Father, we ask that you would make us disciples of Jesus who are gripped by the gospel, learning to live for your glory.
We give you thanks and praise, Father, that you do not whitewash over the things that we do that are wrong,
and you don't whitewash over the things that other people do that are wrong,
but that your gospel clearly states that they're wrong, and your gospel clearly offers us hope of redemption in the person of your Son, Jesus Christ,
that in light of the gospel and in light of what he has done for us, and in light of your Son and Holy Spirit and you yourself, Father, living within us,
that we will begin to have power to live in a new way as we are fit for heaven by you.
So we ask that the Holy Spirit would lead and guide us into all truth as we read and think upon your word this morning.
And we ask this in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior. Amen.
Please be seated.
There's lots of people in our culture, and maybe some listening in today, maybe some of you here,
that as far as they're concerned, just about any spiritual path or religious way is better than Christianity.
When in movies increasingly it says it's going to be biblical,
it means usually that there's going to be lots of chaos, destruction, and death.
And for many of us and many of our hearts, when we look at the Bible, we see how people can see that.
I have to confess to you that this time that of me preaching through Samson last week and this week and next week,
it's the first time in my ordained ministry that in the sermons I've preached through Samson.
And it's never part of the old lectionary.
And I have to confess, I sort of, you know, maybe if I go back, if I was able to go back in time,
I'd be able to hear some of the sermons in Sunday school and books and all in a different way.
But it seems to me as if whenever I heard the Old Testament being preached,
it usually was sort of in the form of Pilgrim's Progress, you know,
where there's each person represents a certain type of a character.
And they were able to get very, very good moral lessons out of it or very good practical help out of it.
But I don't know, maybe it's partially that my mind is just wired the wrong way or the right way.
I would read these stories and I couldn't, for the life of me,
figure out how I could get a positive moral out of it.
And, you know, let's just be honest.
What we're going to do is we're going to have an honest looking at the story of Samson.
And if we're honest, you cannot get good morals out of a guy who decides to rip off 30 people.
When his plan is failed, he murders 30 people and robs from them.
And it just gets, it goes downhill from there.
That's not the bottom of the hill.
It keeps going downhill after that.
So let's turn in the Bible.
We're going to look at the story ourselves.
Maybe some of you as well have had fears about how to look at the Bible and the Old Testament
and what God is really like and how he reveals himself.
And we're going to look at this ancient story.
And just in terms of the context, and by the way, last week I shared that if you were dividing these,
this talks about Samson in three bits, last week could have been the birth of Samson.
This week could have been Samson's battles.
And I couldn't think of a word that began with B for the last bit.
And somebody emailed me, Andrea Burrell.
And next week it's Samson brings down the house.
So there's three Bs there.
Brings down the house.
Anyway, so what happened last week is we're now in the,
Samson is the last of the 12 judges who's recorded in the book of Judges.
The time of period between Israel entering the promised land and the beginning of the kingship.
And it's a time of great chaos and great unfaithfulness in Israel.
And Samson is born as a judge.
The people of Israel are under the oppression of this pagan seafaring nation
that has occupied part of Canaan named the Philistines.
And Israel is under their dominion.
And a very miraculous and wonderful story happens.
The angel of the Lord appears to a woman who's never been able to have children.
And the angel of the Lord says, good news.
In a sense, you're going to have a baby.
He's going to be a boy.
And God is going to use this baby boy to be the beginning by which I deliver my people Israel from the Philistines.
And then he says this boy is to be so special.
He is to live a very special life right from birth.
He used to have the vow of a Nazarite right from birth.
And in fact, it even goes into the womb.
He has to have this vow, a special time of being set aside to God.
And then there's a spectacular miracle that goes along with it so the husband, Minoah, and his wife understand what's going on.
And then the very last words of chapter 13 is that the Spirit of God begins to move in Samson.
And so, you know, especially for Christians, you're reading this and now you're prepared for this to be a really remarkable baby.
Like it's hard for a Christian to read this story and not think of John the Baptist, not think of Jesus, like not think of just it's going to be a remarkable baby.
And now the story continues.
And here's how chapter 14 begins.
Samson went down to Timnah and at Timnah he saw one of the daughters of the Philistines.
Then he came up and told his father and mother, I saw one of the daughters of the Philistines at Timnah.
Now get her for me as my wife.
But his father and mother said to him,
Is there not a woman among the daughters of your relatives or among all our people that you must go and take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?
But Samson said to his father,
Get her for me, for she is right in my eyes.
And just before I read the last verse, just pause here for a second.
Some of you, maybe you're having a season right now where you're having great disappointment with God.
But it's a very, very common thing, struggling with disappointment with God.
And right off the bat, Samson's parents must have a great disappointment with God.
And even those of us who are readers, there's a bit of a disappointment about what happens here.
So here we have this special baby.
And this special baby is going to be the one to begin to deliver Israel from the Philistines.
And the first thing we see as Samson as an adult is not that he's going to deliver Israel from the Philistines,
but he wants to marry them.
Like that's the opposite.
And the other thing in here, and it's just a little bit of an aside, but it's an important thing.
The Bible doesn't teach ethnic or racial prejudice.
In fact, it's only the Bible, out of all of the religious and intellectual texts in the world,
there's no spiritual or religious tradition more than the Christian faith,
which completely and utterly at a very deep level condemns all prejudice and all racism
because it teaches that every human being is made in the image and likeness of God.
Every man and every woman equally created in the image and likeness of God.
It roots our dignity at a very, very fundamental level.
This phrase about Samson's parents saying about them being uncircumcised,
it's a pointer to, which I don't have time to go into,
but I just want to sort of highlight it,
is circumcision was a sign that you were under the God's covenant,
that you were his covenant people.
And non-Jews could be under the covenant by acknowledging the Lord as their Lord.
Moses' wife wasn't Jewish.
So the issue isn't somehow that they're different.
Like, it wouldn't be as if, you know, I grew up Irish and my dad and mom say,
never marry a Polish person or something like that, you know,
or never marry a person who's French-Canadian or anything like that.
No, it's not ethnic.
The circumcision thing is this little bit of a reminder in the text
that God desires his covenant people to marry other people of the covenant.
It's in the New Testament, it says don't be unequally yoked.
It's a whole other topic that, in a sense,
a Christian should just marry another Christian.
I just want to highlight it, but I don't want to go any further.
You can ask me about it during the break.
But the main thing that's going on here is that
Samson isn't doing all what he seems to be supposed to be doing.
And then it says his father and his mother, verse 4,
did not know that it was from the Lord,
for he was seeking an opportunity against the Philistines.
At that time, the Philistines ruled over Israel.
We're reminded that the Philistines rule over Israel.
And you'll notice that just before this,
it said Samson says that this woman is right in my eyes.
And this idea is going to be emphasized again by Samson.
Look at verse 5.
Then Samson went down with his father and mother to Timnah,
and they came to the vineyards of Timnah.
And behold, a young lion came toward him roaring.
And in the original language, it's a special word for roaring.
It's the word that signals that the lion is about to attack.
It's not like a dog or something or an animal making noises to scare you away.
It's a word that means the lion is about to attack.
Verse 6 said,
And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him,
and although he had nothing in his hand,
he tore the lion in pieces as one tears a young goat.
But he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done.
Then he went and talked with the woman.
Once again, she was right in Samson's eyes.
Now just sort of pause here for a second.
We're going to talk about this a little bit more in a moment.
But you can just well imagine, for many people reading this text,
they wonder,
Why on earth would the Holy Spirit come upon Samson,
and he does something?
Like, why doesn't he just catch the lion and tie it up?
Like, why doesn't he catch the lion and take it somewhere else?
Like, why does he do something so unbelievably violent to the lion?
Like, what is it that God's Holy Spirit would come upon Samson,
and he would do something like this?
I mean, that would be a very, very common thing.
I mean, some of you have seen the picture of the Vegans
protesting against Joe Biden.
And Joe Biden's wife, you know,
jumping and pushing them off the stage.
I mean, like for many people in our culture,
why would this Holy Spirit do that?
Or allow Samson to do that?
And that's a bit of a puzzle,
which is only going to get deeper
as we see the next two times
that the Holy Spirit rushes upon Samson's life.
Well, what happens next?
Remember, he doesn't tell his mom and dad what happened.
Verse 8.
So they've gone down to Timnah.
They had some talk with the family
about Samson marrying the woman.
They've gone back,
and now they're going back again.
Verse 8.
After some days, Samson returned to take her,
and he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion,
and behold, there was, in the original language,
it actually says a community of bees
in the body of the lion and honey.
There's been a bit of a miracle.
Either it's been so long that the carcass is now,
there's no guts or anything,
it's just bones,
just a skeleton and a bit of fur,
and so the bees could make a hive there.
It's either been so long
that there's been some type of miraculous thing.
It doesn't tell us.
It just is.
At this point in time,
it's not a carcass.
It's, I mean,
it's not like all bloody and everything like that.
It's just the stones,
and there's the bees there.
And in verse 9,
Samson scraped it out into his hands,
some of the honey,
and went on eating as he went,
and he came to his father and mother
and gave some to them.
I think this is really gross,
but then there you go.
And they ate,
but he did not tell them
that he had scraped the honey
from the carcass of the lion.
And now we come, I think,
to the bit that Anya read.
Verse 10.
They go down,
and here we discover this.
His father went down to the woman,
and Samson prepared a feast there,
for so the young men used to do.
As soon as the people saw him,
they brought 30 companions to be with him.
And just sort of to pause here for a second,
there's a bit of a subtext about this
in the original language.
It isn't as if the families looked around
and said,
let's pick 30 young guys.
I think, you know,
I think Samson would like to hang out with you,
and I think Samson would like to hang out with you,
and I think he'd like to hang out with you.
No, the way to understand it is,
it's military-aged males
who are probably in military service,
who've been taken away from military service
to watch Samson.
Those are the 30 companions.
Okay?
So they're obviously a bit concerned about Samson
for whatever reason,
but they pick these 30 military-aged males.
In fact,
it's like picking 30 corporals,
and they're going to be Samson's companions.
So Samson, verse 12,
said to them,
let me now put a riddle to you.
If you can tell me what it is
within the seven days of the feast
and find it out,
then I will give you 30 linen garments
and 30 changes of clothes.
But if you cannot tell me what it is,
if you cannot tell me what it is,
then you shall give me 30 linen garments
and 30 changes of clothes.
And they said to him,
put your riddle that we may hear it.
And he said to them,
out of the eater came something to eat,
out of the strong came something sweet.
And in three days they could not solve the riddle.
Now just pause here.
This is not a good character trait of Samson.
Samson's trying to rip them off.
Very, very simply.
He would be as if,
I don't know,
you know,
like in Back to the Future.
And when's in Back to the Future,
he knows who's going to win the series games
and stuff like that.
So he thinks he has it all rigged.
He has something that they'll never guess
in a million years.
And this is a chance to rip them off.
That's what he's doing.
And so he poses it
and he's probably pretty happy with himself.
But they don't take very kindly to it.
Look at verse 15.
In verse 15,
on the fourth day,
they,
that is the 30 military-aged young men,
the 30 corporals,
said to Samson's wife,
entice your husband
to tell us what the riddle is.
Listen to this.
Lest we burn you
and your father's house with fire.
So,
nobody in this story
is going to look good.
Like,
it's not as if you go back
and say,
Samson was such a terrible man.
Those Philistines were so good.
No.
just because they're going to lose
a suit
each,
they threaten
to burn her
and her family
to death.
That's what they threaten.
So,
verse 16,
and Samson's wife
wept over Samson
and said,
you only hate me.
You do not love me.
You have put a riddle
to my people
and you have not told me
what it is.
And he said to her,
behold,
I have not told my father
nor my mother
and shall I tell you?
As if a husband
should tell his wife things.
Anyway,
she wept before him
the seven days
that their feast lasted.
On the seventh day
he told her
because she
basically wore him down.
Then she told the riddle
to her people.
Verse 18,
and the men of the city
said to Samson
on the seventh day
before the sun went down,
what is sweeter than honey?
What is stronger than a lion?
Samson knows what's happened.
He said to them,
if you had not plowed
with my heifer,
you would not have found out
my riddle.
So what does Samson do?
And this is going to be
even made more terrible
because the Holy Spirit
comes upon Samson.
Look what happens.
And the Spirit of the Lord
rushed upon him
and he went down
to Ashkelon
and struck down
thirty men of the town
and took their spoil
and gave the garment
to those who had told
the riddle.
To those who had told
the riddle.
In hot anger
he went back
to his father's house
and Samson's wife
was given to his companions
who had been his best man.
So Samson goes
to another city,
murders thirty men,
steals their stuff,
goes back,
gives the stuff,
and walks away angry.
You can see why
for many years
I had problems
preaching on this.
Like,
how do you find
a good moral lesson
out of this?
Like,
there's no good moral lesson
in this.
And things are going
to get worse
before they get better.
In fact,
they just keep getting worse.
And once again,
it's even made harder
because it's the Spirit
of the Lord
comes upon Samson.
Like,
why doesn't the Spirit
of the Lord
come upon Samson
and make him calm?
Like,
why doesn't it say
that he could just,
you know,
laugh it all off
or negotiate
or do something?
But why is it
that the Spirit
of the Lord
comes and then
he goes and murders
thirty people?
Well,
by the way,
what we're going to see
here in these next verses
for those of you
who are dads
who have more than
one daughter,
you're going to see
what you never say
to somebody else.
Okay?
This isn't
go thou and do likewise
but this is a lesson
of what you never,
ever,
ever say.
Chapter 15,
verse 1.
After some days
at the time
of the wheat harvest,
so Samson thinks
things have cooled down,
Samson went to visit
his wife
with a young goat
and he said,
I will go into
my wife in the chamber
but her father
would not allow him
to go in
and her father said,
I really thought
you utterly hated her
so I gave her
to your companion.
Here's the line,
is not her younger sister
more beautiful than she?
That's not the thing
a dad should ever say
about one of his daughters,
period.
Same thing with sons.
If you have two sons,
don't say,
oh, bye.
Take the other son,
he's way better looking
or way smarter
or way anything.
Like, you just don't say this.
But anyway,
that's what the dad said,
okay?
That's on top of the fact
that it's just,
the Bible isn't saying
that it's alright
to treat women
like property.
It's recording
a story of people
who from beginning
to end
are deeply morally
and spiritually confused.
the whole story
is about people's
morals,
religion,
spirituality
is all
messed up.
It's messed up
to messed up
to messed up.
Verse 3,
and Samson said
to her,
this time I shall be
innocent
in regard
to the Philistines
when I do them harm.
So what does
Samson do?
And by the way,
lots of this story
is just so much
like real life.
Verse 4,
so Samson went
and caught 300 foxes,
it's really jackals,
and took torches
and he turned them
tail to tail
and put a torch
between each pair
of tails
and when he had set
fire to the torches
he let the foxes
go into the standing
grain of the Philistines.
Here's the kicker,
and set fire
to the stack grain
and the standing grain
as well as the
olive orchards.
So what you see here
is if you go
and watch a superhero movie
or a superhero cartoon,
what you're seeing here
is the superhero villain
who when his will
is frustrated
wreaks havoc
massively,
way out of proportion
of what's happened.
Basically what he does
is he burns
all of their standing grain,
all of their grain reserves
and all of their
olive orchards,
two of their
most important crops,
all completely
and utterly demolished
by Samson
in his anger.
So how do the Philistines
respond?
You see,
this is a story
where it just goes back
and their response,
the Philistines' response
is completely
and utterly
incommensurate
with what's happened
and completely horrible.
Verse 6,
then the Philistines
said,
who has done this?
And they said,
Samson,
the son-in-law
of the Timnite,
because the dad
has taken
Samson's wife
and given her
to Samson's companion.
And the Philistines
came and burned
her and her father
with fire.
In other words,
they picked a time
when the whole family
was in the building,
they locked the doors
and burned the house
down on them,
burning them
to death.
It's completely
and utterly
horrific.
But just like
in politics,
just like
in economics,
just like
with neighbors,
just like
with nations,
just like
with gangs,
just like
with husbands
and wives
or dads
and sons
or moms
and daughters,
when you get
into this cycle
of just
vengeance
upon vengeance
upon vengeance,
verse 7,
Samson said
to them,
if this is
what you do,
I swear
I will be
avenged on you
and after that
I will quit.
That's the motto
of all
escalating violence.
Right?
I'm going to get them,
that'll be it.
But the person
you get,
they say,
one moment,
that's not it,
I'm going to get you.
And then you say,
whoa,
that's not over
and you get you
and it just gets
more and more
and more and more
and more out of control.
And in verse 8,
the English standard
version
is being coy.
When it says
he struck them
hip and thigh
with great blow,
with a great blow,
it meant he kills them.
I don't know
if it's the 30
military-aged males,
but whatever it is,
he kills them.
And after he kills them,
he went and stayed
in the cleft
of the rock
and eat them.
So is it over?
Samson thinks
it's over,
it's not over.
What Happens Next?
Well,
What Happens Next
is very,
very,
very interesting
and actually,
even though
I've read this story
many times,
it was only when
I studied it
very closely
that I realized
that what happens next
is actually part
of helping to understand
what on earth
is going on
in the whole story
and why something
so crazy
would actually
be in the Bible.
Verse 9,
then the Philistines
came up and encamped
in Judah
and made a raid
on Lehi.
In other words,
basically what they do
is they mobilize
a significant armed force
and they go and invade.
I mean,
they already rule
all of Judah.
But they bring
their armed forces.
So it would be
as if in Canada,
you know,
all of Canada
is under our government
and as if they mobilize
the armed forces
in Petawawa
and they bring them
down into Ottawa
to deal with a problem.
They mobilize
the armed forces
and that's what
the Philistines do.
They mobilize
part of their armed forces
and they bring them
into the area
they still control
but close to where
where there's
a majority
Jewish population
and in verse 10
and the men of Judah
said,
like just like
all of a sudden
we look out the door
today
and all of a sudden
there's all these
armed forces guys
all around us
and they have their guns out
like we go out
and say like
what's going on?
Right?
Like what?
Like what are you doing here?
What?
Like are there terrorists
hiding here or something?
And that's exactly
how the Jewish people
respond to the Philistines
and the men of Judah
said in verse 10
why have you come up
against us?
It's very obvious
in the original language
like they're puzzled
like what are you doing here?
And the Philistine army
says we have come up
to bind Samson
to do to him
as he did to us.
Now remember
in all the way
through the book of Judges
if you've read it
from beginning to end
now that God
raises up a judge
and usually at some point
in time the judge
calls forth the army
the people get emboldened
the spirit of the Lord
comes upon the judge
the Jewish people
unite around
the judge
that God has raised up
and they go
and they fight the Philistines
so here we have
this situation
the Philistine army
is there in Jewish
majority territory
and what do the Jewish people
say?
The Jewish people
in effect say
okay listen
we'll handle this
you just camp here
have a good time
it's a nice day
to have a camp
like just camp
just wait here
we'll mobilize
our forces
and we'll get
Samson for you
that's what happens
verse 11
then 3,000 men of Judah
went down to the cleft
of the rock
of Edom
and said to Samson
and here in the original language
as well
like they're puzzled
like Samson
do you not know
that the Philistines
are rulers over us?
It's not a complaining point
okay
would be as if
like
it would be as if
the soldiers
have gone to Toronto
and the people say
don't you know
that Trudeau won?
like why are you here?
like we all voted
for Trudeau
like what's the problem
like
to Samson
like
our guys
like our guys
are the rulers
Samson
what's going on?
do you not know
that the Philistines
are rulers over us?
what is then
that this you have done
to us
and he said
that to them
still in verse 11
as they did to me
so I have done to them
so they make a deal
with Samson
and the deal is
they're still going to
take him back
to the Philistines
and look at this
verse 12
they said to him
we have come down
to bind you
that we may
give you into the hands
of the Philistines
and Samson said to them
swear to me
that you will not
attack me yourselves
they said to him
no we will only bind you
and give you into their hands
we will surely not kill you
so they bound him
with two new ropes
and brought him up
from the rock
in verse 14
once again
we have this odd
experience
of the spirit of the Lord
the third time
the spirit of the Lord
comes with power
and does the spirit of the Lord
come with power
to make the Philistines
say we're all wrong
listen we have to stop
this cycle of vengeance
does the spirit of the Lord
come upon Samson
giving great words
of wisdom
what happens is this
verse 14
when they came to Lehi
the Philistines
came shouting to meet him
then the spirit of the Lord
rushed upon him
and the ropes
that were on his arms
became as flax
that has caught fire
and his bonds
melted off his hands
and he found
the fresh jawbone
of a donkey
and put out his hand
and took it
and with it
as a weapon
he struck
one thousand Philistine men
and the struck here
means he kills them
and Samson said
with the jawbone
of a donkey
heaps upon heaps
with the jawbone
of a donkey
have I struck down
a thousand men
and as soon as
he had finished speaking
he threw away
the jawbone
out of his hand
and that place
was called Ramath
Lehi
so
what's going on
with this story
I'm going to ask you
a very very
just a question
to help us
to try to figure out
a little bit
about what's going on
in this story
and why this story
actually is pointing
to something very wise
and something
which is unbelievably
important
for every single person
to understand
if they are to be
made right with God
first question
are there any
Philistines
living in Ottawa
today
no
are there
Philistines
in the streets
of New York City
no
are there Jewish
people in Ottawa
today
yes
just this week
I talked to
an Orthodox
Jewish man
who's a regular
one of my coffee shops
we had a nice
pleasant conversation
are there Jewish
people on
the streets
of New York City
yes there's lots
of them
it's actually
a very large
Jewish population
where are the
Philistines today
they don't exist
there's no
Philistines left
but there are
Jewish people
one of the keys
to understanding
what's going on
in this story
is to actually
go back to
chapter 14
verse 4
chapter 14
verse 4
and here we have
this very very
odd line
his father and
mother did not
know that it was
from the Lord
this is Samson
wanting to marry
a Timnite
a Philistine
woman
for God
was seeking
opportunity
against the
Philistines
you see this
is what has
happened
we discover
that the
Philistines
if you look
at the whole
story
that for 40
years the
Philistines
had ruled
Israel
if you go
back and you
read the
story
out of all
of the
major judges
not the
minor one
out of all
the major
judges
this is the
only story
where none
of the Jewish
people call
out to God
to deliver
them
that doesn't
happen
you know
why
they like
having the
Philistines
as the
rulers
they're
becoming
Philistines
it is that
phenomenon
I don't know
if it's true
but it's in
management books
of the frog
and the kettle
at first it
felt a bit
uncomfortable
but the
Philistines
were a more
advanced
civilization
than the
Jewish
people
and it
felt funny
having them
over them
but after a
while they
grew to
like the
Philistines
they liked
their gods
they liked
the way
they lived
they liked
the way
they ran
the economy
they liked
the way
they ran
their military
they liked
their religion
they liked
their spirituality
and so
after a time
after 40 years
of Philistine
rule
they've come
to the point
in time
where they
can be
completely
and utterly
puzzled
as to why
the Philistines
would come
and ever
bring an army
against them
because we're
buddies
we're buddies
they don't
want to be
delivered from
the Philistines
they want
to become
more like
the Philistines
and if God
does not
throw a monkey
wrench
into the
situation
there will
be no
Israel
and that
means there
will be no
King David
and there
will be no
Joseph and
Mary
and there
will be no
Jesus
because Israel
will become
Philistine
and there
are no
Philistines
in the
streets of
Ottawa
or of
Toronto
or of
New York
City
but there
still are
Jewish
people
God
does
something
if God
does not
act
there will
be no
Israel
now here's
another
problem
because some
of you are
wondering
okay but
that's all
weird
just this
week I
was sitting
in a
coffee shop
and there
happened to
be an
older woman
talking to
a younger
woman right
beside me
and the
older woman
was obviously
giving advice
to the
younger woman
and the
older woman
gave very
very very
very good
advice
it's the
type of
advice we've
probably given
to other
people many
times in
our lives
she said
to the
younger
woman
I didn't
hear what
it was
I just
heard this
phrase
but I guess
the younger
woman was
telling her
the different
issues
and the
older woman
says to
her
you've got
to learn
to think
outside the
box
isn't that
the type
of advice
we give
people
you've got
yourself
trapped
in a
box
you've got
to learn
how to
think
outside
the
box
and if
you think
outside
the box
you're going
to be able
to solve
the problem
now here's
the problem
for us
why is it
good advice
for us
to tell a
human being
to think
outside the
box
but why
is it
not good
for God
to think
outside the
box
huh
but why
well you
see here's
what happens
for us
as human
beings
remember
a couple
of weeks
ago
some of
you might
or might
not
remember
I said
that the
fundamental
way
that human
beings
sort of
organize
their mental
universe
about morals
and right
and wrong
is that we
drift into
this is that
we divide
the world
into good
people
and bad
people
and most
religions
and spiritualities
keep leaning
into this
to making
the world
into good
people
and bad
people
a lot
of what
we call
spirituality
North America
basically creates
a world
where like
95%
of us
are good
and only
5%
or maybe
99%
but that
evil
1%
is bad
but we
move into
thinking of
people being
basically the
world is divided
between good
people and bad
people
and one of the
things is if you
actually read the
Bible from cover
to cover
what you discover
is that the
Bible rejects
the idea
of the world
being divided
between good
people and bad
people
and that the
Bible teaches
that the
division between
good and bad
runs down
the center of
every single
human being
the world
isn't divided
between good
people and
bad people
but we
naturally think
even when we
come to
even though we
can read that
and know that
that that's what
happens for all
have sinned and
fall short of
the glory of
God
yet we
because we
sort of run
to that
default part
of our
human brain
we read a
story
and we
start to
think that
the world
is divided
between good
people and
bad people
and in a
world where
there's good
people and
bad people
who are the
only people
that God
can work
through
good people
right
it's the
only way he
can work
we put God
in a box
because then we
have to say
whoa whoa whoa
whoa whoa
one moment
here does that
mean that the
only way that
God can do
anything in the
world is wait
for good people
to decide to
do it and
then he can
come along and
help them
you see this
is the
beginning of
unbelievably good
news
Israel doesn't
want to be
delivered
Israel wants
to become
Philistine
and God
throws a
monkey wrench
right into
the center
of Israel's
plans and
completely and
utterly screws
it up and
the name of
the monkey
wrench is
Samson
by the end
of the story
Israel and
the Philistines
are separate
by the end
of chapter
16 they're
separate
Israel is
still deeply
corrupt
you see the
fact the
matter is
the fact the
matter is
is that the
Lord is
saving Israel
despite Samson
and despite
Israel
the Lord is
saving Israel
despite Israel
he's saving
Israel despite
Samson
it's a
beyond this
the topic of
this sermon
but only the
Christian worldview
helps us to
understand how
it is that God
can be completely
and utterly
free and
Samson is
completely and
utterly free
and at the
same time that
Samson is
completely and
utterly free
like you go
back and you
look at it
later on you
look at verse
three and
verse seven
Samson's doing
what is right
in my eyes
but at the
same time that
Samson is doing
what is right in
my eyes God
is doing what
is right for
Israel and
for you and
me at a
very very very
deep level
the Lord
saving Israel
despite Samson
and despite
Israel and
here's the
truth the
Lord saves
me despite
me and the
Lord saves
you despite
you he saves
you while
we were still
sinners Christ
came while
we were dead
Christ comes
while we were
his enemies
Christ comes
when we had
all turned our
back on him
Christ comes
for all he
comes despite
us to save
us sometimes
some of the
monkey wrenches
in our lives
is God
trying to get
our attention
so that we
will return
to him
you see at
no point in
time in the
book does it
say that what
Samson done
is right
the Bible
very clearly
teaches that
the end
never justifies
the means
it's one of the
ways that the
biblical worldview
is completely
different from
almost all moral
reasoning in
mainstream Canadian
thought because
in the very heart
of all mainstream
Canadian thought
the end justifies
the means
in the Bible
the end never
justifies the
means
never justifies
the means
so what is
God doing
God isn't
defensive
he's not
passive
he's not
waiting until
Israel decides
they want to
seek him
they're sinking
into a place
where they will
they don't want
that at all
but God
still loves
them
so he
invades
he invades
you see
true grace
saving grace
invades
evil
against
evil
for the
true good
of the
person
cheap grace
God
whitewashes
over evil
baptizes
evil
and tells
you it's
all fine
but true
grace
saving grace
costly grace
invades
evil
and deals
with evil
for the
true ultimate
good
and so what
we see here
is that God
uses the
freedom of
Samson to
begin to
deliver Israel
from the
Philistines
and it
points to
this profound
invasion
against our
will that
happens in
the person
of Jesus
I mean if
you go back
and read the
Gospels
it's quite
remarkable
it's very
clear that
his own
do not
receive him
the people
in a sense
just like in
Samson's case
the people who
should rejoice
that God
has brought a
true and
greater Samson
to come
to deliver
not just
Israel
but all
people
Philistines
and Romans
and Irish
and Polish
and French
and African
and Chinese
and all
people that
God
in the person
of Jesus
God invades
the fallen
world
God comes
from outside
the created
order into
the order
that he
himself created
and he
comes from
outside into
the created
order and he
comes when
nobody's seeking
him when nobody
wants a savior
like that and he
comes despite
our sin and he
comes and bears
our sin and it's
all an invasion
that comes from
the loving heart
of God for
our true good
when our backs
were turned to
him our fists
were raised to
him our ears
were closed to
him our mind
and heart was
hardened to
him our will
was completely
rock solid I
will never bow
to him in such
a situation
Jesus comes
to save
we'll talk about
it more next
week but in
Samson you see
all the sin of
Israel but it's
not redemptive
in Jesus you
see all the sin
of the world
laid on him
and at the
heart of the
invasion is
that he invades
to be both
sinless but bear
the sin of the
world your sin
and mine for
your good and
mine please
stand
bow our heads
in prayer
for some of us
some of us
our outward
lives look very
ordered but our
inward lives are
maybe just as
completely and
utterly chaotic and
filled with vengeance
and anger as we
see in Samson
and if you are
here in this
situation today
then this is a
profoundly important
story for you
because you see in
God's word that
God knows deeply
your internal chaos
and anger and
cycles of vengeance
and not letting go
and God sees it at a
very deep level
because it's in his
word and some of you
might even be it's
you've hidden it from
others and you've
hidden it from us
but you're in fact
not just your inner
life but your outer
life is consumed
with chaos and
self-centeredness and
vengeance and this
shows that God
understands it
and for all of us
in different ways
the word will hit us
in different ways
we'll maybe come
face to face with
how we're putting
God in a box
and our
disappointments come
because not because
God is ever
disappointing in
himself or the
gospel is ever
disappointing but
because our boxes
our boxes are
entrapping us
our boxes are
really that pot
of water and we
are the frog and
the kettle is
the water's gotten
warmer and warmer
and we don't realize
that we're so locked
in our box that we
don't see the glory
of the goodness and
the love of God
and his perfect
providence and
sovereignty and our
freedom and his
love to invade into
evil for our good
and we're so trapped
in our boxes we're
disappointed whatever
it is the Lord is
doing your heart there
is no better time than
now to thank him for
invading and for those
of us who are
Christians that he
invaded me that he
invaded you let's pray
father thank you that
you are not passive that
you are not on the
defensive we thank you
that you look with
love we thank you
that you throw monkey
wrenches into evil we
thank you father that
you looked in love and
invaded when we had
our backs turned to
you our hearts away
from you our wills
away from you our
minds away from you
we didn't think it
would be possible that
you could be God that
Jesus could be king
that he could be our
savior not only did we
not think it was
possible but we didn't
even want it to be
true and and in in
that midst still you
sent your son to die
for us and and reveal
your love and your
heart and your
goodness and your
greatness and your
glory at the same
time as dying to do
all that had to be
done to reconcile us
to you father we
thank you for Jesus
we ask father that you
make us people who
are gripped by the
gospel the wonder of
who it is that Jesus
is and what you have
done for us so
unbidden and so
undeserving father
grip us with the truth
and wonder of the
gospel and help us
father that that
might be our life
that might be our
north star that might
be the grant the air
we breathe the food
we eat the water we
drink the place upon
which we stand the
lens by which we see
the world and so be
used by you in the
power of your Holy
Spirit to bear the
fruit of the Spirit and
to make a difference in
the chaos and the
vengeance and the
craziness of the world
for the good of people
the salvation of souls
and your great glory
and all God's people
said amen
you