Last night we had a bit of a scare here in Quartzsite. Two boys were walking to one of their houses, when Tyson Wash began to flood. They made it about three-quarters of the way when they couldn’t go any further. The fire, police, and medics were all called in and around 8pm the rescuers finalized they’re plans and made there way to the boys. The rescue went off without a hitch.
As I stood on the bank I talked with one of the firemen who grew up in the area and he told me about all the crazy things they did when the washes would run. Canoeing in boats, floating on mattress. And he said, that was nuts. A little later on another firefighter, a true local who grew up here, chimed in about the crazy things they did when the washes ran. He told me that recently a guy was out there four wheeling and got his truck stuck, before he could get it out, the flood waters came. It was implied by the other firefighter that it’s still there sunk in the wash somewhere.
The whole situation brought back a memory of mine. Where I grew up, we had a seasonal creek. One year it was raging and I thought I could get across. There wasn’t a moment, as I crossed that creek, that I didn’t think I was going to get swept away. Looking back, it was a really dumb thing to do. But I thank God that I didn’t get swept away, and I thank God that those firefighters didn’t get swept away, and I thank God that those boys were safe.
We all do some pretty crazy things and it’s this kind of craziness that brings us back to our second week with the final judge in the book of Judges, where we’ll be picking it up in Judges chapter 14, verse 1. As we open up to Judges 14:1, let’s recap where we are.
In general the book of Judges seeks for the reader to understand three major themes of Scripture by looking at how the nation of Israel responded to God over the course of roughly four-hundred years. Those three themes are: God’s faithfulness despite unfaithfulness, his people are called to obedient lives, but when we disobey, our sin effects not only us but the world around us. These three themes are shown in every judge cycle we have seen, and on a larger scale, it permeates every aspect of human life. It’s the reason for Jesus’ eventual sacrifice, because the only way that we can live obedient lives and the only way that we can moved beyond disobedience and the power of sin, is through the sacrificial work of Jesus on the cross, and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
Now more specifically, last week we began looking at the life of the final Judge Samson. We talked about how Samson’s life is set up to be the best. Samson had divine intervention from the beginning, yet as we’ll see today it didn’t keep him from doing some really selfish crazy things. Faithfully following God isn’t genetic, nor is it based on environment. Faithfulness is the choice of the human to respond in obedience to a holy, good, and loving God.
With that now in our minds, we can jump back into Judges 14:1, where in order to see the bigger picture, we’re going to need to look at two and a half chapters. So today, we’ll be reading parts of the story, so part of your homework this week will be to read the entirety of these two and a half chapters. But lets first start with chapter 14, verse 1.
“1 Samson went down to Timnah, and at Timnah he saw one of the daughters of the Philistines. 2 Then he came up and told his father and mother, ‘I saw one of the daughters of the Philistines at Timnah. Now get her for me as my wife.’ 3 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 to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?’ But Samson said to his father, ‘Get her for me, for she is right in my eyes.’ 4 His father and mother did not know that it was from the Lord, for he was seeking an opportunity against the Philistines. At that time the Philistines ruled over Israel.”
In these first four verses, we learn almost everything we need to know about the foundations of Samson’s life. First, he has a seeing problem. What I mean by that is, he sees something he likes, and he wants it. This happens three times with women in these two chapters. The first is with this unnamed Philistine women, the second will be briefly with a prostitute in the opening of chapter 16 and then the most famous one, and the one that will lead to his downfall, Delilah, also in chapter 16. His seeing problem, which is connected with his selfish desires, will be important towards the end of the story, so let’s leave it right there for now.
The second thing we can see is that Samson doesn’t seem to care for the law of God. His desire for women outside of the Israelites is something that is contrary to what God has called his people too. In Deuteronomy 7:3, God tells the nation of Israel, “You shall not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons…” Now specifically God is talking about the people of Canaan, such as the Hittites and the Amorites that we’ve seen early in the book. But the purpose of this extends to other nations. The reason for this is because of the purpose God has for not marrying outside their own nation. In the next verse, after God tells the Israelites not to intermarry with the other nations, he gives the reason why, “…for they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods (4a).” God’s reason for not wanting intermarriage between Israel and other nations, was to keep them faithful to him. Paul would later use this principle in writing his second letter to the Corinthian Church. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 6:14, “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?” The purpose of that statement is the same as God’s purpose for not intermarry, both lead to the follower of God becoming unfaithful to God.
Now you might think that Samson just doesn’t know, I don’t think that’s the case, because his parents try to dissuade him, and later on when talking with Delilah about where his strength comes from, he spells it out when he says to her in chapter 16 verse 17, “And he told her all his heart, and said to her, ‘A razor has never come upon my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother's womb. If my head is shaved, then my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak and be like any other man.’” So Samson knows what God expects, but he is disobedient anyways.
This actually leads us to the what happens in verse 4 where it states, “His father and mother did not know that it was from the Lord, for he was seeking an opportunity against the Philistines.” Reading that, who is the “he”? Reading it quickly, we might think that it’s Samson looking for an opportunity, but it’s not, it’s the Lord who is looking for the opportunity. Samson, chooses to be unfaithful, but the faithful God of Israel is looking for opportunities to help his people, and uses this unfaithful judge to accomplish it. We’ve said this before and so we must reiterate it here, God can use bad things for good purposes. This is why Romans 8:28 is an important verse, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” God works in all things for the good of those that both love him and are a part of his purposes.
So Samson’s selfish desires, partnered with his disregard for the commands of God, and the fact that God still works through him for the good of Israel, is everything we need to know to understand the next two and a half chapters. Because what happens next is a series of bone headed moves by Samson, where he stumbles into being used by God to bring about judgement on the Philistines for what they have done to Israel.
First the story of Samson’s wedding. Here he gives some men who are a part of the wedding ceremony a riddle, which is given in verse 14 of chapter 14, “Out of the eater came something to eat. Out of the strong came something sweet.” This riddle comes from an event in Samson’s own life where he killed a lion and later on found that bees had made its carcass their home and there produced honey. A steep wager is given and in order to find out the answer, the men convince the wife to convince Samson to tell her, and in turn tell them. So she asks and Samson tells her. In turn the young men answer correctly, thereby winning the bet and really making Samson mad at them and his wife.
What happens next is that Samson leaves the wedding, goes to another Philistine city that is at war with Israel and proceeds to kill thirty men to get the wagered clothes. That’s nuts you might say, well that’s just the beginning. When Samson returns, his wife has been married off to another man. Which is stated at the end of chapter 14 and we learn Samson’s reaction in chapter 15.
In verse 3 of chapter 15, we see how Samson reacts, “3 And Samson said to them, ‘This time I shall be innocent in regard to the Philistines, when I do them harm.’ 4 So Samson went and caught 300 foxes and took torches. And he turned them tail to tail and put a torch between each pair of tails. 5 And when he had set fire to the torches, he let the foxes go into the standing grain of the Philistines and set fire to the stacked grain and the standing grain, as well as the olive orchards.”
And you’re probably thinking that’s nuts, well, there’s more. After this Samson makes his way to another town. The Philistines aren’t going to let this go, and they track him down. In doing so, the Philistines get help from 3,000 Judaean men, who get Samson to agree to be bound by them and taken to the Philistines who were in pursuit.
What happens next we pick up in verse 14 of chapter 15, “14 When he came to Lehi, the Philistines came shouting to meet him. Then the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, and the ropes that were on his arms became as flax that has caught fire, and his bonds melted off his hands. 15 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.”
Now you might be thinking, that’s nuts, well, there’s still more. But one thing we need to notice is the interaction between God and Samson, which starts in verse 18. We read, “18 And he was very thirsty, and he called upon the Lord and said, ‘You have granted this great salvation by the hand of your servant, and shall I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?’ 19 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 En-hakkore; it is at Lehi to this day.” We can see the selfishness of Samson appear again. He has done nothing but pursued his own selfish desires, and has only responded in anger when he doesn’t get his way. Here we can see an almost accusatory whine that goes up from Samson, and yet, God is faithful to this whiny selfish brat of a judge.
But one thing we must remember, that just because God might use us for his purposes, when we sin, he still will hold us to account as well. This is why the Hebrew writer states in verse 6 of chapter 12 of their that book, “For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.”
Which we’ll see this in the most well known situation of Samson’s life, his time with Delilah.
But real quick, just before Samson and Delilah, there’s a short story of Samson and the prostitute. Where after being with the woman, the Philistines camp at the gate of the city to take Samson. But he gets up early, tears down the gate and carries it off about forty miles away. And you might be thinking, that’s nuts, but there’s more. Do you see the theme?
Finally we get to the Delilah story. Here Samson is in the lap of yet another Philistine woman. A woman that lives in a valley that is known as “choice vines.” A little poetic irony, because Samson, as a Nazirite, was supposed to stay away from anything from the vine.
It’s here that Delilah is approached by some other Philistines to find out the weakness of Samson. This is the first story all over again. She agrees and three times she asks Samson what is the source of his strength. First he tells her he needs to be bound by seven bow strings, but he was lying. When she tests him he breaks the strings and the Philistines who lie in ambush cannot take him. Then he tells her that he needs to be bound by new ropes, but this is a lie again and he breaks the bonds. The third time he tells her that he needs to have his hair braided in seven locks and then woven with fabric from a near by loom. Again he breaks free.
Exasperated by Samson’s lies, she finally breaks him down enough that he tells her his head needs to be shaved because of the Nazirite vow he is under. She shaves his head and indeed it works.
It’s here that we come full circle. When the Philistines come to take him, we’re told in verse 20 of chapter 16, “20 And she said, ‘The Philistines are upon you, Samson!’ And he awoke from his sleep and said, ‘I will go out as at other times and shake myself free.’ But he did not know that the Lord had left him.” See his selfishness and his unfaithfulness had led to God pulling back his Spirit from him in a disciplinary act. It’s here where we see what happens to that seeing problem that we started off with at the beginning.
In verse 21 we read, "And the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes and brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze shackles. And he ground at the mill in the prison.” Those eyes that led him astray so often, are now gone and he is led away to be humiliated by those who raged against. But God’s not done, which we’ll see next week.
So what are we to walk away from Samson’s story with?
Too often we can think that God is pleased with us just because we might see good things in our lives. We might see financial blessings, with good money, a nice house, nice clothes, and cars and we might associate those things as meaning we’re doing good with God. The truth is, however, that God is working for his purposes, and just because we have short-term worldly successes, it’s doesn’t mean we are in a right place with God. And if we’re not seeking the Lord through active faithful obedient living, he won’t allow us to have worldly success for long. Because worldly success should be secondary to spiritual success of follow Jesus.
Jesus tells us in Matthew 16:25, “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” God calls us to his living, because his living is what we need. That living is seeking to have the Holy Spirit produce it’s fruit in our lives. God desires his people to be loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, and self-controlled (Galatians 5:22-23). We might have temporary success doing it our own way, but many people do that and Jesus says about that path in Matthew 7:13, “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.”
We who follow Jesus are to enter by his gate, the narrow gate, the gate which leads to the path of selflessness not selfishness. The gate by which God exults us through the work of Jesus to be brought high. But if we seek our own path, we will be brought low by our own actions, because that’s where selfishness leads.
So my challenge for you this week is to contemplate Samson’s life. Do you seek to make people feel dumb with things like riddles, only to get mad at them if they outsmart you? Do you lash out in anger when things don’t go your way? Do you act in selfish ways or seek comfort in things that God says will destroy you? Take this week to seek the Holy Spirit and his transformative power. Don’t allow your eyes to come off God and focus on other things that are not from him. His path is better and the blessings that come along it are eternally enduring.
Let us be a people who seek after the Lord in a way that seeks to raise him high in our lives, so that we may show our love for him, and when he works things out for our good, we will experience that goodness in eternal blessings, because we are faithfully pursuing his purposes. Amen.
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