Dr. Paul Manuel—2020
I. Samson portends a Philistine defeat.
A. Israel
anticipates a deliverer with his conception (13:1).
B. Israel
separates a deliverer during his development (13:4-5).
C. Israel
receives a deliverer after his birth (13:24-25).
Application: Remain alert to whatever God
has in store for you and be confident He will make certain you are
prepared as you need to be (Isa 64:3).
II. Samson takes a Philistine wife.
A. He
stumps the groomsmen (14:14).
B. He
rewards the groomsmen (14:15-20).
Application: Because God demands it means the price is not insubstantial, certainly one that will be dear to pay (Deut 23:21).
III. Samson visits a Philistine harlot.
A. He
destroys the Philistine crop at Timnah (15:3-8).
B. He defeats
the Philistine men at Lehi (15:9-15).
Application: Your decision to serve God
sets you up to receive from God the greatest freedom to exercise your
free will you will ever have (Josh 24:15).
IV. Samson crashes a Philistine party.
A. He recovers
his strength (16:21-22).
B. He devastates
his enemies (16:27-30).
Application: The answers God provides when
you pray are proof of His presence in your life, as well as proof of His
love for you (1 John 5:14-15).
Being a teenager and getting a tattoo seem to go
hand-in-hand these days. Linda was not surprised when one of her daughter’s friends
showed off a delicate little Japanese symbol on her hip. “Please don’t tell my
parents,” she begged. “I won’t,” Linda replied. “By the way, what does that
symbol stand for?” …“Honesty,” she said.
Parents make some decisions for their children that
are permanent, but children can also make decisions that are permanent.[1]
Samson’s parents make some decisions for him that are permanent, but he must
decide whether or not to abide by them.
Background: The
Nazirite vow marks a person’s devotion to God and often accompanies a special
petition to God. It is more focused than a person’s normal promise (see “The
Use of Oaths and Vows in Israel,” an excerpt from Manuel 2010) in that it is
for a limited time and adheres to a limiting set of conditions (Manuel 2020).
The Nazirite vow most familiar to Christians is Samson’s, but his vow is
different from the regular Nazirite vow in at least two respects.
The first difference is the source of the
vow. The initial promise comes not from Samson himself but from his parents
before Samson is even born. Because his mother Hannah is barren, her primary request
is for a child. When God responds with a son, his grateful parents dedicate him
to the Lord’s service.[2]
At the same time, Israel has been suffering under oppression by the
Philistines, a seafaring people that moves into Canaan from the west about the
same time the Israelites, an agrarian people, move in from the east. The child
will eventually grow to answer the nation’s request for deliverance from their
Philistine overlords.
The second difference is the length of the
vow. This deliverer will remain set apart to God’s service not for days, weeks,
or even months, but for life. He will always adhere to the requirements
of a Nazirite, from his time in the womb[3]
to his interment in a tomb. Nevertheless, Samson’s sudden death means he is not
able to fulfill the final responsibility of a Nazirite, which is to cut his
hair and offer a series of sacrifices.[4]
“The Saga of Samson” appears in the first book of Samuel with the announcement
of his birth.
I. Samson portends a Philistine defeat.
A. Israel anticipates a deliverer with his conception (13:1).
Judg 13:1
Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD, so the LORD delivered
them into the hands of the Philistines for forty years.
After Israel left Egypt, despite the
impressive array of miracles attending the people’s departure, God’s care for
them in the wilderness, and their conquest of Canaan, God’s people do not have
a good record of staying faithful to the Lord. Several times before this one
the biblical author notes Israel’s moral decline:
The Israelites did evil in the eyes
of the LORD and served the Baals. (Judg 2:11)
The Israelites did evil in the eyes
of the LORD: they forgot the LORD their God and
served the Baals and the Asherahs. (Judg 3:7)
Once again the Israelites did evil
in the eyes of the LORD, and because they did this
evil the LORD gave Eglon king of Moab power over Israel. (Judg 3:12)
After Ehud died, the Israelites
once again did evil in the eyes of the LORD. (Judg 4:1)
Again the Israelites did evil in
the eyes of the LORD, and for seven years he gave
them into the hands of the Midianites. (Judg 6:1)
Again the Israelites did evil in
the eyes of the LORD. They served the Baals and the
Ashtoreths, and the gods of Aram, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods
of the Ammonites and the gods of the Philistines. (Judg 10:6)
Despite
this abysmal record, God does not give up on His people. He calls them back again
and again. More than that, He promises to rescue them.
An angel appears to Manoah informing him
about the son he will soon have and about the special conditions his wife must
follow during her pregnancy because of the role the boy will play in the nation’s
emancipation.
B. Israel separates a deliverer during his development (13:4-5).
Judg 13:4 “See
to it that you drink no wine or other fermented drink and that you do not eat
anything unclean, 5 because you will conceive and give birth to a son. No razor
may be used on his head, because the boy is to be a Nazirite, set apart to God
from birth, and he will begin the deliverance of Israel from the hands of the
Philistines.”
Manoah’s wife must follow two conditions
during her pregnancy, presumably to ensure that nothing hinders his leadership
potential: She must avoid alcoholic beverages, a restriction unique to
Nazirites, and she must avoid unclean meat, a restriction common to every
Israelite.
C. Israel receives a deliverer after his birth (13:24-25).
Judg 13:24
The woman gave birth to a boy and named him Samson. He grew and the LORD
blessed him, 25 and the Spirit of the LORD began to stir him while he was in
Mahaneh Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.
Here is an example of the Holy Spirit’s
work before Pentecost (Manuel 2004). God moves in Samson’s life from an early
age, presumably to develop his great strength and prepare him for the work that
lies ahead.
Application:
You may not realize how God has been working in your life to prepare you for a
task He wants you to do. It may be through the experiences you have or the
people you meet. God is able to combine all aspects of your past to qualify you
for a particular responsibility, one you never expected to encounter. Yet God
often works in unexpected ways. The challenge for you is to be open to whatever
possibility He places before you. Isaiah says about God’s appearance at Sinai:
You did awesome things that we did not expect, you came down, and the
mountains trembled before you. (Isa 64:3)
Jesus’ return will also come as
a surprise:
Be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an
hour when you do not expect him. (Matt 24:44)
Your
task is to remain alert to whatever God has in store for you and be confident
He will make certain you are as prepared as you need to be.
Samson has a weakness for and displays poor
judgment with regard to women, especially as he chooses a spouse. Rather than
avoiding the people oppressing Israel, he seems drawn to them. Nevertheless,
God is able to use even poor judgment to advance His will:
His
parents did not know that this was from the LORD, who was seeking an occasion
to confront the Philistines; for at that time they were ruling over Israel. (Judg 14:4)
So…
II. Samson takes a Philistine wife.
A. He stumps the groomsmen (14:14).
Judg 14:14
“Out of the eater, something to eat; out of the strong, something sweet.” For
three days they could not give the answer.
His discovery of the honeybee hive in a
dead lion’s carcass[5]
inspires a riddle and sets the stage for some entertainment at his wedding.
B. He rewards the groomsmen (14:15-20)
Judg 14:15
On the fourth day, they said to Samson’s wife, “Coax your husband into
explaining the riddle for us, or we will burn you and your father’s household
to death. Did you invite us here to rob us?”
The groomsmen threaten the
bride’s family and cheat rather than endure the loss of the wager.
Judg 14:16
Then Samson’s wife threw herself on him, sobbing, “You hate me! You don’t
really love me. You’ve given my people a riddle, but you haven’t told me the
answer.” “I haven’t even explained it to my father or mother,” he replied, “so
why should I explain it to you?” 17 She cried the whole seven days of the
feast. So on the seventh day he finally told her, because she continued to
press him. She in turn explained the riddle to her people.
Despite his great physical
strength, Samson does not display strength of character in acceding to his
wife’s tearful and incessant pleading.
Judg 14:18
Before sunset on the seventh day the men of the town said to him, “What is
sweeter than honey? What is stronger than a lion?” Samson said to them, “If you
had not plowed with my heifer, you would not have solved my riddle.”
Samson
accuses them of cheating, of plowing with his heifer (i.e., pressuring his wife
to reveal the answer to the riddle). “Heifers were not normally used for
plowing, so the thirty [men] had not played fair” (Wolf 1992:469), a charge
they do not dispute.
Application: Several passages in the
law and elsewhere advocate keeping one’s word when you make a commitment to the
Lord,[6]
lest you incur His wrath (see “The Use of Oaths and
Vows in Israel,” an excerpt from Manuel 2010):
When a man makes a vow to the LORD or takes an oath to obligate himself by a pledge, he
must not break his word but must do everything he said. (Num 30:2)
If you make a vow to the LORD your God, do not be slow to pay it, for the LORD your
God will certainly demand it of you and you will be guilty of sin. (Deut 23:21)
It is
better not to vow than to make a vow and not fulfill it. (Eccl 5:5)
There
is a penalty for reneging on your word. The text does not specify what the cost
is, but because God demands it means the price is not insubstantial,
certainly one that will be dear to pay.
Now comes Samson’s final decline, the one
many artists memorialize in various paintings.
III. Samson visits a Philistine harlot.
A. He destroys the Philistine crop at Timnah (15:3-8).
Judg 15:3
Samson said to them, “This time I have a right to get even with the
Philistines; I will really harm them.” 4 So he went out and caught three
hundred foxes and tied them tail to tail in pairs. He then fastened a torch to
every pair of tails, 5 lit the torches and let the foxes loose in the standing
grain of the Philistines. He burned up the shocks and standing grain, together
with the vineyards and olive groves.
Samson’s feat is an amazing accomplishment.
This must be a very difficult task, to catch so many foxes or “jackals,” a pack
animal, as one commentator suggests (Wolf 1992:472). It devastates the
Philistine harvest,[7]
ensuring animosity against Israel in general and against Samson in particular.
Judg 15:6
When the Philistines asked, “Who did this?” they were told, “Samson, the
Timnite’s son-in-law, because his wife was given to his friend.” So the
Philistines went up and burned her and her father to death. 7 Samson said to
them, “Since you’ve acted like this, I won’t stop until I get my revenge on
you.” 8 He attacked them viciously and slaughtered many of them. Then he went
down and stayed in a cave in the rock of Etam.
B. He defeats the Philistine men at Lehi (15:9-15).
Judg 15:9
The Philistines went up and camped in Judah, spreading out near Lehi. 10 The
men of Judah asked, “Why have you come to fight us?” “We have come to take
Samson prisoner,” they answered, “to do to him as he did to us.”
The
Philistines do not attempt to arrest Samson themselves but put that
responsibility on the Israelites, assuming it will be safer to have his own countrymen
shoulder the burden of his capture and transfer to their custody.[8]
Judg 15:11
Then three thousand men from Judah went down to the cave in the rock of Etam
and said to Samson, “Don’t you realize that the Philistines are rulers over us?
What have you done to us?” He answered, “I merely did to them what they did to
me.” 12 They said to him, “We’ve come to tie you up and hand you over to the
Philistines.” Samson said, “Swear to me that you won’t kill me yourselves.” 13
“Agreed,” they answered. “We will only tie you up and hand you over to them. We
will not kill you.” So they bound him with two new ropes and led him up from
the rock.
Samson agrees to go
peacefully with his fellow Israelites under minimum security, suggesting to
them similar safety measures to those he will suggest to Delilah later (“fresh
cords” 16:7).
Judg 15:14
As he approached Lehi, the Philistines came toward him shouting. The Spirit of
the LORD came upon him in power. The ropes on his arms became like charred
flax, and the bindings dropped from his hands. 15 Finding a fresh jawbone of a
donkey, he grabbed it and struck down a thousand men.
The Philistine celebration
over Samson’s capture is premature. Mere ropes cannot contain his great
strength. The Philistine death toll rises considerably, from “thirty” (14:19)
to “many of them” (15:8) to “a thousand men” (15:15).
Application: Samson claims he has “a right
to get even with the Philistines” (v. 5) because of what they are doing to the
Israelites. But the only “right” any person really has is the one God gives
him—the right to a fair trial in the end, when “we will all stand before God’s
judgment seat” (Rom
14:10), and even that is
an expression of His unmerited favor, an expression of mercy your creator does
not have to extend, but He does.[9]
Until then, this is a prerogative God
claims for Himself: “It
is mine to avenge; I will repay.”
(Deut 32:35).[10] Vengeance
is not a characteristic Christians generally associate with God. They prefer
“love,” especially when they think about Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, but
vengeance will be a primary part of Jesus’ return, which may be a good experience for
you, but it will definitely be a bad experience for others.
In the end, you will realize there is
little about life you actually control, certainly less than you think. So, take
charge where you can: Your decision to serve God sets you up to
receive from God the greatest freedom to exercise your free will you
will ever have. As Joshua challenges the Israelites starting their new life in
Canaan:
Choose for
yourselves this day —It is up to you—whom you will serve, whether the gods your
forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land
you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” (Josh
24:15)
Your decisions now, in the
most important areas of life, are the most free decisions you will ever have.
IV. Samson crashes a Philistine party.
A. He recovers his strength (16:21-22).
Judg 16:21
Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes and took him down to Gaza.
Binding him with bronze shackles, they set him to grinding in the prison. 22
But the hair on his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.
Few societies in the Ancient Near East have
facilities to incarcerate prisoners.[11]
The most they can do is punish them before releasing them. Philistia is one of
those few societies, and its prison is part of the deity’s (Dagon’s) temple. The
Philistines do not treat their prisoner well. They bind and blind Samson,
expecting that he will eventually die in captivity, an assumption Samson
probably shares.[12]
B. He devastates his enemies (16:27-30).
Judg 16:27 Now
the temple was crowded with men and women; all the rulers of the Philistines
were there, and on the roof were about three thousand men and women watching
Samson perform. 28 Then Samson prayed to the LORD, “O Sovereign LORD, remember
me. O God, please strengthen me just once more, and let me with one blow get
revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes.” 29 Then Samson reached toward the
two central pillars on which the temple stood. Bracing himself against them,
his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other, 30 Samson said, “Let
me die with the Philistines!” Then he pushed with all his might, and down came
the temple on the rulers and all the people in it. Thus he killed many more
when he died than while he lived.
This public function is well-attended: “all
the rulers of the Philistines [as well as] three thousand men and women” on the
roof (v. 27). It is a spectacular gathering, with Samson headlining the event.
He calls on God in a two-fold request: “Please strengthen me just once more”
(v. 28) and “Let me die with the Philistines!” (v. 30). The return of Samson’s
strength is proof that God answers his prayer.[13]
Application:
What Samson prays is not long: “Let me die
with the Philistines!” just six words in
English, four words in Hebrew (MyI;tVvIlVÚp_MIo
yIvVpÅn twømD;t). Likewise, what you pray need not be long, especially
if the situation dictates something short (see the Excursus:
Stages of Concentration in Prayer from Manuel 2005). God grants his request, which is a reminder
that His agenda is different from man’s agenda, as He says through Isaiah:
“My thoughts are not
your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. “As the heavens are higher than the
earth, so are my ways higher than
your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (55:8-9)
God
does not value life, even the life of His own people, above all else (Manuel
2005-6 and 2009). God grants Samson’s request because it fits God’s agenda, the
agenda God reveals to Samson’s parents before the birth:
“[The boy will grow
to] begin the deliverance of Israel from the hands of the Philistines” (13:5),
which he does.[14]
The Philistines continue to oppose Israel but never again oppress Israel, and they
finally suffer defeat by Israel during David’s reign.
God answers the prayer of His people, and you can expect a positive response when you pray. God’s answer to your prayer may not be as dramatic as His answer to Samson’s prayer, and it will probably not have the same finale. Nevertheless, do not think that you must undergo a Nazarite vow to have God’s attention. John’s observation about the matter is clear: [15]
This is the confidence we have in approaching God:
that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that
he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him. (1 John 5:14-15)
The answers God provides when you pray are proof of His presence in your life, as well as proof of His love for you.
Conclusion: Despite Samson’s Nazirite vow, his devotion to God
is not as strong as his obligation requires, especially when it concerns women.
Samson displays a weakness typical of his gender. Nevertheless, “The Saga of Samson” does
illustrate God’s ability to advance His agenda even when His own people are not
as cooperative as they should be. Consider how easily God’s agenda will advance
with your cooperation.
Bibliography
Manuel, Paul http://paulwmanuel.blogspot.com
2004 “The
Holy Spirit’s Ministry in the OT.” Pneumatology Excursus in A Reader’s Digest Approach to Theology.
2005 Praying
through the Bible: A Reporter’s Investigation.
2005-6 The Decalogue: A Summary
of God’s Precepts for God’s People: “On Hostility”
(Exod 20:13).
2009 A Roadmap to Holiness:
The Highest Value in God’s Economy.
2010 Judges: The Struggle for Autonomy.
2016 “The
Transfer of Jesus to a Secular Court.”
2020 “Nazirite Vow”
(Num 6:1-21). [Sermon]
Wolf,
Herbert
1992 “Judges.” The
Expositor's Bible Commentary. Vol. 3. Edited by Frank E. Gaebelein. Grand
Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House.
[1]God
forbids tattoos, but His objection may be because of an association with
paganism:
Lev 19:28 Do not…put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the LORD.
[2]Samson’s
dedication is different from Samuel’s dedication, which is different from child
dedication as many Christian parents practice it today:
• Samson’s dedication is to his keeping the
requirements of the vow and are unrelated to the temple.
• Samuel’s dedication is to his keeping the
requirements of the vow sanctuary service, and he lives in the temple or offers
sacrifices elsewhere:
1 Sam 2:18 Samuel was ministering before the
LORD…. 21 Samuel grew up in the presence of the LORD.
1 Sam 3:1 Samuel ministered before the LORD under
Eli…. 3 Samuel was lying down in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God
was…. 15 Samuel lay down until morning and
then opened the doors of the house of the LORD.
1 Sam 7:9 Samuel took a suckling lamb and offered
it up as a whole burnt offering to the LORD…. 10 Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering.
1 Sam 9:14 Samuel [was] on his way up to the high place…. 19 Samuel replied. “Go up ahead of me to
the high place.” …25 After they came down from the
high place to the town, Samuel talked
with Saul.
1 Sam 10:25 Samuel explained to the people the
regulations of the kingship. He wrote them down on a scroll and deposited it
before the LORD.
1 Sam 15:1 Samuel said to Saul, “I am the one the
LORD sent to anoint you king over his people Israel.” …31 Samuel went back with
Saul, and Saul worshiped the LORD.
1 Sam 16:5 Samuel replied… “I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.” …Then he consecrated Jesse and
his sons and invited them to the sacrifice…. 13 Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him.
1 Sam 19:20 They saw a group of prophets
prophesying, with Samuel standing there as their leader.
1 Chr 29:29 The events of King David’s reign…are
written in the records of Samuel the seer
• Christian parents’ dedication is to their
child’s general devotion to God and has nothing to do with the temple.
Of
the three, only Samuel’s is true dedication, mirroring a transaction in the
temple. Biblical references to dedication have to do with the house of God:
Lev
27:2 If anyone makes a special
vow to dedicate
persons to the LORD by giving equivalent
values,
Lev
27:14 If a man dedicates his
house as something holy to the LORD, the priest will judge its quality as good
or bad…. 15 If the man who dedicates his
house redeems it, he must add a fifth to its value, and the house will again become
his.
Lev
27:16 If a man dedicates to
the LORD part of his family land, its value is to be set according to the
amount of seed required for it….
Lev
27:26 No one, however, may dedicate the
firstborn of an animal, since the firstborn already belongs to the LORD;
whether an ox or a sheep, it is the LORD’S.
Num
6:12 [A Nazirite] must dedicate himself
to the LORD for the period of his separation and must bring a year-old male
lamb as a guilt offering. The previous days do not count, because he became
defiled during his separation.
Num 7:10 When the altar was anointed, the
leaders brought their offerings for its dedication and presented them before
the altar.
Num 18:6 I myself have selected your fellow
Levites from among the Israelites as a gift to you, dedicated to the LORD to do the work at the Tent of Meeting.
Kings use the
temple as a repository for their administration’s accumulated wealth, which
they dedicate to the Lord. Presumably these funds are then limited for use in
the temple:
2
Sam 8:11 King David dedicated these
articles to the LORD, as he had done with the silver and gold from all the
nations he had subdued.
1
Kgs 7:51 When all the work King
Solomon had done for the temple of the LORD was finished, he brought in the
things his father David had dedicated.
2 Kgs 12:18 Joash king of Judah took all the sacred
objects dedicated by his fathers…and the gifts he himself had dedicated and all
the gold found in the treasuries of the temple of
the LORD and of the royal palace, and he sent them to Hazael king of Aram, who
then withdrew from Jerusalem.
1 Chr 26:20 Levites were in charge of the
treasuries of the house of God and the treasuries for the dedicated things.
2 Chr 15:18 He brought into the temple of God the
silver and gold and the articles that he and his father had dedicated.
Ezra
6:16 The people of
Israel…celebrated the dedication of the house of God with joy. 17 For the dedication
of this house of God they offered a hundred bulls,
two hundred rams, four hundred male lambs.
Ezek 43:26 For seven days they are to make
atonement for the altar and cleanse it; thus they will dedicate it.
Ps
30:0 A psalm. A song. For the dedication of
the temple. Of David.
People
extend the domain of holiness (metaphorically) to include the people and walls
of the city:
2 Chr 29:31 Hezekiah said, “You have now dedicated
yourselves to the LORD.”
Neh 12:27 At the dedication of the wall of
Jerusalem, the Levites were sought out from where
they lived and were brought to Jerusalem to celebrate joyfully the dedication.
[3]Samson’s
mother begins the vow prenatally:
Judg 13:4
See to it that you drink no
wine or other fermented drink and that you do not eat anything unclean… 6 …An
angel…. 7 said to me… “The boy will be a Nazirite of God from birth until the
day of his death.”
[4]Because
Samson’s Nazirite vow is unconventional, the standard offerings as well as the
final haircut do not apply to him.
[5]Samson’s
contact with a lion’s carcass renders him ceremonially unclean and violates the
terms of his separation:
Lev 11:26 Every
animal that has a split hoof not completely divided or that does not chew the
cud is unclean for you; whoever touches [the carcass of] any of them will be unclean.
Cf. Num 19:20 If a person who is unclean does not purify himself, he must be cut off from the community,
because he has defiled the sanctuary of the LORD.
His later contact with a
harlot shows that Samson is not concerned with ceremonial purity.
[6]The
psalmist advises keeping one’s oath even when it is not to the speaker’s
advantage:
Ps
15:1 LORD, who may dwell in your
sanctuary? …4 [He] who keeps his oath even when it hurts.
[7]Under
Israelite law, such an act is forbidden:
Exod 22:6 If a fire breaks out and spreads into thornbushes
so that it burns shocks of grain or standing grain or the whole field, the one
who started the fire must make restitution.
[8]Jesus’
disciples face a similar dilemma with his arrest, although they are not
responsible for the rabbi’s extradition (Manuel 2016).
[9]Even
the final judgment is an expression of God’s grace.
Matt
16:27 The Son of Man is going to
come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person
according to what he has done.
2 Cor 5:10 We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that
each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body,
whether good or bad.
[10]God allows Samson to exercise his
free will when he commits suicide (see “Suicide
in the Bible,” an excerpt from Manuel 2010).
[11]Large
jurisdictions (countries) have prisons:
Gen 39:20
Joseph’s master took him and put him in prison, the place where the king’s
prisoners were confined.
2 Kgs 17:4 Shalmaneser seized him and put him in
prison.
2 Kgs 25:27 In the year Evil-Merodach became king
of Babylon, he released Jehoiachin from prison.
Even Israel
had no prisons until the monarchy, relegating offenders to a fine or some form
of public punishment:
Exod
21:22 If men who are fighting hit
a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely but there is no serious
injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman’s husband demands and the
court allows. 23 But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life,
24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 burn for
burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.
Deut
25:1 When men have a dispute,
they are to take it to court and the judges will decide the case, acquitting
the innocent and condemning the guilty. 2 If the guilty man deserves to be
beaten, the judge shall make him lie down and have him flogged in his presence
with the number of lashes his crime deserves, 3 but he must not give him more
than forty lashes. If he is flogged more than that, your brother will be
degraded in your eyes.
Conditions
in prison are generally harsh, sometimes torturous, with poor provisions:
1 Kgs 22:27 and say, ‘This is what the king says:
Put this fellow in prison and give him nothing but bread and water until I
return safely.’”
2 Kgs 25:29 Jehoiachin put aside his prison clothes
and for the rest of his life ate regularly at the king’s table.
2 Chr 18:26 This is what the king says: “Put this
fellow in prison and give him nothing but bread and water.”
Psa 66:11 You brought us into prison and laid
burdens on our backs.
Isa 42:7 Release from the dungeon those who sit
in darkness.
Jer 37:15 They were angry with Jeremiah and had
him beaten and imprisoned in the house of Jonathan the secretary, which they
had made into a prison.
Acts 5:18 They arrested the apostles and put them
in the public jail.
Acts 12:4 He put him in prison, handing him over
to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each…. 6 Peter was sleeping
between two soldiers, bound with two chains
[12]King
Zedekiah will suffer the same fate as Samson, probably for the same intended
(versus actual) duration:
Jer 52:11 He put
out Zedekiah’s eyes, bound him with bronze shackles, and took him to Babylon,
where he put him in prison till the day of his death.
[13]Philistia does rise again in the reign of Saul, even
capturing the ark, but it finally suffers defeat under David:
1
Sam 4:17 The man who brought the news
replied, “Israel fled before the Philistines, and the army has suffered
heavy losses. Also your two sons…are dead, and the ark of God has been
captured.”
1 Sam 5:1 After the Philistines had captured the
ark of God, they took it from Ebenezer to Ashdod.
2 Sam 8:1 In the course of time, David
defeated the Philistines
and subdued them.
1 Chr 18:1 In the course of time, David defeated
the Philistines and subdued them, and he took Gath and its surrounding villages
from the control of the Philistines.
[14]Samson’s prayer illustrates one
of the protocols for successful prayer (see “Competence in Communicating with
God” from Manuel 2005). In this case, the protocol is praying according to
God’s will, that Israel would be free from Philistine domination, something
Samson’s death does achieve for several hundred years.
[15]Another
biblical author makes a similar observation:
No comments:
Post a Comment
Relevant and civil comments are welcome. Whether there will be any response depends on whether Dr. Manuel notices them and has the time and inclination to respond or, if not, whether I feel competent to do so.
Jim Skaggs