Judges part 6 Chap. 13 - 16
Tonight
as we continue in our study in the book of Judges we will be examining a very
interesting Judge who doesn’t seems to have great luck with the women he
chooses. Of course this judge is Samson. Lets begin our study in.
Judges 13:1 Again
the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD
delivered them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years.
This is the 7th
and final time that we will read this phrase in this book that the children of
2 Corinthians
These are words to live
by. You see the more we become lax in our commitment to Gods truth the easier
it becomes for us to start adapting society or to the denominational world. How
many churches of Christ do you know of right now that used to be sound
congregations but now they have started adopting false ways. You see they have
allowed society and denominations to influence them and instead of staying away
from these false ways they have embraced them and now they are using musical
instruments in their worship assemblies and sharing their pulpits with
denominational preachers. I pray that we never let this happen here at Lone
Grove.
Judges 13:2 Now
there was a certain man from Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was
Manoah; and his wife was barren and had no children. 3 And the Angel of the LORD
appeared to the woman and said to her, "Indeed now, you are barren and
have borne no children, but you shall conceive and bear a son. 4 "Now therefore, please be
careful not to drink wine or similar drink, and not to eat anything
unclean. 5 "For behold,
you shall conceive and bear a son. And no razor shall come upon his head, for
the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to
deliver
Here we see that this
women could not bare a child but God had plans for this women to have a son
whom he would raise up to be the new judge for the children of
Judges 13:6 So the
woman came and told her husband, saying, "A Man of God came to me, and His
countenance was like the countenance of the Angel of God, very awesome;
but I did not ask Him where He was from, and He did not tell me His
name. 7 "And He said to
me, 'Behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. Now drink no wine or similar
drink, nor eat anything unclean, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God
from the womb to the day of his death.' "
8 Then Manoah prayed to the LORD, and said, "O my Lord,
please let the Man of God whom You sent come to us again and teach us what we
shall do for the child who will be born."
So his wife explains to
him what happens and then he prays to God that he might know what he is suppose
to do for the child. I really like this
concept of how is praying for wisdom on how to properly raise this child the
right way. I think every parent should pray to God for wisdom on how best raise
their child up in the Lord.
Judges 13:9 And God
listened to the voice of Manoah, and the Angel of God came to the woman again
as she was sitting in the field; but Manoah her husband was not with
her. 10 Then the woman ran in
haste and told her husband, and said to him, "Look, the Man who came to me
the other day has just now appeared to me!" 11 So Manoah arose and followed
his wife. When he came to the Man, he said to Him, "Are You the Man who
spoke to this woman?" And He said, "I am." 12 Manoah said, "Now let Your
words come to pass! What will be the boy's rule of life, and his
work?" 13 So the Angel
of the LORD said to Manoah, "Of all that I said to the woman let her be
careful. 14 "She may not
eat anything that comes from the vine, nor may she drink wine or similar drink,
nor eat anything unclean. All that I commanded her let her observe."
So basically Manoah has now witnessed with his own
eyes and ears the same message that was told to his wife.
Judges 13:15 Then
Manoah said to the Angel of the LORD, "Please let us detain You, and we
will prepare a young goat for You."
16 And the Angel of the LORD said to Manoah, "Though you
detain Me, I will not eat your food. But if you offer a burnt offering, you
must offer it to the LORD." (For Manoah did not know He was the
Angel of the LORD.) 17 Then
Manoah said to the Angel of the LORD, "What is Your name, that when
Your words come to pass we may honor You?" 18 And the Angel of the LORD said
to him, "Why do you ask My name, seeing it is wonderful?" 19
So Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering, and offered it upon the
rock to the LORD. And He did a wondrous thing while Manoah and his wife looked
on -- 20 it happened as the
flame went up toward heaven from the altar -- the Angel of the LORD ascended in
the flame of the altar! When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell on
their faces to the ground. 21
When the Angel of the LORD appeared no more to Manoah and his wife, then Manoah
knew that He was the Angel of the LORD.
22 And Manoah said to his wife, "We shall surely die,
because we have seen God!"
As I have stated many
times before I believe that the angle of the Lord found many times in the OT
was non-other then Jesus Christ in pre-incarnate state. Notice Manoah thought
they would die because they had seen God. But whatever view you take on who
this angel of the Lord was we can just imagine how scared this must of made
them. But as wives do many times we will see that she offers some comforting
words.
Judges 13:23 But his
wife said unto him, If the LORD were pleased to kill us, he would not have
received a burnt offering and a meat offering at our hands, neither would he
have shewed us all these things, nor would as at this time have told us such
things as these. 24 And
the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, and the
LORD blessed him. 25 And the
Spirit of the LORD began to move him at times in the camp of Dan between Zorah
and Eshtaol. <esh'-ta-ol>
Now in chapter 14 we
learn about Sampson first wife. I think many times we forget about her because
we always here the story of Sampson and Delilah. Lets begin in verse 1.
Judges 14:1 Now
Samson went down to Timnah, and saw a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the
Philistines. 2 So he went up
and told his father and mother, saying, "I have seen a woman in Timnah of
the daughters of the Philistines; now therefore, get her for me as a
wife." 3 Then his father
and mother said to him, "Is there no woman among the daughters of
your brethren, or among all my people, that you must go and get a wife from the
uncircumcised Philistines?" And Samson said to his father, "Get her
for me, for she pleases me well."
Samson parents wanted him
to marry a Jew which was the law of God but instead he choose to marry this
Philistine woman which brings us to a very difficult verse.
Judges 14:4 But his
father and mother did not know that it was of the LORD -- that He was seeking
an occasion to move against the Philistines. For at that time the Philistines
had dominion over
This verse indicates that
God wanted Sampson to marry this women in order to make a move against the Philistines.
Now there are 2 views to this verse some teach that Sampson had to marry this
women by the will of God others say that Sampson choose to marry this woman
even though it was against Gods law and the God would simply use this wrongful
marriage to begin the attack on the Philistines. While this may be a challenge
verse I think we can all agree that whatever the meaning God was going to use
this situation to begin his move against the philistines.
In verses 5-9 Samson goes
to see this new women and on his way he is attacked by a lion and the spirit of
God comes on him and he kills the lion. This is Samson first taste of the power
he has with the spirit of God being on him. This would give him the confidence
he needed to start defeating the Philistines latter on, after all if he could
easily kill a lion with his bare hands how much harder would it be to kill a
man. Well he goes and finds his women and he likes what he sees and on his way back to his parents he sees the lion he
killed know had some bees and honey in it and then eats some of the honey and
gives some to his parents but he doesn’t tell them where it came from.
Judges
Here we read about the
first bachelor party in the Bible except their party lasted for 7 days. That
was the typical amount time they spent in celebration of a marriage.
12
Then Samson said to them, "Let me pose a riddle to you. If you can
correctly solve and explain it to me within the seven days of the feast, then I
will give you thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothing. 13 "But if you cannot explain
it to me, then you shall give me thirty linen garments and thirty
changes of clothing." And they said to him, "Pose your riddle, that
we may hear it." 14 So
he said to them: "Out of the eater came something to eat, And out of the
strong came something sweet." Now for three days they could not explain
the riddle.
Now Samson challenges
these men with this riddle. He made this riddle up based upon on his encounter
with that lion and the honey that he eat out of it latter. Now the wager was
for 30 garments you wear under you
normal clothes and 30 outer garments. These men were so hard pressed to win the
challenge that they tried to squeeze the information out Samson’s new wife and
when he came down to the 7th day they even threatened to burn her
and her father if she didn’t find out the answer. So she cried and wined to
Sampson day after day until he could not stand it anymore and so he tells her
the answer and she in turn tells these men the answer.
18 So the men of the city said to him
on the seventh day before the sun went down: "What is sweeter than
honey? And what is stronger than a lion?" And he said to them:
"If you had not plowed with my heifer, You would not have solved my
riddle!" 19 Then the
Spirit of the LORD came upon him mightily, and he went down to Ashkelon and
killed thirty of their men, took their apparel, and gave the changes of
clothing to those who had explained the riddle. So his anger was aroused,
and he went back up to his father's house.
20 And Samson's wife was given to his companion, who
had been his best man.
Not only was he betrayed
by his new wife while he was gone she was giving to his best man as a wife now.
Now as we move into chapter 15 we see that Sampson still wanted his wife and he
came back to be with her and this is when he finds out that she was given to
his best man and then they try to offer him her younger sister and this makes
him mad so he takes 300 foxes and ties torches between their tails and lets
them go and they burn down the grains, vineyards and orchards and when the
Philistines find out the reason why he did this then they burn his wife and her
father to death. This makes Sampson mad and
so he takes revenge and he slaughter these Philistines.
Now more Philistines come
to take their revenge and the children of
Judges 15:14 When he
came to Lehi, the Philistines came shouting against him. Then the Spirit of the
LORD came mightily upon him; and the ropes that were on his arms became
like flax that is burned with fire, and his bonds broke loose from his
hands. 15 He found a fresh
jawbone of a donkey, reached out his hand and took it, and killed a thousand
men with it. 16 Then Samson
said: "With the jawbone of a donkey, Heaps upon heaps, With the jawbone of
a donkey I have slain a thousand men!"
17 And so it was, when he had finished speaking, that he
threw the jawbone from his hand, and called that place Ramath Lehi.
You see it was only
through power of God that he could pulled off such a feat. What an amazing
scene that must have been to see just 1 man armed with a jawbone to lay to rest
1000 men. This made Sampson tired and very thirsty.
Judges
So God provides for him
and it tells us that he judged for 20 years.
Judges 16:1 Now
Samson went to
What can I say but that
Samson certainly wasn’t a saint yet God seemed to still help in his battle
against the Philistines. Sometimes God would even use the wicked to bring about
a desired result. It has been estimated
that Samson carried these items for about 30 miles again showing the great
strength that he possessed.
Judges 16:4
Afterward it happened that he loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was
Delilah.
Now we see that Sampson finally meets Delilah. Now many assume that he made her his
wife but no where in the text does state that she was his wife. It certainly is
possible that she was just another Harlot that he was just staying with at the
time and of course it just as possible
that he took her as his wife. But in either case Sampson had finally met his
match with this lady. We already know from the past that he didn’t have the
greatest luck with women. His first wife
betrayed him out of fear but Delilah would betray him for lure of money.
The Philistines offered
her 1100 pieces of silver to find out what the source of strength was. So she
began to press him and work her charm on him to find out what his secret was
and so begins the game.
1. Judges 16:7 And Samson said to her, "If they bind
me with seven fresh bowstrings, not yet dried, then I shall become weak, and be
like any other man."
Well this was lie number 1 because as soon as she
yelled out the Philistines are upon you he jumped and broke from these
bowstrings.
2. Judges
Just like before she
yelled out the Philistines are upon you and he jumped and freed himself from
these new ropes. Now I am sure we have all heard the saying fool me once shame
on but fool me twice shame on me. Well you would think that that Samson would
start to figure things out but he just couldn’t see it. I guess he was blinded
by his love.
3. Judges
Once again Sampson lied
and once again he was able to break from web of the loom. Then Delilah pulled
out one of the oldest tricks in the book and began saying if you really love me
you will tell me and she keep on pressing day after day until he finally gave
in.
Judges 16:16 And it
came to pass, when she pestered him daily with her words and pressed him, so
that his soul was vexed to death, 17
that he told her all his heart, and said to her, "No razor has ever come
upon my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother's womb.
If I am shaven, then my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak, and be
like any other man." 18
When Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for
the lords of the Philistines, saying, "Come up once more, for he has told
me all his heart." So the lords of the Philistines came up to her and
brought the money in their hand. 19
Then she lulled him to sleep on her knees, and called for a man and had him
shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she began to torment him, and his
strength left him. 20 And she
said, "The Philistines are upon you, Samson!" So he awoke from
his sleep, and said, "I will go out as before, at other times, and shake
myself free!" But he did not know that the LORD had departed from
him. 21 Then the Philistines
took him and put out his eyes, and brought him down to
You see Sampson sold
himself out because of his weakness when
it came to women and now he was nothing more than a blind save.
Judges 16:22
However, the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been
shaven. 23 Now the lords of
the Philistines gathered together to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their
god, and to rejoice. And they said: "Our god has delivered into our hands
Samson our enemy!" 24
When the people saw him, they praised their god; for they said: "Our god
has delivered into our hands our enemy, The destroyer of our land, And the one
who multiplied our dead." 25
So it happened, when their hearts were merry, that they said, "Call for
Samson, that he may perform for us." So they called for Samson from the
prison, and he performed for them. And they stationed him between the pillars. 26 Then Samson said to the lad who
held him by the hand, "Let me feel the pillars which support the temple,
so that I can lean on them." 27
Now the temple was full of men and women. All the lords of the Philistines were
there -- about three thousand men and women on the roof watching while
Samson performed. 28 Then
Samson called to the LORD, saying, "O Lord GOD, remember me, I pray!
Strengthen me, I pray, just this once, O God, that I may with one blow take
vengeance on the Philistines for my two eyes!" 29 And Samson took hold of the two
middle pillars which supported the temple, and he braced himself against them,
one on his right and the other on his left.
30 Then Samson said, "Let me die with the
Philistines!" And he pushed with all his might, and the temple fell
on the lords and all the people who were in it. So the dead that he
killed at his death were more than he had killed in his life. 31 And his brothers and all his
father's household came down and took him, and brought him up and buried
him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of his father Manoah. He had judged
Once again Sampson was able
to receive God spirit and once again he used his strength to kill more
Philistines than he had in the past. Apparently as he pushed on these pillars
it causes a domino effect and thousands
of people died that day including Samson and again we see that he was judge for
20 years. Now when read the story of Sampson you see a lot of the negative things
that he did in his life but apparently he also did a lot of good because he is
mentioned in passing in Heb. 11.32 with all the other faithful men of the Bible
and certainly in the end we see that he God was back on his side as he was able
to use his strength to push down this temple. We can learn from Sampson that
even though we may have our ups and downs in our Christian walk of faith that
if we will remain true in the end that we to can be still be considered as a
faithful Christian. What is important for
us to remember is that if we fall down in sin don’t stay down instead
shake it off by repenting and confessing to God and get back and start walking
again keeping you eye on the goal of heaven.