Burunche’s Blog

Judges 16:1 – 4 ”One day Samson went to Gaza, where he saw a prostitute and went in to spend the night with her. When the Gazites heard that Samson was there, they surrounded that place and lay in wait for him all night at the city gate. They were quiet throughout the night, saying, “Let us wait until dawn; then we will kill him.” But Samson lay there only until midnight, when he got up, took hold of the doors of the city gate and both gateposts, and pulled them out bar and all. Then he put them on his shoulders and took them to the top of the mountain overlooking Hebron.”

Romans 11:29 says, “For God’s gifts and His calling are irrevocable.” This verse means that once God has given someone a gift or a calling, He doesn’t snatch it away from them when they perform poorly. Samson has been given incredible strength. Although Samson has been a judge over Israel for twenty years, he hasn’t learned anything when it comes to his sexual appetites. Samson has mistaken a holy calling from the lord as a sign of entitlement; he appears to feel that he can behave any way he pleases and that God is still going to bless him.

Samson’s great feat of strength is nearly incredible to believe. Most city gateposts consisted of huge stone pillars with heavy thick wooden or metal gates hung on them. The distance from Gaza to Hebron is at least twenty miles or more. Yes, God’s gift of strength is still working; however, God has called Samson to be a Nazirite from conception onward to defeat the demons worshiped by the Philistines. Instead of living a chaste and holy life as God desires, Samson has been sleeping with Philistine women.

Demons transfer during sex. One Christian who was involved in witchcraft in his youth has testified that sex was one of the ways his coven used to attract and enmesh new members. Evil is an acquired taste, just as is virtue. Unfortunately, Samson has acquired a taste for the demonic. Notice that throughout the story of Samson, there is never any mention of his marriage to an Israelite wife or to his worshiping the Lord. No, whenever Samson’s sexual liaisons are mentioned, it is always with Philistine women. Samson is in a downward spiral spiritually, one that will eventually lead to his doom.

APPLICATION: As we grow older, we become what we have always been, only more so. Samson’s lusts have grown over the years. Doing the math, Samson must now be in his 40’s in an age when many people had their lives cut short by sickness. And Samson is a judge, an authority figure. How many young Israelite men may have chosen to emulate Samson, allying themselves with Philistine girls in direct violation of God’s commandments? We miss a great deal when we assume that this story is only about the tragedy of a single individual.

God has intended Samson to be holy and righteous from the womb. Samson’s parents have done everything they can to make that calling happen. But Samson has spent a lifetime rebelling against authority and feeling entitled – a very bad combination!

Several years ago, we knew a pastor’s son who was incredibly gifted. This young man was handsome, intelligent, charming, well spoken, and very likable. His parents had high hopes that he would become a pastor or a teacher and be a shining example for others. But like Samson, this young man chose to have sex with girls from families worshiping traditional religions; as a result, he became confused and unable to focus. At last report, our friend was still bouncing from one job to another, leaving his parents to raise his illegitimate son by themselves.

What can we learn from Samson? Each one of us has a holy calling from God. God has a perfect plan for each of our lives. If we are not certain what that plan is, we should simply pray and ask God. James :5 1- 7 tells us, “Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But he must ask in faith, without doubting, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.” Once we have heard from God, we need to act on that knowledge, realizing that if God calls us to do something, God will also provide the strength and the resources to fulfill that call.

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving each of us as individuals. Thank You for calling each of us to lives of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. Lord, help everyone who reads this to learn the calling You have for them and to fulfill that calling so that Your blessings may rest upon them. In the mighty Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Judges 15:9 – 20 “Then the Philistines went up, camped in Judah, and deployed themselves against Lehi. “Why have you attacked us?” said the men of Judah. The Philistines replied, “We have come to arrest Samson and pay him back for what he has done to us.” In response, three thousand men of Judah went to the cave at the rock of Etam, and they asked Samson, “Do you not realize that the Philistines rule over us? What have you done to us?” “I have done to them what they did to me,” he replied.

But they said to him, “We have come down to arrest you and hand you over to the Philistines.” Samson replied, “Swear to me that you will not kill me yourselves.”

“No,” they answered, “we will not kill you, but we will tie you up securely and hand you over to them.” So they bound him with two new ropes and led him up from the rock.

When Samson arrived in Lehi, the Philistines came out shouting against him. And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him. The ropes on his arms became like burnt flax, and the bonds broke loose from his hands. He found the fresh jawbone of a donkey, reached out his hand and took it, and struck down a thousand men. Then Samson said:

“With the jawbone of a donkey I have piled them into heaps. With the jawbone of a donkey I have slain a thousand men.” And when Samson had finished speaking, he cast the jawbone from his hand; and he named that place Ramath-lehi. (Ramath-lehi means the hill of the jawbone)

And being very thirsty, Samson cried out to the LORD, “You have accomplished this great deliverance through Your servant. Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?” So God opened up the hollow place in Lehi, and water came out of it. When Samson drank, his strength returned, and he was revived. That is why he named it En-hakkore, (the spring of him who calls) and it remains in Lehi to this day.

And Samson judged Israel for twenty years in the days of the Philistines.

God is using Samson to deliver the Israelites in spite of themselves. When the Philistines show up complaining about Samson, do the Israelites back him? Are you kidding? If the Israelites could completely disown Samson, they would do so in a heartbeat! Three thousand men of Judah meet Samson at the cave where he is staying to convince him to allow them to hand him over to the Philistines. The predictable happens: when Samson is handed over, the Spirit of the Lord comes upon him, he flexes his muscles, and the ropes simply melt away. Grabbing the first thing handy, a donkey jawbone, Samson then kills a thousand Philistines. When the battle is finished and Samson is about to collapse from thirst, God even opens a spring for him.

APPLICATION: In this part of the story, God uses Samson, imperfect as he is, to help keep the Philistines at bay. Why is this such an important story? Many times we feel that we must earn God’s favor and that if we don’t behave perfectly, God will refuse to bless us. But in fact, none of us can possibly behave perfectly. Each one of us is a sinner in need of a Savior; that’s why Jesus had to come and die for our sins at Calvary. After all the other things that Samson has done, it is obvious that Samson is far from perfect; yet, God has continued to use him and to sustain him.

We can take comfort from this story in the fact that God hears our prayers and will answer our prayers. Many times we don’t realize how God has been working in our lives. It is only when we begin to look backwards that we realize “Wow! That was God!” Years ago, our hospital had only a single vehicle and we had to drive all the way to the capital city of Accra to buy drugs and medical consumables. One day we reached a parking spot in Accra, only to realize that all four tires on the vehicle were leaking and needed replacement. Amazingly, 3 months earlier, someone had donated money through the mission group for whom we worked, and the mission had just transferred that money to our account a few days before our tires went flat. This took place nearly 30 years ago, when communication was extremely difficult and even phone conversations required advance planning. Only God could have orchestrated that money arriving at that time. So many times as we have traveled raising funds for the hospital, someone has handed us donated items that we desperately need. Truly, God’s hand is never shortened; God supplies our needs, if not our wants.

Do you have a real need in your life? Go to God; He already knows. Ask Him to help you see if He has already made provision and then thank Him for that provision.

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us so much that You provide for us, even before we realize that we need something. Thank You that You hear our prayers and that You answer them. Help us to trust You always. In the mighty Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Judges 15:1 – 8 “Later on, at the time of the wheat harvest, Samson took a young goat and went to visit his wife. “I want to go to my wife in her room,” he said. But her father would not let him enter. “I was sure that you thoroughly hated her,” said her father, “so I gave her to one of the men who accompanied you. Is not her younger sister more beautiful than she? Please take her instead.” Samson said to them, “This time I will be blameless in doing harm to the Philistines.”

Then Samson went out and caught three hundred foxes. And he took torches, turned the foxes tail-to-tail, and fastened a torch between each pair of tails. Then he lit the torches and released the foxes into the standing grain of the Philistines, burning up the piles of grain and the standing grain, as well as the vineyards and olive groves.

“Who did this?” the Philistines demanded. “It was Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite,” they were told. “For his wife was given to his companion.” So the Philistines went up and burned her and her father to death.

And Samson told them, “Because you have done this, I will not rest until I have taken vengeance upon you.” And he struck them ruthlessly with a great slaughter, and then went down and stayed in the cave at the rock of Etam.”

Let’s get this straight. Samson attempts to marry a Philistine girl despite his parents’ objections, breaks his life – long Nazirite vow, and causes all kinds of problems at his marriage feast. Samson, incensed because his bride has leaked the answer to his ridiculous riddle to the wedding guests, slaughters 30 Philistines from Ashkelon and gives their garments to fulfill the terms of his riddle. After misconducting himself in this fashion, Samson then stalks home with his humiliated parents. Samson’s would – be in – laws don’t know what to do because their daughter is no longer a virgin. Fortunately, there is another young man in Timnah willing to marry the girl, so her parents give her to him.

After months of absence, Samson suddenly reappears on the scene as if nothing untoward has ever happened, and wants to visit the girl in her room, obviously to sleep with her. The girl’s parents do the best that they can, offering the girl’s beautiful younger sister as a substitute. (There is no record of what this young lady might have thought of becoming a consolation prize.) Samson refuses and instead goes ahead to catch three hundred foxes, tie them together in pairs and tie torches to their tails so that all the standing grain, as well as the vineyards and olive groves catch on fire. The Philistines are so furious that they burn Samson’s intended bride and her father to death. Samson then retaliates by slaughtering a large number of Philistines.

There are several parts of the story that are difficult to believe. For one thing, how does one catch three hundred foxes all at once? Foxes can run very fast and are masters at evasive action. For Samson to catch three hundred foxes, he must have been able to run even faster. The retribution taken by the Philistines and then by Samson boggles the imagination; however, even today, many different religious groups slaughter any who are thought to have betrayed the faith with impunity.

APPLICATION: The big question as we consider this passage is this: did God really want such awful slaughter to happen to the Philistines? The amazing answer would seem to be that God allowed Samson to do these things as a means of loosening the Philistine hold on Israel.

Was this God’s perfect will for the Philistines? No. In the beginning, God wanted Israel to be a graphic demonstration of how to worship and Whom to worship. Had the Philistines turned away from the evil gods such as Dagon that they were worshiping, God could have stopped Samson. God used Samson, imperfect as he was; however, it is entirely possible that God may have had a far better plan. But Samson had already abandoned his Nazirite vows except for the length of his hair, and so God had to use him as he was.

God has a perfect plan for each one of us; however, we can always mess things up. God says in Jeremiah 29:11“’For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future. ‘” God had a perfect plan and a hope and a future for Samson. Perhaps God intended for Samson to become a truly godly man who would marry a godly wife and raise children of excellent character who would become a blessing to generations of future Israelites. Unfortunately, Samson spoiled those plans, wasting his talents as he lurched from one woman to another. There is no record that Samson ever fathered any children.

What if we have already messed up God’s plan for our lives? God is a God of infinite resourcefulness. Although we might never fulfill God’s original plan for our lives, God can still use us and guide us into righteousness, peace, and joy if we only will allow Him to do so. But we must first recognize that we are headed in a wrong direction and then ask God to help turn us around and to straighten us out. Once that process occurs, God can do amazing things with anyone who is yielded to Him.

Today you might feel as if you have made a complete shambles of your life! Nothing has turned out the way you have hoped. But it’s never too late. Ask God for help; He is as close as your heart beat.

PRAYER: Father God, thank you for loving us and for caring for us. We confess that we have gone in the wrong direction. Please turn us around. Straighten us out and help us to be willing to cooperate in that process. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Judges 14:8 – 20 “When Samson returned later to take her, he left the road to see the lion’s carcass, and in it was a swarm of bees, along with their honey. So he scooped some honey into his hands and ate it as he went along. When he returned to his father and mother, he gave some to them and they ate it. But he did not tell them that he had taken the honey from the lion’s carcass.

Then his father went to visit the woman, and Samson prepared a feast there, as was customary for the bridegroom. And when the Philistines saw him,a they selected thirty men to accompany him. “Let me tell you a riddle,” Samson said to them. “If you can solve it for me within the seven days of the feast, I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty sets of clothes. But if you cannot solve it, you must give me thirty linen garments and thirty sets of clothes.” “Tell us your riddle,” they replied. “Let us hear it.” So he said to them: “Out of the eater came something to eat, and out of the strong came something sweet.”

For three days they were unable to explain the riddle. So on the fourth day they said to Samson’s wife, “Entice your husband to explain the riddle to us, or we will burn you and your father’s household to death. Did you invite us here to rob us?” Then Samson’s wife came to him, weeping, and said, “You hate me! You do not really love me! You have posed to my people a riddle, but have not explained it to me.” “Look,” he said, “I have not even explained it to my father or mother, so why should I explain it to you?” She wept the whole seven days of the feast, and finally on the seventh day, because she had pressed him so much, he told her the answer. And in turn she explained the riddle to her people.

Before sunset on the seventh day, the men of the city said to Samson: “What is sweeter than honey? And what is stronger than a lion?” So he said to them: “If you had not plowed with my heifer, you would not have solved my riddle!”

Then the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, killed thirty of their men, took their apparel, and gave their clothes to those who had solved the riddle. And burning with anger, Samson returned to his father’s house, and his wife was given to one of the men who had accompanied him.”

As a Nazirite, Samson was not supposed to touch any dead bodies at any time, anywhere! But Samson was ruled by his appetites, and when he saw free honey, he took some and also gave some to his parents. As practicing Jews, Samson’s parents shouldn’t have eaten that honey either. Did Samson try to excuse himself by telling himself that if his parents had refused the honey, then he would have stopped eating it? At the very least, Samson manipulated his innocent parents into a sin so that he could feel better about it himself.

Compounding that sin, Samson goes on to the marriage feast and decides to be clever. Perhaps riddles were a local custom at marriage feasts. Samson himself is the one who places severe restrictions on those failing to solve the riddle, so Samson is the one who creates the crisis in the first place. Had Samson posed the riddle with some lesser consequences for those who could not solve it, the feast would probably have gone on and things would have been peaceful. But the price Samson demands is so high that the Philistines threaten to burn the bride’s family’s house with everyone in it. Faced with this threat, it is little wonder that the bride cries for all seven days of the feast. Finally, Samson can’t stand it any more and shares the answer with his bride, who immediately tells the wedding guests, thus saving her family from extinction.

Samson becomes infuriated and takes out his anger and fulfills his vow by going to the Philistine city of Ashkelon, murdering thirty men, and taking their clothes. Samson huffs off with his parents rather than first collecting his bride. (?Typical only child behavior?) Facing a difficult situation, the bride’s parents quickly give her to someone else so that she will not become a social pariah.

APPLICATION: The whole mess has begun with Samson’s wrong choice of a bride. As if that is not enough, Samson also breaks his Nazirite vow on the way to this ungodly wedding. Remember that Samson is supposed to be a Nazirite from the womb until the day of his death. Scooping that honey out of a dead carcass is an absolute violation of the restrictions on Nazirites. Unfortunately, once we choose to begin sinning, one sin is likely to beget another. Samson’s parents have tried their best to get him to marry an Israelite girl, but Samson has emphatically refused. Next, the Nazirite vow gets cast aside. What follows is a mockery of a wedding feast; how could it be otherwise? At the end, thirty men from Ashkelon are murdered for their clothes and Samson goes home with his parents, who are undoubtedly abashed at this turn of events.

What must Manoah and his wife feel as they trudge home with their spoiled handsome son who has just made a complete mess of his divine calling and embarrassed them before a rival tribe in the process? Quite likely, Manoah is already concerned about what Samson might choose to do next, since Samson has already demonstrated so little regard for God.

The story of Samson is an unqualified tragedy! Samson is gifted – strong, handsome, brave, and presumably intelligent. But Samson becomes a slave to his lusts early on, refuses to take wise counsel from his parents, and turns his back on most of his Nazirite vows. So far, Samson still has his long hair, so he is being PARTIALLY obedient, but partial obedience in the face of the demonic remains a recipe for disaster. Give demons any chance at all, and they will take over.

Today we have many people who claim to believe in Jesus Christ; however, their lives do not bear close inspection. Church rolls are littered with the names of those who attend regularly on Sunday but who cheat people on Monday. If we truly love someone, we do everything we can not to hurt or offend them. Sin grieves God. Nobody is perfect; however, those who truly follow Jesus recognize when they have sinned, turn away from that sin, and confess to God that they need His help to make it. Any believer who feels that he or she can make it on his/her own is doomed to failure. Compromises are useless.

PRAYER: Father God, let our hearts grieve with the things that break Yours. Help us to turn away from compromises and to continue to follow You all the days of our lives. In the mighty Name of King Jesus. Amen.

SEPTEMBER 16, 2021 OBEDIENCE OR CHAOS 45: PARENTING A SUPER STAR IS TOUGH!

Judges 14:1 – 7 “One day Samson went down to Timnah, where he saw a young Philistine woman. So he returned and told his father and his mother, “I have seen a daughter of the Philistines in Timnah. Now get her for me as a wife.” But his father and mother replied, “Can’t you find a young woman among your relatives or among any of our people? Must you go to the uncircumcised Philistines to get a wife?”

But Samson told his father, “Get her for me, for she is pleasing to my eyes.” (Now his father and mother did not know this was from the LORD, who was seeking an occasion to move against the Philistines; for at that time the Philistines were ruling over Israel.) Then Samson went down to Timnah with his father and mother and came to the vineyards of Timnah. Suddenly a young lion came roaring at him, and the Spirit of the LORD came powerfully upon him, and he tore the lion apart with his bare hands as one would tear a young goat. But he did not tell his father or mother what he had done. Then Samson continued on his way down and spoke to the woman, because she was pleasing to his eyes.”

What do we know about the area in which Samson grew up? The Philistines were moving into Canaan from the Mediterranean Sea coast at the same time the Israelites were moving in from the east. The villages of Zorah and Eshtaol are both strategic guard posts, located at the foot of the hill country, alongside the Sorek Valley which leads from the Central Hills north of Jerusalem westward to the Mediterranean Sea. This would have been one of the crucial places where the Israelites would have defended access to their territory. The fact that Samson is born here indicates that he is a frontiersman, a border dweller, absorbing influences from both the Israelites and the Philistines. (https://blog.israelbiblicalstudies.com/holy-land-studies/where-samson-walked/)

This is a perplexing story. The name “Samson” means “like the sun” and indicates incredible strength. Samson goes down to Timnah, a Philistine city in Canaan, a place where he has no business being, and finds a beautiful young lady. There is never any mention of Samson having gone to an Israelite city to look for a wife. Why was Samson in Timnah in the first place? Did his parents teach him only about his Nazirite vows and fail to teach him about the other laws of Moses? Were Samson’s parents themselves ignorant of the teachings of Moses that forbade Israelites from marrying outside the nation of Israel?

The next perplexing thing is the phrase “(Now his father and mother did not know this was from the LORD, who was seeking an occasion to move against the Philistines; for at that time the Philistines were ruling over Israel.)” HUH??? Samson is directly violating the Lord’s commands; however, God is managing to use even Samson’s lust and poor judgment to begin a conflict with the Philistines. Was Samson fulfilling God’s perfect will when he strayed into a Philistine city? No. Why was Samson in Timnah? Was there some kind of fertility rite going on and is that how Samson chose the girl he wanted? If Samson had chosen an Israelite girl to marry, would God have found some other means of inciting a conflict? Of course!

Samson encounters a lion, tears it to pieces, and then proceeds to Timnah, where he speaks to the girl he has chosen. This is Samson’s first recorded act of strength, one that will later lead him to his first recorded violation of his Nazirite vow.

APPLICATION: Samson was an only child, the object of affection of his parents. Despite the fact that Samson had been raised as a Nazirite and was enjoined to keep the Nazirite vow his entire life, there is no evidence to suggest that Samson actually knew God or loved Him. Children who are indulged from an early age may rebel later in life not realizing how much they have been given. When Samson went down to Timnah the first time, he was already pushing things, and when he demanded that his parents get this Philistine girl for him as a wife, he was behaving like a spoiled brat. Why else would a young man force his parents into a compromising situation, one in which they would be extremely uncomfortable? Samson evidently had very little respect for his parents and even less for God.

When young people who are bright and attractive begin to admire themselves too much, their self – worship outstrips their respect for their parents. While there are neglectful parents in the world, there are also many parents who have tried to raise their children properly and who want nothing but the best spiritually for their children. Some of us fail to come to our senses until we are middle – aged and raising children of our own. It is only when our children begin to give us the same problems we gave our parents that we realize how much our parents may have suffered because of us.

May God help us to appreciate all that our parents have done for us! May we also realize that any mistakes our parents have made were done because they are human; therefore, we should be careful, lest we make similar mistakes.

PRAYER: Father God, help all of us to forgive our parents for any mistakes they might have made. Help us also to recognize that we too can make similar mistakes. Help us to continue to look to You, the ultimate Parent, for guidance and encouragement. And help us to teach our children Your ways. In the mighty Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Judges 13:9 – 25 “And God listened to the voice of Manoah, and the angel of God returned to the woman as she was sitting in the field; but her husband Manoah was not with her. The woman ran quickly to tell her husband, “Behold, the man who came to me the other day has reappeared!” So Manoah got up and followed his wife. When he came to the man, he asked, “Are you the man who spoke to my wife?”

“I am,” he said. Then Manoah asked, “When your words come to pass, what will be the boy’s rule of life and mission?” So the angel of the LORD answered Manoah, “Your wife is to do everything I told her. She must not eat anything that comes from the vine, nor drink any wine or strong drink, nor eat anything unclean. She must do everything I have commanded her.”

“Please stay here,” Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, “and we will prepare a young goat for You.” And the angel of the LORD replied, “Even if I stay, I will not eat your food. But if you prepare a burnt offering, offer it to the LORD.” For Manoah did not know that it was the angel of the LORD. Then Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, “What is your name, so that we may honor you when your word comes to pass?” “Why do you ask my name,” said the angel of the LORD, “since it is beyond comprehension?” Then Manoah took a young goat and a grain offering and offered them on a rock to the LORD. And as Manoah and his wife looked on, the LORD did a marvelous thing. When the flame went up from the altar to the sky, the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame.

When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell facedown to the ground. And when the angel of the LORD did not appear again to Manoah and his wife, Manoah realized that it had been the angel of the LORD. “We are going to die,” he said to his wife, “for we have seen God!” But his wife replied, “If the LORD had intended to kill us, He would not have accepted the burnt offering and the grain offering from our hands, nor would He have shown us all these things or spoken to us this way.” So the woman gave birth to a son and named him Samson. The boy grew, and the LORD blessed him. And the Spirit of the LORD began to stir him at Mahaneh Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.”

Manoah and his wife did everything correctly, just as the Lord had ordered them. And in the beginning, Samson also was doing everything correctly, and God was blessing him. It is bittersweet to read about Samson’s beginnings when we already know the rest of the story, but never forget that Samson’s parents did their best.

APPLICATION: When Samson first started, God was blessing his efforts. What went wrong later? Perhaps Samson assumed that because God had chosen him from the womb, that God would bless whatever he did, no matter how sinful it might be. Perhaps Samson later assumed that his successes were of his own making and gave no credit to God.

In recent years, there have been a number of financial institutions that have failed. Examinations have revealed that many of the key players began by conducting themselves as professionally as possible; however, at some point in time, the temptation to cheat became too much and they began compromising in bits.

There is a story about a spider who was weaving an intricate web. Other spiders came to watch and admire the beauty and the symmetry of that web. Finally, the spider noticed that there was one thread that was out of place and decided to snip that one thread so that everything would be perfectly symmetrical. But that thread was connecting the entire web to the twig from which it was suspended. When that thread was snipped, the entire web – and the spider – fell, destroying the web and the spider.

When we take a calling from God for granted, when we take credit for the working of God in our lives, we are as foolish as that spider. Our lives hang by a thread, the grace of God. It is only by God’s grace and mercy that we do not die in our sins. Let each of us ask God to show us His call for our lives and let us be serious about that call. Our eternal lives depend on our doing so!

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for calling us to Yourself. Help us to always realize that You are the One who has created us and who sustains us. You are the One who gives us life and breath. Help us to follow hard after You all the days of our lives. In the matchless Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Judges 13:1 – 14 “Again the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD, so the LORD delivered them into the hands of the Philistines for forty years.

Now there was a man from Zorah Zorah named Manoah, from the clan of the Danites, whose wife was barren and had no children. The angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her, “It is true that you are barren and have no children; but you will conceive and give birth to a son. Now please be careful not to drink wine or strong drink, and not to eat anything unclean. For behold, you will conceive and give birth to a son. And no razor shall come over his head, because the boy will be a Nazirite to God from the womb, and he will begin the deliverance of Israel from the hands of the Philistines.”

Then the woman went and said to her husband, “A man of God came to me. His appearance was like the angel of God, exceedingly awesome. I did not ask him where he came from, and he did not tell me his name. But he said to me, ‘Behold, you will conceive and give birth to a son. Now, therefore, do not drink wine or strong drink, and do not eat anything unclean, because the boy will be a Nazirite to God from the womb until the day of his death.’”

Then Manoah prayed to the LORD, “Please, O Lord, let the man of God You sent us come to us again to teach us how to raise the boy who is to be born. And God listened to the voice of Manoah, and the angel of God returned to the woman as she was sitting in the field; but her husband Manoah was not with her. The woman ran quickly to tell her husband, “Behold, the man who came to me the other day has reappeared!”

So Manoah got up and followed his wife. When he came to the man, he asked, “Are you the man who spoke to my wife?”

“I am,” he said. Then Manoah asked, “When your words come to pass, what will be the boy’s rule of life and mission?” So the angel of the LORD answered Manoah, “Your wife is to do everything I told her. She must not eat anything that comes from the vine, nor drink any wine or strong drink, nor eat anything unclean. She must do everything I have commanded her.” ”

The tragedy of barrenness may be one of the most heart – breaking of all tragedies that many women face. In some cultures, barren women are divorced, shunned, and scorned. Some families will put their daughters through all kinds of rituals, many of them harmful, just to “cure” the barrenness. Unscrupulous faith healers prey on childless women, encouraging them to ingest concoctions that may actually be harmful and that will not work. as intended.

When the angel appeared to Manoah and his wife, they may have already given up expecting her to become pregnant. At any rate, nothing could prepare these people for an angel appearing to the woman. And when the angel appeared, this lady very rightly referred the angel to her husband.

Manoah and his wife did everything right! This is important because as the story of Samson unfolds, we see a pattern: an incredibly gifted man wastes his gifts and calling because he cannot control his lusts. But in the beginning, Samson’s parents follow God’s orders completely.

What were the restrictions on Nazirites? The term Nazirite comes from the Hebrew word “Nazir,” meaning consecrated or separated. Those taking such vows had to do the following: 1. Abstain from all wine and anything else made from the grape vine plant, such as cream of tartar,grape seed oil, etc. (Traditional rabbinic authorities state that all other types of alcohol were permitted; however, Manoah’s wife was warned to avoid all forms of alcohol.)

2. Refrain from cutting the hair on one’s head; but to allow the locks of the head’s hair to grow.

3. Not to become ritually impure by contact with corpses or graves, even those of family members.

Although most individuals would only take a Nazirite vow for a limited amount of time (one month was the minimum), God told Manoah and his wife that He wanted their son to be a Nazirite “from the womb to the day of his death.”

Why was God so insistent on this boy being a dedicated Nazirite his entire life? God had a special purpose for this boy, one that could only be fully completed if he remained holy to the Lord his entire life. And God also knew ahead of time the consequences of this boy straying from the Nazirite vows later in liife.

APPLICATION: Sometimes pregnant women are very careless with their lifestyles before giving birth; however, prenatal influences are proving to be quite strong. Several years ago in Ghana, we knew a businessman whose mother had dedicated him to a fetish, a demonic god, from the womb because she had asked the fetish to give her a son. This poor fellow was demon – possessed for his entire life. At times the demons would hide and this man would be sweet and reasonable; however, we personally watched him explode into screaming tirades when he failed to get his way. As expected, this man had lots of problems, and we have no idea if he was able to get free of the demons before he died.

Why did God want this boy to be a Nazirite from the womb to the day of his death? The Israelites had fulfilled Moses’s predictions in Deuteronomy 29. Moses warned the Israelites of the consequences of refusing to worship the One True Living God and ordered them to teach their children the things of God. The Israelites failed miserably and were suffering the consequences. God required someone who was ritually pure and who would avoid all of the heathen practices to lead Israel. Manoah and his wife did their very best; however, as we will see, their son failed to take his calling seriously.

How are we raising our children and who is raising them? Are we leaving our children to be raised by whatever they see on TV, on cell phones, and on tablets? Do we leave our children’s education to the public school systems or are we involved enough to make sure our children actually have godly values? And are we discipling our children or are we merely hauling them to church a few times a year and hoping that something sticks? God help us if we are not as serious as were Manoah and his wife!

PRAYER: Father God, parents today are facing terrible stresses as they try to raise godly children. Lord, please help parents everywhere to learn Your ways and to model those ways for their children so that those same children wil learn of You and why You are the only Way, the only Truth, and the only Life. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Judges 12; 8 – 15 “After him (Jephthah), Ibzan of Bethlehem led Israel. He had thirty sons and thirty daughters. He gave his daughters away in marriage to those outside his clan, and for his sons he brought in thirty young women as wives from outside his clan. Ibzan led Israel seven years. Then Ibzan died and was buried in Bethlehem. After him, Elon the Zebulunite led Israel ten years.  Then Elon died and was buried in Aijalon in the land of Zebulun. After him, Abdon son of Hillel, from Pirathon, led Israel. He had forty sons and thirty grandsons, who rode on seventy donkeys. He led Israel eight years. Then Abdon son of Hillel died and was buried at Pirathon in Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites.”

Once we get through the story of Jephthah, there is a list of four judges who seem completely obscure. One judge is noted mostly for having his children marry outside their clan. Marriages were generally to remain within the tribes of Israel; however, perhaps here the clan designation refers to clans within the tribe of Judah, since Ibzan is from Bethlehem.

Reading this list, we might be excused if we wonder why someone even bothered to mention these people. But God wanted their names to be remembered. When judges were carrying out their duties, they were acting on behalf of God. Whatever else these people did, they carried out their duties, sired children, lived honorably, and were faithful in what they accomplished.

APPLICATION: Let’s face it, the world is made up largely of obscure people. Most of us live quietly without attracting either fame or notoriety; yet, God knows our names, our personalities, and our very souls. Reading this list, we should be encouraged that God notices the “little people,” as well as their families. We matter to the Lord of the Universe.

The Psalmist David said in Psalm 139 “You have searched me, Lord, and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely. You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.”

God knows us better than we know ourselves. He knows our thoughts, our wants, our desires, our fears, and the things that frighten us or make us despair. Why should we wander aimlessly through life when we have access to the One who truly knows us and who truly loves us? Let us trust Him!

PRAYER: Father God, help us to trust You and to worship You with every bit of our lives. Thank You for loving us and for sending Jesus to die for our sins. Help us to follow hard after You all the days of our lives. In the matchless Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Judges 12:1 – 7 “Then the men of Ephraim assembled and crossed the Jordan to Zaphon. They said to Jephthah, “Why have you crossed over to fight the Ammonites without calling us to go with you? We will burn your house down with you inside!”

But Jephthah replied, “My people and I had a serious conflict with the Ammonites, and when I called, you did not save me out of their hands. When I saw that you would not save me, I risked my life and crossed over to the Ammonites, and the LORD delivered them into my hand. Why then have you come today to fight against me?”

Jephthah then gathered all the men of Gilead and fought against Ephraim. And the men of Gilead struck them down because the Ephraimites had said, “You Gileadites are fugitives (renegades) in Ephraim, living in the territories of Ephraim and Manasseh.”

The Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan leading to Ephraim, and whenever a fugitive from Ephraim would say, “Let me cross over,” the Gileadites would ask him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” If he answered, “No,” they told him, “Please say Shibboleth.” If he said, “Sibboleth,” because he could not pronounce it correctly, they seized him and killed him at the fords of the Jordan. So at that time 42,000 Ephraimites were killed. Jephthah judged Israel six years, and when he died, he was buried in one of the cities of Gilead.

Jephthah and his people are Gileadites living on the east side of the Jordan River in an area corresponding to modern northwestern Jordan. The Gileadites have settled in that area with the permission of Moses because they have extensive herds and flocks and there is good grazing. Jephthah has conquered the Ammonites; however, now he has a new problem. Evidently, when Jephthah was going out to fight the Ammonites, he messaged the men of Ephraim for assistance and they ignored him. Now that the Ammonites have been defeated, the Ephraimites have suddenly realized that they have missed an opportunity for LOOT, so they cross the River Jordan and begin threatening Jephthah and his family. To add insult to injury, the Ephraimites also claim that the Gileadites are renegades who as such have no claim to any land in Israel at all.

Jephthah has no choice; either he fights the Ephraimites or they will murder him and his family. The Gileadites join Jephthah and capture the fords of the Jordan so that the Ephraimites can’t retreat into their own territory. To determine who is an Ephraimite, Jephthah’s men apply a simple test. The Ephraimites evidently have no “sh” sound in their dialect, so the men of Gilead demand that anybody attempting to ford the Jordan pronounce the word “shibboleth,” which means an ear, as in an ear of corn. Those who cannot pronounce the word correctly die. 42,000 Ephraimites pay with their lives for their inability to pronounce a single word correctly as well as for their arrogant presumption.

APPLICATION: This is a very sad story. Why? These are Israelites fighting against Israelites – something that should never have happened in the first place. Moses required those tribes that remained on the east side of the Jordan to swear that they would cross the Jordan to help their brothers conquer the land over there and that they would be prepared to come to the aid of the other Israelites whenever necessary. When Jephthah asked the Ephraimites to help him in the beginning, he was only acting according to the provisions of the covenant. But the Ephraimites conveniently forgot their part of the covenant until it came time to divide the spoils. Suddenly, the Ephraimites showed up making all kinds of accusations. Ultimately the Ephraimites paid with their lives for their greed and their failure to honor the covenant.

We read these accounts and feel superior; certainly WE would never renege on a major agreement. But in in fact, covenants are broken regularly. Recent current events have served to illustrate that entire nations may regard covenants as disposable when inconvenient.

What lessons can we draw from this story?

1. Keep your promises. Don’t go back on your word; you may pay with your life for doing so.

2. Remember your allies. The Ephraimites failed because they convinced themselves that the Gileadites really didn’t count as a people.

3. Teach your children the ways of God. This whole mess came about because the Israelites neglected to teach their children the ways of God and His commandments. Without any moral compass, the Israelites were doing whatever they felt like; chaos was the result.

PRAYER: Father God, help us to teach our children Your ways. Help us to study Your Word for ourselves so that we will not wind up fighting the very people we should be helping. Help us to follow hard after You all days of our lives. In the matchless Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Judges 11:29 – 40 “Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh, then through Mizpah of Gilead. And from there he advanced against the Ammonites.

Jephthah made this vow to the LORD: “If indeed You will deliver the Ammonites into my hands, then whatever comes out of the door of my house to greet me on my triumphant return from the Ammonites will belong to the LORD, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering.”

So Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites to fight against them, and the LORD delivered them into his hands. With a great blow he devastated twenty cities from Aroer to the vicinity of Minnith, as far as Abel-keramim. So the Ammonites were subdued before the Israelites.

And when Jephthah returned home to Mizpah, there was his daughter coming out to meet him with tambourines and dancing! She was his only child; he had no son or daughter besides her. As soon as Jephthah saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “No! Not my daughter! You have brought me to my knees! You have brought great misery upon me, for I have given my word to the LORD and cannot take it back.”

“My father,” she replied, “you have given your word to the LORD. Do to me as you have said, for the LORD has avenged you of your enemies, the Ammonites.” She also said to her father, “Let me do this one thing: Let me wander for two months through the mountains with my friends and mourn my virginity.”

“Go,” he said. And he sent her away for two months. So she left with her friends and mourned her virginity upon the mountains. After two months, she returned to her father, and he did to her as he had vowed. And she had never had relations with a man. So it has become a custom in Israel that each year the young women of Israel go out for four days to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.”

Poor Jephthah! Jephthah was a man without a family, for whom family would mean everything. Jephthah had no illusions about his half – brothers and uncles. As soon as Jephthah succeeded in conquering the enemies, his father’s family was more than willing to kick him out again, despite all their fine promises. Jephthah had no son, but his daughter was young and beautiful, and he probably looked forward to the day when his daughter would marry and give him grandchildren to carry on his line.

Why did Jephthah make such a foolish promise? Jephthah was probably anticipating that his beloved dog would come out of the house first; at no point did he ever anticipate his daughter coming out to greet him ahead of everybody else in the household. Despite Jephthah’s strong affirmations about the God of Israel, Jephthah was actually someone who was probably worshiping other gods alongside Yahweh. Yahweh had expressly forbidden human sacrifice on many occasions; however, other demonic gods demanded such sacrifices. (“You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way, for every abominable thing that the Lord hates they have done for their gods, for they even burn their sons and their daughters in the fire to their gods.” (Deuteronomy 12.31)

Did Jephthah really sacrifice his daughter as a burnt offering? This question has raised controversies for years. Some people would like to argue that surely Jephthah would have relented, perhaps dedicating his daughter to serve in a temple somewhere far away. But in actual fact, Jephthah probably did kill his daughter and then burn her body. Jephthah’s pride was on the line, and his daughter paid the price for it.

APPLICATION: Was God pleased with Jephthah’s offering? No. There is no point in time at which God has demanded human sacrifices. The only human sacrifice God has approved is the one that Jesus made on the cross of Calvary for the sins of the whole world. But the question for us as modern – day people is this: are we acting out of pride to make our children into human sacrifices to our own ambitions?

We know a family in which the father has longed to be a professional in his chosen sport. The father plays well enough to be in recreational leagues but not to make the big time. But this same father is grooming his son, forcing him to compete in several games a week for most of the year – all to the end that his son might become a professional sports figure. There are other families in which one or both parents may be doctors; woe betide the poor kid with average grades in such a family, particularly if there are one or two brilliant siblings who have fulfilled their parents’ dreams of their becoming doctors as well. Sometimes parents make unreasonable financial demands on a child, erroneously assuming that child to have far more wealth than is actually the case. The child is then left in an untenable position: to fulfill his/her parents’ wishes and risk financial failure, or to deny his/her parents’ wishes and to be thought an unfeeling and undutiful child.

In a blog, Pastor Joel from Riverview Baptist Church comments: The mystery of the gospel is that God is a God of infinite grace who pays for the debt of sinners – horrible sinners.  All sin is a horrendous offense against a holy God, from white lies, to pirating music or television from the internet, to human sacrifice.  And God’s grace can and does cover them all through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sin.  Rather than justify Jephthah by diminishing the severity of his sin, I think an honest accounting of this text rather serves to magnify the grace of God.  God’s grace can cover any sin.  Even the sin of child sacrifice. (https://www.riverviewbaptist.net/pastor-joels-blog/2017/10/2/digging-deeper-did-jephthah-really-sacrifice-his-daughter)

Hebrews 11:32  ”And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets…” This passage includes Jephthah as one of the heroes of faith along with several others whose walk with God was extremely uneven but who acted in faith. It’s a good thing too! For Jephthah represents each one of us who has made horrible mistakes sometimes but who has still acted in faith, imperfect as it might be.

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for Your grace! Thank You that You love us so much that You forgive our sins and still count us as Your children. Help us to do the things that please You always. In the matchless Name of King Jesus. Amen.