We're in Judges chapter 3 today
in our Young People's Address and... Yeah, I keep saying this,
our readings do vary in length, don't they? Sometimes it's a
little bit longer, and sometimes it's a little bit shorter. Well,
today is a short reading. We're only going to have a few
verses, and if you'll go to verse 31, right at the end of chapter
three, then we will read this verse together. So that's Judges
chapter three and verse 31, and this is what the Word of God
says. And after him, that is after Ehud, and after him was
Shamgar, the son of Anath, which slew of the Philistines 600 men
with an ox goad. And he also delivered Israel. And then if you turn over the
page in your Bible to chapter five, there's just a couple of
verses that I want to read from chapter five, and it says this
in verse six. In the days of Shamgar the son
of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were unoccupied,
and the travellers walked through byways. The inhabitants of the
villages ceased. They ceased in Israel, until
that I, Deborah, arose, that I arose a mother in Israel. They chose new gods. Then was
war in the gates. Was there a shield or spear seen
among 40,000 in Israel? Amen. May the Lord bless to us
this reading from his word. Perhaps you're wondering how
I'm going to find anything to say about Shamgar, the Judge
Shamgar, concerning whom almost nothing is said in the whole
Bible. Well, I wondered that too. And I thought, you know, if I
take each of these judges and spend a Sunday on each of these
judges, some of them are very, very fulsome accounts of their
lives, and others, there's hardly anything said of them at all.
Samson, for example, we learn a lot about and Gideon as well. But here is this man called Shamgar
and we really know very little about him. Here is what we do
know. He was a judge and he was a deliverer
in Israel. And so he is a man who after
Ehud and before Deborah appears perhaps just in one region or
one area of Israel. We'll come to that in a moment,
rather than perhaps him being a judge over all Israel. Be that
as it may, here was a man who was a judge and a deliverer. He was raised up by God to serve
a purpose during the days when Israel had again reverted to
following their own passions and ignoring what the Lord would
have them do. In fact, the Lord gave Shamgar
to the nation of Israel to help them despite there being no account
in the scripture of a cry from the people for help. Now we'd seen that there had
been this cry on previous occasions, but here there's no account of
there being a call for help. It seems as if the Lord gave
Shamgar to the people. Maybe the children of Israel
had become so careless and content with their state of subjection
Perhaps they had become so separated from the Lord God that they had
forgotten how to cry for help. You know, I was thinking about
that and I thought that today we might live in a land where
that is the case. I wonder if there was a problem
in our country, if there was a problem in our region, if there
was a problem in our state or our county, whether or not the
people would know how to pray to God for help. Most have forgotten how to pray. Shamgar was the son of Anath. But since we don't know anything
about Anath either, that really doesn't move us on very far with
respect to our knowledge about this man. We don't know what
tribe he was from or indeed where he lived. But there are one or
two little clues that we might be able to share. It is notable,
for example, that this is the first time that there is any
mention made of the Philistines as troublesome or bothersome
neighbours of Israel. And it may well be that there
was conflict between the Philistines who lived on the Mediterranean
coast and the people of Israel who lived further inland on the
land of Canaan, in the land of Canaan. It may even be that rather
than there being like a large-scale battle being fought at this time,
which there clearly is in other cases, in other episodes of the
Philistines and the children of Israel going to war with one
another, it may be that this was not a full-scale battle,
but rather bands of Philistine raiders who were roaming the
countryside as bandits and who robbed travellers, preventing
people from travelling on the main roads or conducting business
between cities. And that's why we read together
in chapter five about what had been written by Deborah regarding
this period of which Shamgar is also related. The tribes in
that case of Simeon and Judah and Dan were the tribes that
lived on the west side of Canaan and close to the Philistine cities. So whether or not we're right
in thinking that Shamgar may have been connected with one
of those tribes or not, it does appear that that is the likely
area that the Philistines would be troubling the children of
Israel. Another thing that we learn is
that Shamgar may have been a farmer because we learn that he fought
against his enemies with an ox goad. Now an ox goad was likely
a long pole with a heavy end that held an iron spade for clearing
mud away from the ox's feet and hooves. and then a narrow sharpened
point at the other end. And it may have been quite long.
It may have been upwards of six or even eight or 10 feet long. So it was sharp at one end and
heavy with a spade at the other, an iron spade. And it was used
by Shamgar as a weapon. Now there were times in Israel
when the oppressors of the children of Israel removed all the weapons. They took all the spears, all
the shields, all the swords from the people. And they left them
only with agricultural tools for their work. And this may
have been one of those times. We don't know how long Shamgar
judged Israel. It may have been just a short
period. The Jews have a tradition that
he died the same year that he became a judge, but we don't
know if that is true because the Bible doesn't say anything
about that. We do know that Shamgar slew
600 Philistines using his ox goad. and whether this was over
a long period or whether it was in a single incident, we're not
told. Either event would have been
an amazing feat and it proves that the Lord was with Shamgar
because it could only have been accomplished in the strength
of the Lord and by the Lord's power. Later on in the book of
Judges, we'll learn about Samson who slew a thousand Philistines
with the jawbone of an ass, which was also a wonderful occurrence. But whether it's Shamgar 600
with an ox goad or Samson, here we see the hand of the Lord in
the lives of these men. However, This deliverance by
Shamgar seems not to have been conclusive or decisive, because
as we read together with that little reference to Deborah,
the roads stayed impassable for travelers until the time of Deborah,
whom we will hear of next amongst the judges. Here are a couple
of little applications that I want to just leave with you with respect
to Shamgar. Things for us to note. First
one is this, as we've been saying, the Holy Spirit has left us only
a very small amount of information about this man. and doubtless
for a reason. Had we needed to know more, had
it been useful for us to know more, the Holy Spirit would have
told us more. And perhaps even this lack of
information reminds us that the Lord raises up and uses people
to serve his purpose, who sometimes we never know of, or we never
hear about. And I think that this is so. Did you know that during the
Lord's ministry, when the Lord was on earth, he sent out 70
preachers? We read about that in Luke chapter
10. It says this in verse one. It says, after these things,
These things were the appointment of the 12 disciples. After the
appointment of the 12 disciples, the Lord appointed other 70 also,
and sent them two and two before his face into every city and
place whither he himself would come. Now we know the names of
the 12 disciples, but we don't know any of the names of these
70 with any certainty. That's not stopped people from
trying to guess who they might be, but here are 70 disciples
appointed who were sent out that we really know nothing about,
but they were used by the Lord to serve his gospel cause. and there are thousands of men
and women and boys and girls who have been used by the Lord
in little churches, in towns and cities and villages for many,
many years, but of whom we have no record and no history. Perhaps it's a name, perhaps
it's a reference in a book, maybe not even that. Maybe they're
completely gone and forgotten, never to be known again and yet
they served the Lord in their town, in their village, in their
home, wherever the Lord had placed them. You see the Lord's people
counted a privilege to serve their King. They don't look for
fame, they don't look for power or glory, Rather, they give all
the glory to the Lord Jesus and they are happy to serve even
without being known about. Do you remember John the Baptist? He said, he must increase, but
I must decrease. During the times of the apostles,
there was a woman called Dorcas, or Tabitha, and she died. She had a reputation for making
coats and garments for the Lord's people, and for that kindness
she was greatly loved and appreciated. You can read about what happened
to her in Acts chapter 9, but all we know about her was that
she made coats and garments for the Lord's people. Or there was
a man called Nason, nascent of Cyprus, an old man who couldn't
do much at all, but he gave the Apostle Paul somewhere to stay
for the night. And doubtless there were many
others we know nothing of at all. So let us all, no matter
how old or young, be ready to serve the Lord for no other reason
than to say thank you for all that he has done for us. And
let us be humble in doing it and seek only the increase of
the Lord. And just one final point. Shamgar
may have been little known, but he has nevertheless gone down
in history as a judge and deliverer in Israel. He will be spoken
of in meetings like this until the Lord returns. And someday,
if the Lord is gracious to save us, we shall meet Shamgar in
heaven. But much more important, is that
we get to know the one great Deliverer of whom Shamgar is
a type. The Lord Jesus Christ, our Deliverer
and Redeemer. Because the words signify the
same thing. The Lord Jesus Christ saves,
delivers his church and people from their sins. Shamgar slew
his enemies, the Philistines, with an ox goad. The Lord Jesus
Christ destroyed the power of our enemies at the cross where
he laid down his life, that all who trust in him should have
eternal life in heaven. Shamgar is dead and buried long
ago, forever forgotten had this one little verse not been written. I'm sure he would be happy today
to know that his memory is still being used to point men and women,
boys and girls to Christ. Our Lord Jesus Christ died and
rose again and sits upon his throne in glory. From there,
he will come again and receive his church to himself. May the
Lord grant us all grace to trust in him for salvation, deliverance
and redemption. We all need those gifts of grace. and none of us can achieve them
for ourself. May the Lord bless these thoughts
to us. Amen.