Judges 3 Summary - 5 Minute Bible Study

Judges 3 Summary - A Quick Overview

WHEN:

• Most scholars place the period of the Judges somewhere between 1450 B.C. and 1000 B.C.

• The events in Judges 3 were spread out over at least 145 years (3:8, 11, 14, 30).

CHARACTERS:

• Othniel – The 1st Judge of Israel. He was the younger brother of Caleb.

• Cushan-rishathaim – King of Mesopotamia.

• Ehud – The 2nd Judge of Israel. He was a left-handed man from the tribe of Benjamin.

• Eglon – King of Moab. He was described as a “very fat man” (3:17).

WHERE:

• The events recorded in Judges 3 affected all the tribes of Israel.

OUTLINE:

• ISRAEL FAILS TO DRIVE OUT THE INHABITANTS OF THE PROMISED LAND (3:1-5):

  • God wanted all the non-Israelites expelled from the Promised Land, but Israel didn’t obey.

  • Instead, they live alongside idolatrous nations like the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.

  • Although they disobeyed God, God was still going to use these wicked nations to accomplish His purposes. We are told God would use the idolatrous nations to “teach war” to the Israelites who hadn’t participated in the conquest, and to test whether Israel would remain faithful to God.  

• OTHNIEL, THE 1ST JUDGE OF ISRAEL (3:6-11):

  • The people did evil in the sight of the Lord, intermarried with the idol worshiping foreigners, and abandoned God to worship the Baals and Ashertoth (two Canaanite idols).

  • God allowed Cushan-rishathaim, king of Mesopotamia, to subjugate Israel for 8 years.  

  • When the people cried out to God, God sent a judge to deliver Israel.

  • The judge was Othniel, the younger brother of Caleb.

  • The Spirit of God was on him, and he defeated Cushan-rishathaim in battle.

  • The land was at peace for 40 years.

• EHUD, THE 2ND JUDGE OF ISRAEL (3:12-30):

  • The Israelites disobeyed God again and He gave them up to the Midianites who oppressed them for 18 years.

  • When Israel cried to God for help, He sent them Ehud.

  • Ehud went to visit King Eglon of Moab to pay tribute, and he told the king he had a secret message for him that no one else was allowed to hear.

  • When the king had sent all his servants out of the room, Ehud drew a concealed dagger and stabbed Eglon in the stomach, killing him.

  • Ehud locked the doors behind him and fled.

  • He then rallied the army of Israel against the Moabites and won their freedom.

  • The land was at peace for 80 years.

• SHAMGAR, THE 3RD JUDGE OF ISRAEL (3:31):

  • Shamgar delivered the Israelites from the oppression of the Philistines.

  • One of the only things we know about Shamgar is that he killed 600 Philistines with an ox goad to save Israel.

APPLICATION:

• Do our sins mess up the plan of God?

• I’ve heard people say, “God had a plan for my life, but I fell into sin and messed the whole thing up.”

• This chapter shows us God can work around our sins and set us on a new trajectory when we mess up.

• The Israelites were supposed to drive out all the inhabitants of the Promised Land.

• Did their neglect to do so ruin God’s plan for their nation?

• No, God decided to use the non-Israelites who remained in the Promise Land to test His people and to teach them war.

• The disobediences of your past and the circumstances that have resulted, cannot blocked the hand of God from coming into your life and providentially redirecting you.

• He can use your circumstances, whether a result of sin or not, to teach you important lessons and equip you to live the rest of your life in productive service to Him.

• God is the master of reforging sinful people using the elements of their past.