Author: Charlie Garrett

Artwork by Douglas Kallerson.

Judges 15:16-20
Samson, Judge of Israel, Part VI

(Typed 29 April 2024) Throughout most of their history, the Jewish people have been faithfully unfaithful to the word that established them. God spoke through Moses, and then He continued to speak through His prophets for hundreds of years.

Moses penned the Torah (the Pentateuch) under inspiration of the Lord. It is the first five books of the Bible. However, it is not the entirety of the word of God to Israel. The Law of Moses thus continues with the utterances of the prophets who served under the law and whose words were then included in the sacred writings.

One of the things that Moses told them, which is substantially repeated several times in Scripture, says, “Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it.”

Moses’ words in Deuteronomy 12:32 presuppose at least these two things: 1) Do not add to or subtract from what the Lord inspires, and 2) observe the things that are written in the proper context.

These are the things that Israel failed at. They had their own oral traditions and false writings that they held to. They also failed to uphold the Scriptures given by God in their proper context. One of the obvious reasons we hold to the word as written is because, as we see week after week, it tells us about Jesus.

Those things are missing from false writings and false oral traditions. After Christ came, the Jews went even further afield and compiled the Talmud. It is a document that includes the Mishnah, a written compilation of the oral Torah, and the Gemara, a clarification of the Mishnah and other writings. At times, the Gemara expounds broadly on the Hebrew Bible.

The problem with these is that there is no light of Christ to be found in them. Hence, Israel is in a bad pickle. They are without Christ, and they have no proper connection to Christ because of their failure to come to the word alone to find Him.

How can that be corrected? A review of the typology in Judges 15 will reveal this.

Text Verse: “Calling a bird of prey [ayit] from the east,
The man who executes My counsel, from a far country.
Indeed I have spoken it;
I will also bring it to pass.
I have purposed it;
I will also do it.” Isaiah 46:11

The words of the text verse will be used later to point to what Judges 15 is telling us. When God gives us stories and instructions in His word, we should be able to make connections to other things that are based on reality.

An example is in today’s passage. Samson notes that he is exceptionally thirsty. This isn’t a problem if water is readily available. However, anyone who has been to Israel knows that there are many places that are extremely parched.

Add in the heat of the season, and it is evident why Samson is so distraught. The narrative is set at the time of the wheat harvest, which is around May to June. It is normally getting very hot in Israel at that time.

At the time of typing this sermon at the end of April, the temperature in Israel ranged from 91 to 105 degrees, depending on the location. Add in the dryness of the land without rain, and Samson’s words come alive in our minds. We can feel his thirst ourselves.

God uses such things as the time of year, the dryness of the land, the lack of shade, and so forth to tell us things that will reveal Jesus. This is why Scripture alone must be the reference for our doctrine. It is the only way that God has specially revealed Jesus to the world in writing.

Be sure not to get sidetracked by those who manipulate the word of God, either by taking it out of context or by adding to or taking away from it. And how can you do that unless you are aware of and versed in the written word? Read and know the Bible!

Great things about Jesus are to be found in His superior word. And so, let us turn to that precious word once again, and… May God speak to us through His word today, and may His glorious name ever be praised.

I. En Hakkore (verses 16-20)

¹⁶ Then Samson said:
“With the jawbone of a donkey,
Heaps upon heaps,
With the jawbone of a donkey
I have slain a thousand men!”

Translations of this verse are all over the place, but ultimately it is a powerful paronomasia (a play on words) that to tolerably and tidily translate is perfectly perplexing: vayomer Shimshon bilkhi ha’khamor khamor khamorathayim bilkhi ha’khamor hikethi eleph ish – “And says, Samson, in jawbone the donkey, donkey two donkeys. In jawbone, the donkey, struck thousand man.” / Or: “And says, Samson, in jawbone the donkey, heap two heaps. In jawbone, the donkey, struck thousand man.” / Or: “And says, Samson, in jawbone the donkey, clay clays. In jawbone, the donkey, struck thousand man.”

The word translated as donkey is khamor. The word translated as heap (or clay) is khomer. Coming from khamar, to boil up. Thus, it would be something that grows. In this case, a heap. However, both words ultimately come from khamar, an unused root meaning to be red. The reason for clay is the same as why Job said this –

“Truly I am as your spokesman before God;
I also have been formed out of clay.” Job 33:6

As such, it’s hard to tell what Samson was thinking. Was he saying he killed a bunch of men who were like donkeys? Was it a bunch of men who made heaps of dead? Or was he saying that he returned the enemy to being lumps of clay? Whichever he is referring to, it still forms a poignantly, profound, and profuse pun. The ultimate point of the words is that the slaughter was immense.

¹⁷ And so it was, when he had finished speaking, that he threw the jawbone from his hand, and called that place Ramath Lehi.

vayhi k’khalotho l’daber vayashlekh hal’khi miyado vayiqra lamaqom ha’hu Ramath lekhi – “And is, when he finished to speak, and casts the jawbone from his hand. And calls to place, the it, Ramath Lehi.’” One can see Samson standing there, hand raised, holding the jawbone, and saying his poem. Once he finished, he tossed it out of his hand.

After this, he named the place Ramath Lekhi. It means Height of the Jawbone, High Place of the Jawbone, or Exalted Jawbone, or based on the Hebrew l’khi – Exalted to Life. The name Ramath comes from rum, to be high or exalted.

Some people argue Casting Away of the Jawbone. But the word translated as cast is shalakh. It does not necessarily mean to cast away by flinging it far away. Moses was told to cast his staff on the ground, and it became a snake. He would have just tossed it down. This is probably what Samson did.

¹⁸ Then he became very thirsty; so he cried out to the Lord and said, “You have given this great deliverance by the hand of Your servant; and now shall I die of thirst and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised?”

vayitsma meod vayiqra el Yehovah vayomar atah nathata b’yad avdekha eth hathshuah ha’g’dolah hazoth v’atah amuth batsama v’naphal’ti b’yad ha’arelim – “And thirsts, very. And calls unto Yehovah. And says, ‘You gave, in hand your servant, the salvation, the whopping, the this. And now, dies in the thirst, and fall in hand the foreskinned.’”

The thirst he felt was a natural consequence of the situation. It is the harvest season when it is hot and dry in Israel. He had been bound. He broke those bonds and engaged in a battle against an entire army of men, taking out a thousand of them. Thirst would be at the forefront of his physical thoughts, just as it was for Jesus on the cross.

And more, Samson acknowledges that the Lord gave the victory through his hand, but it is notable that not a single person of Judah was there to help. If any had been, he could have asked that person for water. The battle was the Lord’s, fought for His people. Despite this, they had all denied and forsaken him, leaving Samson to die at the hands of the foreskinned Philistines.

But God was with him and responded to his need…

¹⁹ So God split the hollow place that is in Lehi, and water came out,

Rather, as in verse 9, there is an article before lekhi: vayivqa elohim eth hamakh’tesh asher ba’lekhi vayetsu mimenu mayim – “And cleaves, God, the mortar which in the Jawbone. And comes, from it, water.” It is notable that it says elohim rather than Yehovah. The powers of God are credited with the action.

As for what He did and where He did it, the word baqa, to cleave, is used. It can signify to rend, rip, divide, split, break open, break through, etc. What He cleaved is a new and rare word, maktesh. It signifies something hollowed out, a mortar. The word is from kathash, to pound as if in a mortar.

The only other place where maktesh is seen, other than as a name, is in Proverbs 27 where the mortar and pestle is described –

“Though you grind a fool in a mortar [maktesh] with a pestle along with crushed grain,
Yet his foolishness will not depart from him.” Proverbs 27:22

The mortar and pestle was the earliest means known for grinding grain. Grain was placed in a shallow depression in a stone, the mortar, and was then pounded with another stone known as the pestle.

This cleaving of the mortar is not in the jawbone of the donkey but a hollowed-out area in the place called the Jawbone. This is what God split open. When He did, water came out…

^{19 (con’t)} and he drank; and his spirit returned, and he revived.

vayesht vatashav rukho vayekhi – “And drinks, and returns his spirit. And lives.” Samson was completely parched. He called for water and God provided it. In drinking it, it was as if he came to life again. The Lord accomplished the victory through Samson, and then He restored Samson to life through the cleaving of the hollow.

There is a rhyming pun in the Hebrew if you know the hidden meaning of Lehi –

God split the hollow place that is in Lehi (l’khi: to life)
And drinks, and returns his spirit, and lives (vayekhi)

^{19 (con’t)} Therefore he called its name En Hakkore, which is in Lehi to this day.

al ken qara sh’mah ein ha’qore asher ba’lekhi ad hayom hazeh – “Upon thus, calls her name, ‘Fountain, the Caller,’ which in the Jawbone until the day, the this.” Following Samson’s calling out to the Lord, God cleaved the hollow and sent forth water. Thus, the well that sprang up is called Spring, the Caller.

The name En Hakkore comes from two words, ayin, a spring or an eye, and the active participle of qara, to call or proclaim. Thus, it means Fountain (Eye) of the Caller or Fountain (Eye) of the Calling.

It is this fountain that continued to flow, even at the time of the author of Judges. Extra-biblical writings also speak of the fountain being there many hundreds of years later. In fact, Barnes notes –

“A spring, on the way from Socho to Eleutheropolis, was commonly called Samson’s spring in the time of Jerome and writers in the 7th, 12th, and 14th centuries.” Albert Barnes

*^{20 (fin)} And he judged Israel twenty years in the days of the Philistines.

vayishpot eth Yisrael bime plistim esrim shanah – “And judges, Israel, in days Philistines, twenty year.” The statement is unusual in that the record of Samson has another chapter to go. However, at the end of his life, the words will be repeated. Here, the verb is in the imperfect aspect: Samson judges Israel. At the end of Chapter 16, the aspect will be perfect, he judged Israel.

Of the number twenty, Bullinger notes –

It “…is the double of ten, and may in some cases signify its concentrated meaning. But its significance seems rather to be connected with the fact that it is one short of twenty-one, 21 – 1 = 20; that is to say, if 21 is the three-fold 7, and signifies Divine (3) completion as regards spiritual perfection (7), then twenty, being one short of 21, it would signify what Dr. Milo Mahan calls expectancy.”

With the verses complete, we will next look at what God is telling us about things yet to come…

With a fresh jawbone of a donkey
The enemy is struck and defeated
How is it so? How can it be?
With a mere jawbone, the victory is completed

And with a call out to the Lord
The hollow place is split
At the mere calling of a word
Out flow the waters, flowing forth from it

How glorious is the Fountain of the Caller
That it flows forth to this day
A treat for every Bible scholar
God gives forth His Spirit, and He does so without delay

II. Pictures of Christ

In Judges 14, we saw that Samson’s betrothed wife pictured Israel in her apostate state. Jesus came to Israel despite their apostasy, using that state to bring them back to Himself.

The account of the lion roaring at Samson revealed the means by which Christ will deliver His people. It was typologically given as an anticipation of the work of Christ through adherence to the word of the Lord to overcome the Philistines, the Weakeners, condemning those who rely on the law or personal merit as a means of works-based salvation.

Samson then walked and ate the honey. This reflected Jesus’ possession of the Word to sustain Him. Samson gave his riddle to the Philistines and some of them were able to glean the meaning of the riddle through his wife, meaning Israel’s apostate state.

It represented those who realized the time of Jesus’ coming. They solved the riddle. For this, they were granted their garments, just as believers are covered in Christ’s righteousness. However, the chapter ended with the note that the wife was given to his companion, who had been his best man.

John the Baptist noted that he was “the friend of the bridegroom” in John 3:29. He was the last prophet of the law and thus stands as representative of the law that Jesus came to fulfill. John died before Jesus fulfilled the law, and therefore he did not receive the grace of God in Christ in the new dispensation.

The bride being given to the best man by the father anticipates Israel remaining under the law. Chapter 14 ended there and Chapter 15 resumes the narrative with the words, “in days harvest wheat.”

The wheat harvest follows the barley. Barley (seorah), for reference, comes from sear, hair. It is the crop of hairy ears. Hair signifies awareness, particularly an awareness of sin. It is the time of the law. The wheat harvest follows that and, thus it is the time of grace.

Christ first fulfills the law and then comes grace. As noted, Jesus metaphorically used wheat to refer to Himself in John 12:24. Still in verse 1, Samson went with a young goat to visit his wife, representing Israel in her apostate state. The gedi izim, or kid goats, was his offering to go into her.

That anticipates that her sin was to be cut off and atoned for. Samson, speaking with an imperative, said, “I will go in unto my wife, the her chamber.” Likewise, Christ came to atone for Israel’s sin and be wedded to her. However (verse 2), Samson’s father would not allow it. His words were, “Saying, I said, ‘For hating, you hated her.’”

It was assumed that Jesus would have nothing more to do with Israel because of her apostate state. However, it is that state, prophesied through Jeremiah that the Lord will use in order to correct her. That was seen in Chapter 14 –

“Thine apostasy [apostasia] shall correct thee, and thy wickedness shall reprove thee: know then, and see, that thy forsaking me bitter to thee, saith the Lord thy God; and I have taken no pleasure in thee, saith the Lord thy God.” Jeremiah 2:19 (LXX)

That did not happen at the time of Jesus’ first coming. As such, the father said that he had given the wife to his companion. It pictures Israel’s returning to the law as noted concerning John the Baptist a moment ago.

Instead of the bride, the father offered Samson his other daughter, noting that she was even better than the first. Without directly saying anything about her, it is obvious she was rejected. Israel, even in her apostate state, was to be the bride of the Lord.

Instead, Samson, Place of the Sun (the Word of God in Christ), was determined to punish the Philistines (the Weakeners, meaning the false teachings opposed to the Word of God in Christ).

In order to do so, Samson noted that he would be blameless when he brought evil upon them (verse 3). To start the process, he caught three hundred foxes.

Three hundred, being a multiple of 3 and 10 signifies Divine fulness and completeness of order where nothing is wanting and the whole cycle is complete. This is done through “taking the things of Christ and making them real and solid in our experience” (Bullinger).

The number of foxes, three hundred, represents the timing of Christ’s earthly ministry. Using foxes (hole diggers) signifies that these things will occur by tripping up the foe.

The use of torches has a double signification, it illuminates the work of Christ and burns up the works of the Weakeners. Tying the foxes at the zanav, tail, means that he was using the foxes to destroy their falsehood, symbolized by the tail.

Teaching falsehood is exactly what the Weakeners, symbolized by the Philistines, picture. One can think of Pharisees, Sadducees, etc. coming against Jesus in His ministry, but He destroys their every argument.

In verse 5, Samson lit the torches and set the foxes free in the standing grain [qamah] of the Philistines. This burned up the shocks [gadiysh], the standing grain, and the “vineyard olive.” The first two of these were first noted in Exodus 22 –

“If fire breaks out and catches in thorns, so that stacked grain [gadiysh], standing grain [ha’qamah], or the field is consumed, he who kindled the fire shall surely make restitution.” Exodus 22:6

These things represent the labors of the people, both the present labors (the standing) and that which they have already tended to (the shocks). It speaks of the totality of the unsound doctrine of those who opposed Christ through self-works.

To get a sense of this, the word gadiysh is used only four times in Scripture. The first three refer to shocks of grain, but the last use refers to a tomb, because a tomb is something heaped up like shocks of grain –

For the wicked are reserved for the day of doom;
They shall be brought out on the day of wrath.
³¹ Who condemns his way to his face?
And who repays him for what he has done?
³² Yet he shall be brought to the grave,
And a vigil kept over the tomb [gadiysh]. Job 21:30-32

The labors of the Weakeners are burned up through the work of Christ. Like the tomb of a person being a witness to his life, the works of the Weakeners stood as a witness to their works.

The last thing noted, the “vineyard olive,” was the unusual term which seemed incorrect. An olive grove and a vineyard are not the same thing. However, typology is being conveyed.

The vineyard represents the cultural side of the people, the traditions of the elders, etc., that Jesus spoke against. The olive refers to their religious privilege, which – without Christ – is no privilege at all. It is all burned up through the ministry of Christ.

Verse 6 then brought in the questioning of the Philistines concerning who was responsible for burning up their works. The answer was that “Samson, affinity the Timnite, for took his wife and gives her to his companion.”

Think of Jesus: Samson (Place of the Sun, referring to the Word of God in Christ), the one tied to apostate Israel through affinity to the Allotted Portion-ite (the promise of Messiah), burnt up the Philistines’ deeds because the father-in-law gave his wife to his companion.

In other words, because of the deeds of the false teachers of Israel, the nation remained bound to the Law of Moses. This is the reason Christ came against their theology. He came to give grace, but Israel kept rejecting Him and His instruction.

Still in verse 6, the Philistines came up and burned Samson’s wife and her father with fire because of what Samson did. The Weakeners of Israel stood against Jesus and robbed Israel of any chance of being saved at that time.

It is clear, based on the words of Scripture, that there is a future for Israel the nation, but there has to be a way of showing that Israel, at Jesus’ time, was led astray and kept from Christ. This is symbolized by the act of burning the wife.

However, verse 7 then emphatically said, “And says to them, Samson, if (surely) doing according to this, when if I revenge in you, and after, I cease.” The difficult words were explained thus –

“And says to them, Samson:
Based on: if (surely) doing according to this
Therefore: when if I revenge in you,
Result: and after, I cease.”

Jesus came to accomplish His mission by uniting with Israel. The false teachers and false doctrine prevented that through their teachings, and therefore, He would carry out His planned program to act against them anyway, thus completing His mission.

One can sense this in Luke 9:51, “Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem.” It is what is anticipated in the words of verse 8, “And strikes them leg upon thigh, slaughter whopping.”

Jesus, in His ministry, did a mighty work against the false teachings and false teachers of Israel, even if they prevented the nation from entering its rest. He continued until His mission was fully complete.

Still in verse 8 it said that Samson went down and dwelt in the cleft of Crag Etam. The name means the cleft of the Lofty Place of Ravenous Birds. That has to be understood from the words of our Text Verse today. The name is derived from ayit, a bird of prey. That verse from Isaiah was a prophecy of Cyrus who would release the captives of Israel, returning them to their land.

However, even into antiquity, the words were known to anticipate the work of the Messiah. The larger context says –

“Remember the former things of old,
For I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like Me,
¹⁰ Declaring the end from the beginning,
And from ancient times things that are not yet done,
Saying, ‘My counsel shall stand,
And I will do all My pleasure,’
¹¹ Calling a bird of prey from the east,
The man who executes My counsel, from a far country.
Indeed I have spoken it;
I will also bring it to pass.
I have purposed it;
I will also do it.
¹² ‘Listen to Me, you stubborn-hearted,
Who are far from righteousness:
¹³ I bring My righteousness near, it shall not be far off;
My salvation shall not linger.
And I will place salvation in Zion,
For Israel My glory.’” Isaiah 46:9-13

As such, the cleft of the Crag of Etam anticipates the lofty counsels of God where Samson, the Word of God in Christ, dwells.

Next, in verse 9, it noted that the Philistines ascended, encamped in Judah, and dispersed in Lehi. Lehi means Jawbone. However, as Abarim noted, it cannot go unnoticed that someone who knows Hebrew and who looks at the name will see the words To Life (To as in Toward).

The Weakeners, the false teachers and their teachings, came against Judah, dispersing in To Life. When Judah asked why the Philistines had come against them, they said it was to bind Samson.

Think of the false teachers, the Judaizers, in Galatia! They wanted to bind the Word of God in Christ and teach law observance. It is the entire point of calling the council at Jerusalem in Acts 15.

Both during the time of Jesus’ ministry and afterward, even to this day, the same Weakeners infect and attempt to destroy the world of proper Christ-centered doctrine.

From there, in verse 11, three thousand men of Judah went to the cleft of the rock of Etam, the “lofty counsels of God,” to get Samson. When they came to him, they noted that the Philistines ruled over them. The Weakeners, those who teach law observance, are still pointing Israel to this false doctrine today.

His response was, “According to which done to me, thus done to them.” The false teachers work against the Word of God in Christ, stealing away the bride and burning her family. Therefore, the Word of God in Christ responds with a great slaughter against them. One can see the spiritual war raging in the world in these verses.

Next (verse 12), the men of Judah came down to arrest Samson and deliver him into the hand of the Philistines. Judah, for two thousand years, has been in this position. They have handed the Word concerning Christ over to the false teachers, but they have not killed Him off completely. That is seen in the exchange –

“Then Samson said to them, ‘Swear to me that you will not kill me yourselves.’
¹³ So they spoke to him, saying, ‘No, but we will tie you securely and deliver you into their hand; but we will surely not kill you.’”

In the continuation of verse 13, it said, “And binds him in two ropes, new. And ascends him from the crag.” The word ropes, as explained, signifies something intwined like a string, a wreath, a chain, etc. That comes from avath, to wind or weave. It is used just once, in a figurative sense –

“That they may successfully do evil with both hands—
The prince asks for gifts,
The judge seeks a bribe,
And the great man utters his evil desire;
So they scheme [avath] together.” Micah 7:3

The two cords represent the false teachings Judah accepted concerning the coming Messiah, meaning the verbal and written commandments that had arisen among the Jews in contradistinction to the word of God.

Such things were prophesied in Isaiah 29:13 and then referred to by Jesus in Matthew 15:8, 9. The word concerning Christ was bound. However, as twice before in the Samson narrative, it next said, “And surges, upon him, Spirit Yehovah.”

The Spirit of God is in the Word of God in Christ. When it is properly presented, it will prevail. Thus, it next said, “And becomes, the ropes, which upon his arms, according to the flax which burned in the fire. And melts, his bonds, from upon his hands.”

The effective reach of Christ to accomplish salvation (the arms), and the power and authority of Christ to effect that salvation (the hands), are completely loosed in rightly applying the Word of God.

When they are properly presented, they are wholly capable of defeating the enemy. As such, “And finds, jawbone donkey, fresh. And sends his hand. And takes her. And strikes, in her, thousand man.” Or stated typologically, “And finds, To Life Red One, Fresh.”

In the properly handled word concerning Christ, the Man (Red One) who gives Life (Jawbone) is revealed. This word is fully capable of destroying the false teachings of the false teachers. His victory over them as recorded in verse 16, says –

“And says, Place of Sun (the Word of God in Christ):
‘In To Life the Red One
Red One two Red Ones.
In To Life, the Red One,
Struck thousand man.’”

Through the Word of God in Christ (the incarnate Man) the doctrines of the false teachers are completely obliterated. Hooray for Jesus!

After that, it then said (verse 17), “And is, when he finished to speak, and casts the jawbone from his hand. And calls to place, it, Ramath Lehi.’” In prevailing over the enemy, the To Life has served its purpose and never again needs to be wielded. But in memory of the event, the place is called Exalted To Life! It is an eternal memorial to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Again, hooray for Jesus!

With this accomplished, it noted Samson’s great thirst and his appeal to the Lord. He had gained the victory, but now would he fall into the hands of the foreskinned? Was Christ’s victory just a one-time salvation that had no lasting effects? No! The response is, “And cleaves, God, the hollow which in the Jawbone. And comes, from it, water.”

Not only did Christ prevail in His atonement for sin, but that caused God to send the Spirit for believers as well. This is why the narrative started with “in the time of the wheat harvest.” The thus narrative anticipates that time which begins around Pentecost, the time when the Spirit was first given in Acts 2.

God cleaved the mortar, a spot where grain could be ground to make bread. In cleaving it, water issued forth. It again speaks of the Word of God of Christ. Christ’s atonement was sufficient, He was raised to life, His spirit revived, and because of Him, the Spirit henceforth issues to those who believe, apart from works of the law.

One can see the symbolism of Christ, the Bread of Life, who was metaphorically crushed in the mortar. He then revived as the Spirit issued forth. That is seen in the words, “Upon thus, calls her name, ‘Fountain, the Caller,’ which in the To Life until the day, the this.”

The Fountain remains, issuing forth from the Fountain of the Caller, the Word of God in Christ –

“He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” John 7:38

Verse 20 ended with, “And judges, Israel, in days Philistines, twenty year.” Twenty is the number of Expectancy. It said in Judges 13 that Samson would begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines. That will continue even until the time of David.

Samson is being used to show the process of Israel’s salvation from the Weakeners, though not the entire panorama of it. There is the expectancy of that in each part of the Samson narrative. This will be seen again at the end of Chapter 16.

The main lesson, once again, is that of law versus grace. The Philistines are the Weakeners, those who work against the message of salvation through the deeds of Christ alone. Instead, they teach personal merit through deeds. This is wholly contradictory to what God in Christ has done.

A choice is set before us, and it cannot be ignored. We must give up on self and trust solely in the merits of Jesus Christ, believing the gospel and accepting that it is sufficient for our salvation and its continued effects, right up until the day God calls us home.

Let us have this mind and glorify God for what He has done through Jesus. And it is the Word of God in Christ, represented by Samson, the Place of the Sun, that will lead us to understand these things. Pick up the Bible, and there you will find the Word. And in Him, you will find contentment and rest.

Closing Verse: “And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, ‘Abba, Father!’ ⁷ Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.” Galatians 4:6, 7

Next Week: Judges 16:1-9 This guy is number one. What a story to tell – like a slice of heaven.. (Samson, Judge of Israel, Part VII) (45^th Judges Sermon)

The Lord has you exactly where He wants you. He has a good plan and purpose for you. It is He who judges His people according to their deeds. So, follow Him, live for Him, and trust Him, and He will do marvelous things for you and through you.

Samson, Judge of Israel, Part VI

Then Samson said: “With the jawbone of a donkey
Heaps upon heaps of them
With the jawbone of a donkey
I have slain a thousand men!”

And so it was, when he had finished speaking, by and by
That he threw the jawbone from his hand, and called that place
———-Ramath Lehi

Then he became very thirsty
So he cried out to the LORD and said
“You have given this great deliverance by the hand of Your servant
And now shall I die of thirst and fall into the hand of the
———-uncircumcised and wind up dead?

So God split the hollow place that is in Lehi
And water came out, and he drank away
And his spirit returned, and he revived
Therefore he called its name En Hakkore, which is in Lehi
———-to this day

And he judged Israel years twenty
In the days of the Philistines, with enemies aplenty

Lord God, turn our hearts to be obedient to Your word
Give us wisdom to be ever faithful to You
May we carefully heed each thing we have heard
Yes, Lord God may our hearts be faithful and true

And we shall be content and satisfied in You alone
We will follow You as we sing our songs of praise
Hallelujah to You; to us Your path You have shown
Hallelujah we shall sing to You for all of our days

Hallelujah and Amen…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

¹⁶ Then Samson said:

“With the jawbone of a donkey,
Heaps upon heaps,
With the jawbone of a donkey
I have slain a thousand men!”

¹⁷ And so it was, when he had finished speaking, that he threw the jawbone from his hand, and called that place Ramath Lehi.

¹⁸ Then he became very thirsty; so he cried out to the Lord and said, “You have given this great deliverance by the hand of Your servant; and now shall I die of thirst and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised?” ¹⁹ So God split the hollow place that is in Lehi, and water came out, and he drank; and his spirit returned, and he revived. Therefore he called its name En Hakkore, which is in Lehi to this day. ²⁰ And he judged Israel twenty years in the days of the Philistines.