Keep sharing good news without ads.
Sunday school from January 26th, 2020
Okay, grab a Bible something to write with we're gonna get started. We're gonna be starting in Numbers chapter 6 and If you would like you can also put a mark at Judges 13 Numbers 6 Judges 13. We're gonna talk about Nazarites and the worst one ever Samson the worst Nazarite ever.
Yeah, that guy. Doesn't God take. No. I did not. Was that a spot quiz. Yes, you did number six and judges 13. All right, let's pray and we will get started. Eternal. God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Grant us your Holy Spirit who writes the priest word into our hearts So that we may receive and believe it and be gladdened and comforted by it in eternity. Glorify your word in our hearts Make it so bright and warm that we may find pleasure in it and through your inspiration think what is right by your power Fulfill the word and for the sake of Jesus Christ your son our Lord.
We pray. Amen. All right, as is our practice was there any questions related to the sermon. Bruce is here. So I hesitate to ask this question. But it is our practice nonetheless. We're good. Wow, look at the paint on his face.
I Fear that it's somehow if he's like stuffing this down there be an explosion later during the Sunday school. It has come flying out. Indeed indeed. All right. Well, we'll thank God for the miracle of the moment.
I'm just pulling your leg. All right.
Nazarites, okay, there it is. Yeah, you literally asked for it. So, okay. If you have to be signs and wonders preacher, yeah, I'm your preacher. What. Doesn't that apply to everyone who preaches as Paul says Christ and him crucified because a little bit of a trick there.
Yeah, yeah, I.
So I Don't know if any of you guys did any of you here follow that story that happened at Bethel Church Redding, California prior to Christmas There was a member of their worship team who also sings for Jesus culture.
Whose little daughter two-year-old daughter named Olive died suddenly and the way the story goes She died suddenly and the parents after she was taken to the coroner's office did not bury Olive they instead decided that they were going to decree and declare a resurrection miracle for their daughter and She went More than a week More like a week and a half not being buried while her body stayed in the coroner's office while they were decreeing and declaring and holding out for a miracle and In one of their services that was available for viewing on the Internet There were some notable things.
Benny Johnson who is the wife of the The so-called self-appointed Apostle Bill Johnson at Bethel who she also has cancer by the way I don't know if it's in remission or not, but she started off one of the services there, you know, basically implying that That this had been the third day since Olive had died and the third day is a good day for a resurrection and as part of the service During one of the worship sets that one of the songs they sing that has something to do with the resurrection They were chanting out repetitively wake up Olive wake up Olive and She did not wake up she remained dead and And I will note this that Bethel Church right in California is their influence is global and I will make this statement.
There are churches in this local area where people who've graduated from the Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry have set up shop and are doing ministry in our area and They teach that the gospel is.
Powerless.
Unless it is accompanied by signs and wonders.
Impotent and They claim that Christ has commanded the church to raise the dead to heal the sick to cast out the demons and they ignore The context of the passage that Jesus told his disciples to do those things and names the twelve Gave them the authority and that those are the signs of the Apostles the ability to raise the dead.
These are the signs of the Apostles and so what end up so in this in this theology then which by the way it has its roots in John Wimber. You familiar with John Wimber in the vineyard movement? Okay, so Do a little bit of history.
Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa the Jesus people of the 1970s and 80s Chuck Smith that who started the Calvary Chapel movement this was a kind of In public they were very Mildly charismatic is the best way I could put it in their public services.
But one of the things that's very famous and this is documented in several books and I spent some time when I was a when I was a freshman in college at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa and notice I participated in these these things myself.
Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa after the church services they would have these like Calvary Chapel afterglows and this is where they experimented with signs and wonders and and and to see where the limits are in the manifestations of the Spirit and These took place in people's homes.
John Wimber from that movement John Wimber Went kind of so far Beyond the pale that Chuck Smith and him had a falling out and John Wimber started the vineyard movement. Which is basically the result of these Calvary Chapel afterglows.
You know and the and the weird theology of the manifestations of the Spirit and John Wimber famously in the in the late 80s taught a series of Evangelism videos they're still available on YouTube if you look right and then and the name of his Theology is called power evangelism and he was the guy who basically said unless there are signs and wonders The gospel is powerless and then this fits into their theology.
Their Christology and if you look at their Christology their Christology. They actually overtly teach that when Jesus the Son of God was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary that he Either laid aside his divinity or he made no use of it in order to be the perfect example of what it looks like to be a spirit filled believer and.
So Jesus and his miracles do not show his divinity because everything according to them that he did he did as a spirit filled man and The name of this Christology is called canonicism. Canonicism from the the Greek word kenosis to empty and it's a Christological heresy.
It actually is a bonafide heresy and you have Bill Johnson of Bethel Church.
You know.
He's famously done this in many multiple places and most recently of note he preached this doctrine at the Hillsong Conference in Sydney and He basically said if Jesus did the miracles that he did That by virtue of his divinity Then I'm impressed.
But he did all of his miracles that he did by virtue of the fact that he's a spirit filled man. Therefore he is the example that we are to follow and if we're not performing those same miracles Then the gospel has no power.
These are quotes direct quotes from him and So the idea then is is that in this in these charismatic and new apostolic Reformation churches The claim is we have to operate in these gifts and of course, I sit there and say well then get on with it and do it would you and Most notably I mean one of the big miracles that they claim is a true sign and wonder is they engage in a parlor trick Called leg lengthening.
It's just this weird thing. This weird thing so, you know, you know Dave if you were to I would say, you know, Dave It looks like you're kind of leaning to one side there. Let me show you God's told me to that we need to straighten your legs out and so you would sit in a chair and Then it would look like what I was doing without even really doing it is.
One leg would be growing or the other one would be shrinking so that they are they're balancing out. The whole thing's a parlor trick the whole thing By pulling your leg.
By leg lengthening.
Yeah.
Yes.
Yeah, and then and then you'll notice in these churches if you and you've probably seen this on TVN. So they claim that you know, there's a big healing service taking place and whoever is at the front of it They'll say oh the anointing's thick here tonight.
Can you feel the glory? Can you feel that was there's by the sorry? There's like five syllables in glory. It's glory. Right, can't you feel it all the anointing stick here? And so the Lord has told me that if you have blood diseases God is healing blood diseases claim your healing now if you have blood diseases, right and then they top their head, right?
Yeah, and then and then oh those of you who are who are dealing with and then all the things that they're calling out. These are invisible ailments. Invisible and there are no doctors there to verify these things.
In fact when you push them for evidence that somebody's been healed over and again. It's just completely missing and so you'll note then that in their theology all this pressure is put on them they have to manifest these signs and wonders because without it the Gospels powerless and we're not following the example of Jesus and yet all This does is create the pressure on them to manufacture Signs and wonders which are not signs and wonders at all.
Most notably I mean we'll talk about Todd Bentley alright. Right, you remember the Lakeland revival and This is a guy who would make claims like, you know a woman came up to be healed and she had stomach cancer and God told me to kick her in the stomach with my biker boot and So he would tell the story and so she came up and I said Lord Are you really want you really want me to kick her in the stomach with my biker boot?
Yeah, kick her in the stomach with your biker boot. And so I said, so I did it BAM and wouldn't you know? She was healed of stomach cancer. Yeah, and so what's really interesting is is that I mean the whole world exploded in you know in 2008 with this Lakeland revival in Florida and a news agency actually like was it I Six not 60 minutes, but the nightline or something like that.
They sent it. They sent a news crew down there they interviewed Todd Bentley and He claimed that they had thousands of verified miracles. And so the anchor from nightline said all right. Just give me three give me the names and documentation of three verified miracles.
And he didn't even do that. Every miracle that he gave them in some kind of a media packlet. The names were either blocked out or the names of the doctors and there or what everything so all these are just outrageous claims and none of them are verifiable none of them and.
So you'll note there's something really really off. But then if you say to them Listen, we as a church are not called to perform miracles nor is the gospel powerless. We're going to hear this next week in our epistle text and we begin to hear it at the tail end of our epistle text.
Today that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation. For all who believe the gospel itself is the power of God. Jews demand signs. Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ in him crucified for our sins.
That's the power of God into salvation. Faith comes by hearing. Hearing by the Word of Christ and there are miracles that accompany this gospel and they're all recorded for us in Scripture and here's the thing if God wanted to perform a miracle through any one of us he could and That's not to say that God doesn't heal today he does.
But those are answers to prayer not the necessary signs in order for the gospel to be demonstrated as true. Okay, yes, sir.
The fact that God doesn't always do this 1st Samuel 3 1 being crazy. Mm-hmm. Hey look in these days. God wasn't working this way. Yeah.
Here's how this works by the way, so. When you talk with somebody in the NAR like this and you say listen, this is what it says in the scripture. They'll shut you down. That's his head knowledge. You have you clearly have a religious spirit Bruce and the problem is yes, it comes from Jesus.
I'll translate it for you. I'll see you now.
See you you just are totally arrogant and you're just putting trying to put God in a box. So what they do is they do this jiu-jitsu move and make you the problem when you point out? Wait a second. This isn't what the scripture says.
So ordinary. Plus haven't you seen your pastor wears a dress and he puts God in a box.
But you know We see this daily where people will pray for a illness or for To salvage a failing crop or or this or that and it gets washed out in the river or the person dies or whatever.
Right, but.
It's hard for me to To see the people suffering that are that have prayed for the for this and The only thing is is almost told to me one time and I've heard it many many times since if God may not heal that certain specific Instant that you or situation that you want, right?
However, he will Help you Survive and get on with it as it and help you deal with it as it progresses on. He is in my mind He may want that person To die and come home to heaven. Okay, and that just devastates the rest of us on earth because what a great person or what a great future this kid or Whoever had and all of a sudden he was robbed from them.
Well That's you know human nature to to then be mad at God and blame him but God is a much greater than us and he will help you heal over that. That's also a form of grieving.
So let me ask you a question Dave. To the best of your knowledge has God promised to heal every one of our diseases in this life.
No.
Right, okay, so you'll note there's there's there I'm gonna I'm gonna say this and I want you to hear it properly. The answer to every one of our prayers for healing is yes. The answer to every one of our prayers for healing for the believer is yes.
Right, but you.
It's just when it's just a matter of when. Okay on Facebook I posted this week my best years are still ahead of me dot dot dot after the resurrection. Okay, I I'm serious. The older I get the more I am looking forward to the resurrection and.
And and I hasten that Christ would come and say come Lord Jesus quickly. Right, this is this is the prayer of Maranatha come quickly Lord, right why. Because I'm dying. I mean, do you guys not get I look way worse than I did when I got here.
I Do okay. I just do and the reason for this is I'm dying. So are you. My hope is not in this life. Remember when Adam and Eve. When they sinned at the tail end of chapter 3. There's an unfinished sentence in the Hebrew and the Trinity is discussing among themselves.
The just the idea what if they had eaten up the tree of life and live forever in that sinful state? Ufta no way. It's this you familiar with the unfinished sentence in Genesis 3. Okay. Yeah, I just want to make sure we're on the same page.
I knew this was gonna happen. Okay, Genesis 3 the unfinished sentence. Yeah, yeah, so here's the sentence and I think just a minute, okay and I I.
Used to think oh how terrible that is. But I don't want to be sound very. Yeah, what do you call it harassor or I'm feeling but I'd like to just say no, is that so bad.
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Yeah, so so here here's the text. Genesis 3 22. Like the the the unfinished sentence. So Yahweh Elohim said behold the man has become like one of us in Knowing good and evil. This is the Trinity discussing amongst themselves Now lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat and live forever.
It's unfinished that's an unfinished sentence. It's like I like the fact that this is long hyphen here. It's like it's almost as if the Trinity is sitting there going. Oh, man. Could you imagine that?
Could you imagine our fate as living forever as Sinners.
That seems to be the goal of every you know, but the thing is this we Christians we know that sin is a punishment in and of itself and There's nothing good that dwells in me when when we learn how to think.
The way God teaches us to think in his in his word. We don't embrace our sin. We see it as as the danger and the threat that it is. There's no freedom in sin. It's all slavery. I Mean and just the thought here.
Could you imagine living forever as a sinner? Living forever. Days without end.
In.
Suffering in misery in malice and slander in hatred sexual immorality. Idolatry and coveting and all the garbage that comes with that.
Okay, when I see someone suffer or someone die has come up recently.
The.
First thing I find is Satan likes to attribute. Satan likes to put lies in God's mouth.
Oh, of course.
He'll tell us God has promised things that God hasn't promised so that God seems like a liar to get us to pry us away From him. Yeah, so he can get devour us because he hates us.
But the other thing that pops in my mind is There is suffering in the comfort passages and comfort in the suffering passages of the New Testament. Yeah all stored in the flesh. Yeah, and specifically 2nd Corinthians 1.
Right. God doesn't just allow suffering he works through it. The reasons in both of those passages. Yeah. For Paul when he prayed for his thorn of the flesh, whatever that might be, you know. And you want to watch.
I said Jesus, you know, everybody. I said Jesus package so bad, you know.
But God's response is my grace is sufficient for you, right?
So he Paul continues to suffer so that Paul will rely on his grace. And that theme gets mixed up in 2nd Corinthians chapter 1. Where it starts off, you know praise be to the God of the father of Lord Jesus Christ The God of all comfort who comforts us in our affliction so we can comfort our others with the comfort We ourselves first received from God.
And then and if that stopped that would be enough. But the second half of the paragraph is. And we don't want you to be. Of how much we are suffering. Beyond our ability to bear. Yeah, but this is not, you know.
But this isn't. But if this happens so that we might fully depend on. I'm doing this for memory.
Yeah, I know you're right in the right passage.
Right. So God doesn't just allow one. He says he's gonna be right there with us to comfort us in our sufferings, which is not abandoning me. But he also is telling me that I may suffer so that I might depend on him.
Mm-hmm, and then scripture tells us to rejoice in our sufferings rejoice in them. Suffering produces character character produces perseverance perseverance hope and hope doesn't disappoint. And so you'll note then that God uses our sufferings.
In order to.
Conform us to kill us to Make us trust and rely on him and not ourselves. To seek help from him not from our idols. You know.
Volunteering with criminals and prisoners. You will see the guys who get off basically scot-free. Because of a loophole or the judge wants to give him a break and they go right back to where they go right back.
Whereas the people who get crushed and some of the best people I know used to be some of the worst people breathing. Yeah, but they the punishment that they went through Really changed them. They're holding the person.
Yeah, I see some of God working. Yeah, so the idea here is is that when our bodies fail or we're experiencing suffering Everything's going according to plan. It's exactly what we've been promised. But when you promise people glory and you promise them perfect health and wealth and Miracles and the victorious life here and now which we're not promised you set them up for a catastrophic Collapse of their faith.
I Will never forget as long as I live watching Tammy Faye Baker In her last interview on Larry King life, did you all see that? Auschwitz victims had more meat on their bones than she did and Just days before she died of cancer She was still decreeing and declaring.
Her healing.
It's catastrophic. What was she trusting in Christ and not for the forgiveness of sins and eternal life? She was trusting Christ for the power to create a positive reality with her faith-filled words.
Which were nowhere given that authority. Nowhere. So that's the long answer to your question. How's that? Let's start a look at the Nazarites. Shall we? Numbers chapter 6. I want to show you the the requirements and then we're gonna take a look at the worst Nazarite ever.
Who is a type and shadow of Christ and try to figure out how that's even possible. Number six says Yahweh spoke to Moses saying speak to the people of Israel. Say to them when either a man or a woman makes a special vow the vow of a Nazarite.
To separate himself to Yahweh. He shall separate himself from wine and strong drink. He shall drink no vinegar made from the from wine or strong drink. He shall not drink any juice of grapes or eat grapes fresh or dried all the days of his separation.
He shall eat nothing that is produced by the grapevine. Not even the seeds or the skins all the days of his vow of Separation. No razor shall touch his head until the time is completed for which he separates himself to Yahweh.
He shall be holy. He shall let the locks of his hair the hair of his head grow long all the days that he separates himself to Yahweh. He shall not go near a dead body. Not even for his father or for his mother for brother or sister if they die.
Shall he make. Shall he make himself unclean because his separation to God is on his head all the days of his separation. He is holy to the Lord. And if a man dies very suddenly beside him he and he defiles his consecrated head.
Then he shall shave his head on the day of his cleansing on the seventh day. He shall shave it on the eighth day. He shall bring two turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree.
No, sorry.
Sorry. And two pigeons to the priest to the entrance of the tent of meeting and the priest shall offer one for a sin offering the other for a Burnt offering to make atonement for him because he sinned by reason of the dead body.
And he shall consecrate his head that same day and Separate himself to Yahweh for the days of his separation and bring a male lamb a year old for a guilt offering but the previous period shall be void because of his separation was defiled and This is the law of the Nazarite.
When the time of the separation has been completed He shall be brought to the entrance of the tent of meeting and he shall bring his gift to Yahweh. One male lamb a year old without blemish for a burnt offering one you lamb a year old without blemish as a sin offering.
One ram without blemish as a Peace offering and a basket of unleavened bread. Loaves of fine flour mixed with oil. Unleavened wafers smeared with oil and their grain offering and their drink offerings and the priest shall bring them before the Lord.
You're gonna know this is a pretty expensive offering here when it comes to finishing your vow as a Nazarite. He shall offer the ram as a sacrifice of peace offering to Yahweh with the basket of unleavened bread.
The priest shall offer also its grain offering and its drink offering. And the Nazarite shall shave his consecrated head at the entrance of the Tent of meeting and shall take the hair from his consecrated head and put it on the fire That is under the sacrifice of the peace offering and the priest shall take the shoulder of the ram.
When it is boiled one unleavened loaf out of the basket one unleavened wafer shall put them on the hands of the Nazarite. After he has shaved the hair of his consecration and the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before Yahweh.
They are a holy portion for the priest together with the breast that is waved and the thigh that is Contributed and after that the Nazarite may drink wine. This is the law of the Nazarite. But if he vows an offering to Yahweh above his Nazarite vow as He can afford in exact accordance with the vow that he takes and he shall do it in addition to the law of the Nazarite.
All right, so real quick. What are Nazarites forbidden to eat and to drink? Grapes and wine. What are they not to be in the presence of? Dead bodies. Got it. Now for the worst Nazarite ever. Okay judges.
Chapter 13. Yeah.
Yeah, yeah, but it does make it a woman could a woman could do a Nazarite vow. That's most certainly true. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Judges 13. Now in the book of Judges, you're gonna note there is a cycle. There's a pattern.
Children of Israel sin they whore after false gods of the Canaanites who are among them. God sells them into slavery to one of those Flea-bitten tribes that are living in Canaan and they are oppressed and they suffer and they languish and then after a while God raises up a Savior a judge who will free them from their bondage to that tyrannical tribe and then once that happens There's a small period of time when things are going.
Okay, and then Israel again sins. By committing idolatry God then again sells them into slavery again and the cycle repeats. You'll note that we human beings oftentimes learn by repetition and so this is something to pay attention to.
So this is one of those Times judges 13 the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh? So Yahweh gave them into the hand of the Philistines for 40 years.
And.
There was a certain man of Zorah of the tribe of the Danites whose name was man. Noah, his wife was barren and had no children and here we're going to see the angel of the Lord and This is a pre-incarnate Appearance of the Son of God.
This is Jesus. Who these fellows? Who they are going to be seeing and talking to and we'll see this as the story develops. So the angel of Yahweh appeared to the woman and said to her behold you are barren.
I'd like to point out that that's kind of obvious, but okay. She knows that. Yes, sir. Yeah, I understand that and it's the fuller context that they justify the.
Got it. You'll see it. You'll see it in a second. It's undeniable when you you see it. So what they're doing is they're pulling forward Constructs later in the text and evidence later in this exact same passage and front-loading it for us.
Okay, so, okay. So the angel of the Lord appeared to the woman said behold you are barren have not born children. But you shall conceive and bear a son therefore be careful. Drink no wine or strong drink 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 hand of the Philistines. All right, so we know what the requirements are.
So at this point Manoah's wife she's is announced to her that she's going to conceive. He's going to be a kind of a Savior. He's going to begin to save Israel so he's going to be a type and shadow of Christ and the worst one ever and he's also supposed to be a Nazarite and We note here merely Refusing to get a haircut is not the full requirements of a Nazarite.
But like I said, this guy is the worst one ever. We'll talk about why.
So.
He shall begin to save Yasha, he will save Israel from the hand of the Philistines. 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.
I did not ask him where he was from and he did not tell me his name. But he said to me behold you shall conceive and bear a son. So then drink no wine or strong drink eat nothing unclean. For the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb to the day of his death and.
There's.
The stip. Okay, you see it so there's the stipulation so in this particular case he's a Nazarite. But God has declared that he will be a Nazarite even to the day of his death. So there's something a little bit more going on here.
So then Manoah prayed to Yahweh and said Oh 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 and God listened to the voice of Manoah.
Good theology there regarding prayer. By the way, notice no decreeing and declaring going on but humbly petitioning God. Letting your supplications be known. Please let the man of God come back so that we know that what we know we are to do with the child who will be Born.
So God listened to the voice of Manoah and the angel of God came to the woman as she sat in the field. But Manoah her husband was not with her 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 rose and went after his wife and came to the man and said to him.
Are you the man who spoke to this woman? And he said I am. Huh, are you starting to see it? Oh, it gets more explicit by the way. Yeah, and so 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 Yahweh?
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 notice. He doesn't add at all to the the revelation. In other words basically saying you should have listened to your wife Manoah. We men are a little thick so Manoah said to the angel of Yahweh.
Please let us detain you and prepare a young goat for you and the angel of Yahweh 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 Yahweh for Manoah did not know that he was the angel of Yahweh.
You see what I'm saying here? I'll be blunt the ESV kind of like it's a spoiler. If you know what you're looking for, but you'll note the text starts off subtle and then just ramps up and you know. There's no doubt about it now Manoah did not know that he was the angel of Yahweh.
So Manoah said to the angel of Yahweh. What is your name? So that when your word comes true, we may honor you and the angel of Yahweh said to him. Why do you ask my name seeing it is wonderful. Were there any doubts now?
Yeah, we're there. So Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering. Offered it on the rock to Yahweh 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 Yahweh went up in the flame of the altar now Manoah and his wife were watching and they fell on their faces To the ground and the angel of the Lord appeared no more to Manoah and his wife.
So then Manoah knew that that he was the angel of Yahweh and Manoah said to his wife We shall surely die for we have seen God. Right and now she has to talk sense to him. But his wife said to him if Yahweh had meant to kill us He would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering at our hands or shown us all of these things or now announced To us such as such things as these.
Yes, he's talking sense.
It's incomprehensible, yeah, so Jesus at this point was quoting the Athanasian. Yeah, yeah, so so here. So this is our setup here. A woman who's barren married to a man named Manoah. God has chosen her this barren woman to bear a Savior.
You catching the themes here the barren wombs of the Old Testament. Always point us to the most barren womb of all the barren womb of the Virgin Mary. You know, there's no more barren womb than a virgin's womb.
And you'll note then that this this kind of prefigures Christ. He's going to be a Nazarite, but like I'm gonna say he's like the worst Nazarite ever and Let's just say that as saviors of the Old Testament go.
What this guy does is scandalous like.
Overtly scandalous.
So you're saying I shouldn't take the life of Samson as my guiding moral and see however Samson acted and go and do likewise. No, pagan chicks.
No, in fact. What's really funny is is that when you can't when you don't see the typology and how it works? You end up kind of not down that road, I've never heard anyone preach like this. Okay, but I'll tell you how they preach.
They preach because of Samson's sin. He didn't fulfill the mission and they ignore the tail end of the of the story of Samson that he did exactly what God Said he would was gonna do. But let me just kind of put this out on the table.
Against the Mosaic Covenant. He marries a Philistine woman. He not only is in the presence of dead animals. He kills a whole lot of people is in their presence. The guy is sexually immoral he sleeps with prostitutes and has this fling with the Philistine woman.
Delilah. And there's nothing about this guy that you can point to and say he's moral and Upstanding or anything of the sort. In fact as saviors go. This one's a tough pill to swallow. But I would note that Samson of all people shows up in Hebrews chapter 11 in the Great Hall of Faith passage.
Yeah, we have to get we're gonna front load it here, right. There isn't there is that's the weird part. And so here's here's Hebrews 11 32 32. What more shall I tell you for time would fail me to tell you of Gideon?
Barak Samson. Jephthah of David and Samuel and the prophets who through faith conquered kingdoms and forced justice obtained promises. Stopped the mouths of lions. Quenched the power of fire escaped the edge of the sword.
Were made strong out of weakness became mighty in War. Put foreign armies to flight. The Hitler question. Yeah.
So atheists like the snark off so you're saying if Hitler, you know asked for forgiveness God, you know He Hitler could go to heaven. Yeah answers like well, duh. Yeah, you know. Well Samson's entire life was as you know was as temporarily, you know, temporarily irredeemable as dust or quad.
Dust or.
At the very end Samson repents and prays in faith. Uh-huh. Yeah, he does and dies in faith. Uh-huh. And Then you go to the parable of the laborers, right?
Yeah, so as as the story of a human being goes this is a great testimony to the forgiveness of God. Even at the point of death for sure. But we're gonna note something also here. He is truly a type and shadow of Christ.
And so let me kind of front load it in this way. If we're going to talk about Samson as being a type and shadow of Christ. Have you considered the scandal of the cross? All right, I want you to consider this.
This was a huge stumbling block for Jews. And the reason why is because the Mosaic Covenant says in no uncertain terms Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.
Cursed.
No uncertain terms. That's explicitly in the Mosaic Covenant and so here's what happens is that the preaching of the gospel comes to Jews and It includes this thorny Pun-intended bit of information that the Son of God in human flesh.
Was.
Crucified on a tree and that he was cursed and he died in ignominious sinners death. I Want you to think about this. What we believe is what Isaiah 53 says that God laid on Jesus the iniquity of us all.
You see Adam's sin is imputed to us and By faith Christ's righteousness is imputed to us. And so consider then the scandal. I Think in the types and shadows that Samson is a good picture of what it looks like to have a quote-unquote sin-filled Savior a scandalous Savior.
It's tough to swallow and It gives us a hint at the scandal of our salvation and the scandal that the the perfect holy sinless spotless Lamb of God Bled and died for our sins and God laid on him the iniquity of us all.
It really starts to get at That the scandal of the cross the scandal of our own salvation. That's really what's going on here. So let's take a look at the most miserable Nazarite ever. So we continue then in our text.
And let me get there. So Manoah said to his wife. We will surely die for we've seen God. But his wife said to him if Yahweh 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 and the woman bore a son and called his name Samson and the young man grew and Yahweh blessed him and the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him in. Ma ma Hannah done between Zorah and Esh Esh Tao.
Chapter 14. Samson went down to Timna and at Timna. He saw one of the daughters of the Philistines. Then he came up and told his father and mother I saw one of the daughters of the Philistines at Timna.
Now get her for me as my wife. Which is not permitted by the Mosaic Covenant. All right. But 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. But Samson said to his father get her for me for she is right in my eyes and you're gonna know Manoah is asserting his Fatherly authority fourth commandment here and what's Samson doing?
Bucking it. All right. So now we're breaking a direct command of God and we're Breaking the fourth commandment. So his father and mother did not know that it was from Yahweh for he was seeking an opportunity Against the Philistines.
At that time the Philistines ruled over Israel. So then Samson went down with his father and mother to Timna. They came to the vineyards of Timna. Where are they? Vineyards. What grows in vineyards. Grapes.
Is Nazareth supposed to be there. No, okay and behold a young lion Came toward him roaring. Then the spirit of Yahweh rushed upon him. And although he had nothing in his hand, he tore the lion in pieces as one tears a young goat.
Apparently that's a thing. But he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done. Then he went down and talked with the woman and she was right in Samson's eyes. After some days he returned to take her 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.
Okay, so now we've got a dead lion carcass and a beehive in it as A Nazareth. Are we supposed to touch any of this stuff? Are we supposed to be near any of this stuff? You're gonna note. He's not Keeping the finer details of the Nazarite Separation that he's supposed to have so he scraped out into his hands the honey and went on eating as he went and He gave he came into his father and mother and gave some to them and they ate.
He made them unclean. But he did not tell them that he had scraped the honey from the carcass of the lion. Like I said the worst.
Nazarite ever.
So his father went down to the woman and Samson prepared a feast there. For so the young men used to do as soon as the people saw him. They brought 30 companions to be with him. Samson said to them Let me now 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. By the way clothes Back in the day were very very expensive.
You couldn't just go to Walmart and grab something. So they said to him put your put your riddle that we may hear it. And he said Out of the eater came something to eat out of the strong came something sweet.
And in three days, they could not solve the riddle. So on the fourth day They said to Samson's wife entice your husband to tell us what the riddle is lest we burn you in your father's house with fire.
Have you invited us here to impoverish us? Well, this has got to be an awkward party now, right? So Samson's wife wept over him and said you only hate me. You don't love me. You 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. And she wept before him the seven days that their feast.
Lasted.
And I'll remember she's doing this under threat of death. She's been threatened with being burned alive so Because she pressed him hard He decided that he would tell her the riddle and 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? Best line in all of the scripture. And he said to them if you had not plowed with my heifer You would not have found out my riddle. Yeah, the drama here is just great so the Spirit of Yahweh rushed upon Samson and he went down to Ashkelon and He struck down 30 men of the town and took their spoil and Gave the garments to those who had told the riddle.
And in hot anger He went back to his father's house and Samson's wife was given to his companion who had been his best Man, and you get a note here. That's that's gonna give him grounds for.
Retribution.
But the story so far you sitting there going what is with this moral upstanding guy? Covenant mosaic covenant keeper far. Far from it and again type and shadow of Christ in the scandalous bits of it. Right, right, could you imagine that serious promise keepers devotional, you know pamphlet, you know how to be a Samson.
It just doesn't work. Nobody knows what to do with this text. So after some days at the time of the wheat harvest Samson went to visit his wife with a young goat. Apparently roses were not a thing yet.
So he said. He said I will go in to my wife in the chamber. But her father would not allow him to go in and her father said I really thought that you utterly hated her. So I gave her to your companion.
Is not her younger sister more beautiful than she. Please take her instead. And Samson said to them this time. I shall be innocent in regard to the Philistines when I do them harm. So Samson went and caught 300 foxes took Torches and he turned them tail to tail and put a torch between each pair of the tails.
It's like animal cruelty here and when he had set fire to the torches he let the foxes go in the standing grain of the Philistines and set fire to the stacked grain and the standing grain as well as the olive orchards and then the Philistines said who has done this and they said Samson the son-in-law of the Timnite because he has taken his wife and given her to his companion so the Philistines came up and burned her and her father with fire 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 then he struck them hip and thigh With a great blow and he went down and stayed in the cleft at the rock of Atom.
So you're gonna note then that again, he's not really keeping this Nazarite stuff, you know he's there's a lot of death involved here and he's. What is all of this death and destruction not this at the hand of this fellow.
So the Philistines came up in Campton. Judah made a raid on Lehi and when the men of Judah said why have you come up? Against us. They said we've come up to bind Samson to do to him as he did to us 3 ,000 men of Judah went down to the cleft of the rock of Atom and said to Samson Do you not know that the Philistines are rulers over us?
What then is this that you have done to us? And he said to them as they did to me. So I've done to them and they 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.
They said to him. No, we will only bind you and give you into their hands. And we will surely not kill you. So they bound him with two new ropes and brought him up from the rock and when he came to Lehi the Philistines came shouting To meet him then the spirit of Yahweh rushed upon him and the ropes that were on his arms became as flax that has caught fire and his bonds melted off of his hands and he found a fresh jawbone of a donkey and Put out his hand and took it and with it.
He struck 1 ,000 men and Samson said with the jawbone of a donkey heaps upon heaps with the jawbone of a donkey. I have struck down a Thousand men now a little bit of a note here. Remember a Nazirite cannot if he's in the presence of somebody who dies.
Suddenly.
He's considered to be unclean and his time as a Nazirite is over. With these men who died by the Jawbone of a donkey in the hands of Samson qualify as people who died suddenly in his presence. I'm gonna go with yes on that one.
Okay.
And he's sitting there going what is. Going on here. Now one of my pastors put it this way. Since you had that little word of the Lord That he would be a Nazirite even to the day of his death that since God had promised him that that here we see a bit of sacramental theology and it's Samson's hair that is his sacrament.
The Word of God is attached to his hair. It's not attached to his morals. It's attached to his hair. So his hair is in the sense a sacrament. You'll see that as we get to the end of the story. But we're gonna stop there This week and we'll pick up next week with this worst Nazirite ever and see how this world works.
And we'll take a look at a better Nazirite than him also next week.
