Day 75: Judges 16-18

(The previous post covered Samson's acting as Judge over Israel for twenty years.)

Judges 16

(This chapter continued Samson's story. Samson was Israel's thirteenth Judge.)

¹ And Samson went to Gaza, and saw there a harlot, and went in unto her.

(Samson went to Gaza, a city of the Philistines, and "went in unto" a harlot. Women of Israel could not be prostitutes.)

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, Let be till morning light, then we will kill him.

(The men of Gaza conspired to kill Samson in the morning.)

³ And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight, and laid hold of the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and plucked them up, bar and all, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of the mountain that is before Hebron.

(Samson awoke at midnight and took the gates and posts of the city, which were about 4,000 lbs., and carried them to Hebron, thirty-eight miles away! Where did Samson's great strength come from?)

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.

(The lords of the Philistines (there were five of them) enticed Delilah to find out where Samson's strength came from. They offered her 1,100 pieces of silver each (5,500 pieces of silver would have made her very rich). This would have been more than 140 lbs. of silver which in 2018 would have been worth over $33,000. This was the fifth woman in the Book of Judges that beared pain for men.)

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 withes that were never dried, then shall I become weak, and be as another man.

(Delilah asked Samson where his strength came from. He told her if he was bound with withes/vines that had not been dried, he would lose his strength.)

⁸ Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven green withes which had not been dried, and she bound him with them.
⁹ Now she had liers-in-wait abiding in the inner chamber. And she said unto him, The Philistines are upon thee, Samson. And he brake the withes, as a string of tow is broken when it toucheth the fire. So his strength was not known.

(Samson broke the vines.)

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 only bind me with new ropes wherewith no work hath been done, then shall I become weak, and be as another man.

(Delilah appealed to Samson emotionally ("you mocked me and lied to me") and asked him again. Samson knew Delilah had told these men. This time, he said he could be bound if it was with new ropes that had never been used.)

¹² So Delilah took new ropes, and bound him therewith, and said unto him, The Philistines are upon thee, Samson. And the liers-in-wait were abiding in the inner chamber. And he brake them off his arms like a thread.

(Samson broke the ropes as if they were threads.)

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 are upon thee, Samson. And he awaked out of his sleep, and plucked away the pin of the beam, and the web.

(Delilah complained again that Samson mocked her. Again, Samson knew she was working with these men. Nevertheless, he said if she weaved his seven locks (braids, he had a lot of hair, so it was braided) into the web (loom, weaving machine) he would be bound. Samson woke up and took the loom with him.)

¹⁵ And she said unto him, How canst thou say, I love thee, when thy 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, that his soul was vexed unto death.

(Delilah asked Samson how he could say he loved her after having mocked her and lied to her. She urged him until his soul was vexed (grieved) unto death.)

¹⁷ And he told her all his heart, and said unto her, There hath not come a razor upon my head; for I have been a Nazirite 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.

(He told her all his heart. He told her about his Nazarite Vow and his hair. All of the ways Samson told her he would lose his strength were physical: vines, ropes, weaving machine, cut hair. Were any of these really the cause of Samson's strength or the cause of Samson losing his strength? Or was it possible that it had more to do with Samson keeping the Nazarite Vow, and keeping all three parts?)

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 told me all his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and brought the money in their hand.
¹⁹ And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and shaved off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him.

(Delilah had a man cut Samson's hair and they began to afflict him. His strength left him.)

²⁰ And she said, The Philistines are upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times, and shake myself free. But he knew not that Jehovah was departed from him.

(God had left Samson and he was not aware of this.)

²¹ And the Philistines laid hold on him, and put out his eyes; and they 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.

(The Philistines blinded Samson. However, his hair began to grow back.)

²³ And the lords of the Philistines gathered them together 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 hand our enemy, and the destroyer of our country, who hath slain 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 sport before them. And they set him between the pillars:

(The Philistines set Samson between the pillars and made a mockery of him.)

²⁶ and Samson said unto the lad that held him by the hand, Suffer me that I may feel the pillars whereupon the house resteth, 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.

(There were about 3,000 men and women of the Philistines there.)

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

(Samson prayed that God would give him strength so he could avenge his eyes. Samson's strength never laid in his hair, it was always from God.)

²⁹ And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house rested, and leaned upon them, the one with his right hand, and 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 that he slew at his death were more than they that he slew in his life.

(Samson took hold of the two pillars and pushed the pillars so that the whole house fell on them. More people died that day by Samson's hand than in his whole 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.

(Samson was Judge for twenty years.)




(Judges 17-21 recorded events that give a picture of the condition of the Israelites more than it does the Judges.)

Judges 17
¹ And there was a man of the hill-country of Ephraim, whose name was Micah.
² And he said unto his mother, The eleven hundred pieces of silver that were taken from thee, about which thou didst utter a curse, and didst also speak it in mine ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it. And his mother said, Blessed be my son of Jehovah.

(Micah, from Ephraim, restored stolen money to his mother.)

³ And he restored the eleven hundred pieces of silver to his mother; and his mother said, I verily dedicate the silver unto Jehovah from my hand for my son, to make a graven image and a molten image: now therefore I will restore it unto thee.

(Micah's mother made images.)

⁴ And when he restored the money unto his mother, his mother took two hundred pieces of silver, and gave them to the founder, who made thereof a graven image and a molten image: and it was in the house of Micah.
⁵ And the man Micah had a house of gods, and he 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: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.

(Everyone did what was right in their own eyes. There was no recognized government. The people did not have a connection with God. Micah attempted to hear from God by making one of his sons his priest. Micah's graven image violated the Ten Commandments. Micah also made his own ephod and teraphim, which violated the Law.)

⁷ And there was a young man out of Beth-lehem-judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite; and he sojourned there.
⁸ And the man departed out of the city, out of Beth-lehem-judah, to sojourn where he could find a place, and he came to the hill-country of 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 Beth-lehem-judah, 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 pieces of silver by the year, and a suit of apparel, and thy victuals. So the Levite went in.

(Micah hired a Levite. Why was a Levite available to be hired? Did this have anything to do with people doing what was right in their own eyes instead of checking with God? The Levites were supposed to be supported by the people. This violated the Law. So far, Micah had created a false representation of worshipping God.)

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 Jehovah will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my priest.

(Micah believed that God would do good to him because he had a Levite as his priest. Micah wanted to have a connection to God. Micah deceived himself into thinking he could be the source of his own Salvation and blessing from God and that God would honor Micah's method/how. In reality, Micah added to God's Word and created a "man-made" religion. This was similar to Eve in the Garden with the Serpent (Genesis 3:1-4).)




Judges 18
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 their inheritance had not fallen unto them among the tribes of Israel.

(The Danites sought their inheritance. The Danites did have territory assigned to them but they did not acquire the full possession of their allotment. It may have been because of the affliction from the Philistines.)

² And the children of Dan sent of their family five men from their whole number, men of valor, from Zorah, and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land, and to search it; and they said unto them, Go, search the land. And they came to the hill-country of Ephraim, unto the house of Micah, and lodged there.

(Five men from Dan were sent to spy out the land of their inheritance.)

³ When they were by the house of Micah, they knew the voice of the young man the Levite; and they turned aside thither, and said unto him, Who brought thee hither? and what doest thou in this place? and what hast thou here?
⁴ And he said unto them, Thus and thus hath Micah dealt with me, and he hath hired me, and I am become his priest.

(The five Danite men found the Levite that Micah hired.)

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 Jehovah is your way wherein ye go.

(The five men asked the Levite if he would ask God if their journey would be prosperous. The priest said God was with them. Again, people did what was right in their own eyes and did not have a connection to God. These men from Dan wanted to be connected to God.)

⁷ Then the five men departed, and came to Laish, and saw the people that were therein, how they dwelt in security, after the manner of the Sidonians, quiet and secure; for there was none in the land, possessing authority, that might put them to shame in anything, and they were far from the Sidonians, and had no dealings 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, and let us 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 in to possess the land.

(The men decided they would go and take the land.)

¹⁰ When ye go, ye shall come unto a people secure, and the land is large; for God hath given it into your hand, a place where there is no want of anything that is in the earth.
¹¹ And there set forth from thence of the family of the Danites, out of Zorah and out of Eshtaol, six hundred men girt with weapons of war.
¹² And they went up, and encamped in Kiriath-jearim, in Judah: wherefore they called that place Mahaneh-dan, unto this day; behold, it is behind Kiriath-jearim.

(Mahaneh-dan meant "camp of Dan.")

¹³ And they passed thence unto the hill-country of 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 aside thither, and came to the house of the young man the Levite, even unto the house of Micah, and asked him of his welfare.

(They asked the Levite of his welfare. They believed God was with the Levite because they had successfully taken the land and renamed it. They were just as deceived as the Levite into thinking they could do their own will and believed it was from God because of appearance.)

¹⁶ And the six hundred men girt with their weapons of war, who were of the children of Dan, stood by the entrance 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 by the entrance of the gate with the six hundred men girt with weapons of war.
¹⁸ And when these went into Micah's house, and fetched the graven image, the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image, the priest said unto them, What do ye?

(The five Danite men took the graven image and the priestly garments. The Levite asked them what they were doing.)

¹⁹ And they said unto him, Hold thy peace, lay thy hand upon thy mouth, and go with us, and be to us a father and a priest: is it better for thee to be priest unto the house of one man, or to be 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.

(They asked the Levite to be a priest unto the whole tribe of Dan. This made the Levite happy and he agreed to the deal. Again, God was not consulted in any of this. This story demonstrated the apostasy that existed in Israel.)

²¹ So they turned and departed, and put the little ones and the cattle and the goods before them.
²² 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 are gone away, and what have I more? and how then say ye 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 fall upon you, and thou lose thy life, with the lives of thy household.

(The Danites put the little ones in front. These "men" hid behind the children. The Danites threatened Micah.)

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 that which Micah had made, and the priest whom he had, and came unto Laish, unto a people quiet and secure, and smote them with the edge of the sword; and they burnt the city with fire.

(Micah gave up his Levite. The Danites won Laish.)

²⁸ And there was no deliverer, because it was far from Sidon, and they had no dealings with any man; and it was in the valley that lieth by Beth-rehob. And they built the 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.

(The Danites changed the name of the city of Laish to Dan. The name Dan meant "judge," so they were also attempting to replace God's plan of leading through Judges.)

³⁰ And the children of Dan set up for themselves the graven image: and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Moses, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites until the day of the captivity of the land.
³¹ So they set them up Micah's graven image which he made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh.

(The Danites set up Micah's images and they remained there even while the house of God (tabernacle) was in Shiloh. Remember, some commentaries believe the Anti-christ will come from the tribe of Dan. God did not name Dan in the list of tribes that get saved during the 70th Week of Daniel (Revelation 7:1-8). Dan set up a graven image and were led by a Levite who was hired all the time the house of God was in Shiloh.)

(This post covered the conclusion to Samson's term as Judge. It also covered the apostasy of Israel through a story concerning the Danites setting up a graven image and being led in worship by a hired Levite.)

Day 76