A Weak, Strong Savior

a) We’re continuing in our series through the book of Judges. Last week we began to look at the 12th & final judge in this period of Israel’s history: Samson. We saw Samson’s miraculous birth, as the angel of the Lord came & announced to a barren woman she would bear a son.

b) The angel of the Lord gave Samson’s parents specific instructions that were to begin while the boy was in his mother’s womb. Samson was to be a Nazirite from the womb. This meant his hair could not to be cut. He could not drink or eat anything from the vine. And he could not touch a dead body

c) These outward actions were to be a sign of an inward reality: Samson was set apart for the Lord. But the angel of the Lord also declared Samson’s mission: “he will begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines.” So last week’s passage seemed to end w/ great hope.

d) But in today’s sermon we will see “A Weak, Strong Deliverer.” Let me pray for us, & then we’ll begin looking at our passage for today in Judg. 14-15. PRAY

Let’s read our 1st section in 14:1-7: Samson’s weakness & the Lord’s Strength

a) As Ch. 14 begins Samson is now a grown man. You’ll remember Ch. 13 ended by saying Samson grew & the Lord blessed him & the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him. But what we’ll see throughout most of Samson’s story, is a man stirred much more by his own impulses & desires.

b) v1-2 tell us Samson went down to Timnah & saw a young Philistine woman. And when he saw her, he went home & told his parents: “I saw 1 of the daughters of the Philistines at Timnah. Now get her for me as my wife.” Now remember why God had set apart & brought forth Samson.

c) But rather than making war & destroying & beginning to deliver His people from the Philistines, Samson wants to marry a Philistine. And we see his parents’ response in v3. They tell him, there must be a woman in our clan or in Israel whom you could marry, not this uncircumcised Philistine.

d) His parents, most likely remember the angel’s words that Samson would begin to deliver them from the Philistines, protest. But they also protest b/c they know something of God’s word. Circumcision was a sign of God’s covenant w/ Abraham. It was an outward sign of an inner reality.

e) It marked a person as being in God’s covenant. It was a sign of a person being in relationship w/ the Lord & set apart as part of His people. Samson’s parents are also thinking back to Moses’ command in Ex. 34. In Ex. 34 the Lord told Israel he would drive out the Canaanites from the land.

f) But the Lord warned them not to make a covenant w/ the people in Canaan who would become a snare & trap to Israel. The Lord warned Israel in Ex. 34:16 not to “take their daughters for your sons.” Why? So their daughters, who worshipped other gods, wouldn’t lead their sons astray.

g) See, modern critical scholars who want to reject God’s word & ways argue this is about racial superiority. But God’s prohibition wasn’t about race or inter-racial marriage. This warning is about inter-faith marriage & marrying someone outside of God’s covenant who would lead them astray.

h) And friends this isn’t just an OT idea. Paul gave believers this command in 2 Cor. 6:14:

i) “Do not be unequally yoked w/ unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness w/ lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light w/ darkness?” Paul warns NT believers against marrying unbelievers. Just like the OT command to Israel, the concern is idolatry.

j) See, who you marry will likely shape you more than any other human relationship. The concern is being in an intimate relationship w/ someone who doesn’t understand your faith & what guides your life & decisions. The concern is facing daily pressure to minimize or abandon the Lord.

k) But Paul also insists in 2 Cor. 6 that if you do marry an unbeliever, you should not seek a divorce. Paul says although the unbelieving spouse won’t be saved simply by association, they do come under the believing spouse’s influence & may be more likely to be saved in time.

l) But notice here in Judg. 14, Samson wanted what he wanted. As he told his parents back in v3, v7 repeats: “she was right in Samson’s eyes.” But as we saw last week, it’s not about what’s right in our eyes or sight. It’s about what’s right in the Lord’s eyes & sight. Here we Samson’s weakness.

m) The important thing to Samson wasn’t pleasing the Lord, but pleasing himself. Samson was an impulsive man, guided by His eyes & desires. He sees & wants. We see an echo here back to the fall. Gen. 3:6 says: “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, & that it was a delight to the eyes…she took of its fruit & ate & she also gave some to her husband who ate.”

n) But we also see another weakness here w/ Samson. He’s unteachable, dismissing his parents’ counsel & authority. That might seem normal today, but that wasn’t the case in ancient Israel. See, Samson is like Israel. Both were set apart for God by His grace & called to be holy. But both refuse

o) Friends, there’s a lesson for us here as well. We too have been set apart for God by His grace & called to be holy. But what drives you more? God’s will or your own eyes & desires? Samson, like Israel, is impulsive & unteachable. But we don’t just see his weakness, but also the Lord’s strength.

p) 1st look at v4. “His father & mother did not know that it was from the Lord, for he was seeking an opportunity against the Philistines.” The he was seeking doesn’t refer to Samson, but the Lord. Samson’s driven by his own desires. The Lord was seeking an opportunity against the Philistines.

q) Once again, we see human choices & responsibility working hand in hand w/ God’s sovereignty. As Samson pursued his heart’s desire, the Lord worked in & through Samson’s sinful choices to bring about His will. What was the Lord’s will? To begin to save Israel from the Philistines.

r) How did the Lord begin that work? Through Samson’s weakness. Samson wanted to get in bed w/ the Philistines. God wanted to begin subduing the Philistines. God’s sovereignty doesn’t make us robots. We make real choices. But God will accomplish His purposes either w/ us or in spite of us.

s) Think back to the believers prayer for boldness in Acts 4:27-28: “truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod & Pontius Pilate, along w/ the Gentiles & the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand & your plan had predestined to take place.” The Lord is sovereign, working in & through even our sinful choices.

t) But there’s a 2nd way we see the Lord’s strength in v5-7 in Samson’s encounter w/ a lion. Look at v6: “Then the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, & although he had nothing in his hand, he tore the lion in pieces as 1 tears a young goat.” A roaring lion came to attack the Lord’s deliverer.

u) We can’t miss the symbolism here & what’s to come in the NT. The Spirit rushing upon the Lord’s deliverer & giving him the strength to tear apart the lion (as 1 might tear apart a young goat). But this event also revealed to Samson the source of his strength: the Spirit of the Lord.

v) The mangled lion showed Samson what the Lord could & would do through him. It showed Samson the God who empowered him to tear apart a lion was also empowering him to destroy the Philistines. Friends, we too have been given a mission to seek & save the lost & to make disciples.

w) But our power won’t come through our own intellect or abilities. We’re empowered for that mission by the HS. But this section ends by once again pointing us to Samson’s weakness. He didn’t tell his father & mother what he had done & v4 is repeated: she was right in Samson’s eyes.

Let’s now read our 2nd section in 14:8-15:8: as we see Riddles, Fires & the Lord’s Judgment

a) v8 begins w/ Samson returning to Timnah to take the Philistine woman as his wife. But we are told he turned aside to see the carcass or dead body of the lion he had killed. And Samson sees a swarm of bees in the carcass & scraped out the honey they had made w/ his hands & ate of it.

b) Remember, he’s in a land flowing w/ milk & honey, but he takes honey from the lion’s dead body. Now the lion by itself was considered unclean. But the honey being inside a dead animal was also an unclean food. What we see here is Samson willfully breaking the 1st part of his Nazarite vow.

c) And when Samson gave some to his parents, not telling them where it came from, he not only hid the fact he broke his vow, but gave them unclean food & made them unclean. Then v10 says his father went down to the woman & Samson prepared a feast w/ 30 Philistine companions.

d) Now the Hebrew word translated into English as feast is mishteh. That word means drinking or consumption of drink. And v12 says this lasted 7 days. So this was a 7-day drinking party. Again, remember Samson’s Nazarite vow. Now he’s broken a 2nd part of his vow by consuming alcohol.

e) Samson is defiling himself. He has no intention of being holy. Once again, we see a man being led by his own desires. Then in v12-14 Samson made a bet w/ these 30 Philistines during the party. If they solved a riddle by the end of the 7 days, he’d give them 30 garments & 30 changes of clothes.

f) But if not, they’d owe him that wager. Now don’t miss what’s happening. Samson was born & raised to destroy the Philistines. But he’s marrying them, partying w/ them, making bets w/ them, & living at peace w/ them. Now of course they couldn’t solve the riddle & became frustrated.

g) So they threatened to burn his wife & her father’s house if she didn’t find out the answer & tell them. And in v16-18 we’re told she wept, accused Samson of hating her & pressed him hard. And on the 7th day Samson told her & she went & told the 30 Philistines who then answered his riddle. And v18 ends w/ Samson using some not so flattering words about his new Philistine wife.

h) But then look at v19. “Then the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him.” And what did Samson do when he was empowered by the Spirit? He went down to Ashkelon & killed 30 Philistines & took their garments & gave them to the 30 men who won the bet. Notice, he struck down 30 Philistines.

i) But he didn’t do so to accomplish the Lord’s will & to begin saving Israel, but to get even & pay off his debt. Then the end of v19 says a furious Samson went back to his father’s house. And Ch. 14 ends in v20 by telling us his wife was given to his best man, 1 of those 30 Philistine companions

j) Here’s what I think we should see here. Samson, like Israel, became comfortable w/ the status quo. Life w/ the Philistines ruling over them, which was God’s judgment for their sin, wasn’t all that bad. They were comfortable w/ the Philistines not just dwelling w/ them, but ruling over them.

k) They’re comfortable inter-marrying w/ them. They’re comfortable w/ the culture around them & the gods surrounding them. Israel had lost its distinctiveness. Now it’s easy to pick on Israel, but what about us? Do we stand out from our culture? Or are we gradually becoming like our culture?

l) Are we comfortable w/ the status quo? Do we stand out as a distinctive, holy people? As Ch. 15 opens, an unaware Samson returned to visit & go into his wife. But Samson was stopped by her father who said in v2: I thought you hated her, so I gave her away. Then look at his response in v3:

m) “This time I shall be innocent (or absolved of guilt) in regard to the Philistines, when I do them harm.” Notice Samson says, this time I shall be innocent. Samson is finally going to begin fulfilling the Lord’s righteous purpose for him. He’s done being friends w/ the Philistines.

n) Now we know from v1 it was the time of the wheat harvest. And in v4-5, we’re told Samson burned the Philistines grain & olive orchards. Think about that. Samson was called to devote the Philistines to destruction, not the land. But I do think the fire here is a sign of the Lord’s judgment.

o) But how did the Philistines respond to these fires? v6 says they came & burned his wife & her father w/ fire. Do you see how wicked these cursed descendants of Ham were? And how did Samson respond in v7-8? He swears he’ll avenge his wife’s death & we’re told:

p) “he struck them hip & thigh w/ a great blow.” The NIV translates v8 this way: “He attacked them viciously & slaughtered many of them.” Then knowing this would incite a response by all of the Philistines, the end of v8 says Samson went down & stayed in the cleft of the rock of Etam.

q) Samson fled & hid in the territory of Judah. Samson’s finally fulfilling the angel of the Lord’s mission, so surely things will begin to go well for our 12th & final judge…right?

Let’s read our final section in 15:9-20, as we see Israel’s rejection & the Lord’s victory

a) v9 says the Philistines came & took up arms & encamped in Judah & made a raid on Lehi. When the men of Judah questioned why they had come, they said: “to bind Samson & do to him as he did to us.” And how did the men of Judah respond? Did they pray or call on Samson to deliver them?

b) No. They wanted to maintain peace & the status quo. Look at what the men of Judah say in v11:

c) “Do you know that the Philistines are rulers over us? What then is this that you have done to us?” Don’t miss what they’re saying: “We don’t want you as our deliverer. We don’t even want to be delivered from the Philistines.” Doesn’t that sound familiar from the gospels?

d) So v11 tells us 3k men of took the Lord’s appointed judge & deliverer & handed him over to the enemy he had been called to deliver them from. Just as the ultimate deliverer, Jesus, would be bound led away & delivered to Pilate, here the men of Judah bound Samson & handed him over.

e) It appeared death was imminent for Samson. But in v14, we’re told once again that when Samson came to Lehi, “Then the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him.” Samson broke the bonds & found a fresh jawbone of a donkey & put out his hand & took it.

f) Yes, Samson is again touching a dead animal, but now it’s to fulfill his mission & the Lord’s purpose. The end of v15 says he struck 1k men. Samson conquered the Lord’s & His people’s enemies. Samson, through the Spirit of the Lord, delivered a great salvation for Israel that day.

g) Then in v18, for the 1st time, we see Samson called upon the Lord. Samson says, “You have granted this great salvation by the hand of your servant, & shall I now die of thirst & fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?” And God, begin faithful, provided the water his deliverer in v19.

h) But a greater deliverer would also come who would thirst. When Samson thirsted & was about to die, God gave him water & spared his life. When Jesus hung on the cross, He too cried in Jn 19:29, “I thirst.” But His life wasn’t spared. When Jesus received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished.”

i) See, Samson was driven by his impulses. Jesus was driven by His Father's will & glory.

Samson broke his vow & God's law. Jesus never broke or even compromised the law.

Samson had strength only God could give. Jesus was the God who gave Samson that strength.

Samson was consumed with self-gratification. Jesus was consumed with self-sacrifice.

Samson was called to begin saving Israel. Jesus came to finish that work for all of God's people.

j) And today that same Jesus, humanity’s ultimate deliverer still says these words from Jn. 7:37-38: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me & drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water’”.