OTHNIEL THE SON OF KENAZ After the introduction in chapters 1 and 2, he started by the main body of the book, proclaiming the repeated perversion of the people; followed by their fall under affliction, and how God kept on sending to them judges to deliver them. 1- The perversion of the people 1 - 7 2- Serving Cushan-Rishathaim 8 3- Othniel set a judge 9 - 11 4- Ehud set a judge 12 - 30 5- Shamgar set a judge 31 1- THE PERVERSION OF THE PEOPLE: “ Now these are the nations which the Lord left, that He might test Israel by them, that is, all who had not known any of the wars in Canaan (this was only so that the generations of the children of Israel might be taught to know war, at least those who had not formerly known it)” (1, 2) https://coptic-treasures.com/ The main body of the book starts by a list of the nations which the Lord left, that He might test Israel by them, so that the generations of the children of Israel might be taught to know war. Here we notice that the nations whom the Israelites were slothful to drive away, God allowed for them to stay in their midst to use them as a tool so that the generations of the children of Israel might be taught to know war; not by the general military concept of training; but to teach them how they have conquest through the godly life and trust in God; and to watch His dealing with them for their own good. ………..God turns even our weaknesses to good, Commenting on this verse, Father Daniel says: [God left those nations, not to take peace away from His people, nor to cause them harm, but because He knows that it would be for their own good. For once they suffer affliction from those nations, they would come to feel their need for God; to seek His help; to forsake their slothfulness, not to lose the virtue of endurance and work; and to strive for virtue]. He gives a list of those nations as follows; (1) The five princes of the Philistines; the rulers of the five main cities: Gath, Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, and Ekron. At that time, the Philistines were great people of valor, living in fortified cities, and monopolized the industry of the iron tools and weapons (1 Samuel 13: 19-21). After the death of Joshua, Judah took Gaza, Ashkelon and Ekron (1: 18); And Shamgar killed 600 men of the Philistines with an ox goad (3: 31); But the Philistines took those cities back, and the Hebrews fell into their hands (10: 6, 7). There came to be animosity between the children of Israel and the Philistines. (2) He gathered together the Canaanites; the Sidonians; the Hevites, inhabitant of Mount Lebanon; the Hittites; the Emmorites; the Perizites; the Jebusites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem or ‘Jebus’. “ namely, five lords of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites who dwelt in Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal Hermon to the entrance of Hamath” (3) https://coptic-treasures.com/ “And they were left, that He might test Israel by them, to know whether they would obey the commandments of the Lord, which He had commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses” (4). “The children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites” (5) The sign of their perversion was that: “ they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their daughters to their sons; and they served their gods”.(6) That was the double sign: to bind themselves to the unbelievers through matrimony, and the worship of foreign gods. It is noticed how he started by the matrimonial relationship with the unbelievers before idol-worship; on account of that the former is the cause, and the later is the natural fruit of the covetous man who marries outside the circle of faith. Hence the apostle Paul warns us, saying: “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness/ And what communion has light with darkness. And what accord has Christ with Belial. Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever?!” (2 Corinthians 6: 14, 15) 2- SERVING CUSHAN-RISHATHAIM: Having been bound to the Gentiles through matrimonial relationships, they fell into their worship of the Baalim and the pillars of their gods. Hence God sold them into the hand of Cushan-Rishathaim king of Mesopotamia, whom the children of Israel served eight years. https://coptic-treasures.com/ Cushan, a Semite name meaning (belongs to Cush); and Rishathaim, means (of two evils). If therefore, the people committed a double evil: by marrying Gentile wives, and idol-worship, God delivered them into the hands of a king (of two evils), to be chastised by him for eight years; “With the measure you use, it will be measured back to you” (Matthew 7: 2) 3- OTHNIEL SET A JUDGE: “So the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord. They forgot the Lord their God, and served the Baals and Asherahs.[a] 8 Therefore the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and He sold them into the hand of Cushan-Rishathaim king of Mesopotamia; and the children of Israel served Cushan- Rishathaim eight years” (7 - 8) “When the children of Israel cried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer for the children of Israel, who delivered them: Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother” (9) “The Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he judged Israel. He went out to war, and the Lord delivered Cushan-Rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand; and his hand prevailed over Cushan-Rishathaim’ (10) “ So the land had rest for forty years. Then Othniel the son of Kenaz died” (11) Choosing Othniel a Judge was not haphazard; God intended for the first judge to proclaim that the secret of conquest and salvation, lies in God Himself; for the word ‘Othniel means (the response of God) or (the power of God). The salvation will not be realized by human power, but is a response from God who listens to the cries of His children, and works in them by His divine power. https://coptic-treasures.com/ That Othniel took Kiriath Sepher (of village of the book), and married Achsah, daughter of Caleb his brother (Joshua 15: 15-19; Judges 1: 13-15). By taking Kirjath Sepher, Othniel represents the spiritual man who recognized the secrets of the Word of God in a spiritual way, and in a godly life, was qualified for the ministry of the Lord; and could prevail over Cushan-Rishathaim, namely could overcome the double evil that enslaved humanity; and the land would have rest for forty years. In other words, the enjoyment of the Word of God is the way to overcome evil, and to destroy its authority and bondage; and it is as well, the way to the true rest, through taking away the reproach and contempt. Concerning this the Psalmist says: “Remove from me reproach and contempt, for I have kept Your testimonies” (Psalm 119: 22) The Holy Book confirms that the secret of the strength of Othniel was that “The Spirit of the Lord was upon him” (10), and not because of his own strength. In the first judge, therefore, God proclaimed His power and His response to the prayers of His people through the judge’s name ‘Othniel’; revealed that he was ‘the man of the Book’ through:taking over Kirjath Sepher; and confirmed that the Spirit of the Lord was upon him, leading and guiding him. …….How much the church in every era needs someone like Othniel, to come, called by God, to bear His power and Spirit, to xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx. “So the land had rest for forty years” (11). If the land refers to the body; and the figure 40 refers to the blessed temporal life; If we bear within us a soul that walks like that Judge by the Spirit of the Lord, and enjoy the Word of God, our body will have rest in the Lord, and will be sanctified in His eyes all the days of our life. ……..Let Othniel, therefore, be a leader in us, to have rest, and to be filled with an exalted peace. 3- EHUD SET A JUDGE: https://coptic-treasures.com/ “And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord. So the Lord strengthened Eglon king of Moab against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the Lord” (12) .”Then he gathered to himself the people of Ammon and Amalek, went and defeated Israel, and took possession of the City of Palms. 14 So the children of Israel served Eglon king of Moab eighteen years” (13). The first time God sold them into the hand of Cushan-Rishathaim king of Aram for eight years; but now, having returned to their evil ways, God delivered them to Eglon king of Moab for eighteen years for more chastisement …………For repeated falling into evil, God, as a Physician presents to us a stronger medication, even if it is more bitter. ‘Eglon’, means (a fat calf) or (like a calf); as a reference to his strength and wild nature; beside the fact that he was a very fat man.(17).. “The Lord strengthened Eglon king of Moab against Israel” (12); does not mean that He put cruelty in his heart, but that He lifted up His divine hand that kept his wild nature against Israel in check, that he was strengthened to go to war against them with the help of the Ammonites, his neighbors (the land of Moab east of the southern region of the Sea of Lot; and the land of the Ammonites to the east of them. He also joined forces with the Amalekites, wild nomad tribes that bore animosity against Israel, as revealed during their advance through the wilderness (Exodus 17: 8; Numbers 13: 29; 14; 25). The three joined forces, struck Israel with the sword, and took over Jericho (the Palm city) (3). If “the righteous shall flourish like a palm tree” (Psalm 92: 12); the church, (the city of pal), in case she forsakes her God, and perverts to the world, and walks according to its life and thoughts, God allows for chastening her by Moab, Ammon, and Amalek; for some time, until she returns to Him. By what I say about the church, I mean the church on the level of the heart (the believer), on the level of the house (the family), or on that https://coptic-treasures.com/ of the congregation of believers, etc………. The enemy cannot approach (the city of palms) , as long as he has no place in it; but if it bears the features of the pagan nations, and bows by servitude before them; God will deliver her to them until she cries out, sanctifies herself in Him, and takes away the foreign gods from herself. In other words, Eglon and his allies would not be able to enter into your life and have authority over your heart and mind, as long as they have no place in you. But in case you receive their thoughts, practiced their worships, or walked according to their ways, the doors of your heart would open before them to enter and reign instead of the Lord. “But when the children of Israel cried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer for them: Ehud the son of Gera, the Benjamite, a left-handed man” (14, 15) According to some, the word ‘Ehud’ is short of the word ‘Abihud’ meaning (father of glory or majesty); while according to others ‘Ehud’ means (united). So, if the first judge was called (God’s response or power), being the fruit of crying out to the Mighty God, and seeking His help, Here we find a judge whose name means (father of glory or majesty), as though he is a fruit of our heavenly Father who, being jealous on His glory and majesty in us, sends to us salvation, or we enjoy salvation through our unity with God in His Son Jesus, the true Savior. “Ehud was a left-handed man”; using his left hand with the same efficiency he uses his right one. According to the Historian Josephus, Ehud’s whole strength was in his left hand. Inn the debates of St. John Cassian, father Tadros, presenting to us a spiritual concept of the use of the left hand, says: [The perfect man, in the Holy Book, likened to a left-handed man; uses his left hand as we use our right hand. We can gain such a power, by using the pleasurable things (those of the right hand); in a sound way; and by using the painful things (of the left hand) in a sound way, as a weapon of righteousness ; according to the apostle who says: [the inner man has two sides; namely two hands. A saint cannot work without using his left hand, to reveal the https://coptic-treasures.com/ perfection of virtue; he can turn each of his hands to a (right hand).] …….. I can also claim that the righteous Joseph was left-handed; for he was very beloved by his parents; loved his brothers, well received by God, chaste in his afflictions, and even in prison he was a believer in God, showed compassion toward his fellow prisoners; and forgave those who did him wrong. ……… Those righteous men (Job, Joseph, etc.) could truly be called left-handed , for they could use both hands as a right hand, saying: “By the armor of righteousness, on the right hand and on the left; by honor and dishonor; by evil report and good report ……” (2 Corinthians 6L 7, 8). …………Solomon in his Song of songs, on the tongue of the bride, says: “His left hand is under my head, and his right hand embraces me” (Song 2: 6).. While both hands are of benefit; yet she puts the left hand under the head, for she had to submit the afflictions under the watch of the heart, to become of benefit, in chastening us for some time, for the sake of our salvation; and to grant us perfection in perseverance; Whereas by the right hand she would get the blessed embrace by her groom. ………………..In this way, each of us would be counted as left-handed; when we are not affected by prosperity or needl Namely the prosperity would not seduce us to dangerous slothfulness; and the need would not draw us to despair and murmur; but in everything we would give thanks to God]. “ By him the children of Israel sent tribute to Eglon king of Moab. Now Ehud made himself a dagger (it was double-edged and a cubit in length) and fastened it under his clothes on his right thigh. So he brought the tribute to Eglon king of Moab. (Now Eglon was a very fat man.). And when he had finished presenting the tribute, he sent away the people who had carried the tribute. But he himself turned back from the stone images that were at Gilgal, and said, “I have a secret message for you, O king………… https://coptic-treasures.com/ So Ehud came to him (now he was sitting upstairs in his cool private chamber). Then Ehud 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. Then Ehud went out through the porch and shut the doors of the upper room behind him and locked them. “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. Therefore they took the key and opened them. And there was their master, fallen dead on the floor” (15-25). “But Ehud had escaped while they delayed, and passed beyond the stone images and escaped to Seira. And it happened, when he arrived, that he blew the trumpet in the mountains of Ephraim, and the children of Israel went down with him from the mountains; and he led them. Then he said to them, “Follow me, for the Lord has delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hand.” So they went down after him, seized the fords of the Jordan leading to Moab, and did not allow anyone to cross over. And at that time they killed about ten https://coptic-treasures.com/ thousand men of Moab, all stout men of valor; not a man escaped. So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest for eighty years” (26- 30). That episode bears a magnificent symbolic portrait of the work of the true Savior Jesus Christ through the cross; In it we see: (1) The name of the savior or the judge ‘Ehud’, as we said, means (Father of glory or majesty); and it also means (united). In Jesus Christ the True Savior, the Father was glorified, according to the saying of the Lord in the evening of His passion: “Father, Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You……….. I have glorified You on earth” (John 17: 1, 4). Now, how did the Son glorify the Father?. According to St. Augustine, [Having been glorified through His resurrection by the Father, the Son glorified the Father by preaching His resurrection]. And he says:: [That was realized by the gospel of Christ; namely, the Father came to be known to the Gentiles through the Son]; [The Son glorified the Father, namely, He made Him known to every body He granted to Him]. Through the cross, therefore, the Son died in the flesh; to be glorified by the Father by His resurrection; And the Son glorified the Father through preaching the resurrection, and drawing the hearts of the Gentiles to the experience of the knowledge of the Father. As to the second meaning of the word ‘Ehud’, namely (united), This name applies to the Lord Christ in a unique way; as “He is One with His Father”. And He came to the cross to make us, as well, united together in Him. for in His farewell prayer He said: “Holy Father , keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as we are; ………. That they all may be one , as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You” (John 17: 11, 21). https://coptic-treasures.com/ (2) Bearing his double-edged dagger fastened under his clothes on his right thigh, to kill Eglon by it;………… Ehud was as though the Lord Christ, to whom it was said: “Gird Your sword upon Your thigh, O Mighty One; with Your glory and Your majesty” (Psalm 45: 3). And according to St. Augustine: [By ‘His sword’ he means ‘His word’; for by it He scattered His enemies; and by it, ; as we hear the Lord say in the gospel: “I did not come to bring peace on earth, but a sword; I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law” (Matthew 10: 34). ……… For if a young man intends to dedicate his life to the ministry of God, and is opposed by his father, they become divided against one another; one promises the earthly inheritance, while the other seeks the heavenly one;. …… So had the Lord Christ, by His sword, namely by His Word, came incarnate to talk to us face to face. The book of Judges describes Ehud’s dagger as being double-edged; …………..And according to the apostle Paul, “The Word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword” (Hebrew 4: 12). By the first edge , it works in the heart of the preacher; and by the second, he works in those of the listeners. The Word of God works in both the shepherds and the flock, as a sword that cuts off, and isolates evil, to present the heart pure to God. (3) Ehud took a tribute to Eglon carried by a number of men, as though he is the Lord Christ who, when He accepted the cross, the devil assumed it as a joyful tribute to him, by which he would get rid of the Lord. ……………A man of Cyrene, Simon by name (Matthew 27: 32), carried the cross with the Lord, as though he carried the tribute together with Him. …………..And when Ehud killed Eglon, he was alone; as did the Lord Christ who “has trodden the winepress alone; and from the people no one was with Him” (Isaiah 63: 3) https://coptic-treasures.com/ (4) Eglon was cooling himself off in his upper room; And the Lord Christ encountered the devil through the cross. …………And when the later assumed that he has cooled himself off from the intense heat of the fire of the preaching and exalted work of Jesus; when he thought that he finally had rest, he was actually killed. (5) Ehud killed Eglon when he arose from his royal seat, and fell dead on the ground; ………….as though he was the devil after he lost his authority (Colossians 2: 15), and fell like lightning from heaven (Luke 10: 18) (6) Ehud shut the doors of the upper room and locked them, so that no one could open them, other than his servants. ……….Having taken away from the devil by the cross his authority, He made him like dead, to whom no one would come, other than whoever intends to be his servant. ………..The return of man to the kingdom of the devil will only be realized by man’s free will; for the devil has no authority to commits him to submission, according to what St. John Chrysostom confirmed in many of his essays. (7) After Ehud killed Eglon, the people killed ten thousand mighty man of valor of the Moabites…………… If the devil has been completely destroyed on the hand of the Lord Christ on the cross, it is the work of the church, https://coptic-treasures.com/ the people of Christ, not to leave any of the works of the devil in our hearts. The Lord Christ conquered to our account and saved humanity; so that His believers would never cease to spiritually strive against sin.— the works of the devil, until the end. 5- SHAMGAR SET A JUDGE: “After him was Shamgar the son of Anath, who killed six hundred men of the Philistines with an ox goad; and he also delivered Israel” (31) That does not mean that Ehud died; for according to some, Shamgar fought in the days of Ehud, even though on a local level. Having probably not found a better weapon, Shamgar used an ox goad – a stick with a sharp iron tip used in shepherding the oxen. Anyway, that shows us that God works with the few, as well as with the plenty. He will use us for the spiritual work, even if we lack the necessary talents and energies; and only have an ox goad as a weapon.
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