Drew Boswell

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“A Letter to the Recovering Pharisee” Galatians 1:1-9

Grace Abounds

A Sermon Series Through the Book of Galatians

“A Letter to the Recovering Pharisee”

Galatians 1:1-9

Introduction

The Pharisees who lived during the early church times were very religious. They paid very close attention to their theology, they were regular in their worship, and they would be considered a very moral group of people. But in all that attention to religious activities God was not in their hearts. Their religion was little more than hypocrisy – this hypocrisy was rooted in their belief that if they read their Bibles, tithed, kept the Sabbath, then God would do for them, what they had done for God.

This constant attention to trying to be good, follow the rules, and appear to be a good person was exhausting and ultimately was not pleasing to God because they were substituting their own righteousness for Jesus’ righteousness. They would say, “I don’t need Jesus’ gift of salvation, I can earn it myself.” So their daily lives reflected this idea of trying to earn God’s favor, and trying to manipulate God by their action to get him to do something.[1]

It is hard for a legalistic person, once they receive Christ, to leave legalism behind. So Jewish people become followers of Jesus, and while they say they need Jesus and his gift of salvation, secretly (deep down in their hearts), they believe God’s love for them is conditional upon how they behave.

Performance based “Christianity” denies the grace of God.

 While we are saved by grace, recovering legalists struggle to live by grace. The gospel is something we receive for salvation, but it is also something that we live and breathe every day. The gospel gives us freedom – as we move through the book of Galatians, I want you to ask yourself, “Am I living my Christian life, as if I know God loves me and that His grace is enough? Or are you trying to make God love you by doing religious activity?”

Paul’s Salutation to the Churches In Galatia (vv. 1-5)

Paul, an apostle—not from men nor through man[2], but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— 2 and all the brothers who are with me, To the churches of Galatia: 3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5 to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

Paul in the opening verses comes out fighting. We can tell from these verses that there were people who were attacking Paul’s authority as an apostle. An apostle was an official spokesperson for Jesus, “an envoy, ambassador, or messenger who was chosen and trained by Jesus Christ as a special emissary for proclaiming His truth during the formative years of the church.”[3] The first 12 disciples were chosen, called, and commissioned by Christ himself to teach on his behalf (Luke 6:13-16; Mark 3:14-19). Paul understands that people have to accept him as an apostle before they will accept the gospel.

Paul was not apart of the original 12, and so his critics attack his authority. In order to advance their doctrinal error, they are attacking his credentials. These false teachers are arguing that Paul’s gospel was not from God but from man (Paul made it up), and that Paul appointed himself to be an apostle – Paul is explaining where Christianity came from. But also, they are accusing him of watering down the gospel to make it easy – so that he would popular saying what people wanted to hear.

When the authority of Scripture is denied,

a person can make truth into whatever they want Him to be.

They denied Paul’s authority (as an apostle) and then created their own gospel. When the authority of Scripture is denied, you can then add or take away the parts you don’t agree with.

“To the churches of Galatia,” – “The Galatians were going astray because they are adding Judaism to the gospel of Faith in Christ . . . Disturbed by these tendencies Paul writes this letter . . . I order that they may preserve faith in Christ alone.”[4] These false teachers are called “Judaizers” in other places because they wanted to require the new Gentile (non-Jewish) followers of Jesus to become a Jew before they could become a Christian. It is the gospel of Jesus plus the law of Moses (dietary laws, circumcision, and other ceremonial law, feasts and holidays) .

We see this in Acts 15:1 “But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” . . . (v. 5) “But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of Moses.”

“In turning from grace to a legalistic system of salvation by works, the Galatians had ignored the significance of the death of Christ. The heart of the gospel is Christ’s willing sacrifice of Himself for our sins. Salvation is not earned by one’s efforts to eliminate sin, but by one’s trust in God’s promise to forgive sin through the work of Jesus Christ.”[5] Without the cross, Jesus’ teachings and life example would introduce us to God, but we would have no way of having a relationship with Him – we cannot, in our own self-effort, be rid of our sin.

In these opening verses reminds the churches of the what the gospel is; the resurrection, “who raised him from the dead,” and his crucifixion, “who gave himself for our sins.” In his rescuing us from the danger of our sin it was not for a “second chance” – “giving us another opportunity to get life right and stay right with God. He did all we needed to do, but cannot do. If Jesus’ death really paid for our sins on our behalf, we can never fall back into condemnation.”[6]

From these we see four things about the gospel 1) Jesus gave himself willingly, “who gave himself.” Jesus’ life was not taken, it was given. It was a voluntary self-sacrifice. John 10:17-18 “I lay down my life that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again.” Matthew 27:50 when Jesus is on the cross he “yielded up his spirit.”

2) The purpose of the cross is that Jesus gave up his life willingly for our sins. We had a sin debt that we could not pay, and on the cross “Jesus paid it all.” The punishment we deserved, He took upon himself. He became our substitute (substitutionary atonement). It enabled God to forgive us by satisfying his pure justice. Even if your acts of goodness counted, what was owed is eternally more than you can contribute toward your salvation.

3) “to deliver us from the present evil age,” – The purpose of the gospel is to deliver – Jesus came to rescue us. We are saved so that one day, we can enter into eternity, but God’s grace and salvation extend also, to our present day-to-day lives. We have been freed from the evil of this age.

We were slaves to sin, now we are slaves to righteousness – the consequence of being a Christ follower is that we are freed from behavior that brings us destruction. Lightfoot said, “The Gospel is a rescue, an emancipation from a state of bondage.” Because we are free our lives now reflect Christ – an abundant life.

4) God initiatives our salvation, it originates from God “according to the will of our God and Father,” The cross was not an accident, or a historical tragic event that caught God off guard. He wasn’t in heaven hoping that everything would work out. In the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus prays that the cup of wrath that was coming with the cross be removed, Matthew 26:39 “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” It was the Father’s will that the Son die for the salvation of the world.

Peter says in Acts 2:23, “This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.” It has always been the plan for God the Father to give His Son for the salvation of the world. In these opening verses Paul discusses salvation and we don’t play any part in it. “The gospel is not about what we do for God; it is about what God has done for us.”

Paul then says, “to whom be the glory forever and ever .” – All the glory goes to God, not to us for being good. Ephesians 2:9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

“The great point that the Galatians are to note is the fact that grace and peace are ours (v. 3) “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” through the merits of Christ’s self-sacrifice alone. All is due to his death for our sins. We are able to add nothing by any works of ours. We are not delivered by any observance of the law. The whole epistle is aimed at this error; the foundation is laid already in the greeting.”[7]

Paul’s Concern and Reason For Writing the Letter (vv. 6-7)

6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ (the gospel that originates from Christ).

Paul’s writing this letter is in response to his astonishment that the churches were in danger – there is an urgency in his writing. They like soldiers on the battlefield they are “so quickly deserting” – they are switching sides. The tense tells us that it has begin but has not yet been completed – there is still a chance for them to see their error.

An OT example of a similar event was Exodus 32:7-8 “And the Lord said to Moses, “Go down, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. 8 They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them. They have made for themselves a golden calf and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’” When people don’t honor the authority of Scripture, they want to add to it, or take from if; “They think they are improving the gospel, but what they are actually doing is forging a golden calf in the furnace of unbelief . . . we’ve abandoned it for an idol made by human hands.”[8]

They were not just switching from one man’s philosophy to another man’s philosophy – they were deserting the God who gave them the true gospel. And they were accepting a distorted Paul and Barnabas had gone through and preached the gospel, they had received it, and then they went back (on their second missionary journey)[9] and spent time teaching them – and then when they left these false teachers have followed behind them and are trying to undermine their work. Paul is astonished at how quickly they swept in, and how quickly the churches were listening to them.

 I think it’s important to note that these were teachers who said they were Christians – they would have acknowledged that Jesus was the Messiah, and they would have recognized his death on the cross as being important (otherwise no one would listened to them).

They would have claimed to believe all the truths other Christians believed. But they wanted to improve the gospel by adding to it. If you add anything to grace then you have corrupted the gospel – it becomes a different gospel. The good news of justification by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, is the only gospel that saves the sinner.

The word Paul uses in v. 7, “want to distort the gospel,” perverts the gospel, literally “reverses.”[10] All other world religions say that you do something to save yourself. The grace of God, and the gospel from Jesus reverses this – God does everything, you do nothing. Any edits to the gospel reverses it, and places it in the giant pile of worthless world religions. There is only one way to be rid of our sin – there are not multiple ways to God.

How does one go from following the true gospel, to readily accepting man’s attempt at religion? There are two things involved, “but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel,” The false teachers were troubling the church, so trouble or heartache comes along, and then combined with distortion of the truth (to make God in one’s own image). Something in your life happens, and an alternate version of reality presents itself.

Paul’s Warning For Those That Preach a False Gospel (vv. 8-9)

8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.

Paul then gives scenarios where a false gospel may appear – suppose Paul, or those who were with him on his journeys, or even an angel from heaven appeared – if anyone preaches a gospel different than grace alone, faith alone, Christ alone – they are to be accursed. The true standard of Christianity is not the messenger, but the message. Preachers can change and move away from the truth they once preached, and demons can appear as angels.

Paul is saying that even his apostolic authority derives from the gospel’s authority, not the other way around. The Bible judges the church, the church does not judge the Bible. Scripture is the plumbline that we hold up everything the church does and believes. My authority as your pastor comes from Scripture – you should follow me as long as what I say lines up with the Word of God. The word of God does not means what I want it to mean – I have authority only as long as what I say lines up with Scripture.

Paul uses the word accursed or anathema, referring to what should happen to someone who preaches a false gospel – This is an OT concept of setting something aside or devoting something to destruction. A different gospel brings condemnation – it is ternal life that is at stake.

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[1] Philip Graham Ryken, Reformed Expository Commentary, Galatians (Philipsburg, New Jersey; P&R Publishing, 2005) 3.

[2] This could be a reference to Paul and Barnabas being sent out on the first missionary journey from the church in Antioch.

[3] John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, Galatians (Chicago, Illinois; Moody Press, 1987) 2.

[4] C. Marius Victorinus, Ad Galatas, quoted in F. F. Bruce, The Epistle to the Galatians: A Commentary on the Greek Text, New International Greek Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Eerdmans, 1982) 21.

[5] MacArthur, 6.

[6] Timothy Keller, Galatians For You (USA; The Good Book Company, 2013) 16.

[7] R.C.H. Lenski, The Interpretation of St. Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians to the Ephesians and to the Philippians (Minneapolis, Minnesota; Augsburg Publishing House, 1961) 29.

[8] Todd Wilson, Preaching the Word, Galatians Gospel-Rooted Living (Wheaton, Illinois; Crossway Publishing, 2013) 30.

[9] Acts 13:13-14:23

[10] Keller, 18.

“Samson Is Not the Hero” Judges 16:23-31

The Story of Samson

A Sermon Series

“Samson Is Not the Hero”

Judges 16:23-31

Introduction

Judges 16:21-22 “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 in the prison. 22 But the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaved. (v. 22)

This verse is not given to us so that we think, “his hair is back, so his strength is back.” The Philistines think his strength is gone because his vow to God had been broken (he had drank from the vine, he had touched the dead, and his hair had been cut). But, God is not constrained to his people keeping their side of a promise.

There is a difference between the Israelite God and the false gods of the Philistines. For the Philistines they would serve their gods, keeping rules, giving offerings, etc and their gods would be moved by their offerings to do something they wanted (good crops, fertility, etc.) If they didn’t do these things then they would fear being wiped out or abandoned.

But the God of the Bible always keeps his promises to His people regardless if they keep their promise or not (now he disciplines them, they rebel and get carried off into exile, and various plagues – but when they cry out, repent of their sin, he hears their cries, forgives them, and they are once again restored).

2 Chronicles 7:13-14 “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, 14 if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

Earlier in Judges 13:7 “Behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. So then drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.” God said that Samson would be a Nazarite from before he was born to the day of his death. God had established a plan for Samson’s life. Samson’s strength did not come from his vow, or his keeping his side of the promise, but the strength came from the God who also made a promise.

God Always Keeps His Promises.

 Samson has only lived for himself, he married, went into a prostitute, and fell in love with all Philistine women – and two of the three betrayed him so that he was blinded, bound, and carried off to grind grain on a millstone (like an animal). Samson has lost everything. But then we see v. 22, “But the hair of his head began to grow again.” Is there still a chance for Samson? Can he come back from all of it, or is he too far gone? The only reason we have hope for Samson, and even ourselves is because God is always faithful.

Waiting on A Hero to Arrive (vv. 23-27)

Now the lords of the Philistines gathered to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god and to rejoice, and they said, “Our god has given Samson our enemy into our hand.” 24 And when the people saw him, they praised their god. For they said, “Our god has given our enemy into our hand, the ravager of our country, who has killed many of us.” 25 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. They made him stand between the pillars.

It’s important to note that Samson (not the Israelites) is identified as their enemy, “Our god has given Samson our enemy into our hand.” The Israelites, even after over twenty years of oppression by the Philistines are content to remain oppressed and ruled by an enemy. They are essentially the same people, with no moral distinctions between the peoples. God sent Samson to cause a division between them – because they are so intertwined.

When given a chance to build an army and fight, they handed over Samson instead. They said to Samson, Judges 15:11 “Then 3,000 men of Judah went down to the cleft of the rock of Etam, 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?”

26 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.” 27 Now 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.

The highest ranking officials of the Philistine people have all assembled in one place, “Now the house was full of men and women.” They are there to worship their god Dagon. They are rejoicing because they have captured, blinded, and humiliated the Israelite God’s champion. Samson is brought so they can see him, to parade him around, to entertain them.

The temple has a lower and upper level – Samson is on the lower level where he can he been by those on the upper level. The upper level is supported by large pillars. So the scene is set – It seems like Dagon is more powerful than Yahweh. But in this great contest the question is who will Yahweh’s people serve – morally and culturally there is no discernable difference between the two peoples. God’s people, “did what was right in their own eyes.” Would God remain faithful to them, even though they were morally corrupt?

God’s people had been set apart from the beginning to be His people, Leviticus 20:26 “You shall be holy to me, for I the Lord am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine.” (like Samson was set apart to be a judge).

Early in the history of God’s people, God made a promise to a man named Abraham Genesis 15:12 “As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him. 13 Then the Lord said to Abram, . . . When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. 18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, . . .” God made a promise to Abram and his descendant as God’s people, but Abram does not make the same promise because in God’s grace he makes him go to sleep (knowing that they will not keep their side of the agreement).

God has called and gifted us to do certain things (like the Israelites and Samson), but we are morally corrupt and don’t do what God has called us to do. “Samson serves as a microcosm of Israel for its respective failures to fulfill their obligations to Yahweh. Just as he repeatedly neglects his Nazarite obligations to Yahweh by engaging in impure acts and relations with foreign women, so the tribes of Israel [are] negligent of their obligations to Yahweh as an elect people by engaging in cultically disloyal acts and by neglecting to expel foreigners from the land.”[1]

Samson (in chapters 13, 14, 15 and 16 up until now) has completely lived for himself – he has used his super-human gift of strength only for himself. His eyes and a twisted morality have led him to go from bed to bed, a failed marriage, various feats of strength that only served his own sense of vengeance and pride. He chased an addict’s desire for increasing highs taking riskier and even more dangerous chances – until eventually he was captured, blinded, and humiliated. Samson has lost everything.

God is the Hero Who Arrives In His Own Timing (vv. 28-31)

28 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 for my two eyes.” 29 And Samson grasped 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. 30 And Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines.” 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. 31 Then his brothers and all his family came down and took him and brought him up and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of Manoah his father. He had judged Israel twenty years.

Something is different about Samson here. He is humble and reverent. The only other time we see his prayer it is brazen, demanding, and irreverent (15:18). But here, he knows if he is to bring the temple down, he needs super human strength and now finally recognizes where his strength comes from, “God please strengthen me.” Before, he had always assumed that it would be there, but now he pleads with God to strengthen him, one last time.

God will always be there for His people,

when they turn from their sin (repent) and have faith in Him

because He has promised to be faithful. God always keeps his promises.

 Did God abandon Samson? The last we heard, “But he did not know that the Lord had left him.” God lets us go into that which we want after we pull and pull, and pull away from Him. He disciplines us by allowing the partial consequences of our actions to consume us. If you don’t want God in your life, then you can experience (in part) what that is like.

Destruction, pain, and sin’s consequence is humbling (Samson is with the people he has been trying to be apart of since the beginning, his eyes that control every part of his life are gouged out, the love he thought he wanted has betrayed him, and his strength to be a judge, a deliverer, is gone. Now he is just like any other man. God allowed Samson to experience what he had always thought he wanted.

Ok so he’s humbled, but where is the faith? In his prayer he uses two words for God, One is (elohim) this is a personal God to him, and (Yahweh) which is a saving, covenantal, relational God of his people Israel.[2] By calling out to the Lord God Samson is recognizing that God is sovereign over all things.

Hebrews 11:34 “And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— 33 who through faith . . . , were made strong out of weakness, . . .” Faith in his God made Samson strong when he was weak. Despite all his failings, when he finally showed (just a little) faith in his God, God kept His promise to be there with him.

 You can run a thousand miles from God,

but it only takes one step to return back to Him.

Samson was finally able to see, even though he was blind, that he was weak, the only way for him to have any strength was if God gave it to him. “Samson’s story begins with a strong man who is revealed to be weak (pride, revenge, lust, his own eyes controlled him), but it ends with a weak man who is stronger than he ever was before.”[3]

In the Hebrews 11 “fall of faith” Samson is listed with men of great faith (like Enoch, Abraham, or Joseph) but the point is not that Samson had enough faith to make into the list. The list itself is an overview of the history of God’s people. It is a record of where God has moved with men and women who showed great faith – and those that only showed one small act of faith, one time in their entire lives (like Samson).

Jesus’ disciples at one point struggled to cast out a demon, so they pull Jesus aside and ask him, Matthew 17:19-20 “Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” 20 He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”

If all we had were Judges chapters 13-16:20, he was not a hero worth remembering. He had failed at every opportunity he had been given. His feats only brought him glory, and only delivered himself. But having been humbled, weakened, he lifts his head to heaven finally and says, “O Lord God, please remember me.” In Hebrew to remember is not the opposite of to forget. Rather, the verb means “to take note of, to act on behalf of.”[4] Samson is saying, “Act on my behalf, by giving me strength, that I recognize only comes from the sovereign God.”

Therefore, showing one moment, in his entire story, that is an act of faith. This is not a story that points to a human hero, but instead to a great and merciful God who is faithful to His Word, and desires to use us in spite of our rebellious and being hard hearted. God is the hero of the story – Samson is the anti-hero most of the time. God just wants us to show a little faith. Samson’s faith included 1) he trusted the Lord, 2) he knew no other God was true or real, 3) he knew that God was the source of his strength, and 4) he knew that he had to depend upon the Lord to salvage anything from his life.”[5]

Realizing this grace, it should drive us to repentance, Romans 2:4 “Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?” God works in Samson’s life again and again, in spite of his sinful heart. God’s kindness in his life, should lead him to repent of his sin – ultimately it does (but only after having to be greatly humbled).

 God requires turning from sin (repentance) and turning to Christ (faith).

 But there are a few things that Samson misses. First, as the Philistine people are chanting and singing worship songs to their god, Samson does not discuss Yahweh’s reputation or His God’s name being lifted up. He is not concerned about God’s name being lifted up in the Promised Land. Secondly, He is not concerned with Israel, God’s people, being delivered – which is his life-long calling from God. Third, His thought process in this prayer to God goes “remember me,” “strengthen me,” “let me get revenge,” “for my two eyes.” Samson (even though he has shown faith and renewed understanding of where his strength comes from) still is still only focused on Samson.

Samson reaches out, feels the pillars, and begins to push with all his strength. This is the most important moment in Samson’s life – and it is how he dies. “So the dead whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he had killed during his life.”

Samson “stands as a tragic example of a man of great potential who lacked stability of character. Still God in His sovereignty used him.”[6] We should base our faith on God, not men. Whether we follow Him should be based on our relationship with him, because all men will fail you eventually in moral character, “for all have sinned and fallen short.”

 Abraham surrendered his wife over to Pharoah, David committed adultery and murder, Moses lost his temper, Noah was a drunk, etc. all men are sinners. In my lifetime many of my heroes have fallen or horrible truths have been revealed about them, but Christ has never let me down – He has been and will always be faithful. My faith is in Him, not in men’s ability to be without sin. If you go a restaurant and gave a horrible meal, you don’t give up eating.

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[1] K. Lawson Younger, The NIV Application Commentary, Judges, Ruth (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Zondervan Academic, 2020) 407.

[2] Timothy Keller, Judges For You (USA; the Good Book Company, 2013) 161.

[3] Keller, 164.

[4] Daniel I. Block, The New American Commentary, Judges, Ruth (Nashville, Tennessee; Broadman & Holman Publishing, 2002) 467.

[5] W. Gary Phillips, Holman Old Testament Commentary, Judges, Ruth (Nashville, Tennessee; Broadman and Holman Publishing, 2004) 257.

[6] Herbert Wolf, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Zondervan Publishing, 1992) 479.

“But he did not know that the Lord had left him” Judges 16:1-22

The Story of Samson

A Sermon Series

“But he did not know that the Lord had left him”

Judges 16:1-22

Introduction

The captain of the Titanic refused to believe the ship was in trouble till water was ankle deep in the mail room. Only then was it apparent the multi-layered hull had been pierced and the unsinkable ship was going to sink. Ships that could have arrived before the great ocean liner went down weren’t summoned until it was too late.[1] Today we will look at a man who in his pride can’t see the reality of his coming destruction.

A Lifetime Wasted (vv. 1-3)

Samson went to Gaza, and there he saw a prostitute, and he went in to her. 2 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; then we will kill him.” 3 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.

Other than this being an example of Samson’s strength, why is this story of his life here? If it were not included, would we read the text the same way; would we understand it the same way? Each passage that is given, is to help us understand something – The last verse of chapter 15 is, “And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.” He wasn’t leading or judging God’s people toward anything, the Philistines were still in the land.

What was he doing for twenty years that kept him distracted from his God-given calling? These three verses help us fill in twenty years of Samson’s life. Samson can’t stay away from Philistine women, and the Philistine people were trying to set traps for him, and he kept outwitting them (or just over-powering them). In his eyes, they were sweeter than honey, and their control over him was stronger than a lion. But Samson’s lust was a symptom of a greater problem, Samson was the center of Samson’s world (and not God).

We are going to see that Delilah uses the same, “you don’t love me, you don’t trust me,” sentimentality against Samson that his wife did, so he doesn’t seem to change or grow as a person. He seems to go from woman to woman satisfying his lust, doing what “seemed right in his own eyes,” and then using his God-given strength to get out of spots he finds himself in. (vv. 1-3) Samson being completely surrounded, lifts the city gates post and all from a walled city, and carries it forty-miles to Hebron, with an ascent of more than two thousand feet – and just walks away from the danger.

 Samson Wastes His God-given Gift for Twenty Years.

Samson goes to Gaza, the capital of the Philistine people. He knows they know who he is so by go in and staying with the prostitute over-night it is not only morally wrong, but reckless. He is fine with allowing himself to be surrounded. The first three verses show us that he is still morally corrupt, he is becoming more and more reckless, while not doing anything to deliver his people.[2]

 A Deal Is Struck (vv. 4-17)

4 After this he loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. 5 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.” 6 So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me where your great strength lies, and how you might be bound, that one could subdue you.”

Delilah on four separate occasions has the same conversation with Samson, “tell me what is the secret of your strength, how can you be bound, how can someone control you?” Each time, he is awakened from his sleep with “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!” and then they are trying to do to Samson what he had in secret revealed to her. Why does he play this game with her?

 Samson creates riddles, writes poetry, he seems to love plays on words – so he is not stupid. But, “like any pattern of compulsion, the cycle is increasing in force and power.”[3] Samson’s success and increasing feats of strength leads him to feel that he is invulnerable and that he does not really need God. Success in life can be very dangerous because we begin to think that we don’t really need God, and that we can do anything – that we are untouchable.[4]

 Samson expects for his God-given gift to always rescue him from his moral failures.

 It is incredibly difficult to be an astronaut. But “In 2007, then-NASA astronaut Lisa Nowak drove 900 miles from Houston to Orlando to confront a perceived romantic rival, Colleen Shipman. During the journey, Nowak wore adult diapers to avoid making stops for bathroom breaks, a detail that was widely reported. She was arrested after pepper-spraying Shipman at the Orlando airport parking lot, leading to charges including attempted kidnapping and battery. The incident, stemming from a love triangle involving another astronaut, Bill Oefelein, became a national scandal and inspired the 2019 movie Lucy in the Sky.”

Smart and very talented people can do stupid and morally corrupt things

because they think they are not capable of failing.

God gives us His grace to cover our sin, and then we use that grace as a weapon against Him. Instead of His grace leading us to repentance, our wicked hearts use His grace as an excuse to continue or even increase in our sin. Samson enters into this game with Delilah in which he feels very secure that he will always be able to use his strength to escape any trap set before him. Also, Samson is chasing intimacy – he loves Delilah (even though he knows she is trying to destroy him). Think about what he has to admit in this situation; he loves her, but she not only doesn’t love him, she loathes him to the point of wanting him to be captured and tortured. His pride won’t let him admit this truth to himself.

7 Samson said to her, “If they bind me with seven fresh bowstrings that have not been dried, then I shall become weak and be like any other man.” 8 Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven fresh bowstrings that had not been dried, and she bound him with them. 9 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.

(v.5) “the lords of the Philistines came up to her,” and “we will each give you 1,100 pieces of silver.” shows us her motivation for playing this game (potential status as a national hero, and wealth[5]). These were the highest-ranking Philistines who have come to her. But what is his motivation? – he is not stupid, he knows there is a chance she will give him up, especially after the first round of his answer and then their attacking him.

Samson, his whole life, has done what seemed right to him – “what was right in his own eyes.” He has been controlled by his feelings and what he gets, especially from women. He is using Delilah to get something– and she is using him to get. Their relationship is based on taking from the other. Godly relationships are based on giving. What is it that he is taking from the relationship?

Samson is called be a deliverer, a leader of God’s people – so naturally he wants the thrill of feats of strength, the narrow escape, the feeling of doing something special something no one else can do. He is a warrior who wants to fight. He recklessly puts himself in these positions so he can feel the thrill of escape. This is what addicts do – they are chasing the high.

In order for Samson to feel this thrill, the danger has to be more and more real. Samson wants to feel love and intimacy with another person – but instead of pursuing relationships God’s way, he seeks satisfaction in the world. So bowstrings lead to new ropes, etc. Samson is trying to fill an emptiness in his life that God should be filling.

 Samson substitutes the feeling of peace that comes from following his calling

with the sensations and lies of the world, which always leave him craving more.

10 Then Delilah said to Samson, “Behold, you have mocked me and told me lies. Please tell me how you might be bound.” 11 And he said to her, “If they bind me with new ropes that have not been used, then I shall become weak and be like any other man.” 12 So Delilah took new ropes and bound him with them and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And the men lying in ambush were in an inner chamber. But he snapped the ropes off his arms like a thread. 13 Then Delilah said to Samson, “Until now you have mocked me and told me lies. Tell me how you might be bound.” And he said to her, “If you weave the seven locks of my head with the web and fasten it tight with the pin, then I shall become weak and be like any other man.” 14 So while he slept, Delilah took the seven locks of his head and wove them into the web. And she made them tight with the pin and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” But he awoke from his sleep and pulled away the pin, the loom, and the web.

Two more times Delilah tries to get Samson to tell her the secret of his strength and he lies to her. The games continues, both getting and taking from each other. Either because of lust or pride, “he is blinded to the reality she represents.”[6] She means to have him weak, bound, and carried off.

 15 And she said to him, “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.” 16 And when she pressed him hard with her words day after day, and urged him, his soul was vexed to death. 17 And he told her all his heart, and said to her, “A razor has never come upon my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If my head is shaved, then my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak and be like any other man.”

The ultimate game of comes to an end when Samson reveals his heart, no lies, no deception – just the truth. His strength comes from a vow made to the Lord, a calling given before he was born, which he had violated many times over the years. He had touched dead things (the honey comb inside the lion, even recently having sinew bind his hands), and he had drunk from the vine (at his wedding reception), and now the final outward display of his following God has been removed. The source of his strength was not his hair, it was God.[7] But Samson giving away the last of the three requirements severs the relationship between him and God.

Like a three corded strand of rope, he cuts all three strands (drink from the vine, touching the dead, and cutting his hair). His link with God was his Nazarite vow, he has cut all three strands and doesn’t realize his dangerous situation.

A Relationship Is Lost (vv. 18-22)

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.” Then the lords of the Philistines came up to her and brought the money in their hands. 19 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. 20 And she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he awoke 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 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 in the prison. 22 But the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.

 Delilah now feels confident she knows his secret, calls for her money. She has him sleep with his head in her lap. Samson reveals two things, one the secret to his strength to Delilah, and also that yes, he has been aware of his vow, “I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb,” Instead of bearing his soul to God (confessing his sin, re-aligning his life back to his calling, etc.), he bears his soul to a woman who is determined to betray him and uses his openness and love for her as a weapon against him. He sits himself in the barber’s chair – Samson chose Delilah and their relationship over the Lord.

(v. 20) Samson says, “I will go out as at other times and shake myself free.” – Samson intends to do, as he has always done. He is untouchable, invincible, he has super-strength. Why would keeping a Nazarite vow matter now? He violated God’s law by marrying outside of the Israelite people and he goes from bed to bed, but God still gave him strength (to kill the men to pay his debt when he lost the riddle contest). He touched a corpse (specifically a fresh jawbone of a donkey) and God gave him strength to kill 1,000 Philistines. Why would Samson after over twenty years of constantly violating his vow, then God using him anyway would he expect anything different. But this time was different.

“But he did not know that the Lord had left him.”[8] – What was it about the hair being cut, that was different from drinking from the vine, or touching the dead? Samson’s strength was in the relationship between him and God. And the Lord left him. When God leaves the relationship there is no power there. Samson needed to understand that his super-strength was from his relationship with God, not from himself. He had to be humbled.

Acts 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” When a person places their faith in Jesus the Holy Spirit takes up residence within the believer. While God is there present with the believer, His power is given to the believer to bring Him glory and to accomplish His plan – We receive power in order to be His witnesses and to accomplish the tasks set before us. That power and presence of God in our lives is dependent upon our relationship with Him (not following rules).

 God’s power is related to His presence.

His presence is dependent upon a relationship.

 Exodus 33:15 God says, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” 15 And he (Moses) said to him, “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. 16 For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?”

Isn’t it God’s presence in our lives that makes us distinct from all the other people on the planet. If His presence is not with us, what are we to do? We will live this life in our own strength, following and keeping rules, and we won’t have God’s blessing on our lives, we are spiritually tormented trying to achieve an impossible moral code, we will lack the power that comes from the Holy Spirit to accomplish anything of worth, and we will lose our identity in Christ. Samson should have broken off this relationship with the woman who caused his destruction, instead the relationship broke him, “v. 16 , his soul was vexed to death.”

 What relationship will we seek today? The one that will lead to our destruction or the one that will lead to eternal life?

__________________

[1] Leadership, Vol. X, No.3, Summer, 1989, p. 27.

[2] Timothy Keller, Judges For You (USA; The Good Book Company, 2013) 151.

[3] Keller, 152.

[4] Hubris “wanton insolence or arrogance resulting from excessive pride.”

[5] “5,500 shekels of silver would equal 550 times the average annual wage. Assuming a figure like $35,000 as an average wage (2019), the Philistines offer would be in the $19.25 million category.” K. Lawson Younger Jr. The NIV Application Commentary, Judges, Ruth (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Zondervan Academic, 2020) 397.

[6] Daniel I. Block, The New American Commentary, Judges, Ruth (Nashville, Tennessee; Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1999) 452.

[7] If Samson were a large muscular man, then the source of his strength would be obvious. The Philistines are willing to pay an exorbitant amount of money to learn the secret (that wasn’t obvious).

[8] See also Romans 1:24, 26, 28 “Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, . . . 26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; . . . 28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.” When we suppress the truth long enough, God will give us over to the consequences to that way of thinking.

"For by grace you have been saved through faith." Ephesians 2:8

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