 Why did it take so long for this thing to come in? I don't know what just happened there, but I wanna cover something really, really briefly. This is our last day in the Book of Judges. We cannot go over all of the different aspects of the Book of Judges. There's some interesting things that we won't cover. There is a prophet, a man named Jeff Bepp, who, I'm sorry, a judge, who gives a weird vow that costs his daughter's life and I'm gonna cover that. There are some other things where it seems like where God may have changed his mind. We won't cover that, so there's more to cover in this book. We just won't go through it all, but we're gonna end this one on Samson, but then we're gonna go to first, where are we at? Just to make sure, I think this is session 20. So next, yes, next we are in first and second Samuel. Now, if you notice, we are not going to, the complimentary book to this is first and second Chronicles. First and second Chronicles is actually a complimentary book to at least four books, possibly five or six. So, but we'll go to first and second Samuel. We'll begin to see kind of this new era, this new movement for Israel to begin to unfold as they'll enter to a phase where they're gonna desire for someone, a man to lead them rather than God, who has his men, different men, in this case now judges or a prophet or so forth. So we're gonna see Samuel actually introduce and then we'll go into the story of obviously David. So that will be on next week, but what I wanna do is before we even go into this last portion of Samson, this last portion of the judges, to make sure that if anyone has any questions about what we've covered thus far. Now, to do a quick recap, I wanna cover some things that we started off in the very beginning, because sometimes as you get going, it's easy to forget what we're doing. It's easy to kind of lose track or lose sight of what we started off. So what I'm gonna do is for about five or 10 minutes, I'm gonna go ahead and run through what we started off in the very beginning. So we start off by saying this particular study is kind of a study, it's a combination of hermeneutics, Bible survey and systematic theology. The Bible survey part is going to kick in in just a little bit. The Bible survey is kind of how we take a bird's eye view of the different books and kind of see them just as themselves. In other words, take a look at the book of judges, take a look at the book of Hebrews, the book of Romans, take a look at Malachi and just see what's happening. And so you kind of get a survey, we're gonna do an Old Testament survey, kind of even more broadened and we're gonna kind of narrow it into the different books. And so we'll start that relatively soon. But then going back to it, it's all, I'm sorry, wrong slide, but then there's a combination of hermeneutics and systematic theology. We hadn't gotten to the systematic theology portion of it just yet. That's gonna be some time because what we're doing is we're actually developing some, or noticing some things that we're seeing without actually putting a name or a title or a tag to it. But what we have been doing, what has been our focus, whether you guys realize it or not, has been hermeneutics, how we read the Bible. Let me just say this again. How we read the Bible makes, is of utmost importance. It is important to develop a way to read the Bible. We don't often think about that. That is our hermeneutics. Our hermeneutics is how we read or it's a method of reading. What hermeneutics you employ can oftentimes, not even oftentimes, will always dictate where you are going to go. For example, if when I read something and I say, well, to me, it's this. To me, I think that, well, we're probably on a slippery slope already. If we just read this the way we read everything else, I want you to think about this. We literally read everything else the same way. And I don't think God is after us trying to read a different way. For example, you are reading directions on how to cook something. It might say, even if it's one of those stoffers, metal pans of lasagna, it will tell you to turn the oven on, preheat it to, I don't know, 385, 400. Then it will tell you to take the covering off. And I don't know, tilt the thing, put a slat, which we never do, or stick some holes in it, and then place it in the center of oven on a baking sheet. Then it will tell you after so much time to go and to remove it or what have you, and then to take it out and let it sit. There is an order to it. You do not, nor would you ever take the last step and do that the first thing. Okay, you're not gonna take it out and let it cool while it's frozen so my point is we read everything the exact same way. We should also read the Bible the same way. Well, wait a second, Corey, but the Bible is a more important, special book. I get it, the Bible is important. The Bible isn't special. The Bible is very special. Problem is, you're not. I'm not, we're not. And so let's not get ahead of ourselves into thinking that we are so deep, because we're not. And what we've noticed is, as we just read the Bible and just say what it said, we all tend to be on the same level. What happens is, and I don't know if you all noticed this, but the further we've gone, the further we've gone, you'll see people, especially folks who hadn't been with us at the beginning, they'll jump in and they'll make sort of aspersions on the text that, wait a second, hold on, first of all, we haven't earned it yet. Number two, that's not what the text said. Because oftentimes we have questions and we go back, well, no, this is literally what the text actually said. So let's go with that. So that's what this is also in this. It's a combination of hermeneutics, which is the theory and practice of interpretation, the method, Bible survey, birds of view, cover that. I want to just remember, as we're reading the rules for reading, disregard any previous opinions or preconceived notions about the Bible or doctrine. So whatever you've been taught it, if you are, whatever your denomination is, whatever your theological bent is, if you are Calvinist, don't read that into the text. If you are Armenian, don't read that into the text. Don't take your doctrinal views and put it into the text. Don't make the scripture say what it doesn't say. Don't look for it to say something that's not even been spoken of. Use scripture to interpret scripture. Look what it says, only when the current scripture doesn't make sense. Only when, I understand there's this thing out there about proof text, where if you take a particular text and make that a proof text, that's a bad thing. Well, if the text says what it says in this plane, then it's fine. You don't need 12 other texts if the current text is clear. Now, if there's some discrepancy or there's some back and forth, some causal consternation, well then fine. Use other scriptures, but oftentimes, what we do is we'll take other passages and read them onto this other text and make that text say what those other texts are saying, and that's not even what this is about. Case in point. John 3, people want to make that text about baptism, and that text has nothing to do with baptism, but they see born of water and they think, oh, baptism, and I've been talking about baptism in my church of late, so that's what must be with, no, that's not how it works, okay? Look at who's being spoken to, which takes us to the next portion. The five Ws. Who, what, when, where, and why. You've heard this many times growing up, I'm sure. Who is the writer and who is the audience? Guys, that makes sense. I don't know how much I can stress this to you. Recognizing who's writing and who's being written to. Also recognize in the middle of that who's speaking and who's being spoken to. We take things that were being spoken to this person and we want to make it to be us. We are not the people in view here, okay? So when Joshua speaking to the children of Israel, Joshua does not have you in mind. When Moses writing, Moses does not have you in mind. I know for some people that's a shock to your soul, but Moses didn't know you. Moses has no idea. Now, if you're saved, you'll get a chance to meet Moses one day, but Moses doesn't know who you are, okay? We are reading what Moses wrote in some cases that God gave him to give to them. Now does God know you? Sure. And there's something that we can gain from this? Absolutely, but remember, remember who is being wrote written to who's been spoken to, okay? I'm sorry. Secondly, what? What's the subject? What's the point? What are we talking about? That matters. We don't just shift subjects in the midst of a sentence because my pastor taught this, okay? Three, when is this taking place? That absolutely matters. When is this happening? So when God is speaking about them being taken out of the land and they haven't gone into the land, yet that matters. Wait a second, God, why are you talking about us being taken out of the land and we haven't gone into the land? Well, because he's letting us know one about the condition of their heart and that it's not going to change and that the fact that we can count on that he already knows what he's going to do. None of these things gets in by surprise. So those are important. Also, where? Where is this happening? That's going to matter, especially when we see them being exiled, okay? Even as we go through the book of Judges, we see instances where they're in certain places and we've got to realize where they are and what they're supposed to be doing. Why is this written? Why the whole purpose of this? Oftentimes when we look at books, there's a theme to the letters or the books that were written, okay? First, John, there's a theme that's the point that he's trying to get across. Jude is trying to get a point across. Paul is trying to get a point across in first Corinthians, different than what he's trying to get across in second Corinthians, are you with me? And so the same thing with these letters from these prophets, okay? So continuing, we're almost through with this recap. Primary application is of utmost importance, okay? I won't spend too much time this, but here's the number one rule. The number one rule when looking at the scriptures and the number one rule in looking at your life and the number one rule in applying the scripture to your life and the number one rule in interpreting, interpreting scriptures is this. Above all else, I'm sorry, above all else, God is sovereign. Above all else, God is sovereign. Let me say it one more time. Above all else, God is sovereign. Meaning, you're not the focal point. You're not the most important person. God is, he's sovereign, you're not. You don't have the ability to do what God can do, or else you'd be God and he wouldn't. He's God all by himself without even your opinion. God is not gonna ask you, consult you. Hey, let me ask you a question. Jeff, what do you think about this? Scott, I'm curious, the Lord says. I'm thinking about doing something. What do you think I should do? Chad, can you give me your opinion on this? Carol, what do you think I should do? Should I do? God doesn't do that. God does not do that. Now we do that, but then we do it. We'll say, hey, God, this is what I'm gonna do. Bless it. That's how we are. So remember that, God is sovereign. Not good English, but you ain't. God is, you ain't. God is, you is not. Bad English, but you all get the point. Now, in this Bible study, we're saying what we have earned and what we have not earned, what we have been told and what we have not been told. So this kind of helps us to keep things in context. So that way we don't read into the text some doctrine or something that we haven't gotten to yet. So we're not talking about Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John. We're not talking, as a matter of fact, as of yet, we haven't even heard the name Jesus. However, we have seen him show up just not as Jesus, just not being called Jesus. So that's important. So for this case, we have to earn a statement. So everything that we can talk about today is everything that we've covered today or in the past. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, we've covered Ruth. We've covered Job. So we can cover those and those, the only books that we can cover in anything thus far. However, so far, we have learned a lot about God. And we also have so far two big covenants, not three. Why don't we have three covenants thus far? We've got the Mosaic Covenant and we've got the Noaic Covenant. Well, wait a minute, Corey, what about the Adamic Covenant? Why don't we have the Adamic Covenant to worry about? Well, because it's not called a covenant in the Bible. Yeah, but Corey, it meets the definitions of what we think a covenant is. That's fine. That's fine. So do a lot of the things, it's not called a covenant. There are only a few named covenants in the Bible. And God references now. Does what he does or what he says with Adam and Eve and the serpent does that correlate or relate in some ways with the next two covenants? They absolutely do. They do. As a matter of fact, you could not have that promise in Genesis 315 to come to fruition if he doesn't have the Noaic Covenant or the Abrahamic Covenant. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, three covenants, the Abrahamic Covenant or the Mosaic Covenant. I said two covenants, we got three covenants. So the Abrahamic Covenant, the Mosaic Covenant and the Noaic Covenant and they all kind of work together. Interestingly enough, but also remember, the Covenant of Covenants, and I've said it before and I'll keep saying it, the Covenant of Covenants is the Abrahamic Covenant. Why? Because that's the covenant that deals specifically with the two different people groups. Who are the two different people groups? Gentiles and Jews, or Gentiles, non-Gentiles. Non-Jews, Jews, that's all we have in the Bible. That's all we have. Now, are there subgroups inside there? Sure, even amongst the Jews, even amongst Israel, you've got the different tribes. Even amongst Gentiles, you've got Hittites, Parasites, Gemucites, Canaanites, Californians, Texans. So you've got different people groups within or subgroups within the two different people groups. Amen? Also, we're almost through, we're learning about the attributes of God as we go. We see that God is who he is and he doesn't change. Okay? And so those are vitally important to see him and to see how he shows up and to see how he interacts and to see how he deals with us. And we even get to see the person or the personage of how he or who he shows up as. We have seen that already. The only problem is he has not been called Jesus as of yet. Okay? Let me talk about this timeline. This timeline is very important. Look at the timeline. Take a screenshot. If you haven't, matter of fact, let me give you the other timeline, the other viewer, let me see it this way. Do a screenshot. This governs us. It helps us understand the roadmap that we are on. Amen? What was the question I just saw? What about the Davidic Covenant? We haven't gotten to the Davidic Covenant yet. We're going to get there. We're going to see that the Davidic Covenant is going to show up. However, that covenant, it benefits us, but you know what? I can't talk about the Davidic Covenant. I can't talk about the Davidic Covenant. Why? Well, the reason why is because this, we haven't earned it yet, haven't been told about it yet. We don't know about the Davidic Covenant. We don't know about some supposed new covenant that's supposed to be coming. We have no idea. So we'll get there. We'll get there. All right? So now, that being the case, remember where we've come from. God has decided to show his love. And let's not forget that. All of this is centered about two main attributes of God. Two chief attributes of God. Do you all recall what those two chief attributes are? And we have seen those two chief attributes on full display as we've gone through. So now, let's just, this is almost like a pop quiz. What were those two chief attributes? I mentioned this in the beginning. I mentioned it a little later on. What were those two chief attributes? If you think about it, you'll see them, you've seen them on display in every book that we've read. As a matter of fact, you're gonna see them on display in every other book that we're going to read. I love CG. Look at CG. Love and justice. God is a, a Renee, same thing. Love and wrath. God is a just God. He's a righteous God. What does that mean? Now, we think righteous is though, or he's a righteous person. What that means is he stands up straight. He can, God can look at, if there were a mirror for God to look in, God can look at himself in the mirror and not have a problem with what he sees. He says what he means and he means what he says. What does that mean? That means if God says X, Y, and Z, guess what you can bank on? X, Y, and Z. God is a just God, which means he must deal with us in a just fashion. But Houston, we have a problem. Well, what's the problem? Well, because if he deals with us in a just fashion and we're not just, that means, that means we got a big problem. So I'm gonna put it back up again. Okay. That means we're in trouble because since we're not just and we are full of sin, well, that means God has to deal with us accordingly. And what happens with us who are unrighteous, who are full of sin? Well, he has to kill us. Somebody's gotta die. Somebody's gotta die. Now, that's where his other attribute, it's not as though he only has two attributes, but these are his two overarching. So love comes in. Love as dictated and borne out by him bridges us to him over his justice. He's still just. He can be just and loving at the same time. For example, he has made a way, we saw it in Genesis five, we get introduced to this new thing because they've sinned. They're bringing an offering to God. Well, why are you bringing an offering to God? Because God has given away where there can be reconciliation. God wants to be reconciled with his creation because he's a just God. You can't be performing with this sin. And this is all the way through guys. And there's a reason why we're doing this recap. Now, what will God do with the just and the unjust? He will use them both for his glory. He will not judge the just with the unjust. However, the just can suffer temporarily with the unjust. For example, the unjust does some sin. Can that affect the just? Can that affect the person who is innocent? The person who hadn't done anything, it can. Especially we've got this nation of Israel, such as with I, and we have this person named Achan who goes in and steals the spoils, not even knowing that the very next battle, God is gonna give you the spoils because obedience paramount. And so what happens? Several people die as a result of one person's sin. Now, this person is sin and he's killed and he's killed thoroughly. I mean, we talked about somebody being killed thoroughly. I mean, above and beyond measure, he was killed. But we see God's love is just because these people Israel keep messing up and God is gonna deal with them, but he keeps giving them a chance and keeps giving them a chance and keeps giving them a chance. They mess up, they get in the sand, they get in trouble, they get oppressed, they cry out to God, God comes and saves them. This vicious cycle. Well, guess what? In this book of Judges, we see this cycle on display. So now that being the case, excuse me, let's go ahead and to jump into Judges. Before we get into Samuel, Samuel, Samson, let's deal with Samson's parents. Excuse me. The thing is important to see Samuel's upbringing or how he came about and how he is versus his upbringing or how he came about, it's like they don't go together. Anyway, Judges 13-1, here we go. Now, the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord. The cycle sort of the Lord gave them into the hands of the Philistines 40 years. If only, if only you guys would have just simply killed these people. I'm not advocating killing now, but then God tells them to utterly destroy them to drive them out and they didn't do it. Spider monkey says, Samson is a simp. So he's not Samson, he's Simpson, okay? And he is, he kind of is. He kind of is tough guy, strong guy, but he is mentally weak. That's why the title of this, How Samson Looks Like Us, His Life Mimics Hours. There are some things about you that's just really strong. You've got some good aspect to you, some good traits about you, some strong traits. And if someone were to take you on and you're in your field, you can show how tough you are. You can show what you are, but you're not that tough and you can get beside yourself and you can think that you stand, but somebody's gonna end up writing later on in the scriptures, take heed lest you fall, not Samson. So God gave to the hands of the Philistines who should have been destroyed. They should have, but gave to the hands of the Philistines for how long? For 40 years. There was a certain man of Zora of the family, of the Danites whose name was Manoa and his wife was barren and had born no children. That happens a lot, doesn't it? No, no, no, it's not gonna be, and Jeff thinks this is gonna be tough for me because of Samson and his hair and then me obviously being blessed without hair. No, because there's an interesting thing that we see here. So just hold on tight. Then the angel of the Lord appeared. Uh-oh, stop, hold on. This guy keeps showing up. This guy just keeps showing up. He will not lead the, he keeps showing up. This angel of the Lord. Well, it makes sense. This angel of the Lord because it's his planet. It's his planet. It's his people. It's his ground we're walking on. It's his water we're drinking. It's his air we're sucking up. It's his heat that's keeping us warm or cool, that's keeping us cool. It's him. It's his planet. And so sure, he is active. We do not have a God that is not active and that's not concerning. We have a God that is actually there. Even amongst these hard-headed individuals such as these Israelites, guess what? Same thing with us. He's there with them and they don't have the Holy Spirit. Oh, I'm sorry. I apologize. I apologize. Why am I apologizing? Because we don't know we haven't heard this term. Or maybe we have, have we? This Holy Spirit, we've heard of the Spirit. But they don't have the Spirit as believers we do. And so if he's gonna show up on their behalf, even when they mess up, what is he gonna do with us? Cause he's a God who does not change. Amen? Amen. So let's go back to it. So the angel of the Lord, and we know this is, we've already covered this guys that this is literally the Lord Jesus himself. Though we haven't heard the name Jesus yet, we know who this is. This is God who has taken on flesh. I'm sorry, let me back up. I should not have said Jesus. I'm muddying the water, so it's because we haven't gotten there yet. He'll get his name for us to call him later. But this is God who has taken on flesh. He's shown up before with Abraham. He's shown up before, he showed up before they went to Sodom and Gomorrah. He stayed behind until angels went instead. He's shown up with Isaac and Jacob. Wrestle with Jacob. He has shown up to Moses. He, we just saw him with Gideon. He showed up to Joshua. He even went to Hagar. Whatever happened to her, remember her? So he has shown up before and has taken on flesh. And they all call him God. So the angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, behold, now you are barren and have born no children, but you shall conceive and give birth to a son. Now therefore be careful not to drink wine or strong drink nor eat any unclean thing. For behold, you shall conceive and give birth to a son and no razor shall come upon his head for the boy shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb. And he shall begin to deliver Israel from the hands of the Philistines. Notice how he says he shall begin. He shall be, he's gonna begin to deliver and that word begins actually there. So he's gonna start to deliver. Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, a man of God came to me now. She doesn't really fully understand who this is, but a man of God, yeah, went to Samson's mom. Yep. Cephas Rock said, wait, Yeshua went to Samson's mom. First of all, who is Yeshua? We haven't earned that yet, but the angel of the Lord went to Samson's mom. Then the woman came to her husband saying, a man of God came to me and his appearance was like the appearance of the angel of God. I think this might've been, I'm not totally sure, but he looked like his appearance was like the angel of God. Very awesome. And I did not ask him where he came from, nor did he tell me his name. But he said to me, behold, you shall conceive and give birth to a son and now you shall not drink wine or strong drink or eat any clean things. In other words, so no alcohol and pig feet. We gotta just chill off with that stuff for right now. This is how we got, this is my diet from now because I'm gonna have a baby. For the boy shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb to the day his death. Then Manoa entreated the Lord and said, oh Lord, please let the man of God whom you have sent come to us again that he may teach us what to do for the boy who is to be. He said, I wanna see too. Let me see, I wanna see too. God listened to the voice of Manoa and the angel of God came again to the woman. So we talked about it before. The angel of the Lord is the angel of God because he says the angel of God came again. Well, first time it's called angel of the Lord. Same thing. Don't get too bent out of shape about it. The angel of Elohim or the angel of Yahweh. Same person. But Manoa, her husband was not with her. I'm sorry, hold on. I'm sorry, the angel of God came again to the woman as she was sitting in the field. But Manoa, her husband was not with her. Well, hold on God, I said, I wanna see you. But you went to her, wait on me. So the woman ran quickly and told her husband, behold, the man who came the other day has appeared to me. Then Manoa arose and followed his wife. And when he came to the man, he said, are you the man who spoke to the woman? By the way, can you? Some of you guys in the chat, can you imagine though running up to Jesus? I did it again, I did it again. Can you imagine running up to the Lord? Are you, are you Him? Are you, and oh by the way, this happens all throughout the Bible, Old Testament and New Testament. Are you the one? Are you the one? Think about the woman at the well. Now when your words come to pass, what shall be the boy's mode of life and his vocation? I mean his vocation, not vocation, vocation. So the angel of the Lord said to Manoa again, switch from angel of the Lord to angel of God, back to angel of the Lord. Let the woman pay attention to all that I said. She should not eat anything that comes from the vine nor drink wine or strong drink, nor unclean anything. Let her observe all that I commanded. Yeah, but what about me? Can I drink Lord? Can I eat what I wanna eat? That is kind of interesting that he's telling it up to her to do this. Then the Lord said to the angel, then Manoa said to the angel of the Lord, please let us detain you so that we may prepare a young goat for you. Why, because they're gonna give an offering. The angel of the Lord said to Manoa, though you detain me, I will not eat your food. But if you prepare a burnt offering, then offer it to the Lord. For Manoa did not know that he was the angel of the Lord. So they are still in the dark. They think that this is just some an angel of the Lord or a man of God, a man from God. They're not totally sure. However, it's going to become evident in just a second. Manoa said to the angel of the Lord, what is your name so that when your words come to pass, we may honor you. But the angel of the Lord said to him, why do you ask my name seeing it as wonderful? Wait a second, wait a second. Do you all remember this? Do you all remember this passage before? Why do you ask my name seeing that it is wonderful? Where did you hear this passage before? Does anybody know? Let's see if I can, I'm looking at you guys answers. Where have we heard this statement? Why do you ask my name seeing as though it is wonderful? Oh, I'm in the wrong, that's why I can't find them in the wrong book. There it is. Nope. There we go, Jeff. Jeff says, Jacob asked that question. Jacob asked that question. He asked the same question, why do you ask my name? Please tell me your name. So this is the same person, the same person who's showing up. And there's other times also where he says, well, why do you ask my name seeing as though it is wonderful? What, by the way, what is his name? Because notice what he says. Notice what he says. And I get what you said, the person who put up Isaiah, because Isaiah is gonna say the same thing. His name should be called wonderful. So Manoa took the young goat with the grain offering and offered it on the rock to the Lord and he performed wonders while Manoa and his wife looked on. So, okay, so he's performing wonders while they're doing these things for it came about when the flame went up from the altar towards heaven that the angel of the Lord ascended in the flame of the altar when Manoa and his wife saw this, they fell on their face to the ground. Can you imagine this picture? Think of this. Think of this. The angel of the Lord, they're trying to figure out who this person is and then ascends in the fire and goes up. You know what? I don't think, I don't think this is a regular person. I don't, I don't, I think there's something special about this person. Right? Verse 21. Now the angel of the Lord did not appear to Manoa or his wife again, then Manoa knew that he was the angel of the Lord. And look what he said. Verse 22. So Manoa said to his wife, we will surely die for we have seen God. But his wife said to him, if the Lord had desired to kill us, he would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering from our hands, nor would he have shown us all these things, nor would we have, nor would he have let us hear things like this at this time. So here's a question. Answer this question. That says the angel of the Lord and the angel of the God is their difference. There's no difference whatsoever. There is no difference at all between the angel of the Lord and the angel of God at all. Same. Matter of fact, let me just pause for a second because I want you all to... Sometimes you say certain things to different people. You say the same thing a different way. Some things click a certain way. If I say it's a 215, okay? 15 past two, a quarter after two, okay? It's at the same thing. I'm saying the same thing different ways. The angel of the Lord literally equals the angel of God. Matter of fact, the angel of the Lord literally equals God, equals the Lord, equals the angel of God, the I am. So, and then in the New Testament, you're going to see the son of God and the son of man, same person, same thing, okay? All right. Now, I thought it was necessary to give that because what have you noticed about Samson's parents? Samson's parents don't seem to be the most devout Jews. They don't seem to be the most devout Jews, do they? Because he has to tell her, you should be drinking, strong drink. Now, drinking off the wine is one thing, but the strong drink, no. You should not be eating anything unclaimed. Well, why would I have to tell you this? You're Jews. But not the most, they are not the most devout. But then again, how many people in Israel are that devout? Israel is doing evil in the sight of the Lord. But I think it's of note to notice that he's choosing these people. It's not like there's something special about these parents. Nothing really special about them. But, 34, I mean, 24. Then the woman gave birth to a son and named him Samson. And the child grew up and the Lord blessed him. And the spirit of the Lord began to stir him in Mahaneah Dan between Zorah and Ashtahol. Now, here we go with Samson's story, chapter 14, verse one. Samson went down to Timna and saw a woman in Timna, one of the daughters of the Philistines. Samson has a wandering eye. Well, Samson likes what he sees. So he comes back, told his father and mother, I saw one of Timna, one of the daughters of the Philistines. Now, therefore, get her for me as a wife. Because remember, they would arrange these marriages. So, back then they had arranged marriages today, we don't. But one thing you can say about these arranged marriages is that getting arranged marriage, you're gonna have a spouse, you're gonna have not a whole lot of single folks unless somebody died. So, there's pros and cons, right? Then his father and mother said to him, is there no woman among the daughters of your relatives or among all our people that you go to take a wife from the uncircumcised business? So they're saying, you shouldn't do this, you should. Why can't you just choose one from your own people? What they should have said was no. Rather than saying, isn't there, just say no. But Samson said to the father, get her for me before she looks. Samson's up front, she's pretty. Listen, she is, she looks good. So, I warn her. However, his father and mother did not know that it was of the Lord, for he was seeking an occasion against the Philistines. Now at that time, the Philistines are ruling over Israel. So, here's what's happening. You've got the Philistines, as we stated, or as the Bible stated, for 40 years they've been ruling over Israel. And the parents don't really wanna do this. However, they're gonna do it. They succumb to it, but they don't succumb to it because they recognize what God is doing. But the Bible just tells us the reason why this is happening or the reason why it's gonna happen is God is seeking an occasion to do his will. Now, something you don't understand. God will, what is this? I'm sorry. God will always seek an occasion to deal with his enemies. Now, he may not seek an occasion the way you do so or the way you want him to or when you want him to, but God will seek an occasion to deal with his enemies. God is going to want avenge his name and take care of his people. That part you can rest assured. And so, what is he gonna do? He will use means at his disposal whenever, however. Cause again, he's God. Remember, above all else, God is sovereign. And so, he can determine which method or which tool to use, even if he's gonna use an unrighteous group of people or persons such as Samson. Samson's gonna be given his power, but as Samson, is he the kind of person that you think should have this kind of power? Does he fit the bill of someone who you would think? God would use, well, no. Samson, Samson has a lot of character flaws. Samson's got a lot of issues, but as the Bible says, God, he was seeking an occasion against the Philistines. This is what God is going to use to bring the Philistines down, or some of the Philistines, not all of them. Verse five, then Samson went down to Timnah with his father and mother and came as far as the vineyards of Timnah. And behold, a young lion came roaring toward him. The spirit of the Lord came upon him mightily so that he tore him as one tears a young goat, though he had nothing in his hand. First of all, I don't know how people tear young goats, but Samson handled this lion like he would a goat. Samson, you get all the respect. You get all, no, I don't know how big the lion was. I have no idea how big this lion was, but it was a lion. And he tore the lion out. And so you are the man. You are the man of the week right there, Samson. So he went down and talked to the woman. I'm sorry, he didn't tell his mother or father. Now, verse seven, he went down and talked to the woman and she looked good to Samson. Keep telling us that she looks good. When you return later to take her, he turned aside and to look at the carcass of the lion and behold, a swarm of bees and honey were in the body of the lion. So he scraped the honey into his hands and went on eating as he went. There is no FDA. There is no FDA, the Food and Drug Administration. So eating this honey, it's kind of nasty. It's got it, but. So he scraped the honey into his hands and went on eating as he went. When he came to his father and mother, he gave some to them and they ate it, but he did not tell them that he has scraped the honey out of the body of the lion. Then his father went down to the woman and Samson made a feast there for the young men, for the young men cost barely did this. When they saw him, they brought 30 companions to be with him. Then Samson said to them, let me know, let me now propound a riddle to you. If you will indeed tell it to me within the seven days of the feast and find it out, then I will give you 30 linen wraps and 30 changes of clothes. But if you are unable to tell me, then you shall give me 30 linen wraps and 30 changes of clothes. And they said to him, propound your riddle that we may hear it. Well, first of all, they didn't have to, they didn't have to go along with it. They didn't have to accept it, but they decided to, which that doesn't make any sense. You could make, it's your riddle you're giving, you could tell however you want to. But, but these people are foolish, which is fine. Again, God is using this as an occasion to bring them down. So we say out of the eater came something to eat, out of the strong came something sweet. I don't know how in a word you could possibly get this riddle. There's just, how? But they could not, they could not tell the riddle in three days. Then came about the fourth day that they said to Samson's wife, entice your husband, now we don't know her name, so that he will tell us the riddle. Or, or these are horrible men by the way, or will burn you and your father's house with fire. Have you invited us to impoverish us? You took up, you took up the charge. No one told you to take on this riddle. You could have said no, never my eye passed, but you did. Samson's wife went before him and said, you only hate me and do not love me. You have propounded a riddle to the sons of my people and have not told it to me. And he said to her, behold, I have not told it to my father, my mother, so should I tell you? I haven't told my parents, why am I gonna tell you? Now, by the way, it's her wife. It's his wife, but it's not his wife yet. Okay, this has not been consummated just yet. Okay, we're gonna see that in just a second, okay? However, she went before him seven days while their feast lasted. And on the seventh day, he told her because she pressed him so hard, she then told the riddle to the sons of her people. So she kept pushing him and pressuring him and nagging him and hounding him. That Samson just fine. Here's the answer. So the men of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun went down, what is sweeter than honey and what is stronger than wine? And he said to them, if you had not plowed with my heifer, he calls her a heifer. He insults his wife. If you had not plowed with my heifer, you would not have found out my riddle. Then the spirit of the Lord came upon him mightily and he went down to Ashkelon and killed 30 of the men of them and took their spoil and gave the change of clothes to those who told the riddle. And his anger burned and he went to his father's house. But Samson's wife was given to his companion who had been his friend. Wow. Samson has an attitude problem. He's a little bit emotional. Samson is a bit immature. You shouldn't have told your wife yet. Number one, two, you go and kill the people or people of the people, take their stuff and give to the people. So you go and kill some folks who didn't have anything to do with this. You kill them, though they're Philistines, so it's not totally innocent. You kill them, steal their clothing, give to the people to pay off your bet. Then you give your wife to one of your groomsmen, one of your men, one of your buddies. This is to be, again, this is his wife, but it's not his wife. It's not consummated, okay? So we're gonna find out that Samson recognizes the error of his ways with this woman. He calls her Heifer. And here, you take her. You take her. No, no, Brian, this isn't Delilah yet. This isn't Delilah. This isn't Delilah, we're gonna get to Delilah. We're gonna get to Delilah. Cause you're gonna, I'm asking, is Delilah his wife? We'll get there though. But after a while, in the time of wheat harvest, Samson visited his wife with a young goat. Oh, so now you wanna see her, Samson? Samson, oh, you said okay. Brian says, no, I was just thinking out loud, okay. He goes a visitor with a young goat and said, will I go to my wife in her room? And so will I go into my wife's new room? So he is wanting to go ahead and consummate the marriage with his wife. Problem is, Samson, he gave her up. But her father did not let him enter. Why? Verse two, her father said, I really thought that you had hated her intensely. So I gave her to your companion. You said here, you gave her up. So I gave her to your friend. They're married, but it's not her younger sister, more beautiful than she. Please let her be yours instead. Samson then said to them, this time I shall be blameless in regard to the Philistine when I do harm to them. Samson went and caught 300 foxes. So Samson's even not, Samson's even upset more so because of the woman you gave to your friend and now you ain't got your wife anymore. But Samson, you did that. So he takes his anger out on the Philistines again, which again is fine because God was using this as an occasion to deal with the Philistines. So he takes poor foxes. He takes, went and caught 300 foxes. That's a lot of foxes, by the way, caught 300 foxes and turned the foxes tail to tail. So you're gonna tie a fox tail with another fox's tail. It's pretty, this is that. Listen, without question, this is animal cruelty. Peter and animal services would have a problem with what he's doing. What he's doing is pretty, pretty mean to the foxes. He ties him tail to tail and put one torch in the middle between the tails. Then he set fire to the torches. He released the foxes into the strain, the standing grain of the Philistines burning up the shock. So what happens is, you got this torch tied to the tails of these foxes, they're running through with these torches and burning up their crops. So they're upset. Then the Philistines said, who did this? And they said, Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite because he took his wife and gave her to his companion. Yeah, Samson, why are you mad at us? You did that. You did that. But Samson said to them, since you act like this, I'm sorry, so verse, the middle of verse six. So the Philistines came up and burned her and her father with the fire. Wow, these are some brutal people. So Samson, first of all, Samson, you gave her to your friend. As a result of your anger, you burned their crops. So what do they do? They go and burn her and her father. Now it didn't say what happened to her friend. It meant to her husband, her new husband. Samson said to them, since you act like this, I will surely take revenge on you, but after that I will quit. He struck them ruthlessly with a great slaughter and he went down and lived in the clasp of Eta. This is, let's be honest, this is a weird story. This is a weird story. Then the Philistines went up and camped in Judah and spread out in Lehi. The men of Judah said, why have you come up against us? And they said, we have come up to bind Samson or to do him as he did us. Then 3,000 men of Judah went down to the clasp of Eta and said to Samson, do you not know that the Philistines are rules over us? You are messing with it. Listen, do you understand what's happening? You're picking a fight with them, but they rule over us. What then is it that you have done to us? And he said to them, as they did to me, so I have done to them. They said to him, we have come down to bind you so that we may give you to the hands of the people. So we're gonna take you into custody and give you to them. They're gonna bind him. We're gonna bind you with these ropes. So verse 13 in the middle, then they bound him with two new ropes and brought him up from the rock. Verse 14, when he came to Lehi, the Philistines shouted as they met him and the spirit of the Lord came upon him mightily. So understand this. Samson was not always strong. If the spirit of the Lord hadn't come upon him, well, then you can bind him, you can do whatever. But the spirit of the Lord kept coming upon him, why? As he said, seeking an occasion to deal with the Philistines. And the spirit of the Lord came upon him mightily so that the ropes that were on him were like flags that is burning fire and his bonds dropped from his hands. He found a fresh jawbone of a donkey. So he reached out and took it and killed 1,000 men with it, 1,000 men. Then Samson said with a jawbone of a donkey, heaps upon heaps with the jawbone of a donkey, I have killed 1,000 men. When it finished speaking, he threw the jawbone from his hand and he named the place Ramath Lehi. Then he became very thirsty and called the Lord and said, you have given me this great deliverance. You have given me this great deliverance. By the way, if y'all notice, I want y'all to notice this word deliverance here because this word is going to come some more. This word for deliverance is going to come some more. The way it's written now, it's actually called Tashua. But the call form, the simple form of this word, the simple form of this word deliverance is Yeshua or Yoshia. Not saying thing, but I'm just saying. That's what this word deliverance is in the Hebrew. So take with that what you want. We will revisit this later on this issue of deliverance and the name behind it. So you have given me this great deliverance by the hand of your servant and now shall I die of thirst and fall to the hands of the uncertain size, but God's with the hollow place that is in Lehi and so that water came up out of it and he drank and his strength returned and he was revived. Therefore he named the place in HaKor which is in Lehi to this day. Now let's go down to verse 16 verse one and we're coming to a conclusion and we're gonna get our lesson out of this. Now Samson went to Gaza and saw a harlot there and went into her. Samson is not the most moral, not the most devout Jew at all. He said at the end, he is not the guy that we would have thought. He's not the person that we would have put. You know what Samson? We need you to go do. No, why is Samson being used? Because God was seeking an occasion, sought an occasion to deal with the Philistines. That's important. We'll come up with that. We'll talk about that just a little bit. Now Samson was in Gaza and saw a harlot there. Verse two. When it was told to the Gazites, saying Samson has come here, they surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the gate of the city. And they kept silent all night saying, let us wait until the morning light and we'll kill him. Were they waiting at the gate? I don't think he was too smart. I don't think so either, Lisa. Now Samson lay until midnight and midnight he arose and took hold of the doors of the gate and the two posts and pulled them up along with the bars. Then he put them on the show. So think about it, they're at the gate waiting. He goes down, grabs the gate, puts them on his back and takes them back. I think you ought to leave Samson alone. Just my guess, fellas. I think you might want to leave Samson alone. But pride, anger, revenge, hostility, that could overcome you sometimes. Verse four. Then after this it came about that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek whose name was Delilah. The lords of the Philistines came up to her and said, entice him and see where his great strength lies. How we may overpower him that we may bind to afflict him. And again, his weakness takes over. Samson loved the ladies. Samson loved the ladies. Listen, if you were a pretty lady and you were single at that time, you might get a holler from Samson. Samson might come your way. He might want to check you out. Daddy can go get her for me. So anyway, Delilah said to Samson, I'm sorry, then, where did I go off at? Verse five. The lords of the Philistines came up to her and said, entice him and see where his great strength lies and how we may overpower him that we may bind him to afflict him. Then we will each give you 1,100 pieces of, remember this woman is not some great woman. So she's in for the money. So Delilah said to Samson, please tell me where your great strength is and how you may be bound to afflict you. I don't know how you ask a question to a man. How can I? But then again, I can, yes I can. Yes I can. What's your weakness, baby? I can see her asking and then I can see him eventually telling. Samson said to her, if they bind me with seven fresh cords that have not been dried, then I will become weak. That's a lie. Why is he lying to her? But maybe he understands what's up because this is Samson's first time dealing with a woman when people want to know something about him, get a secret, and she inquires and then she ultimately spills a bean. This is not his first time. But he, Samson doesn't learn. And the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven fresh cords that had not been dried and she bound him. You go do it, lady. Now she had men lying in wait in an inner room and she said to them, the Philistines are upon you, Samson. But he snapped the cords as a string of two, I'm sorry, of toe snaps, when it touches fire. So his strength was not discovered. So Samson, you see what she's up to. The last time a woman did that to you, you got rid of her. Now it bothers Samson that he got rid of her. How much so? Because even after he got rid of her and she was killed, burned up, it bothered him so much that he went and killed a thousand Philistines. Then Delilah said in verse 10, behold, you have deceived me and told me lies. Now please tell me how you may be bound. They have a bad relationship. I think we can have a pretty bad relationship. He said to her, if they bind me tightly with new ropes, which have not been used, then I will become weak. Again with the ropes, Samson, huh? So Delilah took new ropes and bound him with them and said to them to the Philistines, the Philistines are upon you. Samson, for the men were lying and waiting in a room, but he snapped the ropes from his arms like a thread. So once again, somewhat toxic, he says. Yeah, it's a pretty toxic relationship. This is, we have these relationships nowadays, I guess. Then Delilah said to him, Samson, up to now you have deceived me and told me lies. Wait a minute, sweetheart, up to now you've been trying to kill me, but Samson, I don't know, I don't know what it is about Delilah. And I'm keeping this PG, we've got children here. I don't know what it is about Delilah that you just go, okay. Keep playing with fire, Samson, which is what we do. And he said to her, if you weave the seven locks of my hair with a web and fasten it with a pin, now become weak. Okay, another lie, another lie. So she slept, Delilah took the seven locks of his hair and she fasted, but then the Philistines upon you, she says, but he woke from his sleep, pulled out the pin of the loom and the web. So he has to know what she's doing because I don't know this from recent experience, but I know if you wake up and there's something in your hair, the first thing you're gonna not think of is what's in your hair, from memory. From memory, I think I know what it's like if something's in your hair, you don't just automatically just think, hey, something's in my hair. I'm just thinking from memory. So he knows what's going on. Samson is fully aware of what's happening. I guess he doesn't care. I guess what it really is, is that he doesn't think that he can be defeated. He doesn't think that anything, even if, because the Lord has been upon me all this time, so even if I were to give you my actual secret, it doesn't matter. Even if I give you the real secret, the real way this thing works, I don't think y'all can stop me. If any man thinks he stands, take heed, let's say false, first 15, then she said to him, how can you say I love you when your heart is not with me? Okay, I got to, I have to put the full screen on, fellas. Ladies, all you ladies, don't listen to this part. This is only for the man. This is for the man, not the ladies, especially the married man. And all you ladies, especially you married ladies, know what I'm getting ready to say is true. Fellas, married fellas, how many times has your wife said, you don't love me? You don't, if you love me, now, I don't know what it is about that. I don't know what it is about that, but it works. You don't love me. She says, you don't love me, what do you say back? Yes, I do, I'll prove it to you. It's in the handbook. It's in the female handbook somewhere between first grade and fifth grade, these girls get it in their handbook and they're taught this. Somewhere in there, taught that. However, we don't go through that class, us fellas. We don't go through that class where they tell us, all right guys, at some point in time, she's gonna say to you, you don't love me. It is a trick. Even if you don't even love her. Listen, this works for, this works, I know this is Bible study, but listen, it works for guys who aren't, if they don't even love the girl, you don't love me. Baby, yes I do. They say, I don't love her. I just met her two days ago. But it works. It works. Delilah's a queen of gaslighting. Sit down. Anyone think I'm lying? Look at Carol, look at her. Anyone think I'm lying? It works. It works. You don't love me, Samson. When your heart is not with me, Samson's like, ah, his strength is gone now. You have deceived me these three times and have not told me where your grace drink is. If you love me, you would tell me that. Wait, hold on, hold on, hold on, wait a second. Okay, right now, you need to repent. She said, I've never used it on my husband. Yes you have, yes you have. Tell the truth, shame and devil, we know you have. I don't know if we know you have. Listen, even if you tell the truth, we're not gonna believe you. Even if you tell, nope, I know you have. I know you have anyway. So it came about when she pressed him daily with her words and urged him that his soul was annoyed. See, his soul was annoyed to death. That's not my words, that's the Bible. She nagged on the death, yeah, but it wasn't just regular old nagging. Cause some nagging, you know what, I'm gone, whatever. I ain't listen to her. Some day, there's something else where she can just nagging, nagging, nagging, nagging. You can just, all right, all right. You know how to, what do we do? We know how to, uh-huh, we know how to answer. But it's that one. You don't love me, you don't love me. Or two things that guys don't wanna hear. That, you don't love me. Now there is one other thing that is at the top. There's one other thing that's at the very top that no man, born of a woman, ever wants to hear. There's one, there's a phrase. Three words, as a matter of fact. Three words. I don't care what mood the man is in. Walks in the room, comes around his girlfriend, his wife. Don't wanna hear it. It messes, the whole day is over with. Can we talk? Can we talk? Honey, can we talk? Yes. Yes, we can talk. Honey, can we talk? Yes. So why is it happening? What's he's like, okay, running through my mind? What in the world? Okay, what are we talking about? Can we talk? Yeah, buddy. That's it. You gotta think of an excuse really quickly. You gotta come up with an excuse. Oh, my stomach hurts. Or I think my boss called, or something. Did you hit it outside? I think it's a burglar. Can we talk? And then, because she's a woman and she's a professional, she'll say, can we talk? Yes. You don't love me, do you? Samson didn't have a shot. So you're wondering why Samson gate, Samson told her quickly, they eat it. Yeah. Maybe that's what Eve did. Maybe that's what Eve did, they say on you. Maybe that's what Eve did to Adam. Adam, can we talk? You don't love me, because if you did love me, you would have eaten this apple with me or this fruit or this pear or whatever his fruit is. It looks good, doesn't it? Anyway, back to, I'm sorry, yeah, I'm sorry. So he told her all that was in his heart and he said to her, a razor has never come on my head for I've been a Nazarite to God from my mother's womb. If I am shaved, then my strength will leave me and I'll become weak to be like another man. When Delilah saw, because a woman, listen, when a woman can tell that, a woman can tell when you're actually honest, when you're real, not always, but in this case, yeah. When Delilah saw that he had told her all that was in his heart, she sent and called the Lord of the Philistine saying, come up once more for he has told me all that is in his heart. Then the Lord of the Philistine came to her and brought her the money in her hands. They didn't even wait. They didn't even wait until she did it. She made him sleep on her knees and called for a man and had him shave off the seven lots of his hair. I won't go too much into that again, family Bible study, but about, she made him sleep on her knees. Don't know what happened there. You adults, you can figure this out. But then she called a fellow and some guy to come and shave it, shave his head off. I do know a thing or two about shaving. I do know a thing or two about shaving and I'm pretty sure they didn't have shaving cream and I'm pretty sure they didn't have the best razors, but he slept. He slept through it. Now, if you were fortunate to have a bald head, you know, that is not a, you can feel that. And you gotta, now I'm not saying he got a clean shaved head. I'm pretty sure, I'm pretty sure they didn't, they didn't shave his head the right way, but you're gonna feel it because for that, the first thing you have to do is you gotta cut it down. You can't just take a bunch of hair and start shaving with a razor. That's not gonna work. So this is time consuming. And he said it works every time. She said to the Philistine, she said the Philistines are upon you, Samson, and he woke from his sleep and said, I will go out as other times and shake myself free, but he did not know that the Lord had departed from him. Now, did he know that his head had been cut, his head had been shaved? Don't know. Was it cut or was it shaved? We don't know. It could be the same, the same word applies. It could be just cut short or shaved, but even cut it short. Again, I have no hair now, but I used to have some hair back in the days when I was immature. I had hair then. And I know what it's like to get a haircut. Just to have, you know, listen, I used to have a fro, you know, a small fro just to get it cut that you still feel that. Now, let's see how some, I'll take it back. Let's see how some real good scissors, I guess you can cut it, but you gotta turn the head. I don't know. I don't know. But he got up. But you would think though that with the locks on your head, that weighs some weight. When I got shaved, I could wreck, I knew immediately my head felt different. So, but he gets up, but this is just, and this is where we're gonna start getting to the point, the meat of the matter, the arrogance of him, the arrogance of him to think that, I can just shake this off. I'm good. I can go back to what I'm doing. I am perfectly fine. No, I don't care. It's okay, move us out of the way. It's okay that my head has been shaven. I'm good. Why? Cause I'm Samson. You see what I did to the lion? Did you see what I did to that gate? I took a jaw bone and slated it. Nope. Bind me with some ropes, with some strong ropes and cord. Break them quickly. No problem. When you have had some victories in life, arrogance does set in. I am living witness to this. If you get any sort of victories, if you're not careful, especially if you're giving credit to yourself, because what I want you to notice, if you were to go back, we won't do this, but if you go back and look, every time he got a victory, every time Samson got a victory, what did Samson never do once? You all tell me. Cause we never saw it. You don't have to go back and look at it. Just think about it. What did we never see him do? Every time when Samson killed the lion, when Samson picked up the gate, when Samson killed the thousand men, when Samson killed others, what did he never do? He never gave glory to God. He never once gave glory to God. So recipe for disaster. You get victory, you get a blessing, and you know God has something to do with it, and you never show any appreciation. You never give him thanks, you never give him glory, you never praise him. Samson, you got a problem soon to come. So what happens? Then the Philistines seized him and gouged his eyes, verse 21, and they brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze chains, no more of his little, these cords, and he was a grinder in the prison. Yeah, we're gonna make you work now. Y'all do realize in prison, they're gonna make you work. They make you work in prison. There is one aspect of even in America, even in our Constitution, slavery is illegal except in prison. I don't know if you all know that, but slavery is illegal in America except in prison. And I'm not making this up, go look at the Constitution. Slavery, you can be forced to do work in prison even today. Now you can get a cushy job. I had two cushy jobs. I had two cushy jobs. One job was teaching people how to play drums. They paid me for that. The second one, because you had a large compound and you needed, yeah, they have to have something. There's only so many guys that you need to sweep. And then I went to another prison where I taught the GED. And it was so easy because I had a bunch of 15, 60 year old men who said, I'm not getting the GED for what? All they had to do was show up. So we sat and watched TV. Yeah, it was, we would have little discussions and so forth. I would go over a few things, but easy, easy. So my labor wouldn't, in prison labor can be hard, can also be easy. So they're gonna make this man work. They're gonna, by the way, by the way, before you get too bent out of shape, the labor that you do in prison today can be beneficial. I've got a friend of mine, one of my best friends. Got out of prison, he was doing HVAC in prison, got out of prison, started doing his own thing. And when I say he was able to take care of his family, very well, I mean, to the tune to where he's in the Atlanta area. He's not doing the HVAC anymore, but it was working well for him to where he bought himself a five or $600,000 home. Now he's got a restaurant, by the way, it's Azure. I think it's the name of the restaurant. Go check him out if you're in the Atlanta area. I just gave him a plug, so he owes me now. Anyway, he was a grinder in prison. How low have you gone? You got your eyes taken out of you, and now you're working for these people. HVAC is, that's heating and air conditioning. Heating, ventilation, air conditioning. That's what it says for. Verse 22, however, the hair of his head began to grow again after it was shaved off. Personally, I don't know that you'll need hair, but I guess Samson needed hair. Now, the Lords of the Philistine assembled to offer a great sacrifice a day, God their God, and to rejoice for they said, our God has given Samson our enemy into our hands. When the people saw him, they praised their God for they said, our God has given our enemy into our hands, even the destroyer of our country who has slain many of us. Here's the crazy part, though. They worship this false God, yet they're giving praise to their false God. It should never be as believers that we don't give praise to our God, the only true God, that we don't give praise to him, but the folks who serve the demons of this world, the folks who serve the devil, the folks who have no God, they give him praise, but we don't give our God who is God praise. That guys, don't let that be, don't let that be you. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so and say it boldly and proudly, amen. So, verse 25, so it happened, when they were in high spirits, I mean they were drinking, they said, call for Samson that he may amuse us. So they call for Samson from the prison, they're gonna parade him around, and he entertained them. And they made him stand between the pillars. Then Samson said to the boy who was holding his hand, let me feel the pillars on which the house rests that I may lean against them. Some of these people are really dumb. I'm just gonna be honest. Some of these people's like, okay. Yeah, hey, can you tell me where is your load bearing support beam? Well, why? Oh, I just wanna lean up against it. Just where is your load bearing support beam? I just wanna just rest myself up against it. Oh, by the way, let's put two of our load bearing support beams right here together in case something happens to one and the other, then we're dead. Let's, I'm just making observations. I'm just making a lot of observations. So where is your load bearing support beam? Let me feel the pillars on which the house rests that I may lean against them. Are you the house? Why would you, but anyway. Verse 27, now the house was full of men and women and all the lords of the Philistines were there. About 3,000 men, this is a big place. And women were on the roof looking on while Samson was amusing them. Now Samson wants to recognize God. Now Samson wants to recognize God. Then Samson called to the Lord and said, oh Lord God, please remember me and please strengthen me just this time, oh God that I may once be avenged of the Philistines from my two eyes. Samson gas grabs the two middle pillars on which the house rested and braced himself against them. The one with his right and the other with his left. And Samson said, let me die with the Philistines and be bent with all, and he bent with all his might. So the house fell on the lords and all the people who were in it. So the dead whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he killed in his life. Then his brothers and all his fathers, household came down, took him, brought him and buried him between Zora and Eshtal in the tomb of Noah, his father. Thus he judged Israel 20 years. So his 20 years ended in this combination. So finally there was a little bit of humility. Well, what does this have to do with him? And here's a question, because here's a great question. Do you all think that Samson was saved? Do you think that if you were to go to heaven, that you would see Samson? Well, yes, you would. How do I know? Because the Bible tells us so. In Hebrews chapter 11, verse 32, and what more shall I say for time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak. Hey, look there, there is Samson, Jeb Thoth of David and Samuel. So Samson is there finally. Finally, Samson learned. Samson is considered faithful and righteous. We cover this before. When you go back and you look at all of the people of the Old Testament, and then we hear about them being brought up in the New Testament about their faith. People will tell you that you gotta have this faith that never wavers. People will lead you to believe that the monk, by the way, they'll tell you if you ever doubt, oh, you've seen, you're out of the fold. Don't be lied to. Every single person in that faith hall of fame showed doubt. As a matter of fact, even some of them lied to cover up their doubt. Some of their doubts brought about problems. Ultimately though, faith is verified in even when you do mess up, even when you do doubt at how you turn back to them. At Samson's worst, at his lowest, couldn't get any lower than what he's doing. You're an inmate, blind, and now they're making fun of you. They're parading you around. So what do they do? Yeah, stop disqualifying folks from salvation. So what do they do? They make a mockery of him. What does he do? He goes to God. What happens to you? People can make a mockery of you. People can do things to you. What do you do? This is how you know where your faith is. Who your faith is in, you go to God. Same thing we covered with Barak, who you didn't do what you're supposed to do until Deborah comes to you. If you go, then I'll go. But Barak's name is mentioned. What about Gideon? Gideon's name is mentioned. Gideon was the guy who kept doubting, kept doubting. The man calls him, the angel of the Lord calls him, a valiant man, a valiant warrior. Who me? I'm the least of my, my house is the least of all the houses. I'm the least of my house. Who me? You couldn't mean me. But God, if you really mean it, well, then do this. Okay, God, you showed me this sign with the fleece, but if he's really truly, you do it again. But even still though, Lord, I'm not sure if you're gonna deliver me. I know you did this and this and this. I know you did all these things, but I'm not really sure, Lord God. Please, well, if you still doubt in your heart, then you and Pua go down there. Are you, so what does he do? He goes down there with Pua because he still doubts. But not just him. Not just him. What about Moses? God, I can't speak. My tongue, didn't I make your tongue? Moses? Yeah, but still God, fine. Take Aaron. And what is it happening? Moses is doing most of the speaking. What about Joshua? Well, all of them at some point in time have some doubt. Ultimately, your faith is borne out and demonstrated when you're at your worst, when you're at your lowest, when you're in a prison, huh, of your own doing, when you find yourself in a prison of your own doing, your fault, not theirs, what do you say? God, let me show you one last time. God, let me show you one last time. You demonstrate who your father is because you go to him. He didn't appeal to bail. He didn't appeal to the mercy of the Philistines. He didn't send a letter out, asked for his family to come get me. He did what all he could, what we should do, lift our eyes up to God. And in doing so, he determined in his heart where his help comes from. That's like us. Messed up, jacked up, because of our own doing, but you show your faith in who you turn to. You turn to God, well, guess what? Maybe that's who you had faith in all along. And so because of that, you too can be just like Samson, just like Jepta, just like Baran, just like David, just like Samuel, just like Gideon, just like Moses, just like Abraham, just like Jacob. You can be just like them by simply your faith. Amen. Amen.