Samson: A Most Unlikely Savior - [Judges 13-16]

I would invite you to take a Bible and to open it to Judges, not Acts, but Judges, primarily because I didn't think Judges, being the seventh book of the Old Testament, I didn't think I really would have sufficient time to do justice to the narrative of Paul getting saved.

So we're going to Judges chapter 13, 14, 15, and 16. Talk about time. It's kind of strap-in time.

I like mysteries.

Janet and I will watch mysteries and try to figure out who's doing what, question each other, and then explain why we were wrong later on. But one of the things that drew me to this many years ago was the mystery, and J .C. Ryle, the reason I brought this up is because I thought, well, this sums it up well.

Suppose an unholy man went to heaven. I dare say, you could probably search throughout the entire Bible, and you would struggle to find somebody more unholy than Samson. He might be, I don't know, we can discuss this after the service, but he might be the worst guy in the Bible in terms of people who get to heaven.

He's in Hebrews 11, the hall of faith, and that is a mystery. How can an unholy man get to heaven? The theme of Judges, as many of you know, is in Judges 21 -25. In those days, there was no king in Israel.

Everyone did what was right in his own eyes. Now, let me just say, that describes Samson to a tee. He did whatever was right in his own eyes. And this morning, we're going to move rather quickly through these chapters, although I'm going to try to read all of it if I can.

And we have three uns, all in regard to Samson, so that we might be encouraged, not by Samson, you know, this isn't a dare to be a Samson sermon. I like to think of it that way, too. Dare to be a Samson.

Live like however you want, and then see if God will save you at the last. Not a good plan. If the Old Testament, as it's written, exists to provide us examples, Samson is Mr. Bad Example. Don't do this.

But, the story of Samson is a great example of the faithfulness of Yahweh, his patience, and his steadfast love. Our first un is Samson's unlikely parents. His unlikely parents. And by the way, point number two is way long, and so it's got three sub-points.

Just warning you ahead of time. Samson's unlikely parents. Look at verse one, chapter 13. And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. So the Lord gave them into the hands, or the hand of the Philistines for forty years.

Now, here's the typical cycle of Israel during the time of the judges. They apostatize, which is to say they follow after false gods. The Lord punishes them. He oppresses them. With some foreign power of another or another.

Then there's a cry of relief from the people. And then the Lord delivers them. In other words, they repent and then they get deliverance. They get forgiveness. So again, looking at verse one, the people of Israel again.

This is their habit. It's a nice way of saying they've fallen into a widespread pattern of idolatry. As Scott just read, they carve themselves a little image out of a piece of wood, and fall down on the ground and worship it.

Israel's living under Philistine rule. That's what it means when it says that the Lord gave them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years. The Philistines control the area. So we should see them in this oppression, because they're in oppression, but we should see them then crying for relief.

But they don't. In fact, one of the things we'll observe in this text is not only are they not crying for relief, they're very content with the status quo that they have with the Philistines. Why is that?

Before I answer that question, let's just talk about these Philistines, the bad guys. The guys with the black hats. The people that we don't like. And during the time of Samson, they were Israel's major enemy.

They were a group of people who came from islands near Greece around 1200 BC. And they eventually settle in the southern coastal plain of Israel, which is where all the good farmland is.

That's where you want to be.

The Philistines also had better technology than Israel. They had iron versus the bronze of Israel. So they could have used military means to just wipe out the Israelites. But they didn't do that. They were more clever than that.

They were using intermarriage. That is to say, they were going to essentially marry the Jews out of existence. And it was because they were using this non-violent method of controlling them that the Israelites were not crying out for deliverance.

They were not suffering. So instead, they just turned their back on God. The Philistines were God's chosen means to chasten His people for their idolatry. And instead of seeing the danger that was upon them, they were just enjoying peace and prosperity.

So now we have the stages set for one of the most amazing birth announcements ever. Getting back to their Samson's unlikely parents. His birth announcement is absolutely amazing. And it's amazing because it's made by the pre-incarnate Jesus.

And He shows up not just once, but twice. Look at verse 2. There was a certain man of Zorah, of the tribe of the Danites, whose name was Manoah. And his wife was barren and had no children. And the angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, Behold, you are barren and have not born children, but you shall conceive and bear a son.

Therefore be careful and drink no wine or drink and eat nothing unclean, for behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. No razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb, and he shall begin to save Israel from the hands of the Philistines.

Now, the angel of the Lord, as will become plain here, is God in the flesh, in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's interesting that Samson's mom, who's not named here, but she's told about this upcoming birth.

I mean, first of all, you're barren and you don't have any children. Okay, tell me something I don't know, right? But she is given the command to start obeying the Nazarite vow in preparation for the coming of her son.

It's not normal to tell somebody, I mean, maybe don't drink or anything like that while you're pregnant, but she's to obey. No razor on her head or anything like that. Don't cut your hair. Don't touch any dead thing before the baby's even born.

Now, normally that's a voluntary vow, and there are three Nazarite prohibitions. Number one, no wine or intoxicating drink, no cutting of the hair, and no contact with the dead. So, Samson was to be a Nazarite to God from the womb to the day of his death.

So, Samson's mom, the woman, verse six, then the woman came and told her husband, a man of God came to me, and his appearance was like the appearance of the angel of God. Very awesome. So, you could say that, kids.

Very awesome. I did not ask him where he was from, and he did not tell me his name. But he said to me, Behold, you will conceive and bear a son, so then drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean, for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb to the day of his death.

Then Manoah, dad, prayed to the Lord and said, O Lord, please let the man of God whom you sent come again to us and teach us what we are to do with the child who will be born.

In other words,.

We're going to get this young Nazarite, we don't know anything about what his life, how he's supposed to be raised, or anything about him. And God listened to the voice of Manoah, and the angel of God came again to the woman as she sat in the field.

But Manoah, her husband, was not with her. So it's like, hang on, look at this. So the woman ran quickly and told her husband, Behold, the man who came to me the other day has appeared to me. And Manoah arose and went after his wife and came to the man and said to him, Are you the man who spoke to this woman?

I just, this just, it amuses me only because like she didn't remember? She'd forgotten? No, this is him. But listen to his answer. And he said, I am.

Not yes, but I am.

I think there's a clue there. And Manoah said, Now when your words come true, what is to be the child's manner of life? And what is his mission? And the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, Of all that I said to the woman, let her be careful.

She may not eat of anything that comes from the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink or eat any unclean thing. All that I commanded her, let her observe. You notice what's missing there? An answer to Manoah's question.

There's nothing. He says, what are we supposed to do with this kid? The angel of the Lord says, This restates the instructions for the wife. Manoah says to the angel of the Lord,.

Please let us detain you.

And prepare a young goat for you. And the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, If you detain me, I will not eat of your food. But if you prepare a burnt offering, then offer it to the Lord. For Manoah did not know that he was the angel of the Lord.

And Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, What is your name? So that when your words come true, we may honor you. And the angel of the Lord said to him, Why do you ask my name? Seeing it is wonderful.

Now when he says that, Why do you ask my name? Seeing it is wonderful.

When we...

Often times in the Bible, a person's name reflects who they are. And when we're talking about God, it reflects His character and His attributes. The Hebrew word here means marvelous. It's translated wonderful, but it's either marvelous or incomprehensible.

From Psalm 139 .6 Such knowledge is too wonderful to me. It's too high. I cannot attain to it. So that idea of wonderful, he says, that's my name. I'm incomprehensible. Back to the text, verse 19. So Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering and offered it on the rock to the Lord, to the one who works wonders.

And Manoah and his wife were watching. And when the flame went up toward heaven from the altar, the angel of the Lord went up in the flame of the altar. Now Manoah and his wife were watching and they fell on their faces to the ground.

I can remember when somebody else ascended up into heaven and people were watching and what did they do? They stood there in awe. They were amazed. And look what they do. Now Manoah and his wife were watching and they fell on their faces to the ground.

They just watched them disappear. The angel of the Lord appeared no more to Manoah and his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of the Lord. And Manoah said to his wife, We're in trouble. We shall surely die, for we have seen God.

But his wife said to him, If the Lord had meant to kill us, he would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering at our hands, or shown us all these things, or now announced to us such things as these.

If he wanted to kill us, he wouldn't be giving us this baby. He wouldn't be giving us this responsibility. Verse 24, And the woman bore a son and called his name Samson. Now we have to pause there for a moment.

When we just think about what's happened. God appearing to them. God promising them this son after years of being barren. They named their son Samson. Scholars think that basically this is a name that honors a local sun god.

In other words,.

They're surrounded by idolatry. God's determined to put an end to idolatry. And these parents are so ignorant that they name their son after an idol. We would expect to see a name like Samuel. You know, something, a tribute to God.

But no, we get Samson. And the young man grew, and the Lord blessed him. And as the spirit of the Lord began to stir in him in Manaheden between Zorah and Eshtoel. So, those are his unlikely parents. They name him after a local sun god because again, in judges, everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

Samson's Ungodly Behavior

Our second un, Samson's ungodly behavior. And I said this is the longest one, and I wasn't kidding. Samson was called to be a judge. But in Israel, judges were different than how we think of judges. We think of them as people in black robes who run around interpreting the law and declaring people innocent or guilty.

But in ancient Eastern culture, ruling and judging were intimately connected. I mean, even if we just think about how Moses got caught up in having to adjudicate all these things so he eventually appointed helpers.

But the judges were not kings. They did not rule because Israel was still a theocracy with Yahweh as her king. So, rather than sitting in courtrooms, the judges were kind of avengers.

Did I say that?

They were warriors whom God used to rescue his people from whatever danger they faced.

In other words,.

They judged Israel's enemies on behalf of the Lord. But Samson is more a reflection of God's people than he was a reformer of them. And we'll see that by his ungodly behavior. First ungodly behavior, seeking a Philistine wife.

Now that's just, that's mind-blowing.

His job,.

What God told his parents was that he was to begin separating Israel from the Philistines. Separating them out so they could go back to being God's holy people. But look at chapter 14, verse 1. Seeking a Philistine wife.

Then Samson went down to Timnah and saw a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines. So he came back and told his father and mother, I saw a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines.

Now therefore, get her for me as a wife. Make it happen. By the way, if any child ever speaks to a parent like that, give me a call.

So,.

He sees this woman. She attracts him. So he then commands his parents to arrange a wedding with her. Everything about this is wrong. The Israelites were not to be, I mean, there wasn't a specific prohibition against marrying Philistines because they didn't exist when all the laws were handed down.

They weren't a threat back then. But this can hardly be construed as honoring your mother and father. Our first little picture of Samson as an adult is that he's lustful, proud, and selfish. And that's a pretty accurate picture of him.

We also get some additional insights into his parents in verse three here. But his father and mother chapter 14, his father and mother said to him, is there not a woman among the daughters of your relatives or among all our people that you must go and take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?

They're trying to say, don't do this.

But they don't do it.

But Samson said to his father, get her for me for she is right in my eyes. Other translations say, she looks.

Good to me. His father.

And mother did not know that it was from the Lord for he was seeking an opportunity against the Philistines at the time the Philistines ruled over Israel. Again, emphasizing that. What does that mean?

Did God cause Samson.

To do this? No.

Because God is not the author of sin. But he uses secondary causes, and in this case Samson's lust, Samson's failure was part of God's plan to bring about the salvation.

Of his people.

Verse five, then Samson went down to his father and mother, went down with them to Timnah, and they came to the vineyards of Timnah. Now, I have to pause here for just a moment and say apparently there's some kind of separation here because his parents don't know that this happens.

So they go down there, and then sometime later.

A young.

Lion comes toward him, Samson, roaring. Then the spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, and although he had nothing in his hand, he tore the lion in pieces as one tears a young goat. But he did not tell his father or mother what he had done.

Obviously they're not with him. Then he went down and talked with the woman, the woman that he wanted, and she was right in Samson's eyes. And by the way, even that's wrong. Because the custom then was not to talk to a woman until you were engaged.

And he's not engaged. A little different than it is now, right? Everybody wants to date. He didn't do that then. After some days, he returned to take her. Again, wrong. And he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion.

And behold, there was a swarm of bees in the body of the lion, and honey. He scraped it out into his hands and went on eating as he went. As he came to his father and mother, and gave some to them, and they ate.

But he did not tell them that he had scraped the honey from the carcass of the lion. Why? Because that would have made them ceremonially unclean. In other words, he's not only sinning, breaking his Nazirite vow by touching dead things, but he's even giving uncleanness to his mother and father.

Verse 10, his father went down to the woman, and Samson prepared a feast there, so the young men.

Used to do.

So here's the picture. Dad has arranged kind of a premarital feast, and we'll see that here in a moment. As soon as the people saw him, Samson, they brought 30 companions to be with him. Now these are all Philistines.

This is like his bachelor party. And Samson said to them, this thing would go on for seven days, there's a lot of drinking and raucous behavior, so basically we can assume, because the customs of the day, that he's drinking, another violation of his Nazirite vow.

And Samson said to them, to these 30 Philistines, now let me put a riddle to you. If you can tell me what it is within the seven days of the feast and find it out, then I will give you 30 linen garments and 30 changes of clothes.

But if you cannot tell me what it is, then you shall give me 30 linen garments and 30 changes of clothes. And they said to him, put your riddle, that we may hear it. And he said to them, out of the eater came something sweet, or came something to eat, out of the strong came something sweet.

Now this wager, what is this? We talked about it for several weeks in Sunday school, it's gambling.

Why is he doing it?

Because he's arrogant and proud and he thinks nobody.

Knows what he did.

And.

Because he's greedy. And in three days they could not solve the riddle. Verse 15. On the fourth day they said to Samson's.

Wife,.

Now again, they're not married yet, but they would be treated by the Jewish law. This is kind of like the Mary and Joseph situation.

They're betrothed.

But they're not married. Entice your husband, and we'll see that come to fruition here in a minute. Tell us what the riddle is. Now listen, these are the Philistines, her people. Tell us what the riddle is, lest we burn you and your father's house with.

Fire. I don't know,.

Sounds like blackmail. Sounds like a threat. Sounds very dangerous. Have you invited us here to impoverish us? In other words, if we lose this bet, it's going to be very costly. And Samson's wife wept over him and said, you only hate me, you do not love me, you have put a riddle to my people and you've not told me what it is.

And he said to her, behold, I've not told my father nor my mother, and shall I tell you? She wept before him the seven days that their feast lasted and on the seventh day he told her because she pressed him hard.

Other translations say basically she wore him out, she wore him down, he was just tired of her.

Nagging.

Then she told the riddle to her people. She betrayed him. And the men of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun went down, what is sweeter than honey? That answers the first part. And what is stronger than a lion?

So they solved it. Because she told them. And he said to them, if you had not plowed with my heifer, you would not have found out my riddle. In other words, you guys cheated. You went out of bounds.

You broke the rules.

What does he do?

This is what he does. He seeks revenge. This is.

Samson's.

Mode here.

And this is ungodly behavior number two, seeking vengeance. Verse 19,. And the spirit of the Lord rushed upon him and he went down to Ashkelon and struck down thirty men of the town and took their spoil and gave garments to those who had told the riddle.

In other words, he kills thirty Philistines and then gives the garments to Philistines. In hot anger, he went back to his father's house and Samson's wife was given to his companion. That's what I mean.

The marriage is never actually finalized. His fiance gets given.

To his best.

Man. So chapter 15. After some days at the time of the wheat harvest, Samson went to visit his wife with a young goat. In other words, he's going to make amends. He's going to patch things up. He doesn't.

Know.

That his father has given him away. And he said, I will go into my wife in the chamber. But her father would not allow him to go in. And her father said, I really thought you utterly hated her so I gave her to your companion.

Is not her younger sister more beautiful than she? Please take.

Her instead. What's behind door number two? And Samson.

Said to them, this time I shall be innocent in regard to the Philistines when I do them harm. He's going on another campaign of vengeance, right? So Samson went and caught 300 foxes. I mean, again, these feats that he accomplishes are amazing.

300 foxes and took torches.

And he.

Put them all, he turned them all tail to tail and put a torch between each pair of tails. So he lights these fox tails on fire and they go running, of course. And when he set fire to the torches, he let the foxes go in the standing grain of the Philistines and set fire to the stack grain and the standing grain and as well as the olive.

Orchards.

Then the Philistines said, who has done this? And they said, most likely the Jews said, Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he has taken his wife and given her to his companion. And the Philistines came up, listen, and burned her and her father.

With fire. It's your.

Fault and you're going to pay the price. They don't go after Samson. And Samson said to them, if this is what you do, I swear I will be avenged on you and after that I will quit. And the text says, and he struck them hip and thigh with a great blow.

It basically means he slaughtered them. And he went down and stayed in the cleft of the rock and ate them. Then the Philistines came up and encamped in Judah and made a raid on Lehi. And the men of Judah said, why have you come up against us?

In other words, here come the Philistines and the men of Judah don't want to fight. The Philistines tell them they said, we have come up to bind Samson to do to him.

As he did to us. And apparently.

There's some kind of negotiation because here's what happens next. Then 3 ,000 men of Judah went down to the cleft of the rock and ate him and said to Samson, do you not know that the Philistines are rulers over us?

What then is it that you have done to us? And he said to them, as they did to me, so I have done to them. And they, the Jews, said to him, we have come down to bind you that we may give you into the hands of the Philistines.

And Samson said to them, swear to me that you will not attack me yourselves. In other words, I'll turn myself into you. They said to him, no, we will only bind you and give you into their hands. We will surely not kill you.

So they bound him with two new ropes and brought him up from the rock. When he came to Lehi, the Philistines came shouting to meet him. They were very excited. Then the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him and the ropes that were on his arms became as flax that had caught fire and his bonds melded off his hands.

In other words, he grew strength and he snapped the ropes. He was a free man. And he found a fresh jawbone of a donkey and put out his hand and took it. And with it he struck one thousand men. And Samson said, with the jawbone of a donkey, heaps upon heaps, with the jawbone of a donkey have I struck down a thousand.

Men.

That's a hard day's work. As soon as he had finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone out of his hand and that place was called Ramoth Lehi.

Now I like what.

One translation called this. They said they called it Jawbone Hill. And I'm like, okay, that's pretty basic. But basically the idea is this is where he slayed all these people. He names it in honor of himself.

And he was very thirsty and he called out upon the Lord and said, You have granted this great salvation by the hand of your servants. No small irony there, because he was a servant by not by design or not by his design, but by God's design.

And shall I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised? And God split open the hollow place that is at Lehi, and water came out from it. And when he drank, his spirit returned and he revived.

Therefore the name of it was called Enhachor. It is at Lehi to this day, Enhachor meaning the one, he names it again after himself, the one who called upon the Lord. And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines 20 years.

Samson's Third Ungodly Behavior: Sexual Sin

Okay, now we come to his third ungodly behavior, which was seeking sexual fulfillment. Chapter 16. Samson went to Gaza and there he saw a prostitute and he went into her. And the Gazites were told, the citizens of Gaza were told that Samson has come here.

And they surrounded the place and set up to ambush, an ambush for him all night at the gate of the city. They kept quiet all night long saying, let us wait until the light of the morning, then we will kill him.

Safer. But Samson.

Laid till midnight and at midnight he arose, somehow evaded all these people and took hold of the doors of the gate of the city and the two posts and pulled them up, bar at all and put them on his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill that is front of Hebron.

Which I believe I measured out is about 40 miles. 40 miles that he carried those. After this, I mean, we are not done with lust yet. After this he loved a woman in the valley of Sorak, whose name was Delilah.

And the Lords of the Philistines came to her and said to her, seduce him and see where his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him, that we may bind him to humble him. And we will give each give you 1100 pieces of silver.

And we are talking about at least 5 liters of the Philistines, so that is quite a bit of money here. So Delilah said to Samson, and again this is free marital advice, if a woman says to you please tell me where your great strength lies and how you may be bound, that one could subdue you.

She is not the girl.

For you. Samson said to her,.

If they bind me with seven fresh bowstrings I mean he lies, that have not been dried, then I shall become weak like any other man. Then the Lords of the Philistines brought up her seven bowstrings that had not been dried and she bound him with them.

Now she had been lying, she had men lying in an ambush in an inner chamber and she said to him, the Philistines are upon you Samson. But he snapped the bowstrings as a thread of flax snaps when it touches the fire.

So the secret of his strength was not known. Then Delilah said to Samson, behold you have mocked me and told me lies. Please tell me how you might be bound.

No.

And he said to her if they bind me with new ropes that have not yet been used, then I will be weak and be like any other man, again false. Skipping down to verse 13, then Delilah said to Samson, until now you have mocked me and told me lies.

Tell me how you may be bound, might be bound. And he said to her excuse me, if you weave the seven locks of my head with the web and fasten it tight with the pin, then I shall become weak like any other man.

So while he slept, she did it. Same thing happened. Then to verse 15, and she said to him, how can you say I love you when your heart is not with me, when you won't tell me how to destroy you? Come on.

Get with the program. You have mocked me these three times. You have mocked me these three times and you've not told me where your great strength lies. And when she pressed him hard with her words, day after day and urged him, his soul was vexed to death.

She literally wore him down, wore him out.

And he.

Told her all his heart and said to her, a razor has never come upon my head, for I've been a Nazarite to God from my mother's womb. If my head is shaved, then my strength will leave me and I shall be weak and be like any other man.

When Delilah saw that she or that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called the lords of the Philistines saying, come up again for he has told me all his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines came and brought her brought the money.

She made him sleep on her knees.

Then.

Had his head shaved, verse 20. And she said, the Philistines are upon you, Samson. And he awoke from his sleep and said.

Basically, he's going to do.

Exactly what he's done before, he's going to free.

Himself. I will go out.

As at other times to shake myself free, but he did not know that the Lord had left him. When he shaved his head, he lost the power that the Holy Spirit provided. And the Philistines seized him and gouged out his.

Eyes.

And brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze shackles. Now we're going to see the final un. We've seen Samson's unlikely parents, Samson's ungodly behavior, and now we look at Samson's unwavering God.

Samson's unwavering God. He was seized, had his eyes gouged out, he's blinded, and now he's at the mill in the prison just walking around in circles doing what was considered at that time work only fit for a woman.

All his.

Pride is gone, his hair is gone, but it begins, verse 22, begins to grow again. Verse 23, now the lords of the Philistines gathered to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon, their God, and to rejoice and they said, Our God has given Samson our enemy into our hand.

This great tool of Yahweh in their hands because they believed.

Of Dagon.

And when the people saw him, they praised their God for they said, Our God has given our enemy into our hand, the ravager over our country who has killed many of us. And this is how you measured your strength was by what your God could do to the other God.

And when their hearts were merry, they said, Call Samson that he may entertain us. This great warrior now reduced to just being a jester, a laughing stock. So they called Samson out of the prison and he entertained them.

They made him stand between the pillars and Samson said to the young man who held him by the hand. Let me feel the pillars on which the house rests that I may lean against them. Now the house was full of men and women.

All the Lords of the Philistines were there and on the roof there were about 3 ,000 men and women who looked on while Samson entertained. Then Samson called on the Lord and said, O Lord God, please remember me and please strengthen me only this once O God that I may be avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.