Shamgar and the Oxgoad

If you asked churches and ministries in America on how they could be more effective in reaching their communities for Christ,

the answers you would probably hear would sound something like this…

“If we just had more resources, then we could really change the culture around us.”

“If we only had as much money as the ministry down the street, we could minister the Gospel in so much greater of a way then we can now.”

“If we could raise as much money as those ministries on TV then we could really make an impact on the people around us.”

If you asked induvial believers in America on how they could help bring transformations in their communities you would probably here something like…

If I just knew more about the Bible and understood it better, I could share my faith…

If I just more skilled in communicating I could share the Gospel with my friends and family…

With both ministries and induvial believers, it seems to come down to the idea that if we had something more…

Then we would be able to make a bigger impact.

Resources are indeed nice to have and skills in different areas can be beneficial. Absolutely!

But I believe there is something distorted in our thinking as a western culture when it comes to how to be more effective to reaching people for Christ.

I want to pose the question today that the main reason we are not more effective in reaching our communities for Christ is not about the limited resources that we may think we have,

or even our limited abelites that we may think we have.

I believe it is something much different. But What is it?

Story of when I was in a band wishing we had more resources.

So many times, we miss what God wants to do now…..

Because we wish we had something we do not currently have.

It may be knowledge of the Bible that we believe is limiting us.

Skills in communicating our faith in an articulate way.

We can get so caught up in what we are lacking that we forget that as believers that we need to relay on the empowering work of the Holy Spirit.

If you look at the New Testament it is full of people who where not proficient in knowing every detail of the Scripture. It was not the elite well educated class.

It was the unqualified, unlikely, and unknown individuals that were the forerunners of the Gospel.

Acts 4:13 NLT

“The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men with no special training in the Scriptures. They also recognized them as men who had been with Jesus.”

Ordinary individuals were the ones who were boldly preaching the Gospel.

I want to encourage you that nowis the time for you to be used by the Lord.

Now is the time to be His Witness to the people around us.

Now is the time!

Don’t wait and make the excuse that you are not ready to be a voice of truth to a generation.

It is time to rise up and be led by the Spirit and preach boldly the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Today I want us to look at a story of a man in the old testament who was not properly equipped to do what he did.

He was not properly trained to do what he did.

This man was definitely lacking in resources.

Yet he was mightily used by God.

The story is found in Judges chapter 3 and 5.

This man’s life is not very well known in the church but I believe his situation that he faced is very prevalent to what we are facing as modern-day believer.

There are 3 keys that I believe this mans life gives us that I believe we can apply for our life today.

Before we get started lets pray…

If you have your Bibles turn with me to Judges chapter 5.

The man’s name that we are going to study today is by the name of Shamgar.

The title of the sermon today is “Shamgar and the Oxgoad”

Judges 5:6 ESV

“In the days of Shamgar, son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were abandoned, and travelers kept to the byways.”

NLT phrases it as “people avoided the main roads, and travelers stayed on winding pathways.”

In other words, during this time people had to take the long way to get to there destination because it was too dangerous to go on the main roads.

Shamgar was born in a day of great difficulty.

This is a discouraging time in the history of Israel.

See this period of time should have been a time of enjoying the promise land, a time of enjoying the land that God had given to His people, but instead Israel was living in great suffering.

Judges 5:8 NLT

When Israel chose new gods, war erupted at the city gates, Yet not a shield or spear could be seen among forty thousand warriors in Israel!

When you chose to walk away from the life God has called you to live and do your own thing expect to face suffering. There may be enjoyment for a season but know this…

There are always consequences to our decisions.

The result of Israel’s bad choices has left them empty and being persecuted by their enemies.

One of the saddest verses in the Bible is in…

Judges 2:10 NLT

After that generation died, another generation grew up who did not acknowledge the LORD or remember the mighty things he had done for Israel.

The next generation knows nothing of the works of the Lord

This is the time frame that Shamgar is born into and facing.

A nation that has drifted far from knowing its true identity.

The nation of Israel is being oppressed by the foreign nations. As we just read in verse 8 of chapter 5 that no shield or spear could be found in Israel.

We see in verse 6 of chapter 5 that to travel you have to take the long way around in order to not to get robbed and probably killed.

So, we all understand here that the days of Shamgar were extremely difficult.

I could imagine that Shamgar may have thought “if I had only lived in a different time.”

I think it is easy to think that…

Especially when going through a difficult season that things seem to be completely out of our control.

When the nation you live in has abandoned the truth…

When you are facing difficulty because bad dissections from leaders…

When people begin to reject their true identity as a people….

When people choose to follow false gods…

I suppose you could say that Solomon got it right when he wrote in Ecclesiastes 1:9 (NLT)

“History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new.”

One could say that we have fallen for some of the same things today as the nation of Israel did all those years ago.

What Shamgar was facing maybe more similar to us then what we realize.

And may become more prevalent the closer we get to the final judgment.

We may be thousands of years removed from Shamgar’s day but we know that difficulty is not resorted to just today or then.

I am sure he probably wished things were better than what they were but we see in chapter 3:31 of Judges what he does in the face of this disastrous time of need.

Turn with me to Judges chapter 3:31

Judges 3:31 ESV

“After him (Eude) was Shamgar the son of Anath, who killed 600 of the Philistines with an oxgoad, and he also saved Israel.”

1. Start where you are.

The race begins now!

Hebrews 12: starting in verse 1-2B ESV

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith.”

We start now by being willing and available.

God uses willing and available servants to carry out His plan.

Are things getting in our way of our availability for God?

Are we allowing things that surround us to take our attention off the plan God has for our lives?

We must “lay aside every weight and sin”

The New Living Translation phrases Hebrews 12:1

“strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up”

Don’t allow sin to trip you up. Strip the sin in your life off!

Don’t be distracted by the circumstances around you and use it as an excuse to why you are not being more effective in impacting the people around you.

Shamgar could have allowed the distraction to overtake him.

Remember what I just read in his time you could not even take the main roads it was so dangerous.

Shamgar could have gotten so caught up in all the problems around him that he could have lost sight of the mission that God had for his life.

Don’t think you need God to open a door in a far-off land before you can be used by God.

God is calling you right now to start where you are right now.

Be faithful in the exact place you find yourself in right now.

In the difficult circumstances you find yourself in is exactly where God wants you to begin walking out the calling that He has for your life.

Joseph was used by God in prison to interpret 2 dreams.

Because he was available during his time of great difficulty, God opened a door for him because 2nd in command in Egypt.

Start where you are, the beginning of walking out your calling begins right now.

2. Use what you have.

Shamgar’s resources were limited, but he did not let his lack of resources stop him from being used by God.

An Ox Goad is about eight feet long and about six inches in circumference. It is armed at the lesser end with a sharp prong for driving the cattle, and on the other with a small iron paddle for removing the clay which encumbers the plough in working.

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In the history of Battles in Bible times an Ox Goad is used 1 time for a weapon. Which makes sense considering it is not really designed to be a weapon of choice.

Yet that is what he had in his hand to use. Use What you have!

Jon Courson wrights (P731)

“The Lord delights in using whatever is in your hand in order to bring about His purpose through your life. God has gifted you with talents, given you abilities, placed within you certain desires and interests—and those are the very components He desires to utilize for the work of His Kingdom through you. Truly, He will use whatever is in your hand.”

When God calls Moses to go before Pharaoh,

Moses says “What if they won’t believe me or listen to me? What if they say, ‘The Lord never appeared to you’? (This is at the burning bush)

Moses is talking in fear not in faith.

He begins to question the Lord saying I don’t think your plan will work.

He is seeing from an earthly perspective.

The what if seems so often to be the biggest hurtle we have.

What if I don’t defend my faith good?

What if I Stumble when I speak?

What if I pray for the sick and they are not healed?

What if I am mocked?

Natural reasoning on the what ifs…

Are we willing to surrender to God and not worry about the what ifs?

The question is who do you fear?

Do you fear man?

Or do you fear God?

After Moses gets done giving the what ifs to the Lord, we see how the Lord response…

In Exodus chapter 4:2

Then the Lord asked him, “What is that in your hand?”

“A shepherd’s staff,” Moses replied. “Throw it down on the ground,” the Lord told him. So Moses threw down the staff, and it turned into a snake!

God had Moses use exactly what he had in his hand.

God uses our giftings right where we are with exactly with what we currently have and uses them to bring glory to His name.

God used a common, ordinary, everyday shepherd’s rod to accomplish His plan through Moses.

Likewise, God used a man in Shamgar with an everyday farm tool to accomplish His plan.

Shamgar used a tool that he already had in his hand to kill the Philistines. (600 of them)

He did not wait for God to deliver him a shield and spear….

Shamgar used what he had…

God used a sling through David to slay a giant.

God used a pen in a hand of a prisoner with Paul to write much of the new testament.

What do you have in your hand and how is your availability?

Are you available to be used by God right now?

And are you willing to let God use you with what you have?

Story of Janine Thicke orphanage. (limited resources)

3. Do what you can.

Shamgar started where he was, used what he had, and did what could.

Are we doing our part?

Luke 17:11-14 (10 lepers)

“11 As Jesus continued on toward Jerusalem, he reached the border between Galilee and Samaria. As he entered a village there, ten men with leprosy stood at a distance, crying out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”

14 He looked at them and said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed of their leprosy.

Not healed right away but as they where walking They were healed.

Story of Naaman in 2 Kings 5

2 Kings 5:9-14

9 So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and waited at the door of Elisha’s house. 10 But Elisha sent a messenger out to him with this message: “Go and wash yourself seven times in the Jordan River. Then your skin will be restored, and you will be healed of your leprosy.”

11 But Naaman became angry and stalked away. “I thought he would certainly come out to meet me!” he said. “I expected him to wave his hand over the leprosy and call on the name of the Lord his God and heal me! 12 Aren’t the rivers of Damascus, the Abana and the Pharpar, better than any of the rivers of Israel? Why shouldn’t I wash in them and be healed?” So Naaman turned and went away in a rage.

13 But his officers tried to reason with him and said, “Sir,[c] if the prophet had told you to do something very difficult, wouldn’t you have done it? So you should certainly obey him when he says simply, ‘Go and wash and be cured!’” 14 So Naaman went down to the Jordan River and dipped himself seven times, as the man of God had instructed him. And his skin became as healthy as the skin of a young child, and he was healed!

Sometimes our breakthroughs look different then what we expect them too.

But it is important to be obedient even when we don’t understand.

Feeding of the 5,000 in Matthew 14

Jesus used what was in the hand of a boy. (5 loaves and 2 fish)

But the boy had to be willing to do his part in giving up his 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish.

He used what he had and did what he could do.

DO WHAT YOU CAN!

It is important to remember to do what you can do not what someone else can.

Sometimes in trying to be used by God we go outside of our calling and giftings.

You could say we try and wear someone else’s armor.

Remember with David he was offered King Saul’s armor but he knew to be effective that he had to stay withing his giftings.

Story of Softball tournament with brother Tim

(Stay within yourself)

Contribute to the body by doing what you can do, with what you have, starting right now and allow God to do the rest.

We must never forget that God is the one in charge of growing the seed.

1 Corinthians 3:6 Paul writes

“I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow.”

God is the one who sets the captives free not us.

But we are called to be His messengers.

We are called to be salt and light.

We must do our part.

I posed the question in the beginning on why we are not seeing more transformation in our communities and is it because of our lack of talent and resources?

The answer to the question I believe can be found within the 3 keys of Shamgar and how we defeated 600 Philistines.

1. He Started where he was at

2. He used what he had in his hand

3. He did what he could

And I believe those 3 keys come down to one main theme that I hope that you have caught in this message.

It comes down to one word…

Availability

I want to leave you with 3 questions…

Are you available to be used right now where you are at?

Are you available to be used right now with what giftings and abilities that God has given you?

And are available to God right now to do what you can do?