Judges 3:31 Simple Things!

31After him was Shamgar the son of Anath, who killed six hundred men of the Philistines with an ox goad; and he also delivered Israel.

a. Killed six hundred men of the Philistines: Shamgar was a man of great accomplishment, yet only one verse describes his work. It is possible that so little is said about Shamgar because his story was so well known.

i. “The significant omissions may indicate that there was something unusual about Shamgar; he may not have been a judge after the usual pattern but just a warrior who effected this one local stroke of valour against a nation who afterwards became Israel’s principle oppressor.” (Cundall)

b. With an ox goad: Shamgar is an excellent example of serving for God. He simply used what God put in his hand - in his case, an ox goad.

i. An ox goad was a stick about 8 feet long (about 2.5 meters), and about 6 inches around at the big end. One end of the ox goad was pointy (for poking the ox), and the other end was like a chisel (for scraping the plow clean of dirt).

ii. “In the hands of a strong, skilful man, such an instrument must be more dangerous and more fatal than any sword.” (Clarke)

c. He also delivered Israel: There was nothing spectacular about an ox goad. But God can use, and wants to use, whatever is in our hands. Shamgar was merely a laborer doing his job; but he took what was in his hand when prompted by God and he rescued the people of God from their enemies.

i. Shamgar was like Moses and his shepherd’s staff or David and his shepherd’s sling. God uses simple things to accomplish great things. (Guzik)

Shamgar had an ox goad, Samson had a jaw bone, David had his sling!

Judges 15: 15He found the fresh jawbone of a donkey, reached out his hand and took it, and struck down a thousand men.

1 Samuel 17: 49Then David reached into his bag, took out a stone, and slung it, striking the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground.

“God uses simple things to accomplish great things.” (Guzik)

That includes you and I!

Have you encouraged anyone about the free gift of salvation lately?

Blessings