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Judges · Men's Leadership Study

Week 3: Three Men, Three Kinds of Obedience

Judges 3:7-31

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Read Together

Judges 3:7-31

Read the whole chapter aloud before discussing the handout.

Hidden in the Text

Weekly Devotional

Ehud was a Benjaminite, a name that means “son of the right hand.” Yet the Hebrew says his right hand was restricted or disabled. This let him hide a short, double-edged sword on the thigh the guards did not expect. What looked like a weakness helped him hide the weapon and get close to King Eglon. Shamgar then used an ox goad, a farm tool, instead of a soldier's weapon. God is not waiting for you to become like someone else. Give Him your weakness and the ordinary tool already in your hand.

Discuss Honestly

Hard Questions

  1. 01

    Othniel was faithful before he became a judge. What quiet work are you doing now that God may use to prepare you for later?

  2. 02

    Ehud's greatest asset was the thing that marked him as different. What about your history, your limitation, or your background have you been treating as reason God cannot use you?

  3. 03

    Shamgar used what was in his hand. Name literally what is in your hand this week — a job, a truck, a skill, a shift schedule — and how God could use it.

  4. 04

    The Bible tells us what Ehud did without saying that every part was right. Why does that matter when you teach this story?

  5. 05

    Rest lasted eighty years under Ehud and then collapsed. What are you building that would outlast eighty years of your absence?

  6. 06

    Which of the three men are you most tempted to want to be, and what does that desire reveal about your motives for ministry?

  7. 07

    Where are you waiting for a bigger platform before you obey with what you already have?

Look Them Up

Cross-References

  • Judges 1:12-13

    Othniel took a difficult city before he was ever called a judge. He was faithful before he had a title.

  • 1 Corinthians 1:26-29

    God chooses the foolish, the weak, the despised, 'that no flesh should glory in his presence.'

  • Exodus 4:2

    'What is that in thine hand?' The Shamgar principle stated to Moses.

  • 2 Timothy 2:2

    Teach faithful men who can teach others. The work should continue after the leader is gone.

  • Zechariah 4:6

    Othniel's strength came from God's Spirit, not from his own talent or power.