Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1895-06-07
THE DEADLY OXG0AD
REV. OR. TALMkGE ON SHAMGAR'S
EFFECTIVE WEAPON.

tOry-Nee0 OF OOQb
New YORK, June 2.-In his sermon
today Rev. Dr. Talmage discusses one
Of the most heroic and picturesque char
acters in ancient Jewish history, a man
who. like many others who achieved
high distinction, came from the sturdy
rural classes-the agriculturists. The
subject of the sermon was "Shamgar' S
Oxgoad," the text being, After him
was Shamgar, which slew of the Philis-
tines 600 men with an oxgoad'' Judges
iii, 3D.
One day while Shamgar, the farmer,
was blowing with yoke of oxen, his
command Of whoa haw gee was changed
to the shout Of battle. Philistines, al
ways ready to make trouble, march uI
with sword and spear. Shamgar, the
plowman, had no sword and would not
probably have known how TO WELD it II
he had possessed one But fight he must
or 90 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 sharI
iron at one end to puncture the beast
and a 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
oxRoad and the iron scraper at the 9th
er il was not such a weapon as one
would desire to use in battle with armed
Philistines. But God helped the farmer
and leaving the oxen to look after them
selves he charged upon the invaders o.
his homestead.
Some Of the commentaries, to make Il
easier for Shamgar, suggest that per
haps he led a regiment Of farmers int
the combat, his oxgoad only one o.
many oxgoads But the Lord does no
need any of you TO help in making thu
Scriptures, and Shamgar, with the Lore
on his side, was mightier than 600 Phil
istines with the Lord against them. Th'
battle opened Shamgar, with muscle
strengthened by open air and plowman
and reaper's and thrasher's toll, uses th'
only weapon at hand, and he swings th'
oxgoad up and down, and this way ant
that. now stabbing with the iron proni
at one end Of it and now thrusting will
the iron scraper at the other, and nov
bringing down the whole weight Of tn
instrument upon the heads Of the enemy
The Philistines are in panic and tn
supernatural forces come in and blow
that would not under other clrcum
stances have Frustrated or slain left 1t
victim lifeless, until, when Shamga
walked over the field he counted lc
dead. 200 dead, 300 dead, 400 dead, so
dead, 600 dead-all the work done b.
an oxgoad with iron prong at one EN-
and an iron shovel at the other Th
fame Of this achievement by this tarme
with an awkward weapon of war sprea
abroad and lionized him, until he wa
hoisted into the highest place Of powe
and became the third Of the might
iudges Of Israel. So you see that Gin
cinnatus was not the only man LITE
from plow to throne.
For what reason was this unprece
dented and unparalleled victory OF
farmers oxgoad put into this Bible
where there was no spare room for tn
unimportant and the trivial?
The Choice OF Weapons.
1t was, first of all, to teach you an
TO teach me and to teach all past age
since then and to teach all ages to com
that in the war for God and against 81
we ought to put TO the best use the veal
on we happen to have on hand WI
did not Shamgar wait until he coul
get a war charger, with neck arched an
back caparisoned and nostrils sniffm
the battle afar off, or until he could g
war equipment or could drill reg
ment. and wheeling them into LII
command them forward to the charge
To wait for that would have been detei
and annihilation. So be takes the be
weapon he could lay hold Of, and tn;
is an oxgoad We are called into Il
battle for the right and against wronI
and many of us have not just the KIN
of weapon we would prefer. 1t may NJ
be a sword Of argument 1t may not
the spear Of sharp, thrusting wit.
may not be the battering ram OF d
nunciation.
But there is something we can do M
? some forces we can WELD Do not wa
for what you have not, but use VIII
you have. Perhaps you have not ell
uuence, but you have smile. Well,
3 smile Of encouragement has changed Il
behavior Of tens of thousands Of wa
derers and brought them back to G'
and enthroned them in heaven. II
3 cannot make a persuasive appeal, b
you can set an example, and a good e
ample has saved more souls than "
could count in year if you counted
the time. You cannot give $40, 200, b
you can give as much as the widow
the gospel, whose two mites, the sma
est coins of the Hebrews, were bestow
in such a spirit as to make her more
s nous than all the contributions tn
!. ever endowed all the hospitals and III
yersities Of all Christendom, Of all tim
You have very limited vocabulary, b
g you can say yes" or mo, and a III
ives" or an emphatic mo" has ira
ersed the centuries, and will traveI
all eternity, with good influence.
: may not have the courage to confront
Il large assemblage, but you can tell
, Sunday school class Of two-a boy a
a Rirl-how to end Christ, and one
9 them may become William Carey,
r start influences that will redeem Ind
and the other a Florence Nightinga
'' who will illumine battlefields cover
with the dying and the dead.
). That was tough case in town
n England where young lady, apply
" for a Sabbath school class, was told
Z the superintendent she would have
, pick up one out of the street. The wo
Of the class brought from the street "
one Bob. He was fitted out with
spectable clothing by the superinter
ent But after two or three Sabbat
he disappeared. He was found with
10 clothes in tatters, for he had been igl
inR. The second time Bob was well cl
lol Aftar coming once or tWl