JUDGES, THE CHURCH AND FORESHADOWING:Part Seven
Samson! Who else in the Bible has luggage named after him?
http://shop.samsonite.com/luggage/?src=google&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Brand%20-%20Luggage%20-%20Exact&gclid=Cj0KEQjw0v_IBRCEzKHK0KiCrKMBEiQA3--1NtEvirJU_dHTnWfdbjedP7Rnel_G_yI5lPDFSEPe8VUaAv3V8P8HAQ
So much for humor.
It's raining outside. It has been for over an hour. Has been off and on for a couple days here. When I hear the rain, pop songs from my past creep in. "Rainy Days and Mondays." "I Wish It Would Rain." "Rhythm of the Rain." "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head."
But today it made me think of the rain cycle I learned about in elementary school.
"Water plays a major role in weather, despite making up such a small fraction of the atmosphere. In some areas, the local atmosphere may contain as much as 4 percent water, while other regions have no atmospheric water at all. As water can exist as a solid, liquid or gas under normal atmospheric conditions, it participates in the hydrologic cycle. In this cycle, water evaporates from the ocean in the form of water vapor and eventually returns to land and sea in the form of precipitation.
"You can't see water vapor, but it quickly becomes visible when it cools and condenses against something. If you've ever noticed moisture beads on the windows of a warm car on a cold day, you've seen condensation in action. Warm air vapor touches the cold window and the vapor turns back to a liquid. Clouds form along similar lines. The atmosphere is full of tiny dust particles called condensation nuclei, which come from volcanic eruptions, dust storms, fires and pollution. When water vapor condenses, it clings to these microscopic specks. If there's enough cooling water vapor in the air, these accumulate by the trillions to form clouds. If temperatures are cold enough, the water turns to ice around the condensation nuclei."
This cycle operated for thousands or millions of years, depending on what system of belief you wish to follow. It worked efficiently and perfectly and then of course...
We got civilized. Recall how we talked about staying in one place despite God's orders that we needed to be nomadic led to the Sahara, has led to a total disruption of the rain forest systems of the Earth. Well, industrialization has also led to a nasty little side effect called acid rain.
https://www3.epa.gov/acidrain/education/site_students/whatcauses.html
"Acid rain is caused by a chemical reaction that begins when compounds like sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides are released into the air. These substances can rise very high into the atmosphere, where they mixand react with water, oxygen, and other chemicals to form more acidic pollutants, known as acid rain.
"Human activities are the main cause of acid rain. Over the past few decades, humans have released so many different chemicals into the air that they have changed the mix of gases in the atmosphere. Power plants release the majority of sulfur dioxide and much of the nitrogen oxides when they burn fossil fuels, such as coal, to produce electricity. In addition, the exhaust from cars, trucks, and buses releases nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide into the air. These pollutants cause acid rain.
"Acid Rain is Caused by Reactions in the Environment
"Nature depends on balance, and although some rain is naturally acidic, with a pH level of around 5.0, human activities have made it worse. Normal precipitation—such as rain, sleet, or snow—reacts with alkaline chemicals, or non-acidic materials, that can be found in air, soils, bedrock, lakes, and streams. These reactions usually neutralize natural acids. However, if precipitation becomes too acidic, these materials may not be able to neutralize all of the acids. Over time, these neutralizing materials can be washed away by acid rain. Damage to crops, trees, lakes, rivers, and animals can result."
Hence the laws limiting the use of high sulfur coal. Which someone wants to gut for jobs. Because of the worship of money and public adoration.
I point this out merely to emphasize that everything we humans touch turns to the opposite of gold. Unless of course, it is gold. In which case we fashion it into a boat and try to sail it on the lake enjoying the ride even as it sinks under us because we didn't do displacement figures.
Sometimes I think the rain is God's tears. I can almost here His voice: "Look at what you've done to yourselves. Look at what you've done to this world I gave you."
And the church at Laodicea seems to be the boat of gold way out in the middle of Lake Michigan, no salt water to help buoy the bodies as they leap overboard because of the mangled engineering.
Re 3:14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; {of the Laodiceans: or, in Laodicea}
15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
22 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
(KJV)
be zealous therefore, and repent.
Maybe good advice to Sampson?
Both Laodicea and Philadelphia seem to be concurrent as Jeph and Sam seem to be concurrent. My favorite No King in Israel
"It seems that the Philistine domination was the other half of the Ammonite control that Jephthah countered. During the same time that Jephthah was battling the Ammonites, Samson began to harass the Philistines. Israel was between these two enemies, but God raised deliverers who fought against them to bring a measure of liberty to His people. According to the suggested timeline of Judges, the Philistines began to dominate Israel about the middle of Eli’s priesthood. If that point was when his sons were carrying on their evil behavior (1 Samuel 2:12-17, 22), one can see another reason why they experienced such opposition from this quarter.
Philistines Represent
"We have noted that the Philistines were a people who had come out of Egypt, as Israel had. Their name means “wanderers,” and these represent people who have possessed the land belonging to God’s people, but without Divine direction. They had not come by the same route or by means of the same delivering power. They had never been in bondage in Egypt, neither had they cried for deliverance. They were never guarded by the bloodstained door, nor had they passed through the Red Sea. All the experiences of Israel at Mt. Sinai, with what God had revealed to them of Himself, were missing in their experience. They had their gods that seemed to mix the truth of Jehovah with false deities to some extent.
"Therefore, we see them as a people who represent religious profession, occupying a place that has never been provided for them by the work of Christ, taking ground that is not truly theirs to enjoy in the realm of spiritual profession. They compose the vast mass of “Christendom” composed of church members, workers, religious do-gooders who pretend a place as Christians, but without the spiritual evidence of the new birth, nor the revelation of God to their souls. We are surrounded by these people and they are the greatest opposers of the gospel and the truth of God. For some of them, their appearance is so close to genuine Christianity that they seem real, so that there is an attraction and a similarity that causes difficulty to discriminate and recognize who they truly are.
"These Philistines are notable in Judges 13 in that they are the only foreign nation that dominated Israel without causing any concern on Israel’s part. We are amazed that they had control over Israel (at least the southwest part) for the longest period of time (40 years) and Israel was seemingly content to remain under their oppressing force. They were so reluctant to disturb the “status quo” that they intended to deliver their savior, Samson, into the hands of the Philistines (15:11-13). The implication is that there is something unique about Philistine bondage.
"When God’s people are cold at heart toward God and warm at heart toward self and the world, they would rather accept religious profession and accommodate themselves to it rather than oppose it. It goes under the pattern of religious compromise, of acceptance of all who claim the name of Christ. We see it in the attitude that would rather accept wrong conditions than to cause any problem or difficulty. It is an attitude of toleration, of “getting along,” rather than standing for the truth of God’s Word.
"It is an indication of extreme spiritual departure and weakness when this condition exists. Many, who profess to be God’s people today, a day of Laodicean conditions, are drifting back into the religious world, accommodating themselves to religious practices that profess to represent true Christianity, but which are in reality far astray from the truth. It takes spiritual courage and determination, true repentance and exercise, to resist these conditions and to continue in faithfulness for the honor of the Lord Jesus and the truth of His Word.
"Paul warned Timothy in his closing letter about these conditions. He spoke of men loving pleasure rather than loving God, then he says that they have a “form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.” (2 Timothy 3:4-5). The only thing that will enable a man of God to effectively oppose this condition is the infinite power of God’s Word, inspired and applied so as to save and deliver the people of God (2 Timothy 3:16-18). We recognize those conditions in our day, and we must refuse to become complacent and never be satisfied to allow this enemy to oppose and bind the people of God.
"We will notice that God was not satisfied for them to remain in that condition either; He raised up a deliverer, a most remarkable and strange man, a man named Samson."
Meanwhile, his beginning is very like that of John the Baptist:
Jg 13:2 And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren, and bare not.
3 And the angel of the LORD appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, Behold now, thou art barren, and bearest not: but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son.
4 Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing:
5 For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.
This time it is Jesus as the Angel of the Lord who appears to announce the future birth a a deliverer. God possesses a delightful sense of irony.
A Nazarite is an Israelite consecrated to the service of God, under vows to abstain from wine and anything made with grapes, let his hair grow, and avoid defilement by contact with corpses (Numbers. 6).
The Angel of the Lord appeared to both the father and mother. The parents knew Samson was a special child, blessed by God, chosen, and his behavior when we first meet him indicates they had told him that he was special and he was, as a result of this mutual feeling, spoiled.
Jg 13:24 And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, and the LORD blessed him.
25 And the Spirit of the LORD began to move him at times in the camp of Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol. {the camp...: Heb. Mahanehdan}
14:1 And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines.
2 And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me to wife.
3 Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well. {pleaseth...: Heb. is right in mine eyes}
4 But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the LORD, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.
5 Then went Samson down, and his father and his mother, to Timnath, and came to the vineyards of Timnath: and, behold, a young lion roared against him. {against...: Heb. in meeting him}
6 And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would have rent a kid, and he had nothing in his hand: but he told not his father or his mother what he had done.
7 And he went down, and talked with the woman; and she pleased Samson well.
8 And after a time he returned to take her, and he turned aside to see the carcase of the lion: and, behold, there was a swarm of bees and honey in the carcase of the lion.
9 And he took thereof in his hands, and went on eating, and came to his father and mother, and he gave them, and they did eat: but he told not them that he had taken the honey out of the carcase of the lion.
10 So his father went down unto the woman: and Samson made there a feast; for so used the young men to do.
11 And it came to pass, when they saw him, that they brought thirty companions to be with him.
12 And Samson said unto them, I will now put forth a riddle unto you: if ye can certainly declare it me within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty sheets and thirty change of garments: {sheets: or, shirts}
13 But if ye cannot declare it me, then shall ye give me thirty sheets and thirty change of garments. And they said unto him, Put forth thy riddle, that we may hear it. {sheets: or, shirts}
14 And he said unto them, Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness. And they could not in three days expound the riddle.
15 And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they said unto Samson's wife, Entice thy husband, that he may declare unto us the riddle, lest we burn thee and thy father's house with fire: have ye called us to take that we have? is it not so? {take...: Heb. possess us, or, impoverish us?}
16 And Samson's wife wept before him, and said, Thou dost but hate me, and lovest me not: thou hast put forth a riddle unto the children of my people, and hast not told it me. And he said unto her, Behold, I have not told it my father nor my mother, and shall I tell it thee?
17 And she wept before him the seven days, while their feast lasted: and it came to pass on the seventh day, that he told her, because she lay sore upon him: and she told the riddle to the children of her people. {the seven...: or, the rest of the seven days}
18 And the men of the city said unto him on the seventh day before the sun went down, What is sweeter than honey? and what is stronger than a lion? And he said unto them, If ye had not plowed with my heifer, ye had not found out my riddle.
19 And the Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, and slew thirty men of them, and took their spoil, and gave change of garments unto them which expounded the riddle. And his anger was kindled, and he went up to his father's house. {spoil: or, apparel}
20 But Samson's wife was given to his companion, whom he had used as his friend.
(KJV)
Samson seems to follow his senses and THEN the Spirit comes on him. It is not living in him. He is no prophet now but there is worse news:
Jg 15:1 But it came to pass within a while after, in the time of wheat harvest, that Samson visited his wife with a kid; and he said, I will go in to my wife into the chamber. But her father would not suffer him to go in.
2 And her father said, I verily thought that thou hadst utterly hated her; therefore I gave her to thy companion: is not her younger sister fairer than she? take her, I pray thee, instead of her. {take...: Heb. let her be thine}
3 And Samson said concerning them, Now shall I be more blameless than the Philistines, though I do them a displeasure. {more...: or, blameless from the Philistines though, etc}
4 And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took firebrands, and turned tail to tail, and put a firebrand in the midst between two tails. {firebrands: or, torches}
5 And when he had set the brands on fire, he let them go into the standing corn of the Philistines, and burnt up both the shocks, and also the standing corn, with the vineyards and olives.
6 Then the Philistines said, Who hath done this? And they answered, Samson, the son in law of the Timnite, because he had taken his wife, and given her to his companion. And the Philistines came up, and burnt her and her father with fire.
7 And Samson said unto them, Though ye have done this, yet will I be avenged of you, and after that I will cease.
8 And he smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter: and he went down and dwelt in the top of the rock Etam.
9 Then the Philistines went up, and pitched in Judah, and spread themselves in Lehi.
10 And the men of Judah said, Why are ye come up against us? And they answered, To bind Samson are we come up, to do to him as he hath done to us.
11 Then three thousand men of Judah went to the top of the rock Etam, and said to Samson, Knowest thou not that the Philistines are rulers over us? what is this that thou hast done unto us? And he said unto them, As they did unto me, so have I done unto them. {went: Heb. went down}
12 And they said unto him, We are come down to bind thee, that we may deliver thee into the hand of the Philistines. And Samson said unto them, Swear unto me, that ye will not fall upon me yourselves.
13 And they spake unto him, saying, No; but we will bind thee fast, and deliver thee into their hand: but surely we will not kill thee. And they bound him with two new cords, and brought him up from the rock.
14 And when he came unto Lehi, the Philistines shouted against him: and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and the cords that were upon his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands loosed from off his hands. {loosed: Heb. were melted}
15 And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men therewith. {new: Heb. moist}
16 And Samson said, With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, with the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men. {heaps upon...: Heb. an heap, two heaps}
17 And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking, that he cast away the jawbone out of his hand, and called that place Ramathlehi. {Ramathlehi: that is, the lifting up of the jawbone, or, casting away of the jawbone}
18 And he was sore athirst, and called on the LORD, and said, Thou hast given this great deliverance into the hand of thy servant: and now shall I die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised?
19 But God clave an hollow place that was in the jaw, and there came water thereout; and when he had drunk, his spirit came again, and he revived: wherefore he called the name thereof Enhakkore, which is in Lehi unto this day. {Enhakkore: that is, the well of him that called or, cried} {the jaw: or, Lehi, as called in this chapter}
20 And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.
(KJV)
My feeling about having this spoiled child as a judge come from the old sitcom M*A*S*H. Hawkeye writes a letter home to his father describing many of his coworkers in the Army medical operating unit and when he comes to describing Col, Henry Blake: “As a commanding officer…well, it’s a bit like being on a sinking liner, running on the bridge and finding out the captain is Daffy Duck.”
And Samson seems like the craziest of judges.
He wed outside the faith. He took food from the corpse of a dead animal. He followed his lusts as Esau would have in ages passed. The Lord still dwells with him as he violates parts of his Nazarite vows.
We need to realize this portrays the idea of lukewarmness. The Lukewarm go after what is pleasing to them and assume it is pleasing to God for them to have it because he allows them to have it. His mercy keeps Him from immediately destroying them and they go to church on Sunday and back to the world the rest of the week. The Laodiceans were also spoiled. See how they claim to have everything?
17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
See those last four things: wretched, miserable, blind and naked. Keep them in mind because they seem to describe Samson's whole life. He didn't have any joy to him. He kept wanting things, taking them and then finding only a moment's pleasure in them. He blindly sought women who were pleasing to his eye for sex, not real marriage, certainly not for any kind of partnership. He blindly pursued the slaughter of the Philistines but went unarmed into battle. The Lord gave him the victory and did he immediately kill an offering, build an alter, acted thankfully? No, he demanded something to drink because the killing was thirsty work. God gave him a miracle in his hands, and he threw it away once he got his drink. No prayer of thanks anywhere. The earlier Judges who were "mates" of battle sang a song of victory when God blessed them. Samson took the spoils from his earlier fight with other Philistines and gave no offering to the Lord. Worst of all. his country was occupied, held in the hands of foreigners and Samson used his power for his own purposes. Then he judged for twenty years, not after he drove off the invaders, but during the occupation.
Of Laodicea:
http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-sites-places/biblical-archaeology-sites/church-of-laodicea-in-the-bible-and-archaeology/
"Mark R. Fairchild of Huntington University explores the Laodicean church’s lukewarm reputation, while examining the recent archaeological excavations at Laodicea, Turkey, in his article “Laodicea’s ‘Lukewarm’ Legacy: Conflicts of Prosperity in an Ancient Christian City,” published in the March/April 2017 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review.
"We are not told who founded the church of Laodicea in the Bible, yet from textual evidence in the New Testament, we can infer that Epaphras, one the apostle Paul’s disciples, likely planted it. We know that Epaphras founded the church at Colossae (Colossians 1:6–7), one of Laodicea’s close neighbors. Therefore, it seems plausible that he would also be responsible for planting the church at Laodicea.
He repents one last time and wants to do the Lord's will with his last breath.
Jesus' call to those who have walked away is the same: "Repent." Turn away from false gods and to the true God.
If Judges serves as a church era reflection. then what follows it may serve as a reflection of the End Time. As we shall see, it does just that,
Samson! Who else in the Bible has luggage named after him?
http://shop.samsonite.com/luggage/?src=google&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Brand%20-%20Luggage%20-%20Exact&gclid=Cj0KEQjw0v_IBRCEzKHK0KiCrKMBEiQA3--1NtEvirJU_dHTnWfdbjedP7Rnel_G_yI5lPDFSEPe8VUaAv3V8P8HAQ
So much for humor.
It's raining outside. It has been for over an hour. Has been off and on for a couple days here. When I hear the rain, pop songs from my past creep in. "Rainy Days and Mondays." "I Wish It Would Rain." "Rhythm of the Rain." "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head."
But today it made me think of the rain cycle I learned about in elementary school.
"Water plays a major role in weather, despite making up such a small fraction of the atmosphere. In some areas, the local atmosphere may contain as much as 4 percent water, while other regions have no atmospheric water at all. As water can exist as a solid, liquid or gas under normal atmospheric conditions, it participates in the hydrologic cycle. In this cycle, water evaporates from the ocean in the form of water vapor and eventually returns to land and sea in the form of precipitation.
"You can't see water vapor, but it quickly becomes visible when it cools and condenses against something. If you've ever noticed moisture beads on the windows of a warm car on a cold day, you've seen condensation in action. Warm air vapor touches the cold window and the vapor turns back to a liquid. Clouds form along similar lines. The atmosphere is full of tiny dust particles called condensation nuclei, which come from volcanic eruptions, dust storms, fires and pollution. When water vapor condenses, it clings to these microscopic specks. If there's enough cooling water vapor in the air, these accumulate by the trillions to form clouds. If temperatures are cold enough, the water turns to ice around the condensation nuclei."
This cycle operated for thousands or millions of years, depending on what system of belief you wish to follow. It worked efficiently and perfectly and then of course...
We got civilized. Recall how we talked about staying in one place despite God's orders that we needed to be nomadic led to the Sahara, has led to a total disruption of the rain forest systems of the Earth. Well, industrialization has also led to a nasty little side effect called acid rain.
https://www3.epa.gov/acidrain/education/site_students/whatcauses.html
"Acid rain is caused by a chemical reaction that begins when compounds like sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides are released into the air. These substances can rise very high into the atmosphere, where they mixand react with water, oxygen, and other chemicals to form more acidic pollutants, known as acid rain.
"Human activities are the main cause of acid rain. Over the past few decades, humans have released so many different chemicals into the air that they have changed the mix of gases in the atmosphere. Power plants release the majority of sulfur dioxide and much of the nitrogen oxides when they burn fossil fuels, such as coal, to produce electricity. In addition, the exhaust from cars, trucks, and buses releases nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide into the air. These pollutants cause acid rain.
"Acid Rain is Caused by Reactions in the Environment
"Nature depends on balance, and although some rain is naturally acidic, with a pH level of around 5.0, human activities have made it worse. Normal precipitation—such as rain, sleet, or snow—reacts with alkaline chemicals, or non-acidic materials, that can be found in air, soils, bedrock, lakes, and streams. These reactions usually neutralize natural acids. However, if precipitation becomes too acidic, these materials may not be able to neutralize all of the acids. Over time, these neutralizing materials can be washed away by acid rain. Damage to crops, trees, lakes, rivers, and animals can result."
Hence the laws limiting the use of high sulfur coal. Which someone wants to gut for jobs. Because of the worship of money and public adoration.
I point this out merely to emphasize that everything we humans touch turns to the opposite of gold. Unless of course, it is gold. In which case we fashion it into a boat and try to sail it on the lake enjoying the ride even as it sinks under us because we didn't do displacement figures.
Sometimes I think the rain is God's tears. I can almost here His voice: "Look at what you've done to yourselves. Look at what you've done to this world I gave you."
And the church at Laodicea seems to be the boat of gold way out in the middle of Lake Michigan, no salt water to help buoy the bodies as they leap overboard because of the mangled engineering.
Re 3:14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; {of the Laodiceans: or, in Laodicea}
15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
22 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
(KJV)
be zealous therefore, and repent.
Maybe good advice to Sampson?
Both Laodicea and Philadelphia seem to be concurrent as Jeph and Sam seem to be concurrent. My favorite No King in Israel
"It seems that the Philistine domination was the other half of the Ammonite control that Jephthah countered. During the same time that Jephthah was battling the Ammonites, Samson began to harass the Philistines. Israel was between these two enemies, but God raised deliverers who fought against them to bring a measure of liberty to His people. According to the suggested timeline of Judges, the Philistines began to dominate Israel about the middle of Eli’s priesthood. If that point was when his sons were carrying on their evil behavior (1 Samuel 2:12-17, 22), one can see another reason why they experienced such opposition from this quarter.
Philistines Represent
"We have noted that the Philistines were a people who had come out of Egypt, as Israel had. Their name means “wanderers,” and these represent people who have possessed the land belonging to God’s people, but without Divine direction. They had not come by the same route or by means of the same delivering power. They had never been in bondage in Egypt, neither had they cried for deliverance. They were never guarded by the bloodstained door, nor had they passed through the Red Sea. All the experiences of Israel at Mt. Sinai, with what God had revealed to them of Himself, were missing in their experience. They had their gods that seemed to mix the truth of Jehovah with false deities to some extent.
"Therefore, we see them as a people who represent religious profession, occupying a place that has never been provided for them by the work of Christ, taking ground that is not truly theirs to enjoy in the realm of spiritual profession. They compose the vast mass of “Christendom” composed of church members, workers, religious do-gooders who pretend a place as Christians, but without the spiritual evidence of the new birth, nor the revelation of God to their souls. We are surrounded by these people and they are the greatest opposers of the gospel and the truth of God. For some of them, their appearance is so close to genuine Christianity that they seem real, so that there is an attraction and a similarity that causes difficulty to discriminate and recognize who they truly are.
"These Philistines are notable in Judges 13 in that they are the only foreign nation that dominated Israel without causing any concern on Israel’s part. We are amazed that they had control over Israel (at least the southwest part) for the longest period of time (40 years) and Israel was seemingly content to remain under their oppressing force. They were so reluctant to disturb the “status quo” that they intended to deliver their savior, Samson, into the hands of the Philistines (15:11-13). The implication is that there is something unique about Philistine bondage.
"When God’s people are cold at heart toward God and warm at heart toward self and the world, they would rather accept religious profession and accommodate themselves to it rather than oppose it. It goes under the pattern of religious compromise, of acceptance of all who claim the name of Christ. We see it in the attitude that would rather accept wrong conditions than to cause any problem or difficulty. It is an attitude of toleration, of “getting along,” rather than standing for the truth of God’s Word.
"It is an indication of extreme spiritual departure and weakness when this condition exists. Many, who profess to be God’s people today, a day of Laodicean conditions, are drifting back into the religious world, accommodating themselves to religious practices that profess to represent true Christianity, but which are in reality far astray from the truth. It takes spiritual courage and determination, true repentance and exercise, to resist these conditions and to continue in faithfulness for the honor of the Lord Jesus and the truth of His Word.
"Paul warned Timothy in his closing letter about these conditions. He spoke of men loving pleasure rather than loving God, then he says that they have a “form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.” (2 Timothy 3:4-5). The only thing that will enable a man of God to effectively oppose this condition is the infinite power of God’s Word, inspired and applied so as to save and deliver the people of God (2 Timothy 3:16-18). We recognize those conditions in our day, and we must refuse to become complacent and never be satisfied to allow this enemy to oppose and bind the people of God.
"We will notice that God was not satisfied for them to remain in that condition either; He raised up a deliverer, a most remarkable and strange man, a man named Samson."
Meanwhile, his beginning is very like that of John the Baptist:
Jg 13:2 And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren, and bare not.
3 And the angel of the LORD appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, Behold now, thou art barren, and bearest not: but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son.
4 Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing:
5 For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.
This time it is Jesus as the Angel of the Lord who appears to announce the future birth a a deliverer. God possesses a delightful sense of irony.
A Nazarite is an Israelite consecrated to the service of God, under vows to abstain from wine and anything made with grapes, let his hair grow, and avoid defilement by contact with corpses (Numbers. 6).
The Angel of the Lord appeared to both the father and mother. The parents knew Samson was a special child, blessed by God, chosen, and his behavior when we first meet him indicates they had told him that he was special and he was, as a result of this mutual feeling, spoiled.
Jg 13:24 And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, and the LORD blessed him.
25 And the Spirit of the LORD began to move him at times in the camp of Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol. {the camp...: Heb. Mahanehdan}
14:1 And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines.
2 And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me to wife.
3 Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well. {pleaseth...: Heb. is right in mine eyes}
4 But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the LORD, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.
5 Then went Samson down, and his father and his mother, to Timnath, and came to the vineyards of Timnath: and, behold, a young lion roared against him. {against...: Heb. in meeting him}
6 And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would have rent a kid, and he had nothing in his hand: but he told not his father or his mother what he had done.
7 And he went down, and talked with the woman; and she pleased Samson well.
8 And after a time he returned to take her, and he turned aside to see the carcase of the lion: and, behold, there was a swarm of bees and honey in the carcase of the lion.
9 And he took thereof in his hands, and went on eating, and came to his father and mother, and he gave them, and they did eat: but he told not them that he had taken the honey out of the carcase of the lion.
10 So his father went down unto the woman: and Samson made there a feast; for so used the young men to do.
11 And it came to pass, when they saw him, that they brought thirty companions to be with him.
12 And Samson said unto them, I will now put forth a riddle unto you: if ye can certainly declare it me within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty sheets and thirty change of garments: {sheets: or, shirts}
13 But if ye cannot declare it me, then shall ye give me thirty sheets and thirty change of garments. And they said unto him, Put forth thy riddle, that we may hear it. {sheets: or, shirts}
14 And he said unto them, Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness. And they could not in three days expound the riddle.
15 And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they said unto Samson's wife, Entice thy husband, that he may declare unto us the riddle, lest we burn thee and thy father's house with fire: have ye called us to take that we have? is it not so? {take...: Heb. possess us, or, impoverish us?}
16 And Samson's wife wept before him, and said, Thou dost but hate me, and lovest me not: thou hast put forth a riddle unto the children of my people, and hast not told it me. And he said unto her, Behold, I have not told it my father nor my mother, and shall I tell it thee?
17 And she wept before him the seven days, while their feast lasted: and it came to pass on the seventh day, that he told her, because she lay sore upon him: and she told the riddle to the children of her people. {the seven...: or, the rest of the seven days}
18 And the men of the city said unto him on the seventh day before the sun went down, What is sweeter than honey? and what is stronger than a lion? And he said unto them, If ye had not plowed with my heifer, ye had not found out my riddle.
19 And the Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, and slew thirty men of them, and took their spoil, and gave change of garments unto them which expounded the riddle. And his anger was kindled, and he went up to his father's house. {spoil: or, apparel}
20 But Samson's wife was given to his companion, whom he had used as his friend.
(KJV)
Samson seems to follow his senses and THEN the Spirit comes on him. It is not living in him. He is no prophet now but there is worse news:
Jg 15:1 But it came to pass within a while after, in the time of wheat harvest, that Samson visited his wife with a kid; and he said, I will go in to my wife into the chamber. But her father would not suffer him to go in.
2 And her father said, I verily thought that thou hadst utterly hated her; therefore I gave her to thy companion: is not her younger sister fairer than she? take her, I pray thee, instead of her. {take...: Heb. let her be thine}
3 And Samson said concerning them, Now shall I be more blameless than the Philistines, though I do them a displeasure. {more...: or, blameless from the Philistines though, etc}
4 And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took firebrands, and turned tail to tail, and put a firebrand in the midst between two tails. {firebrands: or, torches}
5 And when he had set the brands on fire, he let them go into the standing corn of the Philistines, and burnt up both the shocks, and also the standing corn, with the vineyards and olives.
6 Then the Philistines said, Who hath done this? And they answered, Samson, the son in law of the Timnite, because he had taken his wife, and given her to his companion. And the Philistines came up, and burnt her and her father with fire.
7 And Samson said unto them, Though ye have done this, yet will I be avenged of you, and after that I will cease.
8 And he smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter: and he went down and dwelt in the top of the rock Etam.
9 Then the Philistines went up, and pitched in Judah, and spread themselves in Lehi.
10 And the men of Judah said, Why are ye come up against us? And they answered, To bind Samson are we come up, to do to him as he hath done to us.
11 Then three thousand men of Judah went to the top of the rock Etam, and said to Samson, Knowest thou not that the Philistines are rulers over us? what is this that thou hast done unto us? And he said unto them, As they did unto me, so have I done unto them. {went: Heb. went down}
12 And they said unto him, We are come down to bind thee, that we may deliver thee into the hand of the Philistines. And Samson said unto them, Swear unto me, that ye will not fall upon me yourselves.
13 And they spake unto him, saying, No; but we will bind thee fast, and deliver thee into their hand: but surely we will not kill thee. And they bound him with two new cords, and brought him up from the rock.
14 And when he came unto Lehi, the Philistines shouted against him: and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and the cords that were upon his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands loosed from off his hands. {loosed: Heb. were melted}
15 And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men therewith. {new: Heb. moist}
16 And Samson said, With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, with the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men. {heaps upon...: Heb. an heap, two heaps}
17 And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking, that he cast away the jawbone out of his hand, and called that place Ramathlehi. {Ramathlehi: that is, the lifting up of the jawbone, or, casting away of the jawbone}
18 And he was sore athirst, and called on the LORD, and said, Thou hast given this great deliverance into the hand of thy servant: and now shall I die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised?
19 But God clave an hollow place that was in the jaw, and there came water thereout; and when he had drunk, his spirit came again, and he revived: wherefore he called the name thereof Enhakkore, which is in Lehi unto this day. {Enhakkore: that is, the well of him that called or, cried} {the jaw: or, Lehi, as called in this chapter}
20 And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.
(KJV)
My feeling about having this spoiled child as a judge come from the old sitcom M*A*S*H. Hawkeye writes a letter home to his father describing many of his coworkers in the Army medical operating unit and when he comes to describing Col, Henry Blake: “As a commanding officer…well, it’s a bit like being on a sinking liner, running on the bridge and finding out the captain is Daffy Duck.”
And Samson seems like the craziest of judges.
He wed outside the faith. He took food from the corpse of a dead animal. He followed his lusts as Esau would have in ages passed. The Lord still dwells with him as he violates parts of his Nazarite vows.
We need to realize this portrays the idea of lukewarmness. The Lukewarm go after what is pleasing to them and assume it is pleasing to God for them to have it because he allows them to have it. His mercy keeps Him from immediately destroying them and they go to church on Sunday and back to the world the rest of the week. The Laodiceans were also spoiled. See how they claim to have everything?
17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
See those last four things: wretched, miserable, blind and naked. Keep them in mind because they seem to describe Samson's whole life. He didn't have any joy to him. He kept wanting things, taking them and then finding only a moment's pleasure in them. He blindly sought women who were pleasing to his eye for sex, not real marriage, certainly not for any kind of partnership. He blindly pursued the slaughter of the Philistines but went unarmed into battle. The Lord gave him the victory and did he immediately kill an offering, build an alter, acted thankfully? No, he demanded something to drink because the killing was thirsty work. God gave him a miracle in his hands, and he threw it away once he got his drink. No prayer of thanks anywhere. The earlier Judges who were "mates" of battle sang a song of victory when God blessed them. Samson took the spoils from his earlier fight with other Philistines and gave no offering to the Lord. Worst of all. his country was occupied, held in the hands of foreigners and Samson used his power for his own purposes. Then he judged for twenty years, not after he drove off the invaders, but during the occupation.
Of Laodicea:
http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-sites-places/biblical-archaeology-sites/church-of-laodicea-in-the-bible-and-archaeology/
"Mark R. Fairchild of Huntington University explores the Laodicean church’s lukewarm reputation, while examining the recent archaeological excavations at Laodicea, Turkey, in his article “Laodicea’s ‘Lukewarm’ Legacy: Conflicts of Prosperity in an Ancient Christian City,” published in the March/April 2017 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review.
"We are not told who founded the church of Laodicea in the Bible, yet from textual evidence in the New Testament, we can infer that Epaphras, one the apostle Paul’s disciples, likely planted it. We know that Epaphras founded the church at Colossae (Colossians 1:6–7), one of Laodicea’s close neighbors. Therefore, it seems plausible that he would also be responsible for planting the church at Laodicea.
"Laodicea was a wealthy city during the Roman period. Not only was Laodicea located on major trade routes that connected it to important cities like Ephesus, Smyrna and Sardis, but also it was a center of textile production and banking. Perhaps not surprisingly, the church of Laodicea is noted as being wealthy in the Bible (see Revelation 3:17).
"The Book of Revelation was penned during the Roman emperor Domitian’s reign (r. 81–96 C.E.). Domitian was notorious for being the first Roman emperor who declared himself a god while still alive. This affronted Christians, Jews and the Roman Senate alike. Other emperors were deified only after their death.
"Domitian persecuted those who would not participate in the imperial cult (the worship of emperors and dynastic families). Although Jews were exempt from participating, Christians were not. Fairchild explains, “As part of the Pax Romana, the staunchly monotheistic Jews in the cities of the Mediterranean world were exempt from the requirements of emperor worship. As long as Christianity was considered a sect within Judaism, the Christians in these cities were likewise exempt from emperor worship.” At first, the Christian Church was composed almost entirely of Jews. However, as more Gentiles (non-Jew) converted to Christianity, the percentage of Jewish people in the Christian Church decreased, and, therefore, Christians’ special status as Jewish monotheists, which permitted them to refrain from emperor worship, was removed.
"The Christians at Laodicea were affected by Domitian’s decrees. Their response to this persecution—which even involved their ability to buy and sell—is what causes the author of Revelation to call them “lukewarm.” Fairchild elaborates:
"The difficulties that this placed upon the Christians of Asia were expressed in detail throughout the Book of Revelation. Those who refused to worship the image of the beast (the emperor) were killed. Christians could no longer buy or sell unless they had taken the mark of the beast (Revelation 13). The pressure upon rich Christians to maintain their wealth was intense. Since a great deal of Laodicea’s wealth depended upon trade, the Christian merchants were in a quandary. Would they cooperate with the imperial cult and maintain their trade associations, or would they forswear Domitian and reaffirm their faith in Christ? Many of the Laodicean Christians compromised their faith in such ways that the writer of the apocalypse could say, “I will spit you out of my mouth” (Revelation 3:16).
"Other churches throughout the Roman Empire responded differently. For example, the Christians at Smyrna are applauded in the Book of Revelation for maintaining their faith in the midst of extreme difficulty by refusing to participate in the imperial cult—even though this meant affliction and poverty for them (see Revelation 2:9)."
(Keep the limits on buying and selling in mind as we approach End Times study. Evil as well as good gets foreshadowed in the Bible.)
Meanwhile Sam moved on.
Jg 16:1 Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there an harlot, and went in unto her. {harlot: Heb. a woman an harlot}
2 And it was told the Gazites, saying, Samson is come hither. And they compassed him in, and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying, In the morning, when it is day, we shall kill him. {quiet: Heb. silence}
3 And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight, and took the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and went away with them, bar and all, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of an hill that is before Hebron. {bar...: Heb. with the bar}
4 And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. {in...: or, by the brook}
5 And the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and said unto her, Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lieth, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him: and we will give thee every one of us eleven hundred pieces of silver. {afflict: or, humble}
6 And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee.
7 And Samson said unto her, If they bind me with seven green withs that were never dried, then shall I be weak, and be as another man. {green...: or, new cords: Heb. moist} {another: Heb. one}
8 Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven green withs which had not been dried, and she bound him with them. {green...: or, new cords: Heb. moist}
9 Now there were men lying in wait, abiding with her in the chamber. And she said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he brake the withs, as a thread of tow is broken when it toucheth the fire. So his strength was not known. {toucheth: Heb. smelleth}
10 And Delilah said unto Samson, Behold, thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: now tell me, I pray thee, wherewith thou mightest be bound.
11 And he said unto her, If they bind me fast with new ropes that never were occupied, then shall I be weak, and be as another man. {that never...: Heb. wherewith work hath not been done}
12 Delilah therefore took new ropes, and bound him therewith, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And there were liers in wait abiding in the chamber. And he brake them from off his arms like a thread.
13 And Delilah said unto Samson, Hitherto thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound. And he said unto her, If thou weavest the seven locks of my head with the web.
14 And she fastened it with the pin, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awaked out of his sleep, and went away with the pin of the beam, and with the web.
15 And she said unto him, How canst thou say, I love thee, when thine heart is not with me? thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth.
16 And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto death; {vexed: Heb. shortened}
17 That he told her all his heart, and said unto her, There hath not come a razor upon mine head; for I have been a Nazarite unto God from my mother's womb: if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man.
18 And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, Come up this once, for he hath shewed me all his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and brought money in their hand.
19 And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him.
20 And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the LORD was departed from him.
21 But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house. {put out: Heb. bored out}
This time he blindly followed his lust and it got him into deep trouble. It begins with an unnamed harlot. The fixation, the lust of the flesh, the fallen flesh, talking bold. Then he fell in love with a woman who may have been that same harlot, who surely acted like one. Her attraction seeming to be that she too was not of Israel. He wanted to stay away from his people when he ventured onto "the wrong side of the tracks,' He kept going back to Delilah, kept telling her lies because he didn't trust her and she kept sending the Philistines and PROVING to him that she was treacherous. But he kept going back, kept up the cycle. This is like every bad fleshly relationship. One or the other has some kind of power or possession the other wants and they call it love when the two share that power or possession but then one or the other starts to use the power against the other in some way.
I have seen these kind of relationships over and over in my life. Love becomes the idol, the god, and the person being abused or used just keeps coming back to the abuser, just lets them keep doing it. Usually these relationships involve some level of codependency. drugs, alcohol, sexual deviations. The sexual element seems to have Sam. The game itself seems to have him. Since she warned him every time, he may have felt she wouldn't really betray him but then again, he may have just fallen so low that she finally had him truly blind to who she was.
Then he was made blind for real.
The church if the Laodicean era was and is blind. In Revelation: Four Views, Steve Gregg write about the modern era that came from the publication of Darwin's "Origin of the Species". Gregg suggests this as the "tipping point" when scholarly assault "put tremendous pressure upon the church to conform to modern thought or lose academic respectability. Many theologians succumbed to the pressure and began subjecting the Bible to "scientific methods" of analysis. Such methods, though far from objective or conclusive, became fashionable in many seminaries and denominations, resulting in loss of respect for the Bible as a genuine revelation from God. In many cases, secular psychology, sociology, anthropology, philosophy, and whatever social trend became popular in secular thinking (e.g., the breakdown of biblical models of marriage and sexuality), have displaced the Bible in it's authority to dictate norms in the church. Modern churches who go this route are sad to represent this Laodicean church."
My own sense is that the refusal of the church to recognize some of the impact of legitimate scientific inquiry into the life around us has made the church lose credibility and opened the door for false religions to fill the gap between science that can actually expand on the Bible's meaning as when it says we were created to be the Earth's caretakers and science explaining how we have failed in that way and how we can succeed and the false religions who offer pseudo gods. Global warming does exists and it could do damage to civilization but I also understand the Lord blinding many of us to that impact has as much to do with the arriving of the End Times as it does to human greed by some energy companies in denying the phenomena. American Christianity has always been the victim of the belief in Manifest Destiny. Our belief that God has destined the political advance of the political church nation into the whole world has also been accompanied by the idea of ruling by Divine Right. "God put us in charge, so we must have all the right ideas so we need to rule and lay down the law and assure we continue to rule." All of which profoundly rejects the lessons of the Bible, of Samson in particular. Just because God gives someone their way for a time doesn't mean it is forever.
I look at the brugeoning megachurch industry which speaks more to the idea of the Laodiceans.
17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
The seeking after money, power, position, gifts seems to typify at least some of those megachurches many of whom would deny science but then twist the Bible to suit their lusts. And entice people to follow them rather than Scripture. And their followers are blind as surely as Samson; blinded by the world even as he was, sitting in the midst of the world's leaders not realizing they are serving the world as much by twisting Scripture as those who deny it for the sake of their science. But there is hope for the blind in that they can still hear the truth.
22 Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven. {after...: or, as when he was shaven}
23 Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them together for to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice: for they said, Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand.
24 And when the people saw him, they praised their god: for they said, Our god hath delivered into our hands our enemy, and the destroyer of our country, which slew many of us. {which...: Heb. and who multiplied our slain}
How many atheists rejoiced as the fall of a Jim Bakker or a Jimmy Swaggart or every local smaller church leader who fails his commission? How many dance to Druid tunes at their parties? How many Emergent Church leaders won people to their liberalized reading of the Gospel?
But God has his message of hope to the person, the church and the age.
Repent.
19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
22 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
And to the man:
25 And it came to pass, when their hearts were merry, that they said, Call for Samson, that he may make us sport. And they called for Samson out of the prison house; and he made them sport: and they set him between the pillars. {them: Heb. before them}
26 And Samson said unto the lad that held him by the hand, Suffer me that I may feel the pillars whereupon the house standeth, that I may lean upon them.
27 Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords of the Philistines were there; and there were upon the roof about three thousand men and women, that beheld while Samson made sport.
28 And Samson called unto the LORD, and said, O Lord GOD, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.
29 And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood, and on which it was borne up, of the one with his right hand, and of the other with his left. {on which...: or, he leaned on them}
30 And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life. {me: Heb. my soul}
31 Then his brethren and all the house of his father came down, and took him, and brought him up, and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the buryingplace of Manoah his father. And he judged Israel twenty years.
(KJV)
Meanwhile Sam moved on.
Jg 16:1 Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there an harlot, and went in unto her. {harlot: Heb. a woman an harlot}
2 And it was told the Gazites, saying, Samson is come hither. And they compassed him in, and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying, In the morning, when it is day, we shall kill him. {quiet: Heb. silence}
3 And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight, and took the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and went away with them, bar and all, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of an hill that is before Hebron. {bar...: Heb. with the bar}
4 And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. {in...: or, by the brook}
5 And the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and said unto her, Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lieth, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him: and we will give thee every one of us eleven hundred pieces of silver. {afflict: or, humble}
6 And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee.
7 And Samson said unto her, If they bind me with seven green withs that were never dried, then shall I be weak, and be as another man. {green...: or, new cords: Heb. moist} {another: Heb. one}
8 Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven green withs which had not been dried, and she bound him with them. {green...: or, new cords: Heb. moist}
9 Now there were men lying in wait, abiding with her in the chamber. And she said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he brake the withs, as a thread of tow is broken when it toucheth the fire. So his strength was not known. {toucheth: Heb. smelleth}
10 And Delilah said unto Samson, Behold, thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: now tell me, I pray thee, wherewith thou mightest be bound.
11 And he said unto her, If they bind me fast with new ropes that never were occupied, then shall I be weak, and be as another man. {that never...: Heb. wherewith work hath not been done}
12 Delilah therefore took new ropes, and bound him therewith, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And there were liers in wait abiding in the chamber. And he brake them from off his arms like a thread.
13 And Delilah said unto Samson, Hitherto thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound. And he said unto her, If thou weavest the seven locks of my head with the web.
14 And she fastened it with the pin, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awaked out of his sleep, and went away with the pin of the beam, and with the web.
15 And she said unto him, How canst thou say, I love thee, when thine heart is not with me? thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth.
16 And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto death; {vexed: Heb. shortened}
17 That he told her all his heart, and said unto her, There hath not come a razor upon mine head; for I have been a Nazarite unto God from my mother's womb: if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man.
18 And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, Come up this once, for he hath shewed me all his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and brought money in their hand.
19 And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him.
20 And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the LORD was departed from him.
21 But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house. {put out: Heb. bored out}
This time he blindly followed his lust and it got him into deep trouble. It begins with an unnamed harlot. The fixation, the lust of the flesh, the fallen flesh, talking bold. Then he fell in love with a woman who may have been that same harlot, who surely acted like one. Her attraction seeming to be that she too was not of Israel. He wanted to stay away from his people when he ventured onto "the wrong side of the tracks,' He kept going back to Delilah, kept telling her lies because he didn't trust her and she kept sending the Philistines and PROVING to him that she was treacherous. But he kept going back, kept up the cycle. This is like every bad fleshly relationship. One or the other has some kind of power or possession the other wants and they call it love when the two share that power or possession but then one or the other starts to use the power against the other in some way.
I have seen these kind of relationships over and over in my life. Love becomes the idol, the god, and the person being abused or used just keeps coming back to the abuser, just lets them keep doing it. Usually these relationships involve some level of codependency. drugs, alcohol, sexual deviations. The sexual element seems to have Sam. The game itself seems to have him. Since she warned him every time, he may have felt she wouldn't really betray him but then again, he may have just fallen so low that she finally had him truly blind to who she was.
Then he was made blind for real.
The church if the Laodicean era was and is blind. In Revelation: Four Views, Steve Gregg write about the modern era that came from the publication of Darwin's "Origin of the Species". Gregg suggests this as the "tipping point" when scholarly assault "put tremendous pressure upon the church to conform to modern thought or lose academic respectability. Many theologians succumbed to the pressure and began subjecting the Bible to "scientific methods" of analysis. Such methods, though far from objective or conclusive, became fashionable in many seminaries and denominations, resulting in loss of respect for the Bible as a genuine revelation from God. In many cases, secular psychology, sociology, anthropology, philosophy, and whatever social trend became popular in secular thinking (e.g., the breakdown of biblical models of marriage and sexuality), have displaced the Bible in it's authority to dictate norms in the church. Modern churches who go this route are sad to represent this Laodicean church."
My own sense is that the refusal of the church to recognize some of the impact of legitimate scientific inquiry into the life around us has made the church lose credibility and opened the door for false religions to fill the gap between science that can actually expand on the Bible's meaning as when it says we were created to be the Earth's caretakers and science explaining how we have failed in that way and how we can succeed and the false religions who offer pseudo gods. Global warming does exists and it could do damage to civilization but I also understand the Lord blinding many of us to that impact has as much to do with the arriving of the End Times as it does to human greed by some energy companies in denying the phenomena. American Christianity has always been the victim of the belief in Manifest Destiny. Our belief that God has destined the political advance of the political church nation into the whole world has also been accompanied by the idea of ruling by Divine Right. "God put us in charge, so we must have all the right ideas so we need to rule and lay down the law and assure we continue to rule." All of which profoundly rejects the lessons of the Bible, of Samson in particular. Just because God gives someone their way for a time doesn't mean it is forever.
I look at the brugeoning megachurch industry which speaks more to the idea of the Laodiceans.
17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
The seeking after money, power, position, gifts seems to typify at least some of those megachurches many of whom would deny science but then twist the Bible to suit their lusts. And entice people to follow them rather than Scripture. And their followers are blind as surely as Samson; blinded by the world even as he was, sitting in the midst of the world's leaders not realizing they are serving the world as much by twisting Scripture as those who deny it for the sake of their science. But there is hope for the blind in that they can still hear the truth.
22 Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven. {after...: or, as when he was shaven}
23 Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them together for to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice: for they said, Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand.
24 And when the people saw him, they praised their god: for they said, Our god hath delivered into our hands our enemy, and the destroyer of our country, which slew many of us. {which...: Heb. and who multiplied our slain}
How many atheists rejoiced as the fall of a Jim Bakker or a Jimmy Swaggart or every local smaller church leader who fails his commission? How many dance to Druid tunes at their parties? How many Emergent Church leaders won people to their liberalized reading of the Gospel?
But God has his message of hope to the person, the church and the age.
Repent.
19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
22 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
And to the man:
25 And it came to pass, when their hearts were merry, that they said, Call for Samson, that he may make us sport. And they called for Samson out of the prison house; and he made them sport: and they set him between the pillars. {them: Heb. before them}
26 And Samson said unto the lad that held him by the hand, Suffer me that I may feel the pillars whereupon the house standeth, that I may lean upon them.
27 Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords of the Philistines were there; and there were upon the roof about three thousand men and women, that beheld while Samson made sport.
28 And Samson called unto the LORD, and said, O Lord GOD, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.
29 And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood, and on which it was borne up, of the one with his right hand, and of the other with his left. {on which...: or, he leaned on them}
30 And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life. {me: Heb. my soul}
31 Then his brethren and all the house of his father came down, and took him, and brought him up, and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the buryingplace of Manoah his father. And he judged Israel twenty years.
(KJV)
He repents one last time and wants to do the Lord's will with his last breath.
Jesus' call to those who have walked away is the same: "Repent." Turn away from false gods and to the true God.
If Judges serves as a church era reflection. then what follows it may serve as a reflection of the End Time. As we shall see, it does just that,
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