Samson

June 25, 2017 Background Scripture: Judges 13 – 16 Lesson Passage: Judges 13:1 – 7, 24, 25 As a child, I never knew whether Samson was a real person or just another superhero like Hercules. For many years into my adulthood, I thought the two were of the same ilk. After all, both were known for their superhuman strength. I admit to being surprised when I learned that Samson was a real person after all. He wasn’t just someone who showed up to fight the bad guys when trouble arose and then quickly disappeared. Samson served as a judge—a military and civil leader of God’s people. His exploits are legendary as if he were a superhero. He even had the background that is so befitting of a superhero. He was groomed from a baby to be a special person dedicated for the Lord’s use. His birth was special because his mother was barren unto the angel of the Lord told her that God was going to give her a child but she had to adhere to some very strict prenatal instructions. She could not drink strong drink or eat unclean food during her pregnancy. The child at birth had to be separated unto God and reared as a Nazirite. This was unusual because normally a person would make a personal vow as an adult and set himself apart as a Nazirite. Instead, this was done for Samson by his mother who followed the instructions from the angel of the Lord. She was cautioned to keep a razor from his head and he would become a deliverer of Israel to overthrow the oppression of the Philistines. Samson was destined to be a real-life superhero type. Even before conception, his path in life had already been chosen for him by God. In spite of all of this, Samson was still a real person. He had his share of personal issues and hang-ups. That’s one of the things I really like about the historical narratives in the scriptures. Those narratives allow us to see the real side of people—even though they were handpicked and chosen by God. The scriptures do not attempt to hide their human frailties. Two of Samson’s personal challenges—that we can perceive from the scriptures—were his overconfidence in times of peril and his weakness for women. Satan used both flaws to attack and eventually bring Samson’s ministry to an end. In spite of his tragic death, Samson had a reasonably long tenure as a judge in Israel. He served in that capacity for twenty years. Throughout this time, Israel remained at war with the Philistines. This was complicated by the fact that Samson had taken one of the daughters of the Philistines to be his wife. After the Philistines murdered her and her father, Samson killed one thousand men of their army. It was his desire and love for her that caused him to despise the Philistines. After this he met another woman who was an untrustworthy harlot. (Samson really knew how to pick them.) The Philistines used her to bring Samson down by convincing her to discover the secret of his incredible strength. At the end of his tenure as judge, Samson killed more Philistines in an act of suicide than he killed during his twenty years as a judge. So, he even died a superhero’s death. Robert C. Hudson April 20, 2017

Jephthah

June 18, 2017 Background Scripture: Judges 11 Lesson Passage: Judges 11:4 – 11, 29 – 31 If ever there were a judge who threw caution to the wind it was Jephthah. I know many would have thought about Samson, who always seemed just a bit arrogant when I read about his exploits. However, Jephthah owns this distinction in the worst way. No matter what you name this award: “Foot-in-Mouth”, “Don’t-Look-before-You-Leap”, or “Talk-first-then-Think-Later”, Jephthah owns it. The short version of the story is that Jephthah made a pledge before he had any idea how much the pledge would cost him. Jephthah served as judge for the shortest period of time recorded for the judges. He served for six years. Prior to Jephthah being raised by God to judge Israel, the nation had again slipped back into idolatry and sin. They did not worship just one of the idol gods but they worshipped all of the major idols of the pagans around them. Sadly, they worshipped everything but God. God allowed them to be punished by their enemies for eighteen years. Then Israel repented and turned to God and began to seek a leader from among them to lead them in battle against their enemy. Jephthah was an outcast in the land of Gilead because he had been born to his father by a harlot. He was an “outside child”. His brothers by his father’s wife ran him away so that he would not receive any of his father’s inheritance. When Israel found herself in battle against the Ammonites, the elders sought out Jephthah to come and lead Israel’s army. Jephthah agreed when the elders offered to allow Jephthah to become their leader after the battle was successfully decided in Israel’s favor. Jephthah showed that he was quite knowledgeable about Israel’s history when the Lord first led them into the land. Their history proved that the Ammonites did not have any right to the land they were attempting to dispossess Israel of. In spite of the accuracy of the historical facts, the Ammonite king chose to ignore Jephthah’s reasoning and to continue to press on. God anointed Jephthah with His Spirit and sent him into battle against the Ammonites. It was at this point that Jephthah made the crucial error I wrote of earlier. Jephthah made a vow that if the Lord would give him victory against the Ammonites, then he would sacrifice to God whatever came out of his house to meet him when he returned home after the victory. He did not merely offer to give it to God but to offer it to Him as a burnt sacrifice. Because of God’s Spirit upon Jephthah, he completely routed the Ammonites. When Jephthah returned home, his one and only child came out of the house dancing with a tambourine to greet him. Jephthah’s little girl was the only child he had and he had foolishly pledged her life as a burnt offering to God. With much grief and distress, Jephthah resented the vow he made to the Lord. His daughter displayed more wisdom than her father by telling him to keep the vow he made to the Lord but to allow her a four month period of mourning first. This was done and the rest is history (or “her story”). Robert C. Hudson April 20, 2017