Pulpit Today

Judges 3:31 says: “Shamgar the son of Anath . . . killed six hundred men of the Philistines with an ox goad; and he also delivered Israel.”  There is only one terse verse in the Bible that captures an unprecedented account of how God used a mere farmer, Shamgar, who used an oxgoad to overcome 600 Philistine soldiers.  But this episode is not trivial with God even though it’s reduced to one scant verse.  There is a valuable life lesson hidden within these few words, but that lesson cannot be learned without knowing what an oxgoad is.  An oxgoad was an eight-foot stick that farmers used for plowing.  One end was shaped into an iron point that was used for prodding the ox, while the other end was shaped into a chisel that was used for dislodging clumps of dirt from the plow.  That’s an unconventional weapon Shamgar used to fight trained Philistine soldiers with their swords and shields; but it worked!  At day’s end, Shamgar’s farming field was littered with 600 slain soldiers and God was ready to induct His newest champion into Israel’s Hall of Fame.

So what does this episode of Shamgar and his oxgoad teach us?  It teaches us that God has already placed something in your hand that can defeat the enemy of your soul.  It may appear as unconventional as an eight-foot stick, but, most of the time, God gives ordinary people ordinary weapons and then expects them to use those weapons to accomplish His purposes.  Moses parted the waters with a staff.  David toppled Goliath with a slingshot.  Jael defeated a General with a nail.  Gideon and his 300 men lit torches and blew trumpets to overthrow an uncountable number of troops. That's why God doesn't necessarily need technology or intellectualism to accomplish His purposes. The Christian’s victories come when they let God empower otherwise ordinary parts of their life.