Please turn with me in your Bibles to Judges chapter 14. Judges 14, we're taking the summer months off from our study in the Gospel of Matthew and we have focused on two of the better known judges in this particular book. We looked at Gideon and we are currently looking at Samson. Last Sunday morning we considered the birth and call of Samson in Judges 13.
This morning, Judges 14, we'll pick up beginning in verse 1, and then we'll seek to learn some lessons from the sacred text. Judges 14, beginning in verse 1.
Scripture Reading: Judges 14
Now Samson went down to Timnah, and saw a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. Then he went down and talked with the woman, and she pleased Samson well.
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. 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. So his father went down to the woman, and Samson gave a feast there, for young men used to do so. And it happened when they saw him that they brought 30 companions to be with him. 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 30 linen garments and 30 changes of clothing. But if you cannot explain it to me, then you shall give me 30 linen garments and 30 changes of clothing." And they said to him, "'Pose your riddle that we may hear it.' 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, 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? 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? 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. 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.
Then the spirit of the Lord came upon him mightily and he went down to Ashkelon and killed 30 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. And Samson's wife was given to his companion, who had been his best man. Amen.
Well, let us pray.
Opening Prayer
Our Father in heaven, we thank you for the written word of God, and we pray that even now the Spirit of God would minister among us, that you would take these things and apply them in our hearts and in our minds. We ask as we approach Scripture that you would forgive us for all of our sins and transgressions, We acknowledge its darkening influence over our minds and hearts. We ask God that you would wash us and cleanse us and purify us and enable us to receive with gladness the word of the living and true God. We pray for any and all who have come here this morning that are outside of Christ.
We pray that today would be the day of salvation. We know that you saved your people from their sins by your son, the Lord Jesus. We pray that even today that grace would be manifest, that power would be executed, that sinners would be brought out of darkness into marvelous light, so they may proclaim your excellencies, that they may proclaim your praises. We pray that for our gathering here this morning.
We ask God that wherever the gospel is preached, your word would run swiftly and be glorified, that it would accomplish the purpose for which you sent it. And our Father, we just thank you for the power and the efficacy of Holy Scripture. And again, we pray for the aid of the Holy Spirit as we approach Scripture now. And we ask these things through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Amen. Well, as I said,
Introduction
the two judges that we're looking at, not to suggest that the others are unimportant, but Gideon and Samson are probably the men we most are familiar with in terms of the book of Judges. I want to look at this chapter, chapter 14, under three considerations. First, the divine design behind Samson's marriage. in verses 1 to 4. Secondly, the spiritual empowerment of God's deliverer in verses 5 to 9.
And then thirdly, the small beginnings of God's deliverance in verses 10 to 20. So basically, what we have is a birth and call narrative in Judges 13. Judges 14 and 15, we see Samson in Timnah. And then in chapter 16, Samson goes to Gaza.
And remember the specific situation that Israel finds herself in at the time. She is under oppression. Israel has sinned against the living and true God. And in accordance with His curses promised in Deuteronomy 28, God raises up the Philistines and uses them to bring chastisement and judgment upon his erring people.
And when the people of Israel cry out, God in kindness and in grace raises up a deliverer to send to them to free them from the oppression. We did notice, however, last week in Judges 13 that this particular cycle there's no cry of distress whatsoever. The children of Israel had made peace with being under the Philistines. We'll see that very, very clearly next week in chapter 15 when the Judahites go along with the Philistines to deliver Samson into their godless hands.
So we see that it's a time of great declension. It's a time of great distress. It's a time of great sin and waywardness among the children of Israel. So that manifests or underscores or highlights God's great grace.
In the midst of this situation, He raises up Samson, and it's Samson who will begin to deliver his people from their oppression. And isn't this God's way? Most of us, all of us, were not seeking after the Lord. There was no cry of distress from us.
There was no repentance from us. There was no meeting God halfway. God sought us. God found us.
God rescued us. God poured out His grace upon us. The same consistency is seen here in the book of Judges. So
Divine Design Behind Samson's Marriage
let's look first at the divine design behind Samson's marriage, verses 1 to 4.
Samson's Demand and Parental Reproof
Samson went down to Timnah, and he sees a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines. He sees the woman. She pleases him well. The marginal reading says, she is right in my own eyes.
That's a phrase that will come out later in the book of Judges. Everyone did what was right in their own eyes. This was a time in Israel's history when they didn't act in accordance with the revealed will of God, but rather they did what was pleasing to themselves. this woman and he tells his parents very specifically in verse 2, I have seen a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines. Now therefore get her for me as a wife.
Now notice that he is reproved by his parents. One wonders what did Samson think at this particular time. Oh that's great Samson. Why don't you marry one of the daughters of those who are oppressing us?" This would be akin to a woman or to a man in occupied Holland, for instance, saying, yeah, I found a woman, her father happens to be the commander of an SS unit or a detachment.
You'd say, I don't want you to marry her. What's the matter with you? That's the enemy, that's the oppressor, that's the one who's keeping us down. Now the Philistines were not those seven nations condemned in Deuteronomy chapter 7.
They were not the ones that God said to go in and utterly decimate and destroy and dispossess from the land. However, the same rules apply, because the Philistines were Dagon-worshipping idolaters. They had rejected the God of heaven and earth, they had rejected the God of Israel, and they bowed to Dagon. We see this consistently all the way into 1 Samuel.
So when Samson says, I have seen a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines, now therefore get her for me as a wife, I think all of us as parents understand their response in verse 3, don't we? What did they say? 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? Isn't there a nice Hebrew girl?
Isn't there a nice young lady from within the covenant community? Is there not one who pleases you? Is there not one among your brethren that you can bring home to daddy and mommy? Do we have to anticipate those days when our grandchildren will be sort of a mix of covenant community and pagan?
Do we anticipate that day when our grandchildren will either A. be dedicated under Yahweh or B. dedicated under Dagon? The response of the parents is absolutely legit. They caution Samson. They are alerted to this reality.
They do not want him taking a daughter of the Philistines to marry as his wife. Notice Samson's determination in 3B. Samson says to his father, get her for me for she pleases me well. Parents, you're not the first ones that have ever had your children rebel against that.
Let me just remind you of that. Have you ever responded, I can't believe you're actually rebelling against me. We should express that sentiment to be sure But there is a long pedigree of disobedience among young people to their parents. And this is precisely what Samson is doing.
Now, I take a very positive and favorable view of Samson. Some of his commentators don't do that. I think he's a hero. I think he's a champion.
I think he's a godly man. He's a man of faith according to Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 32. But he's not a sinless man. He's not a perfect man.
He is a type pointing us forward to the perfect and to the sinless man, Jesus Christ, who doesn't begin to save his people from oppression, but actually saves to the uttermost all who draw nigh to God through him. But in this instance you need to understand what's going on. Samson says, I want what I want and I'm going to have it. His parents exercise some godly reproof.
His parents exercise some godly rebuke. His parents seek to restrain this in their wayward son. Now
God's Hidden Purpose in Verse 4
note the theological comment in verse 4. The parents, Manoah and Missus, didn't know this. This is given to us, the reader, so that we understand what Yahweh, or God, is doing behind the scenes. Notice in verse 4, But his father and mother did not know that it was of the Lord, that He was seeking, that He there is God.
It's not Samson. Some have said Samson calculated this particular plan simply to bring down the Philistines. No, God orchestrated this particular plan to bring down the Philistines. So God is the proper subject identified in that latter clause.
So let's read it again. But his father and mother did not know that it was of the Lord that God was seeking an occasion to move against the Philistines. For at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel. Now there's a couple of things we ought to observe here.
God has a plan, doesn't He? God has a purpose, most certainly. God will execute His decree. God even uses the sinful choices of people to serve that large decree.
We see it in the case of Joseph. What happened with Joseph? His brothers hated him, didn't they? Yes?
Everybody with me? Everybody alive? Everybody awake? Everybody alert?
We're here for an hour. Please, give attention to the Word of the Living God, because there's nothing more important than this Word. Joseph's brothers despised him. They wanted to murder him.
Reuben intervenes and says, let's not murder him. Let's rather throw him into this pit. Boy, that's a gracious plan of action. Instead of cutting my throat, let me starve to death in the bottom of this pit.
If any of you ever want to choose to deal with me in a particular way, end it quick. Don't throw me into a pit and let it be prolonged. Actually, maybe I can dig my way out of the pit. I don't know.
Just don't do that at all. How about that? So they sold him to the Ishmaelites. What does Joseph say to his brothers?
You meant this for evil, but God overruled it for good. Samson is acting as a wayward young man. Samson wants to take a daughter of the Philistines instead of a covenant daughter. Samson goes against his parents' best wishes and their desires and their knowledge, and yet God overrules it for good.
Now we need to understand, my beloved brothers and sisters, we do not commit sin, we do not engage in folly with the thought that, well, God's going to overrule this for good. You don't do that.
Decretive Will and Preceptive Will
Theologians speak of the decretive will and the preceptive will of God. Just pay attention with me. Decretive has to do with the decree. The secret things.
God has purposed all things that transpire. The fact that Joseph would be elevated in Egypt and be a means of the salvation of Israel. That's God's purpose and plan. That's His decree.
That is the secret things. Samson's marriage to this particular woman. Though it be sinful, it was according to the plan of God, so that he could bring about some confrontation between Israel and the Philistines. Theologians speak of the preceptive will, or precept, or we might call it the revealed will.
What do you think you're supposed to pattern your life after? The preceptive. You do what God says in His Word. Yes, graciously, kindly, mercifully, and wondrously.
He overrules a lot of stupidity on the part of His people. He overrules a lot of sin on the part of His people. He overrules a lot of folly on the part of His people. But we don't reason this way.
Well, I didn't use a seat belt for 150 days, so therefore... It's because God has spared you in your folly doesn't mean you ought to resist what the preceptive or revealed will of God is. Put your seatbelt on. In this instance, we ought not to conclude, young people, well, God took this sinful marriage that Samson wanted and he overruled it for good.
Well, as we move through the chapter, you have to ask the question, does Mrs. Samson think that it was overruled for good? No. Does Samson think that it was overruled for good?
No, not necessarily. You see, God at His purpose, Israel had grown accustomed to Philistine oppression to the point that they were not distressed, they were not wanting to get rid of it, so God actually has to do something to this extent to cause there to be a stir and a rumble between these two parties. But as well, parents, listen to the wise counsel of Dr. Davis with reference to verse 4.
I find this to be such a ball. We give our instructions, we give our warnings, we give our reproof, we rebuke, we pray, we cry, we fast, we plead. Listen to what Davis says. Many Christian parents have stood in the sandals of Manoah and his wife.
They have, though realizing their own sinful inadequacies, faithfully taught, prayed for, disciplined, and loved a son or a daughter, only to see that child willfully turn from the way of the Lord. No one can deny it is anything but devastating. Yet no one should forget verse 4, but his father and his mother did not realize it was from Yahweh. Davis says, what we don't know may yet prove to be our deepest comfort.
So at this particular juncture, we need to make this observation. May I specifically highlight the young people. Do what your parents say. Don't take this passage and say, well, Samson got blessed.
Israel got blessed. Take another instance of the decretive and preceptive will of God. It was God's predetermined plan that his son be crucified on the cross. Do we argue and say, well, the Jews and the Romans that were involved in that, they just did what was right.
No, they violated God's preceptive will. They committed murder. The Apostle Peter tells us in Acts 2 that though it is the predetermined plan of God, you crucified Him by lawless hands. The summary lesson for each and every one of us is not to try to peer in to the decree of God.
It's not to try to peer in behind the scenes. It's not to try and look behind the curtain. We do what God commands. Is everybody with me on that?
People have a faulty understanding of this. Well, look at how I turned out. So therefore, that's not how we measure ethics. We measure ethics based on God's Word.
It's what does He command, it's what does He instruct, it's what does He tell, and it's what does He forbid. If we profess saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, these are our marching orders. Not my feelings, not my desires, not my emotions, not what everybody else is doing, but what saith the Word of the living and true God. You see, at a certain point, my brothers and my sisters, this will give us away.
Are we governed by passions? Are we governed by emotions? Are we governed by circumstances? Or are we governed by the Word of God?
You see, the people of God who take seriously the Word and do what God says every day is what we need to be. There's nothing glamorous in that, is there? But I want to do so much more. Just get up out of bed, read your Bible, pray, and be a faithful worker.
But I want to make an impact that lasts into eternity. You'll do it by getting up out of bed, reading your Bible, praying, and being faithful in your workplace. I just want to change society. Be faithful to govern your own heart.
I just want to be such a blessing to everybody around me. Do what God says then. Why do we just have this propensity for the glamorous? We don't want the humdrum.
We don't want the mundane. Do you know that 85 or 95 or I don't know whatever the percent of the Bible is, is humdrum? Just get up, do what you're supposed to do under God and do it for His glory and honor. That's it.
There's no mystery involved in all of this. God says, don't do certain things. And if He has graciously given you parents that enforce that particular law, do not reject their counsel, do not be upset with their counsel, do not despise their counsel, but rather welcome it as a gift from the living God. Now notice what happens in verse 4.
God was seeking an occasion to move against the Philistines. God is seeking ground for opening a quarrel. You see, because Israel had grown content in this arrangement, because Israel didn't despise this oppression, because Israel will identify with the Philistines in the coming chapter, God the Lord uses this occasion of Samson's marriage to open a quarrel between the two parties. And he begins small in chapter 14, it gets much larger in chapter 15, and then in his death in chapter 16, Samson brings a blow to the Philistine nation.
Spiritual Empowerment of God's Deliverer
Now let's look secondly at the spiritual empowerment of God's deliverer. Verses 5 to 9. Notice, Samson went down to Timnah with his father and mother and came to the vineyards of Timnah. Now in this next section, this is where I would suggest that Samson is less than a perfect man.
Remember the Nazarite vow. You would have nothing to do with things grown on the grapevine. Walking among the vineyards is probably not the best idea. Right?
It's probably not the wisest thing to do. Remember another specification with reference to the Nazirite law. You are to have no touch, no contact with a carcass. So scooping honey out of a dead lion, again, probably not the best thing.
Some suggest that he may have used a stick, he may have done that. The text is a bit ambiguous, but perhaps the author is telling us that though a godly man, though a righteous man, though a faithful man, though a heroic man, the only perfect man is coming in your future. Now note what happens. We can't suppose that his parents are still with him at the end of verse 5.
Now to his surprise, a young lion came roaring against him. Don't you love the way Judges is written? It's one of the things we noted on our Wednesday night studies. It's fun.
It's exciting. Of course this is surprising. Wouldn't you be surprised if a young lion came upon you? You would shout, you'd scream, you'd do whatever it is that you would do.
A young lion comes upon him. Now notice,
The Lion and the Spirit's Power
the young lion rages against him, but the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him. This is preparation for Samson. Later on, in his combat with the Philistines, they rage against him, they rush at him, and then it says the Spirit of the Lord came upon him. And so already God is giving Samson a down payment.
He's already giving him tutelage. He is teaching him. He is preparing him. He is showing him that when he needs the power of God, that power of God is going to be there.
Look at what Samson does to this young lion. Verse 6, 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. Isn't that amazing? I think it'd be tough to tear apart a young goat.
Maybe that's because I'm a baby and I don't want to do that sort of thing. But I guess if I was starving to death and I had to tear apart the young goat, I would do it. But I'd probably look away. But is it easy to tear through skin?
He tears apart a young lion and it's common parlance as if he was tearing through a young goat. The original audience would say, oh, we know what it is to tear a young goat. This audience knows what it is to not even eat goat because it tastes like feet. Or this audience doesn't know what it's like to tear apart a goat because they buy food at Costco or they do Price Mart or whatever.
You see, the original audience would have said, wow, Samson's powerful. The Spirit of the Lord did come upon him mightily. The fact that he tore this lion in two. And let's just debunk some of this myth about this big, bumbling, egotistical man.
He doesn't even tell his parents what had happened. What if Samson lived in the 21st century? I kid you not, the first thing he would do when he entered into his home, he'd wash lion blood off of him and then he'd Twitter. Facebook status update, I just ripped apart a lion.
This is not an egotistical man governed by his emotions, bouncing from event to event, just doing whatever it is that he pleases. The Spirit of the Lord comes upon him, gives him strength so that he can destroy this lion. It's interesting, there's another man that God gave strength to destroy a lion prior to his meeting with a Philistine enemy. David, remember?
David's preparation for battle was that he was able to stop the bear and to stop the lion. And it's intriguing. It says when the animal, the lamb, was in the mouth. Is it even more dangerous?
I can't imagine a bear or a lion would be happy with you trying to take their prey at any time during the transaction. But when they've begun to eat, If you take something off my plate, I'll probably be a little distressed. If you yank it out of my mouth while I'm masticating it, I will certainly have a problem with you. I might bite your finger." And yet this is when David did what God equipped him to do.
Listen to what Davis says again. He says,
Small Victories as Proof of God's Power
the mangled lion is meant as God's sign to Samson. It shows him that Yahweh can and will, or what Yahweh can and will do through him. It should show him that the God who makes him able to tear up lions can also empower him to terrorize Philistines. And again, Put on your judges cap.
We are living in a time, according to the book of Judges, when the Philistines are oppressing the Israelites. So for Samson to terrorize Philistines is the work of God Most High to free his people from that oppression. Davis says, here is a preview of what Yahweh can do through Samson. It's part of his preparation.
God's teaching him. And you know, it's interesting, all along the way with Samson, it's the Spirit of the Lord that comes upon him. When he goes to kill the 30 men in Ashkelon, that's not his temper, it's the Spirit's power. We've got to read the Bible the way God calls us to read the Bible, not as some sensitive, delicate people that have never known battle or warfare and say, wow, that seems odd.
God's people are being oppressed. God raises up a deliverer in the person of Samson. God fills this man with the Spirit so that he can rip lions apart and understand that he will then have the equipment necessary to deal with the Philistine threat and to neutralize it. That's what's happening in Judges 13.
And again, Davis pulls out a good lesson with reference to this lion as a precursor to the Philistine threat. He says, no, You needn't expect lions to come roaring out of vineyards, but you should notice this pattern in God's ways. He will, by some smaller episode of deliverance or provision, show you how adequate He is so that you will be encouraged to rely on Him in upcoming and possibly more demanding circumstances. That's gold.
If you're alive and alert and awake and in Jesus, you need to understand this. What is Davis saying? The Spirit serves as a proof of God's power, of God's majesty, of God's protection. It is that which causes Samson to go forward into this Philistine threat, because he's able to reason thus now, God delivered me from the lion, certainly He can deliver me from the Philistines.
David would conclude the very same thing. He says that God gave me the ability to deliver these lambs from the mouth of the bear and the mouth of the lion. Who is this uncircumcised Philistine? I gotta tell you, I agree with one of my brothers here, that if you face a lion and a bear in close combat, there's probably not a lot of threat that men can produce at that particular time.
I have come face to face with paws and teeth and a ruthless nest that just wants to eat me. That's why David has this adage, I don't need the armor, I just need my sling and five smooth stones. I will deal with this Philistine giant. You see, the people who have tried and proven their God walk accordingly.
The people who can look back in history and say, you know, we were hurting there, we were destitute there, we were troubled there, and the Lord sustained us. The Lord brought us out of it. The Lord has kept us. The Lord has preserved us.
Those are the people who face the future with confidence because they know that the Lord God Almighty is their strength. He is their shield. He is their defender. He is what Genesis 15 says when God says to Abraham, I am your shield.
I am your exceedingly great reward. Every small victory in the Christian life is the manifestation, the proof, the evidence that God has the power to keep you. God has the ability to watch over you. God can strengthen you.
And the same flow in the narrative is found in this particular passage. Again, verses 7 to 9. Samson is walking through the vineyard. They're walking alongside here.
He went down. He talks with the woman. She pleased Samson well. After some time, when he returned to get her, he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion.
Behold, a swarm of bees and honey were in the carcass of the lion. He most likely had contact with that carcass." Again, if he used a long spoon, the text doesn't specify. He most likely violates this Nazirite vow. He doesn't tell his parents where the honey came from.
Probably so that they could just eat and be happy with the honey. Now
Small Beginnings of God's Deliverance
notice thirdly and finally, the small beginnings. of God's deliverance, verses 10 to 20. It's wedding time. Weddings are fun, aren't they? Please don't go.
Your husband or your wife is going to give you one of these shots. What do you mean? No, it was the funnest day of my life. Yes, that's right, honey, it was.
This is a wedding in Timna. A little bit different than what we're used to, but this is what's going on. It's a celebration. It's a seven-day feast.
It's a time to rejoice. A time to praise. A time to celebrate. A time for the couple to appreciate one another.
If ever there was a miserable wedding day, I would suggest it happened with SAMHSA.
The Riddle, the Wager, and the Betrayal
Samson poses a riddle to the young men that are in attendance. Probably these 30 men that are on him are probably something like bodyguards. Perhaps at this particular time, the Philistines were already alert to the reality that Samson was a bit different than the rank and file of Israelites. So they post these 30 men upon Samson.
Samson makes a deal with them. Samson says in verse 12, 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 30 linen garments and 30 changes of clothing, 30 pairs of underwear and 30 new suits. It's a lot of money.
It's a lot of riches. This is a big wager, isn't it? Again, Sampson's a real fun-loving sort of guy, isn't he? I mean, who does that?
I got a riddle. I'm going to tell you the riddle. If you solve the riddle, I'll give you 30 garments. If you don't solve my riddle, then you can give me 30 garments.
I just don't operate that way. There's a sense where this man loves life. He is, in a sense, not just bouncing around governed by his emotions, but he is a man Who is fun? Let's put something interesting upon this particular arrangement.
But if you cannot explain it to me, then you shall give me 30 linen garments and 30 changes of clothing. They said to him, pose your riddle that we may hear it. So he said to them, out of the eater came something to eat, and out of the strong came something sweet. I just love this brother.
Great riddle, isn't it? There's no way these guys are going to get this. There is no possible way they are going to get this. We know the answer.
We've seen him wander through the vineyard. We know that he's ripped a lion in two. We know that he saw a swarm of bees in the carcass. We know that he scooped out some of that honey.
We know that it's dripped down his face. We know that he's handed it to his parents. They don't have a clue about this. This is a riddle in many respects designed to gain him 30 changes of underwear and 30 new suits.
Out of the eater came something to eat, and out of the strong came something sweet." We see the inability of the men to figure it out. 14b. They're puzzled over it. They're scratching their chins. They're musing on it.
It's a real conundrum. It's a real melon scratcher. It's something that stopped them for three days. Now remember, do you have 30 suits?
This is a lot of money. They don't want to lose. Nobody enters into a contest to lose. I mean, that's somewhat the way that society is going today.
It doesn't matter whether you win or lose just so long as you participate. No, it matters whether you win or lose. You either win or you lose. Paul didn't say, I run in such a way just to show that I participated.
No, I run in such a way to win. Nothing wrong with a little healthy competition. These men want to know this particular riddle. So what do they do?
They pray on the weak link. They pressure his wife, his new bride. She should be enjoying the festivities, delighting in the reality that she's now married to Samson from Israel. Look at what these men do in verse 15.
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. Before you get this pro-Philistine ideal, before you start to think that perhaps God is dealing a bit severely with these nice Philistines through Samson, these are the kinds of men that for 30 suits and 30 changes of underwear will burn a woman in her father's house down and kill them. These aren't nice people. These aren't innocent victims.
These aren't just hapless souls living in Timna, the victim of some cruel cosmic joke. These are wicked men. They pressure the woman. So what does she do?
She pressures him. This gives us a bit of foretaste about 16. What's Samson's downfall? It isn't a thousand Philistines.
It isn't the lion. It isn't thirty men in Ashkelon. It's the ways of a woman. It's the nagging of a woman.
This is what the text suggests. Because she pressed him so much. 1616 uses the same language concerning Delilah. You see why God calls us to enter into a relationship that is equally yucked? Because our spouses exercise such influence over us.
When your wife is unhappy and exudes pressure upon you, If you have a bit of Samson-like blood in you, you may eventually throw up your hands and say, OK, already, we shall do this or that. If your husband is pressuring you, your husband is manipulating you, your husband is punishing you with words or with thoughts or with whatever, it is easy to succumb. In this particular instance, it would cost 30 changes of underwear and 30 suits. But imagine entering into the marriage covenant with a Philistine and she exercises this kind of influence for you to attend Dagon worship with her.
Think about that. What are you going to say? What are you going to do? You're going to say, no, I'm a covenant child.
I love Yahweh, the living and true God. But day in and day out, day in and day out, day in and day out, she pressures, she presses. Perhaps you don't get dinner anymore. Perhaps the garments that you do have don't get washed anymore.
She is going to get you to bow to Dagon. God is very clear on this reality, that covenant children marry covenant children. She exercises this undue influence over him and he caves. He caves with Delilah.
Samson, don't tell her the secret. Samson, don't indicate. What's the reality? Samson, don't give away the whole card.
We read this on the sidelines, Judges 16 especially, and we're yelling at the text, don't Samson, don't Samson, don't. The influence that people can exercise over us is great. It's severe. She's threatened with death.
So she in turn pressures her husband. Samson, tell me the riddle. Note the tactics that she employs. Verse 16.
Then Samson's wife wept on him. It's hard to see a wife cry, isn't it? It's hard to see a woman cry. You want to fix it, don't you?
I think most men are like that. We want to fix our wives. We want to help them. We don't want them to cry.
What if she's crying because she wants us to go worship Dagon with her? You know, it's interesting. We just read a section of Guernal's Christian in Complete Armor last night, and he makes this statement concerning faithfulness in the Christian life. And he mentions faithfulness, or commitment rather, to the sinner, those who have yet to enter the Christian life.
He says to those who are thinking about the things of God, those who are considering the gospel of God, He says, sinner, be especially wary of carnal friends and relatives when you decide to follow Christ. He says, resolve that if your own children grab you by the ankles and try to hold you back from Him, you will drive them away. See, this is the kind of Christianity that the Bible teaches. We've got a much more gentler, kinder, comfortable version.
He goes on to say, and if your father and mother throw themselves in front of you, you will step over their backs, if you must, to get to Christ. Let those who will mock and scorn your faith. What is heaven worth if you cannot bear a little shame? If they spit on your face, Christ will wipe it off.
They may laugh at you now, but not later. The final outcome has already been declared, and you have sided with the victor." You see, Samson entered into an arrangement, and herein, he succumbs to her pressure. Verse 17, she 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. Daniel Bloch says, from the narrator's perspective, despite Samson's great physical strength and the force of his Nazarite vow, he is completely helpless when confronted with the love of women.
From Yahweh's perspective, the amorous or loving desires of this man provide the occasions for the beginning of conflicts between Samson and the Philistines. As soon as she learns the riddle, she tells the riddle to these men. They come, they declare it, and then Samson makes this statement in verse 18. He said to them, if you had not plowed with my heifer, you would not have solved my riddle.
Again, Bloch says, in other words, you cheated. You cheated. You didn't figure this out. You didn't understand.
You plowed with my heifer." Again, Block says, his reference to his wife as his heifer is as disparaging in the Hebrew as it is in English. Davis says, Samson is no dummy. He knows sweet honey and strong lions come from talking heifers. They cheated him.
So what happens now? The small beginnings of God's deliverance. Verses 19 and 20.
Samson at Ashkelon: The Spirit's Victory
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. Note the conspicuous order. He didn't go to Ashkelon in a rage.
He went to Ashkelon because the Spirit of the Lord came upon him. What is Samson's job? What is his calling? What is his role?
What is his title? He is a deliverer or a judge of Israel. And it is he that will begin to save his people from their oppression. He will break the back of Philistine oppression.
This is what verse 19 indicates. the Spirit of the Lord comes upon him, he goes to Ashkelon, another Philistine place, and he kills 30 of them, he takes their garments, he brings them back, he pays the debt that he owes, and then his anger is aroused, and he goes to his father's house to get his wife... his father's house in this particular instance. Again, listen to Davis, we're coming to an end. He says, the text is clear. What we are dealing with is not Samson's temper, but the Spirit's power.
So I think we misread these Old Testament narratives because we're humanistic instead of theocentric. Oh, that just seems offensive. God's glory is at stake, the covenant people is at stake, and remember back in this instance the covenant people have to be held together because it's from this people that Messiah Christ will come. What we are dealing with is not Samson's temper, but the Spirit's power.
He says, if this seems brutal, we must simply live with it. We have already seen that when God delivers His people, He does not always dip His saving acts in Clorox and sprinkle them with perfume. To be delivered from evil will frequently be messy. Think about Golgotha.
We've romanticized it. But do you know what occurred at Golgotha? A bloody, pierced man. Thorns embedded into his head such that blood streamed down on his body.
Spikes driven through his hands. Spikes driven through his feet. A little block of wood that he could stand upon to keep from asphyxiation. This isn't some romantic ideal that we are supposed to relate to in some emotive way.
It is God sending His Son to the cross to take the wrath that is due to us. What David says is true. Salvation is oftentimes messy. It's messy.
When we go to 15 and Samson is standing there with the jawbone of an ass killing Philistines in close combat, we'll see some more messy. And before we as 21st century North American Christians go, eww, this is God's man, filled with God's spirit, delivering God's people in accordance with God's promise. We ought to rejoice in the victory of Samson over these men. We ought to celebrate and praise the God of grace and mercy.
We ought to praise Him that He is true to His word, that He does save His people, and that Samson points us to a greater than Samson, who in a way that is somewhat messier, does His work on our behalf. The 30 Philistines destroyed at Ashkelon was only the beginning. In the next chapter we'll see the betrayal of Samson by his wife and her father, which will set the stage for a greater deliverance over the Philistine oppressor.
Application
In summary, or in conclusion, let us revisit that thought concerning the hidden purpose of God. The Lord works through Samson's choice. The Lord has a plan. The Lord is working it out.
God overrules the evil actions of men vis-a-vis Joseph's brothers, vis-a-vis Samson's choice of a bride, vis-a-vis the Jews and the Romans crucifying our Lord Jesus Christ. We as Christians, we as those who profess saving faith in our Lord Jesus are called to obey the written word of God. We are not to take passages. We are not to conclude from the Joseph narrative.
You know, it's okay that I hate my brother. It's okay that I throw him into a ditch. It's okay that I sell him into slavery. Because after all, God's going to overrule it for my good.
You say, well, that's an outlandish example, Pastor Butler. Well, let's bring it close to home. What do we find in Judges 14? Well, if I marry this guy or I marry this girl, well, the Lord will overrule it for good because He's so gracious and so merciful.
God does do those things. But we don't make decisions based on what He might do. We make decisions based on what He has commanded. Please.
Please get your head in the game. Not just with marriage, but a thousand other decisions. Well, you know, I cheated on my taxes for 15 years and I never got caught, and it only benefited me. So therefore, NO!
I've committed adultery 15 times. I have, and I'm just suggesting that this is the way some people think. And I never got caught. And I felt a connection with those people.
And I often witnessed it. No! You do not make decisions based on experience. You make decisions based on the revealed will of God.
Take the young couple that is courting, the young couple that is on their way to marriage, the young professing Christians that love each other, and they just want to show that love for one another. Do what God says in His Word. That's it. That's always it.
What is your calling as a believer? To do what God says. What is the will of God for you in your life? To do what He says in the Scriptures of both the Old and the New Testaments.
Do what the Lord says. Did I mention this morning that you ought to do what the Lord says? Did I mention that we ought to operate according to the revealed will or the preceptive will or the written word of the living God? If you didn't get that, please come and see me and Pastor Cam afterward.
If you ask, what should I do? Do what God says. Secondly, we ought to appreciate the sovereignty of God in this chapter. I mean, in some respects, Judges 14 almost reads like a reality show.
We have a marriage. We have a feast and a celebration. We have a riddle. We have a wager of sorts.
We even have a lion in the sea. It really is an amazing chapter that God overrules and weaves together to accomplish the purpose of saving Israelites. Sovereignty. Thirdly, we ought to see the faithfulness of God to his word.
Those thirty men in Ashkelon ought not to cause us to say, those poor chaps, minding their own business, several miles even away from Timna. No, 13.5 specifies what God is going to do with this man, Samson. For behold, you shall conceive and bear a son, and no razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb. And he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.
That is precisely what these 30 men evidence in Judges 14.19. And then finally, and I have alluded to this throughout, but I'll press it home again, Samson points us to Jesus. 13.5 reads very similarly to Matthew 1.21. When the angel instructs Joseph, he says, you shall call his name Jesus. For it is he who will save his people from their sins.
We have a birth narrative. We have instructions given. We have specification made, and we have the purpose for which these particular men come on the scene. Samson did fulfill God's plan.
He began to save Israel from their oppression. This would continue into 1 Samuel. It would be David that ultimately broke the back of Philistine oppression. But it does point us to one, the Lord Jesus Christ, who if you do not know this morning, you are in your sins.
You are liable to God's judgment. You are under wrath. John 3.36 tells us that everyone who believes the Son has everlasting life. Isn't that great?
If you believe the Son, currently, right now, you possess everlasting life. That is a promise to the people of God Most High. If you are in Christ right now and you're having a miserable day, or you've had a miserable week, or you prophesy that this is going to be a miserable week, consider this reality. You believe the Son, so you have everlasting life.
No one can take it from you. You don't leave from this place and get gunned down and they strip it away from you. That is your possession. God has given it to you.
But the text in John 3.36 goes on. He who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. There are certain chemicals or certain gases that if you spray into the air and then you take a paint can, you know those old paint cans that had the little clicker in it to stir up the can. I'm sure you had that in Canada.
I don't think we only painted our bikes when I was a kid. You shake up that can. Well, if you spray that gas, you'll see it. You'll see the particles of that gas.
Just imagine if we could take a spray can today and spray it over the heads of everybody in this place. Some would have everlasting life. I don't want to begin to imagine what color that might be, your favorite color probably. But he that does not believe the sun shall not see life, but Same thing, present tense, present possession, the wrath of God abides presently upon him.
So there's only two colors, if you will. You're either in Christ and have everlasting life, or you're outside of Christ and are a possessor of the wrath of God. You've not received the full weight of it. You've not received all the curses involved with it.
But there is a day coming when each and every one of us shall stand before the just judge of all the earth, and each and every one of us will give an account of deeds done in the body, whether good or evil. Each one of us will either A. be able to confess Jesus Christ as our Lord and our Savior to our entrance in to the kingdom of heaven. Or B, having rejected Him, being rejected by Him on that day. And the wrath of God is no joke.
People joke about it on this side of it. People say stupid things like, yeah, I'm going to go to hell, that's where all my friends are. I'm going to go to hell because that's where the parties are. I'm going to go to hell because that's where all the heavy metal bands are.
That's not what hell is all about. Hell is not a place of partying. Hell is not a place of celebration. Hell is a place excluded from the presence of God in the good sense. the kindness, the mercy, the goodness of God.
Be assured God is present. It is God who makes hell, hell. It is God who punishes the impenitent forever and ever. Now I realize that on this Sunday, these are not the thoughts that go fondly with our hearts.
We don't like to think about wrath and hell, eternal punishment. Couldn't you just give us five principles on how to be a better boy or girl? No. You're either in Christ or you're not.
You see, the good news is that if you're not, you should come. You should not tarry. You should not wait. You should, in the language of the hymn writer, venture on Him, venture wholly.
You should believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved of your sins. You may not remember everything about sweet things coming out of the eater. You may not remember everything about the riddle posed by Samson. You may not remember everything about the Ashkelonites or anything like that, but this thing take with you.
That if, by the grace of God, I look unto Jesus Christ, I believe in Him, I shall have everlasting life. It is on that most blessed note we ought to close now and may I encourage you to get alone somewhere today because the devil actively seeks to snatch up seeds lest you hear, believe, and be saved. You need to think through these things. You need to contemplate these things.
You need to realize that John 3.36 is a reality. I'm either an inheritor of eternal life or an inheritor of the wrath of God. Believe and you shall be saved. Well, let us pray.
Closing Prayer
Our Father in heaven, we thank you for your word and we thank you for your glory and your majesty. We thank you for your grace and your mercy. God, as readers of this book of Judges, so much of it does seem odd to us, so much of the warfare and the bloodshed. God, we know that behind the scenes you are working your purposes out to display your mercy, to display your grace, to display your kindness upon the children that you have loved.
As well, God, when we get to the New Covenant, we see our Savior, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, a man rejected, a man despised, a man ultimately delivered up to be crucified. We know that you are working out your purposes to satisfy divine justice and to demonstrate grace and mercy and love and kindness. God, help us to read the Bible in a way that brings glory to you. Help us to read the Bible in a way that brings comfort and encouragement to us.
And we know, God, we need the Holy Spirit. We need to be taught by Him. And we ask that You would now go with us. We ask that You would create faith in the hearts where there is none, and God strengthen faith in the hearts where there is faith.
Give us all grace, Father, to see Your power manifested in Holy Scripture. And we ask through Christ our Lord. Amen.