Teaching Notes

TH1012: JUDGES

This evening, in our study in the book of Judges, we will be looking at the life of a man called Samson, from his birth, to his death. And as we study this section, you will see that Samson was a man of great potential, but he fell far short of what God planned for him. He could have been remembered with the great men of the Bible, like Moses and David. But instead, we will see that in his death he destroyed more of the enemy than he did in his life. Thus, Samson, as we shall see, kept playing with fire till he finally got burned.

JUDGES 13

VERSES 1-2

1. This is the longest period of oppression in the book of Judges, lasting some 40 years, and it is brought about by the Philistines. And the Philistines occupied 5 main coastal cities along the Mediterranean Sea, in the southern part of the land. These main cities of the Philistines were Gaza, Ekron, Ashdod, Ashkelon and Gath.

2. If you remember in our study in the book of Joshua, as the land was portioned out between the different tribes, Dan had the area where the Philistines were located. But they could not drive them out, so most of the tribe of Dan moved northward to the area of Laish, by Mount Hermon. But some did remain in this area, and we see Manoah, the father of Samson, dwelling in Zorah, which was just north of the Philistines.

VERSES 3-5

1. Here we see the pre-incarnate Christ appear before Manoah's wife. And we see that up to this point she had no children, which was a tragedy in this culture. In fact, if you as a woman could not bear children, that was grounds for divorce. But the Lord encourages her by telling her that she will have a child, a son.

2. Now this child was to be a Nazirite for his entire life. You can read about the vow of a Nazirite in Numbers chapter 6. This vow is showing that you had consecrated yourself or dedicated yourself totally to the Lord, and this vow was usually for a period of time. Thus, it was a time to draw close to God and fellowship with God.

In this vow are 3 main points that the person giving the vow was to adhere to: 1. Abstain from anything that came off the vine. Wine produces an artificial joy, but God wants our joy to come from Him. 2. You were not to cut your hair but let it grow during the time of this vow. It showed the fullness we have in the Lord and was an outward showing of our dedication to Him.

3. You were not to touch any unclean thing. This was showing our purity before the Lord as the touching of dead things would make us unclean.

3. In verse 5 it says that Samson will "Begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines." Samson, as we shall see, was a one man show. And he did not destroy the enemy for the nations sake, but because they did something against him. In fact, it is not till the time of Samuel that we see a large scale victory against the Philistines. I Samuel 7:3-14.

VERSES 6-8

1. It is interesting to me that Manoah's wife was to keep this vow while she was pregnant with Samson. Why? Because what you eat and what you do will affect your child. What a great lesson for women today to follow. Samson was to be a Nazirite from conception until his death.

2. Manoah wants a little more information on how to raise this child, so he asks the Lord.

VERSES 9-18

1. Again this is none other than Jesus Christ, for when asked what His name is, he says "Wonderful." It is the same word that is used in Isaiah 9:6. "For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." Now if you don't believe that this Angel of the LORD is Jesus, listen to the response of Manoah in the following verses and I think you will change your mind.

VERSES 19-22

1. Manoah thinks they are going to die, why? Because they have seen God and they recognized that to see God, you would have to be without sin, and they knew they were sinners. Even Isaiah recognized this fact when he saw the Lord and said "Woe is me, for I am undone! (destroyed). Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts." Isaiah 6:5.

VERSE 23

1. Manoah's scared to death but his wife is very logical in her thinking. Why would God accept our sacrifice if He was going to kill us? And why would He tell us that we were going to have a son who was to be dedicated unto Him, if we were not around to have this child? Why would He waste His time telling us these things if He was going to destroy us? Thank God for our wives, for how many times have they encouraged us and comforted us by their very logical and practical answers, just like Manoah's wife!

VERSES 24-25

1. The name Samson means "sunny." Not only was he sunshine to his parents but he was to be a light to Israel, to deliver them from their oppression at the hands of the Philistines. But Samson was a man of contradiction - he fought the battles of God by day and succumbed to the desires of the flesh by night. He was a man of God that lived in the flesh. Again, Samson had great potential but fell far short of what God planned for him. Yes, God still used him, but their was so much wasted potential. The same is true for the carnal Christian, living in the flesh, God still can use you, but their is a lot of wasted potential!

2. Samson lived just north of the Philistine boarder and there the Spirit of God began to work in and through Samson.

JUDGES 14

VERSES 1-2

1. Here we begin to see the problem with Samson. The city of Timnah was located 4 miles into Philistine country. He went into the camp of the enemy. And I am sure that their open immorality attracted Samson, it peaked his curiosity and then he needed to feed his flesh. No longer was it desirable just to walk through the enemies camp, he now wanted to indulge in their lifestyle.

2. In Timnah he finds a woman he wants to marry, a Philistine. The only problem was that God forbid this kind of marriage in Deuteronomy 7:3 which reads "Nor shall you make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to their son, nor take their daughter for your son." But Samson let the lust of his eyes, the lust of his flesh, overtake him and he tells his parents to "Get her for me as a wife."

VERSE 3

1. Samson did not do what was right, but what pleased him. His flesh ruled his life and he was not concerned what God wanted, but what he wanted! His parents even try to persuade him but he blows them off.

VERSE 4

1. Now some will try to justify what Samson did by this verse, and that is wrong. Yes God can take our mistakes, our failures, our sins, and turn them around for His glory. But don't try to justify your sin by making it look good. How many Christians have married an unsaved person feeling that through them their spouse will get saved. And if their spouse does get saved they will justify their wrong behavior by showing you the fruit that came from it, but that does not make it right. As I said, God does, many times, take our sin and use it for His glory, but many times He doesn't and it does not turn out for the good, but is a disaster!

VERSE 5

1. As they are heading down to Timnah, Samson takes a detour, down a back road, without his parents, through the vineyards. Samson, it seems, lived on the edge of serving God and falling into sin. He was not to eat grapes or drink wine and yet he is passing through the vineyards of Timnah. Strike 1!

2. When we are complacent in our walk, the enemy is right there, like a lion, ready to jump on us. That is why Peter admonishes us to "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour." I Peter 5:8.

VERSE 6

1. For the life of me, I just don't understand Samson. He tears this lion apart with his hands, and he doesn't tell his parents what he did. It is possible that by telling his parents where he was at when he did this, they would have been alerted to him breaking the vow of the Nazirite.

VERSES 7-9

1. Beside going to the vineyards, which he was not suppose to do, he touches the carcass of this dead lion. I guess the reason that he didn't tell his parents where he got the honey from was once again that he had broken this vow by touching the dead lion. Strike 2!

VERSES 10-11

1. It seems that Samson couldn't find 30 men of his own, friends that were willing to go into the camp of the enemy, so he had 30 Philistine men help him celebrate. This feast is literally a "drinking party" something Samson was to refrain from, but once again he is right in the center.

VERSES 12-15

1. Samson set's these guys up, for there is no way they could guess this riddle. And so they come before Samson's wife and basically tell her "Why did you bring us here, to make fools of us?" And they give her a little incentive to find out the answer to this riddle. If she doesn't get them the answer, they were going to burn her house and her fathers house down to the ground.

VERSES 16-18

1. We are going to find out that this is one of Samson's weak points, the tears of a woman. And he tells her the riddle, which she then tells the 30 men, who come back and tell Samson. Just like a soap opera. And Samson recognizes that his wife must have told them, for she was the only other person who knew what took place and basically told them if they did not break the rules, they would never have guessed what the riddle was about.

VERSES 19-20

1. Samson was like a hot-tempered little kid. He never grew-up. He lost the bet and has a unique way of paying these guys off. He travels 40 miles to Ashkelon and kills 30 Philistines, takes their garments and pays off these guys for guessing the riddle.

2. And Samson is so upset about this situation, that he goes home, without his wife, and without consummating the marriage. So his father-in-law gives his daughter to the best man, that is Samson's wife is given to his best man.

3. Psalm 32:8-9 says "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye. Do not be like the horse or like the mule, which have no understanding, whichmust be harnessed with bit and bridle, else they will not come near you." God wants to guide us and not with a bridle in our mouth like an animal.

JUDGES 15

VERSES 1-5

1. Samson comes back during the wheat harvest, around may, and brings his wife a gift, a goat. Now guys, if you want to impress your wife, don't give her a goat. It may have been popular then, but it is not today.

2. Samson gets a big surprise here. He finds out that his wife was given to his best man by his father-in-law, for he had no idea that Samson was going to return for her.

3. This sets Samson up for another temper tantrum, and he states that he is not responsible for his actions. How ridiculous, he is going to do the damage, and thus, he is responsible for it. So Samson gathers 300 Jackals together, ties their tails together and puts a torch between them. As he lights these torches these Jackals go running sporadically throughout the Philistine's grain fields, vineyards and olive groves, setting them on fire and destroying them.

VERSES 6-8

1. A Judge was to rally the people together to fight against the enemy, but Samson never does that. The only reason he fought against the enemy was for revenge because they did something against him. He was just a hot-tempered kid that never grew up and just responded out of emotion, he never truly lead the people.

VERSES 9-10

1. Obviously the Philistines are not happy with what Samson did, so they come to Judah, looking for Samson, to arrest him.

VERSES 11-12

1. The Philistines not only made them pay tribute, but they also took away their weapons of war so they could not rise up against them.

2. A couple of disheartening events occur in these verses. The first is that they have resided themselves to have the Philistines rule over them. Secondly, they are turning in a man of God, their own brethren, into the hands of the enemy. Don't ever do that. Understand that "...He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world." I John 4:4.

VERSES 13-16

1. These 3,000 men of Judah turn Samson over to the Philistines, but the ropes that bound him melted off and he grabs hold of a fresh jaw bone of a donkey and kills 1,000 Philistines.

VERSES 17-20

1. After killing these men, he becomes thirsty, and it seems that he is almost sarcastic towards God. He was saying that God gave him the victory over the enemy, but now he was going to let him die of thirst. How sad to see God's children act like children. They never grow up and mature in the Lord. What held Samson back was his desire to satisfy the flesh.

2. Going into the camp of the enemy was wrong, but again, with their loose lifestyles, it satisfied his fleshly desires. And it was while he was in the camp of the enemy, that he continued to move farther from God and closer to a fall. 3. Chapter 15 closes by telling us that Samson Judged Israel for 20 years, but his story is not over yet. As we move to chapter 16 we see how unpredictable and undependable Samson was because he was a double-minded man. That is, Samson was strong before men, but weak before women. He fought the battles of God by day but succumbed to his flesh by night. And being a double-minded man, we will see that he is very unstable in his actions.

JUDGES 16

VERSE 1

1. Now Samson is moving deep into the enemies camp, way down to Gaza, which was located on the south sea coast. And what is his mission? To conquer the enemy? No, he travels all the way to Gaza to lay with a prostitute. He is quickly moving to strike 3, and he's out!

VERSES 2-3

1. When the men of the city found out that Samson was in Gaza, they laid in wait for him. By this time it was getting late and Samson was ready to move on. The city gates were closed, but that did not stop Samson. He removes the gates and takes them upon his shoulders and carries them off to a hill that faces Hebron. Now I'm sure that these guys were not happy, because they were going to have to retrieve those doors and bring t back to the city. VERSES 4-5 1. Here we see that the weakness of Samson's flesh would finally break him, and now it will be at the hands of a woman named Delilah. And the Philistines hire her as sort of a hit man, to find out where Samson's power came from and how they could overcome his great strength. You see, Delilah was not in love with Samson, but in what she would get in return for her information, MONEY!

VERSE 6

1. There should have been many red flags to alert Samson to warn him that what he was doing was wrong, but if he missed all of those, he should have seen this one. And maybe he did see it and he was just playing with her. Teasing her. He was just having fun with her.

2. We as Christians should never play games with the enemy. We must take the battle seriously. "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall." Proverbs 16:18.

VERSES 7-9

1. The first plan that Samson gives her is to tie him with 7 fresh bow strings, and then he will be weak. He lies to her and is just teasing her. Playing with the enemy.

VERSES 10-12

1. Now I can see Samson falling for this once, but here we go again. This second plan is to bind Samson with new ropes, but again that does not work. Now these could have taken place over a period of time, hopefully not one right after another.

VERSES 13-14

1. This time, the third time, he tells her if his hair is braided into seven braids, he will be just like any other man. This too was a lie. Samson is guilty of compromise, he should have just told her it was none of her business. But he doesn't and each time he is getting closer in telling her the truth!

2. As Christians, if someone asks you to go out for a drink, don't tell them "I'm to tired" or "I don't feel good." Just tell them that you are a Christian and that you love the Lord and don't want to feed your flesh. They will never ask you to go out for a drink again. Don't tease the enemy, for they can destroy you.

VERSES 15-18

1. It is amazing to see this man who could kill 1,000 Philistines with the jaw bone of a donkey, fall to the nagging and tears of a woman. And so Samson spills the beans and says that if you shave my head, I will be weak like any other man. STRIKE 3, YOU'RE OUT!

2. The strength of Samson was not in his hair, but in his vow, that he was separated unto God. His hair was just a symbol of that vow. And now Delilah knew that Samson was telling her the truth.

VERSES 19-21

1. Samson had reached a point in his life where he did not even recognize that the Lord had departed from him. As we read in II Chronicles 15:2, "...The LORD is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you." As you play games with the enemy, it is possible that you can be totally unaware that the anointing of God is no longer upon your life. Don't play with fire!

2. So the Philistines cut his hair, capture him and put out his eyes. He then is brought to Gaza to work as a slave, like an animal, grinding at the millstone, which was a job that was usually reserved for a donkey or mule.

VERSE 22

1. Again people read this and think this is where Samson's strength was at. No it was not. God is telling us that Samson had all day, every day, to reflect on what he had done, and a time to get right with God. Samson was a broken man, who fell far short of his potential, but God was not done using him, "The hair of his head began to grow again."

VERSES 23-25

1. The Philistines had a party to their god, Dagon, and as things got going they called for Samson, who was defeated by their god, and they wanted to mock this man who was blind and broken.

VERSES 26-31

1. In his life Samson killed at least 1,030 Philistines, but in his death he killed more, 3,000. Samson had the potential of delivering the children of Israel from bondage, but instead he was in bondage to his flesh. Because of that it caused him to fall far short of what God had planned. But I am encouraged in that Samson did not become angry with God, nor forsake the Lord. He drew close to Him as he had many hours to spend contemplating on his life and repenting of his sin. Re-dedicating his life to the Lord, and so this blind and broken man is used one last time to defeat the enemies of God, not in his own strength, but in the power of God.

2. May, at the end of our life, we be able to respond like Paul. May we be used to our full potential of what God has planned for our lives and be able to say, like Paul, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing." II Timothy 4:7-8.