Judges 12-16: Samson's Folly (LSFAB S13E052) [TEASER - 0:00] He let his passion dictate his decisions. [INTRO S13E052 - 0:10] This is the Lifespring Family Audio Bible coming to you from Riverside, California, and podcasting since 2004, I'm your OG Godcaster, Steve Webb. This is the daily podcast where we'll read through the entire Bible in a year. The website is at lifespringmedia.com. This is History Tuesday, and we'll read Judges 12 through 16. I'm calling today's episode, "Samson's Folly." Before we read, let's pray. [OPENING PRAYER - 0:36] Our heavenly Father as we read your word today, I pray that you would bless our time together. I pray this in Jesus' name, amen. Okay, let's begin. [JUDGES 12 (CEB) - 0:47] Judges, chapter 12. (1) The Ephraimites were called up for battle and crossed over to Zaphon. They said to Jephthah, “Why did you cross over to fight the Ammonites and not call us to go with you? We’re going to burn down your house over you!” (2) Jephthah replied to them, “My people and I were in a great conflict with the Ammonites. But when I cried out to you, you didn’t rescue me from their power. (3) When I saw that you weren’t going to rescue me, I risked my own life and crossed over against the Ammonites, and the LORD handed them over to me. So why have you marched against me today to fight me?” (4) So Jephthah gathered all the men of Gilead and fought the Ephraimites. The Gileadites defeated the Ephraimites, because they had said, “You are fugitives from Ephraim! Gilead stands within Ephraim and Manasseh.” (5) The Gileadites took control of the Jordan’s crossing points into Ephraim. Whenever one of the Ephraimite fugitives said, “Let me cross,” the Gileadites would ask him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” If he said, “No,” (6) they would tell him, “Then say shibboleth.” But he would say, “sibboleth,” because he couldn’t pronounce it correctly. So they would seize him and kill him at the Jordan’s crossing points. Forty-two thousand of the Ephraimites fell at that time. (7) Jephthah led Israel for six years. Then Jephthah the Gileadite died and was buried in one of the towns in Gilead. (8) After Jephthah, Ibzan from Bethlehem led Israel. (9) He had thirty sons and thirty daughters. He married his thirty daughters to those outside his clan, and brought in thirty young women from outside for his sons. He led Israel for seven years. (10) Then Ibzan died and was buried in Bethlehem. (11) After Ibzan, Elon from Zebulun led Israel; he did so for ten years. (12) Then Elon the Zebulunite died and was buried in Aijalon in the land of Zebulun. (13) After Elon, Abdon, Hillel’s son from Pirathon, led Israel. (14) He had forty sons and thirty grandsons mounted on seventy donkeys. He led Israel for eight years. (15) Then Abdon, Hillel’s son from Pirathon, died and was buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the Amalekite highlands. [JUDGES 13 (CEB) - 2:55] Judges, chapter 13. (1) The Israelites again did things that the LORD saw as evil, and he handed them over to the Philistines for forty years. (2) Now there was a certain man from Zorah, from the Danite clan, whose name was Manoah. His wife was unable to become pregnant and had not given birth to any children. (3) The LORD’s messenger appeared to the woman and said to her, “Even though you’ve been unable to become pregnant and haven’t given birth, you are now pregnant and will give birth to a son! (4) Now be careful not to drink wine or brandy or to eat anything that is ritually unclean, (5) because you are pregnant and will give birth to a son. Don’t allow a razor to shave his head, because the boy is going to be a nazirite for God from birth. He’ll be the one who begins Israel’s rescue from the power of the Philistines.” (6) Then the woman went and told her husband, “A man of God came to me, and he looked like God’s messenger—very scary! I didn’t ask him where he was from, and he didn’t tell me his name. (7) He said to me, ‘You are pregnant and will give birth to a son, so don’t drink wine or brandy or eat anything that is ritually unclean, because the boy is going to be a nazirite for God from birth until the day he dies.’” (8) Manoah asked the LORD, “Please, my Lord,” he said, “let the man of God whom you sent come back to us once more, so he can teach us how we should treat the boy who is to be born.” (9) God listened to Manoah, and God’s messenger came once more to the woman. She was sitting in the field, but her husband Manoah wasn’t with her. (10) So the woman hurriedly ran and informed her husband. She said to him, “The man who came to me the other day has just appeared to me.” (11) Manoah got up and followed his wife. He came to the man and said to him, “Are you the man who spoke to this woman?” “I am,” he replied. (12) Manoah said, “Now when your words come true, what should be the rules for the boy and how he should act?” (13) The LORD’s messenger answered Manoah, “The woman should be careful to do everything that I told her. (14) She must not consume anything that comes from the grapevine, drink wine or brandy, or eat anything that is ritually unclean. She must be careful to do everything I have commanded her.” (15) Manoah said to the LORD’s messenger, “Please let us persuade you to stay so we can prepare a young goat for you.” (16) But the LORD’s messenger replied to Manoah, “If you persuaded me to stay, I wouldn’t eat your food. If you prepare an entirely burned offering, offer it to the LORD.” Indeed, Manoah didn’t know that he was the LORD’s messenger. (17) Manoah said to the LORD’s messenger, “What’s your name, so that we may honor you when your words come true?” (18) The LORD’s messenger responded to him, “Why do you ask my name? You couldn’t understand it.” (19) So Manoah took a young goat and a grain offering and offered them on a rock to the LORD. While Manoah and his wife were looking, an amazing thing happened: (20) as the flame from the altar went up toward the sky, the LORD’s messenger went up in the altar’s flame. When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell facedown on the ground. (21) The LORD’s messenger didn’t reappear to Manoah or his wife, and Manoah then realized that it had been God's messenger. (22) Manoah said to his wife, “We are certainly going to die, because we’ve seen God!” (23) But his wife replied to him, “If the LORD wanted to kill us, he wouldn’t have accepted the entirely burned offering and grain offering from our hands. He wouldn’t have shown us all these things or told us all of this now.” (24) The woman gave birth to a son and named him Samson. The boy grew up, and the LORD blessed him. (25) The LORD’s spirit began to move him when he was in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol. [JUDGES 14 (CEB) - 6:34] Judges, chapter 14. (1) Samson traveled down to Timnah. While he was in Timnah, a Philistine woman caught his eye. (2) He went back home and told his father and mother, “A Philistine woman in Timnah caught my eye; now get her for me as a wife!” (3) But his father and mother replied to him, “Is there no woman among your own relatives or among all our people that you have to go get a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?” Yet Samson said to his father, “Get her for me, because she’s the one I want!” (4) His father and mother didn’t know that the LORD was behind this. He was looking for an opening with the Philistines, because they were ruling over Israel at that time. (5) Then Samson traveled down to Timnah with his father and mother. When he came to the vineyards in Timnah, suddenly a lone young lion came roaring to meet him. (6) The LORD’s spirit rushed over him, and he tore the young lion apart with his bare hands as one might tear apart a young goat. But he didn’t tell his father or mother what he had done. (7) Then he traveled down and talked with the woman; she was the one Samson wanted. (8) After a while, he came back again to marry her. He turned aside to look at the lion’s remains, and there was a swarm of bees with honey inside the lion’s skeleton. (9) He scooped the honey into his hands, eating it as he continued along. When he got to his father and mother, he gave some to them, and they ate it too. But he didn’t tell them that he had scooped the honey from the lion’s skeleton. (10) His father traveled down to the woman, and Samson put on a feast there, as was the custom for young men. (11) When the townspeople saw him, they selected thirty companions to be with him. (12) Then Samson said to them, “Let me tell you a riddle. If you can figure it out and tell me the answer within the seven days of the feast, I’ll give you thirty linen robes and thirty sets of clothes. (13) But if you can’t tell me the answer, then it’s you who have to give me thirty linen robes and thirty sets of clothes.” So they replied to him, “Tell your riddle; let’s hear it.” (14) He said to them, “Out of the eater there came something to eat. Out of the strong there came something sweet.” For three days they couldn’t tell the answer to the riddle. (15) On the fourth day they said to Samson’s wife, “Seduce your husband so he’ll tell us the answer to the riddle, or else we’ll set fire to you and your household. Were we invited here just to become poor?” (16) So Samson’s wife cried on his shoulder and said, “You hate me! You don’t love me! You told a riddle to my people but didn’t tell me the answer.” He replied to her, “Look, I haven’t even told the answer to my father and mother. Why should I tell it to you?” (17) But she cried on his shoulder for the rest of the seven days of the feast. Finally, on the seventh day, he told her the answer, for she had nagged him. And she told her people the answer to the riddle. (18) So on the seventh day, before the sun set, the townspeople said to him, “What’s sweeter than honey? What’s stronger than a lion?” He replied to them, “If you hadn’t plowed with my heifer, you wouldn’t have figured out my riddle!” (19) Then the LORD’s spirit rushed over him, and he went down to Ashkelon. He killed thirty of their men, stripped them of their gear, and gave the sets of clothes to the ones who had told the answer to the riddle. In anger, he went back up to his father’s household. (20) And Samson’s wife married one of those who had been his companions. [JUDGES 15 (HCSB) - 9:54] Judges. chapter 15. (1) Later on, during the wheat harvest, Samson took a young goat as a gift and visited his wife. “I want to go to my wife in her room,” he said. But her father would not let him enter. (2) “I was sure you hated her,” her father said, “so I gave her to one of the men who accompanied you. Isn’t her younger sister more beautiful than she is? Why not take her instead? ” (3) Samson said to them, “This time I won’t be responsible when I harm the Philistines.” (4) So he went out and caught 300 foxes. He took torches, turned the foxes tail-to-tail, and put a torch between each pair of tails. (5) Then he ignited the torches and released the foxes into the standing grain of the Philistines. He burned up the piles of grain and the standing grain as well as the vineyards and olive groves. (6) Then the Philistines asked, “Who did this? ” They were told, “It was Samson, the Timnite’s son-in-law, because he has taken Samson’s wife and given her to another man.” So the Philistines went to her and her father and burned them to death. (7) Then Samson told them, “Because you did this, I swear that I won’t rest until I have taken vengeance on you.” (8) He tore them limb from limb with a great slaughter, and he went down and stayed in the cave at the rock of Etam. (9) The Philistines went up, camped in Judah, and raided Lehi. (10) So the men of Judah said, “Why have you attacked us? ” They replied, “We have come to arrest Samson and pay him back for what he did to us.” (11) Then 3,000 men of Judah went to the cave at the rock of Etam, and they asked Samson, “Don’t you realize that the Philistines rule over us? What have you done to us? ” “I have done to them what they did to me,” he answered. (12) They said to him, “We’ve come to arrest you and hand you over to the Philistines.” Then Samson told them, “Swear to me that you yourselves won’t kill me.” (13) “No,” they said, “we won’t kill you, but we will tie you up securely and hand you over to them.” So they tied him up with two new ropes and led him away from the rock. (14) When he came to Lehi, the Philistines came to meet him shouting. The Spirit of the Lord took control of him, and the ropes that were on his arms became like burnt flax and his bonds fell off his wrists. (15) He found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, reached out his hand, took it, and killed 1,000 men with it. (16) Then Samson said: With the jawbone of a donkey I have piled them in a heap. With the jawbone of a donkey I have killed 1,000 men. (17) When he finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone and named that place Ramath-lehi. (18) He became very thirsty and called out to the Lord: “You have accomplished this great victory through Your servant. Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?” (19) So God split a hollow place in the ground at Lehi, and water came out of it. After Samson drank, his strength returned, and he revived. That is why he named it En-hakkore, which is in Lehi to this day. (20) And he judged Israel 20 years in the days of the Philistines. [JUDGES 16 (HCSB) - 12:46] Judges, chapter 16. (1) Samson went to Gaza, where he saw a prostitute and went to bed with her. (2) When the Gazites heard that Samson was there, they surrounded the place and waited in ambush for him all that night at the city gate. While they were waiting quietly, they said, “Let us wait until dawn; then we will kill him.” (3) But Samson stayed in bed until midnight when he got up, took hold of the doors of the city gate along with the two gateposts, and pulled them out, bar and all. He put them on his shoulders and took them to the top of the mountain overlooking Hebron. (4) Some time later, he fell in love with a woman named Delilah, who lived in the Sorek Valley. (5) The Philistine leaders went to her and said, “Persuade him to tell you where his great strength comes from, so we can overpower him, tie him up, and make him helpless. Each of us will then give you 1,100 pieces of silver.” (6) So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me, where does your great strength come from? How could someone tie you up and make you helpless? ” (7) Samson told her, “If they tie me up with seven fresh bowstrings that have not been dried, I will become weak and be like any other man.” (8) The Philistine leaders brought her seven fresh bowstrings that had not been dried, and she tied him up with them. (9) While the men in ambush were waiting in her room, she called out to him, “Samson, the Philistines are here!” But he snapped the bowstrings as a strand of yarn snaps when it touches fire. The secret of his strength remained unknown. (10) Then Delilah said to Samson, “You have mocked me and told me lies! Won’t you please tell me how you can be tied up? ” (11) He told her, “If they tie me up with new ropes that have never been used, I will become weak and be like any other man.” (12) Delilah took new ropes, tied him up with them, and shouted, “Samson, the Philistines are here!” But while the men in ambush were waiting in her room, he snapped the ropes off his arms like a thread. (13) Then Delilah said to Samson, “You have mocked me all along and told me lies! Tell me how you can be tied up.” He told her, “If you weave the seven braids on my head with the web of a loom — ” (14) She fastened the braids with a pin and called to him, “Samson, the Philistines are here!” He awoke from his sleep and pulled out the pin, with the loom and the web. (15) “How can you say, ‘I love you,’” she told him, “when your heart is not with me? This is the third time you have mocked me and not told me what makes your strength so great! ” (16) Because she nagged him day after day and pleaded with him until she wore him out, (17) he told her the whole truth and said to her, “My hair has never been cut, because I am a Nazirite to God from birth. If I am shaved, my strength will leave me, and I will become weak and be like any other man.” (18) When Delilah realized that he had told her the whole truth, she sent this message to the Philistine leaders: “Come one more time, for he has told me the whole truth.” The Philistine leaders came to her and brought the money with them. (19) Then she let him fall asleep on her lap and called a man to shave off the seven braids on his head. In this way, she made him helpless, and his strength left him. (20) Then she cried, “Samson, the Philistines are here!” When he awoke from his sleep, he said, “I will escape as I did before and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the Lord had left him. (21) The Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes. They brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze shackles, and he was forced to grind grain in the prison. (22) But his hair began to grow back after it had been shaved. (23) Now the Philistine leaders gathered together to offer a great sacrifice to their god Dagon. They rejoiced and said: Our god has handed over our enemy Samson to us. (24) When the people saw him, they praised their god and said: Our god has handed over to us our enemy who destroyed our land and who multiplied our dead. (25) When they were drunk, they said, “Bring Samson here to entertain us.” So they brought Samson from prison, and he entertained them. They had him stand between the pillars. (26) Samson said to the young man who was leading him by the hand, “Lead me where I can feel the pillars supporting the temple, so I can lean against them.” (27) The temple was full of men and women; all the leaders of the Philistines were there, and about 3,000 men and women were on the roof watching Samson entertain them. (28) He called out to the Lord: “Lord God, please remember me. Strengthen me, God, just once more. With one act of vengeance, let me pay back the Philistines for my two eyes.” (29) Samson took hold of the two middle pillars supporting the temple and leaned against them, one on his right hand and the other on his left. (30) Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines.” He pushed with all his might, and the temple fell on the leaders and all the people in it. And the dead he killed at his death were more than those he had killed in his life. (31) Then his brothers and his father’s family came down, carried him back, and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of his father Manoah. So he judged Israel 20 years. [COMMENTARY - 17:43] Well, Samson is a tragic figure, isn't he? He had great physical strength as given by God, but he was spiritually undisciplined and weak. There were such high expectations for him at his birth. He was dedicated to God as a Nazirite and God was going to use him to begin to rescue Israel from the domination of the Philistines. Now, the Hebrew word "nazir" means "to be separated or consecrated". Generally, a Nazirite vow was taken by those who voluntarily decided to yield to God completely, and for a specified period of time. But there are two people in the Old Testament who were presented to God by their parents: Samuel and Samson. In the New Testament, there was one person: John the Baptist. Now, as we saw in Judges 13 to 16, though Samson was outwardly a Nazirite, spiritually, he was not wholly committed to God, was he? He let his flesh rule his actions. He let his attraction to beautiful women control him. He should never have allowed himself to be attracted to Philistine women especially, but he let his passion dictate his decisions. However, God had a purpose for Samson that went beyond Samson himself. As I said a moment ago, he was supposed to be used to begin the rescue of Israel from the Philistines. And despite Samson's weakness for women, God accomplished that work through him but at a great cost to Samson. One has to believe that if Samsung had lived a life of true dedication to God, he would be remembered as a man of great strength, both physically and spiritually. God has a purpose for each of us, Beloved. Do we limit our effectiveness for God by allowing sin in our own lives? Listen to what Charles Spurgeon said of Samson, “As long as he is consecrated he is strong; break that, he is weak as water. Now there are a thousand razors with which the devil can shave off the locks of a consecrated man without his knowing it. Samson is sound asleep; so clever is the barber that he even lulls him to sleep as his fingers move across the pate, the fool’s pate, which he is making bare. The devil is far cleverer than even the skillful-barber; he can shave the believer’s locks while he scarcely knows it.” Beloved, let us remain alert to the wiles of the enemy. Samson took for granted the physical strength given to him by God. But because of his spiritual weakness, God withdrew himself from Samson. And it was not until Samson lost his physical sight that he regained his spiritual sight and rededicated himself to God. Let's pray that we don't allow ourselves to take our eyes off God. [LIFESPRING FAMILY HOTLINE - 20:32] I sure would love to hear your thoughts. Call the Lifespring Family Hotline at 951-732-8511 and add a +1 if... well, you know. You can also comment at comment.lifespringmedia.com, or email me at steve@lifespringmedia.com. Tomorrow is Psalms Wednesday and we'll read the 21st Psalm through the 23rd Psalm. Plus we'll share prayer requests and praises. If there's something you'd like to share with a Lifespring family let me know at prayer.lifespringmedia.com. [LIFESPRING FAMILY MEET-UP - 21:08] Lifespring family member, Andy Baker, who's a long haul truck driver passed through my neck of the woods a couple of days ago and emailed me to see if we might meet up which we did. He and the Lovely Lady LeeAnn and I were able to have breakfast at a local restaurant. And we really had a great conversation. He had Ubered over from the truck terminal where he dropped the truck off. And then after breakfast, I drove him back over and on the way back to the terminal, we drove right by the church where I produced the first 50 or so Lifespring podcasts. Good memories there, so he thought it was pretty cool to see that. Andy, thank you for the chance to meet you. And by the way, I'll have a picture of the three of us together on the next newsletter. And, Beloved, if you're ever in the Riverside area, let me know. Maybe we can meet up, too. I'd love to meet each of the Lifespring family members. So if you make it to Riverside, California, be sure you email me. [CHRISTMAS QUESTIONS - 22:03] This is your reminder to send any Christmas question or two for the month of December. Sean of San Pedro's mother- and father-in-law, Ann and Howie, sent in two questions today. So that makes a total of four questions so far. I'd love to be able to have a question a day in December leading up to Christmas Day. So send yours in. And, listen, to sweeten the deal, I'm gonna give a signed copy of my book, "Webb's Easy Bible Names Pronunciation Guide" to one lucky person who submits a question. On the Christmas Day show, I'll choose a name at random so right now there's a total of four questions submitted by basically two families. Sister Denise submitted two, and Ann and Howie submitted two. Each question counts for one entry so your odds of winning are probably better than any drawing you've ever entered. But you do have to submit a question. Email it to steve@lifespringmedia.com and put "Christmas question" in the subject line. [OUTRO S13E052 - 23:06] Thanks to the team: Sister Kirsty who does the newsletter, Brother Sean of San Pedro who does the chapters, and Sister Denise who corrects the transcripts. If you find the Lifespring Family Audio Bible to be a blessing would you be willing to support it? Think about what the show adds to your life then head on over to lifespringmedia.com/support. Thanks. And, now, until tomorrow, may God bless you richly. Thank you for making me a part of your day. My name is Steve Webb. Bye. [Announcer:] The Lifespring Media family of programs are made possible by the generous support of listeners like you. Thank you. Transcribed by https://otter.ai