The book of Judges records seven cycles of Israel’s miserable history of forsaking God. In reading through these cycles in Judges, it is difficult to understand how someone as positive as Gideon could become so negative. Between his success and his failure, it must have been that a demon entered him, because he forsook God and joined himself to Satan.
This principle can be seen even more in the case of Samson. His birth was a miracle initiated by the appearing of the Angel of Jehovah. When Samson was in the bosom of his mother, he was sanctified to be a Nazarite. As he grew up, he was clean and pure according to God’s ordination, and he was empowered by the Spirit of God. When the Israelites were under the tyranny of the Philistines, the Spirit of God as the holy, economical Spirit came upon Samson, and he became powerful.
However, Samson’s unique problem was in the matter of sex. He was not genuine in seeking for a spouse; rather, his contacting of women was just to indulge his lusts. He indulged his lust with a Philistine woman, with a harlot in Gaza, and with a woman named Delilah. Although he had been empowered by God, he was damaged and destroyed to the uttermost because of his indulgence in lust.
Shortly after I decided to give up my job and serve the Lord, I went to Shanghai to see Brother Nee. He told me that in serving the Lord the brothers must learn the principle of not contacting a female, especially a young one, in private. I was deeply impressed by this, and from that time I have practiced Brother Nee’s instructions and have also passed them on to the saints.
The sisters should clothe and cover their body in a proper way. First Timothy 2:9 charges the sisters to “adorn themselves in proper clothing with modesty and sobriety, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly clothing.” The word proper denotes fitting to the sisters’ nature and position as saints of God. In Greek the word for clothing implies deportment, demeanor. A sister’s demeanor, of which clothing is the main sign, must befit her saintly position. The word modesty means, literally, “shamefastness,” denoting being bound or made fast by an honorable shame (Vincent), implying not forward or overbold but moderate, observing the proprieties of womanhood. The word sobriety means “sobermindedness, self-restraint; the restricting of oneself soberly and discreetly.” The sisters in a local church should clothe themselves with these two virtues—shamefastness and self-restraint—as their demeanor.
Hebrews 13:4 says, “Let marriage be held in honor among all,” because through marriage mankind continues to exist on earth and is propagated to replenish the earth. God created a need and desire within man to be married. A desire to be married is not sinful; on the contrary, it is according to God’s ordination. However, the time to consider marriage is after graduation from college. All the brothers and sisters should consecrate to the Lord, giving themselves to Him and promising that they will live for Him and even live Him their entire life. Then they should pray to see if there is the leading of the Lord in this matter, rather than trying to be too selective. Keeping these items will be a great protection to the young people.
At this juncture, let us consider the details concerning Samson recorded in Judges 13:1—16:31.
The children of Israel again did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah (13:1a).
Jehovah delivered the children of Israel into the hand of the Philistines forty years (v. 1b).
In verses 3 through 23 we have an account of Samson’s origin.
Samson’s father, Manoah, was of the family of the Danites. His wife was barren and had borne no children (v. 2).
Samson’s conception was actually a miracle initiated by the appearing of the Angel of Jehovah (Christ) to his mother and father. Verse 3 says, “The Angel of Jehovah appeared to the woman and said to her, Now you are barren and have borne no children; but you will conceive and bear a son.” When she told her husband about this, he entreated Jehovah, saying, “Oh, Lord! Let the man of God, whom You sent, come again to us, I pray; and let Him teach us what we should do with the child that is to be born” (v. 8). God hearkened to the voice of Manoah, and the Angel of God came again to the woman. She went to tell her husband, and he followed her. When Manoah asked the Angel of Jehovah what His name was, He said, “Why do you ask about My name, since it is wonderful?” (v. 18).
Samson was to be a Nazarite boy, who was not to drink wine, nor to eat anything unclean, nor to cut his hair with a razor, so that he would save Israel from the hand of the Philistines (vv. 3-5, 7).
Verse 24a says that the woman bore a son and called his name Samson. The name Samson means “sunlike.”
Samson grew as a Nazarite by the blessing of Jehovah (v. 24b).
Samson grew up with his head covered. This was signified by his not cutting his hair (v. 5).
Samson was in submission to God. This was signified by the keeping of his long hair (cf. 1 Cor. 11:15).
As a Nazarite, Samson grew up without touching worldly pleasures. This was signified by his not drinking wine (Judg. 13:7a).
Samson also kept himself clean. This was signified by his not eating the unclean things (v. 7b).
Samson was moved by the Spirit of God (v. 25).
Samson had faith in God (cf. Heb. 11:32). His faith is seen in his tearing a young lion by the Spirit of Jehovah rushing upon him (14:5-6), in his slaying thirty men by the Spirit of Jehovah rushing upon him (v. 19), and in his destroying the house where he was compelled to perform (16:28-30).
Chapters fourteen through sixteen describe a number of instances of Samson’s might. We see his might in his tearing a young lion by the Spirit of Jehovah and in his killing thirty men by the Spirit rushing upon him (14:5-6, 19). We see his might in his catching three hundred foxes (15:4). According to verses 12 through 16, Samson’s might was displayed in his breaking the two ropes with which he was bound and in his killing one thousand men by the Spirit of Jehovah rushing upon him. Moreover, Samson’s might was shown in his plucking up the doors of the gate of the city and the two posts with the bar and bringing them up to the top of the mountain in front of Hebron (16:3). The last case of Samson’s might was in his destroying the house where he performed (vv. 29-30).
Samson failed in not contacting God and in indulging in sex. He indulged in sex with a woman of the Philistines, whom he married and who released his secret to the Philistines (14:1-3, 10-17); with a harlot in Gaza, in whose place Samson was surrounded by the Philistines (16:1-3); and with a woman by the name of Delilah, who released the secret of his great strength (vv. 4-20a).
Judges 16:20b-30 is a record of Samson’s miserable ending. First, Jehovah left him (v. 20b). Then the Philistines grabbed him, gouged out his eyes, and bound him with fetters, and he ground at the mill in the prison house (v. 21). He was forced to perform before the Philistines that they might celebrate their victory over him before their god Dagon (vv. 23-25). Finally, Samson was killed by the house which was destroyed by him (vv. 28-30).
The record in Judges regarding Samson concludes with the word saying that he had judged Israel twenty years (v. 31b).
In this life-study of the books of Joshua, Judges, and Ruth, we are concerned not with history but with learning from the types how to gain Christ and enjoy Him. The history contained in these books is a great type that shows how God’s elect can gain and enjoy the good land, which is a complete and all-inclusive type of Christ. Even the small details show us the secret of gaining and enjoying Christ, just as in our daily life something as small as shopping for an article of clothing can be a factor in whether or not we obtain Christ and enjoy Christ.
When we were saved, we were brought into a fellowship of the Divine Trinity with His redeemed and regenerated people. From that time God and we have been in a fellowship. First John 1:3 says, “That which we have seen and heard we report also to you that you also may have fellowship with us, and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.” This fellowship is between the apostles and God and between the believers and the apostles. The full salvation of God is in this fellowship. It is in this fellowship that we can gain what God has given us, that is, the Son of God given to us by God as our allotted portion.
If we remain in this fellowship, we will have the way to gain and enjoy Christ. If our fellowship with God is cut off, we will lose our enjoyment immediately. Concerning this, the Lord Jesus uses the word abide and speaks of our abiding in Him as the vine (John 15:4). The vine is a figure of the all-inclusive Christ under God’s cultivation. As long as the branch abides in the vine, there is fellowship. But once a branch ceases to abide in the vine, the branch is cut off, becomes barren and dry, and loses the enjoyment of the riches of the vine (vv. 5-6).
The fellowship of life is not a rough matter but is very fine. Even a little word spoken with an improper attitude is enough to cut us off from the fellowship of life.
Our enjoyment of Christ is essential. Our fellowship can speed up the turning of the great wheel of God’s move in the universe. But if we are cut off from the fellowship just a little, God’s economy will not be able to go forward for a period of time. Therefore, we need to be careful every day and in every detail, keeping ourselves in the enjoyment of Christ all the time. Then God’s economy will be able to go forward.
In Revelation 22:20 the Lord Jesus said, “I come quickly,” but today there is no sign that He is coming, because the wheel has not had an adequate opportunity to turn. If the saints in the Lord’s recovery take care of all the items of the intrinsic significances of the books of Joshua, Judges, and Ruth, the Lord will be able to come back much sooner. However, doing things without taking care of the inner feeling, the sense of life within, may delay the Lord for a longtime.
The rebellion that took place in 1959-1965 in Taiwan delayed the Lord very much. When we began the ministry there in 1949, we increased nearly a hundred-fold in just a few years. Since the rebellion the rate of increase has never been the same. The recent rebellion in the recovery has also delayed the Lord and, in certain respects, hindered the move of the wheel of God’s economy. For this reason, I have been stressing the intrinsic significances in Joshua and Judges. I have been doing this not only to show that God has given us Christ as the good land but also to show how we can possess and enjoy this land for generations to come.
Being saved is easy, but remaining in the fellowship with God to enjoy Christ is not easy. Many fundamental Christians preach that Christ, the Son of God, is the Savior of sinners, but they may know very little, if anything, about the fellowship with the Triune God.
At this juncture, let us consider the situation of Israel as it is presented in Judges 17 and 18. In their degradation Israel became chaotic in three ways: in government, in worship, and in morality. They had no government, no administration. God’s tabernacle was at Shiloh, and the high priest had the Urim and Thummim, but there was no administration. Judges 17 and 18 reveal the abominable chaos in the children of Israel’s worship. Micah set up a house of gods in his home. His mother consecrated silver to Jehovah to make an idol and a molten image. Micah then set up a house of gods, made an ephod and teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons to be his priest. The ephod signifies the authority of God, without which no one can worship God. Later, Micah consecrated a Levite to be his house priest, paying him a salary of ten pieces of silver a year plus an array of clothing and his food. In those days the Danites robbed Micah of his idol, the ephod, the teraphim, and the molten image with his priest, and with them they set up another worship place in the city of Dan, while God’s tabernacle remained in Shiloh. The result was two worship centers—the proper one with God’s tabernacle at Shiloh and the improper one in Dan. That was the chaos of the children of Israel in their worship.
We may apply this picture to the present situation of Christianity. Today’s Christianity has many “houses of Micah,” the most prominent of which is the Roman Catholic Church. The Roman Catholic Church has set up idols, made its own “ephod,” and set up its own priests. According to the New Testament all those who are born of God should be priests (1 Pet. 2:5, 9), but Catholicism has hired its own priests and set up a hierarchy under a pope. In principle, Catholicism is the same as the house of Micah in Judges. The state churches, the denominations, and many of the independent groups are also houses of Micah, full of idols as replacements of Christ.
Not everything in Christianity is wrong, but everything is a mixture. It is like the woman who hid leaven in three measures of meal until the whole was leavened (Matt. 13:33). The meal signifies Christ as food for God and for His people. The leaven signifies evil things (1 Cor. 5:6, 8) and evil doctrines (Matt. 16:6, 11-12). Micah’s mother offered something to God, but her offering to God was mixed with the leaven of idolatry. Today the same mixture and chaotic situation exists in Christianity.
Let us now turn to Judges 17 and 18 and consider what these chapters have to say regarding the abominable chaos in Israel’s worship.