Posted on 11/16/2021 4:41:17 PM PST by pastorbillrandles
Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there an harlot, and went in unto her. And it was told the Gazites, saying, Samson is come hither. And they compassed him in, and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying, In the morning, when it is day, we shall kill him. And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight, and took the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and went away with them, bar and all, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of an hill that is before Hebron. ( Judges 16:1-3)
We have already seen in the life of Samson, that as a type of Christ, He made an offer to a Philistine woman of marriage, But she would have to trust him, and we saw in Judges chapter 14 that she failed to do so. She broke faith with Samson, because she believed that the Philistine threats on her life were valid, and that Samson couldn’t protect her.
How ironic then, that the Philistines ended up burning her and her father anyway.
Now in this chapter we have a later example of the same thing. Samson, (as a type of Christ) descends into a dark and dangerous city, Gaza, because he loved a harlot there. Nothing in the text implies that He had done wrong by doing so.
Jesus left heaven and came to earth to seek a bride also. He came to call sinners to repentance. We were the harlots and transgressors of every kind, but Jesus pursued us in order to save us.
The Philistines laid a trap for Samson, believing that the had Him just where the wanted Him. and that this time they would kill Him. Even so the enemies of Jesus believed that they could put him on trial, falsely accuse him and then execute Him, doing away with him once and for all. Both the Philistines and Jesus’ enemies were in for a shock.
But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.( I Corinthians 2:7-8)
At the midnight hour, Samson awoke with a start, stood up and headed for the city gates. Samson plucked those gates up out of the ground, ( sockets, lintel ,bars , posts, ). A Baptist Bible scholar and Archeologist made a study of those gates, comparing them to other ancient cit gates of the time and region. In an article called ‘Samson and Gaza’s gates” he estimated that the weight of those gates would have ranged from 5 to 10 thousand pounds!
Samson then carried those gates to Hebron, which was thirty six miles away, uphill. Hebron is ancient city which dates back to Abraham and the Patriarchs. The name of the city means “Fellowship”.
The typological meaning of this story? I see the death and resurrection of Jesus in it.
The Gentiles were out of Fellowship with God, estranged from the covenants of Promise. But Jesus loved us, just as Samson loved that Harlot, and carried the heavy, crushing weight of our sin and Judgment, (city gates) all the way up the hill of Calvary, in order to allow us into fellowship with God.
The Gates of the city were more than mere doors. They were the center of the city’s government, the place of business and of Judgment, and where the leaders of the city met. To pluck out the gates of the city, is to destroy the government and all business which would be conducted there. Samson was going on the offensive, in the name of God, against Paganism. Soon the Kingdoms of this world will become the Kingdom of our Lord and His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever.
It’s interesting when you view Samson through the view of how women were seen in those days...and relationships.
bookmark
Women are still the way they have been forever.
Thanks Bill. I enjoyed that reference.
bkmk
Oh I think women’s views of themselves have greatly changed......men generally like them less I think.
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