The Lord did not force all the other nations to leave Israel's land. He wanted to test the Israelites. None of the Israelites living at this time had fought in the wars to take the land of Canaan. So the Lord let those other nations stay in their country. (The Lord did this to teach the Israelites who had not fought in those wars.) Here are the names of the nations the Lord left in the land:
the five rulers of the Philistines, all of the Canaanites, the people of Sidon, and the Hivites who lived in the Lebanon mountains from Mount Baal Hermon to Lebo Hamath.
The Lord left those nations in the land to test the Israelites. He wanted to see if the Israelites would obey the Lord's commands that he had given to their ancestors through Moses.
The Israelites began to marry the daughters of those people. They allowed their own daughters to marry the sons of those people. The Israelites also began to worship their gods.
The Lord was angry with the Israelites, so he allowed King Cushan Rishathaim of Aram Naharaim to defeat the Israelites and to rule over them. The Israelites were under that king's rule for eight years.
But the Israelites cried to the Lord for help, and the Lord sent a man named Othniel to save them. He was the son of Kenaz, who was Caleb's younger brother. Othniel saved the Israelites.
The Spirit of the Lord filled Othniel, and he became a judge for the Israelites. He led the Israelites to war. The Lord helped Othniel defeat King Cushan Rishathaim of Aram.
Eglon got help from the Ammonites and the Amalekites. They joined him and attacked the Israelites. Eglon and his army defeated the Israelites and forced them to leave the City of Palm Trees (Jericho).
The Israelites cried to the Lord for help, so he sent a man named Ehud son of Gera to save them. Ehud was from the tribe of Benjamin and was trained to fight with his left hand. The Israelites sent Ehud with a gift to King Eglon of Moab.
When Ehud reached the statues near Gilgal, he turned and went back to King Eglon and said, "King, I have a secret message for you." The king told him to be quiet and then sent all of the servants out of the room.
Ehud went to King Eglon. The king was sitting all alone in the upper room of his palace. Then Ehud said, "I have a message from God for you." The king stood up from his throne. He was very close to Ehud.
As the king was getting up from his throne, Ehud reached with his left hand and took out the sword that was tied to his right thigh. Then he pushed the sword into the king's belly.
The sword went into Eglon's belly so far that even the handle sank in and the fat closed around it. The point of the blade came out his back. Ehud left the sword inside Eglon.
Ehud then left the main room, and the servants went back in. The servants found the doors to the upper room locked, so they said, "The king must be relieving himself in his private toilet."
The servants waited for a long time, but the king never opened the doors to the upper room. Finally the servants got worried. They got the key and unlocked the doors. When the servants entered, they saw their king lying dead on the floor.
When Ehud came to Seirah, he blew a trumpet there in the hill country of Ephraim. The Israelites heard the trumpet and went down from the hills with Ehud leading them.
He said to the Israelites, "Follow me! The Lord has helped us defeat our enemies, the Moabites." So the Israelites followed Ehud. They went down with him to take control of the places where people could easily cross the Jordan River into the land of Moab. The Israelites did not allow any one to go across the Jordan River.
After Ehud saved the Israelites, another man saved Israel. That man's name was Shamgar son of Anath. Shamgar used an ox goad to kill 600 Philistine men.