Judges 15 Bible Study (Samson Defeats the Philistines) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

Judges chapter 15. Judges chapter 15. We are in a study of the life of the man, the judge, Samson, And we already have gleaned so much from what the scriptures have recorded concerning his life, yet there's so much still for us to experience and to hear from God concerning this interesting figure in our bibles. Now, if Samson's life was a play, what we experienced at the end of last week would have served as a very suspenseful intermission. If you were here, you remember that Samson had this bet at his wedding with these Philistines.

It didn't go into his favor. He ended up having to pay a very high price. And then he storms off the scene enraged, calling off the wedding and and I guess what they thought, and him returning to his father's house and then the curtains drop. And then as we are gathered here again tonight, we're gonna realize that the curtain lifts and we're going to see how Samson now returns to that scene and we are anticipating what's about to take place from what we concluded in last week. And so we read in verse one of Judges chapter 15.

After some days at the time of wheat harvest, Samson went to visit his wife with a young goat and he said, I will go into my wife in the chamber. But her father would not allow him to go in. And her father said, I really thought that you utterly hated her, so I gave her to your companion. Is not her younger sister more beautiful than she? Please take her instead.

And, Samson said to them, this time, I shall be innocent in regard to the Philistines when I do them harm. Some time had passed between Samson's departure and his return to the site, to the address of his wife. And no matter how ugly things got last week in the previous chapter, Samson had in mind that he was going to return to the person that he married and attempt to continue the relationship, though it start off in a rocky way. And so, he comes to the address of his beloved with a gift in hand, a goat, I presume was something that was cherished in that time. And as he comes to the address, he realizes that things have changed much more than he anticipated.

He requested for his wife, but his father-in-law, bewildered, tells him that, no. You don't have a wife anymore because when you left, we all thought you called the thing off. And so Samson is standing there enraged and we would agree with his sentiment, we would agree with his frustration. It is completely absurd, but here's what we have to understand from these two verses, these two three verses. We should not nor should Samson be surprised by the behavior, by this kind of a solution from a man, from a family, from a people that are not in covenant with God.

What we're seeing here is that clearly these people have a different framework of conviction than even Samson had. And Samson, when he had pursued this woman initially, did not consider that they have different convictions as a result of their worship of different gods. And the very thing that drew him to this woman in the first place, her outer beauty, her figure, her eyes, her smile, All of that was overpowered by her character and her beliefs. This reminds us of a proverb, does it not? That charm is deceitful, is vain, beauty vain, deceitful.

And the understanding there is that when a person who might have charm and who might have beauty but lacks the essence and the substance of a reverential all of God, those things hold no value long term. In fact, those things will actually be totally overcome by that very vacuum in her soul, in his soul that would completely diminish any type of enjoyment you might have had from her or his charm or beauty. You may not believe that now, brothers. You may not believe that now, because all you are thinking about is who she is physically and how she'll be able to please you. I will guarantee you that if she does not fear God, all of that will not matter.

It won't. As convinced as you might be that this will satisfy you and it will be enough for a successful marriage on an emotional level, spiritual level, physical level, all of that will dissipate, because there's a vacuum in his soul, in her soul. Because beauty and charm doesn't hold much weight, especially when there is disagreement, frustration, arguments which will come. But when a person fears God, whether it's a man or a woman, you'd be amazed to know how gorgeous they will be even in disagreements and arguments. Because they will know even how to handle something so emotionally charged with great reverence because they stand in awe of who God is.

Make sure that you have a good value system, especially as you're in the season of determining who you want to be with for the rest of your life. And perhaps, realizing as a father-in-law that this had infuriated the man, he decides to do what? Give him an offer, and he says, okay. Listen. I can see that the the blood is rushing into your face, and that your eyes are are changing color almost.

And so here, let me just let me give you my other daughter. Let me give you her and what's the premise for that kind of an offer? Well, she's more beautiful than the one that you initially wanted. And you're thinking like, is that how the philistine culture works? Or did this man know something about the flaw character of of Samson for him to even think that this would potentially work?

Regardless, hear me. Samson would have lessened the potential pain that he experienced in this moment, had he had married somebody from his own community of faith. Do you know why? Because what this father in law's proposing is completely contrary to what God had written in his word concerning relationships. Hear this.

This is just one obscure verse that we may not consider, but it makes sense in light of the principle. In Leviticus eighteen eighteen, God says, you shall not take a woman as a rival wife to her sister. Uncovering her nakedness while her sister is still alive. You can't marry somebody's sister while she's still alive. You're gonna create a lot of problems.

God made even such a specific scenario clear in his word. And had he had found somebody from his own community of faith, perhaps, not guaranteed, he would have upped the chance that somebody would have handled this much differently. I mean, come on. Instead of attempting to reconcile the relationship and find out where Samson's at, just come to the conclusion that he doesn't want it, you're gonna marry her off to another person? You're setting yourself up for much distress in life if you say I do to somebody who did not say I do to Christ.

Just remember that. So what happens? Samson was enraged and not only was he enraged, but it provided the motivation to plan an assault on the Philistines altogether. And so what does he do? He has a strategy and we read it here in verse four.

So Samson went and caught 300 foxes and took torches and he turned them tail to tail and put a torch between each pair of tails. And when he had set fire to the torches, he let the foxes go into the standing grain of the Philistines and set fire to the stacked grain and the standing grain, as well as the olive orchards. So this man is clearly demonstrating that he doesn't just have super strength, he has super speed. We don't know if he did this in a day or in a week. We don't know if he had help, but it's clearly indicated that he had this plan.

And he went around chasing foxes, put them in cages, tied their tails by pairs, put a torch between those things, and then light it on fire. And these creatures would be in such panic, they would just run into the field. Remember verse one. It's at the time of wheat harvest. I mean, this is at the the pinnacle of their economic flourishing.

And this is a strange strategy, but we have some reason to believe that it was a smart one because these creatures who are so low to the ground would run around in the fields and to the observation of the Philistines, all they're seeing is combustion of flames and they're not seeing men throwing things, they're not seeing men lighting things on fire. They're just seeing these invisible moments of explosions and and things being set on fire and they're confused. So we see something of obvious strategy in mind and you can say, cleverness. But consider, though it's not an immediate reference to the illustration here that the Song of Solomon not points to, but uses the same elements of illustration for a different principle. Listen to this in Song of Solomon chapter two verse 15.

Catch the foxes for us. Catch the foxes for us, the little foxes that spoil the vineyards for our vineyards are in blossom. Song of Solomon. Have you read it? Lift your hand if you read that book.

Who who hasn't read it? You're in for a treat when you do. Okay? It's an amazing book because it's a unique book in the sense that it is from cover to cover, the love language between a man and a woman in the context of marriage. It's romantic.

It's poetic. And at this point, you have this interaction between a man and a woman, and there's a request being made in light of their relationship. That they were to catch the foxes, as their relationship is illustrated as a vineyard. A vineyard that is producing tender grapes. Grapes that are vulnerable and delicate in the open field.

And though those grapes provide sweetness, and and delight, and a wonderful bliss, they can also be robbed, and damaged, and ransacked. And what is the threat to this relationship, this human relationship? Foxes. Not big foxes, little foxes. Little foxes that would creep in and begin to chew on the things and destroy the things that they had worked so hard to build.

And Song of Solomon, although it's a clear understanding of a man and a woman interacting with one another, ultimately points to the picture of our relationship with Christ. The joy, the bliss, the delight that we can know with him experientially. And if we have any problem with that interpretation, then you have problem in the New Testament with Paul alluding and pointing to our relationship with Christ as marriage. As a marriage. As a human relationship that we know to be the closest one that this world can experience.

And here's the reality, you and I are called to do the same as what this couple agreed to do, catch the little foxes. Now what does that mean? Well, the fact that little foxes are pointing to shows the danger of little compromises in our lives. Whether you like it or not, if you claim to be born again, if you have a genuine relationship with Jesus Christ, in your heart is a vineyard. In your heart is a vineyard.

There is something that is cultivated, built. There is fruit that is experienced. And just like this relationship, it is known in your relationship with the Lord. It's shared and there's something of joy therein. But at the same time, you and I are called to realize that there is a potential or you have a fruitless vineyard in your devotional life.

If we're honest, there are some people in here that if you were to shed some light on the vineyard of your devotional life to Christ, it is filled with thorns, barely any fruit, maybe crushed grapes here and there, but it's not glistening. It's not filled with abundance of joy and wisdom. And I can tell you this, that that can happen in many ways, but the main way it happens in Christians lives is that they have allowed little foxes in. You thought it was cute. You thought they were harmless.

You thought that they would affect anything. But just little by little, and not even necessarily sin. See, to say if this is sin or not, is a very baby Christian question to ask. You want to go to greater heights in your spiritual walk with the Lord? Ask yourself this question.

Does it stir my affections for Christ? Does it distract me? Does it pull me away from spiritual fervency and delight in the Lord? Ask those questions and you'll know you'll know a heightened experience with the Holy Spirit like you never thought you would. The problem is all we're asking in modern Christianity is, is it wrong or not?

And these days, we're even telling ourselves that this isn't really wrong when it's clearly wrong. Go figure. No wonder we're dead spiritually in the American church. The little foxes. Catch for us the little foxes.

You know what that requires? It requires attentiveness. For you to catch the little foxes requires you to be aware of your environment, to be aware of your heart condition, to be aware of the this the fruit and how it's being nurtured and how it's being fed. And just like marriage, you don't just feed the relationship with attention and effort and communication. You don't just nurture with emotional investment.

No. No. No. You also are called to be defensive and protect and guard from things coming in that would destroy that relationship and it's no different with your relationship with Christ. See, to think that we can know longevity in actual joy I'm not talking about you going on cruise control, showing up on a Friday night, because that's what you just do on a Friday night.

I go to church on Friday night, but you you there's no hunger, there's no desire, there's no longing, there's no thirsting. You just come. You just come. And with this whole pandemic thing, you have even more reason to come because you can't go to your favorite restaurant. Right?

I'm talking about something beyond that. I'm talking about something that's really joyful in your life, that is actually happiness, that is infiltrating your emotions and your thoughts. How do you guard that? Well, you watch for the little foxes. The little things that your eyes might watch that that just dampen your spiritual zeal.

The little things that you listen to. The little things that you do with your friends that would squash anything of relishing in the things of God. Catch for us the little foxes. It requires attention. It requires effort.

It's not just something that you're just gonna know floating day by day. No. Sometimes it requires you to examine yourself. Sometimes it requires you to question what you're actually getting involved with. Sometimes it requires you to make an inquiry of where you're at.

But that effort, just like in marriage, will have great reward, will have great reward, if you take it seriously. Consider the damage that these little foxes did in Samson's story. Setting ablaze so many fields. Setting ablaze so much of their economic flourishing. And so it is with us, I would argue.

The problem is we don't watch, we don't catch, we don't get rid of on a day to day basis. And with so many distractions in our life, we have no idea how we invite things into our life and what they do over time. So what happens here? Verse six. And the Philistines said, who has done this?

Who has done this? They realized that this was beyond just accident and coincidence. This was human thinking. This was a plan. Who has done this?

And as they're inquiring, word comes to them and they said, Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he has taken his wife and given her to his companion. And the Philistines came up and burned her and her father with fire. Who was here last week? Do you remember how this whole thing even begun? Do you know why we're here even in the first place?

It's because of Judges 14, look here in verse 15. On the fourth day, they said to Samson's wife, entice your husband to tell us what the riddle is, lest we burn you and your father's house with fire. Have you invited us here to impoverish us? The whole reason why we're having this drama between Samson and the Philistines, consent to this. There was a threat from the Philistines after Samson had given the riddle, that if they did not cough up the answer, she did not drive it out of her husband, that they would burn her and her father's house.

And the very thing this woman feared came to pass anyway. The very thing she dreaded, the very thing that she was willing to do, stand against her husband and side with her people for her own personal benefit, actually turned on her anyway. Now think about that. She went to great lengths to make sure that there would be no peril on her part. Even at the expense of rejecting her husband and siding with those who are clearly in the wrong by even offering such a threat.

And what did you have here? She turns to ashes. They turn on her anyway. She neglected. She refused to do right, thinking that there'd be a great cost if she did what was right.

Not realizing that siding with those who are willing to threaten you is not probably the best thing to do. You know, we often tell people this, don't we? That there's a cost to following Jesus. Right? It's not about saying the sinner's prayer and then now you have this thing, this genie and a lamp that you can call on whenever you want.

No. There's a cost to following Jesus. And here's the danger of even preaching that. You ready? We can so emphasize the cost of following Jesus that we, over time, can make people think that there is no cost to not following Jesus.

Is there a cost to following Jesus? Absolutely. But let me tell you a greater cost, not following him. And so we have people who think that there's a price to following Jesus, and there's nothing that I have to pay up by not following him. And here's the reality, that you and I have two courses to take in this life, and each course has a fee.

And the decision to follow Jesus is based on your determination to figure out which fee is worth paying for the final destination that either one of these courses will lead me into. But once you make that decision to follow Jesus, there is still a daily decision to make to choose righteousness over selfishness, to choose right over wrong, to choose wisdom over foolishness. You and I still have to make that daily choice. Right? You're doing it.

I'm doing it. This is sanctification. May I give you a helpful tip that will help you in the face of temptation? Whenever you think about doing the wrong thing, realize that you are never safe there. Never.

Never. This woman thought that she would be safe by doing the wrong thing, when in fact, she was in more danger. Had she had side with her husband, she would have been safer. No matter how much you think doing the right thing will cost you, whether it's financially, whether it's relationally, whether it's your dreams and your desires, whatever it is, no matter how much you think it cost you, there is one thing that you are promised if you walk in the place of obedience and that is protection. I'm not talking about physical protection.

I'm talking about so much every aspect of your life is guarded. But if you choose to walk away and make a decision based on your own wisdom, thinking that it will cost less, thinking that it won't actually affect you as much, you're in for a surprise. I love this proverb. It's one of my favorite proverbs to motivate anyone I believe to walk in integrity. Proverbs two seven.

He, being God, stores up wisdom for the upright, and He is a shield to those who walk in integrity. He is a shield to those who walk in integrity. If you have an integrity, if you in your private life are walking in integrity, You have nothing to fear in this life. Not even criticism. Gossip, rumors, slander, you have no reason to fear.

I don't know why people get so worked up when others talk about them. If you know it's not true and you know that God doesn't believe it's true, then what are you so worried about? What are you so concerned about? There is a special grace and protection reserved for one type of person, the one who walks uprightly. The person who fails to do that, in the negative sense of this verse, forfeits that shield.

God being your shield. Never mind the government. Never mind your concealed carry license. God being your shield. So may we walk uprightly in your daily decisions.

Would you would you be convinced that you rather please God, even though you forfeit the pleasure of man? Rather than you knowing that you've pleased man, but have forfeited the favor of God. Just determine that it's better to be on his side. It's it's always safer to be on God's side. Always.

This woman paid a price that I'm sure she regretted. She not only lost a husband, she lost her own life. What happens from this scene? Verse seven, and Samson said to them, if this is what you do, I swear I will be avenged on you, and after that, I will I will quit. You know what's amazing here?

Samson, as infuriated as he was with the decision of his father-in-law, he did not take his anger out on him and his wife. He could have. Right? I mean, this man could have just stormed and killed her, killed him, and went back to his father's house, but he didn't want to do them any harm. Because like we just studied, he realized that this all came from the pressure of these Philistines on his wife to make her even act this way, so he took all his anger on them.

It was never his intention for them to be touched by any physical harm. Yet it happened anyway. Samson was called to deliver the nation of Israel from the Philistines, but he wasn't doing it God's way. He wasn't. And God was allowing all of this.

All of this conflict that's about to blow up, God is allowing it, but it wasn't God's immediate plan. See, the reason why Samson's here experienced personal pain and hurt was because Samson made the decision to walk toward a Philistine woman in the first place. And what what was God left to do? He was supposed to now work through his disobedience, but Samson, I argue tonight, could have fulfilled God's purposes and have been blessed throughout the process. He could have been blessed.

He could have avoided so much heartache, so much confusion, so much frustration, so much of what we're seeing here. It could have it could have been a different narrative, had Samson chosen differently in the beginning. Brothers and sisters, or person in here who doesn't believe in God, I want to tell you this in a kind way. God God is not moved by the fact that you don't believe in him. What I mean by that is he's not going to change his program on the earth because you don't believe in him.

Does he want you to be saved? Absolutely. But this is the choice every single human has. Either I will join God's program and be blessed along his advancement or I will choose not to and experience curse. That's it.

Samson here, even as a follower of Yahweh, is choosing to do it his way and he's experiencing, he's paying the price for it, when it could have been completely different. And now he says to himself, rather to them, because you killed them, you're gonna regret what you just did. But once I deal with you after this final time, I'm done with you and I'm gonna move on with my life. Right? He says that.

He goes, after that I will quit. So what does he do? Verse eight. He struck them hip and thigh with a great blow and he went down and stayed in the cleft of the rock Of Edom. Now this is amazing.

This is amazing because Samson now in a moment is going to show us a dangerous thing. But before we get there, I want you to see here, down in verse 10. The Philistines came up and they wanted to now bring a raid and they asked for Samson because they're wondering, why are you even here? Why are you coming against us? We didn't do anything.

And they said, we have come to bind Samson to do to him as he did to us. Now you come here in verse 11, and they approached Samson and I want you to look at the the second part, and he said, Samson to them, as they did to me, so have I done to them. Do you see what's being illustrated here? The ugly destructive cycle that is fueled by retaliation. Look what you did to my in laws.

I'm gonna do this to you and then I'm gonna quit. Do you think that's gonna go well? You think they're not gonna do anything? Then they came after him and they said, we're coming to do what you did to us. And then Samson responds to the men of Judah, well, I'm just doing what they did to me.

And the idea here is, although this is a unique case, it's a wonderful picture of what happens when a person is set on avenging himself in life. When you have determined that you will respond to a wrong with another wrong. All you are doing is setting yourself up to be a link in a chain of something much longer and much more painful than you had first anticipated. This was gonna be a cycle. And the only way the cycle would break is if one person chose not to retaliate.

You'd be amazed to know this temptation in the lives of believers. They've been hurt and they've determined, I'm gonna give you a taste of your own medicine. Thinking that is just going to end there. Like Samson said, I'm going to do this and then I'm done. Just one more thing.

Just to so we're on even grounds here. When in fact, although again, this is a unique case because this is war and God was behind all this, the principle is still true nonetheless. I guarantee you as you walk in the church for the rest of your life, you will be hurt by somebody in that church, probably. Or you will hear of something or you will disagree with something or you will you will be exposed to failure from other people. If not, please let us know the address of your church.

We'd love to visit it. Send a couple people there and change that. But I wanna let you know that nonetheless, no matter what, God had established something for the life of every believer, and it is this, that you never once ever, for anything, take it upon yourself to avenge yourself. Never. I don't care how much it hurt.

I don't care how little it was. I don't care how big it was. God says something very profound, and it's much more profound than we might think. Vengeance is mine, says the Lord, and I will repay. You know what that means?

At least two things. If someone has wronged you, you never avenge yourself because if you do, you are declaring to God and to man at least these two things. Number one, that you're God. What did God say? Vengeance is mine.

It belongs to me. It's my prerogative. It's my exclusive right and my exclusive privilege to take vengeance. When you assume that role, you are telling God I'm taking what belongs to you, and I'm going to exercise what solely belongs to you. If I say this is mine and you take it, you're stealing from me.

When God says vengeance is mine, and you try to take it in your own hand, you're stealing from God. Secondly, what else are you declaring? You're declaring that God can't really defend you. You're declaring that God can't really make what was wrong into a right. That he doesn't care about your emotions.

He doesn't care about the hurt that was afflicted on you. That he doesn't care about justice. And you don't believe in his timing, and you don't believe in his ways, and so you're gonna take things into your own hand. It's a lack of faith. It's a lack of faith.

Now you might be sitting here tonight, be like, brother, what are you talking about? Is this really an issue? You'd be amazed to know what runs in the minds of people that are offended. Yeah. You'd be amazed to know what people fantasize about at night when they've been wronged and they can't forgive.

You'd be amazed to know the things that run through their mind. And you know what you're doing? You're wasting your time planning something that God can do much better than you. And instead of getting a good night sleep and trusting in God's justice, you wanna play God. Right?

Well, you're stealing from him, and you're wasting your time and energy. But in this case, again, it's a different story. These men of Judah that were approached by the Philistines Let's read here verse 11. Then 3,000 men of Judah went down to the cleft of the Rock Of Edom and said to Samson, do you 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 have I done to them. Do you know what they're asking, Samson? Do you know what they're telling Samson? Do do you not realize that the Philistines are rulers over us? Why are you rocking the boat?

Why are you rocking the boat? And actually, here we see that they are not only criticizing Samson, they're about to arrest Samson and give him up to the Philistines. Think about how this is a description of the destitution of the spiritual condition of this people. They have come to a point where they think coexisting with the Philistines is okay, and Samson attempting to bring deliverance was actually frustrating them. Now who are the men?

3,000 men of Judah. Go to chapter one of the book of Judges and look at verse one and two. And notice how the book of Judges is starting off. In verse one of Judges chapter one, after the death of Joshua, the people of Israel inquired of the Lord, who shall go up first for us against the Canaanites to fight against them? The Lord said, Judah.

Judah shall go up. Behold, I've given the land into his hand. The first tribe to go to war and to receive the promises of God was Judah. And here you see the same people from the same tribe many many years later now comfortable in their oppression. Comfortable in their oppression.

Samson, what are you doing? We didn't ask for you to do this. We didn't ask for you to rock the boat. We're just fine the way we are. And God is trying to show this people I've raised up a man from his womb to set you free.

You didn't even call upon my name. I'm doing this because of my pure mercy and grace, and still you don't see it. And who knows? Maybe they did see it, but like so many people today, they don't want to be challenged. They don't want to know greater joys and greater peace and greater testimonies in God.

And so what happens? If you want to check the pulse of your spiritual condition and see if it reflects the people of Judah in the scene, how infuriated do you get when a preacher comes up and calls you to greater holiness? What happens to your heart when you hear that there is more in God? You'd be amazed to know how many people are offended by such a message because they can't see what God wants to bring him into. All they see is that they have to give up something that they like, even though it breaks God's heart.

And so a message like this irks them the wrong way. A message like this goes in one ear out the other. Don't tell me I I like the way my life is just the way it is. Yeah, but brother, you're not you don't have victory over sin. You don't have testimonies of God using you.

You're you're sad. I have my nice job. I I'm a Christian. I come to church. I take communion.

I might marry a Christian. I'm gonna take my kids to Sunday school. I'm gonna come and hear your messages. Don't tell me there's more. Don't tell me that there's greater sacrifice to be made.

Don't tell me to to improve my prayer life, so I can know God better and be Don't. If you don't believe me, then explain why so many people are flocking to people and churches and stadiums that are telling them you're okay just the way you are. This is not a popular thing to study on a Friday night. This is not a popular thing to hear. But just like these men, these men of Judah, they failed to see the the things that God wants to bring him into.

That's why they're so closed up. It's unfortunate. They were upset that Samson disrupted their false sense of peace and tranquility, Thinking that they're coexisting with the Philistines. Hey. Hey.

Hey. Their rule is over us. There's no problems with them and us. That's why we were surprised when they showed up with a with an army. Where's where's Samson?

We didn't we didn't know that this was happening. Would you just leave us alone, man? Would you just leave us alone? That is the cry of many Christians. That is gonna be the cry of Christendom in the end times.

Why? Because having itching ears, they accumulated for themselves teachers that would tell them what they wanna hear. And you think, oh, yeah. Look at all these false prophets preaching a false message. As much as they are false, they are exactly what people want, And they are getting what they desire, and God is allowing it.

You know what's amazing? This is the first time in the story of Samson that Israel musters up an army. Do you realize that? They gather 3,000 men, and you think to yourself, are they ready to go to war with the Philistines? No.

They gather 3,000 men to come against one of their own. Isn't that amazing? Isn't that interesting? You're so comfortable where you're at that you're willing to put so much effort and energy to come against your own kingdom instead of focusing your efforts on the kingdom of darkness. And it's also a picture of how people are willing to do the same in the kingdom of the new covenant.

You'd be amazed to know how many wonderful gossip evangelists there are in the church. You would think if you had that much strength and eagerness to preach the gospel, you have some souls to save by the power of God. So much effort and energy to do damage instead of focusing and doing damage on the kingdom of darkness. Here you see this people mustering up an army for the first time, and what are they gonna do? They're gonna arrest their deliverer.

They're gonna arrest the savior that God had raised up. Welcome to a prophetic window to the ultimate deliver for the nation of Israel and all the world, Jesus Christ. That his own would fail to see how he wants to bring them out of oppression, and instead would bind him, arrest him, forfeit him to the enemy, and ultimately to death. And Samson's response, his willingness to submit to such a request, is a picture of the meekness of Christ, and the willingness of Christ to be bound by his own. And instead of using his strength to rip himself off the cross, and to defend himself in trial, and to crush Judas in the garden when he betrayed him with a kiss, he went along with it.

He went along with the program. And what's amazing is eventually, when he is when he is bound, he eventually rips those cords apart. And some would say that's a picture of ultimately Christ ripping and losing the pangs of death. When he was submitted by his own to die, he overcame their plan and he prevailed. And so what happens here?

He says, I'll go with you upon one condition that you won't kill me. You won't kill me. Right? They said, we won't kill you. We're just going to surrender you to the Philistines and you can deal with them on your own.

We just want these Philistines off our back. So are you in or are you out? He goes fine. So they bound him with fresh ropes. And it says here in verse 14, when he came to Lehi, the Philistines came shouting to meet him.

So they saw coming down that hill, Samson bound, and they start cheering. We got him. This is it. And they start celebrating, and they start cheering, and high fiving each other. What a pathetic sight.

And Samson comes before them, and we are told here something wonderful. Then the spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, and the ropes that were on his arms became as flax that has caught fire. And his bonds melted off his hands. And he found a fresh jawbone of a donkey and put out his hand and took it, and with it he struck a thousand men. I read this tonight and I visualized it.

Here's Samson bound up with ropes, showing up before this cheering crowd of pagans. And behind him are 3,000 compromisers that betrayed their own. And here you have an enemy that's waiting now to just eat him up. And you have people that are behind him turning their backs as they have made their end of the deal. And all for a sudden in that suspenseful moment, the Holy Spirit rushes upon Samson.

And I thought, you have enemies before you, you have betrayers behind you, but there's one person who hasn't abandoned you. The Spirit of God. The Spirit of God rushed upon Samson, did not leave him in that place, but enabled him to not just be set free, but to see victory. Some people in here are so caught up in trying to convince people that are not even from your camp to be pleased with you. And some of you in here are hurt by those from your camp that have done something to you.

And instead of pursuing and cultivating a relationship with the one who will never leave you nor forsake you, You become so caught up in the failures of others. I love this. Because the same Holy Spirit that came upon Samson is the same Holy Spirit that lives in me and lives in you. And what you see here, though it was an empowerment for specific task, a special task, that the presence of his power and his peace and his intervention, that is available to you and I. This just pulled on my heartstrings to say, God, look at this sight.

Everyone walked around him and and turned their back against him, and here you are, you show up. You come and you step on the scene and you are by him. Does it not make you want to pursue a relationship with him? Even more. The Holy Spirit is a person.

Don't forget it. He's not some force or something that is sprinkled on you when you need some help. He's a person. And he was a person here. He's a person here today.

And so the Holy Spirit comes upon Samson, and Samson experiences something. In his vision, as these things fell off of him, he looks around empty handed and he sees a freshly deceased beast. And for some reason, he's inspired to take the jawbone of that donkey and to use it as a weapon. And with that jawbone, he kills a thousand men. And I think to myself, this is a one man army.

Up to this point, you've seen deliverers raised up, and they got an army to follow them in their leadership. This man didn't even call anybody. He was a one man army. And the same Holy Spirit that energized Samson was there anything special about the bone? I mean, we'd be foolish to think so.

It was not the bone. It was the spirit that empowered the man with the bone in his hand. And the same spirit that made that bone perform supernatural task was the same spirit that raised up an army of dry bones in Ezekiel's vision. And it's the same Holy Spirit that raises a dead man in his sins to come to life, and to do damage to the enemy. There is nothing impossible for the Holy Spirit.

And no matter what's at our disposal, miracles can take place for the glory of God. See, if Samson had a rocket launcher in his hand without the Spirit's power, it would turn out differently than this. But when you have the Holy Spirit on your side, it doesn't matter if you have a handkerchief or you have anything else, you're always gonna see victory. You're always at an advantage. And some people would debate that Samson here touching a freshly dead animal is another breaking of the Nazarite vow.

But I'm not here to make a debate out of that text because I think the main point that we can take out of this is that something as hopeless and useless as a dry bone can do wonderful things in the hands of God. If God can do that with a bone, what can you do with your life and mind? Verse 15. He slays a thousand men and something interesting happens in the next verse. And Samson said, with the jawbone of a donkey, heaps upon heaps, with the jawbone of a donkey have I struck down a thousand men.

This man knew how to do poetry. I mean he came up with a riddle in the chapter before. Now he's coming up with you can say a song. This this man had the ability to string words together. He's celebrating the victory.

Now let me give you one question in this Bible study you're wondering. Is this a Bible study you haven't asked anything yet? Here's a question. What's wrong with this song? Yeah.

He uses I. God is not mentioning that at all. With the jawbone of a donkey, have I struck down a thousand men. It is amazing what wonderful victories can reveal about the condition of our hearts. It's amazing how great strides and great accomplishments provides a wonderful filter for what really is in here.

And if it's not already in there, you'd be amazed to know what great victories for the Lord mingled with this contaminated inner self can actually produce like this like this song. Have I struck down with the jawbone of a donkey? Pride. Samson was able to unleash himself from these bonds, these ropes, but there was one thing he was entrapped by and it was pride. That's what he was arrested by ultimately.

And it's an inner thing like his other issues. And what's amazing here is that pride is so subtle. It's so sneaky. Do you wanna know how sneaky pride is? Would you believe if I told you that you can actually be proud about how passionate you are for the Lord?

Listen. Pride is so sneaky that you can actually be arrogant about your devotion, your devotion to the Lord. That was the case for a man who had a mighty call, and it wasn't Samson. It was another man by the name Jehu. Jehu, in the times of second Kings, was called by God to slay and eradicate the worshipers of Baal and even the priests of Baal.

It was a mighty call. It was a dirty call in the sense that it was very messy. And he performed it faithfully. And on his quest to destroy them, with a final blow, he comes to one of his friends, and he invites him to to witness what is about to take place. And listen to his wording when he invites his friend on the quest of his own obedience to the call of God.

Jehu says here in second Kings ten sixteen. Just listen to the words. He says this to his friend, Jehonadab. Come with me and see my zeal for the Lord. Who says that?

Who says that? Come with me and see my zeal for the Lord. A person who's truly spiritual and is truly devoted doesn't need to say something like that. You just live and let people witness it. You just serve.

You just do your thing and people will be able to recognize it for what it is. But you know who has to say things like this? Come and see my zeal for the Lord. Do you know how many hours I pray? Do you know how many chapters I read a day?

Do do you know who says that? People who are really not spiritual. You know what's so amazing? Jehu says, come and see my zeal for the Lord. I'm surprised the man went in, but it's like, okay.

Let's just see what what this is all about. He comes to the chariot and they go off. And then you're convinced that maybe this is just an invitation for somebody to see devotion, true holy devotion, and it's not. Do you know how Jehu's story ends? Do you know the commentary of this man's life?

All you have to do is go to verse 31, second Kings ten thirty one. But Jehu was not careful to walk in the law of the Lord, the God of Israel with all his heart. Come and see my zeal for the Lord. And you know what God's commentary was? He's a compromiser.

Because he destroyed the prophets of Baal, but he had golden calves and Dan and Bethel. He didn't destroy those things. It's amazing how our estimation of ourselves and others is way different than God's. It's astounding. It's fascinating.

But here you see a man that's saying, come and see. And you think you can even taint passion for Christ with pride. Who would have thought? Samson, the Spirit of God rushes upon him. He kills a thousand men.

Now if you kill a thousand men, and you know that the Spirit of God rushed upon you, you would think that the conclusion is you're gonna praise God. That's that's the danger of ministry with an invisible God. That's the danger of serving the Lord when he cannot be seen or heard tangibly. We begin to think that this is me. It's my voice that you're hearing.

It's my thoughts that you're receiving from. It's me. So then I walk off and I go home and I think, I think I did pretty good today. Yeah. I think I think I can do this.

And you begin to sing a song to yourself. What happens to Samson? Well, something interesting happens. Verse 17, as soon as he had finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone out of his hand. And verse 18, and he was very thirsty.

He called upon the Lord and said, you have granted this great salvation by the hand of your servant. And shall I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised? Woah. What just happened? In one moment, you have this man singing his own praises, and the next moment you see a display of great humility.

What took a man singing his own praises to showcase great dependency upon God? You ready? Weakness. It wasn't until Samson became very thirsty, that he realized that he was human. Once he became thirsty, this man realized, I was able to kill a thousand men with a jawbone, but at the same time I'm able to die because of a lack of water.

And he is humbled. Do you want to be protected from an attitude like Jehu and an attitude like Samson? Do you want to be protected? All you have to do is one thing. Always bring before your mind's eye your own weakness.

That's it. That's it. Rehearse yourself your own weakness because weakness can be made known in our lives in one of two ways. Either we continue to convince ourselves of how weak we are or God will make us weak. I suggest the first one.

Samson came to the realization, I'm about to die. I'm about to die. And then he now comes to the Lord, and guess what? This is the first time we see Samson interacting with God. In his entire story, the first time he actually calls upon the Lord is in this moment.

It's amazing what weakness can do. It's amazing what happens when God allows brokenness and a crushing to take place in your life. It's amazing. Samson here is absolutely in need of an intervention from God, and look at his language now, how it changes from the song he just sang a verse ago. You have granted this great salvation by the hand of your servant.

I'm your servant. This is all you're doing. And he says here, please don't let me die. I like this Samson. Where was this Samson up to this point?

I hope I hope he stays like this. And as much as we would applaud his humility in this moment, we are also to be warned from what is taking place here. You know why? Because Samson seems to call upon the name of the Lord only in a moment of great need. Samson maybe figured something out.

Because the moment the spirit of God would come upon him, you realize that he didn't ask for the spirit of God to do it. It was spontaneous. It was beside his desire for it to happen. The spirit of God would rush upon him, and it was apart from his will. But here you see that Samson is crying out to God and interacting with him, only because he knows that if God can't step in, then he's done.

Welcome to the prayer lives of many people. Welcome to the description of many people's relationship with the Lord. The only time God hears your voice is when you call 911. And you know what I thought looking into this? What would Samson have looked like if he had given the same intensity to prayer for his spiritual state as he did for his physical condition?

Do you know why he's crying out to God this way? Because he is thirsting physically, and he knows he's gonna die. Where is this crying out to overcome lust, Samson? Where is this crying out to overcome a lack of seriousness for your Nazarite vow? It's totally absent.

If Samson was as concerned with his spiritual state as he was his physical one, we would probably have a different man. And it's true to say that in our own lives, if we were just as concerned about our spiritual condition as we were our physical condition, maybe we'd look differently spiritually. Samson here does something else interesting. He requests that he would not fall into the hands of the Philistines. Who here has read the story of Samson?

Tell me how Samson's life ends. Are you sure you read the story, Samson? Sure. He did fall into the hands of the Philistines. So Samson prayed, let me not fall into the hands of the Philistines.

And you know how Samson's story ends? He falls into the hands of the Philistines. How do we reconcile that? Here's how you reconcile that. Pray your head off.

But if you're not willing to practically live out the commands of God, your prayers don't do anything. Pray till you're blue in the face. Pray till you hit your head on the wall over and over. Fast and pray all night. Fast and pray with your brothers and sisters for twenty one days.

If you're not willing to take God's word for what it is and obey what he had clearly set out, There's not much power in your prayers. One preacher said it this way, you can't live wrong and pray right. That's what the preacher said and I like it, but here's what the Bible says, I like it much more. Proverbs twenty eight nine, whoever turns his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination. Whoever turns his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination.

It's not that your prayer won't be answered. You know what God says? It's an abomination. You know what else God God calls an abomination? Sacrificing children to Molech.

And he puts prayers offered up to him, though there is a direct contradiction with your life in the same category as that. Prayer is an abomination when we are willing to turn our ears away from hearing his law, meaning obeying. Proverbs twenty eight nine. Samson could say, deliver me from the hands of the Philistines, but if you're sleeping with a Philistine, pray all you want. It won't do anything.

Prayer is only energized when there's a heart that's willing to obey at any cost. And Samson didn't have that. He had one part, but he didn't have the other part for it to connect. But this man in this moment, he's admirable. He's attractive.

He's something to emulate. And sometimes we are the most near to God. Do we not know this? And we are the most spiritual when we are so needy and so broken. What's the secret then?

Stay broken. Well there's nothing in my life that's going wrong. Realize that at any moment your life can't go wrong. You'll stay broken. Verse 19.

What would God do to this man who had just sung his own praises and in a moment seek God for help? And God split open the hollow place that is at Lehi and water came out of it. And when he drank, his spirit returned and he revived. Therefore, the name of it was called Enhekari, and as it is, Lehi to this day. And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.

What did God do? I mean, what would you do? Here's a man that sings his own praises and he comes and requests for help. You know what God does? He answers.

Why? Because he's extremely gracious. Why? Because what you just witnessed is how God is so quick to respond to genuine repentance. How God is so quick to turn his face toward us in favor the moment we realize who we really are and who he really is.

God is much more merciful and willing to forgive and reconcile than we are to one another. I mean, the man again was singing and tooting his own horn, and he has the audacity to come before God and say, would you help me in this place? How many of us were God to say, hey, you just said you delivered yourself from the Philistines. Go get yourself some water if you're so tough. If you're so if you're so strong and you're so mighty, go fetch yourself some water, Samson.

You think you you have it all together? No. He humbles himself genuinely, and God saw the sincerity of his humility, and he goes, I'm gonna provide a miracle to you that quick. That's how good God is. Well, the God in the Old Testament is very cruel and in a bad mood.

I hope you've learned one thing out of this Bible study. If there's one thing you've learned is that God is the same. He's consistent from old to new, from Genesis to Revelation. His spirit returned and he revived. God is that quick to revive you physically, and he's that quick to revive you spiritually.

And so Samson experienced the mercy of God. The mercy of God not just in this moment, but the mercy of God knowing what he's about to do in this next chapter. Would you like to know, as I close this Bible study, would you like to know where to be to know nothing but God's favor, grace, mercy? There's one place. Make sure your address is there.

Make sure you don't move from there. Make sure that you don't step out of that location. The place to be is where Samson was, and that place is what James describes in James four six, that God opposes the proud, but he gives grace to the humble. All you have to do is stay humble. As long as you're humble, you will know grace.

As long as you are dependent upon Him, as long as you are aware of your need, you will know favor. The moment you move from that place, you not only forfeit those things, but you experience opposition from God. And humility is so attractive to the Lord that the moment we turn from pride, arrogance, sin and step into that place, scripture tells us he makes his home with the brokenhearted. He gravit he magnetized towards a broken heart. You would hope that Samson's story ends there.

Great victory, humility, he interacted with the Lord. Wow. God, he messed up in the beginning and and here he is. This is the best place to be, is it not? But we're gonna find out next week that that is not the end of his story when it coulda happened.

Let's pray. The same God that was so quick to answer Samson's prayer because he showed God how desperate he was. Do you have sin in your heart tonight? Is your sin with Delilah tonight? Or is your sin that you sing your own praises about your own spirituality?

Is your sin retaliation in your heart? Is your sin like the men of Judah failing to see that God wants to bring more in you and you are content in living in a way you know that is not God's complete will for your life. Here's the promise from a story like this. The moment, the moment that your heart is really humbled before Him, the story can change. I encourage you.

There is a blessing in brokenness. There's a blessing in being humble before God. Even with the man of Samson, we got a glimpse of hope. We got a glimpse of hope from a man who is described as a disaster with his lack of self control. Father, tonight, we thank you for this bible study.

Samson requested water to be revived physically. Lord, we pray for the spiritual rejuvenation to revive our zeal and our passion for Christ. Lord, if you did not withhold water from Samson, will you withhold the spirit from your thirsty child? But Lord, we truly thirst. We are not content in our lukewarmness.

We're not content, Lord, with our status quo Christianity that takes us from Sunday to Sunday and everything in between is a blur. Lord, we once knew what it was like to thirst for you. We once knew what it was like to actually have a pull in our hearts to say I must know him. And perhaps that has escaped us. We've allowed foxes to chew up the joy that we have nurtured in Christ.

Perhaps it was something as silly as entertainment. Lord, whatever it it is, lord, we choose to catch these foxes. And, lord, like Samson, if you do not, by your spirit, set us free from sin, from wrong thinking. We will remain bound. And like him, we will be in the camp in the enemy, being a tool for him rather than a tool for you.

We ask that you would rescue us from such a tragic possibility and keep us in your will, Lord. Thank you that the simplicity of all of this, this humility, have just remaining dependent on you every step of the way. God, tonight, we tell you we need you. Really, we need you, God. We need you to be holy.

We need you to remain fervent. We need you to remain passionate. We need you to remain hungry. Holy Spirit, mend us, break us, mold us, shape us. Father, we ask that You would do a fresh work in us.

Lord Jesus, perhaps there's a soul in here that is outside of your fold. They don't know you. They're not forgiven by you because they have not received you by faith. Father, in Jesus' name, Lord, mere words, no matter how they are phrased, no matter how much excitement is behind them, cannot penetrate a hardened heart. We ask you, father, that you would penetrate the heart of the stony one in this place and that they would sense your touch.

They would sense your love based on the revelation of the cross of Christ and they would bend the knee and surrender, Lord. Lord, please tonight in this world where many are dying and are confused and are in darkness, let this place know a burst of light tonight. Let this place experience the warmth of your glory. Lord, let us realize that you are in the midst, oh God. Take us from death to life in this place.

Lord, we pray that somehow, someway you would make this a supernatural moment for each and every one of us. Because we know, Lord, it's so easy at the moment we say amen and sing our two songs and come back and conclude. This can all spill out of our hearts. Contain it. Keep it.

Embed it in our souls, Lord, and may it produce fruit for the glory of your name. Lord, unless your spirit comes and does a work that is not hidden but obvious, we will not move forward. We declare this before you, and we trust in your intervention tonight. In Jesus' name, we pray.