True History - Veritas Card # 34 - Othniel and Ehud

Othniel and Ehud   -  Judges 3

     One of the 10 Commandments that God had given the Israelites was ' You shall have no other gods before Me...'   God was to be the only one worshiped by the Israelites. They were to love Him with all their hearts, minds, and strength.
   Once the Israelites were in the land, they intermingled with the Canaanites, who worshiped other gods. The gods of the Canaanites were powerless, even though the Canaanites didn't believe that. There were two gods in particular, that they worshiped, and enticed the Israelites into worshiping as well. The names of these gods were Baal and Asheroth. The Israelites started worshiping these gods as well, and they forgot about the one true God who called them out of Egypt into the Promised Land.
  Because of the idolatry of the Israelites, God punished them by allowing Cushan-rishathaim to oppress them for eight years. Cushan-rishathaim was the King of Mesopotamia.
  After God punished them during this time period, they cried out to the Lord for help, and He delivered them from the oppressor. God sent a man named Othniel to save them. First, God's Spirit came upon Othniel and then he led Israel into battle. God gave Israel the victory and Cushan-rishathaim was defeated. Israel then had peace for forty years.
    But Israel forgot the covenant with the Lord that had been made and broke their covenant with God. God again allowed Israel to suffer at the hands of oppressors. This time the oppressors were Moab, and a really mean, nasty king named Eglon. God allowed Moab and Eglon to rule over them. Eglon united with the Amalekites and the Ammonites and together they did hurtful things to Israel.
   Israel cried out to the Lord again. Once again, God delivered them. Here is how it happened; Ehud came to King Eglon and pretended to have a message from God for him. Then Ehud got close to King Eglon, who was obese, and led him to believe that he was going to give the king the message, but what happened was that, King Eglon was now alone, and Ehud took a dagger and stabbed him through Eglon's belly. Then Ehud ran away. Then he gathered the Israelites together and they drove out the forces of King Eglon. That was how God gave them the victory over their enemies, when the Israelites turned back to Him. God was very merciful and patient with His people.
   This took place around 1377-1337 B.C.