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Take a break from our studies 
in the book of Ephesians. God willing, we'll return to 
that in a month or two. We'll do some random things on 
Sunday nights over the summertime. We looked at Judges 15, two weeks 
ago, Samson's victory over the Philistines at Jawbone Height. 
Tonight, we see Samson's victory over the Philistines at Gaza. 
So Judges chapter 16, I'll begin reading in verse one. 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 1,100 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 bow strings 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 batten of the loom and said to him, the 
Philistines are upon you, Samson. But he awoke from his sleep and 
pulled out the batten 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've 
been a Nazarite 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. And 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 
God, again, we thank You for Your Word. We thank You that 
all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, that it's profitable 
for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction 
in righteousness. And may we see here in this passage 
the glory, the strength, the power of God Almighty, enabling 
His servants to serve Him well. We ask that You would guide us 
by the power of Your Holy Spirit. Again, forgive us for all of 
our sin and unrighteousness, and bless our time together now, 
we pray. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, amen. Well, this 
is the last section in the Samson cycle. So the Samson cycle is 
chapter 13, verse 1 to chapter 16 and verse 31. And basically 
you have the birth of Samson in chapter 13. Go back there 
for just a moment. We can see what the nature of 
his particular mission would be in terms of his judgeship 
over Israel. Remember the judges at the time 
of the judges were not like, you know, Judge Wapner at the 
People's Court banging his gavel, listening to sort of minor complaints 
within the civil polity. But the judges functioned in 
sort of a kingly or monarchical manner. They protected Israel. There are cycles that you see 
throughout the book of Judges. The people of God sin against 
God. God then chastises them by raising 
up a foreign oppressor. And then the people repent or 
cry out over the pain and the distress, and then God raises 
up a judge to deliver them. So that's the function of the 
judges in Israel. It's more kingly than it is circuit 
court. So notice what Judges 13 says 
concerning the mission of Samson. Verse five, 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. 
The judges in general are typical of our Lord Jesus. They prefigure 
the salvation of God that we find in the new covenant. Samson 
specifically is a type of our Lord Jesus. You could compare 
this with Matthew chapter one and verse 21 concerning the birth 
narrative of our Lord, for he will save his people from their 
sins. That's precisely what the nature 
of Samson's judgeship is. So chapter 13 deals with his 
birth. Chapter 14 is his marriage in 
Timnah. Chapter 15 is his betrayal and 
then his victory over Philistines in jawbone height. And then we 
have that same pattern here in Gaza. So in the last lesson or 
the last message in chapter 15, the end of chapter 14, you see 
victory. Samson savages the Philistines. And according to Samson, the 
only good Philistine is a dead one. And he kills a bunch of 
them at the end of chapter 14. Well, then he's betrayed in chapter 
15 by his father-in-law, but even worse by Judah. Judah gives 
him up to the Philistines. Well, that's the vantage point 
by which he then slays a thousand Philistines. Same sort of thing 
happens here. God uses Delilah and this betrayal 
to bring Samson into close contact with these Philistines that he 
brings death upon. So I want to look at chapter 
16 under three heads. First, the removal of the city's 
gates in verses 1 to 3. Second, the departure of the 
living God in verses 4 to 21. And then finally, the destruction 
of the enemies of God in verses 22 to 31. Now, let's look first 
at the removal of the city's gates and hopefully disavow you 
of the notion that Samson is, in the language of a popular 
and very much utilized Old Testament introduction. The book by Dillard 
and Longman, it's an Old Testament introduction, probably used in 
conservative seminaries, conservative Bible colleges all over the world. They say of Samson, he is full 
of self-indulgence and refuses to control his sexual appetite. 
That's not what we find when we look at Judges 13 to 16. Of 
course, some suggest that he goes into physically, in a conjugal 
manner, this harlot at Gaza, but that's not what's happening 
here in chapter 16, verses 1 to 3. Notice in the first place, 
it is, in fact, the city of Gaza. It's a chief city of Philistia. Notice in verse 1, Samson went 
to Gaza and saw a harlot there and went into her. Again, that 
is a convention utilized in the Bible to speak of sexual congress, 
but not every instance. It's not always the case that 
that language suggests that there has been sexual activity. The 
fact that he went into her, the fact that persons assume that 
he was sexually unfaithful, the fact that Billard and Longman 
write he is full of self-indulgence and refuses to control his sexual 
appetite, is to read into the text a meaning, or to read into 
the text an idea, or to read into the text an assumption that 
we carry to it. When we look at this phrase used 
throughout the Old Testament, again, it can mean that, but 
it doesn't necessarily mean that. And I would suggest, leaning 
on a fellow by the name of Gordon Hugenberger, he has a great essay 
in a book called From Creation to New Creation, Biblical Theology 
and Exegesis. It's called Samson and the Harlot 
at Gaza, Judges 16, 1-3. He argues that he was not sexually 
unfaithful. He argues that the going in here 
was similar to the spies at the time of Joshua 2. Remember in 
Joshua chapter 2, Joshua sends out two spies to do what? To 
conduct a reconnaissance mission of the city of Jericho to find 
out whether or not they would be able to gain victory there. 
And so the two spies go to the city of Jericho. They end up 
at the house of a harlot and they go into that house. When 
they go into that house, I don't think of any Christians believe 
that they sort of engaged in sexual permissiveness there. I don't think any Christians 
would argue that those two spies were unfaithful to Yahweh and 
engaged in some sort of sexual sin. Well, when we read that 
Samson goes into her, it's not necessarily the case that it 
was sexual or sinful in nature. Consider the following pieces 
of evidence in terms of Joshua 2 and Judges 16. The 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. The report of the 
presence of the spies in Samson is given in the 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 lie down in the home of the harlot. 
The spies and Samson both leave for the hill country when they 
depart. When there's that many parallels between passages, we 
ought to assume that it's telling us something. It's the same convention. It's the same situation. Samson, 
the defender of Israel, is not there to engage in sexual sin. Samson, the defender of Israel, 
is there to engage in warfare against the Philistines. And 
the activity that he undertakes evidences that to be the case 
in terms of the city gates. 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, to take an appropriate step that would enable the divinely 
approved work of dispossession to begin. He's fighting for Israel. He takes cover in an unlikely 
place. Though the Gazites, the Philistines 
heard that he went there. So notice what happens in terms 
of verse two. When 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. They must have read Dillard and Longman. They must 
have thought that Samson was there for sexual reasons. They 
must have thought that Samson would be there all night long 
indulging his sexual appetite. Pre-critical commentators do 
not make this link. The Geneva Bible says they went 
there because she was a victualer. She had food. The historian Josephus 
says, after his fight, Samson held the Philistines in contempt 
and came to Gaza and took up lodgings at a certain inn. They 
don't believe, or they don't teach, or they don't think that 
Samson was unfaithful with reference to this particular woman. And 
then notice that the Gazites learn of his presence, they surround 
the place, and they purpose to kill him in the morning. Again, 
thinking he's going to be there all night, satisfying and gratifying 
his carnal lusts. But that's not what happens. 
That's not his intention. That's not his purpose. That's 
not his strategy. That isn't his tactic. He's there 
to kill Philistines. He's there to try to rouse the 
interest of Judah to participate with him in the killing of Philistines. Look at verse 3. Samson lay low 
till midnight. They weren't expecting that. 
They thought he would be there, tucked in, till morning. And 
then they would seize him, and then they would kill him. Which, 
again, follows if he's a man driven by sexual lust. But if 
he's a man driven by the glory of God and the protection of 
Israel, then his actions make perfect sense. So Samson lay 
low till midnight, then he arose at midnight, took hold of the 
doors of the gate of the city and the two gateposts, pulled 
them up, bar and all, put them on his shoulders, and carried 
them to the top of the hill that faces Hebron. This was a Herculean 
task. You ask, well, how does he do 
it? I don't know. The man that was able to kill 
all those Philistines with the jawbone of an ass? The man that 
was able to tie those torches to the foxes and burn down the 
standing rain in Philistine country? I don't know. God's power was 
upon him such that he was able to do this. But the act itself 
is absolutely positively significant. The fact that he takes away their 
gates Ancient cities had gates. They didn't have open immigration 
policies. They didn't just let anybody 
wander in and then confer upon them the benefits that were requisite 
to persons that did such things. No, they defended their cities. 
So what do you think is communicated when Samson takes these city 
gates, marches 40 miles up on a hill, and then he faces toward 
Hebron? He's communicating to Judahites, 
come and help me, let us dispatch these Philistines in Gaza. Genesis 
22, 17, blessing, I will bless you. And multiplying, I will 
multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as 
the sand which is on the seashore. And your descendants shall possess 
the gate of their enemies. The fact that he possesses the 
gate of his enemies shows his power over them and again shows 
that he is Israel's leader and they should follow behind him. 
Hugenberger again says, in keeping with the general symbolism of 
Genesis 22.17 and 24.60, 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. You take 
the city's gates away, you won. You bested them. You beat them. You're victorious over them. He says, 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. But instead of accepting the 
leadership of Samson, they can't stand him. Why? Because they 
quite liked life under Philistine oppression. They quite liked 
life under that particular regime. They got comfortable with the 
culture that was prevalent. And so instead of backing Samson 
in the defeat of the Philistines, they betray Samson and hand him 
over to the Philistines in chapter 15. And here we see, when it 
comes to do business with the Philistines, there's no Judahites 
present. They probably saw him holding 
those city's gates, but they didn't run to his aid. They didn't 
say, oh look, he subjugated Gaza. Let's come and assist him in 
dispossessing that city of those wretched Philistines. So Samson 
did not go into the harlot at Gaza. Samson went there for the 
purpose of a covert operation to take those city gates and 
to communicate the fact that God was going to bring judgment 
to bear upon that city and that Judah should stand behind him. 
Now notice next the departure of the living God. This is a 
sad account. This is a sad situation. This 
is what we know, you know, probably remember the best of Samson. 
It's Samson and Delilah. Now, before we proceed, it's 
not wrong for Samson to have another wife. Now, brethren, 
I'm not suggesting Samson was without sin. I'm not suggesting 
he was wholly harmless and undefiled like our Savior, according to 
Hebrews 7. But he's not the guy that Dillard and Longman suggest 
he is. He's not the guy that so many Christians suggest that 
he is. He's not the guy that so many pagans suggest that he 
is. He's simply a man of God, charged 
with defending the people of God from the enemies of God. 
For him to have Delilah as a love interest isn't necessarily sinful. He had been married lawfully 
initially, and what happened to his wife and her father? They 
were burned to death by the Philistines. If he doesn't go into this harlot 
at Gaza, he's not engaged in any sexual infidelity. It's not 
wrong for him to love Delilah. We're not even sure that she 
was necessarily a Philistine. Delilah is a Semitic name. It 
could be the case that she was a Jewess. Could be the case that 
she wasn't even a Philistine. So let's look at the departure 
of the living God. Notice the background, his love 
for her, according to verse 4. 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 1,100 pieces of silver. Now Davis says whether 
she was a Philistine or Israelite does not matter. It didn't even 
matter to Delilah. All that mattered was Philistine 
money. In the former account, they threatened to burn his original 
wife, or his first wife, and her father. Now, they're enticing 
her with money. And this is a great deal of money. 
The Philistines offer her a positive incentive, which highlights the 
great threat posed by Samson. So this would have been 5,500 
shekels of silver. per Lord to this woman to betray Samson into 
their hand. Now, as we move through this, 
there's some puzzling stuff, not least of which is verses 
6 and 7. So Delilah said to Samson, please 
tell me where your great strength lies and with what you may be 
bound to afflict you. I think I ought to shut down 
that conversation right then and there. What do you mean to 
afflict me, honey? That's not pillow talk. That's 
not anything I'm used to. That's not something I'm, you 
know, down with. This right there shows you the 
weakness of Samson isn't Philistines. Even a thousand of them at jawbone 
height. The weakness of Samson isn't even 3,000 Philistines 
in the temple of Dagon. The weakness of Samson is a pretty 
woman. And this is what's going on in 
this particular exchange. There are unsuccessful attempts, 
three of them. You see it in verses 6 to 9, 
verses 10 to 12, and then verses 13 to 14. And the fact that she has the 
wherewithal, the chutzpah, as the Jews might say, to say, why 
are you mocking me? Why aren't you telling me the 
truth? Why aren't you doing what I'm asking you? In light of the 
fact that Philistines had been there to capture him, in light 
of the fact that they wanted to take him away and destroy 
him, If anything, Samson is quite the long-suffering fellow. Samson 
is quite patient. Samson has a degree of virtue 
that I think few men actually possess. He's not the man that 
Dillard and Longman says. He's the man that most of us 
kind of wish that we were. Who of us have that ability to 
not lash out in anger and say, off with you, woman. I want nothing 
more to do with you. So there's three unsuccessful 
attempts to try and bind him on the part of Delilah, plying 
him. Now notice the successful attempt, 
the fourth time in verses 15 to 28. Verse 15, 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. Again, 
brethren, this is a patient fellow. What would you be doing at this 
point? Are you kidding me, lady? Are you absolutely out of your 
mind? This is nutty? You are out of your gourd if 
you think that I'm going to tell you where my strength lies. Notice 
as well the persistent pestering, and I think this is what wore 
him down. Well, the text says so. It came to pass when she 
pestered him daily with her words and pressed him so that his soul 
was vexed to death. Go back to chapter 14 for just 
a moment. Samson has this riddle and the 
Philistines, again, threaten his wife to find out the riddle. And in 1415, it says, 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 in 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. A commentator by the name of 
Daniel Bloch says, 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. Again, this doesn't underscore 
he's a bumbling fool with ungoverned lust. He loves this woman. He 
is long-suffering toward this woman. Notice he now confesses 
his secret in verse 17. 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. Now, he acknowledges a vow that 
he had taken. And if you survey the scene, 
and if you've listened to me at any point during this sermon 
and the one two weeks ago, again, Samson's not without sin. Samson 
is not wholly harmless and undefiled. But what was the sin here? I 
think the sin goes back to his judgeship. If his task as a judge 
is to protect Israel and to deliver them from Philistine bondage, 
if his task is to kill Philistines, then he better not give away 
his secret. He better not jeopardize that 
particular mission. He better not call into question 
his ability to serve out and carry out the function of the 
Lord. Because if you ask the question of the text, why does 
the Lord depart from him? Again, many people out in the 
Christian world would say, because he's a wretch and he's governed 
by his sexual lusts. No, he's not. Is he any more 
wretched than any other man that's ever led people? No, he's not. In fact, he's probably a lot 
more virtuous than a whole lot of men that ever led people. I mentioned the other time, four 
times in the Samson narrative, we find that the Spirit of the 
Lord comes upon him. There's just not many people 
in the Bible that get that kind of favor from God. Not suggesting 
that we don't get favor from God, but four conspicuous references 
to the Spirit of the Lord coming upon Samson. So when we ask the 
question, why does Yahweh depart from him? Because he jeopardized 
his function, he jeopardized his role, he jeopardized his 
task in the protection of the people that he was charged to 
protect. So that's why we find the departure of Yahweh later 
on in the narrative. But if we go back to verse 18, 
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. And then notice in 
verse 19, 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. That's a sad and pathetic scene, 
isn't it? When you look at this man, this 
hero in Israel, this judge who rules for 20 years. See, it's 
easy to read the very end of verse 31 and just glance over 
that. A rule, a reign, keeping a people 
peaceful and safe for 20 years? That is a monumental task that 
he engaged in. So at this point, when God departs 
from him, it is a real tragedy. It is a real tragedy that he's 
betrayed by the woman that he loves, and then Yahweh departs 
from him. And then notice, with reference 
to that departure, Verse 21, it says, 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. They treat him with the sort 
of contempt that you would expect for them to treat him with. This 
is the Philistine response to their enemy. This is the Philistine 
response to one who is struck at their economy in the burning 
of their grain, who is struck at their religion in the burning 
of the grain that Dagon is supposedly or allegedly over, and in terms 
of getting rid of so many of their fellow Philistines. They 
want to destroy him. And so the gouging out of the 
eyes, the binding him with the bronze fetters, and the making 
of him a grinder in the prison That's the way Philistines dealt 
with Samson at that particular time. And that brings us thirdly 
and finally to the destruction of the enemies of the Lord. In 
each step of the way, when Samson wants to marry the woman from 
Timnah, his parents object. But the narrator tells us this 
was from the Lord. Why? Because at every step of 
the way, the Lord is getting Samson closer to the enemy. If Judah's going to be a cowardice 
people, if Judah's not going to go into battle, if Judah's 
not going to take up the mantle and dispossess the land of the 
Canaanites, somebody's got to do it. Somebody's got to obey 
God. So God brings Samson into this 
close connection each and every time with the Philistines so 
that he can do it. And that is precisely how the 
narrative flows in this place. Notice in the first place, under 
the destruction of the enemies of the Lord, the return of the 
Lord in verse 22. However, the hair of his head 
began to grow again after it had been shaven. It's a sermon 
by Ian Paisley called Haircut in the Devil's Barbershop. And 
when he says or when he rehearses or just cites that text, it's 
pretty inspiring. I just commend that to you. If 
you want to listen to that sometime down the road, it's a pretty 
rousing sermon on Samson here. But notice, the hair of his head 
began to grow again after it had been shaven. This is a message 
of hope for we the reader. Why? Because the hair was magic? 
As long as he had hair, he was able to defeat the Philistines? 
No, the hair wasn't magic. In fact, Davis says, not that 
there was any magic in Samson's hair. His strength came only 
from Yahweh. However, his hair was the sign 
of that strength, and we must not sever the sign from the reality 
which it signifies. So you see, this is a great indicator, 
a message of hope to us, the reader, that Samson has got his 
strength back and Samson is going to deal a death blow to these 
Philistine enemies. Notice the sacrifice to Dagon. Look at pagan worship in verses 
23 to 27. Now, the lords of the Philistines 
gathered together to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon, their god, 
and to rejoice. Why? because they have bested 
Samson. And look at the language our 
God has delivered into our hands, Samson our enemy. On the one 
hand, what a great testimony concerning Samson. On the other 
hand, what a miserable testimony concerning Judah. Philistines 
are afraid of one man from the covenant people of Israel? The 
Philistines are in danger from one man out of that nation? Where's Judah? So much of this 
narrative is not only designed to promote the glory of God, 
to show the faithfulness of Samson, but to serve as a rebuke to those 
cowards that inhabit the nation of Israel that don't foray out 
into battle against their enemies. And then notice, 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, the one 
who multiplied our dead. He was a great threat. But look 
at their heresy here. Was Samson captured because of 
the glory of Dagon? Absolutely, positively not. Samson was captured because of 
the departure of Yahweh. This is God's project. This is God's government. This 
is God's providence. They're celebrating victory by 
the hand of Dagon when we know in reality it is victory because 
of Yahweh of Israel. And again, it's ultimately demise 
for these Philistines. Notice the vindication of God's 
honor in verses 28 and following. Well, back to verse 25. 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. And 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. Why do you think that part of 
the narrative? To show us the glory of God! To show us the 
wisdom of God! How do you get rid of a bunch 
of Philistines? Bring them together to rejoice in Dagon. Remember 
Jehu calling all of the Baalists that lived in Israel? Why don't 
we all get together and have a love fest toward Baal? What 
happens when they all get together? Jehu has his troops around the 
place and they execute all the Baalists. So bring them together 
for a worship service, let them get into their frenzy, let them 
praise Dagon from whom all blessings flow, so that they're under one 
location, so that God, through Samson, can deal the death blow 
upon their heads. Notice Samson's prayer. Go back 
to his prayer in chapter 15, just for a moment. Notice in 
chapter 15 he kills a thousand Philistines with the jawbone 
of a donkey. And as you might imagine, he became very thirsty, 
according to verse 18. So he cried out to the Lord and 
said, you have given this great deliverance by the hand of your 
servant. And now shall I die of thirst and fall into the hand 
of the uncircumcised? So God answered. He split the 
hollow place that is in Lehi. Water came out and he drank and 
his spirit returned and he revived. Back to our text in 1628. 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." 
Now, before we say, well, you know, that's pretty greedy. That's 
pretty selfish. All he's concerned about is his two eyes. He's concerned 
with the glory of God. He's the judge of Israel appointed 
by God. The gouging out of his eyes show 
the victory of God's enemies. And as far as Samson's concerned, 
that cannot stand. As far as Samson's concerned, 
he's gonna offer up one more prayer. Just this once, God, 
hear me and answer for your glory. Samson's eyes here are indicative 
of the glory of God most high. And we know that because of the 
response of God. God doesn't thunder out from 
heaven and say, it doesn't matter about your eyes, it matters about 
my glory. God answers him. Verse 29, 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. Before 
we go thinking that Samson committed suicide and what a wretched man 
that he was, this isn't suicide, this is war. It's not suicide 
when a man jumps on a live grenade to protect his fellows in a combat 
situation. It's not suicide when a man takes 
out the enemies of Yahweh in order to protect the children 
of Israel. Listen to John Gill on this text. He says, as for 
his own death, he did not simply desire that, only as he could 
not be avenged on his enemies without it. He was willing to 
submit to it, nor did he lay hands on himself and cannot be 
charged with being guilty of suicide, and did no other than 
what a man of valor and public spirit will do. I love that phrase. Listen to what Gill says. This 
is what a man of valor does. He doesn't hide. He doesn't run. He doesn't, you know, cry and 
snivel and only value himself. I saw a video this week of a 
stabbing in Toronto on a subway. And when this fight broke out, 
everybody around just ran. Brethren, instead of running, 
we probably should try to help people once in a while. or all 
the videos that we have of these horrific fights. I've got a bit 
of encouragement. Put your phone down and go help 
people. It doesn't matter to get a viral 
video while somebody's getting their head pounded in when you 
should put your phone down and come to their rescue. Gil doesn't 
say, oh, Samson, what an ethical dilemma. Did he kill himself? 
This is what a man of valor does. This is what a general leading 
troops does. This is what a king does. The 
monarch is out leading the troops. He's not hiding in his castle. 
He's not sniveling behind his wife's skirts. He's out there 
fighting. He's out there dispatching Philistines. He's out there doing the job 
that God called him to do. There is a lack of bravery in 
our world today, not just in the church, but certainly in 
the church as well. We need to put down the phone, 
quit looking for the viral video, and actually help people who 
are getting pummeled to death. He goes on to say, who for the 
good of his country will not only expose his life to danger 
in common, but for the sake of that will engage in a desperate 
enterprise, when he knows most certainly that he must perish 
in it. Besides, Samson said this and did what he did under the 
direction and influence of the Spirit of God. And then I love 
this last statement because it's so perceptive. And herein was 
a type of Christ who freely laid down his life for his people 
that he might destroy his and their enemies. Huh? You mean 
Samson does something that Jesus would later do? Absolutely, positively. He's a type. He's a savior in 
Israel. He's come to vindicate his people. He's come to free them from Philistine 
oppression. That he dies in the midst of 
it is heroic. It is absolutely virtuous. We 
shouldn't Monday morning quarterback and say, oh, that was a suicidal 
act. Turretin, the Reformed faith, 
the tradition says, no, it wasn't suicide, it was an act of valor. And then notice how the text 
summarizes him. 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. This was an effective, bit of 
godly service on the part of a spirit-filled man for the vindication 
of the glory of God and for the protection of people in Israel, 
even cowards, even sissies, even Nancy boys, that instead of going 
behind him in battle against Philistines, would betray him 
and give him over to the enemies of God Almighty. In conclusion, 
we ought to appreciate, in the judge's narratives as a whole, 
the grace of God. They sin, the oppressors come, 
they cry out for help, and the Lord brings deliverance vis-a-vis 
through the earthly judges, through these men that are tasked with 
protecting Israel from their foreign enemies. God's grace 
in the midst of the book of Judges is absolutely amazing. I mentioned 
this this morning when we're in the confession study. He is 
long-suffering. If you doubt that, read Judges. Read the book of Judges and see 
these continual cycles of sin on the part of the people of 
God. And as I mentioned when we're in chapter 15, they get 
to a certain low point in chapter 15. Because prior to that, in 
the various cycles, when the oppressor came, they would cry 
out. They didn't like Midianite oppression. They didn't like 
the fact that when they sowed crops, the Midianites would come 
and basically decimate everything. They would cry out to God. We 
get to this Philistine oppression. They don't cry out to God anymore. 
They like Philistine oppression. They don't like Samson because 
he's going to upset the apple cart. He's going to ruin the 
wonderful sort of situation that they have. And yet, in the midst 
of this, God uses Samson to bring judgment to bear upon their enemy 
vis-a-vis the Philistines. As well, notice the folly of 
idolatry. I know that's not the main emphasis. 
I know that's just a bit of a snapshot. It's a bit of background. It's 
a bit of a, here's how they all got together. But to ascribe 
praise to Dagon, who's a fake, for victory over Samson, who's 
a threat, shows how foolish idolatry is. Our God is in the heavens. He does whatever he pleases. 
And that is well illustrated in the Samson narrative. Get 
him near the Philistines because Samson knows the only good Philistine 
is a dead one. And when he's around them, he 
gets rid of them. And that's what God does throughout 
the Samson cycle. The Philistines attribute Samson's 
capture to Dagon's power. The Philistines sing praises 
to Dagon. Brethren, I would imagine they 
did so with unction, or with gusto, or they did so with earnestness. I love the singing in our church, 
I think it's wonderful, but I've been in other churches, it's 
like, you want to look, are we here to sing? What are we doing? Open your mouth, open your book, 
and sing praise to God. When the pagans or the heathens 
hymn their God in a way that exceeds the people of God, that's 
sad, that's pathetic. We actually have a reason to 
sing praises to our living and true God. And as well, the Philistines, 
get this, they glorify a God who couldn't protect them in 
his own house. Where are they? They're in this 
temple to Dagon. You'd surely think that with 
home field advantage, Dagon could stay the enemies of Philistia. You would surely think that with 
that home field advantage, Dagon would be successful in providing 
safety for these 3,000 Philistines, including the lords of the Philistines. I mean, after all, They're the 
lords of the Philistines. We have to afford them special 
protection. They were the elitists then. You've got to make sure 
they don't get hurt. Dagon couldn't do it. Why? Because 
he's a fake. In the book of Isaiah, the prophet 
mocks the Babylonian idolaters. They have to pick their gods 
up and put them on the carts. They have to carry their gods. Brethren, it is good news that 
our God carries us, and we don't have to carry him. And then finally, 
the faithfulness of Samson. Samson appears in the book of 
Hebrews, the hall of faith in chapter 11, verse 32. Paul says, 
for the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and 
Samson and Jephthah. He looks at the period of the 
judges. A period when a lot of people roll their eyes because 
it's a lot of blood, it's a lot of guts, it's a lot of killing. 
I mean, Jeon, what does she do? She drives a tent peg through 
Sisera's head. I mean, to me, that stuff is 
inspiring. But I guess there's some people 
out there that say, oh, we don't like that kind of Christianity. 
We don't like that kind of the advancement of the kingdom of 
God. Interesting, because Deborah the prophetess composed a song 
after that, extolling her in the language that would be applied 
to Mary in the New Testament. Blessed are you among women. That is predicated of jail. The 
sturdy woman that took a tent peg, I'm guessing she was sturdy, 
to be able to drive this through Sisera's head. One man actually 
calls that murder. I wouldn't want to be that man. 
Well, I'm not going to go that far, but that was not murder, 
brethren. Warfare is not murder. We saw 
what murder is in Numbers 35. Malice aforethought, premeditation, 
enmity in your heart, hatred toward one another, standing 
in wait, lying in wait, actually going after them to try to... 
That's not war. War is legitimate homicide. There's 
three instances of authorized homicide in the Bible. War, and 
that's another topic for another discussion in terms of what's 
a just war. War, self-defense, and capital punishment. Those 
are three instances of lawful killing that the Bible sets forth. 
So to say that JL committed murder by driving a tent peg through 
Sisera's head? Sisera is extolled later. Sisera, 
we have every reason to believe that he engaged in rape of Israelite 
women. Tenpeg was the best thing happening 
for that fellow. So when it comes to Samson, when 
it comes to the period of the judges, this was an expression 
of faith in the living and true God. His mission? He shall begin 
to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines. His 
empowerment? The Holy Spirit comes upon him 
to do the work that he engaged in. And then the victory of Samson. I quoted a lengthy quote from 
Davis a couple of weeks ago. I'll just pick up the last bit. 
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. And then the typical nature of 
Samson points us to the Savior King, points us to the one who 
shall save his people from their sins, the one who does so through 
his death on the cross, through his resurrection again the third 
day. And if we fail to see that in this Samson narrative, we 
need to see it. We need to understand that when 
he brings that temple down on these 3,000, And the text tells 
us he saved more through his death than in his life. We need 
to hear Jesus Christ and his gospel in Judges chapter 16. Well, let us pray. Our Father, 
we thank you for your word. We thank you for its clarity. 
We thank you for the fact that the people of God throughout 
the ages have expressed boldness and courage for God. They've 
been empowered by the Spirit to do these mighty acts. And 
we praise you that we are in that tradition. Help us, Lord 
God, to be faithful. Help us, Lord God, to be persevering. 
Help us, Lord God, to embrace what you have given to us in 
each of our vocations and callings and cause us to bring glory and 
honor and praise unto you. Go with us now. Watch over us 
in this coming week. Bless all of the brothers and 
sisters in this local church. And may you be worshiped and 
praised as we gather together and in our families. And we pray 
through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. We'll close with a brief 
time of meditation.