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Houston, Texas 77037
Tel: (281) 447-8484
SURVEY OF BIBLE HISTORY
(THE JUDGES TO THE KINGS)
Setting The Stage For Ultimate Destruction
Written by Dr. Lester Hutson
Copyright - Lester Hutson -
1998
This material is copyrighted and may not be copied or reproduced without the express
written permission of Dr. Lester Hutson.
Lesson 26
Judges 16:1-5
H. Samson in Gaza, Judges 16:1-3:
1. In Matt. 2 :41 Jesus said, "The flesh is weak." The Greek word is "asthenes" (as-then-ace') meaning strengthless. Samson is just one who illustrates the flesh is not weak in terms of evil desires and activities, nor in terms of brute strength. No. From those standpoints, the flesh can be extremely strong. Passions, lusts, greed, hate, covetousness, jealousy, prejudice, envy, pride, and other fleshly tendencies can be overpowering. In the rage of anger, men kill. In the heat of passion, they rape and commit immoral acts. In the lust for power men will violate every law of righteousness. Revenge and jealousy are cruel.
When our Lord described the flesh as weak, he was describing the imoral, unrighteous character of the flesh. In terms of righteous character, the flesh is weak. It is so easily tempted, so easily self-serving, so vulnerable to sin. When it comes to genuine honesty, justice, consistency, humility, self-control, love, and other such virtues the flesh is strength-less. Only by the strength and power of God can we ever expect any true character strength.
Samson was the "servant" of the Lord, Judges 15:18 had greater physical strength than any other mortal has ever had; yet he is one of the weakest men who ever lived. He had a weakness for women: the sensuous, physical attraction, the passion of sex. The power of his lust overcame the weakness of his flesh time and again, so that this strong man was eventually destroyed by this weakness of the flesh.
2. Samson went to Gaza, a Philistine city. Verse 1 says there he saw a harlot to whom he succumbed. The servant of God in bed with a cheap whore! How could one so strong be so weak? It seems strange, yet it happens again and again. God only knows how many of His servants have fallen into moral troubles. Don't think it can't happen to you! I Cor. 10:12 warns, "Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." You become proud of how pure you are, and you might well fall into impurity, for "pride goeth before destruction. and an haughty spirit before a fall," Prov. 16:18.
Samson had now gotten to the point where he was acting on a whim. There was no enduring relationship here. He just saw a harlot and went in unto her, He was so calloused to spiritual considerations that he just acted on the spur of the moment to satisfy the flesh. His conscience seemed to be seared as with a hot iron, I Tim. 4:2. Samson was ever becoming more entrenched in his bid to do that which was right in his own eyes without regard to truth or righteousness. He seemed oblivious to the reality of Prov. 14:12, which he would later experience to his sorrow. "There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of cleat." The old flesh will destroy. A sensuous, immoral life takes its toll and ruins in the long run. Solomon wrote, "For the commandment is a lamp and the law is light ; and reproofs instruction are the Way of life: To keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman Lust not after her beauty in thine heart; neither let her take thee with her eyelids. For by means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a Piece of bread: and the adulteress will hunt the precious life," Prov. 6:23-26. He continued in Prov. 7:6-23 "For at the window of my house I looked through my casement, And beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding, Passing through the street near her corner; and he went the way to her house, In the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night: And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of a harlot, and subtile of heart. (She is loud and stubborn her feet abide not in her house: Now is she without, now in the streets, and lieth in wait at every corner. So she caught him, and kissed him, and with an impudent face said unto him, I have peace offerings with me: this day have I paid my vows. Therefore came I forth to meet thee, diligently to seek thy face and I have found thee. I have decked my bed with coverings of tapestry, with carved works, with fine linen of Egypt. 11 have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning, let us solace ourselves loves For the goodman is not at home, he is gone a long journey: He hath taken a bag Of money with him, and will come home at the day appointed With her much fair speech she caused him to Yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced him. He goeth after her straightway, as an I ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks; Till a dart strike through his liver as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life."
3. Like many today who are bent on satisfying self, Samson was oblivious to longterm reality. He was thinking of what he wanted "right now"! Whether it was right or wrong didn't really concern him. So he went in unto the harlot. He was in Gaza, the southernmost city of the Philistines. It was walled with one primary gate. The men of the city were sure Samson would leave through that gate, so rather than search the city for Samson, they set up a watch at the gate to apprehend and kill Samson as he departed, Verse 2.
Although, in spite of their constant night vigil, they could not take Samson. Instead of staying all night with the harlot and leaving at daybreak as the Philistines expected, Samson rose at midnight. When he came to the gate, he literally tore it out of the wall with its entire mounting and took it with him, Verse 3. This verse specifically mentions the two side-posts of the gate. These would be the huge pillars driven into the earth and upon which the gate was hinged. The gate itself was in two halves, one hinged to each pillar post; and swing together to close off the entrance. The "bar" was put in place once the gates swung shut to hold the two halves in place. The bar served as a lock. Archaeological digs and research have shown gates of that era to have been about fourteen feet wide, constructed of heavy timbers and covered with metal to guard against fire or the axes of invaders.
The weight of such a gate and its heavy mounting timbers would be enormous, probably several thousand pounds. Samson ripped the whole gate, side-posts, and bar out of the wall, put it upon his shoulders, and took it up the top of a hill that is before Hebron," Verse 3. That would be thirty-eight miles away almost all uphill through rough valleys and up mountains,
4. Again the tremendous physical strength of Samson is demonstrated. And, in spite of Samson's selfish, godless approach to life, God used even this to further heighten the conflict between the Philistines and the Israelis. This event further flushed the Philistines out to be the true enemies of God's people they were.I. Samson and Delilah, Judges 16:4-20:1. One of the Bible's most fascinating, yet sad, stories is the story of Samson and Delilah. How a man with so much power and potential could be so blind and stupid has intrigued readers ever since the story occurred. It is the story where one can see the horrible, tragic results of selfish, sensuous living ripen right before his eyes.
It is such a typical story: the blindness and stupidity of one who thinks he's in love and who confuses lust for love; the deep longing for an enduring relationship which those who succumb to the lusts of the flesh have; what one will do for money; the power of a woman's persuasion; the effects of incessant pressure; the weight of tears on the emotions; and the extent of deception and deceit in one whom you think loves you all stand out in this story. It's a story that to one measure or another is being constantly repeated.
2. Delilah was a girl right out of Samson's neighborhood. Judges. 16:4 says "He loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah." Of course, Samson was born in Zorah of the Sorek Valley, and grew up in the valley area. Remember that the Philistines were living in the valley too, with a somewhat peaceful dominance over the Israelis. Delilah has become synonymous with the seductive woman.3. Because of his great physical exploits, the Philistines had come to greatly respect Samson's power, and dared not attack him, even unarmed. So they thought to discover the source of his great strength. To gain that information, they sought to reach him through his lover. They were wise enough to realize more information can be gained from one's lover than from anyone else. So often a person will reveal the very depths of his soul to a lover. So, the Philistine lords came to Delilah and each offered her 1,100 pieces of silver to discover and reveal to them Samson's source of strength. Since there were five major cities, it is generally understood that Delilah would receive 5,500 pieces of silver for her work. This is a large sum, and along with the fact that there is now a national concern over Samson as evidenced by all five of the Philistines great leaders now in confederation, is testimony of what a serious menace the Philistines regarded Samson to be. Arthur E. Cundall, in his Commentary on Judges, page 176, says the 1,100-pieces of silver would weigh about thirty pounds for a total of 150 pounds of silver. At $6.25 per ounce, the silver would value around $15,000.
Oh, what people will do for money! I Tim. 6:10 says, "The love of money is the root of all evil." The risk to Delilah was considerable and the deception of it was cold and cruel; yet the money bought her. She set right out to find Samson's source of strength so her Philistine buyers could remove it. Any love for Samson was outweighed by her love for the money. Listen to I Tim. 6:10-11 in their entirety, "For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many arrows. But thou, 0 man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness godliness, faith love, patience, meekness..
Samson never should have been involved with this woman in the first place. She too was a lost Philistine and off limits to him, just like lost people are off limits as potential marriage mates to believers. Furthermore, you'd think Samson would have learned something in the experience with the woman of Timnath. But no! Perhaps he thought, like so many blind ones today, that "This time, it'll be different." Well, it was different only in the sense it was worse.
QUESTIONS ON "SETTING THE STAGE FOR ULTIMATE DESTRUCTION"
Judges 16:1-5
"It Does Make a Difference What You Believe"