Samson – Is, Was and Will Be – The Unknown Character of Christ and His Word https://www.iswasandwillbe.com Revelation 1:8 "I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty Sun, 31 Jul 2022 14:22:43 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/cropped-headerlogo-32x32.png Samson – Is, Was and Will Be – The Unknown Character of Christ and His Word https://www.iswasandwillbe.com 32 32 Book of Jeremiah – Jer 47:1-7 The Day… Cometh to Spoil all the Philistines https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/book-of-jeremiah-jer-471-7-the-day-cometh-to-spoil-all-the-philistines/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=book-of-jeremiah-jer-471-7-the-day-cometh-to-spoil-all-the-philistines Sat, 30 Jul 2022 18:08:49 +0000 https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/?p=26030 Jer 47:1-7 The Day… Cometh to Spoil all the Philistines
[Study Aired July 31, 2022]

Jer 47:1  The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Philistines, before that Pharaoh smote Gaza.
Jer 47:2  Thus saith the LORD; Behold, waters rise up out of the north, and shall be an overflowing flood, and shall overflow the land, and all that is therein; the city, and them that dwell therein: then the men shall cry, and all the inhabitants of the land shall howl.
Jer 47:3  At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his strong horses, at the rushing of his chariots, and at the rumbling of his wheels, the fathers shall not look back to their children for feebleness of hands;
Jer 47:4  Because of the day that cometh to spoil all the Philistines, and to cut off from Tyrus and Zidon every helper that remaineth: for the LORD will spoil the Philistines, the remnant of the country of Caphtor.
Jer 47:5  Baldness is come upon Gaza; Ashkelon is cut off with the remnant of their valley: how long wilt thou cut thyself?
Jer 47:6  O thou sword of the LORD, how long will it be ere thou be quiet? put up thyself into thy scabbard, rest, and be still.
Jer 47:7  How can it be quiet, seeing the LORD hath given it a charge against Ashkelon, and against the sea shore? there hath he appointed it.

The Philistines are first mentioned in the time of Abraham when he ‘made a covenant with Abimelech’ the king of the Philistine city of Gerar (Gen 20:2):

Gen 21:32  Thus they made a covenant at Beersheba: then Abimelech rose up, and Phichol the chief captain of his host, and they returned into the land of the Philistines.

The Philistines were already in the promised land when Israel came up out of Egypt. They were in the promised land, but they were there without the benefit of being circumcised. The promised land itself signifies the promise Christ has given to live His life within us. ‘The promised land’ signifies our physical bodies as “the temple of God… [in] vessels of clay… [and] earthen vessels”:

Rom 9:21  Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?

1Co 3:16  Know ye not that ye [Our physical bodies (Rom 12:1)] are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
1Co 3:17  If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

2Co 4:6  For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
2Co 4:7  But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

It is in that sense the Philistines typify the very beginning of our relationship with Christ as ‘carnal babes in Christ’. The false doctrine of a ten-second sinner’s prayer has blinded the eyes of most Christians from even being aware that in the beginning of our relationship with Christ we are all ‘carnal… babes in Christ’:

1Co 3:1  And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.
1Co 3:2  I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.
1Co 3:3  For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?
1Co 3:4  For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?

The Philistines typify our own flesh while we are ‘carnal babes in Christ’. We can see clearly that a ‘carnal babe in Christ’ is not yet circumcised in spirit, and is therefore “yet carnal” even though he is in the promised land, signifying that he is in a carnal relationship with Jesus Christ.

We all begin our relationship with Christ the same as these carnal Corinthians proclaiming that we are Catholic or Protestant. We are in the land of promise, but we are still spiritually uncircumcised of heart in spirit.

Rom 2:28  For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
Rom 2:29  But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

Like a “carnal babe in Christ” the Philistines are in ‘the promised land’ but without the benefit of circumcision. As such “at that time the Philistines [have] dominion over [us]”, as the story of Samson graphically demonstrates:

Jdg 14:1  And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines.
Jdg 14:2  And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me to wife.
Jdg 14:3  Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well.
Jdg 14:4  But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the LORD, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.

There are many spiritual lessons for us to unwrap in these four verses of Judges 14, and the first spiritual message is to see what a spiritual ‘Philistine’ means. Until we understand the spiritual significance of these people being ‘in the land’ in an uncircumcised state of being, this prophecy against “the Philistines” will be nothing more than a historical account of how the Lord used a physical man named Samson to deliver His physical people from their physical enemies. Once we come to see that Christ in us is the promised land, and once we are finally given to understand that as “carnal babes in Christ” we have these uncircumcised Philistines within us, and that these uncircumcised Philistines and the uncircumcised giants among them, dwell within us, then we can at last begin to slay them with the five smooth stones of grace through faith and begin to cleanse and purify the temple of God which temple we are.

Jer 47:1  The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Philistines, before that Pharaoh smote Gaza.

Samson’s attraction to a Philistine woman betrays the immaturity which his Nazarite vow portrays:

Jdg 13:1  And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years.
Jdg 13:2  And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren, and bare not.
Jdg 13:3  And the angel of the LORD appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, Behold now, thou art barren, and bearest not: but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son.
Jdg 13:4  Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing:
Jdg 13:5  For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.

We may have been led to believe that taking on a Nazarite vow indicates some degree of spiritual maturity, but the truth is quite the opposite. While a Nazarite vow does indeed signify a very special calling, a call to dedicate one’s life to the Lord’s service, it also signifies the most immature stage of that service. The Nazarite vow, as demonstrated by the examples of both Samson and John the Baptist, signifies each of us as ‘carnal babes in Christ’. Samson was “a Nazarite unto God from the womb” and so was John the Baptist:

Luk 1:13  But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.
Luk 1:14  And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth.
Luk 1:15  For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb.

John the Baptist being ‘filled with the holy spirit’ is not an early version of the filling of the holy spirit which occurred on the day of Pentecost. It is rather in the same sense that Samson was filled. It was a filling which gave him the strength to remain faithful to his immature outward Nazarite calling. Likewise, John the Baptist being ‘filled with the holy spirit’ had no more in common with spiritual maturity than the “first Adam” has with “the last Adam”. Both ‘Adams’ are in “the same [clay] vessel” but the first is destined to “dishonor [and] destruction” and “the last… Adam” is destined to “honor” and to becoming a king and priest with Christ for a thousand years, to be followed with the judgment of angels in the lake of fire.

1Co 6:3  Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?

Both Samson and John typify Christ, who through their deaths bring light and life to the Lord’s people. Neither Samson nor John will be in the kingdom of God as Christ revealed with these words concerning John’s function in His plan:

Mat 11:11  Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

Luk 7:28  For I say unto you, Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist: but he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.

Christ also told His apostles:

Mat 13:16  But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.
Mat 13:17  For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

Lest there be any doubt that the great men of God of the Old Testament are less than the least in the kingdom of God, Peter makes it very clear with these words:

1Pe 1:9  Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.
1Pe 1:10  Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:
1Pe 1:11  Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.
1Pe 1:12  Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.

Just as Mother Eve’s spiritually nude condition caused her to want to eat of the forbidden fruit, it was also Samson’s immature, Nazarite condition which caused him to be attracted to a Philistine woman instead of the daughters of his own people. Here is the URL to the first of a two-part study on the spiritual significance of the Nazarite vow:

The Spiritual Significance of the Nazarite Vow

Neither ‘strong drink’ nor ‘strong meat’ can be accepted and processed and digested by a carnal babe in Christ.

Samson’s blatant disregard of his father’s admonition speaks for itself concerning his immature position in the promised land. This lack of any fear of the Lord must be burned out of us before we will be granted to ‘go on unto perfection and maturity’. That is what the judgment of the Philistines accomplishes within us:

Jer 47:2  Thus saith the LORD; Behold, waters rise up out of the north, and shall be an overflowing flood, and shall overflow the land [of the Philistines, the promised land], and all that is therein; the city, and them that dwell therein: then the men shall cry, and all the inhabitants of the land shall howl.
Jer 47:3  At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his strong horses, at the rushing of his chariots, and at the rumbling of his wheels, the fathers shall not look back to their children for feebleness of hands;

The death of Goliath and the routing of the entire army of the Philistines serve to support these words in the New Testament:

Jud 1:12  These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;

When Samson married the woman of Timnath, “of the daughters of the Philistines” he willingly prepared a feast with the family and friends of his new wife:

Jdg 14:10  So his father went down unto the woman: and Samson made there a feast; for so used the young men to do.
Jdg 14:11  And it came to pass, when they saw him, that they brought thirty companions to be with him.

This feast with ‘thirty companions’ of the uncircumcised Philistine family into which Samson was marrying tells those who are given spiritual vision and spiritual hearing that Samson is about to begin the process of being judged. Here is the URL on the spiritual significance of the number three:

Numbers in Scripture – Three, the Process of Spiritual Completion Through Judgment

We are told that David slew Goliath with a stone from his sling:

1Sa 17:50  So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David.

Because the Philistines within us must be ‘twice dead’ by the ‘sword of the word’ this is what the holy spirit inspired to be written in the very next verse:

1Sa 17:51  Therefore David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith. And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled.

Jer 47:4  Because of the day that cometh to spoil all the Philistines, and to cut off from Tyrus and Zidon every helper that remaineth: for the LORD will spoil the Philistines, the remnant of the country of Caphtor.

It is very instructive to know that the Philistines and the Caphtorim are both the descendants of Mizraim, which is Egypt:

Gen 10:13  And Mizraim begat Ludim, and Anamim, and Lehabim, and Naphtuhim,
Gen 10:14  And Pathrusim, and Casluhim, (out of whom came Philistim,) and Caphtorim.

The Philistines and the Caphtorim are both the children of Mizraim and the name ‘Mizraim’, which appears only four times in the King James Version, actually appears in the Hebrew 681 times and it is always translated as ‘Egypt’ or ‘Egyptian’ or the plural ‘Egyptians’:

Knowing this very close relationship between Egypt and the Philistines makes it very clear that the only difference between the spiritual significance of these two enemies of the people of the Lord is that the one is in Egypt, persecuting the Lord’s people, signifying the bondage of the Lord’s people to the carnal rebellious world. The other is an uncircumcised Philistine ‘carnal babe in Christ’ which is also just an uncircumcised Egyptian who is in the land of promise, having a relationship with the Lord’s people but, as a presumptuous and unruly child, always attempting to dominate the Lord’s household. The Lord will not yield to His rebellious “carnal… babes in Christ”. Instead, He will punish them and destroy the kingdom of the first man Adam within His house… His temple.

Jer 47:5  Baldness is come upon Gaza; Ashkelon is cut off with the remnant of their valley: how long wilt thou cut thyself?

Baldness has both a positive and a negative application. In its positive application it was simply a self-imposed part of the mourning process:

Job 1:20  Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped,

Jer 16:6  Both the great and the small shall die in this land: they shall not be buried, neither shall men lament for them, nor cut themselves nor make themselves bald for them:

In its negative application, baldness was inflicted upon an enemy to humiliate him:

1Ch 19:4  Wherefore Hanun took David’s servants, and shaved them, and cut off their garments in the midst hard by their buttocks, and sent them away.

Isa 3:17  Therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the LORD will discover their secret parts.

Isa 3:24  And it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet smell there shall be stink; and instead of a girdle a rent; and instead of well set hair, baldness; and instead of a stomacher, a girding of sackcloth; and burning instead of beauty.

Cutting oneself was forbidden by the Lord while being common among the Gentiles.

Deu 14:1  Ye are the children of the LORD your God: ye shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead.

The Lord is our Father, and it is His will, and His alone, to chasten and scourge those He loves. We are not given to take that scourging upon ourselves. Nevertheless, the Lord’s people followed the customs of the nations around them and also cut themselves, as Jeremiah reveals when speaking of Judah’s impending judgments:

Jer 16:1  The word of the LORD came also unto me, saying,
Jer 16:2  Thou shalt not take thee a wife, neither shalt thou have sons or daughters in this place.
Jer 16:3  For thus saith the LORD concerning the sons and concerning the daughters that are born in this place, and concerning their mothers that bare them, and concerning their fathers that begat them in this land;
Jer 16:4  They shall die of grievous deaths; they shall not be lamented; neither shall they be buried; but they shall be as dung upon the face of the earth: and they shall be consumed by the sword, and by famine; and their carcases shall be meat for the fowls of heaven, and for the beasts of the earth.
Jer 16:5  For thus saith the LORD, Enter not into the house of mourning, neither go to lament nor bemoan them: for I have taken away my peace from this people, saith the LORD, even lovingkindness and mercies.
Jer 16:6  Both the great and the small shall die in this land: they shall not be buried, neither shall men lament for them, nor cut themselves, nor make themselves bald for them:
Jer 16:7  Neither shall men tear themselves for them in mourning, to comfort them for the dead; neither shall men give them the cup of consolation to drink for their father or for their mother.

The prophets of Baal cut themselves in their efforts to get Baal’s attention, but the Lord has not given the spirit world to communicate with this realm to that degree, and Baal did not hear them:

1Ki 18:25  And Elijah said unto the prophets of Baal, Choose you one bullock for yourselves, and dress it first; for ye are many; and call on the name of your gods, but put no fire under.
1Ki 18:26  And they took the bullock which was given them, and they dressed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us. But there was no voice, nor any that answered. And they leaped upon the altar which was made.
1Ki 18:27  And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud: for he is a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey,  or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked.
1Ki 18:28  And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till the blood gushed out upon them.
1Ki 18:29  And it came to pass, when midday was past, and they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded.

The spirit realm can, and does, tempt us to disobey the words of the Lord, but the Lord’s people are always forbidden communications with that realm:

Lev 19:31  Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the LORD your God.

Lev 20:6  And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people.

1Sa 28:3  Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had lamented him, and buried him in Ramah, even in his own city. And Saul had put away those that had familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land.

However, the sword of ‘the Lord’s servant’, Nebuchadnezzar, is not at all restrained and is given to destroy the symbol of our old  man and his kingdom, signified by the Philistines within our land:

Jer 47:6  O thou sword of the LORD, how long will it be ere thou be quiet? put up thyself into thy scabbard, rest, and be still.
Jer 47:7  How can it be quiet, seeing the LORD hath given it a charge against Ashkelon, and against the sea shore? there hath he appointed it.

It is by the Lord’s words we are purged of the giants like Goliath and the armies of the Philistines within us. The Lord’s words are signified abundantly by both fire and water, an apparent contradiction which serves to keep the mysteries of the kingdom of God hidden from those who have not been given eyes to see nor ears to hear the mysteries of the kingdom of God and the things of the spirit (Mat 13:10-15, 1Co 2:13-14).

As ‘fire’ the Words of the Lord burn up all the ‘wood, hay, and stubble’ within us:

Jer 5:14  Wherefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.

1Co 3:12  Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;
1Co 3:13  Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.
1Co 3:14  If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
1Co 3:15  If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

As ‘water’ the Lord’s words are “rivers of living waters” springing out of the bellies of the Lord’s elect, washing us clean:

Joh 7:37  In the last day, that great  day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.
Joh 7:38  He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.

Eph 5:25  Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
Eph 5:26  That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,

]]> Study of the Book of Judges – Jdg 16:17-31 So Samson Killed More People in his Death Than in his Life https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/study-of-the-book-of-judges-jdg-1617-31-so-samson-killed-more-people-in-his-death-than-in-his-life/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=study-of-the-book-of-judges-jdg-1617-31-so-samson-killed-more-people-in-his-death-than-in-his-life Mon, 02 Aug 2021 19:16:51 +0000 https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/?p=24049

Jdg 16:17-31 So Samson Killed More People in his Death Than in his Life

[Study Airs August 2, 2021]

Jdg 16:17  That he told her all his heart, and said unto her, There hath not come a razor upon mine head; for I have been a Nazarite unto God from my mother’s womb: if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man.
Jdg 16:18  And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, Come up this once, for he hath shewed me all his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and brought money in their hand. 
Jdg 16:19  And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him. 
Jdg 16:20  And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the LORD was departed from him. 
Jdg 16:21  But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house. 
Jdg 16:22  Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven. 
Jdg 16:23  Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them together for to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice: for they said, Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand. 
Jdg 16:24  And when the people saw him, they praised their god: for they said, Our god hath delivered into our hands our enemy, and the destroyer of our country, which slew many of us. 
Jdg 16:25  And it came to pass, when their hearts were merry, that they said, Call for Samson, that he may make us sport. And they called for Samson out of the prison house; and he made them sport: and they set him between the pillars.
Jdg 16:26  And Samson said unto the lad that held him by the hand, Suffer me that I may feel the pillars whereupon the house standeth, that I may lean upon them. 
Jdg 16:27  Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords of the Philistines were there; and there were upon the roof about three thousand men and women, that beheld while Samson made sport. 
Jdg 16:28  And Samson called unto the LORD, and said, O Lord GOD, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes. 
Jdg 16:29  And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood, and on which it was borne up, of the one with his right hand, and of the other with his left. 
Jdg 16:30  And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life. 
Jdg 16:31  Then his brethren and all the house of his father came down, and took him, and brought him up, and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the buryingplace of Manoah his father. And he judged Israel twenty years. 

Today’s study is about Samson yielding to the incessant pressure of words from Delilah and the consequence of his actions. This is to affirm to us that whatever we sow, we reap. To the natural mind or our self-righteous nature, we may think that we may have done better than what Samson did as he was not faithful to his Nazarite vows and did not regard his election as a prize possession. However, we are not different from Samson. We, too, in our time in Babylon, were unfaithful, and we disregarded our calling in favor of pleasing the church instead of Christ. As the word of God says, what happened to the Old Testament people is typical of us and is written for our admonition.

Gal 6:7  Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

1Co 10:11  Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

Jdg 16:17  That he told her all his heart, and said unto her, There hath not come a razor upon mine head; for I have been a Nazarite unto God from my mother’s womb: if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man.

As indicated in the previous review, the hair of a Nazarite is what separates him from other Israelites as far as God is concerned, and therefore cannot be cut. It is a sign of his separation or election which is the source of his strength. Samson revealing this source of strength to Delilah is the same as what Hezekiah did when he showed the treasures of his house to the Babylonians (Delilah).

2Ki 20:12  At that time Berodach-baladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah. For he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick.
2Ki 20:13  And Hezekiah listened to them, and showed them all the house of his precious things, the silver and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and the house of his armor, and all that was found in his treasures. There was nothing in his house nor in all his dominion which Hezekiah did not show them.
2Ki 20:14  And Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and said to him, What did these men say? And from where did they come to you? And Hezekiah said, They have come from a far country, from Babylon.
2Ki 20:15  And he said, What have they seen in your house? And Hezekiah answered, They have seen all that is in my house. There is nothing among my treasures which I have not shown to them.
2Ki 20:16  And Isaiah said to Hezekiah, Hear the Word of Jehovah.
2Ki 20:17  Behold, the days come when all that is in your house, and which your fathers have laid up in store until today, shall be carried into Babylon. Nothing shall be left, says Jehovah.
2Ki 20:18  And of your sons which shall issue from you, which you shall father, they shall take away. And they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.
2Ki 20:19  And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, Good is the Word of Jehovah which you have spoken. And he said, Is it not good if peace and truth are in my days?

Verse 18 of 2 Kings chapter 18 says that we become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon. This means our walk in Babylon is/was characterized as unproductive. Whatever we do in the churches of this world (Babylon) does not work since we think we are doing them by our own strength.

We all love to show our spiritual treasures or insight to our brothers and sisters in Babylon when we started to see and hear. However, Jesus warned us that we should not cast our pearls before swine for they end up tearing us apart. That was what happened to Samson.

Mat 7:6  Do not give that which is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet and turn again and tear you.

Jdg 16:18  And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, Come up this once, for he hath shewed me all his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and brought money in their hand. 

Our desire to please the church instead of Christ is taken advantage of by the church to enslave us to their delicacies. Our flesh, represented here by the Lords of the Philistines, therefore enslaves us to the pursuit of money, making us believe that gain is godliness. We therefore pierce ourselves with many sorrows through the pursuit of worldly mammon.

Rev 18:3  For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.

1Ti 6:5  Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness:  from such withdraw thyself.
1Ti 6:6  But godliness with contentment is great gain.
1Ti 6:7  For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.
1Ti 6:8  And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.
1Ti 6:9  But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.
1Ti 6:10  For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

Jdg 16:19  And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him. 

It is through the church or Babylon that we are put to sleep, and as a result, we become spiritually dead!! Samson’s hair symbolizes his separation or election, and therefore the shaving off of the seven locks of his head means that his relationship with Christ was completely destroyed. Since our relationship with the Lord is our strength, the destruction of this relationship means that our strength had gone out from us while we were in Babylon.  Our miserable state in Babylon is described by several Old Testament prophets such as Isaiah and Jeremiah. Most of their writings describe our state in Babylon after our strength is taken away from us, just as Samson’s strength was gone after the seven locks of his hair were shaved. Let’s look at what these prophets tell us about our state in Babylon:

Jer 4:22  For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.
Jer 4:23  I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.
Jer 4:24  I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly.
Jer 4:25  I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled.
Jer 4:26  I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the LORD, and by his fierce anger.
Jer 4:27  For thus hath the LORD said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end.
Jer 4:28  For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black: because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it.

Isa 3:8  For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen: because their tongue and their doings are against the LORD, to provoke the eyes of his glory.
Isa 3:9  The shew of their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! for they have rewarded evil unto themselves.

Isa 3:12  As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.

Jdg 16:20  And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the LORD was departed from him. 

In Babylon, we think we have the strength to obey the Lord and do whatever we want, but we have no inkling that our Lord has departed from us.

Rev 3:17  Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
Rev 3:18  I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

Rev 18:7  How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.

Jdg 16:21  But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house.

Samson’s inability to see his miserable state when he was overcome by the flesh (Philistines) in Babylon is shown by the fact that Samson’s eyes were removed, and he was bound with fetters of brass. Samson’s situation was not unique to him alone. We all go through periods where our eyes are removed and we are bound with fetters of brass, which talks of our bondage to sin. Throughout this period, we are tried or judged by the word of God. However, in the fullness of time, our Lord Jesus Christ sent and loosed us. This is clearly demonstrated by the life of Joseph.

Psa 105:17  He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold for a servant [sold to sin]:
Psa 105:18  Whose feet they hurt with fetters: he was laid in iron [Our walk was controlled by the flesh]:
Psa 105:19  Until the time that his word came: the word of the LORD tried him [Joseph was judged].
Psa 105:20  The king [our Lord Jesus] sent and loosed him; even the ruler of the people, and let him go free.
Psa 105:21  He made him lord of his house, and ruler of all his substance:

This period of Samson’s incarceration is the period of his judgment by the Lord with the view of conforming him to the image of Christ.

Isa 26:8  Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O LORD, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee.
Isa 26:9  With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

As we are aware, our forefathers in the Old Testament were typical of us, and so whatever happened to them is written for our admonition. We also are being judged in this life, just as Samson was judged in prison, so that we would learn righteousness.

1Co 10:11  Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

Jdg 16:22  Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven.

If we are marked out as God’s elect, then in spite of whatever desperate situation we go through, our hair will start to grow again.  This means that we would begin to do things that conform to our election or separation as the judgment we go through would bring us to righteousness.

Rom 8:28  And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Rom 8:29  For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

Inwardly, we would start seeing and hearing the word of God and would be given the power to obey, which would gradually bring us to conform to the image of His son Jesus.

Mat 13:16  But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.
Mat 13:17  For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

Rom 8:11  But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

The experience that Samson went through is to tell us that we are marred in the hand of the potter before we are made into another vessel fit for the purpose of our Lord.

Jer 18:1  The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
Jer 18:2  Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words.
Jer 18:3  Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.
Jer 18:4  And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

The vessel being marred in the hand of the potter means that all that happens to us is of the Lord. It is not in the hands of the devil that we are marred!! This should assure us that all we are going through is the process of making us into another vessel.

Jdg 16:23  Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them together for to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice: for they said, Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand.
Jdg 16:24  And when the people saw him, they praised their god: for they said, Our god hath delivered into our hands our enemy, and the destroyer of our country, which slew many of us.

Inwardly, the Philistines represent our flesh, and outwardly they represent Babylon as they worship Dagon, their god, which is another Jesus. When we are under the influence of the flesh, we worship another Jesus, and we invest a lot in praise and worship of our Lord but do not submit to Him. It is good to praise the Lord as fruit of the lips as we appreciate what the Lord has done for us, but there is a higher form of worship which is offering our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to Him.

Our spiritual form of worship is not conforming to the standards of this world but being transformed by the renewing of our minds. In Babylon, our worship only pertains to the fruit of the lips in which we invest all our energies but disregard the spiritual form of worship, which involves not conforming to the world and being transformed by our renewed minds which comes as our eyes begin to see and our ears hear!!

Heb 13:15  By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.

Rom 12:1  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Rom 12:2  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

The way the Philistines were rejoicing over what their god Dagon had done in delivering Samson to them reminds me of when the Israelites rejoiced when the ark of the covenant was brought in their midst when defeat was staring them in their faces as they engaged in battle with the Philistines.

1Sa 4:2  And the Philistines put themselves in array against Israel: and when they joined battle, Israel was smitten before the Philistines: and they slew of the army in the field about four thousand men.
1Sa 4:3  And when the people were come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, Wherefore hath the LORD smitten us to day before the Philistines? Let us fetch the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of Shiloh unto us, that, when it cometh among us, it may save us out of the hand of our enemies.
1Sa 4:4  So the people sent to Shiloh, that they might bring from thence the ark of the covenant of the LORD of hosts, which dwelleth between the cherubims: and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.
1Sa 4:5  And when the ark of the covenant of the LORD came into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout, so that the earth rang again.

In Babylon, we do not have the presence of mind to think that our Lord has departed and that the God we are worshiping, which is represented by the ark carried by Hophni and Phinehas, is another Jesus. As we are aware, Hophni and Phinehas were very evil priests (1Sa 2:12-17). This means that those who led us (the priests) in Babylon were carrying another Jesus to us. We praise and worship this other Jesus (ark) thinking that it would save us. To the carnal mind or our fleshly mind, the sound of our praise and worship assures us that God is indeed with us. This was what happened to the Philistines (our flesh) when they heard the noise of their worship:

1Sa 4:6  And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, What meaneth the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews? And they understood that the ark of the LORD was come into the camp.
1Sa 4:7  And the Philistines were afraid, for they said, God is come into the camp. And they said, Woe unto us! for there hath not been such a thing heretofore.
1Sa 4:8  Woe unto us! who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty Gods? these are the Gods that smote the Egyptians with all the plagues in the wilderness.

Jdg 16:25  And it came to pass, when their hearts were merry, that they said, Call for Samson, that he may make us sport. And they called for Samson out of the prison house; and he made them sport: and they set him between the pillars. 
Jdg 16:26  And Samson said unto the lad that held him by the hand, Suffer me that I may feel the pillars whereupon the house standeth, that I may lean upon them. 
Jdg 16:27  Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords of the Philistines were there; and there were upon the roof about three thousand men and women, that beheld while Samson made sport. 

Our flesh likes to do or watch sports as a way of venting the pressures of everyday life. This is not to say that sports are carnal or bad. No! I enjoy watching sports as I’m currently watching the Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. I do play tennis also to keep fit. As Paul said, sport is good, but is only a very temporal relief, but our focus must be on the goal of godliness.

1Ti 4:8  For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.

Our feasts in Babylon are all characterized by the old leaven of malice and wickedness. As indicated by Peter and Jude, we counted it pleasure to riot in the day time as we feast in Babylon.

1Co 5:8  Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

2Pe 2:13  And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time. Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you;

Jud 1:12  These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;

The pillars that held the house in which Samson was set represent the weak and beggarly elements which are the principles of the world that govern Babylon. These weak and beggarly elements include free will; observance of days, months, times and years; the trinity of God; everlasting punishment in hell, etc.  These pillars or foundations are only brought down in our lives as we die to the old man and his doctrines.

Gal 4:9  But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?
Gal 4:10  Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.
Gal 4:11  I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.

The three thousand men and women of the Philistines mentioned as the number of those feasting signify the fact that it is through judgment that the pillars holding Babylonian doctrines together in our lives are brought down. That is when the power of death is destroyed in our lives, and we can be presented to God as holy and blameless.

Col 1:22  In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:

Heb 2:14  Forasmuch 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;

Samson being led by a lad means that when we were/are in Babylon, we are led or ruled by children who do not know what they are about. The children here are those who have just started their walk with the Lord but are carnal. These children lead us to err. The positive aspect of being led by a lad is that this evil experience will finally lead us to the identification and destruction of these pillars that hold Babylon together in our lives.

Isa 3:4  And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them.

Isa 3:8  For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen: because their tongue and their doings are against the LORD, to provoke the eyes of his glory.

Isa 3:12  As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths. 

Ecc 10:16  Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child, and thy princes eat in the morning! 
Ecc 10:17  Blessed art thou, O land, when thy king is the son of nobles, and thy princes eat in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness!

Jdg 16:28  And Samson called unto the LORD, and said, O Lord GOD, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.

Samson’s prayer suggests that our blindness is due to our flesh (Philistines) or our carnal nature. Samson praying for strength to defeat the Philistines means that he had come to the realization that he had no strength anymore and must depend on God for victory over the flesh.  Our evil experiences in Babylon are all designed by the Lord to humble us.  This humbling is to bring us to the realization that of ourselves, we can do nothing and that we must depend on God totally for everything. Being unable to do anything even includes the evil that we do. We have to be strengthened to even do evil. It is when we come to this realization that we become strengthened to win the war against the flesh!!

Ecc 1:13  And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven: this sore travail [evil experience] hath God given to the sons of man to be exercised therewith [humble us].

Joh 15:5  I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

Pro 16:4  The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.

Jdg 16:29  And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood, and on which it was borne up, of the one with his right hand, and of the other with his left. 

Jdg 16:30  And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life.

Samson saying that he wants to die with the Philistines means that we must die to the flesh or the old man with all its doctrines. That is what being an overcomer is about. In the eyes of the Lord, it is not what we do but what we are becoming that is most significant.  If we lose sight of this, we would be like those who would ask the Lord, “Have we not prophesied in thy name and done many wonderful works?” That is when we shall be told that we are not known by the Lord.

Mat 7:21  Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Mat 7:22  Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
Mat 7:23  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

This is not a one-time death of the flesh as the story suggests. We must know that the sum of God’s words says that dying to the flesh, or the old man, is a process that lasts a lifetime.

Rev 16:19  And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.

The great city being divided into three parts means that our judgment which brings about the death of our flesh is a process. It is when we die to the flesh that we become productive in the service of our Lord as shown by the statement that the death of Samson resulted in more Philistine deaths than when he was alive. It is during this process of dying to the flesh that our Lord calls us to arise and shine as our light has come. Our light coming is when we are given to see and to hear.

Isa 60:1  Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.
Isa 60:2  For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.
Isa 60:3  And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.
Isa 60:4  Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side.

Jdg 16:31  Then his brethren and all the house of his father came down, and took him, and brought him up, and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the buryingplace of Manoah his father. And he judged Israel twenty years.

The burial of Samson by his brethren and all the house of his father is to let us know that our brothers and sisters have a role to play in the death of our old man or the flesh. It is through what every joint supplies that precipitates the death of our old man.

Eph 4:15  But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
Eph 4:16  From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

Burying Samson between Zorah and Eshtaol is significant. According to Strong, Zorah means a type of wasp called a hornet. In the scriptures, there are only two places that the word “hornet” are used, and it was in relation to the defeat of the enemies of Israel as follows:

Deu 7:20   Moreover the LORD thy God will send the hornet among them, until they that are left, and hide themselves from thee, be destroyed.

Jos 24:12  And I sent the hornet before you, which drave them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites; but not with thy sword, nor with thy bow.

The name “Eshtaol” means to enquire, pray or request, and the name Manoah means rest. So what we are being told is that as we find rest in our Lord, our request to defeat our enemies or the old man is accomplished.

In our previous review, we have explained what the twenty-year rule by Samson entails. For easy reference, it is reproduced as follows:

In the scriptures, the number twenty signifies the beginning of maturity, as we are now ready to become enlisted in the Lord’s army to war against the enemies of our land.

Num 1:20  And the children of Reuben, Israel’s eldest son, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, by their polls, every male from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;

Num 1:22  Of the children of Simeon, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, those that were numbered of them, according to the number of the names, by their polls, every male from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;

Based on these scriptures, we can say that the twenty-year rule of the Israelites under Samson is a period in our lives that we are dominated by the flesh (Philistines), but we are gradually becoming mature in the things of God as a result of the sunlight (Samson) or the light of the glorious gospel we are receiving from the Lord. This beginning of maturity pertains to recognizing our appalling situation and beginning to rely on the Lord, through His words, to begin the cleansing process in our heavens which results in the gradual death of our flesh or the old man.

2Co 4:4  In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

]]> Study of the Book of Judges – Jdg 16:1-16 Samson saw a Harlot and Went in Unto Her https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/study-of-the-book-of-judges-jdg-161-16-samson-saw-a-harlot-and-went-in-unto-her/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=study-of-the-book-of-judges-jdg-161-16-samson-saw-a-harlot-and-went-in-unto-her Mon, 26 Jul 2021 16:39:59 +0000 https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/?p=24005 https://www.dropbox.com/s/1v6zckze1c2mbmz/20210727-Study_AtoB-SamsonLovedDelilah.m4a?raw=1

Jdg 16:1-16 Samson saw a Harlot and Went in Unto Her

[Study Aired July 26, 2021]

Jdg 16:1  Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there an harlot, and went in unto her. 
Jdg 16:2  And it was told the Gazites, saying, Samson is come hither. And they compassed him in, and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying, In the morning, when it is day, we shall kill him. 
Jdg 16:3  And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight, and took the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and went away with them, bar and all, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of an hill that is before Hebron. 
Jdg 16:4  And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. 
Jdg 16:5  And the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and said unto her, Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lieth, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him: and we will give thee every one of us eleven hundred pieces of silver. 
Jdg 16:6  And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee. 
Jdg 16:7  And Samson said unto her, If they bind me with seven green withs that were never dried, then shall I be weak, and be as another man. 
Jdg 16:8  Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven green withs which had not been dried, and she bound him with them. 
Jdg 16:9  Now there were men lying in wait, abiding with her in the chamber. And she said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he brake the withs, as a thread of tow is broken when it toucheth the fire. So his strength was not known. 
Jdg 16:10  And Delilah said unto Samson, Behold, thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: now tell me, I pray thee, wherewith thou mightest be bound. 
Jdg 16:11  And he said unto her, If they bind me fast with new ropes that never were occupied, then shall I be weak, and be as another man. 
Jdg 16:12  Delilah therefore took new ropes, and bound him therewith, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And there were liers in wait abiding in the chamber. And he brake them from off his arms like a thread. 
Jdg 16:13  And Delilah said unto Samson, Hitherto thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound. And he said unto her, If thou weavest the seven locks of my head with the web. 
Jdg 16:14  And she fastened it with the pin, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awaked out of his sleep, and went away with the pin of the beam, and with the web. 
Jdg 16:15  And she said unto him, How canst thou say, I love thee, when thine heart is not with me? thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth. 
Jdg 16:16  And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto death; 

Chapter 16 of Judges tells us about how we end up becoming impoverished in Babylon.  We become blind as our eyes are removed. Thus, our ability to understand the word of God is taken away from us at the end of our Babylonian captivity. Our deplorable situation in Babylon is described in Psalm 137 as follows:

Psa 137:1  By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.
Psa 137:2  We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.
Psa 137:3  For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.
Psa 137:4  How shall we sing the LORD’S song in a strange land?
Psa 137:5  If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.

We need to note that it is as we sit by the rivers of Babylon that we end up weeping when we remember our first love in Zion. The rivers here are the great swelling words of man’s wisdom which we receive during our time in Babylon. This is what makes us worse off at the end of our Babylonian journey.  Not being able to sing the Lord’s song in a strange land means we cannot please God when we are under the church system of this world (Babylon).

2Pe 2:18  For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error.
2Pe 2:19  While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.
2Pe 2:20  For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.
2Pe 2:21  For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.
2Pe 2:22  But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.

Jdg 16:1  Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there an harlot, and went in unto her. 

Like Samson, who was taken in by a harlot, all of us become enchanted when we set our eyes on the harlot during the part of our walk with Christ when we are carnal. As indicated in our previous review, the disciples were also charmed by the harlot when they pointed Jesus to the beauty of the buildings of the temple in Jerusalem.

Mat 24:1  And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple.
Mat 24:2  And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.

Gaza means ‘strong’ according to Strong’s dictionary. So here we are being told that the attraction to this harlot which is Babylon is very strong and will definitely sweep us off our feet since our flesh dominates us (symbolized by the Philistines dominating the Israelites during that time).

Just as in the natural, where most men cannot resist the invitation of a very beautiful woman under the cover of darkness, so it in the spirit that when we are ruled by darkness, we just cannot resist the pull of the harlot woman.

Pro 7:9  In the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night:
Pro 7:10  And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart.
Pro 7:11  (She is loud and stubborn; her feet abide not in her house:
Pro 7:12  Now is she without, now in the streets, and lieth in wait at every corner.)
Pro 7:13  So she caught him, and kissed him, and with an impudent face said unto him,
Pro 7:14  I have peace offerings with me; this day have I payed my vows.
Pro 7:15  Therefore came I forth to meet thee, diligently to seek thy face, and I have found thee.
Pro 7:16  I have decked my bed with coverings of tapestry, with carved works, with fine linen of Egypt.
Pro 7:17  I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
Pro 7:18  Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning: let us solace ourselves with loves.
Pro 7:19  For the goodman is not at home, he is gone a long journey:
Pro 7:20  He hath taken a bag of money with him, and will come home at the day appointed.
Pro 7:21  With her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced him.
Pro 7:22  He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks;
Pro 7:23  Till a dart strike through his liver; as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life.
Pro 7:24  Hearken unto me now therefore, O ye children, and attend to the words of my mouth.
Pro 7:25  Let not thine heart decline to her ways, go not astray in her paths.
Pro 7:26  For she hath cast down many wounded: yea, many strong men have been slain by her.

It is only when we are carried away in the spirit (our eyes begin to see and our ears begin to hear) that we come to see who this woman arrayed in purple and scarlet color really is – that is, she is a harlot, and we wonder with great admiration.

Rev 17:3  So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. 
Rev 17:4  And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
Rev 17:5  And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
Rev 17:6  And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.
Rev 17:7  And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.

Jdg 16:2 And it was told the Gazites, saying, Samson is come hither. And they compassed him in, and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying, In the morning, when it is day, we shall kill him.

These Gazites are men of Philistines who symbolically represent our flesh which dominates us during the dark periods of our lives. What we are being told here is that during our time in Babylon, when we were with the harlot, we did not see our flesh as the enemy as they lie in wait during the night of our lives. No wonder the church does not regard the flesh as the main enemy of our progress in Christ but rather focuses on the devil outside.

These Gazites decided to lie in wait until the morning comes when they planned to kill Samson. This means that it is when Christ begins to shine His lights on us (morning) that we see the pull of the flesh being so strong and dragging us to bondage again with the ultimate aim of spiritually putting us to death.

Rom 7:10  And the commandment [the revelation of Christ], which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death [judgment].
Rom 7:11  For sin [the flesh or the Gazites], taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me [the process of dying].
Rom 7:12  Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.
Rom 7:13  Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.

Jdg 16:3  And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight, and took the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and went away with them, bar and all, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of an hill that is before Hebron. 

It is during our experience of evil in Babylon that the Lord comes to us to shine His glorious light on us. That is when we start our journey out of Babylon. Unfortunately, when leave Babylon, we carry a lot of garbage (doctrines forming idols of the heart) from Babylon, symbolized by the carrying of the doors of the gate of the city of Gaza by Samson on his shoulders to the top of the hill near Hebron. Hebron means ‘seat of association’ or ‘company’. So we can say that we carry these idols of the heart with us to the company of the saints or the gathering of the first born.

That was what happened to Jacob when the Lord shone His light on him to leave Babylon where he was serving under Laban. His wife Rachel stole the images that were her father’s. This means that Jacob’s flesh (wife) grasped at the idols in Babylon and would not let them go as they journeyed to Canaan.

Gen 31:17  Then Jacob rose up, and set his sons and his wives upon camels;
Gen 31:18  And he carried away all his cattle, and all his goods which he had gotten, the cattle of his getting, which he had gotten in Padanaram, for to go to Isaac his father in the land of Canaan.
Gen 31:19  And Laban went to shear his sheep: and Rachel had stolen the images that were her father’s.

Gen 31:34  Now Rachel had taken the images, and put them in the camel’s furniture, and sat upon them. And Laban searched all the tent, but found them not.

The dying of Rachel near Bethel therefore signified the dying of Jacob’s flesh with all the idols of the heart. Her dying near Bethel means that it is in the house of God (which is the meaning of Bethel) that we die to all that we have taken from Babylon. The death of Rachel was through childbirth, which was the judgment pronounced by the Lord upon Eve when she sinned in the Garden of Eden. So it is through judgment that we gradually let go of all that belongs to Babylon in us.

Gen 35:16  And they journeyed from Bethel; and there was but a little way to come to Ephrath: and Rachel travailed, and she had hard labour.
Gen 35:17  And it came to pass, when she was in hard labour, that the midwife said unto her, Fear not; thou shalt have this son also.
Gen 35:18  And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she died) that she called his name Benoni: but his father called him Benjamin.
Gen 35:19  And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem.

Gen 3:16  Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

Rev 16:17  And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.
Rev 16:18  And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.
Rev 16:19  And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.

Jdg 16:4  And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. 

When we are dominated by the flesh, we will always be attracted to the Jerusalem which is – that is Delilah. Samson’s attraction to Delilah was the result of being under the dominance of the Philistines which represent his flesh. The name Delilah means ‘languishing’ which is the same as deteriorating. So our time in Babylon is the period of our deterioration which is part of the experience of evil marked out for us as His elect. This deterioration is the result of the famine of the word of God, the sword and the noisome beast which rules us in Babylon. These are all part of the four sore judgments of God which we experience in Babylon.

2Pe 2:19  While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.
2Pe 2:20  For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.
2Pe 2:21  For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.
2Pe 2:22  But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.

Eze 14:21  For thus saith the Lord GOD; How much more when I send my four sore judgments upon Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the noisome beast, and the pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast?

Jdg 16:5  And the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and said unto her, Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lieth, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him: and we will give thee every one of us eleven hundred pieces of silver.
Jdg 16:6  And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee.

The Lords of the Philistines represent an aspect of our old man who loves to bear the name of Christ but wants to wear his own clothes and eat his own food. This Babylon in us poses a strong opposition to our growth in Christ. These verses reveal to us that the experience of evil we face in Babylon is directed toward the destruction of our strengths so that we are destroyed by the flesh. According to the word of God, our strength comes from our relationship with the Lord. Thus, our experience of evil in Babylon is to destroy our relationship with Christ.

Isa 4:1  And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach.

Psa 28:7  The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him.

Exo 15:2  The LORD is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father’s God, and I will exalt him.

Isa 40:29  He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.

The fact that the Lords of the Philistines promised Delilah eleven hundred pieces of silver is to let us know that our motivation in Babylon pertains to what we eat, drink and wear.

Mat 6:31  Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
Mat 6:32  (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
Mat 6:33  But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

In essence, what we aim at in Babylon is money, and our love for money is the root of all the evil we experience. We therefore pierce ourselves with many sorrows.

1Ti 6:5  Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself.
1Ti 6:6  But godliness with contentment is great gain.
1Ti 6:7  For we brought nothing intothis world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.
1Ti 6:8  And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.
1Ti 6:9  But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.
1Ti 6:10  For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

Jdg 16:7  And Samson said unto her, If they bind me with seven green withs that were never dried, then shall I be weak, and be as another man. 
Jdg 16:8  Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven green withs which had not been dried, and she bound him with them. 
Jdg 16:9  Now there were men lying in wait, abiding with her in the chamber. And she said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he brake the withs, as a thread of tow is broken when it toucheth the fire. So his strength was not known.

The deplorable situation in which we find ourselves in Babylon as we near the end of our experience of evil does not happen in a day. It is a gradual deterioration of our relationship with Christ as we go through Babylon. In a similar way, our growth in the knowledge of Christ is also a gradual process as shown in Ezekiel as follows:

Eze 47:1  Afterward he brought me again unto the door of the house; and, behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward: for the forefront of the house stood toward the east, and the waters came down from under from the right side of the house, at the south side of the altar.
Eze 47:2  Then brought he me out of the way of the gate northward, and led me about the way without unto the utter gate by the way that looketh eastward; and, behold, there ran out waters on the right side.
Eze 47:3  And when the man that had the line in his hand went forth eastward, he measured a thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters; the waters were to the ankles.
Eze 47:4  Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through the waters; the waters were to the knees. Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through; the waters were to the loins.
Eze 47:5  Afterward he measured a thousand; and it was a river that I could not pass over: for the waters were risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed over.

We are ensnared by the words of our mouth. In other words, in Babylon we get bounded by what we hear, and it does not happen all of a sudden – it is a process.

Pro 6:2  if you are snared in the words of your mouth, caught in the words of your mouth,
Pro 6:3  then do this, my son, and save yourself, for you have come into the hand of your neighbor: go, hasten, and plead urgently with your neighbor.

Samson’s engagement with Delilah where he was bound on several occasions is an indication of what happens to us in Babylon. In verse 7 to 9 of Judges Chapter 16, we are told that Samson was bound by seven green withs which have not been dried. According to Strong, withs means overhanging ropes and by implication excess or exceeding. So what we are being told here is that in Babylon, we are bound completely by all that we hear from our leaders (Lords of the Philistines) who go beyond (exceed) what is written. The fact that the withs must not be dried means that there may be some water or nuggets of truth in what they say, but these truths are polluted by words which are beyond what is written.

1Co 4:6  I have applied all these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brothers, that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another.

Because we are not aware of our situation in relation to our flesh ruling us and the fact that we do have answers to some of our prayers, we think we are in good standing with God and are free from any bondage. Samson felt that way, too, especially when he is able to break his bonds. We all thought that we sit as a queen and shall never see suffering.

Rev 18:7  As she glorified herself and lived in luxury, so give her a like measure of torment and mourning, since in her heart she says, ‘I sit as a queen, I am no widow, and mourning I shall never see.’

Jdg 16:10  And Delilah said unto Samson, Behold, thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: now tell me, I pray thee, wherewith thou mightest be bound.
Jdg 16:11  And he said unto her, If they bind me fast with new ropes that never were occupied, then shall I be weak, and be as another man. 
Jdg 16:12  Delilah therefore took new ropes, and bound him therewith, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And there were liers in wait abiding in the chamber. And he brake them from off his arms like a thread.

The second level of binding by Delilah, and supported by the Philistines, relates to Samson being bound by new ropes which have never been used or tested. This binding by new ropes represents words that are spoken in Babylon that have not been tested by the words of God. Because we are not able to test the spirit to know if they are of God while we are in Babylon, we just accept whatever is spoken.  The consequence of this is that we imbibe lies which strengthen the idols of our hearts and make it difficult to know Christ. Thus, we are like Samson who is bound by new ropes.

1Jn 4:1  Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.

Jdg 16:13  And Delilah said unto Samson, Hitherto thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound. And he said unto her, If thou weavest the seven locks of my head with the web.
Jdg 16:14  And she fastened it with the pin, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awaked out of his sleep, and went away with the pin of the beam, and with the web.

The third way which destroys our relationship with Christ and makes us an easy prey for the enemy while in Babylon is when we do not value our election as a prized possession. The hair of a Nazarite is what separates him from other Israelites. It is therefore a sign of their separation or election. Thus, the hair of a Nazarite is sacred and is not something to be toyed with, but we see Samson making Delilah weave a web with his hair and fasten it with a pin.

Num 6:2  Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When either man or woman shall separate themselves to vow a vow of a Nazarite, to separate themselves unto the LORD:

Num 6:5  All the days of the vow of his separation there shall no razor come upon his head: until the days be fulfilled, in the which he separateth himself unto the LORD, he shall be holy, and shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow.

Samson’s lack of recognition of the sacredness of his hair by allowing Delilah to toy with it means that Samson did not value his election.

Heb 12:15  Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;
Heb 12:16  Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.
Heb 12:17  For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.

We all did not appreciate our election while in Babylon, but God, in His great mercies, comes to us to turn us around to focus on the ultimate prize.

Eph 2:3  Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
Eph 2:4  But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
Eph 2:5  Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
Eph 2:6  And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

Jdg 16:15  And she said unto him, How canst thou say, I love thee, when thine heart is not with me? thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth.
Jdg 16:16  And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto death;

Our time in Babylon is a period that we are overcome by the strange woman, represented here by Delilah who draws us to the path of hell, resulting in being slain by her. Being slain by her means we become spiritually dead – destroys our relationship with Christ who is the source of our strength!! That was what happened to Samson when he walked the path of Delilah.

Pro 2:16  To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words;
Pro 2:17  Which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God.
Pro 2:18  For her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead.
Pro 2:19  None that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life.

Pro 7:24  Hearken unto me now therefore, O ye children, and attend to the words of my mouth.
Pro 7:25  Let not thine heart decline to her ways, go not astray in her paths.
Pro 7:26  For she hath cast down many wounded: yea, many strong men have been slain by her.
Pro 7:27  Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death.

Verse 15 and 16 focus on the words that are spoken by the harlot woman. Such words spoken by the harlot woman are like cancer that eats our resistance away and before we realize it, we are spiritually dead!! That was what happened to Samson. The incessant words of Delilah ate away his devotion to the Lord and became an easy prey for the enemy to slain him. That was what happened to us in Babylon. The incessant words of the church system destroy our relationship with Christ and therefore we become spiritually dead!!

Pro 5:1  My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding:
Pro 5:2  That thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge.
Pro 5:3  For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil:
Pro 5:4  But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword.
Pro 5:5  Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell.
Pro 5:6  Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them.
Pro 5:7  Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth.
Pro 5:8  Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house:
Pro 5:9  Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel:
Pro 5:10  Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger;

All these experiences of evil that we experience in Babylon are to bring us to a point where we are humbled as we come to realize that, indeed, we are the greatest sinners!! That is when our God of mercies comes into our lives to turn us around so that the mercies we have received will be administered to the whole of humanity in an age to come!!

Ecc 1:13  And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all which is done under the heavens. It is a sad task God has given to the sons of men to be humbled by it. (MKJV)

Rom 11:30  For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief:
Rom 11:31  Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.
Rom 11:32  For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.

May our Lord help us all to be delivered from all that belongs to Babylon in us so we will be the administrators of His mercies to the human race at the fullness of time!! Amen!!

]]> Study of the Book of Judges – Jdg 15:1-20 With the Jawbone of an Ass, Have I Slain a Thousand Men https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/study-of-the-book-of-judges-jdg-151-20-with-the-jawbone-of-an-ass-have-i-slain-a-thousand-men/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=study-of-the-book-of-judges-jdg-151-20-with-the-jawbone-of-an-ass-have-i-slain-a-thousand-men Mon, 19 Jul 2021 17:33:19 +0000 https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/?p=23967 https://www.dropbox.com/s/oyoawcdgkbc0eti/20210720-Study_AtoB-JawboneAss.m4a?raw=1

Jdg 15:1-20 With the Jawbone of an Ass, Have I Slain a Thousand Men

[Study Aired July 19, 2021]

Jdg 15:1  But it came to pass within a while after, in the time of wheat harvest, that Samson visited his wife with a kid; and he said, I will go in to my wife into the chamber. But her father would not suffer him to go in.
Jdg 15:2  And her father said, I verily thought that thou hadst utterly hated her; therefore I gave her to thy companion: is not her younger sister fairer than she? take her, I pray thee, instead of her.
Jdg 15:3  And Samson said concerning them, Now shall I be more blameless than the Philistines, though I do them a displeasure. 
Jdg 15:4  And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took firebrands, and turned tail to tail, and put a firebrand in the midst between two tails. 
Jdg 15:5  And when he had set the brands on fire, he let them go into the standing corn of the Philistines, and burnt up both the shocks, and also the standing corn, with the vineyards and olives. 
Jdg 15:6  Then the Philistines said, Who hath done this? And they answered, Samson, the son in law of the Timnite, because he had taken his wife, and given her to his companion. And the Philistines came up, and burnt her and her father with fire. 
Jdg 15:7  And Samson said unto them, Though ye have done this, yet will I be avenged of you, and after that I will cease. 
Jdg 15:8  And he smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter: and he went down and dwelt in the top of the rock Etam. 
Jdg 15:9  Then the Philistines went up, and pitched in Judah, and spread themselves in Lehi. 
Jdg 15:10  And the men of Judah said, Why are ye come up against us? And they answered, To bind Samson are we come up, to do to him as he hath done to us. 
Jdg 15:11  Then three thousand men of Judah went to the top of the rock Etam, and said to Samson, Knowest thou not that the Philistines are rulers over us? what is this that thou hast done unto us? And he said unto them, As they did unto me, so have I done unto them. 
Jdg 15:12  And they said unto him, We are come down to bind thee, that we may deliver thee into the hand of the Philistines. And Samson said unto them, Swear unto me, that ye will not fall upon me yourselves. 
Jdg 15:13  And they spake unto him, saying, No; but we will bind thee fast, and deliver thee into their hand: but surely we will not kill thee. And they bound him with two new cords, and brought him up from the rock. 
Jdg 15:14  And when he came unto Lehi, the Philistines shouted against him: and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and the cords that were upon his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands loosed from off his hands.
Jdg 15:15  And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men therewith. 
Jdg 15:16  And Samson said, With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, with the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men.
Jdg 15:17  And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking, that he cast away the jawbone out of his hand, and called that place Ramathlehi.
Jdg 15:18  And he was sore athirst, and called on the LORD, and said, Thou hast given this great deliverance into the hand of thy servant: and now shall I die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised?
Jdg 15:19  But God clave an hollow place that was in the jaw, and there came water thereout; and when he had drunk, his spirit came again, and he revived: wherefore he called the name thereof Enhakkore, which is in Lehi unto this day.
Jdg 15:20  And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.

This chapter deals with our realization of what Babylon really is and also the struggle we go through with our flesh as we see Samson engage the Philistines in a fight of his life.

Rev 17:3  So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
Rev 17:4  And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
Rev 17:5  And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
Rev 17:6  And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.

Gal 5:17  For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

Jdg 15:1  But it came to pass within a while after, in the time of wheat harvest, that Samson visited his wife with a kid; and he said, I will go in to my wife into the chamber. But her father would not suffer him to go in.

Samson’s return visit to claim his Philistine wife occurred during the time of the wheat harvest. Spiritually, the wheat harvest is when we come to know the difference between the tares and the wheat, or good from evil. It is also the time period that we come to see ourselves as the greatest sinner and therefore cannot help ourselves unless God intervenes.

Mat 13:30  Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

1Sa 12:17  Is it not wheat harvest to day? I will call unto the LORD, and he shall send thunder and rain; that ye may perceive and see that your wickedness is great, which ye have done in the sight of the LORD, in asking you a king.

Here in 1 Samuel 12:17, we are made aware that it is through the word of God (rain) and judgment (thunder) that we come to see who we really are. It is during this period of wheat harvest that we come to see who the Philistine woman really is – that is, she is married to another Jesus. The statement that her father “would not suffer him to go in” means that all that is happening is according to the counsel of God. God, in His mercy and wisdom, delivers us from continuing our fellowship with Babylon if we are marked as His elect.

Eph 1:11  In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

Jdg 15:2  And her father said, I verily thought that thou hadst utterly hated her; therefore I gave her to thy companion: is not her younger sister fairer than she? take her, I pray thee, instead of her.

It is the Lord who takes the initiative to disengage us from Babylon. Our flesh would want to continue having dominion over us by suggesting that even though the churches we attended were not up to the standard of God, there may be other churches (younger sister) who may be doing well with which we can have fellowship. The truth about the younger sister, who is called Aholibah in the scriptures, is that she is worse than her elder sister.

Eze 23:2  Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother:
Eze 23:3  And they committed whoredoms in Egypt; they committed whoredoms in their youth: there were their breasts pressed, and there they bruised the teats of their virginity.
Eze 23:4  And the names of them were Aholah the elder, and Aholibah her sister: and they were mine, and they bare sons and daughters. Thus were their names; Samaria is Aholah, and Jerusalem Aholibah.
Eze 23:5  And Aholah played the harlot when she was mine; and she doted on her lovers, on the Assyrians her neighbours,

Eze 23:11  And when her sister Aholibah saw this, she was more corrupt in her inordinate love than she, and in her whoredoms more than her sister in her whoredoms.

Jdg 15:3  And Samson said concerning them, Now shall I be more blameless than the Philistines, though I do them a displeasure.

This verse is confirming to us that our Lord (represented here by Samson) looks for an occasion or a reason to come into our lives to judge us just like a father punishes a son or daughter when they do something wrong. This is the way our Lord treats us so that at the end of the day, we will know that He is more blameless than us – as spoken by Samson!! Like Job, we want to bask in our own self-righteousness, and in doing so condemn our Lord as being unjust for all the suffering we are going through.

Job 40:6  Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said:
Job 40:7  “Dress for action like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to me.
Job 40:8  Will you even put me in the wrong? Will you condemn me that you may be in the right? (ESV)

Jdg 15:4  And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took firebrands, and turned tail to tail, and put a firebrand in the midst between two tails. 
Jdg 15:5  And when he had set the brands on fire, he let them go into the standing corn of the Philistines, and burnt up both the shocks, and also the standing corn, with the vineyards and olives.

The foxes here stand for our leaders or prophets in Babylon during our time there. The tails of these foxes also signify prophets that teach lies. What these “men of God” teach is like fire that burns down or destroys the standing corn with the vineyards and olives, which represent the truth of the word of God we had while we were in Babylon. Thus, we become worse off in Babylon than when we started.

Eze 13:4  O Israel, thy prophets are like the foxes in the deserts.

Isa 9:15  The ancient and honourable, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail.

Jud 1:4  For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.

Jud 1:8  Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities.

Jud 1:10  But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.
Jud 1:11  Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.

What this means is that in Babylon, even the little truth that we had received from the word of God is taken away from us. We therefore become impoverished in Babylon. Our time in Babylon was just like the time when Samuel was ministering in the presence of Eli.

1Sa 3:1  Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the LORD in the presence of Eli. And the word of the LORD was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision.

Jdg 15:6  Then the Philistines said, Who hath done this? And they answered, Samson, the son in law of the Timnite, because he had taken his wife, and given her to his companion. And the Philistines came up, and burnt her and her father with fire.
Jdg 15:7  And Samson said unto them, Though ye have done this, yet will I be avenged of you, and after that I will cease. 

As stated earlier, the time of the wheat harvest is when we come to realize that instead of Christ, we have been given another Jesus during our time in Babylon. Therefore, like the Philistines, we come to loathe all we have acquired in Babylon. It is when we have come to this realization that Christ comes in with the word of His mouth, which is like fire, to start the burning down of Babylon (Samson’s wife) and the flesh (Her father and the Philistines) within us.

2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

Jdg 15:8  And he smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter: and he went down and dwelt in the top of the rock Etam.

Samson went and dwelt at the top of the rock called Etam.  According to Strong, Etam means a Hawk. We know from the scriptures that the rock is Christ, and here Christ is described as a Hawk. Hawks have hunting techniques which makes them capture their prey easily. In a similar vein, Christ is like a hawk who flies to and fro over the earth to capture His prey, which is His elect for the kingdom.

2Ch 16:9  For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars.

As we abide in Christ, who is the rock, we are given victory over the flesh, which is the great slaughter. The smiting of the hip and thigh is another way of saying that anything that affects our walk with Christ initially is dealt with by the Lord.

Psa 31:1  To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed: deliver me in thy righteousness.
Psa 31:2  Bow down thine ear to me; deliver me speedily: be thou my strong rock, for an house of defence to save me.
Psa 31:3  For thou art my rock and my fortress; therefore for thy name’s sake lead me, and guide me.

Jdg 15:9  Then the Philistines went up, and pitched in Judah, and spread themselves in Lehi. 
Jdg 15:10  And the men of Judah said, Why are ye come up against us? And they answered, To bind Samson are we come up, to do to him as he hath done to us.

The Philistines pitching in Judah is to let us know that the enemies are within us – that is our flesh. Lehi, according to Strong’s dictionary, means soft as in the softness of the flesh covering our cheek bone. Spreading themselves in Lehi implies that the enemies focus on the vulnerable areas of our lives to defeat us. These areas of least resistance in our lives are the sins that easily beset us, which are the focus of the devil’s attacks. In other words, a little leaven (propensity towards error), leavens the whole lump.

Heb 12:1  Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

Gal 5:9  A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.

Verse 10 indicates that the purpose of the flesh within is to bind us and ultimately destroy us; that means destroying our relationship with Christ. That is the same as being unable to do the things that we would in Galatians 5:17.

Gal 5:17  For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

Jdg 15:11  Then three thousand men of Judah went to the top of the rock Etam, and said to Samson, Knowest thou not that the Philistines are rulers over us? what is this that thou hast done unto us? And he said unto them, As they did unto me, so have I done unto them.

The three thousand men of Judah is symbolic to let us know that all which is happening to us in terms of our struggle with the flesh is part of the process of becoming spiritually complete (3000 = 3x10x10x10). Within us sometimes, we hear voices of the flesh telling us, like the men of Judah, that this war with the flesh can never be won since we are flesh and therefore dominated by the flesh. This is the same as saying, “Who can make war with the beast?”

Rev 13:4  And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?

Jdg 15:12  And they said unto him, We are come down to bind thee, that we may deliver thee into the hand of the Philistines. And Samson said unto them, Swear unto me, that ye will not fall upon me yourselves.
Jdg 15:13  And they spake unto him, saying, No; but we will bind thee fast, and deliver thee into their hand: but surely we will not kill thee. And they bound him with two new cords, and brought him up from the rock.

Verse 12 shows us the intent of the flesh within us – that is to bind us to deliver us to the devil to sift us like wheat and destroy us. However, the good news is that our High priest Jesus is praying for us that our faith will not fail!!

Luk 22:31  And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:
Luk 22:32  But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.

Heb 4:14  Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.
Heb 4:15  For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
Heb 4:16  Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

Like Samson, we become apprehensive about being overcome by the flesh and therefore being put to death spiritually. That is what Samson meant when he told the men of Judah, his own flesh, that they should swear that he would not be killed by them. We all struggle like Esther and wonder whether the King will extend his sceptre to us in our time of need or if we will be put to death. This is contrary to the teaching we had in Babylon that claims we are already saved, and we quote some scriptural verses to support our assurance of salvation.

Est 4:16  Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.

In Philippians 2:12, we are admonished to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. The fear and trembling means that we may wonder at times whether we are going to make it to the first resurrection. As we indicated in the previous review, one of the things that assures us that we are on the right track to our destination is that our eyes are seeing and our ears are hearing!

Php 2:12  Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
Php 2:13  For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

Mat 13:16  But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.
Mat 13:17  For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

Outwardly, the men of Judah represent our brothers and sisters in Babylon. As indicated in verse 12, the whole period of our engagement with Babylon is that we end up being bound in chains or groping in the dark and needing deliverance from the Lord just like Samson as he was brought to the Philistines in bondage. It is significant to note that the men of Judah removed Samson from the rock in verse 13. As indicated earlier, the rock is Christ and so at the end of our journey in Babylon, we are removed from abiding in Christ.

2Pe 2:20  For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.
2Pe 2:21  For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.
2Pe 2:22  But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.

Samson was bound by the men of Judah with the purpose of delivering him to the enemy, the Philistines. Like Samson, we become entangled in sin again and again even after the victories we have won over the flesh. In our battle with sin, we may lose some fights but not the war. If we have been penciled to be part of the elect, then whatever the devil throws at us, we shall overcome. Jesus admonished us that in our struggle against sin, we do not have to resist to the point of shedding blood. In other words, we would not be cut short through death (shedding of blood) in our journey of overcoming the flesh if we are called and chosen.

Heb 12:3  For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.
Heb 12:4  Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.

Psa 124:6  Blessed be the LORD, who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth.
Psa 124:7  Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped.
Psa 124:8  Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth.

Jdg 15:14  And when he came unto Lehi, the Philistines shouted against him: and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and the cords that were upon his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands loosed from off his hands.

As indicated earlier, Lehi means soft as it relates to the softness of our flesh covering our jaw bones in our face. So what we are being told here is that, as we get to know our Lord Jesus more through the word of God (the Spirit of the Lord), the chains binding us from our Babylonian captivity are broken. This comes at a time that we realize our weakness (Meaning of Lehi) that we can of ourselves do nothing. That is when our Lord raises a standard against the enemy within (the Philistines) when he comes at us like a flood!!

Isa 59:19  So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.
Isa 59:20  And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the LORD.

Paul puts it this way: “when I am weak, then I am strong!!”

2Co 12:9  And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
2Co 12:10  Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

My brothers and sisters, the only way we can win this fight to overcome the flesh or the old man is that we look to Jesus. If we look within, we will see all our weaknesses, and the devil will use these weaknesses to discourage us from running the race. The devil comes to us to tell us that we are not up to the standard God requires with all these weaknesses in us. We might as well give up the fight because there is no way we can overcome. however, in our weakness, like Samson at Lehi, we are made strong!! All the disciples before us had weaknesses but through Christ they were made strong.

Heb 12:1  Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Heb 12:2  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

The weaknesses we are talking about here is explained by Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:10. It relates to infirmities, persecutions, the distress we go through, our anxieties, worries, challenges, etc.; in other words, our inadequacies to do anything. It is when we realize our inadequacies that we rely on Christ alone to deliver us. That is what makes us strong – depending on Him alone!! That was what happened to Samson.

Jdg 15:15  And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men therewith.
Jdg 15:16  And Samson said, With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, with the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men.

As suggested earlier, the jawbone is taken from the softness of the flesh from the cheek. In Exodus 34:20, the firstling of an ass is compared to the firstborn sons of Israel. This indicates that an ass can also represent the elect. Again, Jesus, in answering the Pharisees about the healing of a man on a Sabbath day, made the statement that when an ass falls into a pit on a Sabbath day, will the Pharisees not care about it? So this is to confirm that an ass represents the elect. Let’s also remember that it was with an ass that Jesus made His triumphant entry to Jerusalem. This means it is through the elect that Christ would be made known to Babylon and the world.

Exo 34:20  But the firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb: and if thou redeem him not, then shalt thou break his neck. All the firstborn of thy sons thou shalt redeem. And none shall appear before me empty.

Luk 14:1  And it came to pass, as he went into the house of one of the chief Pharisees to eat bread on the sabbath day, that they watched him.
Luk 14:2  And, behold, there was a certain man before him which had the dropsy.
Luk 14:3  And Jesus answering spake unto the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day?
Luk 14:4  And they held their peace. And he took him, and healed him, and let him go;
Luk 14:5  And answered them, saying, Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the sabbath day?

Zec 9:9  Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.

What we are being told here in verse 15 is that out of our weaknesses (the jawbone of an ass), comes strength from the Lord to defeat the enemies on our behalf. The thousand men being slain signify the dying of our flesh or our old man as we look up to the Lord in our weaknesses.

2Co 12:9  And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 
2Co 12:10  Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

Jdg 15:17  And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking, that he cast away the jawbone out of his hand, and called that place Ramathlehi.

At the end of Samson’s speaking, he put away the jawbone out of his hands. Our end of speaking is when the tent of our body is destroyed – when we physically die. That is when we shall cast away our weaknesses or the jawbone out of our hands. This means that in this life, we shall have weaknesses, but God will carry us through to the end if we are destined to reign with Him.

2Co 5:1  For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
2Co 5:2  For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling,
2Co 5:3  if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked.
2Co 5:4  For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.
2Co 5:5  He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.
2Co 5:6  So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord,
2Co 5:7  for we walk by faith, not by sight.
2Co 5:8  Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.
2Co 5:9  So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. (ESV)

Jdg 15:18  And he was sore athirst, and called on the LORD, and said, Thou hast given this great deliverance into the hand of thy servant: and now shall I die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised?

In the midst of victory, Samson became apprehensive and wondered whether he may end up falling into the hands of the uncircumcised Philistines. In the same way, we sometimes become vulnerable as a result of all that we are going through even in the face of victories. Except the Lord comes to our aid through our brothers and sisters, we would not be able to finish this race which is marked out for us. What will sustain us in our vulnerability is the word of God which every joint supplies as we gather together. That is why we are cautioned to get together as we see the day of the Lord approaching. The day of the Lord is our judgment day.

Heb 10:24  And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:
Heb 10:25  Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

Eph 4:16  From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

When we read the letters of Paul, we can see that sometimes he needed encouragement from other brethren. This is exemplified in the following:

2Ti 1:15  This thou knowest, that all they which are in Asia be turned away from me; of whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes.
2Ti 1:16  The Lord give mercy unto the house of Onesiphorus; for he oft refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain: 
2Ti 1:17  But, when he was in Rome, he sought me out very diligently, and found me.
2Ti 1:18  The Lord grant unto him that he may find mercy of the Lord in that day: and in how many things he ministered unto me at Ephesus, thou knowest very well.
2Ti 4:9  Do thy diligence to come shortly unto me:
2Ti 4:10  For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia.
2Ti 4:11  Only Luke is with me. Take Mark, and bring him with thee: for he is profitable to me for the ministry.

This race we are running is not for the strong but for the weak who put their trust in the Lord.

Ecc 9:11  I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

Jdg 15:19  But God clave an hollow place that was in the jaw, and there came water thereout; and when he had drunk, his spirit came again, and he revived: wherefore he called the name thereof Enhakkore, which is in Lehi unto this day.

In our weakness, God comes to us to revive us through the word of God given to us by our brothers and sisters who also have weaknesses. This water that comes from the hollow place in our jaw to nourish us is the word of God which comes to us in season at our weakest points in life. If we pay attention to these words from our brethren (that is, if we drink this water), we become strengthened to face the challenges of the day.

There are times, too, that God open our eyes to see a well of water which we haven’t seen before to strengthen us in our desert situation as we walk with Him. This was what happened to Hagar when she was with her son Ishmael, and she ran out of water in the desert and didn’t know what to do. God intervened by helping her see what she had not seen before – water in the desert, which is the word of God. May the Lord help us to see what we have not seen before as we go through His words.

Gen 21:15  And the water was spent in the bottle, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs.
Gen 21:16  And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bowshot: for she said, Let me not see the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lift up her voice, and wept.
Gen 21:17  And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is.
Gen 21:18  Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand; for I will make him a great nation.
Gen 21:19  And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went, and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad drink.

Jdg 15:20  And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years. 

As we have learned earlier, the name Samson means sunlight. Now, let’s look at the significance of the twenty years in the days of the Philistines under Samson. In the scriptures the number twenty signifies the beginning of maturity as we are now ready to become enlisted in the Lord’s army to war against the enemies of our land.

Num 1:20  And the children of Reuben, Israel’s eldest son, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, by their polls, every male from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;

Num 1:22  Of the children of Simeon, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, those that were numbered of them, according to the number of the names, by their polls, every male from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;

Based on this, we can say that the twenty-year rule of the Israelites under Samson is a period in our lives that we are dominated by the flesh (Philistines), but we are gradually becoming mature in the things of God as a result of the sunlight (Samson) or the light of the glorious gospel we are receiving from the Lord. This beginning of maturity pertains to recognizing our appalling situation and beginning to rely on the Lord through His words to begin the cleansing process in our heavens, which results in the gradual death of our flesh or the old man.

2Co 4:4  In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

That period is when we recognize we have been deceived in Babylon, and we begin to see that the time has come for our temple to be cleansed. This was what our Lord Jesus was alluding to when He told His disciples about the destruction of their temple.

Mat 24:1  And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple.
Mat 24:2  And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.
Mat 24:3  And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
Mat 24:4  And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
Mat 24:5  For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.

We all, like the disciples, are enchanted by the outward appearance of our temple, which is our bodies.  This is because we were taught to focus on the outside rather than on the inside by our leaders (the scribes and Pharisees) in Babylon.

1Co 6:19  What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

Mat 23:25  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.
Mat 23:26  Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.

It is when we recognize that we have been deceived in Babylon (Mat 24:4-5) that we know the time has come for our temple to be cleansed. That is the beginning of our maturity, which is symbolized by the twenty years. That is the message of this whole chapter of Judges 15 – that is, the beginning of the cleansing process of our temple!!!

]]> Study of the Book of Judges – Jdg 14:1-20 But his Parents did not Know that it was of the Lord https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/study-of-the-book-of-judges-jdg-141-20-but-his-parents-did-not-know-that-it-was-of-the-lord/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=study-of-the-book-of-judges-jdg-141-20-but-his-parents-did-not-know-that-it-was-of-the-lord Mon, 12 Jul 2021 19:40:41 +0000 https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/?p=23903 Jdg 14:1-20 But his Parents did not Know that it was of the Lord
[Study Aired July 12, 2021]

Jdg 14:1  And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines. 
Jdg 14:2  And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me to wife. 
Jdg 14:3  Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well. 
Jdg 14:4  But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the LORD, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel. 
Jdg 14:5  Then went Samson down, and his father and his mother, to Timnath, and came to the vineyards of Timnath: and, behold, a young lion roared against him. 
Jdg 14:6  And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would have rent a kid, and he had nothing in his hand: but he told not his father or his mother what he had done. 
Jdg 14:7  And he went down, and talked with the woman; and she pleased Samson well. 
Jdg 14:8  And after a time he returned to take her, and he turned aside to see the carcase of the lion: and, behold, there was a swarm of bees and honey in the carcase of the lion. 
Jdg 14:9  And he took thereof in his hands, and went on eating, and came to his father and mother, and he gave them, and they did eat: but he told not them that he had taken the honey out of the carcase of the lion. 
Jdg 14:10  So his father went down unto the woman: and Samson made there a feast; for so used the young men to do. 
Jdg 14:11  And it came to pass, when they saw him, that they brought thirty companions to be with him. 
Jdg 14:12  And Samson said unto them, I will now put forth a riddle unto you: if ye can certainly declare it me within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty sheets and thirty change of garments: 
Jdg 14:13  But if ye cannot declare it me, then shall ye give me thirty sheets and thirty change of garments. And they said unto him, Put forth thy riddle, that we may hear it. 
Jdg 14:14  And he said unto them, Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness. And they could not in three days expound the riddle. 
Jdg 14:15  And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they said unto Samson’s wife, Entice thy husband, that he may declare unto us the riddle, lest we burn thee and thy father’s house with fire: have ye called us to take that we have? is it not so? 
Jdg 14:16  And Samson’s wife wept before him, and said, Thou dost but hate me, and lovest me not: thou hast put forth a riddle unto the children of my people, and hast not told it me. And he said unto her, Behold, I have not told it my father nor my mother, and shall I tell it thee? 
Jdg 14:17  And she wept before him the seven days, while their feast lasted: and it came to pass on the seventh day, that he told her, because she lay sore upon him: and she told the riddle to the children of her people. 
Jdg 14:18  And the men of the city said unto him on the seventh day before the sun went down, What is sweeter than honey? and what is stronger than a lion? And he said unto them, If ye had not plowed with my heifer, ye had not found out my riddle. 
Jdg 14:19  And the Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, and slew thirty men of them, and took their spoil, and gave change of garments unto them which expounded the riddle. And his anger was kindled, and he went up to his father’s house. 
Jdg 14:20  But Samson’s wife was given to his companion, whom he had used as his friend. 

In order to understand the story of Samson, we need to know that Samson represents the elect, as we see from the heroes mentioned in Hebrews Chapter 11 that Samson was included as an overcomer.

Heb 11:32  And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets: 
Heb 11:33  Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 
Heb 11:34  Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. 
Heb 11:35  Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection:

The life of Samson is not unique but is typical of us as God’s elect.

1Co 10:11  Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

As we are aware, the life of an elect typically follows the following sequence: We first leave Egypt (the world) when we have an encounter with Christ. We then end up in Babylon for a symbolic 70 years before we leave Babylon to be married to Christ. Samson’s life also follows the same pattern. The biblical record focuses on his life in Babylon and victory over the flesh through judgment.

Ecc 9:2  All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath.

Today’s study is about Samson’s life in Babylon through his proposed marriage with the Philistine woman as follows:

Jdg 14:1  And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines. 

As we indicated in the previous review, the name Samson means sunlight. When God comes to our lives and starts to throw light on His words and we leave the world (Egypt), our immediate response is to find a woman who symbolizes the church, who would be our enjoyment and so obtain favor from the Lord.

2Co 4:6  For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Pro 18:22  Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the LORD. 

Unfortunately, we end up with a woman from the daughters of the Philistines. The Philistines were occupying the Promised Land when Israel entered Canaan. In Israel’s conquest of the land, they could not remove the Philistines but co-habited with them in the land. The Philistines therefore represent the enemy within, which is our flesh who is empowered by the devil outside. So the woman being a daughter of the Philistines signifies the fleshly churches of this world, which is Jerusalem in bondage with her children. Being in bondage means that the church system, or Babylon, is ruled by the flesh or the law of sin and death.

Gal 4:25  For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.
Gal 4:26  But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.

Verse 1 here says that Samson went down to Timnath.  According to Strong, Timnath means portion. Therefore, Samson going down to Timnath is his portion. In other words, it was written in his book that he would go down to Timnath to meet a woman from the daughters of the Philistines. It was all part of the plan of God for his life.

Psa 139:16  Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.

Jdg 14:2  And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me to wife.

The fact that Samson told his parents to get the woman for him means that he was still under the rule of his fleshly parents. This implies that Samson was still dominated by the flesh even though he was called and chosen. Thus, he was carnal as he started his walk with the Lord. We, too, when we started our walk with Christ were carnal.

1Co 3:1  And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. 
1Co 3:2  I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. 
1Co 3:3  For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?

Carnality begets carnality. It is therefore no surprise that Samson ended up with a daughter of the Philistines. When we started our walk with Christ, when we were devoid of discernment, we looked to the church (woman) as most glorious and beautiful. We think that through the woman we will come to know Christ. We did not know however, that she wore the attire of a harlot and would lead us to another Jesus.  These thoughts are expressed in the scriptures as follows:

Pro 7:9  In the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night:
Pro 7:10  And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart. 
Pro 7:11  (She is loud and stubborn; her feet abide not in her house: 
Pro 7:12  Now is she without, now in the streets, and lieth in wait at every corner.) 
Pro 7:13  So she caught him, and kissed him, and with an impudent face said unto him, 
Pro 7:14  I have peace offerings with me; this day have I payed my vows. 
Pro 7:15  Therefore came I forth to meet thee, diligently to seek thy face, and I have found thee. 
Pro 7:16  I have decked my bed with coverings of tapestry, with carved works, with fine linen of Egypt. 
Pro 7:17  I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. 
Pro 7:18  Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning: let us solace ourselves with loves. 
Pro 7:19  For the goodman is not at home, he is gone a long journey: 
Pro 7:20  He hath taken a bag of money with him, and will come home at the day appointed. 
Pro 7:21  With her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced him. 
Pro 7:22  He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks; 
Pro 7:23  Till a dart strike through his liver; as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life.

Jdg 14:3  Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well.

Sometimes we hear the still small voice within questioning us whether being in Babylon is helping us to know God as we see ourselves gradually going back to our vomit. However, because we do not have any discernment and we judge outwardly, we think that the church (woman) must be where we should belong because we believe that its many children attest to the fact that it’s doing something right. We therefore, like Samson, become entrenched in our quest to become part of the church system because she pleases us well.

Pro 14:12  There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. 

Gal 4:27  For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.

Jdg 14:4  But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the LORD, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.

As explained earlier, our time in Babylon is all of the Lord, and this evil experience in Babylon is to give the Lord the opportunity to confront our old man or the flesh through His judgments in our lives. The latter part of this verse says that the reason God was looking for an occasion to confront the Philistines was that the Philistines had dominion over Israel at that time. This implies that there was no way we were ever going to confront the old man within us who was dominating us except the Lord takes the initiative. As a matter of fact, while in Babylon, we did not even realize that the old man or the flesh was dominating our lives. We were just like the Israelites who had gotten used to being so dominated by the Philistines. That is why the Lord had to intervene when he said:

Isa 63:5 And I looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered that there was none to uphold: therefore mine own arm brought salvation unto me; and my fury, it upheld me.
Isa 63:6  And I will tread down the people in mine anger, and make them drunk in my fury, and I will bring down their strength to the earth. 

These verses mean that we bring nothing to the table when it comes to our salvation. Except the Lord looks for an occasion to come into our lives, there is no way we would ever make any progress regarding our salvation.

Jdg 14:5  Then went Samson down, and his father and his mother, to Timnath, and came to the vineyards of Timnath: and, behold, a young lion roared against him. 
Jdg 14:6  And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would have rent a kid, and he had nothing in his hand: but he told not his father or his mother what he had done.

Our flesh (Father and Mother) will lead us down the road of the woman with the harlot attire or Babylon. However, this experience of evil is part of our portion (Timnath) from the Lord. Even though we end up in darkness in our time in Babylon, the Lord grants us small victories over the deeds of the flesh based on the little light that we have received concerning His words.

When the enemy within roars like a lion, we are given the necessary help to overcome it. The fact that a young lion was responsible for the attack suggests that we are dealing with the basic rudimentary attacks by the devil. These little victories over the flesh are usually over some overt sins in our lives such as lies, fornication, envy, jealousy, etc. which have been plaguing us as we entered Babylon.

We need to note that the Spirit of the Lord had not taken residence in Samson’s heart but comes at certain periods to deliver him in dire situations. It is the same as the spirit of the Lord brooding over the earth when the earth was without form or void. We, too, had the spirit brooding over us in our deplorable situation in Babylon.

Gen 1:1  In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
Gen 1:2  And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. 

This is contrary to the teaching we had in Babylon that immediately when we come to believe in Christ, the Holy Spirit comes to take residence in our hearts. It takes time for the Holy Spirit to take residence in our hearts to lead us into all truth after our experience of evil in Babylon.

Joh 14:16  And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
Joh 14:17  Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. 
Joh 14:18  I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.

Jdg 14:7  And he went down, and talked with the woman; and she pleased Samson well.

As those who have just started our walk with Christ, we are always pleased with the church system of this world. This is because we do not have the tools to discern what constitutes the church of the first born or Jerusalem which is above. Our judgment was always superficial. When we were young and of marriageable age, our criteria of who we should marry was most of the time superficial – we judged mostly from outward beauty without putting much premium on the inward characteristics.  The disciples were also enchanted by the temple of Jerusalem or the church when they were with Jesus as follows:

Mar 13:1  And as he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!”
Mar 13:2  And Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” (ESV)

The church system of this world promises us freedom, just as Samson thought the Philistine woman will please him. However, instead we come under severe bondage.

2Pe 2:19  They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved. (ESV)

Gal 4:25  For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. 

Jdg 14:8  And after a time he returned to take her, and he turned aside to see the carcase of the lion: and, behold, there was a swarm of bees and honey in the carcase of the lion. 
Jdg 14:9  And he took thereof in his hands, and went on eating, and came to his father and mother, and he gave them, and they did eat: but he told not them that he had taken the honey out of the carcase of the lion. 

These verses tell us about what we were in for when we embraced Babylon, represented here by the Philistine woman. Here Samson ate honey from the carcass of a lion. The lion is a beast just as we are. So the carcass of the lion symbolizes those who are spiritually dead. The swarm of bees represents the enemies within which are our flesh or the old man as demonstrated in the following scriptures:

Deu 1:44 And the Amorites, which dwelt in that mountain, came out against you, and chased you, as bees do, and destroyed you in Seir, even unto Hormah.

Psa 118:12  They compassed me about like bees; they are quenched as the fire of thorns: for in the name of the LORD I will destroy them.

So what we are being told here is that in Babylon, what we receive as the word of God or the food we eat (honey) is from spiritually dead messengers (carcass of a beast). These spiritually dead messengers speak from the flesh (bees) the enticing words of man’s wisdom, and we hear them because we identify with them.

1Co 2:4  And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: 
1Co 2:5  That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

1Jn 4:5  They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them.
1Jn 4:6  We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

Jdg 14:10  So his father went down unto the woman: and Samson made there a feast; for so used the young men to do.

Samson’s father going down to meet the woman is the same as saying that when we were ruled by the flesh, we drank of the wine of the woman’s fornication and waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.

Rev 18:3  For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.

Samson holding a feast as part of the custom of the young men is to let us know that when we were in Babylon, ruled by the flesh, we were under bondage to the principles of the world. We therefore observed days, months, times and years which brought us into more bondage.

Gal 4:3  Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:

Gal 4:8  Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods.
Gal 4:9  But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?
Gal 4:10  Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.

Jdg 14:11  And it came to pass, when they saw him, that they brought thirty companions to be with him. 

The number thirty stands for those who are destined to reign or start to do the work of the Lord, as both Joseph and David became kings at the age of thirty.

Gen 41:46  And Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt.

2Sa 5:4  David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years.

Num 4:23  From thirty years old and upward until fifty years old shalt thou number them; all that enter in to perform the service, to do the work in the tabernacle of the congregation.

What we are being told in this verse is that when we are called of the Lord, we end up in Babylon, and it is in Babylon that our Lord chooses us, which ultimately results in our exit from Babylon. In other words, Babylon gives birth to us as a manchild.

Rev 12:1  And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:
Rev 12:2  And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. 
Rev 12:3  And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. 
Rev 12:4  And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. 
Rev 12:5 And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.

Jdg 14:12  And Samson said unto them, I will now put forth a riddle unto you: if ye can certainly declare it me within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty sheets and thirty change of garments: 
Jdg 14:13  But if ye cannot declare it me, then shall ye give me thirty sheets and thirty change of garments. And they said unto him, Put forth thy riddle, that we may hear it. 

In our walk with the Lord in the churches of this world (Babylon), we are not given to understand the word of the Lord.  It is therefore a riddle or dark sayings to us.

Mat 13:10  And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
Mat 13:11  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
Mat 13:12  For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
Mat 13:13  Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. 
Mat 13:14  And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:
Mat 13:15  For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

The seven days of the feast represent the complete period of our time in Babylon. During this period, if we are granted by the Lord to start understanding the riddle or the words of the Lord, then more will be taken away from those who have not and given to us. In other words, as our eyes start to see and our ears start to hear, we will continue to know more. The more we know, the more we are being changed into His likeness, and the more we walk in His righteousness.  This righteousness is the same as the thirty garments we will be given as we solve the riddle.

On the other hand, if during our walk in Babylon, we are not able to solve this riddle or understand His words, even the little knowledge that we have will be taken away and given to those whose eyes are seeing and ears are hearing.

Mat 13:12  For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.

Jdg 14:14  And he said unto them, Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness. And they could not in three days expound the riddle.

Now let’s take a look of the riddle we are to solve while in Babylon. As we know from this story, the eater or the strong here refers to the lion that attacked Samson and the sweetness here refers to honey. This is confirmed in verse 18 when the riddle was finally solved:

Jdg 14:18  And the men of the city said unto him on the seventh day before the sun went down, What is sweeter than honey? and what is stronger than a lion? And he said unto them, If ye had not plowed with my heifer, ye had not found out my riddle.

What the men of the city said was that there was nothing sweeter than honey and that there is nothing stronger than the lion. Let’s take a look at how “honey” is used in the word of God to understand what we are being told here.

Psa 119:103  How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!

Pro 25:27  It is not good to eat much honey: so for men to search their own glory is not glory.

Exo 3:17  And I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt unto the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, unto a land flowing with milk and honey.

Deu 31:20  For when I shall have brought them into the land which I sware unto their fathers, that floweth with milk and honey; and they shall have eaten and filled themselves, and waxen fat; then will they turn unto other gods, and serve them, and provoke me, and break my covenant.

So honey represents the word of God. Usually, milk and honey are mentioned together when the scriptures describe the Promised Land. Both milk and honey represent the teething or rudimentary doctrines of the word of God.

Heb 5:11  Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing.
Heb 5:12  For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
Heb 5:13  For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.
Heb 5:14  But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

In the answer to the riddle, the men said that there is nothing sweeter than honey. This means that in Babylon, we can never rise above the first principles of the word of God since we consider honey to be the ultimate experience of sweetest. We therefore will continue to be babies in Christ as long as we cannot go beyond honey and know the word of righteousness.

The second part of the riddle was explained by the men that there is nothing stronger than the lion. This is the same as saying, “Who can war against the beast?”

Rev 13:4  And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?

The church, therefore, regards the milk of the word to be the meat of the word of God and also considers the old man as unconquerable. It is when we come to this realization that we start our exit from Babylon.

Rev 18:4  And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
Rev 18:5  For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.

The fact that the Philistine men could not in three days expound the riddle means that those called but not chosen cannot understand the mysteries of the kingdom of God at the completion of their spiritual process in Babylon.

Jdg 14:15  And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they said unto Samson’s wife, Entice thy husband, that he may declare unto us the riddle, lest we burn thee and thy father’s house with fire: have ye called us to take that we have? is it not so? 

The wife can only know what the husband has revealed to her. That is, the church receives its knowledge from Christ, and Christ receives His knowledge from what the Father has given Him.

Rev 1:1  The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:

It is insightful to note that it was on the seventh day that the thirty Philistine men realized Samson’s wife did not know the meaning of the riddle. What we are being told here is that it is when we are at the completion stage of our experience of evil in Babylon that we realize the church has nothing to offer us. That is what precipitates our exit from Babylon.

The statement, “Have you called us to take that we have?” shows that we become spiritually impoverished at the end of our time in Babylon. The little knowledge about Christ that we had was taken away through the swelling words of man’s wisdom.

Mat 13:12  For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.

2Pe 2:18  For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error.
2Pe 2:19  While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.
2Pe 2:20  For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.
2Pe 2:21  For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.
2Pe 2:22  But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.

In our frustration, we threaten to burn the woman and her father’s house if she does not ask her husband about the meaning of the riddle. Internally, this is a prediction of what is happening to us as the Babylon within us is being burnt by fire (the word of God). Externally, the church system of the world and all religions would be destroyed as a result of the frustration of the people of the world who have drunk of the wine of her fornication.

Rev 18:3  For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
Rev 18:4  And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
Rev 18:5  For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.
Rev 18:6  Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.
Rev 18:7  How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.
Rev 18:8  Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.

Jdg 14:16  And Samson’s wife wept before him, and said, Thou dost but hate me, and lovest me not: thou hast put forth a riddle unto the children of my people, and hast not told it me. And he said unto her, Behold, I have not told it my father nor my mother, and shall I tell it thee?
Jdg 14:17  And she wept before him the seven days, while their feast lasted: and it came to pass on the seventh day, that he told her, because she lay sore upon him: and she told the riddle to the children of her people.

The weeping of the woman for seven days is to show us that the church has the zeal to want to know God but it is not given for her to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God.

Rom 10:1  Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.
Rom 10:2  For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.
Rom 10:3  For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.

What we are being told here is that at the end of the seventh day, the Philistine woman was told the meaning of the riddle.  This implies that Babylon would also come to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God after she has served the period assigned to her by the Lord which is symbolized here by seven days or a thousand two hundred and threescore days.

Rev 12:6  And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days. 

Rom 11:26  And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:
Rom 11:27  For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.

The fact that Samson told the woman that he had not told his own father and mother signifies that when we are under the dominion of the flesh, we cannot know the mysteries of the kingdom of God.

Jdg 14:18  And the men of the city said unto him on the seventh day before the sun went down, What is sweeter than honey? and what is stronger than a lion? And he said unto them, If ye had not plowed with my heifer, ye had not found out my riddle. 

We have already explained the significance of the riddle as it relates to us. Our focus will therefore be on the statement “if you had not plowed my heifer, ye had not found out my riddle”. This verse is rendered in a more simplified version as follows:

Jdg 14:18  Then on the seventh day, before he went into the bride’s room, the men of the town said to him, What is sweeter than honey? and what is stronger than a lion? And he said to them, If you had not been ploughing with my cow you would not have got the answer to my question. (BBE)

Ploughing means turning over the earth just before sowing. What we are therefore being told here is that for those who are called and chosen, the period of their lives in Babylon is preparing them for the sowing of the word of God. The cow here represents our Lord Jesus Christ who comes to us while in Babylon to begin the ploughing process for us to be ready to receive the good seeds which are the mysteries of the kingdom of God. It is therefore those who are making their hearts and minds ready (ploughing their earth) with God’s cow (Jesus) who can know the riddle, that is, the mysteries of kingdom of God.

Jdg 14:19  And the Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, and slew thirty men of them, and took their spoil, and gave change of garments unto them which expounded the riddle. And his anger was kindled, and he went up to his father’s house.

The slaying of the thirty men of the Philistines in order to take their garments and give to the thirty Philistine companions of Samson is another way of saying that God has shown us mercy at the expense of those who did not believe. This mercy being shown to us involves being judged, which results in the slaying of our old man.

Rom 11:30  For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief:
Rom 11:31  Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.
Rom 11:32  For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.

Jdg 14:20  But Samson’s wife was given to his companion, whom he had used as his friend. 

It is important to note that Samson’s desire to marry the Philistine woman did not materialize, as his fiancée was given to his friend. We know that the Philistine woman represents the church which had been divorced by her husband Christ for playing the harlot. So God, in His divine wisdom, prevented Samson, a type of the elect, from marriage to this spiritually divorced Philistine woman to prevent Samson committing adultery throughout his life.

Jer 3:8  And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also.

Hos 2:2  Plead with your mother, plead: for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband: let her therefore put away her whoredoms out of her sight, and her adulteries from between her breasts; 

Mat 19:9  And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery.

In a similar vein, God intervened and delivered us from marriage to Babylon so that we would not be committing adultery throughout our lives and therefore become unfit to reign with Christ.  That is why we are called to leave Babylon at a certain stage of our walk with Christ, if we are called and chosen.

Rev 18:4  And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

As Revelation 18:4 says, if we do not come out of her, then we become partakers of her sins. We know that one of her cardinal sins is harlotry, which is the same as spiritual adultery.

Isa 1:21  How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.

The Philistine woman was given to a friend of Samson. A friend of Samson here symbolizes all those who are related to us spiritually. These are our brothers and sisters in Babylon who are spiritually in marriage to the Philistine woman who represents Babylon. We would therefore be guilty of spiritual adultery if we continue to harbor idols of the heart which we acquired from Babylon. May the Lord deliver us completely from all that belongs to Babylon in us!!!

]]> Prophecy of Isaiah – Isa 64:7-12 Thou art Our Potter; and We all are the Work of Your Hand https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/prophecy-of-isaiah-isa-647-12-thou-art-our-potter-and-we-all-are-the-work-of-your-hand/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=prophecy-of-isaiah-isa-647-12-thou-art-our-potter-and-we-all-are-the-work-of-your-hand Sun, 23 Aug 2020 02:14:35 +0000 http://www.iswasandwillbe.com/?p=21336 Isa 64:7-12 Thou art Our Potter; and We all are the Work of Your Hand
[Study Aired August 23, 2020]

Isa 64:7  And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities.
Isa 64:8  But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.
Isa 64:9  Be not wroth very sore, O LORD, neither remember iniquity for ever: behold, see, we beseech thee, we are all thy people.
Isa 64:10  Thy holy cities are a wilderness, Zion is a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation.
Isa 64:11  Our holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee, is burned up with fire: and all our pleasant things are laid waste.
Isa 64:12  Wilt thou refrain thyself for these things, O LORD? wilt thou hold thy peace, and afflict us very sore?

The Lord here tells us the reason He “has hid His face from us”:

Isa 64:7  And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities.

The Lord here tells us that He hides His face from us “because of our iniquities.” Throughout scripture we read that it is our sins that cause the Lord to “hide His face from us.” The reason the Lord gives us for destroying all life in the flood of Noah’s time is:

Gen 6:5  And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Gen 6:6  And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
Gen 6:7  And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.

The reason we are given us for the destruction of Sodom is:

Gen 18:20  And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous;
Gen 18:21  I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know.

The reason given for the Lord rejecting King Saul is:

1Sa 15:10  Then came the word of the LORD unto Samuel, saying,
1Sa 15:11  It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments. And it grieved Samuel; and he cried unto the LORD all night.

1Sa 15:23  For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.

The reason we are given for the sword not leaving King David’s house is:

2Sa 12:10  Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife.

Was it true that “the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” and this led the Lord to repent of placing mankind on this earth? Of course, that is true! Every imagination of mankind’s heart really was only evil continually.

Was it true that because “[the] sin [of Sodom] was very grievous” that the Lord destroyed Sodom? Yes, that was true! Sodom’s sin was very grievous.

Was King Saul rejected by God because He had rejected the words of the Lord? Yes, of course that was true. King Saul had indeed rejected the Lord’s words.

Had King David really despised the Lord when he took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be his wife? Obviously, King David had despised and disobeyed the word of the Lord.

We could go chronologically through every evil king of both Israel and Judah and show that the reason the Lord was displeased with every one of them was:

1Ki 15:30  Because of the sins of Jeroboam which he sinned, and which he made Israel sin, by his provocation wherewith he provoked the LORD God of Israel to anger.

No one can or should deny that our sins separate us from our God:

Isa 59:2  But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.
Isa 59:3  For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness.

Look at how similar the words of this 64th chapter are to these words from the 59th chapter:

Here is our next verse in this 64th chapter:

Isa 64:7  And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities.

These are the very next verses in chapter 59:

Isa 59:4  None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity.
Isa 59:5  They hatch cockatrice’ eggs, and weave the spider’s web: he that eateth of their eggs dieth, and that which is crushed breaketh out into a viper.

There is no denying that the Lord punishes us for our sins. Here are a few of the verses which drive this Truth home:

Isa 10:12  Wherefore it shall come to pass, that when the Lord hath performed his whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish [H6485: paqad] the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks.

Isa 13:11  And I will punish [H6485: paqad] the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.

Isa 24:21  And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall punish [H6485: paqad] the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.

Isa 26:21  For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish [H6485: paqad] the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.

Isa 27:1  In that day the LORD with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish [H6485: paqad] leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.

There is no denying that the Lord punishes us for our sins, but there are also two other Biblical doctrines which are little understood, and those two Biblical doctrines are: 1) the “Lord… makes us to err from His ways, and He hardens our hearts from His fear, and 2) He does so for the very purpose of giving Himself the occasion He is seeking to destroy the kingdom our old man.

The book of Judges and the story of Samson state this Truth very clearly. Contrary as it was to the Lord’s own instructions for the men of Israel never to seek a wife from among the heathen with whom they lived, this is what we are told of why Samson wanted to take a wife of the Philistines:

Jdg 14:1  And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines.
Jdg 14:2  And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me to wife.
Jdg 14:3  Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well.
Jdg 14:4  But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the LORD, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.

This is not a story which is out of character for God. To the contrary, this is a story which reveals the character of our God. So what is it in this story “that… was of the Lord”? Well, what did we just read?

Jdg 14:1  And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines.
Jdg 14:2  And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me to wife.
Jdg 14:3  Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well.

Didn’t the Lord command Israel not to take wives of the nations around them? Well, yes, He certainly did:

Gen 24:3  And I will make thee swear by the LORD, the God of heaven, and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell:

Gen 28:1  And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged him, and said unto him, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan.

Exo 34:14  For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:
Exo 34:15  Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they go a whoring after their gods, and do sacrifice unto their gods, and one call thee, and thou eat of his sacrifice;
Exo 34:16  And thou take of their daughters unto thy sons, and their daughters go a whoring after their gods, and make thy sons go a whoring after their gods.

Ezr 9:10  And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? for we have forsaken thy commandments,
Ezr 9:11  Which thou hast commanded by thy servants the prophets, saying, The land, unto which ye go to possess it, is an unclean land with the filthiness of the people of the lands, with their abominations, which have filled it from one end to another with their uncleanness.
Ezr 9:12  Now therefore give not your daughters unto their sons, neither take their daughters unto your sons, nor seek their peace or their wealth for ever: that ye may be strong, and eat the good of the land, and leave it for an inheritance to your children for ever.

Neh 13:25  And I contended with them, and cursed them, and smote certain of them, and plucked off their hair, and made them swear by God, saying, Ye shall not give your daughters unto their sons, nor take their daughters unto your sons, or for yourselves.

Samson’s parents knew what Abraham and Isaac had said about marrying the daughters of the land in which they sojourned as strangers. It was strictly forbidden, and yet we are being told of Samson’s desire to marry a Philistine woman… “it was of the LORD, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.”

In other words, what Judges 14 tells us about Samson’s sins is the same message King Solomon was inspired of the holy spirit to give us long before Isaiah:

Pro 16:4  The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.

‘Evil’ and ‘corruption’ are very similar, and we are all “corruption” by virtue of being “shapen in iniquity and… conceived… in sin”:

Psa 51:5  Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.

1Co 15:50  Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

So, when we read:

Isa 64:7  And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities.

We now must acknowledge that the sum of the Lord’s word reveals that the ultimate cause for the fact that “none calls upon [the Lord’s] name, [nor] stirs up himself to take hold of [the Lord]” we really do so “because you have hid your face from us and have consumed us, because of our iniquities, [which like Samson’s lust for a Philistine wife were] of the Lord [who] is seeking an occasion against [our own carnal-minded old man] for at that time [by the Lord’s design, our rebellious, carnal-minded old man] had dominion over [us]”.

Jdg 14:4  But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the LORD, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.

Pro 16:4  The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.

Isa 45:7  I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

Isa 30:27  Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire:
Isa 30:28  And his breath, as an overflowing stream, shall reach to the midst of the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of vanity: and there shall be a bridle in the jaws of the people, causing them to err.

Isa 63:17  O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants’ sake, the tribes of thine inheritance.

Rom 8:18  For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Rom 8:19  For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
Rom 8:20  For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,

Rom 9:16  So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.
Rom 9:17  For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.
Rom 9:18  Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.

Only if we are given to acknowledge that the Lord “creates evil… yes, even the wicked for the day of evil” in our own lives, and that it is He who puts a bridle in our mouths with which He “makes us to err from [His] ways and hardens our hearts from His fear [in] this present time”, that His mercy upon us “is not of him [us] who wills”; only if we acknowledge all of this in this time will we be given to pray this next verse with any degree of conviction:

Isa 64:8  But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.

Being a ‘puppet’ is too far from “the Potter’s hand” to be the symbol of how the Lord works His work in the affairs of mankind. Being a puppet is not a Biblical type or shadow of the extent of the Lord’s sovereign work with mankind. The type and shadow of the extent of the Lord’s sovereign hand in our lives is “clay in the hand of The Potter”:

Jer 18:4  And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.
Jer 18:5  Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
Jer 18:6  O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.

This is confirmed in the New Covenant:

Rom 9:16  So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.
Rom 9:17  For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.
Rom 9:18  Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.
Rom 9:19  Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?
Rom 9:20  Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?
Rom 9:21  Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?
Rom 9:22  What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:
Rom 9:23  And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,
Rom 9:24  Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?

If any of this is true, then our election has nothing to do with our own power or our own will. The fact is that our election was known to the Lord before the world began, and the scriptures twice plainly state:

2Ti 1:9  Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,

Tit 1:2  In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;

If we are blessed to be made aware that our God is actually a loving heavenly Father who, like any father who loves His children, will correct and chasten them when it is needed, then we will cry out to our Father:

Isa 64:9  Be not wroth very sore, O LORD, neither remember iniquity for ever: behold, see, we beseech thee, we are all thy people.

Knowing that it is the Lord who is working all things after the counsel of His own will (Eph 1:11) gives us hope and helps us endure because we know that our trials are all for a good purpose; the purpose of chastening us to forsake ungodliness and worldly lusts and to live godly lives in this present age.

Tit 2:11  For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
Tit 2:12  Teaching [G3811: paideuo, chastening] us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world [G165, aion, age];
Tit 2:13  Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
Tit 2:14  Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
Tit 2:15  These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee.

Knowing all of that does not make the pain of dying to our old man any the less painful, neither does it make it any less essential that we must endure to the end the pain of losing our life if we really want to find it.

Joh 12:24  Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
Joh 12:25  He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world [G2889: kosmos] shall keep it unto life eternal.

As we endure the loss of our lives, we cry out to our heavenly Father:

Isa 64:10  Thy holy cities are a wilderness, Zion is a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation.
Isa 64:11  Our holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee, is burned up with fire: and all our pleasant things are laid waste.
Isa 64:12  Wilt thou refrain thyself for these things, O LORD? wilt thou hold thy peace, and afflict us very sore?

“Our holy and beautiful house where our fathers praised you is burned up with fire: and all our pleasant things are laid waste…” This essentially was King David’s refrain also when his own son, his closest counselor, and most of the entire nation, turned on him and sought to kill him:

Psa 22:1  To the chief Musician upon Aijeleth Shahar, A Psalm of David. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?
Psa 22:2  O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent.
Psa 22:3  But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.
Psa 22:4  Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them.
Psa 22:5  They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded.
Psa 22:6  But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.
Psa 22:7 All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,
Psa 22:8  He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.

From the time we also are “carnal babes in Christ” (1Co 3:1-4), we are “in Christ” who is our “beautiful house”:

Joh 14:20  At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.
Joh 14:21  He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.

All those words of Isaiah 64: 10-12 are the essence of Christ’s own words while He, too, felt forsaken of His own Father when He was offered up for our sins upon the cross. Notice the parallel here in Matthew 27 with King David’s words in Psalms 22:

Mat 27:39  And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads,
Mat 27:40  And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross.
Mat 27:41  Likewise also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said,
Mat 27:42  He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him.

Mat 27:43  He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God.

Compare these words to King David’s words:

Psa 22:7  All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,
Psa 22:8  He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.

This is what Christ told us the night of His apprehension by the Jews:

Joh 13:16  Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him.
Joh 13:17  If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.
Joh 13:18  I speak not of you all: I know whom I have chosen: but that the scripture may be fulfilled, He that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me.
Joh 13:19  Now I tell you before it come, that, when it is come to pass, ye may believe that I am he.
Joh 13:20  Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth me; and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.

The way we “receive whomsoever [Christ has sent] is by knowing His ‘voice’, meaning His doctrine:

Joh 10:2  But he that entereth in by the door [Christ, verse 7] is the shepherd of the sheep.
Joh 10:3  To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.
Joh 10:4  And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.
Joh 10:5  And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.
Joh 10:6  This parable spake Jesus unto them: but they understood not what things they were which he spake unto them.
Joh 10:7  Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep.

The ‘voice’ of Christ has informed us in advance that if we ‘trusted in Him’ then we, too, as He was, will be hated of all men:

Mat 10:22  And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

Joh 15:18  If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
Joh 15:19  If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
Joh 15:20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.

Christ knew that obedience to His Father’s words would be much better in the end than giving in to the temptation to avoid the death of the cross.

Joh 15:21  But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me.

Christ knew who it was who had sent Him, and we, too, must know who has sent us. He knew full well the sufferings of this present time were not worthy to be compared to the glory which would be revealed in Himself and in His Christ:

Mat 4:8  Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;
Mat 4:9  And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.
Mat 4:10  Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

We read and believe this chapter of Isaiah because we know:

Joh 15:20  Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.

However, just as Christ told Satan to get behind Him when Satan offered Him the kingdoms of this world in exchange for His worship of Satan, we, with Christ within us will follow in His steps because we also:

Rom 8:18  [… ] reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Rom 8:19  For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
Rom 8:20  For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
Rom 8:21  Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

That is our study for today, and we will begin chapter 65 next week, Lord willing:

Isa 65:1  I am sought of them that asked not for me; I am found of them that sought me not: I said, Behold me, behold me, unto a nation that was not called by my name.
Isa 65:2  I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people, which walketh in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts;
Isa 65:3  A people that provoketh me to anger continually to my face; that sacrificeth in gardens, and burneth incense upon altars of brick;
Isa 65:4  Which remain among the graves, and lodge in the monuments, which eat swine’s flesh, and broth of abominable things is in their vessels;
Isa 65:5  Which say, Stand by thyself, come not near to me; for I am holier than thou. These are a smoke in my nose, a fire that burneth all the day.
Isa 65:6  Behold, it is written before me: I will not keep silence, but will recompense, even recompense into their bosom,

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