12-18-05

(Judg 15:6-8)  Then the Philistines said, Who hath done this? And they answered, Samson, the son in law of the Timnite, because he [the father in law] had taken his [Samson’s] wife, and given her to his [Samson’s] companion [3^rd mention]. And the Philistines came up, and burnt her and her father with fire [bindings burnt with fire: Samson was bound to them for she was his wife]. And Samson said unto them, Though ye have done this, yet will I be avenged of you, and after that I will cease. And he smote them hip and thigh [by euphem. the generative parts] with a great slaughter: and he went down and dwelt in the top of the rock Etam [hawk-ground /// a hawk or other bird of prey (eagle) /// to swoop down upon].

(Judg 15:9-13)  Then the Philistines [“uncircumcised Plilistines” Judg 14:3] went up, and pitched [encamped] in Judah [celebrated], and spread themselves in Lehi. And the men of Judah said, Why are ye come up against us? And they answered, To bind Samson [sunlight] are we come up, to do to him as he hath done to us. Then three thousand men of Judah went to the top of the rock Etam, and said to Samson, Knowest thou not that the Philistines are rulers over us? what is this that thou hast done unto us? And he said unto them, As they did unto me, so have I done unto them. And they said unto him, We are come down to bind thee, that we may deliver thee into the hand of the Philistines. And Samson said unto them, Swear unto me, that ye will not fall upon me yourselves [i.e. believer against believer]. And they spake unto him, saying, No; but we will bind thee fast, and deliver thee into their hand: but surely we will not kill thee. And they bound him with two new [fresh] cords [doctrines of men], and brought him up from the rock.

(Judg 15:14)  And when he [Samson] came unto Lehi, the Philistines shouted against him: and the spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him [for the purpose of the following act], and the cords [bindings] that were upon his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands loosed from off his hands.

1.     The “two new cords” of Samson’s binding are early biblical types or symbols of the worldly bindings later placed upon Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in Daniel Chapter 3. Those same bindings became ashes in the fiery furnace as these men too were loosed from Nebuchadnezzar, king of this world. The fiery furnace is symbolic of the wrath of God who is “a consuming fire.” (Dan 4:24; 9:3; Heb 12:29).

(Judg 15:15-17)  And he found a new [moist; fresh: putrefying (i.e. something mortal)] jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men therewith. And Samson said, With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps [i.e. asses upon asses], with the jaw of an ass [ref: words] have I slain a thousand men [God uses the things of this world to destroy the things of this world]. And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking, that he cast away the jawbone out of his hand, and called that place Ramathlehi.

1.     Lehi = Heb: to be soft; the cheek (from its fleshiness); hence the jaw-bone: cheek (bone), jaw (bone).

2.     jawbone = Heb: to be soft; the cheek (from its fleshiness); hence the jaw-bone:--cheek (bone), jaw (bone).

3.     ass = Heb: a male ass (from its dun red) /// to boil up; hence to ferment (with scum); to glow (with redness); to smear with pitch: daub, foul, be red, trouble.

4.     heaps = Heb: to boil up; hence to ferment (with scum); to glow (with redness); to smear with pitch: daub, foul, be red, trouble.

5.     (Exo 13:10-14)  Thou shalt therefore keep this ordinance in his season from year to year. And it shall be when the LORD shall bring thee into the land of the Canaanites, as he sware unto thee and to thy fathers, and shall give it thee, That thou shalt set apart unto the LORD all that openeth the matrix [womb], and every firstling that cometh of a beast which thou hast; the males shall be the LORD'S. And every firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb; and if thou wilt not redeem it, then thou shalt break his neck: and all the firstborn of man among thy children shalt thou redeem. And it shall be when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What is this? that thou shalt say unto him, By strength of hand the LORD brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage: [Exo 34:19-20]

6.     Ramathlehi = Heb: height of a jaw-bone /// [combined from] ramah; a height (as a seat of idolatry): high place /// [and] to be soft; the cheek (from its fleshiness); hence the jaw-bone: cheek (bone), jaw (bone).

7.     (Num 22:21-35)  And Balaam [not of the people (A Mesopotamian prophet)] rose up in the morning, and saddled his ass [a female ass], and went with the princes of Moab. And God's anger was kindled because he went: and the angel of the LORD stood in the way for an adversary against him. Now he was riding upon his ass, and his two servants were with him. And the ass saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and the ass turned aside out of the way, and went into the field: and Balaam smote the ass, to turn her into the way. But the angel of the LORD stood in a path of the vineyards, a wall being on this side, and a wall on that side. And when the ass saw the angel of the LORD, she thrust herself unto the wall, and crushed Balaam's foot against the wall: and he smote her again. And the angel of the LORD went further, and stood in a narrow place, where was no way to turn either to the right hand or to the left. And when the ass saw the angel of the LORD, she fell down under Balaam: and Balaam's anger was kindled, and he smote the ass with a staff. And the LORD opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam, What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times? And Balaam said unto the ass, Because thou hast mocked me: I would there were a sword in mine hand, for now would I kill thee. And the ass said unto Balaam, Am not I thine ass, upon which thou hast ridden ever since I was thine unto this day? was I ever wont to do so unto thee? And he said, Nay. Then the LORD opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and he bowed down his head, and fell flat on his face. And the angel of the LORD said unto him, Wherefore hast thou smitten thine ass these three times? behold, I went out to withstand thee, because thy way is perverse before me: And the ass saw me, and turned from me these three times: unless she had turned from me, surely now also I had slain thee, and saved her alive. And Balaam said unto the angel of the LORD, I have sinned; for I knew not that thou stoodest in the way against me: now therefore, if it displease thee, I will get me back again. And the angel of the LORD said unto Balaam, Go with the men: but only the word that I shall speak unto thee, that thou shalt speak. So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.

ANOTHER MIRACLE

(Judg 15:18-20)  And he was sore athirst, and called on the LORD, and said, Thou hast given this great deliverance [rescue: salvation, victory] into the hand of thy servant: and now shall I die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised? But God clave an hollow place that was in the jaw, and there came water thereout; and when he had drunk, his spirit came again, and he revived: wherefore he called the name thereof Enhakkore [fountain of one calling], which is in Lehi unto this day. And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.

1.     Through the power of the Holy Spirit that “came mightily upon him” for that purpose, Samson had delivered or “rescued” the men of Judah from their gross idolatry which was made manifest to all in their submissive acceptance of the rule and dominion of the unsaved Philistines.

Amen