Sermon Tone Analysis

How the life of Samson calls Israel and you out from the world and to Jesus Christ.

Samson according to God is a model for a faithful believer despite his sins that are highlighted towards the end of his life.

So we should not make the mistake of slandering Samson’s acts because most of the recorded ones were Sampson fulfilling his divine calling as a judge for the Lord.

Many of Samson’s acts that might seem odd to us at first glance are planned out by Sampson to fufill his calling as a Judge in Israel and the executioner of the philistines whom God called him fr

Sampson did have trouble with the ladies.

Gods assessment of Sampson read verses 32-34 the the first part of 38

32 And what more shall I say?

For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34 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.

35 Women received back their dead by resurrection.

Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life.

36 Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.

37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword.

They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— 38 of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

2. Things we need to know about Sampson and the Book of Judges

The Book of Judges has 4 chapters devoted to Samson chapters 13-16

The Book of Judges has 4 chapters devoted to Samson

Samuel is the author of this book of judges.

All the judges had the job of being civil magistrates but also had the job to save Israel from oppression and from falling away from the Lord.

Israel would be taken into captivity because of there unfaithfulness to the the Lord and then the Judges would deliver the people out of the oppression after they had repented.

Samson’s calling was unique because he was to deliver Israel from sin and oppression single handedly.

- without the help from any other man

Just like the the Lord Jesus Christ who would accomplish our salvation without any help from man.

He was to fight the Philistines without the help of Israel.

- or an Army of Israel.

Samson was a real life superhero with incredible strength given to him from God.

Whenever Samson confronts the Philistines he is doing this as a spirit filled anointed Judge sent from God and he has to do it all by himself.

3. Sampson made the Antithesis sharper between Israel and Canaan.

Because Israel was to be a separate people from the world.

We as believers are to be separate from the world.

We are not to think like the world.

Adopt the way the world uses or thinks about money

Rather we are to think the way Jesus has called us to think about

money

We ar

Who we marry

where we live.

how we conduct or selves at work.

And how we are to worship him to name just a few things.

So why did Sampson need to make this distinction or Antithesis - Because Israel as we are are called to show forth Christ to the world.

And this is one of the missions Samson was born to do.

Kill Philistines and

separate them from the Israelites

God sent the people of Israel into captivity for 40 years.

This happened in Israel before the people grew accustom to the comforts and even their captors like they did in Israel .

And they wanted to go back to them then but Moses was sent to bring them out.

We are to do the same thing today and not make coalitions with ungodly rulers because they promise us they are pro choice or pro 2nd amendment.

Unbelieving rulers will promise you things and speak out of both sides of there mouths.

There is a rule hear if you do vote in America only vote for Christians and don’t compromise on what you know the word of God to teach about choosing a civil magistrate.

Samson as we are going to read caught 300 foxes as well that's amazing in itself.

But then he set torches on fire that were somehow attached to their tails and let them burn down Israels Standing grain and Olive Orchards.

This is to make Israel not at peace with her enemies the philistines this is to sharpen the difference or antithesis between Israel and the Nations of the world.

Barry Webb describes the what the condition of Israel looked like at this time

מִשְׁפָּחָה

Instead we find a story beginning whose relevance is not immediately apparent: There was a man from Zorah—a town 18 miles (24 km.) due west of Jerusalem, in the low hill country adjacent to the coastal plain.

In Joshua it is listed as a town of Judah in 15:33, and of Dan in 19:41.

Historically it almost certainly belonged to the Danites first, and became a town of Judah sometime after the Danites left the area and migrated north (ch.

18).

In Samson’s day the Danites still occupied the area, but their position there was increasingly precarious.

The man (who will turn out to be Samson’s father) was from the clan (mišpaḥaṯ) of the Danites.

The use of mišpaḥaṯ (clan, family) rather than sēḇeṭ (tribe, e.g., 18:30) underscores the weakness of the Danite presence.

The man’s name, Manoah, meaning “rest,” is ironical in the circumstances, for rest is exactly what the Danites did not have.

At best it expresses a longing, the kind of ache that is still there when hope has died.

And to make matters worse, his wife (who remains nameless) was barren and had not borne children.

Her plight mirrors that of Israel as a whole: disgraced and powerless, with nothing to look forward to but extinction.

It is a scene of utter bleakness.

32 And what more shall I say?

For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34 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.

35 Women received back their dead by resurrection.

Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life.

36 Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.

37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword.

They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— 38 of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

So Chapter 13 speaks about the Birth of Sampson and how he was born of a sterile woman.

So lets read

The Birth of Samson

13 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.’

”

8 Then Manoah prayed to the Lord and said, “O 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.”

9 And God listened to the voice of Manoah, and the angel of God came again to the woman as she sat in the field.

But Manoah her husband was not with her. 10 So the woman ran quickly and told her husband, “Behold, the man who came to me the other day has appeared to me.” 11 And Manoah arose 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.” 12 And Manoah said, “Now when your words come true, what is to be the child’s manner of life, and what is his mission?” 13 And the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, “Of all that I said to the woman let her be careful.

14 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.”

15 Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “Please let us detain you and prepare a young goat for you.”

16 And the angel of the Lord 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 the Lord.”

(For Manoah did not know that he was the angel of the Lord.) 17 And Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “What is your name, so that, when your words come true, we may honor you?” 18 And the angel of the Lord said to him, “Why do you ask my name, seeing it is wonderful?”

19 So Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering, and offered it on the rock to the Lord, to the one who works wonders, and Manoah and his wife were watching.

20 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.

21 The angel of the Lord appeared no more to Manoah and to his wife.

Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of the Lord.

22 And Manoah said to his wife, “We shall surely die, for we have seen God.” 23 But his wife said to him, “If the Lord 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.”

24 And the woman bore a son and called his name Samson.

And the young man grew, and the Lord blessed him.

25 And the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.