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So I'll begin reading in Judges 
chapter 16 at verse 1. Now Samson went to Gaza and saw 
a harlot there, and went into her. When the Gazites were told 
Samson has come here, they surrounded the place and lay in wait for 
him all night at the gate of the city. They were quiet all 
night, saying, In the morning, when it is daylight, we will 
kill him. And Samson lay low till midnight, Then he arose 
at midnight, took hold of the doors of the gate of the city 
and the two gate posts, pulled them up, bar and all, put them 
on his shoulders, and carried them to the top of the hill that 
faces Hebron. Afterward, it happened that he 
loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. And the lords of the Philistines 
came up to her and said to her, Entice him, and find out where 
his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower 
him, that we may bind him to afflict him, and every one of 
us will give you eleven hundred pieces of silver. So Delilah 
said to Samson, Please tell me where your great strength lies, 
and with what you may be bound to afflict you. And Samson said 
to her, If they bind me with seven fresh bowstrings, not yet 
dried, then I shall become weak and be like any other man." So 
the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven fresh 
bowstrings, not yet dried, and she bound him with them. Now 
men were lying in wait, staying with her in the room. And she 
said to him, the Philistines are upon you, Samson. But he 
broke the bowstrings as a strand of yarn breaks when it touches 
fire. So the secret of his strength was not known. Then Delilah said 
to Samson, look, you have mocked me and told me lies. Now please 
tell me what you may be bound with. So he said to her, if they 
bind me securely with new ropes that have never been used, then 
I shall become weak and be like any other man. Therefore, Delilah 
took new ropes and bound him with them and said to him, the 
Philistines are upon you, Samson. And men were lying in wait, staying 
in the room. But he broke them off his arms 
like a thread. Delilah said to Samson, until 
now you have mocked me and told me lies. Tell me what you may 
be bound with. And he said to her, if you weave 
the seven locks of my head into the web of the loom. So she wove 
it tightly with the baton of the loom and said to him, the 
Philistines are upon you, Samson. But he awoke from his sleep and 
pulled out the baton and the web from the loom. Then she said 
to him, how can you say I love you when your heart is not with 
me? You have mocked me these three 
times and have not told me where your great strength lies. And 
it came to pass when she pestered him daily with her words and 
pressed him so that his soul was vexed to death that he told 
her all his heart and said to her, No razor has ever come upon 
my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother's womb. 
If I am shaven, then my strength will leave me, and I shall become 
weak and be like any other man." When Delilah saw that he had 
told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the 
Philistines, saying, Come up once more, for he has told me 
all his heart. So the lords of the Philistines 
came up to her and brought the money in their hand. Then she 
lulled him to sleep on her knees and called for a man and had 
him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she began to 
torment him and his strength left him. And she said, the Philistines 
are upon you, Samson. So he awoke from his sleep and 
said, I will go out as before at other times and shake myself 
free. But he did not know that the 
Lord had departed from him. Then the Philistines took him 
and put out his eyes and brought him down to Gaza. They bound 
him with bronze fetters and he became a grinder in the prison. 
However, the hair of his head began to grow again after it 
had been shaven. Now the lords of the Philistines 
gathered together to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon, their god, 
and to rejoice. And they said, our God has delivered 
into our hands Samson, our enemy. When the people saw him, they 
praised their God, for they said, Our God has delivered into our 
hands our enemy, the destroyer of our land, and the one who 
multiplied our dead. So it happened, when their hearts 
were merry, that they said, Call for Samson, that he may perform 
for us. So they called for Samson from 
the prison, and he performed for them. And they stationed 
him between the pillars. Then Samson said to the lad who 
held him by the hand, let me feel the pillars which support 
the temple so that I can lean on them. Now the temple was full 
of men and women. All the lords of the Philistines 
were there, about 3,000 men and women on the roof watching while 
Samson performed. Then Samson called to the Lord, 
saying, O Lord God, remember me, I pray, strengthen me, I 
pray, just this once, O God, that I may with one blow take 
vengeance on the Philistines for my two eyes. And Samson took 
hold of the two middle pillars which supported the temple, and 
he braced himself against them, one on his right and the other 
on his left. Then Samson said, let me die 
with the Philistines. And he pushed with all his might, 
and the temple fell on the lords and all the people who were in 
it. So the dead that he killed at his death were more than he 
had killed in his life. And his brothers and all his 
father's household came down and took him and brought him 
up and buried him between Zorah and Eshtael in the tomb of his 
father Manoah. He had judged Israel 20 years. Amen. Well, let us pray. Our 
Father, as we come to this passage of scripture, we pray that you 
would fill us with your Holy Spirit. God, we by nature are 
sinful men and women and boys and girls. We know that sin darkens 
our understanding and our hearts and our minds. We pray that even 
now you would forgive us and cleanse us in the blood of the 
Lord Jesus, and that the Spirit would do His work and instruction. 
and in guiding and in illuminating us so that we may receive with 
glad hearts the implanted word. We pray, Father, for any and 
all who have come here this morning outside of Christ. They would 
look to the one whom Samson typifies. They would look to that greater 
than Samson, who in his death saved his people from their sins. We ask our Father in heaven that 
you would reach down in mercy and in grace and with loving 
kindness and save to the uttermost in our midst. We pray for other 
churches here in Chilliwack and throughout the earth that your 
kingdom would come, that more and more people would be transferred 
from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of the sun of 
your love. Send forth your word, cause it 
to go forth, conquering and to conquer. And we pray these things 
through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. The last time that we visited 
with Samson, we saw in Judges 15 specifically, that he was 
delivered up by his own countrymen. Remember, we saw that Judah was 
engaged in the sort of passivity and sinfulness that God abominates. Judah identified with their captors. Judah actually included themselves 
with the Philistines. And when the Philistines wanted 
to capture Samson, the Judahites were all too ready to deliver 
him up. We see parallel in, of course, 
the life and ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ. It was his 
own countrymen, it was the Jewish people that delivered up the 
Lord Jesus Christ to the Romans so that he might suffer and die 
on behalf of his people. Again, there is connection between 
Samson and Christ in Judges 7 and 16, and we'll have cause to reflect 
upon that as we move through the narrative this morning. But 
I want to divide it up into three sections as I think it does for 
us. The first section is verses 1 
to 3, the removal of the city's gates. The removal of the city's 
gates. Secondly, the departure of the 
Lord in verses 4 to 21. And then finally, the destruction 
of the enemies of the Lord in verses 22 to 31. So let's look first at the removal 
of the city's gates and I'm gonna ask you to pay close attention 
to this message this morning so that when we leave this particular 
narrative we'll have a proper appreciation for the man whom 
God raised up to do his will in the midst of this particular 
generation. Samson ought to be viewed as 
a hero In Hebrews 11, at verse 32, we are told that he was a 
man of faith. He was not a perfect man. He 
was not a sinless man. There he does not have correspondence, 
of course, with the Lord Jesus Christ. But he was a faithful 
man. And we see that thoroughly in 
this chapter. Again, not without his faults. 
The fact that he succumbed to Delilah indicates a proclivity 
or a weakness that is unfortunate at best. I mean, this man is 
able to kill a thousand Philistines with the jawbone of an ass. He's 
able to bring down a particular tabernacle on the heads of Dagon's 
worshippers, but when it comes to the wiles of a particular 
woman, he succumbs to that. In many respects, that is one 
of the most grieving aspects of this particular chapter. But 
let's look first at the removal of the city's gates in verses 
1 to 3. It says, Samson went to Gaza. We don't know why he went to 
Gaza other than the fact that he's going to go ahead and bring 
down a pillar upon the heads of the enemies of the Lord God 
Most High. This is about 50 miles from where 
he had currently been. Notice the text says, he saw 
a harlot there and he went into her. Now, perhaps you've heard 
me allude to this throughout our exposition of this section 
of scripture. Most interpreters, most commentators, 
most persons believe that Samson had relations with this particular 
harlot. I mean, after all, she's a harlot. 
and that's what they do, so therefore Samson must have engaged in that 
particular activity. Well, there's a man by the name 
of Hugenberger, Gordon Hugenberger, has made a compelling argument 
that Samson did not have relations with the harlot. This particular 
essay is called Samson and the Harlot at Gaza. It's found in 
a book called From Creation to New Creation, which is a collection 
of essays presented to G.K. Beale. And I think Hugenberger 
argues very well that Samson did not have relations with this 
particular woman. Again, you ask, why is this important? Because we have a faulty understanding 
of Samson. We see him as this big, strong 
man governed by his passions, governed by his desires, governed 
by his lusts, when the opposite is actually the truth. He is 
governed by the Spirit of God. He goes to Gaza for the express 
purpose of doing what the Lord had called him to do, bringing 
devastation upon the enemies of the Lord Most High. And what 
Hugenberger shows is the parallels between this instance in Judges 
16 and the book of Joshua in Joshua chapter 2. Remember that 
in Joshua chapter 2, spies were sent out by Joshua to do a reconnaissance 
mission in the city of Jericho. They were to go and see what 
the city looked like, what the enemy had in terms of ability 
and the spies were to bring that information back to Joshua so 
that they would then know how to attack the city to destroy 
it. Where did the spies go? They 
went to a harlot's house, her name is Rahab. She also is in 
the book of Hebrews in chapter 11. I have yet to meet anybody 
in my Christian experience, that doesn't mean they're not out 
there, who believes that the spies that Joshua sent out had 
relations with Rahab the harlot. We never assume that, we never 
conclude that, and we don't think that. And yet when it comes to 
Samson, we automatically assume that when he sees this harlot 
and he goes into her, that must mean that he had relations. Well, 
consider the two narratives. If you look at Joshua 2 in comparison 
with Judges 16. Narratives are introduced with 
the sequence of went and saw. The woman to whom they come is 
identified as a woman, a prostitute. The expression came to and went 
into is used to describe what the spies and Samson did with 
reference to the woman. It is true that that language 
of going into can carry the connotation of sexual relation. But the Bible 
doesn't demand it. In fact, in more instances than 
not, and if you're curious about the texts, I have them all here. 
I don't want to rehearse each and every one. but in more instances 
than not, when it says that this particular person went into another 
particular person, sexual relations is not what is in view. So while 
this can mean that, it doesn't necessarily mean that, and unless 
there's compelling reason to believe that it We ought not 
to embrace that interpretation. The report of the presence of 
the spies in Samson is given in the very same words. The spies 
in Samson are in the city during the night. In both instances, 
mention is made of the city gate, which plays a prominent role 
in the futile attempt to keep the spies in Samson out of the 
cities. The spies in Samson in the home 
of the harlot. It's interesting language that 
is employed in the text. Lay low till midnight. In fact, 
I quite like the way that the New King James inserts low there. 
He lay low. He's waiting. He's strategizing. There's a particular end in view. 
He's not having relations with the harlot. He's laying low until 
midnight. The men of Gaza assume that he's 
going to be with this woman all night long. They set up perimeter 
thinking that when he's finished with his activities with this 
particular woman, he will leave from her house in the morning. 
Samson knows that they're including this. Samson knows that they 
believe this. That's why at midnight he goes 
out to take care of the city gates. The spies and Samson both 
leave for the hill country when they depart. Again, The textual 
analogy, the fact that Joshua 2 and Judges 16 are written in 
the same sort of way ought to give us great caution before 
we embrace the idea that Samson had relations with this particular 
woman. Hugenberger says Samson's intention 
for coming to the harlot at Gaza was deliberately the same as 
the intention of Joshua's spies for coming to Rahab the harlot 
at Jericho. Why did the spies come to Jericho, 
come to Rahab the harlot? Was it to have relations with 
her? Absolutely not. It was to gather data, it was 
to gather information, it was to be a strategic beachhead from 
which they could go out and investigate the city, report back to Joshua 
and the armies of Israel, so that they would be better informed 
on how to take care of business when it came battle time. Samson's 
doing the same thing. Samson is on a strategic military 
mission. He is not governed by his lusts, 
he is governed by the Spirit of God, and he is doing the will 
of his father in heaven who sent him. What Hugenberger says is 
that they, both the spies in Jericho and Samson, were to take 
an appropriate step that would enable the divinely approved 
work of dispossession to begin. And then it is interesting that 
pre-critical commentators, that means people who lived before 
the Enlightenment, people that lived several hundreds of years 
ago, took this interpretation that he did not have relations 
with this particular woman. The Geneva Bible speaks of her 
as being a victualer, what we might call a restaurateur in 
our day. The Geneva Bible says that, that 
is, he lodged with her. They explain this going into, 
not as if he had relations with her, but that he lodged there 
with her. And then Josephus, the Jewish 
historian, who certainly pointed out Samson's foibles as he records 
and rehearses Samson's life, nevertheless says this concerning 
the harlot at Gaza. Josephus says, after this fight, 
the jawbone height, held After this fight, Samson held the Philistines 
in contempt and came to Gaza and took up lodgings in a certain 
inn. That's it. That's what he did. He's not some man out there just 
governed by and driven by his passions. Hey, I think I'll go 
50 miles to Gaza because there's a harlot there and I can have 
relations with her. And then incidentally, I'll wreak 
havoc upon the Philistines. No, he goes there under the authority 
of God Most High as the deliverer of Israel to this stronghold 
of Gaza, and he is going to render judgment upon them. Now, at this 
particular point, it is probably likely that Samson had no idea 
how he would eventually affect this, but at this point, we need 
to understand that he's there on a mission from God. the Gauzeites 
learn of his presence, the Gauzeites surround the place, the Gauzeites 
purpose to kill him in the morning, and we see there verse 3, Samson 
lay low till midnight, then he arose at midnight, took hold 
of the doors of the gate of the city and the two gate posts, 
pulled them up, now these are big, These are big, these gates 
and posts. It's not like you have a little 
chain link fence that is keeping people out of your yard and you 
somehow manage to wriggle that off its hinges and you pick it 
up and you think you're doing something amazing. Remember the 
city gates was almost like an office place. It's a place where 
business was conducted, political affairs were done. There were 
guards posted at these particular things. For Samson to do this 
and then carry these gates, the 40 miles that the text specifies, 
certainly indicates that the Spirit of the Lord is upon him. 
And we considered, how did he get these 300 foxes? And how 
did he put a torch between their tails? And how did he send them 
out to burn the grain? Because God enabled him to do 
it. It's the same way we must understand 
the significance of the city gates. But what is the significance 
of the city gates? What are gates for? It's to keep 
people out, isn't it? If, as I've said, you put a chain 
link fence around your yard, it's so that young people or 
old people won't walk on your grass. I'm sure I've shared with 
you before, there was a time back in California when I seeded 
a lawn. I didn't go the sod route. I 
figured that 110 degrees in Palmdale summer was no daunting task for 
me. I was going to plant a yard. 
It's being funny here. It almost killed me. Actually, 
the pulling of the old sod out was a chore. But then seeding 
the lawn, I noticed when I came out, there were those little 
growths. They were beautiful. I felt so happy. Tony's probably 
going, I didn't know that you had this great thumb in you. 
Well, it was a lot of assistance with my wife. A lot of back-breaking 
work. But nevertheless, we had these 
little pieces of grass that had come up. And I was quite content 
with that. Until one morning, I came and there were two tire 
prints right across my lawn. I thought, man, who could do 
that to my precious little babies? If I would have had a fence and 
I had put it up, it was with the express purpose of keeping 
cars off the grass. What would it be if I went out 
in the morning and I saw the driver of the car down the road 
holding my gates? He'd say, your gates are no match 
for me whatsoever. Your gates cannot keep me out 
of your yard. You see what Samson is doing? He picks these gates up, he walks 
40 miles, probably so that the men of Judah can see what he's 
doing. As well, there's covenantal connotation 
involved in this. Samson's a part of a community. 
Samson's a part of a covenant people. Samson is connected with 
Abraham. And to Abraham, God gave the 
promise concerning his descendants that they shall possess the gates 
of their enemies. Samson is acting as a covenantal 
agent to communicate to the men of Judah, let's do this! Let's 
conquer them! Let's destroy them! Let's bring 
the heat down upon their heads! Again, Hugenberger says, in keeping 
with the general symbolism of Genesis 22.17, that the seat 
of Abraham would possess the gate of his enemy. The removal 
of the gates to the summit of a hill in the direction of Hebron 
was an unmistakable demonstration of the subjugation of Gaza before 
Samson and his lord. Samson said, if I have your gates, 
I have you. If I have rendered ineffective 
your defensive posture, then you are mine. He's not there 
for relations with this harlot. He's there to bring the heat 
to bear upon the Gazites. Hugenberger goes on to say, it 
was perhaps also a sign of the consequent vulnerability of the 
inhabitants of the chief city of Philistia to the inhabitants 
of the chief city of Judah, which tribe was responsible to dispossess 
Gaza if only they would accept the leadership of Samson. It 
is, in some respects, Samson's response to what has occurred 
in Judges 15. The men of Judah deliver him 
up to the Philistines. Samson grabs those city gates, 
goes to Hebron, so that the men of Judah will rally around him, 
own and acknowledge his leadership, and follow him into battle against 
these Philistines that live in Gaza. He didn't go into the harlot. He went in to do the mission 
of God Most High, to deliver His people from their oppression. Secondly, we come to the departure 
of the Lord, verses 4 to 21. It's one of those sad passages 
of Scripture, isn't it? Don't you, as I just read through 
the text, find yourself saying, Oh, come on, Delilah! You've 
got to be crazy! You talking about him, mocking 
you? Are you out of your mind? And 
yet Samson is like putty in her hands. Notice the background, 
verses 4 and 5. Afterward, it happened that he 
loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. This in and of itself isn't wrong. Delilah could be a Semitic name. It's not confirmed that she was 
actually a Philistine. She could have been one of Israel. The fact is that his first wife 
is dead. Judges 14. Remember those men, 
those perverse men? And judges 15 burned down his 
wife's house and her father's house. They killed her. He has 
no wife. It's not a sin to love a woman 
again. The Scriptures everywhere confirm 
this and affirm this again. The narrative is, look at Samson, 
he goes from this woman to this woman to this woman. Well this 
woman died, he didn't go into that woman and this particular 
woman, Samson has no understanding of what she stands for. She's 
more driven by profit greed, and money than she is with reciprocating 
love to Samson. But at this point, afterward, 
it happened that he loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose 
name was Delilah. We can't fault him for that. 
You know, if our wives die or our husbands die, God has never 
confirmed us or affirmed us to a life of singlehood. I find 
that interesting, that when my wife and I were younger, the 
thought of me dying, I would say, oh, I don't ever want you 
to marry again, honey. You know, I don't know what it 
is. When you're young, you just think you're the only one for each 
other forever. Now my... As soon as I drop dead, find 
a godly man. Find a godly man! There's nothing 
wrong with that. There's nothing wicked in that. 
We ought not to cast aspersion upon this man who didn't want 
to traffic this world alone. He wanted to help me. He wanted 
a companion. He wanted one to share his life 
with. Again, he doesn't know at this 
juncture how it's going to turn out, but let's cut the man some 
slack. Let's cut him a break. We're 
all so quick to judge Samson. Look at him. He just goes from 
woman to woman to woman to woman. No, he's not. He's not. He's not the bad guy that we 
have been taught that he is. He's a good guy. He's a hero. He's a man that our kids should 
look up to. Again, he does some things in 
the following section that aren't good. He pays dearly for it. Notice, the Philistines bribe 
Delilah. The lords of the Philistines 
came up to her, verse 5, and said to her, entice him and find 
out where his great strength lies and by what means we may 
overpower him, that we may bind him. And every one of us will 
give you 1,100 pieces of silver. Do you know how much money 1,100 
pieces of silver was? I mean, even in today's market, 
I think the price of silver per ounce is about $12 to $15. That's 
the range it goes. If there were five of these Philistine 
lords, it'd be 5,500 pieces of silver. This was a lot of dough. This highlights what a threat 
Samson was to the Philistine nation. Remember when the men 
of Judah went to collect him, they sent a contingency of 3,000 
men. You don't send three guys to 
Samson. And by the same token, you don't 
bribe Delilah to give up this particular man for chump change. You better dig deep, and you 
better sweeten the pot, and you better make a promise that she 
is going to prosper greatly. Because if this man Samson knows 
that he's crossed, there's no telling what he'll do. He's the 
kind of fellow that will pick up a fresh jawbone and cut down 
to death a thousand men in close hand-to-hand combat. So they 
sweeten the deal. They give her a lot of money. 
Davis says whether she was a Philistine or an Israelite does not matter. 
It didn't even matter to Delilah. All that mattered was Philistine 
money. She had dollar signs in her eyes. 
She saw him as a meal ticket. She saw him as a means to a better 
life. Maybe she wanted out of Gaza. 
Maybe she wanted a better house in Gaza. Maybe she wanted more 
prestige. Maybe she wanted more respect. 
Maybe she wanted more of this world's things. Whatever the 
reason, this pot was sweet to her and she then purposes to 
deliver up Samson to them. We'll go through the first three 
very quickly. You know the story. She comes 
to him. She tries to get his secret. 
The first instance is recorded in verses 6 to 9. Fresh bow strings. What happens? He snaps the bow 
strings. Deals with the Philistines. And 
then she's upset. Isn't that amazing? Does anybody 
find that ironic here? Especially when she gets to the 
fourth time. How can you say you don't love 
me? This is manipulation 101, baby. This is playing on a man. Sometimes men, we need to be 
more principled when it comes to this sort of thing. I don't 
want to psychologize the passage and have five principles on how 
to woo and court a woman here. But man, we gotta stand our ground, 
objectively, according to truth, according to what is right. We 
don't let people manipulate us into doing the wrong thing. So 
the first thing, the fresh bow strings. It happens a second 
time, this time with new ropes. Remember, Samson's a bit of a 
joker. Samson, after he cuts down a thousand men at Jawbone 
Heights, composes a pun. Samson at his wedding feast composed 
a riddle and tested men. He might be looking at this as 
a bit of a game. Oh yeah, yeah, it's not the fresh 
bow strings, it's the new ropes. Try the new ropes. What happens? It fails miserably. He snaps 
those too. This third one's difficult. I 
don't know what's going on with reference to this woven locks 
into the batten and all that sort of thing, but suffice it 
to say this was incorrect too. And then comes the fourth time, 
the successful attempt. Verse 15, then she said to him, 
how can you say I love you? You've got to be kidding me. 
Do you know how many times have men done foolish things? How many times have I done foolish 
things? when a better part of me would 
have been standing outside looking and saying, don't do that. I don't know what it is about 
us men. The influence of a woman is a 
very powerful tonic. Again, not the five principles 
for wooing and courting and all the psychology therein. But if 
Samson, this man who was able to wreak such havoc upon a nation, 
look at when they're praising Dagon in verse 24. Our God has 
delivered into our hands our enemy, one man. Not the Judahites, 
not the nation of the Hebrews, not the Israelites, not the covenant 
people of Yahweh. the destroyer of our land, and 
the one, singular, who multiplied our dead. If somebody that strong, 
and that determined, and that full of the Spirit, and that 
zealous to accomplish the will of God, succumbs to the pressure 
of a woman, Brothers, we ought to take heed lest we fall. We ought to make sure that we 
do not succumb to this kind of pressure. Look at the manipulation. How can you say, I love you, 
when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three 
times. You see, we the reader know better. 
We know that she's got her hand out. She wants 5,500 pieces of 
silver. She wants to collect her payday. 
And she has the gall and the wherewithal to say to Samson, 
how can you mock me? You mustn't love me. Notice what 
it goes on to say. You have mocked me these three 
times and have not told me where your great strength lies. Verse 
16. And it came to pass when she 
pastored him daily with her words and pressed him. This is the 
same language employed in chapter 14 when his wife in Timnah pressed 
him. Tell me the secret of the riddle. Tell me what is strong that produces 
the sweet. Tell me, because these Philistines 
have promised to burn my house down and my father's house. She 
pressed him, she pressed him, she pressed him, and he folds, 
he succumbs, he collapses. It came to pass when she pestered 
him daily with her words and pressed him, so that his soul 
was vexed to death. She's probably the archetypical 
nag. She had perfected it. I guess 
when there's 5,500 pieces of silver on the line, a lady ain't 
going to stop until she gets what she wants. Samson buckles. This is one of those outside 
the text moments where you go, no, Samson. Don't, Samson. Stand firm, Samson. Resist it, Samson. Show her your 
biceps, Samson. Do something, but do not succumb 
to this pressure. Notice that Samson is ever conscious 
of his vow to God. Again, verse 17 blasts the narrative 
that we have some bumbling ogre bouncing around, governed by 
his passions. Look at what he says. No razor 
has ever come upon my head, for I have been a Nazarite to God 
from my mother's womb. He knew what he was about. He 
knew to whom he belonged. He knew the reality of covenant 
religion and where he fared. He understood these things. But 
in a moment of weakness, he gives in. If I am shaven, then my strength 
will leave me, and I shall become weak and be like any other man. Block said that Samson may be 
able to uproot the gates of a major city and carry them 40 miles 
uphill, but he cannot withstand the wiles of a woman. Take heed, brothers, lest you 
fall. Take heed, brothers, lest you 
fall. Manipulation in the hands of 
a powerful tonic can be fatal to a man who isn't guarding his 
heart. Doesn't Solomon speak to this 
several times in the Proverbs? Doesn't Solomon rehearse this 
reality? Isn't it sad to realize how Solomon 
ended not heeding his own counsel? You know, man will do all manner 
of horrible things. He's not without sin in this. He is not coerced in this. There is the reality that people 
in our life can exercise a powerful influence upon us. We need to 
choose our friends properly. We need to choose those lasting, 
covenantal bonds properly. We need to resist the temptation 
to be governed by passion, governed by lust, governed by whatever 
makes me happy now. Now, Christians, above all, ought 
to be future-oriented. We are in this for the long haul. 
We are in this for the marathon. Faithfulness is what is necessary 
in the people of God. And if somebody comes along and 
tries to trip you up in that faithfulness, then resist them. 
They don't belong in your life. Notice, verse 18, she knew now 
he spoke the truth. She was confident at this point. 
The dollar signs have come back into her eyes. When Delilah saw 
that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for 
the lords of the Philistines saying, come up once more for 
he has told me all his heart. So the lords of the Philistines 
came up to her and brought the money in their hand. And she 
lulled him to sleep on her knees. What a terrible woman! She lulls 
him to sleep on her knees to drive a knife right in his back. Why does she lull him to sleep? So that she can call a barber 
to come and snip the locks of his head. Ian Paisley preached 
a sermon from this passage and he called the sermon, haircut 
in a devil's barber chair. And he was right. He was right. This woman lulls him to sleep, 
has the hair cut off of his head. Then she began to torment him, 
and his strength left him. And she said, The Philistines 
are upon you, Samson. So he awoke from his sleep and 
said, I will go out as before at other times and shake myself 
free. We the reader know it's not going 
to work this time, Samson. We on the sidelines are saying 
it's not going to happen this time, Samson. Samson in his ignorance, 
Samson in his rejection of God at this point, Samson in his 
sin, Samson in being governed by his passions and his emotions 
and his desires, gets to the point where he doesn't even realize 
that the Lord had departed from him. That's significant, because 
prior, Samson speaks of my strength leaving me. It is the Spirit 
of the Lord. It is Yahweh Himself that has 
departed from Samson. And then notice His fall. Then 
the Philistines took Him and put out His eyes. That means 
they bore them out. They bore them out. You know 
how you get a melon and you take that melon baller? I don't know 
if you have one of those at home. We do. It's a little round scooper 
and you just go like that. That's more the idea. They didn't 
just poke him in the eye. They bore his eyes out. You see, 
things have drastically changed for Samson from here on out. 
The Philistines took him and put out his eyes and brought 
him down to Gaza. They bound him with bronze fetters 
and he became a grinder in the prison. The warrior of Israel, 
the hero of God's people, the champion of the nation, has become 
the status of a slave, a woman, or a child. These are the ones 
who were grinders in the prison house. Samson has been reduced, 
he has been stripped, his eyes have been taken from him, and 
he's in a very bad state. But then look at what the text 
says. However, the hair of his head began to grow again after 
it had been shaved. Isn't that a beautiful thing? 
No, it's not that the hair was magic. It's not that if Pastor 
Cam or I grow our hair out, we'll be able to do more bench pressing. 
That's not the point. It was symbolic. It signified. But as Davis says, we don't remove 
the substance from the symbol. And so when we, the reader, sees 
that the hair of his head starts to grow again, there's hope, 
isn't there? God never leaves his people. 
God never forsakes his people. God is there for his people. 
Talk about a revival text. The hair of his head began to 
grow again after it had been shaven. Again, Davis says, not 
that there was any magic in his hair. His strength came only 
from Yahweh. However, his hair was the sign 
of that strength, and we must never sever the sign from the 
reality which it signifies." And we move, or we have moved 
now, to the last section, the destruction of the enemies of 
the Lord. Verse 23 and following. What do the Philistines do? They 
do what we ought to do when we get a victory from the Lord. 
We have to praise Him. We ought to rejoice in Him. We 
ought to celebrate. We ought to delight. As far as 
they're concerned, Dagon has come through. As far as they're 
concerned, Dagon, their God, has delivered them. Dagon has 
provided a means by which their biggest threat and enemy has 
been rendered ineffective. They're celebrating. This is 
a praise and worship service. This is that old time religion, 
Canaanite style. This is Dagon worship 101. This is something we might expect 
from the Philistines. Verse 23, the lords of the Philistines 
gathered together to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon, their god, 
and to rejoice. Block says, between verses 21 
and 22 and verse 23, the scene shifts from the prison house 
where the broken Samson sits isolated and humiliated to a 
Philistine palace where the governors and the people are assembled 
for celebration. That's where we last leave Samson, 
isn't it? Yes, his hair is beginning to grow again. There's hope in 
that statement. But what's his job? What's his 
role? What's his action? He is tethered 
to a pole and he is a grinder. He's pushing something. He's 
just going around and around and around. You think your job 
is boring? I doubt they had eight-hour days, 
too. You get a break at 10. You get 
a half-hour lunch at 12, you get a coffee break at 2.30 or 
3, whatever the time is. And you're off at 5. Once that 
whistle blows, Samson, you're free to go home and enjoy your 
liberty and your fun. He had a slave existence at this 
point. Look at the way the narrator does this. He shows us Samson, 
gives us this glimmer of hope because his hair is starting 
to grow again. And now we've got Philistines rejoicing and 
celebrating and praising Dagon, from whom all blessings to Philistines 
flow. Isn't it interesting? We the 
reader know this, but it wasn't because of the presence of Dagon 
in their lives, but it was due to the absence of Yahweh in Samson's 
life. That is the reason by which this 
happened. And they ascribe it to their 
idol. They ascribe it to this God that 
is nothing. Vanity of vanities. Those who 
make them will be like them, the Psalter says. Again, our 
God has delivered into our hands Samson, our enemy. When the people 
saw him, they praised their God, for they said, Our God has delivered 
into our hands our enemy, the destroyer of our land, and the 
one who multiplied our dead. They knew what they were dealing 
with. They knew and understood what was going on. They knew 
that an incapacitated Samson meant blessing for the Philistine 
nation. Now what happens? The honor of God is at stake. 
The glory of Jehovah has been compromised. There is cause in 
the enemies of the Lord to bring reproach to the name of the God 
of Israel. So the Lord Most High steps into 
action. Everybody is now assembled at 
this particular palace. 3,000 Philistines gather. This 
was a big expression of old-time religion. They come to worship 
Dagon. While they're worshiping Dagon, 
they have this idea, hey, trot Samson out. Let's mock him. Let's ridicule this hero of Israel. Let's make fun of him. Let's 
scoff at him. Let's make jokes at his behalf. This is what's going on. Verses 
25 to 27 indicate this. Now notice the vindication of 
God's honor in verses 28 to 30. Samson's prayer. Then Samson called to Yahweh, 
saying, O Lord God, remember me, I pray. Strengthen me, I 
pray, just once, O God, that I may with one blow take vengeance 
on the Philistines for my two eyes. Well, that seems a bit 
selfish, Samson. All you want to do is get vengeance 
because of your eyes? Remember that vengeance for Yahweh's 
servant equals vindication for the servant's God. The two are 
entwined. If Samson is brought to disrepute 
and ridicule, that brings God down to this level. Not literally. It's not a selfish prayer. Remember, 
he praised us after Jabba died. He praised to God for water. He had just killed a thousand 
men in close combat. He's got blood dripping off of 
him. I'm sure some of you are going to go, he likes to talk 
about that scene a lot. Because it's the champion of 
Israel bringing judgment upon the enemies of Israel. That is 
what Israelites, subsequent to the narrative, would have rejoiced 
in. He says to the Lord, please give 
me water or I die. It's interesting, Davis makes 
the comment. Here Yahweh's answer comes, just 
like it does in chapter 15, not only in the midst of desperate 
need, but in the wake of miserable failure. Samson is here because 
of Samson, isn't he? I mean, God is sovereign, first 
cause, all of that, I affirm absolutely, 100%. But in terms 
of second causes, in terms of means, we do not get rid of the 
responsibility of man. Why is Samson having, or why 
has his eyes been bored out? Why is he in fetters and why 
is he a grinder? It's because he succumbed to 
Delilah. God answers this prayer. You 
want to talk about no grace in the Old Testament? You want to 
talk about no love in the Old Testament? You want to talk about 
no compassion in the Old Testament? That God the Lord hears the cry 
of Samson and gives him water after Job on hike? And that God 
the Lord hears the cry of Samson and gives him victory in Gaza 
in chapter 16, ought to cause us to praise God for His amazing 
grace. This is precisely what happens. 
Samson calls to the Lord, saying, O Lord God, remember me, I pray. Strengthen me, I pray. Just this 
once, O God, that I may with one blow take vengeance on the 
Philistines for my two eyes. He knows what he's going to do. 
He's asked the young lad to put him in a position. He knows where 
he's standing. He knows the situation. He cannot 
see it physically because his eyes have been bored out, but 
he knows what Dagon worship looks like. And he understands that 
with an infusion of the power of the Spirit of God Most High, 
he'll be able to bring that place down and be able to destroy Philistines. God heard his prayer. God answered his prayer. And God brings judgment to bear 
on the Philistines. Samson took hold of the two middle 
pillars which supported the temple, verse 29, And he braced himself 
against them, one on his right and the other on his left. Then 
Samson said, let me die with the Philistines. And he pushed 
with all his might. And the temple fell on the lords 
and all the people who were in it. So the dead that he killed 
at his death were more than he had killed in his life." People 
come here and say, well, what about the suicide? This wasn't 
suicide. This was an act of war. where 
in this general, this commander, this deliverer, this savior gave 
himself in order to bring judgment to bear upon the enemies of God. It wasn't suicide. It was military 
action. If you have any question, read 
Turretin, chapter 2, page 14. Read Gill's commentary on this 
thing. This is not a place to go to 
discuss the ethics of suicide, because it isn't suicide. It's 
an act of war. A man jumps on a grenade in order 
to spare a lot of people of misery and pain. We don't chide him 
for suicide. We put a medal on his breast 
and call him a hero. That's what Samson is. That's what Samson does. Now 
notice, his burial, his legacy. Verse 31, his brothers and all 
his father's household came down and took him and brought him 
up and buried him between Zorah and Eshtael in the tomb of his 
father Manoah. He had judged Israel 20 years. 
I wonder what that was like. I wonder what that was like. 
You know, none of us helped him. None of us came to his aid. None 
of us acknowledged that God had, in fact, put him as the deliverer, 
put him as our savior, put him as our judge. None of us helped 
this man whatsoever. I wonder if there was shame filling 
their hearts. But when they're transporting 
his body to the tomb of Manoah, the Judahites see it and start 
to get a bit uneasy because of how they had acted and how they 
had treated this particular man. Samson's legacy. He judged Israel 
20 years. He did precisely what God had 
called him to do. We close with a few lessons. 
First, I've already mentioned this, the grace of God. Sometimes the grace of God is 
going to be messy. You see, when God delivers you 
as one of His elect, as a believer, as a child of God, that may mean 
disposing of your enemies. You see, you don't have problems 
with that when you study the Old Testament. You shouldn't have 
problems with that when you study the New Testament. 2 Thessalonians 
chapter 1. It is right with God to pay with 
affliction or to repay with tribulation those who afflict you. It's right! We've become more pious than 
God. Oh God, you shouldn't do such mean and nasty things. Oh 
God, you shouldn't bring judgment to bear upon your enemies. There 
is enemies. Why shouldn't he? We see the 
manifestation of the grace and mercy of Almighty God. He tells 
Manoah and his wife, you will bear a son. And he will begin 
to deliver Israel from their oppression. That is precisely 
what Samson does. He doesn't break the back completely, 
he doesn't subjugate them fully, he doesn't end that Philistine 
oppression altogether, but he does exactly what 13.5 says. He begins to deliver his people 
from their oppression. God is good. That's a lesson. Secondly, we 
ought to appreciate in this passage, in the narrative as a whole, 
and probably in the entirety of the book, the sinfulness of 
the covenant people. You know, if you keep reading 
into chapter 17 to 21, there's some unpleasantries there. There's 
some things that make people kind of raise their eyebrows 
and say, wow, I didn't know that was in the Bible. In fact, when 
we went through that on our Wednesday night study, we made the comment 
that you don't find daily bread meditations on Judges 17 to 21. As far as I know, Spurgeon doesn't 
deal with it morning and evening. What happens when you get to 
chapter 20? The men of Gibeah want to engage 
in an unspeakable act, violating the seventh commandment. I think 
the author is telling us that new Sodom is Israel. Remember the men of Sodom? They wanted lots visitors. The men of Gibeah want this Levite. My point is this. When you read 
through the book of Judges, or you read through the New Testament 
epistles, say for a moment, 1 Corinthians, you will see that at times, I 
know this is hard to believe, but the people of God aren't 
always faithful. We're not. We sin. We reject, we engage 
in rebellion. We may not be new Sodom all the 
way, but we may be taking steps that way. Yet in the midst of 
all of this, God nevertheless delivers His people. But we ought 
not to assume that even in this God delivers his people. So therefore 
I can sin, I can engage in lawlessness, I can be wicked, I can violate 
precepts, I can violate standards, I can violate commandments, and 
on the other side I'll know that God is going to deliver me. We 
are never taught in the Bible to think that way. In fact, Paul 
condemns such a mindset in Romans chapter 6. What shall we say 
then? Shall we continue in sin that 
grace may abound? I mean, you can hear it now. 
Paul, you're preaching a salvation that is grace alone through faith 
alone. This is wonderful. God likes to forgive. I like 
to sin. This is a wonderful arrangement. So I'll go out and sin and continue 
to ask for forgiveness. No. Certainly not, the old King 
James, as God forbid it. Do you not know that you died 
with Christ? You were buried with Christ? 
You've been raised with Christ? Do not sin with the idea that, 
well, God will just deliver me anyway. cannot live that way. The Bible says not to. And just 
because God punctuates this miserable time in the period of the judges 
with His grace, His mercy, and His long-suffering, doesn't mean, 
therefore, I can go out and disregard the law of God because He's going 
to deliver me. Thirdly, we ought to take at 
least a quick glance at the folly of idolatry. These guys are sitting 
in Dagon's palace. These guys are rejoicing in Dagon. 
These guys are praising Dagon, from whom all Philistine blessings 
flow. And Dagon has no power to deliver them from making this 
place, in the language of Davis, become a cemetery. I don't care what you call your 
idols, they cannot deliver you. I don't care what you call it, 
Dagon, or Baal, or Asherah, or money, or power, or prestige, 
or yourself. It will never be able to deliver 
you in the day of woe. This is something that these 
Dagon worshipping idolaters found. Later on, it's going to be even 
more humorous when we get to Samuel. Remember when the Ark 
of the Covenant of the Lord comes and they put it in the same room 
with Dagon? They go to check on Dagon in the morning and he's 
falling over! We've got to pick him up! Do you realize that when 
the author's doing this, he wants you to laugh? He wants you to see the futility 
and the emptiness and the foolishness of having to pick your idol up 
and fix his arm. The God of heaven and earth picks 
his people up. The God of heaven and earth delivers 
his people. The God of heaven and earth is 
the one who alone sustains his people. If you have to sustain 
your God, you've got the wrong one. Thirdly, or fourthly, I 
want to read a lengthy quote, and I know a lengthy quote at 
1229 people are going, I don't want a lengthy quote, I want 
hamburgers. So don't do that right now. I think Dale Ralph 
Davis nails why God picked Samson. Davis says, why would Yahweh 
use a character like Samson as his servant? Again, I argue that 
he's a whole lot more righteous and a lot more faithful than 
some of the modern commentators tell us. He's not a perfect man. He's not a flawless man. He's 
not a sinless man. He's a very colorful character. 
He does roll it from page to page, telling puns, telling riddles, 
killing Philistines, picking up gates. I mean, he's an interesting 
man. So Davis deals with this. Why 
would God use a character like Samson as his servant? Here is 
a fellow who shatters all our modes, all our conventions. He doesn't 
look like us. He's not wearing a shirt and 
a tie. He doesn't have his pencil placed 
in his pocket. I used to think there was a poster 
of the Reformed Baptist. At that time, he had his pencil. 
Al Martin tape in his shirt pocket there. He had his dress shoes 
on for church. You know, the whole spiel. He 
had his new King James Bible. We wouldn't fit Samson into this 
mold, would we? Here's a fellow who shatters 
all our modes, conventions, and expectations about what a servant 
of God is to be. Now here's Davis's analogy. I'm not asking you to pick sides 
concerning the war between the states. If you've given any thought 
to that, and you have a settled opinion that the North was wrong 
and the South was wrong, that's not the point. Okay, don't leave 
here saying, well Pastor Butler, it sounded like you think the 
North... That's not the point. It's an analogy. Listen to what 
Davis says. He pulls something out of history 
that we can appropriate. He says, during the war between 
the states, the story spread that General Grant had been drunk 
at the Battle of Shiloh. About 11 o'clock one night, President 
Lincoln received his friend, A.K. McClure. McClure was on 
a mission. As spokesman for a number of 
Republicans, he pressed his argument for almost two hours on how popular 
opinion was against Grant and therefore Grant should be dismissed 
so that Lincoln himself could retain the country's confidence. 
You see the problem. Grant's out there representing 
the northern armies, and Grant was allegedly drunk at the Battle 
of Shiloh. McClure comes along to Lincoln 
and says, you know, this isn't a really good depiction of the 
northern armies. You really need to relieve him 
of duty so that he doesn't cast aspersion upon our name and upon 
our cause. Lincoln rarely interrupted. Then 
as McClure himself reported it, this is the actual language from 
the man who spoke to Lincoln, Lincoln remained silent for what 
seemed a very long time. He then gathered himself up in 
his chair and said, in a tone of earnestness that I shall never 
forget, I can't spare this man. He fights. Davis, now. He may look seedy, 
he may have a trouble with booze, popular opinion may stand against 
him, but he fights. We cannot explain Yahweh's choices, 
though we might vindicate his choice of Samson by a variation 
of Lincoln's argument. Say what you will about Samson. At least he knew who the enemy 
was. At least he knew Philistines 
were for fighting. At least he didn't roll over 
and play dead in the warmth of the status quo as the mighty 
men of Judah did. Perhaps we will eventually get 
over our surprise at the kind of servants that Yahweh delights 
to use. Samson fights. When Judahites 
are acting like babies and betraying the man that God raised up, is 
it any wonder why he has a Samson in this world? He may have his 
spots, he may have his blemishes, he may have his flaws, he may 
have his weaknesses, but for God he fights. This man's a hero. And this man, as I've said, points 
us to a greater man. Jesus was delivered up by the 
Jews to the Romans in order to be crucified. Samson was delivered 
up by the Judahites to the Philistines to be murdered. Samson ends up 
doing more good in his death than in his life. Sound like 
something else familiar concerning our Lord Jesus Christ? He was 
delivered up because of our offenses and he was raised for our justification. You may not have gotten everything 
this morning concerning Samson, but this thing yet concerning 
the one to whom Samson points, Jesus Christ saves to the uttermost 
all who come to God through him. If you are not a believer here 
this morning, Do not go home under the wrath of God. Do not 
continue in your life resisting. Do not continue in your life 
rejecting. Do not continue bowing down to 
Dagon, who has no power whatsoever to save. Come to the Lord Jesus 
Christ. Believe on Him, the scripture 
says, and you will have everlasting life. Paul describes it this 
way, that God delivers man women, boys, girls, from the kingdom 
of darkness and he transfers them into the kingdom of the 
son of his love. The instrument, the means by 
which this is affected is belief. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. 
The Bible says, and you shall be saved. Isn't that beautiful? Isn't that glorious? Christ, 
in His death, brought judgment to bear upon the greatest of 
enemies, the devil, our sin, and ultimately death itself will 
be destroyed. And in Christ, there is everlasting 
life. Young people, children, do not 
tarry. Do not wait. Listen to the preacher. In the book of Ecclesiastes, 
he says, remember your Creator in your youth. What happens when 
you resist and you reject as you're young, it gets easier 
and it gets easier and it gets easier and your heart gets harder 
and it gets harder and it gets harder. Not that God can't break 
in. Not that God can't smash a hardened 
heart. of a 90-year-old man or woman, 
but come in your youth. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. 
Resist the tendencies of our age to scoff at the true and 
living God and believe. Faith in Christ, belief in Christ 
is most needful. Well, let us pray. Our Father, 
even as I utter these words, I know that ultimately faith 
is a gift, and I pray to You now that You would grant that, 
that You would give that grace of faith and repentance, those 
saving graces which bring men into connection with the Lord 
Jesus Christ. God, bring blessing upon sinners 
here, bring strength upon your people here, cause us to learn 
the lessons from the book of Judges both individually and 
corporately. May we not be passive, may we 
not be cowards, may we not shrink back from declaring the truth 
of God Most High in an unbelieving age. Grant us boldness, grant 
us grace, grant us opportunity to take these things and to proclaim 
them and we pray that you would bless the word as it goes forth, 
saving sinners and sanctifying saints and ultimately bringing 
glory to God Most High. We ask that you would go with 
us now, that you would continue with us on this Sabbath day. 
As one man has well said, the Sabbath has been given to the 
people of God. It's marched along with us all 
the ages of the church as a means of encouragement. May we indeed 
find great benefit today. And we ask through Christ our 
Lord. Amen.