The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 94: Samson and Delilah (2023)

Episode Date: April 4, 2023

Today we follow two stories of betrayal with Samson and Delilah and Micah and the Levite. Fr. Mike also explains why Judges is the best example of how God can use broken people to do his will. The reading are Judges 16-18 and Psalm 147. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/bibleinayear. Please note: The Bible contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

Hey, everyone, before we get started today, I want to say a quick thank you for all your prayers and support for this podcast. It's been such a gift. This whole Ascension team has been so humbled to hear about the impact of this show in your lives. We have heard unbelievable stories of renewed faith, of conversion, of grace, and we're praying for each other. So please keep those prayers coming. And if you're able, please consider giving a small financial gift to support the production of this show. This show is free to everyone, to anyone, but it's not free to make. And so if you want to find out how to make a gift, visit ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a Year. Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz, and you're listening to the Bible in a Year podcast,

where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of Scripture. The Bible in a Year podcast is brought to you by Ascension. Using the Great Adventure Bible timeline, we'll read all the way from Genesis to Revelation, discovering how the story of salvation unfolds and how we fit into that story today. It is day 94. If you are following along with the Bible in a Year reading plan sheet and you printed it out, this is the last day on the second sheet, which is, I think, worth celebrating. So it's day 94. We are reading from Judges chapters 16, 17, and 18, as well as praying Psalm 147. As always, I am reading from the Revised Standard Version, Second Catholic

Edition, and I'm using the Great Adventure Bible from Ascension. If you want to download your own Bible in a year reading plan so you can check off every day and get to the end of this second sheet of paper. You can visit ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a Year. Also, if you haven't not done it yet, please subscribe in your podcast app to receive the daily episodes that we have. Once again, as we're going through the book of Judges, one of the things to keep in mind is how PG-13 slash rated R content things get the more and more we're following to the end of the book of Judges. Today, we're concluding the story of Samson and Delilah. We're also going on to Micah and the Levite and some of the other kind of issues with regard to that. So keep that in mind as we strap in and take the next steps. Once again, Judges 16, 17, and 18 and Psalm 147.

The book of Judges chapter 16, Samson and Delilah. Samson went to Gaza, and there he saw a harlot, and he went into her. The Gazites were told, Samson has come here, and they surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the gate of the city. They kept quiet all night, saying, Let us wait till the light of the morning, then we will kill him. But Samson lay till midnight, and at midnight he arose and took hold of the doors of the gate of the city and the two posts, and pulled them up, bar and all, and put them on his shoulders, and carried them to the top of the hill that is before Hebron. After this he loved a woman in the valley of Sorak, whose name was Delilah. And the lords

of the Philistines came to her and said to her, Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him, that we may bind him to subdue him, and we will each give you eleven hundred pieces of silver. And Delilah said to Samson, Please tell me wherein your great strength lies, and how you might be bound that one could subdue you. And Samson said to her, If they bind me with seven fresh bowstrings, which have not been dried, then I shall become weak and be like any other man. Then the lords of the Philistines brought her seven fresh bowstrings, which had not been dried,

and she bound him with them. Now she had been lying in wait in an inner chamber, and she said to him, The Philistines are upon you, Samson. But he snapped the bowstrings, as a tow-line snaps when it touches the fire. So the secret of his strength was not known. And Delilah said to Samson, Behold, you have mocked me and told me lies. Please tell me how you might be bound. And he said to her, If they bind me with new ropes that have not been used, then I shall become weak and be like any other man. So Delilah took new ropes and bound him with them and said to him, The Philistines are upon you, Samson. And the men lying in wait were in an inner chamber,

but he snapped the ropes off his arms like a thread. And Delilah said to Samson, Until now you have mocked me and told me lies. Tell me how you might be bound. And he said to her, If you weave the seven locks of my head with the web and make it tight with the pin, then I shall become weak and be like any other man. So while he slept, Delilah took the seven locks of his head and wove them into the web,

and she made them tight with the pin. And she said to him, The Philistines are upon you, Samson. But he awoke from his sleep and pulled away the pin, the loom, and the web. And she said to him, How can you say I love you when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and you have not told me wherein your great strength lies. And when she pressed him hard with her words day after day and urged him, his soul was vexed to death. And he told her all his mind and said to her, A razor has never come upon my head, for I have been a Nazarite to God from my mother's womb. If I be shaved, then my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man. When Delilah saw that he had

told her all his mind, she sent and called up the lords of the Philistines, saying, Come up this once, for he has told me all his mind. Then the lords of the Philistines came up to her and brought the money in their hands. She made him sleep upon her knees, and she called a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she began to torment him, and his strength left him. And she said, The Philistines are upon you, Samson. And he awoke from his sleep and said, I will go out as at the other times and shake myself free. And he did not know that the Lord had left him. And the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes and brought him down to Gaza

and bound him with bronze fetters and he ground at the mill in the prison. But the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaved. Samson's death. Now the lords of the Philistines gathered to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon, their god, and to rejoice, for they said, Our god has given Samson our enemy into our hand. And when the people saw him, they praised their god, for they said, Our god has given our enemy into our hand, the ravager of our country, who has slain many of us. And when their hearts were merry, they said, call Samson that he may make sport for us. So they called Samson out of the prison

and he made sport before them. They made him stand between the pillars and Samson said to the lad who held him by the hand, let me feel the pillars on which the house rests that I may lean against them. Now the house was full of men and women. All the lords of the Philistines were there, and on the roof there were about three thousand men and women who looked on while Samson made sport. Then Samson called to the Lord and said, O Lord God, remember me, I beg you, and strengthen me, I beg you, only this once, O God, that I may be avenged upon the Philistines for one of my two eyes. And Samson grasped the two middle pillars upon which the house rested, and he leaned

his weight upon them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other. And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. Then he bowed with all his might, and the house fell upon the lords and upon all the people that were in it. So the dead that he slew at his death were more than those whom he had slain during his life. Then his brothers and all his family came down and took him, and brought him up and buried him between Zorah and Eshtoel in the tomb of Benoah his father. He had judged Israel twenty years. Chapter 17. Micah and the Levite. There was a man of the hill country, of Ephraim, whose name was Micah. And he said to his mother, The eleven hundred pieces of silver which were taken from you,

about which you uttered a curse, and also spoke it in my ears, behold, the silver is with me. I took it. And his mother said, Blessed be my son by the Lord. And he restored the eleven hundred pieces of silver to his mother. And his mother said, I consecrate the silver to the Lord from my hand for my son, to make a graven image and a molten image. Now therefore, I will restore it to you. So when he restored the money to his mother, his mother took two hundred pieces of silver and gave it to the silversmith who made it into a graven image and a molten image, and it was in the house of Micah. And the man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and a teraphim and installed one of his sons who became his priest. In those days there was no king in Israel. Every man did what was right in his own eyes.

Now there was a young man of Bethlehem in Judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite, and he sojourned there. And the man departed from the town of Bethlehem in Judah to live where he could find a place. And as he journeyed, he came to the hill country of Ephraim to the house of Micah. And Micah said to him, From where do you come? And he said to him, I am a Levite of Bethlehem in Judah, and I am going to sojourn where I may find a place. And Micah said to him, Stay with me, and be to me a father and a priest, and I will give you ten pieces of silver a year, and a suit of apparel, and your living. And the Levite was content to dwell with the man, and the young man became to him like one of his sons. And Micah installed

the Levite, and the young man became his priest, and was in the house of Mic sons. And Micah installed the Levite, and the young man became his priest and was in the house of Micah. Then Micah said, Now I know that the Lord will prosper me, because I have a Levite as a priest. Chapter 18 Micah and the Migration of Dan In those days there was no king in Israel. And in those days the tribe of the Danites was seeking for itself an inheritance to dwell in. For until then no inheritance among the tribes of Israel had fallen to them. So the Danites sent five able men from the whole number of their tribe, from Zorah and from Eshtoel, to spy out the land and to explore it.

And they said to them, Go and explore the land. And they came to the hill country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, and lodged there. When they were by the house of Micah, they recognized the voice of the young Levite. And they turned aside and said to him, Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? What is your business here? And he said to them, Thus and thus has Micah dealt with me. He has hired me, and I have become his priest. And they said to him, inquire of God, we beg you that we may know whether the journey on which we are setting out will succeed. And the priest said to them, go in peace. The journey on which you go is under the eye of the Lord.

Then the five men departed and came to Laish and saw the people who were there and how they dwelt in security after the manner of the Sidonians, quiet and unsuspecting, lacking in nothing that is in the earth, and possessing wealth, and how they were far from the Sidonians, and had no dealings with anyone. And when they came to their brethren at Zorah and Eshtoel, their brethren said to them, What do you report? They said, Arise, let us go up against them, for we have seen the land, and behold, it is very fertile. And will you do nothing? Do not be slow to go, and enter in, and possess the land. When you go, you will come to an unsuspecting people. The land is broad, yes, God has given it into your hands, a place where

there is no lack of anything that is in the earth. And six hundred men of the tribe of Dan, armed with weapons of war, set forth from Zorah and Eshtoel, and went up and encamped at Kiriath-Jerim in Judah. On this account that place is called Mahanadan to this day. Behold, it is west of the Kiriath-Jerim. And they passed on from there to the hill country of Ephraim, and came to the house of Micah. Then the five men who had gone to spy out the country of Laish said to their brethren, Do you know that in these houses there are an ephod, teraphim, a graven image, and a molten image? Now therefore consider what you will do. And they turned aside there, and came to the

house of the young Levite at the home of Micah, and asked him of his welfare. Now the six hundred men of the Danites, armed with their weapons of war, stood by the entrance of the gate. And the five men who had gone to spy out the land went up and entered, and took the graven image, the ephod, the teraphim, and the molten image, while the priest stood by the entrance of the gate with the six hundred men armed with weapons of war. And when these went into Micah's house, and took the graven image, the ephod, the teraphim, and the molten image, the priest said to them, What are you doing? And they said to him, Keep quiet, put your hand upon your mouth, and come with us, and

be to us a father and a priest. Is it better for you to be priest to the house of one man, or to be priest to a tribe and family in Israel? And the priest's heart was glad. He took the ephod and the teraphim and the graven image and went in the midst of the people. So they turned and departed, putting the little ones and the cattle and the goods in front of them. When they were a good way from the home of Micah, the men who were in the houses near Micah's house were called out and they overtook the Danites. And they shouted to the Danites who turned round and said to Micah, what ails you that you come up with such a company? And he said, you take my gods,

which I made and the priest and go away. And what have I left? How then do you ask me what ails you? And the Danites said to him, do not let your voice be heard among us, lest angry fellows fall upon you and you lose your life with the lives of your household. Then the Danites went their way, and when Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he returned and went back to his home. The Danites settle in Laish. And taking what Micah had made, and the priest who belonged to him, the Danites came to Laish, to a people quiet and unsuspecting, and struck them with the edge of the sword and burned their city with fire. And there was no deliverer, because it was far from Sidon, and they had no dealings with anyone.

It was in the valley which belongs to Beth Rehob, and they rebuilt the city and dwelt in it. And they named the city Dan, after the name of Dan their ancestor, who was born to Israel. But the name of the city was Laish at the first. And the Danites set up the graven image for themselves. And Jonathan, the son of Gershom, son of Moses, and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites until the day of the captivity of the land. So they set up Micah's graven image, which he made, as long as the house of God was at Shiloh. Psalm 147. Praise for God's care for Jerusalem. Praise the Lord, for it is good to sing praises to our God, for he is gracious, and a song of praise is seemly. The Lord builds up Jerusalem. He gathers the outcasts

of Israel. He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. He determines the number of the stars. He gives to all of them their names. Great is our Lord and abundant in power. His understanding is beyond measure. The Lord lifts up the downtrodden. He casts the wicked to the ground. Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving. Make melody to our God uponrodden. He casts the wicked to the ground. Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving. Make melody to our God upon the lyre. He covers the heavens with clouds. He prepares rain for the earth. He makes grass grow upon the hills.

He gives to the beasts their food and to the young ravens which cry. His delight is not in the strength of the horse nor his pleasure in the legs of a man. But the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those whose hope is in his steadfast love. Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem. Praise your God, O Zion. For he strengthens the bars of your gates. He blesses your sons within you. He makes peace in your borders. He fills you with the finest of wheat. He sends forth his command to the earth. His word runs swiftly.

He gives snow like wool. He scatters hoarfrost like ashes. He casts forth his ice like morsels. Who can stand before his cold? He sends forth his word and melts them. He makes his wind blow and the waters flow. He declares his word to Jacob, his statutes and ordinances to Israel. He has not dealt thus with other nations. They do not know his ordinances. Praise the Lord. Father in heaven, we do praise you. We do give you glory and we do lift up your name because you are the God. You are the God who has not only created all things.

You are the source of all being. You're the foundation of all that exists. You are the source of reality and substance. And you also reveal your heart to us, which is phenomenal. We can't even comprehend this God. So we thank you. You, the God who is above everything, everything, the source of everything, have chosen to care for us. You've chosen to care about us and you've chosen to reveal your heart

to us. Help us to see your heart and to know your heart and to follow your heart, to find our place in your heart this day and every day of our lives. We make this prayer in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Okay, gosh, here we go. Samson, what the heck, dude? What is going on? I mean, just let's get to this point. I mean, how ridiculous. Again, we mentioned this yesterday. Samson is ruled by his passions, right? He has his strengths, which is his strength, but he also has his weaknesses, which is his passion. Like he's, he's overwhelmed by his emotions. He's overwhelmed by his, simply his desires. So much so that here's Delilah who asks him four times the secret of his strength. He tells her a lie three times, knowing, knowing that this is the woman who he cannot trust her, but for whatever reason, for whatever reason, he keeps going back. And

finally, he ultimately ends up trusting her, which again, is just a lesson for all of us. I mean, every, many people have been in broken relationships, relationships where the other person or the other people have demonstrated that they are not to be trusted. And yet we keep going back to them. Why is that? It doesn't have to just be a romantic relationship. It doesn't have to be an illicit relationship like Samson and Delilah had. It can even be a legitimate relationship. But this person has, or these people have demonstrated that they can't be trusted. And yet we keep trusting them. Why do we do that? Samson reveals to us that that is a foolish thing to do. Not only that, but Samson also reveals

that here is God working through his, gosh, go back all the way to Genesis, go back all the way to Exodus, God working through broken people. Remember, these are the people of God. This is Samson, who is a judge of Israel, a savior of Israel, and he is a fool in many ways. Not only that, but after he gets his eyes gouged out, after he gets his hair cut off, after he is in prison, even the reason why he wants to kill the Philistines, he wants to have revenge on the Philistines for his eyes. So keep this in mind. In the book of Judges, this is why the book of Judges is my favorite, my favorite book

to be reading when times are troubled, when times are in distress, to be able to read these stories and realize, wait a second, this is the greatest person that God raised up at that time was this broken human being. And sometimes we can look to our leaders, whether in the church or outside the church, whether in business or in government, wherever our leaders are, community leaders, we can think, oh my goodness, this is the best we've got. And yet, and yet this is so important. This verse in chapter 16, verse 22, it says, here's Samson. His eyes are out. His head's been shaved. He's bound in bronze fetters. He's grinding mill at the prison. Verse 22 says, but the hair of his head began to grow again

after it had been shaved. There is something that's just like this, kind of like, wait, see what happens. And here's what happens next is Samson is brought in before the Philistines to be mocked. And the spirit of God, once again, comes upon him as Samson calls to the Lord. Again, remember, gosh, God's people aren't perfect. And yet they're still his. And this is so important for all of us to remember that God's people are not perfect. And yet they still are his people.

They're still his. And you and I are not perfect, but we still get to belong to him. This weird story of, let's just cover it quick, Micah and the Levite, chapters 17 and 18, which we just read. What is going on there? Well, the story starts out, in case you missed it, here's Micah, who stole from his mother 1,100 pieces of silver. And then he comes back to her and says, yeah, by the way, I stole 1,100 pieces of silver. And then he comes back to her and says, yeah, by the way, I stole 1,100 pieces of silver. And her mom is so moved by his honesty that they make an idol. Phenomenal. Good job, mom. Good job, Micah. What is this revealing? What this is revealing is the key line, the key line at the end of the book of Judges. In those days, there was no

king in Israel and everyone did what was right in their own eyes. This is so, get your Bible in chapter 17, verse 6. In those days, there was no king in Israel, and every man did what was right in his own eyes. So you have Micah making an idol. This is now, this is the beginning. There's probably, some people think this is right after Joshua. They've conquered the people. So here's the Danites. They don't have a land yet, that kind of a situation.

But how quickly things fall apart. Micah sets up a shrine. So his neighbors, his people in his neighborhood would probably be worshiping this idol that he has made from the 1100 pieces of silver that he stole from his mom, give back to her, I guess, you know, good son. They're worshiping here. He makes his son a priest and then finds a Levite. Now what's this Levite? Remember the Levites are supposed to live in those 48 cities for the priestly cities. They're supposed to be living there. And yet this Levite has gone out to become basically a mercenary Levite. He is a priest for hire basically, and comes upon Micah. Micah says, wow, I want a legit priest. You got the pedigree. So come stay with me. Here's the contract. I'm going to pay you this much. You do this for me. And then the Levite leads Micah and his family and the neighbors in false worship.

Now, this Levite should know exactly what he's doing and should know exactly that that is the wrong thing to do. And he probably does. Maybe he does. What was going on in Israel in those days? There was no king in Israel and everyone did what was right in his own eyes. This is why it's so important. Here is the key for true worship and to know the Lord's heart deeply and to not swerve

from it to the right or to the left. Later on, here's the Danites and they want to get a place to live. And so they go up to Elish and they come upon this Levite, the mercenary Levite and say, hey, you're the Levite, you're the priest for this one family. Why don't you be the priest for all of us? And the Levite, again, mercenary, says, absolutely, highest bidder, absolutely, I'll go with you all and be your priest. And what does he do? They take away the false idol that Micah had, and he leads the Danites in worship. Gosh, they set up Micah's graven image,

which he had made as long as the house of God was at Shiloh. My goodness. Oh my gosh. Up in Dan, there he's leading them immediately into false worship. This is not, not very long after things have gone down. I mean, there's the theory. There's a theory that it happens pretty much right after Joshua has died, but there's also some theories that it could be later on. Either way, the fact of the matter is we can be so fickle and we can turn away from what the Lord has asked us to do. And sometimes we can pretend, right? We can pretend to not know because it is unlikely that the Levite didn't know what he was supposed to be doing, that the Levite didn't know what he was supposed to be doing, that the Levite didn't know that this was false worship. Everyone knew the story of the golden calf. Everyone knew the story when the Israelites made an idol, a false idol, calling it the God

who's brought them out of slavery in Egypt. And everyone knew that story. So I can't imagine that this Levite didn't already know. And yet what can we claim? We can claim, I don't know what to do. Again, there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in their own eyes. That's tendency towards self-deception can be so great in all of us. And so we need to pray for each other, right? Because that's not, it's not just, wow, I can't believe these broken people and their broken lives and their terrible decisions. This is us. This is a mirror. This is a flashlight. This is sandpaper, as we've already said before. And this is reflecting to us the truth about our own hearts, how quickly all of us can simply say, well, who knows, and just go with

the crowd. Or, you know what, who knows, and just go against the Lord. We have one last and horrible, one last and horrible day when it comes to the book of Judges. Tomorrow, we're gonna read from Judges 19, 20, and 21. Again, this is gonna be the PG-13 slash going into the R-rated version of the Bible here. And so just keep that in mind as we, tomorrow, take that next step. Please pray for me.

I am praying for you. Let's pray for each other. My name's Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.