The Left-Handed Hero Who Hid His Sword

The thing you’ve been trying to hide might be the very thing God wants to use. We open Judges 3:12–30 and walk through the overlooked story of Ehud, a left-handed deliverer God raises up when Israel cries out under oppression. What seems like a disadvantage in the eyes of people becomes a clear strategy in the hands of God, and it all hinges on one unforgettable idea: your difference is your assignment.

We talk through the Book of Judges and the cycle Israel keeps repeating, then zoom in on how Ehud’s “unusual” trait creates access the enemy never anticipates. The guards look where they expect a weapon to be, and they miss what’s hidden on the unexpected side. That moment turns into a practical lesson for real life: where others see limitations, God sees purpose. Where the world sees weakness, God can shape a weapon for deliverance.

From there, we bring it home with encouragement for anyone battling insecurity, shame, or the feeling of being counted out. Scripture is full of imperfect people God still uses, and it reminds us that God doesn’t look for perfect, He looks for willing. Your scars are not empty, your battle is not wasted, and your testimony carries authority to help someone else find freedom.

If this word speaks to you, share it with a friend who feels out of place, subscribe so you don’t miss what’s next, and leave a review to help more people find Bible Talk with Sister Deb Osborne.

Transcript

Welcome And Ways To Connect

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Welcome.

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You're listening to the Bible Talk with Sister Deb Osbur. I'd like to give thanks to all the supporters and listeners of the show. Go visit our website at H O R421 Show.bussprout.com. Always keep us in your prayers as we spread the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. If you'd like to contact Sister Deb, you can email her at Osburn Deborah K at gmail.com. That's O S B O R M E D E V R A K at Gmail.com. And if you'd like to support the show, you can support it through PayPal slash H-O R 421, or you go through our website at H O R421 Show.budsprout.com. Now I'll give you your host, Sister

Your Difference Is Your Assignment

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Deb.

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Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. What an awesome, awesome uh feeling it is to be back into the studio uh talking about the Word of God. Amen. So uh I have I went back through the Bible and I have an old story, uh not an old, well, it's old testament story that uh I've never heard anybody talk about these people that I'm getting ready to talk about. It's just one of the older stories uh from the Bible. Uh but what I'm talking about today basically is our differences. You know, we have uh differences, and most people spend their lives trying to hide what makes them different. Uh but you know, my friend, I believe that God has designed those differences for kingdom purposes. He said he made us in his image. Amen. Uh and I believe he designed those differences that we have. None of us are the same. None of us, you know, we don't talk the same, we don't eat the same, we don't sleep the same, you know. Uh, and and God, I believe, made those differences for kingdom purposes. And so uh so the story that I want to talk about today is in Judges chapter 3, okay, uh, and the story starts on chap Judges chapter 3, verse 12 through verses 30. Now I'm not going to read every single verse. Uh I want you to, you know, my method of my madness is that I will talk about it. Uh, I'll give you the verses, but I hope and pray that that you will someday sit down and pull this up and read this yourself and get it, and you know, read it like I did. Uh,

Judges And Israel’s Sin Cycle

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I think you'll really enjoy it. But the what I want to talk about today is our differences. Uh, I saw a statement on something that I was reading a while back, and it said, the statement said, Your difference is your assignment. And man, that just uh that stuck with me, okay? And so this story is about a man named Ehud, okay. Uh I I need to, I uh there's a backstory, and I need to go back a little bit, so let me go back a little bit. So now Moses led the Israelites for 40 something years, right? And you know, Moses never got to go to the uh uh the promised land. I think I heard somebody say I've never read it. I think I heard somebody say that he looked over into the promised land, but he never got to go. So Moses and the first generation of Israelites never got to go. So Moses died, and and Joshua took over. And Joshua, Joshua led them for 40 years, I believe. Um if I'm wrong, please correct me if I'm wrong. I I hope I know what I'm talking about. But so then Joshua died. So after Joshua died, the Lord well in Israel entered into a time. They I I read that it said a time of judges, okay? And it's where God would raise up a series of fifteen individual people to lead and judge the people of Israel for probably the next 430 years until King Saul uh was appointed the first king of Israel. And so Israel, uh after Joshua died, Israel went through what uh I read somewhere in some of the stuff I was reading, said it was they called it cycles of sin. And so I I I read where somebody had said, if you can sum up the judges in the Bible, it would you could use one word would be cycles. So it said there was that j that Israel went through these cycles of sin, okay? And it's like a it's like you see the same pattern over and over and over. Uh if you look in uh Judges chapter 3, verse 7, it said, and the children of Israel did evil into the sight of the Lord. Okay, and then uh back down in uh verse 12 where I'm getting ready to start, it said, and the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord. So see, apparently it was a cycle over and over and over with these people, right? Uh apparently God done everything he could do for them, and they still uh they still ended up walking off and and and being unpleasant to the Lord. So they had this pattern. They fell into sin all the time, and and and so God would discipline them by allowing a foreign nation to oppress them to take over, okay? And so they would cry out for a deliverer, and God would send a judge to deliver them. They would have peace until that judge would die, then they would go back to their evil ways again, and hence the cycle. Amen, the cycle of sin. And so the man that I'm going to talk about today in his story 12 through verse 30, his name is Ehud. And Ehud was the second judge, okay? Ehad was the second judge. Uh, and the difference, Ehud had a difference, okay? Um, it said, uh, and the Bible says, and the king children of Israel did evil unto the sight of the Lord again. The Lord strengthened Eglon, the king of Moab, against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the Lord. So, so the Lord gave King Eglon, E. G-O-O-N, is his name. Lord, I hope I'm saying those right. Uh now King Eglon was

Ehud’s Left-Handed Advantage

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a greedy and oppressive ruler, real greedy. He he attacked Israel, he seized the city of palms, which is Jericho, and then he demanded tributes, which is money and goods and labor and gifts and stuff. That's Judges 3.13. Um, and so the children of Israel served under King Agglon, the king of Moab, for 18 years. Okay. Well, then uh so when the children of Israel they cried out unto the Lord and the Lord raised them up a deliverer, his name was Ehud. Okay. He was uh from the tribe of Benjamin, okay. So Ehud, the difference uh Ehad had than all the other warriors, he was left-handed. Which is very unusual in that time. Very unusual in that time. Uh I read somewhere that now only 10% of the population is left-handed. So I can imagine uh some people back in that that time, probably never even hardly ever, even if they did in once in a lifetime, saw a left-handed person. But Ehud was left-handed, which, like I said, was very unusual in that culture. And so people probably dismissed him, they probably talked about him, made fun of him, and we're going to see here that there were some people that didn't even know, right? Amen. Uh, but but what I want you to understand when we go in, when I go into more of the story, it's not a very big long story, but when I go into the story, you will see that where people, other people see limitations, God sees strategy. And you're gonna see that where some people see weakness, God uses it as a weapon. Amen. Um so uh the story of Ehud, he was an underdog who delivered the Israelites from eighteen years under the rule of King Aglon, right? Uh for eighteen years, then they cried out, and so God sent Eh. Okay, God answered their prayers through Ehud, the left-handed warrior from the tribe of Benjamin. You see, like I said, in those times, left-handedness was often seen as a disadvantage or a difference. Amen. Uh the right hand in the Bible is is a symbol of power and authority. I mean, you can read where it says God swore by his right hand or uh pleasure lies at at God's right hand and uh Jesus sitting in the right hand of God. So you can see that uh that uh you know right-handedness in the Bible is a symbol of power. Okay. Um so this story is how Ehab delivered Israel from Moab. Um the this specific trait, this specific difference that Ehad had uh made him be able to execute a brilliant plan to help the Israelites get off and under the Moab rules, right? It it was

The Sword On The Right Thigh

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a brilliant plan, and he came up with it. Uh and so what he done was the Bible says Eh made himself a uh a double-edged sword about 18 inches long, and the Bible said he strapped it to his right thigh. Now, because left-handedness was very seldom seen, uh most warriors carried their uh um their sword and sheath and stuff, they attached it to their left hip. And then they would cross over, when they got rid of use it, they would cross over their bellies with their right arm, pulled out their sword, and they would use it in their right hand. So it was I guess they figured it was easier to get to. I mean, I I've seen people that's uh right-handed put a gun on their left hand hip. I'm there's no way I could do that. You know, when I was a deputy jailer, my gun went on my right hip where I could get to it was easier. I didn't have to go across my belly. But anyway, um so uh so he made this sword and he strapped it to his right thigh. Now, like I said, the warriors back then usually took that their sword and they put it on their left thigh to draw it with their right hand. And so what they done was he came up with a way that they were going to he was going to test to see if he was gonna be able to get by these uh these guards that were guarding, that were guarding uh King Eglon. And so he got some people together and they got some gifts, they were taking gifts, and when they went up to the guards, the guards I'm I'm sure the Bible doesn't say that uh that I can think of, but uh that I could see here. But anyway, so they chested his left eye. There was no sword and sheath there, so they were okay, they missed it, you know. Uh so he went to deliver the gifts to Eglon, and and in the Bible the king King Eglon was described in the 17th verse as a very fat man. Now, a lot of people today use the word obese because they don't want to hurt people's feelings, but the Bible says that he was a very fat man. I mean, you know, the Bible calls you fat, you're fat man, that's just how it is. I call myself fat girl. I say, you know, move, let a fat girl by. Say that plenty of times about myself. But uh anyway, so the Bible says Eglon was a very fat man. And so they took these gifts, they gave them to King Eglon. They, the, the, the warriors, the guards checked his his left eye. He didn't have a sheath, he didn't have a sword, and they so they let him go on through, and they took these, uh, they took these gifts and he gave them to the king. Then they left. Well, they all left. Apparently, Ehud turns around, he goes back. He already got through the guards once. I don't guess he was gonna he thought he was gonna have a problem to get back again. So he told him, Hey, you know what? I've got a a message to the king from God. And so uh they let him go on through. And so he so he goes into uh and eh came unto him and he was sitting in the Bible says in verse 20, and he had came Eh came unto him and he was sitting in a summer parlor, which he had for himself alone, and Eh said, I have a message from God unto thee, and he arose out of his seat. He said, And Ehad put forth his left hand and took the dagger from his right thigh and thrust it into his belly. It said, and the haft also went in after the blade, and the fat closed upon the blade,

Victory Over Moab And Rest

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so that he could not draw the sword out of his belly. Okay, so Ehud stuck his sword into King Agon's belly, and the he was so big and heavy and fat, I guess, that uh the fat apparently just overcame it. Apparently swallowed it, I'm guessing. I can picture it. You know what I'm saying? Uh and so the Bible says, you know, Ehud left. There's a few things in there that he done. He left, and then he I think he goes and he he blows a trumpet and uh he said he drew a blue drew a trumpet and the children of Israel went down with them and uh it said that he declared that the Lord had given them victory over Mo Moab, and then the Israelites go on to capture the crossing of the Jordan River and defeated ten thousand of Moab's best warriors. Amen. Ten thousand men. So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel, and the lamb and the land had rest for fourscore years. I have no idea what fourscore is, but anyway, uh so you see, friends, the enemy was searching on the expected side. They expected to find a sheath or, you know, his sword or whatever. But see, God was working from the unexpected side, amen. See, we all have those differences. They didn't expect Ehud to be left handed. They wouldn't have thought to check his left his right thigh. You know, when I was a deputy jailer and we searched people, we searched people from pretty much their ears down, I mean. You know, I've we've had to actually tell them open their mouth and raise up their tongue and look down their throat, and you know, people actually hide stuff in their mouth and under their tongue and behind their ears, and uh they like to hide pills inside of their ears. You just don't know unless you've been a deputy jailer. Uh brother JD and I both, you know, have worked in corrections in the jail, so we know uh we've had to actually, you know, pat people down, you know, one side up one side and down the other. And people have still managed to get stuff inside, you know, that that they shouldn't. Uh but anyway, so I guess the point I'm trying to make, people, is your difference gives you access. Amen. So Eh gained access because nobody expected him to be left-handed. Amen. The enemy us underestimated him. You know, uh, where I was trained to watch people's actions and watch how they uh, you know, if I'm sitting in uh at our desk in the jail and somebody come up and they are just using their left hand to do things, my first mind tells me, you know what, that person's left-handed.

God Uses Imperfect Willing People

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You know what I mean? But these these guards underestimated him. And see, that's what I'm trying to get across is sometimes your struggle, sometimes your past, your scars, your personality, my friends, sometimes your testimony becomes the very thing that God uses to reach other to reach people that others can't reach. You know, there may be tables out there in your life that you can go set at that I can't. And I'm sure there's probably a couple of tables around here that I could go set at that some of you can't. Amen. And so these differences, these little things, uh, these little things that we have that are different, you know, than others, you know, I believe that God made us that way for a time such as when he needs us, when he needs us to step up to the plate. Just like Ehud, you know, God made Eh. God made Ehud left-handed. And when God needed it, Ehud stepped up to the plate and he used his difference to free a whole country. Amen. See that that's just how the Lord works. Friends, listen to me. What I'm trying to get through to you today is you need to stop hiding what God wants you to use. Amen. And the Bible, the Bible is full of imperfect people who God called. Look at Moses. Moses had a stutter. You know, God told Moses to go down, tell Pharaoh to let my people go. And I don't think Moses even wanted to go. He he just he had a stutter. Apparently he couldn't talk right. Amen. Now look at David, King David. He was a murderer and an adulterer. My friends, look at Peter, the apostle Peter. He was impulsive. I mean, look, he would jump and do things without even thinking about it. Uh and he was a coward. He ended up, you know, denying our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ three times. Right in front of him, pretty much. Look at Rahab. Friends, Rahab, for one thing, first thing she was a pagan. The second thing, she was a prostitute, and she was a liar because we know she lied. If you read the story, and Martha, I really connect with this lady. Martha was a chronic warrior, worrier, worried about everything coming and going. You know, I can just picture in the Bible Jesus coming to dinner, bringing his friends, and oh, I gotta sweep and gotta do this, got to do that. Just just I can just about see her whipping around the hut, you know what I'm saying? And she stayed stressed out. I can relate to that. But see, God used every one of them people. And when we, if you think about all these characters that I've sit here and told you about, that should show us that these that the Bible is less about perfect heroes and more about ordinary, broken, different people that God used in spite of their flaws. Amen. See, God doesn't look for perfect friends. God doesn't look for perfect, he looks for willing. You know what I mean? God doesn't do things we do. He says, His ways are not our ways, and our ways are not his ways.

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Amen.

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But Ehad could have really focused on being different. But see, he did. You know what I mean? So I guess what I hope you get out of this today is that your insecurity, your insecurity, something that you're worrying about, uh may be the doorway to someone else's deliverance. You know what I mean? God anointed your difference, my friends, because your difference is your assignment. Your difference may be the very thing that heaven wants to use to break chains. You know? And God never wastes a scar, a struggle, or a difference when he has called someone for deliverance. He pulls out all the things. Amen. You see, he had stopped seeing his difference as a weakness and he started using it and looking at it as heaven's assignment.

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And look what he did. He freed a nation. So listen to me today, people. God doesn't look for perfect, he's looking for willing.

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You know, the in this story, the expectation here was right-handed warriors, that's not what they got. Because see, God doesn't save the way we think.

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You know what I mean?

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Again, God doesn't look for perfect. He looks for people willing. So what I guess I need you to hear me to say is, as if that thing that you've cried over, that that thing that uh people mocked you about, or the thing that people laughed at, the thing that made you feel out of place. Think about it like this, people. What if it was never it was never a mistake? What if God allowed you to walk through that pain?

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Because one day it would become someone else's freedom. Amen. Amen. And see, the enemy thought that your difference would disqualify you.

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But let me tell you, God said that's exactly what I'm going to use for the furtherment of my kingdom. So people don't forget this. Don't ever forget this. If you don't take nothing away from this, take this. Your scars are not empty. Your battle is not wasted. And please remember your testimony carries authority. And I know today, right now, today, there are people out there tied up all in chains, waiting on somebody brave enough to step up and say, you know what? I may have a difference. I may be different, but I'm still a chosen child of God. Amen. So stop people, stop hiding what God has anointed. Don't apologize for what heaven has designed. He designed you the way he wanted you to be. Stop doubting what God wants to use for his glory. Amen. Because, friends, again, I'm gonna say it again. Your difference is your assignment. You, he made you how you are, he made you who you are. Amen. So some of you today may be asking God, well, why did you make me this way? Friends, don't ask God why he made you this way. You need to be standing up and asking God, how do you want me to use this for your glory? That's what you need to be asking him. Amen. Don't ask him why he made you that way. His ways are not our ways, remember? See, Ehud was different. In this story, Ehud was different than the rest of them. And while everyone else saw him as unusual and different and strange, and the good word that I know people use around here is the word choir. I've heard that word over and over and over.

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But see, God saw a deliverer. Amen.

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And I need to tell somebody today, right now, today, God still uses unlikely people. He still uses wounded people. He still anoints the ones that other people count out. Amen. So you're not overlooked by God, you're not forgotten by heaven, and you're not disqualified because of what makes you different. Amen. The enemy wants to silence you. The enemy wants you to sit down and clam up and not do anything. But I'm telling you right now, God is going to use you as a testimony. He gave you a testimony, you are his testimony. Amen. So think about this today, friends. If you're feeling inadequate, weak, maybe you're feeling like there's even a limit to what God can what you can do for God. Listen to me, friends, today. The story of Ehud should remind us that God is not looking for human perfection. He's not looking for worldly strength. He doesn't want you to be the richest and the smartest and the best dressed and uh, you know, with the prettiest hair, and he that's not what he's looking for, friend. He is looking for obedience. See, your difference doesn't matter. He made you. For a reason. Look at Eh. And trust me, when I tell you, friends, your difference is your divine advantage. God made you who you are. He made the things that's different about you. And he made them for reasons. You may not understand that now, but trust me, down the road, you stay serving the Lord and you stay doing the things the Lord's told you to done, to do, and you still pray up and you get in his word and you listen to his voice. Trust me, somewhere along the way down the line, he is going to use your difference for the furtherment of his kingdom and to help somebody else. Amen. Listen to what I'm telling somebody today. Just because you're a little bit different. Maybe you have an extra finger, an extra toe, that's different. I know, I know a lady who has who uh fell one day. She's actually a lady in my family. She fell one day. She actually didn't fall, she stepped off of a sidewalk and curled her ankle. Got up, went home, it was sore. A couple days later it swelled up real hard on her, real big. Um, you know what? She went back to the doctor and they they did an x-ray. And you know what they told her? They said, You have a extra bone in one of your feet that nobody has. This is my family. I know it happened. They told her, You have an extra bone in your ankle, and guess what? You broke it. She had an extra bone in her ankle and she broke it. So that was her difference. You know what I'm saying? Now, uh, you know, what was the reason behind her breaking it? Nobody knows that but God. But the point I'm trying to get across is, people, God made us who we are. Whether you have 15 toes or two thumbs or whatever, he made you who you are. Whether you may, you don't, you're not gonna ever think about think like everybody else, you're not gonna act like everybody else, you're not gonna sing like everybody else, we probably don't even breathe like one another. But friends, he made us who we are. And your difference is your calling. And then step up into that. Don't hide it, don't apologize for it. Look at Eh. He could have stepped down and said, Hey, you know, I'm I'm I'm different, I'm left-handed. He could have really looked at that uh in the wrong way, but he didn't. He looked at that, my friends, and he obeyed. He obeyed God, and look what he done.

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He delivered a whole kingdom. Amen.

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So I'm gonna close this today. I hope that this has blessed you as much as it's blessed me to bring it to you. I hope that you understand that God's not looking for perfect people, He's looking for willing, He's looking for obedience, you know. What other people may see as a handicap, you know, in the eyes of the world, in the eyes of God, it could become a divine advantage. Please don't forget that. I thank you again

Prayer And Final Reminders

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uh for listening. God bless everybody, and I'm going to end this with a prayer. Lord our Father God, I enjoyed this little story, and I hope and pray, Lord, that these words, that this story of Ehud, that they understand uh this story and that it goes to the hearts and the minds of the people that need to hear it. The people that are trying to hide behind the shadows and hide under the rocks and stay out of place because they feel insecure. Lord, they feel uh laughed at and looked at and stared at. You made them who they are. Let them see it, let them understand it. Lord, we thank you again for being in the studio today, Lord, to talk about your word and to get the word of God out there. We praise you and we honor you, Lord, and we ask you, we ask these in all things in Jesus' holy sweet name. We pray. Amen and amen. God bless everybody.

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Jesus hallelujah.

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Hallelujah. Hallelujah.

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You've been listening to Bible Talk with Sister Deb Osborne. Hey, go visit our website at HOR421 Show.bussprout.com. For more content and information, record it at the 421 Studio. For contact information, you can email at HOR421MIDSTREES at gmail.com. Phone number is 239-849-1502.

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Hallow Hallelujah. Yum by Olu, Hallelujah. I woke up this morning with my mind. Stay on Jesus, don't I woke up this morning with my mind? Stay on Jesus.