Will you open your Bibles with me this evening to the book of the Judges, chapter number 14. It'll take a couple of minutes, but let's read and re-familiarize ourselves with this chapter. Judges 14 says, And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines, And he came up and told his father and his mother and said, I've seen a woman of Timnath of the daughter of the Philistines. Now therefore, get her for me to wife. Then his father and his mother said unto him, is there never a woman among the daughters of our brethren or among all my people that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, get her for me. for she pleaseth me well. And his father and his mother knew not, I'm sorry, but his father and his mother knew not that it was of the Lord, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines, for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel. Then went Samson down and his father and his mother to Timnath, and came to the vineyards of Timnath, And behold, a young lion roared against him. And the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and he rent him, or tore him, killed him, as he would have rent a kid, and not a child, but a kid or a goat. And he had nothing in his hand, but he told not his father or his mother what he had done. And he went down and talked with the woman, and she pleased Samson well. And after a time, he returned to take her, or take her to bride. And he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion. And behold, there was a swarm of bees and honey in the carcass of the lion. And he took thereof in his hands, and went on eating, and came to his father and mother. And he gave them, and they did eat. But he told not. But he told not them. that he had taken the honey out of the carcass of the lion. So his father went down unto the woman, and Samson made there a feast for so used the young men to do. And it came to pass when they saw him that they brought 30 companions to be with him. And Samson said unto them, I will now put forth a riddle unto you, if ye can certainly declare it me within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, and I will give you 30 sheets and 30 changes of garment. But if you cannot declare it to me, then ye shall give me 30 sheets and 30 changes of garments. And they said unto him, put forth thy riddle that we may hear it. And he said unto them, out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweeteners. And they could not in three days expound the riddle. And it came to pass on the seventh day that they said unto Samson's wife, Entice thy husband that he may declare unto us the riddle, lest we burn thee and thy father's house with fire." Have you called us to take that we have? Is it not so? Samson's wife, although they're not officially married, the marriage has not been consummated, they have entered into a contract, But in verse 16, it says that Samson's wife wept before him and said, thou dost but hate me, and lovest me not. Thou hast put forth a riddle unto the children of my people, and hast not told it me. And he said unto her, behold, I have not told it my father nor my mother, and shall I tell it thee? And she went before him the seven days, or until the seventh day, while their feast lasted. And it came to pass on the seventh day that he told her, because she lay sore upon him, and she told the riddle to the children of her people. The men of the city said unto him on the seventh day before the sun went down, what is sweeter than honey, and what is stronger than a lion? He said unto them, If ye had not plowed with my heifer, ye had not found out my riddle. And the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, and slew thirty men of them, and took their spoil, and gave change of garments unto them which expounded the riddle. And his anger was kindled, and he went up to his father's house. And Samson's wife was given to his companion, whom he had used as his friend. Busy chapter here, and let's try to break it down and study it if we can I Were to give if I were to give a title to this evening's message. It would be the trouble with girls or Samson's trouble with girls a A few years ago, a song came out, a country song came out, and it was entitled, The Trouble With Girls. Some of you may have heard that song. Now, you can take all I know about modern music and feel a thimble. I don't know anything. I mean, as far as I'm concerned, they quit making music about the time Waylon Jennings died. So, I mean, that's about how I feel about music. This song said in this guy, this young boy that sings this song to trouble with girls as they're so sweet and pretty and kind. And at the end of this song, he says that the trouble with girls is that nobody likes trouble as much as me. Saying how much he obviously liked girls. I think that song could be very applicable to Samson. Samson had trouble with girls. You could argue and say nobody had any more trouble than Samson did with girls. But would you remember, Samson was chosen by God from birth until death to be a Nazirite, to fulfill the Nazirite vow. There were three things in specific that were incumbent upon him as a Nazirite, things that were forbidden for him. Normally, the Nazirite vow was voluntary, and normally it was temporary. It would only be for a certain period of time, and this would be what someone would choose to do. But in this case, God chose Samson even before he was born and set him aside to be a deliverer for Israel. Do you remember those three things? Number one, abstinence from the fruit of the vine, no strong drink, no wine, nothing from the fruit of the vine. Secondly, he was never to get his hair cut. Little Samson would never sit in a barber's chair and get his first hair cut. That would never happen to him. And then thirdly, there was to be no contact with the dead. Mother died, father died, he was not allowed to be in contact with a dead body of any sort. The reason why that matters is that in this chapter, Samson breaks two of those three restrictions. Two of those three vows unto God. This is a series. a series of bad decisions made by Samson. You know, one of the things about God's word, and I've said it to you repeatedly, is that it just tells it like it is. It doesn't whitewash it. It doesn't sugarcoat it. It just shares the narrative as it actually happened. And the truth is, is it tells us what happened, even if it's ugly. And even if it portrays God's saints in a negative light, Alistair Begg, one of my favorite preachers that I like to listen to, Alistair Begg, has a saying. He says that the best of men are men at best. And I think that's good to remember because Samson was a man. He was fallible and he would sin and he would fall. And we find immediately that this is what occurs. If you'll look with me at verse one, Samson goes down to Timnath, and there he sees a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines. If I may make one more country music illustration, Samson is looking for love. in all the wrong places, looking for love, too many faces. She's a Philistine. She's not a Jew. What does God's Word say about marrying those of a different faith? It was forbidden. And if it was forbidden for the average Jew, it would most certainly be forbidden from one who was under a Nazarite vow. But he sees this woman, she is a daughter of the Philistines, and in verse 2 he comes and he tells his mother and his father. He goes down to this city of Timnath. It's about six miles or so west of his hometown, so maybe an hour, hour and a half away by foot. He goes down and he sees this woman. He likes her, and then obviously she's an attractive woman, and we see Sampson. who is like a lot of men, he only thinks about what a woman looks like, and not what she acts like, and not what's on the inside. Like too many men, he's only attracted by what he sees. He doesn't give any thought to the fact that she does not share his faith. But he tells his mom and he tells his dad, I've seen this woman in verse 2, she's a daughter of the Philistines, and at the close of verse number 2, he says, get her for me to wife. He says to his parents, I like her. I want you to go get her for me. And friends, this is a sin. He is desiring. It is sinful for him to desire what God has forbidden. She is forbidden. She is not of the Jewish faith. She doesn't share their faith. And to preserve the purity of the Jewish faith, they were not allowed to marry outside of their own faith. And so this is a sinful desire. Samson is walking by sight and not by faith. He wants this woman that is forbidden for him. And I tell you what I think is I think that. Verse 3 teaches us that. This is probably not his first time. Of chasing women in verse 3 says in his father and his mother saying to him. Is there a number? Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brother? I'm going to rephrase that for you. Why can't you find a nice Jewish girl to marry? That's what they're asking him. Why do you always find women? And the language of this intimates to me, seems to me to make clear that this is not the first time Samson has been out chasing a girl. Now, it's the first time we're told of Samson. In chapter 13, we just know that Samson's born and he begins to grow and God begins to move in his life. But the way that they say this, they say, can't you ever find a nice Jewish woman? Why can't you find one of our own people to marry? Why is it that you're always looking among these uncircumcised Philistines? And by Samson's father, Manoah, by him saying uncircumcised Philistines, he is stressing to Samson that what you're wanting is against the precepts of God. And if you will take notice of this, Samson replies to them and says at the close of verse 3, Get her for me, for she pleaseth me well. He will not take no for an answer. And he says to his mother and his father, Get her for me. I want her, go get her. Notice this. Samson does not care about what his parents think. Samson does not care about what God's Word says. He's got his eyes in the wrong place. He's only looking at what pleases the flesh, and he's not thinking at all about what pleases the Father, either his earthly Father or his heavenly Father. How many parents have felt like Manoah, that's Samson's father. How many parents have felt like Manoah and Manoah's wife, like Samson's mom and dad, and have mourned over their children's choice for a spouse? Many a parent has. Many a parent has mourned over their children's choice, and too many children Don't care what mom and dad think, and don't care what the Bible says. They say, I want that person. They make me happy. They look good. They got a nice figure. They like the same things I like. We share a common interest. Whatever you want to plug in, they don't care, though, what matters most. And that is what their parents think. And yes, it matters what mom and dad think. If you've got godly parents, it shouldn't matter what they think. And then secondly, what God has to say about the subject. I was trying to think of a without getting too specific. I heard a father say one time that he had been blindfolded. I don't want to tell you everything that he said, but he said, I don't know. He said, There's no way. He said if there was a million women out there, And I was blindfolded and chose one. He said, the one that I would have picked couldn't have been any worse than the one that my son picked to marry. And I'm trying to clean it up a little bit. But you know how it feels, do you not? Many of you, as parents, so frustrated over the choice of your in-laws, son-in-law, daughter-in-law. And that doesn't mean mom and dad's always right. I'm not saying that. Sometimes parents were too judgmental, we're wrong. But there are other times when Children would be better off to listen. He says, Get her for me, for she pleaseth me well. If you are interested, this exact rendering of these words is that she is right in my eyes. In fact, if you'll turn over just a couple pages to chapter 17, Chapter 17 and verse 6. Just look at these words. Chapter 17 and verse 6 of Judges. It says, In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes. That's the same Hebrew as what's found here. She's right in my own eyes. I don't care about what God says. I do what's right in my own eyes. That's what Samson is saying right here. She pleases me. But in verse 4, we find out that even through Samson's wicked desires, God is ruling and reigning. This doesn't mean, verse 4, but his father and mother knew not that this was of the Lord, and that he sought an occasion against the Philistines, because the Philistines had dominion over Israel. God will use even Samson's poor decisions to bring about His perfect will. It doesn't mean that God has brought this temptation to Samson in order to carry out His will. It's just simply that God in His great power and sovereignty uses even our mistakes to carry out His will. He is allowing, God is allowing Samson to follow the carnal desires of his heart, his fleshly lust, and ignoring the will of God's Word. And He's allowing him to do this because God will allow even Samson's poor decisions to incite an anger between Samson and the Philistines. Because God is going to use Samson to deliver, at least a portion, to partly deliver Israel from the hand of the Philistines. And so God's going to allow this to take place. That's what verse 4 is teaching us. It is just, it is very similar to the story of Joseph and his brethren, when Joseph's brethren sold him off into slavery. And later on, as they come back and they bow down before Joseph, Joseph says, you meant it for evil, but God meant it for good. Samson means this for evil, but God will override his evil intent and bring about good out of this. That doesn't excuse Samson any more than it excuses us from our poor decisions. But I am thankful that God has used even some of my dumb decisions. to put me in a place where I could minister to others or help others even to carry out his sovereign will. Then notice there's a couple things that are interesting. There is obviously several trips that take place between Samson's hometown and to Timnath, Zora I believe, and He makes several trips back and forth. Notice verse 5, he's taking mom and dad with him down to Timnath. Come on, mom and dad, I want you to meet this girl. I just thought about, man, what's going to happen when my daughter says, I've got somebody I want you to meet. I don't know how I may respond when that day comes. But Samson says to his mom and dad, come over to Timnath. I want you to meet this girl. And sometime during this journey, he's separated from his parents. And I want you to notice in verse 5, and came to the vineyards of Timnath, and behold, a young lion roared against him. Now, something ought to leap off the page there besides a young lion at you. What is a Nazirite doing in a vineyard? Right? I mean, you need to think. If he's a Nazirite and he's forbidden from anything from the fruit of the vine, why are you in a vineyard? See, this whole thing about this lion leaping and attacking him may not have happened if he hadn't been there in the first place. I tell you, there's been a lot of people who could have avoided a lot of trouble in life if they hadn't have been there in the first place. I try to teach my girls, I've tried to tell people, if you don't want trouble, don't go to trouble's house. And here he is in a place where he's forbidden from partaking. Why is he even there? But he goes into it, and I'm a literalist. When the Bible tells me that a young lion attacked him, that's what I believe. A young lion attacked him. And in verse 6, the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him in this supernatural display of strength. And I believe Samson was a he-man already. I believe he was a big man, strong man, a tough man, but there were times in which he had supernatural strength beyond that. And he came and that lion attacked him and he just came and he laid hold on to that lion. rent him in pieces. I don't want to be too vulgar, but when you get into the Hebrew language, it is as if he grabbed his hind legs and ripped them apart. That's sort of the Hebrew language of it. Same way that you would rent a kid, tear a goat apart. That's the sort of grotesque, but plain language of this. So somebody's going to say, do you really believe that he was attacked by a lion and he killed that lion barehanded? That's exactly what I believe. The Bible says it, and I'm just silly enough to believe that's exactly what happened. Without anything in his hand, he kills this lion. But if you'll notice, at the close of verse number six, he didn't tell his father or mother what happened. Now, isn't that strange? I mean, how many kids would not tell their parents about something like that? I mean, this is not like he got a participation trophy in Little League. He killed a lion barehanded, and he didn't tell his mother and father about it. There's a reason why Simpson doesn't tell his mother and father about it, because after killing that lion, he has now come into contact with a carcass, a dead body. That renders him unclean, and technically, He should return to the tabernacle, offer an offering for his uncleanness. You get into all the laws of the Nazarite, he would have to shave his head and begin his Nazarite vow all over after a period, a certain period. But he wasn't interested in doing what was right. He was interested in getting down here and marrying this girl. I think that's the reason why he didn't tell his mother and father about it. Because they would have said, well, son, I'm sorry, but we're going to have to write this thing. I do believe, at the very least, he had a godly mother and probably a godly father, too. And they would have said to him, you're no longer under this Nazarite vow. They would have said, first of all, why were you in that vineyard? But then secondly, you're going to have to write this thing. He's not interested in that. He's interested in getting down to Tim Nath and marrying this young girl that's caught his eye. So he then, in verse 7, he goes down, he talks with the woman, she pleases him, and he's wanting to get married to her. And then in verse 8, after a time, he returns to take her to Bride. And so, obviously, back and forth, back and forth to Timnah. I get the idea that the first visit that he takes his parents down with him, they arrange the marriage. They find out, here's what date it'll be, here's how it's going to all... how it's all gonna play out, but during this time period, he makes his way back and forth. It's not a big deal, maybe a big deal to us to walk five or six miles. It wasn't a big deal to them and certainly to Sampson. As he returns, he goes back to one of the vineyards of Timnath, and in verse 8, he sees the carcass of the lion, and in there, there was a swarm of bees and honey inside the carcass. So, some period of time has transpired, and there in that dried up carcass, there is a swarm of bees that have produced a honeycomb that is now dripping with honey. And what does he do in verse 9? And he took thereof in his hands and went on eating. So he has now again come into contact with a dead carcass, forbidden by the Nazarite vow. He reaches into the carcass of that lion, scrapes out, I think, brave man, I don't know, you know, you go tackle. a swarm of bees to grab out their honeycomb. How he did it, I don't know. Maybe he had skin as tough as a rhino. I don't know. But he reaches in and he scoops out a handful of that honeycomb and he takes it back home to his mom and dad. But he does not. Now notice this. Look at verse 9. And he took thereof in his hands, and he went on eating, and he came to his father and his mother, and he gave them, and they did eat. But he told them, or told not them, that he had taken the honey out of the carcass of the lion. Again, not revealing to them where that came from because it would have been considered unclean because of where it came from, that carcass of the lion. So he's broken that vow, that specific vow now has been broken twice. Now obviously he had the right to protect himself from the lion, but he should have followed through the Nazirite steps of renewal. But now having reached the end of the line to take out that honey, now he's broken that particular vow, not touching a dead carcass or dead body, he's broken it twice now. But then we'll find out in verse 10 he's going to break a second of the Nazirite restrictions. So his father goes down, he takes his father down with him to this woman. This is where I think this is now the time for the marriage feast. I've talked to some about this, but there would be like a seven day feast. And feast is a nice word for what it really is. It's a seven day party to some extent, wedding party. And you can study it or you can take my word, whichever one you wanna do. But verse 10 where it says that Samson made there a feast, the Hebrew word demands that this is a feast with the consumption of wine. It would have been a wedding gathering, seven days leading up to the actual ceremony itself. Now they're considered married at this time. They've entered into that contract. I think they probably established that when he brought mom and dad down the first time. By Israeli law, they're under contractual marriage, so they're married even though the marriage has not been consummated. And he goes down and he throws a big party, a seven-day feast. And the Hebrew word for this feast means a party with drinking, so now he's broken the second of that Nazarite vow by consuming alcohol, the fruit of the vine. And so as he's gathering there for this wedding feast, verse 11 is a little bit difficult. Let me just give it to you like this. That as the Philistines there in Timnath see that this wedding is going to take place, they bring 30 companions. And for whatever reason, perhaps they're concerned Samson may start acting like Samson and kill a bunch of people, or they say we're going to give you some people to serve in your wedding party. So whatever the case is, they give him 30 companions, and actually one of them will serve as his best man, as we would use it in today's language. But verse 12, during this party, first day of the feast, Samson puts this riddle out to them. And what he says to them is, if you can figure out my riddle within seven days, I will give you 30 changes of garment. And really, again, this is not just jeans and a t-shirt. This is specifically talking about 30 of your Sunday best, what we would call your Sunday best. I'll give you 30 nice changes of clothing, 30 companions. So he makes it for 30, the number 30. And in our society, we're so blessed that we got closets full of stuff. Do we not? I mean, we got closets full of clothes. But in that day, that was not the case. It wasn't that way. They would not have had that many clothes like that. So for him to say this, if you can solve my riddle, I'll give you 30 changes of these nice wedding garments is specifically what he's talking about. But if you can't solve my riddle, then the 30 of you have to each one give me a wedding garment. You have to give me something nice. So he portrays this riddle to them. Verse 13, if you cannot declare it to me, then shall you give me 30 sheets and 30 changes of garments? And so they say, put your riddle forth. And they put this riddle forth in verse 14, and he said to them, out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness. Now, we know the narrative. We know what he's talking about. But they didn't. They didn't have any idea. what Samson was talking about and I want to read this to you out of another version because as much as I love King Jimmy, can I say that, King James Version, it just doesn't relate to us here the richness of the riddle. It just doesn't declare it to us as clearly as it should be. A better way to put it in a poetic way It would say this, out of the eater came something to eat. Out of the strong came something sweet. Now that would be a good rendering of it. I don't want to upset you apple card about King James. I'm just simply saying to put it in a more, in a closer form to how he intended it. It would say this, out of the eater came something to eat and out of the strong came something sweet. But what happens? We find out in verse number 14, and after three days of them racking their brains, they can't figure it out, and who could? I mean, this was not some simple riddle that he puts out for them. This is a complex riddle, and they can't figure it out. So in verse 15, they begin to threaten his bride. Again, there would be like seven days of a feast, and at the end of that feast, that's when the bride and the bridegroom would enter into the bride chamber together and consummate the marriage. That hasn't taken place yet, yet he's recognized as being his wife. And so at the fourth day, as they've been scratching their heads trying to figure this thing out, They come to him, and I know verse 15 says it came to pass on the seventh day, but you're just gonna have to trust me that this takes place on the fourth day. They come to him to, I'm sorry, they don't come to him, they come to her. They come to her and they say, listen, we've got to know, and I'm sorry, I just booted up verse 15 on the seventh day after they tried to figure this out. They come to Samson's wife, whatever her name is, and they say, we've got to know what this riddle is. Verse 15, it came to pass on the seventh day that they say unto her, and I've got a little ahead of myself, entice your husband. You see verse 15? Find out for us what this riddle is. And now listen, as they threatened her, lest we burn thee and thy father's house with fire. So these Philistines, these 30 companions, if you will, they come to Samson's new bride and say to her, if you don't find out what this riddle is, we'll burn you to the ground in your father's house with you. And in fact, they charge her with co-conspiring, co-conspiring with Samson against them. That's what the closing of verse 15 is. And says, have you called us to take that we have? Have you brought us down here to this wedding to steal from us or to rob us? Isn't that, is it not so? Isn't this what this is? You and Samson conspired together to rob us of 30 garments. And that was a significant amount of money for them. And so Samson's wife, verse 16, weeps before him. And here's where I got jacked up. And just let me try to explain myself. Do you see verse 17, and she wept before him the seven days? Now you try to put all that together, really that should say, and she wept before him until the seventh day. Sometimes as you're rendering, and I want to be careful, sometimes as we're translating, we're rendering from one language to another, some things are lost in translation. It's just King James, absolutely wonderful translation, dependable translation. But sometimes it's hard to break everything down just exactly right. But they approach her on the seventh day. She has said to him, you've got to tell me what this riddle is. Now listen to how she manipulates him in verse 16. Samson's wife went before him and said, you don't love me, right? You don't love me. You don't love me at all. If you cared about me at all, you do this. I always hated when people said that. Didn't you ever hate people saying, if you love me, you do this? Don't put that off on me. I never have liked that. I'm thankful my wife doesn't say that. But notice, you hate me. You don't love me. You don't love me. You put a riddle under my people and my nation, and you hadn't even told me what this riddle means. And Samson says, I ain't even told my mom and dad this. Why would I tell you? So in that, there's a little bit of a And an understanding of Samson still has a certain amount of reverence for his mother and father, but not enough to listen to him. But he says, I hadn't even told my mom and dad, why am I gonna tell you this riddle? But now let's see the strong weak man. See the strong weak, the trouble with girls, the trouble with girls. And she wept before him the seventh day, verse 17, or until the seventh day, after they pressed her, after they threatened her. She wept before them. Perhaps they approached her on the fourth day. It's just a difficult Hebrew language. It's difficult in English, too. But verse 17, she wept before him the seven days while their feast lasted, and it came to pass on the seventh day that he told her Because she lay sore upon him, he revealed the riddle to her, very clearly. Reveals that riddle to her because he got tired and I am not looking for a fight, but he just got tired of her nagging. I mean, there's no other way to say it. He just got sick and tired of her badgering him. laying up on his chest and just looking up into his big Sampson eyes and saying, you don't love me. You must hate me. And so he tells her the riddle. And of course, what does she do? She runs and tells those 30 men. She says, here's what the riddle is. See Sampson there who's strong enough To kill a thousand men, he's strong enough to pick up the gates of a city. He's strong enough to do many great and powerful things, but he is not strong enough to say no to a woman. Isn't that sad? Samson is a mighty weak man. Get that play on words? He's a mighty weak man. straight to take a lion, a young, strong, not some old, decrepit lion, a young, strong lion and rip it in two. But he can't say no to a woman. Sad, but it's true. In fact, and I don't want to draw too much application out of this, but it's just the truth that many, many otherwise good, godly men have been led astray by The lust of their flesh. You can't blame women for it. It's not their fault. It's the lust of their flesh. It is Samson's failure to govern his own passions. Samson's failure to flee fornication in the King James New Testament language. Samson's failure to bridle his passions. And so they respond in verse 18 judges 1418. They respond by saying in the men of the city say unto him. On the 7th day before the sun went down, so just before the very end. Of this marriage feast before it's over, just as time is about to run out, they say what is sweeter than honey and what is stronger than a lion. So obviously now. He reveals, or they reveal that they know the answer to the riddle. The lion is the eater, the honey is the sweet. And then, you know, I know it's just wrong, but I just love Samson's reply in verse 18. Samson says, if you had not plowed with my heifer, You had not found out my riddle. Now, Samson's quite the sweet talker, ain't he? I mean, he really is. Again, if you'll allow, in another version, to render it in a poetic way, and I believe actually in a way he would have replied, he said, if you had not plowed with this heifer of mine, you would not have found out this riddle of mine. I don't I honestly don't know how Samson's soon-to-be bride felt about this, but I guarantee most women wouldn't have been too happy about being called a heifer, right? But he's just saying, in other words, he's saying, and really what he's saying is, you cheated. You cheated because you went somewhere you shouldn't have been. You stuck your nose in my house, You messed around with what belongs to me. You've plowed with my heifer. That's another way of saying you put your hands on what belongs to me. Now he's belittling this woman and he shouldn't have done it, but he did it just the same, which is a standard problem for Sampson. But Sampson here says you've plowed with my heifer. You've put your hands in and put your hands on things that you didn't have any right to and you found out my riddle. And this angers him. He's angry with her because she's betrayed him. He's angry with them because they found out the riddle. But I think in some degrees, probably angry with himself because he gilded her, gave in to her. But now he's also, if he's gonna be a man of his word, he's also gotta come up with 30 changes of garment. He gotta come up with 30 nice, Sunday best outfits, if you will, set, 30 wedding garments. But how will he go about this? Well, Samson's not gonna go home and open up his closet and pick out 30 nice outfits. He's not gonna go down to Belks and pick up 30 nice suits to give these fellas. He's gonna go about it a much more devious way. In order to repay this debt, this 30 changes of clothes, verse 19 says, And the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, and slew 30 men of them, and took their spoil, and gave changes of garments unto them, which expounded his riddle. So he went about 20 miles down towards the coast on the Mediterranean Sea to the Philistine city of Ashkelon. And there he picks a fight with 30 men, whips and kills all 30 men and takes their clothes. Loads it up on a cart, I suppose, goes back and delivers these 30 changes of garment to those 30 men that had been assigned to him either as his wedding party or to watch over him, whatever the case was. And he's mad. He's so mad, he don't go back to Tim now. After he repays that debt, he goes home. Mad and angry. Now, this is an important key to what will take place in the next chapter. Having never consummated the marriage, having left angrily, Killing these 30 men and taking their clothes back to their the clothes of verse 19 says he goes home He goes up to his father's house What it says in verse number 20 It's going to set up chapter 15 all together In verse 20 it says but Samson's wife was given to his companion whom he had used as his friend so after seven days of a wedding feast This riddle is answered. Samson stomps off, bowling mad, kills 30 men, goes home. But here's this bride who thought she was getting married. And so what happens? Her father gives his daughter to Samson's best man, to put it in today's vernacular. These 30 companions that have been given to him, in particular, again in the Hebrew What we would understand is his best friend, the closed verse number 20, who he had used as his friend, what we would understand is the man who would, quote, serve as the best man at the wedding. This man, this best man now ends up marrying this girl that Samson was supposed to marry. And I can tell you right now, you think Samson was mad a little while ago, he's really gonna have a fit. You say a lot of things take place in this chapter. That's true. A lot of things do take place in this chapter. I've said it. But what we have here is a microcosm of Israel. You remember me saying this a couple of weeks ago as we began this study. Samson and his behavior is a microcosm of Israel. Ignoring what God has said in his law and going out and giving in to the desires of their flesh. Samson is just a little picture of the spiritual condition of Israel. Ignoring what God has said. They know what God has said, but they ignore that and say, this is what I want anyway. They go out and serve false gods. They give in to their passions, give in to their lusts, give in to their desires. And it always brings trouble, just like it does with Samson. It always yields disaster. When we ignore godly counsel and we ignore God's divine revealed will in His Word, it always brings trouble, always. And when you read Samson, you should see two things. His failure represents Israel's failure, but his failure also shows us the beauty of our Deliverer who never failed, who was faced with temptation. When you see Samson and him yielding and desiring that which was forbidden, it should make us see the faithfulness of our Christ who never yielded and never gave in. who never ignored the godly counsel and never just said, I know what the law says, but I'm going to do what I want. Christ never did that, but always lived a perfectly obedient life. And he alone is the perfect example of what we should be. We see Samson and all his failures, yet it should cause us to see the beauty of our Savior in all his perfect obedience and his perfect righteousness while sampson's bride was given to another our lord's bride will never be given to another but he will take his bride into himself he won't be outsmarted he won't be outdone he won't yield our lord is perfect in all his ways it's going to take us a little while to break down sampson's life And I wish it wasn't so, but the Bible has as much bad to say as it does good to say about Samson. Yet Samson also finds his name mentioned in Hebrews 11, among that great list of faithful men and women. Because where sin abounds, grace much more perhaps. And God always uses broken vessels, stubborn, rebellious, broken vessels. I said it before, let me say it one more time, because that's all God has to work with. I don't mean any disrespect to God, I'm just saying that's what we are. Broken vessels, sometimes stiff-necked and stubborn, sometimes we ignore godly counsel, sometimes we know what the Bible says and we push forward anyway. And even in spite of our stubborn rebellion, God can still use us for his glory. God used Samson. What a display. I know we're gonna pick on Samson, but what a display of God's long-suffering and tender grace to use people like him. If he can use Samson, he can use me and you.