Judges 13-16 - The Ridiculous Nature of Grace
Notes
Transcript
I grew up thinking that the Bible was a story book of rules.
Kind of a drag, but had some neat stuff.
That’s no the case at all.
I love the Bible—Not because it’s a book of fairytales.
The Bible is a very grimy book, filled with very grimy people that God has used and is using to accomplish His plan of redemption!
We’re coming into a sermon series on Miraculous births:
The Bible uses reoccurring pictures to show us something bigger.
We know Jesus was born of a virgin.
In the Old Testament, when someone was born miraculously it doesn’t point to them. God is using them to point to someone greater: Jesus.
Today we’re looking at Samson
Samson for some people is the Christian Hercules.
Strong, powerful, blessed by God.
Samson is often attributed the strongest man in the Bible.
We’ve heard the story growing up and we think: “Man, Samson had to be jacked!”
As you read the story from the Bible, we’re going to think: “Man, Samson was jacked...”
Samson was a sinner
Not a “stole a piece of candy” sinner
A murderous, scandalous, waste of God’s blessing sinner.
But the theme of the Bible is God using absolute train-wrecks to accomplish His plan of redemption.
Big Idea: The Ridiculous Nature of Grace
Big Idea: The Ridiculous Nature of Grace
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1 And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, so the Lord gave them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years. 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. 3 And the angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, “Behold, you are barren and have not borne children, but you shall conceive and bear a son. 4 Therefore be careful and drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean, 5 for behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. No razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb, and he shall begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines.” 6 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, 7 but he said to me, ‘Behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. So then drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.’ ”
Leader: This is God’s Word
Everyone: Thanks be to God
Context: Judges 2: Joshua just led the people to the promise land
The almost instant compromise God’s call by turning to other gods
So God allows them to be conquered by the Philistines.
What we find in Judges 13 is this promise and purpose for Samson.
Samson’s birth is miraculous for a couple reasons
His mother is barren.
Barrenness was believed to be God’s judgement.
Now, God is going to use this womb to do something
This baby will begin to save Israel.
Now let’s talk about our boy, Samson, who is going to be God’s chosen instrument to redeem Israel.
You think you’re jacked up? This dude is jacked up.
Samson marries a Philistine woman… which was forbidden by God at that point
Samson kills a lion, then eats honey from the dead body and proceeds to give some to his parents
Making them unclean in light of God’s law.
Tricked some guys with a riddle about the lion’s body, then when they figured out the riddle, Samson killed them.
Ditched his wife, then when she was given to another guy
He burned down the village and killed 1,000 men with a donkey’s jawbone.
Hooked up with a prostitute
Hooked up with Delilah
Got captured, eyes plucked out.
Then killed 3,000 men in his death.
I grew up believing Samson was one of the Bible’s heroes!
Is this a hero? No way.
This is a man called by God who lives for his own selfish pleasure.
We can all identify with Samson here.
Loved and adored by God, but selfishly living for ourselves.
We aren’t the hero of our own lives.
We need a hero to come rescue us from our own darkness.
For God to still love us is scandalous.
This is what makes God’s grace so amazing.
It’s totally unmerited and undeserved.
Grace should make us feel uncomfortable.
Grace should seem ridiculous to us.
“How could you love me after all I’ve done?”
That’s because we’re recipients of grace. Not author’s of it.
How does God use Samson, this atrocity of a man, to draw His people to Himself?
God redeems a people through a sinful man
God redeems a people through a sinful man
When we are left to ourselves, we tend to make messes.
When we are given to our own desires, we sin terribly.
When a toddler is being too quiet and no one know’s where they are… red flags start being raised.
It’s quiet… too quiet...
Next thing you know you’re cleaning crayon off things that crayon is not supposed to be on.
This is the story of the Israelites.
God’s chosen people, brought out of slavery in Egypt, given the promise land
Then thank God by worshiping other gods and break all His laws and commands.
The Israelites were hopeless with the blessings they were given by God.
They never responded well to blessing.
So they were punished and given over to the Philistines.
But what God is going to do is put His glory on display, YET AGAIN, by redeeming them from the Philistines.
And He’s going to use Samson, a man who doesn’t understand that he’s been called to redeem the Israelites.
God is going to use Samson’s sin and selfishness to save the Israelites.
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.
Samson is given everything
Strength and prestige; God’s blessing; Just live as a Nazarite and obey God’s commands.
What’s the first thing we see from Samson when we actually meet Samson? He goes after a woman that is forbidden by God!
His parents try to talk him out of it, but he tells them, “she is right in my eyes” (v. 3)
This is how we treat everything in our lives when God’s Word goes against it.
“Well, it’s right in my eyes.”
We’re essentially saying, “God needs to get His sight checked/God needs to get with the times.”
Premarital sex/cohabitation, sexual temptations, anger and rage, lying, etc.
We use this to make ourselves feel better about our sin: “It’s right in my eyes.”
Which is exactly what Samson’s doing here.
But notice God’s sovereignty in the midst of Samson’s sinfulness.
Judges 14:4 “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.”
God is going to use Samson’s rebellion against God to serve the bigger picture of saving the Israelites.
APPLICATION: The Sovereignty of God should give us security.
Every fight Samson is in, the Spirit of God moves on him!
Why is God doing this?! Because He’s orchestrating the salvation of Israel through the sinful Samson!
We’re frequently asking: Why do bad things happen?
God uses these dark things to bring light into the world.
Situations in our lives may seem dark and unredeemable, but we have this narrow view of God.
When we look at God’s sovereignty and trust that He is in control of literally every aspect of our lives, we can find comfort KNOWING that He’s using every inch of darkness for the greatest good in our lives.
Why? Because redeeming His people brings God glory.
We serve an absolutely sovereign God who does all that He pleases
Do we understand it? No way.
Does it hurt sometimes? Absolutely.
Israel often seems like a lost cause, but God remains faithful to fulfill His promise to them.
What can we do now?
Trust that God’s got this.
Trust that He is infinitely Good even when things seems like we wont recover.
Trust that He will remain faithful, even when it’s hard.
How do we do that?
God shows that we can trust Him because:
God redeems a man who seems hopeless
God redeems a man who seems hopeless
Samson lived life “right in his own eyes.”
He lived predominantly for his own selfish pleasures and often against the command of God.
It this seems to be our natural bend.
Genesis 3:6, when Eve saw it, the fruit was a “delight to her eyes”
Samson’s story echos Genesis, where we’re plunged into sin.
Our lives echo Genesis.
Our eyes lead us away from God and into absolute destruction.
Our boy, Samson is hopeless, right?
Not for our God.
God can use our sin for His sovereign good.
More than that, God’s sovereign good can save the worst of sinners.
Let’s skip ahead in Samson’s life.
He just hooked up with Delilah, who was working with the Philistines to capture him.
Seduce him, and see where his strength lies.
She shows her cards outright
Judges 16:6 “6 So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me where your great strength lies, and how you might be bound, that one could subdue you.””
Three times she asks this and Samson diverts.
Like, talk about a guy who thinks with his muscles and not his noggin.
Delilah finally tricks Samson into telling her that if he cuts his hair, his strength goes away.
Idiot.
19 She made him sleep on her knees. And she called 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!” 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. 21 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. 22 But the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaved. 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.” 24 And when the people saw him, they praised their god. For they said, “Our god has given our enemy into our hand, the ravager of our country, who has killed many of us.” 25 And when their hearts were merry, they said, “Call Samson, that he may entertain us.” So they called Samson out of the prison, and he entertained them. They made him stand between the pillars. 26 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.” 27 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. 28 Then Samson called to the Lord and said, “O Lord God, please remember me and please strengthen me only this once, O God, that I may be avenged on the Philistines for my two eyes.” 29 And Samson grasped the two middle pillars on which the house rested, and he leaned his weight against them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other. 30 And Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines.” Then he bowed with all his strength, and the house fell upon the lords and upon all the people who were in it. So the dead whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he had killed during his life. 31 Then his brothers and all his family came down and took him and brought him up and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of Manoah his father. He had judged Israel twenty years.
Shew. A lot going on there.
We often think that our stories should end victoriously.
That’s not Samson’s story.
This shows us that The scandal of God’s grace can save the worst of sinners.
In Samson’s death, a couple things happen.
He regains his dependence upon God.
This is the first time in the whole story he prays (v. 28)
We find in Hebrews 11, that this faith saved Samson.
Not Samson’s impressiveness, but this faith that God was going to once again strengthen him and level the Philistines.
I love Hebrews 11. Some people call it the Bible Hall of Fame.
It’s full of winners.
Noah: Got drunk and passed out naked
Abraham: Lied about his wife twice and gave her to a king.
Moses: Got angry and killed a man, then wasn’t even allowed in the promise land.
David: Slept with a woman, got her pregnant, and had her husband killed and was still called a man after God’s own heart.
Why are these guys even in the Bible?!
Because it’s not about them! It’s about a God who saves sinners!
You’re not too far gone!
Have you done half of these things?!
You may have your eyes on yourself and your own desires… but you can lift your eyes to the Savior.
God saved Samson… He can save you.
How?
God redeems the world through a perfect Savior
God redeems the world through a perfect Savior
This story is filled with darkness.
Israel’s sin. Samson’s sin. Death and destruction.
How does this end well?! How can we save ourselves?
We can’t!
Notice in Judges 13, Samson would only “begin” to save Israel.
This means that Samson cannot finish the job!
There must be another!
The beauty of this grimy book is that every instance of failure points to a bigger Savior!
Our enemies are not the Philistines—it’s our own sin.
It wasn’t Samson’s strength that saved him, and it’s certainly not yours.
Gospel presentation
God has sent us His Son, Jesus Christ.
It took Jesus coming and dying for us
Samson’s redemption came at death.
Our redemption came through Christ’s death for us!
In the death of Jesus Christ, He KILLED death!
Think about the resurrection of Jesus!
The moment His heart began to beat and His blood began to flow through His body
The moment that His blood, that brought us peace with God, began to flow through His veins again!
The that Jesus’s dead body took a breath!
It’s that moment that we cling to for our salvation!
That God has used the horrendous death of Jesus to give us a beautiful and everlasting life!
How do we respond?
If you’re here and you’re not a Christian, do what Samson did!
Put all of your dependence on God.
You can trust in Jesus today.
All of us must depend on Him.
You and I cannot save ourselves.
Salvation is us placing everything on God.
Our faith. Our sin. Our salvation. Our lives.
This seems ridiculously easy.
Believe in and follow Jesus.
That’s the ridiculous nature of grace.