Thursday
Evening Bible Study
October
27, 2011
Introduction
Do people see Jesus? Is the gospel
preached? Does it speak to the broken hearted? Does it build up the church? Milk
– Meat – Manna Preach for a decision
We are watching Israel go through its cycles of trusting God and rebelling.
The time of the judges was a period of 400 years between the time of Moses and
the Kings of Israel. These “judges” were men and women that God used at various
times to get the nation back on track, and then to deliver them from their
enemies.
Some of these judges were “good” guys, like Gideon.
Some of them were not so perfect, like Jephthah.
As we begin to look at the life of Samson, there are some things to keep in
mind. First, God considered him one of the heroes of faith –
(Heb
11:32 NKJV) And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of
Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and
the prophets:
He is in the same company as Gideon, Barak, David, and Samuel.
Samson, like Jephthah, is an odd mix of heroism and tragedy, weakness
and strength. He was a man who liked to tell riddles, but he himself was a
riddle. We like to have all our heroes be people of consistency and character,
but Samson was neither of these.
Warren Wiersbe
writes about Samson,
Bold before men, Samson was weak before women and couldn’t resist
telling them his secrets. Empowered by the Spirit of God, he yielded his body
to the appetites of the flesh. Called to declare war on the Philistines, he
fraternized with the enemy and even tried to marry a Philistine woman. He fought the Lord’s
battles by day and disobeyed the Lord’s commandments by night. Given the name
Samson, which means “sunny,” he ended up in the darkness, blinded by the very
enemy he was supposed to conquer.
Spurgeon said, “His whole life is a series of miracles and follies.”
Judges 13
13:1-25 Samson’s
Birth
:1 Again the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord delivered them into the hand of the Philistines for
forty years.
:1 forty years
Each time the nation backslides, they reach a point where God lets them be
ruled by some foreign power.
This time it’s the Philistines.
This will be the longest period of foreign domination so far.
:2 Now there
was a certain man from Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was
Manoah; and his wife was barren and had no children.
:2 Zorah – “hornet”
Play “Zorah”
map video.
Last week Jephthah’s exploits took place on the eastern side of the Jordan
River. Samson’s home town is about 14 miles west of Jerusalem.
:2 Danites
– the family is of the tribe of Dan
:2 Manoah
– Manowach – “rest”
:2 barren
Manoah’s wife was unable to get pregnant. This was a terrible thing in
ancient days. This was a woman’s sense of identity.
:3 And the Angel
of the Lord appeared to the woman
and said to her, “Indeed now, you are barren and have borne no children, but
you shall conceive and bear a son.
:3 the Angel of the
Lord
The word “angel” doesn’t necessarily mean a created being along the lines
of what we typically call “angels”. The word means “messenger” or
“representative”, and this means the phrase might be translated “the messenger of Yahweh”.
This is a special personage unique to the Old Testament.
He appeared to many including Abraham (Gen. 22), Moses (Ex.
3), and Gideon (Judg.
6).
We believe this is the appearance
of Jesus Christ in the Old Testament. This is a “preincarnate theophany”, or, an
appearance of God in the Old Testament before the time that Jesus took on human
flesh in the womb of a young girl named Mary.
:3 you shall
conceive
Lesson
God’s fertility clinic
This seems to be one of His specialties, allowing women to conceive who
have had problems doing so.
Sarah, Hannah (Samuel’s mom), Elizabeth (John the Baptist’s mom)
In those days, it was devastating for a woman to be unable to conceive. A
woman’s whole sense of identity was ruined by the inability to conceive.
Yet even in today’s “modern” society, a woman can be devastated when she is
unable to conceive.
I do not want
to build up false hopes for a woman and give the impression that all you need
to do is pray and God will allow you to get pregnant. But I do want to suggest
that you pray. God may answer your prayer by saying “no” or, “not yet”, but be
sure that you don’t find yourself in the category of not receiving because you
didn’t ask.
I’ve known folks who have asked people in our church to pray for them to
get pregnant, and God has answered some of those prayers.
:4 Now therefore,
please be careful not to drink wine or similar drink, and not to eat
anything unclean.
:5 For behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. And no razor shall come
upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he
shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.”
:4 be careful not
to drink wine
Lesson
Dedicated moms
Part of Samson’s preparation for his calling came before he was even
conceived or born. Part of what was built into Samson was the commitment of a
mother who was willing to make sacrifices for her child.
Illustration
When God Created Mom's by Erma Bombeck
When the good
Lord was creating mothers, He was into His sixth day of overtime, when an angel
appeared and said, “You’re doing a lot of fiddling around on this one.” And the
Lord said, “Have you read the spec on this one? She has to be completely
washable, but not plastic; have 180 moveable parts, all replaceable; run on
black coffee and leftovers; have a lap that disappears when she stands up; a
kiss that can cure anything from a broken leg to a disappointed love affair;
and six pair of hands.” The angel shook her head slowly and said, “Six pairs of hands...no
way.” “It’s not the hands that are causing me problems,” said the Lord. “It’s
the three pairs of eyes that mothers have to have.” “That’s on the standard
model?” asked the angel. The Lord nodded. “One pair that sees through closed
doors when she asks, “What are you kids doing in there?” when she already
knows. Another
here, in the back of her head that sees what she shouldn’t, but what she has to
know, and of course the ones here in front that can look at a child when he
goofs up and say, “I understand and I love you,” without so much as uttering a
word.” “Lord,” said the angel, touching his sleeve gently, “Rest for now.
Tomorrow...” “I can’t,” said the Lord. “I’m so close to creating something
close to myself. Already I have one who heals herself when she is sick, can feed a family of six on
one pound of hamburger and can get a nine year old to stand under a shower.”
The angel circled the model of the mother very slowly. “She’s too soft,” she
sighed. “But tough!” said the Lord excitedly. “You cannot imagine what the
mother can do or endure.” “Can she think?” “Not only think, but she can reason
and compromise,” said the Creator. Finally the angel bent over and ran his
finger across the cheek. “There’s
a leak,” he pronounced. “I told you, you were trying to put too much into this
model.” “It’s not a leak,” said the Lord. “It’s a tear.” “What’s it for?” “It’s
for joy, sadness, disappointment, pain, loneliness and pride.” “You’re a
genius,” said the angel.
There is great power in a mom who is dedicated to the Lord and who sets the
example for her children.
:5 a Nazirite to
God – naziyr – consecrated
or devoted one
Lesson
Dedicated
It would start with mom. Samson
would follow.
There were specific things that a person did in order to be a Nazirite. These
were spelled out to Moses in Numbers
6.
(Nu 6:2–8
NKJV) —2 “Speak to the children of Israel, and say
to them: ‘When either a man or woman consecrates an offering to take the vow of
a Nazirite, to separate himself to the Lord,
3 he shall separate himself from wine and similar
drink; he shall drink neither vinegar made from wine nor vinegar made from similar
drink; neither shall he drink any grape juice, nor eat fresh grapes or raisins.
4 All the days of his separation he shall
eat nothing that is produced by the grapevine, from seed to skin. 5
‘All the days of the vow of his
separation no razor shall come upon his head; until the days are fulfilled for
which he separated himself to the Lord,
he shall be holy. Then he shall let the locks of the hair of his head
grow. 6 All the days that he
separates himself to the Lord he
shall not go near a dead body. 7 He shall
not make himself unclean even for his father or his mother, for his brother or
his sister, when they die, because his separation to God is on his head.
8 All the days of his separation he shall
be holy to the Lord.
The Nazirite vow involved abstaining from three things:
1) No grapes
Drinking can get you into trouble.
Illustration
A woman
and a man are involved in a car accident, it’s a bad one. Both of their cars
are totally demolished but amazingly neither of them is hurt. After they crawl
out of their cars, the woman says, “So you’re a man; that’s interesting. I’m a
woman. Wow, just look at our cars! There’s nothing left, but fortunately we are
unhurt. This must be a sign from God that we should meet and be friends and
live together in peace for the rest of our days.” Flattered, the man replied,
“Oh yes, I agree with you completely! This must be a sign from God!” The woman
continued, “And look at this, here’s another miracle. My car is completely
demolished but this bottle
of wine didn’t break. Surely God wants us to drink this wine and celebrate our
good fortune. Then she hands the bottle to the man. The man nods his head in
agreement, opens it and drinks half the bottle and then hands it back to the
woman. The woman takes the bottle, immediately puts the cap back on, and hands
it back to the man. The man asks, “Aren’t you having any?” The woman replies, “No. I
think I’ll just wait for the police...”
Moral of the story: Women are clever. Don’t mess with
them.
The Nazirite was to stay so far away from wine that they
couldn’t even have grape jelly on their toast or raisins in their oatmeal.
That’s commitment.
2) No dead bodies
Dead bodies made you “unclean”.
The Nazirite’s life was supposed to be all about being
“clean”.
2) No haircuts
It seems to me that this would be an outward sign to those
around you that you were a man
with a mission. You were on special assignment from God.
It would probably go like this: Someone notices you have
extremely long hair, and they ask you, “Hey bub, what’s with the long hair?”
You would respond, “I’m on a mission from God.”
The hair would be a witness to those around you, letting
them know
Illustration
On his sixteenth birthday a son approached his father and
said, “Dad, I’m sixteen now. When I get my license, can I drive the family car?” His dad looked
at him and said, “Son, driving the car takes maturity, and first, you must
prove that you are responsible enough. And one way you must do that is to bring
up your grades. They are not acceptable. Second, you must read the Bible every
day. And finally, you must get that hair cut; it looks outrageous.” The son began
the task of fulfilling his father’s requirements, knowing that the last one
might be impossible. When
his grades came out he went to his dad with a big smile. “Look, Dad, all A’s
and B’s on my report card. Now can I drive the family car?” “Very good, son.
You are one-third of the way there, but have you been reading the Bible?” the
father replied. “Yes,
Dad, every day,” said the son. “Very good son. You are two-thirds of the way
there. Now when are you going to get that hair cut?” The son, thinking that he
could outsmart the father, responded, “Well, I don’t see why I should get my
hair cut to drive the car. Jesus
had long hair, didn’t he?” The father looked at his boy and said, “That’s
right, son and Jesus walked everywhere he went.”
Keep
in mind, Samson’s strength didn’t come from his hair, it came from his
commitment to God.
Cutting the hair ended that commitment.
There have been other famous Nazirites than Samson.
John the Baptist – a lifelong Nazirite (Luke 1:15)
(Lk 1:15
NKJV) —15 For he will be great in the sight of the
Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled
with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.
Samuel – a lifelong Nazirite (1Sam. 1:11)
(1 Sa 1:11
NKJV) —11 Then she made a vow and said, “O Lord of hosts, if You will indeed look
on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your
maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a male child, then I will give him
to the Lord all the days of his
life, and no razor shall come upon his head.”
Paul – he seems to have taken a Nazirite vow for a limited period of
time (Acts 18:18)
(Ac 18:18 NKJV) —18 So Paul still
remained a good while. Then he took leave of the brethren and sailed for Syria,
and Priscilla and Aquila were with him. He had his hair cut off
at Cenchrea, for he had taken a vow.
:5 to deliver
Israel out of the hand of the Philistines
It is possible that the time of Samson may overlap some of the time of Samuel. Both may have
operated during the same forty year period in which the Philistines ruled over
the Israelites.
Samson’s rule lasted twenty years
(Jud 15:20)
(Jdg 15:20 NKJV) And he judged Israel
twenty years in the days of the Philistines.
This means that Samson’s time of
judging Israel came during those forty years when the Philistines ruled Israel.
This may have been between 1095 BC and 1055 BC.
The Philistine rule wouldn’t be completely broken until the battle at
Mizpeh (1Sam. 7), at
the time of Samuel.
Samson began the deliverance from the Philistines, but the final
victory would need the work of Samuel (1Sam.
7) and David (2Sam.
5:17-25).
:6 So the woman
came and told her husband, saying, “A Man of God came to me, and His
countenance was like the countenance of the Angel of God, very awesome;
but I did not ask Him where He was from, and He did not tell me His
name.
:7 And He said to me, ‘Behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. Now drink
no wine or similar drink, nor eat anything unclean, for the child shall
be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.’ ”
:8 Then Manoah prayed to the Lord,
and said, “O my Lord, please let the Man of God whom You sent come to us again
and teach us what we shall do for the child who will be born.”
Manoah wants to meet this “person”.
:9 And God listened to the voice of Manoah, and the Angel of God came to
the woman again as she was sitting in the field; but Manoah her husband was
not with her.
I find it fascinating that the Angel appears to the wife, not to Manoah.
:10 Then the woman ran in haste and told her husband, and said to him,
“Look, the Man who came to me the other day has just now appeared to
me!”
:11 So Manoah arose and followed his wife. When he came to the Man, he said
to Him, “Are You the Man who spoke to this woman?” And He said, “I am.”
:12 Manoah said, “Now let Your words come to pass! What will be the
boy’s rule of life, and his work?”
:13 So the Angel of the Lord
said to Manoah, “Of all that I said to the woman let her be careful.
:14 She may not eat anything that comes from the vine, nor may she drink
wine or similar drink, nor eat anything unclean. All that I commanded
her let her observe.”
:12 the boy’s rule
of life, and his work
Lesson
One step at a time
The Angel doesn’t answer Manoah’s question about the boy’s “rule of life
and his work”
All He does is to remind the couple of what the wife’s responsibility is –
that she starts by setting the example for the boy.
God doesn’t always lay out the entire plan before us.
Instead He gives us principles to live our life by, and that’s what we need
to focus on.
Sometimes He will give us specific direction in answer to our questions.
Sometimes He expects us to make a decision, even if it’s a mistake – life
is messy.
Illustration
In the old days before GPS, they had an ingenious way for ship captains to navigate the treacherous
waters of the Norwegian fiords at night. Light houses were set up at various
spots through the fiords, and the trick was to learn how to use them. When a ship entered a
fiord, the captain would aim the ship toward the first light house. As they
came to a turning point in the fiord, the next light house would become visible and the ship
would turn towards it. One light house after another until finally the ship reached its
destination.
Sometimes learning God’s will is like that. God only gives
you the next lighthouse to aim for. You just aim toward that lighthouse until
God gives you the next course correction.
(Ps
119:105 NKJV) Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.
:15 Then Manoah
said to the Angel of the Lord,
“Please let us detain You, and we will prepare a young goat for You.”
Manoah is practicing hospitality. He doesn’t realize who this stranger is. He
simply wants to offer a meal to the visitor.
:16 And the Angel of the Lord
said to Manoah, “Though you detain Me, I will not eat your food. But if you
offer a burnt offering, you must offer it to the Lord.” (For Manoah did not know He was the Angel of
the Lord.)
:16 burnt offering – that’s what they call it when I cook.
:17 Then Manoah said to the Angel of the Lord,
“What is Your name, that when Your words come to pass we may
honor You?”
:18 And the Angel of the Lord
said to him, “Why do you ask My name, seeing it is wonderful?”
:18 wonderful
– pil’iy – wonderful,
incomprehensible, extraordinary
A related word is found in:
(Is 9:6
NKJV) For unto
us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His
shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting
Father, Prince of Peace.
:19 So Manoah
took the young goat with the grain offering, and offered it upon the rock to
the Lord. And He did a wondrous
thing while Manoah and his wife looked on—
:19 a wondrous thing – pala’ –
to be marvelous, be surpassing, be extraordinary
A word related to “wonderful” in the previous verse.
:20 it happened as the flame went up toward heaven from the altar—the Angel
of the Lord ascended in the flame
of the altar! When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell on their
faces to the ground.
Wow. Amazing. Wonderful.
:21 When the Angel of the Lord
appeared no more to Manoah and his wife, then Manoah knew that He was
the Angel of the Lord.
:22 And Manoah said to his wife, “We shall surely die, because we have seen
God!”
:22 We shall surely die
Manoah realizes how serious this all was. He thinks that he will be put to
death for what he’s seen.
:23 But his wife said to him, “If the Lord
had desired to kill us, He would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain
offering from our hands, nor would He have shown us all these things,
nor would He have told us such things as these at this time.”
:23 If the Lord had desired to kill us
Pretty logical. Why would the Lord kill this family when He was the one who
initiated all the contacts? Makes sense.
Lesson
Pay attention to your wife.
It seems to me that Manoah’s wife was the one in tune with the things of
God. She was the one that the angel first appeared to. And now she is the voice
of reason regarding the fact that God has blessed their family and wasn’t
planning on destroying them.
Guys, I think that sometimes we have trouble receiving from our wives. I
understand that. Sometimes the Lord shows my wife something and frankly I
wonder why He didn’t show it to me. I think I act like Manoah did, “I want to
hear this myself!”
But I think it would be wise for me to learn to be quicker to recognize
when God is using my wife.
:24 So the woman
bore a son and called his name Samson; and the child grew, and the Lord blessed him.
:24 Samson
– Shimshown – “like the sun”
:25 And the Spirit of the Lord
began to move upon him at Mahaneh Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.
:25 Mahaneh Dan
… Eshtaol – these three villages are each a mile apart. See map.
:25 began to move
upon him
Lesson
There’s a place to start
Sometimes we see God using certain people in a marvelous way and we begin
to think that God could never do that in us.
But everyone has a place they start at.
When we see the Spirit of God work in Samson to do mighty deeds of
strength, the Spirit had already been at work in his life.
Be faithful and let God work in your life where you are.
14:1-20 Samson’s
Philistine Wife
:1 Now Samson went down to Timnah, and saw a woman in Timnah of the
daughters of the Philistines.
:1 Timnah
see Timnah map
video. Timnah is west of Zorah, down in
the coastal plain.
:2 So he went
up and told his father and mother, saying, “I have seen a woman in Timnah of
the daughters of the Philistines; now therefore, get her for me as a wife.”
:3 Then his father and mother said to him, “Is there no woman among
the daughters of your brethren, or among all my people, that you must go and
get a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?” And Samson said to his father,
“Get her for me, for she pleases me well.”
:3 she pleases me
well
“she’s right in my eye”
JFB: literally, “she is right in
mine eyes”; not by her beautiful countenance or handsome figure, but right
or fit for his purpose.
In that culture, it was up to the parents to arrange the marriage. Samson
sees a woman he likes and he asks his parents to arrange a marriage.
John Wesley
wrote,
Children ought not to marry, nor to move toward it without the advice
and consent of their parents.
Interesting idea.
Technically, the Israelites were allowed to marry Philistines. They were
not part of the seven nations of which the Israelites were forbidden to marry.
(Deut. 7:1-3)
(Dt 7:1–3 NKJV) —1 “When
the Lord your God brings you into
the land which you go to possess, and has cast out many nations before you, the
Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the
Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and
mightier than you, 2 and when
the Lord your God delivers them
over to you, you shall conquer them and utterly destroy them. You shall
make no covenant with them nor show mercy to them. 3
Nor shall you make marriages with them.
You shall not give your daughter to their son, nor take their daughter for your
son.
Yet on the other hand, Samson is breaking one of the principles of
Scripture –
(2 Co 6:14 NKJV) Do not be
unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has
righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?
:4 But his father
and mother did not know that it was of the Lord—that
He was seeking an occasion to move against the Philistines. For at that time
the Philistines had dominion over Israel.
:4 it was of the
LORD
How was this of the Lord?
Is it that God has directly led Samson to marry this Philistine woman? I
don’t think so.
I think this is more of an instance where God has used a human frailty or
sin and turned it to good.
Lesson
God is at work
Frankly, there will be other people around Samson who are going to have a
difficult time seeing that God is using him. The tribe of Judah will want to
arrest Samson and turn him over to the Philistines.
Yet God used Samson.
I think that sometimes God works in ways that we have difficulty accepting.
Back in the late sixties and early seventies, God used a church that
allowed hippies to come in with their long hair, bare feet, and sit on the
floor.
Sometimes God works in ways outside our “box” that we are comfortable with.
:5 So Samson went
down to Timnah with his father and mother, and came to the vineyards of Timnah.
Now to his surprise, a young lion came roaring against him.
:5 the vineyards of
Timnah
It’s probably not a good idea for a Nazirite to be in a vineyard.
(Nu 6:3 NKJV) he shall separate himself from wine and similar drink; he
shall drink neither vinegar made from wine nor vinegar made from similar
drink; neither shall he drink any grape juice, nor eat fresh grapes or raisins.
:6 And the Spirit
of the Lord came mightily upon
him, and he tore the lion apart as one would have torn apart a young goat,
though he had nothing in his hand. But he did not tell his father or his
mother what he had done.
:6 he tore the lion
apart
This wasn’t a baby lion cub or some old toothless scraggly lion. This was a lion in its
prime, a very dangerous beast.
Samson doesn’t have any weapons, he’s just using his bare hands.
I’m pleased to share with you that we have found footage of this actual
event. The video is a bit hard to see … Play Christian
the Lion.
:6 the Spirit of
the Lord
Note the presence of the Holy Spirit in Samson’s life.
Lesson
The Holy Spirit and imperfect people
We’re going to see that Samson is a man with some huge flaws.
He may work through people you or I don’t approve of.
He may work through us.
:7 Then he went
down and talked with the woman; and she pleased Samson well.
:8 After some time, when he returned to get her, he turned aside to see the
carcass of the lion. And behold, a swarm of bees and honey were in the
carcass of the lion.
:8 after some time
It has been suggested that this might have been a year later. Betrothal periods were often
for a year. The rotting carcass of a lion wouldn’t have attracted bees, it
would have made them go away.
It is thought that all that has been left of the lion is just the skeleton, and this is what
the bees built their hive in.
:9 He took some
of it in his hands and went along, eating. When he came to his father and
mother, he gave some to them, and they also ate. But he did not tell
them that he had taken the honey out of the carcass of the lion.
:9 eating
Samson is eating honey that came from the dead lion’s carcass.
This might be considered breaking the Law. (Lev. 11:27)
(Le 11:27
NKJV) —27 And whatever goes on its paws, among all
kinds of animals that go on all fours, those are unclean to you.
Whoever touches any such carcass shall be unclean until evening.
A lion was an unclean animal. Samson was technically not supposed to be
eating something that had been touching a lion, let alone the honey that was
produced in the animal’s carcass.
In addition, as a Nazirite, Samson isn’t supposed to touch dead things –
(Nu 6:6
NKJV) All the
days that he separates himself to the Lord
he shall not go near a dead body.
:10 So his father
went down to the woman. And Samson gave a feast there, for young men used to do
so.
:10 Samson gave a
feast
A wedding feast lasted seven days.
feast – mishteh – feast, banquet; “drinking
party”.
Not the kind of thing a Nazirite ought to be doing.
:11 And it happened,
when they saw him, that they brought thirty companions to be with him.
:12 Then Samson said to them, “Let me pose a riddle to you. If you can
correctly solve and explain it to me within the seven days of the feast, then I
will give you thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothing.
:12 riddle
– chiydah – riddle, difficult
question, perplexing saying or question
This was a common way that people entertained each other by the telling of
stories and riddles. They didn’t have Xbox or cable TV to keep themselves
entertained. It was common to offer a reward to someone who solved the riddle.
Illustration
John Kerry meets with the Queen of England. He asks her, “Your Majesty, how do you
run such an efficient government? Are there any tips you can give to me?”
“Well,” says the Queen, “the most important thing is to surround yourself with
intelligent people.” Kerry frowns. “But how do I know the people around me are
really intelligent?” The Queen takes a sip of tea. “ah, that’s easy. You just
ask them to answer an intelligent riddle.” The Queen pushes a button on her
intercom. “Please send Tony Blair in here, would you?” Tony Blair walks into the room. “Yes, my
Queen?” The Queen smiles. “Answer me this, please, Tony. Your mother and father
have a child. It is not your brother and it is not your sister. Who is it?”
Without pausing for a moment, Tony Blair answers, “That would be me.” “Yes!
Very good,” says the Queen.
Kerry goes back home to ask John Edwards, his vice
presidential choice the same question. “John. Answer this for me. Your mother
and your father have a child. It’s not your brother and it’s not your sister.
Who is it?” “I’m not sure,” says John Edwards. “Let me get back to you on that
one.” Edwards goes to his advisors and asks every one, but none can give him an
answer. Finally, he ends up in the men’s room and recognizes Colin Powell’s shoes in
the next stall. Edwards shouts, “Colin! Can you answer this for me? Your mother
and father have a child and it’s not your brother or your sister. Who is it?”
Colin Powell yells back, “That’s easy. It’s me!” Edwards smiles, and says,
“Thanks!” Then, Edwards goes back to speak with Kerry. “Say, I did some
research and I have the answer to that riddle. It’s Colin Powell.” Kerry gets
up, stomps over to John Edwards, and angrily yells into his face, “No, you
idiot! It’s Tony Blair!”
:12 thirty linen
garments
Clothes were of much greater value to people then than they are to us in
the United States today. Most people might have only one or two changes of
clothes.
:13 But if you
cannot explain it to me, then you shall give me thirty linen garments
and thirty changes of clothing.” And they said to him, “Pose your riddle, that
we may hear it.”
:14 So he said to them: “Out of the eater came something to eat, And out of
the strong came something sweet.” Now for three days they could not explain the
riddle.
:15 But it came to pass on the seventh day that they said to Samson’s wife,
“Entice your husband, that he may explain the riddle to us, or else we will
burn you and your father’s house with fire. Have you invited us in order to
take what is ours? Is that not so?”
:15 we will burn
you
How’s this for a group of friends? “Help us or we’ll burn your house down!”
This is how you know you need new friends…
:16 Then Samson’s
wife wept on him, and said, “You only hate me! You do not love me! You have
posed a riddle to the sons of my people, but you have not explained it
to me.” And he said to her, “Look, I have not explained it to my father
or my mother; so should I explain it to you?”
:17 Now she had wept on him the seven days while their feast lasted. And it
happened on the seventh day that he told her, because she pressed him so much.
Then she explained the riddle to the sons of her people.
:17 she had wept on
him
Samson could handle a lion, but he couldn’t handle a woman’s tears.
In a way, this is a foreshadowing of what is ahead for Samson.
Lesson
Little leads to more
I think it’s not a bad idea to pay attention to the “little” things. Sometimes the “little things” lead us into
trouble, into “bigger things”.
Play “Running
with the Squirrels”
(Ec 10:1
NKJV) Dead flies
putrefy the perfumer’s ointment, And cause it to give off a foul odor; So
does a little folly to one respected for wisdom and honor.
(So 2:15
NKJV) Catch us
the foxes, The little foxes that spoil the vines, For our vines have
tender grapes.
It’s easier to stop bad habits when they’re “little” than when they’re big.
:18 So the men
of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun went down: “What is
sweeter than honey? And what is stronger than a lion?” And he said to
them: “If you had not plowed with my heifer, You would not have solved my
riddle!”
:18 plowed with my
heifer
Not a very kind thing to say about your wife.
Actually, heifers weren’t used for plowing.
In other words, the saying means this – “You couldn’t have done what you
did if you hadn’t broke
the rules”.
It’s plausible that Samson could have claimed that they cheated and then
gotten out of his agreement. But he
holds to his promise.
:19 Then the
Spirit of the Lord came upon him
mightily, and he went down to Ashkelon and killed thirty of their men, took
their apparel, and gave the changes of clothing to those who had
explained the riddle. So his anger was aroused, and he went back up to his
father’s house.
:20 And Samson’s wife was given to his companion, who had been his
best man.
:19 Ashkelon
See “Ashkelon
map” video.
One of the bigger Philistine cities on the coast.
Samson keeps his wager with the Philistines to give them thirty changes of
clothes. But he gets the clothes by killing thirty Philistines. Note that the Spirit of the Lord was on him
when he did this.
:19 killed thirty
of their men
I thought that in order to give you the proper education, I would show you
some bloody fight scenes from one of the world’s strongest actors. This is a guy who played Conan the Barbarian. Here’s what I found on YouTube…
It was a bloody mess. I’d hate to
see what these “linen clothes” looked like…
:20 wife was given
to his companion
In his anger Samson leaves his Philistine wife and goes to spend some time
with his parents. Apparently he had not yet consummated the marriage.
His wife is given to the best man in his wedding. Ouch.