Judges 19-21, Horrific ending when we all do as we see fit …

Judges 19:1-15 (NIV) In those days Israel had no king.


Now a Levite who lived in a remote area in the hill country of Ephraim took a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah. 2 But she was unfaithful to him. She left him and went back to her father's house in Bethlehem, Judah. After she had been there four months, 3 her husband went to her to persuade her to return. He had with him his servant and two donkeys. She took him into her father's house, and when her father saw him, he gladly welcomed him. 4 His father-in-law, the girl's father, prevailed upon him to stay; so he remained with him three days, eating and drinking, and sleeping there.


5 On the fourth day they got up early and he prepared to leave, but the girl's father said to his son-in-law, "Refresh yourself with something to eat; then you can go." 6 So the two of them sat down to eat and drink together. Afterward the girl's father said, "Please stay tonight and enjoy yourself." 7 And when the man got up to go, his father-in-law persuaded him, so he stayed there that night. 8 On the morning of the fifth day, when he rose to go, the girl's father said, "Refresh yourself. Wait till afternoon!" So the two of them ate together.


9 Then when the man, with his concubine and his servant, got up to leave, his father-in-law, the girl's father, said, "Now look, it's almost evening. Spend the night here; the day is nearly over. Stay and enjoy yourself. Early tomorrow morning you can get up and be on your way home." 10 But, unwilling to stay another night, the man left and went toward Jebus (that is, Jerusalem), with his two saddled donkeys and his concubine.


11 When they were near Jebus and the day was almost gone, the servant said to his master, "Come, let's stop at this city of the Jebusites and spend the night."


12 His master replied, "No. We won't go into an alien city, whose people are not Israelites. We will go on to Gibeah." 13 He added, "Come, let's try to reach Gibeah or Ramah and spend the night in one of those places." 14 So they went on, and the sun set as they neared Gibeah in Benjamin. 15 There they stopped to spend the night. They went and sat in the city square, but no one took them into his home for the night.


• What is important in this story and how is it similar to the previous story?
• Lack of a king
• A Levite traveling again
• Israelites interacting with each other as opposed to an enemy
• What is significant about the lack of a king?
• There is no authority structure
• People did as they pleased
• People were not accountable
• APPLICATION: Who are you accountable to? What authority structures are in your life? Do authority structures in your life change when you marry? (Yes, the man and women separate from their families. They still honor their parents, but the spouse becomes more important than the family.)
• This is the second time we see a Levite traveling around aimlessly or living in a non-Levitical city (unclear his city of origin)
• Also a dispute arises, the phrase can mean the wife was unfaithful or that she disagreed with him, felt alienated, and separated herself (Clarke)
• The husband goes after her 4 months later (which doesn't communicate that he cared)
• Also, monogamy was the standard, so he should not have a concubine (implies more than one wife)
• NOTE: this should be one of the religious examples to the people
• He goes to an Israelite city, which ought to be a good thing, a safe move
• No one shows any hospitality to him (at first) which is in contrast to the hospitality of his father-in-law
• Providing a safe haven is an important thing (example in internet of men taking advantage of women versus a gentleman protecting women)
• The last clause in vs. 15 would have been shocking anywhere in the ancient Near East … social disintegration (Block)


Judges 19:16-30 (NIV) That evening an old man from the hill country of Ephraim, who was living in Gibeah (the men of the place were Benjamites), came in from his work in the fields. 17 When he looked and saw the traveler in the city square, the old man asked, "Where are you going? Where did you come from?"


18 He answered, "We are on our way from Bethlehem in Judah to a remote area in the hill country of Ephraim where I live. I have been to Bethlehem in Judah and now I am going to the house of the Lord. No one has taken me into his house. 19 We have both straw and fodder for our donkeys and bread and wine for ourselves your servants — me, your maidservant, and the young man with us. We don't need anything."


20 "You are welcome at my house," the old man said. "Let me supply whatever you need. Only don't spend the night in the square." 21 So he took him into his house and fed his donkeys. After they had washed their feet, they had something to eat and drink.


22 While they were enjoying themselves, some of the wicked men of the city surrounded the house. Pounding on the door, they shouted to the old man who owned the house, "Bring out the man who came to your house so we can have sex with him."


23 The owner of the house went outside and said to them, "No, my friends, don't be so vile. Since this man is my guest, don't do this disgraceful thing. 24 Look, here is my virgin daughter, and his concubine. I will bring them out to you now, and you can use them and do to them whatever you wish. But to this man, don't do such a disgraceful thing."


25 But the men would not listen to him. So the man took his concubine and sent her outside to them, and they raped her and abused her throughout the night, and at dawn they let her go. 26 At daybreak the woman went back to the house where her master was staying, fell down at the door and lay there until daylight.


27 When her master got up in the morning and opened the door of the house and stepped out to continue on his way, there lay his concubine, fallen in the doorway of the house, with her hands on the threshold. 28 He said to her, "Get up; let's go." But there was no answer. Then the man put her on his donkey and set out for home.


29 When he reached home, he took a knife and cut up his concubine, limb by limb, into twelve parts and sent them into all the areas of Israel. 30 Everyone who saw it said, "Such a thing has never been seen or done, not since the day the Israelites came up out of Egypt. Think about it! Consider it! Tell us what to do!"


• First of all, this story is a replay of a previous story in the bible …?
• It replays Lot and Sodom
• Gibeah is the new Sodom
• What is more, 20:12-14, Benjamin defends the actions of the Gibeahites
• In favor of the man who takes them in, what can we say?
• He shows hospitality
• He understands the danger of staying on the street at night
• He provides for them
• Against the man, and the Levite we see what?
• Total disregard for that which should be of utmost importance
• Rather than sacrificing their lives, the sacrifice the women
• Man was designed to protect the woman
• Ephesians 5:25-33 (NIV) Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28 In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church— 30 for we are members of his body. 31 "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh."  32 This is a profound mystery — but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33 However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband
• The reason God uses the picture he does is because that is our job, to protect the weaker vessel
• (Judges 19:22) The narrative of the horrid outrage that was committed, of the proposal of the old man, the unfeeling, careless, and in many respects inexplicable conduct of the Levite toward his wife, disclose a state of morality that would have appeared incredible, did it not rest on the testimony of the sacred historian. Both the one and the other ought to have protected the female inmates of the house, even though at the expense of their lives, or thrown themselves on God's providence. It should be noted that the guilt of such a foul outrage is not fastened on the general population of Gibeah. At the same time, the indulgence of debasing passions reveals the true origin of the strong addictedness to idolatrous rites. 'In the relaxing, oppressive climate of the Ghor the most odious vices appear native; and this explains the demoralized condition of the Benjamites in whose territory this plain was situated (Josh 18.)' (Drew's 'Scripture Lands, p. 100; also Stewart, 'Tent and Khan,' p. 375). (from Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary, Electronic Database. Copyright © 1997, 2003, 2005, 2006 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)
• We are protect the honor of women. At this point in history, the wife is just a piece of property
• The disease of the society manifests itself in the abuse of women (McCann)
• "The entire book presents a nation rotting at the core. Nothing is normal, least of all the Canaanite version of patriarchy. Normative biblical patricentrism perceives male headship not as a position of power but one of responsibility, in which the leader sacrifices himself for the well-being of the led. In the Book of Judges this pattern is reversed. Repeatedly women and children are sacrificed for males." (Block)
• There is a reason that these stories are in Judges
• They point to the utter sinfulness that the people have descended
• They explain why two tribes are nearly destroyed (one lost spiritually) and the other almost destroyed physically
• They emphatically make a point about leadership, God's word, accountability, the peer pressure of culture, …


Judges 20:1-7, 12-14, 21:2-4, 15-25 (NIV) Then all the Israelites from Dan to Beersheba and from the land of Gilead came out as one man and assembled before the Lord in Mizpah. 2 The leaders of all the people of the tribes of Israel took their places in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand soldiers armed with swords. 3 (The Benjamites heard that the Israelites had gone up to Mizpah.) Then the Israelites said, "Tell us how this awful thing happened."


4 So the Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, said, "I and my concubine came to Gibeah in Benjamin to spend the night. 5 During the night the men of Gibeah came after me and surrounded the house, intending to kill me. They raped my concubine, and she died. 6 I took my concubine, cut her into pieces and sent one piece to each region of Israel's inheritance, because they committed this lewd and disgraceful act in Israel. 7 Now, all you Israelites, speak up and give your verdict."
. . .
12 The tribes of Israel sent men throughout the tribe of Benjamin, saying, "What about this awful crime that was committed among you? 13 Now surrender those wicked men of Gibeah so that we may put them to death and purge the evil from Israel."


But the Benjamites would not listen to their fellow Israelites. 14 From their towns they came together at Gibeah to fight against the Israelites.


21:2 The people went to Bethel, where they sat before God until evening, raising their voices and weeping bitterly. 3 "O Lord, the God of Israel," they cried, "why has this happened to Israel? Why should one tribe be missing from Israel today?"


4 Early the next day the people built an altar and presented burnt offerings and fellowship offerings.
. . .
15 The people grieved for Benjamin, because the Lord had made a gap in the tribes of Israel. 16 And the elders of the assembly said, "With the women of Benjamin destroyed, how shall we provide wives for the men who are left? 17 The Benjamite survivors must have heirs," they said, "so that a tribe of Israel will not be wiped out. 18 We can't give them our daughters as wives, since we Israelites have taken this oath: 'Cursed be anyone who gives a wife to a Benjamite.' 19 But look, there is the annual festival of the Lord in Shiloh, to the north of Bethel, and east of the road that goes from Bethel to Shechem, and to the south of Lebonah."


20 So they instructed the Benjamites, saying, "Go and hide in the vineyards 21 and watch. When the girls of Shiloh come out to join in the dancing, then rush from the vineyards and each of you seize a wife from the girls of Shiloh and go to the land of Benjamin. 22 When their fathers or brothers complain to us, we will say to them, 'Do us a kindness by helping them, because we did not get wives for them during the war, and you are innocent, since you did not give your daughters to them.'"


23 So that is what the Benjamites did. While the girls were dancing, each man caught one and carried her off to be his wife. Then they returned to their inheritance and rebuilt the towns and settled in them.


24 At that time the Israelites left that place and went home to their tribes and clans, each to his own inheritance.


25 In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit.


• The whole people gather in outrage at the sin. Sometimes, tragic events are what is required to wake us up from out stupor. Why is that?
• We fail to see the signs
• We don't stand up to the subtle steps of sin
• Why do the Benjamites fight?
• They were too proud to admit they were wrong
• Possibly they liked their sin and did not want to change
• Maybe they didn't see anything that was wrong
• The start of healing is something that has not happened in a while and did not happen in the story of the last Judge, what is it?
• Repentance
• The people cry out to God
• APPLICATION: Sometimes we need to cry out to God in repentance for our sins
• The most important verse of this passage is the writers summation of everything in verse 25
• The people had no spiritual authority
• The people did whatever they pleased
• APPLICATION: You need spiritual authority in your life. And as adults, I don't think it should be your parents. You need to find godly men and women that you can be accountable to. You need to be regularly involved in a church. If you believe you don't need church, you are wrong. Read 1 Cor 12-14. You need to be regularly involved and committed to a body of believers

Judges 17-18, When the focus in on self, you only succeed in destroying yourself spiritually

Judges 17:1-6 (NIV) Now a man named Micah from the hill country of Ephraim 2 said to his mother, "The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from you and about which I heard you utter a curse — I have that silver with me; I took it."


Then his mother said, "The Lord bless you, my son!"


3 When he returned the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, she said, "I solemnly consecrate my silver to the Lord for my son to make a carved image and a cast idol. I will give it back to you."


4 So he returned the silver to his mother, and she took two hundred shekels of silver and gave them to a silversmith, who made them into the image and the idol. And they were put in Micah's house.


5 Now this man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and some idols and installed one of his sons as his priest. 6 In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit.


• The first thought is that the 1100 shekels are eerily similar to the money that Delilah gained by betraying Samson. Although in her case it was 1100 shekels from each of the 5 rulers of the Philistines
• Eleven hundred shekels is a large amount of money, some commentators have suggested that you could live a year with the money
• So, what is your first impression of Micah from this story
• He is a thief (and not even a petty thief)
• He is superstitious, since he only returns the money in fear of the curse
• He does not pay back the additional 20 percent which the law requires (220 shekels)
• What is the impression of the mother?
• She makes an oath but doesn't keep it
• She makes an idol out of the money in direct violation of God's command
• What is the overriding message of the story so far?
• The ten commandments are completely ignored
• Dishonoring of parents, coveting, stealing; idol worship; and lying
• APPLICATION: The word of God is completely ignored even though there is a resemblance of spirituality
• 2 Tim 3:1-5 (NIV)  But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.
• Note that the people have "a form of godliness"
• Constable calls these verse the sin of self-styled worship


Judges 17:7-13 (NIV) A young Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, who had been living within the clan of Judah, 8 left that town in search of some other place to stay. On his way he came to Micah's house in the hill country of Ephraim.


9 Micah asked him, "Where are you from?"


"I'm a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah," he said, "and I'm looking for a place to stay."


10 Then Micah said to him, "Live with me and be my father and priest, and I'll give you ten shekels of silver a year, your clothes and your food." 11 So the Levite agreed to live with him, and the young man was to him like one of his sons. 12 Then Micah installed the Levite, and the young man became his priest and lived in his house. 13 And Micah said, "Now I know that the Lord will be good to me, since this Levite has become my priest."


• He originally installs his son as a Priest but upgrades to a Levite
• The man is obviously well off--the wages he offers are a good wage for that time period
• The Levite's agreement to work with him reveals other issues
• First of all, the Levite is not called a priest and therefore probably a descendant of Aaron
• Secondly, he is living in Bethlehem, which is not one of the Levitical cities (so he is in violation of God's law)
• Third, the man has no sense of calling or direction. He is aimlessly looking for work
• Constable calls this the folly of self-determined service
• Micah's reasoning shows what about his thinking?
• Obviously, he does not understand or know the Word
• His religiosity is heavily based on superstition
• He would have been an easy target for the health and wealth gospel since he was looking for the formula to be blessed and not for God
• APPLICATION:
• Are we shiftless?
• Are we aimlessly looking for the place of service that feels right before we commit ourselves?
• How do you find your place of service?
• One, pray
• Two, you serve others biblically
• The Levite was not serving (he just wanted a job)
• The Levite was not following biblical practice
• There is no indication the Levite was praying
• Three, you evaluate your effectiveness and your heart


Judges 18:1-2, 14-19:1 (NIV) In those days Israel had no king.


And in those days the tribe of the Danites was seeking a place of their own where they might settle, because they had not yet come into an inheritance among the tribes of Israel. 2 So the Danites sent five warriors from Zorah and Eshtaol to spy out the land and explore it. These men represented all their clans. They told them, "Go, explore the land."
. . .
14 Then the five men who had spied out the land of Laish said to their brothers, "Do you know that one of these houses has an ephod, other household gods, a carved image and a cast idol? Now you know what to do." 15 So they turned in there and went to the house of the young Levite at Micah's place and greeted him. 16 The six hundred Danites, armed for battle, stood at the entrance to the gate. 17 The five men who had spied out the land went inside and took the carved image, the ephod, the other household gods and the cast idol while the priest and the six hundred armed men stood at the entrance to the gate.


18 When these men went into Micah's house and took the carved image, the ephod, the other household gods and the cast idol, the priest said to them, "What are you doing?"


19 They answered him, "Be quiet! Don't say a word. Come with us, and be our father and priest. Isn't it better that you serve a tribe and clan in Israel as priest rather than just one man's household?" 20 Then the priest was glad. He took the ephod, the other household gods and the carved image and went along with the people. 21 Putting their little children, their livestock and their possessions in front of them, they turned away and left.


22 When they had gone some distance from Micah's house, the men who lived near Micah were called together and overtook the Danites. 23 As they shouted after them, the Danites turned and said to Micah, "What's the matter with you that you called out your men to fight?"


24 He replied, "You took the gods I made, and my priest, and went away. What else do I have? How can you ask, 'What's the matter with you?'"


25 The Danites answered, "Don't argue with us, or some hot-tempered men will attack you, and you and your family will lose your lives." 26 So the Danites went their way, and Micah, seeing that they were too strong for him, turned around and went back home.


27 Then they took what Micah had made, and his priest, and went on to Laish, against a peaceful and unsuspecting people. They attacked them with the sword and burned down their city. 28 There was no one to rescue them because they lived a long way from Sidon and had no relationship with anyone else. The city was in a valley near Beth Rehob.


The Danites rebuilt the city and settled there. 29 They named it Dan after their forefather Dan, who was born to Israel — though the city used to be called Laish. 30 There the Danites set up for themselves the idols, and Jonathan son of Gershom, the son of Moses, and his sons were priests for the tribe of Dan until the time of the captivity of the land. 31 They continued to use the idols Micah had made, all the time the house of God was in Shiloh.


19:1 In those days Israel had no king.


• This is not the entire tribe of Dan but rather some of the families
• Verse 18:1 is an important reminder, why?
• The people are running amok
• Nothing you read is anything other than a historical accounting of what happens when a people have no spiritual leadership, no knowledge of the word, an attitude of compromise with the world around them, no obedience to truth, and no real desire to know God
• So, knowing that, how do these Danites epitomize the times?
• They are selfish
• They are thieves--what is best for me trumps what is best for you
• They are ignorant of the word
• They have some knowledge because they recognize a Levite
• They lack any real knowledge because they continue the sin of Micah
• They settle things with violence and threats of violence
• The place they choose to live is isolated--they do not have to listen to anyone but can live as they choose
• They use religious terms
• "Possess the land"
• "God's will" from the ephod (wrong ephod)
• "God has given it into your hands"
• The use of spies is similar to the Exodus except these people are a pushover
• They were unable to conquer their land God gave them (all the cities were too big) so they move outside their land
• They murder innocent people
• Micah's attempt to recover the gods he made is pathetic. In the end, what does he say which reveals the problem with idolatry?
• He can't control the things he made
• "What else do I have?" Without his idols, he is left empty. The person whose life is surrounded by idols will feel empty when all the toys are take away
• The so-called priest, the one he treated as his son, turns against him--showing a lack of integrity
• The real shocker of this whole story is that this Levite is a direct descendant of Moses
• Dan is one of the two places that is used for idol worship in the northern kingdom
• Dan is left off the census of tribes by 2 Chronicles
• Dan is the only tribe that does not produce 12,000 godly witnesses during the tribulation period
• APPLICATION:
• Constable calls this section an example of self-seeking security
• Ignorance of the word, disobedience of the word, in the end destroys a whole tribe
• Idolatry is a subtle sin that leaves us empty. Idolatry is not dead today, it just has new images

Judges 15:1-16:31, God does not give up on Samson, but God has another who will respond differently to his call

Judges 14:20-15:8 (NIV) And Samson's wife was given to the friend who had attended him at his wedding.


15:1 Later on, at the time of wheat harvest, Samson took a young goat and went to visit his wife. He said, "I'm going to my wife's room." But her father would not let him go in.


2 "I was so sure you thoroughly hated her," he said, "that I gave her to your friend. Isn't her younger sister more attractive? Take her instead."


3 Samson said to them, "This time I have a right to get even with the Philistines; I will really harm them." 4 So he went out and caught three hundred foxes and tied them tail to tail in pairs. He then fastened a torch to every pair of tails, 5 lit the torches and let the foxes loose in the standing grain of the Philistines. He burned up the shocks and standing grain, together with the vineyards and olive groves.


6 When the Philistines asked, "Who did this?" they were told, "Samson, the Timnite's son-in-law, because his wife was given to his friend."


So the Philistines went up and burned her and her father to death. 7 Samson said to them, "Since you've acted like this, I won't stop until I get my revenge on you." 8 He attacked them viciously and slaughtered many of them. Then he went down and stayed in a cave in the rock of Etam.


• It is strange that Samson's wife is given away, after all, it was only a bet
• It was a bet that the Philistines could not lose. They threatened to burn her (the wife) and her Father
• Samson kills (muders?) thirty Philistines to pay off his part of the debt
• Who was Samson was very angry at? Probably his wife since he went home to cool off
• Some time later, after his anger had subsided, Samson goes to visit his wife with a gift
• Not flowers or candy, but a goat (that they can both eat together)
• Samson rarely ever thinks of someone else, but always includes his interests in the equation
• Apparently the word for foxes could also mean jackals. Constable writes that they travel in packs and are relatively easy to capture
• Burning of standing corn was a common method of retaliation in the ancient world (Constable)
• What motivates Samson's actions against the Philistines? Who he is serving?
• Himself
• He only sees life through the lens of what is good for him
• In the end, Samson's wife faces the same death she tried to avoid. As a result, how does Samson respond
• Revenge
• Viciously attacks and slaughters many
• What is the controlling factor in Samson's life? Revenge
• What is revenge?
• Revenge is ultimately selfish
• Revenge is making something right in one person's eyes by harming the other person (justice or retributive punishment)
• Ultimately, it is really "all about the person" and not about justice
• APPLICATION: Where is an area of my life, a hurt that someone may have done to me (purposefully) that I just need to let go? Assumption it is not a believer, it is not something that has already been discussed, and it is not something the other person would have no idea about ...


Judges 15:20-16:20 (NIV) Samson led Israel for twenty years in the days of the Philistines.


16:1 One day Samson went to Gaza, where he saw a prostitute. He went in to spend the night with her. 2 The people of Gaza were told, "Samson is here!" So they surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the city gate. They made no move during the night, saying, "At dawn we'll kill him."


3 But Samson lay there only until the middle of the night. Then he got up and took hold of the doors of the city gate, together with the two posts, and tore them loose, bar and all. He lifted them to his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill that faces Hebron.


4 Some time later, he fell in love with a woman in the Valley of Sorek whose name was Delilah. 5 The rulers of the Philistines went to her and said, "See if you can lure him into showing you the secret of his great strength and how we can overpower him so we may tie him up and subdue him. Each one of us will give you eleven hundred shekels of silver."


6 So Delilah said to Samson, "Tell me the secret of your great strength and how you can be tied up and subdued."


7 Samson answered her, "If anyone ties me with seven fresh thongs that have not been dried, I'll become as weak as any other man."


8 Then the rulers of the Philistines brought her seven fresh thongs that had not been dried, and she tied him with them. 9 With men hidden in the room, she called to him, "Samson, the Philistines are upon you!" But he snapped the thongs as easily as a piece of string snaps when it comes close to a flame. So the secret of his strength was not discovered.


10 Then Delilah said to Samson, "You have made a fool of me; you lied to me. Come now, tell me how you can be tied."


11 He said, "If anyone ties me securely with new ropes that have never been used, I'll become as weak as any other man."


12 So Delilah took new ropes and tied him with them. Then, with men hidden in the room, she called to him, "Samson, the Philistines are upon you!" But he snapped the ropes off his arms as if they were threads.


13 Delilah then said to Samson, "Until now, you have been making a fool of me and lying to me. Tell me how you can be tied."


He replied, "If you weave the seven braids of my head into the fabric [on the loom] and tighten it with the pin, I'll become as weak as any other man." So while he was sleeping, Delilah took the seven braids of his head, wove them into the fabric 14 and tightened it with the pin.


Again she called to him, "Samson, the Philistines are upon you!" He awoke from his sleep and pulled up the pin and the loom, with the fabric.


15 Then she said to him, "How can you say, 'I love you,' when you won't confide in me? This is the third time you have made a fool of me and haven't told me the secret of your great strength." 16 With such nagging she prodded him day after day until he was tired to death.


17 So he told her everything. "No razor has ever been used on my head," he said, "because I have been a Nazirite set apart to God since birth. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as any other man."


18 When Delilah saw that he had told her everything, she sent word to the rulers of the Philistines, "Come back once more; he has told me everything." So the rulers of the Philistines returned with the silver in their hands. 19 Having put him to sleep on her lap, she called a man to shave off the seven braids of his hair, and so began to subdue him. And his strength left him.


20 Then she called, "Samson, the Philistines are upon you!"


He awoke from his sleep and thought, "I'll go out as before and shake myself free." But he did not know that the Lord had left him.


• We skipped the story of how his countrymen turn him into the Philistines. The Judahites were compromisers who preferred slavery to freedom. Many Christians are just like that -- we prefer slavery to some sin then freedom from it
• In this section we see a driving purpose in Samson's life, what is it?
• To feed his flesh
• He sees something and then must have it (vs 1)
• The second time it says "he fell in love" although the love does not appear to be reciprocal. The woman is not threatened but rather enticed with gold
• The name "Delilah" has a Semitic root for "devotee." She could be Jewish, in which case she would be a Philistine sympathizer. She could be a temple prostitute, but last time it said when the girl was a prostitute. She could be a Philistine, but previously it had also pointed out that fact
• If she was Jewish, she and her family evidently prefer living with the Philistines than associating with the people of God
• Samson has two weaknesses, what are they?
• Nagging women
• Hair cut
• Actually, is it really the hair that gives him strength? Why or why not?
• Other verses have made it clear that it is the Holy Spirit
• Also, if the Nazirite vow was the reason, the touching of dead carcasses would have disqualified him much earlier
• The fact that Samson thought it was his hair shows a real misunderstanding
• Verse 20 says that he did not know that the Lord had left him
• Why does God leave Samson?
• The better question is why did God stay so long with Samson
• Samson was deserving of discipline
• Samson was wrong in his actions
• Samson was guilty of sin
• … And God was very patient with Samson (but even God's patience with sin has a stopping place)
•  APPLICATION: We may get away with sin for a time, but if you are a child of God, He will, for your own good, call you to account. Deal with it now, don't wait


Judges 16:21-31 (NIV) Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes and took him down to Gaza. Binding him with bronze shackles, they set him to grinding in the prison. 22 But the hair on his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.


23 Now the rulers of the Philistines assembled to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god and to celebrate, saying, "Our god has delivered Samson, our enemy, into our hands."


24 When the people saw him, they praised their god, saying,


"Our god has delivered our enemy
into our hands,
the one who laid waste our land
and multiplied our slain."


25 While they were in high spirits, they shouted, "Bring out Samson to entertain us." So they called Samson out of the prison, and he performed for them.


When they stood him among the pillars, 26 Samson said to the servant who held his hand, "Put me where I can feel the pillars that support the temple, so that I may lean against them." 27 Now the temple was crowded with men and women; all the rulers of the Philistines were there, and on the roof were about three thousand men and women watching Samson perform. 28 Then Samson prayed to the Lord, "O Sovereign Lord, remember me. O God, please strengthen me just once more, and let me with one blow get revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes." 29 Then Samson reached toward the two central pillars on which the temple stood. Bracing himself against them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other, 30 Samson said, "Let me die with the Philistines!" Then he pushed with all his might, and down came the temple on the rulers and all the people in it. Thus he killed many more when he died than while he lived.


31 Then his brothers and his father's whole family went down to get him. They brought him back and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of Manoah his father. He had led Israel twenty years.


• Why the eyes?
• Because the eyes have been the source of his problem from the beginning
• He could not control his eyes or his lust
• What was his job in prison?
• To mill grain
• Which would get to the other issue of his appetite
• Samson has really only prayed once before and that was a very selfish cry, if it even was a prayer, for water. What is different this time about Samson? What is not different?
• His prayer is humble
• He recognizes his insignificance compared to God
• He really does believe
• (Same) He still has a desire for revenge
• The epitaph of his life is that he killed more in his death than in his living
• In essence, he was more effective for God dead than he had been alive
• And what is the result of his 20 years of judging?
• Nothing changed
• The Philistines still rule over the people
• The people have still not cried out to God for deliverance
• Still, no one is teaching the word of God
• All is not lost, for there is a young man alive, just two years younger than Samson and his name is Samuel
• APPLICATION: If God can't use us or we are not willing to serve him, he will find someone else
• APPLICATION: God will ultimately discipline us just as a Father loves his children

Judges 13:1-14:20, God had a plan for Samson's life, but he loved the world more

Judges 13:1-5, 8-14 (NIV) Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, so the Lord delivered them into the hands of the Philistines for forty years.


2 A certain man of Zorah, named Manoah, from the clan of the Danites, had a wife who was sterile and remained childless. 3 The angel of the Lord appeared to her and said, "You are sterile and childless, but you are going to conceive and have a son. 4 Now see to it that you drink no wine or other fermented drink and that you do not eat anything unclean, 5 because you will conceive and give birth to a son. No razor may be used on his head, because the boy is to be a Nazirite, set apart to God from birth, and he will begin the deliverance of Israel from the hands of the Philistines."
. . .
8 Then Manoah prayed to the Lord: "O Lord, I beg you, let the man of God you sent to us come again to teach us how to bring up the boy who is to be born."


9 God heard Manoah, and the angel of God came again to the woman while she was out in the field; but her husband Manoah was not with her. 10 The woman hurried to tell her husband, "He's here! The man who appeared to me the other day!"


11 Manoah got up and followed his wife. When he came to the man, he said, "Are you the one who talked to my wife?"


"I am," he said.


12 So Manoah asked him, "When your words are fulfilled, what is to be the rule for the boy's life and work?"


13 The angel of the Lord answered, "Your wife must do all that I have told her. 14 She must not eat anything that comes from the grapevine, nor drink any wine or other fermented drink nor eat anything unclean. She must do everything I have commanded her."


• Now we actually do skip three judges to save time. There are continual hints of the society's spiritual collapse, with evidence of greed and polygamy (the people have been influenced by the culture around them, rather than the people of God influencing the culture for good)
• Judges gives detailed stories of only a few of the judges: Ehud, Deborah, Gideon, Jephthah, and Samson (to this point)
• Constable calls this the sixth apostasy (He includes the time of Othniel as the first)
• How is the time of Gideon different from other times?
• Who is the oppressor and what is their status at the end? The Philistines are the oppressors and they continue until the time of David
• Samson leaves Israel worse off than it started, although he did provide a short time of peace
• The people do not cry out for a deliverer. God provides a deliverer that Israel may have not wanted
• Typically, a Nazirite vow was voluntary and temporary
• There are three conditions for a Nazirite vow
• Abstinence from wine (no foreign substance would control his mind)
• Long hair (public testimony of his separation to God)
• Could not touch a corpse (he was never precluded from worshipping)
• Why does Manoah want to hear the angel of the Lord so badly?
• He says he wants to bring up his child correctly
• Maybe he did not believe his wife
• The angel adds nothing new (in fact, he leaves out some details the second time)
• Indication that God's word was not well understood
• APPLICATION: Samson's story is an enigma. He shows strength because of the Spirit, but weakness because of his sensual lusts. And the end result is that little is done for Israel. So, even being selected by God for a special calling and filled with God for power, is no guarantee of a spiritual life. One must make the choice to serve God on his own initiative.


Judges 13:24-14:7 (NIV) The woman gave birth to a boy and named him Samson. He grew and the Lord blessed him, 25 and the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him while he was in Mahaneh Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.


14:1 Samson went down to Timnah and saw there a young Philistine woman. 2 When he returned, he said to his father and mother, "I have seen a Philistine woman in Timnah; now get her for me as my wife."


3 His father and mother replied, "Isn't there an acceptable woman among your relatives or among all our people? Must you go to the uncircumcised Philistines to get a wife?"


But Samson said to his father, "Get her for me. She's the right one for me." 4 (His parents did not know that this was from the Lord, who was seeking an occasion to confront the Philistines; for at that time they were ruling over Israel.) 5 Samson went down to Timnah together with his father and mother. As they approached the vineyards of Timnah, suddenly a young lion came roaring toward him. 6 The Spirit of the Lord came upon him in power so that he tore the lion apart with his bare hands as he might have torn a young goat. But he told neither his father nor his mother what he had done. 7 Then he went down and talked with the woman, and he liked her.


• Verses 14:1, 5, 7, 19; 15:8 repeat the phrase "went down" which is indicative of Samson's life
• What drives Samson's life?
• 14:1 "Samson … saw … a young Philistine woman …"
• 14:2 "… now get her for me as my wife"
• 14:3 "… Get her for me. She's the right one for me." (phrase means "right in his own eyes")
• 14:7 "… he talked with the woman, and he liked her."
• What is the problem here?
• Samson is driven by lust (saw her)
• Samson doesn't even know her, but she's the right one. He only talks with her after he has already demanded her as his wife
• Samson "finds the right person," but Samson is not the right person (Chip Ingram reference)
• It is not a sin to marry outside of the faith, although it would have been under the law. Mixed marriages have a bad history in the scriptures. But God permits this in verse 4. Verse 4 explains why this is happening--what does it say?
• I think God never sees Samson as his champion
• God uses Samson to create conflict with the Philistines. But why?
• The people never cried out
• The people were satisfied with the relationship with the Philistines
•  The Philistines were technologically advanced (had iron, probably from the Hitites); they had a system of Government set around five major cities; they worshipped Dagon after their victories
• APPLICATION: The Israelites were being consumed culturally by the people around them. Evil was a lot more fun than the law


Judges 14:8-20 (NIV) Some time later, when he went back to marry her, he turned aside to look at the lion's carcass. In it was a swarm of bees and some honey, 9 which he scooped out with his hands and ate as he went along. When he rejoined his parents, he gave them some, and they too ate it. But he did not tell them that he had taken the honey from the lion's carcass.


10 Now his father went down to see the woman. And Samson made a feast there, as was customary for bridegrooms. 11 When he appeared, he was given thirty companions.


12 "Let me tell you a riddle," Samson said to them. "If you can give me the answer within the seven days of the feast, I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty sets of clothes. 13 If you can't tell me the answer, you must give me thirty linen garments and thirty sets of clothes."


"Tell us your riddle," they said. "Let's hear it."


14 He replied,


"Out of the eater, something to eat;
out of the strong, something sweet."


For three days they could not give the answer.


15 On the fourth day, they said to Samson's wife, "Coax your husband into explaining the riddle for us, or we will burn you and your father's household to death. Did you invite us here to rob us?"


16 Then Samson's wife threw herself on him, sobbing, "You hate me! You don't really love me. You've given my people a riddle, but you haven't told me the answer."


"I haven't even explained it to my father or mother," he replied, "so why should I explain it to you?" 17 She cried the whole seven days of the feast. So on the seventh day he finally told her, because she continued to press him. She in turn explained the riddle to her people.


18 Before sunset on the seventh day the men of the town said to him,


"What is sweeter than honey?
What is stronger than a lion?"


Samson said to them,


"If you had not plowed with my heifer,
you would not have solved my riddle."


19 Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon him in power. He went down to Ashkelon, struck down thirty of their men, stripped them of their belongings and gave their clothes to those who had explained the riddle. Burning with anger, he went up to his father's house. 20 And Samson's wife was given to the friend who had attended him at his wedding.


• Where did he get the honey?
• From the carcass of a dead lion (a corpse). Technically that would have broken his Nazirite vow and is probably why he did not tell his parents
• If that did not break the vow, then the clothes off of 30 dead bodies would clearly have broken the vow
• Why did Samson break his vow (the first time)?
• He wanted the honey
• This is the second of his problems, Samson lusted after food just as he lusted after women
• The story tells of something else that Samson lusted after, what is it?
• Fancy clothing which depicted wealth and status during that time
• 1 John 2:15-17 (NIV) Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For everything in the world — the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does — comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.
• Samson lusted after sex
• Samson lusted after good food
• Samson lusted after those thing which gave an indication of power and status
• So what is Samson's basic problem?
• Samson is a man who loves the world!
• APPLICATION: Samson had great potential. God specifically chose him for a major work. But Samson loved the world more than he loved God. As a judge, Samson is the least effective (as we will see) of all the Judges, and only manages his greatest victory in his death