Redemptive Grace: Bigger than ourselves
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Story of Samson
Story of Samson
Judges 13-16
we can read about the birth and life and death of Samson
We see a repeat cycle throughout the book of Judges
Israel (God’s people) rebells against God
God allows the enemy to oppress them because they have turned to sin
God gives them time to repent
sometimes they do sometimes they don’t
God sends provisions for God’s people to regain the power and control that they need to
(repeat)
This story is no different
Over the next number of weeks
setting our theme for 2019
Redemptive Grace
Redemptive: acting to save someone from error or evil
grace: unearned favor
2019 GOAL:
52 Baptisms
What do we need to know about Samson before we move forward?
last Judge in the book of Judges
had supernatural strength
because God gave it to him - kept the Nazirite vow
downfall - women & pride
Samson & Delilah
This week look at story before Samson’s birth
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.
Judges 13:1-
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.
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 borne children, but you shall conceive and bear a son. Therefore be careful and drink no wine or strong 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 Nazirite to God from the womb, and he shall begin to 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, and eat nothing unclean, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.’ ”
40 years is their longest time of enslavement
40 represents completion
Philistines: advanced in every way
first to use iron
weapons
battle formations
art, architecture were way beyond the times
All the while Israel was pretty much just hanging out with their sheep
almost all their wealth was from stealing because their were a military focused culture
they threw huge drunken parties that lasted for a week
pork (Israel saw unclean)
cruel - dismember the men in the towns that they overtook just for the sport of it
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.
barren was a big deal - devestating
in those times
boys to work the farm
wealth to family
retirement plan for parents
military power to Nation
to be barren was shameful
Judges 13:3
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.
judges 13:4-
Therefore be careful and drink no wine or strong 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 Nazirite to God from the womb, and he shall begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines.”
this is the Nazarite vow
read more about that in
they would do this for a short time of fasting
Why?
“Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When either a man or a woman makes a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself to the Lord, he shall separate himself from wine and strong drink. He shall drink no vinegar made from wine or strong drink and shall not drink any juice of grapes or eat grapes, fresh or dried.
continue explaining it as you go
they would take a period of time to devote themselves to God while separating themselves from these other things
What was God’s plan for her son?
Judges
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.”
to begin to save Israel from Philistine power
typically we see Israel repent of their wickedness before God sends a deliverance but here their punishment had been 40 years and was complete
God excersized His REDEMPTIVE GRACE and began that process before they repented
Normally leaders were developed from among those who were already among them but THIS TIME God sent new life with a new purpose to be with them
so could you imagine the anticipation and excitement that the woman had after getting this message from an angel?
so she
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, and eat nothing unclean, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.’ ”
So Manoah (her husband) speaks to the angel and receives conformation of what she said
then they offered to eat a goat with the angel but he was more into offering sacrifices so they did that and in the sacrifice
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.
Judges 13:20
about 9 months later
And the woman bore a son and called his name Samson. And the young man grew, and the Lord blessed him. And the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.
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So if we remember Israel was undeserving of God’s provision
and if we think about it Samson was unlikely to be used for God’s plan - he wasn’t even born yet
God taught us something powerful in this
Samson’s un-named mother saw God’s perspective and plan for people who were undeserving
these people had repeatedly turned against God
but the woman knew that God’s desire was to extend his redemptive grace towards them by sending them deliverance
Samson’s un-named mother also saw God’s purpose and plan within her unborn son who was also un-able
how did she know how he would be after he was born?
There are people in your life that need someone to see in them what God sees in them
maybe that someone is you
you can start seeing what God could do rather than what they have not
it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.
I believe that it’s actually a comandment
Jesus said that we should love the Lord with all heart mind soul strength
& love neighbor as self
Paul said
Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
1 Cor
so who in your life have you given up on?
lost faith in God’s plan in them? no longer hopeful
who have you stopped enduring love towards because of circumstances?
Today I want to encourage you that God will use the unlikely
and God will restore those who don’t seem to even notice the message of the cross-
in a moment their eyes could be opened but maybe they are waiting on someone to believe in them again
I get it though- you’ve told them about Jesus a hundred times to no avail
reminds me of
The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God.
so we feel like giving up sometimes BUT
when we give up on them then we have forgotten about the plan and the power of God
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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.”
Judges 13:14
Samson was the one who was not supposed to drink of the vine, cut his hair, or touch anything that was dead
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.”
BUT here Samson’s mother sacrificed herself for something that was not going to directly affect her
WHY?
because sometimes we must sacrifice for the building up of others
There are things that I will do for people that I love that I would not do for any other reason
who has taken their kids to Chucky Cheese?
sometimes we will do things that are difficult and sacrificing to build others up
taking your sick neighbor a meal
serving in the kids ministry so that parents who desperately need Jesus can come in and hear the message of Redemptive Grace
Sometimes we will withhold or abstain to build others up
I have saw the negative affects of alcohol
been around enough people who abuse it
if you come in my home, follow me on vacation, party with me, catch me when I think I am alone
you will never see me touch alcohol
WHY?
I will not allow my kids to think that something that has that kind of destructive power is a good idea
because I will not be a stumbling block to someone who is trying to let go of an addiction
because I have no interest in finding temporary happiness or peace in a substance but will search for it through the power of Jesus Christ
For the same reason:
I have been seen walking out of the movie theater with my wife when a movie wasn’t what we thought it was
I will either walk away from or call people out if they are gossiping around me
don’t allow music to entertain me that does not glorify the name of Jesus
I do these things because I want to be close to Jesus
I do these things because I want my kids to be close to Jesus
I do these things because I will make every effort to not cause another person to stumble who may be pursuing Jesus
I read earlier that the message of the cross is foolishness to those who don’t believe
sometimes we can get discouraged by sharing our faith with friends and family who don’t respond
but let me tell you a story about a guy I met Friday
agnostic
tired of the hypocrisy
Our lack of commitment to our faith will speak louder than our words about the Gospel
Our follow through to our faith along side the message of the Gospel has the power to lead the broken into God’s redemptive grace
and to encourage the unlikely to be used for God’s mighty purpose
2019 GOAL