Judges 16.docx
Notes
Transcript
Prequel to Saviors that fail: When: Israel was in slavery for 400
years. Then Moses led the Exodus into the desert. His successor,
Joshua, let them into the promised land. The 12 tribes of Israel
came from Jacob’s (aka Israel) 12 sons. The “Judges” didn’t judge
in a courtroom. They were “deliverers” or “saviors”.
Last week on Saviors that fail: Samson had a running soap
opera. He married a Philistine woman, but that went south after
everyone cheated at riddles. Samson burned down fields and
groves as revenge. The army of Judah goes an arrests Samson for
it and turns him over to their enemies, the Philistines! Samson kills
1K Philistines with a donkey jawbone and sings a song about
himself.
This week on Saviors that fail: Judges 1:19 says The LORD was with
Judah and enabled them to take possession of the hill country, but they
could not drive out the people who were living in the valley because those
people had iron chariots. Now, in this final deliverer, it comes full circle.
Application →Oh be careful little eyes what you
see. ....
And will someone finally tell Spain about the Light of the world???
Judges 12:8-13:25 Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
Samson and Delilah
16 Samson went to Gaza, where he saw a prostitute
and went to bed with her. 2 When the Gazites heard that
Samson was there, they surrounded the place and
waited in ambush for him all that night at the city gate.
They kept quiet all night, saying, “Let’s wait until dawn;
then we will kill him.” 3 But Samson stayed in bed only
until midnight. Then he got up, took hold of the doors of
the city gate along with the two gateposts, and pulled
them out, bar and all. He put them on his shoulders and
took them to the top of the mountain overlooking
Hebron.
4 Some
time later, he fell in
love with a woman named
Delilah, who lived in the Sorek
Valley. 5 The Philistine
leaders went to her and said,
“Persuade him to tell
you where his great strength
comes from, so we can
Gaza
Chapter 16 begins and ends in Gaza. It was one of the Philistines’
Five Great Cities, and was much larger and more prosperous than
any Hebrew town at that time. Fertile farmland (which Samson
burned last chapter) supported the city. The gates would have been
big. Archeology in the other cities revealed swinging double gates
12” wide with iron crossbars. Hebron is 45+ miles uphill!
overpower him, tie
him up, and make
him helpless. Each
of us will then give
you 1,100 pieces
of silver.”
5,500 pieces of $ilver
The price of a slave was 30 pieces of silver. If
all 5 city governors gave 1,100, that is makeOprah-jealous money. It’s pay-anything-ittakes money. Mega-Millions. Delilah has
motivation to persist.
6 So
Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me, where does
your great strength come from? How could someone tie
you up and make you helpless?”
7 Samson
told her, “If they
tie me up with seven fresh
bowstrings that have not
been dried, I will become
weak and be like any other
man.”
8 The
Philistine leaders
Bowstrings
Bowstrings were made out of
animal tendons, and Samson insists
on freshness. His prohibition
against touching dead animals is a
mere joke to him. Killing enough
animals to tie him down would be
expensive, as would new ropes.
brought her seven fresh bowstrings that had not been
dried, and she tied him up with them. 9 While the men in
ambush were waiting in her room, she called out to him,
“Samson, the Philistines are here!” But he snapped the
bowstrings as a strand of yarn snaps when it touches
fire. The secret of his strength remained unknown.
10 Then
Delilah said to Samson, “You have mocked me
and told me lies! Won’t you please tell me how you can
be tied up?”
11 He
told her, “If they tie me up with new ropes that
have never been used, I will become weak and be like
any other man.”
12 Delilah
took new ropes,
tied him up with them, and
shouted, “Samson, the
Philistines are here!” But
while the men in ambush
were waiting in her room, he
snapped the ropes off his
arms like a thread.
13 Then
Delilah said to
Samson, “You have mocked
me all along and told me lies!
Tell me how you can be tied
up.”
Samson treats his blessing like
a joke his whole life. He gives in
to the woman EVEN KNOWING
THE CONSEQUENCES.
He told her, “If you weave the seven braids on my head
into the fabric on a loom—”
14 She
fastened the braids with a pin and called to him,
“Samson, the Philistines are here!” He awoke from his
sleep and pulled out the pin, with the loom and the web.
15 “How
can you say, ‘I love you,’” she told him, “when
your heart is not with me? This is the third time you
have mocked me and not told me what makes your
strength so great!”
16 Because
she nagged him day after day and pleaded
with him until she wore him out, 17 he told her the whole
truth and said to her, “My hair has never been
cut, because I am a Nazirite to God from birth. If I am
shaved, my strength will leave me, and I will become
weak and be like any other man.”
18 When
Delilah realized that he had told her the whole
truth, she sent this message to the Philistine leaders:
“Come one more time, for he has told me the whole
truth.” The Philistine leaders came to her and brought
the silver with them.
19 Then
she let him fall asleep on her lap and called a
man to shave off the seven braids on his head. In this
way, she made him helpless, and his strength left
him. 20 Then she cried, “Samson, the Philistines are
here!” When he awoke from his sleep, he said, “I will
escape as I did before and shake myself free.” But he
did not know that the LORD had left him.
Samson’s Defeat and Death
21 The
Philistines seized him and
gouged out his eyes. They brought
him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze shackles,
and he was forced to grind grain in the prison. 22 But his
hair began to grow back after it had been shaved.
23 Now
the Philistine leaders gathered together to offer a
great sacrifice to their god Dagon. They rejoiced and
said:
Our god has handed over
our enemy Samson to us.
24 When the people saw him, they praised their god and
said:
Dagon
Just like the Romans merged their gods with the Greeks, Philistines
merged their gods with the Canaanites. Dagon was the father of Baal, but
Canaanites liked Baal and Philistines liked Dagon better. Dagon first
appeared in Joshua and appears next in 1 Sam. 5, where the Philistines
capture the Ark of the Covenant and take it to their temple to Dagon in
Ashdod (another of the 5 cities). The big statue of Dagon fell and the
Philistines moved it to two more cities which got plagues before giving up
and giving it back. Multi-story temple compounds to Dagon have been
excavated in 2 other Philistine cities (Tell Qasile and Ekron). Notice how
they treat Dagon compared to how Israel treats their Lord.
Our god has handed over to us
our enemy who destroyed our land
and who multiplied our dead.
25 When they were in good spirits, they said, “Bring
Samson here to entertain us.” So they brought Samson
from prison, and he entertained them. They had him
stand between the pillars.
26 Samson
said to the young man who was leading him
by the hand, “Lead me where I can feel the pillars
supporting the temple, so I can lean against
them.” 27 The temple was full of men and women; all the
leaders of the Philistines were there, and about three
thousand men and women were on the roof watching
Samson entertain
them. 28 He called out to
the LORD: “Lord GOD, please
remember me. Strengthen
me, God, just once more.
With one act of vengeance,
let me pay back the
Philistines for my two
eyes.” 29 Samson took
hold of the two middle
pillars supporting the
temple and leaned
against them, one on his
right hand and the other
on his left. 30 Samson
said, “Let me die with the Philistines.” He pushed with
all his might, and the temple fell on the leaders and all
the people in it. And those he killed at his death were
more than those he had killed in his life.
31 Then
Prayer
his brothers and all
his father’s family came
down, carried him back, and
buried him between Zorah
and Eshtaol in the tomb of
Why does Samson pray? What does
he pray about? Who does he pray
for?
his father Manoah. So he
judged Israel twenty years.
Where has his family been this
whole time?
Next week on Saviors that fail:
the Canaanites.
Family
Israel becomes worse than