Address—Bruce Anstey
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I'd like to speak about a man.
Who was given tremendous potential.
And.
A man that could have been used mightily, far more mightily than he was used, had he submitted his will to the will of God.
I want to speak about a man named Samson.
I want to make some practical applications for our life, so let's turn to Judges Chapter 13. You know, when we think of Samson.
We think of a man that had superhuman strength to do amazing feats and exploits as the story unfolds and tells us.
But that amazing strength that he had is a type typical of the of a spiritual gift that one has been given by God.
And he was responsible to use that power, that ability that he had for the blessing of God's people and for their deliverance. But he was a man, as we know.
That was marked by self will. He wanted to serve the Lord. Hebrews 11 tells us that he had faith wanted to serve the Lord in his own way. He did not want to serve the Lord in the way in which the Lord and his word marks out. And so much of his service was spoiled because of the self will.
And we don't have time this afternoon to read all of the Count of Samson, so I'm going to pick out certain verses and focus on them.
And let's read first of all chapter 13 and verse one. And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord delivered them into the hands of the Philistines 40 years. This is the 7th and final declension that is recorded in the book of Judges, where we see the children of Israel doing evil and turning away from the Lord.
And it's a sad condition that they're in indeed.
In fact, you will find that in the previous declensions that the people, when they turn away from the Lord, the Lord would allow an oppressor to come as the Philistines here.
Something different about those previous declensions that you don't see here in this 7th and final one, and that is that when the people were oppressed by their enemies they couldn't take it any longer. And what happened was that they cried out to the Lord and the Lord and mercy sent a deliverer. But here we see that they have spiraled down downward until finally and this last and final declension. It's more pitiful than any of the previous because we see that there is no cry from the people. It seems that they had got comfortable in their.
Departure from God and didn't even seem to know or care about being delivered. And so there's no mention that the people cry out to God to send a deliverer. But we find the faithfulness of God and the mercy of God. He raises one up anyway, that's how good of a God we have. So you can see that it was a time of failure and a time of great declension in which Samson lived. And I don't have to tell you as far as the Christian world is concerned, the Christian profession we live in Samson like days.
What I mean by that is that we live in days when there is much departure from the truth of God and what we see out there. It passes, as Christian is far from what God's ideal is, and there is much ruin and failure in the Christian profession. But yet we find that God was working in that day and he's working today. And what we see here is that God visits a certain insignificant family and would seek to raise up their son, that he would be a help and a blessing to God's people.
And you know, the Lord is doing the same thing today. God is doing the same thing today. He's looking out over the vast numbers and Christian profession, and he is seeking to raise up a deliverer, a helper, a servant or a minister that can bring deliverance and blessing to his people today. And I don't have to say to you that it's pretty obvious that God would like to use those of us that are in this room here this afternoon.
Now Samson was endowed with incredible potential, as we see in his amazing strength that he had. But you know, I see some potential in this room too. I see some very promising young brothers and young sisters that if you will submit your will to the will of God, you will be used for a blessing of His people. And it requires a decision on your part, whether you would want to put your life into the hands of the God that loves you and the Savior that died for you.
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That you can be a help.
But you know, many service and many a servant has had their life spoiled just like Samson, because they wanted to do it their own way. And when you want to do it your own way, it's not going to work. You know, the Apostle Paul counseled Timothy in Second Timothy Chapter 2, and he told him that you have to serve according to the rules. And he spoke about how the athlete has to compete in the games.
According to the rules and he would not be crowned.
Reward. And as he abided by the rules of the game and he illustrated used that as an illustration that we have to serve the Lord according to the principles of God's word if we're going to have our service blessed of God and to receive a reward. And so it requires I, I submissive will. And so it's interesting to see here that the day was very weak.
We find that God began to work in the family of Samson by visiting his mother and father before they were even born. And it was the Angel of the Lord that came and appeared to his mother 1St and then to both his parents. And we find that this if you were to read of Jan Darby translation or other critical translations, that this Angel of the Lord the A there and the Angel should be capitalized all through the chapter. And it's capitalized because it's denoting A deity, it's the Lord himself.
Came to visit them.
And the Lord came to do what he came to exercise Manoa and his wife about raising a son that would be used for the blessing of God's people. And I believe that the Lord comes to every young couple and every young Christian family.
With a similar desire to exercise them with regard to.
Raising a godly family, sons and daughters that could be used of the Lord.
And this would tell us that even though there's very dark days in which we live.
Much failure in the Christian profession. There's no excuse for us not to have a godly home. And so now I speak to those who are just sitting out in a Christian life as a husband and wife and as a maybe, of course, embarking on having a family.
That you can still have a godly household in spite of the fact that there is much failure in the Christian profession.
And the lesson that we find here is that the Angel of the Lord would have them to be exercised.
About preparing the nest before the sun was even born. They wanted he wanted them to get their household in order before the boy was even born into the family. And that's good advice for us too. The time to begin gathering principles that would govern a Christian household is even now, before children come, even before you're married. You young brothers and young sisters can be gathering principles from the word of God that will be put into place when the time comes that you will have a be married and have a family.
So God would exercise us to prepare the nest before.
The children come. I mean, nature itself even teaches you that, you know, it says in Job 12. Go to the birds. Go to the beast of the field. They'll teach you how many birds that you know of that you could name.
Have a little little bird, a little chicks before they build their nest. We all know what happens around this time of year. They go out and they build a nest. The next thing they lay some eggs in there, the next thing they hatch those eggs. That's an order that's in creation. Nature itself teaches you this order. And so it's good for us, even though you didn't say, well, I'm not married.
That's true. You may not be.
But you can gather principles now from the Word of God that you can put in place later in your life. So we find here that the Angel of the Lord visits them, and they're very exercised and very interested about what he has to say. And it's interesting that they, they set them on their knees and they began to pray, and they asked the Lord to send the Angel again, which he did come, and they asked the question.
Teach us what we should do or how we should raise the child.
And it's very interesting to me that the Angel did not directly answer that question, but he laid out some very certain principles that would help them with regard to that. We may have questions with regard to specifics about raising children, but it's interesting to me that the Lord would lay down general parameters and if we follow those, we're going to be blessed. Now, I don't want to speak in this chapter, really. I want to talk about Samson himself, which comes up to the next chapter, but just point out these couple of points here and that is the Samson's home was characterized by two things.
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First of all, what the Angel of the Lord told them is that they needed to have Nazarite principles of separation in place in the home. And his mother was to take up the vow of an Nazarite herself. And because if they were going to have a Nazarite sun raised, there was going to have to have a consistent principles in the home with the parents as well. And you can just see why, because the children in their young years take much of their.
Formation and character from the mother. And so if the mother had the Nazarite ship vow and practice Nazarite separation in her life, then the child will follow suit. You say what is Nazarite Shep talk about? Well, it's just simply that one would have exercise to keep separate from the influence of the world and the flesh in one's life so that one could be serviceable for the Lord.
The Lord can't use this to any appreciable degree. If we're walking in paths of disobedience, He wants us to take up with those principles of separation so that we could be useful to the Lord. You get this in Second Timothy chapter 2, how we're supposed to separate from purge ourselves and those things.
That are dishonouring to the Lord that we may be prepared by the master and fit for his use. And it's the same thing in this picture of Nazarite ship. And so she was to be careful to keep herself free from those three things that mark Nazarite chip, and I don't want to go into it, But it was just simply that she wasn't to drink any wine which would speak to us of intoxicating pleasures of the world. There was to be no razor upon the head, The hair was to grow, which speaks to us of submission to authority. And thirdly, there was to touch no on no dead body which would speak of.
No unholy associations. So there was to be this in the home if the boy was to be raised for God's glory and help. But I just pray that there would be this exercise with the young families that are growing up and raising or about to raise families. But you know, Samson's home was not only to be characterized by the strict principles of Nazarite separation when the Angel was about to leave them.
The parents wanted to detain the Angel and wanted to ask more. That's keen. They were keen about what to do and he made a suggestion to them that is vital if you want to have a a happy household. And his. He suggested to them that there would be the putting on of the burnt offering. And that's the second thing that the home needs to be characterized with. Not only should there be the principles of Nazareth separation, but there should be putting on the burnt setting, on the offering of the burnt offering in the home.
And what is the burnt offering speak to us of? Oh, it speaks to us of the fragrance, the sweet fragrance of Christ himself.
He must be that sweet fragrance that should permeate the home if we're going to have a happy and a fruitful and a godly Christian home. And so Manoa got busy, and not only did he offer a a burnt offering in his home, but he offered a meat offering as well. And when the offerings were going there in the home, we find that the Angel did wondrously and he went up to heaven in the flame and disappeared out of their sight. And Manoa and his wife were standing there looking up, gazing into heaven at the man.
That had ascended there, and it's a picture for us of how we need to have an upward gaze in our household.
Object of To do with the man that has gone to heaven, Jesus Christ, our Savior. We need to be looking upward as parents. But more than that, we find in the end of verse 20 that not only did they not look up to the man that went up in the flame up to heaven, that they fell on their faces and worshiped, and that would bring before us another posture. Perhaps we could say 2 postures for parents.
Number one is that they would have an upward gaze at the man in glory, and they would also have their faces to the ground, beseeching the Lord with regard to their young children. So that's what we see here in this household, you might say. Perfect conditions to have a young deliverer come up and to be used of the Lord. Now let's read the last two verses of the chapter. And the woman bear a son and called his name Samson, and the child grew.
And the Lord blessed him, and the Spirit of the Lord began to move him at times in the camp of Dan between Zora and Astral.
Zora and Nashville was the Samson was born in Zorro. Estro was a town that was 1 1/2 miles down the road.
And so we find that the word of the Lord from the Angel came to pass, and the moment indeed bare son. And she raised him as a Nazarite. And there came a time in his life when the Spirit of the Lord began to move him, at times in and around their hometown.
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And dear young people.
This is what every godly parent is looking for, looking for some evidence of the movement of the Spirit of God and the life of their young daughter or son.
Some parents look in vain and they can't find anything. It's sad. I hope that's not the case with you, but that there may be things that your parents can see in your life that would show that you have a desire to please the Lord. Just the little movements here and there that give them assurance that you have life and that you have a desire to please the Lord. I don't suppose you realize at all, and you won't realize it until you get in their position how much they yearn before God about this very thing.
That they want to see some movement of the spirit of God in your life.
Well, we find here that the Spirit moved him, as I said, right in his own hometown and the neighboring town. And I believe this is the first place where God's work will take place in an individual, and that is in their own doorstep. In our own homes is where we ought to begin. With regard to godliness, you know, the Bible says exercise thyself rather unto godliness. That's first Timothy 4. Then in First Timothy 5, it says.
That the children would show piety at home. These are the this is the place where the first movements ought to be seen in a Christian's life in and around the home.
Your parents and siblings, neighbors and so on, those in your local gathering should be the first to see the movements of the Spirit of God in your life. If there is any desire to please the Lord, and I hope that's the case, I trust that it is, and we pray indeed earnestly, that that is the case.
For each and everyone here. Now let's turn the page to Chapter 14.
Verse one and Samson went down to Timnath and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines. And he came up and told his father and his mother and said, I have seen a woman in the intimath of the daughters of the Philistines now therefore get her for me to wife.
What we find here?
The first signs of self will in the life of Samson as a young man.
When he was grown, he began to take action of his own. And immediately we see.
That he was an unprincipled young man.
He takes a stroll into Philistine territory, country.
And he sees a pretty figure and a pretty face.
And all at once, he's ready to throw out every principle that he was ever raised on.
He was ready to sell out everything that his parents had taught him, and he wants to marry her.
And so we find.
That it says Samson went down, That would indicate to us that not only that was Tim, NASA in a town that was geographically at a lower elevation on the map. God tells us these geographical significances because there is a spiritual meaning behind it, and the spirit of God would have us to understand that it's really denoting a direction of a person's soul. So when it means that he went down, yes, that means literally went down the hill, whoever this town was.
But it also indicates the movement in which his soul was going. He was going down spiritually.
In fact, you'll find a series of downs in this chapter and it gives us to realize the reason why he was moving in the direction he was, as we'll see here in a minute.
And then we find that he was affected by what he saw.
And you know, the Bible tells us that our hearts are affected by what we see.
Oh dear young person, dear young brother, don't let your heart get enticed by a pretty philistine face.
It won't be for the blessing in your life and you'll be sorry that you did allow yourself to be affected by it. What an incredible contrast we find in this chapter. In the previous chapter we find Samson's parents looking up. In this chapter we're turning the page and Samson's looking down and he's going down and he's determined on a course that his parent must have broke his parents heart.
Here we find this young man wanting to marry one of the enemy of God's people, he said. How could this happen? Well, it's obvious that he didn't value his parents principles.
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He didn't prize those things that his parents had taught him, and so when he had an opportunity when he was grown, it became evident in his life how sad that is.
But really what it was was that he crossed the line that marked the difference between the land of Israel and the land of the Philistines. You see, Timnath was a border town, and when he went, he crossed that border and went into Philistine territory for the purpose of having a little fellowship. He was really crossing and overriding an important principle that God had given to his people that they must abide by. And if they wouldn't, they would not be protected. And that is simply an Exodus 33. We're told that the children of Israel were to keep themselves separate from the nations that surrounded them.
And so we violated that principle, and he just marched right into Philistine territory, and he was looking for a little fellowship. And it wasn't long before he found something that pleased, as I and he wants to come home and marry, tell his parents that he wanted to marry this girl.
And so we find that his parents speak to him verse 3 Now then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among all the daughters of thy brethren, or among all thy people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me, for she pleaseth me well. But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the Lord that he sought an occasion against the Philistines. For at that time the Philistines had dominion.
Over Israel.
So we find here when he comes home and tells his parents what's in his heart, what's in his mind.
We see that they do what every godly parent would do. They resist, They seek to reason with him. But they find that they're running up against a strong willed young man, and he would not receive what they had to say. And he was insistent that he would marry this Philistine woman, one of the enemies of the Lord. And in their reasoning, you can just see the parents were disappointed that he would ever want to marry one of the enemies of God's people.
Perhaps you say, well, really, those verses that tell the children of Israel that they need to keep separate, They should not make marriages with the nations of Canaan. Philistines were not among those seven nations. Good argument. But it's all reason, because if you read in Joshua 13, you'll find there that the Philistines are mentioned in connection with and as part and parcel with those seven nations of Canaan. So it's bogus, that argument. These were the enemies of the Lord's people, and he should not have been wanting to enter into an unequal yoke with this woman.
Who was among the enemies of God's people? The parents perhaps said. Shouldst thou help the ungodly and love them that hate the Lord?
That's in Second Chronicles 19. Shouldest thou help the ungodly?
And love them to hate the Lord. But that's what he was on a course toward. And so we find that Sampson was insistent when they sought to resist. He came back even stronger and said, get her for me, and then, he adds, for she pleaseth me well. And by his answer we see that he was not accustomed to having not getting his own way. He was accustomed, I'm trying to say, of getting his own way.
And.
We can see that his will was not subject to his parents. And there's another verse that comes to mind in Proverbs 15, I think it says he that Will refuses his father is a fool, refuses his father's instruction. And so this young man was not only strong physically, but he was strong willed down here in his heart and it led to all the troubles that were in his life. Now it tells us that his father, his mother, knew not that it was of the Lord.
Now let's get this straight here. the IT that is being referred to here is not the marriage, because that was clearly an unequal yoke that Scripture tells us that he was not to enter into the IT. Here was the desire to have an occasion against the Philistines. As I said, Samson wanted to please the Lord and he had faith.
But he was a confused young man, and he had mixed principles in his life, and he didn't know the desires of his heart. And yet he so he wanted to marry this Philistine girl because he thought he would be in an excellent position to kill the Philistines, and that would be something good. So it was not the marriage that was of the Lord, it was his desire to slay the Philistines. I think, as Mr. Ballot put it, and his little booklet on this he said that it was not the.
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The IT was the motive that was of the Lord, but not the method, not like that. Not it was the motive that was of the Lord, but not the method. The method was purely carnal, and so he was a confused young man.
He had allowed his heart to get wrapped up in what he saw. He wouldn't listen to sound reasoning.
And what we find here is that he was determined upon his course and he wouldn't let his parents talk him out of it.
The method was carnal. You know, there are a lot of Christians. I've seen them.
Sad to say, and perhaps my heart has been there too.
And that is that we get mixed principles.
We want to go along with the world, and so we say yes. But if I went along with some worldly people, well, I'll be in an excellent position to be able to give them the gospel and try to reach them.
But what we don't realize is that there's mixed motives in the heart and the heart is all mixed up. Really, there is ulterior reasons for this.
And God can't bless that because it's not according to his word.
Well, dear young people, hope that nobody has such a desire in their heart. But I'm not so naive to think that any one of us this is beyond any one of us.
Now verse five, it says. Then Samson went down with his mother and father, father and mother into Tim. Nathan came to the vineyards of Timothy, and behold, a young lion roared against him. And the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would have rent a kid, and he had nothing in his hand. But he told not his father and his mother what he had done. And he went down and talked with a woman, and she pleased Samson well. So here we find that all the reasoning with the parents.
Did not work at all. Samson was determined and he goes down yet again.
But we read something else that is very sorrowful and that is he went down and it says, and his father and his mother. Now what we find here is that Samson's parents compromise and go down with their son and follow him in his desire. And this is so sad to me. This is so sad. He was a determined young man and he would not turn back. And the parents thought, well, what are we going to do? We may lose him. He may not ever come back. We never see him again.
And so they chose to compromise principles and to go down with him and help him in his ungodly.
Pursuit is worldly pursuit thinking that somehow they were going to be able to win him.
But you know, it doesn't work. I don't think I've ever seen or heard of maybe you have of parents who have sought to compromise with their young people and their family and hopes to win them in some way and it be blessed of God. So I just say to any parents that are here, don't make this mistake. You know, in the previous chapter, Samson's parents just did everything right that we can see. They had the Nazarite principles in place in their home. They had the burnt offering in the home and.
They sought to raise the sun right, but where we find here is that they fail. And parents aren't perfect, they're young people.
And I don't blame.
Samson's mother and father.
They loved him. They thought this would be the best thing to do. But they were wrong. And so, dear fellow parents here, let's not give way to the fleshly whims and desires of our young people. And So what happens is they go down with them to Tim Nath. Now they cross that borderline and look where he takes them, into the vineyards of Timna. Now why did Sampson take them into the vineyards of Timna? His mother was a Nazarite.
What was he doing bringing his Nazarite mother into the vineyards of Timnath? You see, if you read the chapter on the Nazarite numbers, chapter 6, you'll find that a Nazarite was not to not only drink wine, he was not to even eat the grapes or the seeds of the kernel or the husk.
And by bringing his mother down into the vineyards of Timnath.
He was bringing her into the realm of temptation. It must have been awful mighty.
Tempting to not walk through those vineyards and not want to reach out. Pick a grape.
What was he doing that for? Well, I believe it's because he was trying to break down his parents exercises.
And you know, young people, it's not past your hearts to want to do that with your parents. But I would plead with you, don't be trying such a thing with your mother and father. God will not bless that. But that's what he was seeking to do, I believe. And then we find that he got split up from his parents at this point, and we find that a young, a young lion roars against him.
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And the Spirit of the Lord comes on him, and he rips that line of pieces.
Now why was this lion here in the path? Well, I believe it's because God.
And to come across this path at that time, because he was going in the wrong direction, that lion came out against him because God wanted him to sit up and realize that he was going the wrong way. It ought to cause him to think that he was going the wrong way.
He ought to heard the Lord's voice in that.
But he wasn't listening. You know, the Bible says God speaketh once, yeah, twice. But man perceiveth it not.
What did he do? He used his superhuman strength to just rip that animal pieces and toss it aside and went on his way down to see his girl. He wasn't going to let that affect him. He wasn't going to let that get in his way. He didn't take it as from the Lord at all.
Now you say, Well, yes, but it says the Spirit of Lord came on him and helped them to do that. Well, that's a little picture for us of 1 using his gift and his strength to go on a course that is not according to the will of God.
And God can't bless them.
Next thing we find is that he told not his father and his mother. Why? Well, you might say, well, it was because you know, he was a very humble man. And you know, the Bible says, you know, don't boast about the things that you've done for the Lord. Let another's mouth praise thee and not your own. And he was just a selfie facing humble person. And so he didn't want to speak about his his achievements. But that's not the reason why he didn't tell his mother and his father. He knew that if he told him that a lion came out against him and tried to stop him in his path and they'd say, Samson, can't you hear the voice of the Lord?
And he had. I suspected he had heard enough of that in his life, so he just chose not to tell them.
So he went down verse 7, and he talked with a woman. She pleased him. Well. When he returned back home, he went back to see the carcass of the line. And what does he find there but honey in the carcass?
And you can't resist but take a little honey for himself. And so he picked it up and he ate it. But you know, when Samson did that, he was defiling himself. He was desecrating his Nazarite ship because the Nazarite was not to touch a dead body. And here he reaches down and he takes that honey.
And he defiles his Nazarite ship, and desecrates that vow that was upon his head.
Perhaps you're tempted to take something that you know is defiling.
Samson.
Wanted the honey more than his ceremonial cleanness, and he was willing to sell it out to have a little sweetness, a little forbidden honey. After all, his parents weren't with him. They weren't going to see it.
So he thought he would just reach down and take a little of that forbidden honey. When he gets back home. What does he do? He shares it with his mother, but he doesn't tell her where he got it from. Now, why did he do that? It was not enough for him to defile his own knives by ship. He wanted to defile her too.
Such as the reasoning of the flesh, and I've seen it before, perhaps in my own soul, that when you do something that's not right, or you're going on a path that's not right, you want to see other people doing it as well. I suspect it's to try to keep the conscience at ease. Whatever the case is, I've seen it. You've probably seen it where there are people that are going on a path that they know are dishonouring to the Lord, or at least it's questionable, and the first thing you find them doing is working overtime to try and get others to go with them in it.
I guess it makes them feel better or something, I don't know.
They'll never justify it. So his mother and father take the honey. He probably thought he's a benevolent young man. How nice. He was there to give us that to us. But he was defiling his mother by doing it. And then it tells us that he told them, not verse nine, that he'd taken the honey out of the carcass. Why didn't he tell them?
He didn't want to tell them because he knew that he had defiled himself and he didn't want them to know about that.
They were afflicted if they had found out that he had defiled his Nazarite ship with what he had done.
You're a young person. Have you defiled?
Yourself with something.
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You can't bring yourself to tell your parents what you're going to done.
May God give you the grace to confess it to the Lord and to them if it's needed.
You'll never be blessed in your life. You'll never be happy. Do you get those things out of the way?
But Samson wasn't going to do that.
So it says in verse 10 his father went down and with him and they were going to arrange the marriage feast so that he could go ahead with this. Could things get any worse than Israel? Think of it, a Nazarite, Not just a normal Israelite, but a Nazarite is going to marry a Philistine.
And his father, his mother, were assisting him in it in this way. What a sad thing it is. Oh, dear young people, let this speak to our hearts. You know Samson isn't alone in this.
The word of God is pretty up to date, isn't it? There are young people all over this. Well, Christian young people that have tried this, and I haven't ever heard of any where it works. It tells us in verse 11 That he had companions. 30 companions. But who were these companions? Were the companions of the Lord's people from the land of Judah? No, they were Philistines. Think of it. That was his companion, those people who were the enemies of the Lord. That was the companions with what she hung around with.
And so at the feast there, after seven days, they was going to marry the girl.
According to custom and he makes a Riddle. Apparently it was a custom in that day and it was the form of entertainment.
But he makes this Riddle about what he had done and what had happened with the lion.
This tremendous victory over the line.
But there's another reason why he put it before the Philistines in a Riddle like fashion, and that was of course, he wanted to keep it hidden from his parents, and he thought for sure that no one would ever catch this one. And while he would not tell his parents what the meaning of the Riddle was, he would tell the enemy of the Lord he told the girl.
It's sad, I tell you. You see, as the story unfolds before us, that more and more Samson is beginning to live a secret life.
Couldn't tell his parents about this and he couldn't tell his parents about that because he knew that they would not approve. And you know, Samson's not alone. There are many Christian families that have had the same situation. Or the young people, son or daughter, get moving on a line when they know that is not right and they don't want to tell their parents about what they're doing.
So what happens is that they there becomes, shall we say, an estrangement between the parents and they don't tell them about what's going on. If you were to ask the young people, why don't you tell your parents about what you're doing and they'll give you some sort of an answer like.
Well, my parents can't relate.
But really what it is is that parents don't approve and they know it, and nor should the parents approve.
And So what happens is, as I say, an estrangement develops between the young people and the parents, and a double life is lived, one before the parents and one before the friends in the world.
And So what happens here is he tells the girl what he's got in his heart and what the meaning of the rental is. But he wouldn't tell his parents because he knew that it was something that would.
Was terribly wrong. Now the meaning of this Riddle.
Out of the verse 14 out of the eater came forth meat, out of the strong came forth sweetness, and no one could expound the Riddle.
I doubt if Samson understood the meaning of this. There's a spiritual meaning of this that runs down through the ages, that tells us of the greatness of God. And it is this that every effort of the enemy to thwart the purposes of God and dishonor the name of Christ will be overthrown by God and made to further the glory of Christ. That's what the meaning of that Riddle was. I doubt if he understood any of that, But you see.
The strong here. Or rather, the eater.
To be the lion, but you typify Satan.
God is going to overturn every effort of the devil to thwart the purposes of God for the blessing of his people and turn it around for his own glory and blessing of his people.
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And so it's God's prerogative to be able to take good out of evil, and Mr. Willis in his book mentions that.
The truth in this little Riddle ought to be an encouragement for every parent.
Who has wayward children?
That God knows how to make turn.
Or bring good out of the evil that their children may have gotten into.
And he holds that out and we hold it out this yes afternoon as a word of encouragement for parents who have wayward children.
God can bring And dear fellow parent, I just want to say this to you as much As for my own soul, God can bring good out of the evil.
That your son or daughter has gotten into or is heading toward.
He knows how to turn them back.
But let me just say this. You need to have the burnt offering in your home. Christ before the family. And I didn't mention it back in that 13th chapter, but you'll find that Sam but Manoa was responsible to see to it that his wife held Nazarite principles and he was deceived to it that the burnt offering was there. He was the head of the home. He was responsible to put that in order.
And all I can say is may there are young people never forget the sweetness of the fragrance of that offering in their parents home. They may get far from the Lord, they may get off into the world.
But may they never forget the sweet fragrance of their parents home.
God will use it someday to bring them back.
It's what happened with the prodigal, you know?
He remembered in the far country the goodness of his father, and it turned him around.
But sad to say, many of us.
Have not had a proper balance between the Nazarite strictness of separation and the sweet savour offering of Christ, the burnt offering.
And many of the children.
Don't see or feel.
The warmth of the sacrifice of them and the love of Christ in the home that there ought to be. And there's been an imbalance, and many of us have failed in this.
You know, there's one young person who said went off into the world and these recollections about being in and around the meeting and being raised in and around the meeting, he said this.
All I remember was meetings and beatings.
And that's.
Well, we find near the end of the chapter.
That the Philistines wheatle out of his wife to be.
The meaning of the Riddle. And they come back to him and they say, what is sweeter than honey? What is stronger than a lion. I mentioned this the other night that what is sweeter in the honey? There's a natural people there. They don't know the Lord. They're not the Lords. They've never tasted anything sweeter. And so they think the sweetest thing that anybody could ever taste would be honey. But they're wrong. The Bible tells us the word of God says that this book, the truth of God, the word of God is sweeter.
Than the honey and the honeycombs. Psalm 19. Psalm 119. You look it up, It tells us that the truth of God, the word of God is sweeter than honey. And I just trust that each young person here has tasted the sweetness of that word of the word of God. I believe if the Lord gets a hold of your hearts and you get interested in the scriptures and you get interested in the truth of God, it'll be that which will keep you and help you in the path if your affections are wrapped up in the person that the scriptures are written about.
So how wonderful it is that you just take hold of the scriptures and you really give it a proper place in your life. Because the sweetness of it is sweeter than anything that this world has to offer or anything that nature has to offer. There's a lot of nice and natural things you can get involved with in this world, but the things of God are sweeter by a mile. There's nothing sweeter then. We find that Sampson now has put himself into predicament. He's got to pay off the, the, the.
For losing the the in the Riddle and he needs to give them.
30 changes of garments. So he goes out down to the Ascalon and which is a Philistine city far away.
On the other Philistine lap and he kills these Philistines, 30 of them, brings back the garments, pays off his his debt and.
That was that. And so we find him using his incredible strength, but it was only to get himself out of a jam. It wasn't really for the blessing of God's people or their deliverance. You see, the difference between Samson and the earlier judges is that they moved on the line of dependence upon the Lord, and what we find is that they actually affected the deliverance whereby the land had rest.
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And the people were truly delivered from their enemies. But you never read of that in Sam's life. All his movements added up to nothing more than disturbances rather than deliverances. By the time he dies, the children of Israel were still under the yoke of the Philistines because God could not fully bless what he was doing, because he was doing it on his own line rather than according to the principles of God. And it's sad, you know, God has given each one of us a gift, but we have to exercise an independence upon him and according to his word.
And when we get the two separated.
God can't fully bless it. We'll see it in the 15th chapter if we have time.
So we find here in the last verse, but Samson's wife was given to his companion whom he had used or had made.
His friend and Sir, here we find something else that's very interesting.
Samson is now preserved from making a term terrible mistake in his life.
Said the girl's father gives the girl to his best man and he marries her.
Samson must have been awful disappointed when he comes back to learn that which we get in chapter 15. But my point here is simply this. God stepped into his life that he was headed on a course for destruction and providentially allowed it that he did not get a chance to actually marry her. Jan Darby and his writings HL Rossier insist that he did not actually marry her. Now it's true that you'll read in verse chapter 15, verse one.
That.
She has called a wife and also in verse 20 here.
But you have to understand it in Bible lens when a person is exposed to a woman.
Even though they have not yet come together and officially married, they're still called the wife. And if you want some proof for that, just read Matthew, Chapter one.
It says that there was a man, Joseph and he was exposed to marry.
And before they had come together officially to be married, the Spirit of the Lord, rather, God himself reveals himself in a dream. And what does he say to Joseph? Take Mary thy wife.
See, in Bible times, when a man exposes himself to a wife and is engaged, it's already looked at as a done deal, even though they have not come together physically. And so that's why Darby makes that comment, and it's helpful here, especially in the application that we're making this afternoon. Samson was then delivered by Providence from getting himself into a mess that would have spoiled his whole life. Now you say, well, when you read the whole story, that's exactly what happened. He asked. That's true, but at least he was preserved in time being. And you see the faithfulness of God here.
Coming in, stepping into his life when he didn't even want God to step in.
And God caused a terrible sorrow in his life. And that disappointment, because he wanted to marry this girl terribly, she pleased him well.
But it was for his own good. And I want to tell you young people, there are many of an adult that's sitting in this audience that has God to think for him stepping in, in a providential way in their life. And I'm one of them.
OK, so you may have experienced A disappointment like this in your life, and there's been a breakup and you don't know why. I'll just tell you this. It's because God loves you. He has something better. He's faithful, and he knows that that relationship wouldn't have worked out for the very best.
And what you need to do is to thank them for it. But it will be hard. It's a bitter thing, I know, but it'll be sweet someday for you. And so we find here that Sampson was delivered for the time being. Now, chapter 15, it came to pass within after a while in the time of the harvest stamps and visited his wife with a kid and said, I will go into my wife into the chamber. But her father would not suffer him to go in. So he, Sampson wants to return now and take up where he left off. You think he'd had enough of these Philistines?
Ripped him off. They told lies beyond his back, took his wife and gave it to his best man. What kind of a that shows you the kind of companions that are in this world? What kind of the best man would be happy to take his friend's wife? You think the best man here would have said, well, I'm not going to marry her. That belongs to my friend Samson. I would. No, I just couldn't do that. No, he has no compunction about that. He just steps up and says sure, I'd marry her. And he does.
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Such are the ways of the world.
You see all the friends I know in the world not like that. That's because you haven't seen the true colors.
Just wait some time and you will see it. God will expose it for you. And I believe that God exposed the character of these people for Samson. Samson has got a good index now to what kind of people they were. And what do you find? Do you think he's learned a lesson? Is there any confession here of law he's done wrong or repentance? Not a word. Next thing we find is he goes right back to it again.
Oh, this man is a strong willed boy.
But you know, if there isn't any repentance in our lives, we'll turn around and do the same thing over again. God has to grant repentance, and so we find him continuing this path.
What do we find?
The faithfulness of God yet again.
Providence comes in again when he learns that the girl has been taken to another and a father would not allow him to go in to the chamber with the girl.
And so Providence steps in again, and the father just would not allow it, and so he couldn't do what he wanted.
But we see something else here that is alarming and that is that Samson's morals have deteriorated.
He wanted to go into the Chamber of this girl, which was purely if he wasn't married to, would be purely immoral.
This man heading on a downward course, it's going to crash land sooner or later.
And that's what happens in chapter 16 when he gets into immorality with the harlot. You'll read chapter 16, verse one, but for the time being we find that he has been preserved from this.
And so on his anger and his frustration, he's going to set, he's going to get even with these philistines and he acts on a principle of retaliation.
Now where did he learn that principle? Because God's word for children of Israel is we don't act on those lines. Whether you read it in the Proverbs or in the book of Moses, we're not to retaliate.
Where did he learn that? Well, hanging around with worldly people, He's picked up worldly principles. And so now he's going to try to retaliate on the principle with these Phyllis Dines. And so he's got this idea.
And it's purely of the flesh, because you find now when he chases after these 300 foxes, which should be translated jackals, and he catches them and brings them together that.
He uses them to burn and take down the standing corn of the Philistines so that all the crops will be burnt in that area.
He thought this would be a good way to get even with them. Now let me tell you if jackals and or unclean animals that feed on carrion, and they're a type of the flesh. And so it's a picture for us of the servant of the Lord resorting to a fleshly tactic and his service for the Lord in some way and God wouldn't bless it. And you'll see here that the spirit of the Lord does not mention this coming on him.
God wasn't going to identify with that kind of a tactic, but yet you find that he still has the incredible strength, or shall we say, speed. He's not only a strong man, he was a very fast runner.
And he caught these jackals.
But you know, it's really just fighting the Philistines, fighting the enemy with the flesh. It's a picture of the servant of the Lord resorting to fleshly principles to accomplish something.
In the things of God, and God can't bless that.
And you'll find that whenever the flesh is active in service for the Lord, it is counterproductive.
Now the reason why I say that is because what happens here is that he burns up the grain of God's inheritance. Now is that a bright thing to do?
That was God's inheritance. Yes, it was in the hands of the Philistines, but God's way would have been to appropriate it from the Philistines by defeating the Philistines, not burning the food up. That's never God's life. So it's counterproductive.
And we need to learn that in our service for the Lord that we rely or resort and lean on the arm of the flesh. We cannot expect that God is going to bless it. And So what do we find? The Philistines respond and fight fire with fire. These, these boys are playing hardball.
So they go up to his father-in-law, or was to be, and take his the girl and his father her father, and burn her to the at the stake or burn her up anyway.
There, we're going to fight fire with fire. You burn our crops, We'll burn your heartthrob.
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Such are the ways of the world.
Samson is learning that the way of the transgressor is hard.
There is a way that seemeth right there, but there are but the ends are of is the ways of death. There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof is the ways of death. And so all he did was bring forth death.
What an incredible sorrow. We have exactly 1 minute to go, and So what we find here down in the next, the latter part of this chapter is that Sampson breaks out in a fury and against the Philistines, and he slays them with a slaughter. That's great. And then he goes up to the rock Edom and he dwells there and his brethren come up to him.
And they tried to entreat him and to turn him over to the Philistines.
I don't have time to go any further, but I just want to show you the downfall in chapter 16. I'll just repeat it in this way that by the time you get to the end of the 15th chapter you have the end of the history of Samson's judgeship. It tells you that in the last verse, chapter 16 is appended to it to show us what led to his downfall. And it was twofold first of all as it was his immorality and felt in Gaza and the other was is because he.
Devolves the secret of his Nazarite ship, and so we have two incidences before us in chapter 16 that led to his downfall and it's really sad. I don't have time to repeat it, but you'll find in the hands of Delilah.
That he finally divulges the secret of his strength, and the enemy pounces on that, and he's taken down, You know the story. He loses 7 things. He loses his secret. Verse 17 He loses his hair. Verse 19 He loses his strength. Verse 19 He loses the sense of the Lord's presence. Verse 20 he loses his eyesight. And verse 21. And he loses his liberty.
They bind them in fetters and, last but not least, he loses his life in the hands of the Philistine.
A man that was raised up of God.
That had the potential to affect the deliverance greater than any of these other deliverers.
And it turns out to be a pretty much a flop because of his self Will. Isn't that sad?
One more thing I would like to point out in verse 22, the Samson's hair began to grow again and it just shows us that God can use restored people.
His hair begins to grow again, which should bring before us the idea of.
He's learning submission and for the first time in his life you find that Samson prays.
With regard to his service for the Lord.
Verse 28 He's learned the lesson. He wanted to serve the Lord in his own way, all the way through. But now we find in the last act of his life before he's going to act with regard to the Philistines and pull down that route of the house and everything, we find that he looks up to God and prays and he brings blessing. That was the greatest act that he ever did in his life. So Samson, shall we say, learns, but in a very, very sad way in the end of his life.
It's time to close our Bibles.
You know, this man's life is recorded in Scripture for our learning. We're told in Romans 15, God wants us to learn from the failures of his people as much as from the good things of his people. And so God would have us to learn some very important lessons. Your dear young people, I hope you have heard something from the voice of the Lord, from His word this afternoon, that would cause you to want to please him more and to be very careful with regard to the dangers of fellowship and association with the world. May God bless your life. We pray for you earnestly.
We want to see you. Go on. Don't get tripped up by the Philistines. And they're very deceptive. They know what you're looking for. They know your heart. The enemy knows all about it, and so May God just give you the power to rise above it by His grace. And it's going to come only by drinking in the sweetness of the word of God. Now let's pray.