To Strong to Fail?

Here at Church of the Messiah, we preach through books of the Bible, and what I'm going to continue to do,

while God gives me strength until Jesus comes back, and while I'm still the rector of this place,

we're going to preach through books of the Bible, and we're going through Judges,

which is what I'm going to preach on today.

But by the providence of God, the text that we look at today actually has an awful lot to say about our current crisis in Canada,

and I won't say, and in many parts of the world.

By the providence of God, it has a lot to say.

Judges 16 has a lot to say about what's going on in Canada and how we are reacting to it.

So I encourage you to turn to it, and just as you're turning to Judges 16, just a couple of things.

Judges is that book in the Bible which covers the time between Israel entering the Promised Land under Joshua.

Joshua has died, and the time between his death and basically the first kings of Israel, Saul and then David.

That time period is the time period covered in the book of Judges.

And Samson, the book of Judges, is organized around 12 judges, and Samson is the last of the judges.

And next week and the week after, we look at the two-part conclusion to the book.

And Samson, I mean, he's one of the characters that many non-Christians know about him and know about Samson and Delilah.

And that's what we're going to look at today, the story of Samson and Delilah.

But here's the interesting thing.

If you go back or if you remember, in Chapter 13, we see the first part.

We see the birth of Samson.

And we see both quite a remarkable miracle that authenticates that God's going to use this man.

He says very directly, God is going to use this boy that will be born to begin to deliver Israel, God's people, from their enemies, from those who oppress them, from the idols and gods that bind them.

And then in the birth story, we see that the Holy Spirit begins to move in Samson's life as he grows up.

And we have very, very high hopes for him.

But then in Chapter 14 and 15, which is the second part of the Samson story, all of those hopes are dashed.

It's actually, I think I was sharing with you last week that for many, many years, I had fears about trying to preach on the Old Testament.

Because I sort of grew up in a church context that we're always trying to find good moral lessons from the Old Testament stories.

But if you're intellectually honest, you can't find good moral lessons from Chapter 14 and 15.

Samson's a despicable man.

And in fact, part of the mystery of the story is that the Holy Spirit comes upon Samson and he uses, the Holy Spirit's power comes upon Samson, but Samson uses that power for evil.

I mean, it begins with Samson going to get married to a Philistine.

I mean, rather than delivering people, Israel, from the Philistines, he wants to marry them.

And he figures out a way to rip off his 30 companions who are Philistines by telling them a riddle.

And after that attempt to rip them off fails, he goes to pay off his debt.

And then he goes to another city and murders 30 innocent people and steals their clothes to pay off the debt.

And then it gets worse.

There's this cycle of vengeance and he kills other people and his people betray him.

And he kills a thousand people with a jawbone.

Just every time the Holy Spirit comes upon him, in a sense, Samson uses his free will to use that spirit's power for violent, selfish ends.

And now we come to chapter 16, the end of the stories of Samson.

It's the story that we'll talk about the death of Samson.

And here's how it begins.

Chapter 16, verse 1.

Samson went to...

Oh, I should put up the scripture text.

We can do that for those of you who are here and don't have Bibles.

There we go.

Samson went to Gaza and there he saw a prostitute and he went into her.

Just pause here for a very fraction of a second.

And I haven't mentioned this, but I'm going to mention it right now.

Christians, just by being Christians and trusting the Bible, end up having a side on the Palestinian Jewish question.

Because for many of the Palestinian leadership in around what we now call in the Canaan area,

and I'm trying to think of the right word.

The word's gone from me.

In that whole contested area, they basically say that the Jewish people have no historic connection to the land.

And these texts that we're going through, just by being intellectually honest,

show that, in fact, the Jewish people have had a connection to this land that goes back thousands and thousands of years.

We, in a sense, just by trying to be...

By being intellectually honest and being faithful to the Bible, both at the same time,

we end up undercutting one particular side of a current political debate and supporting another side.

Doesn't mean we have to support everything else that goes on.

But the Philistines aren't Arabs.

The Philistines are, if you know a little bit about English history,

in the British Isles, what is now called England,

there were these constant raids by the Norsemen, the Danes.

And they would come to England and they would pillage and steal,

eventually setting up more permanent settlements.

But the Philistines are like the ancient Vikings.

They're a sea people.

And they're not Arabs.

They're a sea people.

And they've come from somewhere in the Mediterranean.

They come in waves to steal, to set up their own colonies.

And at the time of this writing, there's sort of five different groups of Philistines,

five sort of families or tribes or movements,

and they each have a center of power.

And Gaza is one of the five centers.

So these are like Vikings.

They're seafaring invaders somewhere in the Mediterranean,

not entirely clear where they've come from.

And they've settled here in Gaza.

Go back to read chapter 16, verse 1 again.

Samson went to Gaza, and there he saw a prostitute.

Remember I told you, this man doesn't live an exemplary life.

And he went into her.

The Gazites were told, Samson has come here.

And they surrounded the place and set an ambush for him all night at the gate of the city.

They kept quiet all night, saying, let us wait till the light of the morning,

and then we will kill him.

But Samson lay till midnight.

And at midnight he arose and took hold of the doors of the gate of the city and the two posts

and pulled them up, bar and all, and put them on his shoulders

and carried them to the top of the hill that is in front of Hebron.

Now, here's what's going on in the story.

It's very, very important.

The Philistines hate Samson.

They keep attacking him.

They're trying to find him.

They want to kill him.

And Samson goes right into one of their principal cities,

inside a walled city with a closed gate.

And he goes there just because he wants to satisfy his desire for sexual intercourse.

I mean, this is an unbelievably foolish and reckless thing to do.

And it comes, it's a little bit of a picture, a window into the soul of Samson.

Samson is arrogant in his power,

and he believes he is too strong to ever fail,

too strong to ever be defeated,

too strong to ever have his world collapse.

And the story shows his great strength.

The archaeological evidence from the time period suggests that in a walled city like this,

the gates were two stories high.

So I don't know how high that would be.

It might be at the top of the arch here from the bottom to the arch.

Two huge gates.

And he picks them up and he carries them 75 kilometers.

It's an unbelievable, well, I shouldn't say unbelievable.

It's an immense feat of strength.

And for his attackers, it must have just been a jaw-dropping,

gobsmacking, mind-blowing demonstration of his great power.

Which is why they don't attack him.

They just look at this.

He just rips these massive gates out of the way they're held

and carries them 75 kilometers and drops them in the middle of a Jewish majority area.

And in doing this, he's also completely and utterly humiliated the principal city of the Philistines.

A walled city without a gate is, in a sense, defenseless.

He's shamed them, he's humiliated them, and he's profoundly weakened them

until they're able to finally try to get those gates either back

or fix them themselves back and fix them.

So part of the story is showing the fact is he does have this unbelievable strength and power,

yet at the same time that goes with it, he has this arrogant belief

that he is too strong to fail, too strong to be defeated,

too strong to ever have his world collapse.

And because he is so strong and so powerful,

he can do whatever he wants in his own world.

And if he feels like going into a walled city of his enemies

because he has a sexual need that he wants to gratify with a prostitute,

he'll do it.

And to common morality and to God be,

well, I don't care because I'm strong, I'm powerful,

and my world will never collapse.

It's in this context, you see, one of the things which is so wise about the Bible

is the Bible continues to have these profound stories that are,

if we read them, are meditations upon the mystery of arrogance

and the mystery of strength and the mystery of power.

They're profound meditations and stories which help us to think

about arrogance and power and people who don't think their world can collapse.

So right after this remarkable display of strength,

Delilah is introduced.

Verse 4,

After this, he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek,

which is in Philistine-majority territory,

whose name was Delilah.

And the lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her,

seduce him and see where his great strength lies

and by what means we may overpower him,

that we may bind him to humble him.

And we will each give you 1,100 pieces of silver.

So Delilah said to Samson,

please tell me where your great strength lies

and how you might be bound,

that one could subdue you.

And in the original language,

it's very clear that there are five principal tribes

or movements or centers of Philistine power,

and it's describing all of them.

So it's all five of the lords,

and whatever sub-lords and under-lords that there are,

it's the lords as a whole

of all of the Philistines who come together

to speak to Delilah

to see if they can figure out a way

to overcome him.

So he thinks he's too powerful

and too strong to collapse,

but he doesn't realize that his doom is upon him.

It begins as yet just another sexual conquest

on his part.

He doesn't think of Delilah seducing him.

He thinks of it as yet another sexual conquest

to satisfy his appetites.

Well, what happens?

We're just going to read the first one

because, and we're not going to read all three of them,

but there comes to be three different sort of moments

with Samson and Delilah

where Delilah bugs Samson.

Well, let's look at this story,

and I'll tell you what they are.

Samson said to her, verse 7,

if they bind me with seven fresh bowstrings,

blah, blah, blah, blah,

bowstrings that have not been dried,

then I shall become weak and be like any other man.

And if you go on later on,

it's going to be the same thing happens.

Next, it's going to be if you take some ropes

that have never been used,

and then after that is if you weave my hair

in a certain way and hold it with a certain type of pin.

But it's always the same thing.

So he says if you do all of these things,

and here's the really important thing.

It's going to be important later on,

and I'll mention it,

but notice what he says again in verse 7.

If they bind me with seven fresh bowstrings

that have not been dried,

then I shall become weak and be like any other man.

This phrase is going to be repeated four times.

I shall become weak and be like any other man.

But she goes ahead.

Verse 8,

Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her

seven fresh bowstrings that had not been dried,

just as they'll later on bring ropes

and a man to weave his hair.

And she bound him with them.

Now she had men lying in ambush in an inner chamber,

and she said to him,

The Philistines are upon you, Samson.

But he snapped the bowstrings as a thread of flax

snaps when it touches the fire,

so the secret of his strength was not known.

And this thing's going to happen three times.

And once again,

see this is where the Bible is this,

through this simple story,

it invites us to enter into a profound meditation

upon arrogance and power

and the blindness that comes with arrogance and power.

Like, for any single one of us,

if we had a friend,

and they told you of the first story,

you'd say to them,

one moment,

like, time out.

Your girlfriend or your boyfriend,

they tried to weasel out

one of the deepest secrets of your life,

and then they used it to betray you,

so that people could capture you

and destroy you?

And then the next day you went back to her or him?

Like, what's wrong with this picture?

You see,

Samson's arrogance

and his belief in his power

is making him weak.

So if you just skip down,

skip down after it's happened three times

and we skip down to verse 15,

and here's how it goes.

I have to turn the page.

So now,

verse 15,

and she said to him

after the third time

that it hasn't worked,

how can you say I love you

when your heart is not with me?

You have mocked me these three times

and you have not told me

where your great strength lies.

And when she pressed him hard with her words

day after day

and urged him,

his soul was vexed to death.

And he told her all his heart

and said to her,

a razor has never come upon my head,

for I have been a Nazarite to God

from my mother's womb.

If my head is shaved,

then my strength will leave me

and I shall become weak

the fourth time

and I shall become weak

and be like any other man.

Now,

one of the things here about this,

we're going to talk about this

a tiny bit more.

It's not,

we shouldn't believe Samson here

because the fact of the matter is

is that he's been violating

his Nazarite vows constantly.

I mean,

the fact of the matter is

he's having sex with a woman

he's not married with,

which violates

his Nazarite vows.

He's been drinking

and getting drunk

and he's been not only,

how do we know

he's got to touch dead bodies?

Because he killed the people

and you can't kill them

without touching a dead body.

Like,

his whole life

has been a complete

and utter

disregard of the Nazarite vows

and it's not as if,

this story isn't as if,

isn't about,

that it isn't a story

about religion.

You see,

how religion works

is it's all right

if you do this

and you do this

and you do this

but you can't get your hair cut.

What?

Like,

that's not what the Bible teaches.

That God's sort of happy with him

or doesn't have any consequences

to his action

but if he gets his hair cut

then there's consequences.

No.

It's going to become obvious

in the next little bit.

Look what happens.

I move it along.

Andrew,

help me if I didn't move it correctly

because sometimes

I press the button

and it doesn't work.

So what happens?

He tells her

what he thinks is going on

and then in verse 18,

when Delilah saw

that he had told her

all his heart,

she sent and called

the lords of the Philistines

saying,

come up again

for he has told me

all his heart.

Now,

he has told her

all his heart,

by the way,

but that's,

it's not dependent

upon that.

Then the lords

of the Philistines

came up to her

and brought the money

in their hands.

She made him sleep

on her knees

and she called a man

and had him shave off

the seven locks

of his head.

Then she began

to torment him

and his strength

left him.

And she said,

the Philistines

are upon you,

Samson.

And he woke

from his sleep

and said,

I will go out

as at other times

and shake myself free.

But he did not know

that the Lord

had left him.

Now,

just sort of notice here

how the story works.

It isn't when his hair

is cut

that his strength

leaves him.

It's after his hair

is cut

as she torments him.

And then we discover

that it's all about

the Lord leaving him,

that his strength

is gone.

So the fact of the matter

is,

is his great strength

was never his.

It was never his.

It was the Lord's presence

that made him strong.

It was the Lord's blessing.

It was the Lord's gift.

It was the Lord's

undeserved favor

to him

that made him strong.

He was made strong

so he would deliver Israel

and he has not done that

with his strength.

He's used his strength

to show off,

to be arrogant.

And his strength

has led him,

the blessing of God

has led him

to the belief

that he,

his world,

can never collapse.

He can never be defeated.

His plans will always work.

And the Lord's blessing

has led him

to puff himself up

in such a way

without ever understanding

that it came from the Lord,

not from him.

And the fact of the matter is,

is he is weak

like any other man.

He is frail

and mortal

like every other

human being.

And so the hair is cut,

she torments him,

then the spirit leaves,

and then we discover

the reason

is that the Lord

has left him.

And then we see

the terrible state

that his arrogance

has brought him.

Look at verse 21.

And the Philistines

seized him

and gouged out his eyes

and brought him down

to Gaza

and bound him

with bronze shackles

and he ground

at the mill

and the prison.

But the hair of his head

began to grow again

after it had been shaved.

Now once again,

the issue isn't the hair.

The issue here is,

those some of you

might remember

if you heard me

preach last week,

is that if you look

at the chapter 14 and 15,

nobody comes out

good in the stories.

The Philistines

don't come out good either.

It's not as if

this is a story

about these nasty Israelites

or this powerful Israelite

and the Philistines

are all very,

very humble and godly.

No, everybody in that story

looks terrible.

And the same thing is here.

As we're going to see,

this thing about

the hair growing long

is a bridge thing

which is what's going

to happen next

and it shows

that in fact

the Philistines

are just as arrogant

and believe

that their God

means that

they have a God

that gives them power

which means that

their world

won't collapse.

And so they can be

completely and utterly

disregarding of things

like hair.

Why?

Because,

as we're going to see

in a moment,

it's because they have

a far more powerful God

and they're far more powerful

and technologically

advanced people

and so their world

can never collapse.

They will ultimately

triumph over all

of their enemies

and this text

is a bridge

not to make you think

there's something magic

about long hair

but to show

that the arrogance

and the problem

of believing

that your world

can never collapse

is a human problem.

It's a human problem.

See what happens next.

Verses,

so Samson's humble.

Verse 23.

Now the lords

of the Philistines,

it's the same type

of idea

that I mentioned earlier

with Delilah.

It's all of the lords

and the underlords.

The lords of the Philistines

gathered

to offer a great sacrifice

to Dagon,

their God,

and to rejoice

and they said,

just by the way,

just before I read this,

you know,

you don't have to read

Christopher Hitchens

to have a great critique

of religion.

The best critique

of religion

in the world

is the Bible.

The Bible

constantly critiques

religion

and here's how

it critiques religion.

Just listen to it.

I'll read verse 23 again.

Now the lords

of the Philistines,

now the lords

of the Philistines

gathered together

to offer a great sacrifice

to Dagon,

their God,

and to rejoice.

They said,

our God

has given Samson

our enemy

into our hand.

You know,

because religion

is just used

for your own power.

That's why

they worship Dagon

because he makes

them more powerful.

They think

they're special.

Isn't that the critique

of Christopher Hitchens?

People believe

these fairy tales

about gods

but it's all about hypocrisy.

It's all about their power.

It's all about

looking down

their nose of people

and that's just

what the Bible's teaching.

It's revealing

the religious spirit,

the spiritual spirit

of the human problem.

And it's emphasized.

Look at verse 24.

And when the people

saw him,

that's Samson,

they praised their God

for they said again,

our God

has given

our enemy

into our hand.

the ravager

of our country

who has killed

many of us

and when their hearts

were merry

they said,

call Samson

that he may entertain us.

So they called Samson

out of the prison

and he entertained them

and they made him stand

between the pillars

in the very,

very central place.

So we here have

in a very subtle way

a critique

of religion.

And now we see this

once again

just as in Samson

and he meets Delilah

who's just a woman.

I mean,

this isn't being sexist

but this is just

imagine,

like just imagine

a guy who's strong enough.

Just picture the most

macho guys

you see portrayed.

A guy able to pick up

two story things

and carry them 75 kilometers.

What does he have to worry about?

A mere woman.

Smaller than him.

Weaker than him.

And we see here

that the lords

of the Philistines

do not know

that their doom

is upon them.

They see a man

who's weak

like any other man

who has had his eyes

gouged out

that they can humiliate him

in public

and they can make

merry of him

and they can laugh at him

and they do not realize

that their God

is not real

and their arrogance

is masking

the reality

that they

are weak

and frail

like every

other human being.

look what it says

verse

did I move it?

26?

Yes.

And Samson said

to the young man

who held him by the hand

let me feel the pillars

on which the house rests

that I may lean against them.

The house was full

of men and women

all the lords

of the Philistines

were there

and on the roof

there were about

3,000 men and women

who looked on

while Samson entertained.

And to try to put it

in the context of Canada

it's imagine

that you have

the cabinet

and in fact

you have the house

of commons

you have the senate

you have the supreme court

you have the privy council

you have the editors

and the owners

and the producers

of the elite media

you have the elite

academics of the country

you have the elite

business people

of the country

and those are

who are all there

and not just for Gaza

but for all five.

all five

of the centers

of Philistine power

they're all there

and their key officials

and their family

3,000 of them

all of the elites

of the elite

are all there

to mock Samson.

And now we have

this very very simple

and often very misunderstood verse.

Then Samson called

to the Lord

and said

O Lord God

please remember me

and please strengthen me

only this once

O God

that I may be avenged

on the Philistines

from my two eyes.

Now just before

I try to open

this text up

and it's not going

to be on the screen

those of you

who actually have

Bibles in your hand

turn to Hebrews chapter 11

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

Hebrews chapter 11

Hebrews 11:32

verse 32

and I haven't talked

about this at all

but it's always been

in the back of my mind

and I knew

as I was preparing these

looking through

the three stories

of Samson

that I was going

to eventually deal

with it

and probably today

and I am dealing

with it today.

Those of you

who have remembered

how I've summarized

Samson

how he uses his power

to murder innocent people

steal their clothes

wage war

how he's a despicable

human being

look at this

very very odd verse

Hebrews chapter 11

Hebrews 11:32

verse 32

and Hebrews chapter 11

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

for those of you

who don't know

the Bible very well

or you're just listening

in for the first time

because you're puzzled

about the Christian faith

Hebrews 11

is the famous chapter

on what faith is

and heroes of the faith

and look what it says

and what more shall I say

for time would fail

to tell me

he's talking about

heroes of the faith

of Gideon Barak

Samson

what?

how does he make it

on the list?

this guy who murders

innocent people

heaps on the list?

read it again

for time would fail

to tell me

to tell of Gideon Barak

Samson Jephthah

David and Samuel

and the prophets

who through faith

conquered kingdoms

enforced justice

obtained promises

stopped the mouths

of lions

quenched the power

of fire

escaped the edge

of the sword

and here's the thing

that refers to Samson

we're made strong

out of weakness

we're made strong

out of weakness

became mighty in war

put foreign armies

to flight

just go back

to the story

in Judges chapter 16

Judges 16 · chapter mention

remember I said

four times in this story

I will become weak

like any other man

he was a ladies man

nobody would think

he's a ladies man now

two eyes

gouged out

they wouldn't have

done it pretty

by the way

probably would have

just been some

big thing

to make two

gaping holes

right there

and his strength

is gone

he'd be dirty

he'd be filthy

it's an odd prayer

and people puzzle

over this thing

about his two eyes

the thing to do

when read the story

is that this isn't

the arrogant

Samson

this is Samson

filled with

melancholy

and regret

you know

for those of us

who have had

failures

and disappointments

in life

and we have

what I call

the three o'clock

and four o'clock

in the morning

moments

when we can't

sleep

because it's as if

some demonic

being

just keeps

bringing our

failures

to our attention

and that

would have been

Samson's life

for this

undisclosed

length of time

failure

failure

failure

failure

failure

failure

and now

for the first time

in the entire story

if you look again

at what he says

he calls out

to the Lord

and says

O

Yahweh

Adonai

see we only have

the word God

in Canada

but in the ancient

world

for the Jewish people

there was a general

name for God

which was Elohim

which he's going

to say in a moment

but they had a name

which was only

for Jewish people

it's

it's

not just Elohim

God in general

God in the abstract

it's Elohim

it is

my God

it is

as if

when Jesus

tells Christians

that have become

Christians

to learn to pray

to their father

in heaven

as dad

it's daddy

it's the personal

intimate

name

and for the first

time in the story

he calls out

in his weakness

in his failure

by the way

the Bible never

encourages deathbed

conversions

but this is a

very very very

powerful text

for those

who understand

themselves

to have been

a failure

no failure

no person

is so broken

so failed

such a wreck

or a ruin

that God

does not

love them

and so

Samson

wrecked

and ruined

and a failure

calls out

to the God

of the covenant

the forgotten

God

that he now

calls in a sense

as dad

you are

dad

of all

who put their

trust in you

you are the one

who desires

to be in covenant

with human beings

ordinary human beings

like me

and when we

enter into covenant

with a human being

like you

unworthy as we are

you invite us

to know you

not as God

in the abstract

or a mere force

or nature

but as dad

as God

that I know you

by name

and Adonai

means you are sovereign

I stand here

amidst

the mocking

cries

of 3,000

devotees

to an idol

who believe

that their

illusory

their idol

they believe

the illusion

and the delusion

that their idol

is actually real

and a God

and they are singing

his praises

and I am shackled

in their presence

and I have been

a failure

but you are my father

and you are in heaven

and despite

all appearances

you

are sovereign

you are

Adonai

and the word

remember

is a humble word

it's not

a word

of memory

techniques

learning how to

remember things

better

in the original

language

it's a humble

word

it's saying

have mercy upon me

and worthy as I am

that you would note

me

I have nothing

that I can bring

all I have

is failure

and all I have

is weakness

and all I have

is frailty

and you are

sovereign

but you are not

just a distant

God

you are Yahweh

you are the

God who desires

to be in covenant

with me

and as he

stands

and calls out

in such a place

to such a God

he says

I ask for justice

out of humility

he only asked

for justice

in regards

to his two eyes

how does the story

continue

verse 29

and Samson

the word grasp

is a good word

but it really just means

he's put his hands on

the two middle pillars

on which the house

rested

and he leaned

his weight against them

his right hand

on the one

and his left hand

on the other

and by the way

he would have probably

felt as he's leaning

on them

he realizes

gosh I have no strength

to knock these things over

not there

not there

he's putting his hands

on them

as a reminder

that he is like

any other human being

he is mortal

he is weak

and he is frail

and he prays again

and Samson said

let me die

with the Philistines

asking

the source of strength

for strength

it's not an argument

for doctor

assisted suicide

it's a humble

acknowledgement

that he doesn't want

to have that

superhuman

arrogant

making

delusion

that comes from

arrogance

type of power

that means

that I can knock

these pillars

down

through your strength

but somehow

or another

I will not share

the fate of

all other human beings

who are mortal

I'm not asking

for some type

of vindication

of my person

that the rocks

will hit me

but just bounce off me

and I will be able

to walk

out of the rubble

strong

and triumphant

again

he is saying

Lord

you are the source

of my strength

give me this one

strength

one time

of strength

again

and let me

die

like any

mortal

frail

human being

in the midst

of the rubble

and it has nothing

to do with his hair

verse 30

then he bowed

with all his strength

and the house

fell upon the lords

and upon all the people

who were in it

so the dead

whom he killed

at his death

were more than those

whom he had killed

during his life

and his brothers

and all his family

came down

and took him

and brought him up

and buried him

between Zerah

and Eszital

in the tomb

of Manoah

his father

he had judged

Israel 20 years

I have to wrap

things up

just a couple

of things

you know

one of the

big problems

in modern

thought

is the problem

of evil

and

people

basically

saying

how can

a good God

and an all-powerful

God

let evil

happen to people

and

the Bible

has very

very powerful

resources

to talk

about that

but it's been

pointed out

by many people

that the Bible

doesn't actually

have an argument

against the problem

the problem

of evil

it has

profound

resources

about it

you can read

Job

and in particular

you look at

Jesus

and his life

and death

and his crucifixion

and his resurrection

and you realize

there's profound

resources to think

about it

in terms of

the problem

of evil

but if you

think about it

underneath

as part of

the problem

of evil

there's in fact

a different

type of an argument

which is this

that if God

really exists

if God

really is all-powerful

he's really good

then what he should

always do

is bless us

that's what he should

do

he should bless

us

he should bless

good people

but you see

the Bible

takes

is the only

book

that very wisely

deals with

a different

problem

and that is

the problem

of blessing

you see

if you think

about it

for a second

what's happened

to Samson

is he's been

blessed and blessed

and blessed

and blessed

but what's

happened to him

is his blessing

has led to

his arrogance

his blessing

has led him

to be contemptuous

an abuser

of women

and a murderer

his blessing

has led him

to the delusional

belief

that his world

can never

collapse

his blessing

has led him

to not help

other people

or be generous

but to only

feed

his own

ego

and his own

project

and we tend

not to think

about that

but you think

about it

for a second

and I'm not

casting down

rich people

but do we

really think

that the richest

people in the world

and the most

powerful people

in the world

are the nicest

people in the world

do we really

think they're

the kindest

the gentlest

the most generous

the most

self-effacing

the most

concerned

for the good

of others

don't we

in fact

constantly

recognize

that people

with profound

gifts

have problems

of deep

arrogance

and self-centeredness

and a sense

of entitlement

isn't that

in fact

a profoundly

Canadian

problem

problem

I'm going to

make a slight

political statement

how is it

that people

think that we

can shut down

all mining

and they'll

still have

iPhones

it's the

definition

of delusion

how is it

we think

that we can

shut down

shut all gas

and still

drive cars

that is the

definition

of delusion

connected

to arrogant

entitlement

and isn't

it in fact

a regular

thing

for us

to look

in the

paper

and see

that some

beautiful

movie star

or musician

who's profoundly

rich

and profoundly

talented

and profoundly

praised

has committed

suicide

out of a

deep

inner

despair

or that you

have radio

contests

occasionally

because we

ten years

ago the

person who's

talked about

everywhere and

praised and

now we don't

even know if

they're still

alive

and only the

bible talks

about the

fact we

think that

if god only

blessed us

that would

show that

god exists

but there is

a far more

deep human

problem of

blessing

turning into

arrogance

and believing

that your

world will

never collapse

so just a

couple of

thoughts to

run through

very quickly

being blessed

with great

power

can make

you arrogant

foolish

and contemptuous

of the

triune god

who is the

source of

blessing

being blessed

with great

power can

in fact make

you arrogant

foolish and

contemptuous

of the

triune god

who is the

source of

blessing

and by

the way

one of the

characteristics of

arrogant people

is they don't

think they're

arrogant

and one of the

characteristics of

proud people

is they don't

think they're

proud

and one of the

characteristics of

entitled people

is they don't

think they're

entitled

they notice we notice arrogance and pride and entitlement in others

and are blind to it in our own lives

you see you and i easily believe that we are too powerful that you are too powerful

to collapse

one of the things that this bible is the bible text is pointing to is this

the bible wants to make us aware of the problem of mere blessing feeding our arrogance

the bible time and time and time and time again reminds us that we human beings are frail

and we are mortal

and that death comes to all

but it does not tell us these stories to depress us

but to wake us up

that we might connect with the true and living god

and so it is that we see that this jesus is the true and greater samson

that in chapter 14 verse 4 when it says that god was going to use samson to begin to deliver the

people of israel we see that he does begin to deliver the people of israel by the end of samson's

life as i talked about last week israel is once again understanding itself as distinct from the philistines

he's removed the philistine leadership and he's preparing the day for the one who will defeat philistines which is david

but then when you go and you look at the story of david you realize david has the power to defeat the philistines

but he cannot defeat his own sin and his own death and david himself points down the lines of history

to the day when he will say oh lord my lord when he acknowledges that through his line god will send one

who will look at our mortality and our frailty and our foolishness

but just as yahweh entered into the old testament people

out of love to desire to be in a relationship with us

that yahweh that god himself will send his very son to take into himself

the frailty of our human nature and as a fully human being only with and tempted in all ways as we are only without sin

that he would die upon a cross bearing all that separates us from god

that he would not come amongst us frail but never die that he would come amongst us to die

as the lamb of god who takes away the sin of the world

despised and rejected and that he would be the one who would defeat what david could not defeat

that he would be the one to defeat our sin and our arrogance

and our inability to save ourselves and death itself

and that jesus comes as god with us to be amongst us

and with us as a community and as individuals in the midst of our weakness and our frailty

and the power of the gospel is to remind us day by day that i george am weak and frail

but i have a savior who has defeated sin

and a savior who has defeated death

a savior who did this because he loves me

and as a result of my putting my faith and trust in jesus

i live in my father's world

i have a father who loves me

and who cares for me

and a savior who will walk with me through the valley of the shadow of death

and even into death and beyond

to be in life with the father

and it is the father's world

and the gospel is there to both constantly humble me

as it grips me

and constantly reassure me

that my life does not depend upon me being strong and powerful enough

so that my world will never collapse

but that the final word about me is

welcome into my kingdom my beloved son

whom i've loved you and saved you out of my love

not weighing your merits but pardoning your offenses

and i will i have never left you

i have never abandoned you

i have never forsaken you

i never will

welcome

the lord takes no delight in the death of a sinner

he delights when you turn and call on him

to redeem you as his own

and in the real world

the triune god is present powerful active sovereign

and never needs a contingency plan

and that's how the gospel invites us to live

in a world

that has a lot of fear

to live

knowing that the triune god

he never has a contingency plan

nothing catches him by surprise

he's always working on plan a

and that little

weak

frail

mortal

me

and little

weak

mortal

frail

you

when you reach your hand out

to such a god

in the name of jesus

and you cannot possibly reach him

he can reach you

and he will take your hand

and he will never let you go

he will hold your hand

through all your trials

and all your temptations

and all your success

and all your failure

and he

will never

let you go

to the moment of your death

and beyond

his hand

is life

and it is offered

to you

invite you to stand

let's bow our heads in prayer

father

thank you for your word

thank you that you

confront us

like samson

with our mortality

our weakness

our frailty

that you confront us

of our arrogance

and of our delusion

not to humiliate us

not to shame us

not

to make us

live as defeated

human beings

but to help us

to wake up

to who we are

and who you are

that you are real

that you are true

that you are mighty

that you are strong

that you are just

that you are good

that you are the source

of blessing

and that you bless us

by redeeming us

despite ourselves

and making us

your children

when any person

calls out to you

like samson

that you will be their god

that jesus will be their savior

and you never turn anyone away

and we thank you father

for this

and we ask

if there's any who are here

any listening to this online

or listening to it

later on audio

that

the holy spirit father

that they will give in

to the holy spirit

and allow you

to grab them

and take their hand

so that they will know

jesus as their savior

and you as their father

in heaven

and we ask father

that you do a mighty work

in us

that we live

not out of fear

but out of faith

that you are the sovereign god

you hold our hands

and will never let us go

day by day

and all god's people said

amen