Considering the Coming Conflict Judges 15:1-20

When I was in my freshman biology class, ninth

grade, which I had heard we would do things like

bisect frogs and stuff like that, I wasn't super

excited about that class because I really didn't

like the idea of cutting apart animals. But in

the very first days of that class, my biology

teacher told me something that has served me

ever since. And it is that when scientists look

at an organism to determine whether or not it

is alive, they have a set of criteria that they

use to say this thing is alive or not. So look

at it under a microscope. If it meets certain

criteria, it takes cells, scrape off skin, whatever.

If it meets certain criteria, then they say that

is a living organism. And if it doesn't meet

those criteria, they say that is not a living

organism. And there are a lot of things on the

earth that you might mistake. as alive but they

don't meet certain of those criteria so technically

they're not living organisms one of those rules

i don't think it's the seventh one there are

now seven by the way when i was in high school

to tell you how old i am there were five determinations

of whether a thing is alive now there are seven

one of those rules is whether or not a thing

responds to its environment so what it experiences

if you poke it does it Does it bounce back? Does

it change shape? Does it do something? Not just

is it pushed, poked out of shape, whatever. Like,

say, Play -Doh, you poke it, it'll sit out of

shape, and slowly it'll bounce back a little

bit, right? But Play -Doh is clearly not alive

because it doesn't meet many of the other criteria.

But if you took a cell and you put it under a

microscope and you poke it, does it recoil? Does

it respond? Does it run away from what it perceives

as a threat? Does it reshape itself or reorganize

itself around that? So I don't understand quite

why it is as people that we think that we can

do whatever and that there will be no response

or reaction from other people. But that a lot

of times is the case. People are not going to

just continue on and not respond if we do something

that affects them because they are alive. Also

bear in mind that as we look at this text that

as Christians, we often pray for peace. So we

see peace as this. this situation where nothing

is really affecting us or changing us or hurting

us or causing us to respond. So a lot of times

we pray for peace, and we pray for peace certainly

in the world. We want wars to cease, that kind

of thing. A lot of times we seek peace. We go

after it. We'll try to make peace with somebody.

We'll try not to be around somebody who is causing

us stress or agitation. We might even isolate

to get away from an environment or a situation

that we don't like. And we pursue peace. So we

look for how we can find a road of peace. so

that people will not respond negatively or aggressively

towards us. But scripture repeatedly teaches

us that there are times when conflict or when

this war, like fighting back, responding in kind

of a harsh way is necessary. It's got to happen.

We're not looking for trouble, but the reality

is that God's people are going to encounter trouble.

And I don't just mean suffering or trials. We

know that that's true. But also, that there's

going to be a time where you have to stand up,

you have to remain firm, or you have to fight

back. What that exactly looks like for a Christian

is different than what it looks like for the

world, because there are a lot of avenues that

you can go down when you're fighting back against

something that you don't like. If you're an unbeliever,

if you're not saved, you're not limited by what

God would consider sin, that we just can't do.

There are things that we just don't do. So as

we look at the story of Samson, and I told you

previously that this... This structure of this

section, the whole section about Samson, which

really spans three chapters, seriously, of the

book of Judges, is a chiastic structure. That

means it's got one big piece, like a pillar,

like I think of it like a sandwich, like a piece

of bread, and then it's got some stuff in the

middle, and it's got another piece of bread,

right? And everything that we've done so far

is leading up to the piece of bread, and we're

actually going to take our first bite today.

We're going to see the whole piece of bread,

and then we're going to see the whole piece of

meat. But then we're going to come back in two

weeks and we're going to digest the meat. We're

going to look more. thoroughly at it and figure

out what it means to us. And then from that point

on, we'll be on the second piece of bread and

down throughout the rest of Samson's story, okay?

So we are today headed up to, and we'll have

that whole first piece of bread, that whole pillar

that supports the story of Samson. So that's

an exciting time for us as we've been looking

at Samson. Those of you who haven't been with

us, it's okay because this stands alone for sure,

all right? So grab your Bibles if you would.

We do usually hoot, holler, amen. Let me know

you're there as we go to Judges chapter 15. Thank

Judges 15 · chapter mention

you very much. I appreciate it. This is the word

of the Lord. So as we know, the state of affairs,

the Philistines have essentially been ruling

over the Israelites. That is not the way it was

meant to be. God's people were told that they

would rule this land. They found themselves sharing

it with the Philistines, and then they basically

allowed the Philistines to be up over on top

of them and be in charge. The Philistines have

set the rules for a while now, and God's people

have drifted pretty far from the model that God

had set forth from them. So this will be done

in a little bit different way. I'm going to read

the text, but as I read the text, I'm going to

stop and give you the main point that comes out

of that section and talk about it a little bit.

I'll try to remember at the end to remind you

of what the points were. But if I don't, I do

encourage you to take notes. Also, this will

be in the podcast and online on Facebook. If

you need, for some reason, you go, hey, wait,

he said something and I really need it. You need

to hear it again. It's there. OK, so it begins

in Judges chapter 15, verse one. It says, but

Judges 15 · chapter mention

after a while in the time of wheat harvest, it

came about that Samson visited his wife with

a young goat and said, I will go into my wife

in her room. Now, normally. Out of context, that

doesn't sound like any big deal, right? He's

taking a goat home. He's going home to be with

his wife. But what we recall, or what you will

recall in a moment if you don't already, is that

this occurs immediately following the whole episode

where Samson blew up during his wedding week.

So they have not consummated their marriage.

He left before that final day in which he would

go in with her and consummate their marriage.

But in their culture, even in the culture of

the Philistines, it was considered that they

were married. Actually, from the moment that

they were betrothed, it was considered that they

were married. So the moment that they arranged

for her to marry Samson, from that moment on,

she was considered his wife. And so he could,

from that moment on, have at any time consummated

his marriage with her. And so he still has a

complete right to do that. And so he's thinking,

I'm just going to go home to my wife. But what

had happened was he had gone and killed 30 Philistines

to pay the debt because his wife had tricked

him out of the answer to the riddle, which really

ticked him off. She begged him and bothered him

until he gave her the answer to the riddle. And

then she gave the answer to her Philistine friends,

or her father's friends, really, that were brought

to Samson's wedding. and they couldn't answer

the riddle. And because of that, Samson had a

huge debt he had to pay. To pay the debt, he

went and killed 30 guys, took their stuff, and

that's how he paid the debt. And he killed 30

Philistines. We know that this is all part of

God's plot to bring Samson and the Israelites

into conflict with the Philistines. And if I

may say it this way, without it being a topic

of the sermon, it was never meant to be that

the Philistines would rule over God's people.

They should have already been in conflict with

the Philistines the whole time. But they have

become comfortable with the Philistines ruling

over top of them. And God is working a plan to

put that to an end, which he said he would do

through Samson. So now, with that context, we

go, wow, this is a little weird. So this is what

I'm seeing. There's a wedding. A bad series of

events occurs. Samson loses it. He is ticked.

And he has every right to be, to a degree. And

he rushes out to go pay his debt. He goes down

to another Philistine city. Ascalon, I think

it was. And he kills 30 men, takes the wealth

from them, and comes back and pays his debt.

And then he leaves. He doesn't go into his wife

to consummate his marriage. He leaves. Now, out

of the blue, the wheat harvest comes up, and

he's like, I'm going to go be with my wife. Isn't

that a little weird? Like, he's expecting that

nothing has changed. That he blew up, destroyed

the house, right? In fact, he probably risked

the life of his wife and her father when he did

that. It's pretty bad stuff. And now he thinks

that she's going to come back with a goat and

lay with his wife. That's a little weird. But

her father did not let him enter. And her father

said, I really thought that you hated her intensely.

I mean, the way he reacted. So now her dad was

thinking, well, that's it for their marriage.

It's over. So I gave her to your companion. Is

not her younger sister more beautiful than she?

So he goes straight from saying, and that word,

their companion, by the way, could be best man.

But remember that the whole wedding party and

all the guests at that party were drawn out from

the Philistines, not from the Israelites. So

probably not an Israelite, right? But it says,

her father said, I really thought you hated her

intensely, so I gave her to your companion. And

that person could have been the best man. And

that was a thing back in the day. If a man asked

a woman to marry him and then backed out, the

best man would be culturally expected to step

in and take over his obligations, even though

he never asked her to marry him. That has died

in our society, as has the rule that if you ask

a woman to marry you and then you bail out, you

have to pay alimony. That also has died. Right.

That went away in the 60s. But it used to be

like that. If you ask a woman to marry you, she

said yes. And then you decided not to marry her.

You still had to pay alimony. United States.

Right. But that's gone away now. And so has the

best man being required to be the husband. That

also has gone away. That went away a lot long

time before the 1960s. OK, so the best man or

whoever he was is now married to Samson's wife.

Which you can pretty much means he's, you know,

doing the deed with her. He's consummated the

marriage. It's been settled, right? And so the

dad says, we're not going to go back on that.

But look at her younger sister. So he is making

a concession here. He's giving Samson what he

promised Samson, which was a wife. And he says,

isn't she more beautiful? You can get an even

better deal out of this. Instead of taking the

older sister, take the younger sister. Isn't

she pretty good looking? Please let her be yours

instead. So he's trying to make peace with Samson.

Now, first of all, in our culture, that's really

creepy, right? That all of a sudden, she doesn't

know this is coming. There's no love involved

here. This is just like, you can't have the older

sister because I gave her away to somebody else.

Take the younger sister. Isn't she hot? That's

messed up. We would never do a thing like that.

But in that culture, especially the Philistine

culture, not necessarily in the Israelite culture,

right? Remember, they follow false gods. They

have laws and rules that do not make sense by

our standard of justice, all right? Please take

her. Samson then said to them, this time I shall

be blameless in regard to the Philistines when

I do them harm. See, he says, no, I have been

treated unjustly. My wife has now been given

to another man. I had every right to her. And

legally, that's true. He also should not have

acted the way he acted, but legally he had every

right to her. And so he has been wronged and

he's going to take his revenge. Notice there

it says, this time I shall be blameless in regard

to the Philistines when I do them harm. And that

word there, do them harm, is ra 'ah. And if there's

anybody in the room who recognizes this phrase,

where there's a movie, series and a movie, where

it says, I... that I like called Serenity, where

there's a line where he says, I aim to misbehave,

right? And he's always been kind of like staying

under the radar and they've been smuggling and

staying out of trouble and everything. And now

he aims to go after those who have hurt them,

right? That's what ra 'ah in the Hebrew means.

It means I'm going to cause trouble. I'm going

to bring wrath. I'm going to disregard caution

to do hurt, right? And that's what he says. So

this time I shall be blameless in regard to the

Philistines when I do to them. what wrath does.

And Samson went and caught 300 foxes and took

torches and turned the foxes tail to tail and

put one torch in the middle between two tails.

Now that word in another translation might be

jackals there, but he gets these little dog fox

animals that are wild and nasty and crazy, and

he ties them tail to tail, puts the torches in

the middle. So you can imagine what that's going

to be like. They're going to be all over. trying

to disconnect from each other, and now they have

flaming torches, and they're going to set everything

on fire that they run into that's flammable.

And he sets them off in the fields. In verse

5 it says, When he had set fire to the torches,

he released the foxes, or jackals, into the standing

grain of the Philistines, thus burning up both

the shocks and the standing grain, along with

the vineyards and the groves. These foxes set

a fire that destroys. countrywide devastation,

not just one person's stuff. We're talking about

a devastation that now threatens the populace

of the Philistines. Okay. All right. So we've

made it through verses one to five. So conflict

often begins with what seems reasonable. All

right. So this is what we're doing. Well, this

makes sense to me. They did this to me. So I'm

going to do this back to them. And it makes sense.

It's justice. Not talking about vengeance. Vengeance

is another thing. Sometimes vengeance seems reasonable.

Somebody did something to me, I'm going to hurt

them bad, right? That's so bad, vengeance now

seems reasonable. We're not talking about vengeance.

It's definitely not. OK, we're not talking about

vengeance. OK, we're talking about just a reasonable

reaction to what somebody has done. Remember,

I said being alive indicates that there would

be a reason to poke the cell. If it responds

reasonably, it's probably alive. If it doesn't,

it's not. And so as a people, we expect that

it's acceptable. for us to respond reasonably

to whatever someone does to us. There's an old

story that we don't tell very much in America

anymore about an ancient feud that took place

down in West Virginia along the Ohio border and

like that between the Hatfields and the McCoys.

And they had cousins and uncles and brothers

and sisters, and it just went on and on and on.

Now, we make it out to be that something was

happening like every day, but it actually lasted

over years, and it wasn't like that at all. months

or years went by with nothing actually happening

but there was bad blood between them and then

when something would happen the other side would

do something that was considered to be revenge

or payback reasonable payback for what had happened

and then the first side would not right away

react they might wait months or years and then

they would react back and do something and it

would go back and forth and back and forth until

eventually it erupted into a shootout but there

was only one shootout like the whole time it

wasn't for me it wasn't like That was what was

ongoing. They were warring with each other. Because

if that kind of thing breaks out, so many people

die, the wars die out, right? If wars go against

each other in the Cold War in the U .S., if we

started nuking Russia, they started nuking us,

pretty soon the war would be over because there

wouldn't be anybody left, right? So a Cold War

happens where we're killing your agents, and

then we're doing just enough, and we're doing

just enough, and no war is ever declared. And

that's what happened to the Heckels and the Coys

because they had reasonable actions that anyone

would think was reasonable. That's how conflict

usually builds. The Philistines thought they

were being reasonable. Her dad said, well, he

obviously hates her now, so I'm going to give

her the best man. That's my right in my religion

and my culture legally is my right to do that.

But then he's confronted and he realizes, ah,

maybe I should have found out for sure if he

was really done with her. So he said, well, I'll

offer you my younger daughter. So he was trying

to make amends, but there was no amends to be

made because that was Samson's wife and he gave

her away. Somebody else took her. And I can tell

you for a fact that anybody who does anything

to my wife, we're going to have a real problem

where I'm going to be probably out of control,

right? Because that's my wife, right? And the

only way I'm going to be under any kind of control

is if God does a miracle in that moment, which

I hope he will, but look out, okay? So Samson

thinks that he's being perfectly reasonable to

respond to what they're doing, even so far as

he says, no one could consider me unreasonable

to do what I'm about to do. And he uses that

word Ra 'aj. He says, I'm going to go out of

my way to do something incredible, a miraculous

thing. And then the language where it talks about

that he gathered all those foxes or jackals together

talks about a miracle of strength that for him

was easy. The language in there talks about he

did this in a few hours. You know what it takes

to catch 300 of any kind of animal? A rat. You

go to a warehouse that's got a thousand rats

in it. It'll take you serious labor with cages

and nets and efforts and sweat and maybe blood,

right? And for him, it was easy. So this was

a miraculous act on behalf of Samson to do something

that he considered to be reasonable to cause

ra 'ah, which is devastating distress to the

Philistine people. And he considered it a reasonable

action. These reasonable actions oftentimes arise

out of our idea of what wisdom is. So we think

this just makes sense. The Hebrew concept behind

evil carries the idea of aiming toward distress,

trouble, or wrath. That means if what you consider

to be reasonable is actually distress, trouble,

or wrath toward that person, it's still evil,

right? And so this action is still a bad action,

even though it's reasonable that he does something.

And even though God has said that he will use

Samson to do something, to fight, it's nothing

that's straightforward. Women and children are

now probably going to starve because of what

Samson does. And be women and children that have

no idea. about Samson that even exists or his

wife, right? This is why in wartime, it's okay

to kill soldiers. It is not okay to bomb hospitals,

right? And that's what he just did. He's bombing

hospitals. He's saying this is reasonable. It

is definitely an escalation, even though he considers

it to be reasonable. People convince themselves

that because they have a reason, they must be

right. But having a reason and having righteousness

are two different things. So you may say I have

a reason. The road to conflict often follows

a predictable path. We look at, am I justified?

Is it okay that I do this? Do I have a reason

to do this? And then we take that as activation.

Okay, I'm going to do it. I'm doing it. I'm taking

it on now. And then we do vindication after the

fact. We say, see, I was right. I knew I was

right the whole time. It was okay for me to do

that. We justify. We act. We convince ourselves

that it was right the whole time. And then we

do the thing over again. We do it again. Somebody

else does something we don't like. We justify.

We activate. We vindicate, right? Except guess

what everyone else is doing? Justifying, activating,

and vindicating, right? And when they justify,

activate, and vindicate, it triggers your justification,

activation, and vindication. And the process

spirals up until it becomes a conflict that is

outside what is reasonable. The truth is the

moment you justified your action, it was probably

a conflict that was outside what was reasonable.

Just like there should have been conflict with

the Philistines. In fact, To some degree, you

can say there already was, right? Because the

Philistine gods were invading Israelite worship.

So there was a conflict taking place, but they

were trying to pretend that there wasn't. We

convince ourselves that we were right all along,

and then we repeat the whole process. Years ago,

I heard about a homeowner who noticed a tiny

crack in the foundation. It seemed small, wasn't

a big deal, didn't affect the value of the house.

Rather than repairing the crack, they just kind

of like explained it away. No big deal. Not something

you really got to worry about right now. I'll

get around to it. But then later, when the wall

shifted and the house went from being worth market

value to almost worthless, the crack turned out

to be pretty much important, right? Now, you

and I could sit here and say, well, it would

be reasonable to be concerned about the crack

because you could lose your house value. But

at the same time, I submit to you that same homeowner

was. using justification, activation, and vindication,

thinking about the fact that they were okay,

to do all kinds of other things. They were fighting

with their co -workers. They were watching TV

or flipping the channel when they didn't like

what they were seeing. Or they were doing all

kinds of things. They were eating out. They were

traveling. I have a stressful job. I need a vacation.

They were buying birthday presents. They were

bored to stay. I surely have to do that. And

all the while that they were having all these

worldly reasons to do all these worldly things

that need to be done, many of them, they were

ignoring the crap. The crack was a sign. It was

a step. It didn't have to yield a certain result.

But the refusal to deal with it then became the

real problem. So should we justify, activate,

and vindicate? Should we be doing things that

are right? Yes. But there must be a standard

that goes beyond someone did something to me

to determine when I should act. There must be

a standard that goes beyond I like this or I

didn't like this to determine what I should do.

There has to be a better standard than that.

So many conflicts begin with small offenses that

people justify instead of addressing them. So

I'm saying to you then, be careful when your

favorite phrase becomes, let me explain why I

did this or why I had to do this. Or when you

make an excuse for why you don't act. Not every

explanation is a justification before God. The

truth is, by the time you have to explain why

you did something, you probably already have

a problem. I was talking with my daughter, Ariana.

And she's having a weird situation occur at school

where they ask her on a regular basis in various

things. I imagine it's probably because they're

trying to shape her and whatever. But they ask

her what she's going to be when she grows up.

Now, she's just turned 12 this last week. And

you would think, well, 12 -year -olds probably

have dreams and aspirations of what they're going

to grow up. And she said at least five or six

times this year they did some kind of a project

at school and asked her what she's going to be

when she grows up. And I said, so what did you

say? And she said, well, it's a dumb question.

It's not really a right question. And I said,

okay, why not? And she said, because I want to

be whatever God wants me to be. And so then I

tell them, I say, well, I want to be whatever

God wants me to be. And they say, well, what

does God say you should be when you grow up?

And I say, he hasn't told me yet. And then they

get mad or they just move on and ignore me after

that. And so the question is not whether you

have a reason. or a want or a desire to do things,

but what does God say about the thing? The question

is whether God approves the reason that you have.

Note, if the reason that you do whatever you're

doing causes you to fail to do something that

God called you to do, then the reason will always

be wrong. Let me say that again. If whatever

reason you have to do what you're doing causes

you to fail to do what it is that God would have

you to do, whatever good thing you're supposed

to be doing, then it's sin. And it can never

be right, no matter how reasonable you think

it is, no matter if you can pick a verse out

of the Bible and get it to support your decision.

But if God has you doing a thing, if he's telling

you to do something, and you look in your Bible

and you say, oh, this is reason to do something

other than what God is telling me to do, then

you are either A, misinterpreting it, or B, misusing

it, or C, just outright unreasonable as far as

God is concerned. It could be borderline insanity.

In our world, we have three pleas legally in

court. I've gone to traffic court a number of

times. Several times I went to traffic court

for a ticket, but I didn't actually speed. I

wasn't speeding or I was only speeding by like

three mile an hour. They said I was doing 15,

20 mile an hour over or whatever, which wasn't

true. So in traffic court, you can plead guilty.

That means, yep, I did it. I'll pay the fines,

you know, throw myself on the mercy of the court.

You can plead not guilty. That means, no, I did

not do it. So I'm going to fight this tooth and

nail to the end and I'm going to try to be found

guilty, not guilty. And the last one is called

no contest. No contest means you're not going

to argue with the verdict, whatever it is. You

just, whatever the court says is fine based on

the facts and evidence, whatever it says, except

that's not actually it. That's what we call it,

but that's not actually the plea. The actual

plea is no contest with an explanation because

everybody wants to explain why they did what

they did. And so it's a lot more palatable to

take. the plea no contest with an explanation

and tell the judge why you were driving 20 mile

an hour or the wrong way on a one -way street

or why you left the scene of an accident. So

people say, well, yeah, I'll do no contest with

an explanation because I do have a good reason

and surely the judge will have lenience on me

for the good reason that I have. See, we all

think we have a good reason. I'm here to tell

you that there is a set of reasons. There is

a reason, really, that God has, and he is the

one we want to listen to. Remember that most

conflict arises out of that whole process where

we all think we're being reasonable, and it leads

us to a certain place. That's what was happening

in this story. All right, continuing on in the

text then. Verse 6 says this, Then the Philistines

said, Who did this? And they said, Samson. the

son -in -law of the Timnite. Notice that even

the Philistines are talking like Samson is married

to that woman that that guy gave to another guy,

right? They called him the son -in -law of the

Timnite. So he's added himself to some degree

to that family because he took his wife. That's

his father -in -law took his wife and gave her

to his companion. So they're recognizing that

as a sinful thing to do, to take his wife and

give them to somebody else. So the Philistines

came up and burned her and her father with fire.

That's the end of them. They burned that man

alive who took Samson's wife and gave him away.

And they burned Samson's wife. Now, this is a

problem in my mind right away, right? Because

how does Samson feel about that woman? He's pretty

emotionally attached to her, right? And so it's

probably not going to go good from here on out.

Verse 7, And Samson said to them, Since you act

like this, I will surely take revenge on you,

but after that I will quit. See, he's still couching

his revenge in being reasonable. Also, he thinks

in there, notice, that he's going to take revenge

and then they're not going to do anything. He's

saying, if you stop, I'll stop. I'm going to

hurt you really bad. But after that, if you stop,

I'll stop. You see that in high school. There'd

be like a fight going on and somebody hits somebody.

I'm going to hit you back. But then after that,

I'll quit. And then they hit him back. And then

the other person's going to hit them back. You

hit me back again, I'm going to hit you again.

And it would go back and forth, right? Now I'm

going to hit you one more time and it's going

to quit. And nobody remembers, see, like it's

an even number. Like there's seven punches in,

you know. All of that is not where God wants

us to be. He says, I'll take revenge on you.

But after that, I will quit. And he struck them

ruthlessly with a great slaughter. And he went

down and lived in the cleft of the rock of the

town. And so now he kills a whole bunch of Philistines

and he runs away. Now, that's interesting. That

word there, great slaughter, in the Hebrew is

a really neat word. It talks about having your

knee on your enemy's thigh. It comes from wrestling.

So if you're a wrestler or a football player

or something like that, you might kind of understand

that concept. If you have completely defeated

your enemy to the point that your knee has him

pinned on the ground and your knee is on his

thigh pressing him to the ground, that's the

word that's used there. That's what Samson did

to them in that moment. So if he had his knee

on their thigh, why did he run to the Rock of

the Tom? If he had them thoroughly and utterly

defeated in that moment, why did he run? Verse

9 says, Then the Philistines went up and they

camped in Judah. In other words, they gather

an army together. They're going to stand up against

Judah now. And they spread out in Lehi. And the

men of Judah said, Why have you come up against

us? And they said, We've come up to bind Samson

in order to do to him as he did to us. So they're

going to punish Samson and they get an army together

and they're going to go up against Judah, the

tribe of Judah, in order to get Samson. Verse

11 says, Then 3 ,000 men of Judah went down to

the cleft of the rock of the town and said to

Samson, Do you not know that the Philistines

are rulers over us? What then is this that you

have done to us? And he said to them, As they

did to me. So I have done to them. And they said

to him, we've come down to bind you so that we

may give you into the hands of the Philistines.

And Samson said to them, swear to me that you

will not kill me. So he says to these 3 ,000

men who come against him, remember, they're Israelites.

This is God's people. These are not his enemies

in theory, except what they're doing is very

enemy -like, right? So they're going to bind

him and give him to the Philistines. So he says,

when you tie me up, if I let you tie me up, swear

to me that you won't kill me. Now verse 13. So

they said to him, No, but we will bind you fast

and give you into their hands. Yet surely we

will not kill you. Then they bound him with two

new ropes and brought him up from the rock. So

the Philistines retaliate. They come up with

an army. They murder his father -in -law and

his wife. Samson retaliates. The conflict grows.

Something unexpected happens. Samson's own people

show up to arrest him. They bind him with his

permission. And then they deliver him into the

hands of the Philistines. His own people facilitate

the conflict. Why does Samson's people, who should

be out from underneath the Philistines, come

to him, 3 ,000 men, to tie him up and turn him

over to the Philistines? It's all out of the

fact that they have become comfortable living

under... and you can put in worldly or idolatrous

domination. They would rather have that kind

of bondage than to fight for their freedom. And

unfortunately, this is the state of affairs in

the United States of America and across the world,

and also to some degree the state of affairs

in the church. We are called to stand up and

be free. And yet, we are more comfortable with

all of these images and messages and thought

-provoking things being pushed on us. As I was

writing this, I had a prompt, and then I had

a little vision. I had a vision of a man in his

30s, and he was arrested for doing something

that wasn't even illegal. He was being persecuted

by the government, and he was thrown in jail,

locked up in a cell. He was in there for about

a year, came back out, went back about his way

doing what he wanted to do. Eventually, he crossed

the government again. He's arrested. He was thrown

in jail. This time, they kept him in jail for

like five years. He became pretty comfortable

in there, safe, still doing things, but locked

away from the world. Finally, they let him go.

After five years, he comes out feeling a little

nervous, but he's got to live. So he goes out

and starts living. He gets in trouble with the

government again. They throw him in there for

10 years this time. So now he's spent 16 years

of his life in the cell. At the end of the 10

years, they go to let him out. The guard unlocks

the door and opens it, and he grabs the door,

and he pulls it forcefully shut, and he holds

it, and he will not allow them to let him out

of the cell. I submit to you that that is how

people have become. I get it. That things come

up in your rearview mirror. Things come up and

you fail. You fall down. You make mistakes. People

say things that hurt you. Things that you feel

like you need to react to. Like that. Freedom

sounds good until it requires change. You want

to be free, but you don't always want to be in

church. You don't always want to do the disciplined

things that God is. Fasting? Pastor Dan's talking

about going without food or going without TV

or going without sugar or going without something

that whatever God leads me to. That's crazy.

I don't want to do that. That's part of being

free. Jesus said, for those who believe in me,

he said this to the Jews who were following,

if you believe in me, come follow me and then

you will know the truth and the truth will set

you free. Jesus came that we might be free and

to be free, you're going to have to be different

because the world is not free. Sometimes opposition

comes from enemies, but sometimes it's going

to come from your own family. Consider your actions

and whether you might be doing this very thing

to people in your family. And if so, repent and

turn to the Lord. Sometimes opposition comes

from fellow believers in the church. Realize

this is part of God's plan. If you come here

and you make this your church, I will guarantee

you, it's not because I want it to be so, but

I will guarantee you that at some point in time,

you're going to run afoul of someone else's personality.

Are you with me? It goes wrong sometimes. It's

supposed to, because that's how when we stand

up together being different, that's how we grow.

That's how we become strong. That's how we overcome.

Sometimes the people who should stand beside

you, those 3 ,000 men should have gathered with

Samson and they might have shaken off the yoke

of the entire Philistine nation. He'd already

wiped out huge amounts of crops. You know who

suffers the worst when huge amounts of crops

are wiped out? Armies. Huge masses of men that

can't go farm or do anything to feed themselves.

And then they have to go into the land. They

forage. And then the people of the land, they're

taking my stuff. And the nation falls apart.

Samson had already wiped out their supply line.

Now he's dealt them a huge military loss. And

3 ,000 Judah guys come up to arrest him to turn

him over to the Philistines. Instead of going,

we're with you. Let's get this done. Sometimes

people in your life, instead of being your greatest

supporter where they're supposed to be, they're

actually going to be dragging you into the conflict,

which looks like an evil act. But it isn't. And

Samson realizes that. Notice he didn't say, no,

I will not let you arrest me. No, I will not

let you bind me. He doesn't say that. Samson

realizes that God is using the men of Judah to

facilitate his conflict with the Philistines

that needs to happen. Do not be surprised when

God uses uncomfortable circumstances to break

through your comfortable compromises. When you've

been staying up too late or eating too much or

spending your money in a wrong way or talking

ways that you should not. And God puts you in

an uncomfortable circumstance so you can realize.

Something has to change. We've all accepted a

little too much compromise in our lives. Too

many things have gone unconfronted, and the time

has come. God is ready. The call is to victory,

not consumption or conforming. The rest of the

text then, 14 to 17, says, When he came to Lehi,

the Philistines shouted as they met him, Yeah,

we got him now! And the Spirit of God came upon

him mightily. God said, Oh, they think they got

you. But I'm the one that's got you. So that

the ropes that were on his arms were as flax

that is burned with fire. And his bonds dropped

from his hands. Notice, we always make it out

that Samson's a really strong dude and that's

why he could never be bound. But did it say anything

about Samson breaking the ropes? It did not.

The ropes fell from his arms. Now later... In

the later part of the story, he does break the

ropes, and there may be some significance in

that. But the bonds fall from his hands, and

he found a fresh, that word there is important,

fresh jawbone of a donkey, so that he reached

out and took it and killed a thousand men with

it. Now, it's important because there is a weapon

that is made out of the jawbone of a donkey,

and it looks like a hand axe. But it is not made

out of a fresh jawbone of a donkey, and you might

imagine why. Because fresh bone is soft, right?

So they would take this bone, dry it out, coat

it, and make an axe out of it. But he took it

while it was still fresh from a donkey and he

killed a thousand men with it. Then Samson said,

with the jawbone of a donkey, heaps upon heaps,

with the jawbone of a donkey, I have killed a

thousand men. Glory to Samson, essentially, he

says. Then in verse 17 it says, and it came about

when he had finished speaking that he threw the

jawbone from his hand and he named that place

Ramah Lehi, which is basically The end of the

jawbone of a donkey, right? The place of the

jawbone of a donkey, right? So that brings us

through verse 17. Samson arrives there bound

before the enemy. You might even say he looks

defeated. Some of us look defeated. The battle

appears finished before it begins. Then the spirit

of the Lord comes upon him. The ropes fall away.

The jawbone becomes a weapon. The prisoner becomes

the victor. The short song Samson composed makes

it sound like it was Samson's strength that brought

the victory. Ah, that hurts a little bit. But

the real difference was actually God's presence.

This victory is God's. And that's the way it

goes sometimes. You might be facing something

in your life. You might be facing something in

your life and you feel like, I am defeated. I

don't understand how I can win this fight. I

don't understand how I'm going to get past this.

I don't even know what reasonable actions would

look like at this point, right? And all that

matters is that God is there with you. And then

God will make out of that situation whatever

he wants to make out of that situation. And if

you apply yourself and your mighty strength and

you have it, your great intelligence and you

do have it, as I look around the screen, you're

like, well, I'm not that educated. You have great

intelligence. You have great capability to create,

to change the world. You're an awesome creation

of God. And you apply all of that. and do it,

and then take the glory for yourself, then you've

got a real problem. God never asks us to trust

in our own strength. It does not matter that

Samson was the strongest man alive. It will not

matter that Solomon is the wisest man alive,

right? And it doesn't matter that Saul is tall

and handsome and strong. Those things do not

matter in the end outcome. Rather, God is asking

us to trust his strength. To see the need for

dependence. And that moment is coming where he's

going to teach Samson that. And it is the culmination

of the piece of bread of the sandwich that we

are learning about today. Too many believers,

and that could be us, spend their lives staring

at ropes. You think, I am bound. I cannot. I

have this weakness. I have this failure. My anxiety

holds me back. My doubt holds me back. My lack

of being able to speak well holds me back. Et

cetera, et cetera, et cetera. All of that. Those

are all lies. God can use whatever you are, hot

mess, messed up, got nothing. He can use whatever

you are to do amazing things. In fact, you will

see if you look into history that God has almost

always used the screw up over the glorious great

guy almost every single time. So if you're a

screw up like me, I say that again, if you're

a screw up like me, God could do something amazing

through you. Whereas if you're a glorious, incredible.

inventor, scientist, billionaire already or whatever,

some pretty extreme things are going to happen

for God to even be able to use you. It is difficult

for a rich man to come into the kingdom of God.

But for us, for normal people, your circumstances

might be real. Your opposition could be like

right in your face. But God is greater than your

circumstances and greater than your opposition.

The last three verses, 18, 19, and 20. And we're

almost done with just the conclusion. 18, 19,

and 20. Then, Samson, he became very thirsty

and he called to the Lord and said, thou has

given great deliverance by the hands of thy servant.

And now shall I die of thirst and fall into the

hands of the uncircumcised? But God split the

hollow place that is in Lehi so that water came

out of it. When he drank, the strength returned

and he revived. Therefore, he named it En -Hakor,

which is in Lehi to this day. And we'll hold

verse 20 for just a second. No, we won't. I'm

just going to read it. So, He, that's Samson,

judged Israel. He becomes the leader of Israel

from that point on, 20 years in the days of the

Philistine. And that's the meat. So we won't

hang there a lot today, but I want you to see

the transition between what we've been looking

at and 20 today. There it is. Samson wins a remarkable

victory, and then he nearly dies of thirst. That

could happen to you. You could go in and do something

incredible, and right after it, have nothing

left and just be like, I did something so amazing

and now I've got nothing. It happens on a number

of times. The spirit, when I'm preaching, I really

feel God moving. I feel the spirit speaking through

me today and I'm grateful for that. And then

I'll go home like two hours later and it's like,

oh, I've got nothing left. And usually it's when

I'm not walking the way I'm supposed to be walking,

when my heart and mind are not in the right place.

God wants to use you and he does not want to

leave you in a place where you're so thirsty

that you're going to die, where you're so used

up that you feel your skin and bones. But Samson,

after winning this remarkable, vitriol almost

dies of thirst he pens a song about himself and

how awesome he is and then almost dies of thirst

one moment he's like dealing death blows to a

thousand men with a fresh jawbone of a donkey

and the next he can't supply his own basic needs

god provides water why does god do that god only

promised that samson would go so far in the prophecy

of his birth only said that samson would go so

far as to start casting off the yoke of the philistines

and that has now been accomplished right so does

god need to spare samson does god need to give

him water he's already done everything his whole

life task has been fulfilled based on the promises

that god made and that could be you or i right

you save one person you share a gospel with them

you've done everything you really you fight some

evil spirits you win you cast out demons you

could be done at that point god could let you

go and you could languish you could just starve

to death at that point so why does god do this

Because God wanted Samson, he led him to this

point to understand that victory does not eliminate

dependence. If you think that your ship is going

to come in, that at some point in time, you're

going to be all good. You're going to be strong

enough. You're going to retire from a great job

with a great retirement package and live a great

life. You're going to solve all your problems

or solve all the problems that really bother

you. You think that suddenly you're going to

arrive. Guess what? If that even could happen,

you will find in the next moment that you desperately

need. God. You were created for a relationship

with God, not victory in life. God gave all creation

over into the control of Adam and Eve. He said,

you'll be masters of it. Are we masters of creation?

No, not really, because creation is fallen. It's

in rebellion against us and against God. It's

struggling, waiting for that time at which Jesus

will come again. So I'm asking you today, are

you about the things in your life and making

them go the way they're supposed to go? Or are

you about the presence of God so that when the

things do go, you're like, If you succeeded in

it, like remember the fasting story that I told

in Spiritual Discipline? I did fast through sundown.

I did not eat until the sun was below the horizon.

But was I successful in my fasting that I forgot

and did not participate in the event that God

put in my life while I was supposed to be fasting?

The answer to that is no. After every football

game, the scoreboard eventually goes dark, and

no one can walk to the football stadium anymore

and look up and see that the home team won by

40 points. Now, it still goes in the record books,

but unless someone goes and looks it up online

or in the book somewhere, no one even knows who

won on a certain game. There might be a few games

that stand out, a few great victories over a

rival. By the way, that's why we have rivals

in football, so that we won't forget every single

game. So that's why we have the homecoming game,

so that we'll bring more people to the game and

we won't forget at least one game that year.

Because we have these great victories and then

we forget them. The victory remains in the record

books, but nobody lives on yesterday's score.

It's about today. A new game is coming, a new

challenge, a new opponent. Remember that phrase

I told you about, leg on thigh? Victories do

not last forever, no matter how great they are.

God is more concerned about the decisions you're

making on a day -to -day basis in your home,

in your family, in your workplace, in your walk,

in your prayer time, in your time in the Word,

in your study. He wants to be there with you

day by day. And if you are devoted to your great

victories, even if you try to devote those great

victories to God, you are missing that key point.

That even leg -on -thigh victories do not last.

Samson knew it. That's why he ran, remember?

He had the great victory. It's a leg on victory.

And after that, he ran to the cleft of the rock

to hide because he knew that that victory would

not last. That's why he didn't build a palace.

Instead, he hid in a cave. That's why God was

teaching him. dependence. This battle might be

over, but the war is not. And that is true for

us until Jesus comes again. Rematches are already

scheduled. You can cast off your yoke of addiction.

You can stop yourself from lying. You can stop

yourself from taking things that do not belong

to you. Yet in the future, when the alcohol or

drugs, when sex, when money is laying out there

on the counter, you will still feel that. The

battle will still occur. Now, should you win?

Yes, it is reasonable that because you have won

in the past by trusting the Lord, that you will

trust the Lord again and win again. Know that

the next challenge is already approaching. Therefore,

stay humble, stay prayerful, stay dependent on

God. That is not what Samson did. And it brought

him to a moment of his emptiness, a moment where

he had to admit his dependence. For all my strength

and all the thousands that I have killed and

all the vengeance that I have brought, the ra

'ah, all the evil that I have done to them, I

now have nothing to drink and I will collapse.

And if I don't just flat out die of thirst, they

will take me and hang me or burn me or draw and

quarter me, whatever, because I am at their whim.

because I have not depended on the God of the

universe. And so he depends on God. And that

brings us to the moment then. And the very next

verse then says that he rules the nation as a

judge. He becomes the savior for 20 years, although

we're not dwelling on that at the moment. So

that brings us to our conclusion. So hang in

there. The conflict behind every conflict. As

we close, I want you to realize that the Bible

teaches us pretty clearly what the actual conflict

is. Our enemies are not ultimately flesh and

blood. That's what Ephesians 6 says. But behind

the people, behind the governments, behind the

laws, behind the poverty, behind the weakness,

behind our own fleshly desires, behind all of

that is a greater conflict. And Ephesians 6 says

it this way. I'm actually going to read it to

you. At least the first couple of verses. Finally,

be strong in the Lord. That's a great verse for

Samson. And in the strength of his might, put

on the full armor of God. We talk about what

that actually is another time. But do it. that

you may be able to stand firm against the schemes

of the devil. That would be enough right there.

But then it says for, which is a because. For

our struggle is not against flesh and blood,

but against the rulers, against the powers, against

the world forces of this darkness, against the

spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly

places. The conflict is yet coming. If you find

peace, all you're doing is waiting to be ambushed.

You must war up. Get serious about the fact that

we wrestle not against flesh and blood. The ultimate

battle then has been described. The people around

us are not our true enemy. Samson asked the Israelites,

the tribe of Judah, 3 ,000 men that came to arrest

him, he said, you won't kill me, will you? If

I let you tie me up, you're not going to kill

me, will you? And listen, I'm here to say to

you that whatever anyone does to you, your friend,

your family, your church, your boss, whatever

they do to you, If it does not kill you, then

in that moment you are meant to redeem the time

and make something godly out of it. So when someone

comes cussing you out, instead of cussing back,

you should be asking them about Jesus. You should

be praying. You should be focused on the word.

You should have some memorized Bible verses that

are popping up in your head. You should be protecting

your heart from the evil that you are now experiencing.

There is a way to fight and a way to fall. And

the way to fall is to fight the wrong person

or the wrong being or the wrong enemy to fight

in the wrong conflict. I know you want more money.

I know you want more time. You want more entertainment.

Our bodies want all of those things. Learn to

say no and instead to win the ultimate, the only

matter that matters. The true enemy is Satan

and the kingdom of darkness. The person that's

coming against you may be headed for an eternity

in hell. And if you kill them, They'll go there

right now. The person that's coming against you

might be a Christian who has not lived for the

Lord for so long that they are inside the cage,

holding the bars shut, refusing to be free. And

what they need more than anything in the world

is for some human being to be an example of what

it means to follow Jesus. And if you will be

that example, they'll go, wait, I can let them

let me out. I can let the door open and come

out of myself. And be the person that God made

me to be. That's what that person did. Not saying

they always get it right. Don't ever pretend

that you always get it right. We never always

get it right, right? But that God always gets

it right. That Jesus is always there. That the

presence of God is available. And that freedom

in this moment, in this time, can obviously be

available if you will just act like a follower

of Jesus. And they will see it. The coming conflict

is not merely... about difficult people or difficult

situations. It is against evil itself. It's against

lies. It's against temptation. It's against spiritual

darkness. But as believers, we don't go into

this conflict fearing defeat. For John reminds

us that we already have the victory, just as

those Israelites, if they had just chosen to

join with Samson, the victory was already, I

mean, he hadn't proved it. Killing a thousand

men with a still wet donkey straw, taking vengeance

on Thousands of men for his father -in -law and

his wife being killed or burning crops across

their entire land. He hadn't already proved that

victory was in Samson. As long as Samson was

in God, victory was in Samson. And with all of

that being true, those 3 ,000 men came to arrest

him, to hand him over. I submit to you for that

reason, I think that if Jesus himself came and

sat in our chairs, we would think about handing

him over. Are you comfortable? Did you get a

good night's sleep? Did you study your Bible

this week? Did you pray? Did you talk to God?

Have you made decisions that honor the Lord?

Have you done that this week? Or did you come

in here maybe out of routine? If you found another

way to get here today, if you didn't come here

because you love God and because you know that

Jesus died on the cross for your sins, Then if

Jesus himself came in and sat down in the room,

we'd probably be ready to bind him and turn him

over, just like they were with Samson. Remember

that the word judge for the book of Judges is

really better translated saviors. Now, it isn't,

so as not to confuse the issue with Jesus, obviously.

But they were examples of saviors for their people,

and they tied up that savior, and they gave him

over to the enemy. Now, wait a minute. Are we

seeing a certain picture for the people of Jesus'

day? Did exactly that. Jesus came, God the Son,

in the flesh, taught. and did miracles, and led

thousands, tens of thousands, probably closer

to Christ, closer to God, closer to the way that

God would make. Saved many, if what happens immediately

after his death, burial, and resurrection proves

anything, that the church spread throughout the

entire world, and the disciples preached the

gospel to pretty much every person that they

could reach. You see, greater is he that is in

you than he that is in the world. That's what

John wrote. The same spirit who empowered Samson

lives within every born -again believer. The

same Christ who defeated death, hell, and the

grave reigns today. And unlike Samson's temporary

victories, Christ's victories are eternal. The

coming conflict is already decided. The cross

settled it. The empty tomb confirmed it. The

return of Christ will complete it. Until then,

we stand not in our strength or in our wisdom

or in our finances or based on our courage. We

stand in the power of our victorious savior,

Jesus Christ. So consider the coming conflict.

And when it arrives, come into that conflict

with confidence and win. Because the God who

calls you to the battle has actually already

secured the victory. Samson said, you won't kill

me, will you? What if God is saying the same

thing to you today? He's putting himself essentially

at your mercy. Will you allow me to deal with

the issues of your life or not? Will you allow

me to give you the strength that you need to

face the challenges that you face the way I want

you to face them or not? Will you continue with

justification, application and vindication? That

is to say, I feel like I should be allowed to

do this. It seems reasonable to me. So I activate

now. I feel like I did the right thing. We keep

playing that game and it will spiral up. It's

happening all over the world. You realize that.

There are a lot of people who call themselves

Christians who are doing a lot of bad things.

That's how we got things like the great Christian

persecutions. The Catholic Church killed the

Anabaptists who just professed to be followers

of Jesus with a different doctrine. It goes on

and on. The Spanish Inquisition, right? Supposedly

rooting out witchcraft, satanic stuff, whatever.

But then any heresy, including Christians who

didn't hold to the same doctrine. The bottom

line is, the God who calls you to the battle

that is coming, and there is one coming, has

already secured the victory. I'm asking you to

allow yourself to depend on him. That means you're

going to have to make some choices. Stop being

your own sustenance. Stop reacting every time

and making it reasonable to react every time

somebody does something that you don't like.

And say and said, no, in this situation, how

do I routine the time? How do I win the day?

How do I show Jesus here and now? And then watch

the victories start to pile up. And will they

come running to you? Probably not. Unless it's

to ask you to stop stirring up trouble. Like

they did with...