God's Shocking Plan - Judges 13-16

(Passages for Screens: 13:1-5; 14:1-9; 16:22)

Introduction

I remember being in college and driving through Atlanta for the first time. It was a big deal for a country boy from Rabbittown to drive through Atlanta. My dad always talked about the roads of Atlanta like it was they were filled with hostile spaceships. Of course, then, we hadn’t thought of having a personal GPS, especially on your Nokia phone. So, I had printed out directions off of Mapquest, which were supposed to get me from Anniston to Greenville, SC, cutting straight through the center of alien country. I did quite well getting there, but coming back was another story. Coming back, two interstates became one, and I couldn’t figure out where that had me on my Mapquest. It was like 10-11 at night, and I ended up in some random part of Atlanta in which I still have no clue where I was. I called Megan to get her to help me. I finally found an address on a building so that she could enter it into Mapquest to get me home from there. My heart is pounding. I’m pouring sweat. I’m lost in a land of aliens in the middle of the urban jungle. Megan stayed on the phone with me telling me every turn that I needed to make like a makeshift GPS. And, y’all, when I saw I20, I’m almost certain the heavens split and a booming voice came down, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.” Against all odds, in a land of aliens, I had made it.

I find it true that God’s will works a lot like that. Our lives are part of God’s plan. And so often, we know the destination. We think we know exactly how to get there. Yet, we end up feeling lost in the middle of the city after a series of wrong turns and unexpected road closures. We end up feeling unsure when we once felt so certain and clear.

God’s Word

(Include a painting of Samson on screen) Samson’s story seems to start out so clear. The narrator tells us exactly who he’s going to be. But, his life ends up being anything other than what we expect. And, what we learn about the nature of God’s plan from Samson show us the pattern of God’s plan (headline) throughout history, including how we fit within that plan.

3 short stories in chapters 13-16, and we’ll use those to frame our messages for the next two weeks.

God’s plan is usually “shocking”.

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.

Confusing Times

The description of the cycle starts off in a strange way. Pattern of Judges: evil —> plundered —> ppl cry out —> savior

These were confusing/confused times for Israel. Notice what’s missing here: the people don’t cry out. They are conquered, but they don’t seem to mind it. They’re under the judgement of God, but it doesn’t bother them.

Canaanization. In fact, the Samson narrative is meant to be a parable of sorts, true as it is. Samson is constantly finding his eyes drawn to Philistine women and feasts and riches, and it’s a picture of Israel as a whole. Canaanization is almost complete. Israel has become so much like Canaan that it no longer bothers them that they’re nothing like Israel.

Can you imagine what it would be like for the people of God to look so much like the world that they no longer look like the people of God? Can you imagine enjoying the judgement of God? We don’t have to imagine, do we? We live in confusing times, too. The Canaanization of Israel is akin to the secularization of the church. We’re trying to sanctify and Christianize secular values and secular ways of thinking and secular philosophies. Why? Because we love them so much. It seems more appealing to live like the pagans than it does the people of God.

Sudden Change

13:2-5 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 (hold ‘begin’ word in back of your mind) to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines.”

That’s what makes verses 2-5 so shocking. He’s setting aside a man to save. Nazarite vow = set aside to save. Normally temporary abstinence from alcohol/touching dead things/haircuts. Samson’s was permanent b/c his whole life was to be dedicated to the Lord. Israel did not hold to their part, but God was going to hold to his. Even in spite of their lack of repentance, God intervenes to save. The storyline of the Bible: grace. God is always determined to save in spite of who we are and what we do, not because of it.

Think of how sudden this change was. They were barren, meaning they’d gone so long without children it was an apparent impossibility. It’s a common theme in Scripture. Dead/Cursed womb. God brings life and salvation from that which appeared to be dead and cursed.

God’s plan almost always feels like an interruption in our lives. It’s a wonderful, glorious, confusing, disorienting interruption. Alan/Jennifer adopting Maddox in late 40’s. It’s not, “God, please don’t interrupt my life now”, but, “God, why haven’t you interrupted my life yet?”

Shocking Plan

13:8 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.”

13:12 And Manoah said, “Now when your words come true, what is to be the child’s manner of life, and what is his mission?”

13:17 And Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “What is your name, so that, when your words come true, we may honor you?”

We’re tempted to think, purposefully on behalf of the author, that we know exactly how this story will go. But, Manoah, Samson’s dad let’s us know that this plan is a lot more confusing and this story is going to be a lot more shocking that we expect.

3 questions: What are we supposed to do with him? What is his mission? Who are you?

Sudden birth = shocking plan

God’s plan doesn’t go the way we expect. It’s always shocking, always confusing. He doesn’t use you the way that you expect. It’s one of the tell-tell signs that it’s God. It shakes you up. It calls you forward.

APP: We expect God’s will to feel comfortable, settled, and familiar, but it usually feels to us more like being lost downtown in a strange city. Feeling confused doesn’t mean you’re not in God’s will; it may very well mean that God is preparing you for a new direction. Drawing out your faith. Feeling confused and lost causes God’s children to seek him the way we seek a friend to help when we’re lost in a city.

God’s plan isn’t always “obvious”.

14:1-2 Samson went down to Timnah, and at Timnah he saw one of the daughters of the Philistines. 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.”

Samson’s first actions are supposed to jolt your system. Very first words from his mouth: “I saw a Philistine woman. Get her for my wife.” He’s been sent by God to save Canaan from the Philistines.

What’s his first action? His first action is to get into bed with the Philistines, literally. “right in my eyes” = “exactly what I’m looking for”. Lion/honey: Immediately breaks his vows/defiles his parents/feast (10) likely had alcohol — defeat of lion shows him passing the physical test but failing the spiritual test — he’s impulsive, hot-tempered, lust-driven — HE’S A PHILISTINE! This is all covered by ‘uncircumcised’. He’s supposed to live set apart, but he looks and lives and acts like the very people he’s supposed to destroy.

Emphasis throughout the story is on Samson’s freedom. He’s a free spirit. He’s like Violet in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate factory: “I want what I want, and I want it now.” He sees a woman, and he wants her. He sees honey, and he eats it. He feels deceived when the Philistines solve his riddle; so, he kills 30 men and takes their clothes. He wants to avenge his wife, and so he grabs whatever is handy — the jawbone of a donkey — and he kills a thousand. He’s a free spirit, going his own way, doing his own thing.

In chapter 13, didn’t it feel obvious what God was going to do? It seemed so obvious that God was going to save Israel through Samson. What’s obvious is Samson’s plan, and it seems like Samson’s plan is messing up God’s plan. I feels like Samson has taken some wrong turns that have taken God’s plan completely off track. But, the narrator gives us gift. It’s a key that helps us to unlock everything else that’s being said. It’s the legend that tells us how to rightly interpret the map. Look at verse 14.

14:4 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.

Now, this is amazing. This is where God’s sovereignty and man’s freedom coalesce. What was Samson doing? He was doing exactly what he wanted to do. What was God doing? He was doing exactly what He planned to do. Woah. You see, the very way that God was going to deliver his people from the Philistines was by sending in the flawed, sinful, selfish, even narcissistic Samson into the middle of the Philistines to provoke them toward self-destruction. It was like God was ramming this mule of a man into their bicycle spokes.

Samson’s decisions were obvious, but God’s plan was ultimate. Samson was free to make decisions, but God had already planned to use Samson’s decisions to send him exactly where he was meant to be to do exactly what he was meant to be. They were Samson’s decision, but it was God’s plan. That’s why we the text emphasizes the “Spirit” rushing upon Samson four different times. God was superintending his plan the whole way.

APP: You can’t ruin the plan of God, but God’s plan can redeem your ruins.

ILL: show picture of elephant made from trash from beaches of sri lanks — msg was to save the elephants from trash — something useful from something destructive — God does this — let go of the weight and trust him with the mess.

God promises that He will use your wrong turns to move you to his destination.

God’s plan is completely “unstoppable”.

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.

We see this in two dimensions:

Samson’s downfall.

Samson was the strongest man with the most potential. He is in every way the opposite of Gideon. Bold and brave, strong and charismatic. By the end of chapter 16, it says that the Lord has left him. He’s deceived finally by a Philistine woman and his eyes end up gouged out and imprisoned.

That is, what happened to Samson was exactly what God said would happen to those who betrayed him and his covenant in Joshua 24. God’s plan could not be overcome by the strongest man.

You won’t evade him either. You can’t hide your sin from him, and your not strong enough to avoid his holy judgement.

Israel’s salvation.

16:22 But the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.

But, do you remember when I told you way back in chapter 13 to hold the word ‘begin’ in the back of your mind? That’s because the author wants to bring it back to your mind here at the end of chapter 16 when it looks like Samson has ruined everything. It’s a ‘but God’ sentence.

What God has started, He will finish.

Samson prays, and God give him a final burst of strength. He pulls the pillars down on top of himself and every thousands of Philistine leaders. God had delivered his people from their enemy. God had promised it, and God delivered it.

Most remarkable yet, Hebrews 11 remembers Samson as a man of great faith. Samson, a man who probably prayed twice in his whole life. Why? Because it was his plan to save, and it was his plan to save through Samson. And, there was no wrong turn Samson could make that thwart God’s plan. His plan is to save, and his plan is unstoppable.