Author: © Christian National Church of Christ

“Story of Job Responds: Continues”
Job Chapter 6:1-23
Then Job replied: “If only my anguish could be weighed and all my misery be placed on the scales! It would surely outweigh the sand of the seas— no wonder my words have been impetuous. The arrows of the Almighty are in me, my spirit drinks in their poison; God’s terrors are marshaled against me. Does a wild donkey bray when it has grass, or an ox bellow when it has fodder? Is tasteless food eaten without salt, or is there flavor in the sap of the mallow ? I refuse to touch it; such food makes me ill. “Oh, that I might have my request, that God would grant what I hope for, that God would be willing to crush me, to let loose his hand and cut off my life! Then I would still have this consolation— my joy in unrelenting pain— that I had not denied the words of the Holy One. “What strength do I have, that I should still hope? What prospects, that I should be patient? Do I have the strength of stone? Is my flesh bronze? Do I have any power to help myself, now that success has been driven from me? “Anyone who withholds kindness from a friend forsakes the fear of the Almighty. But my brothers are as undependable as intermittent streams, as the streams that overflow when darkened by thawing ice and swollen with melting snow, but that stop flowing in the dry season, and in the heat vanish from their channels. Caravans turn aside from their routes; they go off into the wasteland and perish. The caravans of Tema look for water, the traveling merchants of Sheba look in hope. They are distressed, because they had been confident; they arrive there, only to be disappointed. Now you too have proved to be of no help; you see something dreadful and are afraid. Have I ever said, ‘Give something on my behalf, pay a ransom for me from your wealth, deliver me from the hand of the enemy, rescue me from the clutches of the ruthless’?
“Show me how I have erred. ‘Job Chapter 6:24-30
“Teach me, and I will be quiet; show me where I have been wrong. How painful are honest words! But what do your arguments prove? Do you mean to correct what I say, and treat my desperate words as wind? You would even cast lots for the fatherless and barter away your friend. “But now be so kind as to look at me. Would I lie to your face? Relent, do not be unjust; reconsider, for my integrity is at stake. Is there any wickedness on my lips? Can my mouth not discern malice?

“Man is born for trouble”

Chapter 5:1-7
“Call if you will, but who will answer you? To which of the holy ones will you turn? Resentment kills a fool, and envy slays the simple. I myself have seen a fool taking root, but suddenly his house was cursed. His children are far from safety, crushed in court without a defender. The hungry consume his harvest, taking it even from among thorns, and the thirsty pant after his wealth. For hardship does not spring from the soil, nor does trouble sprout from the ground. Yet man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward.

“My Cause Before God”

Chapter 5:8-27
“But if I were you, I would appeal to God; I would lay my cause before him. He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted. He provides rain for the earth; he sends water on the countryside. The lowly he sets on high, and those who mourn are lifted to safety. He thwarts the plans of the crafty, so that their hands achieve no success. He catches the wise in their craftiness, and the schemes of the wily are swept away. Darkness comes upon them in the daytime; at noon they grope as in the night. He saves the needy from the sword in their mouth; he saves them from the clutches of the powerful. So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts its mouth. “Blessed is the one whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty. For he wounds, but he also binds up; he injures, but his hands also heal. From six calamities he will rescue you; in seven no harm will touch you. In famine he will deliver you from death, and in battle from the stroke of the sword. You will be protected from the lash of the tongue, and need not fear when destruction comes. You will laugh at destruction and famine, and need not fear the wild animals. For you will have a covenant with the stones of the field, and the wild animals will be at peace with you. You will know that your tent is secure; you will take stock of your property and find nothing missing. You will know that your children will be many, and your descendants like the grass of the earth. You will come to the grave in full vigor, like sheaves gathered in season. “We have examined this, and it is true. So hear it and apply it to yourself.”

“Job Speaks! Bewall’s his birth”” Chapter 3
After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. He said: “May the day of my birth perish, and the night that said, ‘A boy is conceived!’ That day—may it turn to darkness; may God above not care about it; may no light shine on it. May gloom and utter darkness claim it once more; may a cloud settle over it; may blackness overwhelm it. That night—may thick darkness seize it; may it not be included among the days of the year nor be entered in any of the months. May that night be barren; may no shout of joy be heard in it. May those who curse days curse that day, those who are ready to rouse Leviathan. May its morning stars become dark; may it wait for daylight in vain and not see the first rays of dawn, for it did not shut the doors of the womb on me to hide trouble from my eyes. “Why did I not perish at birth, and die as I came from the womb? Why were there knees to receive me and breasts that I might be nursed? For now I would be lying down in peace; I would be asleep and at rest with kings and rulers of the earth, who built for themselves places now lying in ruins, with princes who had gold, who filled their houses with silver. Or why was I not hidden away in the ground like a stillborn child, like an infant who never saw the light of day? There the wicked cease from turmoil, and there the weary are at rest. Captives also enjoy their ease; they no longer hear the slave driver’s shout. The small and the great are there, and the slaves are freed from their owners. “Why is light given to those in misery, and life to the bitter of soul, to those who long for death that does not come, who search for it more than for hidden treasure, who are filled with gladness and rejoice when they reach the grave? Why is life given to a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in? For sighing has become my daily food; my groans pour out like water. What I feared has come upon me; what I dreaded has happened to me. I have no peace, no quietness; I have no rest, but only turmoil.”
“Jobs Friend Eliphaz” Chapter 4
Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied: “If someone ventures a word with you, will you be impatient? But who can keep from speaking? Think how you have instructed many, how you have strengthened feeble hands. Your words have supported those who stumbled; you have strengthened faltering knees. But now trouble comes to you, and you are discouraged; it strikes you, and you are dismayed. Should not your piety be your confidence and your blameless ways your hope? “Consider now: Who, being innocent, has ever perished? Where were the upright ever destroyed? As I have observed, those who plow evil and those who sow trouble reap it. At the breath of God they perish; at the blast of his anger they are no more. The lions may roar and growl, yet the teeth of the great lions are broken. The lion perishes for lack of prey, and the cubs of the lioness are scattered. “A word was secretly brought to me, my ears caught a whisper of it. Amid disquieting dreams in the night, when deep sleep falls on people, fear and trembling seized me and made all my bones shake. A spirit glided past my face, and the hair on my body stood on end. It stopped, but I could not tell what it was. A form stood before my eyes, and I heard a hushed voice: ‘Can a mortal be more righteous than God? Can even a strong man be more pure than his Maker? If God places no trust in his servants, if he charges his angels with error, how much more those who live in houses of clay, whose foundations are in the dust, who are crushed more readily than a moth! Between dawn and dusk they are broken to pieces; unnoticed, they perish forever. Are not the cords of their tent pulled up, so that they die without wisdom?’

“Character and Wealth” Job Chapter 1:1-11
In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. He had seven sons and three daughters, and he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants. He was the greatest man among all the people of the East. His sons used to hold feasts in their homes on their birthdays, and they would invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. When a period of feasting had run its course, Job would make arrangements for them to be purified. Early in the morning he would sacrifice a burnt offering for each of them, thinking, “Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” This was Job’s regular custom. One day the angels came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them. The LORD said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Satan answered the LORD, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.”
“Job’s Afflictions Multiply” Job Chapter 1:12-22
Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.” “Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied. “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.” The LORD said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.” Then Satan went out from the presence of the LORD. One day when Job’s sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house, a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were grazing nearby, and the Sabeans attacked and made off with them. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!” While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, “The fire of God fell from the heavens and burned up the sheep and the servants, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!” While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, “The Chaldeans formed three raiding parties and swept down on your camels and made off with them. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!” While he was still speaking, yet another messenger came and said, “Your sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house, when suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on them and they are dead, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!” At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised.” In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.
{Chapter 2:1-10}
On another day the angels came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them to present himself before him. And the LORD said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Satan answered the LORD, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.” Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.” “Skin for skin!” Satan replied. “A man will give all he has for his own life. But now stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face.” The LORD said to Satan, “Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life.” So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head. Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes. His wife said to him, “Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!” He replied, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.
“Three Friends Visit Job” Chapter 2:11-13
When Job’s three friends, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite, heard about all the troubles that had come upon him, they set out from their homes and met together by agreement to go and sympathize with him and comfort him. When they saw him from a distance, they could hardly recognize him; they began to weep aloud, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads. Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was.

{Women are heroes in the Bible. Did you know that there are only two books of the Bible named after women? Esther and Ruth. Ruth is one of the few women mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus referenced in the book of Matthew. What is significant about this is that women weren’t ordinarily included in genealogies. Many have regarded the book of Ruth as an inspiring piece of sacred literature with an important message. In this story, we see a simple Moabite widow becoming an essential character in the powerful story of salvation entwined in the Bible. There are many important figures in the Bible who are recognized for their strength and quality. While many think of men first when it comes to these strong biblical figures, there are also a number of important women in the Bible, like Ruth who inspire. They do this, not only because of how they lived, also because of their rock-solid faith, even in some of the toughest of situations. Sadly, too often, women’s stories have taken second place to the interests and needs of men Biblical writers and men leaders in Christian churches, but this didn’t mean their stories weren’t important, especially in the eyes of God. A strong woman is fearless when it comes to facing hard situations. They are confident in who they are and what they believe, and in their example of fearlessness, they encourage others to be courageous, encouraged and make a difference in all that they say and do.}

“Ruth’s story of faith, dedication and loyalty inspires us all.”

{Ruth Chapters 1,2,3,4}

During the time judges ruled Israel, a man named Elimelech and his wife, Naomi moved from Israel to the land of Moab.

His sons married Moabite girls, and they all lived together for about ten years. Then Elimelech and his two sons all died, leaving Naomi alone with her two daughters-in-law.

Naomi decided to go back to her home in the city of Bethlehem in Israel. She asked her daughters-in-law if they would rather stay in Moab, the land where they were born and where all their friends and relatives lived, or whether they wanted to move to Israel with her.

When her daughters-in-law learned of her decision to return to Israel, they cried. One of them, Orpah, decided to stay in Moab; but the other, Ruth, didn’t want to leave Naomi.

“I’ll go with you,” she said, “and live wherever you live. Your friends will be my friends, and your God will be my God.”

When Naomi saw how much her daughter-in-law Ruth loved her, she didn’t urge her to stay in the land of Moab, but agreed to let her come with her to the land of Israel.

So they came to the city of Bethlehem where Naomi had lived before moving to Moab.

Her neighbors remembered her, of course, and the news of her arrival spread quickly. “Oh, theirs Naomi!” They would exclaim. But she would reply, “No, don’t call me Naomi anymore, for Naomi means ‘Pleasant.’ Call me Mara, because that means ‘Bitter.’ “For the Lord has given me bitter troubles.” She meant that when she left Bethlehem so many years before, her husband and her two sons were with her; but now all three were dead.

One day during harvest time, Ruth said to Naomi, “Let me go out to the harvest fields and pick up grain dropped by the harvesters.” She said this because one of God’s laws was for His people was that poor people must always be allowed to pick up any bits of grain that dropped to the ground at harvest time. Ruth wanted to get some of this grain for them to eat.

Naomi agreed to this, Ruth went to a field belonging to a man named Boaz and began picking up the grains behind his workers.

When Boaz came out to the field later that morning, he asked the foreman in chargeof the reapers. “Say, who is that girl over there?”

“She is the one who came with Naomi from the land of Moab,” the foreman replied.

Boaz went over and talked to Ruth. He was very pleasant to her and told her to stay with his reapers and not to go to some other field, for he had warned his young men not to bother her. When she was thirsty, he said she should get water from the pitchers placed there for his workers and drink as much and as often as she wished. And Boaz told her to eat ;unch with his workers from the food he provided for them.

Ruth thanked him very much and asked him why he was so kind to her since she was only a stranger. Boaz said it was because he knew about her kindness to her Mother-in Law: how she had left her father and mother and the land where she was born, and had come to live among the people of Israel. He said he hoped God would bless her because she had done these things. He was glad, he said, that she had left the land of Moab where the people worshipped idols and had come to Canaan to worship the Lord.

Afterwards Boaz told his workers to drop some handfuls of grain on purpose so that she could find the grain and pick it up!

Ruth stayed in his field until evening, then beat out the barley grain she had gathered, and took it to her mother-in-law. When Naomi saw how much Ruth brought, she was glad, and asked the Lord to bless the man who had been so kind to Ruth. She asked who it was, and Ruth said: “the man’s name is was Boaz.” Naomi was surprised and told her he was a close relative of theirs! He was a very rich man, Naomi said.

Ruth said he had asked her to keep coming back to his field until the harvest ended. Naomi, too, said to do this; so Ruth went went back day after day until the end of the harvest.

One day Naomi said to Ruth, “Boaz is threshing Barley tonight at the threshing floor.” In those days the grain was separated from the straw and chaff by throwing it up in the air while the wind was blowing. The wind would blow away the straw because it was so light, but the grain was heavier and would fall in a pile on the ground. A threshing floor was smooth, level piece of ground where this was done. Naomi had heard that Boaz was divide his barley from the chaff that night, and she had a plan! She told Ruth to go to the threshing floor and find Boaz. Then she told her what to say to him.

Ruth did as her mother-in-law said. Boaz and his workers winnowed his barley that night, and after a hearty supper he lay down for the night beside a stack of sheaves. When it was dark, Ruth went over and lay at his feet! Around midnight he woke up, startled and afraid. “Who’s there? he demanded.

“It’s only me, sir,” Ruth replied.

Then she said what Naomi had told her to say. Because he was a close relative, she wanted him to take care of her and marry her.

The idea pleased him very much. “May the Lord bless you my child,” he replied. Boaz said he would gladly marry her if he could, because all the people of Bethlehem knew what a fine person she was. But first he would need to talk with another man who was even closer relative to Naomi’s, who had the first right to marry her. If he didn’t want to, then Boaz would. Boaz said he would talk to the other man that very day. So Ruth slept at his feet all night; and early the next morning before it was light, he gave her a large sack of barley to take home to Naomi. When she told Naomi what Boaz said and showed her his present, Naomi told Ruth to be patient and see how it would all turn out.

That day Boaz called together ten of the city officials and told them that he wanted to marry Ruth. Soon, the other man who had the first choice of marrying her came by. Hew said he didn’t want to marry Ruth, so Boaz could. Then all the city officials prayed that the Lord would bless Ruth and make Boaz still richer and greater than he was already.

So Boaz married Ruth, and Naomi was very happy. The Lord gave Boaz and Ruth a son, and grandmother Naomi loved the baby very much. They named the little boy Obed.

Questions:

Why did Ruth go to Canaan with Naomi?

Why did Ruth go to the Harvest fields?

What kind thing did Boaz tell Ruth?

Who got married in this story?

One day Samson decided to visit a Philistine girl friend of his named Delilah. When the kings of the Philistine cities knew he was there, they promised to give Delilah eleven hundreds pieces of silver if she would help them capture him. So Delilah begged Samson to tell her the secret of his great strength and how he could be made as weak as other men.

Samson told her a lie. He said that if he were tied with seven ropes made from green flax, then he would be as helpless as any other man.

{Flax, also known as common flax or linseed, is a flowering plant in the family Linaceae. It is cultivated as a food and fiber crop in cooler regions of the world. Textiles made from flax are known in Western countries as linen, and are traditionally used for bed sheets, underclothes, and table linen. Its oil is known as linseed oil. In addition to referring to the plant itself, the word “flax” may refer to the unspun fibers of the flax plant. The plant species is known only as a cultivated plant, and appears to have been domesticated just once from the wild species Linum bienne, called pale flax. The plants called “flax” in New Zealand are, by contrast, members of the genus Phormium.(Seven ropes made from green flax stems) Flax seeds are used in salads or you can make with tea for diet purposes. Just saying.}

Delilah told this to the kings of the Philistines, and she tied him with the ropes while he was asleep. Samson didn’t know there were men hiding in the room to grab him.

When she had tied Samson up she cried out, “The Philistines are here to get you, Samson!” Instantly, Samson woke up and broke the ropes as easily as if they were threads.

Delilah said he had mocked her and told her a lie and begged him to tell her the truth. How could he be tied up so that he couldn’t get away! This time Samson said that if he were tied with two new ropes that had never been used before, he would not be able to break them. So she took two new ropes and tied him, while men hid in the room, then called out to him as before that the Philistines were coming to get him. But he broke the new ropes as easily as before.

{My husband said, Samson has to know they are hiding in there room. I am telling Walt the story as I go. He He!}

Delilah scolded Samson for lying to her again, and again she begged Samson to tell her how to tie him so he couldn’t get away, Samson said that if she would weave his long hair into a loom, his strength would leave him and he would be helpless. So she did this. But when she told him the Philistines were coming, he was as strong as ever.

“How can you say, ‘I love you’ when all you do is make fun of me and lie to me?” She asked. Day after day she begged him to tell her and would give him no rest. At least Samson told her the truth. He told her he had been a Nazirite since he was born. His hair had never been cut, and if it were, he would no longer be strong, but as weak as other man.

Why did Samson tell her this secret? He was telling her how to take away the strength the Lord had given him to fight against the enemies of Israel. He did it because he had chosen a girl for his friend who didn’t care about god, and e listened to her until she persuaded him to do this great sin against God. You and I must be careful not to do wrong things even if people we like want us to and say we should. We must always listen to the Lord instead.

Delilah realized that this time Samson was finally telling her the truth. She sent this message to the kings of the Philistines; “Come once more; this time he has told me the truth!” So they came again and brought her the money they had promised.

Then, while Samson was asleep, a barber came and cut his hair.

Delilah woke Samson up and told him that the Philistines were coming to get him. He thought he could easily get away as he always had before, for he didn’t realize that the Lord had let his strength go away. But this time the Philistines caught him, for he could no longer fight against them, and they bound him with bronze chains. They poked out his eyes, making him blind, and shut him up in prison where they made him work very hard turning a millstone to grind their corn.

But while he was in prison, his hair began to grow longer again, and the Lord gave him back his strength.

One day the kings of the Philistines called the people together in their idol’s temple to offer a sacrifice to their god Dagon and to rejoice because Samson had been caught. Everyone present praised Dagon (he was and idol), because they thought he had helped them catch Samson! They were all very happy.

“Send for Samson so we can tease him,” someone suggested. So they brought blind Samson out of the prison and set him between the two pillars that held up the roof of the temple an d made fun of him there.

The temple was packed with people, including all the kings of the Philistines. Many of the people were having a party on the roof, while those inside the temple were laughing at Samson. A boy held him by the hand to lead him because he couldn’t see. Samson asked the boy to place his hands on the pillars that held up the temple roof, so he could lean against them. The boy did.

Then Samson prayed, “Oh Lord, help me, and give me strength only this once.” He gave a mighty push against the two pillars as he stood there between them, and said, “Let me die with the Philistines.” As he pushed, the pillars moved apart, and the roof fell on the kings of the Philistines and on all the people inside killing great numbers of them.

Samson died with them, but in his death he killed more of the enemies of Israel than Samson had while he was alive. Then his brothers came and took his dead body and buried it.

Questions:

Who was Delilah?

What did she want Samson to tell her?

Why was Samson so strong?

What happened to him when he finally told Delilah the truth?

What did the Philistines do to Samson?

How did he die?

{Judges Chapter 16}

“Out of the eater, something to eat; out of the strong, something sweet.”

{I remember reading this story to my grandchildren when I was in a wheelchair. I remembering later I cried cause I wanted to be out of the wheelchair. So I was able to move around with my oxygen tank on my wheelchair. When I had free time, I would travel to church on Tuesday eve’s and travel to Kroger’s in my wheelchair. I traveled to church on A Sunday and got in trouble. But my prayers was answered wanting my husband to go to church with me. God gave me the strength of answered prayers. Just saying. Look at me now. God is so good!!! He is still answering my prayers He will answer yours. “But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the LORD. James 1:6-7} {Judges Chapter 14}

When Samson was grown, he went to a city called Timnath’ where he fell in love with a Philistine girl. She was not a Jewess, but when he returned home he told his father and mother about her and asked them to get her as his wife. His father and mother told Samson he should marry and Israeli girl, not a Philistine girl, for the Philistines were enemies of the Israelites. Besides, God had told His people not to marry non-Jews.

But Samson was not willing to give her up. He said to his father, “I want her, so get her for me.”

His father and mother went back with him to Timnath. On the way there, a young lion came roaring out at Samson, and the Lord gave him strength to kill the lion with his hands as easily as if it had been a young goat.

When Samson finally met the girl and talked with her, he wanted all the more to marry her. A wedding date was set, and he and his parents went back home. When he returned to marry her, he came to a place where he killed the lion and went over to look at it. Its body was dried up, and a swarm of bee’s was living in it, storing honey there. He took some of the honey in his hands and ate it as he walked. Afterwards he gave some to his father and mother, but he didn’t tell them he had taken it out of the dead body of the lion.

Samson gave a big party for the young men of the town, for that was one of the marriage customs of those days. Thirty Philistine youths came, and the party lasted seven days. During the party Samson decided to tell them a riddle. He promised to give each of the young men a suit if they found out what his riddle meant before the seven days of the party ended. But if they couldn’t find the answer to his riddle, then each of them must give him a suit! The Philistines boys agreed to this bet.

“Go ahead,” they said, “Tell us the riddle.”

“All right,” Samson replied, “Here it is: ‘Food came out of the eater, and sweetness came out of the strong!

{He meant that he had taken honey from the lion, and eaten it. But of course he didn’t tell the Philistines the answer because then he would lose the bet!}

For three days they tried to find the answer, but couldn’t. Finally the young men went to his bride and told her they would kill her and her whole family unless she found out the from Samson the answer to the riddle.

She knew they would kill her, so she asked Samson to tell her, but he wouldn’t. Then she started crying and saying he didn’t love her or he would tell her.

“I haven’t told my father or my mother.” Samson answered; why should I tell you?”

But she kept on begging and crying, and he finally told her just to keep her quiet. Then of course she went and told the Philistine boys.

They came to Samson on the seventh day, just before the end of the feast, and pretended they had thought up the answer by themselves.

“What is sweeter than honey?” they asked. And what is stronger than a lion? But Samson knew his wife had told them.

The Lord’s time came for Samson to begin punishing the Philistines for their cruelty to the people of Israel. The Lord had told Samson’s parents that their son would begin to free the Israelis from their slavery. That was why the Lord had made Samson strong enough to kill the young lion as easily as it it was a baby goat.

Samson went to a Philistine city called Ashkelon and killed thirty men there. He took their clothes and gave them to the men at the wedding, to fulfill his promise of a suit to each of them if they found the answer to his riddle.

Then he left his wife and returned to his own home, while she stayed with her father in Timnath.

A few months later Samson went to visit her and to take her a present. But her father wouldn’t let him in, because he had let another man marry her. Her father thought that Samson had gone away because he had decided he didn’t want her. This was why he gave her to someone else.

Samson was very angry and went out and caught three hundred foxes. He tied burning torches to their tails and let them loose in the fields and vineyards of the Philistines, setting fire to their grain, grape vines and olive trees.

“Who has done this?” the Philistines demanded. When they knew it was Samson, they killed his wife and her father.

Then Samson took revenge by fighting against the Philistines and killing several of them. Afterward he camped on the top of a high rock in the land of Israel. The Philistines went there with an army of several thousand men to capture and kill Samson. When the men of Israel saw the Philistines coming, they asked what the trouble was and why they had come.

“To get Samson,” they answered “so that we can do to him as he has done to us.”

Then three thousand men of Israel climbed on the top of the rock where Samson was to talk to him and to get him to surrender. “Don’t you know that we are slaves to the Philistines?” they asked. “Why are you acting like this?”

“I only paid them back for what they did to me.” Samson replied.

Then the men of Israel told him they had come to get him, and to give him to the Philistines. Samson let them bind him with two new ropes and they took him to the Philistines, camp.

As he came near them, the Philistines saw him and let out a great shout of joy. But at that moment the Lord gave him such strength that he broke the ropes! Samson picked up the jawbone of a donkey lying by the road and killed a thousand Philistines with it.

Afterward he was so tired he could hardly stand up. He prayed to the Lord, and the Lord opened a spring with water bubbling out; after Samson drank from it, his strength returned to him again.

He went to the city of Gaza and spent the night sleeping with a girl he had met. But this was wrong, for she was not his wife. This was a Philistine city and when the Philistines heard that Samson was there, they shut the city gates and watched all night to capture him when he found he couldn’t leave because the gates was closed, he simply pulled the gate posts out of the ground, picked up the gates, put them on his shoulders, and carried them to the top of a nearby hill!

Questions:

What animal did Samson kill with his hands?

What riddle did Samson tell the boys at his wedding party?

How did they find out the answer to the riddle?

How did Samson light the Philistines’ fields on fire?

Why?

Judges Chapter 13 {Read on in your bible: Very interesting}

After this the people of Israel sinned again and displeased the Lord by worshipping idols. Again they became slaves, this time to the Philistines for forty years,
A man named Manoah and his wife were among those who still worshipped the Lord, but they were sad because they had no children. One day the Angel of the Lord came and told Manoah’s wife that she and Manoah would have a son. The Angel of the Lord said their son was set apart for God and must never drink wine or whiskey and must never have his hair cut. The son was grown, he would free Israel from the Palestine’s.

The woman ran and told her husband that a prophet had spoken to her, for she did not realize he was an angel. Then Manoah prayed. “Lord, let the prophet come again and teach us how to raise the child You are going to give us.”

The Lord heard Manoah’s prayer, and the Angel came again to the woman as she was out in the field. She ran to her husband and told him the man had come again. Manoah went with his wife and said to him,

“Are you the man of God who was talking to my wife?”

“I am,” he said.

Then Manoah asked him. “How shall we raise raise the child you have promised us\?”

The angel answered. “Be sure to do everything I told your wife before .”

Manoah begged the Angel to stay and eat with them, for they still didn’t know it was an angel. But the Angel said, “Even if I stay I will not eat your food.”

Then Manoah said, “Tell us your name so that we can honor you when the child is born as you have promised us.”

The Angel answered, “Why do you ask my name? It is a secret.”

Then Manoah took a young goat as a burnt offering and sacrificed it upon a rock. The Angel did a wonderful thing as the fire was burning on the rock, its flame and disappeared! When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell flat upon the ground in worship.

Manoah was frightened. “We have seen God.” he said for he believed the Angel was the Lord. “We shall surely die because we have seen Him.”

But his wife said to him, “If the Lord had intended to kill us, He wouldn’t have accepted our burnt offering nor promised us a son.”

A few months later, God gave Manoah and his wife the son He had promised them, and they named him Sampson. As the child grew, the Lord was kind to him and blessed him.

Questions:

What happy news did the Angel tell Manoah and his wife?

What would be special about their son?

Who was the Angel?

Read: Jephthah’s story in Judges 11:1-40 & 12:7-15 & 1 Samuel 12:11 & Hebrews 11:32.

The Ammonites came to attack Israel again and were camped in the land of Gilead, on the other side of organized and army, too, but they had no leader; they needed a general to tell them what to do.

One of the Israelis, named Jephthah, was great and brave soldier, but the men of Israel had been unkind to him, so he had moved away to another country. But when the people wanted a man to lead them against their enemies, they remembered Jephthah. The elders of Israel went to him in the land of Tob, and said, “Come and be the general of our army.”

Jephthah answered, “You hated me and sent me away. Why come to me now when you are in trouble?” But the elders promised before the Lord that they would make him their king if he won the war for them. So Jephthah went with them.

He sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites, asking him why he had come to fight. The king answered that hundreds of years before, the Israelis had taken away his land when they came up out of Egypt. “Give me back my land,” he said.

But Jephthah sent messengers to say that the land they had taken was given to them by the Lord, and they were going to keep it. Then Jephthah and the men of Israel went out to fight the Ammonite army.

Before the battle, Jephthah made a promise that if the Lord would give him the victory, he would offer up as a burnt offering whatever came out of his door to meet him when he returned home from the battle. Jephthah did wrong in making such a promise, for he had no idea who or what might come to meet him.

When he led his troops against the Ammonites, the Lord gave him the victory, so the Israelis were free from their slavery again. When the battle was over. Jephthah returned to his home. His daughter, his only child, came running out to meet him, full of joy at seeing her father again.

Can you imagine how Jephthah felt? He tore his clothes in his sorrow and finally told her of his promise.

She said, “Father, if you have made a vow to the Lord, do to me as you have said.”

Jephthah should not have kept his wicked promise. God had commanded the Israelis to sacrifice oxen, goats, and lambs as burnt offerings. God had said never to sacrifice their children; this was what heathen nations did and were punished for doing.

Jephthah should have repented of his promise and asked God’s forgiveness but instead, he kept his evil promise.

Questions:

How did Jephthah get to be the leader of Israel?

What awful promise did Jephthah make to God?

What happened afterwards?

Rejection is not the end. With humility and trust in God, we can come back. We should never let our pride get in the way of serving God. Jephthah made a rash vow that God did not require, and it cost him dearly. Samuel, the last of the judges, later said, “Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.”

1 Samuel 15:22

Judges 8:28-35, Chapter 9, Chapter 10

As soon as Gideon was dead, the Israelis promptly forgot about the Lord. They turned away from God again, and worshipped the idol Baal.

Gideon’s son Abimelech was king of the city of Shechem, but his friends wanted him to be king over all of Israel instead of just one city. They gave him seventy pieces of silver taken from the temple of Baal, and he used the money to hire men to go with him and help him.

First he killed all of his brothers except the youngest, who ran away Abimelech did this because he was afraid the people might become tired of him and ask one of his brothers to be king instead. So he became the king of all the land of Israel.

After Abimelech had been king for three years, God sent him trouble. Instead of being his friends any lounger, the people of Shechem became his enemies. While he was away on a trip, they decided to kill him.

The governor of the city, who was still Abimelech’s friend, sent him this secret message: “Be careful. The people of Shechem have rebelled against you. Come in the night with your men, and hide out in the field until morning. As soon as the sun is up, march toward the city; and when the people come out to fight you, you can defeat them.”

So Abimelech did this. He brought his men to the city during the night and hid them in the fields near the city. In the morning the people saw him and came out to fight, but he chased them back into the city and killed many of them.

The next morning they came out again. This time Abimelech divided his men into three groups and hid them in the field. As soon as the men of Shechem had gone quite far from the city gate, one of Abimelech’s groups ran behind them and stood in front of the gate to prevent the men of Shechem from getting back into their city. Then the two other groups ran toward them from the field and killed them. Abimelech and his men fought against the city all day, until all the people were killed, their houses knocked apart, and the city completely destroyed.

Some of the men of Shechem escaped to the temple of their idol Baal and barred the heavy gates so that Abimelech couldn’t get to them. He led his troops up a mountain and cut off large branches from the trees., then returned to the temple. They piled the branches against the door and set them on fire, burning up the temple and all the people inside.

Then Abimelech went to the city of Thebez, fought against it, and captured it. The people who lived there fled into a strong tower, locked the door, and climbed to its top. Abimelech tried to burn the tower as he had the idol temple in Shechem, but a woman threw down a huge rock from the top of the tower. It hit him on the head, crushing his skull.

When he knew he was dying, he called one of his young men and said to him, “Draw your sword and kill me so it won’t be said I was killed by a woman.”

The youth thrust his sword through Abimelech, and he died. In this way God punished Abimelech for killing his brothers and also punished the people of Shechem for helping him to do it.

After Abimelech was dead. Tola was the judge of Israel for twenty three years.

After him, Jair, who lived across the Jordan River in the land of Gilead, was judge for twenty two years. He had thirty sons, and each of them was the governor of a city in Gilead.

Then the people of Israel turned away from the Lord again and worshipped Baal and Ashtaroth, the same idols their fathers had worshipped. So this time when the Philistines attacked Israel, the Lord didn’t help His people. They became slaves again for eighteen years.

In their trouble they cried out to the Lord for help; but He reminded them of how often He had set them free from their enemies, only to see them turn their backs on Him again and worship heathen idols. Let them go to the idols they had chosen. He said, and ask them for help. But the people of Israel confessed their sins and asked God to punish them, but please to set them free from their enemies. They destroyed the idols they had worshipped, and worshipped the Lord again; and He pitied them in their sufferings.

Questions:

Who was Abimelech’sfather?

Why did God send trouble to Abimelech?

How did Abimelech die?

Thanks for reading. Have a awesome day full of blessings and joy.