Judges 3: When God's Playing Both Sides of the Chess Board

A Reflection on Judges 3

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Sometimes the world feels like a great cosmic battle between good and evil. Movies love this idea: two equally matched forces clashing to see who will win.

But the Bible tells a very different story.

In Judges 3, we see something surprising: God is not merely one player in the game. He is the one who controls the entire board.

A pastor once compared it to a chess master playing both sides of the board. When a chess master is vastly more skilled than anyone around him, the only real challenge left is to play against himself—making moves for both sides of the game.

In the book of Judges, it sometimes looks like this is what God is doing.

• When Israel is faithful, God raises up leaders to rescue them.

• When Israel rebels, God allows foreign nations to discipline them.

• When they cry out for help, God raises up another deliverer.

God moves the pieces.God controls the board.And ultimately, God is the hero of the story.

Judges chapter 3 gives us three examples of how God saves His people.

The Cycle of Judges

Before looking at the individual stories, it helps to notice a pattern that repeats again and again throughout Judges:

1. Israel sins – They forget God and follow other gods.

2. Oppression comes – God allows foreign nations to conquer them.

3. The people cry out – They call on God for help.

4. God raises a deliverer – A judge rescues them.

5. There is peace – For a time.

Then the cycle begins again.

Judges 3 shows three different ways God works within this cycle.

1. God Uses Ordinary Means

The first story is about Othniel.

This is the most straightforward example of the Judges cycle.

The people forget God and begin worshiping false gods like Baal and Asherah. As discipline, God allows a foreign king—whose name literally meant “doubly wicked”—to oppress Israel for eight years.

Finally, the people cry out.

God responds by raising up Othniel, a respected leader from the tribe of Judah and a relative of Caleb. The Spirit of the Lord empowers him, he defeats the enemy, and the land enjoys 40 years of peace.

Nothing flashy.Nothing strange.

Just a leader God raises up to guide His people.

Often, this is how God works in our lives too.

Many people come to faith through ordinary means:

• growing up in a Christian home

• hearing the gospel repeatedly

• attending church week after week

• learning Scripture from a young age

Sometimes the most powerful work of God happens through the ordinary rhythms of faithfulness.

2. God Uses Shrewd Means

The next story is far stranger—and even a bit humorous.

Israel once again turns away from God. This time God allows Eglon, king of Moab, to oppress them for 18 years.

Then God raises up an unlikely deliverer: Ehud, a left-handed man from the tribe of Benjamin.

In ancient warfare, soldiers carried weapons on their left side so they could draw them with their right hand. But Ehud hid his sword on the opposite side—where guards wouldn’t expect it.

He brings tribute to the king, asks for a private audience, and then assassinates Eglon.

The story is graphic, messy, and almost darkly comedic. But the point is clear:

God used an unexpected and clever strategy to rescue His people.

Sometimes God works through circumstances that feel messy or confusing. Life doesn’t always unfold in clean, predictable ways.

Yet God can still work through those moments.

Many people discover this when they look back on painful seasons in life and realize that those very difficulties were what pushed them toward God.

3. God Uses Surprising Means

The final story in Judges 3 is only a single verse.

It tells us about Shamgar, who killed 600 Philistines using an ox goad—a farming tool used to guide cattle.

That’s it.

No long explanation.No background story.Just a surprising victory.

God used an ordinary farm tool as a weapon to save Israel.

The lesson?

God is not limited by what we think is possible.

He can use:

• unlikely people

• unexpected circumstances

• the simplest tools

to accomplish His purposes.

The Deeper Lesson

All three of these stories reveal something important.

Every deliverer in Judges only brings temporary rest.

Othniel dies.Ehud dies.Shamgar disappears from the story.

And eventually the cycle begins again.

The book of Judges quietly points us to a deeper need:

We need a deliverer who will never leave.

The New Testament reveals that deliverer—Jesus Christ.

Jesus offers a rest that no earthly judge could ever provide.

As He says in Matthew 11:

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

The judges of Israel gave temporary peace.Jesus gives eternal rest for the soul.

A Warning for All of Us

Judges also contains a warning.

Over and over we read the same phrase:

“The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.”

They were rescued.They experienced peace.And then they drifted again.

The same thing can happen to us.

It is surprisingly easy to drift from God—not through dramatic rebellion, but through slow distraction by the culture around us.

Yet even when we wander, the message of Judges reminds us:

God is faithful.

He pursues His people.He disciplines in order to restore.And He will use whatever means necessary to bring us back to Himself.

Final Thought

Judges 3 reminds us that God is not struggling to win some cosmic battle.

He is sovereign over the entire board.

And whether through ordinary moments, messy circumstances, or surprising events, God is always working to rescue and restore His people.

The invitation is simple:

When our hearts begin to drift,cry out to Him.

Because the God who delivered Israelis still the God who rescues today.