1 00:00:02,400 --> 00:00:05,400 For our study to look at the book of Judges. 2 00:00:05,633 --> 00:00:06,900 We're in the middle 3 00:00:06,900 --> 00:00:09,900 of the record of Samson life. 4 00:00:10,700 --> 00:00:13,166 It's interesting to look at judges 5 00:00:13,166 --> 00:00:16,900 because these leaders that boundaries actually as people. 6 00:00:17,400 --> 00:00:21,000 Those are called judges, and they're not in the judicial process, 7 00:00:21,000 --> 00:00:24,000 but more of the person. 8 00:00:24,300 --> 00:00:27,300 And over the entire book of judges, Sampson 9 00:00:27,733 --> 00:00:30,866 takes up about 20% of the old record. 10 00:00:31,533 --> 00:00:34,533 So there's a lot given to us about his life. 11 00:00:35,133 --> 00:00:38,366 And as a result, there's a lot of things we can learn from his life 12 00:00:39,300 --> 00:00:42,400 about God, about God's kingdom, 13 00:00:42,900 --> 00:00:45,866 about what it is to follow him, to, 14 00:00:45,866 --> 00:00:48,666 and the consequences of life, 15 00:00:48,666 --> 00:00:51,666 live contrary to his word. 16 00:00:51,866 --> 00:00:54,166 But just to recap, Samson's 17 00:00:54,166 --> 00:00:57,166 what we saw in chapter 30. 18 00:00:57,533 --> 00:01:00,466 That's the Samson, kind of model. 19 00:01:00,466 --> 00:01:00,900 There 20 00:01:01,966 --> 00:01:03,866 through the Lord. 21 00:01:03,866 --> 00:01:06,366 But we're very, very weak. 22 00:01:06,366 --> 00:01:09,900 Had a weak father and indulgent mother. 23 00:01:10,900 --> 00:01:13,900 And what happened is he became an entitled son. 24 00:01:14,600 --> 00:01:17,600 And as an entitled young man, 25 00:01:17,633 --> 00:01:21,400 he became a very immature 26 00:01:22,900 --> 00:01:25,500 old man. 27 00:01:25,500 --> 00:01:27,233 Someone had said once that, 28 00:01:27,233 --> 00:01:31,300 parents, be careful to discipline your child with love. 29 00:01:31,733 --> 00:01:34,733 Because if you don't, the world will discipline them without love. 30 00:01:36,033 --> 00:01:38,833 And Samson's mom and dad were parents 31 00:01:38,833 --> 00:01:41,833 that did not discipline their son. 32 00:01:42,133 --> 00:01:44,066 I don't think he ever heard. No. 33 00:01:44,066 --> 00:01:46,300 At least it was never enforced. 34 00:01:46,300 --> 00:01:48,266 It was never demanded of him. 35 00:01:48,266 --> 00:01:51,266 A style of life, a way of living. 36 00:01:52,300 --> 00:01:55,300 He was entitled. 37 00:01:55,500 --> 00:01:57,166 He his parents made him believe that 38 00:01:57,166 --> 00:02:00,166 he was the special one. 39 00:02:00,200 --> 00:02:01,700 And that he was never. 40 00:02:01,700 --> 00:02:04,800 There were never clear boundaries that were enforced in his life. 41 00:02:05,966 --> 00:02:07,366 And parents, let me just tell you, 42 00:02:07,366 --> 00:02:12,033 that is a surefire way to ruin your children's future. 43 00:02:13,033 --> 00:02:16,900 And it's a surefire way to raise immature 44 00:02:18,433 --> 00:02:20,700 grown adults 45 00:02:20,700 --> 00:02:23,300 who are very insecure. 46 00:02:23,300 --> 00:02:26,300 And so this is what we see in Sampson's life, though called of God. 47 00:02:26,533 --> 00:02:30,333 He was called from birth to accept this Nazarite vow. 48 00:02:30,333 --> 00:02:34,100 He was set apart as a Nazarite and the Nazarite vow went like this. 49 00:02:34,133 --> 00:02:37,700 It was a voluntary vow, though God called Samson 50 00:02:37,700 --> 00:02:40,700 to be a Nazarite from birth till death. 51 00:02:40,800 --> 00:02:43,333 But part of that Nazarite vow, 52 00:02:43,333 --> 00:02:46,533 as a voluntary vow at the beginning of that value, 53 00:02:46,533 --> 00:02:50,533 would shave your head as a sign that I have taken the Nazarite vow, 54 00:02:50,533 --> 00:02:53,633 and then not let a razor touch your head until the vowel was complete. 55 00:02:53,633 --> 00:02:54,600 Usually anywhere 56 00:02:55,800 --> 00:02:58,400 up to 100 days or so. 57 00:02:58,400 --> 00:02:59,466 So that was part of the vow. 58 00:02:59,466 --> 00:03:02,633 The other parts of the vow is that you could not have any fermented 59 00:03:02,633 --> 00:03:05,633 drink, not even grapes or raisins. 60 00:03:05,833 --> 00:03:09,100 You shouldn't even be around vineyards, like, just stay away. 61 00:03:09,466 --> 00:03:14,033 The third thing was you couldn't be around any dead bodies, human or animal. 62 00:03:14,566 --> 00:03:16,566 So someone near you die close to you. Died. 63 00:03:16,566 --> 00:03:18,400 You weren't allowed to go to the funeral. 64 00:03:18,400 --> 00:03:21,900 So? So there were certain parameters around this Nazarite vow. 65 00:03:22,333 --> 00:03:25,333 That was just so that everybody knew. 66 00:03:25,533 --> 00:03:27,366 I am set apart. 67 00:03:27,366 --> 00:03:30,133 Specific and specially for God, 68 00:03:30,133 --> 00:03:33,133 for his work alone. 69 00:03:33,866 --> 00:03:36,666 This was Samson's vow. 70 00:03:36,666 --> 00:03:38,500 God called him to it. 71 00:03:38,500 --> 00:03:42,066 His parents told him of it, and he accepted it. 72 00:03:44,000 --> 00:03:45,066 In chapter 14 73 00:03:45,066 --> 00:03:48,566 and 15, tell the story now of Samson's adult life. 74 00:03:50,100 --> 00:03:52,800 It's this tragic story 75 00:03:52,800 --> 00:03:55,800 of the results of personal retaliation. 76 00:03:57,100 --> 00:04:00,100 It's the tragic story of when people seek 77 00:04:00,100 --> 00:04:03,200 vengeance over wrong done to them. 78 00:04:04,366 --> 00:04:07,300 It's the it's the story of the results. 79 00:04:07,300 --> 00:04:10,300 When lives are lived without seeking God. 80 00:04:11,100 --> 00:04:13,533 It's the story of the results of a life 81 00:04:13,533 --> 00:04:16,633 surrounded by people who do not seek the Lord. 82 00:04:18,266 --> 00:04:19,766 It's the story that though 83 00:04:19,766 --> 00:04:23,700 God can't overrule alive, it's much better 84 00:04:23,700 --> 00:04:26,700 to let God rule over your life. 85 00:04:27,566 --> 00:04:29,833 And what we see in Samson is God 86 00:04:29,833 --> 00:04:32,833 regularly overruling him, 87 00:04:33,400 --> 00:04:36,200 his sin and his choices, 88 00:04:36,200 --> 00:04:39,533 and how much better it would have been if we just let God rule over. 89 00:04:40,633 --> 00:04:43,133 So we see in Samson. 90 00:04:43,133 --> 00:04:46,066 I see in Psalms a lot of other human, 91 00:04:46,066 --> 00:04:50,600 and hopefully you'll see in Samson some of what you see in yourself. 92 00:04:51,800 --> 00:04:55,200 And so just to pick up chapter 14, 93 00:04:56,366 --> 00:04:58,500 verses ten and 11, 94 00:04:58,500 --> 00:05:00,900 now as father went down to see the woman. 95 00:05:00,900 --> 00:05:02,900 Let me just get your speeder down to see the one. 96 00:05:02,900 --> 00:05:03,333 What woman? 97 00:05:03,333 --> 00:05:07,200 Well, Samson has gone outside of the people of God 98 00:05:07,800 --> 00:05:10,200 to see a beautiful woman 99 00:05:10,200 --> 00:05:13,733 foreigner that he should not have a relationship with. 100 00:05:13,733 --> 00:05:16,966 But he thought she was really, really good looking and wanted to marry her. 101 00:05:17,666 --> 00:05:20,466 He told his dad, go get her for me. 102 00:05:20,466 --> 00:05:23,466 His dad, being a weak man, 103 00:05:24,533 --> 00:05:26,133 said, 104 00:05:26,133 --> 00:05:29,233 why don't we better if you just found someone of our own people? 105 00:05:29,933 --> 00:05:31,766 And he said, no, she's what I want. 106 00:05:31,766 --> 00:05:33,033 Go get her. 107 00:05:33,033 --> 00:05:35,433 And so this week, man 108 00:05:35,433 --> 00:05:38,166 raising an entitled son 109 00:05:38,166 --> 00:05:40,566 goes down to see the woman. 110 00:05:40,566 --> 00:05:43,833 And there Samson held a feast, as was customary for young men. 111 00:05:44,933 --> 00:05:48,166 When the people saw him, they chose 30 men to be his companions. 112 00:05:48,200 --> 00:05:52,500 Now, what is happening here is setting up this wedding ceremony. 113 00:05:53,166 --> 00:05:56,933 And as a part of the wedding ceremony, they were through a seven day feast. 114 00:05:56,966 --> 00:05:59,966 So this wasn't like a little one night bachelor party thing. 115 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:01,466 This was a seven day feast. 116 00:06:01,466 --> 00:06:05,700 And the word for feast in the Hebrew, it literally means a drinking feast. 117 00:06:07,000 --> 00:06:10,000 So these people were getting. 118 00:06:11,000 --> 00:06:13,233 Just tossed. 119 00:06:13,233 --> 00:06:14,900 They're just getting hammered. 120 00:06:14,900 --> 00:06:18,100 It was seven days of debauchery. 121 00:06:19,266 --> 00:06:21,133 And so do you see seven. 122 00:06:21,133 --> 00:06:23,900 What was one of his vows? 123 00:06:23,900 --> 00:06:26,400 No fermented drink. 124 00:06:26,400 --> 00:06:29,900 And now he's not only partaking, he's throwing the party. 125 00:06:31,000 --> 00:06:33,100 A drinking party. 126 00:06:33,100 --> 00:06:36,600 I pointed out last week that five times in one chapter, we see the words. 127 00:06:36,600 --> 00:06:38,866 He went down, he went down, he went down. 128 00:06:38,866 --> 00:06:40,066 He turned aside, he went down. 129 00:06:41,100 --> 00:06:43,766 This is a trajectory of Samson's life. 130 00:06:43,766 --> 00:06:46,766 It's a downward spiral 131 00:06:47,400 --> 00:06:50,400 where he continues to walk away from his vow. 132 00:06:50,600 --> 00:06:53,433 He continues to walk away from God's call on his life. 133 00:06:53,433 --> 00:06:56,433 He continues to walk away from obedience. 134 00:06:56,766 --> 00:06:59,833 He follows his own carnal nature, his own desires, 135 00:07:00,066 --> 00:07:03,066 rather than what God has asked and required of him. 136 00:07:03,300 --> 00:07:06,566 So much so now he's throwing a feast, a drunken feast. 137 00:07:07,833 --> 00:07:10,233 And the Bible says, as as 138 00:07:10,233 --> 00:07:12,833 they give him 30 people to be his attendants. 139 00:07:12,833 --> 00:07:14,700 Basically, this is his wedding party. 140 00:07:14,700 --> 00:07:17,066 He doesn't know anybody. These are all foreigners. 141 00:07:17,066 --> 00:07:20,166 And so they give him 30 men to kind of be his guys. 142 00:07:21,066 --> 00:07:22,200 Something to note. 143 00:07:22,200 --> 00:07:25,500 Of these 30 men, none of these guys are God's people. 144 00:07:26,100 --> 00:07:30,266 So you have a man of God who should be living according to the ways of God, 145 00:07:30,400 --> 00:07:34,066 who's following his own ways, not the ways of God, surrounded by people 146 00:07:34,066 --> 00:07:36,233 who don't know the ways we're going to follow is a God. 147 00:07:36,233 --> 00:07:38,533 It is a recipe for destruction. 148 00:07:40,166 --> 00:07:41,866 We have to be very careful. 149 00:07:41,866 --> 00:07:43,966 Anyone who claims Christ 150 00:07:43,966 --> 00:07:47,666 has to be very careful about the people they surround themselves with. 151 00:07:48,333 --> 00:07:50,433 Charles Jones, a man named Charles Jones. 152 00:07:50,433 --> 00:07:53,400 He had the nickname Tremendous Charles tremendous. Jones said this. 153 00:07:53,400 --> 00:07:55,333 The difference between who you are now 154 00:07:55,333 --> 00:07:58,333 and who you'll be five years from now, comes some two things. 155 00:07:58,700 --> 00:08:01,500 One, the books you read 156 00:08:01,500 --> 00:08:04,500 and two, the people you most closely associate with. 157 00:08:05,966 --> 00:08:07,366 You know why these titles are so important. 158 00:08:07,366 --> 00:08:09,066 We keep pushing 159 00:08:09,066 --> 00:08:12,466 because as soon around the books you read, the book you read, 160 00:08:13,033 --> 00:08:13,600 and the people 161 00:08:13,600 --> 00:08:17,400 most closely associated with Samson was not living according to the word, 162 00:08:17,566 --> 00:08:20,000 and he was not associate with people of the word. 163 00:08:20,000 --> 00:08:24,600 And his life was a continual downward spiral of destruction and bad choices. 164 00:08:25,433 --> 00:08:28,233 The same goes for you and me, and will go for you mean if we're not careful. 165 00:08:29,500 --> 00:08:32,033 So 30 men 166 00:08:32,033 --> 00:08:35,033 to be his companions? 167 00:08:36,500 --> 00:08:39,300 As was customary of this time, 168 00:08:39,300 --> 00:08:43,000 you know, when you have a wedding, the the the bride 169 00:08:43,000 --> 00:08:47,366 and her attendants and the groom and his, they always give each other gifts, right? 170 00:08:47,366 --> 00:08:49,233 For being in the wedding right now. 171 00:08:49,233 --> 00:08:52,166 That's just it's part of the culture. It was back then, too. 172 00:08:52,166 --> 00:08:56,433 So Sampson realizes he needs to provide 30 gifts for these 30 guys. 173 00:08:56,433 --> 00:08:59,000 He's been given, 174 00:08:59,000 --> 00:08:59,700 as was customary. 175 00:08:59,700 --> 00:09:02,700 Now, Sampson knows his own history. 176 00:09:02,933 --> 00:09:04,266 These guys don't. 177 00:09:04,266 --> 00:09:05,100 Sampson knows. 178 00:09:05,100 --> 00:09:08,766 When he was on the journey down, a lion came out. 179 00:09:08,800 --> 00:09:10,100 We read it last week 180 00:09:10,100 --> 00:09:14,100 and he tore the lion apart with his bare hands and killed a lion. 181 00:09:14,100 --> 00:09:16,366 Left the lion there later. 182 00:09:16,366 --> 00:09:19,366 We know from the from the account that he goes back and 183 00:09:19,400 --> 00:09:23,066 looks at this line that had been a rotting carcass for a while, 184 00:09:23,400 --> 00:09:26,566 and somehow these bees had made a nest 185 00:09:26,566 --> 00:09:29,566 in this carcass and had produced honey. 186 00:09:29,566 --> 00:09:33,100 Sampson notes that he reached into the lion's carcass 187 00:09:33,300 --> 00:09:34,966 and pulled out honey and ate the honey. 188 00:09:34,966 --> 00:09:36,500 It's a weird story. 189 00:09:36,500 --> 00:09:38,133 Sampson knows all this about him. 190 00:09:38,133 --> 00:09:39,900 None of these 30 do. 191 00:09:39,900 --> 00:09:43,333 And so rather than say, I realize I need to give you gifts, Samson 192 00:09:43,333 --> 00:09:45,266 says, I'm going to tell you a riddle. 193 00:09:45,266 --> 00:09:48,733 And if you solve the riddle, I'll give you 30 sets of clothes, 194 00:09:48,733 --> 00:09:52,966 not just like blue jeans and, you know, shirt you get from Sam's Club or Amazon. 195 00:09:53,200 --> 00:09:56,033 You start a like, tailored like beautiful. 196 00:09:56,033 --> 00:09:57,300 Like I will set you up. 197 00:09:58,733 --> 00:10:00,300 And so the riddle he tells 198 00:10:00,300 --> 00:10:03,000 them in verse of 1234, if you were to read I'm not, 199 00:10:03,000 --> 00:10:04,900 I didn't put on the screen, but I want to read it to you. 200 00:10:04,900 --> 00:10:08,300 The riddle, he says, is this you solve this riddle in the seven day feast. 201 00:10:08,333 --> 00:10:11,333 I'll give you three sets of designer clothes, 202 00:10:11,433 --> 00:10:13,800 he said, here's the riddle out of the eater. 203 00:10:13,800 --> 00:10:16,800 Something to eat out of the strong, something sweet. 204 00:10:17,700 --> 00:10:19,333 Pretty clever. 205 00:10:19,333 --> 00:10:21,000 Right out of the eater. 206 00:10:21,000 --> 00:10:23,700 Something. Eat the lion. Somebody. 207 00:10:23,700 --> 00:10:26,800 And out of the strong something sweet, strong lion honey. 208 00:10:27,300 --> 00:10:29,800 So he knows not never going to get this. 209 00:10:29,800 --> 00:10:32,800 I'll never have to fulfill my obligation. 210 00:10:34,433 --> 00:10:35,266 He's a deceiver. 211 00:10:35,266 --> 00:10:37,800 He's a trickster. 212 00:10:37,800 --> 00:10:39,833 And he's immature. 213 00:10:39,833 --> 00:10:42,400 And so, as the account goes, these guys are sitting there 214 00:10:42,400 --> 00:10:43,666 thinking, how are we going to solve this riddle? 215 00:10:45,400 --> 00:10:46,900 On the fourth day of the 216 00:10:46,900 --> 00:10:50,533 feast, they said to his wife, kosher a husband, into explaining the riddle 217 00:10:50,533 --> 00:10:54,300 for us, or we will burn you and your father's household to death. 218 00:10:55,733 --> 00:10:58,066 Seriously, 219 00:10:58,066 --> 00:11:01,066 because you're not going to get a present. 220 00:11:02,400 --> 00:11:05,400 Did you invite us here to steal our property? 221 00:11:06,500 --> 00:11:09,000 Then Samson's wife threw herself on him, sobbing. 222 00:11:09,000 --> 00:11:12,000 You hate me. You don't really love me. 223 00:11:12,200 --> 00:11:15,200 You've given my people a riddle, but you haven't told me the answer. 224 00:11:15,600 --> 00:11:16,833 Look at his response. 225 00:11:16,833 --> 00:11:19,833 I haven't even explained to my father and mother. 226 00:11:20,000 --> 00:11:23,000 So why would I explain it to you? 227 00:11:23,700 --> 00:11:26,700 Let me just tell you, this is not a good start to a marriage. 228 00:11:26,900 --> 00:11:29,633 This. 229 00:11:29,633 --> 00:11:30,800 What we talk about is, 230 00:11:30,800 --> 00:11:34,100 as we go through this, she cried the whole seven days of the feast. 231 00:11:34,166 --> 00:11:35,966 That sounds like a marriage. 232 00:11:35,966 --> 00:11:39,333 On the seventh day, he finally told her because she continued to nag him. 233 00:11:39,433 --> 00:11:41,100 It sounds like a marriage now. 234 00:11:43,866 --> 00:11:46,866 She in turn explained the realtor people. 235 00:11:52,400 --> 00:11:55,200 She goes to him 236 00:11:55,200 --> 00:11:59,066 and says, honey, why don't you tell me the solution to this? 237 00:12:00,100 --> 00:12:03,233 His response I haven't even told my mom and dad. 238 00:12:03,233 --> 00:12:04,133 Why would I tell you? 239 00:12:04,133 --> 00:12:07,266 What level is she on compared to his family? 240 00:12:08,833 --> 00:12:10,000 She's below sea. 241 00:12:10,000 --> 00:12:15,333 Samson has violated the principle of marriage given to us in Genesis 224. 242 00:12:15,766 --> 00:12:18,366 For this reason, a man will leave this father 243 00:12:18,366 --> 00:12:21,366 and mother and cleave unto his wife, and they'll become one flesh. 244 00:12:22,533 --> 00:12:25,000 They're not one flesh. 245 00:12:25,000 --> 00:12:26,833 He doesn't honor her. 246 00:12:26,833 --> 00:12:29,833 He doesn't respect her. 247 00:12:30,266 --> 00:12:33,266 He puts his like he puts his family above her. 248 00:12:34,066 --> 00:12:36,466 It's a dangerous position to be in. 249 00:12:36,466 --> 00:12:39,466 In marriage. 250 00:12:39,933 --> 00:12:41,966 You understand? 251 00:12:41,966 --> 00:12:43,700 If you're married, nobody comes 252 00:12:43,700 --> 00:12:46,700 before your spouse. 253 00:12:48,766 --> 00:12:49,900 But not only that, 254 00:12:51,166 --> 00:12:53,600 she doesn't get what she wants. 255 00:12:53,600 --> 00:12:56,600 So what does she do? 256 00:12:56,700 --> 00:12:59,233 She just cry. 257 00:12:59,233 --> 00:12:59,800 Say it. 258 00:12:59,800 --> 00:13:01,733 Ladies, 259 00:13:01,733 --> 00:13:04,733 when you don't get what you want, what do you do? 260 00:13:05,466 --> 00:13:06,600 You nag. 261 00:13:06,600 --> 00:13:09,466 I mean, not you. She. 262 00:13:09,466 --> 00:13:12,466 I mean, you would never. 263 00:13:12,600 --> 00:13:15,600 She nag nag nag. 264 00:13:17,500 --> 00:13:18,800 And she got what she wanted. 265 00:13:18,800 --> 00:13:21,800 But she lost the relationship. 266 00:13:23,033 --> 00:13:26,033 Be careful. 267 00:13:26,100 --> 00:13:29,100 You might get what you want. 268 00:13:30,000 --> 00:13:33,000 At the cost of the relationship. 269 00:13:33,300 --> 00:13:35,133 We have to be very careful. 270 00:13:35,133 --> 00:13:39,133 Proverbs 2119 says it's better to live in the desert 271 00:13:39,133 --> 00:13:42,133 alone than with a nagging wife. 272 00:13:42,966 --> 00:13:46,033 Proverbs 2715 says, A nagging wife is like the drip, 273 00:13:46,033 --> 00:13:49,033 drip, drip of a faucet on a rainy day. 274 00:13:56,100 --> 00:13:58,066 And so he tells her, 275 00:13:58,066 --> 00:14:00,433 and she in turn tells her people. 276 00:14:00,433 --> 00:14:02,733 Verse 18, I didn't put up there, but let me just read it to you. 277 00:14:02,733 --> 00:14:04,066 Verse 18. 278 00:14:04,066 --> 00:14:07,066 Before sunset on the seventh day, the men of the town said to him, 279 00:14:07,133 --> 00:14:09,033 what is sweeter than, than honey? 280 00:14:09,033 --> 00:14:11,533 And what's stronger than a lion? So like, we got it. 281 00:14:13,300 --> 00:14:15,466 Samson said, 282 00:14:15,466 --> 00:14:18,433 if you had not plowed with my heifer, 283 00:14:18,433 --> 00:14:21,433 you would not have solved my riddle. 284 00:14:22,933 --> 00:14:25,933 Now listen, guys. 285 00:14:26,533 --> 00:14:27,100 I trust you. 286 00:14:27,100 --> 00:14:30,433 You probably have some endearing pet names for your wife. 287 00:14:33,900 --> 00:14:35,133 I pray to the Lord Almighty 288 00:14:35,133 --> 00:14:38,133 that heifer is not one of them. 289 00:14:38,966 --> 00:14:39,866 Can you ladies. 290 00:14:39,866 --> 00:14:42,866 Can you imagine? 291 00:14:44,133 --> 00:14:45,200 You come through the door. 292 00:14:45,200 --> 00:14:46,666 How was work? 293 00:14:46,666 --> 00:14:48,700 It's fine. Heifer, give me some the like. 294 00:14:48,700 --> 00:14:51,700 I just like. 295 00:14:53,266 --> 00:14:55,466 What a horrible marriage. 296 00:14:55,466 --> 00:14:58,466 It's just beginning. 297 00:15:02,966 --> 00:15:04,366 You love my heifer. 298 00:15:04,366 --> 00:15:07,366 I just. 299 00:15:08,100 --> 00:15:10,700 Then the spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon Samson. 300 00:15:10,700 --> 00:15:12,633 He went down to Escalon, which was of five cities 301 00:15:12,633 --> 00:15:16,000 that the Philistines had charge of, struck down 30 of their army, 302 00:15:16,000 --> 00:15:18,666 and stripped him of everything, and gave their clothes to those 303 00:15:18,666 --> 00:15:19,766 who had explained the riddle. 304 00:15:22,066 --> 00:15:24,400 Burning with anger, 305 00:15:24,400 --> 00:15:27,400 he returned to his father's home, and Samson's wife 306 00:15:27,566 --> 00:15:30,566 was given to his best man. 307 00:15:31,400 --> 00:15:32,033 But at 10 a.m. 308 00:15:32,033 --> 00:15:35,033 its feast. 309 00:15:35,766 --> 00:15:38,766 I want you to know what one thing, 310 00:15:39,733 --> 00:15:42,633 That Samson burned with anger. 311 00:15:42,633 --> 00:15:45,633 And because he was an immature man 312 00:15:47,133 --> 00:15:49,133 who was never told no, who did not know how 313 00:15:49,133 --> 00:15:52,133 to handle his own emotions, 314 00:15:52,300 --> 00:15:55,300 he burned with anger and didn't know how to handle it. 315 00:15:57,533 --> 00:16:00,533 All we we have to to to understand, 316 00:16:00,633 --> 00:16:04,433 like emotionally, the emotions aren't that. 317 00:16:05,366 --> 00:16:07,200 Not like like evil emotion. 318 00:16:07,200 --> 00:16:10,233 Like we may feel certain things get that. 319 00:16:11,300 --> 00:16:14,300 And at the heart of every emotion is is the heart of God. 320 00:16:14,300 --> 00:16:17,300 At some level. 321 00:16:17,400 --> 00:16:19,433 And the book of Ephesians says, be angry, 322 00:16:19,433 --> 00:16:22,433 but in your anger don't sit. 323 00:16:23,400 --> 00:16:24,233 He was angry, 324 00:16:25,233 --> 00:16:26,666 but in his anger he sinned. 325 00:16:26,666 --> 00:16:28,200 And we have to be very careful. 326 00:16:28,200 --> 00:16:31,200 James, 327 00:16:31,800 --> 00:16:34,700 says, my dear brothers and sisters, 328 00:16:34,700 --> 00:16:36,100 take note of this. 329 00:16:36,100 --> 00:16:39,666 Everyone should be quick to listen and slow to speak, and slow to what? 330 00:16:41,166 --> 00:16:42,766 Become angry, 331 00:16:42,766 --> 00:16:45,900 because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. 332 00:16:47,100 --> 00:16:50,266 Human anger, given full bent is going to destroy people. 333 00:16:50,266 --> 00:16:52,200 It'll destroy you 334 00:16:52,200 --> 00:16:54,866 and it will destroy others. 335 00:16:54,866 --> 00:16:57,033 Samson doesn't know how to handle his anger, 336 00:16:57,033 --> 00:17:00,133 and so he just responds very violent, very, very, very badly. 337 00:17:02,766 --> 00:17:07,200 And so then we get into verse 15 or chapter 15 and the story just grows. 338 00:17:07,200 --> 00:17:10,633 And and I want you to notice this downward spiral of Samson's life 339 00:17:10,766 --> 00:17:13,033 because he refuses to honor the Word of God. 340 00:17:13,033 --> 00:17:14,833 He refuses to talk to God. 341 00:17:14,833 --> 00:17:17,666 And it's this continual retaliation back and forth, back 342 00:17:17,666 --> 00:17:20,933 and forth, back and forth between between Samson and the Philistines. 343 00:17:20,933 --> 00:17:23,033 Look at what the Bible says in chapter 15. 344 00:17:23,033 --> 00:17:27,433 Later on, at the time of wheat harvest, Samson took a young goat 345 00:17:27,433 --> 00:17:28,500 and went to visit his wife. 346 00:17:28,500 --> 00:17:30,266 So they've been separated. 347 00:17:30,266 --> 00:17:32,866 He thinks he's still married to her. 348 00:17:32,866 --> 00:17:36,933 She's been given to his best man, and he takes her a gift of a goat. 349 00:17:38,066 --> 00:17:41,066 Now, unless you're a high school student in FFA at last, 350 00:17:41,133 --> 00:17:44,133 that really doesn't like it's a goat. 351 00:17:44,933 --> 00:17:46,633 Back in the day, though, he was. 352 00:17:46,633 --> 00:17:49,233 They're probably going to have a shish kebab, a little barbecue with his skill, 353 00:17:49,233 --> 00:17:52,233 and they're going to have a little party and trying to get back together. 354 00:17:52,366 --> 00:17:55,033 He said to her father, 355 00:17:55,033 --> 00:17:57,633 I'm going to my wife's room. 356 00:17:57,633 --> 00:17:59,800 But her father would not let him go in. 357 00:17:59,800 --> 00:18:01,233 And this is common in that culture. 358 00:18:01,233 --> 00:18:03,100 And still in the culture in the Middle East, in some cultures 359 00:18:03,100 --> 00:18:07,466 today, where a husband and wife, a man don't get married, he goes away to work, 360 00:18:07,466 --> 00:18:11,066 she stays at dad's home and he comes back and visits her. 361 00:18:11,066 --> 00:18:13,566 It's still very common. So that's what's happening. 362 00:18:13,566 --> 00:18:16,266 But her father wouldn't let her him go into her room. 363 00:18:17,966 --> 00:18:18,566 He said, I 364 00:18:18,566 --> 00:18:22,366 was so sure you hated her that I gave her to your companion. 365 00:18:22,366 --> 00:18:23,233 Watch. This. 366 00:18:23,233 --> 00:18:25,500 Isn't her younger sister more attractive? 367 00:18:25,500 --> 00:18:27,466 Anyway, that's. 368 00:18:27,466 --> 00:18:30,466 Just take her. 369 00:18:30,766 --> 00:18:33,733 What a horrible family. 370 00:18:33,733 --> 00:18:35,966 This. 371 00:18:35,966 --> 00:18:38,966 What a horrible family. 372 00:18:39,933 --> 00:18:42,433 You know, so my wife, 373 00:18:42,433 --> 00:18:44,566 I gave her to somebody else, and honestly, 374 00:18:44,566 --> 00:18:47,566 she wasn't that good looking. 375 00:18:49,333 --> 00:18:50,500 My other daughters. 376 00:18:50,500 --> 00:18:53,500 Lot hotter than her. Go ahead. 377 00:18:53,600 --> 00:18:56,600 Okay. 378 00:18:57,033 --> 00:18:59,700 None of these people. 379 00:18:59,700 --> 00:19:02,000 None of these people 380 00:19:02,000 --> 00:19:04,266 are walking with the Lord. 381 00:19:04,266 --> 00:19:06,033 And do you see this down? 382 00:19:06,033 --> 00:19:09,033 It's just getting more and more and more degrading. 383 00:19:10,000 --> 00:19:14,733 That's what happens to lives separate from the word of God. 384 00:19:15,566 --> 00:19:18,566 It's degrading. 385 00:19:22,833 --> 00:19:24,033 Samson said to them, 386 00:19:24,033 --> 00:19:27,600 this time I have a right to get even with the Philistines. 387 00:19:27,933 --> 00:19:28,633 You know what that means. 388 00:19:30,000 --> 00:19:32,533 Last time he knew he was in the wrong 389 00:19:32,533 --> 00:19:35,400 when he went and killed 30 men to get their clothes. 390 00:19:35,400 --> 00:19:38,400 This don't have it right. 391 00:19:38,433 --> 00:19:40,533 He knew he was wrong before, 392 00:19:40,533 --> 00:19:45,033 but let me just, Have any of you ever responded, having suffered some injustice? 393 00:19:45,100 --> 00:19:48,100 Think this time I have a right. 394 00:19:50,433 --> 00:19:53,333 Whenever we take it upon ourselves 395 00:19:53,333 --> 00:19:56,333 to assert our rights in retaliation, 396 00:19:57,133 --> 00:20:00,133 destruction will always be the result. 397 00:20:00,266 --> 00:20:02,866 This time I have a right to get even. 398 00:20:02,866 --> 00:20:03,900 Right? 399 00:20:03,900 --> 00:20:05,466 I will really harm them. 400 00:20:05,466 --> 00:20:08,433 So you went out and got 300 foxes and tied them? 401 00:20:08,433 --> 00:20:10,333 Tell to tell in pairs. 402 00:20:10,333 --> 00:20:13,366 He fastened a torch to every pair of tails, 403 00:20:13,533 --> 00:20:17,466 lit the torches, and let the foxes loose in the standing grain of the Philistines. 404 00:20:17,800 --> 00:20:21,466 He burned up the shocks, and standing great together with the vineyards 405 00:20:21,466 --> 00:20:22,833 and olive groves. 406 00:20:22,833 --> 00:20:27,200 So the Bible says he got 300 foxes tie their tails for the torture of the church, 407 00:20:27,200 --> 00:20:30,200 and set the foxes loose, and they burned up all the produce. 408 00:20:30,666 --> 00:20:33,666 Now a lot of people have a problem. 409 00:20:33,733 --> 00:20:35,933 How do you catch 300 foxes? 410 00:20:35,933 --> 00:20:38,666 That's the literal word for fox in Hebrews. 411 00:20:38,666 --> 00:20:39,133 Jackal 412 00:20:40,166 --> 00:20:40,900 foxes don't 413 00:20:40,900 --> 00:20:43,933 travel in, in, in, in like herds. 414 00:20:43,933 --> 00:20:45,700 Jackals do. 415 00:20:45,700 --> 00:20:47,366 And so that makes a little bit more sense. 416 00:20:47,366 --> 00:20:49,300 But still 417 00:20:49,300 --> 00:20:51,733 you see really 300 of them all at once. 418 00:20:51,733 --> 00:20:54,100 The Bible doesn't say, cut them all at once. 419 00:20:54,100 --> 00:20:56,100 He said, cut 300. 420 00:20:56,100 --> 00:20:58,066 And so it could be over a period of time. 421 00:20:58,066 --> 00:20:59,966 He gradually catches these ties them together, 422 00:20:59,966 --> 00:21:02,433 and they just start burning up stuff all over the place. 423 00:21:02,433 --> 00:21:04,100 However you read it, I don't care. 424 00:21:04,100 --> 00:21:06,166 I don't have a problem. If it took place over time, 425 00:21:06,166 --> 00:21:08,066 I don't have a problem if he did all at once. Why? 426 00:21:08,066 --> 00:21:11,633 Because I believe Genesis one one, and because I believe Genesis one one. 427 00:21:11,633 --> 00:21:13,600 I believe everything else in the Bible. What? 428 00:21:13,600 --> 00:21:17,633 Because Genesis one one says, in the beginning God created out of nothing. 429 00:21:18,133 --> 00:21:21,566 And if God can create out everything out of nothing, 430 00:21:21,666 --> 00:21:24,266 he can do everything else written in Scripture. I'm problem with it. 431 00:21:26,166 --> 00:21:26,766 The only 432 00:21:26,766 --> 00:21:29,900 reason why people have a problem with other stuff in scripture, 433 00:21:29,933 --> 00:21:32,933 because they don't believe Genesis one one, 434 00:21:32,966 --> 00:21:33,400 if you will. 435 00:21:33,400 --> 00:21:36,400 In Genesis one one you believe that God can raise the dead. 436 00:21:37,033 --> 00:21:40,766 If you believe Genesis one one you believe God, Jesus can turn water in one. 437 00:21:40,866 --> 00:21:43,866 If you believe Genesis one one you believe Jesus can heal up. 438 00:21:43,866 --> 00:21:46,833 Or if you believe just is one one you believe Jesus can heal a layman. 439 00:21:46,833 --> 00:21:50,033 If you believe Genesis one one you believe, you can cast 300 foxes. 440 00:21:50,366 --> 00:21:53,366 If you believe Genesis one one. 441 00:21:53,566 --> 00:21:56,566 You believe in the resurrection. 442 00:21:57,500 --> 00:21:58,500 So either way, you read it. 443 00:21:58,500 --> 00:21:59,400 I don't have a problem with it. 444 00:21:59,400 --> 00:22:02,400 I don't doubt either way. 445 00:22:02,800 --> 00:22:05,233 And look at verse six 446 00:22:05,233 --> 00:22:07,066 when the Philistines asked who did this. 447 00:22:07,066 --> 00:22:08,366 They were told Samson, 448 00:22:08,366 --> 00:22:11,766 the termite son in law, because his wife was giving to his companion. 449 00:22:11,900 --> 00:22:15,600 So the Philistines went up and burned her and her father to death. 450 00:22:17,633 --> 00:22:20,566 Do you see what happens 451 00:22:20,566 --> 00:22:23,566 when, because of injustice, we retaliate. 452 00:22:24,700 --> 00:22:26,933 And because of injustice we retaliate. 453 00:22:26,933 --> 00:22:29,933 Because of injustice, we retaliate. 454 00:22:31,433 --> 00:22:33,400 Samson said to them, 455 00:22:33,400 --> 00:22:35,933 since you've acted like this, 456 00:22:35,933 --> 00:22:38,933 I swear that I won't stop until I get my revenge. 457 00:22:41,133 --> 00:22:41,900 He attacked them 458 00:22:41,900 --> 00:22:44,900 viciously and slaughtered many of them. 459 00:22:44,900 --> 00:22:47,900 Then he went down there again, 460 00:22:48,566 --> 00:22:51,300 the trajectory of his life, and stayed in a cave, 461 00:22:51,300 --> 00:22:54,300 and the rocket beat them. 462 00:22:54,500 --> 00:22:57,500 Personal vengeance destroys 463 00:22:57,533 --> 00:23:00,533 everyone involved. 464 00:23:02,600 --> 00:23:05,600 And personal vengeance and retaliation. 465 00:23:07,333 --> 00:23:10,333 Is a violation 466 00:23:11,233 --> 00:23:14,233 of the principles and commands of Scripture. 467 00:23:17,100 --> 00:23:20,100 Deuteronomy 32 468 00:23:20,466 --> 00:23:23,600 God says it is mine to avenge. 469 00:23:24,333 --> 00:23:27,066 I will repay not you. 470 00:23:27,066 --> 00:23:29,766 In due time there will slip there. 471 00:23:29,766 --> 00:23:32,766 Day of disaster is near and their doom rushes upon them. 472 00:23:35,700 --> 00:23:37,666 It's my job. 473 00:23:37,666 --> 00:23:38,466 Is not your job. 474 00:23:43,200 --> 00:23:46,200 In Romans do not repay anyone evil for evil. 475 00:23:47,066 --> 00:23:50,000 Be careful to do what's right in the eyes of everyone. 476 00:23:50,000 --> 00:23:52,066 If it is possible. As far as it depends on you. 477 00:23:52,066 --> 00:23:53,533 Live at peace with everyone. 478 00:23:53,533 --> 00:23:56,800 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, 479 00:23:57,466 --> 00:24:00,066 but leave room for God's wrath. 480 00:24:00,066 --> 00:24:02,133 For it is written, it is mine to avenge. 481 00:24:02,133 --> 00:24:04,466 I will repay, says more. 482 00:24:04,466 --> 00:24:07,466 We have to be very careful. 483 00:24:08,233 --> 00:24:09,633 In our response 484 00:24:09,633 --> 00:24:12,633 to injustice and our response 485 00:24:13,200 --> 00:24:16,100 to when we've been done wrong, 486 00:24:16,100 --> 00:24:20,000 that we don't say I will because they did. 487 00:24:20,000 --> 00:24:22,533 I will do. 488 00:24:22,533 --> 00:24:24,933 It destroys everybody involved. 489 00:24:24,933 --> 00:24:28,400 And the principle and rules of Scripture are, say God, 490 00:24:28,533 --> 00:24:31,533 I will let you settle the score. 491 00:24:32,200 --> 00:24:35,066 I'm not going to. 492 00:24:35,066 --> 00:24:38,066 Is that hard? 493 00:24:43,166 --> 00:24:44,000 You know why it's hard? 494 00:24:45,000 --> 00:24:47,100 Because discipleship requires 495 00:24:47,100 --> 00:24:50,100 a radical realignment of life. 496 00:24:51,566 --> 00:24:54,300 That's why it's hard. 497 00:24:54,300 --> 00:24:57,300 Because we don't want to realign our lives. 498 00:24:57,566 --> 00:25:00,566 We want retaliation. 499 00:25:02,633 --> 00:25:05,633 And God says, stay your hand. 500 00:25:06,066 --> 00:25:09,066 Stay your tongue. 501 00:25:09,200 --> 00:25:12,200 Don't post, don't text, don't respond. 502 00:25:14,366 --> 00:25:17,366 Trust me. 503 00:25:17,500 --> 00:25:19,466 If I've created everything out of nothing, 504 00:25:19,466 --> 00:25:22,466 I can take care of this. 505 00:25:22,666 --> 00:25:24,600 If you believe Genesis one one, you got to believe 506 00:25:24,600 --> 00:25:27,600 I can take care of this to. 507 00:25:29,400 --> 00:25:31,400 I think this is why 508 00:25:31,400 --> 00:25:34,833 most people want Jesus for salvation and heaven, 509 00:25:35,033 --> 00:25:38,133 but they don't want to be committed as a disciple 510 00:25:39,433 --> 00:25:41,166 because to walk so closely with 511 00:25:41,166 --> 00:25:45,166 Jesus, we get the dust of his footprints on our clothes, 512 00:25:46,100 --> 00:25:49,100 to sit under the shadow of his being 513 00:25:49,833 --> 00:25:52,833 and to be an apprentice of the Messiah 514 00:25:53,033 --> 00:25:56,166 means a radical realignment of our life. 515 00:25:58,366 --> 00:26:01,366 Where we don't have the right 516 00:26:01,900 --> 00:26:04,900 to retaliate. 517 00:26:06,833 --> 00:26:08,000 Generously, in Romans 12 518 00:26:08,000 --> 00:26:11,000 that I just read, it says, as far as it depends on you, live at peace. 519 00:26:11,200 --> 00:26:13,500 Let me just help you understand what it doesn't mean. 520 00:26:13,500 --> 00:26:16,400 As far as it depends on you. Be friends with everybody, 521 00:26:16,400 --> 00:26:19,866 because sometimes living at peace means I need to separate myself from. 522 00:26:21,666 --> 00:26:22,900 There are some people 523 00:26:22,900 --> 00:26:25,966 that it's difficult for me to continue to be around, 524 00:26:25,966 --> 00:26:28,966 because it causes so much discord in my own heart, 525 00:26:30,066 --> 00:26:33,300 and the best way I can keep peace within myself. 526 00:26:33,433 --> 00:26:36,333 So I don't retaliate and I don't spout off. 527 00:26:36,333 --> 00:26:40,300 And I don't want is just to remove myself from people, 528 00:26:40,300 --> 00:26:43,466 from communities, from groups, from opportunities. 529 00:26:44,633 --> 00:26:47,633 And in that way, I protect my heart, 530 00:26:48,033 --> 00:26:52,300 I protect my obedience, and I am able to be at peace. 531 00:26:52,366 --> 00:26:53,100 Does it make sense? 532 00:26:58,766 --> 00:27:00,733 Verses nine 1011 533 00:27:00,733 --> 00:27:03,833 The Philistines went up and Captain Judah spreading out near Lehigh. 534 00:27:03,833 --> 00:27:07,466 The people of Judah asked, why have you come to fight us there? 535 00:27:07,766 --> 00:27:09,933 These Philistines, 536 00:27:09,933 --> 00:27:12,866 it feels you can say, we've come to take Samson prisoner, 537 00:27:12,866 --> 00:27:15,866 to do to him what he did to us. 538 00:27:16,266 --> 00:27:19,266 Do you see this retaliation? 539 00:27:19,833 --> 00:27:22,833 Then 3000 men from Judah went down. 540 00:27:23,433 --> 00:27:27,166 That's the trajectory in this story to the cave in the rock and beat them, 541 00:27:27,166 --> 00:27:30,733 and said to Samson, do you realize the Philistines are rulers over us? 542 00:27:30,733 --> 00:27:32,066 Why are you picking fights with him? 543 00:27:32,066 --> 00:27:34,433 You're going to causes problems, he answered. 544 00:27:34,433 --> 00:27:37,533 Look at what he said I merely did to them what they did to me. 545 00:27:39,200 --> 00:27:42,200 Have anybody ever said that? 546 00:27:43,400 --> 00:27:43,800 Look, I'm 547 00:27:43,800 --> 00:27:47,666 not all I did is what you did to me. 548 00:27:47,666 --> 00:27:50,500 Oh, the only way I responded to you is how you responded to me. 549 00:27:51,833 --> 00:27:54,366 And the only way I asked is how you acted to me. 550 00:27:54,366 --> 00:27:57,366 As if we're completely innocent in that right? 551 00:27:57,600 --> 00:28:00,500 Right. Look, I didn't overstep my bounds. 552 00:28:00,500 --> 00:28:01,533 I'm doing it wrong. 553 00:28:01,533 --> 00:28:03,566 I see exactly what you did. 554 00:28:03,566 --> 00:28:05,433 If you don't like it, do something different to me. 555 00:28:05,433 --> 00:28:08,433 Right. 556 00:28:12,366 --> 00:28:15,366 It's just immature and arrogant. 557 00:28:15,933 --> 00:28:18,933 Too. We are. 558 00:28:21,233 --> 00:28:22,800 What we have to understand 559 00:28:22,800 --> 00:28:25,600 is that retaliation is a never ending story. 560 00:28:25,600 --> 00:28:29,166 There's never a final chapter in the story of retaliation 561 00:28:30,066 --> 00:28:33,066 ever. 562 00:28:33,800 --> 00:28:34,266 See, it's 563 00:28:34,266 --> 00:28:37,766 the worldly view that says I just did to them what they did to me. 564 00:28:38,533 --> 00:28:41,033 It's all I did. I didn't do any more. 565 00:28:41,033 --> 00:28:42,966 Like, I'm not at fault. 566 00:28:42,966 --> 00:28:45,766 I just did what they did. 567 00:28:45,766 --> 00:28:48,300 It's such a worldly worldview 568 00:28:48,300 --> 00:28:52,766 because the biblical worldview, the godly worldview is what's required a force. 569 00:28:52,766 --> 00:28:56,366 In Matthew seven, Jesus says on the sermon on the Mount. 570 00:28:56,366 --> 00:28:59,933 So in everything do to others what you would have them do to you. 571 00:29:00,333 --> 00:29:01,066 For this sums up 572 00:29:01,066 --> 00:29:06,300 the law of the prophets seats up until Jesus said that the rule of religion 573 00:29:06,300 --> 00:29:10,500 and the lamb was don't do to someone what you don't want them to do to you. 574 00:29:10,600 --> 00:29:15,400 The problem with that is that you you were responsible for nothing and nobody. 575 00:29:15,933 --> 00:29:19,433 You could live as a hermit up in the mountains or in the desert, 576 00:29:19,500 --> 00:29:22,800 doing nothing for anybody and feel like you were right with God 577 00:29:23,500 --> 00:29:25,033 and God says it's more than that. 578 00:29:26,800 --> 00:29:28,566 Be like, do it. 579 00:29:28,566 --> 00:29:33,200 Act in mercy and grace towards another how you want them to respond to you. 580 00:29:33,200 --> 00:29:36,200 We have responsibility in this. 581 00:29:37,566 --> 00:29:38,700 And this is where I'm talking about 582 00:29:38,700 --> 00:29:41,733 a radical realignment of life, 583 00:29:43,166 --> 00:29:46,166 where we no longer say, I'm just doing what you did. 584 00:29:47,866 --> 00:29:50,433 We no longer say, 585 00:29:50,433 --> 00:29:53,433 say, I will respond in mercy and grace 586 00:29:53,733 --> 00:29:56,633 the way I want to be responded to 587 00:29:56,633 --> 00:29:59,433 by God himself. 588 00:29:59,433 --> 00:30:01,466 Can you imagine if God looked and said, look, 589 00:30:01,466 --> 00:30:04,266 I'm just going to do you what you did to me? That's all. 590 00:30:04,266 --> 00:30:07,200 But imagine 591 00:30:07,200 --> 00:30:09,300 then, why would we be so arrogant to think 592 00:30:09,300 --> 00:30:12,300 we could do the same to another who was created in his image? 593 00:30:14,433 --> 00:30:17,433 Now I want you to notice the escalation of retaliation. 594 00:30:17,900 --> 00:30:19,233 I don't know if you caught this. 595 00:30:19,233 --> 00:30:20,400 It's a real subtle way. 596 00:30:20,400 --> 00:30:22,366 I think the Holy Spirit is saying, pay attention 597 00:30:22,366 --> 00:30:23,700 to what happens with retaliation. 598 00:30:23,700 --> 00:30:25,533 It's the escalation of retaliation. 599 00:30:25,533 --> 00:30:29,666 I was just reading over this last night in bed, and I was praying, 600 00:30:29,666 --> 00:30:32,733 Lord, if there's anything else that I'm missing in this, just speak to me 601 00:30:32,733 --> 00:30:36,633 because I don't want to miss what it is that you want to communicate. 602 00:30:37,333 --> 00:30:41,133 And it hit me as I just read this, I wrote a note on my phone 603 00:30:42,566 --> 00:30:42,900 and I 604 00:30:42,900 --> 00:30:45,900 remember this is when I saw the escalation in retaliation. 605 00:30:47,000 --> 00:30:50,000 It started with 30 steps of close. 606 00:30:50,966 --> 00:30:53,966 It escalated to 300 boxes, 607 00:30:54,200 --> 00:30:57,266 and now we see 3000 soldiers. 608 00:30:59,400 --> 00:31:01,200 The law of escalation 609 00:31:01,200 --> 00:31:04,200 of retaliation is tenfold. 610 00:31:04,200 --> 00:31:07,200 30 303,000. 611 00:31:08,000 --> 00:31:11,300 When we live according to the law of retaliation, 612 00:31:12,666 --> 00:31:15,666 there will be a tenfold 613 00:31:16,466 --> 00:31:19,466 exacerbation of destruction. 614 00:31:21,666 --> 00:31:24,666 You understand? 615 00:31:25,766 --> 00:31:28,766 Do you understand this? 616 00:31:29,500 --> 00:31:30,833 And I just wonder how many of us 617 00:31:30,833 --> 00:31:33,833 can look back on our lives 618 00:31:34,200 --> 00:31:37,200 and see this law in play. 619 00:31:38,300 --> 00:31:41,300 A ten fold destruction. 620 00:31:42,866 --> 00:31:45,866 Because all I did is what they did was. 621 00:31:51,066 --> 00:31:54,066 Verses 12, 13 and 14. 622 00:31:54,766 --> 00:31:56,266 Again, I didn't put it off. 623 00:31:56,266 --> 00:31:58,066 I just want to encapsulate it. 624 00:31:58,066 --> 00:32:00,333 So Samson says, look, you want him to feel seen. 625 00:32:00,333 --> 00:32:00,733 That's fine. 626 00:32:00,733 --> 00:32:01,200 Whatever. 627 00:32:01,200 --> 00:32:04,200 Just don't try to kill me yourself because it'll go real bad for you if you do. 628 00:32:04,600 --> 00:32:06,066 Like Samson knew what he was capable. 629 00:32:07,066 --> 00:32:08,000 He says you want to hand me over? 630 00:32:08,000 --> 00:32:10,100 That's fine. Just tie up my hands and be over. So sure. 631 00:32:10,100 --> 00:32:11,900 That's fine. We're just going to tie you with ropes. 632 00:32:11,900 --> 00:32:13,300 I'm going to try to kill yourselves. 633 00:32:13,300 --> 00:32:15,333 The handle of the Philistines sounds like. Whatever. 634 00:32:15,333 --> 00:32:15,800 That's fine. 635 00:32:15,800 --> 00:32:18,800 I'll take care of them. Don't care. 636 00:32:19,200 --> 00:32:21,733 As you approach Lehigh, the Philistines came towards 637 00:32:21,733 --> 00:32:24,466 him, shouting, The Spirit of the Lord powerfully upon him. 638 00:32:24,466 --> 00:32:26,400 Let me just stop him. 639 00:32:26,400 --> 00:32:29,400 God is still visiting this guy. 640 00:32:29,866 --> 00:32:32,866 The spirit of the Lord is still falling on. 641 00:32:33,333 --> 00:32:37,066 And any of us, we'd be like, okay, we're like, oh, 642 00:32:38,733 --> 00:32:41,733 hasn't God had enough of him? 643 00:32:42,533 --> 00:32:44,233 I mean, has a God 644 00:32:44,233 --> 00:32:46,566 said, you know what Samson? 645 00:32:46,566 --> 00:32:48,300 That meant? 646 00:32:48,300 --> 00:32:50,300 I guess, you know, being a Jew? 647 00:32:50,300 --> 00:32:52,233 He said, oh, I don't know what God was saying. 648 00:32:57,100 --> 00:32:57,833 John got it. 649 00:32:57,833 --> 00:33:00,833 Thanks, John. He's laughing there. 650 00:33:01,500 --> 00:33:02,800 But but God continues 651 00:33:02,800 --> 00:33:05,800 to say, look, I know how broken you are. 652 00:33:05,866 --> 00:33:07,033 I know what a failure you are. 653 00:33:07,033 --> 00:33:09,700 I chose you in your failure. 654 00:33:09,700 --> 00:33:12,700 I chose you knowing all this was going to happen. 655 00:33:15,000 --> 00:33:18,000 I find that audacious, 656 00:33:18,533 --> 00:33:21,533 but I find it comforting 657 00:33:21,633 --> 00:33:24,633 because honestly, I'm Samson. 658 00:33:25,200 --> 00:33:28,200 I know God's call in my life. 659 00:33:28,200 --> 00:33:30,166 I know the principles and standards of his word. 660 00:33:30,166 --> 00:33:33,000 I'm very much aware, 661 00:33:33,000 --> 00:33:35,166 and there are times when I choose to go 662 00:33:35,166 --> 00:33:38,166 my own way. 663 00:33:41,666 --> 00:33:44,666 To play in the world of dead carcasses. 664 00:33:47,000 --> 00:33:50,000 And yet God continues to say, Carl, 665 00:33:50,466 --> 00:33:53,466 I know what a failure you are. 666 00:33:53,500 --> 00:33:55,866 And I chose you 667 00:33:55,866 --> 00:33:58,000 so that I look really good 668 00:33:58,000 --> 00:34:01,000 because you don't. 669 00:34:03,000 --> 00:34:06,300 Now, my goal is to realize that and to repent 670 00:34:07,300 --> 00:34:08,666 and to keep a very short 671 00:34:08,666 --> 00:34:11,666 account with my Savior. 672 00:34:15,300 --> 00:34:17,166 Spirit, Lord, came upon him. 673 00:34:17,166 --> 00:34:20,533 The ropes on his arms came, became like charred flax, 674 00:34:20,533 --> 00:34:23,933 and the bindings dropped from his hand, finding a fresh 675 00:34:23,933 --> 00:34:27,266 jawbone of a donkey, he grabbed it and struck down a thousand men. 676 00:34:27,300 --> 00:34:29,466 Then Samson said, with a donkey's jawbone. 677 00:34:29,466 --> 00:34:31,800 I've made donkeys of them with a donkey jawbone. 678 00:34:31,800 --> 00:34:34,800 I've killed a thousand men. 679 00:34:35,066 --> 00:34:39,366 The Bible makes it clear that it's a fresh jawbone is the fresh jawbone. 680 00:34:39,366 --> 00:34:41,400 It is a fresh 681 00:34:41,400 --> 00:34:43,900 kill. 682 00:34:43,900 --> 00:34:46,366 No, it had to be a fresh jawbone, because if it were an old jawbone, 683 00:34:46,366 --> 00:34:48,033 it would be brittle and break. 684 00:34:48,033 --> 00:34:48,866 So it had to be fresh. 685 00:34:48,866 --> 00:34:50,166 But in order for it to be fresh 686 00:34:50,166 --> 00:34:53,700 and for him to get it, he had to again violate his vow. 687 00:34:55,566 --> 00:34:57,966 Do you understand 688 00:34:57,966 --> 00:35:01,433 the continual downward spiral 689 00:35:01,533 --> 00:35:04,600 of violation of God's Word and God's standard 690 00:35:05,466 --> 00:35:08,466 only results in destruction and death. 691 00:35:14,300 --> 00:35:16,900 And he says, with the 692 00:35:16,900 --> 00:35:19,900 donkey of an ass, I've made an ass of them. 693 00:35:28,566 --> 00:35:31,500 Notice this because he was very thirsty. 694 00:35:31,500 --> 00:35:31,833 Well, sure. 695 00:35:31,833 --> 00:35:33,566 You just kill the thousand people. 696 00:35:33,566 --> 00:35:36,400 You're going to work up a thirst. 697 00:35:36,400 --> 00:35:38,600 He cried out to the Lord. 698 00:35:38,600 --> 00:35:40,500 You've given your servant this great victory. 699 00:35:40,500 --> 00:35:43,500 Must I now die of thirst and fall on the hands of the uncircumcised? 700 00:35:44,633 --> 00:35:48,400 Then God opened up the hollow place, and Lehigh and water came out of it. 701 00:35:48,833 --> 00:35:51,833 When Samson drank, his strength returned, and he revived. 702 00:35:52,000 --> 00:35:56,266 So the spring was called in Hickory, and it is still there. 703 00:35:56,266 --> 00:35:58,233 And Lehigh. 704 00:35:58,233 --> 00:35:59,900 How did verse 18 start? 705 00:35:59,900 --> 00:36:01,233 He was thirsty, and he did what? 706 00:36:03,166 --> 00:36:04,766 He cried out to the Lord. 707 00:36:04,766 --> 00:36:08,200 Do you ever recall up to this point in Samson's life, him 708 00:36:08,366 --> 00:36:11,366 ever praying? 709 00:36:12,300 --> 00:36:13,166 This is the first. 710 00:36:13,166 --> 00:36:17,566 There's only two times in Samson's recorded life that he ever prayed. 711 00:36:18,600 --> 00:36:21,600 This is the first time. 712 00:36:23,033 --> 00:36:24,733 He was not obviously 713 00:36:24,733 --> 00:36:27,733 living in communion with God. 714 00:36:28,033 --> 00:36:30,933 He was not living in a right relationship with him. 715 00:36:30,933 --> 00:36:32,533 He never prayed. 716 00:36:32,533 --> 00:36:34,100 He never sought the Lord's face. 717 00:36:34,100 --> 00:36:36,566 Can you imagine? 718 00:36:36,566 --> 00:36:38,300 Can you imagine 719 00:36:38,300 --> 00:36:41,733 the pain that could have been avoided in his own personal life? 720 00:36:41,933 --> 00:36:45,133 Has he just stopped before reacting and said, Lord, 721 00:36:46,533 --> 00:36:49,533 what is your willingness? 722 00:36:49,600 --> 00:36:53,066 Lord, stay my hand, Lord, stay my tongue. 723 00:36:53,066 --> 00:36:56,333 God put a sentry at my lips, but a century at my eyes, 724 00:36:56,433 --> 00:36:59,433 but a century at my hands, but a century in my life. 725 00:36:59,466 --> 00:37:02,233 Keep me from violating your word. 726 00:37:02,233 --> 00:37:03,033 Can you imagine? 727 00:37:06,900 --> 00:37:08,466 But think about the destruction 728 00:37:08,466 --> 00:37:11,466 he's seen in his life. 729 00:37:14,700 --> 00:37:17,700 A horrible relationship with his parents. 730 00:37:18,866 --> 00:37:21,866 A marriage he should have never gotten into. 731 00:37:21,933 --> 00:37:24,933 Her being taken away and murdered. 732 00:37:26,033 --> 00:37:29,033 All this death and destruction that came upon him. 733 00:37:29,466 --> 00:37:33,400 The lives that were taken at his own hand, living in a cave, 734 00:37:33,400 --> 00:37:36,400 now losing everything. 735 00:37:39,600 --> 00:37:42,566 Can you imagine 736 00:37:42,566 --> 00:37:44,466 what could have been accomplished through his life? 737 00:37:44,466 --> 00:37:47,466 How do you just said, Lord, 738 00:37:47,600 --> 00:37:50,266 I want you to rule over me 739 00:37:50,266 --> 00:37:53,266 rather than always having to overrule. 740 00:37:59,200 --> 00:38:02,200 It amazing he was not a very spiritual man, 741 00:38:03,500 --> 00:38:06,266 but he was still a chosen man. 742 00:38:06,266 --> 00:38:09,266 And he's still listed in Hebrews 1132 743 00:38:10,300 --> 00:38:13,300 and the Hall of Fame of Faith. 744 00:38:15,733 --> 00:38:18,733 The mercy and grace of God. 745 00:38:19,833 --> 00:38:22,833 We cannot fathom it. 746 00:38:24,733 --> 00:38:26,900 The lessons of chapter 14 of 15. 747 00:38:28,200 --> 00:38:29,966 Personal retaliation is a 748 00:38:29,966 --> 00:38:32,966 never ending story that never has the final chapter. 749 00:38:34,633 --> 00:38:37,633 Don't start writing that book in your life. 750 00:38:40,100 --> 00:38:43,100 Leave room for God. 751 00:38:43,466 --> 00:38:45,133 For God's wrath. For God's will. 752 00:38:45,133 --> 00:38:46,866 For God to settle scores. 753 00:38:46,866 --> 00:38:47,766 It's not your job. 754 00:38:47,766 --> 00:38:50,766 It's not my job. 755 00:38:52,200 --> 00:38:54,966 Any retaliation must be left to God 756 00:38:54,966 --> 00:38:57,966 and say, God, I trust you and you alone to settle the score. 757 00:38:58,466 --> 00:39:00,166 Because here's why. Here's why so important? 758 00:39:00,166 --> 00:39:03,166 Because that's how God has treated us. 759 00:39:04,233 --> 00:39:07,233 You need to know Psalm 103, verse ten. 760 00:39:09,300 --> 00:39:12,666 He does not treat us as our sins deserve 761 00:39:13,666 --> 00:39:16,666 or repay us according to our iniquities. 762 00:39:17,366 --> 00:39:19,000 God never says to us, hey, 763 00:39:19,000 --> 00:39:22,000 I'm just treating you like you treated me. 764 00:39:22,400 --> 00:39:25,233 Can you imagine if you did? 765 00:39:25,233 --> 00:39:29,100 What he did do is treat his son like we treated him. 766 00:39:32,633 --> 00:39:35,100 Is for our iniquity 767 00:39:35,100 --> 00:39:38,100 that he bled, died. 768 00:39:38,800 --> 00:39:40,766 And so if God doesn't 769 00:39:40,766 --> 00:39:43,766 treat us as our sins deserve, 770 00:39:44,233 --> 00:39:47,400 if God doesn't repay according to our iniquities, 771 00:39:47,600 --> 00:39:51,900 why would we dare think we have the right or the authority 772 00:39:52,166 --> 00:39:55,266 to treat someone else according to the way their sins 773 00:39:55,266 --> 00:39:58,266 deserve? 774 00:40:06,900 --> 00:40:09,900 On the other lesson of chapter 1415 is this 775 00:40:10,366 --> 00:40:13,366 Though God continually 776 00:40:13,433 --> 00:40:17,033 would overrule Simpson, Samson's sin and choices, 777 00:40:17,966 --> 00:40:21,100 how much better if Samson let God 778 00:40:21,200 --> 00:40:24,200 rule over his life? 779 00:40:25,966 --> 00:40:27,400 Friends, God is so loving. 780 00:40:27,400 --> 00:40:28,233 He's so great. 781 00:40:28,233 --> 00:40:32,000 He's so merciful that he can and does 782 00:40:32,000 --> 00:40:35,133 overrule our stupidity. 783 00:40:36,000 --> 00:40:38,566 He does overrule oftentimes our sin. 784 00:40:38,566 --> 00:40:41,566 He does overrule our choices. 785 00:40:42,366 --> 00:40:43,700 There's pain in that. 786 00:40:43,700 --> 00:40:46,700 When he does, how much better 787 00:40:46,700 --> 00:40:49,700 to let God rule over 788 00:40:49,966 --> 00:40:52,866 your life? 789 00:40:52,866 --> 00:40:53,400 You understand? 790 00:40:58,333 --> 00:41:01,366 That this morning in my office, 791 00:41:01,366 --> 00:41:04,366 I was praying and I thought, Lord, I am Samson. 792 00:41:06,900 --> 00:41:09,100 I am, 793 00:41:09,100 --> 00:41:11,233 and you've been gracious 794 00:41:11,233 --> 00:41:14,233 and merciful to call me. 795 00:41:16,266 --> 00:41:17,366 And there have been many times 796 00:41:17,366 --> 00:41:20,366 when you've had to overrule. 797 00:41:22,433 --> 00:41:25,433 Sid. But I invite you to rule over. 798 00:41:27,600 --> 00:41:28,500 And there might be 1 799 00:41:28,500 --> 00:41:31,566 or 2 of you this morning who would admit, 800 00:41:32,833 --> 00:41:35,833 like me, that you also are Samson. 801 00:41:37,933 --> 00:41:38,600 And you can see 802 00:41:38,600 --> 00:41:41,600 how God is overruled at times. 803 00:41:43,133 --> 00:41:46,133 I want to invite you to invite him 804 00:41:46,533 --> 00:41:49,266 to rule over. 805 00:41:49,266 --> 00:41:52,200 It so much better. 806 00:41:52,200 --> 00:41:55,200 I want you to pray with us. 807 00:41:59,400 --> 00:42:02,000 Father, you are a good God. 808 00:42:02,000 --> 00:42:05,000 You are a good God. 809 00:42:07,033 --> 00:42:09,900 Jesus, I thank you for being obedient unto death, 810 00:42:09,900 --> 00:42:12,900 even to death on a cross. 811 00:42:13,900 --> 00:42:16,633 Father, I thank you that you don't treat me as my sin deserves, 812 00:42:18,566 --> 00:42:20,666 and you don't hold my iniquity against me. 813 00:42:20,666 --> 00:42:23,700 Thank you that you laid all of that on your son. 814 00:42:27,700 --> 00:42:30,700 Father, I thank you for the times, 815 00:42:31,666 --> 00:42:34,733 and that you've done it with mercy and grace when you've had to overrule 816 00:42:34,733 --> 00:42:37,733 my life. 817 00:42:38,633 --> 00:42:41,633 God, I don't want to be. 818 00:42:41,866 --> 00:42:43,200 I guess I want to be less 819 00:42:43,200 --> 00:42:46,200 like Samson every day. 820 00:42:47,333 --> 00:42:50,333 And so. 821 00:42:53,266 --> 00:42:56,600 I ask you to rule over my life. 822 00:42:59,766 --> 00:43:00,333 And, father, 823 00:43:00,333 --> 00:43:03,600 I think there are people here that people who are listening. 824 00:43:06,033 --> 00:43:07,166 Who, in honesty, 825 00:43:07,166 --> 00:43:10,166 would say the exact same thing. 826 00:43:11,166 --> 00:43:12,900 And so I pray that you I know you do. 827 00:43:12,900 --> 00:43:14,700 I don't have to pray that you will. I know you do. 828 00:43:14,700 --> 00:43:16,500 Just just hear us. 829 00:43:16,500 --> 00:43:19,733 Here are your friends. 830 00:43:19,733 --> 00:43:24,100 I want to invite you in this moment between you and the God who loves you. 831 00:43:26,700 --> 00:43:29,500 In a moment of clarity and come and clean before him. 832 00:43:29,500 --> 00:43:32,500 The Bible calls it repentance to be sorrowful. 833 00:43:34,600 --> 00:43:35,333 For how much? 834 00:43:35,333 --> 00:43:37,833 In the image of Samson 835 00:43:37,833 --> 00:43:40,833 you become. 836 00:43:41,300 --> 00:43:43,800 And in the sorrow of that day, 837 00:43:43,800 --> 00:43:46,800 father, I, I admit 838 00:43:47,566 --> 00:43:50,566 much of me it looks like Samson. 839 00:43:52,400 --> 00:43:55,400 And I confess that to you. 840 00:43:56,800 --> 00:43:57,166 Tell him. 841 00:43:57,166 --> 00:43:58,533 Say thank you. 842 00:43:58,533 --> 00:44:01,533 That there are times that you overrule my life. 843 00:44:03,833 --> 00:44:05,666 But I invite you in this moment 844 00:44:05,666 --> 00:44:08,666 to rule over now. 845 00:44:11,366 --> 00:44:14,366 I want to be less like Samson. 846 00:44:15,966 --> 00:44:18,966 And more like Christ. 847 00:44:19,400 --> 00:44:21,200 I give you permission 848 00:44:21,200 --> 00:44:24,200 to rule over. 849 00:44:25,800 --> 00:44:27,000 Father, I thank you for this time. 850 00:44:27,000 --> 00:44:27,900 I thank you for your word. 851 00:44:27,900 --> 00:44:28,766 I thank you for the chance 852 00:44:28,766 --> 00:44:33,133 we've had to look at it together, to study it, to let it penetrate us. 853 00:44:35,266 --> 00:44:36,833 I pray you continue 854 00:44:36,833 --> 00:44:39,500 to treat us not as our senses are, not according to our iniquities, 855 00:44:39,500 --> 00:44:44,100 but God in mercy and grace, with mercy and grace, and in our repentance. 856 00:44:44,966 --> 00:44:47,966 Give us all that your grace will allow us. 857 00:44:47,966 --> 00:44:50,766 It's so good 858 00:44:50,766 --> 00:44:53,766 that we be trophies of your grace. 859 00:44:54,566 --> 00:44:56,833 We love you, Jesus. 860 00:44:56,833 --> 00:44:58,100 Thank you that you love us always. 861 00:44:58,100 --> 00:45:00,166 Your name I pray 862 00:45:00,166 --> 00:45:02,933 and listen for most of the way through. 863 00:45:02,933 --> 00:45:05,700 Samson. Next week we are going to Shutterfly 864 00:45:05,700 --> 00:45:08,700 and there's one final account. 865 00:45:09,133 --> 00:45:12,133 It is both tragic and heroic at the same time. 866 00:45:12,933 --> 00:45:15,933 God continues to move through him 867 00:45:16,400 --> 00:45:19,233 and it is culminates in this next chapter 868 00:45:19,233 --> 00:45:20,666 and I'm excited to go through it with you. 869 00:45:20,666 --> 00:45:23,666 So, so read it, read it. 870 00:45:23,666 --> 00:45:24,900 It's a beautiful story. 871 00:45:24,900 --> 00:45:26,700 Many of you have heard it before, 872 00:45:27,833 --> 00:45:30,233 but see in it maybe yourself. 873 00:45:30,233 --> 00:45:33,833 It's seeing at the mercy and grace of God and His redemptive nature 874 00:45:35,133 --> 00:45:36,766 when we come back to him. 875 00:45:36,766 --> 00:45:39,500 Hey love you! 876 00:45:39,500 --> 00:45:41,933 It's been good to study God's Word together. 877 00:45:41,933 --> 00:45:43,900 I'm invite you to stand up and sing one more song.