Samson’s War (Part A)

Maybe you're wondering in the process of this devastating effect on their economy. Foxes didn't get it, bubble jackals, but they burn up.

While the court that would attach to the flaming pot would likely burn up before it reached the details and sleepy. Three.

Why not just someone at a time well because it would've just ran off to the den somewhere and then I would been the end of it, but to have them together yoked together like this was actually pretty smart. He tried this before.

This is cross reference radio with our pastor and teacher. Rick asked Rick is the pastor of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville. Rick is currently teaching through the book of Judges. Please stay with us after today's message to hear more information about cross reference radio. Specifically, you can get a free copy of this teaching, and now here's pastor Rick with his message called Sampson's war as he teaches in Judges chapter 15 Judges chapter 15 Sampson's war.

The entire time go through the life of Samson. You get the feeling that devotion was secondary with him and think a lot of Christians can fall into a similar trap where music becomes primary word become secondary prayer become primary word become secondary and flips everything upside down. But that's how his life was upside down so perplexing while not really on the one hand, you understand very easily because he so selfish she so self-centered all about him and the other hand, of course, he's got all of the evidences of God in his life and shows none of appreciation for the Bible is a book of men and women with all their faults and it doesn't give them to us always. This model sinners saved by grace, nice little boys a nice little girls.

It is filled with those who make great blunders with imperfections just like ourselves is why we can identify with them. That's what were eager to receive lessons from the Scriptures because we can and as I look at the life of Samson. I wouldn't protest his presence at the Lord's table in heaven. I don't think you protest any of ours either. I do not want to be the elder brother of the prodigal sea with the elder brother.

The prodigal brother didn't meet his standard.

Why does he get simply because he turns to you, turns back to you dad simply because he repents he's restored and he is celebrated yeah that's exactly why I don't want to be like that. Looking at the lives of these characters in Scripture who ultimately are listed amongst the heroes of faith in verse one after a while in the time of wheat harvest, it happened that Sampson visited his wife with a young goat, and he said let me go into my wife into her room, but her father would not permit him to go in his reading this, it sounds a little comical. He had it says it, it happened. This Sampson visited his wife with a young goat, like the two of them were going to visit the goat was going to be a meal after a while in the time of wheat harvest. Now if you remember the last chapter, Sampson had the marriage ceremony with the Philistine guest but the Philistines had gotten to his wife and under duress or I'll put it this way. They threatened her if she didn't tell the secret of his riddle. They burn her house down with her father and her in it and all the rest of the family and so she of course tried to get the answer to the riddle that Sampson Sampson gave at the festival. And she did get the answer and she told them, and Sampson figured it out. He was so angry he went on a killing spree, and then he stopped off home without consummating the marriage. Well, some time has passed, probably eight months to a year.

Even we don't know for sure.

And now he wants to go and consummate the marriage with his wife to consummate the patrol. It is a time of wheat harvest.

That means it's May or early June.

The different elevations in Israel bring in the crops at a different rate of speed.

It's Pentecost season feast of weeks where the Jews would celebrate the wheat harvest. It happened that Sampson it says here visited his wife with the young goat. This was a beast token couldn't find a bouquet, a box of chocolates, we bring a goat and perhaps he learned since that she had to get the answer to the riddle to save her father's house throughout the life of Samson you. We can tell he has no care. He holds the Philistine men in contempt but but he is attracted to the Philistine women and that brought all these problems in his life. Why didn't he stay in his territory into war with the Philistines instead of trying to mix the two together and it shows up in his ministry as a judge of Israel, but likely he did learn and now he's coming back to resolve the matter in the matter of loyalty you would hope that he gets to the bottom of that with her and I know I heard, or is he just lonely. It does appear that none of the Jewish women at interest in him and never show up in the story except his mom pretty bad when your mom is the only female that likes you anyway and he said let me go to into my wife into her room, a course in his head.

She belonged to him and and he wasn't alone. It was law and the others would do even the Philistines believed that, but her father would not permit him to go in this awkward moment in being that it Sampson. It's a very dangerous is a volatile moment. You never know what this guy in the Philistines verse to her father said I really thought you federally hated her. Therefore I gave her to your companion is not her younger sister better than she. Please take her. Instead what our father really thought this unknown would've been nice. You know, post God hates Anthony coming back hated. He says I thought you hated her yeah because she betrayed me.

Well, you know you and we probably figure that out by now, but legally he's married to patrol the was in force is typical of Samson that she should just wait indefinitely for him to get over his temper tantrum and come back. Also, the he's not blameless in all of this, how he handles it.

But still, this is his wife is not her younger sister better than she. Please take her. Instead, what kind of parent is this I'm accrued like Laban and hope but the is that any way for parent to speak of a child.

Well, you know she got ugly. Anyway, the elements better. This was crazy to did to do this to a child. The pit one against the other or so wanted.

Being above the other. What a recipe for ruling and pain-and-suffering so unnecessary. But these were immoral people.

No one would like to be treated this way. Why would you treat another that weighs the questions that the New Testament starts holding us accountable to getting to the bottom of not letting us wiggle away from. And they were commanded to be evicted from the land which the Jews did not do Joshua and Caleb's generation. You know they think they subdued the land and they left it to the future generations.

He said now we laid this foundation go finish the job well. They did not finish the job and they are reaping the consequences will return to that but beginning the work in earnest was not enough. Verse three as a nation getting rid of the Philistines and the other Canaanites and Sampson said to them. Verse three. This time I should be blameless regarding the Philistines. If I harm them.

This is a threat when he justifies his possible destructive actions because you cheated me.

Now I declare war on your nation will personal reasons is not well you know God is Ira. I'm just remembered, you know I've been a little negligent. We been commanded to get you people out of the land of they would need to ramp that up again know he does not do that. This is personal. You hurt my feelings. You've stolen my wife.

You had no right to do that. So I'm going to hurt you and you will be able blame me like a five-year-old. You can't blame me for what is blame the do it in your killing people on the blame has something to do it in course guilty of it, but the way he is saying it is that I'm justified in doing you harm. Nevermind that the people that he's intending to harm his people go did nothing wrong to him. If anybody should have been punished would've been the father-in-law had no right to give the his daughter away, but any took Sampson's funeral patrol money. Then he gets another hit from the substitute husband and will get verse six will see that the everybody will say Sampson did this because his wife was given away. So Sampson decides to take out his anger on the Philistines, and he does it in a very radical very serious way, and it just brought nothing but bloodshed.

He's going to literally burn up of their fields and their groves and vineyards is going to damage their economy, severely blaming them again for taking away his wife what his motives, nothing to do with God. So unlike David so unlike Caleb and Joshua is content to live with the Philistine, so long as they don't cheat him once they cheat him. He's provoked and he feels now that he can strike back petty person is what he is and their petty people like this, they just won't let it go. If you hurt their feelings in any way New Testament we find Paul dealing with the soul and suffer the loss. Paul says is this Christian taking Christian to court in front of the unbelievers and and bringing all air and all the laundry in front of everybody without shame can't stop doing this. And so we have the precepts, the letters of the apostles and those under their authority. Sampson was spoiled rich kid. Now that does not mean all rich kids are spoiled. I've met good amount of them and they're not all spoiled some of them are very noble and you can find spoiled poor kids, which is, worse, because you can borrow anything from so this David King David to hold motives next to each other when he faced Goliath and David said to the Philistine, you come to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a javelin select gear to take out a shepherd boy on the little overkill that Goliath says David to Goliath, but I come to you in the name of Yahweh of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied your beloved God was center for everything David did when he was sitting he knew it was wrong and it was way wrong, but it's God is always in David's thoughts Sampson. You just can't make that case for him. How would you like to be his lawyer, getting him into heaven. Well, he is a believer and the evidence is Hebrews 11 that would be probably all you've got. While our not reading the whole life of Samson which is getting the highlights in their brutal, not in his favor. Verse four. Then Sampson went and caught 300 foxes and he took torches turn the foxes telltale and put a torch between each pair of their tails were also course you how much time to know these are jackals not likely foxes all get back to that moment but he's thought this out East.

He is been stewing and bring how much time does it take to set bait traps and empty them and keep them alive. Do you get up to your 300 quota I mean is that it is in his head.

He is like boy wait till they get a dose of this he is deeming the scorn of burning in his heart, not as part of the no eat next with our discordance in their Sampson's war and it will cause the Philistines to understand that Sampson is the bringer of death when he shows up Philistines will die some nice point in the story, though, that there are no recorded Jewish deaths under the judgeship of Sampson doesn't mean that did not occur, but they're not mentioned in and that is significant to his judgeship, but the passion to get even. It seemed to come so easily to Sampson. It is no problem. On second thought, not now you going to pay said the guy you just do not want to wrong you give them $0.90 a change or dolly didn't accidentally leave at a time, come kill everybody walk these animals in the Hebrew the Fox and the jackal have the same name and how you distinguish them, I guess is from the contacts and here's a good lesson on scriptural context because foxes then not abundant in the and the re-in that region, not as jackals were and so that is of course one of the answers foxes being solitary animals me to be a lot more work to get foxes been to get jackals that travel in packs and again large numbers of them were in the land so you it's it's just makes perfect sense and he has to get 300 of them to get his 150 pair of jackals to turn loose from the fields and groves in a way to get the number 300 it be nice if I knew the answer.

You would be very impressed with that Bible teaching boy knew that one.

I don't know how you from I don't know drew straws or something but anyway he fell 300 was what the job called for. You could imagine him outbidding the working galaxy.

I got how many acres here. That would be 300 jackals. This kind of funny that way. But it was nothing funny about it at the time.

This is going to be agricultural, arson, verse five when he set the torches on fire. He let the foxes go into the standing grain of the Philistines and burned up both shocks and standing grain as well as the vineyards and olive groves so you maybe you're wondering in the process of this devastating effect on their economy is what happened to the foxes.

Did they get that ability jackals, but they burn up.

While the court that would attach to the flaming pot would likely burn up before it reached to their tails in the Navy eventually be free. Why not just someone at a time while they because they would've just ran off to the den somewhere and then I would been the end of it, but to have them together yoked together like this was actually pretty smart as he tried this before you see them further sided by doing harm to you it's your fault that he tries with one jack on the jackal go the wrong way back to the drawing board and when he's doing to. He's probably saying to himself, Sampson genius super genius little while. E.

Coyote in this coyote met anyway, the killing fields go to begin now this is again as this would be, you know, stealing all the backbreaking profitably breaks their economy or to major damage to it targeting their food supply. The wheat, the grapes, the olives and the olives at multiple you know they were multipurpose product. I mean, you'd not only did you eat the olives and make also to nice dishes with them, but use the oil for lamps and for lotion heating. Well Lampson just had a lot of purposes shocks here are the piles of sheaves that were cut and stood on edge and ready for them to just come pick up and start working, preparing, and yet he burns them up so this this really got them was he expecting them to do. I think is provoking them.

He knows and little pick a fight I'm going to go from going to declare war on them. Verse six then the Philistines said who has done this and they answered Sampson son-in-law of that timid night because he is taking his wife and given her to his companion, so the Philistines came up and burned her and her father with fire will again they were going to stand around doing nothing while their food and fortunes went up in flames and we can hear them say who brought this on us so that you know Tim and IDD put this Hebrew into the mix is the problem and that's why they go to him. This reminds us in Genesis 39, with Potter for the master of Joseph, his wife Joseph refused when she squeals on him and which is a Fremont. She said to the others. See he has brought into us a Hebrew to mock us so she praying brings out he's, you know what you see is races with the whole thing while you can bet some of that was going on there who brought this to Hebrew into town to do this and will they would they go to thousand Sampson's wife's father and of course what they do is not only unjust, it is inhumane is colder deaths were painful and's and senses are just horrible in the long run. She tried to save her house from being burned by these people and it gets burned down anyway. Her betrayal of Sampson did not bring her safety. It cost her and her family. Their lives and so as we look at that, we say well in these the people that Sampson is dealing with. We know that, and he is beginning to deliver his people.

This would've gotten worse in time. Had God not raised up deliverers in verse seven it says Sampson said to them, since you would do a thing like this. I will surely take revenge on you.

And after that I will cease well.

The cycle of evil is started. He thinks that he's going to end it, but it's not going to end this horrible cycle that he is put into motion. Incidentally again in verse six it says because he is taking his wife and that's the point I wanted to make earlier.

Everybody understood that this was indeed his wife and had the man.

The father had no right to give her away. That does not justify Sampson's other behaviors and with how quickly the flesh wants to justify its wrongs.

Verse seven where it says who would do such a hit inhumane thing like this.

He's route religiously adolescent Sampson is he doesn't grow up, at least not in this chapter. Maybe by the end of the chapter. There's a hint that he improves some, but that is naïve of him to think that he can just dictate the terms I'm going to punish you for what you did and then will be even and they going to say okay that's just as just very foolish verse eight and he attacked them hip and thigh with a great slaughter. Then he went down and dwelt in the cleft of the rock of Eatontown. Sorry, he goes and slaughters a bunch of them are not told how many and then he goes home to assist what he does ease somewhat of a bully. The causes of the Lord and not his causes Sampson's image or whatever is hard.

Wow, whatever and so were says a tax them hip and thigh. In other words, he wasn't fooling around and by telling us it was a great slaughter. We know that is.

This was severe. We don't even know if he used a weapon or just for just you know one punch gun of deathblow on anybody that was hit by him or even raised so there Hebrew for the phrase hip and thigh. Is he struck them fire upon the lion so just with with much strength. Verse nine and now the Philistines went up and camped in Judah and deploy themselves against Lehigh.

That's not a high school incidentally reckless Sampson personal feud again is escalating and now it's going to be internation or international, we would say it's an internation emergency it's an emergency on the Philistine side they have to respond to this and it's an emergency on Israel side because they have the weapons in the armies and they can, and do a lot of damage so the tribal leaders are very much on Jewish side concerned about this firsthand and the men of Judah said why have you come up against us. So the answer we have come to arrest Sampson to do to him as he has done to us know what's left out of the details. Of course, glad about that of the Bible story is notorious for repeating the whole story again, but you know he burned about our produce in these killed people and we've come together, who can blame them.

God warned the Jews that if you do not drive these people out there going to be a problem numbers 33 verse 55 and how many times does he have to say just once.

If you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then it shall be that those whom you let remain shall be irritants in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall harass you in the land where you dwell in this is being fulfilled not only here but it is being fulfilled here. Verse 11 then 3000 men of Judah went down to the cleft of the rock of eat and said to Sampson, 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 little baby tit for tat. There they started it and needs to know he's a grown man well this is only one time. The only time under Sampson's judgeship that we read of the Jews mustering an army putting an army on the field and that's kind of sad and is not against the Philistines and Sampson they get.

Do you know what he's a problem and we better send one to 3000 3000 mentioned. By the time he's finished killing 2500 will be exhausted in the other 5500 can just throw a net over him. I don't know that thinking of. They had to be thinking that way when they saw the Philistines job with a thousand innocent and that's not gonna work right so you know you have to ask the question if they mustered an army like this. This quickly 3000 men wasn't that Sampson was just too difficult to work with the bother mustering an army to get back on him or his leadership skills so awful that no one would follow. We get that impression, you get the impression I work alone kind of thing, but also that good because we can't work with you and that would be a tragedy or was it that the people were so incompetent and spineless and so given into being, you know will overbuy the Philistines. It seems that I can work with these people. I rather not have them on my side. Then have them I can do better without either way for both offer all of Israel.

It's a lost opportunity to have this advantage. The Philistines knew how to use Goliath. They had Sampson move.

Thanks for tuning in to cross reference radio for this study in the book of Judges cross reference radio is the teaching ministry pastor Rick Gaston of Calvary Chapel in Mechanicsville, Virginia. If you'd like more information about this ministry, we invite you to visit our website cross reference radio.com will find additional teachings from Pastor Rick available there and encourage you to subscribe to our podcast by doing so you will be notified of each new edition of cross reference radio. You can search for cross reference radio on your favorite podcast that work just follow the links and cross reference radio.com that's all the time we have for today. Join us next time to continue learning more from the book of Judges right here cross reference rate