Samson's Secret Source Of Honey

HONEY OUT OF THE LION’S DEFEAT

Judges 14:5-9

INTRODUCTION

A. HUMOR

1. John Glenn was the first American to orbit the earth in space in Feb. 1962. Later on he became a senator for many years.

2. You may remember that on Oct. 29, 1998, the US government again sent him into space to commemorate his great achievement.

3. One of the NASA phone operators fielded a call from a person wanting to know if we were launching a member of Congress into outer space.

4. When the operator said “Yes,” the man inquired whether we couldn’t launch the other 534 members of Congress into space with him!

B. STRENGTH BY EXERTION

1. Astronauts who were in orbit for extended lengths of time, suffered from dizziness and heart palpitations when they returned to Earth. Many couldn't walk for a week and were still undergoing therapy a month later for atrophied muscles and weakened hearts.

2. At zero gravity, the muscles of the body began to waste away because there is no resistance. Eventually, "Penguin suits" were developed, laced with elastic bands. They resisted every movement that the astronauts made and forced them to exert their strength.

3. We often long dreamily for days without difficulty, but God knows better. The easier our lives, the weaker our spiritual fiber, for strength of any kind grows only by exertion.

C. TEXT

5 Samson went down to Timnah together with his father and mother. As they approached the vineyards of Timnah, suddenly a young lion came roaring toward him. 6 The Spirit of the LORD came powerfully upon him so that he tore the lion apart with his bare hands as he might have torn a young goat. But he told neither his father nor his mother what he had done. 8 Some time later, when he went back...he turned aside to look at the lion’s carcass, and in it he saw a swarm of bees and some honey. 9 He scooped out the honey with his hands and ate as he went along. When he rejoined his parents, he gave them some, and they too ate it. But he did not tell them that he had taken the honey from the lion’s carcass.”

D. THESIS

1. There’s nothing recorded in Scripture that’s accidental or unimportant. The Holy Spirit had a reason for recording these strange events.

2. Samson is a type of Christ; Samson means "little Sun" and Christ is the "Sun of Righteousness." But Samson is also a type of the believer, since he is the "little" sun.

3. Let's see what we can learn from Samson's experience with the lion and how it applies to our lives.

The title of this message is “Samson's Secret Source of Honey.”

I. SAMSON’S GOAL: TIMNAH

NOTICE. The slaying of the lion is NOT the main objective to which Samson is moving. It was Timnah & a wife.

A. TIMNAH = “POSSESSION, INHERITANCE”

1. Samson is a picture of every child of God who’s seeking their inheritance from God. (The Hebrew word Timnah means “possession or inheritance.”)

2. Possessing our spiritual blessings & responsibilities is what we’re supposed to be doing; Amen? We’re supposed to claim our inheritance from Christ and be conformed into the likeness of Jesus, Rom. 8:29.

3. YOU ARE HEIRS OF A VAST INHERITANCE! An HEIR is someone named to receive wealth, property and valuables when their benefactor dies. Jesus Christ named you and I to receive all His possessions (from His Father) upon His death, when we reach maturity as son & daughters of God.

4. Paul said, “Now IF we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ” Rom. 8:17. “If you belong to Christ, then you are...heirs according to the promise” Gal. 3:29. God has guaranteed our inheritance by putting His Spirit into us, Eph. 1:14.

5. Peter said, God has given us “an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade...kept in heaven for you” 1 Pet. 1:3-5. Our inheritance is more than a plot of ground, pieces of metal or pretty stones. God has made us joint-heirs with Christ to “all things” material, spiritual, & eternal (Rom. 8:32; 1 Cor. 3:21). We’re rich beyond comprehension!

B. SOME INHERITANCES ARE NOT CLAIMED/USED. In real life, INHERITANCES ARE SOMETIMES NOT CLAIMED, and if claimed, some heirs NEVER FEEL THE FREEDOM TO USE THEM. EXAMPLES:

1. JOHN ELWES (1714-1789) was a Member of Parliament in Great Britain and was widely considered to be the inspiration for Ebenezer Scrooge in Dicken’s A Christmas Carol. Elwes inherited a large fortune, but acted like - well, Ebenezer Scrooge. He went to bed at sundown to avoid buying candles. He dressed in filthy rags instead of buying new clothes. People confused him for a beggar and gave him coins in the street (he must have loved that). Most disgustingly, Elwes ate rotting food and lived in vacant properties. Another impoverished millionaire: