Heb 11:32-40 The Faith of Samson Faith at the 11th Hour

Providence of God Judges 13-16

The Return of the Cycle of the Judges

Judges 13:1 NASB95

Now the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord, so that the Lord gave them into the hands of the Philistines forty years.

The Israelites are under Philistine rule

Samson Foretold Judges 13:3-5

Judges 13:3–5 NASB95

Then the angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, “Behold now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and give birth to a son. “Now therefore, be careful not to drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing. “For behold, you shall conceive and give birth to a son, and no razor shall come upon his head, for the boy shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel from the hands of the Philistines.”

Note the Nazirite Vowel in Verse 5 before the end of his life he will break all three.

Manoah’s plea for instruction (don’t blame the parents on this one) Judges 3:8

Judges 3:8 NASB95

Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, so that He sold them into the hands of Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia; and the sons of Israel served Cushan-rishathaim eight years.

Rest of Chapter 13 concerns the parents

Samson’s Lust will be seen in multiple occasions but starts in Judges 14:1-2

Judges 14:1–2 NASB95

Then Samson went down to Timnah and saw a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines. So he came back and told his father and mother, “I saw a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines; now therefore, get her for me as a wife.”

Zorah with located next to the Philistine city of Timnath

Samson’s parents plea with him to find a daughter among the tribes of Israel Judges 14:3

Judges 14:3 NASB95

Then his father and his mother said to him, “Is there no woman among the daughters of your relatives, or among all our people, that you go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?” But Samson said to his father, “Get her for me, for she looks good to me.”

Notice Samson’s complete disregard for his parents and his God

Samson is breaking the Jewish law; however, more than this

He is marrying a woman from the very people he was supposed to deliver Israel from

Clear Picture of God’s Providence Judges 14:4

Judges 14:4 NASB95

However, his father and mother did not know that it was of the Lord, for He was seeking an occasion against the Philistines. Now at that time the Philistines were ruling over Israel.

This does not mean that God approved of Samson’s Choice

This is saying Samson’s parents didn’t know God was going to use Samson’s disobedience to accomplish his purpose for Samson’s life

Much like when Jonah ran from God there was the providence of God to save the sailors who were on the ship after they threw him into the sea

Jonah 1:15–16 NASB95

So they picked up Jonah, threw him into the sea, and the sea stopped its raging. Then the men feared the Lord greatly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.

The Three Encounters with the Spirit of the Lord

First Encounter Judges 14:5-6

The killing of the Lion Judges 14:5-6

Judges 14:5–6 (NASB95)

Then Samson went down to Timnah with his father and mother, and came as far as the vineyards of Timnah; and behold, a young lion came roaring toward him. The Spirit of the Lord came upon him mightily, so that he tore him as one tears a young goat though he had nothing in his hand; but he did not tell his father or mother what he had done.

Emphasis Mine

The Spirit of the Lord came upon him mightily allowing him to overtake and kill the lion

The breaking of the first Nazirite vow Judges 14:8

Judges 14:8 NASB95

When he returned later to take her, he turned aside to look at the carcass of the lion; and behold, a swarm of bees and honey were in the body of the lion.

The Riddle to the 30 Judges 14:7-18

Tell the event which is occuring in this passage

The 30 Philistines threaten his bride to be with the burning of her fathers household and her

The Second Encounter Judges 14:19

The killing of thirty Philistines Judges 14:19

Judges 14:19 (NASB95)

Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon him mightily, and he went down to Ashkelon and killed thirty of them and took their spoil and gave the changes of clothes to those who told the riddle. And his anger burned, and he went up to his father’s house.

Emphasis Mine

However, he leaves his wife in anger and she is given to one of his friends Judges 14:20

Judges 14:20 NASB95

But Samson’s wife was given to his companion who had been his friend.

Because his wife was taken Samson becomes Angry once again and this destroys the Philistines property Judges 15:1-4

Judges 15:1–4 NASB95

But after a while, in the time of wheat harvest, Samson visited his wife with a young goat, and said, “I will go in to my wife in her room.” But her father did not let him enter. Her father said, “I really thought that you hated her intensely; so I gave her to your companion. Is not her younger sister more beautiful than she? Please let her be yours instead.” Samson then said to them, “This time I shall be blameless in regard to the Philistines when I do them harm.” Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took torches, and turned the foxes tail to tail and put one torch in the middle between two tails.

The word translated foxes is most likely jackals

Samson gathers 300 hundred and ties them into pairs and places a burning torch between them and sends the 150 pairs into the fields of the Philistines

His wife and her father are burned Judges 15:6

Judges 15:6 NASB95

Then the Philistines said, “Who did this?” And they said, “Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he took his wife and gave her to his companion.” So the Philistines came up and burned her and her father with fire.

This leads to the Philistines coming up against the Israelites Judges 15:10

Judges 15:10 NASB95

The men of Judah said, “Why have you come up against us?” And they said, “We have come up to bind Samson in order to do to him as he did to us.”

The Israelites send 3000 men to go get Samson Judges 15:11

Judges 15:11 NASB95

Then 3,000 men of Judah went down to the cleft of the rock of Etam and said to Samson, “Do you not know that the Philistines are rulers over us? What then is this that you have done to us?” And he said to them, “As they did to me, so I have done to them.”

He has gained a reputation as a man of violence

He goes and is handed over to the Philistines

The Third Encounter Judges 15:14-15

Samson is given power to overcome the Philistines and kills 1000 with the Jawbone of a donkey Judges 15:14-15

Judges 15:14–15 (NASB95)

When he came to Lehi, the Philistines shouted as they met him. And the Spirit of the Lord came upon him mightily so that the ropes that were on his arms were as flax that is burned with fire, and his bonds dropped from his hands. He found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, so he reached out and took it and killed a thousand men with it.

Emphasis Mine

He sings praises to himself Judges 15:16

Judges 15:16 NASB95

Then Samson said, “With the jawbone of a donkey, Heaps upon heaps, With the jawbone of a donkey I have killed a thousand men.”

He piles up the bodies and names the place Ramath-Lehi which can be interpreted Jawbone Hill Judges 15:17

Judges 15:17 NASB95

When he had finished speaking, he threw the jawbone from his hand; and he named that place Ramath-lehi.

However, in Judges 15:18-19

Judges 15:18–19 NASB95

Then he became very thirsty, and he called to the Lord and said, “You have given this great deliverance by the hand of Your servant, and now shall I die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?” But God split the hollow place that is in Lehi so that water came out of it. When he drank, his strength returned and he revived. Therefore he named it En-hakkore, which is in Lehi to this day.

Samson becomes extremely thirsty and cries out to the Lord with the first recognition that God had given him the victor over the Philistines

God gives him water from a rock and his strength is returned and he is revived from the water.

Samson Judges the land for 20 years in Judges 15:20

Judges 15:20 NASB95

So he judged Israel twenty years in the days of the Philistines.

The Israelites had two decades reprieve from the Philistines

Then jumping ahead 20 years we have the second example of Samson’s Lust Judges 16:1-3

Judges 16:1–3 NASB95

Now Samson went to Gaza and saw a harlot there, and went in to her. When it was told to the Gazites, saying, “Samson has come here,” they surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the gate of the city. And they kept silent all night, saying, “Let us wait until the morning light, then we will kill him.” Now Samson lay until midnight, and at midnight he arose and took hold of the doors of the city gate and the two posts and pulled them up along with the bars; then he put them on his shoulders and carried them up to the top of the mountain which is opposite Hebron.

He is with the prostitute and the Philistines attempt to ambush him and kill him; however, Samson rips up the city gate and carries it 38 miles to Hebron

The well told event Samson and Delilah his third example of lust Judges 16:4

Judges 16:4 NASB95

After this it came about that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.

The Philistines offer Delilah 5,500 silver shekels (1100 pieces of silver) Judges 16:5

Judges 16:5 NASB95

The lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, “Entice him, and see where his great strength lies and how we may overpower him that we may bind him to afflict him. Then we will each give you eleven hundred pieces of silver.”

Historians tell us the average annual wage was 10 silver shekels

This is 550 years of wages in other words enough to ENTICE her

The Final Blow to the Philistines

The Lies Judges 16:6-19

Tell the events of the progressive lies and deception

Samson becomes annoyed and finally tells her what he perceives to be the truth

The final time after she cut his hair we read that the Lord had departed Judges 16:20

Judges 16:20 (NASB95)

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 departed from him.

Emphasis Mine

Explained the coming and going of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament

The cutting of his hair was to breaking of the last Nazirite vow

Samson’s Persecution of hard labor and mockery Judges 16:21-27

The Act of Faith Judges 16:28-30

The act of faith demonstrated in Samson’s self sacrifice Judges 16:28-30

Judges 16:28–30 NASB95

Then Samson called to the Lord and said, “O Lord God, please remember me and please strengthen me just this time, O God, that I may at once be avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.” Samson grasped the two middle pillars on which the house rested, and braced himself against them, the one with his right hand and the other with his left. And Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” And he bent with all his might so that the house fell on the lords and all the people who were in it. So the dead whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he killed in his life.

Samson is a broken man who is still struggling with a desire for vengeance; however, in this moment he believes God can do this request and he acts upon this belief demonstrating faith.

He killed more in his death than in his life

The building was held up by two central pillars which, historians tell us, allow a large building to transfer the wait of the roof to the foundation.

The building must of been massive as 3000 men and women were on the roof watching him. This building would have held the leaders of the Philistines.

In this act of self sacrifice we see the accomplishment of his purpose becoming the instrument of Protection of the Nation of Israel.

We see in this passage Samson moving from Strength to Weakness allowing God to receive the Glory for accomplishing His purposes.

Paul gives an understanding of how God can use our weakness

2 Corinthians 12:7 NASB95

Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me—to keep me from exalting myself!