Judges Chapters 14 – 15

Samson

Intro: Garbage Mary – small town in Florida – From an inheritance she was Worth more than 1million dollars – Died a hopeless derelict

A)Her story is the tragic story of Neglected Resources –

B) Samson’s story could be described as a story of Neglected or misused Spiritual resources

C) Samson was a man w/ Tremendous Privilege & Potential – Miraculous birth / Godly Parents / special calling / supernatural gifting

1) Yet He squandered the resources that God had given him & ignored his calling { Life became a story of waste –

D) A story of what could have been / of what should have been – but unfortunately WASN’T –

1) I hate those type of stories – Seen too many of those lately !!!

V.1-

This FIRST PHRASE is so sad- Samson went down

Yes he did

A)He went down to Timnah and saw a woman- THIS was the story of Samson's life

B) He was a HE MAN with a SHE WEAKNESS

1) This is one of THREE women that will be his downfall

Prov 16:32

He who rules his spirit is better than he who takes a city.

C) Samson was capable of taking a whole city – but he was unable to rule his own passions

V.2 –

This request was in violation of the law of Moses – Duet 7:3-4

A)His whole tone is very disrespectful to his parents – Parents in that day arranged marriages – Samson would have none of that

B) He wants to Yoke Himself to this Philistine girl

C) Bible warns for a reason – Don’t be Unequally yoked – Marriage / business – what fellowship ………… Different directions

1) Always an exception : - But for every exception – 50 heart breaks

Well Samson’s father Protest - Judges 14:3

Then his father and mother said to him, "Is there no woman among the daughters of your brethren, or among all my people, that you must go and get a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?"

A)Rebellion against God & his word – don’t do this

B)Listen the 2^nd most important decision a person is going to make is who are they going to marry

C) If you have godly parents – they deserve to be heard – at least pray & consider – what they are saying –

1) Love is Blind – Family can make us think

D) Well Samson’s father – tries to talk to him …………..

But Samson said to his father, "Get her for me, for she pleases me well."

Meaning here is – He was physically & Sexually attracted to her

A)He is basing his decision solely on how this woman looked - He is not the last guy in History to do that – KOBE

B) Run the risk misunderstood – I am extremely attracted to Denise – But – Probably would not have noticed her in crowd

1)Simple reason – she didn’t look like the girls I had dated in the past –

So in a crowd I probably wouldn’t have noticed her

C) We met at a camp – Cute – But I was quickly stricken by her heart – passion for Jesus – love to worship – Drew me in { Fox

1) What a person is on the INSIDE MORE important than the OUTSIDE

D) SO Samson says – get her for me – Now !!!

4 But his father and mother did not know that it was of the LORD -- that He was seeking an occasion to move against the Philistines. For at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.

A)Now this doesn’t mean that God was leading Samson to go against the law of Moses –

B)but rather – God Knew that Samson was bent on doing so and God was going to use the Occasion for his purpose – Over throw Philistines

V.5-9

Here we see Samson touching a dead body – Now he is beginning to go against his Nazarite Vow – Compromise is Spreading –

A)He does this in exchange for some momentary sweetness

B) Not only does he disregard his vow – but he takes the honey & gives some to his parents – but doesn’t tell them where from –

1) He knows that they would refuse it

C) What Samson is starting to do here is to play around w/ the call of God that is upon his life / the purposes of God for His life !!!

1)He is starting to take it for granted – He is ceasing to hide his lack of consecration outwardly at this particular pt.

D) He is taking chances – and what he finds is that – nothing happens

1) Therefore it must not be that big of a deal –

E) RATIONALIZE IT IS OK – instead of realizing that all God is doing is giving you time to repent V. 10-13

Samson continues to go down FIRST he touches a carcass-NOW he is having a party with the Philistines

A)The common practice of the Philistines in feasting was a drunken brawl

B)Since the atmosphere must have been tense at the beginning of the feast, Samson sought to liven things up by posing a riddle.

1) Common Practice – Show off your Strength Intellectually – I am smarter than you --

C)Sad to say, he constructed the riddle out of the experience of his sin!

He didn’t take seriously the fact that he had violated his Nazirite vows.

1)It’s bad enough to disobey God, but when you make a joke out of it, you’ve sunk to new depths of spiritual insensitivity.

V.14-20 TOUGH WEEK –

A)A marriage wasn’t consummated until after the 7^th day – so his bride was given to his best man

B) Listen: The Problem here is that Samson in all his actions is being very Childish –

1) Demanding of Parents – get her for me – making up riddles – touching dead animals –

C) Later we will see him throwing temper tantrums – picking up the gates of a city & carrying them 10 miles away –

D) He has no sober mindedness – about the things of God

1) This is all a game to Him

And Yet he is so mightily anointed – But God hasn’t called Samson to just live for Himself

A)God hasn’t called him to live in this type of Compromise – God hasn’t called him to live a lukewarm Kind of life – to just exist !!!

B) To just kind of make it thru until the day of his death

C)No God has called him & raised him up for something great

1) God has called him & raised him up for such a time as this for a certain hr

in order to have a HUGE affect on God’s people

D) That is how big the vision was & that is what Samson was throwing away with His stupidity

God has a vision for everyone of us – Don’t throw away what God wants to do in & thru your life with your own Stupidity / Selfishness

A)Living a life – like Samson of uncontrolled Passions

B) 1Thes 4 – Know how to possess ……. Sanctification & honor

C) Listen we have been called to serious Business – there is a generation of people who desperately need to be reached –

1) We represent JESUS TO THEM

D) We have no idea the impact that our lives are going to make – large or small seen or unseen for the Lord

1) God wants to use us – AVAILABLE & BOLD

One of the Saddest things to see is enormous gifts get wasted – because someone never gets serious about the Lord

A)That is Samson he is ABSOLUTELY PATHETIC as it relates to the things of God

Samson never did get the girl that he wanted & the greater tragedy is he never became the man that God planned

B) He is going to pay an enormous price for it too – so too will those who are around him - Ch. 15 V. 1- 2

C) Samson puts this girl & her father in a terrible position because of his folly - V. 3-5 Amazing 300 foxes- Burned their livelihood

V. 6-10

Caught in a Crossfire –

V.7-17

This is GREAT- Think about this for a moment

A)The Philistines were the MOST advanced in military technology and the Lord enabled Samson to defeat them with the jaw bone of an ass

B)Back in JUDGES 3 a guy named Shamgar killed 600 men with a STICK (ox goad)

C) Later on, the giant of the Philistines will be killed with a sling and a stone

1) That is the way of the Lord- Using FOOLISH and WEAK things

18 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?"

Samson’s First Prayer – Not a man of Prayer

A)Too self confident –

B) But God still answers –

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 Hakkore, which is in Lehi to this day. 20 And he judged Israel twenty years in the days of the Philistines.

C) 20 Year gap -