- Mar 27, 2007
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Judges 3:31? I did tonight and it was wonderful. It is amazing how much meat is in a verse that we typically just read and pass by. I feel enlightened tonight. 
Any one here ever heard a sermon from.....
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Sure. I'll try to condense the teaching to a few paragraphs. Shamgar only appears twice in the bible. The first is in Judges 3:31 and the second is in Judges 5:6. He was a judge of Israel which means that God had raised him to deliver Israel. God raised a judge every time that Israel cried out to the lord after falling and being oppressed.
Shamgar was a farmer and lived in an area being oppressed by the Philistines. He was the son of Anath, however, Anath is a feminine name and it does not appear in any biblical genealogy. That is because Anath is the pagan goddess of fertility and war and was worshiped throughout Canaan including by the Philistines. It appears that Shamgar was a pagan at one point but not just any pagan but one perceived as the offspring of Anath.
He was a farmer because he carried an oxgoad. This is an instrument of a farmer. It is a stick around 5 to 6 feet long with a point at one end and a slit at the other end where a chisel like piece of metal or wood was inserted. The purpose of this tool was to prod the oxen when it stopped and clean the wheels of the cart or appliance that the oxen was pulling (with the chisel like end). He lived in an area being oppressed by the Philistines because in Judges 5:6 it tells us that the "highways" were deserted and the travelers had to use the back roads. The Philistines were notorious for their cruel treatment of their enemies.
Now that we have the context, the sermon then consisted of the four things that Shamgar did. These are to teach what the Lord expects of us as believers. The first was that Shamgar did what He could. He killed 600 Philistines because that is all that he could do. He did not fall short as we sometimes do when we don't do everything that we can but only what we deem to be sufficient.
Secondly, Shamgar did all he could with what he had. He only had an oxgoad. He didn't complain to the Lord that his weapon was not sufficient. The sermon concentrated on our gifts and circumstances where we some times think that what we have is insufficient. The preacher highlighted things like not exercising our gift of hospitality because we consider our house not to be sufficient or teaching that Sunday class because we consider our education insufficient or not helping in the church because we have grown older and we consider our stamina or strength to be insufficient, etc.
The third point was that Shamgar did everything he could with what he had where he was. The preacher painted a verbal picture of a group of 600 Philistines armed with spears and other weaponry approaching Shamgar while he was working in his field. Shamgar didn't complain to God that he was at a disadvantage because of the openness of where he was but merely carried on his task there. The preacher used this to illustrate that some times we don't do as we should do because maybe we consider the church were we attend to be a place were we can't make a difference. We cry disadvantage because we perceive that there might be folks already doing things better than we can do or that we don't like a particular leader of the area where we want to contribute so if that person was not there then maybe we could do it.
And fourth, Shamgar did everything he could, with what he had, where he was, for the glory of God. He delivered Israel as was the Lord's will. He took no credit for it or was given any awards. Shamgar, as far as biblical characters go, is quite obscure. He received no accolades like those given to some of the other judges. He did the will of God simply because it was the will of God. He slew 600 heavily armed Philistines simply to save Israel as God had revealed to him.
The closing mainly emphasized on all four points. Basically as Christians and followers of Christ we are called to do God's will the best that we can (not the best that we think that we should), with what we have (God's word equips us for all works of righteousness), where we are (the grass is not any greener somewhere else), and all that we do we do for His glory.
I was impressed with the sermon simply because of the verse that it came from. I have preached many times and never would have thought of preaching a sermon on Shamgar. Here is a verse that we read as part of God's word but simply don't explore deeper. To me it just shows how all of the word of God carries His message.
Shamgar was a farmer and lived in an area being oppressed by the Philistines. He was the son of Anath, however, Anath is a feminine name and it does not appear in any biblical genealogy. That is because Anath is the pagan goddess of fertility and war and was worshiped throughout Canaan including by the Philistines. It appears that Shamgar was a pagan at one point but not just any pagan but one perceived as the offspring of Anath.
He was a farmer because he carried an oxgoad. This is an instrument of a farmer. It is a stick around 5 to 6 feet long with a point at one end and a slit at the other end where a chisel like piece of metal or wood was inserted. The purpose of this tool was to prod the oxen when it stopped and clean the wheels of the cart or appliance that the oxen was pulling (with the chisel like end). He lived in an area being oppressed by the Philistines because in Judges 5:6 it tells us that the "highways" were deserted and the travelers had to use the back roads. The Philistines were notorious for their cruel treatment of their enemies.
Now that we have the context, the sermon then consisted of the four things that Shamgar did. These are to teach what the Lord expects of us as believers. The first was that Shamgar did what He could. He killed 600 Philistines because that is all that he could do. He did not fall short as we sometimes do when we don't do everything that we can but only what we deem to be sufficient.
Secondly, Shamgar did all he could with what he had. He only had an oxgoad. He didn't complain to the Lord that his weapon was not sufficient. The sermon concentrated on our gifts and circumstances where we some times think that what we have is insufficient. The preacher highlighted things like not exercising our gift of hospitality because we consider our house not to be sufficient or teaching that Sunday class because we consider our education insufficient or not helping in the church because we have grown older and we consider our stamina or strength to be insufficient, etc.
The third point was that Shamgar did everything he could with what he had where he was. The preacher painted a verbal picture of a group of 600 Philistines armed with spears and other weaponry approaching Shamgar while he was working in his field. Shamgar didn't complain to God that he was at a disadvantage because of the openness of where he was but merely carried on his task there. The preacher used this to illustrate that some times we don't do as we should do because maybe we consider the church were we attend to be a place were we can't make a difference. We cry disadvantage because we perceive that there might be folks already doing things better than we can do or that we don't like a particular leader of the area where we want to contribute so if that person was not there then maybe we could do it.
And fourth, Shamgar did everything he could, with what he had, where he was, for the glory of God. He delivered Israel as was the Lord's will. He took no credit for it or was given any awards. Shamgar, as far as biblical characters go, is quite obscure. He received no accolades like those given to some of the other judges. He did the will of God simply because it was the will of God. He slew 600 heavily armed Philistines simply to save Israel as God had revealed to him.
The closing mainly emphasized on all four points. Basically as Christians and followers of Christ we are called to do God's will the best that we can (not the best that we think that we should), with what we have (God's word equips us for all works of righteousness), where we are (the grass is not any greener somewhere else), and all that we do we do for His glory.
I was impressed with the sermon simply because of the verse that it came from. I have preached many times and never would have thought of preaching a sermon on Shamgar. Here is a verse that we read as part of God's word but simply don't explore deeper. To me it just shows how all of the word of God carries His message.
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washedagain
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JCFantasy23
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I agree, thanks for sharing. We all try to remember these things yet frequently lose sight of them.
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