Shamgar, the son of Anath is the focus of this edition’s interview segment. He is mentioned in verse 31 of Judges Chapter 3. Shamgar is credited with saving Israel from the Philistines by killing 600 of them with an ox goad.
Shepherd Heart: Thank you for honouring our invitation Sir.
Shamgar: The pleasure is mine.
Shepherd Heart: Our readers would love to know more about you, especially the environment you grew up in Israel after the death of Joshua.
Shamgar: (Laughs). What exactly can I say about myself that you don’t know already? My family background and military exploits are captured in two sentences in the Bible. What can I add to these without altering Scripture?
Shepherd Heart: Yeah. We agree with you. But you can safely share your experiences growing up in that era of Israel’s history.
Shamgar: Of course. I was a third or fourth generation Israelite from the time of Joshua. He had long gone before I was born, so I did not really know much about the relationship between Israel and God through the eyes of his generation. The exodus story was still fresh in our memories though, despite the fact that it happened more than 60 years before I was born. By this time, religion had set in and we had started interacting actively with our pagan neighbours, thus opening the doors to pagan religion in Israel. Interestingly, we, the people of God could not influence our neighbours to accept our faith.
Shepherd Heart: Why were you not able to point them to the true God?
Shamgar: The reason is simple. We assumed that we could not transfer Jewishness to people of other cultures. The same situation subsists in your generation. Jews do not proselyte Gentiles.
Shepherd Heart: Is there any Scriptural basis for that posture?
Shamgar: Yes. Several Scriptures barred Jews from marrying non-Jews. I am sure you have read Balaam’s prophesy in Numbers Chapter 23, verse 9. He said, “For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him: lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations.” Clearly, God’s desire was to make Israel a unique nation to manifest His power and holiness.
Shepherd Heart: From the account of the Bible, I am not sure God wanted Israel to be totally separated from its neighbours. After all, He emphasised the need for them to welcome strangers. I believe that Israel was to be separated unto the LORD to be used as an instrument to lead other nations to God. Could you not have achieved this without falling into idolatry?
Shamgar: I agree with you that there is no way we would have completely cut off ourselves from our pagan neighbours. We needed to trade with them of course. The problem with ancient Israel centred on its tendency to play the harlot with other deities. On the other hand, the pagans were too loyal to their little gods to be attracted to the God of Israel. Even Almighty God raised this fact in Jeremiah Chapter 2, verse 11, “Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? But My people have changed their glory for useless idols.”
Shepherd Heart: In your view, what were the triggers for these idolatrous outings by Israel?
Shamgar: Primarily, most humans want to serve gods they can control through offering of sacrifices. You and I know that no one can control the great I AM. In addition, the Israelites saw what they thought were visible evident of the intervention of these gods in the lives of their pagan worshippers. For instance, gods of fertility or sexuality manifested in forms that convinced their devotees that their prayers were answered. On the other hand, while Almighty Jehovah wanted us to trust Him to provide for our needs in His own time, we desired gods that were tangible and could attend to our needs immediately, once we met their conditions; which usually included child sacrifice.
Shepherd Heart: Wow! This reminds me of what the LORD said in Jeremiah Chapter 2, verse 13, “For My people have committed two evils; they have forsaken Me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.” In the book of Judges, I noticed that they returned to God each time He sent them someone to deliver them from their enemies. You witnessed this, at least during the time of Ehud who ruled the nation after he killed king Eglon of Moab. Was the departure from the ways of God due to lack of effective leadership?
Shamgar: Israel was no longer a nation at the time of the Judges. It was fragmented along tribal and clannish lines. Therefore, leadership was not that strong to hold us together. The basic issue is that the people did not know the God of their fathers. To most of us at this time, the God who spoke to Moses or did great things through him was a mirage. Don’t get me wrong. There were people in our midst that had established relationship with God. Nevertheless, they were in the minority. Israel did not come out of this state until the time of Samuel, which transformed into the kingdom under Saul, the first king.
Shepherd Heart: Currently, the nature of idolatry under ancient Israel is manifesting in the church. That is actually one of the reasons for the proliferation of denominations with emphasis on their contrived doctrines. What do you think Christians can do to address this error?
Shamgar: We, the cloud of witnesses in heaven often wonder why you have allowed and promoted these differences despite the fact that you use the same Bible and ought to be taught by the same Holy Spirit. Our conclusion is that most believers do not accept the ministry of God’s Spirit. He is the only one empowered by the Father to lead you into all truth. Only the truth can consume lies. The moment the Holy Spirit is denied its rightful place in the church, something else takes its place and that is the spirit of error. Therefore, my advice to the body of Christ is that it should preach and embrace the whole counsel of God. The first letter of John Chapter 5, verse 7 says, “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost; and these three are one.” There are denominations that are strong in the word but reject the Holy Spirit; others focus on the Spirit and neglect the word. An imbalanced gospel is an invitation to the spirit of error. Once believers embrace the full counsel of God and hide under the shadow of the Father, they would be protected from all lies and deceptions of satan.
Shepherd Heart: Thank you very much for your counsel. We pray that our readers will take it to heart and walk in the truth always.
Shamgar: Thank you once again for having me.