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SHAMGAR (II)
THURSDAY, JANUARY 12
Judges 3:31

Matthew 25:14-30

 

“…for without me

ye can do nothing.”

 

SHAMGAR (II)
 
“How victories are sometimes won in the face of the greatest improbabilities. One man against six hundred! Some men would have succumbed under the mere pressure of numbers, but Shamgar fought the crowd. Do not let us blame men for working with instruments that have not been officially or technically approved. The one great object is to do good. What meaner instrument can there be than the Cross?” (J. Parker).
 
“…slew of the Philistines six hundred men with an ox goad…” (Judg 3:31). This gives to us the second detail concerning Shamgar. We find in this section what God enabled Shamgar to accomplish. He not only did something logically and naturally impossible, but also did it with an unconventional and unlikely tool. Shamgar faced the Philistines with an ox goad. The instrument used for prodding the oxen as they ploughed and for scraping the earth stuck to the plough turned into a mighty weapon. We have a Swahili saying which in English would translate to: “He who blames the plough is not a farmer” (though literally the translation would use the verb “choose”). It is the workman who uses the tool and so the workman is more than his tools. His attitude towards the work, his skill in performance of the work can make him rise above the circumstances he faces and accomplish much. Shamgar fought with an unlikely tool against a great foe and won. Note: The slothful servant hid his master’s talent and achieved nothing (Matt 25:18). What Christ highlights of the slothful and bad servant is his perspective of and relationship to his master. The servant’s view of the master affected his service.
 
“…he also delivered Israel” (Judg 3:31). The one who was, as it seemed, ill-equipped and not ready for the Philistines was the one God used. One battle is all he had, and he won. If we would give ourselves fully to God and seek to be faithful in all things, there will be profit in our effort under whatever circumstances we find ourselves working and serving in.
 
THOUGHT: “Let us press on, then, never despair, live above feeling…”
PRAYER: Grant, O Lord, “a willing mind, a ready hand, to do whate’er I know.”

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