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SHAMGAR (I)
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 11
Judges 3:31

Ephesians 2:1-10

 

“…we are his workmanship,

created in Christ Jesus…”

 

SHAMGAR (I)
 
In the accounts given, the cycle that characterises the period of the judges is indicated: Israel did evil – God delivered them into enemy hands – Israel oppressed for a time – Israel cried under oppression – God raised a deliverer. In the account of Shamgar, these details are missing. Trying to account for these missing details would lead us only to speculations, so we will focus only on the details given concerning him.
 
“…Shamgar the son of Anath…” (Judg 3:31). The names are non-Israelite, with Anath being a name of a Canaanite goddess. From his name, Shamgar would be considered a Canaanite as he not only possessed a heathenish name, his father is named after a Canaanite goddess. But Shamgar could be an Israelite from an assimilated background. Probably just as today, parents look to their modern-day heroes and idols in naming their children, so was it then, such that Canaanite names found their way into Israelite homes. If so, from a background which seems to have accepted and assimilated the spirit of the land and day, God still found a man He could use. God in His wisdom has used families to bless many with a godly heritage and prepared them for His use through their families, as we saw in Othniel and Timothy. But in Shamgar, God also in His grace chose and used a man that did not seem to have the benefit of a godly family or upbringing. God is not limited by means, nor is He limited in power. As He in providence uses the godly family heritage to mould men for His use, He in His sovereignty, can also choose and use one who has not had the blessing of a godly heritage and background.
 
“…he also delivered Israel” (Judg 3:31). The one who did not possess an Israelite name, and whose father bore the name of a Canaanite goddess, one to whom, we would have said, “Your name betrays you,” was the one God used for the deliverance of His people.
 
THOUGHT: Christ’s righteousness alone can cover and change me.

PRAYER: O, for grace to love and serve Thee more.

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