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Judges 16-18    Listen Podcast

 

Samson was no model Nazirite (Judges 16:1-3)

1 Now Samson went to Gaza and saw a harlot there, and went in to her.
2 When the Gazites were told, “Samson has come here!” they surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the gate of the city. They were quiet all night, saying, “In the morning, when it is daylight, we will kill him.”
3 And Samson lay low till midnight; then he arose at midnight, took hold of the doors of the gate of the city and the two gateposts, pulled them up, bar and all, put them on his shoulders, and carried them to the top of the hill that faces Hebron.

True, Samson was a judge of Israel for 20 years according to Judges 15:20 (see notes). However, Samson's favor with God was based upon his faith in the one true God, not his lifestyle. As a matter of fact, Samson's faith is commended in Hebrews 11:32 (see notes). The incident told to us about Samson here in verses 1-3 shows us the virtual indestructibility of Samson as long as he honored his Nazirite vow, despite the lack of good judgment shown by him in his activities. In this instance, he's spending the night with a prostitute...probably a Philistine at that. Gaza was on the Mediterranean coast in southern Israel where the Gaza strip is today. It was in the heart of Philistine country. So...here he is in the wrong place at the wrong time, right in the thick of the people who passionately hate him (he had just killed 1,000 of them at the end of Judges 15, see notes), engaging in a practice that served only to satisfy his own selfish base desires...WAY OFF GOD'S MISSION. When they try to take advantage of his compromised situation, he manages to, not only escape, but carry the gate of their city with him and deposit it near Hebron 35 miles east of Gaza. These three verses set up the rest of the chapter; you can see what an irritant Samson had become to the Philistines.

Was Delilah smart, or Samson a little slow? (Judges 16:4-31)

4 ¶ Afterward it happened that he loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.
5 And the lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, “Entice him, and find out where his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him, that we may bind him to afflict him; and every one of us will give you eleven hundred pieces of silver.”
6 ¶ So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me where your great strength lies, and with what you may be bound to afflict you.”
7 ¶ And Samson said to her, “If they bind me with seven fresh bowstrings, not yet dried, then I shall become weak, and be like any other man.”
8 ¶ So the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven fresh bowstrings, not yet dried, and she bound him with them.
9 Now men were lying in wait, staying with her in the room. And she said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” But he broke the bowstrings as a strand of yarn breaks when it touches fire. So the secret of his strength was not known.
10 ¶ Then Delilah said to Samson, “Look, you have mocked me and told me lies. Now, please tell me what you may be bound with.”
11 ¶ So he said to her, “If they bind me securely with new ropes that have never been used, then I shall become weak, and be like any other man.”
12 ¶ Therefore Delilah took new ropes and bound him with them, and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And men were lying in wait, staying in the room. But he broke them off his arms like a thread.
13 ¶ Delilah said to Samson, “Until now you have mocked me and told me lies. Tell me what you may be bound with.” ¶ And he said to her, “If you weave the seven locks of my head into the web of the loom”—
14 ¶ So she wove it tightly with the batten of the loom, and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” But he awoke from his sleep, and pulled out the batten and the web from the loom.
15 ¶ Then she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and have not told me where your great strength lies.”
16 And it came to pass, when she pestered him daily with her words and pressed him, so that his soul was vexed to death,
17 that he told her all his heart, and said to her, “No razor has ever come upon my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If I am shaven, then my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man.”
18 ¶ When Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, “Come up once more, for he has told me all his heart.” So the lords of the Philistines came up to her and brought the money in their hand.
19 Then she lulled him to sleep on her knees, and called for a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she began to torment him, and his strength left him.
20 And she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” So he awoke from his sleep, and said, “I will go out as before, at other times, and shake myself free!” But he did not know that the LORD had departed from him.
21 ¶ Then the Philistines took him and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza. They bound him with bronze fetters, and he became a grinder in the prison.
22 However, the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaven.
23 ¶ Now the lords of the Philistines gathered together to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god, and to rejoice. And they said:
“Our god has delivered into our hands
Samson our enemy!”
24 When the people saw him, they praised their god; for they said:
“Our god has delivered into our hands our enemy,
The destroyer of our land,
And the one who multiplied our dead.”
25 So it happened, when their hearts were merry, that they said, “Call for Samson, that he may perform for us.” So they called for Samson from the prison, and he performed for them. And they stationed him between the pillars.
26 Then Samson said to the lad who held him by the hand, “Let me feel the pillars which support the temple, so that I can lean on them.”
27 Now the temple was full of men and women. All the lords of the Philistines were there—about three thousand men and women on the roof watching while Samson performed.
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!”
29 And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars which supported the temple, and he braced himself against them, one on his right and the other on his left.
30 Then Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” And he pushed with all his might, and the temple fell on the lords and all the people who were in it. So the dead that he killed at his death were more than he had killed in his life.
31 ¶ And his brothers and all his father’s household came down and took him, and brought him up and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of his father Manoah. He had judged Israel twenty years.

Let's face it though; this exchange between Samson and Delilah is a chart topper in the love-is-blind category (pun intended), don't you agree? I mean...first the bow strings, then the new ropes, then the weaving of his hair...accompanied by a startling alarm each time - what was he thinking! Who could be so love stricken so as not to realize what Delilah was up to? Then, with an incredulous act of naivety, Samson divulges the big secret - "don't cut my hair." Presumably, Delilah was a Philistine also; so of course she immediately cuts his hair, and he is captured and intentionally blinded. With Samson, love wasn't just blind, it was deaf and dumb also. After capture - notorious, blind and weak - he becomes Philistine entertainment until the day he brings the house down with his final performance (literally). This one act of faith becomes the focal point of Samson's life.

Samson was a reluctant hero. Here's a man with God's power upon him who only calls upon the Lord when he's desperate - twice...here and Judges 15:18 (see notes) when he was thirsty. On both occasions, his motives for calling upon the Lord are questionable...at best - personal thirst and personal vengeance. However, he was God's chosen vessel for the times. Hence, God created circumstances in Samson's life that directed him to achieve the greatness for which he was conceived. While he made attempts to schmooze with the Philistines, it was God who put him at odds with them. The end result? God uses Samson to wipe out the Philistine leadership structure in one swift act of mass destruction. You can see that the entire course of Samson's renegade life had built up to his final performance of finally accomplishing that which God had anointed him to do. Let's face it; God can use anyone to accomplish his will.

Nothing like a priest in your pocket (Judges 17)

1 Now there was a man from the mountains of Ephraim, whose name was Micah.
2 And he said to his mother, “The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from you, and on which you put a curse, even saying it in my ears—here is the silver with me; I took it.” ¶ And his mother said, “May you be blessed by the LORD, my son!”
3 So when he had returned the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, his mother said, “I had wholly dedicated the silver from my hand to the LORD for my son, to make a carved image and a molded image; now therefore, I will return it to you.”
4 Thus he returned the silver to his mother. Then his mother took two hundred shekels of silver and gave them to the silversmith, and he made it into a carved image and a molded image; and they were in the house of Micah.
5 ¶ The man Micah had a shrine, and made an ephod and household idols; and he consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest.
6 In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
7 ¶ Now there was a young man from Bethlehem in Judah, of the family of Judah; he was a Levite, and was staying there.
8 The man departed from the city of Bethlehem in Judah to stay wherever he could find a place. Then he came to the mountains of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, as he journeyed.
9 And Micah said to him, “Where do you come from?” ¶ So he said to him, “I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, and I am on my way to find a place to stay.”
10 ¶ Micah said to him, “Dwell with me, and be a father and a priest to me, and I will give you ten shekels of silver per year, a suit of clothes, and your sustenance.” So the Levite went in.
11 Then the Levite was content to dwell with the man; and the young man became like one of his sons to him.
12 So Micah consecrated the Levite, and the young man became his priest, and lived in the house of Micah.
13 Then Micah said, “Now I know that the LORD will be good to me, since I have a Levite as priest!”

Micah was a thief - stole a fortune in silver from his mom. She was very, very rich. Not knowing who had stolen from her, she cursed the thief. After Micah admitted to being the thief, she sought to reverse the curse. Subsequent to the return of the stolen silver, they took a portion and had an expensive idol made. Micah then felt that he needed a priest; he ordained his son. Verse 6 is an interesting declaration, "In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes." We also find these words in the last verse of the Book of Judges, Judges 21:25 (see notes).

When the opportunity to have a real Levite as a priest avails itself, Micah offers this young man from Bethlehem in Judah ten shekels per year to do so (remember he had stolen 1,100). Now Micah is convinced that he will prosper because he has his own priest, even though verse 5 says, "Micah had a shrine" i.e. a shrine to heathen gods. Oh, yeah...one more thing: all Levites weren't really priests - just the descendants of Aaron->Eleazar->Phinehas according to the covenant made in Numbers 25:13-18 (see notes). Of course, that waaaaaay wasn't the only point of Mosaic Law that Micah had wrong. This background information in chapter 17 sets up the story in Judges 18 (see below).

By the way, all indications are that Micah was a Jew himself. He obviously didn't care about the provisions of the Mosaic Law regarding priests, establishing his own priesthood orders - first with his son and then with the Levite. And then all of those idols...Micah was a very confused man regarding his faith.

The Danites go shopping for real estate, a priest and some nice idols (Judges 18)

1 In those days there was no king in Israel. And in those days the tribe of the Danites was seeking an inheritance for itself to dwell in; for until that day their inheritance among the tribes of Israel had not fallen to them.
2 So the children of Dan sent five men of their family from their territory, men of valor from Zorah and Eshtaol, to spy out the land and search it. They said to them, “Go, search the land.” So they went to the mountains of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, and lodged there.
3 While they were at the house of Micah, they recognized the voice of the young Levite. They turned aside and said to him, “Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? What do you have here?”
4 ¶ He said to them, “Thus and so Micah did for me. He has hired me, and I have become his priest.”
5 ¶ So they said to him, “Please inquire of God, that we may know whether the journey on which we go will be prosperous.”
6 ¶ And the priest said to them, “Go in peace. The presence of the LORD be with you on your way.”
7 ¶ So the five men departed and went to Laish. They saw the people who were there, how they dwelt safely, in the manner of the Sidonians, quiet and secure. There were no rulers in the land who might put them to shame for anything. They were far from the Sidonians, and they had no ties with anyone.
8 ¶ Then the spies came back to their brethren at Zorah and Eshtaol, and their brethren said to them, “What is your report?”
9 ¶ So they said, “Arise, let us go up against them. For we have seen the land, and indeed it is very good. Would you do nothing? Do not hesitate to go, and enter to possess the land.
10 When you go, you will come to a secure people and a large land. For God has given it into your hands, a place where there is no lack of anything that is on the earth.”
11 ¶ And six hundred men of the family of the Danites went from there, from Zorah and Eshtaol, armed with weapons of war.
12 Then they went up and encamped in Kirjath Jearim in Judah. (Therefore they call that place Mahaneh Dan to this day. There it is, west of Kirjath Jearim.)
13 And they passed from there to the mountains of Ephraim, and came to the house of Micah.
14 ¶ Then the five men who had gone to spy out the country of Laish answered and said to their brethren, “Do you know that there are in these houses an ephod, household idols, a carved image, and a molded image? Now therefore, consider what you should do.”
15 So they turned aside there, and came to the house of the young Levite man—to the house of Micah—and greeted him.
16 The six hundred men armed with their weapons of war, who were of the children of Dan, stood by the entrance of the gate.
17 Then the five men who had gone to spy out the land went up. Entering there, they took the carved image, the ephod, the household idols, and the molded image. The priest stood at the entrance of the gate with the six hundred men who were armed with weapons of war.
18 ¶ When these went into Micah’s house and took the carved image, the ephod, the household idols, and the molded image, the priest said to them, “What are you doing?”
19 ¶ And they said to him, “Be quiet, put your hand over your mouth, and come with us; be a father and a priest to us. Is it better for you to be a priest to the household of one man, or that you be a priest to a tribe and a family in Israel?”
20 So the priest’s heart was glad; and he took the ephod, the household idols, and the carved image, and took his place among the people.
21 ¶ Then they turned and departed, and put the little ones, the livestock, and the goods in front of them.
22 When they were a good way from the house of Micah, the men who were in the houses near Micah’s house gathered together and overtook the children of Dan.
23 And they called out to the children of Dan. So they turned around and said to Micah, “What ails you, that you have gathered such a company?”
24 ¶ So he said, “You have taken away my gods which I made, and the priest, and you have gone away. Now what more do I have? How can you say to me, ‘What ails you?’ ”
25 ¶ And the children of Dan said to him, “Do not let your voice be heard among us, lest angry men fall upon you, and you lose your life, with the lives of your household!”
26 Then the children of Dan went their way. And when Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back to his house.
27 ¶ So they took the things Micah had made, and the priest who had belonged to him, and went to Laish, to a people quiet and secure; and they struck them with the edge of the sword and burned the city with fire.
28 There was no deliverer, because it was far from Sidon, and they had no ties with anyone. It was in the valley that belongs to Beth Rehob. So they rebuilt the city and dwelt there.
29 And they called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who was born to Israel. However, the name of the city formerly was Laish.
30 ¶ Then the children of Dan set up for themselves the carved image; and Jonathan the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land.
31 So they set up for themselves Micah’s carved image which he made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh.

The five scouts from the Tribe of Dan find some property they like and send 600 soldiers way up into the northern-most part of Israel to take it from the unsuspecting inhabitants there. To them, that was necessary because they had failed to take and hold the land Joshua had assigned them as seen in Joshua 1:34 (see notes); that's what verse 1 means when it says, "...for until that day their inheritance among the tribes of Israel had not fallen to them." They are so confident of success, they take their families with them and subsequently take the land by force.

Remember Micah's personal Levite from chapter 17 (see above)? These Danites stop along the way and get him, along with Micah's pagan religious paraphernalia, as they continue their journey north. Having been robbed, Micah quickly puts together his own band of men to catch up to the thieving Danites with the intent of getting his property (and the Levite) back, but he lacks the intimidating force to make a sufficient impression on them. Their reply to Micah is basically, "Go home before you get hurt!"

They take the city (previously called Laish) and change its name. So, what shall we name the city? Dan, of course. Oh, and they set up the idol stolen from Micah in their new city. And that's how Dan ended up in northern Israel. Dan was very far removed from the Tribe of Dan, 100 miles or so over land. This city of Dan was 25 miles north of the Sea of Galilee near the border of Lebanon. As a matter of fact, Jeroboam would later establish Dan as one of the two cities that would host one of the calf idols for the Northern Kingdom to worship after Israel split in I Kings 12:28-29 (see notes). Apparently he felt that he already had a good start there with the worshipping of false gods.

By the way, the priest accompanied them willingly when he was made to realize that being a priest over a whole city was a better position than priest to one man. However, they were big-time idol worshippers before and after establishing their new city of Dan, and the so-called priest was a conspirator with them in their paganism. Some have speculated that their propensity for idol worship is the reason why John overlooks them as he lists the 144,000 witnesses in Revelation 7 (see notes).

One piece of trivia regarding this land grab in northern Israel is worth mentioning. Later on in the Old Testament, when writers wanted to make certain that their readers understood that all of Israel was being referenced, they would frequently refer to it with the all encompassing term, "from Dan to Beersheba." This phrase came to be known as that which referred to the northernmost and southernmost boundaries of Israel. We find nine occurrences of that phrase in the Old Testament.