Judges 17 & 18, What happens when you neglect and reject God's word?

Today we are going back to the book of Judges to go back to where we left off. We left Judges after the story of Samson in order to study Ruth together. We saw in the book of Judges the moral and spiritual decays spiraling out of control. In the midst of chaotic time of Judges, we saw Naomi, Ruth and Boaz shining brightly with their godly character and their devotion to God. Now, we are returning back to Judges, specifically to chapter 17 and 18. These two chapters along with the chapter 19-21 form the double conclusions for the book of Judges.

Micah and his mother (Judges 17:1-6)

In Judges 17, we are introduced to a character named Micah. His name means, “Who is like God?” But, as we will see, his meaningful and godly name didn’t translate into godliness for him.

His mother was quite wealthy. Someone stole eleven hundred shekels of silver from her. A yearly wage of ten shekels would make eleven hundred shekels, worth 110 years of wages. That is a lot of money.

There was an article titled, “Children Who Steal”¹ by American

Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. In this article, it says that children by the age of three to five years old are able to understand that taking something which belongs to another person is wrong. And, here were the recommendations to parents when their children are caught in stealing.

• tell the child that stealing is wrong

• help the youngster to pay for or return the stolen object

• make sure that the child does not benefit from the theft in any way

• avoid lecturing, predicting future bad behavior, or saying that they now consider the child to be a thief or a bad person

• make clear that this behavior is totally unacceptable within the family tradition and the community

I would add to this list why stealing is wrong from the biblical perspective as well. What did Micah’s mother do when her son stole from her?

Having lost the huge amount of her wealth, the mother cursed the thief, not knowing that it was her own son who stole from her. Matthew Henry comments, “Outward losses drive good people to their prayers, but bad people to their curses.” We don’t know the nature of Micah’s mother’s curse. But, it was severe enough to scare her son into confess how he stole from her.

Having confessed his sin of stealing, according to Leviticus 6:1-6, Micah was required to do the following. He was to present his guilt offering to the Lord at the tabernacle. Another word, he was to confess his sin before the Lord and offer a guilt offering through the priest to receive forgiveness of his sin. And, on the same day, he was to pay back a fifth of the value on the top of the principal to his mother whom he stole from. The only thing he did was to pay back the principal he stole from his mother. His mother didn’t say anything about what he didn’t do right, what he needed to do to make things right, how he could walk in God’s way.

Instead, when Micah brought the money back to her, she replied, “The LORD bless you, my son!” in verse 2. Perhaps, she was proud of him for having come out clean. She continued, “I solemnly consecrate my silver to the LORD for my son…” This appears to be a great expression of worship, devotion to God; to dedicate all eleven hundred shekels of silver!

But, then she went on to say, “…to make a carved image and a cast idol. I will give it back to you.” What appeared to be a solemn consecration and devotion to the LORD turned out to be nothing more than “deviation to self-serving idolatry and demon-worship” according to Matthew Henry. She hired a silversmith to make the image and the idol with two hundred shekels of silver; she pocketed the rest.

Verse 5 tells us that the carved image, the cast idol Micah’s mother made along with an ephod and other idols, household gods, were all placed in a shrine in Micah’s house. Micah then installed one of his sons as his priest.

Micah didn’t deal with his sin of stealing in God’s way; it is not surprising that he disregarded God who prohibited him from making any carved images or cast idols according to his second commandment (Exo. 20:4, 23; Lev. 19:4). He made an ephod just like Gideon did again against God’s laws; he also made idols, teraphims, which were used for inquiring the will of gods, not the God of Israel; he also installed someone other than a Levite as a priest, his own son (Exodus 29:9; Num 16:10). Not to mention his ethically and morally deprived action to steal from his mother. To have a personal shrine was against the law which permitted only one place for true worship according to Deuteronomy 12:5-7:

But you are to seek the place the LORD your God will choose from among all your tribes to put his Name there for his dwelling. To that place you must go; ⁶ there bring your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and special gifts, what you have vowed to give and your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks. ⁷ There, in the presence of the LORD your God, you and your families shall eat and shall rejoice in everything you have put your hand to, because the LORD your God has blessed you.

All this took place in Micah’s home in the hill country of Ephraim, not too far from Shiloh, which was the legitimate place for worship where tabernacle was placed during the period of Judges.

What was going on with this family? Verse 6 tells the story, “In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit.”

There was an appearance of doing what was right; confessing sin and returning the stolen money, consecrating the returned money to God… but for everything else they did as they saw fit, not according to God’s will.

Micah And the Levite (Judges 17:7-13)

The story of Micah and his mother is followed by the story of Micah and a Levite in the rest of chapter 17.

17:7 introduces to us a young Levite. He is said to be from Bethlehem, but left Bethlehem in search of some other place to stay. From 18:30, we learn that this young Levite was Jonathan, son of Gershom who was the son of Moses. Joshua 21 lists specifically designated 48 Levitical cities where Levites were to live. Bethlehem was not one of these 48 cities. The way God intended was for the Levites to live by what people offered to God. But, because the Israelites failed to obey God’s laws, the support system for the Levites failed as well. This explains why this young Levite was in search of some place to live.

This young Levite, Jonathan a grandson of Moses, came across Micah’s house in the hill country of Ephraim. And, Micah having learned Jonathan was a Levite offered him a yearly pay, clothes and food to become his spiritual father and priest. Verse 12 tells us that the Levite became Micah’s priest and lived in his house. And, verse 13 tells us how this made Micah feel, “Now I know that the LORD will be good to me, since this Levite has become my priest.” It felt so right for Micah to have this Levite as his own priest at his own home for the worship of the carved images and the idols; he was convinced that the LORD was going to bless this arrangement.

His was going about against God’s will; yet he was so confident that God was now going to bless him so much! Isn’t this ironic?

The Levites and the Danites (Judges 18)

Chapter 18 begins with all too familiar saying, “In those days Israel had no king” in verse 1. Chapter 17 was an illustration of what happened at the individual level when Israel had no king. Now, chapter 18 addresses the broader impact at the tribal level when Israel had no king. Having no king meant that they didn’t live under God’s kingship.

Judges 18:1 says, “the tribe of the Danites was seeking a place of their own where they might settle, because they had not yet come into an inheritance among the tribes of Israel.” Why were they not in procession of the allotted land from God? Judges 1:34 answers this question. It says, “The Amorites confined the Danites to the hill country, not allowing them to come down into the plain.” They were not able to overcome the Amorites’ presence and their pressure against them. Joshua 19:40-46 records the actual cities and towns that God allotted to the Danites. But, Joshua 19:47 says that the Danites had difficult time taking the land that was allotted to them. Instead of persisting in their effort to appropriate their God given allotment, it says, “they went up and attacked Leshem, took it, put it to the sword and occupied it. They settled in Leshem and named it Dan after their forefather.” Judges 18 expands this account from the book of Joshua on the Danites’ failure to appropriate their inheritance and their possession of a city not allotted to them. This is a picture of God’s people not following God’s will because of the opposition and the difficulty.

Having met the resistance and the difficult of appropriating the land God has given them, the Danites sent out five warriors to spy out and to explore the land where they might settle. They gave up on the land God had given them; instead they wanted to explore other alternatives out there.

These five warriors came across the house of Micah in the hill country of Ephraim and spent a night there. When they came near Micah’s house, they recognized the voice of the young Levite. Perhaps, his local accent gave it away. The spies asked the Levite why he was at Micah’s house. The Levite explained how Micah hired him to be a priest over the images and idols in Micah’s house for yearly wage, clothes, and food.

Anyone with even the minimal knowledge of God’s word would have seen this arrangement as downright sinful! What would these five Danites say to this renegade Levite doing as he saw fit instead of living by God’s word?

Verse 5, they said to the Levite, “Please inquire of God to learn whether our journey will be successful.” No rebuke against the Levite for his unfaithfulness by these five Danites! All that they cared was someone to validate their waywardness.

Verse 6, the Levite replied, “Go in peace. Your journey has the LORD’s approval.” How could this Levite pronounce God’s response to the Danites so confidently when he himself wasn’t even walking with the Lord? He couldn’t have. The Levite walking wayward couldn’t see how wrong it was for the Danites to seek validation on their sinful adventure. God already revealed to Danites what they were to do; they were to go and take the land God had given them as their inheritance. God didn’t give them Laish or Leshm as their inheritance in Joshua 19:40-46. This Levite wasn’t speaking on behalf of God; he was speaking as he saw fit.

18:7, we learn their reasoning for wanting to take Laish. It was an easy target to them. The people of Laish were living in safety… unsuspecting and secure and living in isolation with no ties to other people. They were easy target! They reasoned with the rest of the Danites in verse 10, “When you get there, you will find an unsuspecting people and a spacious land that God has put into your hands, a land that lacks nothing whatever.”

The only problem with their logic was that God didn’t give this land to the tribe of Dan. God didn’t put Laish into their hands.

They ushered six hundred men from the clan of the Danites, left Zorah and Eshtaol, and came to Micah’s house, verse 11-13.

There at Micah’s house, the five spies told them about the ephod, other household gods, a carved image and a cast idol belonging to Micah’s shrine. They went in and stole them. And, they got caught by the priest, the Levite. But, when the Danites presented to the Levite to the bigger and better ministry opportunity in the tribe of Dan, the Levite gladly left with them with all the paraphernalia for the idol worship.

Verse 22-25, Micah got his people to go after the Danites to retrieve the stolen idol paraphernalia and the priest. But, they were no match to the. So, he gave up the pursuit and returned empty handed.

The rest of the chapter 18 records how they were able to overtake Laish. They burned down the city killing the unsuspecting and peaceful people. The city of Laish was an easy target. The Danites met little to no resistance and easily overtook Laish. Rebuilding the city and setting there, they renamed it Dan. In this newly gained city of Dan, they set up the idols and had the Levite, Jonathan son of Gershom, the son of Moses, as their priest. And, they had the Levite and his sons oversee the idol worship.

Verse 31 is telling, “They continued to use the idols Micah had made, all the time the house of God was in Shiloh.” Another word, not too far from them was the real house of God where they were commanded to go to worship God. But, they didn’t.

Applications

The question of today’s sermon asks is, “What happens when you reject God’s word?”

1. When you reject God’s word, you cannot tell right from wrong. So, you end up asking God to bless you with things that God has no desire to bless you with. And, the greater tragedy is that you feel confident that you are asking the right thing, that you are seeking God’s will!

2. When you reject God’s word, you get deceived by the appearance of success! Micah succeeded in securing idols and a priest for idol worship although it was completely against the will of God. The appearance of success deceives you and you begin to think that you are succeeding because you sought after God’s will. The truth is that the appearance of success does not guarantee that you are in God’s will! The only way you can walk in God’s will confidently is when you allow God’s word to make claim upon your thinking, perspective, emotion, decision, and action.

3. When you reject God’s word, you cannot deal with the root of sin. The root of the sin is doing things as you see fit instead of how God see fit. When you reject God’s word, you reject him from being your King. When you reject God, your King, you do whatever would maximize your own agenda, your gain, your pleasure. When God is not your king, when God’s word doesn’t make claim upon you, you set out to make yourself a king!

The cost to reject God’s word, to reject God, our King, is too great! May the Lord help us to trust him as our King, to allow his word to make full claim upon us!

1 http://aacap.org/page.ww?name=Children+Who+Steal&section=Facts+for+Families

Sunday Sermon, Judges 16, Are you on the path that leads you to worship God or make you fall away from him?

This past week, I was riveted to what happened to the family of James Kim. He was a senior editor for CNET.com. He and his wife Kati along with their two daughters Penelope and Sabine, 4 years old and 7 month old were stranded in a minor logging road in Southwest Oregon. The road was supposed to be locked to prevent people from taking it. But apparently a vandal had caught the lock, allowing the family to drive into this impassable road. They were reported missing on November 30^th. The wife and the two children were found alive on December 2^nd, but James Kim was found dead on December 6^th. He tried to find help on foot until he was overcome by hypothermia.[1]

When the family decided to go down that logging road, they had no idea that the road was impassable. Had they known about it, I doubt they would have taken that path. It was supposed be a short cut, but only led them to the heartbreaking tragic outcome.

Samson’s life was like that. He kept on taking the paths that led him astray from God and ultimately destroyed his promising life.

This morning we will consider Samson’s life from Judges 16. As we go through this chapter I would like you to make a mental note on what happened when Samson went down the wrong paths.

1. What happened when Samson took the wrong path?

We read in 16:1, “One day Samson went to Gaza, where he saw a prostitute.” Just like we saw Samson going from his hometown Zorah to Timnah about five miles away in chapter 14, this time we see him going from Zorah to Gaza. Timnah was located on the outskirt of Philistia, but Gaza was in the heart of Philistia. We are talking about over 30 some miles of traveling through the heart of Philistia to get to Gaza. What was Samson doing in Gaza? Verse 1-2 says that he saw a prostitute and he went into spend the night with her.

As we saw in chapter 14, this was Samson’s fundamental flaw; taking the wrong path! Instead of taking the paths that would lead him to worship God, he kept on walking down the paths where he would be tempted to abandon his faith in God, where he would ultimately be destroyed.

Somehow the people of Gaza knew that Samson was in their town. So, they waited till the dawn to kill him thinking that he would be sound asleep then. But, Samson got up in the middle of the night and ripped the doors of the whole city gate along its two posts out of the ground and the wall. The doors were made of iron or bronze. It must weigh tons. He carried the whole thing for about 38 some miles in elevation of some 2000 feet towards Hebron, a city in Judah.

What Samson did was a national humiliation for the Philistines. They were outrage; all they wanted to do with Samson was to tie him up, to subdue him and to humiliate him.

Some time had passed since this last feat of taking the city gate from Gaza. Verse 4 states that Samson fell in love with woman in the Valley of Sorek; her name was Delilah. Most likely she was not an Israelite, but a Philistine, just like all the women he had fall for.

Last time the Philistines threatened Samson’s wife from Timnah to act on behalf of them. But, this time around instead of using threats, they bribed Delilah to work for them.

They asked her 16:5, “See if you can lure him into showing you the secret of his great strength and how we can overcome him so we may tie him up and subdue him. Each one of us will give you eleven hundred shekels of silver.” Later in chapter 17:10, we find that 10 shekels of silver was offered as a year’s wage. Let say someone earns 30,000 dollars a year; 30,000 dollars time 110 is 3.3 million dollars. Wow, for 3.3 million dollars, do you think Delilah would betray her lover?

Timnah was motivated to betray Samson because she feared for her life and her family; Delilah too was highly motivated to betray Samson; she aggressively pressured Samson to spill the beans. For Delilah, it was all for money.

Talking about dysfunctional relationship! Why would he get into relationship with a woman who would betray him for money? Why did he get into relationship with her when he didn’t even trust her?

Can Delilah be any more obvious with her intention when she demanded Samson in verse 6? “Tell me the secret of your great strength and how you can be tied up and subdued.” At this point, Samson must have remembered how his Philistine wife from Timnah deceived and betrayed him when she prodded him for the answer to the riddle.

Well, this time around Samson was determined and confident that he wasn’t going to tell her the secret of his strength; instead of telling her straight up that he wasn’t going to tell her, he played a game with her.

He told a made up story about how being tied up by seven fresh and moist thongs used for bowstring or tent cord would make him powerless. Delilah herself bound him with the seven fresh and moist thongs given by the Philistine rulers. Then, she put on her act, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!” He snapped them like strings near flame.

In verse 10, Delilah accused him of making a fool of her and lying to her. And, she pressured him again, “Come now, tell me how you can be tied.” Samson made up a story about using new robes to bind him. She tied him with the new robes that had never been used, but this didn’t make him weak.

For the third time, she repeated her complain and demanded an answer from him in verse 13, “Until now, you have been making a fool of me and lying to me. Tell me how you can be tied.” Samson again resisted Delilah’s prodding, but came very close to disclosing the secret of his strength. He made up a story that if his seven braids of his head were to be woven into the fabric and pin down, he would lose his strength. Again, this didn’t work.

Just like Samson’s Philistine wife of Timnah did, Delilah questioned Samson’s love for her in verse 15. “How can you say, ‘I love you,” when you won’t confide in me?” Samson kept his secret from Delilah, but Delilah didn’t give up. 3.3 million dollars was at stake for her. Verse 16 says “With such nagging she prodded him day after day until he was tired to death.”

Samson had overcome any number of Philistines or wild beasts, but he couldn’t overcome Delilah’s nagging. He could have broken off the relationship with Delilah, but instead he allowed himself be broken by her.

He said to her in Verse 17, “No razor has ever been used on my head… because I have been a Nazirite set apart to God since birth. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as week as any other man.”

Now if you remember, Samson broke thus far two of his Nazirite rules. He broke one rule, not to touch anything or anyone dead. And, he broke the second rule, not to consume any wine even grapes. He didn’t break the third rule, not to cut his hair.

God was ever patient with Samson. Even though Samson broke two of his vows, God didn’t take away the strength from Samson. So, as long as Samson was to honor this last vow, God was going to work with him patiently. But, Samson jeopardized this.

She called in the rulers of the Philistines one more time ensuring them Samson had finally spilled the truth. She got him to sleep on her lap. Then, she called a man to shave off the seven braids of his hair.

Just like the first three times, she woke Samson up from his sleep as though she was alarming him from harm, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!”

Now, here is truly a sad moment. Verse 20 tells us that when Samson woke from his sleep, he thought to himself, “I’ll go as before and shake myself free...” but he did not know that the LORD had left him.”

Samson, a man of high calling, a man of destiny to be a deliverer for Israel from the Philistines, did not know when the LORD had left him. He got up to face the Philistines just like other times feeling confident in his strength to overcome them. But, he couldn’t overcome them. The Lord was not with him. And, God’s strength was not available to him any more. God took his hand of protection off from Samson. Finally, his sinful way of life caught up with him.

The result was tragic. Verse 21 described what happened to powerless Samson. The Philistines quickly seized him, gouged out his eyes and took him down to Gaza. There, binding him with bronze shackles, they set him to grinding in the prison.

Samson lived his life careless; he went after whatever pleased his eyes regardless of what God’s will was for him. Samson used his feet to travel far in order to please his desire inflamed by his sight. He was now blinded. His feet that led him to the wrong paths were now shackled by a heavy metal. To Gaza, a place where he took out the city gate with mighty force, he now returned not as a deliverer for Israel, but as a prisoner. There, he was hooked on to the grinding stone like a donkey, going around and around grinding with no purpose and future.

The story doesn’t end here. Verse 22 says, “But the hair on his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.” This gives us the readers a clue that the story of Samson was not finished yet.

From verse 23-30, we learn what happened to Samson after being blinded, shackled, and forced into a meaningless labor. Verse 23 tells us that the Philistines assembled to honor their god Dagon. Dagon was a god of grain. They gloried in having captured Samson, “Our god had delivered Samson, our enemy, into our hands.” They praise their god Dagon, “Our god has delivered our enemy into our hands, the one who laid waste our land and multiplied our slain.” Samson, once thought to have defeated Dagon when he torched the harvest fields, was brought into their temple for their entertainment.

Having gotten used to living now without sight but hearing, he figured out that he was about in the middle of the temple. He asked the servant who held his hand to put him where he could touch the main supporting pillars so he could rest. There, he prayed to the LORD in verse 28, “O Sovereign LORD, remember me, O God, please strengthen me just once more, and let me with one blow get revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes.” Samson referred God as Sovereign LORD. This title affirms God as having the universal authority. To this God who has the universal authority, Samson prayed; he asked him to remember him and to give him the last strength to have his revenge on the Philistines. Even at this moment, Samson was still out for himself. He asked God to remember him and to give him strength in order to revenge for his two eyes instead of desiring to glorify God or to deliver Israel. In spite of Samson’s self-absorbed prayer, God granted him the power to break apart two of the supporting pillars. The result was in his single act, he killed all the rulers and three thousand Philistines gathered to honor their pagan god Dagon.

With this single act granted to Samson by God, God asserted that there is no other God besides him.

2. Does the path you are on lead you to worship God or abandon God for substitutes?

Now, I will spend the rest of our time together to see how the story of Samson from chapter 16 applies to us.

Proverbs 5:21 says, “For a man’s ways are in full view of the LORD, and he examines all his paths.” It is critical to evaluate the paths we are on.

When God examines all your paths, where do your paths lead you to? There are paths that lead us to closer intimacy to God. Then, there are paths that lead us away from God. Are you on the path that leads to God or away from God?

Proverbs 5:8 says, “Keep to a path far from her, do not go near the door of her house, lest you give your strength to others and your years to one who is cruel.” This verse is talking about the need for a young man to keep his life pure from sexual immorality. How can he make sure his walk is pure? He does it by not directing his foot steps towards a path that would lead him to a house of adulteress.

For Samson, he lost the battle way before he got to Gaza where the prostitutes abound. He lost the spiritual battle when he left his home town of Zorah to take the path led to Gaza. He lost his battle when he left his home and took the path that led him to the Valley of Sorek where Delilah lived.

Proverbs 7 also captures this picture of young man going to the wrong direction. 7:6-9 says, “At the window of my house I looked out through the lattice. I saw among the simple, I noticed among the young men, a youth who lacked judgment. He was going down the street near her corner, walking along in the direction of her house at twilight, as the day was fading, as the dark of night set in. Then out came a woman to meet him, dressed like a prostitute and with crafty intent.” And, verse 22-23 comments about the fate of this young man who lacked judgment. “All at once he followed her like an ox going to the slaughter, like a deer stepping into a noose till an arrow pierces his liver, like a bird darting into a snare, little knowing it will cost him his life.”

And, verse 27 says, “Her house is a highway to the grave, leading down to the chambers of death.”

This Proverb 7 opens with an admonishment with a fatherly advice for his child. Proverbs 7:1-5 reads, “My son, keep my words and store up my commands within you. Keep my commands and you will live; guard my teachings as the apple of your eye. Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart. Say to wisdom, ‘You are my sister,’ and call understanding your kinsman; they will keep you from the adulteress, from the wayward wife with her seductive words.”

Here is another similar passage. Psalm 119:9 asks this question. “How can a young man keep his way pure? And, it answers, “By living according to your word.”

In our time, men or women, young or old, single or married, laypeople or ministers, we are all vulnerable to sexual temptations. 1 Peter 5:8 says, “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” Samson took the wrong path and he paid with his eyes, with shackles on his ankles, and with meaningless labor.

3. Will this person help me to worship God or distract me from worshiping God?

Another thing we can learn from Samson’s life is this. How do you avoid getting married to a spouse who would betray you without thinking twice? Well, the key is you look for a person of noble character. Proverbs 12:4 says, “A wife of noble character is her husband’s crown, but a disgraceful wife is like decay in his bones.” Although this is about a wife of noble character, it applies to men as well.

Now, how do you know someone possesses noble character? You see someone’s character when you see how they conduct their relationship with others, foremost with God and with people.

You look at the paths they are on. Are they on the paths that lead them to worship God or fall away from God? If you see a person consistently taking the path to worship God, you know that person honors God and his Word. A person who takes the path to worship God opens self to character transformation. Another word, a person who walks closely with Jesus becomes like Jesus. There is no one of greater noble character than Jesus. You want someone who is becoming more like Jesus everyday in their character. People like this walk the paths that lead them to worship God.

Well, if finding a person of noble character is contingent upon someone taking the path that leads them to worship God, doesn’t it make sense for you to take the path to worship God as well?

When the Lord brings you into a season to look for a future mate, you ask two questions.

First, Am I becoming a man or a woman of noble character? Am I choosing the path that leads me to worship God?

Second, is this person a man or a woman of noble character? Does this person have the history of choosing the right path to walk?

May God help you become a man and a woman of noble character who consistently take the paths to worship God!

May God help you never marry someone who would betray you like Delilah, but leads you to a person of noble character!

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[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Kim

Sunday Sermon, Not by Sight but by Faith!, Judges 14:1-15:20

Judges 13:24-25 describes Samson as having it all spiritually speaking. Verse 24 says, “He grew and the LORD blessed him and the Spirit of the LORD began to stir him while he was in Mahaneh Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.”

You could say he was an All-American boy… well, actually an All-Jewish boy who had it all. Who could compete against his birth story? An angel showing up not just once, but twice to predict his birth to his folks! Even before he was born, he was set apart as a Nazirite, fully dedicated for God’s purpose. He was a man of destiny to carry out the LORD’s deliverance for Israel. And, as a young man, he experienced the power of God’s Spirit stirring him!

Wow, truly an impressive beginning, won’t you say? If you were to read the book of Judges up to chapter 13, you would be highly anticipating Samson getting into action to deliver Israel out of miserable oppression, all with the powerful help from God’s Spirit.

Well, latter is true; whatever he was able to accomplish, he did it because the Spirit helped him. But, what we are going to see in chapter 14-16 is not a story of faithful man who carried out God’s will to deliver Israel. Instead, the story of Samson is a story of a fallen hero who had it all, but squandered it away because he lived not by faith but by sight!

1. What happens when you let yourself be ruled by sight and not by faith?

Judges 14:1-4 spells out for us the beginning of Samson’s troubled life. It says, “Samson went down to Timnah and saw there a young Philistine woman.” Timnah was a city on the border between Judah and Dan. And, according to Joshua 15:10 and 19:43, it was assigned to the tribe of Dan. But, the fact that Samson saw Philistine woman living in Timnah belonging to Dan tells us that the Philistines ruled this town.[1] Samson went down 4 miles southwest from his town of Zorah to Timnah. There, he saw a young Philistine woman.

Listen to what Samson said to his parents having returned from Timnah, “I have seen a Philistine woman in Timnah; not get her for me as my wife.” To this his parents replied, “Isn’t there an acceptable woman among your relatives or among all our people? Must you go to the uncircumcised Philistines to get a wife?” Today, a young Jewish man might hear from his Jewish mother chiding him, “Can’t you find a nice Jewish girl?” Samson insisted in verse 3, “Get her for me. She’s the right one for me.”

Samson was a young man full of promising future to achieve great things for God. He was to be a man who walked not by sight, but by faith in God. He was to be a man whose faith in God was to drive him to desire more of God. Instead, what we see in this passage is Samson letting his sight drive his appetite.

In this case, it was a young Philistine woman. For an unknown reason, he went down to Timnah occupied by Philistines. There, when he came across and saw this young Philistine woman, he was certain that she was the right one for him.

Was this young Philistine woman right one for him to get married? In Deuteronomy 7:1-5 God told the Israelites that they were not to marry many of the foreigners living in their land. Although the Philistines weren’t specifically mentioned in this passage, it is understood that the Israelites were not supposed to intermarry the Philistines. Inevitably Philistines would turn the Israelites away from following God to serve other gods. No, she was not the right one for him if Samson were to be a Nazirite, fully devoted to the LORD. He was going about it all wrong; yet he was so convinced that she was the right one for him.

After ignoring his parents’ plead for him to abandon his desire to have the Philistine as his wife, he and his parents together went to Timnah. On the way, we read about Samson’s encounter with a young lion. 14:6 says, “The Spirit of the LORD came upon him in power so that he tore the lion apart with his bare hands as he might have torn a young goat. But he told neither his father nor his mother what he had done.” Again, having set his sight on the Philistine woman, he disregarded his Nazirite vow. By killing the lion and touching it, he violated his Nazirite vow not to touch anything dead. Numbers 6:9 says, “If someone dies suddenly in his presence, thus defiling the hair he has dedicated, he must shave his head on the day of his cleansing- the seventh day. Then, he was to offer sacrifices to rededicate himself to the LORD.

He chose not to follow God’s word when he killed and touched the dead lion. Instead of taking time to rededicate himself to the LORD according to the Nazirite rule, he just moved on; he didn’t tell his parents what happened. To him, there was a better thing to do like seeing the Philistine woman again than to stop his journey to fulfill his Nazirite vow. Having seen her again and talking to her, 14:7 says that he liked her.

Samson and his parents made another journey back to Timnah where the Philistine woman lived. When he went back to marry her, he turned aside to look at the lion’s carcass. It wasn’t an innocent glance. He knew what he was doing. He purposely turned to look at what happened to the lion he killed.

In it were a swarm of bees and some honey. He scooped it out and ate it. And,when he rejoined his parents, he gave his parents the honey from the dead lion’s carcass; but, he didn’t tell them where he got it from.

Again, he blatantly ignored his Nazirite vow to the LORD by touching the dead lion in order to get the honey. He was driven by the sight. He turned to look at the dead lion and saw the honey. Driven by the sight, he went for it breaking his vow. By giving the honey to his parents he got from the dead lion, he also defiled them as well.

He let his sight drive his appetite for some sweet honey while breaking his commitment to the Lord.

Verse 10 says that Samson made a feast there, as was customary for bridegrooms. Well, it is highly unlikely that the feast was held without wine. It is most likely that Samson broke the Nazirite vow by drinking wine with the wedding party of thirty companions.

He made a bet with them; he told them a riddle about the dead lion and the honey in it. The bet was over thirty linen garments and thirty sets of clothes. The Philistines tried for three days to solve the riddle; they couldn’t do it. So, on the forth day, they threatened Samson’s Philistine wife; they told her that they would burn her and her family alive if she didn’t find the answer to the riddle from her husband Samson.

What did she do? She told him in verse 16, “You hate me! You don’t really love me. You’ve given my people riddle, but you haven’t told me the answer.” When Samson refused to give her the answer, verse 17 says that she cried the whole seven days of the feast. And it says, “he finally told her, because she continued to press him.” She told the answer to her people. And, Samson lost his bet.

Verse 19 says that the Spirit of the LORD came upon him in power. He went down to Ashkelon, a city near the shore that belonged to Philistines. There, he found thirty men, kill ed them, and stripped them off of their belongings and clothes; he gave them to the Philistines who solved the riddle. Burning with anger, he took off and abandoned his wife behind; he went back home to his father’s house. Verse 20 says that his wife was then given to Samson’s friend at his wedding.

In chapter 15, sometime later we see Samson going back to visit his wife; he didn’t know what happened to his wife. After leaving his wedding without his wife and with the fiasco that happened, he thought everything was hunky-dory. Talking about insensitivity!

When he found out what happened to his wife, he got really enraged. He said in verse 3, “This time I have a right to get even with the Philistines; I will really harm them.”

And, using his super-human strength, he caught three hundred foxes; he tied them tail to tail in pairs with a torch. Then, he loosened them into the grain field. 15:1 says that it was the time of wheat harvest. Well, hundred fifty pairs of foxes with the burning torches ran around frantically and burn down the field of grain, vineyards, and olive groves.

When Samson revenged the Philistines in rage, they in turn burned his wife and her father to death (verse 6). Samson told them in verse 7, “Since you’ve acted like this, I won’t stop until I get my revenge on you.” He attacked and slaughtered many of them. Then, he hid in a cave.

The Philistines went up and camped in Judah to capture Samson. The people of Judah asked them, “Why have you come to fight us?” When the people of Judah found out that they were after Samson, they were more than happy to turn him in. The people of Judah, the Israelites would rather turn in one of their own people into the enemies’ hands than fight to protect him. I am sure they reasoned this way fully convinced that they needed to preserve the peace with the Philistines. They were completely deceived and confused to think there was any peace; there was no peace. They were enslaved by the Philistines. They thought being enslaved and oppressed was better than to stick their necks out to fight for the freedom and the blessings from God.

The Israelites from Judah bound him up with two new ropes and brought him to the town called Lehi. When the Philistines came toward him shouting, the Spirit of the LORD came upon him in power to loosen the ropes.

What did Samson do when the Spirit gave him the power? Well, he looked around and saw a fresh jawbone of a donkey and used it as a weapon to kill a thousand men. The fresh jawbone came from the dead donkey. Again Samson broke the Nazirite vow by touching the dead animal.

Having broken again the Nazirite vow to kill the Philistines, he found himself extremely thirsty. And, what did he do? He told God, “You have given your servant this great victory. Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?”

To this, God graciously provided him water to quench his thirst.

Chapter 15 ends with the remark that Samson led Israel for twenty years in the days of the Philistines in verse 20.

2. Live by faith, not by sight!

The problem from the very beginning with Samson was he lived by sight, not by faith. Apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:7, “We live by faith, not by sight.”

Seeing is connected to what you really want in your life. For Samson, he let his eyes to rove to satisfy his desire that was not compatible with God’s way. This gazing on things that are not compatible with God’s way is essentially what lust is all about. Living by sight, not by faith, is really living by lust, to go after things that are not what God wants to give us, but what we want to get it for ourselves.

Do you see this pattern of lusting, living by sight instead by faith like Samson’s pattern?

I read an article in Reader’s Digest titled Left for Dead. It is a story about how the climbers faced a choice near Everest’s peak: head for the summit, like others had done, or stop to save the injured man.

Lincoln Hall and others made it to the top of the highest mountain in the world. Within hour of descending from the summit, Lincoln began to loose his mind. He was experiencing cerebral edema brain swelling related to being in high altitude. This caused him stumbling, intoxicated gate, hallucinations, and eventually death. This happened to him in a placed called “death zone” where many climbers perished. His teammates went down ahead of him, leaving Hall with two Sherpas, members of a people of Tibetan descent known for their ability at mountaineering. Soon, Hall lost his conscious and went limp. Sherpas left him behind thinking that he was dead.

For next twelve hours, Hall was left behind presumed dead. When another group led by Daniel Mazur came across Hall, he was taking his jacket, gloves off, perilously sitting next to the stiff cliff. Mazur’s teammates each paid some $20,000 to fulfill their dream to reach the summit. They decided that they should help this injured man. They radioed for help and waited. They saw an Italian team. Mazur asked for help, “We’ve got a guy in trouble here! Can you help?” The men kept moving toward the summit. “Sorry, no speak English” was all they said. Mazur later spot them at base camp, speaking English very well. The help arrived soon and badly injured Hall got medical care he needed at the base.[2]

Many have perished near the summit because others would not stop to help them. Because to stop to help the injured meant some of them would have to give up the summit just few hour within their reach. It sounds inhuman and crazy that anyone would do such thing, right?

But, we are fully capable of doing inhumane things when we set our eyes on the idols. Human depravity is such that when we live by sight we do things that don’t make sense.

Why would Samson given so many promises, blessings, and the experience of the Holy Spirit’s power give up walking closely with God to carry out his will? It is all because he lived by his sight, not by faith. He lusted after the Philistine woman instead of waiting for God to provide him with a woman of faith.

What we need is the change of direction that leads us to God. David prayed in Psalm 141:4, “Let not my heart be drawn to what is evil, to take part in wicked deeds…” and he goes on praying in verse 8, “But my eyes are fixed on you, O Sovereign LORD; in you I take refuge- do not give me over to death.”

This is the kind of prayer we need to every day. We need to ask God to direct our foot steps to his way. We need to ask God to incline our hearts to what is truly the best, to his Word, to his promises, to his presence.

I again find the prayer of Psalm incredibly helpful for redirecting my heart, my eyes to what is truly important! Psalm 119:33-37 says:

Teach me, O LORD, to follow your decrees; then I will keep them to the end. Give me understanding, and I will keep your law and obey it with all my heart. Direct me in the path of you commands for there I find delight. Turn my heart toward your statues and not toward selfish gain. Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word.

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[1] Herber Wolf, Expositor’s Bible Commentary (Volume 3), Judges 14:1-2.

[2] http://www.rd.com/content/openContent.do?contentId=31377#

Sunday Sermon, Judges 13:6-24, Gain spiritual sight!

When I spoke on Judges 13:1-5, I pointed out to you that the Israelites did not cry out to the Lord for his help in spite of 40 years of oppressions by Philistines. Apathy and rebellion were the ways of life. They were miserable under the oppression, yet none of them sought after God’s help.

It was during this time when God initiated his move to save them from the oppression so that they might know him as their God.

“I lift up my eyes to the hills-- Where does my hope come?” asked a psalmist in Psalm 121. “My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth,” the psalmist answered. God wanted the Israelites to know that he is their Maker, their Great helper.

God’s plan of saving action involved Manoah and his wife. God moved by sending his angel to Manoah’s wife to let her and her husband know that God was on the move. God was going to deliver Israel out of the oppression. God was going to do this by giving Manoah and his wife a child miraculously; they were to raise this special child according to the Nazirite vow to set him apart for God’s saving purpose. The angel announced in verse 5, “the boy is to be a Nazirite, set apart to God from birth, and he will begin the deliverance of Israel from the hands of the Philistines.”

Today, we are going to continue our journey from 13:6 to the end of chapter 13. Our focus will be on how Manoah and his wife responded to God, especially on Manoah’s response. God was on the move to save the Israelites; God chose Manoah and Manoah’s wife for this purpose. The question is how did they respond? And, what can we learn from their responses?

1. Manoah’s wife told Manoah what God said to her through the angel (13:6-7).

As soon as the angel appeared to Manoah’s wife, she went to her husband and told him what happened. She said in verse 6, “A man of God came to me. He looked like an angel of God, very awesome. I didn’t ask him where he came from, and he didn’t tell me his name.” She had an extraordinary encounter with the angel; but she didn’t know at first it was the angel of the LORD who visited her. She thought the angel was a man of God, someone very special and important. But, he left such an impression in her mind; she thought he looked like an angle of God. The encounter also evoked fear in her that she couldn’t ask where he was from or the angel’s name. She wasn’t one hundred percent sure, but intuitively she knew that the person whom she met was no ordinary person. She went to her husband and informed him about her encounter with the angel and the message from the LORD.

2. Manoah tried to compensate his unbelief and spiritual dullness with further revelation from God (13:8-14).

When Manoah heard from his wife about her encounter with the angel, he prayed to the LORD, “O Lord, I beg you, let the man of God you sent to us come again to teach us how to bring up the boy who is to be born.”

God already told his wife to bring up the boy according to Numbers 6, by the Nazirite rules. His prayer had the appearance of godliness, but it was not driven by sincere faith; he was jealous that his wife got to meet the angel, not him. He was also skeptical and distrusting of his wife.[1]

God answered Manoah’s prayer, but not in the way he expected. He probably thought the angel would come to him directly this time. But, verse 9 says, “God heard Manoah, and the angel of God came again to the woman while she was out in the field; but her husband Manoah was not with her.” God is gracious to hear our prayer, but he often doesn’t answer our prayer in the way we expect him to answer us. By not sending his angel to Manoah directly, God was making a statement that Manoah’s prayer was not sincere.

Just like the first time, his wife again told Manoah that the angel visited her. This time, Manoah followed his wife and was able to encounter the angel. When he saw the angel, he asked in verse 11, “Are you the one who talked to my wife?” His question reveals the depth of Manoah’s spiritual dullness and doubts. His spiritual eyes were so poor that he couldn’t discern that he was talking to the angel.

Verse 12, he asked the angel, “When your words are fulfilled, what is to be the rule for the boy’s life and work?” To his question, the angel answered in verse 13-14 that his wife must do all that she was told to do earlier. The angel told Manoah nothing new. God already revealed his will to Manoah’s wife earlier when the angel visited her first time.

Manoah was fishing for more information from God to compensate his doubt, lack of trust. God knew this unbelief was Manoah’s problem, not the lack of information.

We do this too. We think that more information, more revelation than what’s given in God’s word, more of some special insights would help us get over doubts and disbelief. But, the reality is not that we need more information, but we need to learn to trust God for what has already revealed to us.

3. Manoah tried to compensate his unbelief and spiritual dullness by his attempt to manipulate God (13:15-23).

Now, having tried and failed to extract more information from God to compensate his unbelief, from verse 15-23, we see him trying to compensate his unbelief with manipulation.

He told the angel in verse 15, “We would like you to stay until we prepare a young goat for you.” This can be literally translated as in NASU, “Please let us detain you so that we may prepare a young goat for you.” Manoah was trying to slow the angel down. By delaying the angel from leaving, Manoah was hoping to get a meal ready for the angel. It sounds like a nice gesture. In Genesis 18:5, Abraham also asked the angels to stay around so he could prepare a meal for them. The difference is that the angel agreed to Abraham’s invitation.

In Manoah’s case, the angel responded in verse 16, “Even though you detain me, I will not eat any of your food. But if you prepare a burnt offering, offer it to the LORD.”

K. Lawson Younger notes that “in ancient Near Eastern religions, feeding a deity or his envoy provided the basis for the supplicant’s expectation of divine action on his behalf.[2] Another word, Manoah was thinking that he could obligate God’s messenger to act on behalf of him by feeding him some nice meaty meal.

But, this didn’t fly. Proverbs 17:3 says, “The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the LORD tests the heart.” He tested Manoah’s heart and found Manoah was trying to compensate his unbelief with manipulation. When the angel told him to prepare a burn offering and offer it to the LORD, he was telling Manoah that he needed to stop trying to manipulate God; Manoah didn’t need to manipulate God for favor. God was already working in his life; all he had to was to acknowledge that God was moving in his life; in thankfulness he was to worship God. This is what he needed to do; not trying to earn more of God’s favor through manipulation.

Verse 16 says, “Manoah did not realize that it was the angel of the LORD.” This sums up his spiritual state. He was spiritually dull and blind; he was spiritually not in tune.

Manoah also tried to find out the angel’s name in verse 17. He reasoned that he wanted to know the angel’s name in order to honor the angel when the promise came true.

At surface, asking for name doesn’t sound too bad. But, it was wrong because Manoah was going to honor the angel instead of God. Well, he wasn’t even going to honor the angel then. He was going to wait to make sure what was said would come true, and then he was going to honor the angel whom he thought of as a human being. Well, not too much of thankfulness or faith there, right?

The angel questioned Manoah’s real motive behind asking for his name. Verse 18, the angel asked, “Why do you ask my name? It is beyond understanding.”

4. Gain spiritual sight by worshiping God (13:19-24).

Up to this point, Manoah tried very hard to compensate his unbelief with more information from God and attempts to manipulate him. He was spiritually blunted that he didn’t know that he was talking to God’s spiritual messenger, an angel.

Earlier when he tried to detain the angel with a meal, he was told to offer sacrifice to God instead in verse 16.

Now, in verse 19, we see him doing what he was told to do by the angel. Instead of getting ready for a meal, he offered a young goat and grain on a rock to the LORD. The flame blazed up towards heaven and the angel ascended in the flame.

This is the first time when Manoah’s spiritual eyes opened to realize that God had visited him through the angel. This happened when he did what he was told to do; it happened when he worshipped God.

We are subject to spiritual dullness just like Manoah was. God is always on the move in our lives, but we don’t perceive it, we don’t know it because we are dull.

The key to the spiritual awakening is to know that God is God and we are not. This simple realization evokes host of emotion in us; it can cause to feel fearful of God, it can cause us to feel calm and peaceful knowing that he is in control, it can cause us to feel amazed by who he is.

When we are awakened to the greatness of our God, then we also gain spiritual perception to know what God is doing in us, around us, and through us.

5. Gain spiritual sight by remembering God through his word.

John Piper wrote in his book When I Don’t Desire God, a helpful chapter on the issue of seeing God. In this chapter, he wrote, “The Fight for joy is a fight to see God.” Another word, seeing God is essential to experiencing joyous walk with God. When we are most joyous and happy because of who God is, how he relates to us, how he works through us, this is what life of worship looks like.

And, this seeing God is directly related to hearing, reading, and meditating in God’s word.

Why did the Israelites do so much evil? Judges 8:34 says that the Israelites did not remember the LORD their God, who had rescued them from the hands of all their enemies on every side. They did so much evil, turned away from their God, their helper, their creator, and turned to the idols because they did not remember their God.

Why did they not remember God? It is because they didn’t hear God’s word, read God’s word, meditate in God’s word.

Apostle Paul said, “faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ” Romans 10:17.

When we deprive ourselves this meals, God’s revelation about himself through his word, we become just like Manoah, spiritually dull, skeptical, and unaware of God’s activity in our lives.

In order to gain spiritual sight, we need to be all the more diligent in remembering God through his word.

I am so convinced about this each evening I read two to three chapters from the Bible to my children. In this rate, they would be able to hear the whole Bible read to them in a year. By the time they are in their teens, they would have heard and read through the Bible at least 10 times. I know that they don’t understand everything that I read to them now. But, their comprehension will only grow and things will click in their brain that God is really awesome! I want that!

6. Gain spiritual sight by being thankful.

We are all celebrating the Thanksgiving weekend. What have you done besides getting together with people and eating tons of turnkey and other food? Have you slow down and try to remember what you are thankful for? Being thankful happens when you actively remember the things that have happened to you. If you have done this act of remembering, most likely you’ve spent this past week also being thankful as well.

Being thankful, remembering, God’s word, they are all connected. You cannot be genuinely thankful to God without the act of actively remembering who he is, what he has done, is doing and will do. And, you cannot remember God without actively engaging your mind in God’s word. And, you cannot worship God without being thankful!

Can you imagine how Manoah would have acted differently if he was actively recalling God’s activity in his life and in Israel by carefully spending time in God’s word? He would have remembered that God is always at work and graciously initiates his salvation plan and act. And, the very moment he heard from his wife about the angel’s visitation on her to announce God’s plan of salvation, he would have seen this as God at work. His response would have been thanking God from his heart!

You know when you see genuinely happy people! Genuinely happy people are the people who are overflowing with thankfulness.

Do you want to be genuinely happy person? Then, you need to take time to remember your God. You remember God by revisiting again and again the beautiful stories after stories from the Bible how God has always been on the move for his people.

You need to zero on the greatest love story ever told, the life of Jesus Christ. He didn’t shy away from going to Jerusalem. Luke 9:51 says, “Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.” Hebrews 12:2 says, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” Do you feel weary and lose heart? Do you feel grumbly, apathetic, and angry? Do you feel downcast and moody and depressed? Do you feel aimless?

Or, more importantly, what do you do when you feel this way? How you try to pacify your sad, void, out of sync heart? Where do you turn? My prayer is that you turn to your Helper, your Creator, your Lord, your Savior, the One who loves you the most in this whole world! Turn to his word. Open the door of your heart by engaging your eyes of your heart on who God is, what he has been doing, and what he is going to do.

Then, unlike Manoah who were too dull spiritually to see God at work in his life, you will be able to see how he is inviting you to be part of his salvation plan. You can consider how God is calling you out of your little world of worries, anxiety, mad-rushes, emptiness, and rages into his world of peace, calm, purpose, fullness, love, and empowerment. You will be genuinely happy and thankful person.

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[1] K. Lawson Younger, NIV Application Commentary, p. 289.
[2] Ibid., p. 290.