Dagger of the Word

Book of Judges, please, for just a very few minutes. Judges chapter 3. Judges chapter 3, reading at verse 12. I'm going to do something this afternoon that I've always said never do on a Sunday, and that is read several verses in a passage, but I have to today.

Judges 3, reading at verse 12. And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord. And the Lord strengthened Iglan, the king of Moab, against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the Lord.

And he gathered unto him the children of Ammon and Amalek, and went and smote Israel, and possessed the city of palm trees. So the children of Israel served Iglan, the king of Moab, 18 years. Now, what happens in 18 years? What they had accomplished and what they had conquered before, 18 years had now, their hands had left, have been dragging, and they let the enemy take over what they had conquered.

And so now the enemy is there, and they are serving him for those many years. And you can just about imagine how that they have lost any ground that they had taken. Verse 15, and when the children of Israel cried unto the Lord, the Lord raised them up a deliverer, Ehud left-handed.

Ehud the son of Gerah, a Benjamite, a man left-handed. And by him the children of Israel sent a present unto Iglan, the king of Moab. And Ehud made a dagger which had two edges of a cubit length, and he did gird it under his raiment upon his right thigh.

And he brought the present unto Iglan, the king of Moab. And Iglan was a very fat man. And when he had made an end to offer the present, he sent away the people that bear the present.

But he himself turned again from the couriers that were by Gilgal, and said, I have a secret errand unto thee, O king, who said, keep silence. And all that stood by him went out from him. And Ehud came unto him, and he was sitting in a summer parlor, which he had for himself alone.

Maybe that was the reason why he was so fat. And Ehud said, I have a message from God unto thee. And he arose out of his seat.

And Ehud put forth his left hand, and took the dagger from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly. And the haft also went in after the blade, and the fat closed upon the blade, so that he could not draw the dagger out of his belly. And the dirt came out, and so on.

And Ehud went forth through the porch, and shut the doors of the parlor upon him, and locked them. I think we know the rest of the story, and how that Ehud was able to get away, and in proper time before Iglong's servants discovered that the doors were locked, and of course entered in, and found their king dead. There is something that, there is something that I am very, very much impressed with, and that is that several times yesterday, that the works of the flesh was mentioned.

And obviously in the course of this passage, in the course of this story, we can understand that there was Iglong who served, who served, and there was a picture of that which was given over to the flesh. He had his own parlor, he had his own summer cottage, and of course he sat there. He was perhaps maybe a recluse, and of course he sat there, and whether he ate potato chips, and drank Pepsi, I don't know, but perhaps maybe that was just the place of where he just sat back, and relaxed, and had plenty of time just for himself.

All just for himself. In those 18 years, there was something that happened, as I suggested, and that is the enemy had come in, and because that Iglong was, had made, that there was the accompaniment with Ammon, and with Amalek, and of course these went, and they smote Israel, and possessed the city of palm trees. Iglong, or rather Israel served the king of Moab for 18 years.

So you can imagine the king of Moab, and then of course, the Moabites coming from the oldest daughter that Lot fathered a child with, and the Ammonites coming from the youngest daughter that Lot fathered a child with, and Amalek. So here's the Moabites, and the Ammonites, and Amalek, all against Israel. Not a very, very, kind of an ugly triplet as far as we're concerned.

So there was a very low state of affairs in the land of Israel at this particular time. But there was a Benjamite, a Benjamite that was raised up, the second judge of Israel. And as soon as there was the first judge, Othniel, and of course, the land had rest up until the days of Othniel, but then of course when he passed off the scene, then Israel did that which is evil again in the sight of the Lord.

Now bringing us now at this present moment to the second judge, and Ehud is raised up, and of course a deliverer is given. Israel cried out, cried out to God, and Ehud is raised up as a Benjamite, a man that was left-handed. Why was he left-handed? We're told in the book of, in the book of Judges, I think it's chapter 20, that was how many Benjamites could sling a stone at a hair breadth.

Well, perhaps maybe that was something natural as far as the Benjamites were concerned, but this man, the son of the right hand, I wonder if he wasn't left-handed, perhaps there was something that happened to the right hand. Maybe he had lost his grip, and the right-handed man had a switch to the left hand. Is it possible that I'm losing my grip? Is it possible that there is something in our lives that the right hand, the place of prominence, and the place of activity and strength is losing its grip? When Ehud is raised up, he is raised up and he is the deliverer for Israel.

What is really upon my mind is this Ehud deliver the Israelites. There was a present given. The Israelites sent a present with Ehud, and of course, I have a secret message to give to the king as far as Ehud's message was concerned, and he came as well wishes as far as Israel is concerned, and he came to give this man the rather, yes, the secret present, and of course, he's standing now with Iglon, the very fat man, a man full of flesh, a man that's given to fleshly appetites, a man who has no interest other than himself.

He's got his own parlor. He has his own spot, and he doesn't care whether he stays there by himself or not. He's just all occupied with himself.

You know, I'm reminded of, this comes to my mind now, of Paul's words to the Corinthians. Why is it, dear Christian, that Paul writes these words? Not many mighty are called, not many noble, but God has chosen the foolish things of this world to confound the wise. He has chosen the base things of the world, that which is not, the despised things of this world.

The reason why, as you know, I think about verse 29 of 1 Corinthians 1, is that no flesh should glory in his presence. And so, when we come together, as far as assembly believers are concerned, that there would be the superintendency of the Holy Spirit of God that would direct us around one man entirely. So, when Paul says to the Corinthians, or when the Corinthians say, or when Paul says, some say of you that they are Cephas, and some of Paul, and some even go so far as to say a summer of Christ, he reminds them that there should be no flesh glory in his presence.

When the secret message is given by Ehud, again to King Eglad, he has a dagger. There are four things that I'd just like to leave with you about this dagger. Number one, it was under his raiment.

It was hid. Number two, he needed it. When he needed it, he pulled it out and accomplished his intended work.

He was handy. When he pulled out that dagger and thrust it into the depths of that fat belly, his work was accomplished. In other words, he knew how to handle the dagger.

And then, of course, it was strapped to his right leg, his right thigh. There was harmony in the fact of what he was doing. First of all, the dagger was hid.

It was hid under the raiment. And, of course, if we was to look at the fact of the importance of what the Word of God is, I'm not saying that this dagger, I'm not going to apply it as the dagger as the whole Word of God. I think Ephesians chapter 6 would tell us that there is something that would tell us of what the dagger is.

He says in Ephesians chapter 6 to put on, put on the whole armor of God. The loin skirt about with truth, the breastplate of righteousness, and the feet shod with the preparation of the gospel. There is the shield of faith, able to quench the fiery darts of the wicked one.

There is the helmet of salvation. And when he comes right down to the last of Ephesians chapter 6, he talks about, and there is the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. So, there is a word that can be used like a dagger at the particular time to slay the enemy, and that's exactly what Ehud has sought to do.

So, I discover how important the Word is, the importance of the Word. Perhaps maybe you forget what I am going to say or have to say, and that is this, if young Christians especially, if you could just remember that this important, maybe I don't have to emphasize this, but the Word, the Word is vital. It is our substance.

It is our sustenance. It is our food. It is something that I cannot go without.

It is something that if I do go without, I have talked with individuals, and they have gone out without the Word. They have let it go, and they have let it go for one week, and then they have let it go for a little longer, and the longer I let my Word go, the longer I set away from an open Bible, the easier it is to get away, and to get away so far that I have no appetite again for the Word. I asked a dear man as I was swinging on the swing set with him in Iowa, I said, Brother, do you know what happened? Something had come into that home.

That family was torn, and there was heartache, and there was tears that I cannot imagine what was going on in the inside of that home. He says to me, Al, you know very well what happened. He says, I just forgot the book.

I forgot the book. Oh, dear Christian, if you could only remember how vital His Word is. I'm reminded in Luke chapter 4 that men shall live by the – every man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of his mouth.

I'm reminded from Luke 5 that Peter, he lets down the net. Nevertheless, at Thy Word, I will let down the net. If in Luke 4, I have His Word as far as my life is concerned, Luke 5, I have His Word as far as my labor is concerned.

When I come to Luke 10, she, Mary, sat at His feet to hear. She is there to learn. So my life, my labor, and my learning all has to do with the Word.

Last, of course, but not least, blessed are they in Luke chapter 11, blessed are they that hear the Word of God and keep it. That's my love, that keeping it, guarding it, holding it, protecting it, and making sure that I try to follow and pursue it to the best of my ability. But now let's get to the dagger.

There is something about the dagger. Number one, it was hid. If the word, if the dagger is a picture of a word from God on a one particular occasion, then I can say that Thy Word have I hid, says David.

Thy Word have I hid in my heart. Why? That I might not sin against Thee. Jeremiah chapter 15 and verse 16 says that Thy words were found and I did eat them.

My, I love that. I would love to put that right above my desk at home. Thy words were found and I did eat them.

But the last part of that verse is just as thrilling as the first part. And Thy words were unto me, the joy and rejoicing of my heart. So it's His Word.

Am I hiding the Word? Thy words did I hide in my heart? Am I getting the Word in my heart? How is it that I can put the words into my heart? Well, there's memory verses that I can read. There are times, there are times when we can get together, when I can get together alone and I go through these verses and I can remember by memorization. There are, there are CDs that I can, I can listen to.

There are different ways in which as far as getting the Word into my soul is concerned. But dear young Christian, would you get the Word into your heart? And when I got it into my heart, then I'll be able to have the dagger at the particular moment that I need it. When He is standing there with that big fat man, I'm glad we don't have any big fat man here today, otherwise my conscience would be beginning to... But when He was standing there with that big fat man, He was waiting for the opportunity to use the dagger.

When the opportunity came, with the left hand, pulling it out from the right thigh, shoving it deep into that man's stomach, He handled it. He was handy, rather. Number two, He was handy with the dagger.

He was ready to use it at the right moment. On the given moment, He was ready to use it. Who is it that says, there's a Peter that says, be, be ready? Be ready to give an answer for every man, for the hope that lieth within you.

Somebody said to me just the other day, I don't know what you see over there, Al, where you go, because you don't even have a paid pastor. You don't even have an organ. I said, wait a minute, how do you know we don't have an organ? You've never been in the place.

Well, I was told that you didn't have an organ. I said, sir, you should come sometime. We have 75 organs, and they all work together at once, and they play beautifully, and each particular organ is stringing, what is it, is strumming their own string.

Is that the right word? They're using, each organ is working together. Some sing bass, some sing soprano, some sing another tune, and we're all working together. So, in the organs, in the way in which, in the way in which we gather, do I have to be able to give the word at the right time for that particular individual? Paul could say, I am ready.

What could Paul say he was ready for? I'm ready to preach the gospel to you there at Rome also. So, there was man that was ready. Am I ready to have a word? Am I able to pull out the dagger and to give him the word at the right moment and at the right time? Sanctify, says Peter, sanctify the Lord God and be ready to give an answer.

When he pulled out that sword, when he pulled out the dagger, he knew how to handle it. Number three, he handled that dagger, and he handled it to perfection. I had the great joy last two weekends ago of sitting at a Bible conference in Heightsville.

I saw something that I probably will remember for a good long time. I watched, what should I call them? I watched godly men, knowledgeable men, handle the Word of God expertly. They handled the Word, and they went right through, right through the Bible, and a little thread went through that one man's message, and the next man got up, and another little thread went through his message, and just the way those dear men handled it.

Young brethren, when teachers get up to handle the scriptures, watch how they handle it. Watch how they link verses together. Watch how they tie sections of the scriptures together and learn from that.

They handled the Word. They cut a straight line. Handling the Word is cutting a straight line.

It's like the pioneer that goes into a virgin ground, and he cuts a straight path, and he removes that which is out of the way. And that straight line that he cuts is cutting it again for the glory of God that there will be a way, that there will be a path for the Word of God and for the Spirit of God to work, rightly dividing the Word of truth. So the dagger was hid.

The dagger was handy, close, having the Word on the tip of my tongue. The dagger was, he was able to handle it. And of course, my last point is there was harmony in what, in harmony in the way he walked.

That dagger was on his right thigh. Of course, the right thigh would tell me that there is strength and there is power, that there must be something in the walk before the Word obviously can be used. Romans chapter 8 reminds us that who walk after the flesh but after the Spirit.

If we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, will cleanse us from all sin. So here's Ehud, and I learned from Ehud. He was a man with a message for the enemy, and he had a way in which he could use it for the glory and for the glory of God.

May I know what it is to be able to take the dagger at the right word, the right time, to be able to handle it, to be able to slay the enemy, to be able to conquer the flesh, and to be able for his glory to go further into the things of God.