Sunday Morning Bible Class

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Sunday Morning Bible Class The Bible
Story Semester 3 IN the days of the judges A
Bible Survey Based on the Bible Narrative
Cycle By Bob Sandra Waldron
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In the Days
of the Judges
Conquest of the Land and the Period of the Judges
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Cycle of Sin
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Overview of Judges

• There were 14 judges in all
• 13 men
• 1 woman (Deborah)
• Judge one whom secured the blessings of God
  for the people

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JUDGES

• Othniel
• Ehud
• Shamgar
• Deborah
• Gideon
• Tola
• Jair

• Jephthah
• Ibzan
• Elon
• Abdon
• Samson
• Eli
• Samuel

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Ibzan

• 9th judge (Judges 128-10)
• Enemy unnamed
• Time judged 7 years

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Ibzan

• Had 30 sons 30 daughters
• Sent his 30 daughters away to marry
• Brought in 30 wives for his sons
• Lived was buried in Bethlehem

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Note

• There were 2 Bethlehems in Canaan. One was in
  Zebuluns territory one in Judahs. The
  Bethlehem in Judah is the one most familiar to
  us. Although we can not know for certain, Ibzan
  probably lived in the Bethlehem in the territory
  of Zebulun.

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Elon

• 10th judge (Judges 1211-12)
• Enemy unnamed
• Time judged 10 years

10
Elon

• From the land of Zebulun
• Buried in Aijalon in the territory of Zebulun

11
Abdon

• 11th judge (Judges 1213-15)
• Enemy unnamed
• Time judged 8 years

12
Abdon

• Lived in Pirathon of Ephraim
• Had 40 sons 30 grandsons
• The sons grandsons rode on 70 donkeys
• Buried in mountains of Amalekites in territory of
  Ephraim

13
Samson

• 12th judge (Judges 13-16)
• Enemy Philistines
• Time judged 20 years

14
Samson

• Israel turned away from Jehovah
• They worshipped other gods
• God delivered them into the hands of the
  Philistines for 40 years

15
Samson

• Most likely the stories of Samson Jephthah
  overlap
• In the account of Jephthah, Israel was in bondage
  to the Philistines Ammonites
• Jephthah defeated the Ammonites
• No mention is made of the Philistines

16
Samson

• In Judges 131 we find the Philistines had
  control of Israel for 40 years
• We dont know when this 40 years began in
  relation to Samson
• Most likely, however, this is the same
  Philistines oppression spoken of in Judges 107

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Samson

• Immoral man in many ways
• Given supernatural strength
• Listed among men of faith in Heb. 11
• Will not defeat Philistines
• he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the
  hand of the Philistines. Judges 135

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Samson

• Samsons Birth is Foretold (132-25)
• Manoah
• Lived in Zorah
• Of the tribe of Dan
• Manoahs wife
• Barren with no children
• Angel appeared to her

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Judges 133-5
"Indeed now, you are barren and have borne no
children, but you shall conceive and bear a son.
Now therefore, please be careful not to drink
wine or similar drink, and not to eat anything
unclean. For behold, you shall conceive and bear
a son. And no razor shall come upon his head, for
the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the
womb and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of
the hand of the Philistines."
20
Samson

• Samsons Birth is Foretold (132-25)
• Manoahs wife related the news to Manoah
• Manoah asked God to send the man of God back
• God heard Manoah did as he asked

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Judges 1319-22
So Manoah took the young goat with the grain
offering, and offered it upon the rock to the
LORD. And He did a wondrous thing while Manoah
and his wife looked on it happened as the
flame went up toward heaven from the altar the
Angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the
altar! When Manoah and his wife saw this, they
fell on their faces to the ground. When the Angel
of the LORD appeared no more to Manoah and his
wife, then Manoah knew that He was the Angel of
the LORD.
22
Samson

• Samsons Birth is Foretold (132-25)
• Manoahs wife gave birth to a son
• They named him Samson
• He was blessed by God and as he grew the Spirit
  of God began to move upon him

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Note

• Requirements for Nazirite Vow (Num 6)
• Must not eat or drink from grape vine
• Must not cut hair
• Must not touch dead body
• Such a vow was usually taken for a specific
  period after which specified sacrifices marked
  the end of the vow

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Note

• Nazirites from birth
• Samson (Judges 135)
• Samuel (I Samuel 111)
• John the Baptist (Luke 115)

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Samson

• Samson the Woman of Timnah (141-20)
• Samson went to Timnah saw a Philistine woman
• He told his parents to get her for his wife
• They were unable to persuade him to seek a wife
  from his own people

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Samson

• Samson the Woman of Timnah (141-20)
• As he traveled to Timnah Samson came upon a lion
• The Spirit of Jehovah came upon him and he tore
  the lion apart with only his hands

27
Samson

• Samson the Woman of Timnah (141-20)
• Later, Samson returned to Timnah to take his wife
• He saw that bees had built a hive inside the
  carcass of the lion
• Samson enjoyed a treat of honey

28
Samson

• Samson the Woman of Timnah (141-20)
• Manoah arranged the marriage
• Samson prepared a feast
• The brides parents saw that Samson brought no
  young men with him
• So they gave him 30 Philistine men to be his
  companions

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Judges 1412-14
Then Samson said to them, "Let me pose a riddle
to you. If you can correctly solve and explain it
to me within the seven days of the feast, then I
will give you thirty linen garments and thirty
changes of clothing. But if you cannot explain
it to me, then you shall give me thirty linen
garments and thirty changes of clothing. And
they said to him, "Pose your riddle, that we may
hear it." So he said to them "Out of the eater
came something to eat, And out of the strong came
something sweet."
30
Samson

• Samson the Woman of Timnah (141-20)
• The men were unable to solve the riddle
• They threatened to harm Samsons wife if she
  didnt get them the answer
• On the 7th day Samson told his wife the answer to
  the riddle
• She then told the Philistine men

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Judges 1418-19
So the men of the city said to him on the
seventh day before the sun went down "What is
sweeter than honey? And what is stronger than a
lion? And he said to them "If you had not
plowed with my heifer, You would not have solved
my riddle! Then the Spirit of the LORD came
upon him mightily, and he went down to Ashkelon
and killed thirty of their men, took their
apparel, and gave the changes of clothing to
those who had explained the riddle.
32
Samson

• Samson the Woman of Timnah (141-20)
• Samson was angry with his wife
• He returned to his fathers house
• His wife was given to Samsons companion or best
  man

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Samson

• Samsons Vengeance (151-20)
• Samson decided to return to his wife
• He was angry when he found out she had been given
  to his companion
• He decided to take vengeance on the Philistines

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Samson

• Samsons Vengeance (151-20)
• Samson caught 300 foxes
• He tied them in pairs fastened a torch between
  their tails
• He turned the foxes loose in the ready to harvest
  grain fields of the Philistines

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Samson

• Samsons Vengeance (151-20)
• The Philistines found out Samson had destroyed
  their harvest
• For revenge, they burned Samsons wife her
  father to death

36
Judges 157-8
Samson said to them, "Since you would do a
thing like this, I will surely take revenge on
you, and after that I will cease." So he
attacked them hip and thigh with a great
slaughter then he went down and dwelt in the
cleft of the rock of Etam.
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Samson

• Samsons Vengeance (151-20)
• The Philistines gathered their army at Lehi in
  Judah
• The men of Judah asked why they had come to fight

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Samson

• Samsons Vengeance (151-20)
• The Philistines told the men of Judah they wanted
  to take Samson prisoner
• 3,000 men of Israel went to the rock of Etam to
  get Samson
• Samson agreed to let his people hand him over to
  the enemy

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Samson

• Samsons Vengeance (151-20)
• The Philistines rejoiced when they saw Samson
  bound
• The Spirit of the Lord came upon Samson he
  broke the ropes
• He used a jawbone of a donkey to killed 1,000
  Philistines

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Judges 1516-17
"With the jawbone of a donkey, Heaps upon
heaps, With the jawbone of a donkey I have
slain a thousand men!" And so it was, when he
had finished speaking, that he threw the jawbone
from his hand, and called that place Ramath
Lehi. (Jawbone Hill)
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Samson

• Samson the Gates of Gaza (161-3)
• Samson went to Gaza to visit a harlot
• The men of Gaza prepared an ambush
• They anticipated he would leave at sunrise

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Samson

• Samson the Gates of Gaza (161-3)
• Samson did not wait until daylight but rather
  left the harlots house at midnight
• As he left, he found the gates locked
• He tore the gates away carried them to a
  hilltop

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Samson

• Samsons Death (164-31)
• Samson again found a woman who pleased him
• This time her name was Delilah
• The Lords of the Philistines came to Delilah and
  offered her a large sum of money to tell them the
  secret of Samsons strength

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Samson

• Samsons Death (164-31)
• Delilah asked Samson the secret to his strength 4
  times
• 3 times Samson tricked her
• Each time, she did as Samson said while the
  Philistine men waited nearby

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Samson

• Samson told Delilah
• "If they bind me with seven fresh bowstrings, not
  yet dried, then I shall become weak, and be like
  any other man. (167)
• "If they bind me securely with new ropes that
  have never been used, then I shall become weak,
  and be like any other man." (1611)
• "If you weave the seven locks of my head into the
  web of the loom" (1613)

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Samson

• Samsons Death (164-31)
• After being tricked 3 times, Delilah pleaded more
  fervently with Samson
• Tired of his wifes pestering, Samson finally
  told her the secret of his strength

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Judges 1615-17
Then she said to him, "How can you say, 'I love
you,? You have mocked me these three times, and
have not told me where your great strength lies."
And it came to pass, when she pestered him daily
with her words, so that his soul was vexed to
death, that he told her all his heart, and said
to her, "No razor has ever come upon my head, for
I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother's
womb. If I am shaven, then my strength will leave
me, and I shall become weak, and be like any
other man."
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Samson

• Samsons Death (164-31)
• Once Delilah knew Samsons secret, she called the
  Philistine lords
• Delilah lulled Samson to sleep
• She then called a man to cut his hair

49
Samson

• Samsons Death (164-31)
• Delilah again woke Samson up saying the
  Philistines were upon him
• Samson did not know his strength had left
• The Philistines seized him, put out his eyes
  took him to Gaza

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Samson

• Samsons Death (164-31)
• He was shackled with bronze fetters
• He was made to grind in the prison house
• Then the Scriptures note that his hair began to
  grow

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Samson

• Samsons Death (164-31)
• The lords of the Philistines gathered a great
  assembly to worship Dagon celebrate their
  victory over Samson
• They called for Samson to come and entertain them
• After a time, Samson was set between the pillars
  of the temple

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Judges 1628-30
Then Samson called to the LORD, saying, "O Lord
GOD, remember me, I pray! Strengthen me, I pray,
just this once, O God, that I may with one blow
take vengeance on the Philistines for my two
eyes!" And Samson took hold of the two middle
pillars which supported the temple,
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Judges 1628-30
and he braced himself against them, one on his
right and the other on his left. Then Samson
said, "Let me die with the Philistines!" And he
pushed with all his might, and the temple fell on
the lords and all the people who were in it. So
the dead that he killed at his death were more
than he had killed in his life.
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Samson

• Samsons Death (164-31)
• Samsons brothers all his fathers household
  came and got his body
• He was buried between Zorah Estaol in the
  burial place of his father, Manoah