Some events are so horrific, something needs to be said by someone. But what is said, how it is said, and to whom it is said is important. Pastor Jason explores a difficult passage in Judges 19:20-30 and how it applies to our lives.
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Watch the whole service
at Ravenna Church of the Nazarene
Sunday at 10:45 AM ET
SHAMGAR
Our text today is found in a book of the
Bible that takes place after the death of Moses. God freed His people from Egypt,
gave them the Law, and led them to the Promised Land. Now Moses is dead. It is
also a period after Joshua, Moses’s successor. Joshua led God’s people through
a period of conquest, conquering the Promised Land. But now Joshua is dead.
All that brings us to the time of the
judges, and why the book bears that name. Judge is a term applied to heroes who
would rise and deliver God’s people. The Israelites went through cycles of
disobedience which led to them being oppressed by their enemies, then God sent
them a deliverer when they cried out to Him for help. Today we will be focusing
on the third judge in this period.
Judges 3:31(CSB)
After Ehud, Shamgar son of
Anath became judge. He also delivered Israel, striking down six hundred
Philistines with a cattle prod.
This is the Word of God.
For the people of God.
Thanks be to God.
There is not much in this one verse about
Shamgar. Especially when you compare this to the information about the first
judge. The first judge is Othniel.
In Judges 3:8, we read the Israelites are
disobedient to God, which led to them being oppressed by a neighboring nation.
After eight years, the Israelites cry out to God in verse 9, this is when the
Lord sends Othniel to deliver them. We read that Othniel is Caleb’s younger
brother, the Caleb who was the only spy from a team sent out by Moses who believed
God would help them overcome the giants in the Promised Land. (Numbers 13)
There is not much more information about Othniel, but more about him than
Shamgar.
There is not much about Shamgar in verse
31. Especially when you look at the information given on the second judge,
Ehud, in Judges 3:12-30.
Again, the Israelites are disobedient to
God. This time they are oppressed by the Moabite king, Eglon, who allies with
two other enemies of God’s people. After eighteen years of being oppressed by
Eglon, the Israelites cry out to God.
We have a lot of details on Ehud and his
act that leads to the deliverance of Israel. Ehud is left-handed, a key detail because
of where he hides a sword. Being left-handed was so unusual that King Eglon’s security
team did not check Ehud’s right thigh to see where the weapon was hidden. Alone
with Eglon in a locked room, Ehud stabs him in the gut. King Eglon is so fat
that his belly fat completely absorbs the blade. As his guards wait for an “embarrassing”
amount of time, Ehud sneaks out the window and rallies the people to victory.
There is not much on Shamgar, only verse
31, and a mention of him in Judges 5:6. That additional verse says, “In the
days of Shamgar son of Anath, the main roads were deserted because travelers
kept to the side roads.” It was dangerous to travel because the Philistines had
raiding parties coming into Israel unchecked. The Israelites had been
disobedient to God, and now they were suffering because of these raiding parties.
Unguarded villages were also vulnerable to these Philistine bands.
Shamgar is an unlikely deliverer for the Israelites.
He is believed to be a foreigner. “Anath” was the name of a Canaanite goddess
of sex and war, so this was not an Israelite title. But God chose Shamgar to
deliver his people.
While there is not a lot of information on
Shamgar, we do know his weapon is a piece of farm equipment. The CSB calls it a
cattle prod, but this is not like the instrument of our day which uses a gentle
shock to redirect livestock. This was an ox-goad, an eight-foot-long pole with
a metal tip to push or stir cattle. On the other end was a curved blade for
clearing a plow. Shamgar would use this as a weapon to kill six hundred
Philistines.
Both Ehud and Shamgar have a unique use of
a weapon in their stories. But unlike Ehud, there is no secret plot with
Shamgar. It is the story of a farmer who uses his farming tool to defeat the
enemies of Israel. Nothing more is shared about it.
These are all the details we have about
Shamgar. Perhaps there were too few survivors among the Philistines to tell the
story, only claims of a crazy farmer with a cattle prod. And there is a good chance
Shamgar lived in one of these unguarded villages, which would limit the number
of Israelites who would witness Shamgar’s heroics. But this one verse with these
limited details is all we have about Shamgar, the third judge of Israel.
As I was preparing, several of the
commentators compared Shamgar to Samson, who later in Judges whips the
Philistines with the jawbone of a donkey. Samson has a lot written about him,
so much so that Samson overshadows the minds of scholars as they try to explain
Shamgar. Shamgar has too few details in his story for us to grasp much of
anything to form a lot of discussion.
But that is exactly our application today.
Not everyone will have a story that is widely known by larger audiences. Most
of us will only be known and remembered by a small circle. We may have a tremendous
impact on those in our small circle, creating a never-ending ripple effect. And
that is what makes each of us important to the Kingdom of God.
Our audience is not an arena full of
people, it is an audience of One. And our faithfulness to Him is what matters.
If we are loving God and loving others, it will leave a legacy. It will be His
legacy.
Matthew Henry wrote in his commentary on Shamgar,
“He that has the residue of the Spirit could… make plowmen judges and generals,
and fishermen apostles.” Our life lived in glory to God is you and me taking
our one talent and investing it into the lives of people with the
transformational grace of Jesus. Mordecai opens his home to his niece Esther,
his love and encouragement empower her to live her life and rescue God’s people
from extinction. Jochebed loved Moses enough to send him floating down the Nile
River, without her sacrificial love Moses does not live to lead anyone. That is
what happens when we live for the audience of One.
You and I are important to God. We are
important far beyond what we know. God loves you and has your life in mind to
be a ripple in someone else’s life. No matter how boring or lacking in detail
our stories are, He can use us far beyond our circle. We matter in His story.
Need prayer? Have a question? Contact The Dirt Path Pastor
Pastor Jason will be preaching on a man named Shamgar, if you have no clue who that is, that is okay no one else really does either. Be sure to listen in to figure out how Shamgar's story applies to us.
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Watch the whole service
at Ravenna Church of the Nazarene
Sunday at 10:45 AM ET
I'LL PRAY FOR YOU
There is a story about a holy man who was meditating under a tree next to a river. The river began rising, and that was when he saw a scorpion stuck in the tree roots about to drown. So, the man crawled out on the roots to the scorpion. Of course, every time the man reached out the scorpion stung him. A passerby shouted, “Don’t you know that is a scorpion? And don’t you know it is the scorpion’s nature to sting you?” To this, the man replied, “That is true, but it is my nature to save. I don’t need to change my nature to save. I don’t need to change my nature because the scorpion will not change his.”
How many of us would have had that
attitude? How many of us would have seen the scorpion and cheered on the water?
Many of us have that attitude toward people. Sometimes it is because they think
so differently than us, we want to avoid the awkwardness of trying to connect.
Other times it is because the people are worse than the scorpion. However,
perhaps these attitudes make us like the scorpion. As followers of Jesus, we
are called to a different heart.
Daniel 4:19-27(CSB)
Then Daniel, whose name is
Belteshazzar, was stunned for a moment, and his thoughts alarmed him. The king
said, “Belteshazzar, don’t let the dream or its interpretation alarm you.”
Belteshazzar answered, “My
lord, may the dream apply to those who hate you, and its interpretation to your
enemies! The tree you saw, which grew large and strong, whose top reached to
the sky and was visible to the whole earth, and whose leaves were beautiful and
its fruit abundant—and on it was food for all, under it the wild animals lived,
and in its branches the birds of the sky lived—that tree is you, your majesty.
For you have become great and strong: your greatness has grown and even reaches
the sky, and your dominion extends to the ends of the earth.”
“The king saw a watcher, a
holy one, coming down from heaven and saying, ‘Cut down the tree and destroy
it, but leave the stump with its roots in the ground and with a band of iron
and bronze around it in the tender grass of the field. Let him be drenched with
dew from the sky and share food with the wild animals for seven periods of
time.’ This is the interpretation, Your Majesty, and this is the decree of the Most
High that has been issued against my lord the King: You will be driven away
from people to live with the wild animals. You will feed on grass like cattle
and be drenched with dew from the sky for seven periods of time, until you
acknowledge that the Most High is ruler over human kingdoms, and he gives them
to anyone he wants. As for the command to leave the tree’s stump with its
roots, your kingdom will be restored to you as soon as you acknowledge that Heaven
rules. Therefore, may my advice seem good to you my king. Separate yourself
from your sins by doing what is right, and from injustice by showing mercy to
the needy. Perhaps there will be an extension of your prosperity.”
This is the Word of God.
For the people of God.
Thanks be to God.
The crazy thing about this dream interpretation
is that Daniel has no problem figuring out what it means. He hears the dream
and goes silent. Verse 19 says, “Daniel was stunned for a moment, and his thoughts
alarmed him.” After hearing the dream, Daniel knew exactly what it meant, but that
caused him to create a moment of awkward silence.
King Nebuchadnezzar wanted to know what his
dream meant, even if it was bad. Daniel had earned his respect, so the king encouraged
Daniel to share. While Daniel did not want to share the message, this word was
not the prophet’s message, but God’s word to Nebuchadnezzar. The prophet had to
speak God’s truth.
The clarity of the interpretation speaks to
the ease of Daniel’s understanding of the dream. In his commentary, Adam Clarke
wrote, “The dream is so fully interpreted that in the following verses that it
needs no commentary.” Contrary to Clarke, I will give a summary of verses 20
through 26.
Ultimately, God is warning that the king
would go from the very top of power and knowledge to grazing in the field like
a cow. King Nebuchadnezzar would go from a symbol of worldly power to the
lowest of the low. His power had made him prideful, and God was going to remind
Nebuchadnezzar of his place. God was ruler of all, including Nebuchadnezzar and
his kingdom. This judgment would last until Nebuchadnezzar acknowledged God’s
sovereignty.
Keep in mind, this is the same
Nebuchadnezzar that we read about in Daniel chapter 3, who built a gigantic statue
of himself. He commanded everyone to worship this image of himself, and when
three men refused the king became so enraged he had them thrown in a fiery furnace.
It is a wonder Nebuchadnezzar did not fly off the handle here. Of course,
perhaps the memory of a fourth person in the fire was enough to give him ears
to hear, at least for a moment.
Understanding the severity of the word,
Daniel offers King Nebuchadnezzar sound advice in verse 27. He suggests that
the king repents. Only this repentance had to be more than lip service and even
outward actions. Daniel was calling Nebuchadnezzar to “rend his heart” of evil
and turn to God, evidenced by his treatment of those subject to him. Especially
the people Nebuchadnezzar conquered. God expected Nebuchadnezzar to rule the
Hebrews, as well as others, in the same manner as the kings over the Israelites,
ruling in justice and righteousness.
Sadly, even with this warning,
Nebuchadnezzar would not change his ways. He would lose his mind and spend
seven years grazing like a cow. While there is a lesson in this, that is not
our focal point. Our focal point has to do with a holy man and a scorpion.
Look at verse 19, remember Daniel’s hesitation
and awkward pause? Remember how he says, “I wish this applied to your enemies”?
Why would Daniel behave that way and begin his interpretation with that
introduction? It could be because he hoped Nebuchadnezzar’s enemies used this
against the king. But as a believer in Jesus who thinks that His call to
holiness wants us to think the best of one another, I do not think that is the
case. I think Daniel pauses because his heart is filled with compassion for
Nebuchadnezzar. He has compassion for the king who conquered his homeland, took
him away as a captive, and tried to force him to adopt Babylonian life, giving
Daniel a proper Babylonian name. Instead of praying for a piano to fall on the
king’s head, the prophet has genuine compassion for his oppressor.
As harsh as God’s word of judgment to Nebuchadnezzar
seems, this warning through a dream is an offer of mercy. God warns Nebuchadnezzar
to change his ways twelve months before it happens. Daniel, unaware of the
exact timeline sees this window of opportunity, so he gently and kindly extends
the mercy of God to the king.
The scorpion does not change his nature,
but neither does Daniel! He has faith in God and lived a holy life that showed
his love for God. That love led Daniel to love King Nebuchadnezzar, who was
different from him in almost every way.
This passage reminds us of an important truth.
The Bible tells us “For the wages of sin is death.” Our sin leads to destruction,
death, and eternal separation from God. As followers of Jesus, we know this is
why we need to repent, take up our cross, and follow Jesus. However, we also
need to remember this truth applies to everyone. And that includes people who
are different from us, even those we consider our enemies. Our heart for those
different from us, those who are our enemies, reveals what is most important to
us.
The heart of Jesus longs after our enemies
like a lost sheep, one He is willing to leave us for to go and find. Jesus is
searching for those people different from us like a lost coin. He is waiting to
see them walking down the road like a prodigal returning home, waiting to run
out and greet them.
If we are Christ’s followers, this is the
heart we are called to have. This does not mean we overlook their sins and
shortcomings. Nor does it mean there are no issues that need to be addressed.
And it does not mean we have to be their best friend. It means we must be
willing to accept them at God’s table, pointing them to how to get there. When
we pray for them, it is not that a piano falls out of the sky on their head.
Our prayer is that they would hear Jesus calling and be transformed.
Need prayer? Have a question? Contact The Dirt Path Pastor
King Nebuchadnezzar had invaded his homeland, led him away as a prisoner, and looked down on him as a person, Daniel had every reason to dislike the king. But when Daniel is called upon, he reveals a heart many of us would not have at that moment. Pastor Jason shares a message from Daniel 4:19-27.
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Watch the whole service
at Ravenna Church of the Nazarene
Sunday at 10:45 AM ET
SMASH TO PIECES
I love football. My favorite thing to watch
is football. When I play video games, I love football games. It does not matter
the level, I love the game.
As much as I love football, I love Jesus
more. Jesus loved me enough to lay down His life for me, the least I can do is yield
my life to Him. I love watching Jesus work in our midst, seeing what happens
when you and I yield to His Holy Spirit. Seeing all of you worship Jesus is the
greatest encouragement to me.
The first commandment of the Ten
Commandments is about loving God and worshipping Him, and nothing else. We
cannot truly love God if we worship anyone or anything alongside Him. Our
passage today is about the lengths we must go to to worship God.
Exodus 23:20-26(CSB)
“I am going to send an angel
before you to protect you on the way and bring you to the place I have prepared.
Be attentive to him and listen to him. Do not defy him, because he will not
forgive your acts of rebellion, for my name is in him. But if you will
carefully obey him and do everything I say, then I will be an enemy to your
enemies and a foe to your foes. For my angel will go before you and bring you
to the land of the Amorites, Hethites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites, and
Jebusites, and I will wipe them out. Do not bow in worship to their gods, and
do not serve them. Do not imitate their practices. Instead, demolish them and
smash their sacred pillars to pieces. Serve the LORD your God, and he will
bless your bread and your water. I will remove illnesses from you. No woman
will miscarry or be childless in your land. I will give you the full number of
your days.”
This is the Word of God.
For the people of God.
Thanks be to God.
It is important here at the beginning that I
mention this word is specifically for the children of Israel. God has freed
them from Egypt, and now they are headed to the Promised Land. The promises in
this chapter apply directly to them. But this does not mean there is not an
application here for us, because God has a word for us amid this specific
promise.
In verse 20, God says, “I will send my
angel before you.” This angel is being sent to protect and lead the Israelites.
And if you read ahead, He will as a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.
However, there is something peculiar about this angel. Verses 21 and 22
highlight an unusual amount of authority given to this angel. God also states, “My
name is in him.” It is worded as if this angel is God Himself.
Many scholars believe this is the pre-incarnate
Christ. In Acts, Jesus appears to Paul on the road to Damascus, it is amid a bright
light, like this angel in Exodus will do leading the Israelites. When Jesus is
on the mountain of Transfiguration, it says Jesus is enveloped in a bright
cloud of light. In Matthew 17:5, a voice is heard from the cloud saying, “This
is my Son whom I love dearly. I am very pleased with him. Listen to him.” That
last sentence echoes what God says in Exodus 23:21 to the Israelites about the
angel, “Listen to him.”
What God is saying to the Israelites is the
key to victory is listening to and obeying pre-incarnate Jesus. Their obedience
to Jesus would lead them to success against all odds and obstacles they will
face. In verse 21, God says to them, “Do not defy him, because he will not forgive
your acts of rebellion.” Disobedience on their behalf would be because in their
hearts they do not love God. If you do not love God it is impossible to worship
Him. And they cannot be forgiven if they do not worship God.
Their journey to the Promised Land would
lead them to nations and cultures that did not love God. These nations would be
worshipping different gods and using their unique practices to do so. God would
not lead the Israelites away from those practices but through the people
practicing them. In verse 24, God says, “Do not worship their gods. Do not
adopt their practices.” God wanted the Israelites to worship Him the way He
commanded them to do so. And that begins with the Israelites worshipping God
alone, evidenced by their obedience.
Now, it was not enough for them to go in
and ignore the false worship that surrounded them. The Israelites were to overthrow
these gods and demolish the practices. This was a preventative measure for their
worship of God, and God revealing His greatness through their obedience to the
cultures of the world.
It is important to note God’s plan for His people
has not changed. While God commanded a military conquest for the Israelites,
for the Church He has called us to be subversive through love for God and
people. The message of salvation through Jesus and the radical transformation
that follows up ends the ways of the world. We no longer conform to their
patterns. The times and methods are different, but no less effective. And the key
to our victory with Jesus is based on our deep love for God.
Verses 25 and 26 show how God will be
faithful to the Israelites if they listen and obey. God will provide for their needs,
and God will protect them from enemies and elements they encounter. Again,
these promises are specific to the Israelites as they journey through the
wilderness to the Promised Land. We all know godly people who struggle in our
day. But we do have Jesus as our bread of life and living water with His promise
of everlasting life.
While the Israelites were called to be
obedient, these promises were conditional based on their performance. This does
not mean God’s faithfulness is based on performance. God is good and does
things out of love. Obedience is an outward evidence of trust in God, and trust
is a foundational element in love. Performance matters not because it obligates
God to move on our behalf, but because it reveals our heart for Him.
These words spoken by God were shared with
the people of God, not the world. God’s word to the world was His people living
out their love for Him. The application of this passage is not for the world but
for us, the followers of Jesus. This is to be a group project of the Church
universal, including us here at Ravenna Church of the Nazarene. The only way we
can do this collectively is if you and I accept this truth personally and live
it out.
You and I are called to worship God only.
While the Israelites were called to trust in the pre-incarnate Christ, we have
the revelation of God incarnate. Jesus is God in the flesh who died on the
cross and rose again so everyone could be forgiven and set free from sin. We
believe that Jesus is our everything. Because of what Jesus did to demonstrate
God’s love to us, we love Jesus by listening to Him and living our lives in
obedience to Him.
Just as Jesus is for us, we are for Jesus. We
are not against anyone, but we no longer live subject to the patterns of this world.
The things the world chases (or worships) we do not because Jesus is greater.
To truly love Jesus and live in obedience to Him, we must do away with the
world in us. If we do away with the world in us and live our lives for Jesus,
our lives will go into the world and expose the idols the world holds dear.
The idols of our world today are not so much
physical objects as they were in the Old Testament. Today’s idols are ideas the
world believes will make them happy, demonstrated by their actions and desires.
We are being sent out by Jesus with the power of the Holy Spirit to topple these
things. And to be clear, we are not against people or even their practices, we
are for Jesus. The Church is so much for Jesus that we chose Him over these
other things that others use to take His place.
Here are the idols we need to reject in our
hearts and minds to demonstrate our faith in Jesus, which will challenge the
world’s claims:
1) Pleasure. People seek
activities that feel good physically and give their brains temporary feelings
of happiness. The trouble is they come back to reality and must seek pleasure again.
But we are for Jesus. He invites us to cast our anxieties on Him and to trust
Him with our burdens. We do pleasurable things, but those things are bonuses to
the joy already in our hearts.
2) Entertainment. Music and
movies are used to escape life and to see a false definition of good triumphing
over evil. This gives hope that evil can be overcome, but unfortunately, this
hope only exists in a fantasy land or place far from where they are. But we are
for Jesus and do not need distractions. He is God who is good and who has
overcome evil. That is our daily and everlasting reality.
3) Money. They believe if they
can have all the money all their problems are gone and they can have the means
to fulfill all their desires. If all their desires are fulfilled, then they
will be happy and so will their family. Unfortunately, more money equals more
problems, with more to lose. But we are for Jesus. Money has a place, but Jesus
is our desire and will provide all we need.
4) Success. It feels good to
win and to reach the top. Accomplishments bring praise, promotions, and more.
However, a bigger fish always comes along. But we are for Jesus. Success to us
is glorifying God. It is not that others do not matter, but we do not seek
validation from them. God loves us and is proud of us, and this propels us to
keep going.
5) Security. They seek weapons,
armies, conformity in thinking, and control. Evil always finds a way to take
what is meant for protection and use it for cruelty. Human hearts are
susceptible to taking up cruelty in the name of peace. But we are for Jesus. He
is our peace. We are not against guns or armies, but we know Jesus wins.
6) Routine. They think routines
are what will sustain happiness. Routines get disrupted by job changes, family
changes, and a world constantly changing. But we are for Jesus, God who never
changes.
7) Tradition or the past. If
things could go back to the way they were, then the good times will return. The
problem is time moves forward not backwards. But we are for Jesus, whose
victory is now. His work is complete and is completing in us as we wait for His
Kingdom to fully arrive.
If you are clinging to one of these idols, let go and follow Jesus. He is what you are truly seeking. If you are clinging to Jesus, worship Him in Spirit and live out truth. This will challenge the world’s idols and topple them in hearts through His transformational love. Amen.
Need prayer? Have a question? Contact The Dirt Path Pastor
We are continuing our series “Things to think about.” This is not a series meant to sway toward any particular candidates, I believe ...
