SERIES SUMMARY: The Book of Judges bridges the period between the exodus of the Israelites in Egypt and wandering in the wilderness, to the time of the Kingdom of Israel. God's people have settled in Canaan, but they didn't drive out all the people's God commanded them to. As a result, they continually fell into worshipping foreign gods (i.e. idols). To chastise them, God would allow one of these neighboring nations to oppress them. The Israelites would cry to God for help. And God would then send them a deliverer, a savior, a "judge" to deliver them militarily. When peace were restored, things went well, Israel got spiritually lazy, and the cycle would repeat. In this book, we find a recurring metaphor for apathy in God's people, and yet, God's zealous love for his people seems to increase even as our failures remain. 

This week we'll be studying Judges 3:12-20 -  under the theme "The Dirty Work of Ehud." Ehud is an unlikely hero, an apparently disabled man, whom God uses to shame the proud King Eglon of Moab. The victory always belongs to the Lord. The question is whether we're willing to go the dirty places and do the messy work that God calls us to.