto Seirah. And it came to pass, when he was come, that he blew a trumpet in the hill-country of Ephraim; and the children of Israel went down with him from the hill-country, and he before them. And he said unto them, Follow after me; for Jehovah hath delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hand. And they went down after him, and took the fords of the Jordan against the Moabites and suffered not a man to pass over. And they smote of Moab at that time about ten thousand men, every lusty man, and every man of valor; and there escaped not a man. So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest fourscore years."

Hervey's description of what happened here is as follows:

"By seizing the fords of the Jordan they cut off all communications between the Moabites east of the river and the occupation forces in Israel. The enemy could neither escape into Moab nor get any help from Moab. Thrown into confusion by the sudden death of their king, and the overwhelming enthusiasm of Israel's attack, the Moabites lost ten thousand men, thus bringing to an end the Moabite oppression."[24]

It should be noted that Ehud gave all the glory to God. When he rallied Israel behind his call for fighters against Moab, he said, "Jehovah hath delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hand" (Judges 3:28). Who can doubt it? If there was ever an example of providential intervention in an earthly conflict, this is surely an example of it. The essential element in the whole deliverance was the amazing deception of the protectors of the king of Moab. We may well believe that the king's valets were all blinded by God Himself. If it had not been so, someone would have become suspicious of Ehud, and even after the assassination and the escape of the deliverer, the servants were still restrained from entering the king's presence until Ehud had escaped safety!