Prior to Ehud’s generation, the children of Israel once again committed evil in the eyes of the Lord. As a consequence, the Lord allowed the Moabites to overpower them. This was a divine strategy to touch their hearts, yet it is disconcerting that they took eighteen years to cry out to the Lord.

No additional detail is given of those intervening years, but falling to King Eglon may have been a minor inconvenience rather than a defeat if the Israelites were already mingling with the Moabites and worshiping their gods. Other than additional taxes and foreign oversight, perhaps it was life as usual. King Eglon’s lifestyle that focused on self and pleasures seemed appealing for a time. When our eyes are off the Lord, it is much too easy to get comfortable with the enemy in charge.

The enemy does not have our best interest at heart, however, and in time this manifests itself. As we reap the fruit of our waywardness, like the prodigal in Luke 15, we come to a point where we recall the “father’s house.” The same Lord who has delivered them into enemy hands could just as easily give them a victory, but their hearts must first be affected.

God used Ehud, a young man with what was then a disadvantage, being left-handed; and He can use you as well to encourage those who have gone astray to return to Him. Israel had rest for eighty years after this—twice that of any other judge. This is wonderful, but it could have started sooner. Do not hold off crying to the Lord if you have been rebellious. He is waiting to provide peace and a full restoration.