Transcription

Connor:
You’re listening to The Bible Guys, a podcast where a couple of friends talk about the Bible in fun and practical ways.

Chris:
Welcome to The Bible Guys. We sincerely welcome you.

Jeff:
Yes, we are so grateful that you decided to keep coming back every day.

Chris:
And we’re sincere about it.

Jeff:
We are sincere.

Chris:
So today we’re going to launch into, well, no, actually we’re doing, we’re finishing up the story of Samson.

Jeff:
for your presence and your time with us today. We are truly thankful. Yes.

Chris:
Yes. Um, however, uh, we have a segment beforehand and Desiree is giving us today and it’s called, this is a cool one. It’s mailbags. There you go. And, uh, this is from Lauren S it’s a cool one. So hi Lauren. Hi Lauren.

Jeff:
So Lauren says, what’s something you’ve learned about yourself through a hobby or activity that you didn’t expect to?

Chris:
Have hobbies Chris um Hobbies I’ll be I mean like golf is a hobby right? Yeah. Is that is that a hobby?

Jeff:
I don’t know. Is it? Yeah, I think so.

Chris:
Okay. I think so. So golf is your hobby. Yeah. But like in terms of like rock collecting or, you know, gun shooting or, uh, you know, collecting stamps, collecting stamps. No, I don’t really have much of that. Um, I, I am, I am into experiences more than I am like individual type things. So like, you know, we’re big on family game night, which is happening, you know, tomorrow night, by the way. You know, we do we like family game. Yeah, we do games all the time We’re into experiences, you know, we have we have a we’re pretty simple family So like for instance in a couple weeks, we’re going up north and we’re going to our favorite place Which is the Pirates Cove pop-up place up in Petoskey and my daughter’s favorite place

Jeff:
Well, like on the planet when you die and they cremate you, you’re envisioning that they would pour your ashes out at Pirate’s Cove in Petoskey. Pirate’s Cove. Sprinkle your ashes at the 19th hole.

Chris:
No, I was saying our favorite place to go in Petoskey.

Jeff:
Oh, in Petoskey. I heard it, that this is your favorite place in the world.

Chris:
So that’s probably the way I said it. Okay. So, um, but we’re going to be doing that, but we’re a simple people. Okay. So like, so I, so my daughter, Sarah actually said, she goes, I think that place is actually in my top three places that sort of define my childhood. And I was like, wow. You know? So, I mean,

Jeff:
That’s a pretty great place.

Chris:
It’s a pretty great place. We love it.

Jeff:
That might be where you’re spending eternity.

Chris:
In Pirate’s Cove.

Jeff:
Okay, so what have you learned?

Chris:
Welcome to another day in Pirate’s Cove!

Jeff:
What have you learned through then, because we were asking about hobbies, through a hobby or activity that you didn’t expect to learn?

Chris:
I have an answer. I thought that doing things would cure me of my fear of heights. But it is not at all.

Jeff:
Oh, like ropes courses or being up high?

Chris:
I have jumped out of three airplanes. So I’ve gone skydiving three times. I’ve done parasailing twice. And I’m talking about the maximum amount, like 1,200 feet. in the air of parasailing. And by the way, that’s not straight up, that’s back end up, right? But it’s so unbelievably high. I mean, you’re 10 times higher than the hotels, right? I mean, so you’re pretty much up there. I’ve gone up to, just last week, I went to 102nd story of the One World Trade Center. I’ve gone up in Little Plains. I’ve done bungee jumping. I’ve done rock climbing. And I still am absolutely terrified of heights. I keep on doing stuff because it’s thrilling, which is why.

Jeff:
So maybe not really afraid of heights. Maybe, maybe you love the rush of being afraid of heights.

Chris:
I think in early on, I was doing it to overcome my fear of heights. But like, for instance, I’ll give you an example. So we did go up north to Petoskey and there’s a, have you ever been to that place where there’s like a glass bridge? You can go see the trees. I know about it. Yeah. I don’t think I’ve been there, but I know about it. The trees turn and you go there and you watch all the trees turn colors. Well, we did that last year and there’s like a section of the bridge that’s glass and it’s really high. And I just freaked out. I was just holding onto the edges. I couldn’t move. And my youngest daughter, who is dating a pilot of a plane, and they go up in these little planes all the time, she looks at me and she goes, dad, are you kidding me right now? You can’t walk on this bridge. You’ve jumped out of airplanes. And I’m like, I’m just terrified. And it’s really not that scary. And yet I’m terrified.

Jeff:
Well, that’s what you learned is that you didn’t overcome your fears. That’s correct. You just indulge in them. Yes. That’s very enlightening. Super exciting.

Chris:
Remember when you said you went balloon riding? Yeah. Hot air balloon? Yeah. I wonder if I can handle that.

Jeff:
It’s really incredible. Incredibly peaceful.

Chris:
Yeah. I just wonder if I can handle it.

Jeff:
So I like to hunt, right? Whitetail deer, pretty much anything, but I enjoy hunting. But for a kid with ADHD, it was really weird to find out that I can sit in the woods for five hours without moving. Right. And that there’s, there’s something very cathartic about being in nature for me that just calms me down. Cause there’s no, no place else in my life that I can just be in a place for, you know, five hours without, moving or talking or doing anything. But when I get out in the woods, it’s just a surprise to me that I can sit there. I have a lot of focus, a lot of clarity. And that’s what you learned. A lot of peace. Yeah.

Chris:
So that’s what I learned. Now do you get a lot accomplished in your thinking? Like you think through things?

Jeff:
Yeah, yeah. I really have a lot of clarity when I’m out in the woods. Sometimes, depending on where I’m hunting and whether or not there’s a lot of deer stuff, I’ll take a New Testament with me. And I’ve had, I don’t know, probably 10 hunting seasons where I just read through the New Testament during the three or four day period that I was hunting or whatever. So that’s nice. But then even if I don’t bring something to read, which I normally don’t, I mean, out of all my seasons, maybe I’ve done that 10 times, but just sitting and thinking, it’s really amazing how to sort out the thoughts and I feel like I have more clarity sitting in the woods than I have clarity anywhere else in my life the whole rest of the year.

Chris:
Wow. That is pretty incredible.

Jeff:
Yeah, it’s kind of a weird, weird thing. I don’t know why.

Chris:
Yeah, well, you know, I mean, it is pretty clear based on books that we’ve read and studies that have been done that people are wired, you know, to feel even connected to God. That’s a spiritual pathway is nature. Right. Yeah. Right. So there’s something about our relationship with this planet. So when I remember going to, I don’t know, it was a seminary class, I think. And they said, we were created for relationships. And it said, there’s three relationships. And I thought, what? three. And this professor said, our relationship with God is primary, our relationship with others. And I’m thinking, okay, that’s the great commandment, right? So what the heck is he going to say? And he said, our relationship with this planet. And I thought, what, how could you include that? And he said, well, think about it. He goes, you think it’s by accident that we breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide and the trees breathe in carbon dioxide and breathe that oxygen? He said, you think, you think that’s an accident? He goes, God created us to have a relationship with this planet. Things grow from the ground that we plant, that we eat. He started just going on and on and on and on. And I started thinking to myself, oh, That is correct. And then I thought to myself as well, that’s probably why there’s some sort of a thing inside where, and I’m not a nature person, but even I cried at a sunrise, right? So there’s something inside that connects us, I think, to the planet and to God, the creator of the planet.

Jeff:
Yeah, I think you’re right. I do have a very strong sense that humanity was not made to live in concrete grids, in houses where you push the button and the door comes up and you just drive into the garage and close it and go in and pull the blinds. I have a very strong sense that that is not a natural state for humanity. And I think that over time then our offices, our computers, our screens, our, the way we build our homes and our little communities and all these things are, are, are not natural. And I think that they ultimately build up a lot of stress. I think that nature for me anyways, releases a lot of stress. So a hike, a climb, sitting in the trees, you know, hunting in the woods, whatever those, those things are very, very cathartic. And, and I feel, like I recenter when I’m out there. Yeah. So it was a big learning for me.

Chris:
Well, side note, I shouldn’t have started a sentence when I was yawning. Side note, sitting in the woods for five hours sometimes and doing absolutely nothing as a high extrovert sounds like the worst thing ever. But we went over our time.

Jeff:
Yes. Well, this isn’t a super complex chunk. That’s true. So we’re finishing up the life of Samson. If you remember yesterday, if you were with us on the podcast, Delilah finally gets word out of Samson as to where his strength lies. He still hasn’t cut his hair. And so she cuts his hair. Philistines come in, they arrest him. He stands up, not knowing that the spirit of God had left him. They wind up gouging out his eyes and putting him in prison. But then the Bible says before long, his hair began to grow back, which is kind of a hint at what’s coming. That’s where we ended. So then it continues, it says, the Philistine rulers held a great festival, offering sacrifices and praising their God Dagon. They said, our God has given us victory over our enemy Samson. When the people saw him, they praised their God saying, our God has delivered our enemy to us. The one who killed so many of us is now in our power. Half drunk by now, the people demanded, bring out Samson so he can amuse us. And so he was brought from the prison to amuse them and they had him stand between the pillars supporting the roof. Samson said to the young servant who was leading him by the hand, place my hands against the pillars that hold up the temple. I want to rest against them. Now the temple was completely filled with people. All the Philistine rulers were there and there were about 3,000 men and women on the roof who were watching as Samson amused them. Then Samson prayed to the Lord, Sovereign Lord, remember me again. Oh God, please strengthen me just one more time. With one blow, let me pay back the Philistines for the loss of my two eyes. Then Samson put his hands on the center pillars that held up the temple, pushing against them with both hands. He prayed, let me die with the Philistines. And the temple crashed down on the Philistine rulers and all the people. And so he killed more people when he died than he had during his entire lifetime. Later, his brothers and other relatives went down to get his body and they took him back home and buried him between Zorah and Eshtoal, where his father Manoah was buried. Samson had judged Israel for 20 years. Right. There you go.

Chris:
Yeah, there it is.

Jeff:
And, um, you love that when I say that. Well, there you go.

Chris:
There you go. So I think that the, uh, redemption factor is, is what I love about this. Uh, Samson has finally, you know, gotten to the place to where he is willing to sacrifice himself. So in the first three chapters of, you know, Samson’s life, you know, in judges, it’s not, the first three chapters of Judges, but it’s the last three chapters we read. You know, we basically demonstrated that Samson only cares about himself, puts himself as the center, only thinks of himself or about himself, all those different things. But now that he’s trapped and he has his eyes gouged out and he’s, you know, in the temple of Dagon, he says, OK, God, if you give me strength one last time and really here’s what he’s essentially saying. He’s saying, I will sacrifice myself for the mission that you created me for. That’s what he’s saying.

Jeff:
Yeah, finally.

Chris:
Yeah, because he knows the mission is war. He knows the mission is a war against the Philistines. And so he says, OK, I’m going to take these Philistines out. And if you’ll just grant me this. And he knows he doesn’t deserve it. He knows that he hasn’t earned it. And so what does he do? He just depends on God and his mercy. And God is in the position to where God could have definitely said, nope. Yeah. In fact, you deserve to be tortured and which obviously that’s what they were doing. They weren’t giving him a swift and quick death. Right. Right. They’re putting them on display.

Jeff:
Yeah, which means he’s a circus clown now.

Chris:
He’s a circus clown, which means which means you better believe that their intention was probably to make him suffer more before he died. And so God could have very well said, you know, what you’ve earned, Samson, is not what you’re asking. But Samson says, you know, please, God. And so what does he do? He sacrifices himself. And it’s just a beautiful picture of redemption, even in the Old Testament, where, you know, God is being merciful when he doesn’t have to be merciful. And Samson then finally learns his lesson.

Jeff:
Yeah. Yeah. So incredible. You know, it was Samson. So 3000 Philistines died that day. Yes. And then he killed a thousand with the job, which by the way, that’s a pretty big temple. Yeah. Yeah. And, um, he killed a thousand with a job on of a donkey and then he killed some more. Right. Um, But like you said, he was built for war. As a matter of fact, God had told his parents, Samson is going to deliver the people. I mean, he’s going to fight against the Philistines. He’s going to be great. But what did he get? 4,500 Philistines? Right? I feel like you ever, you ever watch like an NBA player or an NFL player?

Chris:
The population back then was, uh, I know what you’re, I think, I think Gideon in one battle wipes out 130,000, 135,000 guys.

Jeff:
Yeah. 135,000. Right. So here’s a man built for war. Gideon is a coward. Yeah. Here’s a man built for war and instead he’s chasing skirts. He’s, he’s indulging himself.

Chris:
So he’s wasted his gift in his lifetime.

Jeff:
He should have been Hercules. Right. Right. He should have been the undefeatable. Right? He’s, he’s the, the undisputed undefeated champion. That’s what he should have been. And he wasn’t. He, he kind of mailed it in. He didn’t face it. He literally has three events where he fights the bad guys in 20 years. And so what he was built for and what he did and, and, you know, you’ve seen it before. I’ve seen, um, Man, I hate to say, there’s a basketball player that played and that was drafted by Detroit a number of years ago that I think is one of the most talented guys that ever made it in the NBA. And I mean, he’s a Hall of Famer now, but you just felt like If he had had a killer instinct, like Jordan did maybe or whatever, he could have been so much greater. He’d get his points. He didn’t really elevate the rest of the team too much. He went on, played in a couple other teams. He had a couple of injuries. And I just feel like when you watch that, when you watched his career, I felt like you looked at it and went, Oh, he had so much more in him. Right. Or, or the guys that, uh, uh, uh, Olympic athletes or whatever. And you look at, you know, it’s drugs that wind up messing them up or they, they, they get into some other thing. You think there was so much potential for greatness. It just didn’t live up to the potential of all the people in the Bible who didn’t live up to their potential. I mean, literally the story we talked about before him was Gideon, who was a coward. And he has victory over 135,000 guys. And in his entire 20 years of leading, he has three big battles and kills less than 5,000 people. But he was built for war. And so there’s just kind of this sadness about that. So on the one side, redemption, certainly he does more at his end than he did in the whole rest of his life. Yeah, but you also kind of have this sense of this lost opportunity. How much more could he have done for his people? Because his job was to deliver the people. His job was to bring peace to the people. How much more could he have done for the people if it hadn’t been about him? Because let’s be honest, the thousands that he killed before this were about him. It was never about his people. Right. Right. That’s just sad when leaders decide to live for themselves instead of for their people. Yeah. Yeah. It’s just a missed opportunity.

Chris:
For sure. And there’s a part of me that tries to picture, you know, like him standing between these two pillars. So this temple that must have held 3,000 people at least, those must have been two really close pillars. in order for him to use just the length of his arms to push for them to, you know, break. Number one, they had to have been right next to each other. And then they had to have been very tall. They must have been like the center pillars, right in the very center of this really tall roof, I would imagine, right? Because they would have had to have been load-bearing, right? And then obviously he He must have known, doesn’t say that he, you know, was guessing. So he must have either seen the Temple of Dagon or, you know, or known about it. But anyway, I try to picture it in my mind and I try to picture, you know, Samson knowing where he is. And maybe perhaps when he was put there, he started thinking like, okay, this is it. I’ve got a chance.

Jeff:
There’s a temple in Luxor, Egypt, and maybe you’ve seen it like on shows or something. And there’s these giant pillars that used to have a huge roof on it. There’s like this hall, it’s the hypostyle hall or something. But these giant pillars, I’m telling you, they’re like this big around. They’re all carved with hieroglyphics. And I can almost reach between the pillars, right? So what you had was these clusters of pillars and it’s just really kind of mystical. There would have been torches hanging and kind of walking around, but, you know, so you’d have aisles, but then the pillars, there’d be rows of pillars and I could almost, not quite, but almost reach them. And when I was in there, I was thinking, this is what Samson, right? So there was a big, probably an arch or some kind of a big open space. between the clusters of pillars. But if you had been able to get by either set of these clusters of pillars, if you get between two of them, knock them down, it probably would have caused a cascading thing. So when I was in there, I thought, oh, I bet that’s very similar to, you know, just a little bit closer and a big guy could have touched them. What if he was 6’6″? Right. And he had a 80 inch wingspan instead of 71 inch wingspan or whatever. He probably could have done it. Yeah.

Chris:
Yeah, which is a lot of strength by the way. Yeah. Yeah. So, you know, just to be stationary and push like that. Well, you know, here’s another thing in here and that is, um, uh, the people at Dagon, wasn’t Dagon, uh, You know what, I started speaking before I realized… Yeah, Dagon was a… No, I am right. Isn’t Dagon the one where you sacrifice children? No. Oh, that was Molech. Yeah. That was Molech. Daggum it.

Jeff:
Yeah, Dagon was often depicted as a fish or as grain.

Chris:
Oh, yeah.

Jeff:
Or as like a fish-animal kind of a mix. Yeah. And he was a fertility and agriculture kind of a god.

Chris:
Okay. Yeah. Okay. Um, well, I’ll tell you what, um, I definitely think that Samson is, uh, a great character. He’s probably the closest thing that we have to an actual superhero in the Bible because he was blessed with super strength. Right. Um, uh, and yet it’s kind of sad when we get to the end of his life, just looking at it.

Jeff:
So, um, there, there’s a really powerful note. I think we can end with this. There’s a couple of notes about Samson in the Life Application Study Bible. It says, Samson the mighty warrior became a slave. Rather than kill him, the Philistines preferred to humiliate him by gouging out his eyes and making him grind grain. Samson now had plenty of time to wonder if Delilah’s charms were worth spending the rest of his life in humiliation. That’s rough.

Chris:
Yeah, that is rough.

Jeff:
Although God did not completely abandon Samson, he did allow Samson’s decisions to stand, and the consequences of his decision followed naturally. We may choose to be close to God or to go our own way, but there are consequences resulting from our choice. And Samson didn’t choose to be captured, but he chose to be with Delilah, and he could not escape the consequences of his decision. So blinded and without strength, Samson was taken to Gaza, where he would spend the rest of his short life. Gaza was one of the five capitals of the Philistines, known for its many wells. Gaza was also a vital stop along a great caravan route that connected Egypt to the south with Aram to the north. The Philistines probably showed off their prize captive. Right. So this would have been one of those, bring him out, show him off to many dignitaries passing through. And it’s interesting because Gaza is where Samson had demonstrated strength by tearing up the things. Right. And God brought him back there and said, okay, you always took all the credit. So in the place where he took all the credit, now he’s finally given credit to God at the end. And so there’s something special about that. There there’s a redemptive component, even as God allowed the consequences of his decisions to stand, God still allowed him to have an impact and do some of what God had designed him to do.

Chris:
Okay. So I guess that, that part of the sermon is it’s never too late, right? Never too late. Yep. Do something for God today. Yes. Even with a life wasted, supposedly writing air quotes. Yeah. So, okay. Well, that is our time. So we will see you next time, hopefully on The Bible Guys.