WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.520 Alright, we're going to read from Judges chapter 16. 00:00:04.520 --> 00:00:08.759 This is the very last part of the story of Samson. 00:00:08.759 --> 00:00:21.519 And we'll read verses 4 to 30. 00:00:21.519 --> 00:00:24.600 This is God's word. 00:00:24.600 --> 00:00:44.960 And we will each give you 1,100 pieces of silver. 00:00:44.960 --> 00:00:46.480 So, Delilah said to Samson, 00:00:46.480 --> 00:00:48.520 please tell me where your great strength lies 00:00:48.520 --> 00:00:52.200 and how you might be bound that one could subdue you. 00:00:52.200 --> 00:00:53.679 Samson said to her, 00:00:53.679 --> 00:00:56.160 if they bind me with seven fresh bow strings 00:00:56.160 --> 00:00:57.880 that have not been dried, 00:00:57.880 --> 00:01:00.920 then I shall become weak and be like any other man. 00:01:00.920 --> 00:01:02.000 Then the lords of the Philistines 00:01:02.000 --> 00:01:04.359 brought up to her seven fresh bow strings 00:01:04.359 --> 00:01:05.879 that had not been dried, 00:01:05.879 --> 00:01:08.680 and she bound him with them. 00:01:08.680 --> 00:01:12.159 Now she had men lying in ambush in an inner chamber. 00:01:12.159 --> 00:01:13.400 And she said to him, 00:01:13.400 --> 00:01:15.840 the Philistines are upon you, Samson, 00:01:15.840 --> 00:01:17.400 but he snapped the bow strings 00:01:17.400 --> 00:01:20.200 as a thread of flak snaps when it touches the fire. 00:01:20.200 --> 00:01:23.079 So the secret of his strength was not known. 00:01:23.079 --> 00:01:24.480 Then Delilah said to Samson, 00:01:24.480 --> 00:01:27.320 behold, you have mocked me and told me lies. 00:01:27.320 --> 00:01:29.280 Please tell me how you might be bound. 00:01:29.280 --> 00:01:30.240 And he said to her, 00:01:30.240 --> 00:01:32.640 if they bind me with new ropes that have not been used, 00:01:32.640 --> 00:01:35.400 then I shall become weak and be like any other man. 00:01:35.400 --> 00:01:39.280 So Delilah took new ropes and bound him with them. 00:01:39.280 --> 00:01:42.159 And said to him, the Philistines are upon you, Samson. 00:01:42.159 --> 00:01:44.840 And the men lying in ambush were in an inner chamber, 00:01:44.840 --> 00:01:48.600 but he snapped the ropes off his arms like a thread. 00:01:48.599 --> 00:01:51.079 Then Delilah said to Samson, until now you have mocked me 00:01:51.079 --> 00:01:52.280 and told me lies. 00:01:52.280 --> 00:01:54.039 Tell me how you might be bound. 00:01:54.039 --> 00:01:57.280 And he said to her, if you weave the seven locks of my head 00:01:57.280 --> 00:02:00.159 with the web and fasten it tight with the pin, 00:02:00.159 --> 00:02:02.719 then I shall become weak and be like any other man. 00:02:02.719 --> 00:02:05.879 So while he slept, Delilah took the seven locks of his head 00:02:05.879 --> 00:02:07.799 and wove them into the web. 00:02:07.799 --> 00:02:10.599 And she made them tight with the pin and said to him, 00:02:10.599 --> 00:02:13.079 the Philistines are upon you, Samson. 00:02:13.079 --> 00:02:15.000 But he awoke from his sleep. 00:02:15.000 --> 00:02:17.599 And he pulled away the pin, the loom and the web. 00:02:17.599 --> 00:02:20.840 And she said to him, how can you say I love you 00:02:20.840 --> 00:02:22.799 when your heart is not with me? 00:02:22.799 --> 00:02:24.319 You've mocked me these three times 00:02:24.319 --> 00:02:27.000 and you've not told me where your great strength lies. 00:02:27.000 --> 00:02:29.560 And when she pressed him hard with her words day after day 00:02:29.560 --> 00:02:33.479 and urged him, his soul was vexed to death. 00:02:33.479 --> 00:02:35.479 And he told her all this heart. 00:02:35.479 --> 00:02:38.400 And he said to her, a razor has never come upon my head for, 00:02:38.400 --> 00:02:41.599 I've been a Nazarite to God from my mother's womb. 00:02:41.599 --> 00:02:44.400 If my head is shaved, then my strength will leave me 00:02:44.400 --> 00:02:47.519 and I will become weak and I'll be like any other man. 00:02:47.520 --> 00:02:51.320 And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, 00:02:51.320 --> 00:02:54.080 she sent, she called the Lords of the Philistines saying, 00:02:54.080 --> 00:02:56.879 come up again for he has told me all his heart. 00:02:56.879 --> 00:02:59.280 And the Lords of the Philistines came up to her 00:02:59.280 --> 00:03:01.760 and brought the money in her hands. 00:03:01.760 --> 00:03:04.000 And she made him sleep on her knees. 00:03:04.000 --> 00:03:05.920 And she called a man and had him shave off 00:03:05.920 --> 00:03:07.879 the seven locks of his head. 00:03:07.879 --> 00:03:10.000 And then she began to torment him 00:03:10.000 --> 00:03:12.240 and his strength left him. 00:03:12.240 --> 00:03:16.040 And she said, the Philistines are upon you, Samson. 00:03:16.039 --> 00:03:18.159 And he awoke from his sleep and he said, 00:03:18.159 --> 00:03:21.639 I will go out as at other times and I'll shake myself free. 00:03:21.639 --> 00:03:24.519 But he did not know that the Lord had left him. 00:03:24.519 --> 00:03:27.159 And the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes 00:03:27.159 --> 00:03:28.759 and brought him down to Gaza 00:03:29.680 --> 00:03:31.399 and bound him with bronze shackles. 00:03:31.399 --> 00:03:34.879 And he ground at the mill in the prison. 00:03:34.879 --> 00:03:38.000 But the hair of his head began to grow again 00:03:38.000 --> 00:03:39.799 after it had been shaved. 00:03:39.799 --> 00:03:41.519 Now the Lords of the Philistines gathered 00:03:41.519 --> 00:03:44.439 to offer a great sacrifice today, God and their God 00:03:44.439 --> 00:03:47.319 and to rejoice and they said, our God has given Samson 00:03:47.319 --> 00:03:49.800 to our enemy, our enemy into our hand. 00:03:49.800 --> 00:03:52.479 And when the people saw him, they praised their God. 00:03:52.479 --> 00:03:55.240 For they said, our God has given our enemy into our hand, 00:03:55.240 --> 00:03:58.479 the ravager of our country who has killed many of us. 00:03:58.479 --> 00:04:00.520 And when their hearts were merry, they said, 00:04:00.520 --> 00:04:03.240 call Samson that he may entertain us. 00:04:03.240 --> 00:04:05.120 So they called Samson out of the prison 00:04:05.120 --> 00:04:07.479 and he entertained them and they made him stand 00:04:07.479 --> 00:04:08.759 between the pillars. 00:04:08.759 --> 00:04:11.719 And Samson said to the young man who held him 00:04:11.719 --> 00:04:14.400 by the hand, let me fill the pillars 00:04:14.400 --> 00:04:17.720 on which the house rest that I may lean against them. 00:04:17.720 --> 00:04:19.959 Now the house was full of men and women. 00:04:19.959 --> 00:04:21.639 All the Lords of the Philistines were there 00:04:21.639 --> 00:04:23.720 and on the roof there were about 3,000 men and women 00:04:23.720 --> 00:04:26.280 who looked on while Samson entertained. 00:04:26.280 --> 00:04:27.920 Then Samson called to the Lord and said, 00:04:27.920 --> 00:04:30.199 oh Lord God, please remember me 00:04:30.199 --> 00:04:32.480 and please strengthen me only this once. 00:04:32.480 --> 00:04:35.079 Oh God, that I may be avenged on the Philistines 00:04:35.079 --> 00:04:36.759 for my two eyes. 00:04:36.759 --> 00:04:38.879 And Samson grasped the two middle pillars 00:04:38.879 --> 00:04:40.480 on which the house rested. 00:04:40.480 --> 00:04:41.920 He leaned his weight against them, 00:04:41.920 --> 00:04:44.640 his right hand on the one, his left hand on the other. 00:04:44.640 --> 00:04:48.040 And Samson said, let me die with the Philistines. 00:04:48.040 --> 00:04:50.199 Then he bowed with all his strength 00:04:50.199 --> 00:04:52.400 and the house fell upon the Lords 00:04:52.400 --> 00:04:54.400 and upon all the people who were in it. 00:04:54.400 --> 00:04:57.240 So the dead whom he killed at his death 00:04:57.240 --> 00:05:00.560 were more than those whom he had killed during his life. 00:05:00.560 --> 00:05:02.680 This is God's holy word. 00:05:02.680 --> 00:05:04.080 We are working our way, 00:05:04.080 --> 00:05:06.160 if you've been around St. Caesar in the evenings, 00:05:06.160 --> 00:05:08.400 we're working our way through the book of Judges. 00:05:08.400 --> 00:05:09.960 And this is the very last judge, 00:05:09.959 --> 00:05:11.959 the very last story of the last judge, 00:05:11.959 --> 00:05:13.799 the 12th of the 12 judges. 00:05:14.839 --> 00:05:16.959 This is like one of, this is a storybook story. 00:05:16.959 --> 00:05:19.439 You know, this is one of the stories that everybody knows 00:05:19.439 --> 00:05:22.159 that people talk about even outside 00:05:22.159 --> 00:05:24.199 who haven't been raised in the church or anything like that. 00:05:24.199 --> 00:05:26.359 They know about the Samson story quite often. 00:05:26.359 --> 00:05:30.399 Samson and Delilah, a number of songs written about this. 00:05:30.399 --> 00:05:33.120 Samson is very famous because he's so strong 00:05:33.120 --> 00:05:35.199 and he's so powerful and he's so mighty. 00:05:35.199 --> 00:05:37.560 And many people have talked about 00:05:37.560 --> 00:05:40.120 how he's like one of the, he's an original superhero 00:05:40.120 --> 00:05:41.519 of some kind. 00:05:41.519 --> 00:05:45.399 He grabs honey out of beehives, 00:05:45.399 --> 00:05:47.199 doesn't care about getting stung. 00:05:47.199 --> 00:05:50.439 He fights people with an animal jawbone. 00:05:50.439 --> 00:05:54.079 He catches foxes by the tail, ties the tails together, 00:05:54.079 --> 00:05:55.800 burns down crops. 00:05:55.800 --> 00:05:58.040 He rips just before the beginning of 16, 00:05:58.040 --> 00:06:00.399 he rips city gates up out of the ground 00:06:00.399 --> 00:06:02.519 and brings down an entire city wall. 00:06:03.920 --> 00:06:07.199 He pushes over an enormous temple at the end of his life 00:06:07.199 --> 00:06:09.680 and his hair is kryptonite, right? 00:06:09.680 --> 00:06:11.959 So he's an original superhero. 00:06:13.199 --> 00:06:16.800 And he is a hero. 00:06:16.800 --> 00:06:18.879 As many others before me have pointed out, 00:06:18.879 --> 00:06:20.680 he's technically a hero. 00:06:20.680 --> 00:06:23.680 In the sense that he's a judge, he's a redeemer. 00:06:23.680 --> 00:06:25.839 Heroes save people. 00:06:25.839 --> 00:06:29.800 And in this story, Israel is captured by the Philistines. 00:06:29.800 --> 00:06:32.000 They're under the oppression of the Philistines 00:06:32.000 --> 00:06:33.360 and Samson saves them. 00:06:33.360 --> 00:06:35.039 He is their hero. 00:06:35.039 --> 00:06:36.719 That's what a judge is in the book of Judges. 00:06:36.720 --> 00:06:39.680 A judge is a warrior hero, a redeemer. 00:06:40.640 --> 00:06:42.040 Not a person who sits on a bench 00:06:42.040 --> 00:06:43.920 and gives out sentences or something like that. 00:06:43.920 --> 00:06:47.640 A judge in Hebrew is a person who redeems. 00:06:47.640 --> 00:06:50.600 So more like a warrior king than anything else. 00:06:50.600 --> 00:06:52.280 And Samson's definitely that. 00:06:52.280 --> 00:06:55.400 He's a hero, but he is not a traditional hero. 00:06:55.400 --> 00:06:58.920 Traditional heroes are people who save people 00:06:58.920 --> 00:07:00.640 and they play by the rules. 00:07:00.640 --> 00:07:03.080 They're good, they're morally upright. 00:07:03.079 --> 00:07:06.879 Samson is the epitome of an anti-hero. 00:07:06.879 --> 00:07:09.560 Anti-heroes are people who save and redeem, 00:07:09.560 --> 00:07:12.399 but they do it in all the wrong ways. 00:07:12.399 --> 00:07:14.879 He is an absolute mess of a human being 00:07:14.879 --> 00:07:17.319 throughout all of these stories. 00:07:17.319 --> 00:07:18.839 He is a womanizer. 00:07:18.839 --> 00:07:20.560 He is motivated by revenge. 00:07:20.560 --> 00:07:22.279 He is bloodthirsty. 00:07:22.279 --> 00:07:23.959 And every single week we've looked at him, 00:07:23.959 --> 00:07:27.839 we've seen another level that Samson goes down into 00:07:27.839 --> 00:07:32.839 of being publicly depraved in some new way. 00:07:32.839 --> 00:07:37.560 He redeems and yet he's the definition of an anti-hero. 00:07:37.560 --> 00:07:40.479 I've given this list before of anti-heroes. 00:07:40.479 --> 00:07:42.639 People who save, but they do it selfishly. 00:07:42.639 --> 00:07:44.199 They do it full of bankruptcy. 00:07:44.199 --> 00:07:46.560 They do it badly. 00:07:46.560 --> 00:07:48.959 I think we gave this list a couple of months ago 00:07:48.959 --> 00:07:52.079 and another sermon, but the classic anti-heroes of our time 00:07:52.079 --> 00:07:56.919 are Iron Man, Wolverine, James Bond, Scarlet O'Hara, 00:07:56.919 --> 00:08:00.399 Severus Snape, Jack Sparrow, Sherlock Holmes. 00:08:00.399 --> 00:08:02.679 All heroes, all save people. 00:08:02.680 --> 00:08:06.199 But they all do it in a way that's motivated 00:08:06.199 --> 00:08:07.680 by selfishness somehow. 00:08:08.639 --> 00:08:09.840 And that's Samson. 00:08:09.840 --> 00:08:14.600 And Hebrews chapter 11 lists Samson 00:08:14.600 --> 00:08:16.680 in the heroes of the faith. 00:08:16.680 --> 00:08:19.319 And in Hebrews chapter 11, verse 32, 00:08:19.319 --> 00:08:22.079 it says Samson is an example of faith. 00:08:22.079 --> 00:08:25.439 He's listed amongst Gideon and Barak and others. 00:08:25.439 --> 00:08:28.000 And so how do we put those things together? 00:08:29.319 --> 00:08:31.439 An example of the faith. 00:08:31.439 --> 00:08:34.279 And you read these stories and say, Samson, 00:08:34.279 --> 00:08:35.879 Samson's so bankrupt. 00:08:35.879 --> 00:08:37.240 What is going on here? 00:08:37.240 --> 00:08:40.200 Two things I think we can learn from this final story 00:08:40.200 --> 00:08:41.559 to make sense of it. 00:08:41.559 --> 00:08:43.879 Samson is a type. 00:08:43.879 --> 00:08:47.200 Samson is a shadow of something much better. 00:08:47.200 --> 00:08:49.679 And we learn here that his story is to point us 00:08:49.679 --> 00:08:51.600 to a much bigger story in the Bible. 00:08:51.600 --> 00:08:54.080 And that's a story of a cosmic battle, 00:08:54.080 --> 00:08:56.559 a cosmic war, one that is very lopsided. 00:08:56.559 --> 00:08:59.080 But that's ultimately what the Samson story is about. 00:08:59.080 --> 00:09:01.159 And then secondly, he is an example. 00:09:01.159 --> 00:09:03.159 And Hebrews tells us exactly how 00:09:04.159 --> 00:09:06.240 that he's an example in the final moments of his life 00:09:06.240 --> 00:09:09.600 because he was made strong in the midst of his weakness. 00:09:09.600 --> 00:09:10.600 So let's look at those two things. 00:09:10.600 --> 00:09:13.799 He's a type and a shadow, and he's an example. 00:09:13.799 --> 00:09:15.399 And you've got to see both to understand 00:09:15.399 --> 00:09:17.279 how he could be an example. 00:09:17.279 --> 00:09:20.519 All right, so first, Samson teaches us 00:09:20.519 --> 00:09:22.879 that the Bible, world history, 00:09:22.879 --> 00:09:25.439 everything that God is up to is about something very big. 00:09:25.439 --> 00:09:29.799 And that's a cosmic war, a lopsided cosmic war. 00:09:29.799 --> 00:09:33.399 And so in this story, Samson, Judges 16, 00:09:33.399 --> 00:09:35.240 he loves Delilah. 00:09:35.240 --> 00:09:36.919 He's fallen in love, quote unquote, 00:09:36.919 --> 00:09:39.199 with many women throughout these stories. 00:09:39.199 --> 00:09:41.079 And he loves Delilah. 00:09:41.079 --> 00:09:45.240 And she entices him to tell his secret 00:09:45.240 --> 00:09:46.719 about how he's so strong. 00:09:48.759 --> 00:09:52.079 And she is paid off by the Philistine King, 00:09:52.079 --> 00:09:56.079 1100 pieces of silver to figure out 00:09:56.079 --> 00:09:58.799 how Samson can be destroyed. 00:09:58.799 --> 00:10:02.000 And so it couldn't be more obvious what she's up to 00:10:02.000 --> 00:10:04.639 every time, Samson, if you really love me, 00:10:04.639 --> 00:10:06.599 you will tell me the secret to your strength. 00:10:06.599 --> 00:10:07.799 So it's very obvious. 00:10:07.799 --> 00:10:09.679 It's obvious to us, obvious to him, 00:10:09.679 --> 00:10:12.479 four different times what she's up to. 00:10:12.479 --> 00:10:16.120 And so he says, if you bind me with fresh bow strings, 00:10:17.319 --> 00:10:18.199 that's the secret. 00:10:18.199 --> 00:10:20.079 They do it, it doesn't work. 00:10:20.079 --> 00:10:22.759 Brand new ropes that have just been woven, doesn't work. 00:10:22.759 --> 00:10:26.199 Brade my hair, put a pin through it, she does it. 00:10:26.199 --> 00:10:27.799 It does not work. 00:10:27.799 --> 00:10:29.519 And she comes to him and says, come on, 00:10:29.519 --> 00:10:33.679 if you really love me, never a good start, 00:10:33.679 --> 00:10:34.639 whatever's coming after that. 00:10:34.639 --> 00:10:36.719 If you really loved me, you would, 00:10:36.719 --> 00:10:38.519 and that's what she says. 00:10:38.519 --> 00:10:42.759 And he gives up, he tells her the truth. 00:10:42.759 --> 00:10:44.879 It says he was vexed in his heart and soul. 00:10:44.879 --> 00:10:45.719 He was weighed down. 00:10:45.719 --> 00:10:48.159 He's clearly a person really struggling internally, 00:10:48.159 --> 00:10:49.599 deep down in his soul. 00:10:49.599 --> 00:10:52.559 And so he says, if you cut my hair, I'm a Nazarite. 00:10:52.559 --> 00:10:54.439 I've made a vow before the Lord 00:10:54.439 --> 00:10:55.639 that I would never cut my hair. 00:10:55.639 --> 00:10:58.279 And so if my hair is cut, I've broken that vow 00:10:58.279 --> 00:11:00.759 and the Lord will dispossess me of my strength. 00:11:00.759 --> 00:11:02.360 So he tells her that. 00:11:02.360 --> 00:11:04.799 So he's asleep and that's what happens. 00:11:04.799 --> 00:11:09.360 And we learn that Samson has his head shaved 00:11:09.360 --> 00:11:10.919 like a man condemned to die. 00:11:12.000 --> 00:11:15.399 And he is betrayed by a person who apparently, 00:11:15.399 --> 00:11:17.120 he thinks loves him. 00:11:17.120 --> 00:11:21.439 And he's betrayed for many pieces of silver. 00:11:21.440 --> 00:11:25.640 And when that happens, he's taken into prison 00:11:25.640 --> 00:11:27.480 and they gouge out his eyes 00:11:27.480 --> 00:11:30.080 and he's bald and he's blind. 00:11:30.080 --> 00:11:33.360 And he's weak and he's wounded for the first time. 00:11:33.360 --> 00:11:34.680 And in the prison actually, 00:11:34.680 --> 00:11:38.640 it's that we learned that he's made to grind the mill 00:11:38.640 --> 00:11:40.200 in the way that would have probably worked 00:11:40.200 --> 00:11:42.080 is that it would have been a circular grinder 00:11:42.080 --> 00:11:43.840 where you would have pushed a stone 00:11:43.840 --> 00:11:45.120 that would have rotated the mill 00:11:45.120 --> 00:11:48.080 and ground the wheat, the grain in the middle. 00:11:48.080 --> 00:11:50.080 And that's very important to know 00:11:50.080 --> 00:11:53.360 because what we figured out just after that in verse 23 00:11:53.360 --> 00:11:55.960 is that the pinnacle of the Samson story 00:11:55.960 --> 00:11:58.879 is when the Philistines gather in their temple 00:11:58.879 --> 00:12:01.320 and they say thanks be to Dagon 00:12:01.320 --> 00:12:04.080 for delivering Samson to us. 00:12:04.080 --> 00:12:06.560 So the pinnacle story is that they are ultimately 00:12:06.560 --> 00:12:09.480 worshiping the God of Philistia, Dagon, 00:12:09.480 --> 00:12:11.480 this evil God in the Old Testament. 00:12:11.480 --> 00:12:13.720 We see Dagon again in the David's story 00:12:13.720 --> 00:12:16.080 when the Philistines are still worshiping Dagon 00:12:16.080 --> 00:12:19.280 and in the temple of Dagon, the Ark of the Covenant goes 00:12:19.279 --> 00:12:23.199 and Dagon keeps falling flat on his face before the Ark. 00:12:23.199 --> 00:12:25.639 Same idea, same God, same people group. 00:12:25.639 --> 00:12:27.519 And they have a God, that God is Dagon. 00:12:27.519 --> 00:12:30.759 And we learned that ultimately this story in the end 00:12:30.759 --> 00:12:34.120 is about the fact that they believe their God Dagon 00:12:34.120 --> 00:12:36.600 is greater than the God of Israel. 00:12:36.600 --> 00:12:38.399 So they say look at what Dagon has done, 00:12:38.399 --> 00:12:41.799 he has captured the Redeemer of Israel, the judge, 00:12:41.799 --> 00:12:44.039 the Lord's man, Samson. 00:12:44.039 --> 00:12:47.000 Just like when David goes to battle Goliath, 00:12:47.000 --> 00:12:50.879 David represents Israel and represents God as God's man. 00:12:50.879 --> 00:12:53.639 Goliath represents Dagon and Philistia 00:12:53.639 --> 00:12:55.960 and whoever wins is the true power, 00:12:55.960 --> 00:12:57.279 that's the way they see it. 00:12:57.279 --> 00:12:59.879 And the same thing here, Samson, God's man, 00:12:59.879 --> 00:13:02.679 the holy man of Israel, he's been captured, 00:13:02.679 --> 00:13:04.320 he's been destroyed. 00:13:04.320 --> 00:13:07.679 Our God is the great God, they're ultimately saying. 00:13:07.679 --> 00:13:11.440 It's Dagon they think that has prevailed over the Lord, 00:13:11.440 --> 00:13:12.519 the God of Israel. 00:13:12.519 --> 00:13:14.679 And you see what you learn is that this story, 00:13:14.679 --> 00:13:18.519 the Samson story and really the whole book of judges 00:13:18.519 --> 00:13:19.839 is about a cosmic war. 00:13:20.879 --> 00:13:23.719 It's about something much bigger than we imagine. 00:13:23.719 --> 00:13:27.079 And it's about the question of who is the real God, 00:13:27.079 --> 00:13:28.479 who is the true God? 00:13:28.479 --> 00:13:30.079 And at the end of this story, the Philistines say, 00:13:30.079 --> 00:13:32.679 our God's the true God because we've defeated Samson, 00:13:32.679 --> 00:13:33.959 the Lord's man, the holy man. 00:13:33.959 --> 00:13:37.879 And he was betrayed by the woman he loved with silver 00:13:37.879 --> 00:13:40.719 and his eyes are gouged and he's grinding the mill. 00:13:40.719 --> 00:13:43.000 And the reason that's so important is because Dagon, 00:13:43.000 --> 00:13:45.639 we learn from extra biblical sources, 00:13:45.639 --> 00:13:49.679 is the God of grain and wheat, the God of crop fertility. 00:13:49.679 --> 00:13:54.480 And so what's happening here is Samson is grinding the wheat, 00:13:54.480 --> 00:13:57.799 meaning they've made him into the blind servant of Dagon. 00:13:57.799 --> 00:14:00.840 He's grinding Dagon's wheat, Dagon's mill, 00:14:00.840 --> 00:14:02.159 he's at the will, they're mocking him. 00:14:02.159 --> 00:14:04.639 They're making fun of him, they're making fun of his God, 00:14:04.639 --> 00:14:06.080 they're making fun of Israel. 00:14:06.080 --> 00:14:08.480 And that's what's happening here at the end of the passage. 00:14:08.480 --> 00:14:10.360 He's an object of humiliation 00:14:10.360 --> 00:14:12.840 and there's a cosmic battle going on. 00:14:14.720 --> 00:14:16.120 What can we say? 00:14:16.120 --> 00:14:18.159 What we can say is that the point of the story 00:14:18.159 --> 00:14:23.159 is that they think that the God of darkness, Dagon, has won 00:14:24.320 --> 00:14:27.200 because the Lord's anointed, the Redeemer, 00:14:27.200 --> 00:14:28.639 has been defeated and slayed. 00:14:29.680 --> 00:14:34.560 This man, this judge, he was betrayed by pieces of silver. 00:14:34.560 --> 00:14:37.399 He was given into the hands of his enemies. 00:14:37.399 --> 00:14:39.480 He was taken into prison, 00:14:39.480 --> 00:14:42.000 he was delivered to be executed. 00:14:42.000 --> 00:14:45.840 And everybody shouted, the God of darkness has won, 00:14:45.840 --> 00:14:47.320 the God of victory. 00:14:47.320 --> 00:14:51.480 And in the midst of that, we learn the grand irony 00:14:51.480 --> 00:14:56.480 of redemption that God saves, that God saves by losing. 00:14:57.800 --> 00:15:00.879 That God defeats the darkness in the most unlikely way 00:15:00.879 --> 00:15:03.639 by entering into it, by looking like he's been defeated 00:15:03.639 --> 00:15:06.440 by it, by being betrayed by pieces of silver 00:15:06.440 --> 00:15:10.120 and entering into death and yet he brings life. 00:15:10.120 --> 00:15:12.040 And we realize very quickly when you read this 00:15:12.040 --> 00:15:16.240 that Samson is an anti-hero, he is not a good man, 00:15:16.240 --> 00:15:18.600 in so many ways, what can you do with a story like this? 00:15:18.600 --> 00:15:20.360 And all what you can do is you can say, 00:15:20.360 --> 00:15:23.440 he points a straight to a better Redeemer. 00:15:23.440 --> 00:15:28.440 To one who was betrayed by someone he loved through silver 00:15:28.480 --> 00:15:31.680 who was delivered over, beaten, mocked, humiliated, 00:15:31.680 --> 00:15:34.200 who was put in prison, who was delivered to be executed. 00:15:34.200 --> 00:15:36.320 And everybody said, the powers of darkness, 00:15:36.320 --> 00:15:40.240 Dagon himself, who was a God of darkness, 00:15:40.240 --> 00:15:44.320 who was Satan himself, said, look at victory. 00:15:44.320 --> 00:15:48.560 And it was by losing, by losing, by going down 00:15:48.560 --> 00:15:49.879 that he brought victory. 00:15:49.879 --> 00:15:52.560 It was by going down, the powers of darkness thought 00:15:52.560 --> 00:15:54.920 they had won, but oh, it was about a cosmic battle 00:15:54.920 --> 00:15:58.840 and he won, the Redeemer won in the most ironic of ways. 00:15:58.840 --> 00:16:03.040 And so Samson teaches us that salvation means victory 00:16:03.039 --> 00:16:07.399 through a way we would have never expected by the Redeemer 00:16:07.399 --> 00:16:10.480 going down into the pit, down into the darkness, 00:16:10.480 --> 00:16:12.919 in a way that we would never have thought. 00:16:14.120 --> 00:16:15.639 When you talk about salvation, 00:16:16.639 --> 00:16:18.039 there's lots of different dimensions. 00:16:18.039 --> 00:16:21.480 This morning in Ephesians, we saw that the gospel 00:16:21.480 --> 00:16:24.639 and the church are like a multifaceted diamond. 00:16:24.639 --> 00:16:26.799 That's what Paul told us in Ephesians three, 00:16:26.799 --> 00:16:28.319 that there's so many dimensions to it, 00:16:28.319 --> 00:16:30.039 you shine light through a diamond 00:16:30.039 --> 00:16:32.679 and there's thousands of ways it shines through. 00:16:32.679 --> 00:16:34.479 Thousands of sides to it. 00:16:34.479 --> 00:16:36.439 The gospel is the same way. 00:16:36.439 --> 00:16:41.199 It has so many dimensions, so many aspects to it, 00:16:41.199 --> 00:16:43.399 that we could never even plumb the depths of. 00:16:43.399 --> 00:16:44.839 And so we talk about the gospel and we say, 00:16:44.839 --> 00:16:48.239 Jesus Christ, the better Redeemer, the true judge, 00:16:48.239 --> 00:16:50.479 he went down into the darkness of death 00:16:51.359 --> 00:16:53.799 and he was our vicarious satisfaction. 00:16:53.799 --> 00:16:55.319 He took our place. 00:16:56.199 --> 00:17:00.159 Our sins were put upon him so that we might go free, 00:17:00.159 --> 00:17:02.359 so that we might be guilt free. 00:17:02.360 --> 00:17:03.879 That's an aspect of the gospel, 00:17:03.879 --> 00:17:06.039 a beautiful aspect, our forgiveness. 00:17:06.039 --> 00:17:09.680 But there are many, many more aspects of the gospel. 00:17:09.680 --> 00:17:11.599 And one of the aspects of the gospel 00:17:11.599 --> 00:17:13.839 that we don't talk about enough that often, 00:17:13.839 --> 00:17:16.559 and the Bible actually does quite often, 00:17:16.559 --> 00:17:19.559 is that when Jesus died on the cross and rose again, 00:17:19.559 --> 00:17:22.640 he defeated the powers of darkness. 00:17:22.640 --> 00:17:25.599 And so we talk about Christ our Savior, our Redeemer, 00:17:25.599 --> 00:17:27.000 Christ our forgiveness, 00:17:27.000 --> 00:17:30.240 and the theologians talk about Christ the victor, 00:17:30.240 --> 00:17:31.680 Christ the victorious one. 00:17:31.680 --> 00:17:32.640 And in this passage, 00:17:32.640 --> 00:17:35.640 Samson goes down into the darkness. 00:17:35.640 --> 00:17:38.360 He's defeated and the powers of darkness 00:17:38.360 --> 00:17:42.480 think they've won and instead he brings judgment upon them 00:17:42.480 --> 00:17:44.000 and saves his people. 00:17:44.000 --> 00:17:45.640 And one of the aspects of the gospel 00:17:45.640 --> 00:17:50.120 that we receive by faith is that Jesus Christ truly has 00:17:50.120 --> 00:17:53.600 by going down into death, defeated Satan, 00:17:53.600 --> 00:17:56.000 defeated the principalities and powers. 00:17:56.000 --> 00:17:59.279 We see here Christ the victor pointed towards Christ, 00:17:59.279 --> 00:18:02.319 the one who would bring victory over all the gods, 00:18:02.319 --> 00:18:04.720 Satan and his minions, the demons. 00:18:04.720 --> 00:18:06.759 That's a real feature of the Old Testament 00:18:06.759 --> 00:18:08.240 and the New Testament. 00:18:08.240 --> 00:18:10.920 The cross does so much. 00:18:10.920 --> 00:18:13.759 It brings forgiveness and it brings victory 00:18:13.759 --> 00:18:16.359 over their principalities and powers of darkness. 00:18:17.559 --> 00:18:19.399 Just a couple of examples of this in the New Testament. 00:18:19.399 --> 00:18:21.160 It's all over the place. 00:18:21.160 --> 00:18:24.680 John chapter 12, when Jesus is looking at the cross, 00:18:24.680 --> 00:18:29.119 he says, now is the time for the world to be judged. 00:18:29.119 --> 00:18:30.159 What is he saying? 00:18:30.159 --> 00:18:33.119 Now is the time where the sins of the world 00:18:33.119 --> 00:18:35.559 will be judged in my body. 00:18:35.559 --> 00:18:37.079 That's vicarious satisfaction. 00:18:37.079 --> 00:18:40.879 That's him bearing our guilt in our place 00:18:40.879 --> 00:18:41.879 so that we might be forgiven. 00:18:41.879 --> 00:18:45.000 And then the next line, and now the ruler of this world, 00:18:45.000 --> 00:18:48.079 the devil will be thrown out. 00:18:48.079 --> 00:18:50.039 Jesus said this to show how he would die. 00:18:50.039 --> 00:18:51.639 You see those two things together? 00:18:51.639 --> 00:18:54.439 He said, the sins of the world will be condemned to my body 00:18:54.439 --> 00:18:56.839 when I go to the cross and the ruler of this world 00:18:56.839 --> 00:18:58.799 will be destroyed and thrown out. 00:18:58.799 --> 00:19:02.359 So Christ our satisfaction, Christ our victor, 00:19:02.359 --> 00:19:04.399 Christ the one who became our sin for us, 00:19:04.399 --> 00:19:07.119 Christ the one who defeated the powers of Satan, 00:19:07.119 --> 00:19:11.240 principalities and darkness for us at the very same time. 00:19:11.240 --> 00:19:14.960 Colossians 1.13, he, Jesus, has delivered us 00:19:14.960 --> 00:19:16.639 from the domain of darkness. 00:19:16.639 --> 00:19:18.559 He's brought us into the kingdom of God. 00:19:18.559 --> 00:19:19.519 How? 00:19:19.519 --> 00:19:21.919 Chapter two, verse 15 in Colossians. 00:19:21.919 --> 00:19:25.319 Christ disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities 00:19:25.319 --> 00:19:28.519 by putting them to shame on the cross. 00:19:28.519 --> 00:19:29.720 When Jesus Christ went to the cross, 00:19:29.720 --> 00:19:31.519 the rulers and the authorities of darkness, 00:19:31.519 --> 00:19:35.440 Satan himself, Dagon, who's represented here, 00:19:35.440 --> 00:19:38.720 they said, oh, we've put the redeemer to shame. 00:19:39.680 --> 00:19:41.799 And Paul comes and says, no, no, not at all. 00:19:41.799 --> 00:19:44.359 Christ put the powers and principalities of darkness 00:19:44.359 --> 00:19:46.480 to shame when he went to the cross. 00:19:46.480 --> 00:19:49.279 He won by losing. 00:19:49.279 --> 00:19:51.960 He saved us in the most ironic of ways. 00:19:51.960 --> 00:19:54.559 And Samson goes down into his death here 00:19:54.559 --> 00:19:57.279 and he redeems his people by going into the darkness, 00:19:57.279 --> 00:19:58.559 by going into death. 00:19:58.559 --> 00:20:00.559 He brings judgment upon Dagon 00:20:00.559 --> 00:20:03.680 and upon the principalities and powers of darkness. 00:20:03.680 --> 00:20:05.519 Well, one of the early church fathers, 00:20:05.519 --> 00:20:08.119 second century Irenaeus, he says, 00:20:08.119 --> 00:20:12.079 the devil cannot be allowed to have any rights over men. 00:20:12.079 --> 00:20:15.559 He's a robber, a rebel, a tyrant, a usurper, 00:20:15.559 --> 00:20:18.879 unjustly laying his hands on that which does not belong 00:20:18.879 --> 00:20:22.879 to him and Christ has spoiled him and annihilated him. 00:20:22.879 --> 00:20:27.160 He's annihilated Satan and death, Christ the victorious. 00:20:27.160 --> 00:20:29.640 Now, let's move on, but let me say this. 00:20:29.640 --> 00:20:32.840 Paul says, if you're a Christian tonight, 00:20:34.320 --> 00:20:37.440 one reason, one of the things that Paul says 00:20:37.440 --> 00:20:39.480 to apply this to us is he says that when you believe 00:20:39.480 --> 00:20:41.600 on Christ, when you receive the victory 00:20:41.600 --> 00:20:43.759 that Christ has accomplished over sin, 00:20:43.759 --> 00:20:47.040 over the principalities of death, over Satan himself, 00:20:47.040 --> 00:20:49.680 he says in Ephesians 6, now we are to put on 00:20:49.680 --> 00:20:53.160 the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand 00:20:53.160 --> 00:20:54.920 against the schemes of the devil, 00:20:54.920 --> 00:20:57.320 for you no longer wrestle against flesh and blood, 00:20:57.320 --> 00:20:59.240 but against the rulers and authorities, 00:20:59.240 --> 00:21:03.160 against the cosmic powers over this present darkness. 00:21:03.160 --> 00:21:05.680 Paul says, if you're a Christian tonight, 00:21:05.680 --> 00:21:07.960 you've entered into that very same battle 00:21:07.960 --> 00:21:10.440 that Christ is the victorious one over the principalities 00:21:10.440 --> 00:21:13.200 and powers and darkness and Satan imaged here 00:21:13.200 --> 00:21:16.000 in the life of Samson over Dagon. 00:21:16.000 --> 00:21:18.920 And he says, and that's your life too, 00:21:18.920 --> 00:21:20.640 that putting on the whole armor of Christ, 00:21:20.640 --> 00:21:24.080 living out of the gospel, you fight against the powers 00:21:24.079 --> 00:21:25.359 and schemes of the evil one, 00:21:25.359 --> 00:21:27.480 who Christ has ultimately conquered 00:21:27.480 --> 00:21:30.039 and we in our lives push back the darkness day in 00:21:30.039 --> 00:21:32.319 and day out when we live in the light, 00:21:32.319 --> 00:21:34.359 live in the way that he's called us to live. 00:21:34.359 --> 00:21:36.199 So the way we live, we're being told here, 00:21:36.199 --> 00:21:38.919 is so serious, the gospel is so big, 00:21:38.919 --> 00:21:42.319 it's about a cosmic war and God in Christ 00:21:42.319 --> 00:21:44.519 and the cross has defeated the principalities 00:21:44.519 --> 00:21:46.359 and powers of darkness. 00:21:46.359 --> 00:21:47.879 What does the New Testament say? 00:21:47.879 --> 00:21:50.679 Jesus Christ has now bound the strong man. 00:21:50.680 --> 00:21:55.680 Samson is a type, he's a shadow of a much better redemption. 00:21:56.320 --> 00:21:59.519 Secondly, finally, he's also an example. 00:22:00.680 --> 00:22:04.519 Hebrews 11 says that Samson is an example of faith 00:22:04.519 --> 00:22:07.519 and verse 32 in Hebrews 11, 00:22:07.519 --> 00:22:10.720 he's listed amongst a number of people 00:22:10.720 --> 00:22:13.320 like Gideon and Barak and Jephthah. 00:22:13.320 --> 00:22:16.120 And it says that these people are examples to us 00:22:16.120 --> 00:22:17.320 of walking in faith. 00:22:17.320 --> 00:22:18.480 How could it be? 00:22:18.480 --> 00:22:20.440 How could we say that? 00:22:20.440 --> 00:22:22.000 I think the way that you can get at this 00:22:22.000 --> 00:22:25.160 is to see the structure of the Samson story. 00:22:25.160 --> 00:22:28.759 Samson was committed from birth to be a Nazarite. 00:22:28.759 --> 00:22:32.039 He had taken a Nazarite vow from his parents forward. 00:22:32.920 --> 00:22:34.000 What is a Nazarite? 00:22:34.000 --> 00:22:35.600 What is a Nazarite vow? 00:22:35.600 --> 00:22:38.799 A Nazarite vow is the vow where you promise never 00:22:38.799 --> 00:22:42.100 to drink alcohol, to cut your hair, 00:22:42.100 --> 00:22:45.559 or to touch anything unclean by the ceremonial law 00:22:45.559 --> 00:22:47.080 in the Old Testament. 00:22:47.080 --> 00:22:48.080 What is a Nazarite? 00:22:48.079 --> 00:22:53.079 A Nazarite is basically a non-Levite priest warrior, 00:22:53.799 --> 00:22:56.279 priest king in the Old Testament. 00:22:56.279 --> 00:22:58.480 It's very rare, it's an office, 00:22:58.480 --> 00:23:00.159 it's not one we see very often. 00:23:01.159 --> 00:23:03.279 Like a priest, God's holy man, 00:23:03.279 --> 00:23:05.279 and like a warrior at the same time, 00:23:05.279 --> 00:23:08.119 who will never cut their hair, never drink alcohol, 00:23:08.119 --> 00:23:10.319 and never touch anything unclean in their lives. 00:23:10.319 --> 00:23:11.599 That's the Nazarite vow. 00:23:11.599 --> 00:23:13.559 Samson had made the Nazarite vow. 00:23:14.399 --> 00:23:18.000 In chapter 14, Samson touches the dead body 00:23:18.000 --> 00:23:20.799 of a lion, very first story. 00:23:20.799 --> 00:23:25.319 In chapter 14, Samson throws a seven-day party. 00:23:25.319 --> 00:23:27.559 And we're not told very explicitly that he drank alcohol, 00:23:27.559 --> 00:23:29.759 but it was a seven-day party. 00:23:29.759 --> 00:23:32.240 So we can safely assume that he did. 00:23:33.079 --> 00:23:36.799 In chapter 15, he takes the jawbone of a donkey, 00:23:36.799 --> 00:23:38.720 out of a donkey, in order to fight people. 00:23:38.720 --> 00:23:41.119 He touches an unclean animal, a dead body. 00:23:41.119 --> 00:23:43.359 In chapter 16, he cuts his hair. 00:23:43.359 --> 00:23:44.359 Now, what's a Nazarite? 00:23:44.359 --> 00:23:46.880 A Nazarite is a person who vows to never touch 00:23:46.880 --> 00:23:49.320 an unclean thing, especially a dead body, 00:23:49.320 --> 00:23:50.960 to never eat from an unclean thing. 00:23:50.960 --> 00:23:54.800 By the way, he eats honey out of a dead animal carcass, 00:23:56.120 --> 00:23:57.480 that promises never to drink alcohol, 00:23:57.480 --> 00:23:58.480 and then never cut their hair. 00:23:58.480 --> 00:24:02.240 And every single story is about how Samson broke his vow 00:24:02.240 --> 00:24:05.080 at every single level, every single turn. 00:24:06.320 --> 00:24:08.720 I think that, you see, I think that when you come 00:24:08.720 --> 00:24:11.120 to chapter 16, and you look at the story with him 00:24:11.120 --> 00:24:13.600 and Delilah, you see something. 00:24:13.600 --> 00:24:16.200 Why in the world would Samson tell Delilah, 00:24:16.200 --> 00:24:18.799 four times, she comes and says, 00:24:18.799 --> 00:24:21.200 oh please, tell me your secret. 00:24:21.200 --> 00:24:23.240 And he tells her, and he's ambushed. 00:24:23.240 --> 00:24:25.360 Of course, he knows what Delilah's up to. 00:24:25.360 --> 00:24:27.440 Why would he give his secret away? 00:24:27.440 --> 00:24:30.160 And I think when you look at chapter 14, and 15, and 16, 00:24:30.160 --> 00:24:33.279 and see how much he broke his vow, it's very clear, 00:24:33.279 --> 00:24:35.200 he wants out. 00:24:35.200 --> 00:24:37.200 He does not want to be a Nazarite. 00:24:37.200 --> 00:24:38.960 He does not want to be God's man. 00:24:38.960 --> 00:24:40.640 He does not want to be God's judge. 00:24:40.640 --> 00:24:43.080 He does not want to be the Redeemer. 00:24:43.080 --> 00:24:44.759 He's reluctant. 00:24:44.759 --> 00:24:47.200 He's been called by God, but he's incredibly reluctant. 00:24:47.200 --> 00:24:49.759 And he doesn't want to do what he's been given. 00:24:50.799 --> 00:24:53.240 And I think there's a lesson there. 00:24:53.240 --> 00:24:57.799 If there is any human being so far in the book of Judges 00:24:57.799 --> 00:24:59.599 that we would be tempted to say, 00:24:59.599 --> 00:25:03.640 that person is not a true believer, it would be Samson. 00:25:04.480 --> 00:25:07.359 We look at his life and we see how reluctant he was. 00:25:07.359 --> 00:25:12.359 And we say, he doesn't want to follow the Lord. 00:25:12.359 --> 00:25:13.919 Not at all. 00:25:13.919 --> 00:25:16.279 And he's listed in Hebrews 11, 32, 00:25:17.559 --> 00:25:19.799 the man of faith, the example. 00:25:19.799 --> 00:25:22.240 And I think one of the things that has to say to us 00:25:22.240 --> 00:25:26.079 is that we've got to be really careful and be very slow 00:25:26.079 --> 00:25:30.079 to make pronouncements about who is and is not 00:25:30.639 --> 00:25:32.479 part of God's people. 00:25:32.479 --> 00:25:36.439 About who does have salvation and who doesn't have salvation. 00:25:36.439 --> 00:25:38.599 If there has ever been a person 00:25:38.599 --> 00:25:40.719 that you would feel comfortable to say, 00:25:40.720 --> 00:25:43.720 I'm not sure that he's truly a believer. 00:25:43.720 --> 00:25:45.319 It looks like Samson to me. 00:25:46.319 --> 00:25:48.160 And yet he was a man of faith. 00:25:49.039 --> 00:25:51.360 And he was God's man, God's holy man 00:25:51.360 --> 00:25:53.960 that he used to redeem the people. 00:25:53.960 --> 00:25:58.440 We have no access to the names written in the book of life. 00:25:58.440 --> 00:26:02.360 And we do not know what God is up to in the hearts of people. 00:26:03.480 --> 00:26:06.000 Only God knows who God's people are. 00:26:06.000 --> 00:26:08.480 And so I think this calls us to be really reluctant. 00:26:08.480 --> 00:26:11.319 There's a rendition of Psalm 15, 00:26:11.319 --> 00:26:14.120 a paraphrase of Psalm 15 that we sing sometimes. 00:26:14.120 --> 00:26:14.960 And it says, 00:26:14.960 --> 00:26:17.400 Who will stand, O Lord, on your holy hill? 00:26:17.400 --> 00:26:19.880 Who will dwell on your holy hill? 00:26:19.880 --> 00:26:21.880 He who walks with integrity, 00:26:21.880 --> 00:26:24.440 he whose works are righteousness, 00:26:24.440 --> 00:26:27.360 he who speaks the truth deep within his heart, 00:26:27.360 --> 00:26:29.559 one who does not slander with his lips, 00:26:29.559 --> 00:26:31.880 one who loves all of his neighbors well, 00:26:31.880 --> 00:26:34.559 one who does no wrong unto his friends. 00:26:34.559 --> 00:26:36.319 Who shall dwell on God's holy hill? 00:26:36.319 --> 00:26:39.079 The one who is honest in everything they do. 00:26:40.399 --> 00:26:41.879 And the only answer that you can give 00:26:41.879 --> 00:26:43.079 when you read a list like that is say, 00:26:43.079 --> 00:26:45.480 that is not me, that is nobody. 00:26:45.480 --> 00:26:47.639 Who will stand on the holy hill of the Lord? 00:26:47.639 --> 00:26:49.720 And that's certainly not Samson. 00:26:49.720 --> 00:26:51.079 And it's not me either. 00:26:51.079 --> 00:26:55.159 And I think the Psalm of Samson and our Psalm 00:26:55.159 --> 00:26:56.679 is more like Psalm 130, 00:26:56.679 --> 00:26:59.159 one of my favorite paraphrases of Psalm 130 00:26:59.159 --> 00:27:00.319 from the depths of woe, 00:27:00.319 --> 00:27:03.039 a hymn, hopefully we'll sing it at some point. 00:27:03.039 --> 00:27:07.399 It says, if you keep a mark of my secret sins 00:27:07.399 --> 00:27:11.240 and misdeeds dark, oh, who shall stand before thee? 00:27:12.240 --> 00:27:14.920 If you keep the mark of my secret sins and misdeeds dark, 00:27:14.920 --> 00:27:16.639 oh, who shall stand before thee? 00:27:16.639 --> 00:27:19.759 Nobody, not Samson, not me, not us. 00:27:19.759 --> 00:27:21.559 And so he didn't wanna be God's man. 00:27:21.559 --> 00:27:23.240 He didn't desire God. 00:27:23.240 --> 00:27:24.920 And boy, can we count the minutes 00:27:24.920 --> 00:27:26.720 of the times we don't desire God. 00:27:27.879 --> 00:27:29.599 And that means I think we're being called here 00:27:29.599 --> 00:27:33.079 to be slow to say who's in and who's out. 00:27:33.079 --> 00:27:34.359 I love what Ralph Davis says, 00:27:34.359 --> 00:27:35.679 one of the great commentators on this book. 00:27:35.679 --> 00:27:38.240 He says, for if God's grace was given, 00:27:38.240 --> 00:27:40.199 only when we prayed for it. 00:27:40.199 --> 00:27:43.759 If God's grace was given to us, only when we wanted it, 00:27:43.759 --> 00:27:48.359 only when we asked for it, only when we desired it, 00:27:48.359 --> 00:27:51.079 only when we had sense enough to seek it, 00:27:51.079 --> 00:27:53.839 what paupers and orphans we would all be. 00:27:55.159 --> 00:27:56.599 Now the final thing, 00:27:56.599 --> 00:28:00.000 how can Samson be listed in Hebrews 11, 32? 00:28:00.000 --> 00:28:01.679 And the final thing is this, 00:28:01.679 --> 00:28:04.240 sometimes you read stories in the Old Testament, 00:28:04.240 --> 00:28:07.319 David, Moses, Samson, 00:28:07.319 --> 00:28:08.839 and people want to say, 00:28:08.839 --> 00:28:12.039 tell all the kids, kids, be like David, 00:28:12.039 --> 00:28:14.879 kids, be like Moses, be like Samson. 00:28:14.879 --> 00:28:16.279 How can you go to the Old Testament 00:28:16.279 --> 00:28:18.399 and look at these examples, men and women, 00:28:18.399 --> 00:28:20.159 and say be like this person? 00:28:20.159 --> 00:28:21.439 And you read Samson's story, 00:28:21.439 --> 00:28:23.959 you say the last thing we ever wanna say is kids, 00:28:23.959 --> 00:28:26.399 be like Samson, adults, be like Samson. 00:28:26.400 --> 00:28:28.280 No, don't be like Samson, 00:28:28.280 --> 00:28:30.880 look to a better redeemer than that, right? 00:28:30.880 --> 00:28:34.400 And yet at the same time, Hebrews 11 says a man of faith. 00:28:34.400 --> 00:28:36.360 And so if you look at Hebrews 11, 00:28:36.360 --> 00:28:39.040 it lists Samson, Gideon, Jephthah, David, 00:28:39.040 --> 00:28:43.000 and then it lists all these little synopses 00:28:43.000 --> 00:28:44.360 of their accomplishments. 00:28:44.360 --> 00:28:48.040 And it says, who by faith conquered kingdoms, 00:28:48.040 --> 00:28:51.360 performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, 00:28:51.360 --> 00:28:54.800 shut the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, 00:28:54.799 --> 00:28:57.919 escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness was made strong, 00:28:57.919 --> 00:29:01.039 became mighty in war, and put foreign armies to flight. 00:29:01.039 --> 00:29:02.599 So if you go to Hebrews 11, 00:29:02.599 --> 00:29:04.399 you can look at the list of names, 00:29:04.399 --> 00:29:07.000 and then you can associate one of those little clauses 00:29:07.000 --> 00:29:09.559 with every person from their specific story. 00:29:09.559 --> 00:29:12.240 And I think the one that's meant by the author of Hebrews 00:29:12.240 --> 00:29:14.039 is that Samson, which one is he? 00:29:14.039 --> 00:29:17.119 From weakness, he was made strong. 00:29:17.119 --> 00:29:18.919 That's what Hebrews 11 says. 00:29:18.919 --> 00:29:20.919 So it says he's a great man of faith, how? 00:29:20.919 --> 00:29:24.599 Because only in the final moment of his life, 00:29:24.599 --> 00:29:28.879 when he became ultimately weak, was he finally strong. 00:29:28.879 --> 00:29:30.639 You see, the great thing about Samson, 00:29:30.639 --> 00:29:33.439 the reason that his story is so well known, 00:29:33.439 --> 00:29:37.759 the reason that people of all stripes know the Samson story, 00:29:37.759 --> 00:29:39.639 is because of his great strength. 00:29:39.639 --> 00:29:40.639 He's a superhero. 00:29:40.639 --> 00:29:42.359 He was so powerful. 00:29:42.359 --> 00:29:46.039 Samson's strength, his whole life was his strength, 00:29:46.039 --> 00:29:49.039 his power, his might, it's what he rested in. 00:29:49.039 --> 00:29:52.559 He knew it was the one thing that made him enough 00:29:52.559 --> 00:29:54.079 that he could always count on. 00:29:54.079 --> 00:29:55.919 And in the end, he lost that. 00:29:56.879 --> 00:29:58.919 And what we learn is that his whole life, 00:29:58.919 --> 00:30:02.039 his strength was his strength, and that was his problem. 00:30:02.919 --> 00:30:04.679 He rested in his strength. 00:30:04.679 --> 00:30:06.839 It was his idol, it was his God. 00:30:06.839 --> 00:30:09.439 And Hebrews 11 says, the reason you can look at Samson 00:30:09.439 --> 00:30:12.079 and see an example is because in the final moments 00:30:12.079 --> 00:30:14.759 of his life, he became ultimately weak. 00:30:14.759 --> 00:30:16.679 He gave up. 00:30:16.679 --> 00:30:19.199 He had always tried to be his own man. 00:30:19.199 --> 00:30:20.359 He didn't wanna be the Lord's man. 00:30:20.359 --> 00:30:21.199 He was reluctant. 00:30:21.199 --> 00:30:23.119 He didn't wanna obey the Nazarite vow. 00:30:23.119 --> 00:30:25.119 He didn't want any part of it. 00:30:25.119 --> 00:30:27.839 And then in the final moment of his life, he let go. 00:30:27.839 --> 00:30:30.919 And he said, oh Lord, for just one moment, 00:30:30.919 --> 00:30:33.079 he really, he woke up. 00:30:33.079 --> 00:30:35.759 He had to lose his eyes in order to see 00:30:37.759 --> 00:30:40.359 that in his weakness, he could finally be strong. 00:30:40.359 --> 00:30:43.239 And letting go and letting the Lord be his master, 00:30:44.159 --> 00:30:45.719 becoming, as we saw this morning, 00:30:45.719 --> 00:30:47.839 a prisoner of Christ Jesus, we might say, 00:30:47.839 --> 00:30:49.239 in the New Covenant. 00:30:49.239 --> 00:30:53.079 Could he finally have strength, the strength of the Lord? 00:30:53.079 --> 00:30:54.039 In his life. 00:30:54.039 --> 00:30:57.039 And his great example of faith to us 00:30:57.039 --> 00:31:00.000 is that he finally learned humility. 00:31:00.000 --> 00:31:02.679 The most unlikely man in the book of Judges to be humble 00:31:02.679 --> 00:31:04.480 finally was humbled. 00:31:04.480 --> 00:31:08.759 And in his humility, God used him in a really powerful way. 00:31:08.759 --> 00:31:10.439 This morning, we'll close with this. 00:31:10.439 --> 00:31:13.480 This morning we saw Paul make up a Greek word 00:31:13.480 --> 00:31:14.439 if you were here. 00:31:14.439 --> 00:31:18.079 In Ephesians 3, he said, I am the leastest 00:31:18.079 --> 00:31:21.439 or the smallestest of the saints. 00:31:21.440 --> 00:31:24.240 We say it in a way that doesn't make sense in English, 00:31:24.240 --> 00:31:26.680 doesn't work, though we all understand that, 00:31:26.680 --> 00:31:28.120 because that's how Paul said it in Greek. 00:31:28.120 --> 00:31:30.000 It didn't make sense in Greek either. 00:31:30.000 --> 00:31:32.320 Paul three times does that in his letters. 00:31:32.320 --> 00:31:36.360 He says, I am the least of the apostles, the leastest. 00:31:36.360 --> 00:31:39.519 I am the smallest of the saints, the least deserving. 00:31:39.519 --> 00:31:40.559 And then the third time he says, 00:31:40.559 --> 00:31:42.759 and I am the chief of sinners. 00:31:42.759 --> 00:31:45.840 It's as if, as Paul was growing and growing and growing, 00:31:45.840 --> 00:31:47.320 as somebody mentioned to me this morning, 00:31:47.320 --> 00:31:49.960 he was becoming more and more humble. 00:31:49.960 --> 00:31:52.000 And we learned from Samson that the great example 00:31:52.000 --> 00:31:55.039 of his faith is he finally learned humility. 00:31:56.079 --> 00:31:59.519 Humility, the bedrock of Christian growth. 00:31:59.519 --> 00:32:02.880 Humility, and Jesus Christ, before he was crucified, 00:32:02.880 --> 00:32:03.720 remember what he did? 00:32:03.720 --> 00:32:06.240 He got down on his knees, he took a towel 00:32:06.240 --> 00:32:10.200 and wrapped it around his waist, and he washed dirty feet. 00:32:11.559 --> 00:32:14.200 The God of the world, the God who made the people, 00:32:14.200 --> 00:32:17.000 he got down on his knees, he washed their feet. 00:32:17.000 --> 00:32:19.440 We see that Jesus was so humble. 00:32:19.440 --> 00:32:23.279 Jesus Christ is your hope, your redeemer. 00:32:23.279 --> 00:32:25.360 He defeated Satan. 00:32:25.360 --> 00:32:27.160 He truly is the victorious one. 00:32:28.039 --> 00:32:29.559 And he's also your example. 00:32:31.039 --> 00:32:33.759 He's only your example if he's first your redeemer. 00:32:34.720 --> 00:32:36.920 But when you look at him as your redeemer, 00:32:36.920 --> 00:32:38.759 the better judge, the great judge, 00:32:38.759 --> 00:32:40.720 he can then show you that the path of humility 00:32:40.720 --> 00:32:41.880 is the path of real Christian growth. 00:32:41.880 --> 00:32:43.799 He can become your example. 00:32:44.799 --> 00:32:47.400 That means don't be like Samson, 00:32:47.400 --> 00:32:52.400 except for at the very end when he points us to Jesus. 00:32:53.560 --> 00:32:54.400 Let us pray. 00:32:54.400 --> 00:32:58.280 Father, we thank you for this great story, the 12th judge. 00:33:00.040 --> 00:33:03.720 And we just thank you, Lord, that your word is so whole. 00:33:03.720 --> 00:33:08.040 It's holistic that you show us Christ in the Old Testament. 00:33:09.160 --> 00:33:11.360 So we ask that you would point us and direct our hearts 00:33:11.360 --> 00:33:15.440 to our better redeemer tonight than Samson, Jesus. 00:33:15.440 --> 00:33:18.160 And we thank you, Lord Jesus, that you defeated 00:33:18.160 --> 00:33:20.360 the powers of darkness. 00:33:20.360 --> 00:33:22.240 We thank you that you have bound the strong man 00:33:22.240 --> 00:33:24.880 so that the gospel would go forward to the nations. 00:33:24.880 --> 00:33:28.440 We thank you that Dagon and all the false gods 00:33:28.440 --> 00:33:30.759 are no gods at all, and that Satan himself 00:33:30.759 --> 00:33:35.000 has been subdued in the irony of your cross. 00:33:35.960 --> 00:33:38.519 So we look again tonight for hope in that moment, 00:33:38.519 --> 00:33:41.519 and we ask tonight that you would give us humility, 00:33:41.519 --> 00:33:44.080 that we know, oh boy, we couldn't save ourselves, 00:33:44.079 --> 00:33:47.279 we couldn't defeat the enemy within and without, 00:33:47.279 --> 00:33:48.799 unless we have your redemption. 00:33:48.799 --> 00:33:52.240 So Lord, guide us tonight, teach us humility. 00:33:52.240 --> 00:33:55.019 Let us learn only that from Samson tonight, 00:33:55.019 --> 00:33:56.639 and be pointed again to Christ. 00:33:56.639 --> 00:33:59.919 So we pray for these hearts, and we pray, Lord, 00:33:59.919 --> 00:34:02.679 that you would send us into this week, humble people, 00:34:02.679 --> 00:34:05.519 and people confident as well in our salvation. 00:34:05.519 --> 00:34:15.519 We pray this in Jesus' name, amen.