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36. Judges 15: “Samson -
a Type of Christ?”
Golden
Nursing Center in Mannington, NJ –Evening Service on 11/14/2013
(edited
April 2020)
SAMSON
In Judges chapter 13, the birth of Samson is
foretold. He was to be a special child, set apart to become the deliverer of
God’s People in those days. But Samson ran into a lot of problems along the
way. This chapter begins with an account of the aftermath of his plan to wed a
Philistine woman.
Verses 1-2: “But it came to pass within
a while after, in the time of wheat harvest, that Samson visited his wife with
a kid; and he said, I will go in to my wife into the chamber. But her father
would not suffer him to go in. And her father said, I verily thought that thou
hadst utterly hated her; therefore I gave her to thy companion: is not her
younger sister fairer than she? take her, I pray thee, instead of her.”
JESUS
The supernatural birth and life of Jesus is
prophesied several times in the Old Testament - see Isaiah chapters 7 and 53,
for instance. In the New Testament we are told that Heavenly messengers visited
His family and others to prepare them for the coming Messiah. This can be seen
in the first chapter of The Book of Luke, for instance.
SAMSON
Samson
grew up to become a man ruled by his own selfish desires. That is why he sought
a wife among the Philistines, who were the enemies of his people, Israel.
Verses
3-5:
“And Samson said concerning them, Now shall I be more
blameless than the Philistines, though I do them a displeasure. And Samson went
and caught three hundred foxes, and took firebrands, and turned tail to tail,
and put a firebrand in the midst between two tails. And when he had set the
brands on fire, he let them go into the standing corn of the Philistines, and
burnt up both the shocks, and also the standing corn, with the vineyards and
olives.”
Perhaps
personal vengeance the only way that God could motivate Samson to serve Him and
attack the Philistines?
JESUS
Jesus
sought no earthy wife at all, but He did take a Bride (that’s is to say, the
Church) from among his enemies. Aren’t we all His enemies unless or until we
accept Him and His love for us? If you aren’t sure about that, take a look at
Matthew 12:30.
Jesus
also faced off against the Enemy. But He performed His duty out of love and
trust in His Heavenly Father. Christ would even ignore what was best for Him,
when necessary, and go against His own self-interests to benefit others!
I
don’t want to be so selfish that the only time I will serve the Lord is when it
personally benefits me.
SAMSON
Getting
back to our chapter:
Verse
6: “Then
the Philistines said, Who hath done this? And they answered, Samson, the son in
law of the Timnite, because he had taken his wife, and given her to his
companion. And the Philistines came up, and burnt her and her father with fire.”
These
Philistines were true heathens, ruthless and cruel, and the sworn enemies of God’s
People.
Verses
7-16:
“And Samson said unto them, Though ye have done this,
yet will I be avenged of you, and after that I will cease. And he smote them
hip and thigh with a great slaughter: and he went down and dwelt in the top of
the rock Etam. Then the Philistines went up, and pitched in
Judah, and spread themselves in Lehi. And the men of Judah said, Why are ye
come up against us? And they answered, To bind Samson are we come up, to do to
him as he hath done to us. Then three thousand men of Judah
went to the top of the rock Etam, and said to Samson, Knowest thou not that the
Philistines are rulers over us? what is this that thou hast done unto us? And
he said unto them, As they did unto me, so have I done unto them. And they said
unto him, We are come down to bind thee, that we may deliver thee into the hand
of the Philistines. And Samson said unto them, Swear unto me, that ye will not
fall upon me yourselves. And they spake unto him, saying, No;
but we will bind thee fast, and deliver thee into their hand: but surely we
will not kill thee. And they bound him with two new cords, and brought him up
from the rock. And when he came unto Lehi, the Philistines
shouted against him: and the Spirit of the Lord
came mightily upon him, and the cords that were upon his arms became as flax
that was burnt with fire, and his bands loosed from off his hands. And
he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and slew
a thousand men therewith. And Samson said, With the jawbone of
an ass, heaps upon heaps, with the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men.”
This
was never meant to be a fable, beloved. Samson had supernatural physical
strength and we are told clearly in the verse above how he got it: “and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him.”
JESUS
Christ
also possessed amazing supernatural powers, but He was sent not to kill men,
but to heal and restore them. Yet, as we said, he also had to fight the Enemies
of God. Look at that here in Matthew 8:14-16.
“And when Jesus was come
into Peter's house, he saw his wife's mother laid, and sick of a fever. And he
touched her hand, and the fever left her: and she arose, and ministered unto
them. When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed
with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that
were sick:”
SAMSON
Slaying
1,000 Philistines at one time, even with the power of God, pushed Samson
totally to his limits. Listen to his complaint:
Verses 17-20: “And it came to pass, when he had
made an end of speaking, that he cast away the jawbone out of his hand, and
called that place Ramathlehi. And he was sore athirst, and
called on the Lord, and said,
Thou hast given this great deliverance into the hand of thy servant: and now
shall I die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised? But
God clave an hollow place that was in the jaw, and there came water thereout;
and when he had drunk, his spirit came again, and he revived: wherefore he
called the name thereof Enhakkore, which is in Lehi unto this day. And he
judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.”
JESUS
and SAMSON
When
Jesus hung on the Cross, He also reached a critical state and cried out, “I
thirst!” This is recorded in John 19:28. Samson was motivated by selfishness. But
Jesus was selfless even in His moments of greatest personal need. Both were special
men, but also real men. Both were very capable,
as we are, of joy, fatigue, pain, and everything else. But the greatest
similarity I have seen between Jesus and Samson is not in their living, as we
have described it, but in their deaths. Samson was deceived by Delilah and
forced into imprisonment by the Philistines, as is told in chapter 16 of the
Book of Judges. Christ also was betrayed by one close to Him and taken into
custody by the Jewish leaders and Roman officials of his time. And both men
were mocked and tortured by their captors.
Samson
died between two pillars of a palace after he prayed for one final anointing of
strength. In one truly selfless act, He sacrificed himself to bring about a significant
victory over God’s enemies. Let’s look at the description of that given in Judges
16: 28-30.
“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. 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. 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.”
JESUS
In
the last moment of His earthy existence, Jesus cried out, “It is finished!” But
what was finished? What had He accomplished by being executed? Apparently, no
one around Him could see any victory in it at all. This is how that was
recorded in Mark 15:25-32:
“And it was the third
hour, and they crucified him. And the superscription of his accusation was
written over, The King Of The Jews.
And with him they crucify two thieves; the one on his right hand, and the other
on his left. And the scripture was fulfilled, which saith, And he was numbered
with the transgressors. And they that passed by railed on him, wagging their
heads, and saying, Ah, thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in
three days, Save thyself, and come down from the cross. Likewise
also the chief priests mocking said among themselves with the scribes, He saved
others; himself he cannot save. Let Christ the King of Israel descend now from
the cross, that we may see and believe. And they that were crucified with him
reviled him.”
But
in Heaven the same exact event is celebrated as the SINGULAR VICTORY of all
eternity. In closing, let’s look at that in Revelation 5:1-10.
And I saw in the right
hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside,
sealed with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud
voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof? And no
man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the
book, neither to look thereon. And I wept much, because no man was found worthy
to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon. And one
of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah,
the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven
seals thereof. And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the
four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain,
having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent
forth into all the earth. And he came and took the book out of the right hand
of him that sat upon the throne. And when he had taken the book, the four
beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one
of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of
saints. And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and
to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by
thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; And hast
made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.”
If
you believe in Christ, this is YOUR VICTORY too! And, if you don’t believe, it
CAN STILL BE YOURS! But you must be able to accept it by the Grace of God, through
Faith in Him. All the observers who were there that day at Mt. Calvary could
only see it as a defeat. What do you see?
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