Phase 2 - The Judges and their Deliverance #3

Judges 3:31 - Shamgar: Small Tools; Big God

Judges 3:31 KJV (WS)

31 And after him was Shamgar the son of Anath, which slew of the Philistines six hundred men with an ox goad: and he also delivered Israel.

Introduction

Let’s talk about some things that we all probably like and appreciate.

Don’t you like it when you walk into a place and someone greets you pleasantly by name?

What about when you have a project when you are working on a project and you have the exact right tool that you need?

When you are facing a challenge but you have a support team around you helping and cheering you on?

All of these things are great.

They sure beat the alternative.

You walk in somewhere and no one even lifts their head to acknowledge you.

You are working on a project, but you don’t have any of the tools that you need.

When you are trying to do something difficult by yourself with no support.

It kind of makes you want to give up.

In our passage tonight, God gives us some encouragement if this is how your life seems to be going.

Even if you are an unknown, you don’t have the right tools, or you seem to be all alone, god has a plan for you.

A brief note about a mysterious figure.

The mention of this 3rd deliverer is unique from the other deliverers in the book.

There is no report of Israel’s sin.

We know nothing about Shamgar’s background besides the name of one of his parents.

Why do you say it like that?

Well, Anath is woman’s name.

Do you notice that we don’t see anything about Shamgar’s tribe?

Why does the author not identify Shamgar in relation to his father?

Why would his mother have this name?

Anath is the name of one of the Canaanite fertility goddesses.

I don’t know what all is going on here but it sure seems like Shamgar comes from a non-traditional background.

Some have tried to make some guesses about Shamgar.

One popular guess is that Shamgar wasn’t even Jewish.

Or, perhaps, he was half jewish.

Maybe his father had married a Canaanite.

Maybe he abandoned his family and Shamgar was raised by his mother?

Whatever it was, there is definitely a backstory here that we can’t fully see.

Shamgar, like the left-handed Ehud had something about him that made him stand out.

And not, in a good way.

That did not stop God from using Shamgar in his plan.

Shamgar’s act of valor.

Throughout the OT, the Israelites faced the threat of the Philistines.

The Philistines were Mediterranean travelers.

They had tried to settle in several different locations.

Each time they had been pushed back to the sea by the people that had already settled there.

With the Promised Land, the Philistines just happened to arrive on the western coast at about the same time as the Israelites were moving in to the land from the east.

These two people groups experienced a lot of conflict over the next several centuries.

Though we don’t have many details, this appears to be one of those times.

Most likely, the Philistines were sending small bands of pillagers into Israel’s territory to cause whatever damage that they could.

These bands would go through a village and steal what they could.

They would probably kill a few people and take back another couple of people to serve as their slaves.

There was usually no warning for these attacks.

Everyone just ended up living on edge.

This is where Shamgar comes in.

He ends up facing a group of 600 Philistines seemingly alone.

Perhaps Shamgar had withstood some of the raiders that had come to his territory and now the Philistines have sent a larger force against him.

Maybe he had convinced some men to stand up for their families, but when they had seen the 600, they ran away.

However, it happened, Shamgar found himself standing alone against a sizeable Philistine force.

This is not the way that you want to enter a fight.

This is not the only disadvantage that Shamgar had.

Shamgar is not especially well armed.

The Bible says that he stood against these Philistines with an ox goad.

Not a sword, not an axe, not even a dagger, an ox goad.

These weapons are all difficult to make much less make well.

If Shamgar’s house or village had contained any weapons, the Philistines had probably taken them.

Now, an ox goad may not be made for fighting, but that doesn’t mean that it can’t be dangerous.

If someone was creative, it could be a decent weapon.

An ox goad was about 8-10 ft long.

It had a pointed metal tip on one end.

The other end was shaped like a small shovel.

The shovel side was meant for cleaning the mud off of plow blades.

Shamgar used an ox goad because that’s what he had.

He was most likely a farmer.

He had spent so many hours with this goad in his hands

He was used to using it to motivate and move 1000 pound creatures.

It was an extension of his reach.

But, there is still a disadvantage that Shamgar faces.

Even if he was from the tribe of Judah.

Even if was identified as the son of a famous father.

Even if he was armed to the teeth with all of the best made weapons that his time period could offer…

It doesn change the fact that…

Shamgar is outnumbered 600 to 1.

Now, he probably didn’t line up on one side and six hundred on the other side.

He was probably out in the field working with his oxen when a band of Philistines came over the hill with eyes for his house.

Perhaps it’s the middle of the day and Shamgar is already sweating and dirty from the work he’s been doing.

When he sees the Philistines approach he stands between them and his home defiantly.

At first the Philistines laugh at him and his audacity to stand against them alone with nothing but a stick.

Their laughing soon stops when Shamgar’s first strike drives the pointy end of his makeshift weapon brutally through the chest of one of the raiders.

Before they can react, Shamgar has already swung the shovel end around and connected it with the jaw of another raider.

Shamgar is rewarded with the sound of crunching bones.

Maybe one or two escape this first skirmish.

As they run away, Shamgar knows they will be back.

So this time, he decides he will be ready for them.

This is his land, he knows ever inch of it.

He will use every advantage that he can find to defend his land.

The first wave comes to deal with this rebellious farmer to teach him a lesson.

Shamgar leads them to a ravine, where they get bottled up.

Unable to surround him or even attack him all at once, Shamgar starts stacking bodies.

Another wave comes and Shamgar lures them into his wheat fields.

Shamgar moves silently through the wheat taking down Philistine after Philistine.

Many Philistines die without ever seeing who killed them.

After much of the day is past, Shamgar’s legend grows among the Philistines.

How could one Jewish farmer be capable of this?

If this is what one Israelite is capable of, what could 100 or 1000 do?

Maybe as the sun sets, Shamgar follows some survivors back to their camp.

He hides and waits for the sun to go down.

Under the cover of darkness, Shamgar enters the raider camp going from tent to tent killing the Philistines that had invaded his land

By the time they figure out what’s happening, there are only a few left.

So, they take off trying to run back to Philistia, but Shamgar pursues after them.

One by one he picks them off, until there is only one left.

Shamgar lets this last one live to tell the tale.

The 601st Philistine makes him home and tells the tale of the farmer that killed 600 Philistines with an ox goad.

The story strike fear in their hearts.

For the rest of Shamgar’s life, the Philistines refuse to go anywhere near his land.

That night, Shamgar returned home exhausted, dirty, but at peace.

Who would have guessed that this man who we know so little about, who was so ill-equipped would be able to make such a big impact for his people?

Shamgar’s victory shows us that God is able to use even the unknown, ill-equipped, and outnumbered to bring a victory.

How do you relate to this story?

Do you see yourself in Shamgar’s obscurity?

Do people not know who you are?

Does your name carry about as much weight as a feather?

Or, maybe is your name and your heritage something that you are a little ashamed of?

It may not be that people don’t know you; it may be that you don’t want them to know the whole truth of where you come from.

Your name may prevent you from getting a job, but your name won’t prevent God from bring victory in your life.

In fact, whether you are proud or embarrassed of your family name, we should all remember that God’s children have been placed in a new family.

Your identity in Christ supersedes your past.

In Christ, you are a child of God.

So don’t worry about your name or your heritage, you’ve got a brand new one.

Maybe you connect more with Shamgar’s ill-equipped arsenal.

Maybe you have a desire to be used of God, but Satan has convinced you that you don’t have the tools to be of much use.

You can’t speak like someone else, you can’t sing like someone else, or you aren’t as smart as someone else.

There will always be someone who has been saved longer than you, been to church more than you, or knows more Bible than you.

That doesn’t mean by any stretch of the imagination that you are no use to God.

That doesn’t mean that God can’t let you experience victory in your life.

If God can use Shamgar’s ox goad, he can use you too.

Finally, perhaps you feel alone.

As far as we know, nobody stood with Shamgar in his fight.

Well, at least no human stood with him.

The book of judges is the story of how God empowered different people to deliver His people.

The big picture is always pointing to God’s ability to provide our supreme deliverer, Jesus.

But, with each of these temporary savior’s we see that their ability was always because God was with them.

Though Shamgar was alone, humanly speaking, we should not doubt that God stood with him on this day where he took on 600 Philistines.

Regardless of the battle, obstacle, or enemy that you face, God will be with you as well.

You are never alone or forsaken by your heavenly Father, by Jesus, or the Holy Spirit that lives in you.

Conclusion

All of us go through times where face a problem that leaves us feeling insufficient.

The story of Shamgar reminds us that with God, we are never an unknown.

With God, we are never ill-equipped.

With God, we are never alone.

We can face the challenges of life with confidence of victory when we approach them with God.