Judges 14 Bible Study (Samson's Marriage) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

Judges chapter 14 in our Bibles, in our Bible study tonight. Judges chapter 14. Last week, we begun our study within a study of the last judge that was raised by God in this book. And in Judges 13, we've discussed his parents because the Holy Spirit highlights his parents. But we make mention of him in the last two verses of Judges 13, transitioning us into the chapter of our focus tonight.

And I want us to just see what the Holy Spirit has to say about this judge named Samson. As we come here to verse 24 of Judges 13, 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, a Mahanadan between Zorah and Asherah. As we come to this chapter, we must realize the background of this man.

We discussed it in great detail last week, but the last two verses of chapter 13 tell us that Samson, in his childhood, was blessed by the Lord. Blessed by the Lord. And he's blessed for many reasons, but we have to understand this, that any blessing he experienced, he was indebted to the faithfulness of his parents. His parents obeyed God, set him on the path in which he should walk in order to know favor with God and fruitfulness among men. Samson was blessed because Samson had a godly father and a godly mother.

And even in his childhood, he experienced special stirrings from the Holy Spirit that must have been unique to him in comparison to all other children and teenagers of his day. And I'm sure that his parents rehearsed the heavenly commission over his life as Samson as a child would ask his mom or dad, mom, why is my hair longer than all the other boys in Israel? I don't I don't understand why you're not cutting my hair. Mom, I want grapes. I wanna eat grapes.

Why can't I have a snack? And when there was a funeral, I'm sure that Samson's family didn't go to it because a part of the Nazarite vow is that you cannot come near a dead body. He was a unique boy. And we come here and we're about to realize that he is in fact a unique man. But what you and I are going to quickly learn about the life of Samson as we are introduced to him in his adult years is that although he grew up with a God fearing couple, he would choose to walk in his own way apart from what was ordained for him.

Proving to us that just because you have a rich heritage and just because you grew up with parents who really did walk with God is not an automatic ticket to a life of faithfulness to God. See, Jephthah was a man who was born by a prostitute, who had a father and siblings that rejected him. And you can argue that Jephthah, though he made his mistakes, at least had a longer track of faithfulness than a man like Samson who seems to have parents that actually walk with God from beginning to end. You are the determiner of your own fate, brother and sister. Someone gave this example of twins that had an alcoholic father.

Twins that had an alcoholic father. And they interviewed these twins when they grew up in their older years because one of them became an alcoholic father himself, abusive to his wife, a a drug dealer, and all these other things that he apparently inherited. Yet the other twin grew up to be a successful businessman that had a healthy family, healthy relationship, and that walked with the Lord. When they asked the one who was in sin, his reply was, well, my father was an alcoholic. My father was abusive to his wife.

That's all I saw. That's all I knew, and so I am just reflecting my upbringing. When they asked the other twin who was successful in walking in integrity and holiness, he gave the same answer in part. He said my father was an alcoholic. He was abusive to my mother.

He neglected us. He abused us. But I determined that I will be nothing like my father, and that I would serve God and walk in his ways despite what I grew up with. See, you have a choice. You have a choice.

I have a choice. No matter what your lot is in life, God can change your future if you put it in his hands. And so we read about Samson here, and you and I are also going to realize that very early on, if you notice carefully, you will see the small decisions that Samson made that would lead to devastating conclusions to his own life. Samson is going to show us his mindset and his heart posture, and I'm sure he did not realize how these steps that he made in the beginning of his life and ministry would lead to the catastrophic conclusion to his own calling. If there was in this season within the church, in Christendom, a message for all of our generation, I would argue that Samson is on the top three.

And so pay attention tonight, because I'm sure that if you and I take heed, we will benefit much to know longevity in our walk with God. Verse one reads of chapter 14. 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.

But his father and mother said to him, is there not a woman among the daughters of your relatives or among all our people that you must go take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines? Full stop. I want to point out in this bible study two shortcomings in Samson's introduction that no doubt has a connection to the pattern that he will display as we continue in this book. The first thing I want you to notice here is that Samson had a problem with his vision. Not physically, spiritually.

In the first three verses, what do you see? You see a repetitive pattern about his sight. Says he went down in verse one and he saw one of the daughters of the Philistines. Verse two, he comes up to his father and mother and says, I saw one of the daughters of the Philistines. You come down to verse three in the ESV, and it says here, but Samson said to his father, get her for me, for she is right in my eyes.

Three times in three verses, we realize that Samson was a man who allowed his senses to determine his decisions. He was a person that had an experience with these eyes, and you can say that it was love at first sight. Right? Or more specifically, lust at first sight. He sees this woman.

He doesn't even know her. He's so struck by her beauty. He's so gripped by how gorgeous she is that he doesn't even inquire about who she is. She knows all he knows that she's a Philistine. That was enough.

She is drop dead beautiful. And so she he goes and he requests for her. And I'm telling you, a lot of people wish they can meet somebody just like how Samson met somebody, like this. I want that dramatic impact. I want to see your walk into the room, and I wanted to take my breath away.

I just want to see him and know in that moment. You're about to find out that that's not always the way it works. And so Samson pursues this woman by going up to his father and asking him, get her for me. But here's what we learned, just because it feels great and it looks right, doesn't mean it's God's will. God already determined in his word in Deuteronomy seven three, you shall not intermarry with other nations.

We know that it's been repeated all throughout the Pentateuch. There is no way I'm going to negotiate with this. It's not an interracial thing. It's an interfaith thing. The moment you begin to flirt and and make covenant with other people of different faiths, you will lose more than anything else.

Corinthians tells us, how will you know if you marry her that you will save her? How will you know that if you marry him, you will save him? It's just there's no such thing as missionary dating. But in this case, he was compelled, and little did Samson know that this one decision would just be a reflection of what would continue as a habit in his life, and lead to greater destruction. Here's the point I want to make in the beginning, as we read about Samson.

You do not know the depths of the danger that you will experience if you allow your senses to overtake the driver's seat of your decisions. The moment that your senses become more powerful and more convincing than the word of God, I feel sorry for you. I pity you. I fear for your life. It doesn't matter how emotionally involved you might be, whether it's with a person or any other thing.

I want you to know this. Obedience to God's will is top priority even if it hurts. Because here is God's law of the matter in life. That obedience to God's will is non negotiable even if it hurts. But here's the promise, it will always end in joy.

Always. But know this, by the same token, disobedience to God's will, no matter how much pleasure it offers in the moment, will always lead and end with pain. Always. Samson here doesn't get it, but I want you to remember that when you are faced with a decision to either obey or disobey, no matter how much, no matter how much you think it will cost or how much you might miss out, there is a law established by God that is unchangeable. Obedience leads to life.

Sin will lead to death. Samson had a problem with his eyes, his senses, his impulses, his desires. And with Samson, is I realized, this is the first thing that we the first words of the man is, I want her, because she's right for me. That's gonna be his future death warrant. That is going to be his ticket to a sabotage life.

But here's the second thing I want you and I to notice here, is that the shortcoming, the second ingredient to a dangerous life, no matter how much you're called by God, no matter how much measure of the spirit you have, is that you know you're in danger not only when your senses determine your convictions, but you fail to feel the power of spiritual sound advice. Comes up to his father and his mother, and he says, get her for me. Sounds like, although he seems very respectful by approaching his parents, that he's already determined his mind. Don't you think? Get her for me.

And who do we see here? What we saw in chapter 13, a set of godly parents that are reminding Samson, Samson, you know better. And you know what God's word says about this issue. Can't you just obey? Don't you know that God wants you to marry among your people, not outside of your people?

And we see the faithfulness of these godly parents, but what's more terrifying than anything else is Samson's reaction to the pointing back to the word of God. And you know what it is? He's not moved a single bit. It's as though he did not hear a thing. You know you're in danger when you see and you're moved by what you see that you failed to hear.

He says here, but Samson said to his father, get her for me, for she is right in my eyes. There are many warnings in life that indicate that if you do not pay attention to what you're being warned about, it's only gonna get more destructive and more dangerous. And in the spiritual realm, there is warning signs. There are alarms, there are bells, there are whistles. One of the things that will indicate to you that you are in a very vulnerable and dangerous place is when you become dull in hearing the word of God.

Here's proof of it. In Hebrews chapter five verse 11, in the New Testament, the author is wanting to take his audience deeper into the scriptures. He wants to if you go back to verse 10, he wants to teach them about the priesthood of Melchizedek, and he wants to go very very deep in the word of God. That's the context. Because I wanna teach you how Christ comes from Melchizedek and how that's greater than the Aaronic priesthood.

And then he goes on to verse 11 to say this, about this, we have much to say. I really wanna go deep in this. I really wanna bring you meat from the word of God. And it's hard to explain since you not hard because it's hard. It's because you have become dull of hearing.

These are Christians. And the author, the teacher, the pastor, the apostle, whoever wrote this letter says, I can't take you any further into spiritual growth because of one simple thing. The word of God has become dull to you. You don't care about going deeper in the scriptures. In fact, if you're honest, come on, be honest.

Be honest tonight. You're bored. You're bored. You might be moved by somebody who speaks and is able to put together something you're stirred, but you're bored in your own life. You don't look into the word of God.

You're not interested in hearing sermons. You're more entertained by celebrities and the the latest trends and the latest TikToks. That's what you're entertained by. The word of God doesn't move you anymore. You're dull.

Right? You will never know spiritual growth, and I argue, I'm sure, though it's not explicitly clear, that perhaps this dullness even played a role in their lack of faithfulness to God when they were being pressured by Jews to forsake Christ and go back to the Levitical system. All to say this, that if it wasn't the case for the Hebrew Christians here, it was the case for Samson here. The moment you become unmoved by the word of God, whether it is being preached, whether somebody counsels you with it, whether you tremble at it anymore, the moment you become numb, I'm telling you, just like on your dashboard in the car when there is a warning sign, you better pay attention. Because if you have that mixed with the senses, your eyes determining your decisions, it is a recipe for disaster.

I know this is unpopular, but mark my words, the lack of what is being declared in this moment is the reason why evangelical Christianity is in so much mess and powerlessness today. We'll get to that in a moment. And so Samson could not even take these words seriously. It did not shake him. It did not move him.

He he didn't even entertain the thought. He did not even argue. He did not even try to justify his desires. He was sealed. He was calloused.

I want her for me. I want her for me. And so, what happens? He moves on with that. And, unfortunately, the parents go along with it.

It is true that there is a point in which you come to in your own life, that you can only say so much to your children, where they have to make their own decisions in life, and that was certainly the case for Samson. And so he tells them, I want her, and this is one of the most interesting verses in this story. In fact, probably in the whole book of Judges, I would say. Maybe you would disagree with me. Look at verse four.

His father and mother did not know that it was from the Lord, for he was seeking an opportunity against the Philistines. At the time, the Philistines ruled over Israel. Do you realize what's being said here? I'll tell you what it's not saying, that God is sanctioning this relationship. That he's approving of it.

That he's saying, yeah, actually I want Samson to marry a Philistine. We know that it's cut clear. God doesn't want Samson nor anybody else to disobey what he has established in his word. God is unchanging. If he said it in his word, he'll mean it until he returns.

And even beyond that, it's eternal. It's set. If you're having any theological debate with somebody, no matter how much persuasion they bring to you emotionally or even philosophically, if God said it, it's over. It's done. It's clear.

It's set. And God is not changing His mind. And so this is what we see here. God has set His mind on the issue, but something is being said here that is quite profound. Unaware to the parents, God was permitting this.

God was allowing this. See, the people of Israel at this point, were not crying out to God for salvation anymore. In previous times where they were oppressed by a different nation, they would cry out to God and God would send a deliverer. But when we come to this story, this point, they're not even seeking the Lord for help. They become so accustomed, so comfortable in their bondage, who knows the intermingling that's going on on a social, political, and spiritual level.

And so what does God need to do out of his mercy and grace? He needs to bring some friction. He needs to bring some kind of conflict. He needs to shake things up. And so you know what he's gonna do?

He's gonna allow a wedding to go very wrong. He's gonna make a relationship go very sour that's actually gonna cause a civil war. But all mom and dad saw was a rebellious son that was not taking the call of God on his life very seriously, not realizing that God is fulfilling a greater purpose behind it through his sin. Through his sin, God is gonna still have his way. This is a verse that declares the sovereignty of God.

And I want you to know this, Samson is a spiritual leader in his land for his people. And you know what he's about to do? In a systematic way? Fail. Fail.

Fail. Fail. And you know what God is saying here early on in his life? God is gonna take the colossal mistakes of one man, and unknown to his parents and unknown to us even in this day, we do not realize what he's doing through those failures. Believe that.

Believe that. Because spiritual leaders from all generations have fallen. Spiritual leaders in our generation are falling. But you have to understand one thing, God is sovereign, and he is going to somehow pull some good out of this. And one thing is for certain, just like in this context, God's agenda for his people will still continue despite the failures of the greatest of the great, of the most significant and gifted.

Do you praise God tonight that God's kingdom does not lay on the shoulders of men? I do. I do. And that's what we see here. He's not thwarted.

He's not gonna be misdirected here. He's not even gonna be set back. The only person that's losing in this story is Samson. The only person that ever loses when they fail in their walk with God is the person who is failing. His gospel doesn't fail.

I know the end of this book and it's gonna happen no matter what anybody does. And I'm afraid that a point like this being presented to us today, can really satisfy a certain category professing Christians, and they're called the carnal ones. The carnal Christians. Right? So you're telling me, brother, that you're salivating.

Right? As you're hearing this, that I can sin and God will still somehow use it for good and bless his people. You're foolish. You're foolish. That's not the main point.

That's not what we take out of this. Live in the flesh and God's purposes will still prevail, because you realize something? You know Samson's story, don't you? He's not getting off scot free. He's not.

He's not gonna walk away untouched. He's not gonna walk away unscathed. No. Samson is gonna pay a price for his disobedience, and God is still gonna have his way. What's the main point?

God's purposes will move on with you or without you. That's the main point. And you have the choice to either join him in joy, or have him overrule you, and move on. That's God. God is not your Santa Claus.

He's not a grandfather. He's a holy king that has a plan, and he longs to recruit us to serve him and to enjoy the plans that he has. But when we fail to see the beauty of the calling that he has for us, he'll move on. And so God sees Samson with his decision, he goes, okay. You're gonna pursue this obedience.

You've heard it all your life about how I've called you as a Nazarite from birth. I want to use you mightily. You don't want me to rule over it? I will overrule you, and move forward. And that's exactly what's about to happen as you look throughout the story.

But interestingly enough, what do we see? We see here, Samson in verse five, went down with his father and mother to Timna, and they came to the vineyards of Timna. Samson. What are you doing at a vineyard? You know number six.

Right? There are three main things that describes a Nazarite when he takes a vow. You're not supposed to go and eat anything of the vine, or drink anything of the vine. You're not supposed to cut your hair, and you're not supposed to go near a dead body or touch a dead body. And the first thing that Samson does is he goes to a vineyard of all places.

He goes to a vineyard and behold, a young lion came toward him roaring. And the spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, and although he had nothing in his hand, he tore the line in pieces as one tears a young goat. But he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done. So what do we see here? The plan is set.

I want that Philistine woman. Get her for me. Alright, son. Okay. If you want her, we will get her.

Let's go. So they head on down to Timna, and at one point, perhaps he moved on ahead or he trailed behind. Samson is gleaning amongst the vineyards. He's not supposed to be there. And surprisingly to us, what happens when he's supposed to be somewhere else, and in fact, he's in the devil's territory in his context?

Danger. A lion shows up and threatens his life. Coincidence? I don't think so. Would it be different if Samson had just took a different road?

If he had not even pursued this woman? I'm sure that Samson would not have encountered a young lion roaring and ready to have him for lunch. But I think there is a there is a nudge here that when we pursue and when we begin to flirt with Satan's territory, and we we start to tread in this camp, we should not be surprised at danger. We should not be surprised at threats. We should not be surprised by traumatic experiences.

I remember the story of somebody who told me briefly of a young girl who grew up in the church, and you know what? She got kind of bored of the church. And so she said, see you later church. And she began to pursue a worldly lifestyle. And it wasn't very long, from what I was told, it was the first couple of times that when she went with her friends to the club and she wanted to experience the club life, she was raped.

Her first or second time going there. Don't think that even you as a Christian can go to the devil's camp and think that you're invincible there. That you'll leave untouched. That you won't leave without scars. Samson here is not supposed to be where he is, and the lion comes and roars, and he realizes, if God doesn't help me, I'm finished.

But surprisingly, what happens? We are told the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him. Rushed upon him. And he was able to take that lion's beard and take his tail and literally rip him like he was tissue. You think this of what is going on?

Disagree with my point here if you would like. But I believe in part, why the spirit of Lord rushed upon him was an act of mercy and grace. When he faced this lion, and this lion appeared and roared, in part, again, this is not dogmatic and it's not explicitly clear. All I know is one thing. Samson is not supposed to be there and and there is a dangerous situation that's coming out of it.

Yet, God gave him the grace and the means to escape it. You know what would have been the ideal conclusion out of this? Is that Samson is there amongst the vineyard. He's not supposed to be touching grapes and eating raisins. Uh-oh.

No. You're not supposed to go near that. And here's a lion, and the spirit of the Lord comes upon him, and he destroys that lion. The threat disappears. You know what would have been the best thing?

He should have rushed to his parents, mom and dad, I don't wanna marry that Philistine woman anymore. Let's go back home, and head on back home. Because God in his mercy sometimes, as believers pursue rebellion, especially when they have premeditated sin in mind, he will send warnings. Not all the time, and you can't determine when. But God sometimes sends warnings.

You know one of the warnings? Yeah. On a Friday night, you'd be amazed to know how much you can preach on a subject and people don't take it seriously. You'd be amazed to know how many people fail to hear roars and fail to see signs that God is communicating. You know why?

Because we have this silly idea that if God is gonna communicate to me about something, he's gonna rip open the heavens and he's going to roar his own voice on my life. When he uses people, he uses roosters to convict an apostle. He uses animals to get a prophet to understand that you are not walking right. He uses storms in a boat. He uses a whale to swallow you up.

He he has different means to get your attention. And in this case, I believe it was a lion roaring, You're in the wrong place, buddy. You continue. It's only gonna get worse. And you would think Samson would get the idea.

No. Samson has a spirit of the Lord rush upon him, he rips open that lion, and guess what? He moves on in his lust. Which gives us another scary point about Samson and about all of us. Do you realize that the spirit of God came upon him in his pursuit of disobedience?

In the pursuit of disobedience, God still assisted the man to complete a task that is nothing short of supernatural. We would think, okay, if you're gonna go and marry a Philistine, let the lion have your leg at least. So you get the idea that you're not supposed to be going this way. No. The Holy Spirit rushes upon him, close him, and empowers him to do something supernatural.

God is very patient with us. And he is reluctant to remove his hand upon someone's life. God is very slow to ultimately turn his face away in terms of favor, blessing, and calling. Because God wants us to to realize that even in seasons, where we're not supposed to be doing what we're doing, or saying what we're saying, or planning what we're planning, that he's still good. He's still merciful, and he's still there waiting for you to repent.

That's the only way to make sense of Samson's life and so many other people's lives. In fact, God illustrated it in one of the most dramatic ways, and I want you to see it. So you have to go to a book in the Bible that is not very frequently visited. It's the book of Ezekiel, and I need you to go to chapter 10 to see this with me. As you're turning there, listen very carefully.

There was this notion amongst the Israelites, that no matter what the Israelites did, God would never kick them out of their land. God called Abraham, he brought us through the wilderness, he went through so much to bring us into this place of flowing milk and honey. Surely, God will never ever eject us from this land. And even more specific idea that was wrong was, okay, maybe he might kick us out of the land because they were kicked out of land, but this is what God would never do. God will never ever ever let his glory depart from the temple.

House be destroyed by anybody. It's his house. So okay. We're in Babylon. We got that one wrong.

We're not we're not supposed to be where we're supposed to be, but we're here because of our inflection. But you know what? One thing for sure, that temple is staying there. We're going to get back, and we're going to go to that temple. They had this false confidence.

And so what does God do? He speaks to a prophet named Ezekiel, and he gives him a vision to show the exact opposite. But I want you to know the digression. I want you to know the departure process to get an idea of God's heart, even in something as horrific as that. Look here in Ezekiel, chapter 10 verse four.

And the glory of the Lord went up from the cherub. Now, where is the glory of the Lord hosted in the in the temple? Somebody say, what room? The holy of holies. Right?

Three compartments. The holy of holies. That's where the Ark of the Covenant was. Then you have the Holy Place, then you have the courtyard. Remember that?

We we had a whole study in Exodus and Numbers about the tabernacle, which was the same thing as the temple. Here we see that the glory of God departs from its central place. And where does it go? It says here, it went to the threshold of the house. The entrance of the house.

And the house was filled with a cloud and the court was filled with the brightness of the glory of the Lord. First step, it went away from the Holy of Holies and it went to the entrance. So let's just imagine that this is the temple. Let's say this is the Holy of Holies. It went from here to the door coming into the sanctuary.

Then you read on and you come down to the same chapter. Look at verse 18. Then the glory of the Lord went out from the threshold of the house and stood over the cherubim, and the cherubim lifted up their wings. So these cherubim, these creatures are taking the glory of the Lord, and mounted up from the earth before my eyes, and they went out and with the wheels beside him, and they stood at the entrance of the East Gate of the House of the Lord, and the glory of God of Israel was over them. From here to the door, from the door to the parking lot.

Then you go to chapter 11, and look at verse 23. And the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city and stood on the mountain that is on the East side of the city. From here to the entrance into the sanctuary, into the parking lot, all the way to the city limits of Illinois. What is being said here? That God was slowly removing his glory from his house, and this slow departure was illustrated to prove his reluctance and his heart and wanting to see you realize it's leaving, come back.

We're not seeing his favor, we're not sensing his presence, we're not seeing fruit. God come back and he is slow to remove his hand. You know what he could have done? He could have just immediately ejected from the Holy of Holies and went straight to heaven, but instead he just pulls back. That's what God does to ministers today.

And you're wondering, well, what was it? What was it that made God make an exit? Well, go to Ezekiel eight and look at verse six. The prophet says, and he said to me, son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel are doing? That's verse 12.

Do you see what they are doing? The great abominations in the house of Israel are committing here. Look at this. To drive me far from my sanctuary. To drive me far from my sanctuary.

Look at these abominations. And then in chapter eight, I encourage you to read it to see the behavior of the people of God. Where? In the house of God. In the house of God.

Oh, yeah. Well, if God saw sin in church buildings, he would You're the house of God. I'm the house of God. So look at verse 12. Then he said to me Here's one of the abominations.

Then he said to me, Son of man, have you seen what the elders, the leaders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark? Each in his room of pictures. Each in his own room with pictures. For they say, the Lord does not see us. The Lord has forsaken the land.

Eyes of fire. Here are these leaders that think that they can sin in the dark, and God's glory is departing from them slowly. Listen very carefully. I believe with everything in my heart, then we can have a debate about it, but I believe with everything in my heart that the reason why our generation of Christianity is so weak and anemic and powerless and lacking the glory of God is because of a lack of fear of God. There's no power.

We have idolized the mind. We've idolized charisma. We've idolized behavior. We've idolized gifting, while the glory of God is departing, and we're so satisfied with our American dream that we don't even care that the presence of God is not in the midst. That conviction of sin is becoming a rare experience.

When have we seen people weep because of conviction of sin? I argue it's because most of the heralds of the gospel are in sin. How can there be conviction? When the very ones that are preaching about even if it's sound, they don't believe it themselves. The glory of God is slowly departing, and I believe in this case in America, it is departed.

And we need it to come back. Samson had the spirit of God still upon him. Still upon him. Even while he was pursuing disobedience. Why?

Because God is extremely merciful and gracious. Had we all, being used by God, see his hand removed from us every time we sin, nothing would be done for the kingdom of God. Are you dull of hearing tonight? I hope not. What do we see?

The spirit of God rushes upon him. He tears up this line. And we would think Samson. You're out of there. Right?

What does he say here? What does it say here in verse seven? Then he went down and talked with a woman, and she was right in Samson's eyes. He was on a mission, man. Oh, that Christians would be so dedicated as Samson was for his sin.

Believer, when you didn't come to Christ, when you were in the world, you were so dedicated to the devil. Weren't you? You would stay up all night to go to the club and get intoxicated. Now if the meeting extends an extra half an hour, you get itchy because you wanna go eat lunch. You were so dedicated to the kingdom of darkness.

Now that you're in the kingdom of light, you don't wanna be as dedicated. What happened? After some days, he returned to take her, and he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion, and behold, there was a swarm of bees in the body of the lion and honey. So some time had passed. He rips up this lion, he moves on, he wants to engage this woman, he wants to propose to his woman, and after a period of time, he goes back home, he returns to this woman to have his engagement party, and he's curious.

This was the area where I ripped up the line and tore him apart. And then he goes to see this line, and he realizes over time it became a carcass, a skeleton. But when he looked closely, what happened? There was honey. Over time, the bees made a home in that carcass and produced this sweet element, as we all know as honey.

And so what's happening here? He looks at the carcass, he sees the honey, and then in verse nine, he scraped it out into his hands, and he went on eating it as he went. Samson, are you not getting it? I mean, we're just introduced to you, and the first thing that you do is you want a Philistine woman. Okay.

The second thing that you do is you go to a vineyard. What are you doing? You're you're Nazareth. The third thing that you do is that you touch a dead body. Like, we just met you and you're breaking all the rules.

And so he touches this dead body, defiling himself according to numbers chapter six. But can I ask you a question? Was he attracted to the carcass or the honey? I'm sure he didn't see the carcasses, I really want to touch a carcass right now. No.

He totally dismissed this putrid, disgusting, half rotten flesh, because all he see in that moment is this golden syrup that's gonna satisfy his appetite. What a picture of how we view sin. What a picture of how we view sin. Because it's a mirage. Right?

Because when you when you're being tempted, you're not considering the death around it. All you see is the sweetness of it. Not considering the fact that it will always come in the package of something that will kill you or defile you. Samson sees this honey. He doesn't see the fact that it is on a plate of a dead beast.

And so he grabs the honey. He starts tasting it. He starts licking his fingers as he's walking down the road. You think to yourself. That's disgusting.

Well, welcome to sin. It is disgusting. We just don't see it that way. We think it's just something a little wrong and we shouldn't do it. Vomit and eating and slurping it back up.

That's what it looks like according to the Holy Spirit when you and I go back to our sin. But we don't see it that way. We don't see it that way. I encourage you to see it that way. The next time you're tempted to go back to your sin, visualize you vomiting that sin out at one point in your life, only to go back to it and to drink it back up.

So what's the solution? What was the solution for Samson to see that honey and to go I don't want it. What's the solution to not even being attracted to such a disgusting thing? Well, it's a verse that we've often quoted in this church, and it's in Proverbs twenty seven seven. He who is full loads What?

Honey. But to the one who is hungry, everything bitter is sweet. You know what Samson problem was? He was hungry physically, spiritually. The soul was starving.

So the solution to to not eating the honey from the carcass and defiling yourself, which over time is just a step closer into being drained of God's power over your life that comes through consecration, is to be full. See, what Samson needed was to be satisfied with a different substance, but he wasn't. And if you don't learn how to tap into being pleased in God, not reading commentary so you can get more knowledge, Being actually satisfied with your relationship with God. You will make decisions in the spiritual realm like this. You will put your face in things and you will digest things that you never thought you would eat and you'll actually for a season be pleased by it.

So Samson scoops it up into his hands. He just defiled himself and he's licking his fingers and he's eating this honey and he's not even considering what this is doing to him in the long run. And not only that, what does he do? Finish verse nine. He came to his father and mother and gave some to them, and they ate it.

But he did not tell them that he had scraped the honey from a carcass of the lion. Now, why they ate from his hand in the first place, I have no idea. That's how much they love their son, I guess. But he comes up, he has honey. He goes, hey mom, dad, try this.

And they I don't know how they did it, but they tried it. They tried it. And I read this and I thought to myself, this is scary. Because this man is so driven by the flesh, like he is so consumed by sin. You wanna know something?

You can get to the point where you don't care not only of defiling yourself, but of defiling others. His own parents, eating something as vile as that, and he was willing to contaminate them in his own pursuit of pleasure. Don't look at this as some sweet thing of sharing something for them to eat. This is a man who wants others to share in his defilement. And in the old covenant, it had to do with much physical things, touching dead people, and touching sick people, and not being able to go back home and quarantining for a while.

Quarantining isn't just a new thing, this old testament. But in the new testament, in the new covenant, there are greater defilements and opportunities to defile others. In Hebrews 12 verse five, rather 15. In Hebrews twelve fifteen, we are told, see to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God. Root of bitterness springs up and causes trouble, and by it, many become what?

Defiled. We've talked about this extensively. We just talked about it in a previous Sunday morning message. That That root of bitterness is not talking about unforgiveness in your heart. And when you're a bitter person, you make life difficult for others around you.

That root of bitterness is what Moses said, that if you're a person that hears the commands of God and says into your heart, I will rebel and it shall be well with me. That's where you have the root of bitterness. Careful that you come into your community with that mindset and then others becoming defiled from it. And listen. Look at this now.

Sequence of thought. Look at the context. The next thing he says do you think it's a coincidence of what he's about to say in verse 16? No. It's one of the main ways that Christians defile themselves and defile others.

Verse 16. Not of Judges, of Hebrews 12. It says here, that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau. That's not a random thought. See these verse breaks can can chop the thought process up.

No. He's making a point. Let no root of bitterness spring up within you that you defile others, and then the the sin that he has in mind, the main sewage pump of defilement within the church that he wants to bring up is sexual immorality. Because you defile others when you pursue that sin for yourself. And in this context, you know what that sin looks like?

Honey being eaten out of carcass to a certain extent, and in this context, he's saying, it's as pathetic as you selling your calling for a bowl of porridge, or oatmeal like Esau did. That's what it looks like in the spiritual realm. And so, Samson has reached a spiritual insensitivity to the point where he didn't care that he was defiling others. You know, people can get so in the flesh. How?

Because they begin to allow their senses to overtake their decisions, and they fail to feel the wonder of the Word of God. What what did they begin to do? Not just defile themselves. They are willing to defile a brother. They are willing to defile a sister.

They are willing to break up a marriage through adultery. They are willing to tear up a church. They are willing to tear their own families. Why? Because sin numbs you.

It numbs you. And you allow yourself to get into the flesh to degree where all you're living force to satisfy your next fix. And just like a drug addict, you're willing to do anything. Sell your body, do whatever, sell your teeth, so that you can get another fix. Right?

And destroy anybody. What do gamblers do? They sell their homes, they reach into their children's fund for college, and they destroy the Why? Because they need a a fix. And I'm willing to bulldoze through anybody.

Destroy anybody. Defile the name of Christ. I don't care because I need it. Okay? He begins to feed his own family something from death.

Defiling himself and defiling them. So what happens? We read in verse 10. His father went down to the woman, and Samson prepared a feast there, for so the young men used to do. That's tradition.

He's gonna have a feast, he's gonna have a bachelor party. He's gonna have an engagement party that's gonna last seven days long. And as soon as the people saw him, they brought 30 companions to be with him. No Israelites came to his own wedding, like, so they're like, okay. This doesn't look good.

So let's grab 30 Philistine guys to surround him. So very small engagement party. There's him, his parents, 30 Philistines, and his wife to be. And Samson wants to spice things up a little bit. Samson has something in mind.

Maybe there was tension, because remember, the Philistines and Israelites were not the best of pals, and so he's going to come up with a riddle. Verse 12. Samson said to them, let me not put a riddle to you. If you can tell me what it is within the seven days of the feast and find it out, then I will give you 30 linen garments and 30 changes of clothes. So it's not just a riddle, it's a bet.

But if you cannot tell me what it is, then you shall give me 30 linen garments and 30 changes of clothes. So here's the idea. I'm gonna come up with a riddle. You have seven days to figure out an answer. If you cannot give me the right answer, you all have to give me 30 different outfits.

But if you do get the answer, I'll go to the store. I'll buy you all 30 new outfits. Deal? Well, seems like it was a lame party because they agreed. They said to him, put your riddle that we may hear it.

Do it. So what happens? And he said to them, out of the eater came something to eat. Out of the strong came something sweet. Sound familiar?

What do you think that has to do with? Well, at one point, surely in the thought process of of Samson as he's walking towards Timna and walking towards his engagement party, maybe with honey still in his fingernails, I'm gonna come up with a riddle. I'm gonna come up with a riddle that is so subjective, and it is so nobody else knows about this, that it will become nearly, if not impossible to figure out. Why is Samson doing this? Well, maybe they didn't bring the best wedding gifts and he wanted more.

And so he's like, I'm getting out of here with at least 30 outfits or something. And so I'm gonna give this real they're gonna take the challenge and I'm gonna leave here with more than when I came in. So he gives a riddle based on his experience. Listen. That's messed up.

Why? Because it was trickery? No. Because Samson took his sinful experience and made such a light matter of it. There's no brokenness here.

There's no heavy heart in this here. There's no grief here. There's no remorse. There's no second thoughts. In fact, he took his experience and he used it as a means to further himself in greater selfishness.

You wanna know how else you've reached a spiritual numbness that is so dangerous, not just when you are comfortable defiling others, but when you make light of your own sin. When you're able to joke about it. When you're able to converse about it and it not pricking your heart even for a second. You know what Paul says in Ephesians? When he talks about certain sentences, let this not even be named among you.

Don't let it even be in your conversation. That's how holy you are. And here's Samson saying, yeah, I made this mistake, but I'm gonna make it into a riddle. There's something wrong, Samson. There's something deeply wrong in your perception of your actions.

And so he makes light of it. He makes a sport out of it. And he actually uses it somehow for his advantage. And what happens here? Well, the challenge is on.

And in verse 15, on the fourth day, they said to Samson's wife, entice your husband to tell us what the riddle is. Why? Because they couldn't figure it out. Three days passed by and they're like, what is he talking about? And they're planning, and they're figuring it out, and they're trying to come up with an answer, and they probably even threw a couple suggestions at him, and he's like, nope, nope.

And he's thinking, I'm leaving here with 30 new outfits. And what seemed to be some fun little game is now gonna become a deadly scene. They come up to the wife. They pull the wife aside. They say, listen, go to your husband and squeeze it out of him.

Why? If not, we burn you and your father's house with fire. Have you invited us here to impoverish us? They were accusing her of being on his side, and using this as some tactic to milk them even more. So they said, we're on to you.

If you don't give us the answer, you're dead. You're not gonna see your honeymoon. Your family will die along with you. Get us the answer. So she goes into panic mode.

She finds her husband and says in verse 16, Samson's wife wept over him and said, you only hate me. You only hate me. You do not love me. You have put a riddle to my people and you have not told me what it is. And he said to her, behold, I have not told my father nor my mother, and shall I tell you?

Now, do you see what he's saying here in verse 16? He's like, I didn't tell my mom and dad. Now when you come here, look here at verse nine. Tell them that he had scraped the honey from the carcass of the lie. When you read that before you come to verse 16, you think that he didn't do that because he knew what he did was wrong.

Right? I can't tell my mom and dad what I did. They know what the Nazarite battles. And I told them You would think that his conscience was bothered. And maybe in part that was true.

But when you come to verse 16, you realize that the reason why he didn't tell them is that they didn't have so that they wouldn't have the answer to the riddle. Talk about numbness. You you think he didn't say anything because he knew he was in sin, he knew he was in the wrong, and he didn't want his parents to rebuke him? No. The reason why he didn't tell them was so that nobody, including his parents, would have the answer to his pre planned riddle.

Tell you? For seventeen, she wept before him seven days, that their feast lasted. I mean, you haven't even got married yet, and you're already arguing. And on the seventh day, he told her because she pressed him hard, then she told the riddle to her people. Do you see the language?

My people, her people. Samson and his unnamed wife approving something here about not the right way to do relationships. Let's just go to relationship route for a moment. Samson's wife took sides here. And it was her own kinsmen, her own culture, her own family, her friends, over her husband to be.

And what do you see in Samson's answer? He goes, I haven't told my mother and father. Why would I tell you? She was less or maybe equal in his sight to his mom and dad. Wrong.

Both are wrong, because both failed to see the pattern, the blueprint that God established in the garden that a man, including a woman, shall leave his father and mother, shall cleave to his wife her husband. And they're taking sides. And they are not doing this the way God intended them to do this. They're not emotionally separated from their family and friends. They're not All these different things are wrong already.

And do we expect a Philistine to know any better? But here's my question when I read this. I was reading this tonight and I thought to myself, Samson, where was She was right in my eyes. Where was, I want her. I want her.

She's gorgeous. 10 out of 10. Dad, get her for me. I don't think that matters anymore now. Because brothers, hear me very carefully.

If you elevate beauty from character, you will know loss. You will know loss. Because if you do that, I guarantee you, if she lacks the God fearing convictions that the Bible praises, you will not know lasting joy and peace in your relationship, and it doesn't matter how beautiful she is. Same with you sisters. If you're in it for the looks, and you're in it for the charm, and he does not possess an anchor in the word of God, the beauty, the handsomeness, all of that will fade, and it will not matter.

If you need any proof, just look at the celebrity world and realize that when you make relations on the basis of physical appearance or status, it doesn't really last long. And so he goes for a Philistine one, and he didn't obviously see her character, and clearly she didn't care about the character as a Philistine. She didn't have the same standards as the Israelites did. But look at this friction. Look at this frustration.

Value what God values. Beauty is not wrong, but beauty in the absence of character is what the Bible says, like a gold ring and a pig's snout. Doesn't matter if she's above attractive. Doesn't matter if he's the dream guy, no conviction, no God fearing principles, you have a nightmare waiting for you. At least, the best is frustration.

At worst, you would wish you were single. So she pressed him. My people, my people. You know what she could have done? Come to her husband and say, Hey, listen.

Maybe we should change the plan here, honey, because they want to kill us. My life is threatened. My father's life is threatened. Can we just do this together? No.

No. No. She takes sides, says, you give the answer up. He does. Verse 18.

And the men of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun, I mean, fourth quarter last few seconds. Hey, Samson. We know that we only have like, a few minutes left, but is it by any chance, what is sweeter than honey? What is stronger than a lion? We have this idea that because Samson was a womanizer, that he was some dumb brute, like he didn't think.

He was very smart, and he realized that this was impossible for them to figure out. And he says, what? If you would not plow with my heifer, you would not have found out my riddle. He goes, you're all dead. Mark my words what's gonna happen.

He doesn't attack them, but interestingly enough, the spirit of Lord rushed upon him. He went down to Ashkelon in verse 19 and struck down 30 men of the town and took their spoil, and gave the garments to those who had told the riddle. In hot anger, he went back to his father's house, and Samson's wife was given to his companion who had been his best man. Yeah. The gasp.

Right? Talk about drama. You guys got the answer. I will I will agree with the the thing that we've made here. Let me go get your clothes for you.

And he goes far enough, where he kills 30 Philistine men, takes the clothes off their back, folds them nicely, comes back and says, here are your outfits. I'll see you guys later, and goes back to his father's house. The spirit of the Lord came upon him. Why? Because God had a plan, even through his disobedience to accomplish his greater agenda.

But I wanna end with one final thought before we close here. There's many things that can be said from his answer, to how he went down to this specific place. I just wanna leave with one final thought. Twice already, we are told that the spirit of the Lord came upon him. One time, he tears up a lion.

The next time, he kills 30 men. And you know what I find amazing as we are introduced to Samson already in his life? He had the spirit empowerment to kill a beast. He had the assistance to slay 30 men, but he proved that he did not have the ability to overcome the pressures of a beautiful woman. When the lion came, he conquered.

When the 30 men faced up to him, he conquered. When a beautiful woman pressured him, he fell to his knees. Because this is Samson's weakness. And I want you to know that no matter how much a lion could have destroyed him, and no matter how much he could have destroyed that lion with his hands, there was a lion of lust in his heart that would ultimately devour this man. And in the new covenant, the Holy Spirit is concerned about one main ministry in your life.

Yes, to seal you, yes, to comfort you, all those wonderful things. But the Holy Spirit does not want to come upon you like he did Samson. He wants to indwell you and then give you victory from the inside out. So that your thoughts and your temptations and your motives can be conquered and slain as easily as that line was in the vineyards of Timna. And if you do not believe that, or you do not tap into that grace that has been purchased by the new covenant, then the potential of your failure and mine can be even greater than Samson's.

Do we believe that God is able to give a man the ability to destroy a lion, and to kick around a band of men, but he doesn't have the ability to give you the power to overcome sin, to overcome a pattern of life or a pattern of decisions that are destructive and contrary to the will of God? To overcome fear and anxiety? To overcome idolatry? Do we believe that God can give a man the ability to slay a thousand men with a jawbone of a donkey, but he can't help you overcome lust? Really?

Really? Then the old covenant is better than the new covenant. Then we are at a disadvantage, and we should be in the old covenant under that dispensation and not this one, if we don't believe that. Because Romans eight thirteen says that, if you live according to the flesh, you will die. But if by the spirit, you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

By what? By the Spirit. Ready for this encouragement? The same Holy Spirit that came upon Samson, thousands of years ago in ancient Israel, in a vineyard with a lion roaring ready to bite his head off, is the same Holy Spirit that based upon the blood of Jesus Christ now enters in, indwells permanently, and then animates and energizes you to conquer and have a victorious life here, and not just here. We have limited holiness to what other people see.

How you view me? This is how you know that you are walking in maturity, that you are concerned about your inner life. How many Christians do you think are concerned about the inner life? How many? I believe that we have limited the pursuit of holiness to make sure that everybody sees that I'm spiritual.

That's all that matters. And yet, we just read in the intermission and worship that his eyes search and know the minds and hearts. You know that you are tapping into spiritual maturity when you say, God, I don't want just victory outside, I want victory inside. I don't want my thought life to be fleshly. I don't want my motives to be fleshly.

I don't want my meditations to be sinful. God come and give me victory. Will you slip? Sure. Will you have random thoughts?

Sure. Listen. Martin Luther said it this way, and it's one of the most brilliant, yet simplest illustrations. You can't help the birds to fly over your head, but you can do something about them planting a nest on your head. Temptations will fly in and fly out, but where spiritually victory comes is when we refuse to allow the nest to be built on its head and those thoughts to live with us, and to have eggs on our heads, so to speak.

But like Abraham, when he was ready to prepare a sacrifice and a covenant with the Lord, it says, the vultures came to eat it up and he would shoo away the birds. That's a picture of how we shoo away temptation. Samson was a man that had great power but he also was a man with great weakness. Do? Like the Philistines, we're amazed at him.

Because we have this idea that Samson was like, Hulk. You've seen the shows and the movies. He's jacked, and he has like dreads and tattoos somehow. And he's just intimidating, and they're all like, wow, they just see him. That is not the picture of Samson.

I believe Samson was a scrawny Jew. I believe that. Why? Why? This is I'm not being facetious.

Why? Because the Philistines couldn't figure out the source of his strength. They couldn't understand it. How is this average man able to rip up the gates? How is he able to kill an army?

It doesn't make sense. That's why they hired a woman, Delilah, to figure it out. So he wasn't seven foot four with massive biceps. But you know what we do? We as Philistines, we look and we read about Samson's life, and we're so impressed with his endeavors, and his miraculous abilities, and how he can destroy that, and kill this, and uproot that.

And I believe that if Samson were to come into 2021, and and live amongst a group of Christians, he would be amazed. Because he would see Christians having victory over lust. And he would see Christians in a pornified age, With messages being sent on a continual basis, from the moment you wake up to the moment you go to bed. And he would think, how are you guys not falling? I would have given up a long time ago.

I can kill lions. I'm a one man army. And we go, oh wow. Look what the spirit of God can do. He can do it.

Oh God, let me do miracles. Let me do exploits. And let me do these one other thing. And I'm sure Samson would come in our day and say, what do you guys have? How are you living holy?

How are you living pure? How is it that you reject these things on a continual basis? I don't get it. I would've eaten that up a long time ago. I would've answered her phone call.

I would've clicked on that website. Look at, you guys have something called internet pornography? Wow. I would have been toast. Here we are, longing for the old covenant.

Oh, look at what God did. And the prophets of old long to look for the manifestation of the new covenant when they were receiving downloads from heaven. When is this gonna happen? The spirit of God changing hearts, making hearts want to obey God, empowering them. We need to come back to the word of God.

Preaching it, believing it, living it. And may we prove to the world that the new covenant is indeed the most glorious of all covenants. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for your word. We thank you that it is indeed a double edged sword.

It has the ability to cut the preacher and the listener. Lord, we hear these truths and we're convinced that every verse, every point comes from a heart of love from heaven. And Lord, we are stirred to hear and to see your principles and your examples in this story. We long to live above. We long to live according to your standard and your power.

Lord, in this place right here, right now, you know who is living with their eyes and who has become dull of hearing. Lord, you know the decisions that people make behind closed doors. You know the carcasses that people are eating out of. You know the premeditated sins that are lurking in the mind. Tell you that we, by your grace, will not fall for what Samson fell for.

Help us, Lord, live for you and to know the joy of living for you. Help us know that consecration is the place where we receive true satisfaction. Lord, in this day of age where we are sensing the house of God being shaken, keep us on our feet. Keep us walking. Keep us in the love of God.

Lord, we wanna be found faithful. We tonight tell you that we do not take our callings for granted. We tell you tonight that we fear you and we in a holy way fear sin. We don't want it. And Lord, tonight we pray that if there's anybody in this place that doesn't know the Lord Jesus Christ, that they would know the joys that are available to them in Christ, that they are forgiven by the blood, and that they are also empowered by that same blood to live an abundant life, not just free from hell, not just free from a legalistic spirit, but free from sin.

Thank you that this is the new covenant. Lord, we worship you in holiness and reverence, and we give you praise in light of what we heard. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.