QT 13 Feb 13, Change doesn't happen in nations, but in individuals

Judges 15:15-20 (NIV) Finding a fresh jawbone of a donkey, he grabbed it and struck down a thousand men.

16 Then Samson said,

"With a donkey's jawbone

I have made donkeys of them.

With a donkey's jawbone

I have killed a thousand men."

17 When he finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone; and the place was called Ramath Lehi.

18 Because he was very thirsty, he cried out to the Lord, "You have given your servant this great victory. Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?" 19 Then God opened up the hollow place in Lehi, and water came out of it. When Samson drank, his strength returned and he revived. So the spring was called En Hakkore, and it is still there in Lehi.

20 Samson led Israel for twenty years in the days of the Philistines.

NOTE: At this point in the book of Judges, it is very hard to distinguish Israel from the nations around them. Samson's life is controlled by his appetites, just like the world, whether it be sex or thirst or power (in the form of violence). The only distinguishing characteristic, referred to here, is circumcision. But that is hardly anything to be proud of or that might draw someone toward faith in the unseen God. And yet God is gracious to his people and continues to provide for them. And Samson, of all people, leads Israel for 20 years. Why does God choose Samson? He picks him before he is born. He is a Nazarite. His hair has never been cut and he has never drank strong drink. I find the latter hard to believe, but there is no verse to contradict. God picked someone, before they were born, to save his people. Even born with a purpose and a special calling, Samson is hardly a man after God's heart. His parents show more faith than most but it does not seem to make much of a difference in Samson's choices. Possibly, the picture presented, is that even a divinely raised and called man cannot change Israel or stop its slide in sin. Ultimately, the people as a whole must want change, and it has to start in individuals. Revival starts first with a person and then moves on to capture nations. But if we are not willing to repent of our sins, no true change will occur. And that is where most nations are today. They want change but they don't want to give up their sins. They want God, just as long as they can continue to live their life like they please. Samson is our hero, a man set aside by God, who lives life as he chooses. But ultimately he is a failure and it isn't until the end of his short life that he repents of his sins.

QT 11 Feb 13, We need God's word or else we ultimately fight losing battles in the world

Judges 15:1-8 (NIV) Later on, at the time of wheat harvest, Samson took a young goat and went to visit his wife. He said, "I'm going to my wife's room." But her father would not let him go in.

2 "I was so sure you thoroughly hated her," he said, "that I gave her to your friend. Isn't her younger sister more attractive? Take her instead."

3 Samson said to them, "This time I have a right to get even with the Philistines; I will really harm them." 4 So he went out and caught three hundred foxes and tied them tail to tail in pairs. He then fastened a torch to every pair of tails, 5 lit the torches and let the foxes loose in the standing grain of the Philistines. He burned up the shocks and standing grain, together with the vineyards and olive groves.

6 When the Philistines asked, "Who did this?" they were told, "Samson, the Timnite's son-in-law, because his wife was given to his friend."

So the Philistines went up and burned her and her father to death. 7 Samson said to them, "Since you've acted like this, I won't stop until I get my revenge on you." 8 He attacked them viciously and slaughtered many of them. Then he went down and stayed in a cave in the rock of Etam.

NOTE: At this point the story had degenerated into a story of revenge, back and forth killing. It is the world's way of dealing with another's actions. It is heavy in physical conflict, usually with no end in sight. Since Judges is a story of second generation believers, the lesson seems to be a complete disregard for God's method of resolving conflict but rather a worldly approach to conflict and getting even. In fact, new ways of committing evil are also prevalent, and Samson uses a new approach to burning up as much grain as possible (typing torches to the tails of 300 foxes). The very little direct mention of God in the Samson story. Essentially, Samson becomes a judge of Israel based on his great strength and little else. His strength does provide a relief from the Philistines, but it does not provide the greater need, strong teaching of the word of God. And so consequently, except for the reprieve, Samson does not slow down the continuing descent into even greater sin as a nation. The application is that without an emphasis on God's word, what do we really accomplish? I apply this to our church business meetings which should always feature God's word first. Otherwise, we will strive to solve problems using worldly approaches and ultimately make very little progress.

QT 7 Feb 13, Repent now, don't wait for death

Judges 14:1-3, 12-14, 17-20 (NIV) Samson went down to Timnah and saw there a young Philistine woman. 2 When he returned, he said to his father and mother, "I have seen a Philistine woman in Timnah; now get her for me as my wife."

3 His father and mother 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?"

. . .

12 "Let me tell you a riddle," Samson said to them. "If you can give me the answer within the seven days of the feast, I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty sets of clothes. 13 If you can't tell me the answer, you must give me thirty linen garments and thirty sets of clothes."

"Tell us your riddle," they said. "Let's hear it."

14 He replied,

"Out of the eater, something to eat;

out of the strong, something sweet."

For three days they could not give the answer.

. . .

17 She cried the whole seven days of the feast. So on the seventh day he finally told her, because she continued to press him. She in turn explained the riddle to her people.

18 Before sunset on the seventh day the men of the town said to him,

"What is sweeter than honey?

What is stronger than a lion?"

Samson said to them,

"If you had not plowed with my heifer,

you would not have solved my riddle."

19 Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon him in power. He went down to Ashkelon, struck down thirty of their men, stripped them of their belongings and gave their clothes to those who had explained the riddle. Burning with anger, he went up to his father's house. 20 And Samson's wife was given to the friend who had attended him at his wedding.

NOTE: Each story in Judges seems further away from the central theme of a nation, called out by God, to influence the world to worship the one true God. Now we see a man named Samuel who is controlled by his passions and flesh. He "sees" a woman and orders his parent to set up a marriage. She is not a believer in the one true God, and Samuel does not seem to care despite the presence of the Spirit in his life. He is an angry man (vs 19 "burning with anger") and uses the power of the Spirit to kill 30 men for their clothing to pay of a bet. And yet this is the man God has chosen to free Israel from the rule of the Philistines. Not until his death does it seem that Samuel even recognizes God. He knows the stories of his "specialness" but it does not influence his life or his actions. He lives for himself and cares little for anything or anyone beyond his own passions and lusts. This is the latest picture of Israel. They have descended to a new level of narcissism and Samson is their spokesman and leader. And still the picture will get even worse. Up ahead is rape, gore, and the near-destruction of an entire tribe. The people barely know God nor do they seem to care. This is one of the later stages of Romans 1:17ff when men become lovers of self, disobedient to their parents, and God-haters. Only near death will Samson repent. What does it take for us to repent? 

QT 6 Feb 13, Filling with the Spirit does not prevent poor choices, we need instruction in the word

Judges 13:1-5, 18-25 (NIV) Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, so the Lord delivered them into the hands of the Philistines for forty years.

2 A certain man of Zorah, named Manoah, from the clan of the Danites, had a wife who was sterile and remained childless. 3 The angel of the Lord appeared to her and said, "You are sterile and childless, but you are going to conceive and have a son. 4 Now see to it that you drink no wine or other fermented drink and that you do not eat anything unclean, 5 because you will conceive and give birth to a son. No razor may be used on his head, because 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."

. . .

18 He replied, "Why do you ask my name? It is beyond understanding."  19 Then Manoah took a young goat, together with the grain offering, and sacrificed it on a rock to the Lord. And the Lord did an amazing thing while Manoah and his wife watched: 20 As the flame blazed up from the altar toward heaven, the angel of the Lord ascended in the flame. Seeing this, Manoah and his wife fell with their faces to the ground. 21 When the angel of the Lord did not show himself again to Manoah and his wife, Manoah realized that it was the angel of the Lord.

22 "We are doomed to die!" he said to his wife. "We have seen God!"

23 But his wife answered, "If the Lord had meant to kill us, he would not have accepted a burnt offering and grain offering from our hands, nor shown us all these things or now told us this."

24 The woman gave birth to a boy and named him Samson. He grew and the Lord blessed him, 25 and the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him while he was in Mahaneh Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.

NOTE:  One of the first things that stands out is that Manoah and his wife did not understand the concept of Nazarite. Twice the angel repeats the instructions concerning the Nazarite, which again emphasizes one of the main points about Judges that the people lacked teaching and instruction in the word of God. The second thing to stand out is that the Spirit of the Lord stirred in Samson and yet he lived his life for fleshly pursuits and desires. Yes, the Spirit gave him power to do some amazing things, but it did not control his will or affect his attitude toward sin (as we will see later in the story). I think the emphasis on this second filling of the Spirit is oversold on this point, because twice now in Judges we have seen men filled with the Spirit who make terrible choices. Filling of the Spirit is not a substitute for the instruction in the word of God, and in fact, the two should go together hand-in-hand. I always assumed that the passages in Eph 5:18-20 and Col 3:16-17 mirrored each other because the best way to be filled with the Spirit was to let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. But now I wonder if in fact they are separate things but best understood together. We do need to seek to be filled with God's Spirit (not through external acts) but by allowing the Lord to control more areas of our life, but we also need as much as God's word in our life as possible to control our sinful responses to life. We need both, not just one.

QT 1 Feb 13, Internal discord is the next stage in a nation ignoring the biblical truths of God's word

Judges 12:1-7 (NIV) The men of Ephraim called out their forces, crossed over to Zaphon and said to Jephthah, "Why did you go to fight the Ammonites without calling us to go with you? We're going to burn down your house over your head."

2 Jephthah answered, "I and my people were engaged in a great struggle with the Ammonites, and although I called, you didn't save me out of their hands. 3 When I saw that you wouldn't help, I took my life in my hands and crossed over to fight the Ammonites, and the Lord gave me the victory over them. Now why have you come up today to fight me?"

4 Jephthah then called together the men of Gilead and fought against Ephraim. The Gileadites struck them down because the Ephraimites had said, "You Gileadites are renegades from Ephraim and Manasseh." 5 The Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan leading to Ephraim, and whenever a survivor of Ephraim said, "Let me cross over," the men of Gilead asked him, "Are you an Ephraimite?" If he replied, "No," 6 they said, "All right, say 'Shibboleth.'" If he said, "Sibboleth," because he could not pronounce the word correctly, they seized him and killed him at the fords of the Jordan. Forty-two thousand Ephraimites were killed at that time.

7 Jephthah led Israel six years. Then Jephthah the Gileadite died, and was buried in a town in Gilead.

NOTE: The Ephraimites seem to have an issue with not getting called out to participate in the battle. They confronted Gideon on the same account. Jephthah is not so diplomatic in his response, and as a result we have our first instance of internal civil war. At every stage, the country plunges into a deeper hole, now costing them forty-two thousand lives. It is clear that the country does need leadership, spiritual leadership to bring them back to God and to set an example. Samuel will start the transition by teaching on a circuit, but a ruler is needed to set the pace for the people, one who is not a priest but still by example lives for God. It is not a rejection of God's kingship to seek that person. The rejection of God's rule occurred much earlier in the book when the people worshipped idols every time life was good again. A transformation is required and only good leadership built on sound biblical practices can restore the nation again. This is still true today. Our failure to follow God, especially for second generation believers, is a direct result of our ignoring his rule in our life and his teaching. We need good biblical practice  and a knowledge of God in our everyday lives. If we fail in this, we begin a cycle of sin that can lead to devastating consequences.