Sermon Tone Analysis
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Prophecy Update
The second Wednesday is our prophecy update
I want to share out of Hebrews 10:24-25
At the very end is the phrase “as you see the Day drawing near.”
The day means the Day of the Lord
It is an important term in Bible prophecy
The Day of the Lord is an OT term used by the prophets and assumed by the NT writers
It’s a time yet future when the Messiah brings an end to the rebellious kingdoms of Man and establishes his kingdom on earth
It is not a literal 24 hour day
It is an ERA dominated by one overwhelming reality
The Day of the Lord is when God directly intervenes in Human History
It begins with the rapture & turning his redemptive focus back to Israel
That’s round 1
Round 2 is the Millennial reign
Jesus reigns for 1,000 years
When you see that day approaching, the church is to put a priority on gathering
The church serves a purpose in the last days
We are here to stir one another up to love and good works
Encourage one another
Provide protection in the last days
Those running away from the church in these times are leaving behind love, encouragement, and protection
There is one more thing:
On the day of judgment all of our works will become evident
It will be revealed by fire
That which is true will
Read Judges 15:1-6
I. Marriage Gone Bad vs. 1-8
Last week Tim introduced us to Samson
He is one of the major judges not only by having four chapters written about him, but his exploits are famous
He was announced by the Angel of the Lord to a barren mother
He was commissioned to take a nazarite vow
Samson was a mixed bag
While he did superhuman feats like kill a lion with his bare hands, he didn’t really accomplish anything of significance
He took a nazarite vow and grew his hair long, but he didn’t live a godly life, or direct the Israelites away from doing evil
He was all about fulfilling his desires
We left off him leaving his wife with her father after she begged him to disclose the answer to the riddle
vs. 1 Taking a young goat
Though the marriage was usually consummated the first night of the feast, the bride often did not go to live with the bridegroom at the end of the seven-day feast.
For several months the husband would regularly bring a gift and visit the bride in her father’s house (and stay the night) until all was ready for the move.
In Babylon this was typically a four-month period, perhaps intended to be a probation period to see whether the bride could become pregnant.
The father thought that Samson hated his daughter so he gave her to Samson’s companion
Although he had never consummated the marriage, Samson thought he was legally married to the woman of Timnah.
How shocked he was to learn that not only was he not married, but also the woman he loved was now married to his best-man!
Samson had paid the legal “bride price” for his wife, and now he had neither the money nor the wife
This only make Samson angrier and he plots his revenge
The passion to get even seemed to govern Samson’s life.
His motto was, “As they did unto me, so have I done unto them”
As Christians, we need to beware of hiding selfish motives under the cloak of religious zeal and calling it “righteous indignation.”
Personal vengeance and private gain rather than the glory of the Lord has motivated more than one “crusader” in the church.
vs. 4 The word translated by the niv as “fox” is believed to be a more generic term that could also refer to jackals.
From the practical standpoint it is likely that jackals are used here.
Foxes hunt alone while jackals hunt in packs.
Trapping this large a number of foxes would require not only great amounts of time but also cover a large range of territory.
Acquisition of jackals would be a more manageable task in that whole packs could be captured at once.
Both species were native to Palestine during this period.
He caught 300 and tied their tales together
Then he put a torch in their tales and set them lose in the grain fields
vs. 5 The stalks that have already been cut and are lying in piles awaiting the threshing process are the shocks.
The standing grain is that which has not yet been cut.
It was still some months until the grapes and olives would be harvested, but the fire did irreparable damage to those industries as well.
vs. 6 Who has done this
Samson, because the Timnite gave his wife to his best man
They figured out that Samson was behind the burning of their crops, and they knew they had to retaliate.
Since they couldn’t hope to overcome Samson, they did the next thing and vented their wrath on his wife and father-in-law.
The Philistines burned her and her father
That doesn’t make Samson happy so he strikes them and retreats to a cave
II.
Samson’s defense vs. 9-20
Since the Philistines couldn’t attack Samson they attacked Judah
Israel didn’t have an army or weapons, they were defenseless
The Philistines were notorious raiders
They got much of their wealth and sustenance from stealing from the likes of Israel
Judah asks why they are being targeted and the Philistines tell them it’s Samson’s fault
Instead of seeing Samson as their deliverer, the men of Judah considered him a troublemaker.
It’s difficult to be a leader if you have no followers, but part of the fault lay with Samson.
He didn’t challenge the people, organize them, and trust God to give them victory.
He preferred to work alone, fighting the battles of the Lord as though they were his own private feuds.
When God’s people get comfortable with the status quo, and their leaders fail to arouse them to action, they are in pretty bad shape.
They bind him with him with two new ropes
New ropes are still wet and fresh
They are stronger because they haven’t dried out
vs. 14 The Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him
As soon as Samson gets near the Philistines he breaks the ropes and whatever was handcuffing him melted away
He grabs a new donkey bone and kills 1000 men
This is hard to picture
A new donkey bone would be wet as well
It’s not a brittle as an old dry bone and so it could withstand numerous strikes
Samson once again does this by himself, without the help of any Israelite army
We wonder what the men of Judah thought as they watched their prisoner, their own brother, kill the invaders single-handed.
Did any of them feel the urge to pick up the weapons of the slain Philistines and join in the battle?
Would they have known how to use them?
Now we celebrate and reward individualism
We like to go it alone because it’s easier not to deal with people
That’s why you see so many solitary Christians
Samson’s victory celebration didn’t last long
God reminds him that he is only a man and that he needs water to stay alive
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