The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1895-06-12
SHAMGAR'S 0NG0AD.
ITS USEASA WEAPON AGAINST THE
PfiiLlSTINES.

Rev. DR.. TaliaaSe Enforces the Necessity
of Using the Weapon We Have at Hand
For All Great Emergencies But We
Must Have God With Us.
New YORK, June 2.-In his sermon
today Rev. Dr. Talmage discusses one
of the most heroic and picturesque
characters in ancient Jewish history,
a man vino like many others who ac-
hieved high distinction. came from the
sturdy rural classes-the subject of the
sermon was ''Shamgar's Oxgoad," the
text being. After him was Sham gar,
which slew of the Philistines 600 men
with an oxgoad" Judges iii. 81.
One day while Shamgar, the farmer
was plowlng with yoke of oxen his
command of whoa -haw-gee was chang
ed to the shout of battle. Philistines,
always ready to make trouble, march
up with sword and spear The plowman
had no sword and would not probably
have known how to WELD it if he had
possessed one But fight he must or
60 down under the stroke of the Phil
istines. He had an oxgoad-a weapon
used to urge on the lazy team; weap-
on about eight feet long, with sharp
iron at one end to puncture the beast.
and wide iron chisel or shovel at the
other end with which to scrape the
clumps Of soil from the plowshare.
Yet. with the iron prong at one end of
the oxgoad and the iron scraper at
the other. it was not such weapon as
one would desire to use in battle with
armed Philistines. But God helped
the farmer, and leaving the oxen to
look after themselves he charged upon
the invaders of his homestead.
Some Of the commentaries to make
it easier for Shamgar suggest that per-
haps he led a regiment of famers into
the combat, his oXgoad only one of
many oxgoads. But the Lord does
not need any of you TO help in making
the Scriptures, and Shamgar. with the
Lord on his side, was mightier than
600 Philistines, with the Lord against
them. The battle opened. Shamgar,
with muscle strengthened by open air
and plowman's and reaper's and thras-
hers toll. uses the only weapon at
hand, and he swings the oxgoad up
and down, and this way and
and that, now stabbing with
the iron prong at one end of it.
and now thrusting with the iron scrap
er at the other, and now bringing
down the whole weight Of the instru-
ment upon the heads of the enemy.
The Philistines are in panic, and the
supernatural forces come in, and a
blow that would not under other cir
cumstances have porstrated or
slain left its victim lifeless,
until when Shamgar walked over the
field he counted 100 dead, 200 dead.
800 dead, 400 dead, 500 dead, 600 dead
all the work done by an oNgoad
with iron prong at oneend and an iron
shovel at the other. The fame
of this achievement by this
farmer with an awkward weapon
of war spread abroad and
lionized him until he was hoisted
into the highest place of power and be-
came the third of the mighty judges
of Israel. So you see that Cincinnatus
was not the only man lifted from plow
to throne.
For what reason was this unpreced-
ented and unparalleled victory of a far
mer's oxgoad put into:this Bible, where
there was no spare room for the un-
and the trivial.
Itwas, first Of all, to teach you, and
to teach me, and to teach all past ages
since then, and to teach all ages to
come that in the war for God and
against sin we ought to put to the best
use the weapon we happened to have
on hand. Why did not Shamgar wait
until he could get war charger, with
neck arched, and back caparisoned,
and nostrils smiling the battle afar
off, or until he could get war equip
ment, or could drill a regiment, and
wheeling them into line command
them forward to the charge?
To wait for that would have
been defeat and annihilation. So
he takes the best weapon he could lay
hold of. and that is an oxgoad. We
are called into the battle for the right,
and against wrong, and many OF us
have not Just the kind of weapon we
would prefer. It may not be sword
of argument. 1t may not be the spear
of sharp, thrusting wit. 1t may not
be the battering ram of denunciatlon:
But there is something we can do and
some forces we can WELD. Do not
wait for what you have not, but use
what you have Perhaps you
have not eloquence, but you
have a smile. Well, a smile of en-
couragement has changed the behavior
of tens of thousands of wanderers, and
brought them back to God, and en-
throned them in heaven. You cannot
make persuasive appeal, but you can
set an example, and a good example
has saved more souls than you could
count in a year if you counted all the
lime. You cannot give $4,000, but
YOU cen g;-e as much as the widow OF
.he gospel, whose two mites, the small
est coins of the Hebrews, were bestow-
I'd in such spirit as to make her more
famous than all the contributions that
ever enowded all the hospitals and
Of all Christendom of all
,ime. You have very limited vocabul-
ary, but you can say yes or no
md firm yes or an emphatic no
las traversed the centuries and will
all eternity with good III
luence. You may not have the cour-
age to confront a large assemblage,
o1t you can tell a Sunday school class
of two-a boy and a girl-how to find
Christ. and one Of them may become
. William Carey to start influences
hat will redeem India, and the other
| Florance Nightingale, who will Il
umine battlefields covered with the
lying and the dead. /
That was tough case in town OF
England where young lady, appl y