Sermon – “What a Mess He Made of Things”

Again the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord delivered them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years.

² Now there was a certain man from Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren and had no children. ³ And the Angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, “Indeed now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and bear a son. ⁴ Now therefore, please be careful not to drink wine or similar drink, and not to eat anything unclean. ⁵ For behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. And no razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.”

Now Samson went down to Timnah, and saw a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines. ² So he went up and told his father and mother, saying, “I have seen a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines; now therefore, get her for me as a wife.”

³ Then his father and mother said to him, “Is there no woman among the daughters of your brethren, or among all my people, that you must go and get a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?”

And Samson said to his father, “Get her for me, for ^[a]she pleases me well.”

⁵ So Samson went down to Timnah with his father and mother, and came to the vineyards of Timnah.

Now to his surprise, a young lion came roaring against him. ⁶ And the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and he tore the lion apart as one would have torn apart a young goat, though he had nothing in his hand. But he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done.

⁷ Then he went down and talked with the woman; and she pleased Samson well. ⁸ After some time, when he returned to get her, he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion. And behold, a swarm of bees and honey were in the carcass of the lion. ⁹ He took some of it in his hands and went along, eating. When he came to his father and mother, he gave some to them, and they also ate. But he did not tell them that he had taken the honey out of the carcass of the lion.

¹⁰ So his father went down to the woman. And Samson gave a feast there, for young men used to do so. ¹¹ And it happened, when they saw him, that they brought thirty companions to be with him.

¹² Then Samson said to them, “Let me pose a riddle to you. If you can correctly solve and explain it to me within the seven days of the feast, then I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothing. ¹³ But if you cannot explain it to me, then you shall give me thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothing.”

And they said to him, “Pose your riddle, that we may hear it.”

¹⁴ So he said to them:

“Out of the eater came something to eat,
And out of the strong came something sweet.”

Now for three days they could not explain the riddle.

¹⁵ But it came to pass on the ^[a]seventh day that they said to Samson’s wife, “Entice your husband, that he may explain the riddle to us, or else we will burn you and your father’s house with fire. Have you invited us in order to take what is ours? Is that not so?”

¹⁶ Then Samson’s wife wept on him, and said, “You only hate me! You do not love me! You have posed a riddle to the sons of my people, but you have not explained it to me.”

And he said to her, “Look, I have not explained it to my father or my mother; so should I explain it to you?”

Now Samson went to Gaza and saw a harlot there, and went in to her. ² When the Gazites were told, “Samson has come here!” they surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the gate of the city. They were quiet all night, saying, “In the morning, when it is daylight, we will kill him.” ³ And Samson lay low till midnight; then he arose at midnight, took hold of the doors of the gate of the city and the two gateposts, pulled them up, bar and all, put them on his shoulders, and carried them to the top of the hill that faces Hebron.

⁴ Afterward it happened that he loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. ⁵ And the lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, “Entice him, and find out where his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him, that we may bind him to afflict him; and every one of us will give you eleven hundred pieces of silver.”⁶ So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me where your great strength lies, and with what you may be bound to afflict you.”

²⁸ Then Samson called to the Lord, saying, “O Lord God, remember me, I pray! Strengthen me, I pray, just this once, O God, that I may with one blow take vengeance on the Philistines for my two eyes!” ²⁹ And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars which supported the temple, and he braced himself against them, one on his right and the other on his left. ³⁰ Then Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” And he pushed with all his might, and the temple fell on the lords and all the people who were in it. So the dead that he killed at his death were more than he had killed in his life.

²⁴ O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? ²⁵ I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!

So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.

You know God did not withhold anything good from a Smain Lee He did not withhold his son from us had an amen hallelujah he did not withhold his son you know hands out of school we were kind of talking about sins and big sins little sins whites and black and white but our you know sometimes our lives are a mess and we may know others that their lives are a mess but you know God used many people whose lives were kind of a mess I make them or read a Scriptures you will find that many of them there were a few that were you know I think of Daniel he was not a mess but there were some that was a big mess what a mess he made of things out titled as I don’t know it was very good title or not but we’re going to learn of a man today that his life was pretty much a big mess he made a mess of things if you have ever read the book of Judges if you ever read chapters 13 through 16 you understand what I’m saying we’re going to talk and we’re going to learn about Sampson today who was Sampson he was like the Hercules of the Hebrews if you will a great in touch Amanda with supernatural strength strength beyond I mean he would probably he could probably whip Goliath with one hand seriously although David they’ve in the David and Goliath he could probably take Goliath almost one hand because he had the power of God a mighty powerful strong beyond anything we could imagine that was Sampson. That was Sam’s God used him use it in a big way but get his life was kind of a mess he made questionable decisions in his lives seemed like he was compulsive and making his decisions so let’s turn to judges Chapter 13 versus one through 5 it’s actually kind of short scripture reading but there’s plenty more don’t get it don’t be bored again again the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord and the Lord delivered them into the hand of the Philistines for 40 years now there was a certain man from Zora of the family of the Dan Knights whose name was Minoa and his wife was barren and had no children and handle the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her indeed now you are barren and have borne no children but you shall conceive and bear a son now therefore please be careful not to drink wine or similar drink or not to eat anything unclean for behold you shall conceive and very son and no raise or sell come upon his head for the child still be a Nazarite to God from the womb and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines they’ve got at his best and to the hearing and reading of His Holy Word let us pray. Gracious Heavenly Father we do praise you and magnify you we thank you for your holy word we thank you that your word reveals to us the men and women that you used to carry out your plans and purposes in Father we just thank you that your word also shows your love in your patience with us Father we’re going to learn today of your patience with Samson the Father God I just pray that your spirit will be in his place by your spirit guide direct each heart and mind and nor May every word spoken be for your glory and for your Honor father may some come to know that you will forgive us even if we are a mess by the God that you are loving and kind of forgiving the Lord may we receive that today more to destroy pray that the Jew would be glorified in Jesus precious name amen the very 1st verse begins with an all too common theme concerning the nation of Israel doesn’t it many many many times in the Scriptures we’re going to find words or words similar to these it says again the children of Israel did evil in the sight of God It may be worded a little bit different but you will find many many times where they turned their back on God In started following the ways of their neighbors and God would deliver them into the hands of their enemies this time it happened to be the Philistines who oppress them for 40 years but it seems like they kept failing in the same way over in over and over again recently I preached from judges chapter 6 and we learned of get in get in was another one of the judges. We’re in the period of the judges there they didn’t have King Jet get in was a judge to God chose to be judge and one of the 1st things that he commanded getting to do was go and tear down the altar to bale that his father had erected cut down the issue of Poles remove the odd a warship remove it they kept doing the same thing over and over again they kept worshipping the false gods of their neighbors they wanted to be like them you know reveal something though about our enemy who’s our enemy so they can reveal something about our enemy when he finds something that works against us he’ll keep using it who maybe he’ll change the method up a little bit but who keep using it whether it’s against an individual or against the nation he’ll keep using the same method to cause him to fail hope beyond our weakness if you will and that’s where he is going to attacked I found a very interesting illustration the other day used by David Jeremiah he said now just got to use your imagination is now if Satan had an office and then at all pussy had a big old Falcao on it you’d probably be surprised you could pull out a file and look up age or Higgs and he’s going to have a foul when you in that file he would have listed the things that he tried to make you fail it didn’t work well he’s not going to use those begin to get the on that list and find the things that did work and guess what that’s where he’s going to keep attacking he might change it up a little bit but he’s going to keep attacking that same weakness trying to make you stumble believe me he wants all of us to stumble your foul might say well John has a frequency to gossip Well USAID is going to do he’s going to start whispering lies about your neighbors and friends in your ear to make you gossip. Well it could be that Suzy has a tendency to be quick tempered so Satan’s going to cause her husband go home and do something to make her mad and make her snap maybe a little Joe He’s prone to coveting Now Little Joe Big Joe He’s pro Dick coveting you know what he’s going to do he’s going to make you look at your neighbor’s wife and think she’s so much more beautiful than my wife all my neighbor’s house is so much better than mine Manet Bers cars are so much better than mine that’s what he’s going to do is going to find your weakness and that’s where he’s going to attack Israel kept longing to be like their neighbors they kept forgetting about the One True God and following after the false gods my friends because the neighbors have a God that they could see think about that they had an object that they could see and actually we worship the invisible God but they wanted something that they could see something to take a bow down to and worship and remember this about our enemy he’ll start out small hill chip away he’ll chip away or moral values just a little bit a little bit here a little bit there a little bit here look at our Nation friends the things that 50 years ago were an awful abomination we don’t even wince at today I am old enough that I can remember this is crazy I can remember when a on a television commercial if they were advertising women’s undergarments they were on a manic and everyone knows what a manic is and right that’s the thing they put clothes on it stands in the store I can remember those days I reveal my age right that they was under advertisement they would have a woman out there explaining it to him but she wouldn’t be wearing it today they walk around half naked an advertisement advertisement on t.v. and we don’t even want to set it. Chip away chip away at our moral values or standards a little compromise here and a little compromise there that’s all Satan attacks a little bit here a little bit there you know the good news we see in judges that God is gracious even though they failed again in the same way God was preparing to deliver them he was preparing to have mercy on them again to be gracious to them present or Romans $520.00 tells us moreover the law entered that the offense might abound but where sin abounded Grace abounded much more my friends this is not an excuse to sin Oh a grace abounds I can do anything I know Jesus said Go and sin no more we just said that inside a school God’s grace is greater than all of our sin is not an excuse to go sin let’s get back to Samson the announcement of the Bertha Sanson who was to be a judge over Israel actually a type of savior or deliverer he had there were some similarities in the announcement of Sampson’s birth to that of John the Baptist in Jesus you remember an angel appeared to Zachariah John’s father and told him your wife Elizabeth is going to have a son he’s going to prepare the way for the savior of course we know that an angel paired to Mary and also to Joseph appeared to Mary to tell her that she was going to be the Holy Spirit was going to come upon her and she was going to conceive in her the Holy One that would save the world from their sins appeared to Joseph of say don’t be afraid to take Americans that which is in hers of the Lord an angel appeared to Sampson’s Mother God is preparing to the numbers of people you are going to have a son he is going to be a Nazarite he is going to. Begin to deliver God’s people from the hands of the Philistines what is a Nazarite it is a Jewish person that was consecrated to to God by a vow to avoid drinking wine drinking alcohol they were never to drink it he was to avoid cutting this hair never was a razor to cut his hair and he was not to defile himself by being a presence of or touching a corpse anything dead so he was consecrated even before birth because the ends of told her she was to drink no wine or to eat anything unclean judges 137 says and he said to me behold you still can see the berries son now drink no wine or similar drink nor eat anything unclean for the child’s will be a Nazarite to God from the womb to the day of his death my friends do we not know today do not doctors know today that a woman that is pregnant how important it is that she take good care of her body should not smoke should not drink should not do so many things if she wants to have a good healthy baby Sadly many today do drugs and all kinds of things when you’re pregnant and we see the effects of that So even his mother had to be careful there was to be no wine enter in to his system even in the womb life we know where it begins doesn’t the moment conception if you had an encounter with an angel an angel of God that informs you that you were going to have a chat I’m speaking to the women here right. Did you were going to have a child that was going to be used of God Well actually God could tell the man right your wife’s going to have a child right and this child is to be set apart for the work of the Lord wouldn’t do be diligent to teach that child of the ways of God wouldn’t you be diligent to encourage that child to make good in Gali decisions in their life wouldn’t you Yes Ok let’s maybe even sleep outers morning you know most responsible parents today even if they’re not Christians most responsible parents today do try to encourage their child to make good choices to guide them in the decisions they make but we all know that often they fail to follow the advice of their older and wiser parents don’t think they choose to make their own mistakes yes we have right we’ve chosen to make our own mistakes when it comes to mistakes Sampson made a plenty plenty of mistakes back in Judges 14 versus one through 3 Now Samson went down to Timna and saw a woman a woman of him the of the daughters of the Philistines So he went up and told his father and mother say I have seen a woman and Tim the daughter of the Philistines Now therefore get her for me as a wife get her for me gonna sound like a spoiled brat done any good or for me I’ve seen this beautiful woman down there get her for me his mother and father could you imagine their frustration. When we tried to train you is there no woman among the daughters of your brother and or all of my people that you must get a wife from these uncircumcised Philistines Sandton said get her for me for she pleases me. They had to be so frustrated they knew they knew that he was special chosen by God They knew that God had divine plans for him they were faithful to God faithful to training but yet he chose to enter Mary among the Philistines the word tells us not to be an equally yoked together the nation of Israel were not to man or Mary but they did Sampson wanted to also get me that wife give me that woman I love for she pleases Me Well it’s evident that she was a beautiful woman that caught his eye he was drawn to her by her outward beauty obviously he wasn’t drawn to her by her virtue obviously he wasn’t drawn her because she worshipped the one true God because she was of the Philistines they worshipped the pagans but his parents mind out of understood that even this him joining himself to this Philistine his enemies was an extraordinary providence of God God was going to use this it was a strange method God can use strange methods because he’s God right he can use strange methods. Romans 83 tells us that God sent His Son in the likeness of sinful flesh on account of sin he took on Himself our sin so you see Sampson in a way was joining himself to the uncircumcised Philistines taken on he was become a part of it taken on sin he joined himself to them by friends this was God’s plan so his father goes down Ok he goes down to Tim the to try to get this woman 1st son so we read Judges 145 through 16. So Samson went down to Tim the with his father and mother and came to the vineyard to Timna then years of tend not to his surprise a young lion came roaring against him and the spirit of the Lord came ideally upon him and he tore the lion apart as one would have torn a young goat though he had nothing in his hand meaning he did it with his bare hands but he did not tell his father or mother what he had done that he went down and talked with the woman and she please Samson Well after some time when he returned to get her he turned aside to see the carcass of the Lion and behold a swarm of bees and honey were in the carcass of the lion he took some out of his hand and one along eating it now what’s in the eyes are right supposed to do not touch anything dead right he reached rate in there grabbed a handful honey and when he came to his father and mother he gave some to them and they ate they also wait but he did not tell them that he had taken the honey out of the carcass of the lion so his father went down to the woman and Samson gave a feast there for young men used to do so and it happen when they saw him that they brought 30 companions to be with him then Sampson said to them that me pose a riddle to you and if you can correctly solve and explain it to me within the 7 days of the feast then I will give you 30 linen garments and 30 changes of clothing but if you cannot explain it to me then you shall give me 30 linens of garment and 30 clothes 30 changes of clothing and they said to him pose your riddle that we may hear it. So he said to them out of the eater came something spoke to wheat and out of the Strong came something sweet now for 3 days they could not explain the riddle but it came to pass on the 7th day that they said to Sampson’s wife entice your husband that he may explain the riddle to us or else we will burn you and your father’s house with fire have you invited us in order to take what is ours is that not so then Sampson’s wife wept on him and said you only hate me you do not love me you have posed a riddle to the sons of my people but you have not explained it to made you hate me she says he’s play she’s playing with his emotions you know wasn’t Sampson’s life kind of ever at all it was it was remember judges 13 and said God shall begin to deliver Israel from the Philistines these events all of these events God was using the killing of the lion the bees and the honey the riddle the riddle Sampson would begin to take vengeance because whenever his wife tricked him in the revealing the riddle she goes and tells it to her companions she’s fearful for her life and her father she’s trying to save her household so she gets the riddle and tells it to them and then they tell Sam’s and he knows he knows that she is the one revealed it to him to them so he gets angry Sanson gets angry he’s mad at her he goes down to ask Alon and he killed 30 men and took their apparel and gave it to the ones who explain the riddle he begins taking his vengeance see this is just the beginning remember the oldest ration at the devil how to file. Phile Well Sampson’s would say his weakness is women he is easily enticed he’s easily persuaded to reveal secrets his wife wept on him in a revealed it judges 14 for says but his father and mother did not know that it was of the word that he was seeking an occasion to move against the Philistines for at that time the Philistines had the minyan over Israel you see they didn’t know it but God was using that God was using Samson supposed disobedience to go against the Philistines So he was very angry very angry because of her trickery he left her there he didn’t take her home with him he left her there went back home with his father and mother as it would happen after a while he begins to think about his beautiful wife down there why I’m going to go get her I’ve cooled down my anger anger has subsided I’m going to go get my wife and he goes down what do you think happened you probably read the story has fallen all gave her to one of his companions gave her away I gave her away because I thought you hated her I thought you didn’t want her he gave her to someone else that my friends arouse his anger again so the next extraordinary feat against the Philistines not only was Sampson’s a giant of a man and strong he had to be quick on his feet I mean he had to be extremely fast because what he did next he caught 300 foxes. $300.00 Fox He tied them tail to tail and put a torch between them so they’re running all over the land they burn down all of the standing grain the vineyards and all of grows the shocks all of it they were burned down an entire region there because these Fox with a torch in between their tails so amazingly caught 300 Fox This enraged the Philistines who did this when they found out it was Sampson they go up to Judah in there they’re like we’re the Jews like when you come in against us for Samson has burned down our fields or vineyards give them to us so the people are due to go to Sam’s another is he supposed to be the judge right there later but they go to the later why have you Agard them they’ve come against us state they’ve come to arrest you he says Ok go ahead Tommy up Tommy up they time up with ropes Sampson’s pretending that these ropes are going to hold him right he is they time up away they go they lead him away taking him back down to the vilest time so there when he gets there you know what happens of them ropes they melt away like wax. Samson singlehandedly took the jaw all bone of a donkey and killed $1000.00 men by himself $1000.00 men not only did he have to be strong he had to be a mighty warrior fast beyond our imagination an amazing strength beyond our imagination you know Sampson judge Israel for 20 years and we read a story of Samson we don’t read of any of the judgments he may we don’t read where he led the army of Israel in the battle like we did get in Jeff Jeff the we don’t read that. But you know in 20 years I think there’s things that probably happen in Sam’s life that we are not just we’re not told in the scripture there’s probably another amazing things he did this is calm like the highlights of his life the extraordinary things but it seemed like he was kind of reckless he would fly by the seat of his emotions not pants a fly by the seat of his emotions didn’t judge a 161 through 6 now Sampson went to Gaza and saw a harlot there and went into her when the gaslights were told Sampson has come they sound surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the gate of the city they were quiet all night saying in the morning when it is they late we will kill him and Samson lay low till midnight then he rose at midnight took hold of the doors of the gate of the city and the 2 gate posts pulled them up bar and all put them on his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill that paces Hebron and afterward it happen I was going to pause there for a moment you might think come on now pulling up the doors the gates of the city in the aggregate held them down and carried them to the top of the mountain I don’t care how big they were I don’t care if those doors were only 7 feet tall I don’t care if they were 20 feet tall he pulled to the Word tells us he pulled them up and carried him to the top of the hill my friends God He created this earth his strength and his might was in it so believe me the word tells you that Samson carried him gates up or he did it with the strength and the might of God that was any. Afterwards it happen that he loved a woman in the valley of saw wreck whose name was Delilah in the Lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her entice him to find out where his great strength lies and by what means we may overpower him that we may bind him to afflict him in every one of us will give you 1100 pieces of silver so the lot of us said to Samson please tell me where your great strength lies and with what you may be bound to afflict you Same old story Sampson again is worn down by this woman is crazy because he would tell her a film if I am bound with a certain type a rope I cannot break so she while he was sleeping she tied him up this is a Samson the Philistines are upon you need jump off and the ropes would be broken and I just say you lied to me and he’d tell her another fit this went on and on Finally she wore him down she wore him down to the point where he said Ok my strength is in my hair if my hair is cut I will be like a Norden Arab man no supernatural strength no superhero I’ll just be like weekly no Ronny there yeah seriously cut cut my hair that’s going to do so a lot of cuts his hair in the middle of night why I lay sleeping and then she calls the guards and they command sure enough he just as weak as I am they bind him they bind Sampson he cannot break the ropes but not only that they afflicted him they took hot rod rods put them in fire and they put his eyes out. They put his eyes out both of his eyes then they took him in he was bound to push this big old stone wheel around to grind the grain Sampson lost his strength this man was chosen by God to deliver Israel out of the hands of the Philistines the Philistines like to gather in their big coliseum and be entertained so they said one day bring Sampson out bring Sampson out that we’ve been slaves that he might entertain us and there were $3000.00 in that coliseum for that arena whatever we want to call it somewhere up on the roof with a young lad that brought Samson out Sampson says to him Take me to the pillars take me to the pillars that support this place so the young lad takes him up to the pillars and sands and stands there between them to pillars and judges 162-8230 then Sampson called to the Lord say the Lord God remember me I pray my friends what did the thief that hung beside Jesus call out remember me Lord Samson says remember me I pray strengthen me I prayed just this once oh God that I may with one blow take vengeance on the Philistines for my 2 eyes and Sansom took hold of the 2 put Middle pillars which supported the temple and he braced himself against them one on his right and the other one is left then Samson said let me die with the Philistines and he pushed with all his might and the temple fell on lords and all the people who were in it so that the death that he yeah so the dead that he killed at his death were more than he killed in his life he killed many that day God strengthen him one last time you know we may think that we’re beyond saving. We might think well I’m Too bad I’m too wicked I’ve disobeyed God Too many times I’ve failed him is not Sampson’s life proof that God can use us God can forgive us remember me God Remember me that was Sampson’s repentance remember me God I have failed you but remember me this one last time my life’s a big old mess but my God is a gracious God Amen Romans 72425 says wretched man that I am who will deliver me from this body of death I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord so then with the mind I myself serve the Law of God but with the flesh the law of sin when you think of what they did the Samson where was his weakness his weakness was in his eyes he lusted after the flesh he lusted after that beautiful woman then beautiful women was it not the lust of the eyes and what they put out they put his eyes out he no longer lusted after the women because his eyes were put out he had to be broken he had to be broken my friends sometimes we had to be broken God will remove that thing to can cause us to lust or whatever sin or sin may be. Had of the scripture actually I just said it it’s morning Romans Chapter 6 verses 5 and 6. For if we have been united together in the likeness of his death. Certainly we also Selby in the likeness of his resurrection knowing this that or old man was crucified with him that the body of sin might be done away with that we should no longer be slaves of sin God had the crucified the flesh and Samson allowed in the put my friends of allow God to crucify the flesh we are crucified with Christ that’s what that says in the allow their crucifixion to do away with the sin in our flesh and allow His Spirit to fill us to rule us to guide us you know as I was thinking about this there was speaking to me even the small you know all week I think about it and prepare but he speaks up to me in the last moment there Sampson stretching out his arms between those 2 pillars right to try to deliver try to save his people Israel my friends the one that stretched out his arms for us Jesus Christ come to Him and allow him to crucify the flesh anew in live for Him We serve a risen Savior he stretched out his arms and died oh my friends heroes that we just celebrated Easter heroes we too have the hope of eternal life in him because of what he did Amen.