Burn Away The Ropes That Bind

Today's Reading Is Judges 15:

Can the unregenerate bear fruit to God? (v.1)

John 15:4–6 (NKJV)

4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. 5 "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.

What was Samson doing trying to visit "his wife" with a young goat?

Matthew 19:4–6 (NKJV)

4 And He answered and said to them, "Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning 'made them male and female,' 5 and said, 'For this reason, a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'? 6 So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate."

Isn't a goat for Hebrew a sign of a peace offering? But would a Philistine have known this? Did "her" father have the authority to keep Samson apart from his wife?

Exodus 23:19 (NKJV)

19 The first of the firstfruits of your land you shall bring into the house of the Lord your God. You shall not boil a young goat in its mother's milk.

Leviticus 3:6–7 (NKJV)

6 'If his offering as a sacrifice of a peace offering to the Lord is of the flock, whether male or female, he shall offer it without blemish. 7 If he offers a lamb as his offering, then he shall offer it before the Lord.

Leviticus 3:12–17 (NKJV)

12 'And if his offering is a goat, then he shall offer it before the Lord. 13 He shall lay his hand on its head and kill it before the tabernacle of meeting; and the sons of Aaron shall sprinkle its blood all around on the altar. 14 Then he shall offer from it his offering, as an offering made by fire to the Lord. The fat that covers the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails, 15 the two kidneys and the fat that is on them by the flanks, and the fatty lobe attached to the liver above the kidneys, he shall remove; 16 and the priest shall burn them on the altar as food, an offering made by fire for a sweet aroma; all the fat is the Lord's. 17 'This shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwellings: you shall eat neither fat nor blood.'"

Isn't this how God was putting the desire to know and understand, with thanksgiving, the purpose of the Hebrew Law into Samson's heart, by allowing him to observe how the Law was not being honored in the "uncircumcised" and letting him see the effects of not being permitted to practice it as a sovereign nation apart from the Philistines headship? (v.1)

So what peace is there to be found between Christ and Belial, knowing the damage that his marriage to a daughter of Dagon caused?

2 Corinthians 6:14–16 (NKJV)

14 Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? 15 And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? 16 And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will dwell in them And walk among them. I will be their God, And they shall be My people."

Again, Is it wrong for beauty to be in the eye of the beholder? (v.2)

Deuteronomy 32:10 (NKJV)

10 "He found him in a desert land And in the wasteland, a howling wilderness; He encircled him, He instructed him, He kept him as the apple of His eye.

Zechariah 2:8 (NKJV)

8 For thus says the Lord of hosts: "He sent Me after glory, to the nations which plunder you; for he who touches you touches the apple of His eye.

Are women objects that are to be used to make peace between disputing authorities?

1 Corinthians 11:10 (NKJV)

10 For this reason, the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head because of the angels.

Is another woman a better means than the goat that God has provided to propitiate wrath?

1 John 1:6–2:2 (NKJV)

6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. 1 My little children, these things I write to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.

1 John 2:15 (NKJV)

15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

Therefore what "likeness" of love does a Philistine father have for his own children in comparison to the Holy Father who gave us the beloved Son? (v.3)

Luke 6:30–33 (NKJV)

30 Give to everyone who asks of you. And from him who takes away your goods, do not ask them back. 31 And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise. 32 "But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same.

Romans 5:10 (NKJV)

10 For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

1 John 3:1 (NKJV)

1 Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us because it did not know Him.

John 3:16 (NKJV)

16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Therefore is it reasonable to say that Samson truly does have at least one eye for the beauty of God's holiness?

1 Chronicles 16:29 (NKJV)

29 Give to the Lord the glory due His name; Bring an offering, and come before Him. Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness!

Psalm 96:9 (NKJV)

9 Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness! Tremble before Him, all the earth.

Psalm 110:3 (NKJV)

3 Your people shall be volunteers In the day of Your power; In the beauties of holiness, from the womb of the morning, You have the dew of Your youth.

Judges 16:28 (NKJV)

28 Then Samson called to the Lord, saying, "O Lord God, remember me, I pray! Strengthen me, I pray, just this once, O God, that I may with one blow take vengeance on the Philistines for my two eyes!"

And isn't God's beauty worth far more than the fruit of the earth! (v.4-5)

2 Peter 3:10–16 (NKJV)

10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. 11 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? 13 Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. 14 Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; 15 and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation—as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, 16 as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.

What a strange way to deal with "your enemy?" (v.6)

2 Peter 2:19 (NKJV)

19 While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage.

What does this say about the form of government the Philistines had and how they viewed their own?

John 15:12–17

12 This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this than to lay down one's life for his friends. 14 You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. 15 No longer do I call you slaves, for a slave does not know what his master is doing, but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. 17 These things I command you, that you love one another.

Certainly, this government wasn't formed to serve the people but viewed the people as subjects to serve the government. (v.6)

Romans 6:15–23 (NKJV)

15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under Law but under grace? Certainly not! 16 Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey; you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? 17 But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. 18 And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. 19 I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness. 20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. 22 But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

What does this say about the imaginary god of the Philistines, Dagon? Might this as well be a fire-breathing dragon?

John 8:41–45 (NKJV)

41 You do the deeds of your father." Then they said to Him, "We were not born of fornication; we have one Father—God." 42 Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me. 43 Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. 44 You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. 45 But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me.

Genesis 6:1–3 (NKJV)

1 Now it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, 2 that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose. 3 And the Lord said, "My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years."

Genesis 6:5–7 (NKJV)

5 Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. 7 So the Lord said, "I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them."

Genesis 8:21 (NKJV)

21 And the Lord smelled a soothing aroma. Then the Lord said in His heart, "I will never again curse the ground for man's sake, although the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done.

Therefore Samson surely was justified to judge the Philistines with the anointing that God gave him. (v.7)

Nevertheless, how were his motivations tainted since he confessed his own vengeance? (v.7)

And is he any better than they since he only wanted to satisfy his own vengeance and then quit by ceasing to serve the LORD'S vengeance? (v.7)

Hebrews 10:28–31 (NKJV)

28 Anyone who has rejected Moses' law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know Him who said, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay," says the Lord. And again, "The Lord will judge His people." 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Since the land is holy unto Yahweh, how is Samson always safe by taking refuge in the Rock of Christ? (v.8)

But why hide there when the true Spirit of the LORD is in the stirring up of the sons of Israel to war and leading them into victory over their enemy who represents their sin? (v.8)

Hebrews 10:23–25 (NKJV)

23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, 25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

Why hide from sin when he should be hiding from God? (v.9)

Matthew 3:7 (NKJV)

7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

It was God who sent the lion!

Proverbs 22:12–13 (NKJV)

12 The eyes of the Lord preserve knowledge, But He overthrows the words of the faithless. 13 The lazy man says, "There is a lion outside! I shall be slain in the streets!"

Proverbs 26:10–13 (NKJV)

10 The great God who formed everything Gives the fool his hire and the transgressor his wages. 11 As a dog returns to his own vomit, So a fool repeats his folly. 12 Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him. 13 The lazy man says, "There is a lion in the road! A fierce lion is in the streets!"

Proverbs 28:15–16 (NKJV)

15 Like a roaring lion and a charging bear Is a wicked ruler over poor people. 16 A ruler who lacks understanding is a great oppressor, But he who hates covetousness will prolong his days.

1 Peter 5:8 (NKJV)

8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary, the devil, walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

But has Judah forgotten that the Philistines are nothing more than a foreign cub that has camped right in the Lion of Judah's mouth? (v.10)

Proverbs 28:1 (NKJV)

1 The wicked flee when no one pursues, But the righteous are bold as a lion.

Revelation 5:5 (NKJV)

5 But one of the elders said to me, "Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals."

Hebrews 11:33 (NKJV)

33 who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,

So what do Samson's brothers do but betray him into sin like the rest of their sons did by selling Dan into slavery? (v.10-11)

What is the dilemma here with the reasoning of their argument on both sides? Aren't both parties' motivations the same? (v.10-11)

James 4:1–6 (NKJV)

1 Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? 2 You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. 4 Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, "The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously"? 6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: "God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble."

Now there are three parties involved, and none of them care to ask and seek what the will of God is, which concerns this trouble. (v.12)

Do the 3000 men of Judah have the right to exempt themselves from the natural implications of what the Philistines were going to do to Samson? (v.13)

John 18:38 (NKJV)

38 Pilate said to Him, "What is truth?" And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews, and said to them, "I find no fault in Him at all."

John 19:6–8 (NKJV)

6 Therefore, when the chief priests and officers saw Him, they cried out, saying, "Crucify Him, crucify Him!" Pilate said to them, "You take Him and crucify Him, for I find no fault in Him." 7 The Jews answered him, "We have a law, and according to our law He ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of God." 8 Therefore, when Pilate heard that saying, he was the more afraid,

John 19:11–12 (NKJV)

11 Jesus answered, "You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above. Therefore the one who delivered Me to you has the greater sin." 12 From then on Pilate sought to release Him, but the Jews cried out, saying, "If you let this Man go, you are not Caesar's friend. Whoever makes himself a king speaks against Caesar."

Hasn't the Almighty God made Israel the Law of the land? Aren't 3000 men obligated to do proper justice for Samson?

Doesn't Samson even get a fair trial before he gets the death penalty or a life sentence of forced labor and slavery?

Romans 8:31–39 (NKJV)

31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? 33 Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written: "For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter." 37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Isn't the Almighty Yahweh the righteous Judge of all? (v.14)

Romans 10:12–13 (NKJV)

12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. 13 For "whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved."

Acts 12:7 (NKJV)

7 Now behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the prison; and he struck Peter on the side and raised him up, saying, "Arise quickly!" And his chains fell off his hands.

1 Corinthians 3:14–15 (NKJV)

14 If anyone's work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.

"[You burn away the ropes that bind

And hold me to the earth

The fire only leaves behind whatever is of worth

I begin to see reality

For the first time in my life

I know that I'm a shadow

But I'm dancing in your light]" (JJ Heller)

Hasn't the LORD given him the mouth with which to speak God's judgments and with which to fight? (v.15)

Numbers 22:27–33 (NKJV)

27 And when the donkey saw the Angel of the Lord, she lay down under Balaam; so Balaam's anger was aroused, and he struck the donkey with his staff. 28 Then the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, "What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?" 29 And Balaam said to the donkey, "Because you have abused me. I wish there were a sword in my hand, for now I would kill you!" 30 So the donkey said to Balaam, "Am I not your donkey on which you have ridden, ever since I became yours, to this day? Was I ever disposed to do this to you?" And he said, "No." 31 Then the Lord opened Balaam's eyes, and he saw the Angel of the Lord standing in the way with His drawn sword in His hand; and he bowed his head and fell flat on his face. 32 And the Angel of the Lord said to him, "Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out to stand against you, because your way is perverse before Me. 33 The donkey saw Me and turned aside from Me these three times. If she had not turned aside from Me, surely I would also have killed you by now, and let her live."

Hasn't the LORD made himself clear? (v.16)

Romans 2:2–16 (NKJV)

2 But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things. 3 And do you think this, O man, you who judge those practicing such things, and doing the same, that you will escape the judgment of God? 4 Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? 5 But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, 6 who "will render to each one according to his deeds": 7 eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality; 8 but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness—indignation and wrath, 9 tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek; 10 but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 11 For there is no partiality with God. 12 For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without law, and as many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the law 13 (for not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified; 14 for when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, 15 who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them) 16 in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel.

Was this the "height" of Samson's office as Judge and Deliverer of Israel? (v.17)

Or is this merely the beginning of his office and the end of the height of his sin? (v.20)

Galatians 2:20 (NKJV)

20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

Is this his first thirst for the LORD'S righteous where he begins to give God glory for his victories? (v.18)

Matthew 5:6 (NKJV)

6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled.

Why is God so determined to stamp the divine image upon the life of Samson? (v.19)

John 4:10 (NKJV)

10 Jesus answered and said to her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water."

John 7:38 (NKJV)

38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."

Revelation 7:17 (NKJV)

17 for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."

How is Christ the life-giving Spirit to him as the strength of his sin is diminishing and his thirst for the eternal God increasing?

1 Corinthians 15:45 (NKJV)

45 And so it is written, "The first man Adam became a living being." The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

1 Corinthians 15:55–58 (NKJV)

55 "O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?" 56 The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

Romans 8:10–11 (NKJV)

10 And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.