The Book of Judges #21

WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.399 --> 00:00:08.519 Let us pray as we prepare to read God's word this evening. And now 2 00:00:08.560 --> 00:00:12.199 again, our Lord, as we come to you with your own words that 3 00:00:12.320 --> 00:00:17.760 you have spoken. I pray tonight that as I read these words and seek 4 00:00:17.839 --> 00:00:21.879 to expose it them to your people, that you would keep me safe within 5 00:00:21.920 --> 00:00:26.199 the bounds of Orthodoxy, and help me, Lord, to give your word 6 00:00:26.239 --> 00:00:30.600 in such a way that is true and right, but also that would speak. 7 00:00:31.199 --> 00:00:36.200 Because your word pierce its Lord, it divides even between soul and spirit. 8 00:00:36.840 --> 00:00:39.920 And God, we pray that you would illuminate it to us tonight. 9 00:00:40.640 --> 00:00:43.920 For Lord, we are as those in the dark searching for a light. 10 00:00:44.640 --> 00:00:49.520 But God, you can enlighten us to your precious Holy Spirit, who can 11 00:00:49.560 --> 00:00:54.000 give to us the understanding that we need. And so I pray as your 12 00:00:54.000 --> 00:00:59.159 words read and as your word is exposited, that it would in truth be 13 00:00:59.359 --> 00:01:03.680 done, and Lord, that your son Jesus Christ would be exalted. And 14 00:01:03.760 --> 00:01:08.400 Lord, we also pray God that your gospel may be known. For we 15 00:01:08.480 --> 00:01:15.439 pray these things now in Christ name. Amen, we come to the fifteen 16 00:01:15.760 --> 00:01:19.280 chapter of Judges. Tonight we are trying to finish the Sampson story. I 17 00:01:19.319 --> 00:01:25.359 have one more sermon next week in the evening. And so I'm hoping that 18 00:01:25.480 --> 00:01:29.719 I can finish it, because we'll have one more chapter after tonight. But 19 00:01:29.840 --> 00:01:36.040 here Judges fifteen, beginning with verse one, here is God's word. After 20 00:01:36.159 --> 00:01:38.519 some days, at the time of wheat harvest, Samson went to visit his 21 00:01:38.560 --> 00:01:42.640 wife with a young goat, and he said, I will go into my 22 00:01:42.719 --> 00:01:46.319 wife in the chamber. But her father would not allow him to go in. 23 00:01:46.480 --> 00:01:49.760 And her father said, I really thought that you utterly hated her, 24 00:01:49.239 --> 00:01:53.400 So I gave her to your companion. Is not her younger sister more beautiful 25 00:01:53.439 --> 00:01:59.439 than she? Please take her instead. And Sampson said to them, this 26 00:01:59.519 --> 00:02:04.400 time I shall be innocent in regard to the Philistines when I do them harm. 27 00:02:04.959 --> 00:02:08.039 So Samson went and caught three hundred foxes and took torches, and he 28 00:02:08.120 --> 00:02:12.319 turned them tail to tail and put a torch between each pair of tails. 29 00:02:12.879 --> 00:02:15.800 And when he had set fire to the torches, he let the foxes go 30 00:02:15.840 --> 00:02:20.360 into the standing grain to the Philistines and set fire to the stack grain and 31 00:02:20.400 --> 00:02:23.639 the standing grain, as well as the olive orchards. Then the Philistines said, 32 00:02:23.800 --> 00:02:28.639 who has done this? And they said Samson, the son in law 33 00:02:28.800 --> 00:02:31.080 of the tim Knight, because he has taken his wife and given her to 34 00:02:31.159 --> 00:02:36.280 his companion. And the Philistines came up and burned her and her father with 35 00:02:36.400 --> 00:02:38.840 fire. And Samson said to them, if this is what you do, 36 00:02:39.439 --> 00:02:44.039 I swear I will be avenged on you, and after that I will quit. 37 00:02:44.759 --> 00:02:47.080 And he struck them hip and thigh with a great blow. And he 38 00:02:47.120 --> 00:02:51.919 went down and stayed in the cleft of the rock of Edam. Then the 39 00:02:51.919 --> 00:02:54.840 Philistines came up and encamped in Judah and made a raid on Lehigh. And 40 00:02:54.840 --> 00:02:59.280 the men of Judah said, why have you come up against us? They 41 00:02:59.319 --> 00:03:01.360 said, we've come up to bind Samson, to do to him as he 42 00:03:01.400 --> 00:03:06.240 did us. And three thousand men of Judo went down to the cleft of 43 00:03:06.280 --> 00:03:09.199 the rock of Edam and said to Samson, do you not know the Philistines 44 00:03:09.240 --> 00:03:14.719 are rulers over us? What thenness this you have done to us? And 45 00:03:14.759 --> 00:03:16.039 he said to them, as they did to me, so I have done 46 00:03:16.039 --> 00:03:20.680 to them. And they said to him, we have come down to bind 47 00:03:20.719 --> 00:03:24.120 you that we may give you into the hands of the Philistines. Sampson said 48 00:03:24.120 --> 00:03:30.199 to them, swear to me that you'll not attack me yourselves they said to 49 00:03:30.240 --> 00:03:31.919 him, no, will only bind you and give you into their hands, 50 00:03:32.039 --> 00:03:36.800 will surely not kill you. So they bound him with two new ropes and 51 00:03:36.800 --> 00:03:38.960 brought him up from the rock. When he came to Lee I, the 52 00:03:38.960 --> 00:03:44.159 philistines came shouting to meet him, and the spirit of the Lord rushed upon 53 00:03:44.240 --> 00:03:46.360 him, and the ropes were on his arms. He became as flax has 54 00:03:46.400 --> 00:03:51.560 caught fire, and his bonds melted off his hands. And he found a 55 00:03:51.599 --> 00:03:53.560 fresh jaw bone of a donkey, and he put his hand and took it, 56 00:03:53.840 --> 00:03:58.520 and with it he struck one thousand men. And Sampson said, with 57 00:03:58.599 --> 00:04:01.599 the jaw bone of a donkey, heaps upon heaps, With the jaw bone 58 00:04:01.599 --> 00:04:05.400 of a donkey, have I struck down a thousand men. As soon as 59 00:04:05.400 --> 00:04:09.479 he had finished speaking, he threw away the jaw bone out of his hand. 60 00:04:09.879 --> 00:04:13.960 And that place was called ramath Lehi. And he was very thirsty, 61 00:04:14.000 --> 00:04:16.360 and he called on the Lord and said, you've granted this great salvation by 62 00:04:16.360 --> 00:04:19.879 the hand of your servant, And shall I now die of thirst and fall 63 00:04:19.920 --> 00:04:25.160 into the hands of the uncircumcised. And God split open a hollow place that 64 00:04:25.319 --> 00:04:29.040 isn't lehigh, and water came out from it, and when he drank, 65 00:04:29.040 --> 00:04:32.079 his spirit returned and he revived. Therefore the name of it is called an 66 00:04:32.160 --> 00:04:36.240 Hakhor. It is at Lehi to this day. And he judged Israel in 67 00:04:36.279 --> 00:04:41.720 the days of the Philistines twenty years. Thus, when the reading of God's 68 00:04:41.759 --> 00:04:49.839 word, you may be seated. So last week we looked at the fifty 69 00:04:49.920 --> 00:04:55.360 excuse me, the fourteenth chapter of Judges. We looked at the apparent wedding 70 00:04:55.839 --> 00:05:00.199 of Samson to his bride and Sampson's riddled that he made a bet with the 71 00:05:00.240 --> 00:05:04.040 thirty companions at the feast, we saw how Sampson's wife or wife to be, 72 00:05:04.360 --> 00:05:09.639 or whatever she ends up being in this story, Uh finally cries and 73 00:05:09.680 --> 00:05:13.399 cries and cries, and finally, on the last day, gets the answer 74 00:05:13.439 --> 00:05:16.240 to the riddle out of Sampson, which she then tells to the Philistines, 75 00:05:16.720 --> 00:05:21.720 which in turn caused Sampson to go down to Ascalon and kill thirty Philistines so 76 00:05:21.759 --> 00:05:27.759 we can get thirty changes of clothes that he can pay his debt the bet 77 00:05:27.839 --> 00:05:30.920 that he made with those men. And then the chapter ends with the father 78 00:05:31.000 --> 00:05:35.600 of the bride giving away the bride again, but this time to the best 79 00:05:35.639 --> 00:05:41.600 man of Sampson instead of Samson, which is going to lead to the events 80 00:05:41.879 --> 00:05:46.399 in our chapter tonight. Spurgeon said about Sampson, his whole life is a 81 00:05:46.399 --> 00:05:53.319 scene of miracles and follies, and we're going to see that in the text 82 00:05:53.399 --> 00:05:57.399 clearly tonight. So let's look at versus one through eight. Here we have 83 00:05:57.560 --> 00:06:00.240 in verse one, we're told as the time of the eat harvest, which 84 00:06:00.240 --> 00:06:04.360 would probably be during the time of May, a little different perhaps than harvest, 85 00:06:04.399 --> 00:06:09.000 although you have more harvest here than we have back where I come from, 86 00:06:09.079 --> 00:06:13.120 So maybe May is a harvest at that time. But this is important 87 00:06:13.120 --> 00:06:15.800 to note because it's going to come into play and what's going to happen here 88 00:06:15.800 --> 00:06:20.040 in a couple of verses down the line. So Sampson brings a young goat 89 00:06:20.120 --> 00:06:24.199 with him, and he goes and tells the father he's coming in. He's 90 00:06:24.199 --> 00:06:29.680 going to go into his wife and finally have his conjugal rights and taken care 91 00:06:29.720 --> 00:06:33.439 of. But his father and law says no, he cannot go in at 92 00:06:33.480 --> 00:06:39.399 all, and Samson learns why in verse two, and here he's going to 93 00:06:39.480 --> 00:06:44.480 learn what we already know that the father has given away Sampson's bride to the 94 00:06:44.600 --> 00:06:47.959 best man, and the father said that he did that because he thought that 95 00:06:48.079 --> 00:06:54.000 Sampson hated her. Now, to give someone's wife away in those days, 96 00:06:54.079 --> 00:06:57.800 not just talking about the law of God, because we're dealing with Philistines here, 97 00:06:58.240 --> 00:07:01.240 but basically in any code it was forbidden to do that. However, 98 00:07:01.639 --> 00:07:06.519 there was usually one exception, and that is the exception of desertion. And 99 00:07:06.560 --> 00:07:12.720 so it appears that maybe Sampson's father in law thought that Sampson, by leaving 100 00:07:12.920 --> 00:07:17.839 and not going into his wife, had actually deserted her and had done that. 101 00:07:18.439 --> 00:07:25.240 But the father father in law offers Sampson a deal, and everybody's making 102 00:07:25.319 --> 00:07:29.240 deals in these chapters, but he says, why don't you take the younger 103 00:07:29.279 --> 00:07:34.319 sister instead, since she's more beautiful anyway. So we have the old father 104 00:07:34.399 --> 00:07:39.920 in law father in law switching daughter's trick that we find in the Bible a 105 00:07:39.959 --> 00:07:44.480 few times, and so we of course have it earlier in Genesis when Laban 106 00:07:45.000 --> 00:07:47.800 tricks Jacob and gives Leah instead of Rachel to him. We have that. 107 00:07:48.160 --> 00:07:53.839 We also have it later with David and the switchy rule for Michael and Marab 108 00:07:53.920 --> 00:07:57.519 that goes on. Uh, that doesn't seem to happen very much on our 109 00:07:57.600 --> 00:08:03.079 culture of many father in law switching brides and giving the sister instead, but 110 00:08:03.639 --> 00:08:05.360 it seemed to happen a few times, at least at that time. So 111 00:08:05.399 --> 00:08:09.800 now Samson not only doesn't have a bride, but he had paid a bride 112 00:08:09.800 --> 00:08:13.399 price and now that's gone. So he had given up both his bride and 113 00:08:15.000 --> 00:08:20.000 his bride price at this time. So the villaininous piece is the father in 114 00:08:20.079 --> 00:08:22.720 law. He's the one that's caused all of this problem. Well, he's 115 00:08:22.720 --> 00:08:26.480 going to suffer his own fate in this story, but he is the one 116 00:08:26.759 --> 00:08:31.519 who should be punished, and of course he will be as well. Um 117 00:08:31.600 --> 00:08:37.279 And so by now we've learned it isn't really a good idea to do anything 118 00:08:37.320 --> 00:08:41.919 that might ryle Sampson up. Never seems to end well, and Sampson does 119 00:08:43.039 --> 00:08:48.320 become very angry. And now he's determined that he's going to be justified if 120 00:08:48.399 --> 00:08:52.879 he does vengeance on the Philistines for the loss of his bride. For a 121 00:08:52.960 --> 00:08:58.639 Philistine father has given away his own bride. But what's the best way to 122 00:08:58.759 --> 00:09:01.919 do that. Well, Sampson does what's probably the first thing you or I 123 00:09:01.919 --> 00:09:05.759 would think of, which is, go find three hundred to foxes and tie 124 00:09:05.759 --> 00:09:09.039 them tail to tail and put a torch between him. That'd be what we'd 125 00:09:09.159 --> 00:09:13.639 naturally do in that situation as well, and he does that. Now it 126 00:09:13.799 --> 00:09:18.240 is possible and maybe even likely, that the Hebrew word for foxes, although 127 00:09:18.240 --> 00:09:22.840 it can be translated that way, and most of the translations do translate it 128 00:09:22.919 --> 00:09:28.879 that way, it is possible to translate it also as jackals, and that 129 00:09:28.919 --> 00:09:35.799 would seem to make more sense. Foxes are basically solitary animals. Rounding up 130 00:09:35.840 --> 00:09:41.080 three hundred foxes could take a while. Jackals a little easier because they are 131 00:09:41.120 --> 00:09:45.559 a pack animal. But no matter what kind of animal they are, it's 132 00:09:45.600 --> 00:09:48.960 got to be a little difficult in our mind. I tried thinking about it 133 00:09:48.240 --> 00:09:52.639 to figure out how Sampson went about doing this. How do you end up 134 00:09:52.720 --> 00:09:58.320 catching three hundred foxes or jackals? I don't I don't know the procedure he 135 00:09:58.360 --> 00:10:01.480 did it. We're not told that. We don't no, But he goes 136 00:10:01.519 --> 00:10:05.120 ahead, ties them tail to tail, and puts a torch between them, 137 00:10:05.519 --> 00:10:11.399 and then sends them off into the wheat fields of the Philistines. And of 138 00:10:11.440 --> 00:10:16.799 course the jackals or foxes would be in confusion because if some other uh fox 139 00:10:16.879 --> 00:10:18.440 or jackal tied to them, and so they don't know what to do. 140 00:10:18.519 --> 00:10:22.519 So they're gonna run like crazy and go into all kinds of places and into 141 00:10:22.559 --> 00:10:26.159 the wheat fields and set the wheat fields on fire. And not only the 142 00:10:26.200 --> 00:10:31.080 wheat fields, but the stacked grain is also going to be on fire because 143 00:10:31.120 --> 00:10:33.559 they're gonna go there. And they were told that even extends into the orchards, 144 00:10:33.559 --> 00:10:37.159 and some versions say the vineyards as well, and so there's going to 145 00:10:37.240 --> 00:10:45.799 be widespread destruction. Now it's possible that the Philistines don't exactly know what's happening 146 00:10:45.879 --> 00:10:48.679 when this starts, because the animals might not have been visible as to what 147 00:10:48.759 --> 00:10:52.759 was going on in the grains, so they might not have been seen at 148 00:10:52.080 --> 00:10:56.279 and they might just wonder what is taking place. But this is what's going 149 00:10:56.360 --> 00:11:01.559 on. So again, this act Sampson is going to cause the Philistines to 150 00:11:01.600 --> 00:11:05.879 want to retaliate, and this will begin the conflict. I guess it doesn't 151 00:11:05.919 --> 00:11:09.000 begin it. We've already had things that begin it. But this will start 152 00:11:09.039 --> 00:11:15.720 the conflict that's going to spiral out of control at this point, and it 153 00:11:15.840 --> 00:11:22.039 starts by them carrying out a threat they had previously made concerning Sampson's wife and 154 00:11:22.120 --> 00:11:26.320 her father. So they go and they burned Sampson's wife and her father with 155 00:11:26.440 --> 00:11:31.159 fire, which they threatened to do to her back a chapter earlier when they 156 00:11:31.159 --> 00:11:35.600 didn't know the answer to Samson's riddle, and so they asked her to get 157 00:11:35.600 --> 00:11:39.360 it and said if she didn't get it, they were going to burn her 158 00:11:39.759 --> 00:11:43.480 and her father with fire. Now we learned here it would have been better 159 00:11:43.639 --> 00:11:46.639 for her at that point to go to Samson and say, hey, these 160 00:11:46.639 --> 00:11:50.679 guys are threatening me, and they're tell saying they're gonna kill me and my 161 00:11:50.759 --> 00:11:54.679 father if I don't tell him the answer to your riddle. And if they 162 00:11:54.679 --> 00:11:58.960 had done that is likely that Sampson would went out and finished with those thirty 163 00:11:58.960 --> 00:12:03.039 companions right then and there. But she didn't, and she ends up by 164 00:12:03.159 --> 00:12:07.879 disobeying and not following through with her husband suffering the same punishment that she stole 165 00:12:07.960 --> 00:12:15.120 the riddle answer from in order to avoid. So we see this so um 166 00:12:15.159 --> 00:12:22.600 this again, this punishment of adultery in the Book of Leviticus is again is 167 00:12:22.639 --> 00:12:26.519 given it can be fire, that they can be burnt by fire. We 168 00:12:26.559 --> 00:12:30.279 see this in Leviticus twenty one nine. And the daughter of any priest, 169 00:12:30.320 --> 00:12:35.039 if she profanes herself by wharrn profanes her father, she shall be burned with 170 00:12:35.120 --> 00:12:39.840 fire. We have an example in Genesis. About three months later, Judah 171 00:12:39.879 --> 00:12:43.200 was told, tam Are, your daughter in law has been immoral. We 172 00:12:43.279 --> 00:12:48.840 know who she has been immoral with, uh Judah doesn't know at this time. 173 00:12:48.360 --> 00:12:52.360 Moreover, she is pregnant by immorality, and Judah said, bring her 174 00:12:52.360 --> 00:12:56.279 out and let her be burnt. The point is that this was the normal 175 00:12:56.360 --> 00:13:03.000 punishment at this time, and so in response to that in verse seven, 176 00:13:03.200 --> 00:13:07.080 Samson retaliates, and he says, I'm just going to do one active retaliation 177 00:13:07.440 --> 00:13:11.879 and that will be the end of it. He vows to quit after that, 178 00:13:11.279 --> 00:13:16.559 and so he smites the Philistines with the great slaughter. But we're not 179 00:13:16.639 --> 00:13:18.840 told how many he kills. We don't know how many it is. The 180 00:13:20.080 --> 00:13:24.960 s V says he struck them hip and thigh with the great blow. The 181 00:13:24.080 --> 00:13:30.360 King James says, a great slaughter that they did, and then Sampson goes 182 00:13:30.440 --> 00:13:33.600 down. I told you last week that that phrase has found several times seven 183 00:13:33.600 --> 00:13:39.759 times concerning Sampson. He goes down to the rock of Faedom, and we 184 00:13:39.799 --> 00:13:43.039 don't know where this rock is it. It's not there's a couple of other 185 00:13:43.120 --> 00:13:46.399 rocks of Edom, but it's not those because of the location. But we're 186 00:13:46.399 --> 00:13:50.679 not exactly sure where that particular um rock is, so we just have to 187 00:13:50.759 --> 00:13:54.519 kind of guess at that. So we look at versus nine to fifteen. 188 00:13:54.639 --> 00:13:58.039 In verse nine, the Philistines are going to another place. We don't exactly 189 00:13:58.120 --> 00:14:03.039 know where that slow get it either, but it is interesting to note the 190 00:14:03.120 --> 00:14:07.840 name of the place. The name of the place is Lehigh. Well what 191 00:14:07.919 --> 00:14:15.000 does Lehi mean? Lehi means hill of the jawbone, so you can see 192 00:14:15.039 --> 00:14:18.240 that that was aptly named at this point. So in verse ten, the 193 00:14:18.240 --> 00:14:22.480 men of jude are confused. They don't understand why are the Philistines coming against 194 00:14:22.519 --> 00:14:26.360 them. They haven't done anything. Why should they be wanting to fight them? 195 00:14:26.399 --> 00:14:31.279 And they didn't really have it appears at this time any weapons or any 196 00:14:31.399 --> 00:14:35.120 army that they could even fight against the Philistines. So they're wondering, why 197 00:14:35.200 --> 00:14:39.639 are you doing this? Why why are you coming up against us? And 198 00:14:39.799 --> 00:14:43.000 they said, well, it's because of Sampson. He's been doing bad things 199 00:14:43.039 --> 00:14:46.840 and we want to get him, and we're coming down to get him to 200 00:14:46.919 --> 00:14:52.200 do what we can to him. So again, retaliation after retaliation, and 201 00:14:52.240 --> 00:14:54.320 so in verse eleven, for the first time that we know of in the 202 00:14:54.360 --> 00:15:01.080 history of Samson, Israel actually mounts an army and its weapons. They haven't 203 00:15:01.120 --> 00:15:05.600 had them up to now. And what is the purpose of this great army 204 00:15:05.720 --> 00:15:09.720 to deliver one of their own onto the Philistines? Not a good reason to 205 00:15:09.799 --> 00:15:16.039 get an army together. And so they asked Sampson why he has to do 206 00:15:16.120 --> 00:15:20.399 the slaughter and Sampson replies the same way the Philistines did, and he said, 207 00:15:20.480 --> 00:15:24.480 I did to them. I want to do to them what they did 208 00:15:24.480 --> 00:15:28.600 to me. Well, for those of you that have kids or head kids, 209 00:15:28.080 --> 00:15:31.000 do you ever remember that when they come in and Johnny hit me, 210 00:15:31.320 --> 00:15:35.639 well, Billy hit me first, No, Johnny hit me before. It's 211 00:15:35.639 --> 00:15:39.480 always the finger pointing of what else is going on here? Right? Who's 212 00:15:39.519 --> 00:15:43.120 the one that started this? And and I'm I'm retaliating, but yeah, 213 00:15:43.200 --> 00:15:46.159 but that was because they retaliated against you. But yeah, I retaliated against 214 00:15:46.159 --> 00:15:52.320 them, and going back and back in this in this whole point. But 215 00:15:52.399 --> 00:15:56.840 it's really amazing to see the lack of faith that Judah. Judah who started 216 00:15:56.840 --> 00:15:58.960 out pretty well, very well in the Book of Judges chapter one with their 217 00:16:00.360 --> 00:16:04.080 judge Ano and and that the way they were able to conquer. And we 218 00:16:04.159 --> 00:16:07.919 see such good things out of Judah in the very beginning. But now they 219 00:16:07.960 --> 00:16:14.120 have come down basically to become slaves. They have decided they would rather live 220 00:16:14.159 --> 00:16:17.840 at peace with the world than to be able to and be able to worship 221 00:16:17.879 --> 00:16:22.279 idols than they have deliverance from their enemies. So what we have here is 222 00:16:23.720 --> 00:16:26.480 there's so many low points in the Book of Judges, it's really hard to 223 00:16:26.519 --> 00:16:29.759 pick one. But if you want to pick one, this would be a 224 00:16:29.759 --> 00:16:33.679 good one to pick. They want to now here they're so far from God 225 00:16:34.720 --> 00:16:41.120 that they are willing to sell their own deliverer that God has given to them 226 00:16:41.200 --> 00:16:45.000 in order that they can stay living at peace with the Philistines and worshiping their 227 00:16:45.039 --> 00:16:51.720 idols. And so we see a terrible lack of faith. In verse twelve. 228 00:16:52.480 --> 00:16:56.200 Maybe we have the first noble deed of Samson. Up to this point, 229 00:16:56.200 --> 00:17:00.879 it seems like everything Sampson has done has been out of purse sal revenge, 230 00:17:00.360 --> 00:17:04.920 and so we gotta color everything through that. But here it seems like 231 00:17:06.079 --> 00:17:10.200 we have actually a noble deed. Sampson said, go ahead and bind me. 232 00:17:10.839 --> 00:17:14.960 It's all right, Just don't kill me yourself, but deliver me to 233 00:17:15.039 --> 00:17:18.400 the Philistines. In other words, he's willing to give himself up in order 234 00:17:18.440 --> 00:17:23.279 to save his fellow countrymen. And so we see this noble act. And 235 00:17:23.319 --> 00:17:27.680 so they go ahead and they bind him with new ropes and prepare to give 236 00:17:27.720 --> 00:17:32.519 him to the Philistines in verse thirteen, and so in verse fourteen, the 237 00:17:32.599 --> 00:17:36.440 Philistines are coming, and they come with a great shout and a great battle 238 00:17:36.519 --> 00:17:40.279 cry. And once again the spirit of God, which is a secret of 239 00:17:40.319 --> 00:17:45.039 Sampson's strength, The spirit of God comes upon Sampson. And now he goes 240 00:17:45.200 --> 00:17:51.519 off and does this great strength, great slaughter by his great strength. But 241 00:17:51.599 --> 00:17:55.599 to do it again, Now we just had noble deeds, And now again 242 00:17:56.119 --> 00:17:59.039 we look at something that makes us shake our head. What does he use 243 00:18:00.000 --> 00:18:06.680 a jawbone of a donkey, not even a one that's been around for a 244 00:18:06.680 --> 00:18:11.720 while and just laying in the desert. But he's going to use a fresh 245 00:18:11.240 --> 00:18:15.559 jaw bone, which means again, what is he doing doing the one thing 246 00:18:15.640 --> 00:18:21.319 he's told in his vow He should never do touch the carcass of a dead 247 00:18:21.359 --> 00:18:26.440 animal, and he does that once again. By doing that, he couldn't 248 00:18:26.480 --> 00:18:30.279 take a course, an old one that would be brittle and not fit for 249 00:18:30.400 --> 00:18:36.000 his use. But again he breaks his vow in doing that, he kills 250 00:18:36.119 --> 00:18:41.160 a thousand Philistines, probably around number just you know, probably not exactly a 251 00:18:41.200 --> 00:18:44.880 thousand. But we don't even read here of any of the men of Judy, 252 00:18:44.920 --> 00:18:48.400 even helping. It appears that everything that he's done here, all the 253 00:18:48.480 --> 00:18:52.480 slaughter that has done, is done by Samson. So we look at the 254 00:18:52.559 --> 00:18:59.119 last five verses of the chapter, Versus sixteen through twenty. Here again once 255 00:18:59.160 --> 00:19:03.480 more Sam's And although he appears to be kind of a I don't know one 256 00:19:03.519 --> 00:19:07.920 of these all broad, no brains kind of guy. But yet when remember 257 00:19:07.920 --> 00:19:11.319 when he when he gave the answer to the riddle and talked about the riddle, 258 00:19:11.400 --> 00:19:14.440 all of those things, he used poetry, which seems to indicate he's 259 00:19:14.480 --> 00:19:18.039 a man of distinction in some way. And and so once again now in 260 00:19:18.039 --> 00:19:23.200 in this chapter, he goes back to poetry to talk about what he has 261 00:19:23.279 --> 00:19:27.440 done. And the poetry revolves around the fact that in the Hebrew, the 262 00:19:27.519 --> 00:19:33.160 word for donkey and the word for heaps have the same three consonants. There 263 00:19:33.200 --> 00:19:37.200 were basically no vowels in the Hebrew language. The mass rights came in later 264 00:19:37.240 --> 00:19:41.960 and pointed the consonants, but there were basically no vowels, and so the 265 00:19:41.039 --> 00:19:47.119 word for donkey was calm or and the word for heaps uh is basically has 266 00:19:47.160 --> 00:19:49.720 the same three consonants that we would have in English. They would be K, 267 00:19:51.240 --> 00:19:53.759 M, and R. And so he is using poetry to do this. 268 00:19:55.160 --> 00:19:59.240 James Moffatt translates it this way to bring out the poetry aspect. With 269 00:19:59.319 --> 00:20:02.880 the jaw bone of an ass, I have piled them in a mass, 270 00:20:03.400 --> 00:20:07.440 with the jaw bone of an ass, I have assailed assailants, And so 271 00:20:07.519 --> 00:20:11.680 that might be a good way to render the Hebrew poetry. And when he 272 00:20:11.720 --> 00:20:15.839 has finished with this poem, he throws away the jawbone and calls the place 273 00:20:15.319 --> 00:20:22.640 rama ramath lehigh, which means the height of a jawbone. See what he 274 00:20:22.680 --> 00:20:27.000 did there, and that's uh. That's again his good, good language skills. 275 00:20:27.319 --> 00:20:32.440 So the result of the battle in verse eighteen is that Samson becomes very 276 00:20:32.519 --> 00:20:36.440 thirsty. I did a little research on that this week. I was kind 277 00:20:36.440 --> 00:20:40.319 of interested if thirst was a common result. As I told you, I 278 00:20:40.359 --> 00:20:42.200 was never in the military, never in combat, so I have to rely 279 00:20:42.319 --> 00:20:47.000 upon others to give me information about this. But I looked to see if 280 00:20:47.039 --> 00:20:51.359 thirst was a common result of being in a battle, and I find a 281 00:20:51.400 --> 00:20:55.039 couple of things, uh, It says. After the Battle of Fredericksburg in 282 00:20:55.119 --> 00:21:00.440 December of eighteen sixty two, Massachusetts soldier Warren Freeman described the field of battle. 283 00:21:02.119 --> 00:21:04.880 He said the field was covered all over with wounded men, groaning and 284 00:21:04.920 --> 00:21:10.920 calling for water. Some attempted to crawl on their bodies to the riverside for 285 00:21:11.000 --> 00:21:15.960 a drop of water to relieve their thirst. Oliver Wilcox Norton of the third 286 00:21:15.960 --> 00:21:22.000 Pennsylvania Infantry and his experience on the day of the Battle of Hanover Courthouse, 287 00:21:22.400 --> 00:21:27.039 writes in a letter to his siblings on June eighteen sixty two, I cannot 288 00:21:27.079 --> 00:21:30.240 tell you how I felt that day. As long as there was any prospect 289 00:21:30.279 --> 00:21:33.279 of a fight, I kept my place in the ranks. But when we 290 00:21:33.319 --> 00:21:37.640 gave up the chase and turned back to where blankets were left, I fell 291 00:21:37.640 --> 00:21:41.640 out to get some water and bade my head. My tongue was swollen with 292 00:21:41.720 --> 00:21:47.160 the heat and thirst and I so faint, I could hardly stand. And 293 00:21:47.160 --> 00:21:49.680 there are other examples, but I thought, it's not unusual at all for 294 00:21:49.799 --> 00:21:55.079 soldiers at the end of a battle to be stricken with great thirst. And 295 00:21:55.119 --> 00:21:57.319 so as a result of this, since Samson, we have a first, 296 00:21:57.799 --> 00:22:02.640 and it's a good first. For the first time in the account of Samson, 297 00:22:03.039 --> 00:22:07.119 we are going to read of Samson actually crying out to God. We've 298 00:22:07.119 --> 00:22:12.200 been waiting for this, and finally Samson does it here in this verse, 299 00:22:12.519 --> 00:22:18.160 and he cries out. And there will be two times that Samson will cry 300 00:22:18.200 --> 00:22:21.799 out to the Lord that we read about. This is one of them. 301 00:22:22.240 --> 00:22:26.519 The second one you probably know about. It's when he puts his hands on 302 00:22:26.559 --> 00:22:30.440 the pillar of the temple and cries out to God and ask him to help 303 00:22:30.519 --> 00:22:33.519 him one more time. The first cry that he cries to the Lord leads 304 00:22:33.559 --> 00:22:37.839 to life as he receives water. The second cry that he cries to the 305 00:22:37.880 --> 00:22:45.480 Lord leads to death. And so we see this cry twice in Samson's life. 306 00:22:47.000 --> 00:22:49.559 And so he says, you have granted this salvation by the hand of 307 00:22:49.599 --> 00:22:53.920 your servant, and shall I now die of thirst and fall into the hands 308 00:22:53.960 --> 00:23:00.720 of the uncircumcised I can't. At that point, God opens up his eyes 309 00:23:00.799 --> 00:23:03.440 and or doesn't just open his eyes, I shouldn't say, but but he 310 00:23:03.680 --> 00:23:07.359 um, he reveals the spring, and I can't when I read that, 311 00:23:07.440 --> 00:23:11.680 I can't help but think nobody seemed to refer to this. But I couldn't 312 00:23:11.680 --> 00:23:15.400 help but think about Hagar in the wilderness when she thought that her and Ishmael 313 00:23:15.440 --> 00:23:18.680 we're gonna die. And she said that, and we read in Genesis twenty 314 00:23:18.720 --> 00:23:22.160 one that God opened her eyes and she saw the spring, and her and 315 00:23:22.200 --> 00:23:26.000 her boy were able to live. Some of you may think that that wasn't 316 00:23:26.000 --> 00:23:30.319 a good idea, that maybe they should have just died in the wilderness, 317 00:23:30.359 --> 00:23:34.559 but nevertheless, God's plan was not to be so. And so the question 318 00:23:34.599 --> 00:23:37.960 in verse nineteen where this water comes from, because we don't can't tell from 319 00:23:37.960 --> 00:23:42.920 the Hebrew that it actually come from the jawbone itself that Sampson had, or 320 00:23:44.119 --> 00:23:48.119 does it come to the place there that is named the jawbone. We're not 321 00:23:48.240 --> 00:23:52.519 exactly clear on that. And and then in verse twenty we have a statement 322 00:23:52.599 --> 00:23:57.680 that I think is a little confusing, says Samson judges Israel for twenty years. 323 00:23:59.519 --> 00:24:02.599 But we were I don't know how we don't even know if Sampson's judge 324 00:24:02.599 --> 00:24:07.680 ship was ever even accepted by Israel. There's nothing that tells us there around 325 00:24:07.759 --> 00:24:11.279 him or that they did they did anything to say they approved of what Sampson 326 00:24:11.440 --> 00:24:17.000 was doing. He didn't deliver Israel from the Philistines. He began that work, 327 00:24:17.039 --> 00:24:21.680 but it would be later under Samuel and Saul and David that the work 328 00:24:21.720 --> 00:24:26.440 of the Philistines would finally be done. And so there's more that's going to 329 00:24:26.519 --> 00:24:30.519 happen though to the Philistines, and that will come in the next chapter. 330 00:24:30.680 --> 00:24:33.319 So we're gonna save that for a cliffhanger. I don't want you to know 331 00:24:33.400 --> 00:24:38.480 what's going to take place here in the next chapter, So let me make 332 00:24:38.519 --> 00:24:44.519 some applications tonight. It is interesting in this in this account to notice, 333 00:24:44.559 --> 00:24:48.079 and I've read the account in my life several times, as I note many 334 00:24:48.079 --> 00:24:55.200 of you have as well. But it's interesting how much foreshadowing is found in 335 00:24:55.279 --> 00:25:00.119 this story that leads to the providence of God. We have such amazing things 336 00:25:00.200 --> 00:25:07.160 that that takes place here. Uh of of these things, so uh Sampson's 337 00:25:07.319 --> 00:25:11.559 wife again, they're threatened to be burnt if they don't give the answer, 338 00:25:11.680 --> 00:25:14.559 so she gets the riddle out of them, but they end up being burned 339 00:25:14.680 --> 00:25:19.160 anyway. In our text, Sampson is bound with new ropes before being delivered 340 00:25:19.160 --> 00:25:23.480 to the Philistines. In the next chapter with Delilah, when Delilah says, 341 00:25:23.519 --> 00:25:27.359 what is the secret of your great strength, he says, if they bind 342 00:25:27.440 --> 00:25:32.640 me with new ropes that have not been used as you'll become weak and be 343 00:25:32.720 --> 00:25:36.440 like any other man. Well, apparently Delilah didn't know about that previous time, 344 00:25:36.960 --> 00:25:41.519 and that didn't work. But again it is foreshadowed. And then again 345 00:25:41.559 --> 00:25:45.519 we are told in verse fourteen the ropes around his arms became as flax that 346 00:25:45.559 --> 00:25:49.160 has caught fire and uh, and his bonds melted off his hands. And 347 00:25:49.200 --> 00:25:53.799 again when he tells Delilah about the same thing and says that he needs those 348 00:25:53.799 --> 00:25:59.759 new ropes. Uh. But earlier Delilah says, he tells Delilah, if 349 00:25:59.799 --> 00:26:03.119 you is bound with seven fresh bowstrings, he will be like other men. 350 00:26:03.640 --> 00:26:07.279 But we read after she had done this, she had men lyne an ambush 351 00:26:07.279 --> 00:26:11.079 and the inner chamber, and she said to him, the Philistines are upon 352 00:26:11.160 --> 00:26:15.759 you, Samson. But he snapped the bowstrings as a thread of flax snaps 353 00:26:15.039 --> 00:26:18.680 when it touches the fire. There we have the flat flax and the fire. 354 00:26:18.799 --> 00:26:23.279 Again, we had Sampson's betrothed pleading with him out of love to give 355 00:26:23.319 --> 00:26:27.160 him the answer to the riddle that he had propounded in chapter fourteen. In 356 00:26:27.279 --> 00:26:33.799 chapter sixteen, we're gonna have Delilah, his his beloved, also seeking to 357 00:26:33.839 --> 00:26:37.559 get the answer out of him, and pleading with him to give the answer 358 00:26:37.599 --> 00:26:41.240 to the riddle of his great strength. And both of them say the same 359 00:26:41.279 --> 00:26:45.160 thing. In chapter fourteen, Sampson's wife wept over him and said, you 360 00:26:45.240 --> 00:26:48.240 only hate me. You don't love me. You put a riddle to my 361 00:26:48.319 --> 00:26:51.640 people, and you've not told me what it is. And he said, 362 00:26:51.960 --> 00:26:55.279 behold, I've not told my father nor my mother. Shall I tell you? 363 00:26:55.319 --> 00:26:57.599 And she wept before him. The seven days at their feast lasted. 364 00:26:57.680 --> 00:27:02.839 In the seventh day, he older because she pressed him hard, and she 365 00:27:02.920 --> 00:27:07.079 told the riddle to her people. Delilah does the same thing in chapter sixteen. 366 00:27:07.160 --> 00:27:08.720 She said, damn, how can you say I love you when your 367 00:27:08.720 --> 00:27:12.039 heart is not with me. You've mocked me these three times, and you 368 00:27:12.079 --> 00:27:15.519 have not told me where your great strength lies. And when she pressed him 369 00:27:15.559 --> 00:27:19.400 hard with her words day after day and urged him. His soul was vexed 370 00:27:19.440 --> 00:27:23.839 to death. And again I don't know like like you, I'm sure you 371 00:27:23.920 --> 00:27:27.400 read that account and just shake your head and go Okay. Every time you 372 00:27:27.480 --> 00:27:32.279 do this and you tell her something low and behold, you woke up and 373 00:27:32.319 --> 00:27:34.319 you're bound with what you told her, would lose your strength. You would 374 00:27:34.359 --> 00:27:38.200 think after about three times you might have caught onto this little deal. But 375 00:27:38.440 --> 00:27:41.880 he didn't. And uh. And so we have this in our chapter. 376 00:27:42.000 --> 00:27:47.880 The Philistines make a raid on Lehigh, which means jawbone, and then they 377 00:27:48.000 --> 00:27:52.039 end up being killed by Sampson using a jawbone. And so it should at 378 00:27:52.079 --> 00:27:56.160 least cause us to maybe view a little bit the providence of God in this 379 00:27:56.319 --> 00:28:00.640 story, as all these things keep leading to their things. I'll mention one 380 00:28:00.640 --> 00:28:03.599 other thing that's not in the Sampson story. I mean, part of it 381 00:28:03.640 --> 00:28:07.920 is, but the other part it found earlier in the Book of Judges when 382 00:28:07.920 --> 00:28:11.240 we read about Samson and the Foxes. And in that account you might remember 383 00:28:11.319 --> 00:28:15.039 that earlier in the Book of Judges, we had Gideon with an army of 384 00:28:15.200 --> 00:28:21.359 three hundred men that went out with torches. Well, Sampson goes with three 385 00:28:21.440 --> 00:28:26.440 hundred jackals or foxes that he equips with torches, and so again we have 386 00:28:26.799 --> 00:28:33.960 the same kind of thing coming. Samson is probably one of the best, 387 00:28:33.000 --> 00:28:38.359 if not the best, examples in scripture of someone who has a tremendous amount 388 00:28:38.400 --> 00:28:45.240 of gifting from God but very very little fruit. In First Corinthians twelve through 389 00:28:45.279 --> 00:28:51.839 fourteen, Paul writes of the various giftings that are present in the Corinthian Church, 390 00:28:52.079 --> 00:28:56.119 but when you read the rest of the Epistle to the Corinthians, it 391 00:28:56.200 --> 00:29:02.440 seems like there was very little fruit. I'm among the church members, division 392 00:29:03.240 --> 00:29:07.079 and division again, people saying I'm of Paul, I am of Cephis, 393 00:29:07.440 --> 00:29:12.200 I am of a polos, I am of Christ, people dividing Paul having 394 00:29:12.240 --> 00:29:15.400 to say to them, I can't even talk to you like spiritual people. 395 00:29:15.400 --> 00:29:21.680 I have to talk to you is if you were carnal people taking each other 396 00:29:21.759 --> 00:29:26.400 to court instead of handling it. Within the church, people eating food offered 397 00:29:26.480 --> 00:29:32.920 to idols without caring what effect it might have on their weaker brothers, and 398 00:29:33.000 --> 00:29:37.000 also not being able to take in the meat of the word, allowing blatant 399 00:29:37.079 --> 00:29:41.640 sin, the worst kind of sin that even gentiles didn't do, allowing that 400 00:29:41.839 --> 00:29:45.880 to go on in their midst without dealing with it, reveling during the Lord's 401 00:29:45.880 --> 00:29:52.839 Supper using the gifts of the spirit in an unwarranted way. We read all 402 00:29:52.839 --> 00:29:56.000 of those things and we see a church that might be pretty well gifted, 403 00:29:56.599 --> 00:30:02.359 but very, very lacking in fruits. Tim Keller says there may be regularly 404 00:30:02.359 --> 00:30:07.119 a link between impressive outer life and a broken inner life. Some people who 405 00:30:07.119 --> 00:30:12.160 are the most vigorous and effective in teaching, counseling, and leadership are in 406 00:30:12.200 --> 00:30:18.880 the private lives giving into temptation, discouragement, anger, and fear. And 407 00:30:18.920 --> 00:30:23.960 he goes on to suggest that perhaps our prayer life is a better sign of 408 00:30:23.960 --> 00:30:29.559 our spiritual health, which goes along with the message that I gave this morning. 409 00:30:30.519 --> 00:30:36.799 But we get enamored with giftings. We love giftings, something that all 410 00:30:36.839 --> 00:30:41.880 of us like to take advantage of and see it. We don't necessarily value 411 00:30:41.920 --> 00:30:45.680 fruits as much we do, I guess when perhaps the rubber finally meets the 412 00:30:45.759 --> 00:30:49.880 road, and then we do. But how many of these gifted men in 413 00:30:49.880 --> 00:30:55.920 our world end up in terrible sin at the end. We've seen in the 414 00:30:56.000 --> 00:31:00.039 last few years, we've seen several very sad examples of people that I'm sure 415 00:31:00.079 --> 00:31:04.680 many of you respected, who have fallen into great sin, and perhaps some 416 00:31:04.880 --> 00:31:11.119 that you did not respect. But yet we're respected and looked up to by 417 00:31:11.240 --> 00:31:17.680 thousands of people, and these things continue to happen. But fruits, they 418 00:31:17.720 --> 00:31:22.759 are more difficult to esteem and to recognize the fruits that are in somebody's life. 419 00:31:23.759 --> 00:31:27.160 And I don't always agree with Tim Keller, I'll tell you that right 420 00:31:27.200 --> 00:31:33.160 along, but I kind of agree with him here that perhaps many of those 421 00:31:33.160 --> 00:31:37.079 with the most giftings, and I'm going to come to a reason here in 422 00:31:37.079 --> 00:31:41.119 a second, that many of those are in perhaps the worst shape in their 423 00:31:41.160 --> 00:31:48.880 personal life. Sampson had a great victory by Slaye Philistines, but it was 424 00:31:48.920 --> 00:31:53.799 immediately followed with the testing and testing of thirst. And there is often in 425 00:31:53.839 --> 00:31:56.440 our life, and I'm not going to expound upon this because I'm running out 426 00:31:56.440 --> 00:32:00.599 of time, but there's often in our life. Time is when we have 427 00:32:00.680 --> 00:32:07.279 a great victory and immediately followed by a great trial and temptation. Elijah had 428 00:32:07.319 --> 00:32:12.519 the great victory over the profits of Bail on Mount Carmel, and immediately afterwards 429 00:32:12.599 --> 00:32:16.960 he's running away because Jezebel wants to kill him. Warren wears Be said, 430 00:32:16.960 --> 00:32:22.759 if triumphs aren't balanced with trials is a danger will become proud and self confidence. 431 00:32:24.400 --> 00:32:28.319 But I want to kind of close here tonight. I guess I have 432 00:32:28.400 --> 00:32:31.599 one more thing after this to say, but I want to stress. So 433 00:32:31.680 --> 00:32:37.079 I talked about the songs and things we're singing tonight about the church. I 434 00:32:37.119 --> 00:32:40.359 think there's a truth here in this chapter. Not the truth that is overtly 435 00:32:40.440 --> 00:32:46.200 stated, but this truth I get from what is not found in these chapters. 436 00:32:47.839 --> 00:32:52.480 It is clear that Sampson is self real, willed. We find that 437 00:32:52.640 --> 00:32:58.599 again and again. He's given to revenge. We see that. But I 438 00:32:58.640 --> 00:33:05.759 would ask you this question, where is the support? Where is the friend? 439 00:33:06.720 --> 00:33:12.039 Where is the person to come alongside Samson? As Jonathan did to David 440 00:33:12.680 --> 00:33:20.880 has barnabas did to Paul, as John did to Peter. Where's that friend? 441 00:33:22.359 --> 00:33:25.880 Anyone that Samson seems to get close to in the end is only trying 442 00:33:25.920 --> 00:33:30.720 to destroy him and to kill him. I looked through the story again to 443 00:33:30.759 --> 00:33:36.559 see if I miss somebody that is in that story that actually helped him in 444 00:33:36.599 --> 00:33:42.160 the closest I can find to somebody that helps Sampson. Is the young man 445 00:33:42.759 --> 00:33:46.480 who helps Sampson to feel the pillars of the temple that he might bring them 446 00:33:46.519 --> 00:33:53.720 down on the Philistines. Here is a man that doesn't seem to have anyone. 447 00:33:53.839 --> 00:34:00.799 You think about it, you come up with someone. Samson represents to 448 00:34:00.920 --> 00:34:02.880 us what I call the danger, not just me, many call it this 449 00:34:04.440 --> 00:34:10.320 the danger of the lone ranger Christian, but even the lone ranger head Tanto. 450 00:34:12.639 --> 00:34:16.559 It's someone. But I think how Sampson could have used someone that really 451 00:34:16.559 --> 00:34:21.840 loved him, that really cared for him. He didn't make the best decisions, 452 00:34:22.159 --> 00:34:24.880 He did a wrong a lot of wrong stuff. But if someone could 453 00:34:24.880 --> 00:34:31.400 have just come alongside him and consoled him and encouraged him and praised him when 454 00:34:31.400 --> 00:34:36.679 he did what he did. But it appears that nobody ever does that. 455 00:34:37.519 --> 00:34:39.119 Even when he delivers his own people, they don't care. In fact, 456 00:34:39.159 --> 00:34:43.960 they're mad at him for doing it. And I think, what a lonely 457 00:34:44.000 --> 00:34:50.480 life Samson must have must have led. One of my favorite scriptures through the 458 00:34:50.559 --> 00:34:57.039 years has been Ecclesiastes chapter four, Versus nine through twelve. If one can 459 00:34:57.119 --> 00:35:00.840 have favorite scriptures, this is one of mine. Says two are better than 460 00:35:00.880 --> 00:35:06.440 one, because they have a good reward for the toil. For if they 461 00:35:06.480 --> 00:35:09.239 fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is 462 00:35:09.280 --> 00:35:15.320 alone when he falls and doesn't have another to lift him up again. If 463 00:35:15.320 --> 00:35:19.440 two lie together, they keep warm, But how can one keep warm alone? 464 00:35:20.480 --> 00:35:23.280 And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will 465 00:35:23.320 --> 00:35:32.519 withstand him. And a threefold chord is not quickly broken. I am guessing 466 00:35:32.519 --> 00:35:37.119 that some of you, maybe all of you, like me, have seen 467 00:35:37.159 --> 00:35:42.119 people fall in the church, friends, church members that were church mates with 468 00:35:42.280 --> 00:35:46.920 us, that have fallen. But we think, did they ever have somebody 469 00:35:46.920 --> 00:35:52.639 to come alongside him and to help him in the struggle that they were facing? 470 00:35:52.280 --> 00:35:57.840 Did we even know the struggle? How many times is the pastor as 471 00:35:57.920 --> 00:36:01.559 I come across people that tell us things that I think I never even knew. 472 00:36:02.280 --> 00:36:07.800 I never had a clue this was going on. And these things take 473 00:36:07.880 --> 00:36:14.960 place. But there is strength when people come together, when they pray together, 474 00:36:15.960 --> 00:36:21.039 when they support each other. I wonder how many of these gifted men 475 00:36:21.079 --> 00:36:27.199 that have fallen might not have fallen if someone had come alongside them and prayed 476 00:36:28.079 --> 00:36:32.079 and they confess together some one three one through three says behold how good and 477 00:36:32.119 --> 00:36:37.360 pleasant it is when brothers dwelling unity. It's like the precious soil on the 478 00:36:37.480 --> 00:36:40.840 head, running down on the beard, on the beard of aar and running 479 00:36:40.880 --> 00:36:45.400 down on the collar of his robes. It's like the do of herman which 480 00:36:45.440 --> 00:36:50.079 falls on the mountains of Eyon. For there the Lord has commanded the blessing 481 00:36:50.880 --> 00:36:59.199 life forevermore. It's a lonely place for many people. I said, of 482 00:36:59.280 --> 00:37:02.519 many of those gifts a man, although we think we'll multitudes adore them, 483 00:37:02.559 --> 00:37:07.519 and they do, but yet has found out often that those men are some 484 00:37:07.559 --> 00:37:13.079 of the loneliest men in the world. We all need someone, and more 485 00:37:13.119 --> 00:37:16.360 than one, hopefully that can help us to our struggles. It's a danger. 486 00:37:17.039 --> 00:37:21.800 It's a danger for us to confess to some what might be our sins. 487 00:37:22.400 --> 00:37:25.440 I don't want anybody to know those. But when you can come together 488 00:37:25.480 --> 00:37:30.679 and pray one with another, as I mentioned this morning about prayer, there 489 00:37:30.760 --> 00:37:34.559 is strength in that. And the last thing I'll just say tonight and then 490 00:37:34.559 --> 00:37:39.320 we'll close before we take the Lord's table is again we see Samson not a 491 00:37:39.360 --> 00:37:42.880 perfect type of our Lord, but he is the type of our Lord. 492 00:37:43.960 --> 00:37:50.840 Like Samson, Christ was bound Like Samson, our Savior won a great victory 493 00:37:50.840 --> 00:37:54.440 over his enemies, the ones that he was delivered over to. Like Sampson, 494 00:37:54.679 --> 00:38:01.440 our Savior cried out I thirst and like Sampson, the enemies who delivered 495 00:38:01.440 --> 00:38:07.360 our lord to our enemies. Yet he won the battle to deliver us. 496 00:38:07.760 --> 00:38:14.639 And so our Savior has won the final battle. He has won the victory 497 00:38:14.719 --> 00:38:20.679 over our enemies, and we have him. It's good to have others, 498 00:38:20.719 --> 00:38:24.480 but never forget we have a friend who sticks closer than a brother. If 499 00:38:24.480 --> 00:38:30.079 we have come to the cross and found Christ, he will be there with 500 00:38:30.159 --> 00:38:34.000 us. He will help us, and he can lead us to those that 501 00:38:34.079 --> 00:38:39.119 we can bond together with and find strength in unity. Let's pray, Lord, 502 00:38:39.199 --> 00:38:43.519 you thank you for your word. We thank you for the good things 503 00:38:43.559 --> 00:38:45.880 and the bad things, because that's what our life is made up of. 504 00:38:46.679 --> 00:38:51.840 We see good and then we see bad, and we see it around us, 505 00:38:52.400 --> 00:38:54.559 and then we see it in our own lives, and we see things 506 00:38:54.559 --> 00:38:59.480 that we commend ourselves with, and then we see things that we condemn ourselves 507 00:38:59.559 --> 00:39:05.960 with. So Lord, help us to be more even help us, Lord, 508 00:39:06.039 --> 00:39:08.719 for those that might be lonely to night, for those that are struggling. 509 00:39:08.760 --> 00:39:13.760 With battles that they really wished there was someone who came alongside them. 510 00:39:13.880 --> 00:39:17.039 Lord, lead them to someone that can help them and strengthen them in their 511 00:39:17.079 --> 00:39:22.639 hour of need. Lord, we all need the unity of the brothers and 512 00:39:22.760 --> 00:39:27.679 sisters to come together and to help us. For you designed the Church for 513 00:39:27.800 --> 00:39:31.159 just such a purpose. And so Lord, we pray that you would help 514 00:39:31.239 --> 00:39:37.639 us and guide us and use this church and bind the ties that we're going 515 00:39:37.679 --> 00:39:43.400 to sing about in a moment, bind those ties even closer together. We 516 00:39:43.519 --> 00:39:45.840 pray this in Christ's name. Amen.