Join me tonight, if you would,
in the book of Judges, chapter 14, as we look at the second
chapter with regard to the Judge Samson. I just want to reiterate
that Samson is one of the four judges that's mentioned in the
book of Hebrews, chapter 11. And at first sight, we may look
through here and find out what in the world was he famous for
besides being an obnoxious guy. But when we look at it from the
standpoint of the Lord's purpose of grace, we find out that He
shares so much about our Savior. And as last week we looked, He
went down not to the Israelites, but And if you read verse 1 of
this last chapter, chapter 13, we find that all of Israel had
gone after other gods except for two, and that was Manoah
and his wife. Now, I don't know if that's all
there was, but there's always been a remnant according to the
election of grace. So we have that remnant. And
they were promised that they would have a son, and that son
would be a judge. He would be a Nazarite. He would
have all of the requirements that a Nazarite has. not eat
anything that had to do with grapevine and not cut his hair
and several other things that were made mention of. Now, I
just want to make this distinction. Jesus Christ was not a Nazarite.
He was a Nazarene, but he was not a Nazarite. He drank wine. We know that for a fact because
he instituted the Lord's Supper with it. So he was not bound
under that, but he was bound under the law for righteousness
sake. He kept the law for righteousness
sake. It tells us in verse 1 of this 14th chapter that Samson
went down to Timnath and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters
of the Philistines. Now at first thought, I looked
at that, and I'm sure you did too, and reading through here,
what in the world is he going down to the Philistines for a
wife for? Well, we looked last week that, in essence, that's
exactly where the Lord went for His bride. He went down to the
Philistines. He went down to those ring strait,
the speckled ones. And we find that the Lord had
every choice, and I use that word very carefully, had every
choice of all of His creation. for a wife, but he chose the
terrestrial creation, not that spiritual creation, that part
that we can't see. It tells us that the angels look
into the gospel because they can't understand it, but they
look into it. And they're present in a way that I can't comprehend. But we find that the Lord Jesus,
when he went out after a bride, just like God told Hosea, It
was not a very respectable bride, but it was his bride that God
chose. And so we have the terrestrial
creation, mankind, men, women, boys and girls out of that creation
would become his bride. And it says, he came up and told
the father and his mother and said, I have seen a woman of
Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines. Now, therefore,
get her for me to wife. 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 this uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said
unto his father, get her for me, for she pleaseth me well. And then verse four, what a very
important verse to keep in the context of this when we start
making judgment calls about Samson. Who did sin? This man or his
parents? You know, that kind of that attitude.
But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the Lord. What a statement is made here
for clarification purposes on our behalf. And for those who
would read about this, what clarification statements made here that it
was of the Lord that this happened. And the Lord does his own will,
his way is far above our way, as far as the heavens are above,
the earth is his ways above our ways. So we can't double check
God and we can't put God in a box. We're just going to look at him
as the almighty sovereign God, ruling all things according to
his eternal purpose. And when we read this, it helps
us understand that. As we read over there in the
book of Deuteronomy, It said there that the secret things
belong to the Lord, but those that are revealed are ours. And
I'm thankful that that word revealed is used there because that's
exactly what happens. The truth of the Word of God
is revealed. It's not studied out. We don't
get it through some class or course or book. Those may be an aid, commentaries
may be an aid, but the revelation actually comes from the Lord.
And then it tells us, but his father and his mother knew not
that it was of the Lord, verse four, that he sought an occasion
against the Philistines. For at that time, the Philistines
had dominion over Israel. So through this process, through
this work, through this ministry, we're gonna find out that God
is going to take care of the oppressors of Israel, and that
were the Philistines. Now, they've been there for a
long time, and they're gonna be there for a while longer,
but they are truly oppressors, and now this is the company that
Samson takes or peels for his wife out of. Verse five, then
went Samson down and his father and his mother to Timnath and
came to the vineyards of Timnath. So they're going down there and
make a contract for a wedding. That's just what it appears to
be. Samson has fallen in love with a Philistine, mom and dad
have to go down there, whatever requirements were imposed. And
then we find there, as they're at Timnath, behold a young lion
roared against him. Now, in many of the translations,
it doesn't use the word young lion, it just uses lion. And
I have an idea in my own mind at least, This was a full-grown
lion. He was a challenge. He was not
there on a courtesy call. He was there to destroy Samson
and to destroy Samson's parents. And then we find out that the
Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon Samson, upon him, and he
rent him as he would rent a kid, a small goat. He just tore that
lion apart. limb from limb. It tells us here
that, in one place, it tells us he rent him, tore his jaws,
in other translations it tore his jaws, others rent him into
pieces. I'm just going to leave it at
that thought, that he destroyed this line completely. Now, I'm
sitting back wondering, what does this have to do with the
account that we have here. Why does a lion come into this? And then it struck me that this
lion is, and Samson, Samson is a beautiful picture of our Savior,
the Lord Jesus Christ, dealing with all our enemies. And there
is one that goes about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he's given
permission to devour. who God gives permission, as
in Job's case, to devour in that manner. So we have here that
the Lord brings a lion out, and Samson is given the spirit, it
says in verse six, and the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon
him, 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 mother what he had done. So where they are at
the time, Doesn't tell us, but it does tell us where Samson
is and he's taking care of this lion that has the interest in
killing him and no doubt his parents. This young lion attacks
with the plan to destroy these travelers. He did not meet them
in a courtesy call. His nature was to kill. And we find that this is so true
as we follow throughout the scriptures, that this lion could represent
very well several lions that have been on the prowl for the
church since before time. We find that this lion met with
Eve in the Garden of Eden. and brought such a soothing account
that the Bible tells us that she was beguiled. He was not. Now I've often said, after I
once saw who was the problem, that Eve, when she ate that fruit,
there was no darkness, there was no blindness, there was no
call of God, there was no hiding in the garden, there was no leaves
wrapped around her, nothing had happened. And you know, in our
own mind, if that's as far as it went, probably there'd have
been nothing happened. But we find that she took that
fruit to her husband, to Adam, and he looked at it and knowing
full well, this is, he's not a caveman. He's not a Neanderthal. He has probably got a 500 IQ. He's named all the critters,
all the trees of the garden. He's very intelligent. God has
made him very intelligent. And he's smarter and more intelligent
probably than any man that has ever walked the face of the earth,
except for the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, we find the Lord compared
himself to Solomon. A greater than Solomon is here.
Well, we know there's a greater than Adam is here, and that's
the Lord Jesus. It says there that the serpent
came down there into the Garden of Eden. And in 1 Corinthians,
excuse me, I need to turn my page. In 2 Corinthians chapter
11, if you would, would you join me over there as we think about
this lion coming out and then the way that Samson took care
of it. It was not close It was not a
fight that Samson was nearly killed while he destroyed the
lion. We find that Samson went unscathed,
and the lion was completely and totally destroyed. Over in the
book of 2 Corinthians, if you join me there, 2 Corinthians
chapter 11. 2 Corinthians chapter 11, and
there in verse 3. But I fear, lest by any means,
as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your mind should
be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he
that cometh preaches another Jesus, whom we have not preached,
or if ye receive another spirit which ye have not received, or
another gospel which ye have not accepted, yet might well
bear with him. For I suppose I was not at wit
behind the very chiefest of apostles." So I find here that as the apostle
Paul is used to write to the Corinthians, He brings up the
subject about the subtlety of the serpent and the beguileness
of Eve. And then we read, with regard
to this whole thing, that in Adam all died. What a death! And you know, there
was such a death that came upon Adam. He became ignorant. Instantly, he became ignorant
of God, he became ignorant of truth, he became ignorant of
life, he became ignorant of everything that he had. It was an instant
dying, an instant ignorance that was brought over him and his
heart was darkened and everything about him was so terribly wrong
at this point. You know, it tells us that the
Spirit came upon Samson, and that's an interesting phenomena
that took place because it was through that Spirit that he had
the power to deal with this enemy. When we read about the Lord Jesus,
we find, for he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God,
for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him. He didn't
measure it out, he gave him complete Holy Spirit, complete power of
the Spirit. Now He's God, God the Son, He
has power of God the Father, He has power of God the Holy
Spirit, and yet we find that in this verse of Scripture, the
Lord in the unity, the triunity of the salvation of God's people,
that the Holy Spirit was given without measure to the Lord.
This great enemy that is taken by a great warrior, the lion
was killed, and that with great power given to Samson. Samson
was strong in himself, but the strength that he had was not
capable of this until the Lord came upon him and blessed him
with that special spirit of strength. And then he dismantled this lion.
We find that the Lord Jesus, as we think about a statement
about the work of the Savior with regards to every enemy that
came against him and against the church, that he is able to
deal with every enemy in exactly the same way that Samson was
able to deal with the lion, and that was with absolute victory
over every enemy. There is nothing left for the
people of God to fear when he has taken care of every enemy,
every opponent. Now I can't imagine, and I wouldn't
want to get into a a cage with a lion. I've watched people in
there and it made me scared. I don't want to be in there.
They're big at 500 pound animals. And here we have this man, young
man going down to Timnath to talk to a lady and her parents
about a wife and a lion comes after him and he completely dismantles
that lion. There is no life left in it. He did not leave it wounded.
He killed it completely. And so that shares a great deal
about the Lord Jesus Christ when he dealt with our enemies, the
enemies of the church, the enemies of God, the enemies of salvation,
the enemies we find out that he dealt with them in such a
complete manner that there was nothing left to charge the people
with. So turn with me, if you would,
over to the book of Hebrews. in the book of Hebrews chapter
2. Hebrews chapter 2 verses 14 and 15. Now, we've mentioned
this a number of times in this study, but it just completely
fulfills so much that is said about the book of Judges and
about Samson in particular at this point. For it says in Hebrews
chapter 2 verse 14, for as much then as the children are partakers
of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same,
that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death,
that is the devil, and deliver them who through fear of death
were all their lifetime subject to bondage. So the Lord Jesus
dealt with death in such a manner that it removed the fear of death. It's not something that is out
there dangling over us. Now I think probably that we
would find some of this, the second death, there's no challenge
anymore. Second death hath no power over
God's people. We'll go through the valley of
the shadow of death, but the second death hath no power. Going
on in the book of Hebrews chapter nine, In the book of Hebrews
chapter nine, as we think about this lion that the Lord Jesus
Christ went up against, this lion against sin, this lion of
sin came up against the Lord Jesus Christ, and he wasn't unscathed. He laid down his life a ransom,
but in so doing, he absolutely and completely destroyed all
sin that was chargeable against the church. Not one sin was undealt
with. He tore jaw from jaw, limb from
limb, leg from leg. Everything about this lion was
completely destroyed and paid for with double as we read there
with regard to the church. Double hath been paid for you. So Hebrews chapter nine, and
there in verse 26, we have these words recorded for us. For then
must he have often suffered since the foundation of the world,
but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put
away sin by the sacrifice of himself. So the line that we
might say of sin has been completely dismantled. When he said it is
finished, the lion had been destroyed, limb for limb, foot from foot,
tail from tail. Everything about this has been
destroyed. So this great lion that Samson
destroyed is a picture of our Savior taking care of the issues
that stand against us, stand against the church. And he put
himself in peril on our behalf. We have no ability to do what
Jesus Christ did. We can't take care of one sin,
not alone all that we owe. He gave himself that we might
redeem us from all iniquity. So he laid down his life, a ransom,
a payment. He put away sin by the sacrifice
of himself. And then Romans chapter eight,
we read this often, but it's just, again, one of those passages
of scripture that's worth reading because it is such a comfort
to the church. Here in the book of Romans chapter 8 and verse
33. Romans chapter 8 and verse 33. Looking for a charge against
the elect. The world is looking for a charge
against God's elect. The demons are looking for a
charge against God's elect. And here we have what God had
to say about it. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect, it is God that justify it. And he can
simply say, as Samson could say later, right over there is a
dead lion. The menace is gone. The enemy
is taken care of. And by the strength that God
gave him and by the strength God gave our Savior in the Godhead
of eternity, When he put his life in peril on behalf of the
church, laid down his life, a ransom for the church, that lion was
killed and killed completely. Now, we could go on and look
at another symbol that was laid down there. Part of what the
punishment was that God gave to Adam. And this, he said, before
Adam sinned. before the fruit was put in his
hand, before he took that fruit from his wife's hand. The day
you eat, thou shalt surely die. Now, often in my immature mind,
I've thought of that Garden of Eden like about two acres. And recently, it struck me, it's
probably 500,000 acres. Huge, glorious, display of the handiwork of God. Fruit trees, fruit trees, fruit
trees. And in the middle of that great
orchard, it was going to take a walk to get there. In the middle of that great orchard
is a tree that God said, this one tree out of all the trees,
this one tree I don't want you to eat from. And God said, the
day you eat, you shall surely die. Well, when he ate that fruit,
he did die. He died spiritually, instantaneously,
and he began the process of his physical death. Now it's going
to be 900 plus years later that he's going to die physically,
and a lot of events are going to take place between that day
and when he died, and he gave God opportunity after opportunity
after opportunity for Adam to share, that problem, I brought
it on this world. That problem, I brought it on
this world. I'm the problem, but because we are born into
the family of man through Adam, we have that same penalty placed
upon us. The soul that sinneth, it shall
die. So we have another great enemy of the church, and that
is death. Spiritual death, physical death is there. As he shared
with us in 1 Corinthians 15 and 22, for as in Adam, all die. You know, for years I would say
it all died, but the term is die. In Adam, all die. So it's an ongoing process. The
ones that are born even today all die. And then in Romans chapter
five, would you turn there with me back up to Romans chapter
five? As we think about this great obstacle, this great lion,
this one that came to destroy, It came to destroy the church
and Jesus Christ got in the way and destroyed death. Romans chapter
5 and verse 12. It says here, wherefore, as by
one man's sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and
so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. The
soul that sinneth, it shall die. that as sin hath reigned unto
death. This whole theme goes throughout
the scriptures from Adam, comes all the way down to us, this
theme of death because of the fall. And then we find our great
Samson steps in and puts death away. He's the defeater of all
death. He died on our behalf. He hath abolished death. That's
such a wonderful thought that he has abolished death and has
brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
He has abolished the death penalty that we were under and the consequences
of that death penalty. And that's another line that
I looked at, I like to look at for just moments, and that is
the death of hell. You know, hell is a real thing.
I don't care what the Pope had to say about it. Hell is a real
thing, a real place. And yet the Lord Jesus Christ,
when he went to the cross and he suffered on the cross, he
endured the judgment of an everlasting hell in that space of time that
he was on the cross. And when he concluded his time
on the cross, he said, it's finished and death, hell, sin hath no
more power over us. Just as that lion laid there
in the bar ditch after Samson got a hold of it, tore its jaws
off, tore its legs off, tore him apart and left him there,
we find out that that's what, in fact, Jesus Christ did when
he laid down his life, a ransom for his people. He put all of
that in the bar ditch. He took care of it completely,
never to be brought up again. Samson went down to talk with
the woman. Let's go back to the book of
Judges, if you would. He's on his way down to talk
to this prospective bride. In the book of Judges there,
Judges chapter 14, we find there in verse 7, he went down and
talked with the woman. He went down and talked with
the woman. And she pleased Samson well. He went down. How often do we find in the scripture
that our Samson came down to this earth, the sin-pierced earth,
and talked to his bride. Now, so often as we find out,
just as we look there in Genesis chapter 3, he came down in the
cool of the evening after the fall. To me, that's grace. Here is
one, he has created, Adam, and he's instructed Adam not to eat
of that fruit, and Adam does it knowing full well what it
would do, and God comes down in the cool of the eve, knowing
exactly what has taken place, and comes to Adam, and come to
him in the garden, and come to him in the garden where he's
hiding, and come to him in the garden with his fig leaves on
him, and his blindness, and his nakedness, and all this. He came
down to Adam at such a time as this. Now he'd been visiting
before, but those good times didn't stop him from coming now. I just find grace, grace, grace
that he'd come down to visit our first parents after they
sinned so horribly against God, particularly Adam sinned horribly
against God. He chose death for himself, he
chose death for his wife, and he chose death for his children.
He knew full well what this was going to do. He was not an idiot.
I say that again. But Christ, God, and the Holy
Spirit came down to that scene. And you know what? They straightened
it up. They took the skin of an animal and covered him. Now
that's just a picture of God giving us the robe of righteousness,
His perfect righteousness. He perfectly kept the law. God
came down and straightened that mess up for Adam and Eve. Now
the strain went on. The death went on down to this
very point. But you know what? God comes
down and takes care of the mess of every one of his that he chose
before the foundation of the world and straightens things
up for them. And there's no charge against
them, no sin held against them. So God came down to Adam and
Eve. What was the state of the world when God came down and
demonstrated grace to Noah? My goodness, there's wickedness
of man was great in the earth. And yet God came down and visited
with Noah. And you know what he said? Noah
found grace in the eyes of the Lord. That's in Genesis chapter
six. That's a very interesting chapter when you have God looking
down to see if there were any that did seek after him. And
the scriptures tell us very plainly that everybody Everybody on the
earth, the wickedness of man, was great in the earth. And then
he appears until one man and his family, Noah, found grace
in the eyes of the Lord. Now, it wasn't because Noah was
a better person. It's because God was gracious.
That's the only difference between all the rest of those folks and
Noah. God was gracious to him. But
the state of Ur, I like what Joshua had to say when he's recounting
the history of Israel. Don't get too puffed up in Abraham. He was on the other side of the
flood and worshiped other gods. And if God had not come down,
but he did, he came down and plucked him out of that place.
What did he do with Lott? He came down to a cesspool, if
you please, a septic tank, if you please, came down to that
place and rescued, pulled out, snatched out Lott before he destroyed
the rest of it. He came down to one of the worst
places, just like Dufour. What was the state of the world
at any time when God came to visit? He looked down to see
if there were any that did seek after him, and he found none. But you know what? He came down.
He comes down to find his elect. He comes down to find his church.
He comes down, just as Samson went down there to have a conversation
with his bride. We find that God Almighty comes
down and has a conversation with His bride, and by His grace,
He saves them out of the nonsense that they're in and the fall
that we fell in. What was the state of the world every time
God came down? What was the state of the world
when Jesus Christ came to this earth? I mean, it was not a very decent
place. And then it says he was raised
in Nazareth, which was worse than all the other places. He
came down. And in him coming down, he had
a purpose to save his people from their sins. They shall call
his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins.
So Samson went down and visited with this Philistine girl. Jesus
Christ came down time and time and time and time again and visited
out of a whole host of people, Joshua and Caleb. Visited out
of a whole host of people, Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. Visited with
a whole host of people and came unto just a few throughout the
Old Testament. But every time he visited, he
visited in grace and left them so much better off than they
were before. Forgiven is a good place, forgiven. And let's go back here to the
book of Judges again. We have just a little bit of
time left. He went down to verse seven and
talked with the woman and she pleased Samson well. And after
a time he returned to take her and he turned aside to see the
carcass of the lion. I just want to go over and see
my handiwork. I want to observe what happened
right here. And you know, there is something
so, it is so unnatural. It is just something that is
so uncommon. Now I've, I've killed animals
out in the woods, and if you didn't get them covered up, the
hornets would come and chew the meat right off the bone. They're
like a flying piranha. You had to take care of them.
But I never once ever saw a honeybee fly around a carcass. It's not their nature. And yet in this very particular
instance, what does it say here? He turned aside to see the carcass
of the lion. Behold, there was a swarm of
bees and honey in the carcass of the lion. What a strange, odd, unnatural event
took place right here, as this lion, this dead lion, torn apart
lion, becomes the place where a bunch of honeybees. Now I've
seen them in houses, and I've seen them in trees, and I've
seen them in their hives, and you see them all over, but I
just don't think that there's another record of them ever building
a honey hive in a dead carcass, especially one that has been
decomposing. Well, there's a reason for this.
We find here that this, these honeybees out of this decaying
line, he went to look at it and not
only did he go look at it, but when he saw the honeycomb, he
went in and took some of that honeycomb out and ate it. and
took some of it home to his parents to eat. They had been pretty
busy to build this honeycomb in such a quick time. What a statement about that lion,
about the picture that that lion represents. But did you know
that every time that there was a statement against righteousness
against sin, against the natural course of human events. Out of
this situation is a picture that God alone can bring sweetness
out of sin. God alone can bring good out
of a bad thing. A decomposing lion's carcass
is a home for a bunch of honeybees. The malice of Satan ultimately
produces glory to God. Every hatred statement that Satan
could make, every hatred statement that the false church could make,
that sin could make, that natural man could make, out of all of
that, We find that God has, in his purpose of his church, sweet
good and grace and salvation and righteousness and sanctification
out of the worst of circumstances. What was the worst event that
has ever taken place on the face of the earth? The worst event,
the event surrounding Adam, changed the entire, well, like Mike said,
not a molecule of the universe, one unscathed. And I like what
Brother Wayne said, not one molecule can override God's purpose. They're
all, what sweetness of grace came out of the fall. That God would demonstrate his
grace to Adam, to Noah, to Abraham, to Joshua and Caleb, that he
would demonstrate out of the worst of cases, that he had demonstrated
that. Now, some people will say the
death of Christ on the cross was the worst event in the world.
No, no, no. The church says that's the best
event. That's the best event that ever took place, that Jesus
died on the cross for his church. Turn with me, if you would, to
the book of 1 Corinthians, chapter 2. This lit itself. This verse of scripture led itself
to that honey and that carcass. I know that I don't understand
this verse completely, but I do know this. What it has to say
in the book of 1 Corinthians chapter 2. 1 Corinthians chapter
2 beginning with verse 6. It says here, 1 Corinthians 2,
verse 6, howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect,
yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world
that come to naught. But we speak the wisdom of God
in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before
the world unto our glory, which none of the princes of this world
knew, for had they known it, they would not have crucified
the Lord of glory, had they known it. So God in
his everlasting purpose, not only permitted, but purposed
the fall, that he might redeem all of those out of those who
fell that he had written down in the Lamb's Book of Life, and
all events that were ever going to take place were never going
to change the sweetness of Jesus Christ going to the cross. They
tried to kill him early. They tried to kill him multiple
times, and that did not work. And yet if it says here, if the
princes of this world had known the outcome of the death of Jesus
Christ on the cross, they would not have crucified him. What
sweet honey, the worst crime in the world was witnessed and
as a result came the salvation of the church. So just think
about Samson reaching down in that stinking carcass of a lion. and pulling out some of the sweetest
honey and enjoying it and taking some home to his mom and dad
says I've got some of the sweetest honey to share with you and I
don't think he told him where he got it. He knew where he got
it. And the Lord of glory shares
his great glory, his great salvation, his great sweetness out of what
took place in the fall of man and the redemption of man. So
going back there to the book of Judges for just a second as we
close, Judges chapter 14. It says, and we just want to
read here verse eight and nine. And after a time he returned
to take her and he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion
and behold, there was a swarm of bees and honey in the carcass
of the lion, absolutely contrary to nature. What is it? Supernatural. And he took thereof in his hand
And he went on eating, and came to his father and mother, and
he gave them, and they did eat, but he told them, not them, that
he was taking honey out of the carcass of a lion. You know,
for a period of time, I'm sure that he just demonstrated all
of that sweetness, honey dripping down his arms, eating that honey
all over him. how sweet our Savior is to demonstrate
all that sweet honey that he'd give the church as a result of
the fall of Adam and his salvation at the cross. What sweet honey. We'll stop here for tonight and
pick this up.