Bruce Hornsby and Don Henley co-wrote The End of the Innocence in the late 1980’s. Its thought-provoking lyrics and haunting piano melodies have made it one of my all time favorite pop songs. It brilliantly juxtaposes nostalgic metaphors of childhood days with images of adult complication, corruption, and conflict. The skies were blue, mommy and daddy were together, and there wasn’t a care in the world, but sin gradually strips away innocence and spoils life.              

            This song describes what has happened throughout the Book of Judges—sin has stolen the innocence of a nation and has lead to the disintegration of their whole society. After God had delivered his people from 400 years of slavery in Egypt, the Israelites resettled in the Promised Land. Under Joshua’s leadership, the nation flourished spiritually and physically, but after Joshua’s death, Israel spiraled into cycles of generational sin.

            Throughout this time, God rose up judges like Othniel, Ehud, Deborah, Gideon, Jephthah, and Samson to deliver his people from foreign oppression and establish peace and prosperity in the land. But these times were short-lived—with the passing of each judge, the periods of peace got shorter and the days of oppression got longer. Israel has slowly abandoned God and adopted the pagan practices of their Canaanite neighbors. They have exchanged God’s laws for the self-centered philosophy of doing what is right in their own eyes. The people of God have committed acts of idolatry, arrogance, narcissism, manipulation, deceit, vengeance, and violence, and the last few chapters of Judges has documented Israel’s descent into total debauchery, where they have stolen, raped, murdered, and massacred each other. There are no laws, no order, no justice, no morals, no ethics, no compassion, no mercy, and no love for God or neighbor!

            In the preceding chapter, we saw how the Israelites united to hold the men of Gibeah accountable for the brutal rape and murder of the Levite’s concubine, but they wound up massacring the whole tribe of Benjamin (men, women, and children). What started out as an attempt to uphold justice turned into a gross miscarriage of justice, and now there were only 600 Benjamites alive and the tribe was on the brink of extinction.

            In the final chapter, the author of Judges concludes the story by showing a nation that has completely given way to anarchy and civil war. Let us take one last look before we say goodbye!

Regrettable Regret (2-3)

            The first thing I would like for us to notice in this last chapter is how the Israelites regretted their preceding actions. After they massacred the Benjamites, verse 2 tells us that they went to Bethel and wept before the Lord. They genuinely regretted that one of their tribes was almost completely annihilated, but they didn’t regret their own sinful actions. Notice how they express this to God, “O Lord, the God of Israel, why has this happened in Israel, that today we should be lacking one tribe in Israel?” (3) This prayer is really an accusation and their audacity reveals the corruption in their hearts. Instead, of taking responsibility for their own decisions and actions in slaughtering Benjamin, they subtly shifted the blame to God. They knew the answer to their question. Why did this happen? Because they ignored God’s laws and did what was right in their own eyes! This is a classic case of regrettable regret!

            Have you ever done this in your own life? Have you ever regretted the consequences of you sin, but not the sin itself? Have you ever tried to pawn off a personal mistake, bad decision, or sinful action on God? This is like the man who prayed, “Lord, I am really sorry for cheating on my wife, but why did you make my mistress so hot!” The lesson for us is this: Let us live in such a way that we have no regrets! But when we mess up, instead of blaming others or God for our failure, let’s take immediate responsibility for our actions.  

Hasty Oaths (1, 5)

            The second thing I want us to notice is how the Israelites made hasty and unwise oaths.

Verse 1 tells us that when the Israelites first assembled back at Mizpah, before they went to war against Benjamin, they had declared an oath that none of their tribes would allow their daughters to marry a Benjamite man. This passionate wartime embargo against Jewish brides was intended to isolate and punish the Benjamites, but they did not think through the consequences of their pledge. They did not realize that the wholesale slaughter of the Benjamite women would leave the 600 male survivors childless and the tribe would become extinct.

            The second hasty oath they made was that if any tribe did not unite with Israel to fight against Benjamin, those men would be put to death. The purpose of this oath was to ensure that everyone kept their word and that they would have powerful army to march against Benjamin. After the bloody battle, they took a role call and discovered that the men from Jabesh-gilead, from the tribe of Ephraim, did not come up to fight with them. Now because of this hasty oath, they had to inflict more bloodshed on their own people.

            This passage demonstrates the folly of making rash oaths. Proverbs 20:25 says “It is a trap for a man to dedicate something rashly and only later to consider his vows.” We should never make a vow to God or anyone else that we do not intend to keep. Before we make promises, we need to think through all the ramifications and consequences.

Legal Loopholes (6-22)

            The third thing I want you to notice is how the Israelites searched for a legal loophole to get them out of a jam. Their regrettable actions and hasty oaths put the whole nation in a bad position, and instead of inquiring of the Lord, the elders of Israel devised their own strategy for solving the problem. They came up with a clever ploy to circumvent the oaths they had made to God. As they were planning to punish the people of Jabesh-gilead, the elders commissioned the army to kill everyone in the city (men, women, and children) except for the unmarried virgins. The virgins were to be spared and given in marriage to the Benjamite survivors.

            And that is exactly what they did. When all of the people of Jabesh-gilead were murdered, they found 400 young virgins who had never been married, and gave them to the Benjamites as wives. Do you see their twisted sense of justice? They massacre and kidnap one tribe to save another.

            But there was still a problem—200 Benjamites still needed wives. So, the Israelites developed another scheme to secure more wives. They instructed the Benjamites to go to the annual festival at Shiloh, hide in the nearby vineyards, and wait for the young women to appear. When they came out to dance and celebrate, the rest of the Benjamites were to grab a girl and take her home as a wife. In this way, the Israelites were technically not breaking their oath of not giving their daughters to the Benjamites because they stole them for themselves.

            Well, in the end, the Israelites got exactly what they wanted— all 600 Benjamites got wives. It only took the massacre of a whole town of Jabesh-gilead and the kidnapping and forced marriage of 200 innocent young women from Shiloh.

            When we are not walking with God, we too have the tendency to look for legal loopholes or moral rationalizations to get ourselves out of a jam. Using one law to circumvent another is never justifiable in God’s estimation. How many times have we rationalized sin by saying, “Well, it’s not technically lying. It’s not technically stealing. It’s not technically cheating?” Like the Israelites, technicalities may get us what we want in the short-term, but what is the price we pay for it in the long-run?

Poisoned by These Fairy Tales (23-25)

             After everything that has happened, it should come as no surprise that this story does not conclude with a fairy tale ending. It actually ends with some rather disturbing statements. In verses 23-24, the author of Judges tells us that the Benjamites took their new brides back to their hometowns, rebuilt their houses, and lived there. The Israelites also departed from there and returned to their own land.

            After a grotesque massacre and monstrous kidnapping, everyone simply returned to their homes and pretended like nothing ever happened. On the outside, it seems like “happily ever after,” but on the inside, there is nothing to be happy about. There was no repentance, no restitution, and no reconciliation. When this story ends, we are left with a sick feeling in our stomachs. Therefore, it is appropriate that the book concludes with the refrain that we have seen throughout: “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”

            Here is where the line in Hornsby and Henley’s song “and happily ever after fails and we’ve been poisoned by these fairy tales” is so poignant. This story shows the end of the innocence of a whole culture. It shows us the moral decay of a nation that disregards God. It shows us the disintegration of a society that ignores God’s laws. The Book of Judges is certainly no fairy tale!

            The refrain “there was no king in Israel” is the most tragic line of all. Why? Because there was a king in Israel! God was their king, but they refused to acknowledge him. And unfortunately, the nation of Israel would treat God the exact same way when he appeared in human flesh in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords! Do you acknowledge him?

            Over the years there have been a handful of Hollywood films that have profoundly affected me. The 1989 military movie Casualties of War is one of them. Starring Sean Penn and Michael J. Fox, the film is based on the actual events that happened on Hill 192 in 1966 during the Vietnam War. It tells the story of a United States Army unit who kidnapped a pretty 21 year old Vietnamese girl, bound her wrists with rope, gagged her mouth, and took her on the mission. Later, after setting up camp, four of the soldiers took turns assaulting her. The following day, in the midst of a firefight with the Viet Cong, two of the soldiers worried that they would get caught with the woman, so they shot her in the head with an M16 rifle.

            The film not only portray depicts the cruelties of the military combat, but it also exposes the moral malaises and ethical injustices that often accompany such conflicts. The powerful main point of the movie is: There are casualties of war even beyond the battlefield.

            This is precisely the point of Judges 20. As the author of Judges continues to paint a painful picture of a society that has no regard for God or his laws, he is putting on the finishing touches on the story by showing the nation of Israel disintegrating into complete anarchy and civil war. Like Casualties of War, this biblical story will kick us in the gut, but I hope that we will all be profoundly affected by it. So, let’s take a look!

Unity in Troubled Times (1-11)

            After the brutal rape and murder of the Levite’s concubine, he dismembered her body and sent pieces to the twelve tribes of Israel. When the tribes heard about what the men of Gibeah did to this poor girl and witnessed the evidence with their own eyes, they were utterly horrified. The refrain repeated throughout Israel was “Such a thing has never happened or been seen from the day that the people of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt until this day.” (19:31)

            Now Israel hadn’t been a unified nation since the days of Joshua and the conquest of the Promised Land. The relationships between the tribes of Israel had been strained for generations and they absolutely refused to cooperate with one another. But Gibeah’s crime was so morally outrageous that the leaders of each tribe met together at the Mizpah to decide how to hold these men accountable for their acts of atrocity.

            Before deciding how to punish the perpetrators, the leaders of Israel wanted to hear the concubine’s story from the Levite’s own lips. When recounting the events, the Levite definitely told his version. He exaggerated that the men of Gibeah wanted to kill him, and although he was truthful about the rape and murder, he conveniently left out the part about him physically pushing her out the door and feeding her to the wolves. He spun the details in such a way to conceal his complicity and to make himself out as the primary victim. Nonetheless, an abominable crime was committed and justice needed to be served. So, the Levite asked the tribal leaders what they were going to do about it.

            Upon hearing this tragic tale, the Israelites rose with rage and indignation, and they declared that no one would return to his own house until Gibeah was brought to justice. In a rare display of unity, they formed a plan to gather men from each of their tribes to march against Gibeah. It is ironic that none of the judges of Israel were ever able to amass a unified army to fight against the wicked Canaanites, but now they agree to assemble against their own countrymen. It is sad that it took a national tragedy like this to bring the Israelites together.

            But isn’t that exactly the way it is for so many families, communities, and nations today? So often we live in strife and isolation from one another, and it takes a tragedy to bring us together. One of the more awkward aspects of my job is being in a hospital room or funeral home with family members who haven’t spoken to each other in years. I can’t tell you how many times I have heard the words, “It is sad that it takes something like this to bring us all together.” They’re right, it’s downright heartbreaking! Don’t be like the Israelites and wait for a tragedy to motivate you to reconcile or reach out to your family.

            Likewise, the funeral home is the place I so often hear fellow community members say, “We have to stop meeting like this!” What does that say about a community when they only time people see each other is when someone dies? If we want to stop meeting like this, let’s start meeting for something else…like lunch, or even better, church!

            How about our nation? I wonder what kind of national crisis it will take to break the gridlock in Washington D.C.! I wonder what it will take to get us to love each other and work together in spite of our differences! The last time I saw our nation pull together with any real sense of unity was the week of September 11, 2001.

Blood is Thicker than Justice (12-17)

            The Israelite army demanded that the tribe of Benjamin give up the offenders from Gibeah so that they could execute them and purge the evil from the land. But the Benjamites refused. Apparently, blood was thicker than justice. They would rather protect their own guilty tribesmen than cooperate with the rest of Israel. Instead, they gathered their forces to defend Gibeah, even though they were hopelessly outnumbered. They were willing to engage in civil war rather than bringing the rapists and murderers to justice.

            So, the Benjamites brought their 26,000 sword-bearers and 700 south-paw slingers to fight against the army of Israel that stood 400,000 men strong. Now I’m not much of a military man, but I can tell you that with these odds, the tribe of Benjamin didn’t stand a chance. Why in the world wouldn’t the Benjamites just act justly?

            This is the question that plagues all of us at some level. Why don’t we just do what is right? Why are we willing to let family ties to trump our morals? Why do we allow ourselves to be complicit in sin against God to protect our family members?

            Some of you may be saying, “Wait a minute, I don’t do that,”, but I can give you countless examples of how this happens today. For instance, how about the momma bear who relentlessly defends her child when the teacher or principal calls home with a report of bad behavior? I have seen this many times. How about the parent who provides their own urine sample to help their teenager to pass a drug test? I’ve seen this one more than once! Or how about the man or woman who lies to the police to keep their spouse out of jail? Yes, I’ve seen this one too. What sins are you willing to commit to protect your family? Like the Benjamites, when we obstruct justice, we become just as guilty!

Humiliating Defeats (18-28)

            Before going to battle, the Israelites went to Bethel, where the Ark of the Covenant was located and Phinehas the priest ministered, to ask God which tribe should lead the charge against Gibeah. The Lord replied that Judah should take the lead, which is reminiscent of the beginning of the Book of Judges when God told Judah to lead the Israelites into battle against the Canaanites. This repetition is ironic because this time around, the battle is against their brothers.

            Even though the Israelites vastly outnumbered the Benjamites, the underdogs gashed the Israelites in the first two battles. After two days of fighting, the Israelite casualties numbered 40,000 compared to only a few for the Benjamites. The Israelites were not only defeated; they were totally humiliated. At the end of each day’s battle, they wept before the Lord and inquired if they should continue the fight. Both times God answered in the affirmative. Finally, on the third day the Israelites conquered the Benjamite army and captured the city of Gibeah by employing a clever ambush tactic by retreating from the front lines to draw out the Benjamite army while a battalion of Israelite soldiers stormed in from the side and captured the city.

            The Lord eventually empowered the Israelites to win the battle, but this raises the question of why he would allow them to experience humiliating defeats on the first two days. Perhaps he wanted them to humble them sufficiently. After all, there is no indication that they sought the Lord’s guidance in how they should respond to this atrocity. Even when they did consult him, they simply asked who should lead the charge. They had already committed to war and they just assumed God’s approval. Their initial defeat taught them that divine authorization should be sought before, not during such a grave mission. They Lord’s delay in giving them victory gave them the exact attitude adjustment they needed. (Chisholm 504)

            God does the same thing with us today. Whenever we display streaks of arrogance and independence, he uses adversity to adjust our attitudes. Sometimes he allows us to experience unexpected and humiliating defeats to humble us and remind us of our need for him. Just as the Israelites trusted in the size and skill of their army, we are often tempted to trust in our personal intellect, talent, cleverness, or bank account to make us succeed in life. When we get puffed up in our pride and think we have life all figured out, God has ways for forcing us to our knees. You know the phrase, “Pride always comes before a fall.”

            If we learn to pray before we act, it will prevent a lot of pain! If we seek his will before we make decisions, it will spare us heartache! If we just learn to say “please” and “thank you” to God, it will save us from unnecessary sorrow! God wants us to succeed, but he wants us to do it in the spirit of humility!  

Triumph Taken Too Far (29-48)

            Well, after the war was over, the whole Benjamite army was decimated. 25,100 of their men were bludgeoned the battlefield that day. 600 Benjamite soldiers managed to escape and hid at the rock of Rimmon for four months. In the meantime, the Israelite forces forged ahead and ravaged the rest of the Benjamite cities, striking them with the edge of the sword. That is—they killed every living thing in their path (men, women, children, and livestock) and burned all of their towns to the ground.

            There is tragic irony in this description of Israel’s victory. The expression “strike them with the edge of the sword” was used way back at the beginning of the Book of Judges to describe Israel’s conquest against the Canaanites. But now we see the Israelites inflicting the same kind of slaughter upon their own countrymen. In a classic case of triumph taken too far, the Israelites treated their own people more harshly than their enemies. This whole endeavor began with the Israelites uniting to bring the men of Gibeah to justice for acts of brutality against an innocent woman, but it ends with the Israelites committing even more gruesome and excessive crimes. Indeed, the casualties of war are everywhere.

            Like the Israelites, when God is not our top priority, even our best attempts of doing good and working for justice can easily be tainted by transgression. We all possess a sinful nature, and if it is left unchecked, we have the capacity to abuse God’s grace and turn great triumphs into even greater tragedies. I hate to say it, but we are all capable of committing atrocious acts against our own families and countrymen. Yes, the casualties of sin are broadcast across the headlines and scattered across the communities of America every day!

            Again, as the author of Judges brings the epic to a close, he wants us to see the dreadful consequences of living in a society where no one abides by God’s laws. He wants us to understand desperate need for a deliverer. He wants us to recognize that we need a redeemer who will save us from ourselves. The Book of Judges and the whole Old Testament are showing us our need for Jesus, God’s own Son, our great deliverer, redeemer, and friend. Do you know how much you need him?

            “In the criminal justice system, sexually based offenses are considered especially heinous. In New York City, the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies are members of an elite squad known as the Special Victims Unit. These are their stories.” These words comprise the introduction to every episode of the NBC television show Law & Order: SVU (Special Victims Unit). The show’s writer, Dick Wolf, adapts real life stories to reveal the ruthless realities of sexual crimes. He delves into the deranged minds and despicable motives of the perpetrators and depicts the dreadful effects on the victims and their families. Every episode of SVU is a documentary on the depths of human depravity.

            Whether you watch shows like this on television or if you simply scan the day’s headlines, you know that we live in a nation that is plagued by an epidemic of sexual violence. Prostitution is plentiful! Rape is rampant, especially on our college campuses. Child molestation is perpetrated by people you would least expect. Human trafficking is as common today as it was during the pre-civil war slave days (with more than 15,000 people trafficked in the United States every year, and most of them are young women who get exploited in the underground sex industry).  

            And if you think these dastardly deeds only happen in the big city, you are sadly mistaken: sexual violence lurks in every suburb, small-town, and rural village in America, even in communities like ours!

            Judges 19 is like an episode of Law & Order: SVU. I want to warn you from the outset, this is one of the most shocking and appalling chapters in the whole Bible. It is Rated-R for graphic violence and sexually explicit material. As we investigate this case together, you may find yourself asking, “Why is this in the Bible?” But I assure you, if you can bear through the repulsive scenes, you will see that God has put it here for a good reason. So, let’s take a look!

A Bad Romance (1-9)

            This sick saga begins with a bad romance between a Levite and his concubine. Levites were descendants of Levi, the tribe which God designated to serve as priests and spiritual leaders of Israel. This Levite, however, was anything but a spiritual leader. As we will soon discover, he was a yellow-bellied self-serving morally degenerate back-stabbing weasel.

            Concubines were live-in mistresses who performed all of the functions and duties of a wife but did not enjoy the social status or legal protection of being married. Although we don’t know how this girl became a concubine, many young women were forced into this lifestyle as a means of survival. As we will soon discover, this concubine, who was from the little farming town of Bethlehem, would not receive the security she desired; instead, she will become a special victim of sexual violence.

            We don’t know how these two originally hooked up, but we do know that they were shacking up together in the remote hill country of Ephraim. But for some unknown reason, the concubine became angry with the Levite and moved back to her father’s house in Bethlehem. Again, we don’t know why she left him—she may have been frustrated because she was forced to live a lonely life of seclusion in the boonies. Maybe she just got fed up with the fact that he wouldn’t marry her (maybe she held out her hand and sang “If you like it, you better put a ring on it. Oh oh oh, oh oh oh!) Or perhaps he was even verbally or physically abusive to her. At any rate, she left him and returned to the comfort and security of her father’s house.

            After four long months, the Levite’s loneliness got the best of him and he decided to go to Bethlehem and try to make amends with his concubine. He probably had a pocket full of half-hearted apologies and empty promises to persuade her to come back.

              When the Levite got to Bethlehem, the girl’s father was surprisingly glad to meet him. We would think that the girl’s father would confront the Levite about the conflict with his daughter, but it never happens. Instead, her father displays grace and generosity; providing him food, drink, and shelter for three days. You know what they say—“Company is like fish, after three days they begin to stink.” But this father shows incredible hospitality when he insists that the Levite stay a forth night. Finally, after the midday meal on the fifth day, the Levite and his concubine saddled up the donkeys and headed northwest toward the town of Jebus.

Ghastliness in Gibeah (10-21)

            By the time they approached Jebus (that is, Jerusalem), it was already late in the day, so the Levite’s servant proposed that they stop there for the night. But the Levite immediately squashed any idea of spending the night there because it was inhabited by the Jebusites, a powerful subset of the wicked Canaanites. He decided, instead, to press on a few more miles toward the Israelite town of Gibeah, where he expected to receive a more hospitable welcome.

            As the afternoon wore on to evening, the weary travelers arrived at Gibeah, hoping to find lodging from their fellow Israelites from the tribe of Benjamin who inhabited the town. Following the custom of the day, they went to the town square and waited for someone to offer them a place for the night. But there was an eerie air about this town. Like something out of a Stephen King novel or Wes Craven horror film, the people of Gibeah wouldn’t even make eye contact with them, let alone offer them hospitality. Their prospects of securing accommodations were soon vanishing with the setting sun.

            But just when they thought they might be forced to camp in the town square for the night, an old man, who was on his way home from work, approached and greeted the couple. They were delighted when they discovered that, even though the man was temporarily living in Gibeah, he was from the hill country of Ephraim. (When you are in a stranger in a strange place, it is always comforting to meet someone from your hometown.) The old man’s offer for them to stay with him was gracious, but his insistence that they not sleep in the town square cast an ominous shadow over the whole ordeal. There was some ghastliness about Gibeah.

Sodom and Gomorrah Revisited  (22-30)

            When they got to the old man’s house, he treated them with tremendous hospitality: he made sure that their donkeys were fed, their feet were washed, and their bellies were filled. As they reclined around the dinner table enjoying cordial conversation and a glass of wine, iniquity came knocking. A mob of mad men surrounded the house, pounded on the door, and demanded that the old man send out the Levite so that they could sexually abuse him. (For those of you who know your Bible, you will recall that this was precisely what took place at Sodom and Gomorrah. This act provoked God’s judgment in the form of sulfur and fire from heaven.)

            The old man knew that both homosexuality and rape were expressly forbidden by God’s law, and he went outside and begged these monstrous men not to do this disgraceful deed. But just when we think that the old man is will make a heroic stand for moral justice, he offers the ultimate indecent proposal: “Look, here is my virgin daughter, and his concubine. I will bring them out to you now, and you can use them and do to them whatever you wish. But to this man, don’t do such a disgraceful thing.” (24)

            Well, how would the Levite respond to the old man’s cowardess? Would he be a real man and stick up of his own wife and the old man’s daughter? He was close enough to the door to hear that the old man’s offer was not pacifying the savages, so he grabbed his concubine and threw her out like one tosses a scrap of meat to the dogs, and the men of Gibeah abused and gang raped her all night long.

            Now we have to pause here for a moment and ask, “What in the world were these men thinking? What kind of father would sacrifice his own daughter to secure the safety of a stranger? What kind of person would offer another man’s wife to a horde like this? What kind of husband would actively allow his wife to be treated like this?  

            The answer is—men who have no value or respect for the female gender. These men were so consumed with saving their own skin and maintaining their honor in a male dominated culture that they was willing throw their women to the wolves. The old man showed incredible hospitality to the Levite, but none to his own daughter or the Levite’s wife. The Levite was happy to receive the old man’s hospitality, but he wasn’t willing to extend it to a woman. This is truly a case of inhospitable hospitality!

            Just when we think this story can’t get any worse, we have to brace ourselves for another shockwave of wickedness. As dawn’s early light appeared, the perpetrators finally had their fill and they let the concubine go. As she stumbled back to the old man’s house, she collapsed before she could reach the door and laid there until morning.

            As the poor girl lies there, can you behold the bewilderment of betrayal and abandonment in her unopened eyes? Can you feel the ache of her blood-stained and broken body? Can you taste the tears of terror and torment trickling down her face? And can you hear the faint sounds of fingernails scratching against the threshold of desperation?

            When the Levite woke up in the morning and got ready to go on his way, he found his concubine’s brutalized body by the door and uttered the chilling words, “Get up, let us be going.” And when he picked up her limp frame and a placed in on his donkey, he discovered that she was already dead.

            As the Levite returned to his home in the hill country of Ephraim, he had a lot of time to reflect on everything that had happened and what he should have done. When he arrived home, he performed an unspeakable act of gruesomeness. He took a knife, cut her body into twelve pieces, and sent one to each of the twelve tribes of Israel, along with a note that explained what the Benjamites’ inhospitality, brutality, and degeneracy of their own society. He and his concubine avoided a Canaanite city in favor of their own, but they wound up back in Sodom and Gomorrah. (Block 546)

            I hope we are all shocked by this story. I hope that we are all outraged by such tale of unrestrained animal lust and human depravity. And I hope that you are all wondering why the Good Book contains such a bad story!   

            The answer to that last question is simple: This story shows us what happens when a society ignores God’s laws. This is what it looks like when a society falls into the pit moral relativism. This is what happens when the people of a society say, “I determine my own morality. What’s right for you may not be right for me and what’s right for me may not be right for you. Nobody has the right to tell me what to do or how to live my life.” A society becomes the new Sodom and Gomorrah.

            When people do what is right in their own eyes, the strong take advantage of the weak and injustice prevails. Don’t we see this in our world today? Just like in the Book of Judges, as our society continues to turn its back on God, government corruption, economic inequity, social injustice, and violence (particularly sexual violence) will flourish. Are we not watching this before our very eyes right here in America?

            So, what is our only hope? There is only one hope: Jesus Christ. Our society will only truly change when it repents from its sin, trusts in God’s only son Jesus Christ, and lives a life centered on God’s moral standards! Will it begin with you?  

            How would you like to live in a land without laws? Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live in a nation with no government, ethical codes, or moral standards? Can you imagine living in a society where everyone does whatever they want?

            The double conclusion of the Book of Judges (ch.17-21) addresses these questions for us. Throughout the book we have seen a repeated pattern: the Israelites become spiritually lazy and fall away from God, God sends a foreign nation to humble them through oppression, they cry out to God to rescue them, God sends them a judge to deliverer them, and then the land experiences peace and prosperity for a time before they lapse again. But with each reoccurring cycle, the judges are progressively worse and the periods of peace become shorter and shorter. Samson’s reign was the straw that broke the camel’s back. After his renegade rule, and now with no judge or king to lead, Israelite society finally decayed to the point of needing a cultural root canal.

            When there is no spiritual leadership, no regard for God’s laws, and everyone doing what is right in their own eyes, a society will eventually degenerate into total debauchery. We catch a glimpse of this in Judges 18 which I have titled “Danite Decadence.”

The Spies’ Surprise (1-6)

            When the Israelites first settled the Promised Land under Joshua’s leadership, the tribe of Dan failed to dislodge the Amorites and never possessed the land that God had originally allotted to them. They dwelled in a few cities like Zorah and Eshtaol, but they did not have a region for themselves. After living for many years as refugees, they became determined to find a piece of land that they could call their own. So, they selected five able men to serve as spies and sent them on a special mission to find a suitable territory for their tribe.

            The five spies ventured north and happened upon Micah’s home in the hill country of Ephraim. Micah was the man in Judges 17 who had stolen a large sum of money from his mother and used some of it to purchase the ingredients for a big batch of old-fashioned homemade religion. He set his home up like a temple—he fashioned a shrine, an ephod, household idols, and even paid a Levite to live there be his own personal priest. (On a side note, I want to let you know that if there is anyone wants to offer me a full salary position to be your personal minister, I’m not for sale!!)

            When the Danite spies spent the night at Micah’s home, they were surprised to see this makeshift temple and priest serving in the hill country. They recognized the Levite’s Judean drawl and wondered what he was doing there. When they heard the story of the Micah’s idols and Levite becoming his personal priest, they should have been appalled by this despicable display of spiritual decadence, but instead, they were complicit in the apostasy and asked the priest to inquire of God and let them know if their mission would succeed.

            The phony priest either used the ephod in an act of pagan divination or he simply played the part of a con-artist fortuneteller, but he told the Danites exactly what they wanted to hear: “Go in peace. The journey on which you go is under the eye of the Lord.” Either way, the priest waded into treacherous water by pronouncing God’s favor on their immoral mission.

            It is ironic that the Danites never bothered to consult God before they sent the spies to scour the land, but afterwards they wanted to know if God will give their mission success. This is like praying, “God, by the way, I just wanted to let you know my plan and how I am going to accomplish it. Now will you tell me if it will be successful?”

            This scene shows some serious symptoms spiritual decay. The Danites displayed a deliberate disregard for God. They did not seek God’s will for their future, but took matters into their own hands. They even sought divine approval for their apostasy.

            Unfortunately, our modern society exhibits some of these same symptoms of spiritual decay. There are many people in our country who try to manipulate God into what they want him to be rather than worship him for who he is! They go through the outward religious motions, but their inward motives are impure. They may even attend church regularly, but their hearts are far from the Lord.

            And how many people today seek the Lord’s approval for their wicked acts? We constantly hear the masses clamoring for the church to change its positions on moral issues that God has clearly spoken? They want the church to look more like the world than God. People cry out for God to bless their immoral practices and ungodly behaviors! How about you? Do you try to conform to God’s ideals or do you try to conform God to your ideals?

An Immoral Mission (7-20)

            With the priest’s blasphemous blessing upon them, the Danite spies continued north to the land of Laish, where they discovered its lush meadows and fertile fields. They observed the inhabitants there as a quiet, peaceful, and prosperous people. Since they were mostly farmers, they didn’t have an army, weapons, or even a city wall to protect them. Like the sheep they raised, the people of Laish were docile and unsuspecting.

             When the spies saw that this land was perfect and easy pickings, they immediately reported back to their tribal leaders. Together, they plotted to pillage the land. Even though they had never sought divine guidance for this immoral mission, they had the audacity to say “for God has given it [the land] into your hands.” (v.10) So, the Danites mustered up an army of 600 mercenaries, took up their weapons of war, and set out to slaughter the innocent lambs of Laish.

            The spies led the army along their previous path, and they came upon Micah’s house once again. As they showed thee army the peculiar place, an evil idea entered their minds. Like a scene out of a mobster movie, the spies lined up the muscle at the gate of the house while they confiscated all of the cultic idols for themselves. And when the priest protested the theft, the spies said, “Put your hand on your mouth! Don’t say a word! We’ve got a little deal for you. Let us make you an offer you can’t refuse—how about you come and work for us and be our father and our priest; after all, wouldn’t it be better for you to be the priest of a whole tribe rather than just one man?”

            Even though the spies blackmail didn’t give the priest much of a choice, he was delighted by their offer. He knew that this was a chance for him to climb the corporate ladder and earn more money and gain greater prestige. He saw an opportunity for personal advancement and took it without any hesitation.

            Do you see how everyone in this story is motivated by pragmatic materialism? The Danites desired a piece of land for themselves and they were willing to do whatever it took to get it. The spies wanted to get their hands on Micah’s idols and were willing to steal and blackmail to get it. Even the priest was willing to sell out his employer for an opportunity to gain wealth and prestige. Where were their morals? Where were their ethics? Where was their sense of right and wrong?

            When people reject God’s Word, materialism sets in! People try to substitute all sorts of things in God’s place: money, pleasure, possessions, prestige, advancement, human wisdom, personal happiness, and so on. Happiness can never be achieved by pursuing it, since the pursuit of it involves the absurdity of self-deification. So, all these things that our current society seeks as God-substitutes—its idols—are allusions and materialistic props that are ultimately nothing but absurdities. (Younger 345)

            What about you? What drives you? What is your purpose and motivation in life—to achieve wealth, power, popularity, education, amusement, etc? What are you willing to do to get them? Would you compromise your morals or break God’s laws? Is your goal to please yourself or to please God?

The Disintegration of a Society (21-31)

            After plundering Micah’s home, the Danites broke camp and headed for Laish, but verse 21 reveals the depth of their devilry—not only did they steal his idols and priest, but they took his whole family, his livestock, and all of the goods from his house. The spies strategically placed Micah’s treasured belongings at the front of the parade so that the infuriated Micah would have to content with the armed soldiers first, should he try to reclaim his stolen property.

            Sure enough, Micah wasn’t going to let the vandals get away without a confrontation. When the Danites saw Micah and some of his people coming, they turned around and said, “What is the matter with you? Do you really think you are going to stop us?” Micah knew that he didn’t stand a chance in a fight, so he made a dramatic plea for justice saying, “How can you take away everything I own?” This plea is really ironic coming from a guy who stole everything from his own mother.

            At first, the Danites were amused by Micah’s passionate appeal but they quickly became weary of his words and strongly advised him to shut his mouth and go home, lest some angry fellow would cause him or one of his loved ones to lose his life. So, Micah put his tail between his legs and returned to his home.

             From there, the Danites continued their quest of corruption by sweeping through the valley of Laish and striking the unsuspecting people with the edge of the sword and burning their city with fire—thus mercilessly annihilating all of the defenseless inhabitants.

            After this, the Danites plundered whatever was left and they rebuilt the city for themselves. They named it Dan, after their ancestor, the son of Israel. And if all of this wasn’t bad enough, they established their city a pagan cultic center by setting up the idols that Micah had manufactured and installing Micah’s priest and his sons as their own priests.

            The author ends this story with a shocking detail. He finally reveals the identity of the Levite who became Micah’s priest; it was Jonathan, the son or Gershom, the son of Moses! What? This pagan priest was the grandson of Moses, whom God used to deliver the Israelites from 400 years of slavery in Egypt and establish God’s law in the land. In just two short generations, we see how a godly family was completely overcome by idolatry. These were supposed to be the people of God, but they acted more like the Canaanites. This whole story shows us how fast a society can disintegrate into complete decadence.

            At the beginning of this sermon I asked you what it would be like to live in a land with no laws, government, moral standards, or ethical codes. Well, this is what it would be like! People would covet, steal, and murder at will. There would be no justice; the weak and defenseless would fall prey to the strong and powerful. Without laws and leadership, a society cannot survive. It will always succumb to sinful human nature and disintegrate into decadence and debauchery.

            Furthermore, when a family, church, or society turns its back of God and his laws, it becomes subject to spiritual and moral decay. It happens slowly and subtly at first, but over time it snowballs into a powerful force. Materialism replaces morality! Pragmatism replaces principle! Pleasure replaces propriety! And God is replaced by worthless idols!

            As far as our commitment to the Lord and his laws, where do you think we are as a nation today? Where is your family? Where are you?

            One year, one month, and one day ago I was standing in my hometown of Blairsville, Pennsylvania conducting my grandfather’s funeral service. As I delivered his eulogy and my family reflected on his life, our hearts were overcome with mixed emotions. On the one hand, we were deeply grieved by what the lung cancer did to his body, but on the other hand, we wholly rejoiced at what the physical suffering did for his soul.

            You see, my grandfather was a hard-hearted man: independent in his posture, stoic in his emotions, and cynical toward religious faith. He was the type of self-made man who always had to be in control and everything had to be on his terms. He believed that he was the master of his own destiny. But as the cancer slowly stripped his breath away, he eventually came to grips with the fact that he was not in control. Just one month before he passed away, when he had been humbled by affliction, he was finally ready to depend on God rather than himself. On that day, I had the great joy of watching him make peace with his Creator by receiving Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. In many ways, my grandfather lived as tragic life, but in the end, he died a triumphant death.

            Our world is filled with people just like my grandfather: independent, proud, and self-reliant. They actually believe that they are in control of their life and can determine their own destiny. They snub their noses at the thought of falling on their knees before God. And sadly, it often takes some type of tragedy or prolonged physical suffering to convince them otherwise. They have to experience a great deal of heartache before their hearts will soften. Do you know anyone like that? Perhaps there is even someone here today who exhibits these attitudes.

            As we have learned over the past few weeks, Samson lived a tragic life! God had blessed him with a miraculous birth, supportive family, clever wit, supernatural strength, and even a full head of hair (all you bald guys know you are jealous). He had all of the talent in the world and God gave him the incredible destiny of delivering his people from 40 years of Philistine oppression. But he was also autonomous, arrogant, and obstinate. Instead of fulfilling God’s plan for his life, he pursued his personal pleasures and agendas. He used his God-given talent to promote his own glory. When he should have been uniting the Israelites to resist the Philistine occupation, he foolishly wasted the best years of his life chasing Philistine women.

            God tried to humble Samson through numerous adversities: the lion attack, his fiancé and her father being burned alive, and almost dying of thirst after the battle at Jawbone Hill. God miraculously intervened for him, but Samson still did not learn his lesson. It was only after Delilah deceived him and the Philistines gouged out his eyes that he began to come to his senses. The physical pain of losing one’s eyesight and being forced to grind grain in a dark dungeon has a way of bringing a man to his knees and seeing his need for God. Yes, Samson lived a tragic life, but today’s text shows us how he died a triumphant death!

Degraded by Dagon (23-27)

            After the five lords of the Philistines imprisoned Samson, they planned a massive victory celebration to honor their god Dagon and thank him for delivering their arch-enemy into their hands. Dagon was the Philistine god of grain and the people saw Samson’s capture as divine retribution for him burning their grain and crushing their men. From all around, thousands of Philistines gathered at Gaza see this great spectacle with their own eyes. They flocked to the temple of Dagon to be entertained by the mighty Israelite judge stumbling and groping around in the darkness. The mob was so massive that 3,000 people were forced to stand on the roof just to catch a glimpse of the main event.

            As the prison attendant led Samson into the pagan temple, the ravenous crowd erupted with sarcastic shouts, contemptuous cheers, and degrading dirges on their lips. Can you see the smug smirks on the Philistine’s faces? Can you smell the spoiled food and rotten trash they flung at Samson’s brutalized body? Can you hear the slurs, taunts, and jeers they hurled at Samson’s diminished demeanor?

            The Philistines thought that this was a celebration of Dagon’s victory over Samson, but it was actually a showdown between their false god and Samson’s God, the one true God, the Creator of the heavens and the earth. Even though Samson was blind and bound in bronze shackles, he was still incredibly valuable in God’s eyes. Even though Samson’s quality of life wasn’t what it once was, God still had a plan for him. Even though Samson lived a tragic life, God wasn’t done with him yet! Do you remember the glimmer of hope in the last verse of the preceding passage?—“But the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.” (16:22)

Deliverance through Death (28-31)

            As the once proud Samson suffered ultimate humiliation between the two pillars of the temple of Dagon, he finally recognized his need for God. In his prayer, he declared his helplessness by referring to God by his covenant name, “O Lord God” and petitioning the Sovereign Lord to remember him and strengthen him one last time so that he could push the pillars apart and bring the whole house down.

            Even though Samson acknowledged his need for God, he still did not understand his divine role as Israel’s deliverer. Notice the motivation of his prayer—he is only concerned about executing personal vengeance against the Philistines for blinding him. The repetition of personal the pronouns “remember me”, “strengthen me”, “that I may be avenged”, “my two eyes”, and “Let me die with the Philistines” shows a continued self-centeredness. But nonetheless, God graciously answered Samson’s selfish prayer and miraculously enabled him to his to push the supporting pillars off their foundation, causing the whole temple to collapse and kill everyone there. Thus, it is always said that Samson accomplished more in his death than he did in his life.

            From a human perspective, Samson not only lived a tragic life, but he also died a tragic death. O how I wish that Samson would have achieved his potential in life! O how I wish he would have humbled himself before God and followed his plan! O how I wish that he had fully repented from all of his selfish sins and gave God all the glory before he died. But he did not! In the end, he only partially recognized his need for God and even his heroic act was tainted by the desire for revenge and self-glorification. 

            But from a divine perspective, even though Samson lived a tragic life, he died a triumphant death. From before Samson was even born, it was God’s plan to use him to deliver the Israelites from Philistine oppression. Even though Samson did not cooperate with God’s plan, God accomplished his plan anyway. This is a prime example of how God’s sovereignty always trumps human free will. Throughout his life, Samson thought he was in control, but he wasn’t. God was in control! Even though Samson’s last act was purely selfish, God used it to liberate his people.

            Samson’s life and death provokes many penetrating questions for our lives today: Do you try to control everything in your life or do you let God do that for you? Do you try to assert your will in every situation or have you embraced God’s sovereignty? Do you strive toward your own personal aspirations, ambitions, and agendas or do you actively seek to follow God’s plan for your life? Are your big life choices and little daily decisions self-centric or theo-centric—that is, are they based on God’s desire or your desires?

            I find it heartbreaking that so many people in our society are no longer content to just live on their own terms, but now they also want to die on their own terms. It is a sad ethical reality that four states in our nation have declared it legal for people with terminal diseases to take their own lives with the assistance of a physician. Well, guess what—we’re all terminal! And suicide, even if it has the legislature’s approval, still breaks the sixth commandment, “Thou shall not murder.” It is highly ironic that proponents call this “death with dignity.” There is no dignity in actively ending a human life—it’s disgraceful. It is just another vain attempt to maintain a false sense of control!

            I don’t know how many of you have followed the story of Brittany Maynard, the 29 year old teacher from California, who recently moved to Oregon so that she can legally end her own life on November 1^st rather than suffer with brain cancer, but I ran across an interview with her in this week’s People Magazine that really struck me. Listen closely to what she says:

I don’t want to die, but I am dying. My cancer is going to kill me, and that’s a terrible, terrible way to die. So to be able to die with my family with me, to have control over my own mind, which I would stand to lose—to go with dignity is less terrifying. When I look at both options I have to die, I feel this is far more humane…I would not tell anyone else they should choose death with dignity. My question is ‘Who thinks they have the right to tell me that I don’t deserve this choice. (People Magazine, Oct. 27, 2014, p. 66-67.)

            Well, Brittany, who thinks they have the right to tell you that you don’t deserve this choice? God does! When someone tries to take life and death into their own hands, it is nothing short of a selfish act of rebellion against God. Personal choice has become a great American idol! We have become a culture of choosing what is right in our own eyes rather than doing what is right in God’s eyes!

            Allow me to contrast Brittany Maynard’s words with the words of another 29 year old who was dying from a terminal disease. David Brainerd, one of the first missionaries to the American Indians, endured intense physical suffering throughout his life and finally died from tuberculosis on October 9, 1747. Just weeks before his passing, as he laid in immense pain at the home of his good friend Jonathan Edwards in Northampton, MA, he spoke these words:

My heaven is to please God, and glorify Him, and give all to Him, and be wholly devoted to His glory; that is the heaven I long for; that is my religion, and that is my happiness, and always was ever since I suppose I had true religion; and all those that are of that religion shall meet me in heaven…My greatest joy and comfort has been to do something for promoting the interest of religion and the souls of particular persons: And now, in my illness, while I am in full pain and distress from day to day, all the comfort I have is in being able to do some little char [act] for God; either by something that I say, or by writing, or some other way.” (Vance Christie, David Brainerd: A Flame for God. p.299)

            As you compare these two different perspectives on death and dying, you tell me which one is more dignified! This is the difference between a self-centered and God-centered life! Which one will you choose?

            Even though Samson never got it, God sovereignly used his suffering and death to deliver his people from slavery to the Philistines. But there is another man in the Bible who did get it. Like Samson, God gave this man a miraculous birth, supportive family, clever wit, supernatural strength, and a divine destiny.  This man was not a Nazarite, but a Nazarene. And in God’s sovereignty, he would use this man’s suffering and death to deliver his people from slavery; but in this case, it was not slavery to the Philistines, but slavery to sin. You ask who this man may be—Christ Jesus, it is he!

            I am so glad that Jesus got it! He knew that his life was not his own. He embraced his Father’s plan for his life even though he knew it would take him down the road of suffering. Jesus willingly and courageously chose to suffer on the cross to pay for our sins and purchase our redemption. And if we put our faith in him, we are forgiven and have the hope of eternal life!

            Do you get it? Do you know that your life is not your own? Have you embraced God’s plan for your life? Will you suffer for him like he suffered for you? And when the time comes, will your death be tragic or triumphant?

            Some people just never seem to learn their lesson! They get caught in the same old traps and repeat the same mistakes over and over again! They refuse to reckon with the dangers in their decisions and their desires dominate their discretion. Even though they know that they are heading down the wrong road, they will not turn around and go in the opposite direction. Once they hop on the merry-go-round of misery they don’t know how to get off. Even though they have seen the light, they choose to live in darkness. Does this sound familiar? Do you know anyone like that?

            This description fits Samson like a glove. Instead of pursuing his divine destiny of delivering his people from 40 years of Philistine oppression, he was blinded by his lust for Philistine women. In blatant disregard for God’s law and his parent’s advice, he allowed his sensual passions to drive his decision to pursue the girl from Timnah, which put him on a downward descent to depravity. He compromised his Nazarite vows on a number of occasions and spiraled through vicious cycles of sin and vengeance. Even though God had shown him remarkable grace and miraculous provision, he showed no heart for the Holy. Tragically, his arrogance and selfishness caused him to sacrifice his divine potential for momentary pleasures.

            As Judges 16 dawns, we see that Samson has not learned anything from his earlier errors. He still exhibits a weakness for women and an obsession with personal glory, which blinds him to truth and will lead his ultimate downfall. This chapter recounts Samson’s one night stand with a prostitute and his epic romance with Delilah. So, let’s see how Samson is blinded by seduction!

A One Night Stand and a Gate of Glory (1-3)

            God had just spared Samson’s life by miraculously providing him water at En-hakkore, in the Israelite town of Lehi, and now we see him immediately going to Gaza, the southernmost city in the Philistine region and forty-five miles from his hometown of Zorah. Why did Samson go to Gaza? The author of Judges doesn’t tell us explicitly but it isn’t too hard to figure out. Remember, Samson was a man driven by his sensual appetites, which still hadn’t been fully satisfied. He never got to act out his fantasies with his almost-bride from Timnah. So, where does a man go when he want to pursue his illicit passions? He goes somewhere he thinks he won’t get caught! So, deliberately and foolishly, he went fraternizing in enemy territory again.

            It didn’t take Samson long to find what he was looking for. The narrator describes the scene with incredible brevity: “and there he saw a prostitute, and went into her.” His heart had been scorned by past nuptials, so this time around, he decides to by-pass the morality of marriage altogether and conveniently pays for his pleasure.

            Even though Samson went to a remote location, he underestimated his seclusion. The news of Samson’s escapades at Jawbone Hill had obviously circulated through the Philistine camps. As Public Enemy #1, he had a bounty on his head and a bulls-eye on his back! While he was in the prostitute’s chamber, the people of Gaza discovered his presence and plotted an ambush, but for some reason, they decided to wait until morning to capture and kill him.

            Before the Philistines could execute their punitive plan, Samson somehow caught wind of their scheme and decided to beat them to the punch. While the whole city lay sleeping, he left his mistress at midnight and escaped. But before he slipped away, he saw an opportunity to do something to help the people of Gaza to always remember him. He went to the entrance of the city, shook the large doors off their posts, hoisted them on his shoulders, and carried them all the way up the hill of Hebron some forty miles away.

            From the hill of Hebron, the city gate could be seen by the Philistines and also the men of Judah (the same group of Israelites who turned their backs on him in chapter 15). The gate would stand as a testament to Samson’s strength. This self-serving display certainly accomplished its goal; no one would ever forget this feat. He achieved his desired glory!

            These three little verses give us a lot to think about. First, they remind us of the dangers of fraternizing with the enemy. When we put ourselves in tempting situations, we set ourselves up for a fall.  What are we willing to sacrifice for momentary pleasures? Second, they showcase God’s providential grace. Even when Samson put himself in a dangerous situation, God intervened for him by somehow alerting him to Philistines plan to capture him. Likewise, God often delivers us from dangers that we did not know existed. He often spares us from the consequences of our foolish decisions. As he did for Samson, he intervenes on our behalf, even though we don’t deserve it!

Delilah’s Deception (4-17)

            Well, the Philistines were totally humiliated by Samson’s display of strength. Every time they gazed upon Gaza’s gate and thought about how Samson slipped through their fingers, their eyes were filled with fury and they were willing to do anything to destroy him. The lords of the Philistines finally figured that the only way they could defeat Samson was to discover the source of his strength and neutralize it. The best way subdue a man’s strength is to exploit his weakness, and the encounter with the prostitute exposed Samson’s Achilles Heel. He may be able to carry a city gate 40 miles uphill, but he could not withstand the wiles of a Philistine woman. And he just happened to be in love with another one.

            Samson barely escaped disaster in his affair with the prostitute, and now we find him descending upon the Valley of Sorek where he was shacking up with a Philistine woman named Delilah, the most famous femme fatale in history. Today, the name “Delilah” is synonymous with deception and seduction, but the two ancient Semitic possibilities are “to flirt” or “of the night.” Either way, her name casts an ominous shadow from the outset of the story.

            Samson was madly in love with Delilah, but she was not in love with him; she was just playing around. When the five lords of the Philistines found this out, they employed her to seduce him and discover the source of his strength so that they could capture and torture him. They each promised to give her 1,100 shekels of silver if she succeeded. 5,500 shekels at that time was the equivalent to more than 20 million dollars today. (Now I ain’t saying she’s a gold digger, it was silver she was after. It wasn’t Samson’s cash she considered, she just sold to the highest bidder.) Delilah was delighted by their offer, and she immediately went to work.

            On three separate occasions, Delilah turned on her sensual charms and tenderly asked Samson to reveal to her the secret of his great strength, and three times, Samson deceived her. First, he told her that seven fresh bowstrings would bind his strength. Obviously, this was not true, but contacting bowstrings, which were made out of animal tendons, compromised his Nazarite vow again. Second, he told her that new ropes would incapacitate him. Apparently, she did not know that this tactic had already failed back at Lehi. Third, he teases her with instructions to weave his hair together and tie it with a pin, and then he would become as weak as any other man. Though not true, we see Samson’s will weakening as he comes perilously close to revealing his hair as the real source of his strength.

            In each attempt, Delilah tied Samson while he slept and had Philistine soldiers stationed close by to subdue him when he awoke. But in the morning, he easily broke the ties that bound him, preventing any opportunity for the Philistines to pounce on him.

             Most women would have given up, but the devious Delilah was undaunted. She reached deep down into her pocket of tricks and pulled out the atomic bomb of emotional weapons—the old line “If you really loved me, you would…tell me the secret of your strength.” This was coupled with an onslaught of sad puppy dog eyes, deceptive tears, and manipulative persistence. She nagged him to the point of death and he eventually laid his heart out on a silver platter, spilling everything about his Nazarite vow from birth and confessed that if his long hair was cut that he would lose his strength. He bore his soul on this most important of matters to a pagan woman who wasn’t even his wife. (She tied him to her kitchen chair; she broke his throne, and she cut his hair; and from his lips she drew the Hallelujah.)

            When we encounter this part of the story, it is hard for us to understand how Samson didn’t see what Delilah was doing to him. You just want to shake him and ask, “Are you blind man?” But yes, he was blinded by seduction! He was so “in love” with her that he didn’t realize that she was just playing him. He only heard what he wanted to hear. He lowered his defenses and was willing to compromise anything to keep her—even his most precious secret! He certainly had a lot of brawn, but he didn’t have any brains!

            Do you know anyone who has fallen in this trap? Over the ages, many people have been blinded by seduction and have been willing to compromise their morals, standards, and beliefs in the name of love. So many people have sacrificed their own relationship with God for a relationship with someone who doesn’t even care about God. I hope that Samson’s blindness will help us to see a little more clearly!

 No Eyes to See (19-22)

            As soon as Delilah learned Samson’s secret, she called the Philistine lords to cash in on their deal. With the money now in her hands, she decided to help them get Samson in their hands. So, one night, after what I assume was one last round of carnal romance, she lays his head down on her lap and begins stroking his long locks with her crafty fingers. This would soothe any suspicion of betrayal and hasten his slumber. As she lulled him into a deep sleep, a seductive smile crossed her face and she whispered to the Philistine barber that was waiting outside her tent. He quietly entered and snipped off Samson’s seven braided locks.

            Once his hair was gone, Delilah began to torment him until he awoke, and when he did, she yelled that the Philistines were upon him. Being through this routine previously, he did not panic; he assumed that he would shake himself out of this situation like he had always done before. But he was in for a great shock. The end of verse 20 is one of the saddest statements in the Old Testament—“But he did not know that the Lord had left him.” His Nazarite vow was completely compromised and he lost his strength. The Philistines took their revenge by binding him with shackles and blinding him by gouging out his eyes. Then they took him to Gaza and forced him to grind grain, which was considered woman’s work in that culture.

            Do you see the ironic consequences of Samson’s sins? It was his eyes that got him into trouble in the first place, and he loses his eyes in the end. He had lived in spiritual darkness for most of his life, and now he would live in physical darkness for the rest of his life. He had always relied on his own might, but now he would have to depend on the mercy of others. He once burned the Philistine’s grain and now he had to grind the Philistines grain. The one seduced by the hands of a woman was now reduced to doing the work of a woman with his hands—the great womanizer got womanized.

            This section shows us that our sinful habits and patterns eventually catch up with us. To quote a popular maxim: If you constantly play with fire, it is only a matter of time until you get burned. Whether it is sexual indulgence, foolish pride, lying, greed, or some other type of sinful attitude or action, it always costs more than it is worth. Like Samson, God gives us so many chances, but if we don’t repent and change our ways, we will face the consequences of our sins.

            The life of Samson is indeed a tragic tale—a  miraculous birth, a divine destiny, a wonderful family, supernatural strength, clever wit, and all the potential in the world, and he through it all away. By all accounts, Samson was a total screw-up; his life was a complete failure. How could God ever use someone like that?

            But notice the glimmer of hope in verse 22, “But the hair on his head began to grow again…” Maybe God wasn’t done with him yet! I hope you’ll come back next week to hear how the story ends.

            Perhaps, some of you remember the film The Runaway Bride, where Julia Robert’s character achieves tabloid status for leaving a long trail of grimacing grooms standing alone at the altar. In Samson, we have the story of a runaway bridegroom. As we saw in Judges 14, Samson became infatuated with a gorgeous young Philistine girl and he insisted upon marrying her. But during the wedding feast, when his bride-to-be manipulated him into revealing the answer to his infamous riddle and humiliated him by causing him lose his bet to his groomsmen, he was so infuriated that he left her at the altar while he spit, sputtered, and stomped all the way back to his daddy’s house.

            Since Samson never consummated the marriage through sexual relations, they were technically not married. And with no indication that he would ever return to claim his bride, the girl’s father saved her from an embarrassing situation by giving her to one of Samson’s Philistine groomsmen; and even more scandalously, it was his best man. Samson’s broken relationship seems to end of a satisfactory note, but unfortunately, the story doesn’t end there.

Playing with Fire (1-8)

            Some time later, after Samson’s rage had ratcheted down a few notches, he found his mind constantly thinking about his voluptuous vixen and visualizing the honeymoon that had never happened. To make matters worse, the spring wheat harvest had just started, which meant that he was suffering a severe case of “spring-fever”, and all of his sensual urges were bubbling up within him. So, in the pursuit of passion, Samson swallowed his pride and decided to go back to Timnah and try to recover his marriage.

            On his way to his bride’s father’s house, he grabbed a young goat to give to her as a gift, a sort of peace offering. Maybe he was thinking that if he gave her a goat that she would say, “Oh thanks Honey, no hard feelings. Let’s get back together right now!” (This sounds like something you would hear in a Taylor Swift song. Seriously guys, if you do something stupid and need to make amends with your wife, leave the goat on the farm! A dozen roses and a box of chocolates would do just fine!)

            When Samson showed up at the doorstep demanding to spend the night with his wife, he got the shock of his life. The girl’s father broke the bad news by saying, “Well, ugh, well, umm, I gave her to your best man. I don’t mean to “get your goat” but I thought you hated her and I didn’t think you were coming back. What was I supposed to do?” When the old man saw Samson’s eyes blazing, he tried to put out the fire by offering him his younger daughter, whom he tries to pawn off as being even more attractive than her sister. (One has to wonder what kind depraved father says things like this about his daughters!) But Samson would not have any of this because the older daughter was the one who was “right in his eyes.”

            Instead of understanding the situation or taking responsibility for his own actions, he shifts the blame to the Philistines and vows to take revenge on them. He feels like he is morally justified to do them harm because they harmed him. He figured that if the Philistines could take his woman, who would bear his seed, that he would take the fruit of the Philistine’s field. So, he conjures up a “clever” weapon of mass destruction to obliterate their national food supply. He caught 300 foxes, tied their tails together, attached torches to them, and set them loose to spread fire through the Philistine’s grain fields and olive groves, wiping out their entire harvest.

            Samson thought that he had outfoxed the Philistines once and for all, but they eventually found out that Samson was the arsonist responsible for the inferno and they decided to fight fire with fire. They captured Samson’s former fiancé and her father and burned them to death.

            The vicious cycle of violence continues as Samson vows revenge on every man who was responsible for burning his bride and then he promises to quit. So, he tracked down each man, beat him into a bloody pulp with his bare hands, and ran for his hideout in the Judean hills.

The Thrill on Jawbone Hill (9-17)

            After the Philistines discovered that some of their men had been slaughtered by Samson, they gathered their army and marched against the tribe of Judah at the Israelite town of Lehi. When the men of Judah inquired why the Philistines had marshaled their troops, they told them that they were seeking revenge against Samson. Rather than calling on Samson to lead them in fighting for their independence, they act like complete cowards. They proceed to his hideout to remind him that the Philistines need to be treated with respect and accused him of jeopardizing their safety. Then they inform him of their intention to hand him over to the Philistines. (Can you imagine that, an army sacrificing one of their own comrades to placate the enemy? So much for the policy “no man left behind!”)

            Instead of quarreling with his own people, Samson had another idea. He made them swear that they would only bind him, not kill him. They bound his hands with new ropes and marched him into the hands of the enemy. As Samson approached the Philistine’s, they started whooping and hollering at the anticipation of revenge.

            But like the episode with the roaring lion pouncing on Samson, the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him again and empowered him with supernatural strength. He snapped the rugged ropes like wet noodles, grabbed a jaw-bone from a decaying donkey carcass (compromising his Nazarite vow again) and used it as a form of brass-knuckles and struck down 1000 Philistines.

            As he surveyed the quiet carnage, in triumph, he threw his blood-stained weapon onto the sand. Typical to his narcissistic nature, he began heaping the dead Philistine corpses into a mound and composed a little song to immortalize his achievement. His vain victory tune went like this: “With a donkey’s jawbone, heaps upon heaps; with a donkey’s jawbone I have killed a thousand men.” Samson also memorializes his conquest by renaming the location Ramath-Lehi, which is a catchy Hebrew phrase that means “Jawbone Hill.” (In Samson’s memory, I have composed my own little ditty: “Samson found his thrill on Jawbone Hill. After all he’d done and seen, and killed the Philistine. He piled the bodies high for all to see, say’n when I die, I hope you’ll remember me.”)

A Thirst for Glory (18-20)

            When Samson finished piling the bodies, he sat down in the sand to rest his weary body. That is when he realized that killing Philistines and singing songs parches the throat. He was extremely thirsty and there was no water in sight. Faced the possibility of perishing in the desert, for the first time in his life, he cries out to God for help. He prayed for water lest he die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised Philistines

            At first glance, we may applaud Samson for such a pious prayer and that he finally acknowledged God’s presence in his life, but when we look under the surface, we can’t help but notice that his plea is purely self-serving. He doesn’t even address God by his name; instead, he employs the “impersonal” pronoun “you.” There is no gratitude for God’s providential provision of a lethal weapon. There is no thanksgiving to God’s Spirit for endowing him with supernatural strength or overcoming the enemy. There is no recognition of God’s grace in his life. He is not interested in giving God any glory; he is only concerned with protecting his own glory.

            The last thing that we would ever expect is that God would answer the prayer of such a wicked and wayward man. We would never predict that God would save such a selfish and conceited person. But sure enough, as Samson lay sulking in the sand, a seam in the rock miraculously spit open and began gushing clean water. The water spared his life and he went on to judge Israel for twenty years.

            Wow, what a story! In our remaining time, I would like for us to reflect on some of the modern spiritual applications we can take away from this episode in Samson’s life.

1.) Take responsibility for your actions!

            Remember back at the beginning of the story! After leaving his bride at the altar, Samson arrogantly expected to return and pick up right where he left off. But when he found out that his fiancé had been given to another man, he failed to take any responsibility for his actions. Instead, he played the victim card.

            Do you know anyone who does this today? It is epidemic in our modern society, isn’t it? I know many people who go through life complaining about everything, yet they are unwilling to admit they are the primary creators of their own misery. It is easy to say, “It’s my parent’s fault! It’s my spouse’s fault! It’s the government’s fault! It’s the system’s fault.” It is hard to say, “Yeah, I admit it; I’m part of the problem.” Allow me to get a little personal for a moment: When you make foolish mistakes or unsound decisions, are you apt to own them or blame someone else?

2.) Stop the cycle of revenge!

            Did you notice the cycles of revenge in this story? Samson was mad at the Philistine’s for taking his bride, so he burned their fields–they burned the girl and her father—he pummeled them and ran—they marched against Judah—and Samson crushed them with a jawbone.

            This illustrates the modern cliché that “Violence breeds violence!” and “Hurt people hurt people!” And so often, the violence doesn’t stop until someone ends up dead. Whether it is bullying on the bus, an argument with another parent, or spreading rumors at work, when would you resort to violence? Do you ever find yourself seeking revenge against someone who has hurt you? Do you live by the philosophy of “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” or do you live by Jesus’ words that “if someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other one to him also.” (Matt. 5:39) May the cycle of violence stop with you!

3.) Don’t ever be content to conform to the world’s standards!

            One of the most heartbreaking aspects of this story is how the men of Judah were willing to sell out one of their own countrymen to maintain the comfort of their lives. They were disgracefully happy to hand Samson over to the enemy to avoid upsetting the equilibrium. They were content to remain slaves and conform to the Philistine’s standards rather than joining Samson in the fight for freedom.

            Oh, how many Christians are willing to sell out Jesus Christ to maintain the comfort of their lives? How many Sunday morning pew sitters would rather sacrifice God’s moral mandates than upset the equilibrium with someone in their family or community. How many so-called Christ followers have simply accommodated the world’s standards instead of standing on the truth of God’s Word? Like the men of Judah, every day the world tries to force us to adopt its ungodly values. What are going to do? Whatever you do, don’t ever be content to conform to the world’s standard.

4.) Be amazed by God’s incredible grace!

            Samson is one of the most overconfident selfish self-centered self-seeking egotistical proud arrogant conceited bigheaded. He disrespected his own family and showed no concern for his nation. He was flippant with his vows to God and ignored God’s plan for his life. The only person he cared about was himself. He, of all people, did not deserve God’s grace! And yet, we must be amazed to see that God never gave up on him. God continued to endow him with supernatural strength and enabled him to accomplish amazing feats. He even answers Samson’s selfish prayer and provided water to save his life.

            Like Samson, we are all guilty of being self-centered, conceited, arrogant, and egotistical. We have all been disrespectful to someone sometime. We have all broken vows we have made to God. And we have all ignored God’s plan at some point in our lives. But God continues to extend his grace to us. Through the death and resurrection of his son Jesus Christ, he has provided atonement for our sins to save us from hell. He offers us forgiveness and redemption for all of our sins. We don’t deserve his goodness, but he gives it to us anyway. Have you truly embraced God’s grace?

            “The ego lusts for satisfaction. It has a prideful ferocious appetite for its version of ‘truth’. It is the most challenging aspect to conquer; the cause for most spiritual turmoil.” This insightful observation about the human ego and appetite was authored by former mobster T.F. Hodge in his book From Within I Rise: Spiritual Triumph Over Death and Conscious Encounters with “The Divine Presence.”

            It is true—because of the sinful nature that exists within us, we all possess egos that lust for satisfaction. We all have aptitudes for our own versions of the truth. It is, indeed, difficult to conquer and it is the origin of most of our spiritual chaos. And dare I say, “In some ways, we all possess appetites that, if not controlled, lead to destruction.” We see this in the life of Samson as told in Judges 14.

An Appetite for Sensuality (1-4)

            Throughout the ages, many parents have disapproved of their child’s choice of a spouse. There are a whole host of reasons for this—parents usually know their own child’s character flaws and they are often able to pick up on weaknesses in the person their child has chosen to marry. Parents, who have gained wisdom and experience with age, are often able to foresee marital challenges that their kids can’t see—like selfish motivations, variances in values, and potential personality conflicts. Yes, many parents have agonized over their child’s selection of a mate. (After all, not everyone can be as lucky as my in-laws!!)

            Well, this is exactly what happened to Samson and his parents. After an angelic pre-natal visit and a miraculous birth, Samson eventually grew through adolescence into adulthood. The Spirit of the Lord was upon him and his hair grew long from his Nazarite vow. God blessed him with strength and motivated him toward fulfilling his divine destiny of delivering Israel from the Philistines, who had cruelly oppressed them for forty years. So, from time to time, he would leave his hometown of Zorah and make the six mile journey west to the Philistine town of Timnah to provoke the enemy.

            On one of Samson’s trips to Timnah, he happened to notice a breathtakingly beautiful young Philistine woman. Captivated by her good looks and overcome with sensual desire, he wanted to do more than just lay his eyes upon her. In his mind, this was love at first sight.

            It is not surprising that when he returned home to tell his parents that he had met the girl of his dreams, they were not impressed. They immediately recognized that this was nothing more than an impulsive infatuation, but Samson refused to listen to their counsel. He completely disrespected them by demanding that they go to Timnah and arrange the marriage with the woman’s family. (The usual custom was for the parents to choose a suitable spouse from their own people and arrange it with the future in-laws.)

            No doubt, Samson’s parents remembered the angel’s promise that their son would deliver them from the Philistines. Can you imagine the horror they felt when he told them that he wanted to marry one? They quickly protested his demand on the basis that she was from the uncircumcised Philistines, which meant that she was outside the covenant community and worshipped false idols rather than the one true God. As they pointed out, there were many eligible girls among their own clan who shared their faith, but Samson was blind and stubborn. He was dominated by his own sensual appetites and he refused to listen to advice. Little did he know that his appetites would eventually lead to his own destruction.

            Samson’s life represents a microcosm of the whole nation Israel. His blindness, stubbornness, and willingness to settle down with the enemy mirrors what Israel had done as a nation. They sacrificed God’s plan on the altar of temporal pleasure; they exchanged doing what was right in God’s eyes for what was right in their own eyes.

            This scene teaches us some important spiritual lessons. It warns us against the folly of allowing our sensual appetites to control our decisions. Like Samson, so many people today are consumed by their illicit lusts. They see something they want and they have to have it. This is why problems like pornography addiction, hook-ups, adultery, and sexual assault are so common in our culture.   

            Another spiritual lesson we learn from this scene is the importance of listening to godly counsel, especially from our parents. One of God’s great blessings is how he surrounds us with people to show us our blind spots and guide us toward good decisions. But many people become so proud and stubborn that they refuse to listen to anyone around them; instead, they have an appetite for destruction!

            This scene also highlights the importance of marrying within the faith. I know many young Christians who have disregarded their parent’s advice and foolishly married someone who did not share their faith in Jesus Christ or their spiritual values, and it almost always drags the Christian away from God. In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul says, “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers…” (2 Cor. 6:14) Young people, one of the most important pieces of advice I can give you is to marry someone who truly loves Jesus!

            One of the saddest aspects of this scene is how Samson allowed his personal desires and ambitions to get in the way of God’s divine plan for his life. Likewise, how many of us have allowed our personal desires, ambitions, and agendas to sidetrack us from God’s perfect plan for our lives?

An Appetite for Sweet Things (4-9)

            When Samson’s parents realized that they couldn’t change his mind, they relented and made the trip to Timnah to meet the young woman and her family. On their way there, Samson separated from his parents and went near the vineyards of Timnah. This detail shows his lack of judgment in regard to temptation. As a Nazarite, he was forbidden to drink wine or eat the fruit of the vine (grapes), but he put himself in a dangerous situation where he could have easily compromised his vows.

            But as it turned out, Samson found a different danger in the vineyards—a roaring lion poised to pounce on him. In that moment, the Spirit of the Lord endowed him with supernatural strength which enabled him to rip the lion apart with his bare hands. This event foreshadows the future where Samson will use his bare hands to destroy the Philistines. It also highlights God’s grace in Samson’s life, that even though his conduct was compromising his faith, the Spirit of the Lord was still upon him. This was true for the nation of Israel too.

            It is peculiar that Samson never told his parents about the encounter with the lion. He did not want them to know that he touched a dead animal because that was a breach of one of his Nazarite vows. In God’s sight, both literally and spiritually, he had blood on his hands.

            After all of the arrangements were made for his wedding, Samson shows a further disregard for the dangers of temptation by returning to the lion’s remains. Perhaps he was just curious about the carcass or maybe he wanted to relive his incredible triumph, but he was undoubtedly surprised to discover a hive of honey bees inhabiting the lion’s body.  And once again, his appetite for sweet things overtakes him and he violates his vow to God by touching the carcass and gorging himself on honey. Then, he adds insult to injury by giving some honey to his parents. Had they known where his sticky fingers had been, they never would have taken it.

            Once again, we see Samson putting himself in compromising positions and then succumbing to his sensual urges. Just like the sweet-looking Philistine woman, he refuses to turn away from the honey. In both cases, he shows a blatant disregard to the commitments he made to God. And yet, God is still gracious toward Samson!

            Do you see what God is teaching us in this scene? Don’t put yourself in compromising positions, especially in areas where you know that your appetites are strong! Do whatever you need to do to protect the vows and commitments you have made to God! If you are vulnerable to sexual temptation, remove yourself from situations where you will be enticed! If you have a gambling problem, don’t rationalize a trip to the casino. If you have an alcohol problem, don’t meet your friends at the bar. If you are prone to overeat, by all means, don’t go to a buffet!

An Appetite for Glory (10-20)

            When the wedding had finally been arranged and it was time for the festivities to begin, Samson prepared a feast at the bride’s parent’s house. This was one of those old-fashioned seven day feasts that served as both a rehearsal dinner and stag party. Samson did not have any groomsmen of his own, so thirty Philistine men were given to him as attendants. As Samson and his groomsmen engaged in gluttonous and drunken revelry (which was another breach of his Nazarite vow), he reveals a new disastrous appetite: an appetite for glory. He tries to prove his superior intellect over the Philistines by proposes a wager and a riddle.  He bet them thirty sets of clothing (one for each of them) that they could not solve his riddle. They agreed to the bet before they realized that Samson would pose the impossible puzzle: “Out of the eater, something to eat; out of the strong, something sweet.”

            Well, the riddle made a clever rhyme, but it was completely unfair because no one else know about the honey from the lion’s carcass. After three days of failing to figure it out, the groomsmen resorted to a sly trick of their own. They blackmailed Samson’s fiancé into finding out the answer; they threatened to burn her and her family to death if she didn’t get the answer. Left with no choice, she conjures up a manipulative and passionately plea for him to share the answer with her. On the last day of the feast, her tears of trickery finally wore Samson down until he revealed the answer to the riddle. She told the groomsmen and they answered the riddle and demanded their reward. Samson, the sweet-tooth, got sweet-talked by his Philistine bride!

            Samson was so enraged by this that he went down to the Philistine town of Ashkelon, struck down thirty men, and stole their clothes. When he returned to the wedding feast, he threw the clothes at the feet of his groomsmen, sulked liked a spoiled schoolboy, and stomped all the way back to his father’s house. And since he did not consummate his marriage, the bride’s father gave her away to one of the groomsmen at the feast. Samson’s appetite for glory backfired on him and led to further destruction.

            Once again, this story shows us that if we don’t keep our appetites in check, they will lead to destruction. When we allow our personal pursuits to take priority over our commitments to God, we experience divine adversity. When we compromise our relationship with God to feed our momentary urges, our lives become riddled with complications.

            Do you see the chain reaction in Samson’s life? If had not ventured alone into Philistine territory, he never would have lusted after the Philistine woman. If he had listened to his parent’s advice not to marry her, he never would have been tempted to touch the honey and taste the wine and break his commitments to God. Had he never gone through with the wedding feast, he wouldn’t have been in the position to boast a riddle or be humiliated by the Philistines.

            Have you ever traced a string of ungodly decisions back through your own life? Like Samson, I bet that you will be able to see how they are linked together? Do you have an appetite for destruction?

            But do you know what the most amazing part of this story is? That even in the midst of Samson’s moral mistakes, willful sins, and utter spiritual failures, God shed his grace on him. Even though Samson made foolish decisions and broke his vows to God, God never gave up on him. God could have removed his Spirit from him, but he didn’t. God still had a divine destiny for him.

            Like Samson and the nation of Israel, none of us deserves God’s grace either, but he gives it to us anyway. God gave us his son Jesus Christ—and through his death and resurrection, he gives us forgiveness for all of our mistakes, sins, and failures. Amid all of our appetites for destruction, I am so glad the God has a hunger for redemption!

I was born to be famous
But I can’t act, dance or sing
And I’m also quite shy
So I probably couldn’t bring
A room to a standstill
Or a crowd on their feet
But I was born to be famous
I don’t admit defeat.

            This little poem epitomizes the mindset of many young Americans today. We live in culture that endorses self-expression, fanaticizes fame, and celebrates celebrity status. We live in a time when everyone thinks that it’s their God given right to be famous. It used to be that you had to have actual talent to become famous, but now all you need is a little bit of make-up and a smart phone. Paris Hilton, Kim Kardashian, and Taylor Swift have proven that!

            Every year, television talent shows like American Idol showcase a whole host of narcissistic contestants who, despite their overwhelmingly clear lack of talent, think that they are a star. They are legends in their own minds, but nobody else’s. We have people posting ridiculous clips on Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube in vain attempts to be noticed by someone. They may not say these exact words, but doing all screaming, “Look at me! Discover me! I’m somebody!”

            How about you? Do you ever feel the need to be noticed? Do you ever display a deep desire to become somebody? Or could you be content to be a nobody?  

Ibzan, Elon, Abdon: Nobody’s for God (8-15)

            This dichotomy of “somebodies and nobodies” brings us to today’s biblical text. Judges 12:8-15 documents the lives of Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon, who led Israel successfully and successively for 25 years. I would be willing to bet that most of you have never heard of these men before. Compared to other biblical figures like Abraham, Moses, David, Elijah, Peter, Paul, etc, these men are easily classified as “nobodies.” They are even obscure in the Book of Judges. Most people have at least heard about Deborah, Gideon, and Jephthah, but not these guys. They did not make it into the great “Hall of Fame of Faith” recorded in Hebrews 11.

            Like the unsung heroes Tola and Jair in Judges 10:1-5, Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon are considered “minor judges” because the author presents them with minimal biographical information and no narrative. Matter-of-factly, this section reads like a series of bad obituaries—it gives their name, place of birth, length of rule, death, location of burial, but not much else.

            So, why would God inspire the author of Judges to record such brief and seemingly insignificant accounts? Because he wants to teach his readers something about his value system! God doesn’t just like to use the “somebodies” of society; he also like to use the “nobodies!”

            The two most important words in this whole passage are found at the beginning of verse 8 where it says “after him.” This phrase deliberately highlights the contrast between the tragic tale of Jephthah’s civil war and this 25 year period of civility. Although Jephthah liberated the Israel from Ammonite oppression, his 6 year reign ended with 42,000 Ephraimites slain along the fords of the Jordan River. (It’s amazing how far a nation can fall in just six years of ungodly leadership.) But God used the “nobodies” Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon to restore stability and peace to a nation that had been decimated by civil war.

            There are two details in the text that show us that they stabilized the nation. First, verse 9 tells us that Ibzan had the ideal family of thirty sons, for whom he secured thirty daughters-in-law, but he was doubly blessed with the addition of thirty daughters. In contrast to Jephthah, who sacrificed his only daughter, Izban capitalized on the political opportunity his family afforded him by having them all marry outside the clan. These marriages cemented clan alliances, healed strained relationships, and built a community with strong foundations. (Block 389).

            Second, verse 14 tells us that Abdon had the ideal Israelite family consisting of 70 descendants. Forty of these were immediate sons, but the narrator looks to the future by noting that Abdon also had 30 grandsons. As in the days of Jair (10:4), the fact that each of these men rode his own donkey (a symbol of peace) is a sign of the tranquility of the times.

            Izban, Elon, and Abdon did not have the prophetic insight of Deborah, the oral eloquence of Gideon, or the military might of Jephthah, but it is astounding to consider how God used these three “nobodies” to lead Israel through a period of peace and prosperity for 25 years. These so-called “minor judges” show us that you don’t have to be famous to be effective!

            Most of you have never heard the name Benjamin Wooster before. He was born in Waterbury, CT on October 29, 1762, and as a teenager, he fought in the American Revolutionary War under General George Washington. After the war, he went on to study at Yale University and was ordained as a minister in the congregational church. On July 24, 1805, Wooster became the pastor of the Congregational Church in Fairfield, Vermont.

            On the morning of September 11, 1814, he heard the news about the British attack on Plattsburgh (War of 1812) and quickly took it upon himself to raise a militia of men from Fairfield and defend his country once again. As he was leaving his flock in mid-service, they begged him to preach one more time because they feared that they would not see him again. Not dissuaded, he tenderly kissed his teary-eyed wife and clinging children and set out immediately. Rev. Wooster and his Fairfield flock fought alongside the United States Army against the British force of 14,000 soldiers.

            After the British were unexpectedly defeated, Rev. Wooster returned to his Fairfield parish and continued to preach until his death on February 18, 1840. During his 35 year tenure, he preached over 6,000 sermons throughout Franklin County and brought nearly 500 people into the church.     

            After the Franklin Meeting House was constructed in 1827, it was the Rev. Benjamin Wooster who preached the inaugural and dedication sermon. It is amazing for me to consider this historical link: Every Sunday I get to preach from the same pulpit that this great American hero preached from almost 200 years ago!

            As I mentioned to you before, I would guess that most of you have never heard the name Benjamin Wooster before. He is a “nobody” in the annals of American history, but he is proof that you don’t have to be famous to be effective. He was an amazing American patriot and an exceptional clergyman. His faithfulness did not gain him any fame or prominence, but God used him to bless countless lives throughout Franklin County Vermont.

            Have you learned that you don’t have to be famous to be effective? Are you striving to become “somebody” or are you willing to be a “nobody” for Jesus? Can you be content with who God made you to be? Perhaps you are not the smartest, strongest, or most talented person in the world. Perhaps you have thought to yourself, “I’m not very good at anything; I’m not well known; God could never use me.” God can and will use you just the way you are! You don’t have to be somebody! God would prefer to have an untalented but humble person rather than a talented arrogant person. Are you willing to lead a life like Ibzan, Elon, Abdon, and Rev. Benjamin Wooster—a life of unnoticed faithfulness and uncelebrated service?

            Back in 1966, John Lennon made his infamous remark that “the Beatles are more popular than Jesus Christ.” That may have been true, but do you see where that got him? It is amazing that Jesus Christ, the Eternal Word of God, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, was willing to leave all the glory of heaven to come to earth and be a “nobody” for us! It is absolutely astounding that Jesus Christ, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, resisted using his divine power and allowed himself to be treated like a “nobody” when the people mocked him, spit on him, scourged him, and shouted “Crucify! Crucify!” It is immensely astonishing that Jesus Christ did not defend himself against false accusations and permitted wicked men to nail his hands and feet to a cross! Jesus Christ freely gave up being a “somebody” so that he could be a “nobody” and offer us forgiveness for our sins and the hope of eternal life!

            As I conclude this sermon about “Somebodies and Nobodies,” hear the words of Emily Dickinson’s satirical poem “I’m Nobody”:

I’m Nobody! Who are you?
Are you – Nobody – too?
Then there’s a pair of us!
Don’t tell! they’d advertise – you know!

How dreary – to be – Somebody!
How public – like a Frog –
To tell one’s name – the livelong June –
To an admiring Bog!

            The term “civil war” is one of the greatest paradoxes in the English language. It is one of the most chilling tragedies in ancient or modern society! It is one of the most hideous displays of human depravity! Brother against brother! Family fighting family! Countrymen killing countrymen! Civil war is not just a period in the 1860’s that we read about in our American history textbooks—it is tearing our world apart today—Somalia, Nigeria, Uganda, Sudan, Libya, Ukraine, Syria, ISIS in Iraq. And if you think that modern America is immune to civil war, you haven’t followed the news from Ferguson, Missouri or seen the TMZ video of Baltimore Raven’s running back Ray Rice put a fist in his fiancés face, knocking her unconscious on an elevator floor.      

            Civil war is always the consequence of human sinfulness! The Bible shows us that—

for what we’ve got here in Judges 12:1-7 is failure to communicate! What we’ve got here in this text is a bloody civil war!

Jephthah’s Bad Deal: A Recap

            There is no doubt that Jephthah was dealt a bad hand in his early life. As we learned last Sunday, he was the bastard son of a prostitute mother and his half-brother’s made sure to cut him out of the family inheritance by driving him away from his hometown of Gilead. Like many young men who experience rejection from their family, Jephthah found acceptance in the company of a gang. He and his of band of thugs dwelt in the land of Tob, where he gained a reputation of being a mighty warrior.

            When Israel faced oppression from the Ammonites, the elders of Gilead went looking for him to help them. (How many of you know people like this? One minute, they don’t want anything to do with you, but when they need something, they come a’calling.) They begged him to fight for them, and in exchange, they would make him their ruler.

            Well, Jephthah made a good deal with Gilead, but he made a bad deal with God. Remember, his vow? In exchange for victory, he promised God that he would sacrifice the first thing that came out of his house as a burnt offering upon his return. He may have had a lot of brawn, but he definitely didn’t have any brains! Disastrously, his only child, his precious young daughter came dancing out of the house to greet him. Little did she know that her tambourines of triumph would soon turn into a tune of tragedy! Two months later, Jephthah fulfilled his vow and sacrificed his virgin daughter on the altar.

Jephthah’s Conflict with Ephraim (1-7)

            Jephthah never got to celebrate his victory over the Ammonites. Before the smell of his daughter’s burnt flesh cleared the air and before the tears of regret fell from his face, another problem rose on the horizon. The men of Ephraim showed up at his doorstep wondering why they weren’t invited to the battle against the Ammonites. Just as they had done with Gideon before, instead of being grateful for Jephthah’s deliverance, they complained against him and threatened to burn his house down. Isn’t that ironic? They threatened to burn the house of a man who just burned his household. What we’ve got here is failure to communicate!

            Immediately, Jephthah defends himself by asserting that the people of Gilead had a great dispute with the Ammonites, and then he fabricates a story that he called for Ephraim but they did not come. There is no evidence that he actually called for Ephraim’s help, but he shifts the blame back to them by proclaiming “When I saw that you wouldn’t help, I took my life in my hands and crossed over to fight the Ammonites, and the LORD gave me the victory over them. Now why have you come up today to fight me?” (3)

            With weapons in their hands and smug looks on their faces, the Ephraimites verbally assaulted Jephthah and the men of Gilead by calling them “fugitives (or renegades) from Ephraim and Manassah.” This was a type of racial slur meant to degrade Gilead as a subpar subset of the two tribes. The fact that they used the term “fugitive” was surely intended to touch a sore spot with Jephthah, alluding to his painful experience as an outcast from his Gileadite countrymen. (Block 383) What we’ve got here is failure to communicate again! With Jephthah’s ego severely wounded by Ephraim’s words, every ounce of machismo in this mighty warrior was ready to explode, and he rallied his troops and declared civil war.

            Jephthah sent a battalion of soldiers to capture the fords of the Jordan to prevent any Ephraimites from escaping. Whenever an Ephraimite fugitive approached the Gileadites guarding the fords, the latter would inquire whether or not he was an Ephraimite, Understandably, to save their own lives the Ephraimites would deny their tribal identity.

The Gileadites, however, devised some clever counterintelligence to expose them: Suspicious persons were commanded to say the word “shibboleth,” knowing full well that the Ephraimite pronunciation of the word sounded like “shibboleth.” By this method, they captured and killed every Ephraimite who tried to cross the river. (Block 384)

            Indeed, what we’ve got here is failure to communicate. What we’ve got here brothers fighting brothers! What we’ve got here is Israelite killing Israelite! What we’ve got here is God’s people annihilating God’s people! What we’ve got here is a bloody civil war with 42,000 Ephraimite casualties, which almost brought the tribe to the brink of extinction.

            With the ground cascaded with the blood of civil war, the narrator concludes the story by telling us that Jephthah led Israel for six years, died, and was buried in his hometown of Gilead. He doesn’t rule nearly as long as the preceding judges of Israel, and notice that the narrator omits the refrain “and the land had rest for a period of years.”

            As the Israelites continued to do what was right in their own eyes, the spiritual and social fabric of their nation was tearing apart. They were becoming less and less like God’s covenant people and were resembled their Canaanite neighbors more and more.

            There are many lessons that we could take away from this story, but I just want to focus on one today. Do you see the downward progression from ego to argument, argument to insult, insult to conflict, and conflict to annihilation? Civil war and the denigration of civilization takes on many forms. It does not begin with swords or guns; it begins in here, in our hearts and souls!

            How do you respond when your ego is wounded or your pride is challenged? What do you do when you don’t get your own way? How do you react to unfair criticism or false accusations? Do you forgive or do you fight back? Are you apt to start or get caught up in an argument? Do you ever reduce yourself to lobbing verbal insults or piercing people with your tongue? And at what point would you allow an argument to turn violent?

            Are you involved in any civil wars? How is your relationship with your parents, spouse, and kids? Are you in a conflict with someone else in your family or at your workplace? Are you harboring some hostility in your heart or withholding forgiveness from someone who has hurt you? Civil war is always the result of human sinfulness!

            Well, I started this sermon with a song; allow me to conclude it with another song. Larry Norman, the father of Christian rock music, sang about the many expressions of American civil war in his ballad “The Great American Novel.” After being told not to mention politics or religion, he sang this song to President Jimmy Carter and 1,000 guests on the White House lawn on September 9, 1979:

I was born and raised an orphan in a land that once was free
In a land that poured its love out on the moon;
and I grew up in the shadows of your silos filled with grain,
but you never helped to fill my empty spoon.

And when I was ten you murdered law with courtroom politics,
And you learned to make a lie sound just like truth;
But I know you better now and I don’t fall for all your tricks,
And you’ve lost the one advantage of my youth.

You kill a black man at midnight just for talking to your daughter,
Then you make his wife your mistress and you leave her without water;
And the sheet you wear upon your face is the sheet your children sleep on,
At every meal you say a prayer; you don’t believe but still you keep on.

You are far across the ocean but the war is not your own,
And while you’re winning theirs, you’re gonna lose the one at home;
Do you really think the only way to bring about the peace
Is to sacrifice your children and kill all your enemies?

The politicians all make speeches while the news men all take note,
And they exaggerate the issues as they shove them down our throats;
Is it really up to them whether this country sinks or floats?
Well I wonder who would lead us if none of us would vote.

Well my phone is tapped and my lips are chapped from whispering through the fence,
You know every move I make, or is that just coincidence?
Well you try to make my way of life a little less like jail,
If I promise to make tapes and slides and send them through the mail.

And your money says in God we trust,
But it’s against the law to pray in school;
You say we beat the Russians to the moon,
And I say you starved your children to do it.

You say all men are equal, all men are brothers,
Then why are the rich more equal than others?
Don’t ask me for the answer, I’ve only got one:
That a man leaves his darkness when he follows the Son.