God's Second Lesson. The King of Moab and Ehud the Benjaminite (Judges 3:12-30).
‘ And the children of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh. And Yahweh strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh '
The story is repeated. Once again, as soon as the trouble appeared to be past, they began to turn back to their old ways, and to dabble in the religions of the land with all their accompanying evil.
“And Yahweh strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh.” Previously He had ‘sold them into the hand of --' (Judges 3:8), as though they were slaves. Now, however, He is depicted as deliberately raising an enemy to bring about His will. He gives encouragement to Eglon, king of Moab, strengthening his resolve so that he will not back down, but will come to teach Israel a lesson because they had again done evil in His sight. They had turned to idolatry and Baal worship and had neglected the covenant with, and true worship of, Yahweh.