Shamgar the Son of Anath (Judges 3:31)

2022-04-08

Most will never amount to fame in this world. We may feel the need to “keep up with the Joneses,” amass fortunes, be in the “in” crowd, become smarter, become more esteemed, or something else to feed our pride. For what cause, though? In the Lord, we rather should quietly do our part to serve Him.

Shamgar was such a man: “And after him was Shamgar the son of Anath, which slew of the Philistines six hundred men with an ox goad: and he also delivered Israel” (Judges 3:31). He was later celebrated in Deborah’s song: “In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were unoccupied, and the travellers walked through byways” (Judges 5:6). We know nothing else about this man. When the Lord appointed this judge to deliver His people, Shamgar took up what he had, an ox goad. He had neither bow nor sword. He took what he had and did what he needed to deliver the Lord’s people. Because the Lord was with Him, one man beat 600.

Seek the Lord’s will, which by doing so we will inevitably magnify Him and humble ourselves. Heaven will be filled with people whose names we do not know whom the Lord used for His purposes.

This is a part of the Judges of Israel series. To go back to the table of contents, proceed here.