Days for his glory. We're going to read from God's
Word and we've got a very short reading tonight we're turning to
Judges chapter 3, Judges chapter 3.
And as you're turning to the place, I just want to point out
that sometimes folks have the imagination that ministers just
open their Bible on a Saturday night, hopefully not at
midnight, and out pops a sermon. Well, I'm afraid it doesn't work
like that. So if you think that, well,
sorry, you're wrong, OK? But what what we do is we, we
pray Sunday night, Monday morning, Tuesday morning, we
wait before the Lord. And last Sunday evening, I asked
the Lord to impress upon my heart text of scripture or a
character. And I, I, I woke up on Monday
morning and there was, there was one name in my head.
And I thought, wow, I'll have to look up this name here.
And I did the Bible app and looked up the name and found a
couple of places where it was and started to read it.
And the more I thought about it, the more I thought, right,
that's Sunday night's sermon at least as the Lord had given me a
text and given me mention of an individual.
So that's what we're going to think about tonight.
We're turning to Judges chapter 3.
We're just going to read 2 verses now, 3 verses.
And I trust and pray the Lord will bless us together.
Judges chapter 3, verse 31. Let's hear the Word of God,
reading of course from the Authorised Version.
Judges chapter 3, verse 31. And after him was Shamgar the
son of Anath, which slew of the Philistines 600 men with an ox
gold. And he also delivered Israel.
And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the
Lord when Ehud was dead. Now come over to Judges chapter
5, and read with me in verse 6. Judges chapter 5, verse 6.
In the days of Shamgar the son of Anaph, in the days of Jael,
the highways were unoccupied and the travellers walked through
byways. Amen.
We know that the Lord will blessed us this reading of His
own precious and infallible word.
Now my text this evening is taken from Judges chapter 3,
verse 31. It reads as follows.
And after him was Shamgar, the son of Anath, which slew of the
Philistines, 600 men with an ox gold, and they also delivered
Israel. They have entitled this message
shining in the shadow of Shamgar's service.
Who was Shamgar? There's one simple,
straightforward answer. He was the 3rd judge in the land
of Israel in the days of the judges.
You see, the days of the Judges were characterised by this
statement we read there in Judges chapter 21, verse 25.
In those days there was no king in Israel.
Every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
That's the key text for the book of Judges.
You see, the days of the Judges were characterised by this
cycle. There was rebellion towards God
and the things of God. The children of Israel did evil
in the sight of the Lord. They forsook Him.
They forgot His word and that rebellion led to their ruin
because they discovered that sin pays wages and there's
retribution and judgement. And this retribution and
judgement that came was in the form of God allowing their
enemies to conquer and control them.
And then after a period of time, there was this realisation that
sin does pay wages. Sin costs us more than we want
to pay, keeps us longer than we want to stay.
And then of course, what followed was a spurt of
repentance because they confessed that they'd done evil
in the sight of the Lord. They were truly sorry for their
sin, and that repentance brought about restoration and rest.
And God's means of restoration and rest was always by raising
up for them a deliverer and a saviour.
And the first deliverer was off the yell, the son of Kenaz,
Caleb's younger brother. Judges chapter 3, verse 10.
The second Saviour was a man by the name of Ehud, chapter 13,
verse 15. And then the third was a man by
the name of Shamgar. Notice these words.
And after him was Shamgar the son of Athnath.
Now you many have never heard of Shamgar.
Maybe that's true of you tonight.
You've heard of Othniel. You might have heard of E Hood,
who slew the king Eglon of Moab. You may have heard of Gideon and
Samson. You may have heard of Deborah.
But you've never heard of Shamgar.
Isn't it interesting that in just two verses in the Bible
this man's name is mentioned? Judges 331, Judges 5 or 6.
In the days of Shamgar. Now you see many look at Judges
331 and read about a man which slew 600 men of the Philistines
with an ox gold, and he also delivered Israel.
And they say to themselves, So what?
That's not that important, that's not a big deal that
that's only one verse about this man's exploits.
Well, I want to say tonight, despite this man not being so
well known, I believe that Shamgar stands amongst the
greatest judges in the land of Israel.
Now, we all love a good story, don't we?
We all love a good story for a man or a woman from a lonely,
obscure background, little known person with maybe limited
weapons who ends up being the hero, who ends up winning the
battle of the day. And you see, Shamgar was like
that. He's the hero of the day.
Shamgar stood to defy the odds, 600 to 1, one against 606,
hundred against one, and the one defeated 600.
Fierce fighting man. And the one that defeated them
was a farmer with an ox coat. And the wonderful truth about
this story is that Shamdar had the most unlikely of weapons, an
ox coat. It was a farming implement and
Shamgar with this farming implement won the day and it was
such a wonderful thing that this became part of Deborah's song we
read in chapter 5. Verse one then sang Deborah and
Barrack the son of Abenom on that day saying Praise ye the
Lord for the avenging of Israel when the people willingly
offered themselves and become to verse 6 it says in the days of
Shamgar the son of Anaph. In the days of Jael, the
highways were unoccupied and the travellers walked through
byways. Shamgar is mentioned, His name
is known in the earth because it's mentioned twice in the Holy
Scriptures. And in the mouth of two or three
witnesses a thing shall be established.
But this man's name is not only known on earth.
I believe the man's name is recognised and recorded in
heaven. The Lord could say of Shamgar
tonight, this farmer with the ox gold, thy art mine.
Don't overlook the life of Shamgar little as much when God
is in it. Now three things, or 4 tonight
if we have time. First of all, think about the
call of Shamgar. What's his story?
Shamgar was raised up by God in a day of great violence in the
land of Israel. You see, one day the Philistines
came calling at his farm. The Philistines invaded the land
of Israel. They came from the West Coast,
the Mediterranean Sea area, to attack the towns and villages
and farms on the land of Israel. They came to raid, they came to
plunder, they stole crops, they stole wealth that they could
find it, and they kidnapped, no doubt a few of the women folk,
boys and girls. The attack by these raiding
parties had been going on for some time, and these raiding
parties caused a lot of fear and concern among the people of God.
Remember, from this territory came Goliath of Gath.
Gath is actually one of the five cities in the land of the
Philistines, now the modern day territory of Gaza.
Do you know that it caused so much fear and alarm that the
people didn't want to walk the main roads or the main highways,
especially alone? They didn't walk as individuals.
They walked in groups. And when they walked, they
walked through the crooked paths or the byways.
Look at chapter 5, verse 6 again.
It says the highways were unoccupied.
Unoccupied means there was nobody there.
You could drive down the road and we're going to knock anybody
down. And it says in the travellers,
that's the people who have to make journeys, walk through not
the highways, not the roadways, but the byways.
And the byways means the crooked paths, the little path that was
known primarily just to the villagers and the townsfolk of
that day. These folks couldn't walk there
because of the enemy's attack, because of the enemy's
entrapment, because the enemy might beat them up, do them to
death or kidnap them. You know, during the Troubles,
especially in South Armagh, there was places that the
members of the Royal Constabulary, members of the
British Army and the Royal Irish Regiment were not allowed to
travel. On.
Other places in and around the border, like Castle Dirk was the
same thing. Could you think of this impact?
According to Judges 5 and 6, the inhabitants of the land of
Israel were so afraid that it impacted ordinary people going
about their business. That's the day in which Shamgar
lived. He was called to make a stand in
a day of great violence in his land.
He he was called also in a day of great apostasy.
In Judges chapter 5 verse 8, we read these words.
They chose new gods. Then was war in the gates.
It's interesting. This was a day of religious
downgrade. This was a day of servitude and
bondage. In fact, in chapter 5 verse 8 we
read was there a shield or spear seen among 40,000 in Israel?
There was no shield, no sword, no spear seen among 40,000 in
Israel over there in First Samuel chapter 13 verse 19.
We read these words in First Samuel 13 and 19.
Now there was no Smith throughout all the land of
Israel, for the Philistine said, lest the Hebrews make them
swords or Spears. No blacksmith, you know, to
sharpen their axe, they had to go and ask the Philistines
permission to sharpen the side. They had to take it to the
blacksmith in the land and territory of the Philistines and
get them to do it. Know about paying a price.
So here's Shamdar and he sees the enemy coming, and the
majority are fearful and the majority are hiding and the
majority have run. And Shamgar adopts the attitude.
This is my farm, this is my family, this is my father.
I've got to protect my wife and children.
I've got to protect my cattle. They're not picking mine.
And Shamgar has got this call of God in his heart and mind to
make a stand. Then let me tell you something
very quickly. Shambar was not only called to
take a stand in a day of violence and a day of apostasy
and religious declension, but Shambar was called to salvation.
Well, what is Shamgar called? Shamgar the son of Anath.
Now that's mentioned twice. Look again at verse 6.
In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath.
I want you to underline that Shamgar was not an Israelite.
Shamdar was the son of Anath. Anath is his father's name.
It's not an insight into his background and into his lineage.
You see, Anath had a particular association with a Canaanite
deity. There was a Canaanite deity, a
prominent goddess often associated with love and war,
who was called Anath. And I'm asking the question when
his father was born, did his grandparents give the father
this name? Anath?
Was his father a follower of the false heathen goddess called
Anath? And he raised a son called
Shamdar, who was known as Shamdar, the son of Anath.
And what does that mean? It means there was a time in
God's Providence when Shamgar rejected idolatrous religion,
rejected a false God, and Shambar came to know and love
the true God of Israel. That means he professed faith in
Jehovah. There was a time in his life
when he was converted, when he left behind the life of
idolatry, following a Pagan Canaanite God to live a life
where he's in a full and free and forever relationship with
the God of heaven. See, I believe that Shamdar was
a converted man. He was not When he called to
stand, he was called to salvation.
I'll tell you something else about his call.
He was called to service. Shamdar had a concern for the
land. The Philistines came into his
land to take it, to kill, to plunder, and to steal, and he
stood to defend it. He stood to render an honorary,
an honorary service unto God. Notice the words in verse 31.
And he also delivered Israel. I believe he served the Lord out
of a sense of love and concern for the Lord and for his land.
So I want to ask the question, where are the Shamgars today?
Sham Garza told you, was a farmer.
He was not a soldier, he was not experienced in military
conflict, he was not a military strategist.
Yet this farmer stood to fight, stood to defend his family and
the honour of his God and his farmland.
And I want to say we need men and women today who are called
to make a stand. They're called to be saved, and
they're called to serve God in the days in which we live.
See, we live in a day when liberal theology has destroyed
churches. You know that liberal theology,
especially after World War 2, changed the face of Christianity
in Europe. It probably started after World
War One as well. It impacted upon the United
Kingdom. It impacted upon our United
States of America. See, Liberal theology denies any
supernatural communication in Bible belief in Christianity.
Liberal theologians denied the doctrine of the Incarnation, the
eternal sonship of Christ. They denied the virgin birth.
They denied his sinless life, his atoning death, his bodily
resurrection, his ascension, and his second coming.
And theologians? Men like Karl Barth, men like
William Barkley, they caused a great crisis in the church.
You see, in the 30s, right through to the 60s and 70s,
there was thousands of ordained ministers and millions of pounds
have been spent in church buildings, et cetera, and
congregations were being ministered to.
And what were they going to do with these thousands of ordained
ministers and all of these churches that were being
occupied by congregations? Now they're being told it's all
a myth, it's all a lie. What you've been preaching and
teaching for years is not true. What were they going to do?
Thousands of men just to be thrown onto the rack of
unemployment, ordered thousands of churches to be closed?
See, they had to make a decision.
They didn't do that. They did a far worse thing.
This is what they come up with. This was their theory of liberal
theology. Revise your understanding of
what Bible believe in Christianity is.
Make it compatible to the modern theories of men.
You see, the church today has abandoned supernatural belief in
the Bible, supernatural belief in God, supernatural belief in
the person and work of Jesus Christ, supernatural belief in
the doctrine of salvation. And they've replaced the gospel
with other things, worldly concerns, social issues,
environmental concerns about the planet, humanitarian concerns,
war and famine. Now, there's nothing wrong with
a social aspect or an environmental aspect or an
monetarian aspect to the work of God, but they have abandoned and
forgotten the Gospel. And many ministers and churches
tonight have no idea what the good news is, and they don't
know John 3 and 16. For God so loved the world that
he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish, but have everlasting life.
It's foreign language to them because once they hear it and
accept that's the word of God, then they're confronted with the
person and work of Christ. We live in a day when we're
under another threat, cancer or cancelled culture.
We live in a day of post modernism when people are told
truth is unattainable. There is no absolute truth or
authority. There is no God, there's no
heaven, no hell, there's no judgement to come.
There's no standard of right or wrong.
There's no standard of truth or righteousness or holiness there
there, there's no meaning or purpose to life.
And you know, it's all a lie. Let me illustrate.
Whenever the book The Da Vinci Code was brought out, do you
know there's 43,000,000 copies sold worldwide?
That book promotes the false idea that Christian history is
all made-up, the Bible is man made and erroneous, didn't come
from God, that Jesus is merely a man and the church embellished
as a God, that Jesus married Mary Magdalene, Jesus and Mary
Magdalene had a child and it was covered up by the church and
it's all a lie. And yet that's what the heart of
the message of The Da Vinci Code is.
It also promotes intimate relationship without boundaries.
So it's promoting not only idolatry, but it's promoting
immorality. And that council or cancer
culture is on a collision course with Bible belief in
Christianity. It's in conflict.
We must make a stand today. We must adopt the mindset of
Shamdar. Shamdar was called the stand for
God in a day when his land was suffering violence, in a day of
religious apostasy. And he stood for God because he
was a converted man who had a concern for truth and
righteousness, a concern for the honour of God.
We need men like Shamdar. Today I asked this question.
There was a letter in the newsletter, can't remember who
wrote it, asking where are the church leaders today?
And I'm asking where are the Shamdars?
The church is looking for leaders.
Christian homes are looking for leaders.
Leaders are called to stand, called to salvation, called to
service. So I'm asking fathers, mothers,
young people, it's that three of you, we need men of faith in God
who do not conform to the culture, may understand,
blameless and faultless, with an eye to God, men who will serve
to work with God. Folks, things are getting no
better. Things are maybe slightly
getting worse. Churches are closing.
Churches have closed. People are not attending.
Many are fearful. We need to stand.
We need to be a witness. Whether it's in business,
whether it's in the home, whether it's in school, whether
it's in the university. We're called to stand.
We're called to salvation, we're called to service.
Very quickly, I want you to think of the courage of Shamgar.
Let's ask this question. What weapon did he have?
Did he have a sword, shield or spear?
No, all they had according to the Bible was a Knox goat.
Now what's a Knox goat? An ox goat is a long pole.
And at the one the end, it's got a sharpened point.
It might have had a little metal prod on it and that would have
been used to poke the ox. So when the ox was moving
slowly, it got a jab in the rear end and it was made to move on.
It's it's a bit like a cattle prod for today.
And at the other end of this ox goat there was a, a tiny shaped
almost like a like a like a little spade.
And it could be made of wood, it could have been made of metal.
And you see it was used wherever the plough got stuck.
Then it was used to scrape the mud off the plough.
And the farmer had this ox gold and he had a tool to remove all
the clay that gathered up in the plough.
That was all he had and he used it for the honour and glory of
God. He used what he had for God and
when there are no convention weapons were available, he used
the oxcoat. This man against 600 had no
prospect of military success. 600 were well armed and well
trained, fierce Philistines. What could he do?
All he had was the oxcoat and this unknown man with this
useless, unlikely weapon. Yet this was the man that God
used to deliver Israel. See, that's how God's work is
done. It's done by holy men converted
to Christ by the grace of God. And yet men who are consecrated,
men who use what they have for God because that's what God has
given, little as much when God is in it.
See, God was in this factory over the 600.
It was not in Shamdar's strength and ability.
God did it through Shamdar. He used him.
Philippians 4 and 13. I can do all the things through
Christ, which strengthens me. It's always and only through
Christ, never without him. And I would encourage you to
pray this week. Lord, use me just like you use
Shamdar. Remember the hymn in 490?
Francis O'Reilly have regales him.
Take my life and let it be consecrated.
Lord to thee. Take my moments and my days.
Let them flow and cease this praise.
The Lord would ask, What is in thy hand?
He asked Shamgar. It's an ox called Lord.
Use it for my glory. No room for excuse.
Very quickly, I want you to think of the comparison of
Shamgar. You see Shamgar points us to the
Lord Jesus Christ Sham Garza, foreshadowing of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Sham Garza, judge and a judge
was a saviour and a deliverer. We read in the New Testament of
the Lord Jesus. I shall call his name Jesus, for
He shall save his people from their sins.
And remember the two in the road to Emmaus, what they were taught
in Luke chapter 24. We read this in verse 44.
These are the words which I speak unto you, while I was yet
with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written
in the law of Moses. That's the first five books of
the Bible, and in the prophets major and minor, and in the
Psalms, that's the writings concerning me.
See what's the Bible all about? It says in the beginning of
Moses and all the prophets he expounded unto them, and all the
Scriptures, the things concerning himself.
And Shamdar was an unlikely Saviour because Shangar was a
Canaanite. His family lineage was not
Jewish. Do you know that the Lord Jesus
Christ was legally the son of David?
Remember Nathaniel asked the question, Can anything, any good
thing come out of Nazareth? Remember, they asked the
question, is not this the son of Joseph the Carpenter?
This couldn't be the promised Messiah.
They, they held him the ridicule and scorn and, and and derised
him. He didn't go to any of our
universities of Jerusalem. He wasn't at one of our
rabbinical colleges. How could he be the promised
Messiah? How could he be the Saviour?
You see, they forgot his ancestors.
Do you know that when the lineage of Christ, Ruth the
Moabite S who married Boaz was part of that lineage?
Did you know that? Rahab the harlot from Jericho
was also part of that lineage, and as far as the true humanity
of Christ is concerned, he can trace his ancestry back his
family tree all the way down to Adam, and part of that family
tree, his certain Canaanites who got converted.
We would have to say he's an unlikely saviour with an
unlikely weapon. What did Shamgar use?
An ox? Gold, Christ didn't use a sword,
a shield or a spear. No, He just carried a wooden
cross. He was crucified on it.
On that tree. He fought the battle of the
aegis against sin and Satan against hail and grave and won
the victory. 2nd Corinthians 521 For he, that is God had made
him, that is Christ to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we
might be made the righteousness of God in him.
We, we, we should think tonight of the person on the cross, the
Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Son of Mary, Son of David,
what we should think about him as the God man, not just a good
man, a great man, a gracious man, but the God man, great as
the mystery of God and his God was manifest in the flesh.
We we should think about the power of the cross between he
triumphed over sin and hell, and the devil by his death and
bloodshedding and Calgary. Think of the preaching of the
cross, the plan of redemption by the cross, or what wonderful
encouragement there is there in the book of Hebrews and Hebrews
9 and 26, we read these words. For then must he often have
suffered since the foundation of the world, but now once in the
end of the world, that he appeared to put away sin by the
sacrifice of himself. But this man, after he'd offered
one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of
God. By his voluntary suffering and
death, by his vicarious suffering and death on our
behalf, he became and emerged the victorious saviour.
An unlikely saviour, an unlikely weapon, an unlikely stand.
And many were with Shamgar. Just Shamgar, nobody else.
Shamgar stood alone. He won a temporal victory.
Christ alone won an eternal victory over sin.
Hail and the devil. Philippians 121 comes to mind.
For me to live as Christ and to die is gain.
I want you to close with one final thought.
Bear with me just for a couple of minutes.
The confidence of Shamdar. Shamdar entered into this
battle, this conflict against the enemy with just his ox code.
And he emerged victorious. And I've really encouraged you.
We're called to stand, we're called to salvation, and we're
called to service. And we have to apply that
personally. We have to apply it
congregationally. We have to apply it nationally.
We're called to stand against everything that robs us of our
identity, robs us of our heritage, robs us of our
liberty, robs us of the gospel, robs us of peace.
Let me illustrate. Could I encourage you this week
to go and sow the seed of the gospel?
You ask yourself, what can I do? I feel weak, I feel helpless.
Well, remember this little as much when God is in it.
You could visit the neighbour. You could speak to a friend on
the telephone. You could give out a little
tract when you're right in the bus or out shopping.
You could ask someone to come with you to the House of God.
You could pray for a soul to be saved.
You can give something, a gift, even for Catamega, for his
church. Do you know you could even
smell? Let me tell you this as we
finish. Spurgeon preached the 600 in the
Metropolitan Tabernacle. And when Spurgeon walked out of
his house where he lived in London, he walked past many
houses and the houses had children.
You know what he did? He stopped and he waved in to
the children when they were in the garden.
He asked them their name. He spoke kindly to them.
John Wesley did the same. And there was this man came to
the Tabernacle one time to hear Spurgeon to preach and got
converted and someone asked him, why did you come?
And he said, because Mr Spurgeon smiles and speaks to the
children. I thought that was tremendous.
See, the ox gold looked useless, a weak thing, but he used it for
God, and you can use what God has given you for him.
The ox gold controls the ox. It convicts or convinces the ox
to go forward. It conquers the ox.
Remember the Lord Jesus said to Saul of Tarsus on the road to
Damascus at noon. It's hard for thee to kick
against the pricks. See little as much when God is
on a take take. Take what you have and use it
for God. Don't lose your vision of
Christ. Don't lose your burden.
Use the weapon of the Word of God.
When I was down preaching and I'd finish with this at the City
Hall, I was thinking of these words from the book of Hebrews
in Hebrews chapter 4 and verse 12.
And remember what it says. For the Word of God is quick and
powerful and sharper than any 2 edged sword, piercing even to
the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and
marrow, and as a discerner of the thoughts and intense of the
heart. See the Bible says thus and thus
saith the Lord. We have a message for the
liberal theologian. We have a message for those who
want to employ cancel culture. And the message is this.
Thus saith the Lord. And we pick up our Bible and we
put it into our heart and into our mind and we press it home to
our understanding and we pray for light and help.
And then we pass it on to those that will listen.
We pray, speak Lord to 1's soul. That's what I've been doing down
at City Hall, standing there to preach the word of God.
There's no room for excuse. Shamdar didn't wait.
Better training, help arriving, more munitions, favourable
circumstances. No, he used what he had for the
Lord. And it was McShane said this.
It's not great talents the Lord uses, but great likeness to
Jesus Shamgar, a most unlikely Saviour.
And yet what a wonderful shadow that points us to the Saviour in
his service and witness. May the Lord take these few
thoughts and bless them to our heart.