PM Mar 31st Jud 16

March 31^st            

Judges,  16

Samson removes the city gates

1: Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there an harlot, and went in unto her. 2: And it was told the Gazites, saying, Samson is come hither. And they compassed him in, and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying, In the morning, when it is day, we shall kill him. 3: And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight, and took the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and went away with them, bar and all, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of an hill that is before Hebron. 

Samson and Delilah

4: And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. 5: And the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and said unto her, Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lieth, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him: and we will give thee every one of us eleven hundred pieces of silver. 6: And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee. 7: And Samson said unto her, If they bind me with seven green withs that were never dried, then shall I be weak, and be as another man. 8: Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven green withs which had not been dried, and she bound him with them. 9: Now there were men lying in wait, abiding with her in the chamber. And she said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he brake the withs, as a thread of tow is broken when it toucheth the fire. So his strength was not known. 10: And Delilah said unto Samson, Behold, thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: now tell me, I pray thee, wherewith thou mightest be bound. 11: And he said unto her, If they bind me fast with new ropes that never were occupied, then shall I be weak, and be as another man. 12: Delilah therefore took new ropes, and bound him therewith, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And there were liers in wait abiding in the chamber. And he brake them from off his arms like a thread. 13: And Delilah said unto Samson, Hitherto thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound. And he said unto her, If thou weavest the seven locks of my head with the web. 14: And she fastened it with the pin, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awaked out of his sleep, and went away with the pin of the beam, and with the web. 15: And she said unto him, How canst thou say, I love thee, when thine heart is not with me? thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth. 16: And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto death; 17: That he told her all his heart, and said unto her. There hath not come a rasor upon mine head; for I have been a Nazarite unto God from my mother's womb: if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man. 18: And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, Come up this once, for he hath shewed me all his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and brought money in their hand. 19: And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him. 20: And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the LORD was departed from him. 21: But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house. 22: Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven. 

Samson’s greatest victory

23: Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them together for to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice: for they said, Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand. 24: And when the people saw him, they praised their god: for they said, Our god hath delivered into our hands our enemy, and the destroyer of our country, which slew many of us. 25: And it came to pass, when their hearts were merry, that they said, Call for Samson, that he may make us sport. And they called for Samson out of the prison house; and he made them sport: and they set him between the pillars. 26: And Samson said unto the lad that held him by the hand, Suffer me that I may feel the pillars whereupon the house standeth, that I may lean upon them. 27: Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords of the Philistines were there; and there were upon the roof about three thousand men and women, that beheld while Samson made sport. 28: And Samson called unto the LORD, and said, O Lord GOD, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes. 29: And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood, and on which it was borne up, of the one with his right hand, and of the other with his left. 30: And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life. 31: Then his brethren and all the house of his father came down, and took him, and brought him up, and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the burying place of Manoah his father. And he judged Israel twenty years.

Judges,  17

C   The effect of the period of the Judges

The idol’s of Micah

1: And there was a man of mount Ephraim, whose name was Micah. 2: And he said unto his mother, The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from thee, about which thou cursedst, and spakest of also in mine ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it. And his mother said, Blessed be thou of the LORD, my son. 3: And when he had restored the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, his mother said, I had wholly dedicated the silver unto the LORD from my hand for my son, to make a graven image and a molten image: now therefore I will restore it unto thee. 4: Yet he restored the money unto his mother; and his mother took two hundred shekels of silver, and gave them to the founder, who made thereof a graven image and a molten image: and they were in the house of Micah. 5: And the man Micah had an house of gods, and made an ephod, and teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest. 6: In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.

Micah’s priest

7: And there was a young man out of Bethlehemjudah of the family of Judah, who was a Levite, and he sojourned there. 8: And the man departed out of the city from Bethlehemjudah to sojourn where he could find a place: and he came to mount Ephraim to the house of Micah, as he journeyed. 9: And Micah said unto him, Whence comest thou? And he said unto him, I am a Levite of Bethlehemjudah, and I go to sojourn where I may find a place. 10: And Micah said unto him, Dwell with me, and be unto me a father and a priest, and I will give thee ten shekels of silver by the year, and a suit of apparel, and thy victuals. So the Levite went in. 11: And the Levite was content to dwell with the man; and the young man was unto him as one of his sons. 12: And Micah consecrated the Levite; and the young man became his priest, and was in the house of Micah. 13: Then said Micah, Now know I that the LORD will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my priest.

Judges,  18

Micah and the tribe of Dan

1: In those days there was no king in Israel: and in those days the tribe of the Danites sought them an inheritance to dwell in; for unto that day all their inheritance had not fallen unto them among the tribes of Israel. 2: And the children of Dan sent of their family five men from their coasts, men of valour, from Zorah, and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land, and to search it; and they said unto them, Go, search the land: who when they came to mount Ephraim, to the house of Micah, they lodged there. 3: When they were by the house of Micah, they knew the voice of the young man the Levite: and they turned in thither, and said unto him, Who brought thee hither? and what makest thou in this place? and what hast thou here? 4: And he said unto them, Thus and thus dealeth Micah with me, and hath hired me, and I am his priest. 5: And they said unto him, Ask counsel, we pray thee, of God, that we may know whether our way which we go shall be prosperous. 6: And the priest said unto them, Go in peace: before the LORD is your way wherein ye go. 7: Then the five men departed, and came to Laish, and saw the people that were therein, how they dwelt careless, after the manner of the Zidonians, quiet and secure; and there was no magistrate in the land, that might put them to shame in any thing; and they were far from the Zidonians, and had no business with any man. 8: And they came unto their brethren to Zorah and Eshtaol: and their brethren said unto them, What say ye? 9: And they said, Arise, that we may go up against them: for we have seen the land, and, behold, it is very good: and are ye still? be not slothful to go, and to enter to possess the land. 10: When ye go, ye shall come unto a people secure, and to a large land: for God hath given it into your hands; a place where there is no want of any thing that is in the earth. 11: And there went from thence of the family of the Danites, out of Zorah and out of Eshtaol, six hundred men appointed with weapons of war. 12: And they went up, and pitched in Kirjath-jearim, in Judah: wherefore they called that place Mahaneh-dan unto this day: behold, it is behind Kirjath-jearim. 13: And they passed thence unto mount Ephraim, and came unto the house of Micah. 14: Then answered the five men that went to spy out the country of Laish, and said unto their brethren, Do ye know that there is in these houses an ephod, and teraphim, and a graven image, and a molten image? now therefore consider what ye have to do. 15: And they turned thitherward, and came to the house of the young man the Levite, even unto the house of Micah, and saluted him. 16: And the six hundred men appointed with their weapons of war, which were of the children of Dan, stood by the entering of the gate. 17: And the five men that went to spy out the land went up, and came in thither, and took the graven image, and the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image: and the priest stood in the entering of the gate with the six hundred men that were appointed with weapons of war. 18: And these went into Micah's house, and fetched the carved image, the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image. Then said the priest unto them, What do ye? 19: And they said unto him, Hold thy peace, lay thine hand upon thy mouth, and go with us, and be to us a father and a priest: is it better for thee to be a priest unto the house of one man, or that thou be a priest unto a tribe and a family in Israel? 20: And the priest's heart was glad, and he took the ephod, and the teraphim, and the graven image, and went in the midst of the people. 21: So they turned and departed, and put the little ones and the cattle and the carriage before them. 22: And when they were a good way from the house of Micah, the men that were in the houses near to Micah's house were gathered together, and overtook the children of Dan. 23: And they cried unto the children of Dan. And they turned their faces, and said unto Micah, What aileth thee, that thou comest with such a company? 24: And he said, Ye have taken away my gods which I made, and the priest, and ye are gone away: and what have I more? and what is this that ye say unto me, What aileth thee? 25: And the children of Dan said unto him, Let not thy voice be heard among us, lest angry fellows run upon thee, and thou lose thy life, with the lives of thy household. 26: And the children of Dan went their way: and when Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back unto his house. 27: And they took the things which Micah had made, and the priest which he had, and came unto Laish, unto a people that were at quiet and secure: and they smote them with the edge of the sword, and burnt the city with fire. 28: And there was no deliverer, because it was far from Zidon, and they had no business with any man; and it was in the valley that lieth by Beth-rehob. And they built a city, and dwelt therein. 29: And they called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who was born unto Israel: howbeit the name of the city was Laish at the first. 30: And the children of Dan set up the graven image: and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land. 31: And they set them up Micah's graven image, which he made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh. 

In the last day of March we read of the fall of Samson at the hand of Delilah and of his final victory. Then we are informed of the final days of the Judges and of the idols of Micah and of his association with the tribe of Dan. But first we read of Samson going to Gaza and he sees a harlot and he goes in to lie with her and the men of Gaza are told that Samson was in their midst. The men of the city surround him and lie in wait at the city gates. They planned to kill him in the morning. But at midnight Samson rose and took off the doors of the gates of the city from their hinges and he removes the posts on which they hung and he carried them all to the top of a hill in Hebron. The distance from Gaza to Hebron is about 35 miles. I expect Israel rejoiced over this for years and years. Then we read of the well know incident in the life of Samson when he succumbed to the seduction of Delilah. The lords of the Philstines came to her and offered her 1,100 silver coins if she would find out the secret of his strength. So she set about asking Samson for his secret. He told her that green withies could bind him and she tried it but he broke them like a thread in the fire. Again she pleaded with him and he told her that it was new ropes that could bind him. When this was tried he broke them also easily. In all of this one could not fail to think that he was playing with fire being in the hands of a treacherous woman. The third time he said if you tie my hair to a tent peg then l will be weak. She did his while he slept but on waking he stood up peg and all. She wept and pleaded with Samson daily until in the end he revealed that it was his long hair that was the secret of his strength. His hair was the link to his Nazarite vow. She while he slept she shaved him. Then when she woke him he shook himself as on previous days but didn’t know that the Lord was not with him. The Philistines fell on him and bound him and blinded him. They took him to Gaza and bound him in brass. And they put him in the corn house grinding corn like an animal. However Samson repented of his mistake and the lords of the Philistines made a great feast to their god Dagon (The fish god). They celebrated their victory over Samson and praised their god. Then they called for Samson to make fun of him and have sport of him. Samson came from the prison house and they tied him between the pillars of the house. There were 3,000 men on the roof and all the lords of the Philistines in the house. Samson asked the boy that led him to let him feel the pillars, then he prayed that the Lord might once more and fo the last time give him strength and he bowed with all his strength and pulled the pillars together. The house fell and Samson killed more of the Philistines on the day he died than all his life. Samson brought peace to Israel for 20 years. And so we come to the end of the period of 490 years (In the years of the Lord). Next we come to an interesting incident a man of Ephraim called Micah spoke of the 1,100 shekels of silver (probably from the previous passage concerning Delilah) He said l have the silver. His mother blessed him in the name of the LORD. Then she said take 200 shekels of silver and Micah took them and made idols of silver in his house. Micah made a private temple in his house and appointed himself as priest. We read that there was no king in Israel and every man did what ever he wished. Then Micah met a young man of the tribe of Levi and he appointed him to be priest giving him money every year, clothing and food. He wished him to be his father and priest. There was no king in Israel and the tribe of Dan had failed to enter their inheritance. The Danities descided that they would go and spy out the land of Israel so they came to Micah and his priest and saw everything he did. Then they saw the Zidonians and how they lived carefree and in peace. But there was no law there. So the men of Dan went to war 600 of them. They called on the young man of Levi to give them his blessing. Then they stole the idols and carried them away. When they came to Laish they killed everyone and burnt the city. Then they built there a city which they called Dan. And so the men of Dan caused Israel to sin against the LORD until the time when they were all carried away in captivity.

Steve