← Back to sermon library

foreign welcome to everyone it's good to be back in the house of our God you can turn with me in your Bibles to Psalm 87 for our call to worship this evening psalm 87. I'll begin reading in verse 1 a Psalm of the sons of Korah a song his foundation is in the Holy mountains the lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob glorious things are spoken of you o city of God say law I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon to those who know me behold o philistia and tire with Ethiopia this one was born there and of Zion it will be said this one and that one were born in her and the most high himself shall establish her the Lord will record when he registers the peoples this one was born there say law both the singers and the players on instruments say all my Springs are in you amen well you can turn with me in your hymn books to Psalm 110. Psalm 110 a as in Alpha and will stand as we sing together [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] let me shattered [Music] well let us pray a great God and Holy Father we thank you again for this sabbath day we thank you for the rest that we have in the Lord Jesus Christ and for the fact that the Lord's day foreshadows that Eternal rest to come we bless you for the house of God and for the ability that we have the privilege that we have to gather together so we read in the psalm the the Lord is pleased with the gates of Zion more than all the Dwelling Places of Jacob we know that you you you dwell in the midst of your people as they gather together we turn to the Book of Revelation we see Christ in the midst of the landstand we turn to Ephesians and we see the Saints in church coming to the father through the son in the spirit so God we we relish and we Delight in your presence Among Us now and we pray that you would be glorified and honored and worshiped as well we pray that you would strengthen and encourage our weary Hearts build us up in our Most Holy Faith and cause us to be a people that serve and glorify you not just on the Lord's day but each and every day may you conform us further unto the image of your beloved Son and may you cause us to reflect that that Glory that we have in him as well God we pray that you would just be well pleased to look with favor upon any and all that are that are not saved those who have not yet come to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ we pray that you would open hearts that you would bring that conviction for sin and that you would set forth Christ in all of his offices to save needy Sinners we bless you and we praise you that there is forgiveness with you that you may be feared and even now we confess that remaining corruption that remaining sin the Apostle writes of this in Romans 7 and Galatians 5 and we know it to be the case in our own Hearts we know there is that proneness to wander and proneness to leave the god that we love and yet we know as well that Jesus Christ is our Advocate with the father and that he lives to make intercession for us so we confess those sins now we ask for cleansing and and washing in that precious blood of the lamb and God may you be glorified in this as well we pray for your grace and your mercy to be upon other churches here in our community we thank you that we're not alone we pray that you would bless those churches that are Faithfully preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ Our Lord and not just in Chilliwack but throughout this province and in this country and to the uttermost parts of the earth we pray that your word would run swiftly and be glorified we have that promise and the prophet that your word word does not return unto you void but it always accomplishes the purpose for which you sent it and God we rejoice in that we rejoice as well that Christ has promised to build his church in the gates of Haiti shall not Prevail against it and certainly when we sing A Hymn like Psalm 110 we are encouraged and we are built up and we see clearly the eyes of faith in our blessed savior Reigns at the right hand of God most high and we praise you and we look forward to his return again in glory to judge the living and the dead and our father we pray for the temporal needs in our local local church we pray for Don neufeld that you'd bless him as he goes on Tuesday for surgery we pray for surely surely if she goes for surgery tomorrow she would watch over her and and just cause both of these to rejoice in the the living and the true God we pray for Brittany and just commend her to you and to the word of your grace and as well God we pray that you would look with favor upon Chloe and Stephanie and these babies in their wombs we thank you for your mercy we thank you that you deal with us according to the riches of Grace and with reference to spiritual things but we know that you take good care of us temporally as well so God help us to always always express that gratitude that Thanksgiving for what you do in in in terms of our own lives we ask that you would blessed our sister churches in Surrey and in Armstrong and in Dryden bless the churches in sigua to peke and just continue to look with favor upon the men who lead those those local churches and may their preaching be used of God for conversions there in Honduras virus and God blessed the persecuted church we know there are a multitude that suffer for the cause of God and Truth we know that there are countries that are steeped and things that are that are far more severe than what we presently experience we ask God that you would look with favor upon your Saints and embolden them and Grant them courage grant them the grace and the help and the strength necessary to persevere in the midst of trial and affliction to realize that the cross always precedes the crown but may they look forward to that Crown may they look forward to that day when they will be in the presence of God most high Lord bless us and continue with us now and we ask through Jesus Christ Our Lord amen you can turn with me again in your hymn books to number 244. 244 will stand as we sing together [Music] foreign [Music] because as good as they promise to raise us all right [Music] boys [Applause] [Music] oh God [Music] forever foreign [Music] you can turn with me in your Bibles to the Book of Numbers we're in Numbers Chapter 34. Numbers Chapter 34. I'll begin reading in verse 1. then the Lord spoke to Moses saying command the children of Israel and say to them when you come into the land of Canaan this is the land that shall fall to you as an inheritance the land of Canaan to its boundaries your Southern border shall be from the Wilderness of Zen along the border of Edom then your Southern border shall extend Eastward to the end of the salt sea your border shall turn from the southern side of the ascent of acrabhim continue to Zen and be on the south of kadash barnea then it shall go go on to hazar Adar and continue to asmon the Border shall turn from asmon to the brook of Egypt and it shall end at the sea as for the Western border you shall have the great sea for a border this shall be your western border and this shall be your northern border from the great sea you shall Mark out your borderline to mount hor from Mount hore you shall Mark out your border to the entrance of hamath then the direction of the the Border shall be toward zadad the Border shall proceed to zefron and it shall end at hazar Anon this shall be your northern border you shall Mark out your eastern border from hazar Anon to shafem the Border shall go down from shafem to ribla on the east side of Ain the Border shall go down and reach to the Eastern side of the Sea of kinarath the Border shall go down along the Jordan and it shall end at the salt sea this shall be your land with its surrounding boundaries then Moses commanded the children of Israel saying this is the land which you shall inherit by lot which the Lord has commanded to give to the nine tribes into the half tribe for the tribe of the children of Reuben according to the house of their fathers and the tribe of the children of God according to the house of their fathers have received their inheritance and the half tribe of Manasseh has received its inheritance the two tribes in the half tribe have received their inheritance on this side of the George Garden across from Jericho Eastward toward the sunrise and the Lord spoke to Moses saying these are the names of The Men Who Shall divide the land among you as an inheritance Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of none and you shall take one leader of every tribe to divide the land for the inheritance these are the names of the men from the tribe of Judah Caleb the son of jephina from the tribe of the children of Simeon shemuel the son of amihad from The Tribe of Benjamin elidad the son of kislon a leader from the tribe of the children of Dan Bucky the son of jogley from the sons of Joseph a leader from the tribe of the children of Manasseh Haniel the son of aphod and a leader from the tribe of the children of Ephraim kamuel the son of shiftan a leader from the tribe of the children of zebulun Eliza fan the son of parnak a leader from the tribe of the children of issachar paltiel the son of Azan a leader from the tribe of the children of Asher a high the son of chalamet and a leader from the tribe of the children of naphtali pedahel the son of amihad these are the ones the Lord commanded to divide the inheritance among the children of Israel in the land of Canaan amen well let us pray our gracious God and Father we thank you that we see your promises fulfilled throughout scripture the promise you gave to to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob we see real lives in the conquest of Canaan we thank you God that your promises are yea and amen in our Lord Jesus Christ that you are faithful that you are good that you are a god of Truth and kindness and love and as we reflect upon this in a New Covenant setting all the promises concerning Messiah have come to fruition and he has indeed not only come from the tribes of Jacob but he has come as a light under the Gentiles and we rejoice in that reality that you have included Us in these promises and we bless you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ amen well for our final hymn before the preaching you can turn to 543. 543 will stand as we sing together [Music] oh my God it is [Music] good living is [Music] foreign [Music] Judges chapter 15. this morning I mentioned there was a parallel between Samson and our Lord Jesus Christ in both instances one man was given up by his countrymen to appease a foreign Invader an oppressor we see that in the Lord Jesus they want to put Jesus to death so that the Romans don't come and destroy their place and Nation we see the same thing here in judges 15 when Judah gives up Samson because they don't want to Buck the system with reference to the Philistines it's a actually sad chapter in terms of the Covenant people but a very encouraging chapter in terms of God's deliverer of those people so I want to read judges 15 beginning in verse 1. after a while in the time of wheat Harvest it happened that Samson visited his wife with a young goat and he said let me go into my wife into a room but her father would not permit him to go in her father said I really thought that you thoroughly hated her therefore I gave her to your companion is not her younger sister better than she please take her instead and Samson said to them this time I shall be blameless regarding the Philistines if I harm them then Samson went and caught 300 foxes and he took torches turned the foxes tail to tail and put a torch between each pair of Tails when he had set the torches on fire he let the foxes go into the standing grain of the Philistines and burned up both the shocks and the standing grain as well as The Vineyards and Olive Groves then the Philistines said who has done this and they answered Samson the son-in-law of the Tim Knight because he has taken his wife and given her to His companion so the Philistines came up and burned her and her father with fire Samson said to them since you would do a thing like this I will surely take revenge on you and after that I will cease so he attacked them hip and thigh with a great Slaughter then he went down and dwelt in the cleft of the rock of etom now the Philistines went up and camped in Judah and deployed themselves against Lehigh and the men of Judah said why have you come up against us so the answer we've come up to arrest Samson to do to him as he has done to us then the three thousand men of Judah went or then three thousand men of Judah went down to the craft of the rock of etah and said to Samson do you not know that the Philistines rule over us what is this you have done to us and he said to them as they did to me so I have done to them but they said to him we have come down to arrest you that we may deliver you into the hand of the Philistines then Samson said to them swear to me that you will not kill me yourselves so they spoke to him saying no but we will tie you securely and deliver you into their hand but we will surely not kill you and they bound him with two new ropes and brought him up from The Rock when he came to Lehigh the Philistines came shouting against him then the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him and the ropes that were on his arms became like flax that is burned with fire and his bonds broke loose from his hands he found a fresh Jawbone of a donkey reached out his hand and took it and killed a thousand men with it then Samson said with the Jawbone of a donkey heaps upon heaps with the Jawbone of a donkey I have slain a thousand men and so it was when he had finished speaking that he threw the Jawbone from his hand and called that place ramath Lehi then he became very thirsty 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 split the hollow place that is in Lehigh and water came out and he drank and his Spirit returned and he revived therefore he called its name which is in Lehi to this day and he judged Israel 20 years in the days of the Philistines amen well let us pray Our Father in heaven we thank you for your word we thank you for the period of the judges and the way that they typify the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ we know that that this book is about deliverance from on high and we praise you for that we ask now that the Holy Spirit would guide us and direct us as we consider the truth as we find it here in scripture and again May our hearts be encouraged and drawn out to worship and to praise and to Adoration of our great God even Father Son and Holy Spirit forgive us now we pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Jesus Christ amen was I've often explained when we come to the Book of Judges there is this misconception concerning Sam said that he was a man that just kind of bumbled along governed by his lusts but there is nothing further from the truth than that what we find in Samson is four uh four occasions where we see that the spirit of the Lord comes upon him the narrative with reference to Samson begins and judges judges 13. so you've got the birth of Samson in chapter 13. his marriage in timna in in chapter 14 his victory at Jawbone height here in chapter 15 and then his victory in Gaza in chapter 16. if you look back to chapter 13 you see an announcement concerning his birth that is much parallel with Matthew 1 21 a brother read that this morning in our scripture reading you shall call his name Jesus for it is he who will save his people from their sins look at chapters 13 and verse 5. 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 he shall save his people from the hand of the Philistines and then look at chapter 13 at verse 25 and the spirit of the Lord began to move upon him when he takes this woman from the Philistines this was of God because God wanted Samson to be the means by which he would bring destruction to the Philistine so that was ordained by God you see that in the beginning of chapter 14. notice in chapter 14 at verse 6 the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him and he tore the lion apart as one would have torn apart a young goat and then again in chapter 14 at verse 19 then the spirit of the Lord came upon Him mightily and he went down to Ashkelon and killed 30 of their men took their apparel and gave the changes of clothing to those who had explained the riddle so his anger was aroused and he went back up to his father's house it's not that he killed the Philistines in Anger he killed the Philistines by the presence of in the power of the holy spirit of God the anger comes subsequent to that because he's a little bit teed off at his wife who gave him up to the Philistines if you had not plowed with my heifer you would have never got my riddle so the father of of this bride takes her back to his house and that brings us to chapter 15 and why Samson goes to find her but as well we find in 1514 when the Philistines come shouting against him the spirit of the Lord comes mightily upon him so he dispatches these thousand Philistines by the power of the holy spirit so four times in a brief narrative section in Holy scripture we see the spirit of the Lord on a man now when we look at the rest of the Bible that's pretty unique how many times do we find a man in scripture where four times it is said of him that the spirit of God comes upon him I would suggest that Jesus is certainly one of them but beyond that there's not a lot of others so the Holy Spirit empowers Samson for this work of freeing Israel from Philistine oppression so I want to look first at the Betrayal by his father-in-law in verses one to eight the treachery of his countrymen in verses 9 to 13 and then finally the triumph over his enemies I used to call this the victory over his enemies but Triumph seems a bit more fitting when you're able to kill a thousand men in one exchange so he triumphed over these wretches but notice the Betrayal by his father-in-law in verses one to eight the time is indicated notice after a while in the time of wheat Arvest this comes into play later in the narrative when he burns their fields as well you need to understand that they serve the god Dagon Dagon was the god of grain so this was not only economically impactful upon their society but it was a religious assault as well when Samson brings reproach upon Dagon that hits them at their religious level so it's the time of wheat Harvest and then notice what Samson desires he desires his wife he's not a man who holds a grudge as I said his wife betrays him with reference to his riddle he wants to go back to her now he's not holding a grudge he brings a young goat this would be akin to flowers and chocolates he wants his bride back he wants to cohabit with her he wants to carry on in that married State he's not governed by loss even in chapter 16 when he goes into the Harlot at Gaza doesn't mean sexually he goes in there in the manner that the spies went to Rahab the Harlot Samson is a man of God he is a deliverer of Israel he is freeing his people from a philistino pressure so he goes to desire he wants to go to his wife he says that in verse 2 let me go to my wife or into my wife into a room but her father would not permit her to go in and then notice the reason that he gives her father said I I really thought that you thoroughly hated her she did betray you she did give up your riddle she did dime you out again most men or many men might hold a grudge as a result of this there was probably anger there was anger at the end of chapter 14 that anger is is is quenched now he just wants his bride so the father-in-law says I really thought that you thoroughly hated her therefore I gave her to your companion is not her younger sister better than she please take her instead look at the godlessness of philistine culture this man gives his wife to another man His companion no less and then he's willing to give his daughter his younger daughter to Samson there's not a lot of women's rights in this particular society so what we see is that Samson says according to verse 3 this time I shall be blameless regarding the Philistines if I harm them so we notice now the destruction of philistine property verse 4 is a difficult passage to understand conceptually and logistically how does he carry this out then Samson went and caught 300 foxes and he took torches turned the Fox's tail to tail and put a torch between each pair of Tails again the logistics of it may Escape us but the fact is is that he brought great Devastation upon the the uh Philistine economy but not only on the Philistine economy but on their religious structure if Dagon is the god of grain he should be able to protect that but he doesn't protect it from these foxes and their torches one commentator Daniel block says house Samson accomplished this as a great mystery or greater mystery but it fits into the picture of a man who kills a lion single-handedly kills 30 Philistines breaks brand new ropes that bind him slays a thousand Philistines with a Jawbone and brings a house down over thousands of reveling Philistines that makes sense we may not be able to logistically explain everything the fact that the spirit of the Lord has come upon him in these several instances it enables him and empowers him to do the work of Deliverance to do the work of Salvation to do the work that typifies the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ so Samson will free his people from philistinal pressure Jesus saves his people from their sins the Book of Judges is about salvation the Book of Judges is about Yahweh saving the Book of Judges is about Deliverance there are several Cycles you will see it the people sin against God then there are oppressions oppressors uh furnished by God to bring judgment upon them they then repent and it's not usually from their sin they simply cry out because they're in pain they're in Calamity and then God delivers them that's the purpose for the judges it wasn't like the Circuit Judge banging his hammer and rendering a verdict in simple cases judges here are more like kings judges here are more like that sort of a monarchy that will come later in Israel's history now notice with reference to the result of the action it says in verse 5 when he had set the torches on fire he let the foxes go into the standing grain of the Philistines and burned up both the shocks and the standing grain as well as The Vineyards and Olive Groves that was devastating Brethren when you destroyed a an enemy's food supply you rendered them unable to continue on it has been well noted in the history of military experience that an army runs on its stomach if you can starve a people you can win those people it is simply that simple and so Samson knows what he's doing again he's not just sort of bumbling along duh what shall I do now he is a strategist he is a deliverer he is a savior he is one who has wisdom furnished from on eye for the act or for the task rather of delivering his people from Philistine oppression and then notice the Philistine response you think they like this do you think they were happy about this do you think they wanted to see their their crops burn verse six then the Philistine said who has done this and they answered Samson the son-in-law of the Tim Knight because he has taken his wife and given her to His companion so the Philistines came up and burned her and her father with fire this is where what they had threatened to do previously in chapter 14 at verse 15. notice but it came to pass on the seventh day that they said to Samson's wife entice your husband that he may explain the riddle to us or else we will burn you and your father's house with fire have you invited us in order to take what is ours is that not so so they threaten now they carry out that threat and they burn her and her father now notice the destruction of philistine lives this is the response of Samson in verses 7 and 8. it's a Tit for Tat it's a battle it's Warfare Samson is not backing down Samson is not giving up Samson is going to use each and every occasion to move the ball of Victory down the field he's going to eventually Spike that ball in their end zone when he renders death to a thousand of them with the Jawbone of an ass so notice the response of Samson according to verse 7. since you would do a thing like this I will surely take revenge on you and after that I will cease so he attacked them hip and thigh with a great Slaughter then he went down and dwelt in the cleft of the rock of ETA lots of different conceptions of what it means to to attack them hip and thigh with a great Slaughter I think the NIV gets it well if not the literal translation the sense of it the NIV renders it he attacked them viciously and slaughtered many of them see in Warfare Brethren it's not a it's not a nice sort of an exchange it's not you know I'm going to do this in the kindest possible way to end your life no Samson is battling for the glory of God and for the good of God's people so that's the Betrayal by his father-in-law and now now that sets us up for the treachery of his countrymen he is definitely not treated well by them the first thing we need to notice about Judah is the lack of their present distress the lack of their present distress throughout the Book of Judges as I mentioned there are cycle sin oppressor uh repentance and deliverance the the repentance again usually isn't God we've sinned please forgive us and restore us to your favor the repentance is more like God this hurts we don't like what's happening to us please vindicate us please please rescue us well that happened several times in several of the Cycles in fact turned back to chapter 3 in verse 9. chapter 3 and verse 9 when the children of Israel cried out to the Lord this is after uh the Lord had given them over to kushan rishatham the king of Mesopotamia so they sin God raises up an oppressor to bring chastisement or judgment upon them they cry out in their distress and then God raises up in this instance othniel so verse 9 when the children of Israel cried out to the Lord the Lord raised up a deliverer for them drop down to chapter 3 at verse 15. but when the children of Israel cried out to the Lord the Lord raised up a deliverer for them Ehud the son of Guerra the Benjamin a left-handed man look at chapter 4 and verse 3 same sort of an emphasis and the children of Israel cried out to the Lord for jaben had 900 Chariots of iron and for 20 years he had harshly oppressed the children of Israel look at chapter 6 The Gideon cycle specifically at verse 7 and it came to pass when the children of Israel cried out to the Lord because of the midianites and then again in chapter 10 at verse 10 chapter 10 at verse 10. see the same sort of an emphasis and the children of Israel cried out here they actually do confess sin they cried out to the Lord saying we have sinned against you because we have both forsaken Our God and served the Bales you'll notice an absence of that when we come to this narrative in terms of Samson and the Philistine oppression look at chapter 13. chapter 13 specifically at verse 1. again the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord and the Lord delivered them into the hand of the Philistines for 40 years they don't cry out for deliverance they don't cry out for rescue they don't cry out for Vindication notice as well specifically in chapter 14 at verse 4 what we find in terms of the arrangement so Chapter 14 verse 4 but his father and mother did not know that it was of the Lord that he was seeking a woman from the Philistines that it was of the Lord that he was seeking an occasion to move against the Philistines for at that time I am the Philistines had dominion over Israel so we get now to this Samson narrative we get now to these Philistines who want to come and arrest Samson and that's pretty obvious I mean he's rendered great damage to their economy he's taken a shot at the religious system and he's also dispatched or killed killed several of that so they want they want revenge they want him back at their place so that they can bring him to Justice in terms of philistine justice so there's no cry for deliverance there's no sort of Anguish concerning their situation but rather they identify with and they Embrace Philistine culture and I think there is a problem here it is the danger of assimilating the culture around us we're not supposed to be freak shows we're not supposed to be so separate and we're completely different clothes and wear special hats and look completely different from everybody around us I'm not suggesting that but I am suggesting that we ought not to assimilate the culture sure in which we live and I don't mean you know if burritos happen to be the food we don't eat burritos I mean the wickedness in their culture you've probably heard that phrase bandied about a lot recently called cultural appropriation cultural appropriation has been meant to or it it is used to say that somebody that likes Chinese food or somebody that wears a sweater that originates in Africa is somehow wrong they're racists but the cultural appropriation that I'm denouncing is the kind of sin you see in the church where we're not really bothered by abortion we're not really bothered by euthanasia we're not really bothered by the Gay Pride parades that are going on ad nauseum all throughout this month I mean if you've seen any of the imagery these are naked men walking down the streets of of Seattle today and they're doing things that are ratchet the church needs to denounce that we're not supposed to assimilate that we're not supposed to be respecters of of those kinds of sins of those kinds of perversions there is a breach of God's holy law and the church is prone to assimilate that particular culture there is a necessity for uncompromising Allegiance on the part of God's people on the part of God's Church we're supposed to preach the gospel for salvation to needy Sinners but how do Sinners know their need by preaching the law as the Heidelberg Catechism says how do you know your sin and misery I know it from the law of God so if we don't preach the law of God if we baptize the perversion in our own generation if we just say well that's just the way things are then sinners in our culture will never see their need for the saving grace of God most high in other words it is to reneg on our responsibility as the Church of Jesus Christ to preach the law and the gospel so there is this danger of assimilating culture and there is this necessity of uncompromising allegiance to the word of God most high Judah Assemble related the culture and Judah reneged on their responsibility to hold fast to the word of God now if you know anything about the Book of Judges it was Judah that starts in the conquest we read that passage in numbers 30 34 about the division of the land well they could only divide what they had conquered and obtained it was absolutely requisite that in that Wilderness wandering when they're being told what the the land would look like in terms of tribal allotment that they first go into Canaan and dispossess the land of the Canaanites killing them vacating them and then taking everything that Yahweh had promised now for those who say well that doesn't seem fair the Canaanites were wretched they were vile they were monstrous Sinners they engaged in all manner of wickedness and when Israel does take the land and Israel then Apes the Canaanites or imitates the Canaanites the same judgment comes upon them they get vom it out of the land the Assyrians come and render decimation to the northern tribes the Babylonians come and rendered decimation to the southern tribes God's not arbitrary God's not capricious there is a particular standard operative in this situation and when the Israelites renege then they would be judged as well so now to the text notice what we have the abundance of cowardice in verses 9 to 13. so the Philistines in Judah notice in verses 9 and 10. now the Philistines went up and camped in Judah and deployed themselves against Lehi and the men of Judah said why have you come up against us in other words they're questioning this declaration of war this isn't you know a friendly visit this isn't hey we want to have tea they understand the Judah Heights no two all too well what's happening here and so they go out there to to to to to meet the threat and to say what's happening what what have we done how how have we violated our particular Arrangement so notice the Judah Heights with uh the Philistines in Judah verse 9 and then in verse 10. the men of Judah said why have you come up against us so they answered we have come up to arrest Samson to do to him as he has done to us again fair enough from the Philistine perspective I get it Samson would have gotten it but the Judah Heights response is miserable the Judah Heights response is terrible the Judah Heights response with reference to Samson shows their assimilation of Godless culture shows their compromise relative to the law of God and their allegiance to their Covenant Lord they are more concerned with their place and their Nation even though they're under Philistine oppression than they are with freedom and rendering a death blow to these enemies of God Almighty so notice what happens they send an Army against Samson not the Philistines the look at verse 11 then 3 000 men of Judah went down to the cleft of the rock of etah uh you messed up you should have sent those three thousand men to withstand those Philistines and to throw down with them don't send them against Samson and really 3 000 men they obviously knew Samson pretty well if he's able in one exchange to get rid of a thousand Philistines with the Jawbone of a donkey yep we better send three thousand men to try to barter or broker some peace with Samson but this is a wretched response on their their their uh their part and then notice they Embrace subjection to the Philistines they embrace it they welcome it they love it they own it not only is there no Cry of distress in their current situation they're actually identifying with their oppressors so verse 11 and 3 000 men of Judah went down to the cleft of the rock of Egypt and said to Samson do you not know that the Philistines rule over us what is this you have done to us this you have jeopardized us you've put us in an uncomfortable situation just like Caiaphas prophesying this morning we need to do something that's expedient for us not something that's lawful not something that's right not something that's just not something that's legitimate but we just want some temporal freedom from the problem of the Philistines you see what they say they have completely abandoned the god of Heaven and Earth god Set Samson over them as a deliverer they should be rallying behind him following him into battle against the Philistines not delivering him up to that enemy oppressor so they Embrace subjection to the Philistines Davis in his commentary which I highly command on the Book of Judges he says sad sad words here is a people who have acquiesced a bondage who can no longer imagine anything beyond the status woe who see Deliverance as a threat to peace who look upon yahweh's enemies as their rightful Lords Israel is a people who can forsake Yahweh instantly but who would not think of being faithless to the Philistines what a pitiful question you see that through the book they don't want to abandon the Philistines but they'll abandon God like that every step of the way now Brethren as we read through narrative like this we ought to imagine that this is somewhat indicative of the hearts of men not just the men of Judah in this particular context there might be something of this in us where we're ready ready to acquiesce to the enemy we're ready to acquiesce to the oppressor we're ready to give up the deliverer just so we can maintain the status quo they actually identify with the Philistines Matthew Henry says cowardly unthankful wretches fond of their Fetters and in love with their servitude notice back in the text Samson invokes the Golden Rule end of verse 11. as they did to me so I have done to them and then in verse 12 they said to him we have come down to arrest you that we may deliver you into the hand of the Philistines they want to deliver him up to death again Davis says the tribe that had formally waited into battle after battle has become a collection of spineless wimps they regard the Philistines as their rulers and Samson as their enemy they don't even want to be yahweh's free people they don't even see that as a possibility see Brethren that is troublesome it's like that scene in numbers 13 and 14. remember in numbers 13 and 14 Moses is told to send spies into the promised land go investigate it see what the land looks like see what the threat is go and assess it recon mission bring back the report well we know the story the 12 Spies go they come back they say it's a great land good Land good fruit but there's these pesky Giants in the land and then they revise their report the Ten of them and they say big land big bigger threat or or Badland bigger threat no hope of course the two spies Joshua and Caleb say let's go at once but Brethren this doesn't happen in a vacuum it starts in gen is chapter 12 when God promises to give the land to Abraham and then he ratifies or continues that Covenant promise to Isaac and then to Jacob and then he calls the people of Israel from the Wilderness to go into the land and conquer the land he's already given it to them and yet they say no the threat is too much we need to be a Joshua or a Caleb Caleb says let's go at once and dispossess the land of the Canaanites well there are numbers 14. guess who the congregation listens to they don't listen to Joshua and Caleb they listen to the ten whiners and they say oh yeah we can't do it we're never going to be able to do it we'll never be able to conquer it so God brings judgment to Bear upon that it's never right Brethren to sight against God it is never right to compromise our allegiance to God it is never right to betray Our God and his promises as long as we are standing fast we are in a good place notice as well Samson asks at the end end of verse 12 he says to them swear to me that you will not kill me yourselves swear to me that you will not kill me yourselves and of course they're right there with their quick answer so they spoke to him saying no we're not going to kill you Samson that's not how bad we actually are we're just going to tie you up and then we're going to hand you to the people that are going to kill you but you know we're perfectly innocent here I I we don't have any ill intent intent against you at all it's laughable Brethren and I think the the author wants us to see the ludicrousness the lunacy of this kind of a mindset on the part of the professing people of God we have nothing to fear if God has promised we have nothing to fear when God provides the deliverer we have nothing to fear what can man do if God is for us so verse 13 they spoke to him saying no but we will tie you securely and deliver you into their hand but we will surely not kill you and they bound him with two new ropes and brought him up from the rock they betray their utter spiritual degradation at this point Kyle and delich make the observation instead of recognizing in Samson a deliverer whom the Lord had raised up for them and crowding around him that they might Smite their oppressors with his help and drive them out of the land the men of Judah were so degraded that they cast this reproach at Samson this is not a happy occasion in the life of the Covenant people this is not their High Point this is not their finest hour in fact this is miserable this is wretched and this does evidence their absolute degradation before God most high and the means that he had appointed to free them from their Philistine chapters they identify with the Philistines they don't want to rock the boat with the Philistines they don't want anything to go wrong with the Philistines they'll continue as subject they'll continue as vassal they'll continue in that subordinate position thank you very much Samson we're going to get rid of you we want nothing to do with any chance of resistance against our enemies and that brings us finally to the triumph over his enemies in verses 14 to 20. notice the Judah Heights deliver the deliverer according to 13B and then in 14 we see the Philistines come against him the Philistines came shouting against him that means they're ready to battle that means they're ready to throw down these again they're not there for tea and cookies they don't they don't want to negotiate this isn't diplomacy diplomacy this isn't let's talk this through Samson let's have an encounter session let's do some therapy let's do some exercises let's engage in some some sort of self-help here no they come shouting against him why because they want to destroy him they have witnessed him single-handedly ruined their economy mock their God and devastate their own countrymen they have Vengeance in their hearts and minds and they want to spend that on this man Sam said but then notice he's empowered by the spirit so they come shouting against him and then according to 14b then the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him the spirit of the Lord can mightily upon him the author does not want us to forget that everything that is happening is of God everything that is taking place here is of God not a bumbling oaf not a lust-filled man not a crazed Glutton that's just wandering around you know killing Philistines and burning down Fields there is a reason for this there is a rationale God raises up Samson to free his people from Philistine oppression so notice the spirit comes upon him and then he throws down it says the ropes that were on his arms became like flats that is burned with fire and his bonds broke loose from his hands he found a fresh Jawbone that's a good bit of good that's a bit of good narration there you'd want a fresh Jawbone if it wasn't a fresh Jawbone it would be brittle the moment you buried it or attempted to bury it into a Philistine skull it might just shatter so the fact that it was a fresh Jawbone meant that it had some usefulness it meant that it could get the job done it meant that Samson was armed and ready to go and that's precisely what we find so he found a fresh Jawbone of a donkey reached out his hand and took it and killed a thousand men with it talk about a succinct piece of narration there wouldn't you like description wouldn't you like about 10 20 30 more verses on what that looked like one man against a thousand men armed with the Jawbone of a donkey and he kills them one after another and all that that entails the blood splatter the the smell the everything that was going on in that instance we have a brief narration of the situation he killed a thousand men with it but just consider from verses 14 to 17. he breaks the ropes he finds the fresh Jawbone he kills a thousand men and then he composes a pun isn't he a wonderful fellow don't you just love Samson isn't he awesome don't you just find this to be gratifying at many many levels Brethren I wouldn't compose upon on the best of days too bad Isaac's not here tonight he'd probably be giggling out of his seat but this man kills Philistines and then composes a pun then Samson said with the Jawbone of a donkey heaps upon heaps with the Jawbone of the donkey I have slain a thousand men and then he names the place and he calls it Jawbone height verse 17 A fitting and appropriate name and so it was when he had finished speaking that he threw the Jawbone from his hand and called that place raymath Lehigh jaw bone height and then finally we see this acknowledgment by the servant of his absolute and utter dependence upon his God he didn't render this because he was Macho I mean I get the impression that he was quite strong he was probably quite built he was probably quite a a menacing looking figure in terms of an enemy but it was by the power of the Lord and he understood that his dependence was always upon Yahweh he doesn't do this independently he doesn't do this on his own he does this by the spirit of the Lord and that's what this last bit underscores notice his physical distress in 18a then he became very thirsty you don't need any explanation for that verse do you I mean I'm thirsty just preaching about it he's thirsty because he's just slaughtered a thousand uh Philistines I doubt it like 588 he said hey can we just take a moment so I can have a bit of water this was a constant battle for the entirety of the time while there were Philistines there was the Jawbone of the donkey being wielded by this man into them so there was no water break so 18a doesn't need any explanation though I just explained it then he became very thirsty so he cried out to the Lord and said you have given this great Deliverance by the hand of your servant he acknowledges the Lord's hand in the victory you have to see that Brethren he stood for God he was not a compromiser like the Judah Heights he didn't abandon his his responsibility and his calling he didn't assimilate the Philistine culture he didn't negate or neglect his his responsibility to hold fast the word of Truth so as God is faithful we see that here and he acknowledges that you have uh uh you have given this great Deliverance by the hand of your servant again Davis says here is Samson dependent on Yahweh here is the savior confessing that he needs saved we have repeatedly heard that Samson power comes from yahweh's Spirit but in case he's failed to register we certain surely cannot miss the picture Samson is anything but self-sufficient that's the gist in verse 18. but then notice he gives this response with reference to the Lord in terms of provision he says and now shall I die of thirst and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised some people hear that and they say that sounds a bit arrogant that seems a bit presumptuous that that's your argument you have given us great Deliverance by the hand of your servant and now shall I die of thirst and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised to Greater the Lesser argument brother and it's a typically wonderful way to argue you've preserved me in the midst of a thousand shouting Philistines you can let me die now with lack of water notice who doesn't think this is arrogant notice who doesn't think this is presumptuous notice who doesn't think that this is untoward in the way that he asks God because God answers and God provides because Samson expresses his need for God's provision vis-a-vis water so that he doesn't die and he can continue on to do the work of men of of Deliverance so the Lord answers and gives him drink verse 19. so God split the hollow place that is in Lehi and water came out and he drank and his Spirit returned and he revived therefore he called its name en hakur which is in Lehi to this day and he judged Israel 20 years in the days of the Philistines it is a wonderful and a blessed description of God's faithfulness to God's servant to bring about the Deliverance of Unfaithful people in his Covenant and there are a few lessons I want to draw out first the enemies of Samson we see the external enemy the external enemy is the Philistines but there's an internal enemy as well and I think at times it's the internal enemy that's harder to deal with than the external we get why the Philistines want to conquer Samson we get why the Philistines want to take him back to their place and and and do you know Untold Horrors to him that that makes sense but why Judah wants to deliver him up it's the internal enemies it's the the problems from within it's the compromise amongst the Covenant people it's the assimilation of Godless culture amongst the the Covenant people it's the the the the the the reneging on the the uncompromising allegiance to to God amongst the Covenant people there have been men in the history of the world that have recognized this Cicero was a Roman politician and lawyer 106 to 43 BC he said there are two kinds of Injustice the first is found in those who do an injury in this case Philistines the second in those who fail to protect another from injury when they can in this case the Judah Heights then there was Edmund Burke he was a British political philosopher he made this observation all that is necessary for evil to Triumph is for good men to do nothing that's Judah right and not only did they do nothing they positively delivered up samset into the hands of their enemies so Brethren if we survey the scene in our own situation we ought to pray for courage amongst the people of God we ought to pray for steadfastness amongst the people of God we ought to pray for this this resistance against assimilation of Godless culture and we ought to pray for uncompromising Allegiance on the part of the people of God we ought to pray for pastors that they would lead in such a way as to produce or provide that example of uncompromising allegiance to the word of God what to pray for our church plans we ought to pray for any future church plans we ought to pray for brothers like we met yesterday who are in very difficult situations that they would not kowtow to the commies but they would be faithful in preaching Christ in him crucified in the midst of that that Godless state do you know what is happening there are churches being built there are churches going forward on that island there is great things happening in terms of Christ and him crucified and resurrected disciples are being made pastors are being trained churches are being planted all in the midst of a Godless wretched horrible situation we hear the reports about China an atheistic communistic country is there a church there absolutely positively there is a church there is it the case that Jesus words are true I will build my church in the gates of 80 shall not Prevail against it absolutely all it takes on the part of God's people is to believe that and to walk by faith to know that God's word is sure and to know that is his word is true second we see the faithfulness of Samson the spirit of the Lord came upon him the spirit of the Lord came upon him and God uses means in this case a man who wasn't assimilating uh culture and a man who was uncompromising with reference to his allegiance to God the Philistines opposed him the Judah Heights opposed him do you remember the Nicene controversy in terms of the the identity of the second person the Trinity whether he's like the father or whether it has the same substance of the father there was a man by the name of athanasius who contended for the truth and athanasius would be exiled for his commitment to that truth there was one time where he said athanasius Contra Munda that means athanasius against the world in other words if all the world denies the truth of God's holy word athanasius Will Stand Fast if everybody in Judah if everybody in Israel if everybody among the Covenant people will will kowtow to the Philistines you've got Samson and he's not going to do it he is going to die trying to resist those Godless Heathen the deliverer function as God called him to Hebrews chapter 11 is the Great Hall of Faith guess who's in that Samson Samson was a man of Faith he was activated actuated by his faith and trust in the living and true God and the deliverer ascribed Deliverance to God verse 18. now I'm not going to say that Samson wasn't a colorful figure there certainly were things that he did that were you know question of all in terms of sin and whatnot but nevertheless God used him and there's one quote it's a lengthy quote but I think it's a helpful one relative to this study it's from Davis in his commentary it's about a particular War the Civil War I'm not taking a side either way with reference to that I'm not taking a side with reference to the North or the south of the characters that are in this illustration but I think you'll get it Davis asks the question why would and Davis disagrees with me a little bit I mean he thinks he was a Godly Man a great man and all that sort of thing but I think I I probably engage in a bit of what's called hagiography which is you know pronouncing sainthood Upon A man uh Samson's just my guy so I I don't I don't want to hide that so we differ a little bit but he says why would Yahweh use a character like Samson as his servant I mean ask that of any of the the the the men that God used in the Book of Judges right jephthah uh uh Gideon Gideon gets told by God what's going to happen but he needs a sign God gives him a sign Gideon wants another one okay you just look at the people that God has used in the history of the church you know read through church history sometimes there's some things that kind of make you go huh really that that happened apparently Calvin had a bit of a temper problem I I mean I don't know that he threw coffee cups and that sort of thing but he certainly had some issues that way I mean all of God's everybody oh like there's no sterile instrument you know God's not like the doctor in the operating room where he's got a sterile you know sterile instruments that he can use to wield upon his his I almost said victim his patient there's no sterile instruments we all come with warts we all come with sin we all come with blemish we all come with issues right and look at Simon Peter and the gospel narratives Lord I I'll die for you I'll die with you he denies Jesus three times not to the Roman Emperor but to a slave girl the the Bible is filled with that look at David the man after God's Own Heart commits The Benchmark sins of adultery and murder how do we explain that so let's apply that to Samson again he's got a little bit less of a favorable view than I do but but back to the text or back to the quote why would Yahweh use a character like Samson as his servant here is a fellow who shatters all our molds conventions and expectations about what a servant of God is to be 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 how popular opinion was against Grant and therefore Grant should be dismissed so that Lincoln himself could retain the country's confidence Lincoln rarely interrupted then as McClure himself reported it quote 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 he may look seedy he may may have trouble with booze popular opinion May stand against him but he fights we cannot explain yahweh's choices that 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 he fights why Samson why not Samson there were no others the rest of them were kowtowing to Godless pagans and willing to do whatever they subjected them to Samson fought God uses means god ordains the means God then fills that means with the power and the presence of the Holy Spirit to enable them to bring Conquest for his glory and for his honor and all behind this is the graciousness and the kindness and the mercy and the provision of God Almighty Samson saw it we see it as we Muse upon it and we recognize it in this new covenant era we do nothing in terms of steadfastness in terms of courage in terms of going forward in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit without God's grace we are a dependent and a needy people and it's best for us to always recognize that to always acknowledge that and to find great comfort in being dependent upon that rock of our Salvation well let us pray Our God and Father we thank you for your word we thank you for this account in judges 15 for the Book of Judges as a whole and how it typifies the Salvation that we have in our Lord Jesus Christ I pray that you would bless us and help us to be faithful help us to be courageous and to be persevering not to compromise relative to the word of God but to hold forth that word to shine his lights in a crooked and perverse generation we ask that you would go with us in this coming week grant us help and strength and Grace and and do sustain us for your glory and for your honor and we pray through Jesus Christ Our Lord amen we'll close with a brief time of meditation