"The Israelites again did what was evil in the sight ofthe Lord; and the Lord strengthened King Eglon of Moab against Israel, because they had done what was evil in the sight of the Lord. In alliance with the Ammonites and the Amalekites, he went and defeated Israel; and they took possession of the city of palms. So the Israelites served King Eglon of Moab for eighteen years. But when the Israelites cried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up for them a deliverer, Ehud son of Gera, the Benjaminite, a left-handed man. The Israelites sent tribute by him to King Eglon of Moab. Ehud made for himself a sword with two edges, a cubit in length; and he fastened it on his right thigh under his clothes. Then he presented the tribute to King Eglon of Moab. Now Eglon was a very fat man. When Ehud had finished presenting the tribute, he sent the people who carried the tribute on their way. But he himself turned back at the sculptured stones near Gilgal, and said, ‘I have a secret message for you, O king.’ So the king said, ‘Silence!’ and all his attendants went out from his presence. Ehud came to him, while he was sitting alone in his cool roof-chamber, and said, ‘I have a message from God for you.’ So he rose from his seat. Then Ehud reached with his left hand, took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into Eglon’s belly; the hilt also went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade, for he did not draw the sword out of his belly; and the dirt came out. Then Ehud went out into the vestibule, and closed the doors of the roof-chamber on him, and locked them.

After he had gone, the servants came. When they saw that the doors of the roof-chamber were locked,they thought, ‘He must be relieving himself in the cool chamber.’ So they waited until they were embarrassed. When he still did not open the doors of the roof-chamber, they took the key and opened them.There was their lord lying dead on the floor.

Ehud escaped while they delayed,and passed beyond the sculptured stones, and escaped to Seirah. When he arrived, he sounded the trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim; and the Israelites went down with him from the hill country, having him at their head. He said to them, ‘Follow after me; for the Lord has given your enemies the Moabites into your hand.’ So they went down after him, and seized the fords of the Jordan against the Moabites, and allowed no one to cross over. At that time they killed about ten thousand of the Moabites, all strong, able-bodied men; no one escaped. So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest for eighty years."  Judges 3: 12 - 30

This story tells of an Israelite hero who kills a king while he's on the toilet. Take into consideration the fact that the king is enormously fat, so fat that his belly closes over the entire sword, and you have a pretty funny story (not a story of God's love; not a story of God's mercy; and not a story that tells us much of anything about Jesus, the church, or what we are supposed to do as Christians). 

So, why is this story in the Bible?

Is the description of God's actions consistent with the God that Jesus describes?

How does this story contribute to the overall message of the book of Judges?

How does this story contribute to our understanding of the Bible? 

Does God punish us when we do what's evil?

Does God punish us by raising up oppressors and foreign armies?

These are the kinds of questions that we ask in our Sunday School roundtable discussions. We want our youth to know what the Bible says and understand why it says it, especially if parts of the Bible contradict. We use the Socratic Method of question and answer. We use Biblical criticism to learn about the Bible's authors, editors, original audiences, and numerous interpretations over the millennia.

We are not afraid to ask hard questions. We are not afraid to end with the answer, "I don't know." And we believe that this process will bring us in closer relationship with God as we understand how people have interpreted their interaction with God, from the creation stories in Genesis to the mysterious prophecies of Revelation.