We're at the point of judges in which we'll be discussing Samson's story. There's really no way around this. I'm going to issue that sensitive ears warning again and say that this is ideal for mom ears... because it's Samson. When I look at his life, I think, "Things that make you go, 'hmm....' " We have to be careful to not attribute his sinful choices to the Lord, but rather see a God that is able to accomplish His purposes with very fallen people. That theme is throughout Scripture and it can give us encouragement as we're praying for those that seem to be far from God--because none of us is outside the reach of the grace of Jesus Christ.

Today's Reading: Judges 14-17

Scripture Read or Referenced:

Hebrews 11:32

Judges 13:25

Judges 14:1-20

Proverbs 7:21-25

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Commentaries Most Referenced: Moody Commentary, MacArthur Commentary

This is a dwelling place from Entrusted Ministries.

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I'm Stephanie Hickox, and we're

at the point of judges in which

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we'll be discussing Samson's story.

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There's really no way around this.

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I'm going to issue that sensitive

ears warning again and say

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that this is ideal for mom ears

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because, because it's Samson.

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When I look at his life, I think

things that make you go, hmm.

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We will have to be careful to not

attribute his sinful choices to

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the Lord, but rather see a God

that is able to accomplish his

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purposes with very fallen people.

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That theme is throughout scripture and

it can give us encouragement as we're

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praying for those that seem to be far

from God because none of us is outside

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the reach of the grace of Jesus Christ.

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Let's keep the end of the story in mind

while we read about the chaos and sin

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prevalent on the pages of Samson's story.

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Hebrews 1132 tells us.

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And what more shall I say for time

would fail me to tell of Gideon Barack

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Samson Geha of David and Samuel and the

prophets, who through faith conquered

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kingdoms and forced justice obtained

promises stopped the mouths of lions

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quenched the power of fire escaped.

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The edge of the sword were made strong,

out of weakness, became mighty, and

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war put foreign enemies to flight.

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God's word attributes, faith to Samson

and the Holy Spirit certainly used him

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to defeat some of the enemies of Israel.

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Our scripture reading for

today will be from chapter 14.

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And this follows chapter 13, telling

us the spirit of the Lord began to

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stir in him Samson went down to

Timnah, and at Timnah he saw one of

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the daughters of the Philistines.

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Then he came up and told his father

and mother, I saw one of the daughters

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of the Philistines at Timnah.

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Now get her for me as my wife.

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But his father and mother said to

him, is there not a woman among

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the daughters of your relatives?

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Or among all your people that you

must go to take a wife from the

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uncircumcised Philistines, but Samson

said to his father, get her for me.

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she is right in my eyes.

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His father and mother did not know that

it was from the Lord for he was seeking

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an opportunity against the Philistines.

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At that time, the Philistines

ruled over Israel.

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Then Samson went down with his

father and mother to Timnah, and

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they came to the vineyards of Timnah.

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And behold, a young lion

came toward him roaring.

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Then the spirit of the Lord

rushed upon him, and although

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he had nothing in his hand,

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he tore the lion in pieces

as one tears a young goat.

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But he did not tell his father

or his mother what he had done.

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Then he went down and talked with a

woman and she was right in Samson's eyes.

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After some days, he returned

to take her and he turned aside

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to see the carcass of the lion.

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And behold, there was a swarm of bees

in the body of the lion and honey.

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He scraped it out into his hands

and went on eating as he went, and

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he came to his father and mother

and gave some to them and they ate.

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But he did not tell them

that he had scraped the honey

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from the carcass of the lion.

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His father went down to the woman

and Samson prepared a feast there

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for, so the young men used to

do, and soon the people saw him.

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As soon as the people saw him,

they brought 30 companions to be

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with him, and Samson said to them,

let me now put a riddle to you.

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If you can tell me what it is within the

seven days of the feast and find it out.

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Then I will give you 30 linen

garments and 30 changes of clothes.

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But if you cannot tell me what it

is, then you shall give me 30 linen

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garments and 30 changes of clothes.

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And they said to him, put your

riddle that we may hear it.

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And he said to them, out of the

eater came something to eat.

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Out of the strong came something sweet.

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And in three days they

could not solve the riddle.

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On the fourth day, they said to Samson's

wife, enticed your husband to tell

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us what the riddle is, lest we burn

you in your father's house with fire.

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Have you invited us here to impoverish us?

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And Samson's wife wept over

him and said, you only hate me.

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You do not love me.

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You have put a riddle to my people

and you have not told me what it is.

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And he said to her, behold, I have

not told my father nor my mother.

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And shall I tell you?

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She wept before him, the seven

days that the feast lasted.

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And on the seventh day he told her

because she pressed him hard, then

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she told the riddle to her people and

the men of the city said to him on

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the seventh day before the sun went

down, what is sweeter than honey?

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What is stronger than a lion?

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And he said to them, if you had not

plowed with my heifer, you would

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not have found out my riddle and the

spirit of the Lord rushed upon him.

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And he went down to Ashkelon and struck

down 30 men of the town and took their

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spoil and gave the garments to those

who had told the riddle in hot anger.

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He went back to his father's house

and Sampson's wife was given to his

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companion who had been his best man.

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This is just a disaster.

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How complex is it that when

Samson wants to marry a woman

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from another nation that it says.

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That it's from the Lord.

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Interestingly, she's not from

one of the seven nations that

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God forbade them to marry into.

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But it certainly seems marrying

someone who worshiped Yahweh was

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still the best practice to follow.

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His parents encouraged him to

do the right thing, but Sampson

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continues on with his plan.

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Some scholars would say that when

he killed the lion and went back to

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touch its dead carcass to get the

honey that he was touching a dead

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body and breaking his Nazarite vow.

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Others would say that the vow

only applied to dead human bodies.

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But at the end of the chapter,

when he kills the people for their

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clothing, he definitely broke The vow

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It's really disappointing

that Samson's wife.

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Was so loyal to the guests

that were threatening to burn

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her over her new husband,

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and this can certainly be a warning

to us to not be manipulative as

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wives, to not use our emotions to

get what we want, but rather to

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be surrendered to God's purposes.

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And to use prayer and reasoned words

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when we have a worthy cause,

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and I don't think any of us would like

it if our husband called us a heifer.

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When he returns with the garments of those

that he killed, he finds his father-in-law

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has given his wife away to the best man.

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You might have noticed that scripture says

over and over that they were in Timnah.

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This was an area that

thrived on their agriculture.

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So a Samson continues his

revenge in chapter 15.

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And gets 300 foxes, lights their

tails on fire and then releases them.

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It would've been a devastating

consequence to the Philistines

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because this fire spread

and destroyed their crops.

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They retaliate by burning Sampson's

wife and her father to death.

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Later, Sampson kills a thousand

Philistines with a jawbone of a donkey.

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The chapter concludes telling

us that he was a judge for 20

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years, and then in chapter 16 we

read about his well-known demise.

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The lust of his eyes leads

him to stick out a prostitute.

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After he destroys and carries the city

gates on his shoulders, he finds another

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woman to love, whose name is Delilah.

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The five leaders of the Philistines

come to her offering to pay

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her 1000 pieces of silver each.

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The lowest estimates of this would

equate to about $35,000 of today's money.

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They're trying to determine what the

source of Samson's strength is, and she

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allows them to hide out in her inner

chamber samson toys with her over and

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over and eventually confesses after

she presses a lot more manipulation.

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He tells her that it's the

Nazarite vow that he's made to

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God that gives him his strength.

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What's very telling is that he

refers to God as Elohim instead

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of Yahweh, God's personal name,

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he is not talking about a God

that is the Lord of his life.

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In his sleep, Delilah shaves his head.

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He's made so many compromises along the

way, but this reveals his abandonment of

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the Nazarite call on his life, and God's

spirit leaves him as well as his strength.

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The Philistines are finally

able to capture him.

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They gouge out his eyes, imprison

him, and force him to grind.

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Grain at the mill, which would've

been very demeaning because

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that was usually a woman's job.

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They bring him to the temple of Daggon

and finally, scripture tells us that

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Samson called out to the Lord, which is

in all capital letters, meaning Yahweh,

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and then he cries out, oh Lord God, please

remember me and please strengthen me.

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only this once.

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He takes two pillars of the structure

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And leans upon them killing

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on the upper level, which was

more than in his entire lifetime.

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I can't read the story of Sampson without

thinking of many of the warnings in

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Proverbs, particularly in Proverbs seven

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with much seductive speech.

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She persuades him with her smooth talk.

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She compels him all at once.

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He follows her.

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He does not know that it

will cost him his life.

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And now, O Suns, listen to me and be

attentive to the words of my mouth.

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Let not your heart turn aside to her ways.

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Lust is a fire that must be tamed with

the Lord's help, and unfortunately

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it led to Samson's demise.

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and then in chapter 17, there's

an odd story where a man named

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Micah steals from his mother.

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What was probably her entire life savings.

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And then she gives him a reward

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for confessing it.

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It makes an idol out of it.

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They worship it, build a shrine, and then

have one of the sons become a priest.

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He decides later, oh, I should probably

get a Levite to be the priest and

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almost treats a Levite is a good luck

charm, so that God will bless him.

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I love that my moody commentary said Micah

was a thief and his mother was a fool.

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Yep.

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There's just no way around that.

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But the key to this

chapter is in verse six.

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In those days, there

was no king in Israel.

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Everyone did what was

right in his own eyes.

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And that feels like today in our

culture to me, that people are frowned

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upon for talking about Big T Truth,

rather than saying, live your truth.

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many deny basic facts and instead, worship

feelings and those who wish to have

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an ultimate source of truth and wisdom

like scripture are mocked and ridiculed.

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Many in our culture have no

more hope than the people in the

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book of Judges, but thankfully.

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These stories show us

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that with God there is hope for us all.

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Let's pray.

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Heavenly Father, we're well aware that

if our own lives were cataloged in

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the chapters of a book, there would be

many parts we'd be ashamed of as well.

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So if we ask that you would help us

to evaluate our own hearts and our

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own propensities towards sin, may

we continually look to you and

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your spirit to renew and change us.

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We pray particularly against the sin

of lust in our lives, in the lives

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of our husbands and in our children.

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May we be diligent to protect them.

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From the ever present opportunities

for evil with technology

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guide us to walk in the fear of you and

that our sons and our daughters would

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not do what's right in their own eyes,

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but instead.

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live lives of obedience onto you.

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Thank you, Jesus, for your grace

and your mercy to rescue us and

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to use us in spite of our own sin.

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It's in your name we pray.

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Amen.