Shofets [Hebrew]: a ruler or kind of military leader or deliverer.

Samson is a clear Archetype

  

The Philistines went up and camped in Judah, spreading out near Lehi. The people 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.' 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.' 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.' '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. As he approached Lehi, the Philistines came toward him shouting. The Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him. The ropes on his arms became like charred flax, and the bindings dropped from his hands. Finding a fresh jawbone of a donkey, he grabbed it and struck down a thousand men. Then Samson said, 'With a donkey’s jawbone I have made donkeys of them. With a donkey’s jawbone I have killed a thousand men.' When he finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone; and the place was called Ramath Lehi. Because he was very thirsty, he cried out to the Lord, 'You have given your servant this great victory. Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?' Then God opened up the hollow place in Lehi, and water came out of it. When Samson drank, his strength returned, and he revived. So, the spring was called En Hakkore, and it is still there in Lehi. Samson led Israel for twenty years in the days of the Philistines.

-Judges 15:9-20

Hero Worship Vs Hero Deconstruction

  

We no longer look for salvation in unblemished heroes. We want people who are complex, dependent, and changeable. Most modern Psychologists see the individual as more changeable than stable. We don’t want one dominant authority to tell us what to do. We don’t want people who crush us. We don’t want someone who does their duty. We want authenticity. We don’t want authority.

-Warren Truitt

Like Eve, Princess Diana came to know good and evil, but unlike Eve, she refused to be ashamed, refused to hide, she found her voice, her pleasure, and shattered the icons that imprisons us.

-Carol Gilligan

 

Transparency is not the same thing as repentance.

Now to the one who does not live virtuously but who clings to the One who justifies the unvirtuous, God, those are Christians.

-Romans 4:5

WHAT DOES SAMSON GIVE US THEN?

  

HERO VISION!

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.’

-Judges 15:11

The people 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.’

-Judges 15:10

Genocide: Kill the people.

Ethnocide: Kill the culture.

There is most definitely a concerted effort in the west to destroy the Judeo-Christian culture.

  

How do we respond? How does God respond?

  

Samson led (judged) Israel for twenty years in the days of the Philistines.

-Judges 15:20

God used Samson to lead and deliver Israel.

  

Judges were yashars [Hebrew]…deliverers.

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.’ ‘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.

-Judges 15:12-13

Samson's destruction brings about their salvation.

As he approached Lehi, the Philistines came toward him shouting. The Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him. The ropes on his arms became like charred flax, and the bindings dropped from his hands.

-Judges 15:14

Because he was very thirsty, he cried out to the Lord, 'You have given your servant this great victory. Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?’

-Judges 15:18

Then God opened up the hollow place in Lehi, and water came out of it. When Samson drank, his strength returned and he revived.

-Judges 15:19

Do you see the Archetype?

  

God can save, deliver, and redeem with just One!

  

What is a champion in the Old testament?

  

When the ultimate Champion comes, he fights two battles.

  

First - Jesus, our Champion, lived the life of courage, goodness, purity, and righteousness that we should have lived.

  

Second - Jesus died the death we should have died.

  

Because Jesus defeated sin and death, so shall we!

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

-2 Corinthians 5:21

All champions point to the ultimate champion!

  

The Lord says to my lord: 'Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.’ …The Lord is at your right hand; he will crush kings on the day of his wrath. He will judge the nations, heaping up the dead and crushing the rulers of the whole earth. He will drink from a brook along the way, and so he will lift his head high.

-Psalm 110:1, 5-7

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

-Ephesians 1:18-23

Jesus said, 'My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.’

-John 18:36

Every time the church gets this wrong, it sets kingdom work back decades if not centuries.

1 - You are supposed to be humbled by the vision of the Hero.

  

2 - You are supposed to rest in what Jesus has done.

  

Only the people who understand how they are loved and accepted will be able to love in a way that will change the enemy’s hearts into friendship with God.

3 - When you admit your weakness and rest in His provision, you will fight in the new way of the spirit.

  

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

-Romans 12:21

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

-Ephesians 6:12

Samson is a Nazarite.

God works with flawed people! Yes. Yet, there is a spot at which God, himself, will pull the plug on you if you keep on sinning.

Then she called, ‘Samson, the Philistines are upon you!’ He awoke from his sleep and thought, ‘I’ll go out as before and shake myself free.’ But he did not know that the Lord had left him.

-Judges 16:20

By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.

-1 Corinthians 3:10-15

Samson accomplishes more in his death than he ever did in his life.

  

Where do we go?

  

Repent before you forfeit your life.

Humble yourself before the great champion.

  

  

  

  

  

What are your main takeaways from this message?

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