The Book of Judges #18

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.200 --> 00:00:05.719 are a little difficult for some of us, isn't it? Well, as 2 00:00:05.759 --> 00:00:10.359 we prepare to come to God's word, I would like to first of all 3 00:00:10.560 --> 00:00:16.719 pray that God would illuminate his word to US tonight. Let's pray, and 4 00:00:16.760 --> 00:00:19.920 now, God, we can again come to your word. And Lord, 5 00:00:19.920 --> 00:00:25.120 again your word is life, your word is light, even in passages like 6 00:00:25.199 --> 00:00:31.480 we read tonight, which are again difficult passages and don't necessarily seem to exalt 7 00:00:32.439 --> 00:00:38.039 your people and God. In many ways they are far from you. But 8 00:00:38.159 --> 00:00:42.320 Lord, yet through our reading that we are reminded and we are exhorted in 9 00:00:42.359 --> 00:00:46.880 our own hearts and lives that we may not fall into the same kind of 10 00:00:46.920 --> 00:00:54.280 things that they fell into. And Lord, we'll see tonight a judge who, 11 00:00:54.320 --> 00:00:57.719 throughout his life, will show himself to be a very flawed individual. 12 00:00:58.759 --> 00:01:02.159 But, Lord, at the same time time he points to one who was 13 00:01:02.200 --> 00:01:07.599 without flaw, who was a judge magnificent, who was a judge who does 14 00:01:07.680 --> 00:01:14.760 everything right. And Lord, even in a time when Israel would do everything 15 00:01:15.319 --> 00:01:19.719 that was right in their eyes, Lord, help us to do what is 16 00:01:19.799 --> 00:01:23.560 right in your eyes. And now we ask your blessing upon the word. 17 00:01:23.599 --> 00:01:27.760 Illuminate it to us. For we praying Christ's name. Amen. So we're 18 00:01:27.760 --> 00:01:33.000 looking at chapter twelve and then we'll be looking at the first part of chapter 19 00:01:33.079 --> 00:01:38.319 thirteen, and so beginning with judges, Chapter One or chapter twelve, verse 20 00:01:38.400 --> 00:01:42.640 one. Here is God's word. The men of Ephraim were called to arms 21 00:01:42.680 --> 00:01:47.239 and they crossed the ZEF on and said to Jeff Thah, why did you 22 00:01:47.280 --> 00:01:49.840 cross over to fight against the AMMONITES and did not call us to go with 23 00:01:49.879 --> 00:01:55.840 you? We will burn your house, over you with fire. And Jeffa 24 00:01:55.879 --> 00:01:59.680 said to them I and my people had a great dispute with the ammonites and 25 00:01:59.719 --> 00:02:02.640 when I called you, you did not save me from their hand. And 26 00:02:02.640 --> 00:02:06.480 when I saw that you would not save me, I took my life in 27 00:02:06.560 --> 00:02:09.560 my hand and crossed over against the Ammonites, and the Lord gave them into 28 00:02:09.599 --> 00:02:13.759 my hand. Why, then, have you come up to me this day 29 00:02:13.800 --> 00:02:17.000 to fight against me? Then Jeff the gathered all the men of Gilead and 30 00:02:17.120 --> 00:02:22.599 fought with Ephraim. And the men of gileads struck Ephraim because they said you 31 00:02:22.639 --> 00:02:25.960 are fugitives of Efrom, you Gileadites, in the midst of Ephraim and Manassa, 32 00:02:27.599 --> 00:02:31.039 and the Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan against the EPHREMITES and when 33 00:02:31.080 --> 00:02:35.159 any of the fugitives of Efrem said, let me go over, the men 34 00:02:35.159 --> 00:02:38.240 of Gilead said to him, are you an Ephremite? When he said no, 35 00:02:38.319 --> 00:02:45.400 they said to him then say Shibboleth, and he said Sibilath, for 36 00:02:45.520 --> 00:02:49.639 he could not pronounce it right. Then they see seized him and slaughtered him 37 00:02:49.639 --> 00:02:53.800 at the fords of the Jordans. At that time forty two thousand of the 38 00:02:53.800 --> 00:02:59.039 EPHROMITES fell. Jeff the judged Israel six years. Then Jeff the, the 39 00:02:59.039 --> 00:03:02.680 Gileadite, died and was buried in his city in Gilead. After him, 40 00:03:02.759 --> 00:03:07.439 Ibsen of Bethlehem judged Israel. He had thirty sons and thirty daughters he gave 41 00:03:07.479 --> 00:03:12.240 in marriage outside his clan and thirty daughters he brought in from outside for his 42 00:03:12.319 --> 00:03:16.240 sons, and he judged Israel seven years. Then Ibsen died and was buried 43 00:03:16.240 --> 00:03:21.639 at Bethlehem. After him, Elon a Zebuln nite judged Israel, and he 44 00:03:21.719 --> 00:03:25.479 judged Israel ten years. Then Elon a Zebul knite died and was buried at 45 00:03:25.719 --> 00:03:30.159 Ajalon, in the land of Zebulon. After him, Abden the son of 46 00:03:30.240 --> 00:03:37.000 Hilll the periadite, judged Israel. He had forty sons and thirty grandsons who 47 00:03:37.039 --> 00:03:40.800 rode on seventy donkeys, and he judged Israel eight years. Then Abden, 48 00:03:40.919 --> 00:03:46.400 the son of Hilel the periadnite, died and was buried at Pirathon, in 49 00:03:46.439 --> 00:03:50.000 the land of Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites, and the 50 00:03:50.039 --> 00:03:52.879 people of Israel again did what was evil inside of the Lord, as the 51 00:03:52.960 --> 00:03:55.960 Lord gave them to the hands of the Philistines for forty years. There was 52 00:03:57.000 --> 00:04:00.520 a certain man of Zorah and the time of Danites, whose name was Matt 53 00:04:00.599 --> 00:04:03.520 Manoah, and his wife was barren and she had no children, and the 54 00:04:03.560 --> 00:04:08.680 angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, behold, 55 00:04:08.879 --> 00:04:13.159 you are barren and have not born children, but you shall conceive and bear 56 00:04:13.159 --> 00:04:16.800 a son. Therefore, be careful and drink no wine or strong drink and 57 00:04:16.839 --> 00:04:20.600 eat nothing unclean, for behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. 58 00:04:21.360 --> 00:04:26.079 No razors shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazarite 59 00:04:26.120 --> 00:04:29.160 to God from the womb, and he shall begin to save Israel from the 60 00:04:29.199 --> 00:04:31.800 hand of the Philistines. Then the woman came and told her husband. A 61 00:04:31.839 --> 00:04:35.360 man of God came to me and his appearance was like the appearance of the 62 00:04:35.439 --> 00:04:39.959 Angel of God, very awesome. I did not ask him where he was 63 00:04:40.040 --> 00:04:43.399 from and he didn't tell me his name, but he said to me, 64 00:04:43.480 --> 00:04:46.879 behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. So then, drink no 65 00:04:46.959 --> 00:04:50.199 wine or strong drink and eat nothing unclean, for the child shall be a 66 00:04:50.279 --> 00:04:55.879 Nazarite to God from the womb to the day of his death. Thus will 67 00:04:55.959 --> 00:05:05.360 end the reading of God's word. Please be seated. Well, last week 68 00:05:05.399 --> 00:05:10.360 we looked at the majority of the Jeff the story, including his famous tragic 69 00:05:10.480 --> 00:05:14.399 vow, and tonight we'll be looking at the end of the Jeff the story, 70 00:05:14.399 --> 00:05:17.120 and then we'll be looking at three relatively, in fact, I'd say, 71 00:05:17.240 --> 00:05:21.839 very unknown judges, and then I will finish with an intro to the 72 00:05:21.879 --> 00:05:29.399 story of Samson. So we'll begin with verses one through seven, Chapter Twelve. 73 00:05:29.399 --> 00:05:32.319 In verse one may seem like Deja Vu all over again. We saw 74 00:05:32.360 --> 00:05:36.600 the same thing earlier with Ephraim uh the, only that time it was with 75 00:05:36.720 --> 00:05:41.800 Giddeon, you might remember, back in Chapter Eight, and just like that 76 00:05:41.879 --> 00:05:45.879 time. Ephraim is now upset with the judge of Israel that they didn't call 77 00:05:45.959 --> 00:05:48.639 them up to go to battle against the enemy, in this case Jeff, 78 00:05:48.800 --> 00:05:55.199 against the AMMONITES. But it seems like they're even angrier this time than they 79 00:05:55.199 --> 00:06:00.439 were last time with Giddey, and it said they accused him fiercely, but 80 00:06:00.720 --> 00:06:04.279 here with Jeff the they go right to we're gonna burn your house over you 81 00:06:04.360 --> 00:06:09.160 with fire, not we're going to take it to court and we're waiting for 82 00:06:09.199 --> 00:06:13.680 an apology, just we're going to burn your house over you with fire. 83 00:06:14.600 --> 00:06:18.680 Barry Webb suggests that this sentence, with the mention of home and fire, 84 00:06:19.319 --> 00:06:27.639 may have been especially upsetting to jeff after having just sacrificed his daughter at his 85 00:06:27.720 --> 00:06:33.720 home. You might remember back with Gideon that Gideon showed great negotiation skills when 86 00:06:33.720 --> 00:06:36.720 he was pacifying EPH him in this, in that case, when they were 87 00:06:36.759 --> 00:06:41.120 doing at the same time. But now we have jeff who, I told 88 00:06:41.120 --> 00:06:44.120 you last week was a fantastic and we looked at it, he was a 89 00:06:44.160 --> 00:06:47.439 great uh negotiator. He was really able to do great things with that. 90 00:06:48.040 --> 00:06:54.000 But now he doesn't even try, he doesn't even attempt negotiation. He simply 91 00:06:54.000 --> 00:06:58.759 says, listen, guys, in reality this is all your fault anyway, 92 00:06:59.040 --> 00:07:00.759 and you didn't come when you could have come, and my life is in 93 00:07:00.839 --> 00:07:05.319 danger and now you're upset with me for no good reason. And so he 94 00:07:05.360 --> 00:07:12.240 doesn't try to negotiate at all. He just simply addresses the fault to where 95 00:07:12.319 --> 00:07:18.639 it rightly belongs. And so the response is basically saying there will be blood, 96 00:07:19.319 --> 00:07:24.639 there is going to be a war from that point on, and so 97 00:07:24.680 --> 00:07:30.480 it's clear negotiations aren't going to happen now. As the course of Jeff is 98 00:07:30.519 --> 00:07:32.800 it a good course or is it a bad course? Is he doing the 99 00:07:32.879 --> 00:07:39.199 right thing or the wrong thing? Well, here again the commentators are greatly 100 00:07:39.240 --> 00:07:44.920 divided on that particular subject. Something that he should have tried negotiation, at 101 00:07:45.000 --> 00:07:48.199 least as getting did with Ephraim, and maybe he could have averted a war. 102 00:07:48.959 --> 00:07:53.639 And then he would have followed proverb seventeen fourteen that says the beginning of 103 00:07:53.720 --> 00:07:59.160 strife is like letting out water, so quit before the coral breaks out. 104 00:07:59.519 --> 00:08:03.319 So maybe he should have done that. Others are of the opinion, Hey, 105 00:08:03.600 --> 00:08:07.680 it's time to treat the yet, to treat those Pesky Efromtes uh and 106 00:08:07.759 --> 00:08:11.759 kind of give them a dose of what they really deserve at this time, 107 00:08:11.800 --> 00:08:15.199 so that they think that Jeff is doing the right it seems. It seems 108 00:08:15.240 --> 00:08:18.160 like the Afromtes are a bunch of cry babies. When they could go to 109 00:08:18.199 --> 00:08:20.839 war, they don't, and then they say, Oh, you didn't call 110 00:08:20.959 --> 00:08:24.360 us and now we're mad at you because you didn't call us. So Uh. 111 00:08:24.399 --> 00:08:26.439 So it seems here a little different, and there is a difference between 112 00:08:26.720 --> 00:08:31.439 f from and Gideon and the fact that when, when Gideon, excuse me 113 00:08:31.480 --> 00:08:35.799 from Jeff and Gideon, when Gideon tried uh to make the negotiations with from, 114 00:08:35.840 --> 00:08:39.399 there was still an enemy to be conquered and so there was need of 115 00:08:39.480 --> 00:08:43.799 no warfare in Israel at that time. But now the enemies are conquered and 116 00:08:43.840 --> 00:08:48.200 they're basically at peace. So now, Jeff that can pursue a different course 117 00:08:48.320 --> 00:08:56.039 at this time. So in verse four, Jeff From Jeff the disregards the 118 00:08:56.080 --> 00:09:00.840 most uh famous blunder in history. Never start a land or in Asia, 119 00:09:01.519 --> 00:09:07.840 and Jeff actually starts a land war in UH in Asia, and in this 120 00:09:07.879 --> 00:09:15.840 case it is partly apparently due to Efraim's taunting of Jeff's army now. I 121 00:09:15.879 --> 00:09:18.120 was thinking about this when I was a young boy, and then I thought 122 00:09:18.159 --> 00:09:22.200 about this and I don't even know what this means, but uh, people, 123 00:09:22.320 --> 00:09:24.759 is a taunt in those days. Some of you are old enough to 124 00:09:24.799 --> 00:09:28.600 remember this. Your mother, your mother wears combat boots. I don't know. 125 00:09:28.080 --> 00:09:31.399 Some of you can maybe remember that. I don't even know what that 126 00:09:31.480 --> 00:09:35.360 meant. I don't I'm not even sure what that was supposed to to say, 127 00:09:35.440 --> 00:09:37.360 but that was a taunt that people did. But here the taunt is, 128 00:09:37.799 --> 00:09:43.360 uh, they're saying you are fugitives of of from you Gileadites, and 129 00:09:43.679 --> 00:09:46.480 you are. So, basically, you're not even real efremites like you ought 130 00:09:46.519 --> 00:09:50.799 to be, because the territory of Gilead was there. But but you're not 131 00:09:50.840 --> 00:09:52.759 even a part of us, you're just fugitives. Now that's going to come 132 00:09:52.799 --> 00:09:56.240 back to haunt them in a moment. Here and once again in verse five, 133 00:09:56.279 --> 00:10:01.240 we see that war in those days is if you really wanted to win 134 00:10:01.279 --> 00:10:05.919 a war, the important thing was to control the water supply, and this 135 00:10:05.120 --> 00:10:09.200 we saw earlier, uh, in the book of judges as well, and 136 00:10:09.279 --> 00:10:13.759 now we're going to see it again. Gideon had commanded remember the affirmtes when 137 00:10:13.799 --> 00:10:16.960 they went to battle with Gideon. He commanded them to do that. But 138 00:10:16.080 --> 00:10:22.399 now it's being turned around and now Jeffa and the Gileadites are now using that 139 00:10:22.600 --> 00:10:28.159 tactic against the affirmites. And, as they said, they the affirmtes, 140 00:10:28.200 --> 00:10:35.480 called the Gileadites fugitives. But now we see that the affirmtes themselves become because 141 00:10:35.519 --> 00:10:39.360 the same word as used in the Hebrew they also become renegades or fugitives. 142 00:10:39.720 --> 00:10:45.159 And again the Bible teaches us you reap what you saw, and that's what 143 00:10:45.200 --> 00:10:50.679 they're doing. And then in verse five and six, I think many people 144 00:10:50.720 --> 00:10:52.879 are familiar, even if they're not really familiar with the story of judges or 145 00:10:52.919 --> 00:10:58.120 the book of judges, they're probably somewhat familiar with what happens here in versus 146 00:10:58.200 --> 00:11:01.360 five and six. And when I read this, you to forgive me here, 147 00:11:01.600 --> 00:11:07.879 but I am reminded of a Great World War Two movie called the great 148 00:11:07.000 --> 00:11:11.320 escape that some of you have probably seen. One of the stars of that 149 00:11:11.360 --> 00:11:16.480 movie is Steve McQueen, who plays a soldier by the name of Mac and 150 00:11:16.519 --> 00:11:22.679 early in the movie he is trying to tell the other prisoners that there's a 151 00:11:22.720 --> 00:11:28.399 practice of the German soldiers to speak English. Two people pretending to be English 152 00:11:28.440 --> 00:11:33.200 so they can see if they would respond in English or not. And you 153 00:11:33.279 --> 00:11:35.559 might know later on in the movie, you might remember, and hopefully not 154 00:11:35.600 --> 00:11:39.559 giving away stuff for those of you that haven't seen it, but he's accosted 155 00:11:39.559 --> 00:11:45.879 by a German soldier and UH, when he's leaving the German soldier, the 156 00:11:45.879 --> 00:11:52.600 German soldiers says good luck and Mac replies thanks, and of course that's how 157 00:11:52.840 --> 00:11:56.559 he is then captured. By the way, from what I understand, Steve 158 00:11:56.639 --> 00:12:01.759 McQueen became a believer in his their life, and so that that's a good 159 00:12:01.799 --> 00:12:05.240 thing. But here we have a similar trick that revolves around the problem people 160 00:12:05.240 --> 00:12:09.399 of a certain language not being able to say a particular sound, and that's 161 00:12:09.519 --> 00:12:13.399 very common. I uh, you know, I wouldn't do well here all 162 00:12:13.440 --> 00:12:18.279 the time in Tucson because I can't roll in our like the Hispanic people can 163 00:12:18.320 --> 00:12:22.039 do. I just have no ability to do that. And that's very similar 164 00:12:22.840 --> 00:12:28.279 here to the fact that the affirmytes could not through a period of time that 165 00:12:28.480 --> 00:12:31.000 sound had kind of disappeared from them and they could no longer say the sh 166 00:12:31.080 --> 00:12:35.440 sound, but would say, as very similar what what happens to our Lord's 167 00:12:35.559 --> 00:12:39.919 name in Hebrew as Shua, but comes into the Greek with not the sh 168 00:12:39.000 --> 00:12:43.200 sound but the s sound in the middle there. And so this, this 169 00:12:43.320 --> 00:12:48.840 is very similar that they can't do it. And so the word is Shivalath, 170 00:12:48.960 --> 00:12:54.720 which means streams or floods, and this word is actually now come into 171 00:12:54.759 --> 00:12:58.840 the English language. This word itself is now an English word. You can 172 00:12:58.879 --> 00:13:01.720 find it an addiction area. It is their dictionary. Dot Com says the 173 00:13:01.759 --> 00:13:07.440 word means a custom, principle or belief distinguishing a particular class or group of 174 00:13:07.480 --> 00:13:15.919 people, especially a long standing one, regarded as outmoded or no longer important. 175 00:13:16.840 --> 00:13:20.480 And UH. And so we have this test and it seems to be 176 00:13:20.080 --> 00:13:26.919 a pretty effective test, because we read a forty two thousand of the Efremites 177 00:13:26.240 --> 00:13:33.360 who are slain, and again it shows how foolish effrom was in their complaint 178 00:13:33.240 --> 00:13:37.120 in verse seven, the reign of Jeff this is comparatively short compared to other 179 00:13:37.200 --> 00:13:41.759 judges, only six years. The last reference to him in verse seven caused 180 00:13:41.799 --> 00:13:46.360 him. Jeff thought the Gileadite, which seems to indicate this is how he 181 00:13:46.440 --> 00:13:50.360 saw himself, more than identifying as an Israelite, he identified as a Gileadite. 182 00:13:50.960 --> 00:13:56.200 And so again we're beginning to see the divisions in Israel through these passages 183 00:13:56.519 --> 00:14:00.320 that are going to erupt towards the end of the book, and we see 184 00:14:00.320 --> 00:14:03.240 how these things are starting. Well. We'll look at versus eight through fifteen 185 00:14:03.320 --> 00:14:07.519 next, and here we're told about three judges that, as I've said before, 186 00:14:07.639 --> 00:14:11.799 I don't think any of us would have remembered at all. I know 187 00:14:11.000 --> 00:14:16.679 I certainly wouldn't. And these are very similar to chapter ten, verses one 188 00:14:16.720 --> 00:14:20.879 through five, where we read of two other relatively unknown judges. Maybe you'll 189 00:14:20.919 --> 00:14:24.519 remember them from now on, Tolah and Jaire, and uh again, maybe 190 00:14:24.600 --> 00:14:28.639 now you will after that sermon a couple of weeks not that my sermon was 191 00:14:28.679 --> 00:14:33.080 great, but that we dealt with it in in that sermon, Dr McGee 192 00:14:33.320 --> 00:14:37.320 says of these three judges here in these verses, and I think perhaps he 193 00:14:37.320 --> 00:14:43.440 says it unfairly, that they are practically Zeros. So he has he has 194 00:14:43.600 --> 00:14:46.159 no kind words to say for them, but they do seem to rule over 195 00:14:46.320 --> 00:14:50.679 Israel and what was a comparative time of peace. There's no conquest spoken of 196 00:14:50.759 --> 00:14:56.759 during their time and and doesn't say that any of them saved Israel, simply 197 00:14:56.799 --> 00:15:01.759 that they judged over Israel. So if you look at the book of judges, 198 00:15:01.799 --> 00:15:07.320 it's very interesting because you have twelve judges, six judges who are basically 199 00:15:07.399 --> 00:15:11.840 unknown, Shamgar, Tola, Jare, Ibsen, Ellen and Abden, and 200 00:15:11.879 --> 00:15:16.320 on the other side we have more famous judges. We have a neo ihad, 201 00:15:16.679 --> 00:15:20.720 debrah, Gideon, Jeffah and Samson. So the first judge that has 202 00:15:20.759 --> 00:15:24.559 mentioned here is Ibsen. And in contrast to Jeff and the chapter, who 203 00:15:24.600 --> 00:15:31.360 has no living children, Ibsen has thirty sons and thirty daughters and he brings 204 00:15:31.399 --> 00:15:37.000 in thirty daughters from the outside for his sons to marry and he ships out 205 00:15:37.039 --> 00:15:43.960 his thirty daughters to marry outside the family. His term is judged um lasted 206 00:15:43.480 --> 00:15:46.840 only seven years, which is the number of perfection, but not sure if 207 00:15:46.879 --> 00:15:52.320 it means anything in this case. Um and and he has listed as being 208 00:15:52.480 --> 00:15:54.480 from Beth Leham. You might say, Oh, I know Beth lhamp no, 209 00:15:54.559 --> 00:15:58.320 you don't. Uh, you don't know beslime. You know Beth Leham, 210 00:15:58.320 --> 00:16:00.039 but it's not this Beth Lehem. Uh, it's not one that. 211 00:16:00.080 --> 00:16:06.519 This is an obscure town in the territory of Zebulon Barry Webb says, only 212 00:16:06.559 --> 00:16:11.799 the most dedicated Bible reader would know that that this Bethlehem even existed, and 213 00:16:11.840 --> 00:16:17.200 I can tell you I didn't know that it existed. So it's since greatest 214 00:16:17.240 --> 00:16:22.279 success seems to be that he's good at arranging marriages for all of his children, 215 00:16:22.159 --> 00:16:27.080 and the fact that he has thirty sons and thirty daughters probably raises some 216 00:16:27.240 --> 00:16:33.240 questions in our mind. First would be, how do you work that out? 217 00:16:33.600 --> 00:16:36.679 Thirty of one and thirty of the other? How do you do that? 218 00:16:37.120 --> 00:16:40.799 I mean it's easier if you got two or four, six or something 219 00:16:40.840 --> 00:16:42.320 like that, but or, you know, if you don't count the way 220 00:16:42.320 --> 00:16:45.919 the Brady Bunch did it to get, you know, the three girls and 221 00:16:45.919 --> 00:16:48.159 the three boys, it's but but how did he how did he do that? 222 00:16:48.240 --> 00:16:52.320 How did he end up with exactly thirty of each? And secondly, 223 00:16:52.399 --> 00:16:56.080 you can say, well, how did he even have that many children? 224 00:16:56.399 --> 00:17:00.360 That's a lot of children. It certainly is, and we have come to 225 00:17:00.399 --> 00:17:03.720 the conclusion, I think, that he must have had more than one wife, 226 00:17:03.799 --> 00:17:07.680 unless he had a wife who had fifteen sets of quadruple it's which to 227 00:17:07.759 --> 00:17:11.079 me seems a little doubtful. And again we have a father of sixty coming 228 00:17:11.160 --> 00:17:18.119 after a judge who has no children whatsoever. The S V says of his 229 00:17:18.240 --> 00:17:22.519 daughters he gave in marriage outside the clan. That's the E S V being 230 00:17:22.119 --> 00:17:26.799 a little bit more expansive than the text, because all the Hebrew words says 231 00:17:26.920 --> 00:17:30.160 is outside, that they married outside, but doesn't say really outside what. 232 00:17:30.440 --> 00:17:33.880 We don't know exactly what they were outside. How far did he go? 233 00:17:34.039 --> 00:17:40.039 Outside the tribe, outside of Israel? Where did he go? Um, 234 00:17:40.079 --> 00:17:44.319 but if it was outside of his tribe, where we can try to put 235 00:17:44.359 --> 00:17:45.720 the best spin on this and say, well, maybe he was trying, 236 00:17:47.039 --> 00:17:49.960 by Mary intermarried like this, to get the tribes of Israel together and unifying 237 00:17:51.079 --> 00:17:56.400 them and all of their divisions. But that's speculation. The second judge mentioned 238 00:17:56.599 --> 00:18:03.279 is Elon, and here again Dr Mc Geese says about this about versus eleven 239 00:18:03.279 --> 00:18:07.359 and twelve. These two verses tell us all we need to know about Ellen. 240 00:18:07.720 --> 00:18:10.920 He did nothing. He didn't even have a large family. All he 241 00:18:11.000 --> 00:18:14.599 did was twiddle his thumbs. I don't know how he knows that, but 242 00:18:15.160 --> 00:18:18.240 but that's what he said. But I think that's a little unfair. Again, 243 00:18:18.720 --> 00:18:22.160 we're at least totally comes from the tribe of Zebulon. Zebulon didn't start 244 00:18:22.200 --> 00:18:26.319 well in the book of judges. You might remember that they didn't drive out 245 00:18:26.400 --> 00:18:30.759 the inhabitants. They were supposed to have kittron or the inhabitants of Nalo. 246 00:18:30.160 --> 00:18:36.640 So the Canaanites lived among them and they actually became subject to forced labor. 247 00:18:36.680 --> 00:18:40.200 But later in chapter five of judges, when we read of the battle with 248 00:18:40.279 --> 00:18:44.720 Debra and Barrick, we find out that Zebulon receives high praise in the song 249 00:18:44.799 --> 00:18:48.880 of Zeb the song of Deborah, when she says that they risked their lives 250 00:18:48.160 --> 00:18:52.920 to death. So they come out better in the later chapters than they're doing 251 00:18:52.960 --> 00:18:56.480 the earliest one. And then in verses thirteen through fifteen we have the third 252 00:18:56.559 --> 00:19:02.359 judge and he is named Abdum now here. I do kind of like what 253 00:19:02.440 --> 00:19:07.640 Dr McGee says. He says Abden did nothing but out Jayr Jayer, if 254 00:19:07.640 --> 00:19:11.200 you remember Jay or, he had the sons that wrote on the donkeys, 255 00:19:11.240 --> 00:19:15.799 if you remember that, Um and so he out Jayres, Jayres, because 256 00:19:17.000 --> 00:19:19.799 because he has seventy that right on donkeys, he said to be the son 257 00:19:19.839 --> 00:19:22.960 of Hill l the Pirathonite, which were told in Verse Fifteen, was in 258 00:19:22.960 --> 00:19:26.160 the territory of I fram. So it seems as if he might have been 259 00:19:26.240 --> 00:19:30.720 an eframite actually, which is a turnaround from what we had earlier in this 260 00:19:30.839 --> 00:19:34.480 chapter, where the framites were slain. And why, it says, in 261 00:19:34.519 --> 00:19:40.279 the hill country of the AMALEKITES is a mystery to most reading, because we 262 00:19:40.319 --> 00:19:45.000 don't know why the amalekites would be mentioned. They're basically always the enemy of 263 00:19:45.119 --> 00:19:49.799 Israel. But again, Jare had thirty sons, but Abden had forty sons 264 00:19:49.880 --> 00:19:56.599 and thirty grandsons, and they all rode donkeys. Now, after I preached 265 00:19:56.640 --> 00:20:00.359 on Jaire, elder has sent me a postcard with four donkeys on it. 266 00:20:02.480 --> 00:20:06.839 Well, you're going to have to op the anti now, okay. And 267 00:20:07.000 --> 00:20:10.839 the fact that they rode donkeys, as I mentioned before when I talked about 268 00:20:10.880 --> 00:20:17.240 the donkeys, probably indicates royalty because the donkey was the regal animal at that 269 00:20:17.319 --> 00:20:19.079 time. It wasn't the war animal. If you're going to war, you 270 00:20:19.119 --> 00:20:22.160 didn't ride a donkey. If you're going to war, you rode a horse. 271 00:20:22.920 --> 00:20:26.680 But what's the deal here? Is Abden trying to start a family dynasty 272 00:20:26.759 --> 00:20:30.799 with all his little kings, of all of his children. Perhaps, uh, 273 00:20:32.039 --> 00:20:34.759 but again there's so much that isn't told to us and we have to 274 00:20:34.799 --> 00:20:40.680 just leave a lot to speculation. But here comes a judge. I think 275 00:20:40.720 --> 00:20:45.400 you know, a judge I'm sure you've heard about throughout your life. In 276 00:20:45.519 --> 00:20:48.200 Verse One of Chapter Thirteen we have a phrase, first of all, that 277 00:20:48.680 --> 00:20:53.279 we're very used to hearing by now. And the children of Israel did evil 278 00:20:53.319 --> 00:20:56.720 again in the side of the Lord. Now, if you were going to 279 00:20:56.799 --> 00:21:00.200 make a guess how many times that phrase of years in the book of judges, 280 00:21:00.880 --> 00:21:06.400 just thought of just guessing. What was your guess? Seven? Very 281 00:21:06.440 --> 00:21:10.799 good, excellent, yes, seven times. And this is the seventh and 282 00:21:10.920 --> 00:21:15.160 last time that we're going to read this phrase in the book of judges. 283 00:21:15.079 --> 00:21:19.559 There will be a similar phrase that appears later in the last part of judges. 284 00:21:19.599 --> 00:21:23.519 It appears twice. It says in those days there was no king in 285 00:21:23.559 --> 00:21:29.680 Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes. And there's kind 286 00:21:29.720 --> 00:21:33.680 of a hint of that in the Sampson's story because when Samson takes a woman 287 00:21:33.720 --> 00:21:40.039 to wife, it says he does it because she was right in his eyes. 288 00:21:40.559 --> 00:21:44.400 So we can see that it is already, beginning during the time of 289 00:21:44.400 --> 00:21:49.079 Samson. But this is even sadder than what we've read up to this point. 290 00:21:49.279 --> 00:21:53.519 This this reference that they did evil again, because in the other references 291 00:21:53.559 --> 00:22:00.440 we've usually read afterwards that Israel cried out to the Lord, but this time 292 00:22:00.720 --> 00:22:04.759 we find no crying out to the Lord by Israel. They don't ask God 293 00:22:04.839 --> 00:22:11.160 for help. In fact, Barry Webb and his commentary entitles the chapter on 294 00:22:11.519 --> 00:22:17.519 this first one, on Samson, the savior no one asked for. Later 295 00:22:17.519 --> 00:22:23.400 in Chapter Fifteen, in fact, the Israelites will even try to bind Samson 296 00:22:23.960 --> 00:22:27.839 and deliver them to the Philistines, their own deliverer, their own hero. 297 00:22:29.279 --> 00:22:33.599 They want to bind and send to the two Philistines and give it to them 298 00:22:33.640 --> 00:22:37.200 so so the Philistines will stop bothering them. And it's almost comical when you 299 00:22:37.480 --> 00:22:41.400 when you read that what they're trying to do. And Israel is going to 300 00:22:41.440 --> 00:22:45.640 have their longest oppression in the book of judges. It's going to be for 301 00:22:45.640 --> 00:22:49.359 forty years and, as I told you on sermon on Luke, forty is 302 00:22:49.400 --> 00:22:53.319 a number of testing in the Bible or trials, and we see that a 303 00:22:53.319 --> 00:22:59.200 lot. And so in first two we learn about Sampson's family. We're going 304 00:22:59.240 --> 00:23:02.559 to see. He is only judge who comes from the tribe of Dan. 305 00:23:03.480 --> 00:23:07.160 His father has a name very similar to a more famous man we find in 306 00:23:07.240 --> 00:23:11.920 the book of Genesis by the name of Noah. This name is Minoah, 307 00:23:11.920 --> 00:23:17.279 but it means basically identically the same thing. The word of rest is what 308 00:23:17.519 --> 00:23:22.839 it means. And we learned that Minoah's wife is sterile and has no children. 309 00:23:22.640 --> 00:23:26.880 Now here's an interesting thing, at least I find kind of interesting. 310 00:23:26.920 --> 00:23:30.960 Maybe you won't, but if you read chapter thirteen and the nine verses of 311 00:23:32.039 --> 00:23:36.960 Chapter Fourteen, the beginning of it, there is one clear star of the 312 00:23:37.039 --> 00:23:41.279 story, one one person who is obviously the center of everything. Who is 313 00:23:41.319 --> 00:23:45.240 that, you asked? That Sampson's mother. Well, why don't you identify 314 00:23:45.279 --> 00:23:49.559 her by name? Because the Bible doesn't. Here we have a woman who's 315 00:23:49.839 --> 00:23:55.279 mentioned over and over again, but we have no idea what her name is. 316 00:23:56.039 --> 00:24:00.079 And so, uh, we learned that she is barren and and uh 317 00:24:00.240 --> 00:24:04.880 we uh I should say this if you're paying attention, if you've been reading 318 00:24:04.920 --> 00:24:08.160 your Bible and you know what happens up to this point, and you read 319 00:24:08.200 --> 00:24:12.359 in your Bible that a certain woman was barren. Do you have a kind 320 00:24:12.400 --> 00:24:17.799 of an idea what might be coming next? Pretty much follows all the time. 321 00:24:17.839 --> 00:24:19.720 If you've been paying attention, you know that God is going to then 322 00:24:21.119 --> 00:24:23.759 give her a child. The reversal happens in verse three. But the angel 323 00:24:23.799 --> 00:24:27.880 of the Lord appears to her, mentions that she's barren, which she probably 324 00:24:27.920 --> 00:24:33.599 knew before that, and but then says that she's going to produce a son. 325 00:24:34.160 --> 00:24:37.599 Warren Weirsby says when God wants to do something really great in the world, 326 00:24:37.640 --> 00:24:42.480 he doesn't send an army, he sends an angel. And it appears 327 00:24:42.519 --> 00:24:45.680 from things that will look at later in the text that this angel is not 328 00:24:45.839 --> 00:24:52.400 just any angel, but it's actually a pre incarnate appearance of the Lord Jesus 329 00:24:52.440 --> 00:24:55.720 Christ, and there's evidence to that that we'll look at Lord Willing in the 330 00:24:55.839 --> 00:25:02.680 later message. And so in verses four and five we have another very unusual 331 00:25:02.720 --> 00:25:04.359 thing. Now there is such a thing in the Bible called a NASA right 332 00:25:04.480 --> 00:25:08.480 vowel and it is given to us in numbers chapter six, and it is 333 00:25:08.519 --> 00:25:14.759 a vow that is taken by by different people. But the interesting thing was 334 00:25:14.799 --> 00:25:19.359 the NASA right vowel in numbers chapter six was generally given for a set period 335 00:25:19.359 --> 00:25:22.839 of time. Might be a year or two years, whatever set period of 336 00:25:22.839 --> 00:25:26.400 time. It wasn't the last forever. It was just a set period of 337 00:25:26.400 --> 00:25:32.119 time and it would be taken, uh, sometime in a person's adult life. 338 00:25:32.240 --> 00:25:37.240 Generally. That's that's what would take place. And here the vow is 339 00:25:37.279 --> 00:25:44.119 to continue until Sampson's death. But even more amazing, the vowe begins at 340 00:25:44.160 --> 00:25:52.359 his conception. That's where the vowel begins. And even right away we're gonna 341 00:25:52.400 --> 00:25:56.680 be told that Sampson's mother, who we don't know her name again, is 342 00:25:56.720 --> 00:26:03.960 not to be drinking herself any one line or strong drink right from conception. 343 00:26:03.359 --> 00:26:08.759 It's almost as if God considers it a child once it's conceived. But nonetheless 344 00:26:10.400 --> 00:26:12.960 God, God, says you're not to do that. Now, God didn't 345 00:26:12.960 --> 00:26:18.799 know everything that medical science God knew. They didn't know. God knew about 346 00:26:18.839 --> 00:26:22.759 all the things medical science would discover at that time are in our time, 347 00:26:22.759 --> 00:26:27.319 and those things, about the dangerous things that can happen uh that when Mother's 348 00:26:27.440 --> 00:26:33.240 Um partake of certain things during childbearing. And we have that. But here 349 00:26:33.279 --> 00:26:38.400 God does know, and of course here he says that the mother shouldn't even 350 00:26:38.440 --> 00:26:44.720 do it from conception. That's a strict vowe is going on right here. 351 00:26:44.759 --> 00:26:49.640 It's a very unusual one. And she's also told that she should never cut 352 00:26:49.640 --> 00:26:52.720 his hair, just part of the Nazareight vowel. So here we have a 353 00:26:52.799 --> 00:27:00.240 Nazareight vowel that begins at the moment of conception and last until death. I'm 354 00:27:00.240 --> 00:27:03.079 not saying Sampson kept it all that time, but I'm saying that that was 355 00:27:03.119 --> 00:27:07.519 what the vow was supposed to be. So it was a very special one. 356 00:27:07.200 --> 00:27:11.640 And then the last part of verse five also contains an unusual phrase. 357 00:27:11.720 --> 00:27:15.359 It doesn't say Samson Saves Israel from the Philistines, it says he will begin 358 00:27:15.920 --> 00:27:19.680 to save Israel from the Philistines. He's not going to be able to totally 359 00:27:19.839 --> 00:27:25.440 do that. Dr Mgees says Sampson was a beginner, uh, not a 360 00:27:25.519 --> 00:27:30.720 finisher, and it will be later under Samuel and David that the Philistines will 361 00:27:30.799 --> 00:27:33.880 be conquered and taken care of. But we'll leave the story there. I'M 362 00:27:33.880 --> 00:27:36.960 NOT gonna go further tonight and just leave it right there. But let me 363 00:27:37.000 --> 00:27:41.839 make some applications, and I mentioned this in the message but I just want 364 00:27:41.880 --> 00:27:44.720 to mention it again, and it goes back to something I mentioned a couple 365 00:27:44.720 --> 00:27:47.920 of weeks ago. Again, and I'm kind of repeating myself, but I 366 00:27:47.960 --> 00:27:52.279 want to say that the sad things that are happening here are going to lead 367 00:27:52.400 --> 00:27:56.160 Israel to a great civil war and that's a very sad thing. It's a 368 00:27:56.319 --> 00:28:00.720 very sad thing when the country has a civil war and and and it's not 369 00:28:00.880 --> 00:28:04.880 it's not good. And it's not just Israel killing their enemies, but we 370 00:28:04.920 --> 00:28:10.319 even see it here in our text. We saw it. It's Israel killing 371 00:28:10.480 --> 00:28:15.799 each other, and I I would say that it's usually not true that church 372 00:28:15.839 --> 00:28:22.559 members physically kill each other, thank the Lord, but sadly divisions do occur 373 00:28:22.839 --> 00:28:25.400 in the church and I talked about that, like I said a couple of 374 00:28:25.400 --> 00:28:30.839 weeks ago. But what I want to emphasize tonight is many times divisions, 375 00:28:30.000 --> 00:28:37.319 as in this text, arise from simple misunderstandings. Such was the case at 376 00:28:37.359 --> 00:28:41.920 Corinth, where the Apostle Paul writes, because of their divisions, where people 377 00:28:41.920 --> 00:28:45.759 were gathering themselves around various leaders. The I am of Paul, I am 378 00:28:45.799 --> 00:28:49.519 of Cephas, I am of a Polisy, and then the very spiritual ones 379 00:28:49.559 --> 00:28:56.640 of course said, well, we're of Christ and these misunderstandings of what the 380 00:28:56.680 --> 00:29:00.079 point was of having leaders and who they were and how they were to be 381 00:29:00.359 --> 00:29:04.519 treated allowed petty jealousy is to divide them. That Paul would speak against. 382 00:29:07.559 --> 00:29:10.640 But this happens often in the church and the Church I was at before I 383 00:29:10.720 --> 00:29:15.720 came here there were divisions. That happened. A story was circulating about someone 384 00:29:15.920 --> 00:29:21.319 wasn't even part of our church but was in our overseeing session, and it 385 00:29:21.400 --> 00:29:23.839 wasn't even true. And the story was it wasn't even about me. UH, 386 00:29:25.079 --> 00:29:27.000 normally would be about me, but it wasn't about me this time and 387 00:29:27.039 --> 00:29:30.480 it was about someone else and it wasn't a true story at all. And 388 00:29:30.680 --> 00:29:34.839 people just left the church anyway. Didn't didn't matter. And we had three 389 00:29:34.920 --> 00:29:38.680 families, and this is a small church, where three families leave the church, 390 00:29:40.640 --> 00:29:44.640 and not only that, they didn't just leave, they left and said, 391 00:29:45.359 --> 00:29:47.680 you know, we don't want to be a part of this church because 392 00:29:47.680 --> 00:29:52.079 of things we've heard the kind of church. And then they said and don't 393 00:29:52.079 --> 00:29:56.519 ever contact us, our family again. I'll tell you this. If you 394 00:29:56.559 --> 00:30:00.119 ever get a message like that, you can tell for sure who's in the 395 00:30:00.200 --> 00:30:07.079 wrong, because that isn't the way we handle divisions. People Disobey Paul's Instructions 396 00:30:07.079 --> 00:30:12.000 in Philippians two three. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in 397 00:30:12.079 --> 00:30:18.880 humility, count others more significant than yourselves. That's a powerful verse and a 398 00:30:18.079 --> 00:30:22.759 very difficult verse to live out, but that's what Paul tells us to do. 399 00:30:22.839 --> 00:30:26.400 And then, of course you'll give us the example of Lord Jesus. 400 00:30:29.279 --> 00:30:32.640 And so God knows our inclinations, as I mentioned. So in Christ praise 401 00:30:32.720 --> 00:30:34.960 for the church and John Seventeen he praised Lord that they may be one, 402 00:30:36.680 --> 00:30:41.599 even as we are one and we pray for God's unity in his body. 403 00:30:42.480 --> 00:30:48.319 Now the last thing I want to mention to you tonight is concerning Sampson. 404 00:30:48.799 --> 00:30:55.519 There's much that I could point out about Sampson that makes him unique among your 405 00:30:55.599 --> 00:31:00.279 judges. Sampson, like most Old Testament characters, is a type of Christ. 406 00:31:00.319 --> 00:31:03.160 And you might say, well, wait a minute, there's a lot 407 00:31:03.160 --> 00:31:07.759 of bad stuff in Samson. There is, but I could say maybe I 408 00:31:07.799 --> 00:31:11.920 can't say every Bible character, but most Bible characters in the Old Testament are 409 00:31:11.920 --> 00:31:18.039 in some ways types of Christ, and he's not a perfect type. No 410 00:31:18.160 --> 00:31:22.079 Old Testament character ever was, no human could ever be. But in some 411 00:31:22.160 --> 00:31:26.839 ways, in his supernatural birth, the way God gave birth to a barren 412 00:31:26.920 --> 00:31:33.319 woman, in the angelic announcement of his birth, in his separation onto God. 413 00:31:33.920 --> 00:31:37.680 But one thing I just want to note tonight in closing is he was 414 00:31:37.720 --> 00:31:47.640 a mighty deliverer of all Bible characters. Truly, Samson is the mightiest of 415 00:31:47.759 --> 00:31:52.279 characters. The spirit of God would come upon him as it came upon our 416 00:31:52.319 --> 00:31:56.279 Lord, but the spirit of God would come upon Samson and he would do 417 00:31:56.400 --> 00:32:00.640 acts that were amazing. And of course you know how he ends his life. 418 00:32:01.039 --> 00:32:07.359 And truly I would say to you we serve a mighty savior. When 419 00:32:07.359 --> 00:32:10.599 he was announced in Isaiah nine, six says, for unto us a child 420 00:32:10.720 --> 00:32:15.319 is born, unto us a son is given doesn't sound like anything too strong. 421 00:32:15.599 --> 00:32:20.759 We don't think of a child as being that mighty. But he says 422 00:32:20.839 --> 00:32:25.839 the government will be upon his shoulder and his name shall be called wonderful counselor 423 00:32:27.599 --> 00:32:35.640 mighty God, everlasting father, Prince of peace, because he is God and 424 00:32:35.680 --> 00:32:40.200 he is a mighty savior. So jeremiahs isn't Jeremiah Seventeen. Oh Lord God, 425 00:32:42.000 --> 00:32:45.839 You have made the heavens and the Earth by your great power and by 426 00:32:45.839 --> 00:32:53.559 your outstretched arm. Nothing. Nothing, it's too hard for you. So 427 00:32:53.599 --> 00:32:58.799 when we come to God with our needs, we have to know that God 428 00:32:58.880 --> 00:33:02.680 is able to meet those needs, that he is well able to do, 429 00:33:02.920 --> 00:33:07.759 in fact more than that, if Hesi in three, twenty. Now to 430 00:33:07.920 --> 00:33:12.640 him who is able to do far more abundantly than all we can ask or 431 00:33:12.720 --> 00:33:15.960 think, according to the power at work within us. I could give you 432 00:33:16.000 --> 00:33:21.599 many scriptures, but I'm not going to. But you know many of them. 433 00:33:21.640 --> 00:33:25.440 But I want you to understand whatever your need is tonight, our God 434 00:33:25.880 --> 00:33:30.599 is well up to the task. Our God can do it. He is 435 00:33:30.720 --> 00:33:37.200 mighty. And one last thing that I want to say about Samson, type 436 00:33:37.240 --> 00:33:45.400 of Christ. What Samson did was he destroyed more enemies in his death than 437 00:33:45.519 --> 00:33:53.200 his life. And that's exactly what our Lord Jesus did. He destroyed more 438 00:33:53.359 --> 00:34:00.480 enemies in his death than he did in his life. Colossians two fifty says 439 00:34:00.519 --> 00:34:07.240 he disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame by troumphing over 440 00:34:07.319 --> 00:34:15.920 them in him. And so tonight we celebrate the triumph of the Cross in 441 00:34:15.039 --> 00:34:22.199 celebrating the Lord's table, and remember that he has slain our enemies by his 442 00:34:22.320 --> 00:34:28.679 death and that he will reign until he has put all enemies under his feet 443 00:34:29.679 --> 00:34:35.239 and he will even destroy the last and greatest enemy, that of death, 444 00:34:36.760 --> 00:34:42.440 and he show rain forever endeavor. Can We pray, Lord, God, 445 00:34:42.440 --> 00:34:46.440 we thank you again for your word. And Lord, again there's there's passages 446 00:34:46.480 --> 00:34:51.360 that are, I would say, more difficult to preach out of. But, 447 00:34:51.480 --> 00:34:52.800 Lord, yet you can use it to speak to your people, and 448 00:34:52.800 --> 00:34:57.719 I pray that you have, and they pray above all else we will see 449 00:34:57.800 --> 00:35:02.880 Christ and see him in this mighty deliver you sent to Israel, who was 450 00:35:02.920 --> 00:35:09.440 just a type of the true mighty deliverer that would come forth the mighty God 451 00:35:10.400 --> 00:35:15.400 and triumph. And Lord, we serve a mighty God in serving you, 452 00:35:16.199 --> 00:35:21.920 and we know that there is nothing, nothing that is too difficult for you, 453 00:35:22.880 --> 00:35:28.360 and so we come to you praising you for your great power. And 454 00:35:28.440 --> 00:35:32.280 now, Lord, as we prepare to celebrate, as we remember the cross 455 00:35:32.360 --> 00:35:37.079 of Christ where he disarmed all our enemies, we ask you, God, 456 00:35:37.119 --> 00:35:44.719 to bless our time of remembrance and you being here with us, ministering to 457 00:35:44.840 --> 00:35:51.239 us, through your sacrament. We ask Your blessing upon it in Christ's name. Amen.