Judges 3:31

-brief

-What do we know?

1. After Ehud assassinated Eglon

-Deborah mentioned him chap. 5:6

2. Son of Anath

-son in the Hebrew = member

-recorded in other literary documents troop of Anath in 1166 BC, fought during the reign of Ramses III

3. victory

-slaughtered 600 philistines

-how? with an ox goad

-What is an ox goad? prod

An ox goad is a wooden tool, approximately eight feet long, fitted with an iron spike or point at one end, which was used to spur oxen as they pulled a plow or cart. It often had an iron scraper at the non-pointed end to clear clods of earth from the plowshare when it became weighed down.

Ecclesiastes 12:11 ESV

11 The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings; they are given by one Shepherd.

- When an ox was poked with a goad, its response was sometimes to kick out at it in resistance. Naturally, kicking back at the goad was futile, not to mention painful. Jesus used this as an analogy when He confronted Saul on the Damascus Road (Acts 26:14

Acts 26:14 ESV

14 And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’

4. Shamgar is noted as a deliverer and not ruler

-could assume that Shamgar was not an Israelite, but a warrior God used to give relief to the Israelites

-could be the author’s embarrassment on depending on a foreigner for deliverance

-what can we learn from this?

-God uses who He will to accomplish his purposes

-should not have had to depend on a foreinger

-shows the grace of God